Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 356

356. Saving Daegu (2)

Rembrary called out loudly, but Myeong-u Shin didn’t seem to hear him. He was flailing beneath the giant bird’s claws.

“Myeong-a!”

Rembrary looked up at the sky and hurriedly ran after the bird. He almost fell as he ran, forgetting what was below, but he still chased after Myeong-u Shin.

If the bird were only half that size, he could follow at a leisurely pace. But the bird was too big to chase easily.

“!”

Eventually, Rembrary stepped into a hollow in the ground and tumbled forward.

“Rembrary-nim!”

Ardor desperately threw himself forward, but Rembrary fell faster.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

“I was hurt, but I healed.”

Rembrary got up, dusting off his palms. When he looked up, he saw the bird’s tail disappearing into the distance. Myeong-u Shin already looked like a scarecrow.

“He was always grumpy, but he wasn’t a bad person.”

Rembrary clicked his tongue, wondering if Sagamjae or his colleagues would appear soon.

“I don’t think he’s dead yet, Rembrary-nim.”

“Huh?”

“He’s moving. It looks like he’s waving his hands.”

“I know.”

“Yes… you were talking as if he were already dead.”

He was about to argue, but the bird, which had been flying steadily, suddenly changed direction and landed on the roof of a large building nearby—the biggest building around.

The image of a giant bird’s nest on the roof, filled with monster bird chicks waiting with open mouths for food, flashed through his mind.

“Let’s go over there.”

Rembrary hurried back towards the building. But when he arrived and tried to open the door, it was locked.

He grabbed the doorknob, shook it, and knocked, but nothing happened. He looked around for other buttons, but there weren’t any.

“I’ll try.”

Ardor stepped forward and fired several shots at the doorknob, but the door didn’t budge. Ardor frowned, muttering as if this was unusual.

“Could there be an Awakened [a person with supernatural abilities] blocking the door?”

“Ah. An Awakened. That’s possible.”

At those words, Rembrary thought of the Lion Lord’s mother. Her ability to control an entire building and manipulate its interior at will. He didn’t know exactly how it worked, but even then, the door wouldn’t open when he tried to enter from the outside.

‘It could be a similar ability.’

Maybe he should have brought the Lion…

But just as he was regretting the Lion Lord’s absence, a person popped out of the alleyway, like a ball rolling in the wrong direction.

Sensing the presence, Rembrary turned his head towards the sound.

There stood a disheveled, unwashed figure with shaggy hair covering their face—it was impossible to tell if they were an adult or a child—with their arms hanging down like a long-armed ape next to a car with its roof crushed as if trampled by a giant foot.

“Should we ask that person?”

Ardor muttered.

But starting with that shaggy-haired person, others began to emerge from the alleyway. The degree of dishevelment varied slightly, but most of them were similarly dressed.

The buildings and roads were destroyed, but it wasn’t as if there was no water; he had seen intact streams on the way. It was strange that they were all so dirty.

As he was wondering why they were all dressed like that, the largest of them stepped forward and warned.

“Get back, strangers! The gods are angry!”

At the mention of gods, the two current priests exchanged glances.

“What god are you talking about?”

Since they couldn’t enter the building right away, Rembrary took his hand off the doorknob and asked them. But no one explained properly.

“The gods will be angry.”

“Things always go crazy when outsiders come.”

“Get lost if you’re not going to help!”

They just mumbled and repeated similar words. It couldn’t have been that long since the cataclysm that generations had changed. These people were strangely exclusive to those from the outside. Moreover, the people seemed to be afraid of something.

Could it be that Daegu’s danger was caused by these people, not the giant bird? As Rembrary was feeling suspicious, the large man stepped forward and explained stiffly.

“The gods are inside there. You are provoking the gods. Stop it. Your actions are putting us all in danger.”

Rembrary pointed to the roof of the building.

“Are you talking about that bald bird?”

“Bald bird! That’s a Pterosaur [a type of flying reptile]!”

“That baldy took someone I know.”

“There’s nothing we can do. Give up.”

The large man flinched for a moment at the word ‘friend,’ but soon regained his composure and turned away coldly.

“You guys get out of here too!”

But Rembrary didn’t leave. He took a step forward and asked the large man’s back.

“How do you get inside this building?”

The large man took a few steps, stopped, and muttered grimly without turning his head.

“Go while you’re still alive. Leave when you’re told. The only ones who can enter there are the chosen sacrifices and the priests.”

“The fact that the priests go in means there’s a way to get in. So there must be a key or something?”

“Even if there is, it’s not for outsiders like you—”

The large man was probably going to say ‘never give it to you.’ But before he could finish his sentence, Ardor, who had walked out with a thud, put the gun to the back of the large man’s head and cut him off.

“Open the door unless you want another hole in your head.”

“!”

Rembrary made an “Oops” sound, but didn’t stop Ardor. That baldy from before. It was definitely a monster that came out of an egg. It grabbed Myeong-u Shin with its sharp hands and flew away, didn’t it? Even if he was alive when he flew away, he might really get eaten if they didn’t save him quickly.

“Kill him.”

But even with a gun to the back of his head, the large man only muttered without showing any fear.

The others were the same. They didn’t bat an eye even though they were about to kill someone who might be their colleague or neighbor.

None of them were afraid of guns, even though they couldn’t not know what guns were.

As the villagers began to walk away as if saying, ‘Shoot me in the back if you want,’ Ardor actually cocked the gun.

“That’s enough. Stop it.”

Ardor was a priest who would really shoot if left alone, so Rembrary finally waved his hand to stop him.

“But Rembrary-nim, then there’s no way to get the key.”

“Birds like shiny things, don’t they? If I emit a halo, won’t the bird take me too?”

“That’s dangerous! Absolutely not!”

* * *

After searching every nook and cranny of the ruined city, the sky began to mix with lilac and deep crimson.

The bald bird that was flying in the sky almost came towards Rembrary and Ardor once more, but as soon as Rembrary turned on his halo and spread his hands, it screamed and ran away, so Rembrary’s second plan was useless.

“Why did it run away?”

As Rembrary mumbled dejectedly, Ardor swallowed hard and asked,

“Uhm, perhaps there’s something strange on Rembrary-nim’s head that made it run away. Like a bug only visible to birds. Should I touch it once? Maybe I can figure out why the bird ran away.”

“Let’s just go back to the car and rest.”

“Touch it in the car?”

“You’re not coming.”

However, when they returned to the car, it was completely wrecked. Not only were there cracks and broken pieces everywhere, but the windows were shattered, and there was all sorts of nasty graffiti.

“Those bastards!”

Ardor’s eyes flashed with anger, knowing exactly who was responsible.

The windows were clearly broken from the outside in. Moreover, the fact that all four windows were shattered looked malicious.

“I’m going to kill them all! If I kill them all, the monster bird will have to come here!”

But just as Ardor was about to run out with his gun, a small head peeked out from behind the wrecked car on the opposite side. It was a child.

Rembrary grabbed Ardor by the scruff of his neck to stop him and looked at the child. When their eyes met, the child hesitated, then approached, clutching a backpack bigger than his head, and asked,

“Are you perhaps the healer from TV?”

“That’s right. Who are you?”

When Rembrary answered, the child’s eyes widened, and he suddenly looked like he was about to cry.

Unable to handle crying children, Ardor put away his gun and hid behind Rembrary.

“Why are you crying?”

Rembrary approached the child, patted him on the shoulder, and sent him divine power in the process. Perhaps calmed by this, the child quickly stopped crying, but still looked frightened.

“Who are you?”

When Rembrary asked again, the child looked around, then lowered his voice and whispered,

“Everyone here is crazy.”

“And you?”

“I’m the grandson of the chief priest.”

At the mention of the chief priest, Ardor quickly asked,

“Who’s the chief priest?”

“The biggest and widest guy.”

Ardor immediately recognized who it was and shouted to Rembrary,

“I think that’s the guy we were talking about earlier, Rembrary-nim!”

The child signaled Ardor to ‘shush, shush,’ and when Ardor shut his mouth, he looked around once more. Then, after confirming that no one was there, his eyes welled up, and he mumbled,

“I had two younger siblings, but my grandfather sacrificed one of them. Thanks to that, he became the chief priest and leads people around.”

“Really?”

He didn’t seem like that kind of person? He was very afraid of something, though… No, did he do that because he was afraid?

As Rembrary tilted his head, the child clasped his hands together and asked,

“If you save my sibling, I can bring you the key. I know where he keeps it.”

Ardor and Rembrary exchanged glances.

“Won’t you get in trouble if you get caught?”

“I can make sure I don’t get caught. He never takes out the key except during the ritual anyway. He keeps it in a place where people don’t go because they say it’s ominous.”

“Then bring it. I’ll help you find your sibling too.”

A little later, the child really appeared with the key. Rembrary and Ardor quickly ran with the child to the building where the bird had landed earlier.

“I’ll open it for you.”

But as the child was opening the door, those filthy people who hadn’t been seen even after searching every corner of the ruined city began to gather again.

Moreover, this time they were even bringing terrifying weapons, as if they were planning to use force.

“I told you to get lost!”

“Get out! Get away from that building right now!”

Rembrary urged the child.

“Aren’t you done yet?”

“I’m sorry. Why won’t this open?”

However, as he became more anxious, the child couldn’t properly turn the key. Ardor took out his gun and said to Rembrary,

“Go in first, Rembrary-nim.”

At that moment, the door clicked open, and the child slipped inside. Rembrary had no intention of taking the child with him, but the child had already gone in first.

In the meantime, the armed people were already right in front of Ardor, reaching out towards him.

“You come in too.”

Since he couldn’t tell the child who had stolen the key to come out when people were rushing in so threateningly, Rembrary had no choice but to follow into the door and said to Ardor,

“Yes.”

Ardor fired a shot at the feet of the people one by one and turned around to follow. But before he could even put his foot in, there was a bang, and the door slammed shut from the inside.

“Rembrary-nim? Rembrary-nim?”

Why did you close it…? Ardor, bewildered, knocked on the door, but it didn’t open.

While panicking, Ardor raised his gun again to send the armed people away first.

However, the villagers who had been rushing in menacingly had already lowered their weapons and were in pain.

“What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

Ardor, wondering why they were acting like that, asked, and the old man with the rake in the front row shook his head sadly.

“Since he went through that door, he’ll see something terrible again. He should have gone back when he was told to.”

Ardor frowned.

“If you were going to let us go back, you shouldn’t have wrecked the car.”

At those words, someone shouted from among the people.

“We didn’t do it!”

Ardor clicked his tongue.

“Even if you didn’t all hold hands and wreck the car together, one of you would have done it.”

After finishing speaking, Ardor turned the doorknob of the firmly closed door one more time, then grumbled and asked the people,

“Don’t you have another spare key? Is there only one key?”

But the answer that came back was strange.

“What are you talking about? There is no key.”

Ardor twisted his lips in anger.

“What lies. The chief priest’s grandson brought the key himself and even opened the door. Didn’t you see our Rembrary-nim go in just now?”

At those words, the old man frowned.

“Grandson, you say?”

“Yeah, that little kid who carries his backpack in front.”

However, the old man frowned even more at Ardor’s explanation.

“What are you talking about? The chief priest doesn’t have a grandson!”

“!”