Chapter 122: Aftermath of an Ass-KickingGrace stumbled out of the valley looking absolutely destroyed.

    Her left arm dangled from her right hand, fingers wrapped around the wrist. Blood dripped steadily onto the scorched ground. Pretty sure her spine was holding together through sheer stubbornness and angel magic.

    But she was walking.

    Kinda.

    "GRAAAACE!"

    Alia’s voice hit her first. The pink-robed Love Sister came sprinting down the path. Zephyr was right behind her.

    "Your ARM!"

    "Yeah." Grace lifted the severed limb like she was showing off a weird souvenir. "Figured I should bring it. You know. For later."

    Seraph appeared next, took one look at Grace, and whistled low.

    "Shit. She really worked you over."

    "You should see her." Grace swayed dangerously. "Actually, don’t. She’s having a whole emotional breakdown in there. It’s... a lot."

    Valkyrie stepped forward. Her usually icy face was doing something weird. Almost like... concern? Nah, couldn’t be.

    "Sit. Now."

    "I can walk—"

    "Sit before you fall on your ass."

    Grace sat. Or rather, her legs gave out and she happened to land on a convenient rock. Same difference.

    "There we go." Seraph crouched in front of her, red braid swinging. "Alright, let’s see the damage."

    She poked at Grace’s stump. Grace hissed through her teeth.

    "Yep, that’s definitely not attached anymore."

    "Thanks for the expert diagnosis."

    "No problem. You can actually heal this into place, since your arm is so small," Seraph smirked as her hands started glowing with golden light. "Fair warning—this is gonna suck."

    "Everything already sucks. What’s—FUCK!"

    Divine energy poured into the wound. Grace’s nerves screamed as muscle and bone started knitting back together. It felt like getting electrocuted while someone poured acid on the wound.

    "Hold still!"

    "I’M TRYING!"

    Alia grabbed Grace’s good hand, lacing their fingers together. Zephyr pressed against her back, dark arms wrapping around Grace’s shoulders. Even Valkyrie helped, keeping the severed arm perfectly aligned while Seraph worked her magic.

    The process took forever. Or maybe just minutes. Hard to tell when every second felt like torture.

    Finally—fucking finally—the glow faded.

    Grace looked down. Her arm was back. Still hurt like hell, still felt weird, but all five fingers wiggled when she told them to.

    "Holy shit."

    Seraph grinned, looking way too pleased with herself.

    "Pretty cool, right?"

    "I take back every mean thing I’ve ever thought about you."

    "You’ve thought mean things about me?"

    "Really, thanks for the help."

    "Oi, oi..."

    ---

    The walk back to town was awkward as fuck.

    Mainly, because the townspeople were waiting.

    All of them.

    A massive crowd had gathered at the entrance. Men, women, children. All watching their "hero" limp home covered in blood and looking like she’d been through a blender.

    "She did it!" Someone shouted. "The demon’s gone!"

    Cheers erupted. People rushed forward.

    [Oh no. Please no.]

    Grace wanted to tell them the Flame wasn’t gone. Just... different. Purified. Still in that volcano ugly-crying about centuries of trauma. But explanations were hard when you could barely stand.

    "Thank you!" An elderly woman grabbed Grace’s hands. "Thank you so much!"

    "I just—"

    "You saved us all!"

    More hands. More thanks. More praise Grace definitely didn’t deserve.

    Because yeah, she’d stopped the immediate threat. But looking around...

    Burned buildings. Empty spaces where homes used to be. People wearing bandages from wounds that would scar forever.

    Like the Tide, and the Root, the Flame had done real damage here. Permanent damage.

    Grace had just kept it from getting worse.

    "Come on." Seraph steered her through the crowd with surprising gentleness. "Let’s get you cleaned up before you bleed on everyone."

    ---

    The inn’s bath was basically heaven.

    Grace soaked in the hot water while her body slowly put itself back together. Angel healing was weird—everything fixed itself eventually, but it hurt like a bitch the whole time.

    "How’s the arm?" Zephyr sat on the edge of the tub, brown feet dangling in the water.

    "Still attached. So that’s good."

    "Can you feel everything?"

    Grace wiggled her fingers experimentally.

    "Think so? Kinda tingly. Like when your foot falls asleep but... worse."

    "That’ll fade." Alia appeared with fresh clothes, setting them on a nearby stool. "Probably by tomorrow."

    "Great. Can’t wait to get my ass kicked in training with full sensation back."

    "You think Diana’s gonna go easy on you?"

    Grace snorted so hard she almost inhaled bathwater.

    "Diana doesn’t know what ’easy’ means. Pretty sure it’s not in her vocabulary."

    "True." Zephyr grinned. "Remember when she made you run laps until you puked?"

    "Which time?"

    They laughed. It felt good to laugh. Normal. Like she hadn’t just had her arm chopped off by a pissed-off fire spirit.

    A knock interrupted their moment.

    "It’s open," Grace called.

    Valkyrie entered carrying a bottle and two cups. She set them on the table without a word, silver hair catching the lamplight.

    Grace blinked.

    "Is that... alcohol?"

    "Drink." Valkyrie poured amber liquid into both cups. "You earned it."

    She handed one to Grace, then sat in the chair by the window. They drank in silence. The alcohol burned going down, but in a good way. Better than divine healing, that’s for sure.

    "You did good," Valkyrie said eventually.

    Grace nearly choked on her drink.

    "Sorry, what?"

    "You heard me." Valkyrie stared out the window at the darkening sky. "Whatever you did in there... it worked."

    "I got my butt kicked for over an hour."

    "And it worked." Valkyrie took another sip. "Sometimes that’s what it takes."

    Grace stared at her, wondering if she’d hit her head harder than she thought.

    "Are you... being nice to me?"

    "Don’t get used to it."

    But there was something different in her voice. Less ice. More... respect?

    "Thanks. For the drink. And the... niceness."

    Valkyrie stood abruptly.

    "Rest up. We leave at dawn."

    She left without another word. Grace looked at Alia and Zephyr, who seemed equally shocked.

    "Did I just become friends with Valkyrie?"

    "I think you did." Alia’s eyes were wide. "That’s so weird."

    "So weird."

    ---

    The flight back to the Dominion took forever.

    Grace’s arm worked, but every movement sent pins and needles shooting up to her shoulder. Plus she was exhausted. The kind of tired that went past physical and straight into her soul.

    "Stop fidgeting," Seraph called back over her shoulder.

    "It itches."

    "So?"

    "So it’s MY arm and I’ll scratch it if I want."

    "You’re such a baby."

    "I literally got dismembered yesterday!" Sёar?h the novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Yeah, yesterday. Ancient history. Move on."

    Grace wanted to argue more, but then the Dominion came into view and stole her words.

    Home.

    Weird to think of it that way. But seeing those golden spires and floating platforms, the rainbow bridges connecting everything...

    Yeah. Home.

    They landed on the eastern platform. Word had already spread somehow—a crowd was gathering.

    "The hero returns!" Someone shouted.

    [Ugh. Not this again.]

    Too late. Angels swarmed them from every direction. Questions flew like arrows.

    "Did you really fight the Flame?"

    "Is it true she cut off your arm?"

    "How did you survive?"

    "Can we see the scar?"

    "What was it like?"

    "Are you single?"

    Grace tried to push through, but there were too many. All wanting to touch her, talk to her, hear about her "heroic" deeds.

    "MOVE YOUR ASSES!"

    Diana’s voice cut through the chaos. The crowd parted instantly like she’d cast a spell.

    She stalked toward them looking absolutely pissed. And hot. Pissed and hot.

    "Diana—"

    "Shut up." She grabbed Grace’s face, turning it this way and that like she was inspecting merchandise. "Your arm got cut off."

    "Yep."

    "Your face got pounded."

    "Also better."

    "Your... Wow, you got demolished."

    "Yes, indeed."

    "Next time, I’m coming with you."

    "Next time?"

    A new voice interrupted. Smooth. Amused. Definitely trouble.

    "Oh good, you’re back."

    Venus stood there in her usual barely-there pink outfit, looking entirely too pleased with herself.

    "Venus." Grace tried to stand straighter despite her exhaustion. "Mission accomplished. The Flame is—"

    "Handled?" Venus’s smile was sharp enough to cut. "Excellent. Because there’s more work to do."

    Grace’s stomach dropped straight through the platform.

    "More?"

    "Much more. But we’ll discuss that tomorrow." She looked Grace up and down with those golden eyes. "Bath. Food. Rest. In that order."

    "I just had a bath."

    "Have another one. You smell like volcano and failure." Venus turned on her heel, hips swaying. "Council meeting at dawn. Don’t be late."

    She sauntered off, leaving destruction in her wake.

    "More to do?" Grace looked at the others desperately. "What does that mean?"

    "Nothing good," Seraph muttered.

    "Four more Pillars," Diana said grimly. "Plus whatever other shit is hitting the fan."

    "What else is going wrong?"

    "Everything. Always." Diana grabbed Grace’s good arm. "Come on. Let’s get you fed before Venus decides you need to fight another god immediately."

    As they walked through the Dominion, Grace caught glimpses of angels whispering. Pointing. Some looked impressed. Others worried. A few looked straight-up horny, which was... weird but flattering?

    Word was spreading fast. The girl who could kill demons had taken on a Pillar, multiple Pillars, and survived.

    Barely.

    But survived.

    [Three down. Four to go.]

    The thought made her want to cry. Or drink.

    Definitely both.