This was a fierce battle.
Although the Dwarf race had lost their most powerful main cannon, the over a thousand ground troops equipped with magitek devices still posed a significant threat.
Not to mention, among them were elite warriors clad in full-body magical armor, capable of fighting multiple enemies at once without losing ground.
With the arrival of the Wraith Hunters and Beastman warriors, the battlefield instantly turned into a meat grinder.
Even though the Wraith Hunters had grown several times stronger than they were at first, facing the elite among the middle-tier races once again made them feel the same pressure they had experienced when first confronting the Werebeast.
In fact, the pressure was even greater now.
But they did not flinch.
Because they were no longer the same as before—not just in strength, but also in mental fortitude and willpower.
On the battlefield, the dark power of necrocrystals and the multi-colored blasts of magitek devices exploded continuously.
Roars and explosions deafened the ears. Every Wraith Hunter had gone into a frenzy, fighting the Dwarf race to the death with bloodshot eyes.
As time passed, under the relentless assault and superior numbers of the Wraith Hunters, signs of fatigue finally began to show among the Dwarfs.
The brutal melee, once so deadlocked it was impossible to see the outcome, gradually tipped against the Dwarfs.
With wave after wave of attacks, the Dwarf ground forces were completely routed.
And those Wraith Hunters who had infiltrated the Dwarf warships succeeded in taking over the command centers, capturing all three of the Dwarf battleships.
"OOOHHHH——!"
Though the casualties this time were the worst they had suffered so far, the survivors still cheered.
Riku panted heavily, but a surge of joy welled up in his heart.
"We're still not a match for Dwarf elites in magical armor, but at least we can hold our own against ordinary Dwarf soldiers now," Riku thought excitedly. "But we can get even stronger. It won't be long before we can take on an entire fully-equipped Dwarf fleet!"
After taking a short rest on the battlefield, Riku told the others to deal with the corpses left behind, then ran back to the mine.
The mine, now rather empty due to the full mobilization of the Wraith Hunters and Beastman warriors, felt spacious.
Entering the temporary tent, Riku walked in, ready to report the recent battle to Origami Tobiichi.
But the words caught in his throat.
Because he saw glowing orbs of light appearing out of nowhere, merging into Origami Tobiichi body, making her whole figure emit a soft white glow.
At this moment, Origami had her eyes tightly closed, seemingly unconscious.
"What happened here?" Riku looked toward Jibril and Schwi, who were also inside the tent. "Wasn't she fine when the battle started?"
"Unable to analyze Origami Tobiichi current state," Schwi replied. "The only thing I can confirm is that her power is continuously increasing."
"There was no warning. It just happened all of a sudden," said Jibril, curious but too cautious to interfere. "Even I don't know what's happening to her. All we can do now is wait."
"Hmm…"
Riku stared at the girl shrouded in light, a look of realization dawning on his face, and a hint of anticipation rose in his heart.
"I hope… this is a good thing."
When Origami Tobiichi opened her eyes, the surrounding scenery had changed.
She was no longer in the temporary tent. Jibril and Schwi were nowhere in sight.
Instead, what surrounded her was a vast expanse of blue.
The space stretched endlessly beyond sight, devoid of any signs of life, with only skeletal structures like bones standing upright—perhaps the embodiment of some concept, or the remains of some ancient being.
The somewhat familiar scene appeared before her, and Origami thoughts stirred. She quickly guessed where she was.
"The Spirit Corridor…" she muttered softly. "I didn't expect I'd have a chance to enter this place too."
The Spirit Corridor was a space that stored all the world's concepts and powers.
Every member of the Spirit race and every Divine Core was born from this place.
It was also the location of the Suniaster, the symbol granted only to the victor of the War of the Gods.
Origami focused all her attention on sensing her surroundings, trying to find the Suniaster.
But after wandering through this space for a long time, she still couldn't find a trace of it.
"As expected, at this point in time, the Suniaster hasn't appeared yet," Origami thought with some disappointment.
The Suniaster would only appear when the most powerful force emerged on this planet.
If Artosh used his full strength, the Suniaster could manifest at any moment.
But what he sought was a worthy opponent, not to become the sole god. So he had never used the power that would bring forth the Grail.
In the original story, Riku had used strategy to directly break through the Spirit Corridor and force the Suniaster into manifestation, ending the Great War.
As for the current Origami, even her body here was just a spiritual projection—let alone being able to break through the Corridor.
Even though she couldn't cheat her way through like a bugged speedrun, Origami didn't feel regret.
Because she knew that her consciousness appearing here in the Spirit Corridor definitely had a reason.
"Could it be that… the progress of collecting faith points has reached one hundred percent?"
Origami raised her hand and began to control the glowing orbs floating around her body.
She could feel a mysterious power within these light orbs.
They didn't contain any destructive force, but rather a pure will of devotion. When she touched them, it was as if she could see countless devout followers praying.
So, she experimented by manipulating the orbs, merging them together.
Very soon, the light orbs moving around her gathered into her palm and began to solidify.
As the orb grew larger, Origami sensed that somewhere in the Spirit Corridor, a calling was resonating with her.
Without hesitation, she guided her spiritual projection toward that call, arriving at one of the many glowing clusters of light.
"This is… a Divine Core?"
Origami had never seen what a Divine Core looked like before, but seeing the luminous substance before her, this guess was the only one that made sense.
If she wasn't mistaken, this Divine Core was the one implanted by the system—belonging to Mio Takamiya.
She slowly pushed the orb, filled with the power of faith, into the Divine Core.
As the orb of accumulated faith merged with the Divine Core, it seemed to activate the core. The formless substance began to transform, slowly taking on a human shape under Origami gaze.
A powerful surge rippled through the space, shaking the entire Spirit Corridor.
At the same time, in the palace at the highest point of the Sky City, the resting form of Artosh stirred slightly.
His eyes slowly opened, gazing downward, as if peering through layers of rock and crust, seeing the space at the planet's core.
A smile tugged at the corner of Artosh lips.
"Well done."