"It's ordinary..."

Beliar quietly gazed at the entrance of the large cave.

The cave appeared very ordinary. It was just very large, with no sacred aura emanating from it. If she hadn't known that Jörmungandr resided here, she would have passed by without noticing.

"Is that what they intended?"

That might very well be the case.

She didn't know how many people in this world could see divinity, but it couldn't be said there were none. Beings called gods might attract a lot of attention.

In that sense, this cave was perfect for living quietly.

Even a being called a god might need their own space.

"Let's go in."

At her words, the holy knights followed.

Beliar stepped into the cave, carrying a subtle tension about meeting a divine being for the first time.

And at that moment...

"......!!"

Her senses shifted.

It was an unfamiliar sensation.

Her senses had been taken away long ago, and it had been a long time since.

But what she felt just now was indeed a sensation.

It was as if... she had passed through a wall made of transparent water. Suddenly, the saintess turned around. And there was just a large wall standing there.

"...Space transfer?"

And so swiftly?

The saintess looked around, bewildered by the situation she was experiencing for the first time. The cave, which had appeared ordinary until a moment ago, seemed a little different now.

A blue aura clung to the cave walls, emitting a subtle glow, and plants she had never seen before lined the cave walls like beacons, illuminating the dark interior.

It was a very mysterious sight.

Beliar was so mesmerized by the scene that she forgot she was alone.

It was such a mesmerizing sight.

Beliar unconsciously clenched her fist, then suddenly recoiled in pain.

"Ouch!"

And then belatedly,

"......Ah?"

Her eyes widened at the sensation she felt from herself.

She hurriedly looked at her hand.

There was a scar she hadn't noticed before. A wound from gripping her fist tightly. Beliar, who was staring at the wound where the bleeding seemed to have stopped, gently brushed her finger over it.

Tingling, tingling!

"...It hurts."

A sensation felt for the first time.

The saintess's eyes widened as she dumbly touched her hand.

It was unlike the previous state where she felt nothing. She could vividly feel the smooth skin brushing against her hand and the joints making up her hand.

"...Uh."

It was only then that she could feel the pain penetrating her entire body.

The scars she had carved every night before sleeping.

The body that once felt nothing was now gone.

Now, all she felt was the intense pain coursing through her body.

The scars hurt as they rubbed against her clothes.

It hurt so much and stung so badly, it felt like being burned by fire, a dull ache that relentlessly provoked her entire body.

And this pain...

"...Ugh! Uh... Hic... Hoo..."

Drip, drip.

Was so welcome.

"Ngh... It hurts...! I'm... I feel pain... Huaah!"

The saintess cried.

For the first time in her life, she sobbed without caring who might see.

She was so thankful for the pain she felt from her body.

Squeeze!

The saintess hugged herself tightly instead.

"......!!"

An overwhelming pain that seemed to burn her brain.

Her hands that hugged her body trembled, and her whole body screamed in pain, but it didn't matter.

The feeling of 'sensation' was so delightful that she couldn't stop despite the pain hammering her mind.

"S-sense... Sensation..."

Tears flowed down her cheeks, following the contours of her eyes. The saintess genuinely realized she was crying from the sensation of tears on her cheeks. Before, even when she cried, she couldn't feel the tears flowing; there was only the feeling that tears were falling.

The sensation of tears flowing down her cheeks.

The cool breeze blowing from somewhere.

The vibrations of her own cries echoing through the cave felt so new and refreshing.

"Ah, aah..."

Beliar lifted her hand to her head, touching her hair absentmindedly.

Then her face, neck, arms, and legs.

She carefully touched her entire body, imprinting the sensations in her mind.

So this is my body.

This is how I feel.

All these sensations were so joyful and new.

The saintess tried for a long time to absorb the sensations from her surroundings.

"Rough..."

The cave floor felt rough.

Though it was a feeling she experienced for the first time, she instinctively realized that this was the rough sensation.

The next thing she touched was grass, which was soft. When she scooped water from a small pond at her feet, the water trickling between her fingers tickled, making her giggle.

Everything was fascinating.

It was comforting and warm to realize that there were so many sensations in the world.

As she gently petted the colorful fish gathered around her fingers, she remembered how she had come to be there and quickly stood up.

"Jörmungandr!"

She had come here to meet him.

And as she crossed the cave, she realized she had been transferred to another space——

"——I’ve regained my senses..."

She must meet Jörmungandr.

Nothing else mattered.

She had to ask how he had restored her senses...

[Are you looking for me?]

"......!!"

Beliar turned around.

There was a snake.

A dark serpent with a length of hundreds of meters and endlessly blue and mysterious eyes.

He had been there all along, quietly watching her with his blue eyes.

Gulp.

The saintess swallowed.

The sensation was so new that she felt like crying again, but she suppressed it and looked at the giant serpent.

'......'

Overwhelming.

That was the first thought that came to her upon seeing Jörmungandr.

An enormous amount of pure divinity swirled around him, incomparable to any other being. Although he was visibly trying to contain it, the authority she had obtained as a saintess allowed her to see things others couldn’t.

It wasn’t the first time she had seen divinity.

She could always see the divinity surrounding her body, and there were other heroes who sometimes possessed divinity.

But.

'...That amount and quality are overwhelming.'

The quantity and quality were on a different level.

The divinity he concealed was overwhelming and powerful enough to fill this enormous cave. Did that mean the quality of his divinity was lacking? That wasn't the case either. In fact, the divinity he possessed was purer and nobler than anything she had ever seen.

"Could it be... are you Jörmungandr?"

She knew it was a foolish question.

If such a being with overwhelming divinity wasn’t Jörmungandr, who else could be Jörmungandr?

As expected, he nodded calmly.

[Yes.]

A voice that echoed through the cave.

It was an overwhelming feeling that made each of her cells tremble. But she forced herself to speak. She still had something she wanted to confirm.

"Then... were you the one who restored my senses?"

His blue eyes calmly fixed on her.

The saintess waited silently for his answer.

If he had indeed restored her senses, what should she do?

A brief silence.

Even in that momentary silence, the saintess's heart pounded as if it would burst.

[You could say that.]

At those words, the saintess couldn’t hide her joy.

Her eyes filled with delight.

It had been 17 years.

That was how long she had lived helplessly without her senses.

And during those years.

She had tried everything she could to regain her lost senses.

She tried healing her body and consuming legendary herbs said to cure all wounds and incurable diseases.

But nothing changed.

Her body still felt nothing, and she thought she would have to live her life in that numbness.

But she was wrong.

For some reason, Jörmungandr had cured her incurable condition.

She was about to look at him with eyes full of reverence when.

[However, it is not permanent.]

"…I thought so."

She hadn't had high hopes.

No matter how divine a being was, it was still a god.

The sense was taken by the goddess known as the First and Creator God.

Even a god would find it challenging to restore that sense.

"Then, is there a way to cure it?"

But she held onto hope.

She didn’t know how, but he had temporarily restored her senses.

If there was a way.

She intended to do whatever it took.

Even if it meant selling her soul.

As long as she could regain her lost senses.

The saintess didn’t care if he tortured her or took her soul.

She just wanted to regain her senses.

[In truth, I have not found a complete way for you to regain your senses.]

"Ah..."

[However, if you stay by my side, my power can sever the negative divinity connected to you.]

The eyes that had lost hope regained their vitality.

"Is that truly all there is to it?"

[Yes. If you stay by my side, you can temporarily regain your senses... What are you doing?]

Jörmungandr looked at the saintess, who had suddenly clung to him, with a bewildered expression.

Despite his confusion, the saintess stuck to Jörmungandr and showed no intention of letting go.

"Will you live with me?"

The saintess's eyes sparkled.