How the Cult Saves the World

Felcia, an old woman with white hair and also the Earth Fairy, stood before an old tree in the center of Prell. Her gaze lingered on a young man aimlessly wandering around the village.

'Leviathan...no, Revelof Holden.'

The young man, who had brought the cure for the Goblin Disease, had begun treating the villagers, starting with Mary. Felcia had been present during Mary's treatment, so she knew the treatment process well firsthand.

'Did he make that medicine yourself? You'd think he'd brag more...'

The treatment was straightforward: feed the patient the cure that Revelof had prepared.

So, all he needed to do was call the guardians of the patients to the village center and distribute the medicine.

But Revelof chose a different approach. Instead of gathering everyone in one place, he visited each home and treated the patients personally.

'Kyros Church, was it? It's probably just a ploy to promote his religion...'

Yet, as Revelof went door to door, the villagers began to trust the cure. Their anxiety gradually faded.

'Maybe it's actually a good thing after all.'

Pelcia whispered softly with a satisfied smile.

"It's just as you said, Phinis."

A gust of wind blew as if in response to her voice. Then the voice of a tiny fairy reached Felcia's ears.

"Yes, Felcia. Both Revelof and the god Kyros...they're kind and gentle."

"Of course, I trust Lord Kyros. But that boy... I wasn't sure about him. Even though I adore humans."

"Why not?"

"He seems good-natured, but I couldn't tell his true nature. Watching him do all this, though...he's not so bad."

A faint smile appeared on Felcia's lips, and Phinis's playful voice chimed in.

"If that's your judgment of him, then I must say it's not a bad evaluation."

The two fairies laughed together.

Meanwhile, Felcia kept a close eye on Revelof while talking to Phinis, who tirelessly moved throughout the village. Whether it was under the glaring midday sun, the fading evening light, or after nightfall, he worked to treat the villagers.

His companions, Zain and Troy, were the same. 

As the night finally descended, Goblin Disease vanished from the village.

"Haa... haa..."

Revelof collapsed under the old tree where Felcia had been standing earlier.

"I'm going to die... I'm going to die..."

"...Ha..."

Zain and Troy, who had been running around with him, slumped down beside him. The day's efforts had completely drained them, especially after their grueling travel there.

The treatment itself wasn't particularly difficult. The real challenge was locating the patients scattered across Prell. While they could ask people about the patients, getting lost along the way happened often.

After hours of running back and forth, they managed to treat everyone. But no matter how much holy power they had, they were still human---they were physically and mentally exhausted.

"I definitely rested enough before coming here and yet..."

Zain muttered, his usually sharp features now gaunt. Despite taking a day of rest in Rovel, the strain from the long distance travel accumulated and left him exhausted.

Troy and Revelof were in a similar state.

'Ha...this is killing me.'

Revelof thought, running a hand through his sweat-soaked hair.

-You've worked hard, child. Treating so many people...

'Haha...yeah. It was a tough day.'

In fact, although he personally went out to promote the Kyros Church, he deeply regretted not just distributing the cure.

Still, Revelof said today's treatment process itself wasn't all that bad.

'Meeting the patients face to face, hearing their guardians' gratitude...'

Despite everything, it was fulfilling. As a faint smile crossed his lips, a shadow fell over him.

"You've worked hard."

The elder of Prell and the Earth Fairy, Felcia, had arrived. With her appearance, a message materialized before Revelof's eyes.

[Sub-quest "Plague" cleared!]

[Sub-quest rewards will be distributed.]

Revelof read the message over and over, a wave of happiness washing over him. But that wasn't the only notification.

[672 Prell villagers who received your help have shown interest in the Kyros Church!]

Hours of tireless effort had finally yielded some pretty decent results.

***

Somewhere, In a distant dimension.

In a pitch-black void stood a crumbling castle. Coiled atop the dilapidated structure was a massive snake.

The giant snake, the Evil Fod, Diego, scanned the various glowing screens that floated before him.

Not long ago, he had commanded his apostle to spread the "Goblin Disease" across the world, a revelation the apostle had carried out with unwavering devotion.

Diego watched as the plague swept through the world, a contented smile curling across his lips.

'Although the timing isn't perfect... '

What other choice was there? This couldn't be helped.

This was the fastest and easiest way to gather more followers.

Diego Church had a large number of believers, already commanding nearly 80 percent of the Continent's population as his followers.

But, Diego was unsatisfied with that. Though his number of believers was vast, the brainwashing he had cast on this world's "main character" was weakening.

'I'm not sure when it started, but little by little...'

That's not to say Diego's power itself hadn't diminished---he was certain of that.

So his plan was to secure more followers, bolster his powers, and fortify the brainwashing on the main character.

'But...'

The snake's sharp eyes narrowed. The traces of Goblin Disease, which had been spreading steadily until moments ago, were now clearly beginning to fade.

Diego glared at the screens, sensing that something was amiss. He extended a fraction of his power into the world below.

The black energy flowed into the world he was seeing at the time.

The energy seemed very weak, but in reality, Diego's power was condensed into it.

That's why it moved with speed and precision. Diego quickly discovered the reason behind the disease's sudden decline.

'What in the world...'

The screens displayed traces of what that dark energy found. Patients were being cured instantly after consuming some kind of remedy.

'...What?'

The giant snake's eyebrows furrowed. He had not yet commanded his disciples to distribute any treatment, and his disciples would never act without his explicit orders, so it couldn't have been their doing.

'Then...who did this?'

Focusing his gaze beyond the screens, Diego sensed another small, weak energy from the dark power he had released.

It wasn't the work of Shamir, the Demon God currently spreading across the world after Diego.

'This dirty, all-too-familiar feeling...'

There was only one being capable of making Diego feel this sensation.

'Kyros.'

Diego had the realization that Kyros was in this world. He had occasionally felt weak traces of this energy before, but he dismissed it as his imagination because of how small it was.

But now, there was no mistaking it as an illusion.

'But this weak power...'

The snake's mouth twisted into a grin.

Kyros's strength in this world was so pitifully weak compared to Diego's that it could barely take root.

'Yeah. It's so weak that I almost didn't notice it.'

Funnily enough, Kyros's current strength wasn't even a fraction of Diego's.

For a fleeting moment before this, Diego had considered taking immediate action to eliminate Kyros. But upon sensing how frail his rival's power truly was, the idea disappeared completely.

'In this world, you'll never surpass me, Kyros.'

Diego resolved to watch Kyros for now, and then to toy with him later.

He had been so desperate to erase Kyros from this world.

'...I'm really looking forward to when the time for that comes.'

The snake's eyes glowed for a moment in the darkness.

***

After completing the sub-quest and returning from Prell, several days had passed. On my desk, a small wooden flute sat neatly. I looked at it with satisfaction.

'If you play this, I will come to your aid at any time.'

Those were Felcia's words when she handed me a gift.

After becoming friends with the Fairy of Life, Phinis, I had also managed to befriend the Earth Fairy, Felcia. 

Developing friendships with the fairies was crucial---they would undoubtedly prove invaluable in the future war.

I put the gift, the wooden flute, back into the inventory after playing with it for a bit.

Since returning to Rovel, things had been relatively quiet. Well, relatively.

The first few days back in Rovel had been a bit busy. I had to announce the cure for Goblin Disease to the world under the name of the Kyros Church, not to mention tackling the mountain of paperwork that had piled up during my absence.

Or perhaps, it was thanks to the breakthrough in curing the mysterious Goblin Disease...

[Total number of believers: 89,322]

The number of believers in the Kyros Church grew steadily every day. It wouldn't be long before that number crossed the 100,000 mark.

'Of course, it's still not even 1% of the main quest target.'

But it was only a matter of time. After all, once the word of certain events gets out into the world, the growth of the Kyros Church would accelerate dramatically.

As I pondered this, a sudden message appeared:

[Caution! The Evil God Diego has sensed a change in the world.]

The abruptness of the notification caught me off guard.

'That scared me!'

Still, the content of the message wasn't something I was entirely unprepared for. After all, I ended up personally treating the Goblin Disease that the Diego Church had spread.

'At some point, Diego will surely start watching me too...'

I just hoped that wouldn't happen in the near future.

"Church Leader? Are you alright?"

Just then, an unfamiliar female voice struck my ears. Looking up, I saw someone entering my office.

She was a tall woman in her mid-twenties, with long brown hair and striking blue eyes. It was Melin, the S-rank high priestess I had summoned, using the five senior-member draw tickets at my disposal after returning to Rovel.

"Ah, Melin."

"I knocked, but there was no response. I was worried something might have happened."

"Ah, no, I'm fine. I was just lost in thought."

"I see."

Melin was the high priestess who had been summoned to oversee the opening of the Temple of Merilseus, which was scheduled for tomorrow.

"Here are the documents."

"Thank you. And, more importantly, tomorrow is the opening day of the Temple of Merilseus. Please make sure everything is ready, Melin."

"Don't worry, Church Leader."

Melin left my office with a faint smile.

Once I finished organizing my documents, I decided to step outside my office.

Today was the day Grandma was to return to the Holden Estate.