How the Cult Saves the World-Chapter 184

I didn't know exactly what had happened to Terdius, but whatever it was, the important fact was that this guy had now become a complete follower of the Kyros Church.

'Finally...'

I looked at Terdius with surprised eyes, then quickly approached him.

"Brother, are you alright?"

And I immediately supported Terdius. In just a short time, what had he experienced? His body was in poor condition.

"Ugh—"

"Let's have you lie down here first."

"No, I'm fine—"

"Just lie down."

I forcibly laid Terdius, who was refusing my help, on the floor. Having already lost most of his strength, he immediately collapsed onto the floor.

"I'll heal you."

I immediately placed my hand around Terdius's abdomen and used my healing skill. Then a bright light bloomed and enveloped Terdius.

"This is...!"

Since I had never directly used my healing skill in front of him before, he seemed quite surprised. Terdius opened his eyes wider than usual and looked at me.

Looking at that, I leisurely finished the healing. When the light completely subsided, both the minor wounds all over Terdius's body and the severe-looking abdominal wound had disappeared without a trace.

"You... can use the power of healing too?"

"Yes. You seem very surprised."

"...I knew you had abilities I didn't know about. But you surprise me every time."

"I am, after all, the Church Leader who serves the God of Beauty and Life."

Terdius stood up from his spot with a small exclamation. He examined his body, then moved it lightly.

"You're not uncomfortable anywhere, are you?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Terdius expressed his gratitude to me with a faint smile, then seemed about to leave the prayer room. But I grabbed his shoulder.

"Brother. Even if you're going to leave, at least tell me the story."

"What story..."

"...Why are you acting like this when you should know? Of course I mean what happened to you. Why you were covered in blood in the prayer room where no one was."

I asked Terdius with serious eyes. I knew the result, but I was curious about what he had experienced. Then Terdius lowered my hand that was on his shoulder and narrowed his brow.

"...Well, you probably noticed to some extent."

I quietly listened to his story. Terdius briefly explained the situation.

From hearing Kyros's voice the night he came to me saying he would join the Kyros Church, to Kyros giving him a 'trial' in exchange for power, and completing the trial just before I found him.

"So... you passed the trial?"

I knew the result well, but I wanted to hear the answer from Terdius's mouth, so I asked. Then Terdius nodded with a calm smile.

"Of course. That's why from now on, I'm a Holy Knight of the Kyros Church."

I couldn't help but raise the corners of my mouth at his answer. After such a long time, Terdius had finally returned to where he should have been.

"That's good."

"Thank you, Church Leader."

"...Still, now that you've become a Holy Knight, shouldn't you show me some respect?"

Why does this guy keep speaking informally like Troy?

"That will be a bit difficult for now."

I wasn't pleased to see him even say it confidently. He just found his proper place, so will it take more time for him to change to a personality like the original?

'Maybe he won't change at all.'

While I was thinking that, Terdius passed by me.

"I'll be visiting more often from now on."

Leaving only those words.

"Sigh."

I let out a sigh while watching Terdius's retreating figure. Still, I was satisfied just that he had become a complete follower of the Kyros Church.

"Well then, I should go back too."

I quickly left the prayer room. Having confirmed what the suddenly appearing system message meant, I was now thinking of working.

'I wanted to ask Kyros about it beforehand though.'

Kyros was currently giving no answer. I didn't know if he was playing at some other temple.

Thinking so, I returned alone to my office. Though it was still early dawn, the sun was rising and the interior was quite bright.

"My child. You woke early."

As soon as I opened my office door, a familiar voice was heard. On top of my office desk, Kyros in his dog form was sitting.

"Lord Kyros. How long have you been here?"

"Mmm. I wonder."

"You didn't respond when I called you for a while, so I thought you had gone to play at another temple."

I said this and approached Kyros. Kyros's expression looked unusually serious today. Though he still looked cute in his dog form.

"Lord Kyros. I have something I want to ask."

I spoke to Kyros with serious eyes. Then Kyros opened his mouth.

"Yes. It must be about that child who was in the prayer room."

"...You knew."

"Of course."

Kyros slowly floated up to the ceiling. He met my gaze. I immediately asked him about what I was curious about.

"Why did you give Terdius that 'trial'?"

Until just a while ago, Terdius had been an apostle of the Diego Church. I knew Terdius was the protagonist of the original work, but Kyros wouldn't know that fact. So I was curious what he believed in to give Terdius power.

"Well, that child has considerable talent, so I did so."

"But Lord Kyros, Terdius was an apostle of the Diego Church until just recently."

"Then my child, why did you accept that child?"

"That's..."

I couldn't immediately answer Kyros's question.

"And you treated that child quite kindly even when he was the serpent's child."

"......"

"I'm not trying to blame or fault you. It's just that, my child, just as you were instinctively drawn to that child, I was too."

Did that mean Kyros also felt affinity because Terdius was the original protagonist?

'If it were originally, Terdius should have been a devout follower of the Kyros Church from the start and should have performed the role I took on.'

I quietly gazed at Kyros. Then Kyros opened his mouth.

"That child, now freed from the serpent's brainwashing, has a good heart and strong will. His soul must have been good originally too. Moreover, since he wants to repay his debt to you, I gave him a trial. If he couldn't pass the trial, I was going to mercilessly cast him out."

"...I see."

"Yes. And since that child passed the trial I gave, I simply fulfilled my promise. So don't worry. That child has now become my devout follower."

I slowly nodded at Kyros's words. It's not that I didn't trust Kyros. I was just curious about his intention.

'Well, it turned out well.'

I was thinking that when Kyros spoke again with serious eyes.

"And my child, there's something I want to tell you."

"Yes. Please speak, Lord Kyros."

I felt a bit tense because Kyros was unusually serious today.

"Listen without being surprised, my child."

How could I not be surprised when he said that? Still, I prepared myself mentally as much as possible. And what Kyros said next was truly shocking.

"In this world... the energy of Shamir, who could be called the leader of the Rizes Church, has disappeared."

"What?"

I couldn't help but open my eyes wide at the completely unexpected words. Then Kyros spoke in a tone mixed with sighs.

"It seems Diego absorbed Shamir's power."

And I couldn't say anything. Not only had the Demon God Shamir disappeared, but Diego had even absorbed that power.

It was a major event that hadn't occurred in the original work, so I couldn't help but be surprised. Even though Kyros had told me not to be surprised in advance, the shock was considerable.

"You seem very surprised."

"Of course..."

"I was also very surprised when Shamir's energy disappeared. So I investigated, and as a result of the investigation, it became certain that Shamir had perished."

"Good heavens..."

When the shock still hadn't subsided, a fact suddenly came to mind.

'If Diego absorbed Shamir's power, he must have become far stronger than before.'

That's why he must have abandoned Terdius.

'He brainwashed Terdius to increase his own power, but having gained even greater power, he cast him aside.'

Of course, this was just a hypothesis, but it had credibility.

"I've told you everything I had to say, so I'll be going now."

While I was lost in thought about the unexpected development, dog-form Kyros stretched and spoke. I spoke to him sincerely.

"Thank you for telling me, Lord Kyros."

"Not at all, my child. Ah, right. Let me give you this before I go."

Then a pure white sphere of light flowed from Kyros's body. Soon the sphere rose onto my desk and slowly changed shape.

"It's a gift."

With those words, Kyros disappeared. And the gift Kyros left behind was a thin book.

"...A storybook?"

Only a picture of the Milky Way was drawn on the cover, with no title written. I immediately picked up the book.

I didn't know why Kyros gave me such a gift, but he wouldn't have left it without meaning.

'But there's no item information displayed either.'

I didn't know the reason, but for now, I decided to read the book. When I turned the cover of the book, I could see writing on the thin paper.

[Long, long ago, there was nothing in the world.

In ancient times when neither light nor darkness existed,

The Creator God Magnus awoke from the darkness.]

I quickly read through the storybook. The content wasn't much, and it wasn't particularly special.

It was a story about how the Creator God named Magnus created the world and gave light and darkness respectively to his two most beloved son gods, having them rule over them.

And the writing ended there. There were more pages continuing after, but they were empty without any writing.

After going through the book once more, I put it in my inventory. Though item information wasn't displayed, fortunately it went into the inventory.

'But why did Kyros give me this?'

From the content alone, it was just a common creation myth.

'I thought there would be something since it was a gift from Kyros.'

It was a bit strange that there was nothing. Still, I decided to stop paying attention to the book and started working.

***

A distant dimension, somewhere. On a green meadow.

Kyros was sitting on the meadow, bathed in warm sunlight.

And he was looking at Revelof through a screen.

'My beloved child.'

Kyros smiled with a bit of bitterness.

'If you learn the entire truth, you will hate me.'

Thinking of that moment that would come someday, Kyros conveyed feelings to Revelof that would never reach him.

'I'm sorry.'