After performing the miracle, Deneb quietly collapsed, as if she had exhausted all her divine power.

The dwarves treated Deneb and Julien as if they were messengers of the gods.

They carefully lifted the two and escorted them into the most sacred chamber within the royal fortress.

Covered in the dust of battle, the Dwarf King Grondal stood before the fortress and shouted loudly.

“Dwarves! We have survived! We have defended Vallscrum! And all of this is thanks to the goddess watching over us and sending us the Saintess!”

His voice filled the surroundings like the beat of a drum shaking the earth.

“The miracle of the Saintess saved us, and her courage and sacrifice cleansed this battlefield! Today! Every living dwarf on this land must remember!”

“The Saintess is not merely human! She is the light itself, carrying the will of the goddess! That we were allowed to serve the Saintess is proof that the goddess has not abandoned us to the end! We have triumphed together with the Saintess!”

“Uwoaaaaaaah!”

The dwarves all raised their weapons high [N O V E L I G H T] and roared.

They too now knew exactly whose divine power had saved them.

“The Saintess is with us!”

“We are children of the goddess too! Glory to the goddess!”

“The song imbued with divinity purifies the world!”

They grabbed each other’s shoulders and shouted. Everyone cheered joyfully like children.

Soon, all the dwarves knelt in front of the royal fortress.

Raising both hands toward the sky, they offered worship to the goddess and the Saintess.

It was a truly majestic and reverent sight.

Their hands were stained with blood, yet with those hands they beat their chests and swore.

“We shall follow the Saintess!”

“We shall engrave her will upon the hearts of dwarves!”

“With hammers carved with the names of the goddess and the Saintess, we shall never again permit the darkness!”

Ghislain, who had returned carrying Kyle on his back, smiled as he watched the scene.

The fact that the dwarves had officially recognized and pledged to follow the Saintess would surely become a great strength in the journey ahead.

Soon, mercenaries gathered around Ghislain.

Having fought alongside the dwarves, their armor was caked in dust, and the blood pooled on their blades had dried without being wiped.

Their eyes clearly showed fatigue, but relief spread across their faces.

“Deputy Commander!”

“Is Kyle okay?”

“Damn it, what the hell’s with doing something out of character like that?!”

Each of them said something—part concern, part scolding. Ghislain answered with a smile.

“He’s fine. He made it through the worst. And now, Kyle has reached the realm of the superhuman too.”

“Uwoaaaaah!”

The mercenaries cheered. Julien and Deneb had awakened, and now even Kyle had awakened!

Unbelievable things were happening one after another. It was truly astonishing, and joyful.

Of course, not everyone was happy.

“Damn it! Why is it just the big brothers and sisters who get to awaken! When is it going to be my turn?!”

As always, Osvald grumbled and complained. He looked seriously pissed off.

“It’s so unfair! If your face is good, shouldn’t you at least be bad at fighting? If we’re just going by looks, I should be the best fighter here!”

He wasn’t entirely wrong. Ghislain had no choice but to nod at his words.

But Osvald’s weakness wasn’t because of his face. It was just that he hadn’t trained enough.

So Ghislain said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you reach the superhuman realm soon too.”

“I’m sorry. Please pretend I didn’t hear that.”

Osvald recoiled in horror and ran away, but Ghislain was serious. He truly planned to do it. If he tormented them just a little more, he felt like each one of them would reach the next stage.

After all, weren’t they gaining more experience than anyone else right now? This nonstop combat experience would definitely help them immensely.

Soon, Ereneth and Lionel also approached Ghislain.

Without saying anything, Ereneth summoned a water spirit. She wiped Kyle’s body clean and helped him relax.

Seeing that, Ghislain made an amused expression.

‘She really is different from the future. Subtly warm, and actually paying attention to her companions.’

The Ereneth of the future had been cold and unapproachable.

Of course, that was only her surface—she was never one to turn her back on those in need. But it was rare to see her express emotion this openly and tend to those around her.

Lionel stood silently with a complicated expression.

Ghislain knew exactly why.

‘He must be incredibly conflicted right now. After all, a true Saintess appeared out of nowhere.’

Now that he had witnessed the miracle of the gods with his own eyes, there could be no doubt left about the Saintess. In fact, any believer of the Church would be expected to kneel and worship her.

To take the Sacred Stone from such a Saintess would be unthinkable.

But Lionel, having come on the Pope’s orders, had no choice but to secure the Sacred Stone and present it to the Pope.

Unable to go forward or back—of course his expression would be complicated.

The dwarves’ worship wasn’t directed only at the Saintess. Soon, Grondal pointed to Ghislain and his companions and shouted.

“Dwarves! Hear me! Who are these people? They are the ones who led the Saintess to us! Their name is the Julien Mercenary Corps! They fought alongside us and bought us the time we needed to fight!”

“Etch their names! Their courage! Into the history of Vallscrum! Their glory shall never fade from the hearts of dwarves!”

“Uwoaaaaah!”

The dwarves raised their weapons again and roared in unison.

Quite a few among them already knew about the Julien Mercenary Corps.

They were the ones who had managed to evacuate, thanks to that very group.

And because they had guided other residents to safety along the way, many dwarf warriors had been able to gather swiftly at the royal fortress.

“Julien Mercenary Corps!”

“You’re the real heroes!”

“We won’t forget you!”

Amid the thunderous cheers, the name of the Julien Mercenary Corps echoed like a chant.

Soon, Grondal approached Ghislain. Unlike usual, he wore a gentle, warm smile.

“This one is Kyle, yes? I heard the stories. They say he saved the future of Vallscrum.”

“That’s right. He’s an amazing young man.”

“I will never forget the name Kyle. His great deeds will be carved into the history of Vallscrum for sure.”

“Thank you. I’m sure he’ll be very happy to hear that.”

Ghislain smiled, as if genuinely amused.

Kyle had always wanted to gain fame. He liked things that were cool and flashy. So if he were to hear that his name would be carved into Vallscrum, he would be truly happy.

Receiving the dwarves’ praise, Ghislain and his group were led inside the royal fortress.

Grondal immediately guided them toward the deepest and most important place within the fortress.

As they descended deep underground along a staircase intricately carved from stone and metal, a massive metal door revealed itself.

Opening the door, Grondal spoke.

“This can truly be called the heart of Vallscrum.”

Fwoooosh!

Beneath the fortress lay a vast, enormous space. There stood an ancient, colossal brazier passed down since antiquity.

The brazier pulsed like a living heart, spewing flames.

Within the bluish flames, golden and crimson light intertwined and flared upward, and the rising heat brought a reverence that seemed to envelop the soul.

A strange vibration echoed through the entire space.

Even the crackling of the fire sounded like a sacred prayer.

This fire had not gone out even once in thousands of years.

The dwarves did not regard it as a mere flame, but as their divine essence, their tradition, and the source of their life.

Standing before the brazier, Grondal spoke quietly.

“This is... the Eternal Brazier. The most sacred artifact we possess, and the flame that holds our conviction.”

The dwarves’ flame was a symbol of deep faith, as ancient as the World Tree of the elves.

Staring into the burning fire, Grondal continued.

“As promised, I shall now hand over our Guardian Stone to you.”

Grondal slowly reached out his hand toward the flames. Suddenly, the previously calm fire began to whirl violently.

Fwoooosh!

The flames split into two, revealing the inside.

And at the center—

A single crimson gem, radiating brilliant light, slowly rose upward.

“Wow...”

Everyone let out a gasp of admiration.

The scene overlapped with the image of Iralniel extracting the Sacred Stone from the World Tree.

Though of different races, their reverence toward divinity was no different.

Grondal grasped the gem and spoke proudly.

“Only the representative of a race acknowledged by the Origin can draw the Guardian Stone from the Eternal Brazier.”

Tilting his head, Ghislain asked.

“What does it mean to be acknowledged by the Origin?”

“The Origin is what preserves the identity of a race. For the elves, it is the World Tree. For the dwarves, it is the Eternal Brazier.”

“Do humans and dragons have something like that as well?”

“Of course. For humans, it is the Holy Grail. For dragons, it is the Primordial Heart.”

“...”

It was Ghislain’s first time hearing about this. The others also looked intrigued.

But there was one thing he could deduce. The Holy Grail was probably in the possession of the Pope.

After all, the Pope of the Holy Empire represented all of humanity.

At that moment, another question arose.

“How is the representative acknowledged by the Origin determined? Is there some kind of test?”

“I don’t know.”

“...Excuse me?”

“I just naturally came to understand when I became king. It’s probably the same for other races. The Elf High Chief, the Pope, the Dragon Lord... they’re likely no different from me.”

“So they just naturally know?”

“Yes. The sacred artifact itself acknowledges each race’s representative. That’s what makes it sacred. I believe some force beyond our understanding is at work.”

“Then what if someone else claims to be the representative after gaining popular support?”

Grondal scoffed and crossed his arms.

“Well? We dwarves don’t have any of those arrogant bastards, so I wouldn’t know. But humans... yeah, I suppose there’s bound to be a few like that in history.”

“Probably?”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like something you can just force. You’d probably need to go through proper procedures. Still, if everyone sincerely acknowledged someone new as the representative... it might be possible.”

“Hmm...”

Ghislain nodded. These were sacred relics passed down since ancient times. There likely were rules, but no one knew exactly how they worked.

And truthfully, there was no need to know in detail.

What mattered was collecting the Sacred Stones so Deneb could attain her full power.

Still, he did plan to look into what happened to each race’s sacred relics in the future.

‘The World Tree... judging from Ereneth, it seems to be hidden somewhere... The rest might be the same.’

Who knew what would happen if he found them? If given the chance, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to search.

And perhaps staying here would also reveal more about the relics.

Grondal didn’t hand over the Sacred Stone just as it was.

“It wouldn’t be convenient to carry around like this, would it? Since the Saintess will be the one using it anyway, I’ll give you something she can carry it with easily.”

Grondal ordered a dwarf nearby to fetch a bracelet. Like the necklace, it had a small attachment built into it.

Click.

As Grondal brought the Sacred Stone close, it fit perfectly into the attachment.

It worked the same way as the necklace Iralniel had given them. Unable to suppress his curiosity, Ghislain asked.

“Is that... a bracelet made specifically to house the Sacred Stone?”

“That’s right. It’s the same as the necklace the Saintess is wearing. It’s an heirloom passed down to us from long ago.”

“Hmm...”

That bracelet was likely one of the sacred relics of the future Saintess.

It was possible that the artifact Gatros had possessed was that bracelet.

Though Ghislain hadn’t seen it clearly, the divine power protecting Gatros back then had seemed to radiate from his wrist.

Looking at the bracelet, Ghislain furrowed his brows slightly.

A necklace, a bracelet... chances were, the next one would be a piece of jewelry too.

‘...How curious.’

It was as if everything had been crafted to fit onto a single person’s body, covering different parts.

Almost as though someone had arranged for the future Saintess to collect and wear all of them.

There was no way to know the truth. But the fact that they had all taken the form of accessories couldn’t be mere coincidence.

As he was lost in thought, Grondal suddenly spoke with a more serious tone.

“When the Saintess awakens, I’ll hand the bracelet to her myself. By the way, there’s something I want to confirm with you...”

“What is it?”

Grondal looked at ‘Gramdir’, hanging from Ghislain’s waist, and asked.

“That sword is a treasure of our royal family. It was stored in a deep vault within the fortress. How is it that you’re in possession of it?”

Grondal’s gaze sharpened. His expression clearly demanded an explanation.

And it was reasonable. After all, it was the same as having stolen a royal treasure from the dwarven fortress.

“Hm, I see.”

Ghislain kept a calm expression and unfastened Gramdir from his waist.

Everyone’s attention focused on him.

The mercenaries wore sympathetic expressions.

‘Ah, no wonder the sword looked too good to be true.’

‘So it was stolen by some dwarf thief. Tsk, since it was won in a shady bet, I guess we’ll have to return it.’

‘If it belongs to someone else, we have no choice. We’ve never stolen anything that wasn’t ours.’

That’s what they all thought. Since they’d obtained stolen goods, they figured they’d return it and maybe get some compensation.

There was no need to make an enemy of the Dwarf King, especially after receiving the Sacred Stone.

Grondal also extended his hand, thinking Ghislain was about to return Gramdir.

But then—

Fwaash!

Ghislain instantly opened his subspace and tossed Gramdir inside.

“...”

Grondal stared at him, dumbfounded. So did everyone else.

But Ghislain confidently puffed out his chest and said.

“This belongs to me.”

“...”

Grondal had the distinct feeling that retrieving that sword again was going to be very, very difficult.