How the Cult Saves the World

I left the hidden dungeon with Zain and immediately descended the mountain. After that, we rode horses for several days.

We took breaks in between and finally returned to Holden territory.

It was already late at night when we arrived at Lober.

"You've worked hard, Zain."

"Ha. Yes. I would appreciate it if you let me rest for a few days."

I said goodbye to Zain in the back alley and returned to the temple.

Since it was late, there were hardly any believers in the temple. As I headed to the leader's office, avoiding the few believers' eyes, the children ran up to me.

"Leader! You're back!"

"Lea, Leader. You've worked hard."

"...Welcome back."

As I received the children's welcome, I sat down on the sofa as if collapsing. At the same time, a white light appeared and Kyros materialized as a puppy.

"You've worked hard, my child."

The puppy Kyros, floating in the air, tapped my forehead with his small paw.

"What are you talking about?"

I felt healed by his small gesture.

"I've sorted out the gold coins and jewels from before in the warehouse!"

"Good job, Alphi. Chester and Sasha too. Oh. Nothing happened while I was gone, right?"

"Yes, yes! Don't worry."

"..."

"Well, that's good."

I stroked each of the children's heads once and then entered the bedroom. I wanted to spend more time with the children, but I was too exhausted.

My body was sore from riding a horse for a long time. Even though I healed myself with divine power from time to time, I still had muscle pain.

'I might have died if I hadn't healed.'

That was my last memory.

When I opened my eyes again, warm sunlight was coming in through the window.

'Wow, I must have passed out.'

But I felt better after sleeping. I still had some mild muscle pain, but I was going to rest for a while anyway.

I got up lazily and went to the leader's office. The children had already left, and there was a simple meal on the table.

[Enjoy your meal! Leader! -Chester]

Ever since I stayed at the temple, the children took turns preparing meals for me. Today's duty was Chester's.

I devoured Chester's toast and fruit juice in no time and sat comfortably on the sofa. Then I told the children not to come to the leader's office for a while and opened my inventory.

'It's time to absorb the core.'

Kyros' voice didn't reach me, so he must have been playing with the children since yesterday. That was better.

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I took out the thousand-year-old core of the giant worm. Seeing the core that filled my hand, a smile came to my face.

'But I can't eat it right away.'

I put down the core on the table and scanned my inventory again.

The thousand-year-old core of the giant worm was not something that could be absorbed right away. It was big in size and basically inside a giant worm, so eating it without any preparation could kill me.

It was no different from being soaked in all kinds of poison that the giant worm spewed out.

'First of all...'

I took out one of the few Universal Antidotes left. The price of one Universal Antidote was about as much as a mansion, but it was nothing compared to the value of the core. That's why I could swallow it without hesitation.

Then I grabbed the core of the giant worm. The black core looked similar to black arc. It was easy to tell apart because of the poison that was swirling around it.

"Hoo."

I exhaled briefly and put the core to my mouth. It looked like it wouldn't fit in one bite because it was fist-sized, but it wasn't.

The core of the giant worm shrank to bite-sized as soon as it touched my lips. I closed my eyes tightly and put it in my mouth at once.

Gulp.

Even though it had shrunk, it felt like swallowing a candy whole. It was hard, but I forced it down and felt it go into my body.

As soon as I did,

"Ugh...!"

I groaned involuntarily.

My esophagus burned and I felt like my intestines were melting. In the original work, consuming the core of a Zine caused a debuff called 'Eroded Poison'. This debuff lasted for about fifty minutes and had a much stronger toxicity than when I entered the Zine cave.

Thanks to the Universal Antidote I ate, I only felt a little pain, and my body was holding on.

The problem was that I had to endure this pain for about an hour.

'It hurts more than I thought.'

The pain was stronger than I had lightly thought, and I clenched my fists and bit my lips. The pain got stronger as time passed. The core of the Zine was the crystallization of the poison that the Zine had nurtured for a thousand years.

It was like eating a thousand years of accumulated poison at once.

I clenched my teeth so hard that blood flowed from my lips. I endured the pain and tried to think of something else.

'Why can I eat the core after taking the antidote?'

I had wondered that before. Wouldn't the effect of the core disappear if I ate it after taking the Universal Antidote, which was no different from the crystallization of poison?

But it didn't take long for that question to be resolved. The effect of the core was 'poison immunity' and 'curse immunity'. In other words, it was an item that gave beneficial effects to the user. But for it to fully work, the poison on the surface had to be gone. That's why I had to take the Universal Antidote and eat the core to unleash its true power.

"Ugh."

How much time had passed? I clenched my teeth and endured it until the pain subsided. Just a little more, a little more...

Finally, when all the pain was gone from my body, I opened my eyes. As soon as I did, a message appeared in front of me.

['The Thousand-Year-Old Zine's Core' has been perfectly absorbed.]

[You gain permanent immunity to all curses and poisons.]

Only then did I relax my body and smile.

---

Rovel, no different from usual.

A young man was looking at himself in the mirror in his room.

"Max, what are you doing?"

Even though his friend Tom came in, Max couldn't take his eyes off the mirror.

"Max?"

Tom approached him and Max turned his gaze to him.

"Tom, it might be just me, but."

Max looked at Tom carefully and said.

"Don't you think my skin got better?"

"What?"

Tom narrowed his eyes.

"No, look closely."

Then Max pushed his face forward. Tom was annoyed by his friend's behavior, but decided to listen to him. Looking closely, he saw that his complexion was clearer than usual.

"...Maybe?"

"Right? I was so annoyed by the acne on my face until last night, but when I woke up, it was all gone."

"You must have taken good care of it."

"...Really?"

Max tilted his head. Tom chuckled and turned his eyes to the mirror. Then he suddenly noticed his own face and his eyes widened slightly.

"I feel like my skin got better too..."

It must be a mistake. Tom thought so.

---

When I finished my morning training and arrived at the master's office, a message window popped up out of nowhere.

[The number of Kyros followers has exceeded 1,000!]

Oh, finally? It had only been a few days since I returned from Beon Mountain, but the number of followers had increased to a thousand on its own. But that wasn't all the message window said.

[You acquire the skill 'Follower of Beauty'!]

...Huh? What kind of skill is this? Is it for me? Since it had a similar name to 'God of Beauty', which I already had, I opened the skill window and saw the information.

[Follower of Beauty (Passive)

Grade: Mythical

Description: A global buff for followers of Kyros, the God of Beauty. The effect increases as the number of Kyros followers increases.

Current total number of followers: 1,000

Current effect: Your skin improves.]

Is this for real? There's such a buff?

It was a global buff for followers that wasn't even in Woosebeop. And the effect increased as the number of followers increased.

If the number of followers increased later, could I advertise with the phrase 'Believe in Kyros and become beautiful!'?

'...No, that would make me look like a cult.'

It would be better to let it spread quietly rather than openly advertise it.

But I was happy that I got a new skill.

"Master, where have you been?"

I entered the master's office with a smile and saw Zain there. He must have brought the herbs I asked him for before.

"Morning exercise, huh?"

I said hello to Zain as I sat down across from him. Then his skin caught my eye.

Could it be because of the Follower of Beauty skill? He looked like his skin had improved since I last saw him. My skin had always been flawless thanks to my 'God of Beauty' passive, so I didn't notice any change. But Zain's complexion seemed slightly clearer than before.

'How fascinating.'

I found myself staring at him, and he gave me a wary look.

"Master? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's nothing... it's just that your skin looks better somehow."

"Does it?"

Zain rubbed his cheek and cocked his head. He didn't seem to feel any difference. Well, he was used to changing his sleep cycle every day.

He wasn't the only one whose change I observed.

After getting the herbs from Zain, I changed into my master's robe and put on my glasses. Then I walked around the temple grounds.

I exchanged greetings with the followers and bumped into Seril.

"Master, good day."

Seril's skin also looked noticeably better. The effect might vary from person to person, but Zain and Seril were obvious examples.

"Master? Why are you staring at me? Do I have something on my face?"

"No, no. Brother Seril."

It was truly amazing.

---What is it, my child?

'I think... the followers' skin has improved a bit.'

---Oh, really? Well, I am the God of Beauty after all. As my power grows stronger, so does their beauty.

I understood how this skill came to be when I heard Kyros's smug voice.

It was a wonderful effect indeed. Seeing it with my own eyes made me more eager.

Oh, how I wish to gain more followers with this!

---

The main hall of the Diego Church. The First Apostle's chamber.

Terdius opened the door and stepped inside quietly. The chamber was shrouded in darkness that made it impossible to see anything.

As Terdius walked a few steps forward, the door behind him closed on its own.

He stopped at the center of the chamber, and a shadowy figure emerged from the dark. The one who sat on the throne alone hid his entire appearance under a black robe, even in the darkness.

"..."

Terdius gazed at him silently.

The First Apostle of the Diego Church. He was the one who had the most contact with Diego within the church.

He had heard that he was personally chosen by Diego when he first descended to this land.

A long silence passed between them. The one who broke it was the First Apostle.

"I hear that a new religion has emerged in a place called Rovel in the Holden territory."