Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 416

416. Can’t Stay Long

“I’m thinking of visiting Lumena after Redrin is done talking to her.”

Rembrary’s words during the meal caused Daeju, Believer No. 305, Jugyeong, and Siyoung to wear expressions like cross-sections of king-sized tangerines. They were clearly surprised by his sudden announcement.

“Does that mean… perhaps… if I may be so bold, is that…”

“I’m not going to die,” Rembrary corrected, and Daeju sighed, “Ah,” and laughed awkwardly. It seemed that the Earth natives interpreted his intention to speak with a god as a death wish.

“When are you planning to go?”

When Mulu asked, Rembrary answered, “Now,” and checked the time. 8:21 PM. Night. It wasn’t an appropriate time to visit someone, but the other party was a god, and he figured now wasn’t the time to worry about social niceties.

“I won’t stay long. But because of the time difference, it might feel like a long time to you. That’s why I’m telling you in advance.”

Rembrary asked if it was okay, looking around, and everyone quietly nodded. The children also wore serious expressions, not fully understanding what was going on.

* * *

“This academy doesn’t have a system where only a few can graduate, High Priest.”

While Rembrary was tidying up his clothes to meet Redrin after returning to his room, he inquired about the children’s schooling. Mulu, who had been handling the children’s admission issues with Believer No. 305, Shin Jo-un, Jang Tae-ri, and Nin-ling, carefully informed him.

“Then?”

“As long as they don’t cause any major accidents, they’ll all graduate safely. It’s not a survival system either. If they fight here, they might get kicked out of school, so I don’t think we should explain our world’s ways to the children.”

“Our Mulu is so smart. How did you find out all that so quickly?”

When Rembrary only praised Mulu, Ardor’s eyes turned red because he wanted to be praised too.

Seeing that hideous expression, Nin-ling, who was holding Rembrary’s cloak, quickly moved about five steps away from Ardor.

In the meantime, Rembrary put on his High Priest robes as well as he could, trying to emulate how he wore them in his original world. He checked his appearance in the mirror several times before smiling and telling everyone to leave.

‘I wonder how he’s going to meet Redrin…’ Daeju became very curious, but when the other priests and paladins obediently went out of the room, he followed them.

The moment he closed the door, he felt a faint light from inside. Before fully closing the door, Daeju glanced back for a moment. Even though the lights were on, the gap between the doors seemed to be filled with an unnatural darkness.

* * *

Yomra decided to lend his power on the condition that he also attend the meeting with Lumena.

[They combined their strength to create the rift and cross over here. Who knows what tricks they’ll use this time.]

Although the intention was unpleasant, Redrin accepted Yomra’s proposal because his power was still incomplete. He needed all the help he could get.

Yomra had shared some of his power with Redrin, but not as much as Redrin had shared with Lumena, so it was easier to accept Yomra’s assistance.

The meeting place was decided to be Yomra’s palace hall.

Thanks to this, Rembrary was being guided by Sagamjae, the grim reaper he was closest to, to attend the meeting.

Walking down the path they had walked together before, Rembrary and Sagamjae reminisced about the time when they had suspected each other.

“I knew things were getting big back then. But I didn’t know it would come to this.”

“I also thought when I was kidnapped that I would never associate with you again.”

“You didn’t show it.”

“Didn’t you come to me right away when you were having a hard time again?”

Sagamjae laughed at Rembrary’s expression, but it wasn’t entirely wrong, so he glared at a passing grim reaper for no reason.

Grim reapers in black clothes were lined up near Yomra’s palace hall, and although they didn’t offer friendly glances, they weren’t showing hostility like before.

Sagamjae signaled the grim reapers not to look this way, and pointed Rembrary in a different direction from where they were lined up.

“Don’t worry about it. Everyone’s expressions are bad, but it’s not because of you.”

“Are they upset that you’re cooperating with Redrin?”

“No. It’s because finding the Demon King fragments isn’t easy.”

“Demon King fragments?”

“The reason the Demon King isn’t coming here all at once is probably to hide his presence. It’s troublesome, but the reason he’s coming over piece by piece is because he can only use his full power when his body is fully assembled. So, if we find even one fragment here and permanently eliminate it, we can’t reverse the situation, but we can prevent his power from increasing any further. That’s what we think, anyway.”

“That’s right.”

“But it’s hard to find the fragment’s location. Even when we find the location, the demons all hide and run away.”

While listening to Sagamjae’s words and moving, a wide, antique-looking space with a low roof appeared not far away.

Each pillar was surrounded by clouds and roses, and the sacred energy flowing around it made it difficult to even approach.

Sagamjae glanced at it and added the end of the story he had been telling.

“In my opinion, the first fragment that came over here… Even though it’s hard to find, it will be the easiest to take if we find it.”

“Why?”

“The other fragments are guarded by demons. But the first fragment that came over isn’t guarded by demons. That’s why we didn’t notice any abnormalities until things got this bad.”

“It might be so strong that it doesn’t need protection.”

“If that were the case, its presence would have been strong too. But the first fragment had no presence and waited for its time to come for years. Isn’t that because it’s weak? Or… it has a big weakness that offsets its strength.”

Redrin and Yomra, sitting across from each other at a long, round table, looked quite serious.

Rembrary thought he should join them quickly, so he thanked Sagamjae for taking him there and took a step onto the small bridge.

The bridge was suddenly installed over a place with no waterway, but its design looked very charming and delicate.

At that moment, Rembrary, who had crossed about half of the small bridge, suddenly stopped.

Sagamjae was standing there, intending to watch Rembrary participate in the meeting, and wondered what was going on, so he walked closer to the bridge.

“What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering, Rembrary stared at Sagamjae for about 3 seconds and asked.

“Eliminating one Demon King fragment. Is that the ‘only way,’ or the ‘easy way’?”

Thinking it was a strange question, Sagamjae answered honestly.

“In this situation, it would be the easiest way. I don’t know if you can call it easy, though.”

“But why are you asking that?” Sagamjae asked, feeling even more bewildered after answering.

Instead of explaining, Rembrary smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and turned back.

* * *

Redrin, Yomra, Rembrary, Yomra’s aide, and others were gathered at the meeting place.

Rembrary was the only human among them, but Yomra’s aide was the most nervous.

Rembrary had no direct responsibility in this situation, but Yomra’s aide had to worry about the potential fallout if Redrin and Yomra clashed. He couldn’t help but be anxious, hoping things wouldn’t escalate.

A peach was placed in the center of the table, and the meeting finally began.

Since the meeting was focused on contacting Lumena, those gathered simply skipped greetings with a nod, understanding the urgency.

When Yomra held out a branch to Redrin, Redrin grabbed the other end of the branch and closed his eyes.

Rembrary watched worriedly as Yomra mirrored Redrin’s actions.

It was Rembrary who suggested that Lumena might be in the dimension he had previously visited, but this wasn’t a certainty. He had encouraged them to reach out to Lumena, trusting his intuition, but what if it wasn’t actually Lumena on the other side?

That’s when it happened. Not long after they connected through the branch, it began to shake wildly on its own.

When Yomra released his hold, the shaking intensified.

But it didn’t seem to be going wrong, as Redrin calmly placed the branch in the center of the table.

After a moment, the wildly shaking branch stilled, and a clear voice echoed through the small room.

[What’s going on?]

It was Lumena’s voice.

When Redrin looked at Yomra, Yomra held out his hand to Redrin, signaling him to remain still and let him handle the communication. Redrin nodded and briefly explained the situation to Lumena.

[When are you coming?]

[……You called me just to ask that?]

[Your chicken [referring to Rabsus, a being under Lumena’s care] escaped the coop and became a minion of the Demon King. What are you going to do?]

[That child can also live the life he wants.]

[Humans are all dying because he’s living that desired life.]

[There’s nothing I can do here, Redrin. Judging by the power you showed when you called me, it seems you’ve joined hands with the native gods. Good luck.]

[You have no sense of responsibility.]

[Here too…….]

[?]

[There are too many people I have to protect. How much time will pass while I’m gone there? You and the native gods are there, but Redrin, the god here is deeply asleep and not waking up. I can’t take my hands off it for long.]

Rembrary recalled serving Lumena in the imperial family of that world. Even then, Lumena seemed to have considered the possibility of returning here, such as not completely severing the connection between worlds.

Redrin looked troubled. There was no outward change in his expression, but Rembrary could sense Redrin’s inner turmoil.

It was understandable. Lumena didn’t easily change her mind when it came to these matters.

While Redrin and Yomra were exchanging glances, the branch faintly twitched again, as if the connection was about to be severed.

In the end, Rembrary, who preferred to avoid direct involvement if possible, carefully spoke up.

“Lumena. The, uh, Rabsus’s condition is strange.”

Rembrary knew that Lumena cherished Rabsus unexpectedly. Quite a lot. He didn’t know why, though.

Anyway, when Rembrary mentioned Rabsus’s condition, Lumena immediately showed interest.

[What’s wrong with his condition?]

“Every time I see him, his complexion is pale and the blood disappears from his face. He’s getting thinner and thinner. It seemed like he was negatively affected by making a contract with the Demon King.”

About 5 seconds later.

Lumena, who had been listening to Rembrary’s words silently, replied in a dark voice.

[I can’t stay long. I’ll visit briefly.]