“Please, my Lady… I beg of you, protect me from this evil most foul. Be my shield during your creation’s dire time of need, so that I may be your sword and vanquish those that seek to do only harm.”

The heroine’s eyes shined in the color of her Lady, the light bright enough to brilliantly illuminate the dank cave she was praying in. As she felt the Protector’s gaze on her, the girl reached out to the altar of evil once more.

When her hand approached the tool of corruption at its center, however, an excruciating pain flowed up the heroine’s limb. The closer she got, the more her body recoiled, and her breath got caught in her lungs from the torment.

“Please…” Through tear-filled, glowing eyes, the girl offered one last prayer, “My Lady, give me strength…” before her gloved hand slowly closed around the sheathed sword. As if a weight had been lifted from her chest, the Chosen could breathe again.

She knew that her Goddess’ protection couldn’t hold forever, but as she released the dark, oozing blade from its prison, the heroine also knew that the side of Good had finally gotten a chance at ultimate victory.

- Excerpt from the Legend of Illyana, the first Chosen Heroine

‘Ultimate victory’ — The final destruction of Evil and never-ending reign of Good. It had been the goal of every Chosen over the millennia, and in the end, all of them had failed to achieve it.

Some speculated their defeat had been because of a curse imbued into the tool of Destruction they were destined to wield. Others believed it was because the Chosen abandoned their Lady and were struck down as a result. Truly certain of the reason was probably only the Goddess herself.

In total, there had been twelve Heroines before, each of them chosen in a time of war and chaos to defeat an unimaginable evil. Each of them struck it down, though only temporarily. However, every time Darkness was vanquished, the Chosen fell with them, the Evil Lord and Valiant Hero impaling each other on their deities’ weapons.

After the battle, the celestial swords they wielded would inevitably find their way back to their sheaths. Malice, the fractured blade of Evil, would return to the Cracked Peaks, corrupting anything that dared to touch it. Meanwhile, Radiance, the glowing blade of Good, returned to the Shadowlands, a region clouded in eternal darkness, purifying any demons that lay their eyes on it.

The weapons would remain there until the next generation of Good and Evil would step up and use the blades of their opposites to strike a lethal blow against each other. It had been that way for millennia and will most likely stay that way during the thirteenth cycle.

All those legends and more half-forgotten history swirled in Elena’s mind as she meditated on her knees. The metal armor, clasped around her thighs and calves, dug uncomfortably into her skin, but she tried her best to ignore those sensations as she continued her endless prayers.

Elena was unsure how long she had been sealed in the Cave of the Chosen. As the days had bled together, the only indications for the passage of time were the cycles of her Lady’s divine light struggling against the weapon’s hungry darkness. Her best guess was around three days, but that number felt arbitrary in this timeless sanctum.

Elena knew that wielding the sword would inevitably lead to her own demise. She would die at the hands of the evil she had sworn to defeat, but she hadn’t hesitated to fulfil her duty before, and she wouldn’t falter now.

After all, the thirteenth Evil Lord had united the Shadowlands once more, and, for the thirteenth time, a Chosen would rise up to resist them. Elena was unsure when exactly this Evil had first reared its ugly head, but she knew that it only brought death and destruction in its wake. Anyone unlucky enough to fall into its claws alive would inevitably be corrupted and join the legions of Evil, one way or another.

She was also unsure how her own family fared during these chaotic times. The current heroine had originally come from a household of peasant farmers living in an isolated village beyond the eastern mountain range. Therefore, chances were high that they were already among the casualties, but Elena still prayed every day to her Lady that she keep them safe.

Over the last few days, her faith had been tested like never before, though. She knew she was the Chosen, as her powers over creation proved beyond any doubt, but still, her Goddess’ protection seemed unreachable whenever she tried to pick up the weapon.

Her companions outside this altar of evil were probably also getting worried, but she had faith they were still waiting for her return. Elena had grown close to them over the last few years of war, and she was sure they also wouldn’t get ambushed or caught off guard by any demons hoping to find this unholy place.

The reason the servants of evil couldn't be allowed to find the sanctum was the cursed resistance of the Dark Lord. It was said that the leader of the demons was immune against any weapon crafted by her Lady directly, or with the express wish of protecting those dear to the creator. Only a weapon forged with destruction as its purpose could slay Evil once and for all. Similarly, Elena was nigh-invulnerable to any blow made by corrupted weapons or claws, as long as she held faith in her Goddess.

That was why the Heroine was destined to wield the World Dragon’s tooth, shattered by the God of Darkness and reforged as his weapon of Evil. Meanwhile, the Dark Lord was, as always, trying to corrupt her Lady’s holy blade, with which She once brought an end to eternal darkness and created the sun in her own image.

Thinking back to the Light-giver’s warm embrace, Elena redoubled her silent prayer. The blade in front of her pulsed unseen as well, surely picking up on the holy energy flooding into its hideout.

“Please, my Lady… my Goddess. The world needs your protection once more. Let me be your sword against Evil, so that your creation may remain pure for all eternity.”

As she muttered these words, Elena soon felt the Protector’s gaze upon her. Like every other time, it filled the heroine with warmth and happiness, but it didn’t simply linger on the edge of her awareness like before.

With the Goddess’ power flowing into her body, her Chosen finally opened her eyes. The light shining out would have been bright enough to be visible for dozens of miles if the dark sword before her hadn’t drawn it in and swallowed it whole, leaving nothing behind.

As her body was still warming up, though, Elena saw it. The darkness was being pushed back. It was almost far enough that she could reach out for the grip of the weapon. With every hair's breadth she got closer, the pain in her chest intensified, and it almost felt like her heart had stopped beating entirely.

Nevertheless, her fingers grasped the weapon, and with one fluid motion, Elena pulled the dark blade free of its prison once more. The blade hung in the air, absorbing every ray of light that dared approach it and leaking its viscous black blood onto the stone below. Elena felt elated with the light of her Lady in her chest and the weapon to destroy evil in her hand.

But that feeling only lasted for a second as the heat within her intensified to almost the same pain she had felt a moment before. However, it wasn’t enough for the heroine to drop her new weapon, even as her legs gave out and she fell to her knees. Now on all fours and trying to get her breathing under control, Elena felt the heat within herself shift downwards. Away from her racing heart and gasping lungs, through her intestines towards a certain spot between her legs.

“M-My Lady, what is… happening?”

Despite feeling her Goddess so close, the question remained unanswered, as Elena felt her body draw upon her Lady’s power. Similar to what it did while healing itself, the heroine’s body soon focused the divine power towards a specific area, although this time the effect was vastly different to the pleasant sunshine-like feeling Elena had grown accustomed to. The warmth writhing within her nether region had the Chosen’s moans and cries of passion echoing off the cave walls. Lost in her pleasure, Elena at first didn’t notice how the warmth finally left her body.

Or at least, that’s what it should have felt like. Looking down on herself, Elena saw that the epicenter of the heat was still very much attached to her body. Although the glowing rod, extending out of her crotch and bathed in her Lady’s white light, hadn’t been there moments before. With every passing second, the pleasure only grew in intensity, and Elena felt her hips buck in a sensation she had never felt before.

Overwhelmed, the heroine closed her eyes and simply basked in the orgasmic pleasure. When Elena looked down again, she saw the thick black fluid spraying out of her new, impressive member. Even in the ever-present darkness, she recognized it as the same liquid produced by the corrupted sword in her hand. Before she could think about that fact too long, however, she heard an ethereal voice projected directly into her head. Elena relaxed a bit, feeling safe in her Lady's embrace.

“My Chosen. You have done well.” The warmth in the Goddess’ voice carried an undertone her Chosen had never heard before. Not pride, but a strange tension. “The blade will serve you in the darkness to come. Go east. End what must be ended, so that the world may know peace.”

The Goddess’ words filled the Heroine with unease. In all her years, Elena had never felt such finality coming from her normally so gentle and loving Goddess. Still, she found herself agreeing with them nonetheless. These were far from gentle and loving times, after all.

“Yes, my Goddess. Let me be your sword! I will vanquish any who dare oppose you!”

The warmth within Elena’s body flared up one last time before it quickly departed again. As her arousal receded, the heroine could feel how the member between her legs retreated as well. It didn’t disappear entirely, though, and instead only grew limp.

Looking down, the sight of her new appendage made the heroine catch her breath. Her training in the Kingdom had prepared her for battle and sacrifice, but not for this. She reached out to give the area a testing prod, but the cold metal of her gauntlet made her flinch back. A wave of panic rose to her throat.

The only fact keeping her centered was the remnants of power humming in her veins. If the new flesh had grown from her Goddess’ power, it couldn’t be a curse. That naturally meant it had to be a gift… right?

As the Heroine inspected her change in more detail, she struggled not to get embarrassed. As her eyes skirted around new her shaft, she realized that it had burned itself through her holy armor and the underwear beneath. Thankfully, that was a trivial thing to fix and a welcome distraction for the Chosen of Creation.

In the end, Elena tried not to think too much about the addition to her nethers. As she began the long journey out of the cave, however, she quickly realized a problem with that . It was… eh, inconveniently large. After a few dozen steps of uncomfortable pressure and pinching, Elena simply decided to adjust her armor to be a bit more accommodating. Hopefully, the modification was inconspicuous enough that her companions wouldn’t notice.

When the thick stone slabs separating the inner unholy sanctum from the cave entrance came into view, the enormous doors were sealed shut. Even in the torchlight, Elena couldn’t see the top of their arched frame. As she put both of her hands against the cold stone, however, the heroine pushed the doors apart with barely any resistance. The dark blade in her hand buzzed with anticipation as it finally got to see the outside world again.

Just beyond the sanctum, a small camp was nestled against the outer cave wall, its occupants dozing around the last embers of a small fire. When the sanctum doors creaked open, the group of adventurers instantly rose to their feet as they readied themselves for an incoming attack from the cave’s mouth. Then the group realized the noise was actually coming from behind them.

As they saw the dark, oozing blade, both of Elena’s companions took a small, involuntary step back. The blade likewise grew hostile in response, pushing against Elena’s grip with a dull, insistent pressure. The heroine easily subdued the urge, though.

“That thing reeks of evil.” Ray, the Blackwolf Beastkin, spoke in hushed words, as if the speaker didn’t want Malice to hear her.

“That’s the point, you mutt.” Elena’s other companion didn’t have any such qualms, though.

The wolf continued to growl towards the blade, before turning to the elven woman who had already sat down again. Despite Tela’s words being the truth, Ray’s ears and tail were still betraying her alertness. Normally, Elena’s companions were as diverse as the world they were all fighting for, but looking around now, the heroine noticed half the team was missing. Noticing her glances towards the empty bedrolls, the mage gave a brief explanation.

“They’re scouting. We saw some imps a few days ago and wanted to make sure nothing bigger was coming.”

“Wait, a few days ago? How long was I even in there?”

Falling silent for a moment, the elven mage eventually answered.

“Eight days, nine hours… and seven minutes.”

As always, the memory ability of Elves was almost too scary for Elena to imagine. According to Tela, the woman hadn’t forgotten even a single minute of her over two-century-long life. However, blessed or cursed - depending on who you asked - by the Goddess of Knowledge, their race was always desperate for new insights and discoveries, be they scientific, adventurous, or more personal in nature.

“Can you believe them, Elena? They said they go scouting and don’t even take their best scout with them.”

Ray, on the other hand, just grumbled into her furry tail as she calmed down. While Elves were always driven to new experiences, the Beastkin of their little group would probably be happy to simply beat demons to a pulp day in and day out for the rest of her life. Although she was undeniably good at that one task.

“You don’t even know what the word ‘restraint’ means. Would probably have rushed into the first group of demons they found.”

Seeing that nothing much had changed, Elena let out a small chuckle and sat down an empty bedroll. By the size of it, it must have been one of the ranger twins’. Her new metal codpiece made sitting in her usual position a bit awkward, as it dug into her sensitive regions. Elena awkwardly shifted around until she found a comfortable position. Across the embers, Tela’s eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second, probably comparing it to her usual position. The look was gone as soon as it came, however, and the elf said nothing. Hopefully, it meant Tela just chalked her posture up to more mundane explanations.

All the while, the dark blade was still in the heroine’s hand, but Elena made sure it didn’t ruin the inside of the bedroll with its weird, sticky liquid. After a few more minutes of catching up, the three finally went back to sleep.

“ELENA!”

The next time the heroine woke up was when a lithe little ranger girl suddenly crashed against her armored chest. Seemingly unbothered by the metal plates, Tina somehow got the feeling of her hug through to the Chosen. By now, all party members were used to the touch-heavy way the other human girl showed her affection. At the moment, though, Elena was more focused on the unfamiliar warmth that pooled below her abdomen. Her body was responding in ways she hadn’t learned to expect but it felt strangely pleasant.

To distract herself, the heroine tried to focus anything but the close proximity of her companion. The first thing her mind got caught on was Tina’s smell. Despite them being in the middle of the corrupted mountains, the ranger smelled slightly of flowers. Elena could barely smell it over the musky bedrolls and she subconsciously leaned into the hug a bit more.

One of the Chosen’s arms also drifted down the ranger’s body. Although she had tried not to think about it, her penis grew even stiffer in response. The one… discharge she had experienced yesterday had already felt better than she could have imagined, and some part of her suddenly imagined what it must feel like to use her member in earnest. Tina, meanwhile, seemed to appreciate the gesture, but eventually tried to tap out.

“Ahh… Elena! Too tight!”

Her companion’s cries only ignited the heroine’s imagination further, but after another second, she suddenly realized what she was doing.

“Ah! Sorry! I was just… glad to see you again!”

Elena could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks as she let the smaller girl go. As Tina pulled back, she was also very much aware of the unfamiliar feeling down below. Thankfully, the newcomer didn’t notice.

“Well, I missed you too, so don’t worry about it!”

All the while, the two men of the party had held a few steps’ distance but were now following Tina into the camp area. Tino was built similarly to his twin sister and relied more on dexterity than brute strength, while Rolan had a broad, heavy frame clad in custom-made plate armor. Although it had long lost its polished finish over the years, the equipment’s kinks and scratches still told of its effectiveness.

“Good to have you back with us, Elena. The situation is the same as two days ago: small search parties are scouring the mountains, but no one has closed in on our position yet. If they know we are here, there is no indication of such.”

Unsurprisingly, the former knight commander was already down to business as he laid out the situation.

“There is a small path through the mountains just north of here, and I would suggest we follow it further east. The road should still be traversable on foot, and it would keep us away from most demon hordes.”

Although it wasn’t a question, per se, all eyes turned to the Chosen, regardless. Part of Elena still felt it could be reckless to go directly into demon-controlled territory, but the unfamiliar weight in her right hand told her she was finally ready to meet the enemy head-on.

“I agree. As a small elite force, we can move faster and arouse less suspicion. Then, we will aim straight for the Evil Lord and end this once and for all.”

“Oh, hell yeah! Or heaven, yeah? Whatever, let’s rip up some demon lord!”

As expected, Ray was instantly on board with that plan. The heroine barely registered her enthusiasm though. Instead, her mind was focused on her new weapon. Malice seemed to hum in agreement with their plan and the sensation sent a strange heat through her body. Making sure nobody would notice, Elena adjusted her position as her other new addition stirred in response.