Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 821

◈ 821. The World Now

In the Florandia Temple, a subtle shift occurred, almost imperceptible to the ordinary believers.

“Here. I’ll give you this.”

The number of children bringing food to Rembrary had noticeably increased.

Rembrary looked up from his sacred texts to see a novice priest offering him chocolate.

When Rembrary hesitated, the novice priest, whose name he couldn’t quite recall but who was definitely a half-elf, flushed crimson and insisted, “Just take it.”

As Rembrary accepted the chocolate, the child sighed in relief and scurried back to their spot. Another novice priest approached, offering a piece of bread.

“I’ll give you this too.”

Lydal, observing the scene, clicked his tongue in disapproval.

‘If you’re going to offer food, at least make it something appealing. Offering bland cafeteria bread won’t cut it, no matter how much Rembrary enjoys eating. He clearly dislikes the cafeteria’s tasteless fare.’

“Eat up, little one,” Lydal muttered to himself.

Predictably, Rembrary smiled politely and declined. Lydal flipped a page in his book, feeling vindicated. Rishur had burdened him with a mountain of assignments, citing a meeting, leaving him to focus on his work.

Meanwhile, Rembrary found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on his assignments due to the constant stream of children bearing gifts of food.

Kentrian’s defense of Rembrary, which resulted in him gaining divine power and becoming a lay priest, and Lydal’s close association with Rembrary, which allowed his family to receive prioritized treatment for their injuries, had not gone unnoticed.

These two events combined led the children to the conclusion that being on good terms with Rembrary was advantageous in numerous ways.

However, Avit, despite being in the same class, couldn’t bring himself to participate in this trend.

‘Are they all daft? They know Rembrary is peculiar, yet they’re still vying for his favor.’

Avit fumed as he watched the children who once disparaged Rembrary now subtly attempt to curry favor with him.

Avit wasn’t alone in his sentiments.

“Should we offer that Rembrary kid something to eat as well?”

“What would we even say when we give it to him?”

“Just give it!”

The story of Rembrary had spread to the novice priests studying under other training priests, making him a focal point of attention there too.

Wider struggled to contain his anger as he overheard the surrounding children whispering.

Despite his best efforts to ignore it, the name kept surfacing everywhere.

“Do you really gain divine power by being kind to Rembrary?”

“It can’t hurt to try. Rembrary immediately went to help Lydal’s family, even though they aren’t particularly close.”

Wider clenched his fists, suppressing the urge to lash out. ‘It’s all nonsense.’

‘God favors someone and grants divine power to those who are nice to them? That’s preposterous.’

* * *

Duke Ladderun reluctantly attended the black magicians’ meeting in the basement once again.

It wasn’t that the black magicians genuinely considered him one of their own. His presence at every minor meeting was merely a form of mockery.

Duke Ladderun internally scoffed and cursed as the black magicians engaged in their discussions.

“You must summon the Demon King.”

The moment those words were uttered, Duke Ladderun nearly choked on his tea. What? Summon the Demon King?

The Duke stared at the black magician who had spoken. It was the pink-haired black magician who had suddenly appeared and threatened him without any prior agreement.

“Will the Demon King… actually appear when summoned? I doubt it’s that simple.”

Another black magician asked hesitantly. The idea of summoning the Demon King didn’t seem to be universally accepted among the black magicians themselves.

“If we prepare the necessary ingredients correctly.”

However, the pink-haired one remained confident.

As the pink-haired magician eloquently outlined their plan, Duke Ladderun listened in a daze.

‘Summon the Demon King? The Demon King is actually coming?’

By the end of the discussion, Duke Ladderun was drenched in sweat.

Having overheard this, his chances of escaping their clutches had dwindled to virtually nothing.

The black magicians wouldn’t allow him to live, even if they were to leave this place.

“Duke, you look pale.”

As the meeting concluded, the black magicians mocked his complexion and dispersed.

Duke Ladderun remained seated, watching the damned black magicians depart the room one by one.

Once all the black magicians had vacated the meeting room, Duke Ladderun buried his face in his hands and sighed.

‘Now that it’s come to this, there’s truly nothing I can do. No, I was powerless from the very beginning.’

When he finally lowered his hands, the Duke’s eyes were filled with resolve. He returned to his study, retrieved a piece of stationery, and penned a letter to Duchess Lusiche.

-I will take the initiative, so please lure Prince Rembrary. You can summon him by sending an apology letter.

Duke Ladderun carefully folded the letter, placed it in an envelope, and sealed it with wax, steeling his resolve.

A new world was dawning, and he was someone who couldn’t thrive in the original one.

Therefore, he had no choice but to adapt to the new world faster than anyone else and secure a favorable position within it.

* * *

The letter dispatched by the Duke was swiftly delivered to Duchess Lusiche. The Duchess sat in her armchair and tore open the envelope.

“Duke Ladderun must be insane.”

After quickly scanning the letter, the Duchess scoffed and handed it to the butler standing beside her.

The butler also read the letter and sneered.

“He’s making an outrageous request. If we provide such assistance and it’s discovered that you summoned Prince Rembrary, we’ll be implicated in Duke Ladderun’s schemes. It’s astonishing that he believed you would entertain such a proposition.”

“Bring me stationery.”

* * *

Duke Ladderun’s expression hardened as he received the reply and set down the letter. It was phrased indirectly, but the message was clear: ‘handle it yourself.’

Duke Ladderun clenched his fist. Jiremi had claimed that Yurishi bore more responsibility for Rembrary’s capture.

He had merely remained silent regarding Rembrary’s kidnapping, but Yurishi appeared to have been more actively involved.

Yet, they had absolved themselves of any blame and were acting as if nothing had transpired, while he was entangled with the black magicians and suffering…

“Shall we send another letter?”

Duke Ladderun shook his head at the butler’s suggestion.

“What’s the point of persisting when they’ve already distanced themselves from us?”

“But the Prince won’t respond to your summons.”

Duke Ladderun scoffed and was about to retort when he noticed the black magicians departing in a group and stopped speaking.

Duke Ladderun walked to the window, stood with his hands clasped behind his back, and waited.

After a short while, he observed approximately six black magicians lined up outside the door. Duke Ladderun frowned.

“Where are they headed?”

* * *

Noir, while wandering through the market, noticed the ominous figures in cloaks approaching him.

The shopkeeper, who was handing him change, was startled and quickly retreated inside.

“Noir-nim [term of respect],”

One of the approaching figures cautiously addressed Noir and gestured towards the street with their eyes. Noir picked up his basket of fruit and followed them.

“What’s happening?”

As they entered the street, the black magician approached Noir and reported in a hushed tone.

“We’ve received word that the Redrin Paladins are nearing the entrance to the Demon Realm connected to Seosahal.”

“They were out of contact?”

“It seems they stubbornly proceeded.”

“…….”

“What should we do? The Great Temple has informed us that those Paladins possess High Priest Iira’s sealed artifact.”

“Noir-nim, if that passage is blocked, the number of monsters that can emerge will be halved.”

* * *

“Is this it?”

Cheru wiped the monster’s blood from his forehead and gazed at the sunken ground.

In the midst of the otherwise normal and flat forest, there was a depression resembling a waterfall.

The difference was that instead of water cascading down, dirt and sand were pouring down.

“It’s terrifying. I can’t imagine what would happen if I fell in there.”

Another paladin shuddered as he peered down. It was a bottomless pit, with dirt and sand cascading down from all sides.

“The entrance must be located within there.”

Another paladin pointed to the hollow center with a worried expression.

“Hey, priest. It seems impossible to enter and seal it. Can you accomplish it from here?”

Cheru turned to face the Iira High Priest who had accompanied them.

The Iira High Priest, not being a paladin, was utterly exhausted from the journey and could barely speak.

“Thinking… about returning… is also… frightening…”

The High Priest mumbled with difficulty and staggered to Cheru’s side. The High Priest examined the pit the paladins were observing and nodded.

“Yes. You can simply throw it from here. It will spread on its own. Our Great Priest’s sealing abilities are unparalleled.”

Cheru retrieved a hyacinth-shaped glass ornament from his chest.

It appeared to be a beautiful ornament, but it contained the power bestowed by the Iira Great Priest.

“Just throw it?”

“I’ll do it.”

As Cheru feigned throwing it, the Iira High Priest quickly stepped forward and reached out his hand.

“It requires a slight procedure.”

Cheru handed the bottle to the priest. But the moment the High Priest attempted to grasp the bottle, thousands of bird-like monsters swarmed out from within.

“Aaaagh!”

The High Priest screamed and fell backward as the monsters descended upon his face. The glass ornament slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground.

“The sealed artifact!”

The Iira High Priest screamed, then widened his eyes in disbelief as he saw Cheru reach for the fallen object and hurl himself into the pit, utterly speechless.

“Sir Cheru!”

* * *

‘Iira-nim [term of respect for God]… do you truly require me to do this?’

The Great Priest of the Iira Temple stared blankly at the statue, lost in thought. But after issuing the unbelievable instructions, the Iira God remained silent.

Tears began to well up in the Great Priest’s eyes, and the Highest Priest beside him frowned, feeling increasingly distressed.

The God’s will was always challenging to comprehend, but had it ever been this severe?

When the Great Priest ceased praying and sighed, the Highest Priest could no longer endure it and approached, asking in a low voice.

“Great Priest, if you are in great distress, I… will relay this news to Great Priest Kamuel.”

The Highest Priest’s voice was subdued, but the underlying meaning was resolute. Acting against the God’s will was an act that risked excommunication [formal expulsion from the church].

The Great Priest walked weakly to a nearby bench and sat down.