Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 236

< 236. Just Stay Safe >

Those words seemed to truly provoke Yeomra. With a chilling expression, Yeomra slightly tilted his head. It was a very small action, but that small action alone caused everything around him to echo and the sky to tremble.

It was a bizarre phenomenon where the ground remained still, but only the sky shook wildly. As the entire world trembled, the terrified screams of the dead echoed from afar.

The grim reapers also panicked and tightly grasped each other’s hands.

Rembrary stayed safely by Redrin’s side, anxiously watching the situation. Rembrary was more worried about the people of his original world than the Underworld’s sky, which Yeomra would surely handle. He wondered what was happening to those people, what state they were in now. He knew Redrin wasn’t a god who would abandon his followers, but…

After a long while, the strange phenomenon finally stopped.

“Are you done?”

Redrin asked calmly, as if he hadn’t been affected by the strange phenomenon at all. Yeomra’s teeth gnashed.

In fact, it was natural for Redrin to be calm and only Yeomra to be furious. This was because gods couldn’t properly fight, no matter how angry they were. Their very existence was tied to rules and limitations.

To be precise, they could fight, but there was no end to the fight. No matter how strong a god was, they couldn’t kill even the weakest god.

Because of this, gods couldn’t end a fight once it started, and they could never be truly at ease even if they won. In the meantime, they would only devastate the surroundings while fighting, so the side with something to protect was unilaterally at a disadvantage. That was Yeomra’s position now. Redrin didn’t care if a corner of the Underworld collapsed or if the Underworld was torn apart during the fight.

Yeomra knew this well, so instead of showing off his power, he warned Redrin.

“The humans here don’t even know your name. Go back. Take your Saint with you.”

Gods also had weaknesses, and there were ways to wage war using these weaknesses, but Yeomra had no intention of falling for Redrin’s provocation. Even if he fought and won, it wouldn’t help Yeomra in any way.

But unfortunately for Yeomra, his intentions didn’t matter to Redrin.

“Every god has a beginning. All I have to do is make my name known.”

Redrin, bursting into laughter, threw the fan he was holding into the air.

At that moment, the fan shattered into small pieces and flew towards the grim reapers surrounding them. The quick-witted grim reapers dodged the fan, and some struck the fan with their weapons. However, there were also grim reapers in the back row who couldn’t dodge or defend in time.

In the blink of an eye, the grim reapers hit by the shattered fan instantly turned into various kinds of birds and fell to the ground with a thud. The birds that fell to the ground disappeared as if they were seeping into the earth. All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

“Redriiiiiin!”

Yeomra, seeing this, roared in anger.

But all that remained was Redrin’s laughter and the greatly reduced number of grim reapers. Redrin was no longer visible in Yeomra’s space.

* * *

A space filled with fog. He couldn’t see ahead, but the presence of the person going ahead was clear. Rembrary followed closely behind Redrin, pondering. Should he ask Redrin about the original world or not?

The original world was one thing, but he was also wondering what Redrin was trying to do here. Become a god? Wasn’t Redrin already a god? Was he going to become a god of this dimension? If so, how?

Redrin told him not to think, but it was difficult not to think when he saw and heard such things. How long had he walked through a place where there was neither time nor space? Then, a voice came from ahead.

“I’m sorry to send you to such a chaotic place.”

Rembrary looked ahead, but the fog was still thick, and he couldn’t see Redrin’s back.

“I still don’t know what’s going on.”

But Rembrary asked towards the empty air. He couldn’t bear not to ask.

“What happened? What will happen to the people in our world? What did the king here mean?”

“I want to ask you that.”

“What do you mean…”

“Where did your shell go, and why are you in such a strange place?”

“It just happened that way.”

“How clumsy. Your body has changed. And what else are you carrying inside?”

Redrin’s gaze briefly turned towards Rembrary’s shadow, which was clearly visible even in the fog-filled place. The shadow twitched for a moment, as if sensing the gaze.

Redrin narrowed his eyes, but Rembrary didn’t see it because of the fog. Redrin seemed to think for a moment, then pretended not to notice and muttered.

“It will help protect your body.”

“What will?”

“That’s not for you to hear.”

“?”

Rembrary drooped his shoulders powerlessly. He was talking to Redrin, but Redrin wasn’t telling him anything.

Rembrary trudged along listlessly, then stopped when his head bumped into something. He looked up and saw that the fog had disappeared, and there was an endless green field.

Rembrary was startled. Not because of the field, but because of Redrin. Redrin, who had been fine in front of Yeomra, was not fine at all when he looked up.

Like a glitched illusion, Redrin’s body looked like a blurry afterimage, as if it would scatter if he waved his hand.

“Redrin, your body…”

“I couldn’t cross over completely. That Yeomra is quite strong.”

“Were you bluffing earlier?”

Rembrary asked in dismay, and Redrin burst into silent laughter. Rembrary sadly watched him and asked.

“What should I do? How can I help you?”

He didn’t know what Redrin was thinking, but it was clear that something serious was happening if he had only managed to bring part of his body here. And Rembrary wanted to protect Redrin.

“Here, I am darkness. Until I become a god.”

“Redrin…”

“But you are still light. Until I settle down, don’t do anything.”

“!”

“Daeju will do the work, so just stay put. That’s what you have to do.”

* * *

When he came to his senses, there was no blue field, no blurry Redrin, no Underworld, no Yeomra, no grim reapers, nothing.

Rembrary stood blankly and looked around. He was standing on a bridge, and behind him, cars were slowly and carefully passing by, avoiding the giant frog eggs. It was a bright night with black water flowing under the bridge.

It was night when he left for the Underworld too. Did it not take that long this time? Rembrary took out his phone to check the time.

‘Oh, no.’

It wasn’t. It felt like less than two hours, but two days had already passed. Rembrary sighed and put his phone in his pocket.

‘In the end, he didn’t tell me anything.’

Even in the original world, Redrin would just say endlessly good things like, ‘You’re the best, you’re the greatest, whatever you do is the answer.’

But back then, there was no answer he desperately needed. Redrin’s words were already all over the temple, and just reading them was enough to guess Redrin’s intentions.

Rembrary’s job was to make people praise Redrin, to save and protect people. He could do that even without an answer.

But now that things had turned out this way, he felt inexplicably resentful towards the silent Redrin. Besides, stay put? In this context, it probably meant stay safe… after causing such a mess in front of Yeomra?

Well, the number of grim reapers suddenly dropped, so the Underworld would be too busy dealing with the frog eggs that appeared on the ground to spare any attention to this side.

‘Let’s go back for now.’

Rembrary turned around powerlessly. He didn’t know what it meant, but if Redrin’s order was to stay safe, he had no choice but to stay safe.

Then, Rembrary belatedly realized something shocking and panicked.

‘Where… am I?’

* * *

Just in case, she had instructed the employees not to come to work for the time being, so Jang Tae-ri was also stuck at home with nothing to do. The entertainment programs were also postponed.

She kept the news on all day at home, but watching the news alone couldn’t alleviate her fearful and bored feelings.

Jang Tae-ri was drinking coffee and counting the number of frog eggs that appeared in front of her house when she felt a sense of self-loathing and went to the bathroom.

After washing her face with cold water and coming out, she saw that she had a missed call.

‘Yeonwoo’s?’

What’s going on? Jang Tae-ri was about to call Rembrary back, but before she could, she received a call from someone else.

“Hello?”

This caller was an unknown number, but Jang Tae-ri thought it might be a business-related call, so she answered it first. Of course, it could be a useless call.

[……]

However, the other person didn’t say anything.

“Hello?”

Jang Tae-ri asked while picking up the coffee cup she had been drinking from earlier.

[……]

But the other person didn’t say anything this time either, so she felt upset and pressed the end button.

“What is it?”

However, as soon as the call ended, the same number called again. Jang Tae-ri frowned but decided to answer the call again. There were cases where the phone voice couldn’t be heard, so they would call again.

[This is Aegis. You called a few days ago.]

However, the person who called was someone Jang Tae-ri didn’t expect at all.

Jang Tae-ri froze with her phone in her hand. Aegis… weren’t they the ones who left their business cards with her twin brother who became a Saint? They said they would help if she contacted them, but when she called a few days ago, it said the number didn’t exist. Those people? Now?

Jang Tae-ri gripped her phone tightly and couldn’t say anything. She was prepared when she called before, but she wasn’t prepared at all when she received the call this time.

No, could she even be sure that the people who answered the phone were Aegis? What if they weren’t Aegis, but people trying to harm the Saint?

[I’m sorry I couldn’t answer the phone before. I was deliberately keeping an eye on the situation because someone else might impersonate and call.]

Jang Tae-ri opened her mouth and then let out a dumbfounded laugh at the other person’s excuse. So, the call went through properly back then, but they deliberately pretended it was a non-existent number? What if it was an urgent situation?

[In the end, you’ve awakened too.]

However, the moment she heard the other person’s next words, she frowned instead of laughing dumbfoundedly.

“Hello?”

[Originally, we only give one number per Saint, and when that Saint disappears, the number is discarded. But because you’re twins, I was worried… so I deliberately didn’t discard the number. I guess it was a good choice.]

“Hello? What are you talking about?”

She was confused, but Jang Tae-ri was so dumbfounded by the other person’s strange words that she asked back. Who awakened?

Then, the person on the other side of the phone was silent for a moment and then asked back.

[You’re calling because you became a Saint and need help. Isn’t that right?]

“No. I just happened to make a Saint friend. I called to ask for help…”

Jang Tae-ri narrowed her eyes.

“More than that, what was that just now?”

The other person was silent again. They seemed embarrassed. After being silent for almost 30 seconds, the person who identified themselves as Aegis said in a troubled voice.

[I’m sorry. Twins have a high probability of awakening together, so I thought you had awakened late.]

“!”

[Who is the Saint who needs help?]

< 236. Just Stay Safe > End