Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 464

◈ 464. No Fear

Before Mullu could answer, the judge shouted.

“Yungcheon wins!”

Were they still fighting? Mullu frowned and looked at the judge, who explained as if he expected the question.

“In a one-on-one duel, bringing in another person to make it a two-on-one is a foul, resulting in a loss.”

Upon hearing the call for a foul, Sagamjae looked at Mullu and the judge, wondering if he had done something wrong.

Mullu wanted to argue that this friend wasn’t someone he had brought, but since passing the first test and getting a promotion was more important than necessarily getting first or second place, he decided to let it go.

There were still several more matches to go.

No need to make enemies with the judge already.

Perhaps he might have to leave the Blood Cult altogether, so maybe no more matches would be needed.

Sagamjae came to his side and asked.

“Did I do something wrong?”

Mullu shook his head.

“It’s nothing.”

“But that person…….”

“It’s really nothing.”

Yungcheon got up with an exaggerated “Ouch,” patting his back.

But his eyes were quickly darting between Mullu and Sagamjae.

“Samae, who is that?”

“It’s nothing.”

Mullu, who answered Yungcheon curtly, signaled Sagamjae with his eyes to talk somewhere quiet, and Sagamjae immediately nodded.

* * *

Mullu took Sagamjae to a corner seat in the Blood Cult’s cafeteria.

He wasn’t sure if Sagamjae, who wasn’t a member of the Blood Cult, was allowed to use it, but he thought that having a conversation in a completely public place would avoid suspicion.

He didn’t know what other groups in this world were like, but in Mullu’s view, this Blood Cult group was very closed off.

It couldn’t hurt to be careful.

“How have you been?”

Mullu gestured for Sagamjae to sit down, pulled out a chair for himself, and asked.

“I arrived to find myself in a study. The study of someone with some power and who seemed wealthy. The owner of that study was the leader of the Murim Alliance [a coalition of martial arts clans]. I asked him for help.”

“Did he help you?”

“That’s why I’m here.”

Sagamjae seemed to have had a relatively smooth time compared to Mullu.

‘Well, he’s a Grim Reaper, after all,’ Mullu thought, quickly agreeing.

“How have you been?”

“I arrived to find myself here. I was among the new recruits gathered to join this place. It’s called the Blood Cult. It seems like a rather closed-off place. And since I’m in the position of a new recruit, I have to live in a group, so there was no way to leave. Even if I escaped, I wouldn’t know anything about this world, so it would be difficult to find the others.”

“What about the fight just now?”

“I was taking a test. They said that if you get good results there, even a new recruit can get a position right away. If I get a position, wouldn’t I be able to leave?”

This time, Sagamjae nodded.

“Then there’s a high probability that other humans are also adapting like Mullu.”

“I think so.”

“Mr. Rembrary will adapt especially well. He’s already done it once. And that slightly crazy one too. Probably.”

Mullu and Sagamjae looked at each other and nodded seriously.

“…….”

“…….”

But after sharing just that much, the one human and one Grim Reaper ran out of things to say.

It was because the two of them didn’t usually talk separately in their original world.

Besides, Sagamjae had a history of kidnapping Rembrary under the orders of Yeomra [King of Hell in Korean mythology], so he had once been firmly marked as an enemy by Mullu.

After Rembrary returned safely and Yeomra and Redrin joined forces, that relationship became vague and loose.

Sagamjae was fiddling with the table for no reason, and Mullu straightened his posture and stared at the wall over Sagamjae’s shoulder.

They stayed like that for what felt like twenty minutes.

When two or three groups entered the restaurant at the same time, Sagamjae got up and said.

“Now that your location has been identified, I will return.”

“Where are you going?”

“You seem to be staying here, so I need to find the locations of the others.”

Mullu got up as well, and said in a small voice so that people couldn’t hear.

“Then take me with you.”

“Shall we go together?”

Sagamjae was already feeling frustrated and overwhelmed at the thought of taking Mullu, who he wasn’t close to, to the place where he was staying, but it was better to take him if he could.

Since he had to take him eventually anyway.

“Can we just leave?”

“I’ll have to ask that Yungcheon. He seemed to know a lot about things.”

Yungcheon, who always chased after him, calling ‘Samae! Samae!’ was nowhere to be seen when he tried to find him.

After going around the usual places a couple of times, Mullu finally found Yungcheon.

Yungcheon, who always had a more buoyant atmosphere than others, for some reason, today he was sitting on a large rock with his arms crossed and a serious expression.

“Yungcheon.”

When Mullu approached, Yungcheon finally unfolded his arms and smiled as usual.

“Samae, have you finished talking with the friend you summoned?”

“I have something to ask.”

“What is it?”

“What do I have to do to leave the Blood Cult?”

“!”

Yungcheon stopped smiling and opened his mouth wide. He looked at Mullu with a bewildered expression.

“Leave? Why? Because of that pale-faced man?”

Mullu never shared his personal stories, but Yungcheon guessed on his own and let out a sound of admiration.

But the words that came out of his mouth were not a positive answer.

“You seem to have made a big decision, Samae. The Blood Cult is easy to get into, but hard to leave. It was free to come, but not to leave.”

“Can’t I leave?”

“You’ll be a target for assassination.”

“!”

“Don’t be surprised, Samae. The Blood Cult tends to punish deserters strongly. But other sects and families don’t just let people who want to leave go either.”

Sagamjae, who had been listening to the story from the side, walked away from the rock where Yungcheon was sitting and said to Mullu.

“It’s better for you to stay here. If I go with you, it will be difficult for me too.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll go back to the human who helped me and find out more ways to find the other members. I’ll stop by here even if I find the other members, and I’ll stop by periodically even if I can’t find them.”

“When you interfered in my duel, you suddenly appeared. Can’t you take me with you using that mysterious method?”

At Mullu’s request, Sagamjae shook his head with a troubled expression.

“I don’t teleport like Hwasaja, I use the path to the underworld, so it’s difficult.”

Even though his expression was calm, Mullu’s shoulders drooped, so Sagamjae was troubled and kept turning his gaze here and there.

Seeing someone he wasn’t close to showing such obvious disappointment, he didn’t know what to do.

In the end, Sagamjae hesitated and repeated the same words.

“I’ll come and visit from time to time.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Gasora, who had simultaneously discovered three people that the successor of the master was looking for, was in a dilemma, her heart pounding.

‘Kidnap. Yes. I have to kidnap those guys first.’

‘Kidnap them, gather them together, and then threaten Yoomena’s successor, saying, “The people you’re looking for are all in our hands. You come here too.”‘ To do that, I have to catch them.

After finishing his thoughts, Gasora secretly followed the group of blonde, red-eyed people who seemed to be out on a picnic.

But as he moved, he remembered that this was a palace.

Wasn’t the palace a place where even the walls had eyes and ears, so you had to be careful what you said even when you were alone?

What if trying to catch them caused more commotion than expected?

What if they were stronger than expected, causing the fight to escalate or take a lot of time?

And if that attracted people’s attention? He might even reveal his identity.

‘I need to judge how strong they are first.’

After thinking, Gasora took out the three rings he was wearing on his index, middle, and ring fingers, placed them on his palm, and then bit his other thumb hard enough to make a ‘crack’ sound.

He put the blood from his thumb on the rings, and then placed them on the ground.

As soon as the rings touched the ground, they went inside on their own.

Even though the ground was made of dirt, it wasn’t soft like a swamp or mud, but the rings were absorbed into it as soon as they touched the ground.

Gasora, suppressing his presence, watched to see what would happen to the successor of the master and his group.

* * *

Rembrary, who took Hwasaja and Ardor to a sunny garden, noticed Hwasaja’s anxious expression and explained gently.

“Don’t worry, Saja. Hwachinchan brought two recommendations, and Fake Anchovy will be looking into our group for the time being, so we have nothing to do.”

Hwasaja thought that Rembrary was being too passive in finding the group, but he also left finding the group to the emperor and prioritized getting used to this place, so he couldn’t say anything.

“The Great High Priest is wise! He is truly wise!”

Ardor is a human who loses his mind when it comes to the Great High Priest, so there’s nothing to expect.

Unlike Rembrary and Ardor, who came from another world to Earth and then back here, Hwasaja was a pure 100% Earth native who had used the internet, smartphones, and social media since he was born.

Even in Korea, where he lived, the internet and smartphones were used even after the cataclysm.

This was thanks to the fact that it was designated as an essential area for survival and the related systems were protected.

Hwasaja couldn’t imagine how to find people without these things.

So he had no choice but to eat lunch boxes with Rembrary and Ardor.

Hwasaja reluctantly nodded and accepted the smallest rice ball that Ardor handed him.

“You only eat half, Saja Mask.”

But as the three of them were eating rice balls and talking, it happened.

Hwasaja felt a chill and hurriedly moved a few steps away from the spot.

‘That is?’

Sure enough. When he looked from behind, a person with a completely red body appeared in the spot where he was sitting earlier, wielding an unusually large hand.

He didn’t know if he should consider that a person.

But as Ardor took out a gun and shot at them in the blink of an eye, the red people were crushed in just a few steps.

Hwasaja was amazed and horrified that Rembrary was still munching on a rice ball in the midst of all this.

‘He’s…… enjoying the taste there?’

But even more surprising things happened in succession.

The bodies of the red people, with large holes all over them, seemed to wiggle a little and immediately restored their original appearance.

It was as if their bodies were made of sticky liquid.

Ardor also seemed to think this was strange, so he frowned without shooting this time.

Rembrary also thought that if the opponent had such recovery power, it was not Ardor’s turn to step in, so he put down the rice ball and scanned them with his eyes, using ‘Divine Majesty’.

“?”

But once again, an amazing thing happened.

The red people were not affected by ‘Divine Majesty’ at all.

Even animals are affected by ‘Divine Majesty’.

Rembrary immediately grasped the situation.

“These guys. They are like machines or dolls that have no emotions at all.”