How the Cult Saves the World-Chapter 154

"Phew."

I lightly exhaled while shaking off the Maxworm's saps that were stuck to the mace. Then, a message appeared in front of me.

[Warning! You have defeated Maxworm, the 13th Child of the Demon God.]

[The Demon God is watching your actions closely.]

I was surprised by the slightly different phrasing compared to before.

The Demon God is watching my actions carefully, huh.

'But since the Estate defense battle is already underway, it probably isn't all that significant anyway.'

I can look into the Demon God's movements after the defense of the fortress is over. Based on the situation so far, a message about the Demon God will likely appear even after the defense battle is finished.

It was at that moment that a new message appeared.

[All 4 children of the Demon God have been defeated, and a short break time will begin.]

[Break time: 3 hours]

As soon as I saw the message, I was a bit taken aback. What the heck? No way.

"Does this mean that everything up until now was Phase 1?"

It was a little disconcerting, but it wasn't too bad. I wasn't very tired, but others would be exhausted after hours of continuous fighting.

'And after a short break, it will be dawn.'

After roughly calculating the time, I figured that the defense of the fortress would resume at six in the morning.

The rift that had split open in the sky had already closed. However, rather than vanishing as before, it merely appeared like a clam that had closed its mouth.

-Child, you worked hard. You must be tired from fighting the Demon God's Children.

As I looked up at the starry sky, I heard Kyros's voice. Even when I was battling Maxworm, Kyros was constantly cheering me on.

'I can handle this much.'

From the beginning, I hadn't actually taken any damage in the battle with Maxworm thanks to 10000-Poison Immunity, and the divine power I used was nearly nonexistent.

It was clear that the Administrator's buff had temporarily amplified the amount of holy power as well.

'Anyway, I guess I'll be able to take a short break.'

-Right, then that's a relief.

I was talking with Kyros as I headed towards the clock tower. Along the way, I encountered Fanatic and his troops, who were still standing guard.

"Church Leader!"

As soon as Fanatic saw me, he approached me. I was just about to talk to him as well.

"Brother, I have something to tell you."

"Huh? To me?"

"Yes. The rift is temporarily closed, so it's fine to rest for about three hours. Please also inform the Lord of this."

"Ah, yes. Understood!"

Fanatic walked away from me with a smile. Since I had delivered the message, I changed direction.

'It would be better to check before returning to the temple to rest.'

I headed towards the medical team where the injured were gathered. A pure white tent set up near the clock tower.

In the space designed to accommodate over a hundred patients, far fewer, not even twenty, had gathered.

"Ah, Church Leader. Welcome."

As I approached the tent, the medics recognized me and greeted me.

"As you can see, there have been no fatalities so far, and the injuries are mostly bruises or fractures."

The medic reported with a smile. I hadn't asked for a report, but it was quite convenient how smoothly they provided the information.

"I see."

Still, I decided to check on the injured myself. As the medic had said, there was no one with serious injuries. In fact, even the injured were in a state that was nearly fully healed after taking the healing potions I had provided earlier.

"Thank you so much, Church Leaader. Donating this precious, high-quality healing potion... Thanks to it, the injured will heal quickly."

"I'm glad to hear that."

After finishing my conversation with the medic, I took steps to return to the temple.

'For now, I'll leave the senior members alone who're at each of the fortress towers...'

After heading to a secluded area, I contacted the senior members who had fought directly against the Demon God's children.

"You four, please take some rest at the temple."

Grandmother, Chester, and Troy must be quite exhausted right now. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Church Leader!"

Just as I was thinking about returning to the temple to rest, Fanatic called out to me. It seems like he's already back.

"Yes, Brother. Is something wrong?"

"The Lord has asked to see you."

My mother wants to see me?

"Okay, since it's break time anyway."

Then, Fanatic guided me to where my mother was.

Despite five rifts opening simultaneously, as I walked through the surprisingly intact streets, I eventually arrived at a location with a massive barracks.

It was where my mother and her troops were.

"This way."

Following Fanatic's guidance, I arrived in front of the largest barracks.

As soon as I entered, my mother, who had been drinking tea, welcomed me.

"Church Leader. You've arrived."

"Yes, Lord. May I ask why you called for me?"

"Please sit down first."

I sat across from my mother as she instructed. Then, I took a sip of the tea my mother had prepared in advance.

"I heard the story from Fanatic that we can rest for about three hours, but I wanted to hear the details."

Ah, I guess I must have spoken too vaguely. I said with a serious expression.

"The rift currently in the sky has not completely disappeared, but it is closed. And Lord Kyros mentioned that it will take about three hours for the closed rift to open again, so he told me to rest during that time."

"Lord Kyros... I see."

Only then did my mother seem to understand, nodding her head. She then looked at me and gave a faint smile.

"And I saw you and the Kyros Church senior members fighting the Demon God's children. You all worked very hard."

"It's nothing."

"Moreover, when dealing with the intermediate-rank monsters, thanks to the help of the Kyros Church, no fatalities occurred. The number of injured was also much lower than expected."

While saying this, my mother praised me. I know she's trying to encourage me, but...

"Thank you, Lord. But...not everything is over yet."

"Yes. We can't afford to let our guard down."

The first phase had just ended. There was still more fighting ahead. I didn't know what might come next in those battles, so I couldn't afford to be this relaxed.

"I understand. You can go now. Let's talk again after everything is over."

"Yes."

After greeting my mother with a smile, I left the barracks. I stopped Fanatic, who had offered to guide me, and headed to the temple alone.

'...It hasn't been that long, but I'm already tired.'

Even though I had rested before the defense of the fortress started, I was mentally exhausted. So, I planned to quickly return to the temple and relieve my fatigue.

'There are fewer eyes watching now after all.'

I put on the hood attached to my robe and quickly made my way to the temple.

Since the temple was filled with the people of the city, I cllimbed my way up the outer wall and headed for my office.

I had become generally stronger and had done quite a bit of strength training, so climbing the outer wall was easy.

"Leader, you're here!"

"Ch-Church Leader!"

As I arrived at the my office, climbing through the open window, I saw the senior members who had already arrived.

Troy and Chester, despite looking tired, greeted me, and then Grandmother and Sasha also spoke to me.

"You've done hard work, Church Leader."

"Not at all, Grandmother."

"Th-thank for your hard work."

"Thank you, Sasha."

As I spoke with them, I headed towards the comfortable sofa. The senior members were huddled together on the sofa.

Sasha was clinging tightly to Grandmother, while Chester and Troy, perhaps, since they were really exhausted from the battle, their bodies relaxed more than usual.

"You all worked hard. We can rest for about three hours, so let's relax comfortably during that time."

Saying this, I handed Chester and Troy the healing potions that were kept in the office.

"It must have been tough. The Demon God's Children that appeared this time seemed to be quite strong."

"Yeah. It was a little too... strong."

"Y-yes. I had a hard time too."

Troy and Chester were trying to act fine, but they quickly emptied the healing potions I gave them.

"Oh, by the way. Grandmother. And Sasha. You two should go to the bed and rest a bit."

"I'm fine, but...since you say so, I won't decline."

With a mischievous smile, Grandmother headed towards the bedroom with Sasha. After that, I laid down on the wide sofa.

"Well, then I'll rest a bit too. If you need me, feel free to call me anytime!"

Chester headed to the subspace, and Troy laid down on the sofa opposite me, just like I did. Not long after, I heard Troy snoring.

-Child, you should sleep too.

'Yes. I think... I'll fall asleep soon.'

Staring blankly at the ceiling of the office, my eyes slowly began to close.

'Three hours.'

Hoping to wake up a little earlier, I closed my eyes. Soon, my consciousness began to fade quickly.

***

Ding!

I woke up thanks to the notification sound in my ears. As soon as I opened my eyes, a message greeted me.

[The rest time is almost over.]

[Remaining time: 30 minutes]

'I'm so thankful for times like these, System.'

It felt really good that it woke me up at the perfect timing. A short nap had cleared my fatigued mind.

I stretched and got up from the sofa. The uncomfortable sleeping position left me a bit stiff, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.

"Troy, wake up. It's about time to move again."

I woke Troy, who was soundly asleep on the opposite side.

Fortunately, Troy woke up without any fuss.

"Chester, I'm sorry, but it's time to wake up."

After calling Chester from the subspace, I knocked on the bedroom door to wake Grandmother and Sasha as well.

Then, Sasha, still half asleep, and Grandmother, who looked perfectly fine, came out. Shortly after, Chester came out from the subspace, stretching.

Before I knew it, only about 20 minutes remained.

The morning sun was rising outside the window.

"Let's all return to our respective positions. The battle will begin again soon. Don't forget the instructions I gave you."

I emphasized it once more and sent the senior members out. They responded to me with clear eyes and then headed to their respective positions.

I looked at the rising sun for a moment before swiftly jumping down from the office. Then, I quickly started walking.

After arriving back at the clock tower, I looked at the five rifts still present in the sky once again.

Soon, a countdown appeared, signaling the resumption of the estate defense.

[Remaining time: 10 seconds]

9, 8, 7... 0.

As soon as the number hit 0, the five rifts began to open again.

Crack--

I immediately took out my mace from the inventory and held it up.

Soon, intermediate-rank monsters poured down again from the five rifts.