Deneb, who had performed a miracle, fell silently as if she had exhausted all her divine power.
The dwarves treated Deneb and Yulien as if they were messengers of the gods.
They respectfully lifted the two of them up and carried them to the most precious space in the castle.
The dwarf king, Grondal, who was covered in the dust of the battlefield, stood in front of the castle and shouted loudly.
"Dwarves! We survived! We protected Valskrum! And all of this is thanks to the goddess looking down on us and sending us the saint!"
His voice filled the surroundings like the sound of drums rumbling through the ground.
"The saint's miracle saved us, and her courage and sacrifice purified this battlefield! Today! Remember, all dwarves living on this land!"
"The saint is not just a human! She is the light itself that contains the will of the goddess! The fact that we serve the saint is proof that the goddess has not given up on us until the end! We have won together with the saint!"
"Wow!"
The dwarves raised their weapons to the sky and shouted.
They now knew who the great divine power was thanks to.
"The saint is with us!"
"We are also descendants of the goddess! Glory to the goddess!"
"Songs that contain divinity purify the world!"
They grabbed each other's shoulders and shouted. Everyone cheered and rejoiced like children.
Soon, all the dwarves knelt before the palace.
They raised their hands toward the sky and worshipped the goddess and the saint.
The sight was truly majestic and sacred.
Their hands were stained with blood, but they beat their chests and swore.
"We will follow the saint!"
"We will engrave her will on the hearts of the dwarves!"
"We will hold the hammer with the names of the goddess and the saint carved into it and never allow darkness again!"
Giselle, who had returned carrying Kyle, smiled at the sight.
The fact that the dwarves officially recognized the saint and decided to follow her would certainly be a great help on their future journey.
Soon, mercenaries gathered around Giselle.
His armor was covered in dust as he was with the dwarves, and the blood on his sword blade had dried and dried.
His eyes were clearly tired, but his face was filled with a smile of relief.
"Vice-Captain, hyung!"
"Is Kyle okay?"
"Why are you doing something you've never done before?"
Everyone spoke half worriedly, half reprimanding. Giselle smiled and answered.
"I'm okay. I've overcome the crisis. And now, Kyle has reached the level of a superman."
"Wow!"
The mercenaries cheered. Yulien and Deneve had awakened, and now Kyle has awakened too!
Unbelievable things were happening. It was truly surprising and joyful.
Of course, not everyone was happy.
"Damn it! Why are only my hyung and sisters awakening! When am I going to do it!"
Osval grumbled as usual. He looked very angry.
"It's so unfair! If you have a pretty face, shouldn't you be able to fight? If you look at my face, I look like I'm the best at fighting!"
He was indeed right. Giselle had no choice but to nod in agreement with his words.
However, Osval's weakness wasn't due to his face. It was simply because he had not trained enough.
So Giselle said,
"Don't worry. I'll make you a superhuman quickly."
"I'm sorry. Please pretend I didn't hear that."
Osval ran away in shock, but Giselle really thought so. It seemed like if they all teased him a little more, their realms would go up a level.
Aren't they having a greater experience than anyone else right now? This experience of fighting without stopping would definitely be a great help.
Soon, Erenes and Lionel also approached Giselle.
Erenes summoned the water spirit without saying anything. He cleaned Kyle's body and helped him calm down.
Giselle made an amused expression as she watched him.
'It's really different from the future. 'He 's secretly affectionate and cares a lot for his colleagues.'
The future Erenes was a cold and stubborn person who was not easy to approach.
Of course, he only looked cold on the outside, and he was not the type of person to ignore those in need. However, it was rare to see him so honestly express his emotions and look around him.
Lionel stood there with a complicated expression without saying much.
Giselle knew the reason all too well.
'You must be really confused right now, right? An unexpected true saint has appeared.'
After seeing the miracle of God with their own eyes, no one would doubt the saint. No, any believer in the church would have to kneel and worship.
It was unimaginable to take the holy stone away from such a saint.
But Lionel, who followed the Pope's orders, must somehow secure the stone and present it to the Pope.
Since he is in a situation where he can't do anything, he must have such a complicated expression.
The dwarves' worship was not only directed toward the saintess. Soon, Grondal shouted while pointing at Giselle and the group.
"Dwarves! Listen! Who are they? They are the ones who led the saintess to us! Their name is the Julien Mercenaries! They fought alongside us and bought us time to fight!"
"Their names! Their courage! Engrave them in the history of Valscrum! Their glory will not fade from the hearts of the dwarves!"
"Wow!"
The dwarves raised their weapons all at once and shouted again.
Quite a few of them knew about the Julien Mercenaries.
They were the ones who had escaped thanks to the Julien Mercenaries.
Because they evaded and led the residents of other residential areas, many dwarven warriors were able to quickly gather in the castle.
"Julian Mercenaries!"
"You are the true heroes!"
"I will not forget you!"
The name of the Julian Mercenaries echoed amidst the grand cheers.
Soon, Grondal approached Giselle. He had a gentle and warm smile on his face, unlike usual.
"Is this Kyle? You heard my story. You protected the future of our Valskrum, didn't you?"
"Yes. He is a very wonderful friend."
"I will never forget the name Kyle. I will make sure that his great achievements are engraved in Valskrum."
"Thank you. He will be very happy."
Giselle smiled happily.
Kyle always wanted to gain fame. He likes cool and flashy things.
So he would be very happy to hear that his name is engraved in Valskrum.
Giselle and her party were guided into the castle while receiving the dwarves' praise.
Grondal immediately led them to the deepest and most important part of the castle.
They descended deep underground along elaborately crafted stone and metal stairs, and a huge metal door came into view.
Grondal opened the door and said,
"This is the true heart of Valskrum."
Paaaaah!
There was a very wide and huge space in the castle's basement. There was a huge brazier that had been there since ancient times.
The brazier literally spurted out flames like a living heart.
Gold and red lights intersected in the bluish flames, and the heat rising above them gave a sense of awe that seemed to cover even the soul.
A strange vibration resonated throughout the space.
Even the crackling sound of the flames sounded like a sacred prayer.
This fire had never been extinguished for thousands of years.
The dwarves considered this not just a simple fire, but the source of their divinity, tradition, and life.
Grondal stood in front of the brazier and spoke quietly.
"This is… the Eternal Brazier. It is the most sacred object we hold dear, the flame that contains our beliefs."
The dwarves' flame was a symbol of deep faith, as old as the elves' World Tree.
Grondal continued, looking at the burning flame.
"As promised, I will give you our guardian stone."
Grondal slowly extended his hand toward the flame. Then, the calm flame suddenly swirled violently.
Paaaaaaa!
The flame split into two, revealing its insides.
And from its center,
a single red jewel radiating brilliant light slowly rose.
"Wow…."
Everyone exclaimed in awe.
That scene overlapped with Iraniel taking out the holy stone from the World Tree.
Although they were of different races, their awe for the divine was the same.
Grondal spoke proudly as he held the gem.
"Only a representative of a race recognized by the Source can take out the guardian stone from this Eternal Brazier."
Jisel tilted her head and asked.
"What is the recognition of the origin?"
"The origin is something that preserves the identity of a race. For elves, it is the World Tree, and for dwarves, it is the Eternal Brazier."
"Do humans and dragons have that?"
"Yes, they do. For humans, there is the Holy Grail. For dragons, there is the Heart of Creation."
"...."
It was the first time Giselle had heard of this. The other party members also looked curious.
Still, they were able to infer one thing. The Holy Grail would probably be held by the Pope.
After all, the Pope of the Holy Empire represented all of humanity.
At that moment, another question occurred to her.
"How is the representative who receives the recognition of the origin determined? Is there some kind of test?"
"I don't know."
"...Huh?"
"I just found out naturally when I became king. I think it's the same for other races. The elven chieftain, the pope, the dragon lord… they were all no different from me."
"You just find out?"
"Yes, the divine water recognizes the representative of each race. So it must be the divine water. I think there must be some power at work that we don't know about."
"Then what if someone else just gets the support of many people and claims to be the representative?"
Grondal scoffed and folded his arms.
"Well? We dwarves don't have any such brats, so I don't know. Oh, maybe there have been such cases among humans in history?"
"Maybe?" "I
don't think it's something that can be done just by claiming to be. Should we go through the normal process? But if everyone unites their minds and elects a new representative… things might change."
"Hmm…"
Jisel nodded. It's a divine water that has been around since ancient times. It seems to have its own rules, but no one knows how it works.
In fact, there was no need to know more.
The important thing was to collect the holy stones so that Deneb could have full power.
However, he was planning to find out what would happen to the divine relics of each race in the future.
'The World Tree… … If you look at Erenes, it seems to be hidden somewhere… … The rest might be the same.'
He didn't know what would happen if he found it. If he had the chance, it would be good to look for it.
And if he stayed here, he might be able to learn more about the divine relics.
Grondal didn't just hand over the holy stone.
"It's inconvenient to keep this as is, right? Since the saintess will use it anyway, I'll give you something that she can carry comfortably."
Grondal ordered the dwarf next to him to bring him a bracelet. The bracelet also had a small structure attached to it, like a necklace.
Click.
When Grondal brought the holy stone, the holy stone was perfectly combined with the structure.
It was the same as the necklace Iraniel had given him. Jisel couldn't hold back her curiosity this time either and asked.
"That too… is that a bracelet made to be equipped with a holy stone?"
"That's right. It's like the necklace the saint wears. It's something that has been passed down to us since long ago."
"Hmm...."
That bracelet must also be one of the relics of the saint in the future.
Maybe the relic that Gattros had could have been that bracelet.
I haven't seen the exact shape, but it seemed like the divine power that protected Gattros at the time was emanating from his wrist.
Giselle furrowed her brows slightly as she looked at the bracelet.
Necklace, bracelet… … The next one was also likely to be an accessory.
'… … How fascinating.'
Doesn't this look like it was made for someone to wear on various parts of the body?
It's as if the saint in the future collected the holy stones and arranged them for them to wear.
The truth is unknown. However, it's probably not a coincidence that it was made in the form of an accessory.
While he was lost in thought, Grondal spoke with a pretended serious expression.
"I'll give the bracelet to the saint when she wakes up. By the way, there's something I want to confirm with you..."
"What is it?"
Grondal looked at the 'Gramdir' hanging from Giselle's waist and asked,
"That sword is our royal treasure. It was kept in the deepest vault of the palace. How did you have it?"
Grondal's eyes became sharp. He looked like he was demanding a clear explanation. It was understandable
. It was the same as the treasure of the dwarven palace being stolen.
"Hmm, I see."
Giselle calmly untied Gramdir from her waist.
Everyone's eyes were focused on her.
The mercenaries also looked sorry .
"Ah, the sword looks so good."
"It must have been stolen by a dwarven thief. Tsk, it's something we won in a bet, so we should return it." "If it
has an original owner, then there's nothing we can do. We've never stolen someone else's stuff."
Everyone thought that way. Since they've acquired the stolen goods, they'll probably receive some compensation from the owner and be done with it.
There was no need to argue with the dwarf king who had even handed over the holy stone.
Grondal also thought that Giselle was handing him Gramdir and extended his hand.
But… … .
Pfft!
Giselle immediately opened a subspace and quickly threw Gramdir in.
"..."
Grondal looked at Giselle with a bewildered expression. The others were the same.
However, Giselle proudly held out her chest and said,
"This is mine."
"..."
Grondal had a feeling that it would be very difficult to take it back.