How the Cult Saves the World

Chapter 52

According to my memory, the content that was updated when I arrived in the Aldone Kingdom within the Woosebeop was supposed to be 'hearing rumors' about the Bahano Kingdom.

But now it was different. It was not about hearing rumors, but about finding traces of a beast in the Aldone Kingdom.

As I confirmed the content, a smile came to my lips. I felt like the system knew what I wanted.

'Come to think of it, it often happened before.'

There were times when the system window changed in real time. Just like when the description of the 'healing' skill changed.

I accepted the quest with a faint smile.

'It's good for me.'

It was related to the beast of the Aldone Kingdom, which was what I wanted to do before I arrived in the Bahano Kingdom.

Of course, it was also related to the beast that I wanted to arrive in the Bahano Kingdom before winter.

'...Yes.'

This beast was the culprit of the disaster that would spread across the continent from the Bahano Kingdom in the future.

So I planned to 'deal with' this beast somehow before it went to the Bahano Kingdom. That would solve the disaster.

Even so, I still had to go to the Bahano Kingdom.

It's simple. The only thing that could be prevented by dealing with this beast was precisely the 'disaster'.

'No, even if I stop the disaster, where is that. There is another way for 'demonization'...'

Apart from the Bahano Kingdom disaster, a large-scale 'demonization' would occur in Bahano by the Rizes Church.

In other words, these two were separate events.

So my goal was divided into two. Stopping the beast as much as possible in Aldone, and then moving to Bahano to stop the large-scale demonization as well.

These two were the core of this trip.

'It's annoying. But I can't help it.'

Strictly speaking, it was because what I wanted to get was hard to get without doing these two things.

I felt a little refreshed after organizing my purpose properly.

"Wow, it's so beautiful."

Only then did Zain's voice, who had been admiring the window, reach my ears. Zain's eyes widened as he looked around at the scenery of Aldone Kingdom. I also followed his gaze and looked around.

The Aldone Kingdom, which survived on tourism, had buildings that were white and not very high, making them cute and beautiful. There was a country similar to Aldone in my previous life, but as a poor person, I couldn't even dream of traveling.

'But it's different now.'

I looked around with a smile. Then, before I knew it, the carriage stopped.

Zain and I got off the carriage and paid the coachman. We were able to get a separate carriage to go to Bahano in Aldone, so we said goodbye to him and walked away.

"Ha, I never thought I'd come to this beautiful place with you."

Zain grumbled as we walked along the street.

"So you're unhappy?"

"No, no, I'm just sorry."

Zain smiled awkwardly. You're lying, you bastard.

I glared at him once and moved on. It was time to find a place to stay first.

---

Underneath a clear blue sky. A green meadow stretched out wide.

Dozens of black panthers played on the green meadow. They competed with each other by running and sometimes rolling on the grass.

Every moment was fun. They rolled with their family and sometimes fought, but they were all together.

It was then that the clear blue sky suddenly turned dark.

Then monsters appeared out of nowhere. They appeared not only on the green meadow but also from the sky and attacked the black panthers.

'Kieeek!'

'Krrrrr-!'

The black panthers fought for their lives to protect their families and clans. Their sharp claws and teeth tore at the monsters' necks.

Dark fluid splashed and the green meadow began to be covered with black liquid and blood of black panthers.

The monsters and black panthers attacked each other back and forth. But as time passed, the black panthers began to fall down.

The monsters appeared endlessly but the black panthers could not do that.

That's how all but one black panther fell down. Half of them lost their lives to monsters and half of them turned into monsters themselves.

'Kruk, kruk!'

The lone black panther couldn't believe what was happening. But his beloved clan became monsters and attacked him, and he had to kill them with his own hands while shedding tears of blood.

Finally, when all monsterized black panthers stopped breathing,

The lone black panther shed tears of sorrow.

Troy opened his eyes then.

"...!"

A dark dungeon cell.

Troy, who opened his eyes behind the iron bars of the cell, covered his damp eyes with his hand.

He sobbed quietly, holding his breath. The tears did not go away easily.

"Huk."

Troy lowered the hand that covered his eyes and grabbed the hard object that encircled his neck. The thing that looked like a collar was a sturdy restraint that Troy could not break with his strength.

Troy bit his lips. Blood flowed from his mouth.

His lips, both hands, and whole body trembled.

He remembered that day so vividly whenever he had a dream like today.

He wanted to break the thing that was choking his neck right away, but he couldn't.

The High Priest of the Rizes Church's Aldone Branch, Hamel, made a restraint that he couldn't break with his strength, so Troy had no choice but to be dragged around.

Sometimes he would break free from brainwashing like now. But it was only for a few minutes.

'Please.'

Troy prayed with his eyes closed. It had been months since he was captured by Hamel and brainwashed, living in a cell.

He had no strength to endure anymore.

'Please, someone help me...'

Troy closed his eyes and hoped earnestly. But there was never any salvation.

No one could help me, then the only thing left was...

Troy shivered as he curled up.

'I don't want to die like this...'

Creak, the door of the dungeon cell where Troy was locked up opened at that moment.

Troy flinched. There was only one person who would come to him.

Hamel.

He always treated Troy like his dog and made him do things he didn't want to do. And if he wasn't in a good mood, he would beat Troy without hesitation.

'I finished everything today. Don't tell me...'

Troy closed his eyes tightly. He expected another whip to fly at him.

Troy curled his body up and prepared for the pain.

But there was no pain. Instead,

"Hello."

A gentle voice reached his ears. It was the first warm voice he had heard since he came here. Without knowing it, Troy opened his eyes and looked around.

Then he saw a man standing in front of the iron bars by the light of a lantern that came through the open door.

The man smiled and took his hood off.

"Can't you talk?"

A beautiful man with golden hair like sunlight looked at Troy.

For a moment, Troy shuddered at the sight of his golden hair. It was the same color as Hamel's. But the man's face was completely different.

He was a handsome man with a beautiful face and a warm smile, unlike Hamel.

"I'm Leviathan."

The man said softly with a charming smile.

The next moment, Troy couldn't believe his ears.

"I've come to save you."

His earnest wish had finally come true.

---

A few hours ago.

Zain and I found a place to stay at the edge of a quiet village in Aldone Kingdom. We were so tired from the long journey that we lay down on the bed and rested.

When we woke up after a few hours of sleep, it was already late evening.

We finished our meal at the inn's restaurant, and when it was late at night, I, who was looking out the window, moved.

"Master?"

Zain got up as I put on my robe that I had taken off. He was still knitting and followed him.

"Where are you going?"

"I have something to check."

At my words, Zain packed up his knitting supplies with a dumbfounded face. While I was putting on my robe, I felt that Kyros was quiet for some reason.

'Did he go to see the temple?'

Well, it didn't matter much to me whether Kyros was there or not.

"Let's go."

Zain finished preparing and we quietly left the inn.

The beautiful sky of Aldone turned black and the street lights dimmed. There were hardly any people at this time, so only two people were walking on the street.

"But Master, what are you going to check?"

"Simply put, traces."

"What traces?"

"...The Rizes Church."

At my words, Zain's expression hardened. He was silent for a while, then I said with a faint smile.

"Kyros told me through prayer that the situation in the Bahano Kingdom is not good, right? That's all because of... the Rizes Church."

What I was talking about was the information he had heard from Kyros even while traveling. Of course, I had known it for a long time.

"I see."

Zain's expression became serious. He thought about something for a moment and then asked.

"But this is Aldone. The Diego Church still has a lot of influence here. Do you think there is a Rizes Church here?"

"I'm not sure. But I can't deny it either. The Rizes Church is persistent like bugs."

In fact, I was sure but I didn't say so.

I was constantly thinking in my head.

'The Woosebeop and the quest content are slightly different, so it's vague.'

In the Woosebeop, I collected information about Bahano Kingdom instead of finding traces of the beast. I was thinking about it when Zain suddenly said.

"Come to think of it, there is a possibility. The distance between Bahano and Aldone is not that far."

I nodded at that.

"That's right."

"Oh, and I know that the Rizes Church usually thrives in marginalized areas."

"That's right. A place like 'Rovel' in Aldone is 'Rasilren' around here."

"So that's why we're going this way."

I chose this place as my accommodation because it was close to Rasilren.

'Because the traces of the beast are near the Rizes Church's Aldone Branch.'

However, what I was wondering about was what kind of traces the beast had left behind.

Whether it was something I could see with my own eyes or not.

I thought about it as I walked and soon we reached Rasilren.

Rasilren looked fine on the outside but it was rotten on the inside.

There were homeless people lying on the street and sometimes people who looked addicted to Happy.

"...It's certain."

Zain whispered to me. He also recognized people who were addicted to Happy easily because he had been selling in alleys near Rovel.

We adjusted our hoods again and walked quietly through Rasilren's streets.

Then something caught my eye at some point.

It was a wall illuminated by moonlight. On the wall, there were marks that looked like they were made by long and sharp claws.

'Could it be...'

The system window appeared at that moment.