Chapter 41: First Contact*

{Diana}

Diana sat on the edge of the village wall, staring into the darkness. Sleep wasn’t coming tonight. Not with the memories being as bad as they were tonight.

The screams. The blood. Her cowardice. The usual.

She clenched her fist, summoning a small dagger of golden light. With a flick of her wrist, she sent it flying into a nearby tree trunk.

“Can’t sleep either?”

Diana turned to see Grace climbing up the ladder, looking annoyingly chipper despite the late hour.

“What do you want, farm girl?”

Grace sat down beside her, leaving enough space between them to avoid irritating Diana further.

“Just checking the perimeter. Seraph said even when we’re resting, we should stay vigilant.”

Diana snorted.

“You’re quoting Seraph now? Turning into a proper Bravery Sister, eh? What’s next, will you start walking around with your tits out too?”

Grace’s face went crimson instantly.

“N-no! I wouldn’t—!”

“Relax. It was a joke.” Diana sighed, summoning another light dagger. “So how’s the village mission going? Heard you’ve been busy with… morale.”

“It’s going well, but still a ways to go,” Grace said quietly.

Diana nodded.

“You’re improving,” Diana said suddenly, surprising herself with the admission.

“Huh?”

“Your fighting. It’s less terrible now.” Diana flicked another dagger into the tree. “Still awful, but less terrible.”

Grace beamed like she’d been handed the moon.

“W-Wow, thank you! I’ve been practicing the stance you showed me and—”

“By the goddess, don’t make it weird.” Diana cut her off, uncomfortable with the gratitude. “Just don’t die when the real fighting starts.”

Grace’s smile faded.

“Do you think it will? Soon, I mean?”

Diana thought about the nest she’d found. The villagers with their gray skin and strange eyes. The organized demons. Nothing about it made sense.

“Yes,” she answered honestly. “And when it does…”

She didn’t finish the sentence. Didn’t need to.

When it did, would she freeze again? Would she run?

Would she leave Grace to die like she’d left everyone at that village?

“Well, when it does, we’ll handle it,” Grace said with a certainty she had no right to possess.

Diana just grunted. The confident ones always died first.

—

{Grace}

The next day was a blur. Grace moved from one healing task to the next, mending bones, curing fevers, and stitching wounds, her hands glowing throughout.

“Shit, that feels good,” an old woman said as Grace healed her arthritic knees. “Like warm sunshine flowing through these old bones.”

“I’m glad I could help!” Grace said, wiping sweat from her brow. She’d been at it for hours, and her Compassion attribute had gained a point, randomly.

Compassion: 24/100

Grace checked the village’s Morale:

「Morale: 45/100」

Still not enough. At this rate, it would take days to reach full protection.

[How do I make that go up faster?] Grace wondered. She kinda hoped Eternia would throw her a bone here but, no, there was no response.

“Grace!” Alia’s voice called from across the square. “Stop hogging all the village people! Some of us want to help too, you know!”

Grace looked up to see Alia and Zephyr approaching, both dressed in new pink Love Sister outfits that left little to the imagination. Alia was effectively naked.

“I’m not hogging anyone,” Grace protested. “I’m just healing.”

“And we’re just loving,” Zephyr countered with a sly smile. “Hard to do it with you in the way, though.”

Some lady Grace had been treating cackled.

“I wouldn’t mind some of that ’loving’ too, if you’re offering.”

“See?” Alia grinned. “The people have spoken!”

Grace finished her healing and stood up, stretching her tired muscles. Thankfully, she was used to back-breaking work. Turnips were difficult opponents often, after all.

“Fine, fine. It’s all yours.”

Zephyr caught her arm as she tried to leave.

“Actually, we were hoping you’d join us.”

Grace’s mind stopped working.

“Join you?” Grace blinked. “For what?”

Alia, who’d been hovering nearby, leaned in, her lips brushing Grace’s ear.

“Advancedmorale-boosting techniques.”

Grace nearly tripped over her own feet.

“H-here? Now?”

“Not here,” Zephyr said, rolling her eyes at Alia’s lack of subtlety. “We’ve set up a proper space in the barn. Private, but not too private.”

“What does that even mean?” Grace asked, her voice rising an octave.

“It means,” Alia explained patiently, as if talking to a child, “that a select audience helps maximize the morale effect. Basic Love Sister stuff, Grace.”

“B-but I’m—”

“Alia’s right,” Zephyr continued, cutting Grace off. “You are a Love Sister just as much as you’re a Bravery Sister or Compassion Sister, after all. What would Venus ask you to do right now?”

The answer to that question made Grace swallow.

Grace looked around desperately for Mara or Diana, but neither was in sight. She was on her own.

“D-Do I have to?” she asked weakly.

“Only if you wanna,” Alia said with a wink. “But, you’re gonna have to learn these things at some point. No time like the present, right?”

She was right about that. This was as much her “duty” as slaying demons or healing injured people. It was just hard to imagine what exactly was about to happen, was all.

But, in the end, Grace sighed in defeat.

“Fine.”

—

The barn was dimly lit with candles, giving it a strangely romantic atmosphere despite the lingering smell of hay and animals. A space had been cleared in the center, with blankets spread on the floor.

And sitting around that space were six village women, ranging from being as young as Grace to middle-aged, all watching with eager expressions.

“What the heck?” Grace hissed at Zephyr.

“Language, Grace,” Zephyr admonished, though she was clearly enjoying Grace’s discomfort. “These are our honored guests. They’ve been selected for their influence in the village.”

“We’re going to demonstrate proper techniques,” Alia added cheerfully, already slipping out of her flimsy top. “And they’re going to spread the word about divine blessing.”

Grace’s face felt hot enough to start a fire.

“I’m… not sure I can do this.”

“Sure you can!” Alia said, now completely topless. Her small, perky breasts bounced as she moved closer to Grace. “You’ve done stuff with us before. In Love Sister class!”

“Not with an audience!”

“Think of it as a teaching moment,” Zephyr suggested, removing her own clothes with more grace than Alia’s enthusiastic stripping. “These women want to learn, you know?”

The village women nodded eagerly.

[Shameless! So… shameless!]

“We’ve never seen angels… you know,” one of them said shyly.

“And we’ve heard it increases protection against demons,” another added.

Grace looked at them, then back at her friends. Were they really her friends if they were going to keep putting her in these situations?

“Fine,” she said again, feeling like she’d been saying that a lot lately. “What do you want me to do?”

Alia clapped her hands excitedly.

“Just lie back and enjoy, honey!”

Before Grace could protest further, she found herself being gently pushed down onto the blankets. Zephyr knelt beside her, helping her out of her clothes slowly.

“Remember,” Zephyr whispered, “this isn’t just about pleasure. It’s about connection. About showing humans the beauty of the divine.”

Grace nodded, trying to look dignified while being stripped naked in front of strangers.

“Ready?” Alia asked, positioning herself between Grace’s legs.

“No.”

“That’s fine!”

Soon, Alia was spreading Grace’s legs.

[Oh, this is happening, this is actually- ACK!]

Alia kissed Grace’s inner thigh. Grace’s mind, again, stopped working. And, soon, that tongue of hers was directly on Grace’s pussy.

Alia’s tongue was skilled and enthusiastic, lapping at Grace’s most sensitive areas while Zephyr whispered encouragements and explained techniques to their rapt audience.

“See how she focuses on the clitoris? That’s the key to quick arousal,” Zephyr lectured, as if discussing the weather rather than watching her friend eat out another friend.

Grace tried to stay quiet, but it was impossible. Soon she was moaning, squirming against Alia’s mouth as pleasure built inside her.

“My turn,” Zephyr said after a while, nudging Alia aside. Where Alia had been enthusiastic, Zephyr was methodical, using precise movements that drove Grace wild.

Through half-closed eyes, Grace could see the village women watching intently, some of them squirming in their seats. One had her hand under her skirt, clearly inspired by the demonstration.

Over Alia’s head, Grace saw:

「Village Morale: 60/100」

[W-Wha…?]

The number had jumped significantly. It was working.

When the wave of pleasure finally crashed over her, Grace cried out, her entire body tensing and then relaxing. Divine energy sparked visibly around her, filling the barn with golden light for a brief moment.

The village women gasped in awe.

As for Grace, she was half-convinced she was going to die again. Her body felt heavy, her limbs melting into puddles.

She blinked.

[… What just happened?]

“And that,” Alia announced proudly, wiping her mouth, “is how angels share divine blessing.”

Grace lay panting, wondering how she’d ever face these women in daylight again.

“Was that so bad?” Zephyr asked, stroking Grace’s hair.

“Yes,” Grace grumbled with red cheeks, though they all knew she was lying.

—

The next morning, Grace was helping distribute food when the commotion started.

“Tomas! TOMAS IS BACK!”

A crowd gathered at the village entrance. Grace pushed her way through to see a man stumbling toward them, clothes torn, face gaunt.

“He’s alive!” someone cried.

“Get Mara!” Grace called, moving toward the man. “He needs healing.”

But as she got closer, something felt wrong. The man—Tomas—moved strangely, as if his joints weren’t working properly. And his eyes…

Grace activated her Aura Sight. Immediately, she saw it—flickering blue-purple light within his eyes. Corrupted energy.

“Wait!” she called out, but it was too late. A villager had already reached Tomas, embracing him in a welcome hug.

“We thought you were dead!” the villager exclaimed.

Tomas smiled, a rictus grin that didn’t reach his eyes.

“No,” he said, his voice oddly flat. “Not dead. Changed.”

And then his eyes flashed fully blue-purple, visible to everyone now.

“We’re all going to change,” he said.

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