Waking up felt strange. For a moment, I couldn't tell if the muffled roaring I heard was the storm outside the cave or just the echo of it inside my head. The first thing I realized was that the cave ceiling was no longer above us.
We were moving.
More specifically, he was moving, and since I was connected to him, I was drifting along beside him like a lazy balloon caught on an invisible string. I saw Veneri's limp self being carried in someone's arms. My first, very reasonable thought was that a Krepsuna had somehow found us, dragged him out and was now hauling him off like some kind of prize.
I spun around in midair, trying to get a better look at the figure holding him, already preparing myself to start yelling at him to wake up. But the moment my gaze settled on the one carrying him, the panic just faded away.
It wasn't a Krepsuna. It was a woman and not just any woman, either.
She was at least seven meters tall and was carrying Veneri—who, for all his strength, still had a fairly solid build—like he weighed nothing more than a baby bundled in blankets.
Her body was not made of ordinary flesh. It looked like the night sky itself had taken the shape of a woman. Nebulas swirled beneath her skin that shimmered with every step she took. Her hair flowed behind her and was covered with more stars than I had ever seen in one place. Where I expected to see the usual radiant blue glow of her eyes that signified her affinity with space, there were instead two miniature black holes. There were literal, swirling singularities where her irises should have been.
Each step she took left a footprint in the snow that didn't look like an ordinary indentation. For a brief second after her foot lifted, the ground beneath shimmered with a thin layer of star-filled void. Her armor was darker than the night sky that made up her body. It clung to her form in a way that left very little to the imagination. Plates of cosmic metal covered her torso, arms and legs, but it still did nothing to hide the elegance and curves of her figure. Draped over her shoulders was a simple gray cape that fluttered lazily behind her. Honestly, that's the only part of her that looked remotely ordinary.
I didn't need more than a second to realize who it was.
I heard about her Divine Transformation before. It was practically a myth among Divines because she almost never used it. The only confirmed time she had ever unleashed it was when she fought the Frozen God, and he hadn't lived long enough to describe it in detail afterwards.
Veneri stirred in her arms as he slowly came back to consciousness. His eyes fluttered open and went very still when he understood what was holding him. He tilted his head back slightly to look up at her face.
"Nari?"
She glanced down at him. Her lips pulled into a wide grin, and she let out a soft, melodic laugh that sounded far too cheerful for someone strolling through one of the deadliest realms in the Hidden Citadel.
"So you're finally awake. And here I thought you'd sleep through your own rescue."
Veneri blinked at her, still trying to process what he was seeing.
"You… you're in your Divine Transformation."
"I am. You've actually never seen it before, have you?"
"No. I haven't."
I hovered beside them, equally stunned. I have seen a lot of ridiculous, awe-inspiring forms in my time connected to him, but this was on a completely different level.
"I hardly ever use this form. It's a bit overkill most of the time. I'm already too powerful without it."
Her tone was so nonchalant that I almost laughed. Of course she would say something like that.
"But, I sensed you using the Sapphire Bond. That's not something you do unless you're in real trouble. So I figured I'd come prepared."
Veneri's lips parted slightly, and then a faint, tired smile crept onto his face.
"You look… beautiful."
There was no hesitation in his voice. He said it the same way he would state a simple fact. Narisva's grin widened and she let out another soft laugh.
"I know."
I actually choked on my own nonexistent breath at that.
"After all, I am the most powerful and beautiful Divine of the Third Generation."
Veneri let out a weak huff of amusement, clearly too tired to even argue with her arrogance.
"You haven't changed."
"Why would I? Perfection doesn't need improvement."
I drifted closer to Veneri's shoulder, lowering my voice even though only he could hear me.
"She's insufferable."
He almost smiled.
Narisva's gaze shifted to my side. I had the distinct feeling she was aware of me even if she couldn't see me directly in this state. Her attention returned to Veneri, and her expression softened.
"Now, you have a lot of explaining to do. Your prosthetic arms, your power, and that's not even mentioning why you're missing several Divinities."
Veneri sighed as his head fell back slightly in her hold.
"That's great and all, and I'll be happy to explain every single bad decision that led to this. But can I ask a question first?"
"You just did."
He rolled his eyes weakly.
"Where are we going?"
She slowed her pace slightly, turning her head to glance toward the distant horizon where the storm was beginning to thin.
"Dynasty Starisnova. Now that you're here and—miraculously—still alive, we need to discuss what happens next. Things have… changed since we last talked."
"I had a feeling you were going to say that."
"Of course you did. You're not completely stupid."
Nari didn't slow down even as the blizzard began to thin around us. Instead, she lifted her gaze slightly. I felt the faint shift in her Spatial Energy before I even realized what she was about to do.
Nari's Sight Teleportation activates by looking onto a visible location and folding space between the user and that point, effectively turning distance into a non-factor. It's the most efficient long-range mobility techniques she has.
The space in front of her rippled like a disturbed reflection in water. Stars and darkness warped together for a fraction of a second, and then everything snapped sideways. Half a minute later, we were standing in the middle of a quiet, warm bedroom.
The contrast hit me so hard it almost felt disorienting. Instead of howling wind and biting cold, there was soft ambient lighting and a faint scent of something floral and expensive lingering in the air. The room was massive too.
Nari took a few steps forward before gently lowering Veneri onto the floor. The moment his feet touched solid ground, her Divine Transformation vanished. Her towering seven-meter frame shrunk smoothly back down to her usual height. The black hole irises in her eyes collapsed back into their familiar radiant space starry blue glow.
She barely gave him a second to steady himself before she suddenly lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug with far more force than necessary.
"I missed you so much."
"Narisva—ow."
She froze, immediately loosening her grip but not letting go entirely.
"Oh. Right. You're injured. Sorry."
He let out a small, tired laugh and gently patted her back.
"It's fine. I missed you too."
For a moment, they just stood there like that, holding onto each other in the quiet warmth of the room. I hovered a few steps away, watching the way her usual confident, teasing demeanor had melted into something more open and emotional. She really was more expressive than before. The old Narisva would have masked this kind of vulnerability behind sarcasm or smug comments. Also, she rarely shows this side.
She pulled back, studying his face as if making sure he was actually real. Then she sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"You look terrible."
"Thanks."
"No I mean it. You should take a shower. You smell like two days of blood and snow."
He glanced down at himself and grimaced. .
"I can do that on my own, you know—"
"No."
"No?"
"No," she repeated, grabbing his wrist and already starting to drag him toward a side door. "You're weak, you're injured, and I don't trust you not to pass out in the shower and crack your head open. I'm helping."
I followed along automatically as she practically hauled him into an absurdly spacious bathroom. Fortunately for me, she still couldn't see me in this state, which meant I could watch the entire situation unfold without being acknowledged, which was both amusing and slightly awkward.
"Seriously, I can stand—"
"And I seriously don't care. You almost died, disappeared and came back missing Divinities and limbs. You don't get to argue with me about basic hygiene."
He looked like he was about to continue arguing, then sighed in defeat.
"You've gotten bossier."
"I've gotten more worried. We leave you in the Hidden Citadel and you have no arms. Why do you always lose some of your body parts when you're always with Asenane?"
The entire process took about thirty minutes. She helped him rinse off the dried blood, carefully washing around the areas where his body was still reconstructing tissue. He was clearly embarrassed at first, trying to insist he could do parts of it himself, but his exhaustion and her stubbornness eventually won out.
I hovered near the ceiling, occasionally turning away out of habit even though modesty didn't technically apply to me in this form. Still, it felt oddly intimate to watch someone you care about being taken care of like that.
Once he was clean, she handed him a fresh set of clothes that looked far more comfortable than the what he's been wearing. She helped him get dressed, adjusting the collar and smoothing out wrinkles as if she was trying to convince herself that this was normal. When they finally stepped back into the bedroom, he looked significantly more like himself.
"That's better."
He flexed his prosthetic fingers experimentally and nodded.
"Yeah. It is."
Her expression turned serious again, and she gestured for him to sit on the edge of the bed.
"Use Memory Implantation on me. I need to understand what actually happened."
In case you forgot, Reader From Behind The Curtains, Memory Implantation allows him to directly transfer recorded memories into another's mind, bypassing the need for lengthy explanations and ensuring no details are lost or misinterpreted.
He hesitated only briefly before placing a hand against her temple. A faint shimmer of energy passed between them. His recent memories—everything from the Central Station, the Sinking Void to Convergence—flowed into her consciousness.
I watched her face carefully as she absorbed it all. Her confident composure cracked and her eyes widening slightly at certain moments when she saw how close he had come to dying. When the transfer ended, she exhaled slowly and rubbed her forehead.
"The Sinking Void? How did it feel when you almost died there?"
He leaned back slightly, staring at the ceiling as he considered the question.
"Not pleasant. It felt like being erased piece by piece. But I'm alright now."
She looked at him for a few seconds. Then she shook her head in disbelief.
"You really went through all of that again and you're still here, acting like it was just another bad day."
He gave a small, tired smile. "It kind of was."
"And Elyonari is a Fifth Enlightenment Divine now. That woman doesn't know how to stay behind, does she?"
The next moment, she stepped forward and hugged him again, this time far more gently. She rested her head against his shoulder. Her arms wrapped around him in a careful but firm embrace.
"Relax for now. You're safe here. I won't let anyone hurt you."
He closed his eyes for a moment as he leaned into the hug.
"I'd like that."
She pulled back reluctantly, though her hands lingered on his shoulders.
"As much as I want to spend the whole day talking and catching up, I still have responsibilities. There have been cases of Infected Krepsunas slipping through the barriers. On the bright side, you still have your Soul Vision. That should make tracking them much easier than before. Want to come? You already had your rest and it's nice to talk and walk with you again. Please?"
Soul Vision helps to perceive the presence and condition of souls, making it incredibly effective for detecting infected entities whose souls have been warped by the K-Virus. Even if a Krepsuna hides its physical form, its corrupted soul is difficult to conceal from someone with Soul Vision.
He rolled his shoulders and let out a resigned breath.
"Well, it's definitely better than running from Forgotten Rank Krepsunas in a blizzard."
"That's the spirit."