How the Cult Saves the World

Chapter 44

In the original game, the only mention of Beon Mountain was a brief conversation among the villagers, who said that goblins and orcs were fighting over a treasure there.

I had seen that dialogue several times while playing the game, but I never bothered to go to Beon Mountain because it was not on the main quest route.

But one time, when I was exploring a different route, I stopped by Beon Mountain and found a 'hidden quest' there.

It was difficult, but the reward was worthy of a hidden quest. So after that, I always cleared the hidden quest at Beon Mountain.

---Then, let me help you.

As we were walking, Kyros seemed to have finished his thoughts and suddenly appeared. Zain's eyes widened when he saw the small gray puppy.

"Ky, Kyros?"

"Ahem, yes. It's me."

Kyros looked more confident every time he appeared. He was so cute.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came here to help my lambs find the treasure. I can smell it."

He sniffed around diligently, trying to catch the scent.

"Hmm, there's something strange about this mountain."

He stood still for a while, sniffing the air.

"What? What is it?"

I asked innocently, pretending not to know anything.

"It seems like there's a very old and murky energy here."

That's right. He nailed it.

"Really? Maybe there's a treasure there."

When I acted clueless, Kyros led us to follow him. Zain and I ran after him up the slope.

"It's this way."

It was exhausting, but when I saw where Kyros stopped, I smiled faintly. He had found the destination.

"This is... a waterfall."

Zain muttered as he looked at where Kyros stopped.

Swoosh---

A huge waterfall poured down with cool water. Jain marveled at the sight that appeared after climbing up high.

"Wow, it's beautiful."

There was even a rainbow created by the giant water stream. It was truly a perfect and beautiful place.

"This is amazing. I didn't expect such a place in this rugged mountain."

Kyros also admired it.

"And I can feel a strong energy behind that waterfall."

Yes. Kyros was right.

I looked at the waterfall for a moment and then looked around. The waterfall was below the path we came from. We had to go down about 10 meters to get near the waterfall.

The waterfall in the middle of the mountain was like a synthetic scene. It was so amazing.

"But if it's behind the waterfall... Do you know exactly where it is?"

"I can only smell the energy, but not the exact location... I'm sorry, I'm useless."

"That's not what I meant."

Kyros looked gloomy again.

I already knew where it was behind the waterfall. I had cleared this hidden quest almost dozens of times. How could I not know?

"Then let's find out ourselves. The path..."

I pretended not to know and looked around for a way down. It was more like a cliff than a path, but there was a small space where we could step on.

"Master? Are you going down there?"

As I carefully stepped down, Zain ran up to me with a surprised look.

"We have to. Kyros has kindly found us the way. We don't know the exact location yet, so let's look from below."

"Ah, haa... Yes, yes. Okay."

He sighed as if he didn't want to go down the rough path. I lowered my posture and grabbed the wall with my hands and stretched my feet down. Slowly, I descended on the small rock wall.

"Be careful!"

As soon as I started going down, Kyros jumped down to the ground and shouted with a worried voice.

I almost fell several times, but thanks to my hard work, I managed to arrive safely.

"Hoo."

"My heart almost dropped!"

"It's okay, we made it."

I smiled at Kyros and looked around. There was a rocky floor like a valley in front of the waterfall, so there was no danger after that.

"Uh, agh!"

As I dusted off my hands, I heard Zain scream. He was halfway down when I last saw him, but he must have fallen to the ground.

"Are you okay?"

I went over to him and saw him struggling to get up from the ground. I reached out my hand and helped him up.

"Geez, that scared me to death."

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

Zain breathed heavily and checked his body. He didn't seem to have any serious injuries, but he frowned as he twisted his ankle.

"My ankle hurts a little bit, but it's okay."

Why are your eyes moist then?

I stared at him for a moment and opened my inventory. This morning, before getting on the horse, I made a few more healing potions and took one out for Zain.

"Master...!"

Zain's eyes sparkled.

"Drink it. Don't save it for later, drink it right now."

"Ah, but it's too precious to drink for this minor injury."

He looked at the potion with care, but when I glared at him silently, he finally opened the cap and drank it.

"Wow. The effect is really good."

His leg movement changed as soon as he drank the potion. Just like he said, It seemed that his injury was not serious. But I couldn't leave my slave in pain.

"Thank you."

He nodded his head at me, and while I was looking at him, Kyros had disappeared.

---My boy.

'Kyros? When did you come back?'

---I thought this form would be easier to watch over my lambs. But, there's something you need to know.

'What is it?'

---You're going to go behind that waterfall, right? Then, you need to prepare some antidotes. When I smelled it earlier, there were many kinds of poisons.

'Ah, yes. I got it.'

It was a tempting offer, but I wanted to save Kyros' power for later and get a bigger favor. I already had a solution anyway.

'It's okay. I can handle it.'

By the way, Kyros is really like a puppy. I opened my inventory right away.

"Master, what are you doing? Why are you laying those things out?"

I settled near a flat rock and laid out various herbs that I took out of my inventory. Zain looked at them with curiosity.

"I need to prepare something."

"Prepare something?"

I nodded briefly and moved my hands quickly. I crushed some herbs, including the mandrake head that I had used before, and extracted their juice.

Then, I took out 5 empty glass bottles that I always carried with me and filled them with different proportions of the herb juice. Finally, I added the 'sheep's milk' that I had prepared beforehand and it was done.

I gave one of them to Zain.

"What is this...?"

Instead of explaining, I grabbed a bottle and drank the liquid.

Wow, I feel like throwing up.

It was hard to describe how bitter it was. It was hard to swallow, but I managed to do it. It wasn't for the taste anyway.

[You have consumed the Universal Antidote.]

[You are immune to all poisons for one hour.]

A universal antidote made with a recipe that can only be found in the latter half of the HSAW. Although it only lasts for an hour, that's enough time for this matter.

"Ugh! Why does it taste like this?"

Zain, who had followed me and drank the antidote, grimaced and asked me accusingly.

"What do you expect? I put all kinds of herbs in it."

"Ugh."

Zain frowned and glared at the empty glass bottle.

"By the way, Master, what is this?"

"It's a universal antidote."

"Huh? There's such an antidote?"

Even Zain couldn't know about this. It was something I learned from a hidden path in the latter part of the HSAW.

"I saw some herbs that you used that are not for antidotes."

"Don't worry, it's effective. And, don't go around blabbing about the recipe. It's a secret, you know?"

"Of course, I know! Don't worry! I value my life too!"

"That's good then."

I left behind the exhilarating Zain and put the remaining herbs and universal antidotes into my inventory. Then I cleaned up the place.

There were three antidotes left. I prepared them generously in case of any unexpected situations.

"But, why do we need antidotes all of a sudden? Did we get poisoned without me knowing?"

"Not yet. But we will soon."

"Huh?"

"Kyros told me. Come on, follow me."

I gestured to Zain and headed towards the waterfall. We passed through a path full of rocks and stones, and arrived near the waterfall. The cool spray of water splashed on us.

I stepped on a few rocks that were floating on the water and crossed over to the front of the waterfall. My robe was damp, but I didn't care.

"Master, you're not going in there, are you?"

As I stood in front of the center of the waterfall, Zain asked me in a surprised tone.

"Why not? It's the only visible way, so you better follow me well."

I didn't hesitate and jumped into the waterfall. 

Splash!

I safely landed in a space behind the waterfall. I was soaked, but it couldn't be helped.

Behind the giant waterfall, there was a cave that was wide enough for three people of immense height to enter.

"Ah!"

Zain arrived after me. He also looked like a wet rat.

"Ugh, I'm soaked."

I wanted to dry my clothes before going in, but I didn't have much time. The effect of the universal antidote was still decreasing as time passed by.

"By the way, how is there a cave here? It's all thanks to Kyros that we know."

"Yeah, really. Kyros led us here, so it must be certain."

---Hehe, yes. It's all thanks to me!

Actually, I was worried about what excuse to use for knowing this place, but thanks to Kyros, I 'accidentally' came in. I was relieved.

I smiled slyly and looked at the message that appeared before my eyes.

[You have discovered the hidden dungeon 'Zine's Lair'!]

[A hidden quest 'Zine Extermination' has occurred!]

While there are not many of them, dungeons do exist in HSAW. This place is one of those dungeons that were shrouded in mystery, a hidden dungeon.

When I played HSAW for the first time, I couldn't find this place easily either. I found it by chance when I was running away from orcs and goblins.

[Hidden quest occurred!]

[Hidden quest <Zine Extermination>

Content: In the cave lives Zine, who has been alive for a long time. Zine has many poisons, and its power is gradually increasing. It might soon poison the entirety of Beon Mountain!

Goal: Exterminate Zine

Success: ???

Failure: -]

[Do you accept?]

[Yes/No]

I immediately pressed yes.

When I first found a hidden quest in HSAW, I was so excited that I went in without any preparation and died several times.

And now, I'm fully prepared.

"Let's go, Zain."

I entered the cave with Zain. The inside was not very big, but it was enough to walk around. However, it was too dark.

I took out a lantern from my inventory. Then, a hand suddenly popped out from beside me and snatched the lantern away. Zain held the lantern and stared ahead. A well-trained servant indeed. A satisfied smile formed on my face.

"Is there really treasure in here?"

"We can only hope so."

We walked while chatting occasionally, and at some point, purple mist covered our surroundings.

This was Zine's poison that had been spewed out for a long time. Zine's poison was so powerful that it was no exaggeration to say that it contained all the poisons in the world.

So anyone who breathed in this mist for a moment would lose their life.

"Ugh!"

Zain seemed surprised and quickly held his breath. This kind of poison would actually melt the skin from the outside and kill any living being. Not us, though.

"It's okay, Zain. This is why I made the antidote in advance."

"Oh, right. You did."

Zain finally lowered his hand that was covering his nose and mouth, and breathed comfortably.

"But, Master. This amount of poison... We should have been like them too. What kind of antidote did you give me?"

Zain pointed to the skeletons that were rolling on the cave floor.

Anyone who came in here without any preparation would melt to their bones too. Of course, it would take some time to melt the bones.

Anyway, the fact that there were skeletons in this cave meant that they hadn't been here for long.

'Maybe they heard about the treasure and came here.'

They were lucky enough to get in here, though. Even if they drank from the poisoned chalice.

"Well, it's a pretty good antidote."

"But with your skills, you could be one of the best alchemists on the continent."

"Wait."

I gestured to Zain to be quiet. In the silence that followed, I heard someone breathing heavily. The breathing was short and rough.

I followed the sound with Zain. A few meters away, there was a person sitting leaning against the wall.

'...He's still alive?'

It was impossible for a normal person. What happened? My body moved before I could think. Zain followed along.

Then, a man in a black robe appeared.

No... Why is he here?

The man, whose face was blackened by Zine's poison, was breathing hard with his eyes closed. He was Terdius.