How the Cult Saves the World

Chapter 55

"Wha?!"

I ran to the window with a surprised Zain, but Troy's figure was nowhere to be seen. He was indeed fast as a black panther beastman.

"No, he just left without even saying thank you after the Master treated him."

Zain seemed more flustered than me.

Well, it was a pity. I wanted to get closer to Troy with this opportunity.

If possible, I wanted to make Troy my ally. Of course, I didn't want to force him if he didn't want to, but it was something I could try. But seeing him run away like that, I couldn't help it.

"It's okay."

I didn't care much anyway, because I had another purpose for going to Bahano Kingdom besides Troy.

I was a bit worried about Troy, but he had already escaped from the Rizes Church once, so he wouldn't be caught again.

I thought so and turned away from the window.

---

Troy Mont left for his freedom. That's how I saw it.

But strange things started happening a few days ago.

It's been four days since I arrived in Aldone.

Since Troy ran away from the inn, weird things started appearing on the window sill.

Sometimes there were small wooden fruits, and sometimes there were small red gems.

I wondered what they were at first. I thought maybe they were left by some animals living in Aldone.

Then yesterday, I met someone's eyes on a tree outside the inn. It was Troy, who was sitting crouched and looking at me.

'This is not like a magpie repaying a favor... No, he's a panther, so maybe he's like a tiger brother?'

It felt like a cat was giving me gifts. That's why Troy seemed quite cute to me.

He was taller and bigger than me.

---You have puppy grass today.

I smiled as I touched the fluffy part of the puppy grass.

Kyros' voice came to me.

Kyros appeared after Troy ran away from the inn, and he briefly explained what had happened during that time. So Kyros also knew about Troy.

'That's right.'

I reached out my hand to the window and shook the puppy grass gently. Then a large bush under the inn shook violently even though there was no wind.

---He said he was a black panther beastman, right? He's really like a cat.

'Don't you think? He seems pretty cute.'

I smiled and moved away from the window with the puppy grass in my hand.

It's been four days since arriving in Aldone. During that time, I kept an eye on the Rizes Church's movements.

Zain and I wandered around the Rizes Church chapel every night, and there was no big movement.

I thought they would make a fuss about finding Troy, but they were quiet.

In the original story, I think there were priests wandering around. Or not.

I didn't rescue Troy very often while doing Woosebeop, so I was a bit confused.

'...Well, anyway, I have to leave Aldone soon.'

Before that, I wanted to clean up the Rizes Church branch in Aldone.

The quest also told me to kill them.

Of course, there was no immediate reward for killing them, but I couldn't just leave them alone.

---

The world was blanketed by darkness, and only the moon was up. I put on a robe and said to Zain.

"Let's go, Zain."

We rested well at the inn for a few days. There would be many things happening in the Bahano Kingdom too, so we took a break in advance. Of course, we didn't just play around. We also made various potions.

Anyway, today we had to finish our business in Aldone.

That way we could get to Bahano before winter arrived.

"Are you going to the Rizes Church?"

Zain also followed me and put on a robe and got up from his seat. I nodded my head and answered.

"I can't just leave them alone."

"Ugh. Fine."

Zain looked annoyed but still moved obediently after me.

We quietly left the inn and headed for Rasilren. There was no one on the way to the Rizes Church chapel. There were some vagrants occasionally, but they didn't care about us at all.

I adjusted my hood and walked on when I felt someone following us.

"...Master."

Zain noticed the presence and whispered close to me. But the owner of the presence didn't show any hostility or anything. I didn't feel any magic from the Rizes Church or energy from the Diego Church either.

...I know who it is.

"Just pretend you don't know. He won't hurt us."

Zain nodded his head as if he understood and moved away from me slightly.

We arrived at the Rizes Church chapel like that. The owner of the presence still followed us, but we pretended not to notice.

We easily climbed over the wall as before. Then I felt a new emotion. It was hard to climb over the wall even in Rovel. Now I didn't sweat at all. It was a great improvement.

I smiled with joy when Kyros' voice came to me.

---I'm so nervous.

His voice sounded more nervous than mine.

---Do you want me to help you, baby? By manifesting myself.

He said he would help me with his cute puppy appearance. It seemed like he would cheer me up, but,

'It's okay. We can handle it ourselves.'

I didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble. As I said, we could handle it ourselves.

I went straight to the back of the chapel with Zain. But I didn't open the door to the underground prison as before. Today I was going to infiltrate the upper floor.

"Zain."

I pointed to a small door behind the chapel building. He skillfully opened the locked door.

Creak.

As we opened the door and entered, a lantern that illuminated the dark interior was shining.

Thanks to the lantern, we could see clearly. Zain and I entered the chapel and walked quietly.

"Follow me quietly."

"You should be quiet too, Master. I can do that better than you."

I glared at him once and moved on. The inside of the chapel was quiet at night. I took out a mace from my inventory and held it in my hand as I headed inside.

I walked quietly and hid my body at the corner. Then I peeked out and saw some priests and soldiers walking down the hallway.

There were four of them in total. I held my breath and signaled Zain. He nodded as if he understood.

Thud, thud.

The footsteps finally got closer, and their figures appeared.

Thwack!

I swung my mace right away. The soldier with a blue face vanished on the spot. Zain subdued two priests who were about to scream, and I took care of the remaining soldier.

Thwack, thud!

The fight was over without much noise.

We had one goal here.

To kill the High Priest Hamel in the chapel, and destroy the 'Blessing of the God'.

If we destroyed the Blessing of the God, maybe we would get an achievement or a reward like we did in Rovel. It wouldn't be bad to take over this town with that, but I didn't really want to do that. It would be too much trouble to manage.

I thought so as I dealt with the beast soldiers and priests in the hallway with my club. Soon, the hallway quieted.

'This is easier than I thought.'

It was similar to the difficulty level I saw in Woosebeop.

There were more soldiers in Rovel, but it was easy because Terdius took care of them.

But Aldone had much fewer soldiers, so Zain and I could handle them easily.

'Maybe it's because the Rizes Church is more focused on Bahano.'

As I killed the beast-like soldiers and knocked out the priests, I got closer to the High Priest's room.

It would probably be easy to deal with the High Priest too. Aldone was just a gateway to Bahano in Woosebeop, so they must have adjusted the balance accordingly.

I thought so and opened the door to the High Priest's room.

There, a man with a rather beautiful appearance was sitting at a desk. The man with golden hair that was darker than mine and reached his waist smiled and said to us.

"Welcome. Nice to meet you."

He acted as if he had been waiting for us.

It was like this in the original story too. Hamel, the High Priest, was a cunning guy. But his power was not very strong, so it was easy to deal with him.

"Did you know we were coming?"

Zain stepped forward and asked Hamel.

"Of course. It was noisy in the hallway."

I thought we came as quietly as possible, but apparently not. Well, there were some beast soldiers who shrieked along the way.

"Besides, I knew someone had infiltrated when my cat disappeared. So I waited. Once again, I thought you would come."

Hamel shrugged with a smile. Then he introduced himself with a saintly face.

"I am Hamel, the High Priest of the Rizes Church's Aldone Branch."

"What, do you want to introduce yourself?"

Zain asked sarcastically, and Hamel's smile deepened. But his eyes were unsmiling.

"I want to let you know who is killing you before your breath stops."

That was the moment. A black energy burst out from Hamel.

Whoosh-

In an instant, the whole office was covered with black substance.

"Ugh!"

Zain groaned and twisted his body. I bit my lip hard.

'This is... God's energy.'

My mistake. This guy had hidden this much energy. It was twice as strong as in the original story.

The hidden route variable must have applied to him.

"Now, it's time for repentance."

Hamel got up from his seat. The desk that blocked his way disappeared. Hamel took a step toward us.

Then black energy sprouted from behind him. It stretched out like arms and moved like tentacles.

Soon, six black tentacles rushed at me.

Squeak!

They were fast, but not invisible.

Thwack!

I swung my mace and knocked away the tentacles.

---Good job! Baby! You can do it!

A smile came to my face. This was more fun than I thought. I was a bit surprised that he was stronger than in the original story, but I could handle it.

"Ho ho, you're quite good."

Hamel's smile disappeared for a moment. One after another, his arms turned black like tentacles. Then he reached his hand out to me. I saw black energy condensed in his hand. I realized what he was doing.

'Spiritual Release!'

I quickly stretched out my hand and released my spirit.

Whoosh-!

White light and black light collided. Then both lights disappeared. But I saw it clearly. For a moment, Hamel's feet were pushed back.

I didn't miss that moment. And I released my spirit again.

Whoosh!

As my spirit flew fast, Hamel stretched out both hands and spewed magic. He barely blocked my spirit and sweated while maintaining his smile.

"What is this power?"

The spirit that Hamel blocked spread around and destroyed the black energy that surrounded us.

Thanks to that, the original office was revealed.

Crash!

Something broke at that moment.

At the same time.

Thud-!

Hamel's chest was pierced.