Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 262

262. Find a Way Back (1)

As soon as he opened his eyes, a cozy sensation enveloped him, as if he were nestled in feathers. Rembrary’s eyes snapped open. The bizarre spinning feeling from before had vanished, but he couldn’t relax. He wasn’t in the room with Violet Hair, Woo Sungwoo, and Undushin.

‘That ceiling…’

‘My room?’

Rembrary blinked a few times, then raised a hand to rub his eyes. But even after rubbing them, the scene remained unchanged.

‘It’s my room.’

The ceiling, adorned with carvings of angels, elves, dragons, peaceful people, and mermaids, was undeniably the one he always saw in his original world—the ceiling of the High Priest’s room in the Grand Temple.

‘Did I suddenly return?’

Rembrary abruptly sat up. After examining his hands, he immediately searched for a mirror. Standing before the large full-length mirror, his lips naturally tightened.

‘I’m back.’

Rembrary clenched his fist and squatted down. It was his body. The High Priest’s body. Light blonde hair, red eyes, long hair. The appearance that always pleased him when he looked in the mirror was there…

‘My hair is shorter!’

Finding his hair a bit shorter, Rembrary gaped in surprise. ‘Who cut my hair?’

But thinking about it, his hair length wasn’t the immediate issue. Rembrary stopped scrutinizing his hair and plopped back onto the bed. As the relief faded, confusion set in.

‘What happened? How did I get back to my original body?’

Clearly, the last thing he remembered was the world spinning at an incredible speed. Before that, he had stepped on Violet Hair’s arm. Violet Hair, with his arm pinned, had spoken triumphantly, saying he didn’t necessarily need to ‘touch’ to use his ability.

‘My body—no, did Woo Yeonwoo’s body get hit by that monster? So, did Woo Yeonwoo’s body turn into vinyl, and I returned to normal?’

If that were the case, it felt very unsettling. He didn’t know what had happened to Woo Yeonwoo’s body, nor what would happen to the ‘real Woo Yeonwoo.’ What about Woo Sungwoo and Undushin?

He was also worried about what might have happened after he disappeared. The number of monsters there had definitely increased, and he was the only one who could properly control them in that world. Besides, his followers were there too…

And Redrin. Decisively, Redrin had already crossed over to that world, so what would happen if he came here?

—Redrin-nim.

—……

—Redrin-nim.

—……

—Redrin-nim?

He called Redrin several times, but there was no response, just like before. After worrying for a while, Rembrary decided to check if the people in his original world were safe first. He couldn’t find an immediate answer even if he worried about other things now.

However, as Rembrary walked towards the door, he was surprised when he grabbed the doorknob.

‘It’s locked?’

The door wouldn’t open. He tried pulling it with force several times, but it remained locked. Someone had locked it from the outside.

‘What is this…?’

Dumbfounded, he kept pulling and releasing the doorknob, but no one came to check, even after hearing the noise. Rembrary was at a loss. ‘Why am I suddenly locked up again?’

After pulling the doorknob dozens of times, Rembrary eventually walked back to the bed and hugged the pillow. How long had he been like that?

About 30 or 40 minutes passed. Someone knocked on the door. But the knock was just for show, as the door opened with a clunking sound before Rembrary could answer.

‘Is it Moolu?’

Rembrary immediately looked toward the door. But the person who entered wasn’t the Holy Knight Commander.

“What’s this? You weren’t crying for once?”

‘Who is this?’

Rembrary slowly lowered the pillow, curling one hand into a fist, ready to punch if they came closer. The person who came in was a demon. A demon wearing Holy Knight armor.

A demon entering the Grand Temple, and wearing Holy Knight armor no less—wasn’t that something only possible at the end of the world? He was dumbfounded, but the demon stood calmly by the door, tapping it and demanding.

“Come on. We have to do what we do every day.”

It was said with an attitude that suggested this wasn’t the first or second time.

“Do what?”

“Don’t play dumb. It’s not difficult, is it?”

Suspicious. Very suspicious. But Rembrary unfolded his fist and obediently followed the demon disguised as a Holy Knight. It seemed like someone else had been using his body while he was living as ‘Woo Yeonwoo.’ He needed to figure out what had happened to cause this situation.

Unexpectedly, the demon led him to the streets. Rembrary looked around.

During the time Rembrary had lived here, this city, located closest to the Grand Temple, was frequented by tourists and clergy. There wasn’t a single piece of trash on the streets, and the roads reflected a subtle light whenever touched by sunlight or moonlight, making them exceptionally beautiful.

The houses of various colors lined up around the streets further enhanced the fairy-tale feel of this town, and people always walked around smiling, singing about how happy they were to live by the High Priest.

But now… the beautiful roads were the same as before, but no one’s face showed any happiness. People were skinny and wore dirty clothes, wandering the streets, and only the demons looked healthy. In between them, monsters and beasts roamed like travelers, threatening the people.

‘What happened?’

As he was wondering, the demon in Holy Knight armor poked Rembrary’s back and pushed him.

“Hurry up and walk. Smiling face. Quickly.”

Forced to walk, the demon walked alongside him as if protecting Rembrary. Rembrary scanned the entire city with a dismal feeling.

The broken buildings hadn’t even been repaired, and few people went to help the injured rolling on the ground. The injured or emaciated people stood against the walls of houses, glancing at Rembrary. Some were crying, some were afraid, some were in pain, and some were seething.

‘Has it been completely consumed by the Demon King? Is this the result?’

“Hey!”

Then someone shouted. Stopping and turning his head, he saw a young man with half his head wrapped in bandages, pointing at him from atop a wooden box.

“How could the High Priest do that! Damn it, people ended up like that trying to protect you, and you’re living comfortably with demons! Leading the way and holding hands with demons first!”

‘I… held hands with demons?’

“There are still hundreds and thousands of people who believe in you and follow you. If you have any conscience… !”

The young man couldn’t finish his sentence. An old man who came out hurriedly gagged him.

The old man looked so emaciated that he seemed to be nothing but skin and bones, but the young man obediently followed as the old man pulled him away. The old man repeatedly bowed so low that his back was bent in half, apologizing to Rembrary.

“I’m sorry, Rembrary-nim. This guy is uneducated and ignorant, that’s why he’s like this. He’s just talking nonsense without knowing anything, so please don’t be angry. Please, I beg you.”

The Holy Knight demon next to him chuckled in a low voice at the sight. Then, he instructed Rembrary to keep walking and whispered.

“Looks like there are still humans who believe in you?”

Rembrary narrowed his eyes.

‘Indeed. Someone else acted arbitrarily in my body while I was in Woo Yeonwoo’s body.’

And it didn’t seem like they were acting in a good way. He witnessed similar incidents happen a couple more times while walking around the city.

From the moment he entered the Grand Temple, Rembrary began to rack his brain. What were his close aides doing while the person who took over his body was doing this? Couldn’t they stop the High Priest’s actions? But why weren’t those close aides, the real close aides, visible? Did they all disappear? If a demon was disguised as a Holy Knight, what about the real Holy Knights?

At that moment, a demon in cleric robes ran towards him and spoke to the demon in Holy Knight armor.

“Humans escaped again through the rift. I thought we had completely blocked it, but it opened up somewhere again.”

‘Rift?’

Rembrary’s eyes lit up at the mention of ‘rift,’ but the demon in Holy Knight armor scoffed.

“How foolish. It’s foolish to expect ordinary humans to cross the rift with their bare bodies and live well. Do they think their god is still a god even there?”

Soon, the demon in Holy Knight armor grabbed Rembrary’s neck so hard it almost crushed it, then pulled him close and sneered in his ear.

“Isn’t that right, High Priest-nim?”

As if not expecting an answer, the demon in Holy Knight armor pushed Rembrary forward this time, opened the door, and ordered.

“Go in!”

As soon as Rembrary went inside, he heard the sound of the door being locked again from behind.

Rembrary walked to the bed and sat down. The situation seemed more serious than he thought.

‘The Demon King seems to have gained a lot of ground.’

But there was still hope. Clearly, the Demon King’s power and influence had grown stronger, but it didn’t seem to have been completely consumed yet. That’s why the demons were wearing Holy Knight armor and cleric robes, and using him as a spectacle to show people. By showing that the High Priest they believed in and followed had surrendered to them, they were clearly trying to break people’s fighting spirit. If they had completely taken over this world, there would be no need for that.

‘Is that why Redrin-nim crossed over to another world?’

The High Priest that Redrin cherishes the most is walking around with demons? As the disappointment grows, people will also be disappointed in Redrin, who chose Rembrary as the High Priest. Naturally, those who worship Redrin will decrease, and Redrin will naturally gradually lose the power to fight the Demon King. And…

‘Rift.’

Rifts appeared in Korea too, and monsters popped out from there. Afterwards, countless frog eggs appeared. But there is also a rift here.

‘The rifts might be connected.’

Rembrary decided to go investigate that rift first. He had to eliminate the rift and restore this place to its original state. If he regains the people’s faith here, wouldn’t Redrin also return from that world to this world?

* * *

“There is no possibility that the High Priest will return, Commander.”

“……”

“We must accept it now. The High Priest’s soul has already gone somewhere else. The current High Priest is only having a negative impact on people.”

“……”

“If we don’t kill the High Priest, there will be no hope left here! Please, please make a decision!”

Moolu, the Holy Knight Commander of the Grand Temple, covered his head with his hands, feeling a headache as he looked down at Ninring, who was kneeling in front of him and sobbing.

He understood why people were saying that, of course. But he, who was chosen to protect the High Priest, was being told to kill the High Priest?

It’s true that there’s someone else inside that body… but that body is clearly Rembrary-nim’s body? What if he kills the High Priest and then the ‘real’ Rembrary-nim can never return?