Upon hearing Origami Tobiichi hypothesis, Schwi intelligence engine immediately began a new round of calculations.
Even she had just fallen into a blind spot.
The corpses of dead Spirit species—commonly referred to as "spirit remains"—were highly contaminative to all fifteen races.
Each race had developed its own means of resisting the erosion caused by spirit remains: high-ranking races could use magic formulas, mid-tier races relied on specialized tools, and even low-ranking races could at least wrap themselves in cloth for protection.
Although with proper safeguards the danger of spirit remains wasn't high, any mishap could result in catastrophic damage.
These dead Elves possessed an erosive trait; once a certain amount of spirit remains were inhaled into the body, they would begin to rapidly contaminate the living Elf particles within, causing death in pain and despair.
Even the mechanical Ex-Machina race had protective fluid systems in their bodies to filter out spirit remains.
No one had ever attempted to explore the potential uses of these spirit remains. Even if they were usable, the method would most likely be a "kill 800 enemies at the cost of 1000 of your own" type of strategy.
But humans were different.
Though they too could be eroded by spirit remains, the Spirit components in their bodies were so minuscule that, to them, what was poison to other races was merely a slow-acting toxin.
In other words, if a method to utilize the spirit remains could be found, humans might be the only race capable of wielding this power.
In the original story, Riku had allowed his body to be contaminated by spirit remains while traveling around, in order to conceal his human identity from other races—and he managed to endure it for quite a long time.
"But... is this really okay?" Schwi couldn't help but ask, "Even extracting the final value from the corpses of one's own kin—biologically, that seems excessively cruel. Can you truly accept that?"
"For revenge, and to end the war of the gods, any price is acceptable." Origami replied emotionlessly.
"Not to mention just the corpses of my kin—even if the cost is myself, as long as I can achieve my goal, I will accept it gladly."
Given Origami Tobiichi current identity as the embodied will of the entire Spirit race, her actions might appear extremely cold-blooded to others.
But that was precisely the effect she wanted to achieve.
Origami character had always been that of a vengeful demon who would use any means necessary for revenge.
Aside from Shido Itsuka, revenge was all that remained in her life.
To achieve her goals, she was willing to sacrifice everything—including herself.
As for whether Schwi would suspect her because of her cold attitude and the seemingly otherworldly knowledge she had just revealed, Origami wasn't the least bit worried.
Even if Schwi did harbor suspicions, it would not affect her in the slightest.
As long as she could summon Mio Takamiya in the form of a godling and have the Elf Mother vouch for her identity, all doubts would be dispelled.
After all, unlike Origami herself who had transmigrated into this world, Mio Takamiya had been integrated into the Spirit Corridor system as a divine essence by the system itself.
Seeing Origami unwavering stance, Schwi stopped questioning.
"If the object of refinement is spirit remains rather than living Elves, then the likelihood of creating a replica of the Spirit Crystal is quite high," she said.
After another round of calculations, Schwi added:
"However, the refinement process will require your assistance. I'll need your power as a medium."
"I understand."
"Then let's begin immediately."
"So soon?" Origami was slightly surprised. "Don't we need a more detailed plan?"
After all, the great sage Suowong Kandel once considered the strongest human mage and the Earth God Ebon Candle, both incredibly powerful beings, had taken one to two months to create a single Soul Crystal.
She had only just handed Schwi the data, and now Schwi had already completed a modified refinement method. The speed was astonishing.
"If you had given me the Spirit Crystal itself, I would indeed need more time to analyze it," Schwi replied.
"But what you gave me were verified data and principles. All I needed to do was fix a few inconsistencies."
"I see."
Hearing that, Origami astonishment faded somewhat.
"Then let's not delay. Let's begin the experiment now."
"Okay."
With that, Origami placed her hand on Schwi shoulder, and together they teleported to a location several dozen kilometers outside the settlement.
There were patrols constantly active in the settlement, and guards stationed at all entrances and exits.
To avoid causing a commotion, this was the only way.
Although she knew the Ex-Machina also had the ability to teleport, having reverse-engineered the teleportation formula from the Flügel race's Heaven Shift, it was still more convenient for the two of them to teleport together than to teleport separately and end up in different locations.
"First, gather the surrounding spirit remains."
Without wasting words, Schwi immediately began instructing Origami.
"To create the replica Spirit Crystal, we need a large amount of spirit remains."
Origami also began working without delay.
With a conscious pull of her spiritual power, the constantly drifting black ash in the air began to gather into her palm.
"That's enough."
Once the amount of spirit remains had reached a certain threshold, Schwi, who had been closely monitoring, spoke up.
"Don't stop channeling your energy. I will now begin guiding your power using magic formulas to refine the spirit remains."
"Understood."
With preparations complete, both Origami and Schwi became serious.
One complex magic formula after another unfolded around Schwi, targeting the black mist in Origami hand.
Each formula served a specific function—Origami was only responsible for supplying spiritual energy, while all the fine control was left to Schwi.
The black mist formed from the spirit remains was compressed and reshaped by the magic formulas and spiritual energy, gradually forming a more tangible shape, slowly taking on a crystalline structure.
During this process, Schwi continually constructed new formulas, various glowing arrays flashing around them.
Suddenly, something went wrong.
The black mist, which had been steadily crystallizing, began to convulse violently.
Without hesitation, Schwi activated a pseudo-Heaven Shift, teleporting the half-formed object from Origami hand to a short distance away.
Boom!
A loud explosion echoed from nearby—hundreds of thousands of spirit remains detonated at once, blasting out a sizable crater.
"Parameters adjusted. Initiating second test."
Despite the failure, neither Schwi nor Origami showed any signs of frustration.
Basing the process on Spirit Crystals from the Date A Live universe, integrating the refinement principles from the WorldEnd system, and having a No Game No Life Zero character adjust the method—how could it possibly succeed on the first try?
They repeated the same steps many times.
Schwi constantly adjusted the data and formulas, carrying out experiment after experiment.
Both of them were completely focused, pouring themselves into the process.
No one knew how much time had passed.
After numerous failures, through their relentless efforts, a pitch-black crystal finally appeared in Origami hand.
"52nd test confirmed successful," Schwi announced as the glow in her eyes—signifying full computational processing—dimmed.
"Replica Spirit Crystal has been successfully manufactured."
Looking at the now-stable crystal in her hand, its erosive properties perfectly suppressed, Origami lips curled into a faint, imperceptible smile.
Sure enough, hard work pays off—she had actually succeeded.
"'Replica Spirit Crystal' is a bit of a mouthful,"
Origami remarked casually while examining the crystal in her hand.
"From now on, let's call it... Crystal Remnants."