How the Cult Saves the World

The power gathered in the Grand Apostle's hand was Diego's energy condensed. And its destructive force was enough to easily destroy an entire city.

The Grand Apostle knew this well—but such things gave them not the slightest pang of conscience.

The Grand Apostle stared blankly at Holden territory and moved their hand lightly. The mass of power gathered in their palm soon began flying rapidly toward Holden territory.

Whoooosh—

With a sound of parting wind, the Grand Apostle's white hair fluttered. The next moment, the black sphere they had generated reached the vicinity of Holden territory.

Boom—!

The ground shook with a loud sound. But Holden territory was remarkably intact. Seeing that, the Grand Apostle's eyes narrowed.

"Hmm......"

Their attack had been blocked by nothing more than the barrier enveloping all of the territory. Only then did the Grand Apostle recognize the identity of the unpleasant energy that had been emanating from the territory.

"Kyros's Blessing" covering the entire territory was precisely it. Power full of Kyros's holy force was protecting the territory's people and the territory itself, and had even blocked the Grand Apostle's considerable attack.

"Kyaaah! Wh, what is that!"

"Run! Lord Revelof said to evacuate to the temple if anything happened to the territory!"

Holden's territory residents witnessed the sudden attack and were thrown into panic. But that was only for a moment. They had been undergoing evacuation drills under the orders of the Holden count for the past few days.

This too was, of course, Revelof's directive. Kyros's Blessing would protect the territory—but in case something happened after the war broke out, the entire territory's people were to undergo evacuation drills.

And thanks to Revelof's foresight, the territory residents evacuated quickly. They recalled what they had practiced during the drills and made their way in orderly, calm fashion toward the Kyros temple in Rovel.

"Everyone come inside!"

At the temple there were several officers Revelof had deliberately stationed. Cyril, who had now become a formal priest, and cook Jacob, and others—positioned there in preparation for any unexpected situation.

Thanks to them, the territory residents were able to complete their evacuation in an instant. Though not all of the residents could enter the temple, the vulnerable were given priority shelter inside, and the others took shelter in the buildings surrounding the temple, just as during the mass rift incident.

And around those buildings, Kyros Church officers stood guard. The territory residents had unconditional faith that Kyros Church would protect them, so everyone had now regained their composure.

"......"

And the Grand Apostle watched that scene in silence. To them, it was quite a strange sight. Believing in a god other than their father—so firmly. The Grand Apostle stared blankly down at Holden territory.

Then the next moment, this time they began gathering energy with both hands. The black sphere was now two.

Jacob, who had been protecting the territory residents near the temple, witnessed the scene. Jacob swallowed hard without realizing.

'It'll be all right.'

He watched the situation with firm faith in Kyros and Revelof. Because the Church Leader had said not to step forward first no matter what the situation—he had no choice but to simply watch things unfold.

And the next moment, two black spheres larger than before came flying toward the barrier.

Boom, rumble—!

Once again a powerful shock shook the entire territory. And at that moment, the barrier that had seemed perfectly intact let out a cracking sound and began to develop small fractures.

Cold sweat ran down Jacob's forehead at the sight. He immediately drew his weapon—a kitchen knife—from his subspace.

"Father Cyril, please go inside."

Jacob then prepared for battle and sent Cyril, who was nothing more than an ordinary human, into the temple. Then he turned his head.

"Selina, Melin. Let's go."

The two High Priests who had remained at the temple with him came to his side. The two stood beside Jacob with resolute eyes.

And the next moment, confirming that the barrier had broken, the Grand Apostle began preparing to launch a final attack.

Selina, Melin, and Jacob planned to directly stop the Grand Apostle before they could fire the next attack. So the three launched themselves forward.

Whoosh—!

But at that moment, the Grand Apostle scattered incompletely condensed energy toward the three. The three officers who felt that enormous power understood simultaneously.

'We'll die.'

It was an instinctive realization, accompanied by an energy as if confronting a part of a god—or their avatar. But the three, even knowing that, did not retreat.

To protect the territory as their god and Church Leader had entrusted them. Even at the cost of their own bodies, they intended to protect the territory's people.

And so at the very moment they had accepted death—

"What do you think you're doing?"

The one they had so dearly wanted to see appeared before the three. Wearing white Church Leader's vestments, only showing their back—but that back was wider and more reassuring than anyone's.

"Ch, Church Leader."

Jacob's eyes went wide. Revelof held both hands out into the air without turning back to face the officers. And at that moment, a pure white barrier appeared.

Boom—!

The Grand Apostle's energy was deflected by the barrier. And it was sent back in reverse toward the Grand Apostle.

"I understand that you were trying to protect the territory residents...... but what would you have done if I'd been even a little later."

Revelof's voice was plain, carrying no particular emotion. But he was genuinely worried about the officers.

"W, we're sorry."

"Nothing to apologize for. I'm here now, so return to your original positions."

Revelof turned his head slightly and smiled at the officers. At that, the officers felt great relief and returned to where they were supposed to be—by the territory residents' side.

After they had left, Revelof stared at the Grand Apostle, who had been briefly enveloped in smoke.

Snow-white hair, a body entirely white, and those distinctive eyes. All of it matched what Rawin had described.

On top of that, the Grand Apostle radiated a powerful evil energy that felt like nothing less than Diego's avatar. Revelof looked at the Grand Apostle with a cold gaze.

"Well, well...... impressively strong, I'll give you that."

The strongest opponent Revelof had faced among all the apostles he'd encountered until now. No—to put it bluntly, the Grand Apostle felt as powerful as all the apostles combined.

'Even I can't be confident of winning.'

Revelof let out a hollow laugh. This was genuinely something he hadn't accounted for. Even having considered that hidden route variables would exist, to think Diego had created an existence this powerful—

'This world is something else.'

He had sometimes thought perhaps this world and its system might be on his side. But today, finding himself face to face with the Grand Apostle, the only thing Revelof could recognize was that his thinking had been wrong.

"So you're the Grand Apostle who calls Diego 'Father.'"

Revelof took his mace from his inventory and said. At the word "Father" from his lips, the Grand Apostle tilted their head sideways.

"You know Father?"

"It'd be stranger if I didn't. I am the Kyros Church leader, Leviathan."

At those words, the Grand Apostle's eyes went wide. Then the Grand Apostle's mouth split open broadly, stretching nearly to their ears.

"So it's you. The one Father dislikes."

"Ugh, that's disturbing."

Revelof openly furrowed his brow. Because the Grand Apostle's mouth was just far too wide. At the same time, he extended one hand behind him.

He poured a portion of his holy power into the broken Kyros's blessing, restoring the barrier.

'That should buy some time.'

What remained now was simply to deal with the Grand Apostle standing before him.

'An existence not in the original story...... and a powerful energy.'

Perhaps in this battle, he might lose his life. But this fight could not be avoided. Because he knew too well that Revelof himself was the strongest person in Kyros Church right now.

'So if I don't deal with this......'

Everyone dies. Not only Kyros Church's family, but his own family, and the territory's people as well. So this fight was worth risking everything for.

'For everyone.'

And for myself.

Fwoosh—

The mace Revelof was gripping shone pure white. And a honed holy sword appeared.

After Revelof disappeared, saying something urgent had come up at the territory, the battlefield quickly fell quiet. Thanks to the undead Revelof had left behind and the Holden family knights who joined later, and the beastkin—the majority of Diego Church had been dealt with.

The monsters of course, and the priests and knights too had lost consciousness and were lying scattered on the ground. The bishops and Archbishops alike were the same, and the few left in Diego Church's ranks were not many.

"My, my, to be this useless."

Khalid, watching the situation, burst out laughing and shook his head.

"Well, I always knew these lowly ones wouldn't last long. But this is shameful."

Khalid smiled and walked forward. This battle had truly seen various races take the field on Kyros Church's side, and a great many humans as well.

That was why Diego Church could be pushed back—but he hadn't expected the gap to be this stark. On top of that, non-human races who weren't particularly fond of humans had even participated in the battle in large numbers.

'Not that those things are what matters, anyway.'

The deficient ones could just be replaced later. And whether out of Kyros Church's overconfidence or for some other reason, every fallen Diego Church priest and knight still had breath in their bodies.

'I'll have to tell Meos to work on those ones later.'

They were people dying anyway. If newly remodeled, they could be reborn as sturdier soldiers. Just as Khalid was thinking that and strolling out onto the battlefield with ease—

"Don't move any further."

In an instant, a cold sword was trained at his throat. Without even turning his head, he could easily tell who it was.

"Well, look who this is—isn't it our Seventh Apostle? You're alive? I was fairly sure I'd put a good hole in you."

Khalid said playfully and made a gesture as if raising both hands. Rawin ground his teeth and said:

"Follow me. I'll be the one to kill you."

"Ha ha, is that so? That sounds entertaining too."

The next moment, Khalid and Rawin vanished.

"W, will they be all right?"

At Alpheus's question, Helena Holden—who had taken command on the scene now that Revelof was gone—nodded.

"No need to worry."

Helena smiled faintly as she watched the two of them quickly disappearing into the distance. Having personally taught Rawin for the past few months, Helena knew.

Rawin's current ability.

"Still, just in case, I'll go check."

At that, Chester said to Helena.

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