How the Cult Saves the World

Chapter 16

Deep in the night. The time when the mansion was asleep.

I sneaked out of the mansion as usual. I passed through the back alleys of Elyn and headed to Rovel, where I saw some changes.

The people who used to litter the streets were gone. Thanks to the purification of Rovel, those who were addicted to 'Happy' had returned to their homes.

It was a pleasant sight.

-You must be proud.

'Yes. Me too.'

I looked around the peaceful night streets of Rovel and headed to the temple of Kyros.

Although it was still slow to transform into a temple, there was some progress.

Where there once was the blessing of Maseen, there was now the blessing of Kyros, and the interior of the temple was brightened.

Before, the Rizes Church seemed to like the darkness, it was gloomy. But now, it was so bright that it was hard to find its previous form.

I entered the worship hall with a smile.

The grotesque ornaments that decorated the worship hall were all gone. And the way to the high priest's room was clean, and the floor was covered with soft woolen carpets.

And in the high priest's room, there was a handsome man with brown hair and green eyes, who was about the same height as me, waiting for me.

"Master!"

He came to me like a cheerful puppy. I smiled back at him.

"Good job, Alphy."

That's right. This guy was Alphius.

During the day, he acted as my deputy for me, who was stuck in the mansion.

Amazingly, Alphius and Chester could adjust their appearance. It made things easier.

Alphius especially handled the wealth of the Rizes Church high priest and exchanged it for gold coins, which were the common currency of the continent.

He also took care of many aspects related to the temple, and Alphius proved to be very competent in managing the temple as he had said before.

"Oh! Today, your mother, Countess Holden, granted permission to establish Kyros Faith! Here are the documents!"

I skimmed through the documents that Alphius handed me. It was about my mother praising Kyros Church for saving Rovel's citizens and giving permission to establish it.

"Okay. Keep this well."

"Yes!"

Alphius ran to his secret space.

"Master!"

Then, Chester kicked open the high priest's room and came in.

"Chesi, come on."

If Alphius took care of the internal affairs of the temple, Chester took care of the external affairs.

He cleaned up the temple, threw away the trash, etc. He contributed a lot to making the temple clean and bright overall.

"I-I finished cleaning up for now. Hehe."

I stroked Chester's head, who smiled shyly.

"Good job."

They were still young children, but they did much better than adults with their S-rank abilities.

Now all that was left was to decorate the temple.

"Alphy, Chesi."

I called them together.

"It's time to decorate the temple."

"Yes! That's right!"

"I agree too."

The two nodded and agreed with me.

"Then we need a statue and a painting of Kyros first. You both know what Kyros looks like, right?"

"Of course! He's very very beautiful."

"That's right!"

"Right. So we need a statue and a painting first. They are the core of the temple."

We needed things that showed off the beauty of Kyros, the god of beauty.

We're recruiting believers with beauty!

"It's late today, so let's look for sculptors and painters from tomorrow. Don't worry about the cost."

"Yes. Master! Leave it to me!"

"I'll do my best."

-Thank you, my children.

I had decided what to do for now. There was only one thing left.

"Alphy, can you fight a little too?"

"Hmm. Yes! Not as much as Chesi, but I can do it."

"Really? That's good."

I wondered if he could do it, but he seemed to be different from other S-ranks. Then things would be easier.

"Then let's go out."

I left the high priest's room with them.

"Should we go into our space?"

As we left the temple, Alphius asked me.

"Why? Are you tired?"

"No. Not that but..."

He seemed to be looking at my face. They were both dependent on me anyway.

"I want to give you two as much freedom as possible. Until now, I told you to stay in your space because you had nowhere else to stay in the mansion, but now you don't have to. You can stay comfortably in the temple."

"Thank you, Master!"

"T-thank you!"

"Don't mind me. Okay?"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

They answered in unison and looked cute, so I stroked their heads. Then Alphius exclaimed with shining eyes.

"Master, please call us anytime you need us! We can hear your voice anytime!"

"Y-yes! Wherever you are, Master, if you call us, we can quickly find you through our space!"

Their space was like a passage. I thought it was just their lodging, but it seemed not.

"Okay. I got it."

"By the way, Master. Where are you going?"

"Oh. Um. A walk?"

The name was a walk, but what I was aiming for was something else.

At that moment.

Boom---

With a huge vibration, the ground shook.

'Here it is.'

It was a very short earthquake that lasted only a few seconds, but I knew what was going to happen now. I looked up right away.

Crack---

The sky above Rovel began to crack about 5 meters in size. The sky was literally torn apart.

"Alphy, Chesi!"

"Yes, Master!"

"Yes!"

They didn't need to say anything, they knew what was happening.

-My child, it's a rift!

"Evacuate everyone to the temple! Hurry!"

"Yes!"

The two answered quickly and moved. The people of Rovel had woken up from the shaking of the ground, so they would be able to evacuate soon.

The temple had Kyros's blessing, so it would be enough to protect the residents.

I took out the relic mace from my inventory.

At the same time, a strange sound came from the sky.

Kieeek~!

A creepy scream that made my hair stand on end. From the gap of the cracked rift, they began to pop out.

"Everyone get away! The rift is open!"

"Get out of Rovel!"

Alphius and Chester swiftly evacuated the people.

To be honest, I wanted to run away too. But, I couldn't.

If I ran away from here, not only Rovel, but the whole territory would be in danger.

The rift that opened in Rovel.

This was the last calamity that would swallow up Holden Territory.

I gripped the mace tightly and looked at the monsters that came out of the gap in the rift.

These were 'mammon.'

They were supposed to exist in the demon world, but they often popped out to the human world and harmed humans because of the rifts that Maseen opened.

'...Damn you, Maseen.'

The reason why I sent Rovel's citizens to the temple was because of this.

Kyros would block Maseen's power.

-My little bird, are you okay?

Kyros asked me worriedly. I couldn't honestly guarantee it. But maybe it was possible.

No matter how much stronger mammons were than humans, I was the leader of a religion. And I had a relic.

'Yes. I'm fine.'

Ever since I received the mace from Kyros. From then on, I had already made up my mind. I was scared to see mammon in reality, but.

The mammons that flowed out of the rift were diverse. They were all black as if they had fallen into ink, but their appearance was different. From winged goblins to ferocious turtle-like creatures.

'I can't believe I'm seeing these things for real.'

I had seen them a lot in graphics when I played HSAW, but it was disgusting to face them in reality.

Kieeek---!

But still, I could do it.

Fortunately, thanks to the quick response, most of the citizens were evacuated before the mammon landed on the ground.

I shouted at the two children who came running towards me.

"Alphy, Chesi! There might be some people left, so check Rovel again!"

"Yes, Master! If you're in a dangerous situation, please call us right away!"

"B-be careful!"

After the two left, I saw a goblin flying straight at me.

I took a short breath and swung my arm.

Puck!

The relic with divine power was perfect for mammon, which had the opposite attribute. Even though I swung it lightly, it disappeared right away.

-Good job, my child!

Kairos cheered me on with excitement, but I didn't have time to answer him.

Mammon rushed at me after the goblin.

They were low-level mammons without intelligence. Fortunately, they targeted me who exposed myself openly in Rovel where there were almost no people.

I didn't know how long my body would last. But I had a lucky item.

Puck!

Kwooo~!

It felt like I became a munchkin character when I destroyed a human-sized mammon with one swing of the mace.

'Could it be that I'm a munchkin...?'

My heart raced at those three letters. I swung my mace and killed the mammon that came at me.

Then at some point, I saw a horde of mammon rushing at me. There were more than thirty of them by rough estimate.

Oh, crap. What is this? There are way more than I expected!

Could it be that the increased difficulty due to the 'hidden route' was also activated here?

"Alphius! Chester!"

I immediately called them. The moment I did that, winged goblins flying across the sky reacted to my voice and rushed at me faster than before.

'Damn this hidden route!'

I grabbed the club tightly and swung it hard.

No, as soon as I tried to swing it.

I felt a strong wind blowing from beside me. You're here, kids!

Chwaaak!

At the same time, dozens, no, nearly a hundred mammons that were about to cover me disappeared in an instant.

"You have courage."

A low and heavy voice.

Not Alphius and Chester's.

They had just appeared next to me.

"How dare you face the rift with such a weak body."

A stiff posture, cold eyes staring at the mammon.

It was Terdius.