How the Cult Saves the World

"Thank you."

Quir seemed to be waiting for my response, a hint of relief in his voice as he answered. A slight smile graced his lips. Even a centaur can be handsome.

---Such a beautiful race. I'm quite taken with them.

Even Kyros was completely charmed.

"Huh? Master!"

"Leader!"

Out of nowhere, Zain and Troy appeared. They had been somewhere out of sight and now made their way through the dwarves to reach me.

"Is this... a centaur?"

Zain whispered to me. I nodded and briefly explained what had just happened.

"So, I've decided to help the centaur."

"Ah, I see. The Flower of Life, I've never heard of it before."

"I have."

It was unexpected. Troy knew about the Flower of Life. Well, it made sense, considering both the black panther and the horse are animal-type beings; they might share the same legends.

"To think we'll visit the centaur's forest. I'm excited!"

Zain's eyes sparkled with anticipation. The centaur race, shrouded in mystery, seemed to intrigue him greatly.

"I'm looking forward to it too."

Troy's eyes also shone with excitement.

"It's not possible."

A firm voice from the centaur followed.

"Only the High Priest of Kyros may enter our forest. With the Flower of Life in peril, we cannot bring in others of different races."

Quir's response was understandable. One wouldn't bring a doctor's acquaintances to a family member's sickbed.

I felt it was a bit much to argue given our request... but there was no need to start trouble here.

"...Ah, I see. That was thoughtless of me."

"I'm sorry. I didn't consider the situation."

Instead of burdening Quir with unnecessary talk, I comforted the disheartened Zain and Troy.

"I'll tell you all about it when we return, so cheer up."

It was something even I couldn't help. Fortunately, their expressions brightened quickly.

"Then let's depart immediately."

Quir turned around.

"Mount up, Leviathan."

Troy's figure overlapped with Quir's in my vision. I climbed onto the horse.

"Hold onto my shoulders so you don't fall."

It was oddly embarrassing, but necessary to avoid injury.

As I held onto Quir's shoulders, he began to move.

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

His swift pace quickly took us out of the dwarf village.

'Wow, he's really fast.'

Troy was fast, but Quir's speed seemed to match, if not surpass, his.

"Quir?"

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I called out to him cautiously as the scenery whizzed by. Quir's voice, calm and unlabored, answered me.

"What is it?"

"Why is the Flower of Life dying?"

I was curious about the fundamental reason. Was it because of the curse, or something else?

"Our Flower of Life is a very noble being. It has stood guard here long before we were born, nurturing the forest from the same spot for ages."

Quir continued his tale without a tremor. I listened intently.

From this point on, I had no knowledge whatsoever.

"A flower with such a powerful life force only dies when a great crisis befalls the world. And only a very grave crisis at that."

"A crisis? Does the Flower predict them?"

"Yes. The Flower of Life is unlike any ordinary flower."

"Since when...?"

"About half a year ago."

It seemed like it foresaw the catastrophe that almost befell Bahano. Forbidden magic had spread to the empire, nearly causing countless casualties.

Fortunately, I had prevented the disaster, but that was just a few weeks ago.

If the Flower had been dying for half a year, it couldn't recover on its own. Even if the crisis was averted, it would still be dying.

"We've arrived."

Lost in thought, I was brought back by Quir's words.

Turning in the direction he was looking, a small forest came into view.

'That's...'

I looked around. The centaur's forest was quite close to Bahano.

It was a distance that could be covered on foot in a matter of minutes.

'So close, the light of purification must have reached it.'

But isn't this too close? I heard centaurs despised humans.

Yet their forest lay so near the human kingdom. Close enough for the unaware to wander in.

'I can't make sense of it.'

Meanwhile, Quir, carrying me on his back, took a few more steps and stopped in front of a massive tree. Wondering what was happening, I watched as he began to murmur in an incomprehensible language.

A portal-like shimmer appeared in the tree. Then Quir headed towards it. A sudden intense light poured down, and I instinctively closed my eyes.

"This is our centaur forest."

As I opened my eyes at Quir's words.

"Wow..."

I couldn't help but exclaim.

---Incredible. It's so beautiful. Such beautiful creatures living in such a beautiful place!

'You can say that again.'

I responded to Kyros as I slowly took in my surroundings.

It was as if I had stepped into another dimension, a sight foreign to my eyes.

Unlike any forest I had seen in this world, this place felt sacred.

'The sanctuary of the centaurs... perhaps.'

The entire forest was shrouded in a blue mist, but it wasn't a frightening atmosphere.

Giant trees grew densely, and small, firefly-like beings flitted around them.

It wasn't just that. For the first time in my life, I saw mysterious flowers and fruits, butterflies that glowed on their own, and blue squirrels.

It truly felt like I had stepped into a forest out of a fairy tale.

"How beautiful,"

I marveled.

"Isn't it? Our homeland is always a sight to behold," my companion agreed.

"But I'm sure this was a different forest before. Did we just teleport?"

I asked, wondering if the centaur, skilled in magic, could have performed such a high-level spell. Quir shook his head.

"No, that's not it. Strictly speaking, we've hidden our forest within the Bahano Forest. It keeps humans from entering."

"Ah, because of the Bahano Kingdom. But why settle here?"

If they disliked humans, they could live far away from them.

"From the beginning, this was our territory. To be precise, humans started settling in our home. So, we concealed our forest to protect it."

So the centaurs had been living here even before the Bahano Kingdom existed.

'An incredibly ancient race.'

As I looked around, I realized Quir's pace had slowed.

"Aren't you running anymore?"

"Do you want to?"

"No, it's just that since entering the forest, your steps have slowed. I feel embarrassed to keep riding."

"Outside the forest, there are human eyes. We speed up to avoid their gaze. If you're comfortable, you can continue to ride."

"Alright then."

Good. Riding Quir and taking in the surroundings was more comfortable than walking.

As I admired the beautiful forest...

"Master!"

Abel's communication came through suddenly. Is something wrong? I was about to respond when I remembered Quir was with me, so I spoke in my mind.

'What's the matter?'

I could communicate telepathically, but I usually spoke out loud. I didn't want to increase the number of people I talked to telepathically with, except for Kyros. It was too chaotic.

'Where are you?'

'Near Bahano. Why? Is something wrong?'

'No!'

'...You contacted me even though there's nothing wrong?'

'Yes!'

Abel's cheerful response left me dumbfounded. This kid was more troublesome than I thought.

'I just missed you, Master!'

He looked fine, but his actions were more childish than actual children.

'Alright. I'll be in Aldone soon, so hang in there.'

I couldn't be harsh to someone who missed me, so I replied calmly.

'Understood!'

Fortunately, the communication ended quickly.

'What a peculiar fellow.'

Alphius, Chester, Sasha---they didn't contact me unless it was important. Was Abel the odd one out?

---Isn't he adorable?

'Ah, yes. Well... it seems so.'

It wasn't too bad, almost like family checking in.

I smiled faintly and lifted my head.

Before me stood about a dozen centaurs. And behind them, a flower of immense size bloomed.

"...Wow."

They expect me to heal that?

Somewhere in the main building of the Diego Church.

Terdius walked alone down a dark corridor, his eyes sadder than usual as he headed deeper into the building.

He stopped in front of a massive iron door, a place even the apostles of Diego School could not enter.

Except for Terdius.

He placed his hand on the door, infusing it with his power. Black energy flowed out, enveloping the door.

With a clank, the door opened, but Terdius hesitated to enter immediately. He stood there for a moment, then, with resolve, stepped inside.

The room was small, but it contained a single glass coffin.

"...Ivan."

Inside lay a ten-year-old boy with black hair like Terdius'.

Terdius knelt before the glass, reaching out towards the boy's face.

All he touched was the cold glass.

"Ivan..."

He whispered his brother's name softly. But Ivan did not stir.

He was breathing, but that was all. Stricken with an unknown illness, Ivan barely clung to life inside the glass coffin.

A thin black mist swirled inside. Only the power of Diego kept Ivan tethered to this world.

"...I'm sorry."

Terdius whispered to his brother, unable to help him. His eyes began to moisten.

And at that moment, in a far-off dimension.

In a world shrouded in darkness, only one creature existed.

A massive serpent, coiled and watching Terdius' image on a screen, laughed with satisfaction.

'You cannot escape me, Terdius.'

The serpent's tongue flicked across its mouth.

'In this cursed world, you must be my protagonist.'

Watching Terdius' tears, the Evil God Diego laughed out loud.

'Forever.'

Isn't this too much?

'A flower, they said?'

I denied the reality before me. But no matter how much I denied it, reality remained unchanged.

Behind the dozen centaurs was a flower larger than a tree.

A black flower as massive as a five-story building.

'Judging by the petals, it must indeed be a real flower.'

The flower the centaurs gazed upon stood out even in a forest filled with towering trees.

Its stem alone was ten meters tall, with wide petals fully bloomed above.

I laughed in disbelief.

"Ha, haha..."

How am I supposed to heal this?

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