Chapter 179 – The Dawn of a New Faith

Chapter 179 – The Dawn of a New Faith

“So, how does this exactly work?” Elise asks curiously after Elea manages to get ahold of herself.

The women all glance at me but I just shrug lightly. “Beats me. I’m reading about these skills for the first time alongside you. This is quite a step up from most of my previous abilities, but I bet it’s just as instinctual and intuitive.”

“Everything will become clear when you invoke the skill, most likely,” Shino agrees with me, nodding her head.

“Well. What are we waiting for, then?” Neira smiles at me and Elea, clearly excited about the prospect of her friend and past superior being part of my official followers.

I take a deep breath, refocusing my thoughts, and turn to the beautiful, dark-skinned former Princess still kneeling in front of me. Some visible streaks continue to stain Elea’s dazzling visage as evidence of her quite tearful reaction, but they make her no less enchanting. And the reverent yet still most likely doubtful gaze is strongly present in her purplish eyes. It’s obvious she finds this entire situation hard to accept as reality.

“Elea. We don’t yet know that much about what this entails in its entirety, but would you do me the honour of becoming my first Apostle?” I make it official with a warm smile.

She corrects her posture to add some more dignity and pride to it before lowering her head in acceptance. “My heart, body, and soul exist to serve you, My Lord.”

Quickly navigating through the menus, I locate the correct skill and activate it mentally. It shows me a list of people I can send the request to and my eyes briefly linger over the names. The record isn’t as big as I expected. There certainly has to be some kind of a requirement applied here, perhaps the strength of one’s devotion, or how close we truly are, not just physically.

Of course, Elea’s name isn’t missing from this list. There would have to be something really wrong with it if that was the case. No doubt, I would instantly file a complaint straight to the developer. I might be just a puny user among possibly millions, but this is a matter of life and death to me. And as if to answer my silent vow, a quiet, delicate chuckle echoes in my mind, with its owner more than obvious.

I choose my Dark Elf wife for the role and her eyes snap up, clearly noticing an incoming prompt. Elea takes her time to read through the message, the beginning of another wave of tears forming in the corners of her eyes once more. But, she fights them off valiantly and taps an invisible button, making her choice.

If there were any doubts about what it is, what happens next completely clears everything up.

First, I begin sensing warmth spreading through my chest. Glancing down, I confirm that it isn’t only a physical or spiritual phenomenon as vibrant, pinkish glow lights up my torso, focusing at about the height of my heart. The girls gasp at the sight and scurry a little bit further away from me to give everyone a better angle to watch the show.

Then, the unexpected power surges out of my chest in the form of pink energy resembling trails of fluffy smoke. The tendrils extend forward, starting to coil around Elea’s body, wrapping her up in multiple gentle lines. Easy to guess, they also focus on her chest, where her heart is.

She closes her eyes and lets out a delighted hum. Without even trying or intending to, I get a feel of our usual connection. Something is being added to it, in a way that isn’t meant to alter or change things but develop them even further. The warmth flows from me to her and I realise that it’s perhaps part of my divinity being shared with her.

During this unusual process, Elea’s chest starts mirroring mine in terms of the light it releases, though to a slightly lesser extent. If mine were compared to a flame, hers would be more like a spark. But, that’s not all. Through her closed eyelids, we all notice a similar glow making itself apparent. From its ring-like shape, it’s easy to deduce that it's her irises that emit that light, also pink, naturally.

Finally, one last thing catches our attention. The back of her right hand lights up too. We stare at it all together and observe some kind of symbol or sigil forming in front of our very eyes. In an instant, it reminds me of the very beginning of my adventure in this world. One glance at my otherworldly lover confirms that Shino has exactly the same thoughts, rubbing the skin of her own hand.

As the glowing wisps of energy slowly retract to me, Elea’s shining irises flicker out too. Only the symbol on the back of her hand remains bright and steady. Finished forming, it gives us a chance to make out some more details before our dark-skinned friend is done with whatever is happening to her.

There’s a heart. A slightly different one this time. I’ve gotten used to my slave seals or other things depicting cute, round hearts with adorable proportions, so seeing a very slim but elongated one is certainly a surprise. Its length compares to that of a Hero Sigil, judging from memory.

Thankfully, this one doesn’t seem to sprout any horns, wings, or tails anywhere around its contour. Honestly, it could end up being a little worrying for the messenger of a god to be branded with somewhat demonic features. Though, I guess plenty of this world’s residents have horns and other, devilish appendages, so maybe Naharren wouldn’t pay too much attention to that specific aspect.

Nevertheless, the only other thing that shows up, doing so inside the shape, is the letter A in Infernal language. Again, something that has already made an appearance in the past. The fake slave seals I’ve been placing on the girls to raise their safety included it too. Besides the letter, nothing else pops up, and the sigil fades away a tiny bit, still emitting some faint glow.

All the weird power retracts fully to me, gives a few pulses quite closely aligned with my heartbeat and disappears. We wait for Elea to raise her eyelids and say anything about the flashy event, and she doesn’t make us sit there motionlessly for long. Her previously purple eyes are now alight with a pinkish hue as she instantly moves her gaze to the mark on the top of her hand, clearly aware of its creation during whatever has happened.

“Is this it? Did it succeed?” Sirgia asks quietly.

“That sort of looks like our Hero Sigils, doesn’t it, Sensei?” Shino glances at me with a spark of excitement in her pretty eyes. “Are you now capable of creating your own Heroes?”

I chuckle at her wryly while shaking my head. “I don’t think so. Lumina’s system has continuously proved to be mostly straightforward. It would have said so if this is what it was. Perhaps Apostles wear similar marks as Heroes. I’ll keep this question in mind for when we pay someone experienced in such matters a visit very soon.”

“Alastair is correct,” Elea finally chimes in. “One thing I’m certain of is that I’ve become his Apostle. I don’t know what it feels to be a Hero, but I don’t think this is it.”

“So, are your eyes now permanently like this?” Ailish bites into her bottom lip. “It’s kinda hot.”

“My eyes?” The dark-skinned lady raises a brow at her.

“They glow slightly pink right now, just like the mark,” I explain. “I wonder if you can suppress it just like the Heroes do. This might be somewhat inconvenient at night.”

“Or very convenient.” Ria snickers softly. “You wouldn’t need any light to read books and documents in the dark.”

“Of course, that’s the first thing that comes to your mind.” Elise rolls her eyes at her mature friend.

“There’s another, but I don’t think we should distract Alastair with such thoughts at this very moment.” The MILF accountant smirks at me.

The disappearance of the gentle, pinkish glow recaptures our attention, dragging it away from the squabbling duo. In the next second, Elea’s eyes are back to their rightful colour, and the heart on her skin is no more. She smiles at us with a proud expression.

“It looks like I can control it,” she announces. “This might be connected to the divinity Alastair shared with me. When I glow, I feel traces of his warmth inside me. Perhaps that’s what happens when I try to make use of it or something.”

“Good to know.” I nod at her. “We’ll have to explore that during a free moment. Just don’t start going around and brainwashing random people into being our followers by staring into their eyes with yours glowing pink.”

The women laugh at my little quip but Elea just sends me a mischievous grin.

“Anyway, that brings up a different issue into the light,” I continue with a slight frown.

“What’s wrong, Master?” Sirgia runs her petite fingers through my hair in an affectionate manner.

“I bet Lumina has no qualms with this entire situation about my sudden ascension to godhood, things might not be so simple with the people,” I respond, brushing my palm over her tender thigh. “There’s always been one god, or rather a goddess in this world. To the extent of the current generation’s knowledge, at least. Primordials knew of two. But, I don’t actually remember reading that much about other religions trying to form around the realm and what might have been their reception. As far as I know, be it Humans or all other races, everyone is under the same belief.”

“You are afraid that trying to make use of this new god and follower system might bring us trouble.” Cornelia strokes her chin ponderingly. “That it will make some if not a lot of people frown to try and undermine the one and only Goddess.”

“Precisely.” I snap my fingers at her. “I don’t mind keeping this only to our close circles, but I’m afraid of possible backlash towards our girls trying to spread the word about some unknown god and attempting to convert people, even if politely and without insisting. I’ve learned enough about the history of my own world and its experiences with religions to assure you that these things are capable of bringing the worst out of people. I was very glad to hear that this entire realm is more or less united on this topic.”

“Crusades were no joke.” Shino shudders lightly.

“I can see what you are saying,” Elea herself responds to my concerns. “I’ve been a devout follower of Goddess Lumina and wouldn’t take too kindly to anyone trying to convince me that there’s some other, better god that I should be directing my prayers to. Especially considering the fact that we do have plenty of evidence of the Goddess aiding the races with some of their troubles.”

I let out a defeated sigh. “Maybe we should keep this a secret. I don’t want to endanger any of you to that kind of hate.”

“But then you won’t be able to grow your divinity, right?” Meru asks calmly, though I can sense her worry about me.

“Maybe not as quickly, but I still will. I’ll just have to focus on Devotees rather than normal followers. Quality over quantity, as they say. Many of our girls will definitely be willing to take part in this after we explain things properly to them. Even so, it’s still a very sensitive topic so we should make it clear that we aren’t suddenly turning our organisation into a heretical one,” I reply, correcting her.

“Is the only option of gaining followers to convert people?” Elise asks, tapping her pouty lips.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” I ask, slowly getting up too. “Anyone cares to explain?”

At that very moment, the Tiefling reaches her limit and her muffled cries grow by an octave as her eyes roll to the back of her head. She shudders strongly and a few trickles of nectar burst around the head of the vibrator, raining down on the abandoned cards and trailing over her delicious front.

Perhaps the fact that my movement brought her face-level with my crotch might have had some part in this.

“Get her down,” I command with a flick of my head.

Yuru jumps to action first, joined by who I think was Oniri, the half-blood Foxkin with golden hair and fur. They quickly untangle the Tiefling enough to take her off the contraption and put her in an upright position. They still need to support their wobbly friend on their shoulders, but everyone is now effectively in order.

“Now, what am I going to do with you...” I roam my squinted gaze over their faces.

A collective gulp travels through the air.

I smirk at them. “At ease. And thank Yuru. I might have been a bit more angry if she didn’t come to answer the door for all of you.”

They all relax a little bit and mutter their thanks to the leopardgirl. I reward her with some more ear scratches, enjoying her adorable purrs.

“What brings you here, Boss?” Ressia, the half-blood Wolfkin asks.

“What if I wanted in on your little fun?” I glance over the cards and the nude hostage.

She chuckles wryly, but I catch a few curious and eager glances sent my way.

“Maybe another day.” I shake my head with a grin. “I need to talk to you about something. It’s a bit sensitive so just understand that I’m not trying to offend you or undermine your beliefs.”

“You can tell us anything, Leader. We exist to follow your beliefs,” the Orc woman says, and others murmur in agreement.

“I appreciate it. Though, this might be a bit weird.” I run my fingers through my hair. “There’s one thing you most likely weren’t briefed about me during your training. You might have heard that the Goddess favours me, or even that I can communicate with her, but there’s one more thing. Technically speaking, I’m a god. Partially, at least.”

A wave of gasps echoes through the dorms and they all look between themselves with shock. I try to judge their initial reactions, and I guess it comes as quite simple. The specific Beastkin features imply that they are excited about the reveal. Some other tails wag a bit too.

“This might come as heresy to claim as such to you, so I apologise. But, I can show you my title to prove it. You can say that this is due to the Goddess’ will. Anyway, with that on the table, comes one specific feature. As a Demigod of Lust, I can appoint Apostles and Devotees. The former is already taken, but the latter is still open. Your instructors were inclined to think that you would be interested in becoming my representatives in the world, introducing my person to the people you meet on your assignments. It’s nothing as serious as trying to convert people to believe in me, but make them aware that there’s another entity by the Goddess’ side that can hear their prayers and maybe make some wishes come true. Especially regarding the physical aspects of love.”

I pause for a moment to let my words sink in.

“So, what do you think?” I ask, just a tiny bit nervous. “Anyone interested?”

Suddenly, the air gets drowned in a chorus of voices as every single person starts talking at once. Their words are a jumbled mess and I quickly raise my hands to calm them down.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. One at a time, girls.” I chuckle to myself. “Ressia?”

The wolfgirl steps forward. “I think I speak for everyone here saying that it would be an unspeakable honour to represent you as a god, Boss. We’ve already felt incredibly proud to be the faces of your mercenary corps, but this is just... insane. We get to serve a... god? Directly? That will make us practically Heroes!”

Other ladies nod enthusiastically.

“Don’t you think that this might not be received too well by the people of the realm?” I ask curiously.

“Are you an evil god trying to take over the world and kill the Goddess?” Oniri, the ninja fox asks.

“No.” I snort a little. “In fact, it’s the opposite. I’m helping her save it.”

“Then there should be no problem. Even less if you are able to create some miracles. But, with what we’ve heard from our instructors, your strength and abilities have already reached that level,” she replies with a kind smile.

“I’ll be learning about that in a moment.” I smile back at her. “Can’t promise anything, though.”

“The power you gave us is already a miracle,” Yuru breaks her silence and adds shyly.

“Yeah! I’ve never felt so mighty! My abilities are like three times stronger now!” One of the Elves pumps her fist into the air, starting a wave of cheers.

“I don’t think I’m going to fuck every single one of my followers to grant them this boon but we’ll see.” I snicker and they laugh with me.

“Does that make us special, then?” someone else asks.

“Of course.” I nod at them. “There might be many females that have currently spent intimate time with me, but I appreciate and trust all of you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have received the choice to become my Partners. Not everyone gets it. And now, you have another choice in front of you. Perhaps of a similar significance.”

“We agree,” Ressia quickly responds. “We will make you proud, Boss. And well-known too. There will be altars of you everywhere around the realm soon.”

I can’t help but laugh a bit at their devotion and dedication, finding the same enthusiasm in everyone else. “Very well. Just maybe tone it down with those monuments of faith. Just simple prayers will suffice.”

“And what do your prayers look like?” One of the Tieflings raises a hand.

“Uhhhh... Good question!” I snap my fingers at her.

“Maybe something like this?” The Oni girl clears her throat. “Oh Lord Alastair, the embodiment of love and carnal pleasure, I offer you my deepest gratitude for this seed I’m about to welcome into my womb, and dedicate my ardent cries to your benevolent name in hopes that you may choose to bless me with certain fertility and an orgasm equal the divine release brought upon us mortals by your celestial member. I seek only eternal pleasure in your sacred embrace. By your grace.”

The girls clap happily while I just stare at her proud smile with a blank expression.

“Well... I’ll think about it...” I laugh awkwardly. “For now, let’s just formalise your position. Come here. And someone help the poor girl with the ropes.”

They snicker together and I slowly accept them as my Devotees, promising to explain more in detail after my talk with the Goddess. Before I leave, though, they talk me into one game with them and I play in tandem with Yuru, who returns to my lap, eager to receive more affection. The other Beastkin girls look at her with envy, but they direct those feelings into their desire to win. As I learn during the game, the main prize is one of the empty vouchers, which belongs to the tied-up loser who was hanging in the air during my entrance.

She really must have lost it damn hard.

After a little bit of fun, I thank them for the company, administer some kisses, rubs, and scratches, and turn to leave. On my way out, I mention that they will soon have proper housing in their new headquarters and that they should be expecting their first mission soon, suggesting that they get accustomed to their new strength as soon as possible. They promise to go after finishing their bets and I wish them luck.

With a quick mental message, I call Elea to me and we meet in my bedroom. She showers me with her own affection and gratitude for the new position I have graced her with earlier, perhaps also somewhat excited about a chance to spend more time with the Goddess without the risk of spiritual explosion.

After fooling around for a few minutes, we dive into our minds and arrive in my Soul Realm. Partially as expected, Ailish greets us in the pink world with a big smile. But, my attention instantly switches to the thing behind her. A massive, ornate castle stands over all of us, its towers suspiciously phallus-shaped and its windows and archways resembling hearts or some other, also suspicious openings.

“And what the fuck is this now?” I swipe a hand down my face as the ladies chuckle in amusement by my side.

Someone has lots of explaining to do.