How the Cult Saves the World

Chapter 23

The gatekeeper of the Cartel village, Kess, stared blankly at the back of the leader of Kyros Faith who was leaving the village.

As he watched them, he felt doubt and anxiety rising from somewhere in his heart.

Kess looked at the elder with a questioning gaze. The elder was smiling as if he was relieved that the believer of Kyros Faith had disappeared.

Kess whispered carefully to him.

"Elder, they said they dealt with the darkwolves and came to our village. Shouldn't we accept their help?"

The elder's eyes became fierce.

"That's doubtful. They might have had some luck. But if we don't expel them, we will betray Lord Diego. And then, we will receive the 'divine punishment'."

The word divine punishment caused a stir among the villagers.

"W-what if we become like Herwa?"

As the people trembled in fear, the elder lifted his lips.

"Lord Diego will save us. We have done as he wished."

As Cyril listened to the elder's words, he bit his lips. He silently stood in his place and moved past the people.

As Cyril seemed to be leaving the village, Kess grabbed his shoulder.

"Cyril! Where are you going?"

Cyril looked at him with a serious eye.

"I'm going to follow the leader."

His eyes were determined.

"What?! That's dangerous!"

Kess shouted and Cyril's clenched fist trembled.

"Then why did you send the leader away?! To that dangerous place!"

"Th, that's..."

Kess couldn't say anything. Then the elder came to them. He spoke with a kind face.

"Go ahead, Cyril. If you are not afraid of the 'divine punishment' that will come to you someday."

At that word, Cyril just glared at the elder. Then the elder raised his lips and added.

"You are afraid too, aren't you? Then it's not too late now. Repent and become a faithful servant of Lord Diego."

As if he was receiving a sublime god, the elder stretched out his hands to the sky.

Cyril stared at him with a cold eye and opened his mouth with a chilly voice.

"Elder. Have you prayed to Lord Diego every day since the darkwolves appeared?"

"Of course. Not only me, but all the villagers prayed to Lord Diego. We believe that he will save us soon."

"Then why did most of the villagers die?"

"...!"

The air around them became cold as Cyril uttered what everyone had been trying to ignore.

"When I first arrived here, there were more than twice as many villagers as now."

Neither the villagers nor the elder could continue their words. Cyril looked at each one of them and drove a wedge.

"But not now."

Cyril's eyes became fierce.

"Everyone in the village prayed every day, but who came to this village?"

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Cyrill turned away from them.

"I don't care who you believe or worship. But if the situation was reversed, Lord Kyros would not have driven you away."

Cyril left only those words and left the fence of the Cartel village.

No one in the village opened their mouths until his figure disappeared from sight.

"They are funny people."

He left the Cartel village and returned to the forest.

As he got a little away from the village, Zain made a sarcastic remark.

"How can they reject people with a different religion in this situation? How can they kick us out when their lives are at stake?"

"Calm down, Zain."

"No, are you okay, master?"

Zain seemed to be emotional as he spoke, and even snorted. I patted his shoulder.

"Well... I'm not feeling very good. But I can't blame them either."

-Yeah, that's right.

Every religion had its own unique 'atmosphere'.

For example, in Kyros Faith that I belonged to...

Kyros Faith pursued faith, trust, and freedom.

It was a peaceful side.

But, Diego Faith was different.

Oppression and control, maybe. They pretended to be free and beautiful on the surface, but Diego was an evil god in essence.

In HSAW, some of Diego Faith's believers became one because of their appearance on the surface, but most of them were close to 'brainwashing'.

'Wait a minute... Wait. Why didn't I think of this?'

Brainwashing.

Maybe this is what happened to Terdius...?

It was just a guess, but this world was a 'hidden route', so it wasn't impossible.

"I pity those who don't know Lord Kyros' beauty!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

As I was gathering my thoughts, I heard the children lamenting. Somehow I heard this somewhere before.

"Leader!"

At that moment, I heard a voice from afar.

Cyril was running across the night forest toward us.

What? Why is he here?

"Brother Cyril? Why aren't you in the village instead...?"

"Huff, huff."

Cyril couldn't breathe properly as he ran so hard.

"It could have been a big trouble."

As if we were moving fast. If Cyril had been a little unlucky, he would have become food for the wolves.

"Huff, but, we met like this, huff."

Cyril wiped his sweat and smiled.

"And, when I, huff, go back to Rovel, huff, I want to become a priest of Kyros Faith!"

Cyril shouted loudly.

Uh, a priest?

The system window appeared at that moment.

[Congratulations! The first person who wants to convert to Kyros Faith has been born!]

[A new feature 'Agent Appointment' has been added.]

[Agent Appointment: You can appoint anyone you want as an agent of the Kyros Faith.]

Wow, awesome. There was such a feature? And it was a new feature thanks to Cyril.

-Huhu, such a wonderful child! I'm so proud!

Kyros was very touched by Cyril's words and sobbed.

For now, I ignored Kyros and pondered. The Kyros Faith's system was not yet established, but... I needed more hands when the temple opened. So, it would be perfect to use them as priests and workers. But why did he suddenly do this?

"Cyril, brother. Calm down first. By any chance, did something happen while we were away?"

You're a son of a fruit shop owner, aren't you?

How did you suddenly have a change of mind and want to become a priest?

"I actually had some trouble in the village..."

Then Cyril started to tell his story. There was some conflict in the village.

But, Cyril, you were so tough against the villagers. You seem to have a stronger mentality than I thought.

"I see. You had a hard time."

I nodded at Cyril. Then Alphius, who was quietly listening to the story, grabbed Cyril's hand.

"You did well. Cyril, brother."

"No, Your Holiness. I didn't have a hard time. I just... felt sorry for the villagers. Unlike me, who witnessed Kyros' power with my own eyes, they didn't."

It was the mindset of a true believer.

You passed.

I patted Cyril's shoulder.

"Brother Cyril, let's talk about the priest stuff later when we get back to Rovel."

"Oh, yes!"

We had something to do right now.

"From now on, we're going to deal with the darkwolf leader. So, follow me carefully."

Our party started moving again with Cyril included.

By the way, there was something that bothered me in Cyril's story.

The 'divine punishment' that shook the villagers.

Did Diego Faith send 'divine punishment' to people?

There was nothing like that in HSAW. This must be because of the hidden route.

'I'll have to check it out later.'

The important thing right now was the Darkwolf Leader.

"Let's move quickly."

I led the group to the darkwolf's hideout that I remembered.

At the same time, in the Cartel Forest 'Darkwolf's Hideout.'

The darkwolf leader felt the number of his dwindling kin and did not let his guard down.

Only the instinct to kill humans was swirling in the darkwolf's leader.

But at that moment, a strong fear began to approach.

Keeing---

The darkwolves instinctively realized. They couldn't run away from 'it' that was coming at a fast speed through the dark forest.

It was approaching them at an absurdly fast speed.

And soon enough, it revealed itself at the Darkwolf's Hideout.

"Hello, doggies."

Under the moonlight, a man revealed himself.

He wore leather pants and nothing on his upper body. He was a beautiful man that anyone would admire.

He knew that fact well, so he showed off his body.

His firm and balanced muscles shone more under the moonlight. His violet hair that reached his waist fluttered softly in the wind, and his black eyes sparkled mischievously.

The man's sharp gaze swept over the terrified darkwolves.

He approached them with light steps, humming a tune.

The darkwolves flattened themselves as the man got closer.

It was the overwhelming difference in power and fear that he radiated that made it possible.

"Good boys."

The man narrowed his eyes and walked towards the leader of the darkwolves. The Darkwolf leader, who was more than three times bigger than the man, bowed his head to him.

Then the man took out a black bead from his pocket. The black bead, the size of a fist, touched the forehead of the Darkwolf leader.

As the man muttered something softly, the black bead embedded itself into the Darkwolf leader's forehead.

"That's right, good boy."

The man smiled brightly and stroked the Darkwolf leader.

Then he gave a small command.

"Go."

At his words, the darkwolves moved at once.

As they sped off to somewhere in the forest, only the man was left in the hideout.

The man lifted his lips, imagining the fun situation that would soon happen.

Cartel Village.

Gatekeeper Kess couldn't sleep even though it was close to dawn.

In his head, he recalled the story he had heard from Cyril a while ago.

'I saw Kyros' power myself in Rovel.'

'He saved many people who were locked up in the underground prison.'

'And, he and his high priest and paladin dealt with the rift that appeared in Rovel. Thanks to them, no one was hurt or killed.'

That wasn't all. According to Cyril, it was all thanks to Cyril's prayers that the leader of Kyros Faith came to this village.

Some of the villagers, including the elder, said it was all a coincidence, but Kess thought differently.

How could it be a coincidence that someone who could deal with the darkwolves came to this village?

'And that too, the leader of a religion himself.'

He shouldn't have thought this way, but it was too contrasting.

Everyone in the village prayed to Lord Diego, but nothing came back.

But, Kyros Faith was different.

No matter how omnipotent a god is, if he is not by your side when you need him...

In the end, Kess decided to see for himself with his own eyes.