How the Cult Saves the World

I felt a bit sorry for treating Troy like a beast, but I had no choice.

"I'll try."

Fortunately, Troy took the mandrake root from me without any sign of displeasure.

Sniff, sniff. He sniffed the herb a few times and then lifted his head. His face turned to the right.

"I found it."

I put the mandrake root he handed me back into my inventory and followed Troy. As we moved, we dealt with the monsters that came our way. Soon, we found a staircase that led down.

"It's down there."

Was there a warehouse underground? We went down the stairs and saw a wooden door in a dark place.

Clank. I grabbed the handle and turned it, but the door didn't open. It was locked. If I had a lockpick, I would have opened it.

'No choice.'

Bang!

I smashed the door knob with my mace. The door knob broke and the door opened.

We entered and saw a spacious warehouse. There were many miscellaneous things inside, but five sacks caught my eye.

The sacks were about half the size of an adult and as fat as a human body. I opened them and checked what was inside.

"I found it."

All five sacks contained mandrake roots. I lifted my lips and opened my inventory.

"Should I move them?"

Troy stepped forward to grab the sacks, but I snatched them back. And I stuffed all five sacks into my inventory.

"...Wow."

Troy exclaimed in a low voice.

"How can you put them in thin air?"

"It's a power given by Kyros."

I explained briefly and passed by Troy, who was still amazed.

Now, I had to find the 'Large-scale Monsterization Device'. It was a product of research that the Rizes Church had seduced the magicians and alchemists into creating.

'I'm sure Celos is controlling it.'

Where could it be? I thought as I climbed the stairs.

The Large-scale Monsterization Device was a device that emitted black mist and turned people into monsters.

'And it all started when... the sky of the Royal Capital turned black.'

Then, there was only one place where the device could be.

"Troy. Let's go to the highest point of this Palace."

"Why?"

"There might be something that emits this black mist there."

I explained briefly and climbed the stairs. We encountered some Palace servants who had turned into monsters, but we easily disposed of them with Troy.

As we climbed the stairs, the stairs finally ended. And we saw a small corridor and a translucent glass door.

As soon as we opened the door, a wide-open rooftop appeared. There was an old man who looked like he was in his seventies and a huge flask.

The old man with white hair was smiling happily as he looked at the huge flask.

"That robe, he's definitely the High Priest of the Rizes Church."

Troy growled and raised his claws as he spoke to me.

"Yeah. I know."

That old man was Celos. And the huge flask next to him, which was boiling with black liquid, was the 'Large-scale Monsterization Device'.

The liquid in the flask vaporized and produced black mist endlessly. The mist was spreading throughout Bahano.

"Ho ho, what a surprise. Guests who come without notice..."

Celos turned his gaze to us as he looked at the flask. The old man's dull black eyes gave me the creeps.

"You are rude people."

Celos turned his body toward us. Then Troy shouted.

"How dare you! You try to turn people into monsters!"

"Ha ha! That is our mission and our great work."

"Mission? Great work? What's so important about that?"

"It's important. It's the command of 'Him'. This world will soon belong to 'Him', and when that time comes, we will return to 'His' side."

Celos stroked his beard and smiled. The old man was referring to the Demon Lord.

The Demon Lord Shamir was planning to turn humans into monsters and make them his army, and to oppose the Evil God.

"Now, why don't you join us? A bright future awaits us."

At once, Celos reached out his hand to us. At the same time, black liquid spewed out of his hand.

"Dodge, Troy!"

I pushed Troy's body away.

Squeak-!

The floor where we had been standing was melted by the liquid that Celos spewed.

"This time, you won't be able to avoid it."

Splash-!

Black liquid flew out of Celos's hand like a whip. I quickly got up and blocked Troy's front.

"Master!!"

Squeak-!

My robe was melted by Celos's poison.

[The effect of the hidden item 'Thousand-year-old Genie's Underwear' nullifies the Pavis poison.]

I saw a system window that appeared at the same time and couldn't help but smile with relief. Ah, really.

"It was worth the trouble."

I muttered and shook off the blood-stained Holy mace. The monster's blood splattered on the floor.

"What, what...!"

Celos looked at me in shock. Yeah, he had no choice but to be surprised. The only weapon that the damned old man had was poison.

"Ma, master? Are you okay?"

"Ah, yes. It's just a little poison. It's not like I rolled around for nothing."

I smiled at Troy and slowly approached Celos.

"How can you survive after being hit by my poison?!"

Splash!

Celos spewed more poison with his eyes wide open. Thanks to that, my robe was in tatters. And so was the shirt I was wearing underneath.

"...I'm going to be naked at this rate."

I bit my tongue. Before I knew it, Celos was right in front of me. He collapsed on the floor as if he was about to pee.

"Wh, what are you! How can my poison not work on you!"

"Grandpa, have you ever heard of the term 'immune to all poisons'?"

"What? What is that..."

"...Never mind."

Crash!

I swung my mace and hit Celos's head. He groaned and lost consciousness.

I didn't hit him too hard, just enough to make him faint. His punishment was not up to me, but someone else.

I opened my inventory and took out the sacks of mandrake roots and a rope.

"Troy, tie this bastard up with this."

"...Okay."

Troy looked like he had something to say, but he obediently took the rope.

I checked that he tied Celos up thoroughly and then approached the huge flask.

I opened the sack of herbs and poured them into the flask.

Squeak, squeak-

The countless mandrake roots melted as they entered the flask. But their ingredients didn't melt, so the dark potion gradually turned white.

The black mist that was spewing out of the flask also turned white. Now, white mist would spread over Bahano.

'It's not a perfect solution, but.'

As long as I took this measure, at least people wouldn't be more contaminated than they already are now.

Of course, many people had already become monsters or died. It was something I did to reduce the damage.

"Master, Master... what kind of person are you?"

Before I knew it, Troy came to my side with Celos's wrists, ankles, and body tied up. He looked like he wanted to kill Celos right away, but he marveled at the white mist.

"You can take out or put things in thin air, you're not affected by poison..."

"Well, let's just say I'm a chosen one by God. I'm the master of the Kyros Church."

"...Ah. I see. I see."

Troy nodded as if he understood. I smiled at him and went to Celos, who had fainted.

Celos, who was lying on the floor with his whole body tied up, was definitely unconscious. So I put my hand on the rope that tied him up. And I infused holy power into the rope.

Pah-

A small light spread over the rope, changing its color to white. Then the rope changed its shape to look like the restraint that Troy wore. Only its color was white.

"Master, what is this...?"

"Ah. A restraint. This guy won't be able to use poison anymore."

It was an idea I got from seeing Hamel's restraint, and it actually worked.

"Troy, take this guy."

"Okay."

Troy carried Celos on his shoulder. I came down from the rooftop with him.

There were no more monsters in the palace. It seemed that there weren't many servants and soldiers.

As we walked down the stairs, a particularly fancy door came into view.

"Master?"

"Follow me, Troy."

I opened the door right away. There were many ornaments inside. From paintings with colorful backgrounds to pottery made by craftsmen.

'Decorating the room lavishly must be a characteristic of the High Priests of the Rizes Church.'

I walked with a grim face. Gradually, I felt a sinister aura.

Splash!

I pulled away the curtain that covered one wall of the High Priest's room.

Then I saw the Demon Lord's Blessing inside.

"This is...!"

"I can feel the blessing's power."

I smiled slyly and lifted my mace high. And I swung it hard to break the Blessing.

Crash!

[You have destroyed the 'Demon Lord's Blessing'.]

[You have acquired the land and buildings of the 'Rizes Church Bahano Branch' with the effect of the achievement 'Demon Lord's Blessing Destroyer'.]

[You have acquired the land and buildings of the 'Rizes Church Bahano Branch'.]

[You can establish the 'Kyros Church Temple'!]

[When you establish the 'Kyros Church Temple', you will receive '10 Officer Draw Tickets' as a reward.]

[Do you want to establish the temple?]

[Yes/No]

As I looked at the system window that appeared again, I frowned without realizing it.

'What the hell...'

Until now, every time I destroyed a Blessing and established a temple, I got a 'Regional Purification Light'. But the reward given to me now was 'Officer Draw Tickets'.

No, of course, officer draw tickets are nice. Nice. But what I needed now was a purification light.

'...Damn it.'

I swallowed a curse and accepted the temple establishment.

[The 'Rizes Church Bahano Branch' has been converted into the 'Kyros Church Temple'!]

Since Kyros wasn't looking at me right now, I didn't hear his voice. And the draw tickets also went into my inventory by themselves.

'Well. That's that.'

Let's just keep doing what I have to do. It would have been easier if I had a purification light, but I can't help it.

"Troy, let's go."

I left the High Priest's room with Troy.

'Now, it's the King's turn.'

I organized the order and left the Palace.

When I did.

Whiz! Thud!

I heard the sound of an arrow cutting through the wind.

"Master, there's Zain over there."

Troy pointed and I saw Zain and Arhen surrounded by monster soldiers.

"Zain, Princess."

I ran to them and beat the monsters with my mace.

"Master! You should have come sooner!"

Zain, who was breathing hard with a bow in his hand, blamed me.

"Is this my fault?"

I pushed Zain aside and looked at Arhen. She asked me anxiously.