Install Complete (Childbirth)

Clomp. Clomp.

She climbed. Climbing is ordinarily grueling, exhausting work — an act of defiance against gravity, one of nature's fundamental laws — yet living creatures never find it strange. For a goal, for a better life, they grind through hardship and pain and press forward. Descending, falling — those are the easy, pleasant things.

Grace, however, was a little different. She had fallen, and yet, paradoxically, she was still heading up. Astride the strongest knight and the strongest lust-mare, bored out of her mind, she had hooked Akrich's pelvis onto her erect futanari cock, ordered the multi-mouthed fatso to eat mint-chocolate ice cream she'd bought with kimchi, fitted a dog collar on an insolent-looking woman and made her perform a primitive tribe's courtship dance in the nude, then abandoned her at the front gate of the Demon King's Castle.

It was fun. Even while climbing, it was fun.

"Now it's time to have some real fun."

Having reached the summit of the Demon King's Castle, Grace thrust both hands skyward as demonic energy boiled from them. At her fingertips, fine cracks split open in the fabric of space itself.

A colossal volume of demonic energy seeped into those fissures — the image of someone pouring ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠poison into a lake.

"All things of creation! Let's live a little more enjoyably!"

The demonic energy that had soaked into the cracks spread across the world with terrifying speed. First to feel its effects would be the demonkin, the monsters, and the humans of the Demon King's army. Ordinary humans, too, would find their perceptions warped soon enough.

"Ohohohohohohoho!!!"

Grace threw her head back and laughed like a madwoman.

"Ah, I hope this works out."

Eileitia — once an angel, now a demon — set a pair of black wings and a single cracked, faded halo atop a geometric array and muttered to herself.

"If the Goddess hadn't forbidden contact with the outer realms, I'd have a lot more material than this… but I suppose it can't be helped."

Ei decided to make do with what she had, disappointment and all. Then, abruptly, a wry smile tugged at her lips.

She forbade her underlings from contacting the outer realms — and yet she herself had regularly airlifted mercenaries from beyond, heroes and holy maidens, hadn't she?

Ei understood the reasoning. She knew full well that the outer realms might harbor beings capable of reducing this world to a handful of dust.

But she was a demon now. A demon who ignored the Goddess's commands and cared about nothing so long as it turned a profit.

And the outer realms weren't exclusively full of enemies, either. For every star in the sky there was a world, and every world had its own tastes. To Ei's eyes, that was a blue ocean pure and simple.

Her plan was simple. Use Azazel's wings and halo as a sacrifice to contact the outer realms — then sell Serena's adult videos on a hyperdimensional scale!

Hyperdimensional meant the profits would be staggering, and with that money she would set foot on the path of a true professional!

It was a perfect plan.

"All right — initiate!"

Snap!

Ei flicked her fingers and fired up the magic. The magic circle began consuming the wings and halo, radiating a deep red light.

"Pairing: unspecified mass audience. Signal: good. Nice — contact, video transmission, and power exchange should all be possible!"

A smile of pure rapture spread across Ei's face. But only for a moment. The next instant, the phenomenon unfolding before her made her expression freeze solid.

Tick. Ticktock!

"Ah, fuck."

Cracks spiderwebbed across the magic circle, and a curse tore from Ei's mouth.

Fail now and the losses would be catastrophic. Driven by that thought, Ei clung to the circle, desperate to secure even a single proper pairing — but against her wishes, the connections slipped through her fingers like sand.

"No, no—"

The path of the professional was receding. Her friend's sacrifice (forced) was scattering to nothing.

And as the number of connected pairings dropped into the single digits, Ei prayed with everything she had. Please, let this child — this adult video — see the light of day.

She prayed desperately. But even as she prayed, time kept flowing, and the pairings kept dwindling.

Then, in the instant the final connection was about to snap, time stopped.

"Huh?"

More precisely, time had not stopped. There was simply a magic that held the pairing steady, unchanging, as if time itself had frozen.

"Aaaah! Thank you! Thank you!"

Ei wept tears of gratitude toward a god whose name she did not even know.

"Ahh, Azazel. I'm going to be a pro."

Azazel, currently giving birth to a noble's pet tentacles in a tentacle pit, never heard a word of it.

"Hwoooooh♡ Hwoooooh♡"

Crackle-ZZZT!

Gush! Gush-gush-gush-gush♡

The recoil from the installation had triggered labor. The sensation of her guts being pulled out, the pleasure of a piece of herself achieving independence—

Serena threw her head back, tears and drool streaming down her face, and of course what was happening below went without saying — she was gushing on a spectacular scale.

Information surfaced in Serena's mind. If the heart and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lungs were functioning normally, the critical hurdle had been cleared.

"Hwaaaaaaagh!!"

Indeed, the Hero's body — face buried in Serena's sex — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠began breathing violently, a raw survival reflex clawing for oxygen.

And Serena, for her part, commenced reproductive activity.

"You goblins over there! Catch the baby!"

"Kekek!? Us?"

The goblins shot back in disbelief. And Serena, mid-labor, thought the matter through with perfect cold clarity.

Was it even possible to think calmly while giving birth? One might wonder — but Serena was a breeding genius. Trifling common sense like that was something a female of her caliber could brush aside without effort.

"You're right, your hands are pretty filthy."

How clean could cave-dwelling brats possibly be? You didn't need to look to know the answer.

"…Pwah! This System can receive them. However, for sanitation purposes, request authorization to use the Shop."

Serena startled at the sudden female voice rising from between her legs, but she quickly realized the speaker was the Hero — no, the Status Window.

"You can talk now, nngh♡?"

"Install 48%. Simple vocabulary and motor functions available."

"Whatever — once I biiirth♡♡ these things, the points'll come in, so spend however you want♡"

The moment Serena's permission dropped, the Status Window waved a hand through empty air. A water bucket and soap materialized in its grip. It washed its hands in a blur, then purchased clean towels and cloth and spread them across the floor.

That every one of these actions was performed with its nose still buried in Serena's crotch only further proved how exceptional the Status Window truly was.

"User. A large-area Holy Shield is required. Will be spraying disinfectant in an enclosed space, so…"

"Hrngggh♡ Can't hold it!!"

"Plan revised. Holy Shield will cover only this System, the user, and the offspring. Goblin young can endure harsh environments, so they are judged not to pose an obstacle during delivery. In other words: current conditions are acceptable. User — labor authorized."

"Holy Shieeeld!!!"

Fwoosh-sh-sh-sh♡♡♡

Crackle-ZZZT! Crackle-ZZZ-ZZZT!!!

The Holy Shield wrapped around the two of them — and then the amniotic flood surged harder, the shocks through her sex intensified, and the pleasure of a baby crowning threatened to buckle Serena's legs, which were barely holding her up in a bow-legged crouch. But she clenched down, endured, and birthed the first one.

"Hwoook♡ One!"

"Pulse, respiration normal. There should still be time before the next infant, so will focus on installation during this window…"

"Twoooo♡"

"…Will receive the next infant."

The Status Window had planned to invest the downtime after catching the first into the install process — only to find its tongue tied by Serena's terrifying fertility as she immediately pushed out the next, forcing it to catch baby after baby.

And once all four quadruplets had been delivered, the Status Window finally settled in to concentrate on the installation in earnest.

The Status Window had extracted from Serena a reasonably useful assortment of traits, skills, and genes for recovery.

…For the record, "Heat Instead of Menstruation" was purely a measure to conserve blood.

And the most important thing of all.

It had unlocked the shackle on this body that forced the investment of three hundred out of five hundred Divine Power points. With that, the Hero's body was as good as free — save for the ninety-one percent Breeding Womb progress rate.

"Hweeeeh! I'm exhausted, I'm so exhausted!"

"User. Partial signs of dehydration detected. Fluid replenishment recommended."

"Ah, thanks."

The Status Window handed Serena the water bucket with a little still left in it. She gulped it down greedily, then bought another cold water from the Status Window and drank that too.

After that she nursed the goblin pups one by one, and the Status Window likewise fed breast milk to the baby the Hero's body had borne.

"Oh, by the way — what about the skills the Hero had?"

"None whatsoever. Presumed evaporated over ten years of Breeding Womb life after defeat by Four Heavenly King Archlich Paul — combat and support skills alike. Only the traits and skills displayed via message after formatting the skill list at the cost of the user's DP remain."

"So as a warrior, she's a total newbie?"

"There will be losses during the physical recovery process, but stats above human level are projected. Possesses overwhelming HP. Proposal: recovery requires convalescence in a proper lodging, not a goblin den."

Serena pulled out a clean dagger and cut the umbilical cords as she deliberated.

Her lust had been more or less settled by the childbirth. A vacation in the goblin den was a little disappointing to give up, but the Hero's recovery had to come first.

"Can you walk for now? I'll heal you."

Serena's heal sank into the Status Window. Its complexion improved a little thanks to that, but it still felt insufficient to fill that enormous HP pool.

"Gratitude. Activity now possible. On-foot travel is feasi— WARNING! Massive volume of demonic energy approaching from the east!"

The Status Window's sudden alarm. And Serena, too, felt it instinctively — something foul was coming.

Screeeeeeeeeeech——!!!

Demonic energy swept over the two of them. The Holy Shield they had raised in advance let out a grotesque shriek and shattered to pieces.

"Ghk! Are you okay!?"

"Analysis. Collision between space-permeating demonic energy and Holy Shield confirmed. Complete mutual cancellation! Additionally — goblin mutation confirmed!"

The Status Window pointed at the goblins. Serena looked, and every last one of them was writhing as black, smoke-like demonic energy boiled up from their bodies.

"Ah. No Divine Power left."

"Combat and flight are both available options. Flight recommended."

"Can you run?"

"Affirmative. However, prolonged activity is impossible."

In other words, she could run for now.

Serena bought preserved rations in bulk, scattered them near the goblin pups, and fled the cave.

"Gyaaaaaagh! My cock!!!"

The cocks of the goblins exposed to the demonic energy had swollen dramatically larger than before — and in the wake of the energy's sweep, monsters and demonkin showing the same symptoms were everywhere.