Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 409

409. A Risky Moment, Though I’m Not Sure Why

Rapsus was furious.

In their original world, Redrin and Lumena weren’t allies. But facing the Demon King had forged a temporary alliance between them.

More than anything, Lumena had died trying to save Rembrary.

The underworld kidnapped Rembrary, and the underworld killed Lumena.

Yet Rembrary, entangled in all of this, Rembrary, whom Lumena had barely saved, was chatting amiably with the Grim Reaper, his enemy. Rapsus’s molars ached with fury.

“This is why you shouldn’t be kind to Redrin’s priests,” Rapsus muttered, glaring menacingly at Rembrary.

The heavy atmosphere, weighing down body and soul, shifted abruptly as someone roared from behind.

“High Priest!”

It was Ardor. Sensing a strange energy from inside, Moolu had released him. Moolu followed Ardor inside.

“High Priest!”

Startled by the commotion, the staff followed, only to freeze in their tracks.

The waiting room was filled with strange men in black suits, collapsed and without name tags. Rapsus, the star rookie singer who had appeared like a comet, was also on the floor. Only Rembrary sat in a chair.

Another man in a black suit, standing by the door and looking at Rembrary, was Wooyeonwoo’s road manager, who had once caused a stir with his bizarre swimwear.

The staff was in chaos. What was going on?

‘Why is Rapsus on the floor?’

‘Who are these people collapsed with him?’

‘Why is Rembrary the only one sitting?’

‘Why is Wooyeonwoo’s old manager here?’

Then, from behind, they heard a cold voice, ambiguous between an order and a polite request, “Excuse me.”

Without thinking, the staff obeyed.

It was Shin Jo-woon, who had brought the PD [Production Director]. He had brought the PD, intending to use a private room, but seeing the staff crowded in front of the room, he pushed his way inside, wondering what was happening.

Successfully entering the room, Shin Jo-woon’s face hardened at the sight before him.

The staff thought it was understandable. Shin Jo-woon, who had quit the entertainment industry, was now personally producing albums and bringing his artist to broadcasting stations, only to find that artist rolling a famous singer on the floor. Any agency head would be angry.

But Shin Jo-woon strode forward and grabbed not Rembrary, the artist who had caused the trouble, but Rapsus, who was lying on the floor, by the collar.

“What are you doing?”

Why grab him there? The staff’s eyes widened.

Shin Jo-woon, coldly questioning the fallen man, even threw Rapsus aside and approached Rembrary to ask,

“Are you okay? Hurt anywhere?”

The staff was even more confused.

Rapsus, who seemed unharmed but was lying on the floor, the black suits collapsed with him, Sajamjae, who was there for some reason, and Rembrary, sitting comfortably in his chair, were all strange. But Shin Jo-woon, getting angry at the fallen and worrying about the unharmed, seemed the strangest of all.

Anyway, when Shin Jo-woon asked Rembrary if he was okay, the staff’s attention naturally turned to Rembrary.

However, Rembrary was still only looking at Rapsus.

It wasn’t out of guilt for suppressing Rapsus while trying to subdue the Grim Reapers. It was Rapsus’s reaction to Lumena. His overly agitated attitude was why he was staring.

‘He abandoned Lumena and went to the Demon King. Why is he so angry? Wasn’t he the one who abandoned Lumena?’

To the staff, it looked even stranger, but Rembrary was serious. Moreover, seeing Rapsus so angry, something was coming to mind. A very good idea. It wasn’t fully formed, but it was definitely a good thought.

But just as the budding idea was about to take shape.

“What’s going on?”

A new person appeared, and Rembrary’s idea burst like a bubble.

Rembrary frowned and looked at the newcomer. It was Owan, a demon and LLL’s manager. For once, he hadn’t bothered to hide his black tail and demon horns.

“Oh.”

Owan looked at Rapsus, Rembrary, Shin Jo-woon, Sajamjae, and the staff in turn, with a face that said, ‘What is going on?’

With Owan, officially an LLL manager, appearing, the staff held their breath even more.

Demons can control how they appear to people. So, the staff without ‘eyes’ [the ability to see supernatural beings] couldn’t see Owan’s demon tail and horns. All they could see was an LLL manager frowning at his artist on the floor.

‘It’s going to be a disaster soon. A fight is going to break out.’ The staff thought simultaneously, but the situation was too interesting to leave.

Even the PD who came with Shin Jo-woon swallowed hard, watching the situation.

On the other hand, Sajamjae, the Grim Reapers, Shin Jo-woon, Moolu, and Ardor, who could recognize Owan as a demon, felt the atmosphere quickly sharpen.

The staff didn’t know it, but this was a dangerous and dizzying moment of confrontation between a demon, Grim Reapers, a priest, the High Priest of the Demon King, and the High Priest of a god.

“Mr. Rapsus! Mr. Rapsus, rehearsal standby!”

But this hair-trigger atmosphere shattered with the staff’s shout from outside.

“That’s right, we’re in rehearsal.”

“This is no time to be doing this.”

The staff, who had gathered to watch, scattered with a mixture of regret and relief. Owan quickly hid his demon horns and tail, approached Rapsus, and helped him up.

“What are you doing lying down? Your clothes are all wrinkled.”

The Grim Reapers looked back and forth between Rembrary, Sajamjae, and Rapsus before leaving the scene.

Sajamjae tried to say something to Rembrary, but Shin Jo-woon poked him on the shoulder from behind and smiled, so he frowned and disappeared from the spot. Since there were no ordinary humans around, he didn’t bother hiding and went straight to the underworld.

But even after Sajamjae disappeared, the tense atmosphere in the waiting room didn’t easily subside. There were still demons and priests present, and Ardor was ready to feed Rapsus and the demon holy bullets [bullets imbued with holy power] if Rembrary gave the order.

Light and darkness were in sharp opposition.

“Ah, Mr. Rapsus! I said standby!”

Once again, it was the staff’s booming shout that overturned the chilling atmosphere.

Owan, who had been subtly smiling and examining Rembrary, smiled brightly and greeted him when the staff kept calling for Rapsus from outside.

“I’ll go first, Mr. Rembrary. You’ll have to come out soon anyway, so hurry up and get ready.”

As Owan took Rapsus out, Shin Jo-woon frowned. The PD he had brought was nowhere to be seen. He seemed to have left with the staff earlier.

Shin Jo-woon considered going out again to find the PD, but he checked the time and decided to give up.

“Get ready to go out.”

As Owan said, Rembrary also had to prepare soon.

“You’re up next.”

* * *

Rembrary stopped as he walked backstage for his next rehearsal. Rapsus’s song was being loudly broadcast through the microphones backstage.

“Oh, dear.”

Sensing the unpleasant divine power in the song, Rembrary clicked his tongue, covered Shin Jo-woon’s ears with both hands, and defended him with his own divine power.

He knew Rapsus would do something during the live broadcast, but he didn’t expect him to spread such dark divine power from the rehearsal.

“Why the ears all of a sudden?”

“That Rapsus guy—”

Rembrary, about to answer that he was trying to do something with the Demon King’s divine power, realized that many people were passing by and changed his words to something more ordinary.

“Don’t listen to that guy’s song.”

“!”

The passing staff thought Rembrary was really childishly fighting with Rapsus, but Rembrary carefully protected Shin Jo-woon’s ears. Later, he got tired of it and took Shin Jo-woon to the waiting room and brought Moolu instead.

Even with Redrin’s power weakened, Moolu was receiving divine power stably, so he thought Moolu could protect himself from Rapsus’s song without him covering his ears.

And as Rembrary expected, Moolu tilted his head at Rapsus’s song but didn’t seem affected.

“He’s singing with a dark energy mixed in, High Priest.”

Rather, Moolu became more nervous listening to Rapsus’s song, so Rembrary prepared to cover his ears in case, but then relaxed and lowered his hands.

“It’s a relief you don’t seem to be succumbing to it, Moolu. But just in case, if your divine power seems to be weakening, cover your ears and go far away.”

“Yes.”

In the meantime, Rapsus’s turn finally ended.

Rapsus, who came down the stairs backstage, glanced at Rembrary but passed by without greeting or smiling.

He at least said a few words in the waiting room. Now that he misunderstood that Rembrary was close to the Grim Reapers, he really didn’t want to talk to him.

Seeing that, Rembrary was reminded again of the idea he had almost had while looking at Rapsus, but first, the rehearsal was more important, so he went up on stage.

Unlike the Wild Animal rehearsal, where he wore a microphone and danced, this time there was no choreography, so he was just handed a microphone.

But that was enough, so Rembrary took the microphone and cleared his throat a few times.

Since Rapsus was already spewing dark divine power at people from the rehearsal, he was going to spew the opposite energy at people as well.

Even if he did this, they would still get addicted if they listened to Rapsus’s song later, but he thought it would be better than listening to the song directly in front of them and getting addicted.

As the familiar music began to play, Rembrary closed his eyes, opened them, and opened his mouth.

* * *

Rapsus, who had gone to the waiting room, took a sip of water and came back outside.

“Where are you going?”

Owan asked, following him, but instead of answering, he went to the front of the stage.

During the rehearsal, he had spread his divine power with the intention of addicting even the staff gathered there.

Rembrary couldn’t possibly not know, so he would surely pour out divine power to cure the addiction he had spread. He wanted to see that.

Just going near the stage made him feel good with the clear and cozy singing, and ironically, that made Rapsus feel worse.

‘Huh?’

But Rapsus, arriving in front of the stage, raised his eyebrows, discovering a strange sight.

Rembrary was singing, and people were watching as if possessed… There was no problem up to this point. It was tiresome, but it was a common sight.

‘Why is one of that guy’s eyes like that?’