Chapter 110: The Flame

Grace flopped onto her bed and pulled up her status screen. The glowing text floated in front of her face, visible only to her.

Grace Lightsinger

Bravery: 51/100

Compassion: 56/100

Love: 70/100

[Six months since I died. Six months since I stopped being a turnip farmer and became… kinda sorta Eternia, I guess.]

She scrolled through her skills, taking stock of everything.

「Blade of Eternia (Level 6)」 – Her light sword actually cut things now instead of just tickling demons. Progress!

「Soothing Hands (Level 5)」 – All those corrupted villagers had been good for something at least. Even if half of them tried to eat her face while she healed them.

「Golden Tongue (Level 4)」 – Grace’s face went hot just reading this one. That skill had gotten a LOT of practice lately. A concerning amount. She could raise morale very, very easily now. At least, compared to when she started.

「Aura Sight (Level 3)」 – Spotting corruption was basically second nature at this point. Though it made walking through certain parts of the Dominion awkward when she could see which angels were feeling particularly horny.

「Aura Manipulation (Level 6)」 – Purifying corruption without killing people. Her specialty. Well, one of them.

「Intimate Healing (Level 4)」 – Another skill that had seen way too much use. Kissing people to heal them better sounded innocent until you realized how enthusiastic some angels got about being “healed.”

「Aura Release (Level 3)」 – Still felt weird using corruption as a weapon. Like fighting fire with fire. Except the fire was made of ancient god emotions.

“Stop staring at nothing and help me pack!”

Diana’s voice snapped Grace out of her skill review. The warrior angel stood by Grace’s dresser, throwing clothes into a bag with zero regard for organization.

“Why would you pack? You’re not going anywhere.”

“Emotional support packing.” Diana chucked a pair of panties at Grace’s head. Black lace. When had she even gotten those? “Since SOMEONE won’t let me come on the super fun suicide mission to fight fire demons.”

“It’s not a suicide mission,” Grace protested, catching the underwear. “Probably.”

From the couch, Alia giggled. She’d painted her toenails this morning and was now admiring them while lying upside down.

“Aww, Diana’s just mad her girlfriend is leaving her behind this time.”

“She’s not my—” Both Grace and Diana began to respond at the same time, shutting up when they noticed each other’s response.

Diana cleared her throat and continued.

“I’m not mad.” Diana’s jaw tightened. “It’s totally practical. Someone needs to watch the rookie wing.”

“Kinda crazy that Seraph specifically requested us for this mission,” Zephyr noted.

“Yeah, because you two are experts at ’morale support.’” Diana made air quotes. “Don’t know why she doesn’t want people with actual combat skills.”

“Hey!” Alia sat up, indignant. “We’ve been training!”

“You cried when you broke a nail during sword practice.”

“It was my favorite nail!”

Grace went back to her status screen, tuning out their bickering. Some new techniques had appeared recently too:

「Finger Dance」 – Ability to provide intense pleasure through precise manipulation

「Tongue Twister」 – Ability to bring pleasure through precise oral manipulation

「Sweet Spot Seeker」 – Ability to intuitively locate a partner’s most sensitive areas

「Divine Extension – Ability to create a divine phallus for application during morale boosting」

[When did my life become like this?]

Oh right. When she became an angel. Because apparently angels were all horny all the time. It was like dying and being reborn in the world’s most active swingers club.

“Grace, tell Diana we’ll be fine!” Alia whined. Her shirt had ridden up, exposing her abs.

“You’ll be fine,” Grace said without looking away from her Status screen.

“See? Grace believes in us!”

Grace held back a smile.

“… Yeah, you’ll probably only get half of us killed.”

“TRAITOR!”

A pillow smacked into Grace’s head. Then another. Alia had grabbed ammunition from the couch. Zephyr joined in, abandoning her packing to launch a stuffed bear at Diana.

“Oh, it’s like that?” Diana grabbed two pillows. “You’re all dead!”

The room exploded into chaos. Four grown women (well, angels) having an all-out pillow war. Grace ducked a particularly vicious swing from Diana, rolled across her bed, and scored a direct hit on Zephyr’s ass.

“My butt!” She gave a dramatic wounded sound. “You struck my perfect butt!”

“It’s not that perfect,” Alia laughed, then shrieked as Diana tackled her onto the couch.

They collapsed in a heap eventually. Breathing hard. Feathers everywhere. Grace’s carefully organized status screen had long since disappeared.

[… This is nice.]

Tomorrow she’d fly south to face the Flame. But, well, tomorrow could wait.

—

Dawn arrived like a slap to the face.

Grace stood at the western cliff, trying not to fidget in her new armor. The fire-resistant enchantments on her armor made everything feel heavier. And none of the preparation managed to keep Grace from thinking:

[This is going to suck so much.]

“Stop pulling at it,” Seraph ordered. “You’ll compromise the enchantments.”

“It’s heavy.”

“It’s keeping you alive. Deal with it.”

Grace dealt with it. Mostly by continuing to fidget when Seraph wasn’t looking.

Alia and Zephyr stood nearby, looking ridiculous in their own “armor” – basically their regular Love Sister outfits with some extra metal bits slapped on. Alia’s breastplate had hearts engraved on it.

“I still think this is a terrible idea,” Diana muttered. She’d insisted on seeing them off, despite clearly wanting to come along. “Love Sisters aren’t meant for combat zones.”

“We’re not going to fight,” Zephyr reminded her. “We’re support staff.”

“Morale support,” Alia added with a wink.

The fifth member of their party stood apart from everyone. Valkyrie. Level 79, the little floating words said, in golden text. One of the Dominion’s most experienced warriors. She stared at the southern horizon where the sky had turned the color of old blood.

Grace had met her exactly once before. Valkyrie didn’t do small talk. Or big talk. Mostly she just killed things and looked scary while doing it.

The scar across her throat probably helped with the scary part.

“Remember,” Seraph said quietly to Valkyrie. “We do this clean. No unnecessary risks.”

Valkyrie’s scarred hands clenched.

“I know my job.”

“Do you?”

“Yes. Commander.”

The word ’commander’ came out sharp enough to cut. Grace suddenly found the sunrise very interesting. Whatever beef these two had, she wanted no part of it.

More angels gathered behind them. Word traveled fast. The demon killer was heading out again.

“Wait!”

Petriel ran toward them, her green hair bouncing. She carried a bag that clinked with bottles.

“I-I made these for you!” She thrust the bag at Grace. “Healing potions. The strong ones. F-For when you can’t cast your magic, for some reason. And this—” She pulled out a small vial of pink liquid. “For, um. Energy restoration. Through… intimate means.”

Grace’s face heated.

“Thanks, Petriel.”

“Also this.” Petriel kissed her cheek and Grace froze. Quick but intense.

[Wow.]

“GET IT, GRACE!” someone yelled from the crowd.

Diana crossed her arms.

“Great. Now everyone’s going to want a goodbye kiss.”

“I mean…” Grace glanced at the crowd. “I wouldn’t mind—”

“Lightsinger.” Seraph’s command voice cut through. “Time to go.”

Grace looked at her friends one last time. Diana’s forced smile. Petriel wringing her hands. The crowd of angels who’d shown up to see them off.

[We’re coming back. All of us.]

“Ready?” she asked Alia and Zephyr.

“Born ready!” Alia bounced on her toes.

“Let’s go seduce a fire god!” Zephyr added.

“We’re not seducing—” Grace started.

“Never say never!” both Love Sisters said in unison.

Grace sighed and jumped.

The fall hit her stomach like always. That moment of nothingness before her wings caught air. Behind her, she heard Alia shriek.

“I FORGOT HOW MUCH I HATE THIS PART!”

Zephyr’s laughter echoed off the cliffs.

They fell into formation. Seraph leading. Valkyrie on the right flank. Grace in the middle with Alia and Zephyr flanking her.

The armor’s weight threw off Grace’s balance at first, but she adjusted. The Love Sisters had more trouble. Alia kept tilting left. Zephyr’s decorative metal bits created wind resistance.

“This is why Love Sisters don’t wear armor!” Alia complained.

“You wanted to come,” Seraph called back.

“I’m reconsidering my life choices!”

The landscape changed beneath them. Green turned brown. Trees vanished. The temperature climbed steadily.

Grace’s armor became a personal oven. Sweat dripped everywhere. The cooling salve Diana gave her seemed pathetic against this heat.

[Should’ve asked for a whole bucket.]

“Is it supposed to be this hot?” Zephyr panted.

“We’re not even close yet,” Valkyrie said flatly.

“Oh good. I was worried it might get uncomfortable.”

By midday, they could see it.

Mount Ignata.

The volcano scraped the sky like a middle finger to the world. Smoke poured from its peak. The air shimmered with heat distortion.

“Holy shit,” Alia breathed. “That’s… big.”

“That’s what she said,” Zephyr added automatically.

Even facing potential death, they couldn’t help themselves.

“There.” Seraph pointed to buildings at the mountain’s base. “Last report said the town was still inhabited.”

Valkyrie spoke up.

“Inhabited by what?”

Good question. Grace squinted. Just shapes that might be houses. Movement that might be people.

Or might be fire demons preparing to roast them alive.

[Positive thoughts, Grace. Positive thoughts.]

They descended carefully. The heat hit like a wall. Grace’s lungs protested. Her armor became unbearable.

The town came into focus.

Stone buildings built to last. Wide streets to prevent fire spread. Everything practical and sturdy.

Except for the burn marks.

Black scars covered every surface. Melted metal pooled in doorways. Empty windows stared at nothing.

And the smell…

“Charcoal,” Valkyrie said. Professional. Flat. “And something else.”

Grace knew what it was. She’d smelled it before. The night her village burned. The night she died.

Burnt flesh had a very specific smell. Sweet and horrible. Unforgettable.

“Oh god,” Alia covered her nose. “What is that?”

“You don’t want to know,” Grace said quietly.

“Stay alert,” Seraph commanded. “Stay together. We don’t know what we’ll find.”

They landed in what used to be the town square. Grace’s boots crunched on ash.

Everything was covered in ash.

Alia grabbed Grace’s hand. Her fingers trembled.

“This is different from the other missions, isn’t it?”

Grace squeezed back.

“Yeah. This is different.”

[Well. This is going great already.]

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