Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 418

418. I Think I’m Going to Lose You Again

“Are you really going to make me wait like this?”

The Lion Lord looked at Rembrary with bewildered eyes. Rembrary was sitting on a chair in the corner of the waiting room, opening a can of orange juice he had just gotten from the vending machine.

When Rembrary raised the can as if to toast, the Lion Lord reflexively clenched his fist and high-fived the can before shaking his head.

“This isn’t the time to be fighting. If you wait here for days, your stamina will give out first.”

“I have strong stamina, so it’s okay.”

“Don’t you sleep half the day when nothing’s going on?”

“I don’t sleep because my body is tired.”

The Lion Lord still looked worried, but when Rembrary suggested that if he was so worried, he could wait here for Lapsus with him, he waved his hand and left.

Left alone, Rembrary lowered the hand he had raised halfway to wave and began to drink his orange juice.

He understood why the Lion Lord was worried, but Rembrary’s decision to wait for Lapsus here was the result of much deliberation.

Continuously follow Lapsus’s movements and then return to this concert hall when the performance starts? At first glance, it seemed like the most reasonable method.

However, Rembrary had consistently failed to meet Lapsus for days, even with the Lion Lord as his cheat code. Could this time really be an exception?

It might be an exception. But he didn’t want to invest in that potentially exceptional situation.

Besides, this concert hall was twice the size of a normal one. He couldn’t even catch Lapsus in a small concert hall due to being pushed around by people, so how could he catch Lapsus in this huge concert hall after arriving late?

He wouldn’t even be able to approach Lapsus through the crowd, let alone catch him.

Of course, it wasn’t like there was no solution. He could suppress the crowd with fear and then grab Lapsus.

But if he did that in front of tens of thousands of followers addicted to Lapsus’s songs, Redrin’s reputation would melt away like a snowman in a heated room.

So, if neither of those options worked, he would rather quietly wait for him here and snatch him in the waiting room… That was Rembrary’s calculation.

Rembrary poured the juice can in his hand into his mouth in one go and stretched out his legs to sit comfortably.

* * *

A commotion began to be heard from outside. Rembrary stood up. He took out his phone to check the time, and almost nine hours had passed since he first entered.

‘Is he already here?’

Anyway, wanting to check, Rembrary grabbed the doorknob.

However, before turning the doorknob, he sensed someone and stepped back.

Just as he went to the corner of the wall, a blind spot where he couldn’t be seen immediately if someone opened the door, the door opened narrowly and a person came in. It was Lapsus.

“Wouldn’t it be better to be together?”

And a voice from beyond the door.

Lapsus, who hadn’t yet discovered Rembrary, frowned at the person outside the door and answered, “No,” before slamming the door shut.

Even after closing the door, Lapsus gripped the doorknob tightly, pressed his forehead against the door, and gasped for breath. It was clear that even though he had sided with the Demon King, he couldn’t trust the people around him.

After a long while, Lapsus took his forehead off the door and turned to the side.

“You―!”

Lapsus, who turned directly towards the direction where Rembrary was standing, jumped in surprise when he found Rembrary standing in the corner, but he silenced himself before shouting.

“Lapsus-nim [Lapsus-sama, a term of respect]?”

When the person who came with him from outside the door called out to Lapsus, Lapsus replied, “I’m on the phone!” but still glared at Rembrary.

“Shall we sit down?”

When Rembrary asked, pointing to the sofa, Lapsus lowered his voice and approached Rembrary, gritting his teeth.

“Why are you here?”

His imposing voice was full of anger, but Lapsus still didn’t call the demons who had come with him.

Two days ago, when Rembrary had almost caught Lapsus, the demons had surrounded him, preventing him from even getting close. It was a different reaction from then.

“I came because I have something to say.”

“Living my life, even you have something to say to me. How amazing.”

Lapsus, feeling suffocated, loosened his tie with one hand and threw it on the sofa before walking over there himself and plopping down, crossing his long legs. Even so, his gaze was fixed on Rembrary.

Instead of answering, Rembrary muttered, “It’s about time for them to come.” Lapsus frowned.

“Come?”

Soon, he seemed to look around and then scoffed, laughing loudly.

“Did you ask those grim reapers for help again? Are they coming?”

“I did call someone.”

The moment Lapsus stood up from the sofa, looking serious.

“Though not grim reapers.”

Rembrary muttered and took a step to the side. Lapsus flinched, but there was no one behind Rembrary.

But soon, he froze completely. Not because of Rembrary’s back, but because of the faint presence he felt behind him.

[Lapsus.]

A low voice calling from behind. Lapsus, who recognized whose voice it was, couldn’t even turn around and only widened his eyes. Instead, he stared at Rembrary, his lips trembling.

Rembrary tried to step aside, but when he realized that there were demons following Lapsus outside the door, he had no choice but to lean against the door.

[Aren’t you going to look at me?]

At the voice mixed with laughter, Lapsus barely managed to turn his body slowly. There, Lapsus saw the god he had betrayed.

Lapsus stepped back in surprise, but then turned back half a step and stared blankly at Lumena.

Although her presence wasn’t as strong as when she was in good condition, it was definitely Lumena. Not a Lumena someone was imitating, but the real Lumena.

He had been Lumena’s high priest. There was no way he couldn’t distinguish whether Lumena was real or fake. Even if Lumena’s energy had weakened.

“Lumena-nim [Lumena-sama]. Alive… How… How alive… I clearly heard that you were shattered… into another dimension… I definitely heard that…”

Lapsus muttered blankly. If he had continued to be Lumena’s high priest, he could have checked with divine power whether Lumena was safe or not, but at the time he heard the news, Lapsus had already switched his affiliation to the underworld, so he couldn’t properly check Lumena’s condition.

But since the grim reapers who wanted to drive out Lumena wouldn’t falsely chase away the enemy and boast, Lapsus believed their words.

But Lumena was like this… Although in a weakened state, she appeared in perfect condition, and his mind was in chaos.

[What is this state of affairs?]

Lumena looked at her child, who couldn’t even speak properly, and reached out with a sad face. Placing her hand on Lapsus’s cheek, the god gave him a pitiful look.

That gaze deepened as she saw Lapsus’s bloodless cheeks and emptying eyes.

[Why have you become so weak?]

It was all too clear to Lumena that Lapsus would die soon, that his life was already coming to an end.

[You’ve been moving around from place to place. Weren’t you moving around to live well?]

Lapsus, with his face held in both hands, could only stare blankly at Lumena. He still felt dazed. It was like drifting alone in a vast, endless blue sea and finding the ship he thought he had lost.

Lapsus continued to look at Lumena with trembling eyes. He wanted to ask if she was okay, but the words wouldn’t come out.

He wanted to make excuses that turning away from Lumena and siding with the Demon King was for Lumena’s sake, to take revenge, but he had already turned away from Lumena and sided with the underworld, so he couldn’t even make excuses.

“Lumena-nim [Lumena-sama]. Lumena-nim [Lumena-sama].”

Lapsus trembled and barely called out Lumena’s name repeatedly. Lumena looked at him with sad eyes before reaching out her arms and pulling Lapsus into her embrace.

[My child.]

Lumena murmured sadly. She recalled the young Lapsus, who always examined his long sleeves, feeling awkward in his priestly robes, and belatedly offered his greetings.

She also recalled his whisper, confessing to Lumena as if murmuring, ‘I don’t like the former Rembrary.’ The young voice, filled with guilt, not knowing if he was allowed to hate someone, yet unable to hide his emotions and confessing.

‘Is Lumena-nim [Lumena-sama] satisfied with me?’ The voice asking weakly, and the voice turning away, saying, ‘I am a person who serves God. Lumena-nim [Lumena-sama] is no longer a god.’

[My child.]

Lapsus could only tremble without saying a word, and then his eyes turned red and tears streamed down. Lumena looked at him and finally opened her mouth first.

[I heard the story that you became enemies with Yeomra for my sake.]

“I… I didn’t do that for Lumena-nim [Lumena-sama]… How could I… I can’t do that. I really…”

[I don’t resent Yeomra.]

Lapsus, who had been trembling all along, widened his eyes at those words and retorted.

“That person attacked Lumena-nim [Lumena-sama]!”

He only shouted one word, but his energy seemed to drain rapidly, and Lapsus staggered.

[Just as I want to protect you, he only wanted to protect his people.]

Lumena murmured, supporting Lapsus with one arm. This was genuine. They couldn’t be on good terms, but Lumena didn’t resent Yeomra.

Because she understood that Yeomra would have the same feelings as she did for those who followed her. She couldn’t resent him.

But this was a great shock to Lapsus, who had joined hands with the Demon King for Lumena’s sake.

He had joined hands with the Demon King to take revenge on Yeomra because he thought Lumena had been shattered. But Lumena hadn’t been shattered and didn’t resent Yeomra. Then what had he done?

As Lapsus’s pupils trembled, Lumena shook her head and put the struggling child back in her arms.

[Leave the Demon King and come to me. Let’s go together. I will be with you by your side until your last moment.]

“Lumena-nim [Lumena-sama]. I…”

[You will no longer be in pain or suffering. In our own world, I will embrace you.]

As Lumena’s body began to blur, Lapsus’s arm, which Lumena was holding, also began to ripple like a mirage.

Lapsus looked at his touching hands and arms with wavering eyes at Lumena’s suggestion. Lapsus himself knew that his life was not long. It wasn’t something he knew from the time of the contract. He only naturally realized it as his body weakened as he used his power.

Still, he brushed it off, thinking it was okay because he was damaging Yeomra. But when Lumena said this, he wavered.

Until the last moment, he wanted to serve Lumena once again, carrying the guilty heart of leaving Lumena.

But…….

“Please leave.”

Lapsus couldn’t dare to touch Lumena and whispered, clutching only the sleeve of Lumena, who was holding his arm, like a lifeline.

“Please leave, Lumena-nim [Lumena-sama].”

[My child.]

“I don’t want to show you my dying 모습 [mosub – appearance]. Not to Lumena-nim [Lumena-sama]. So… I can’t go with you. What am I, how can I make Lumena-nim [Lumena-sama] see something like that.”

[My child.]

Tears that had been welling up finally began to flow. The child who had always carefully grabbed her sleeve and followed her had grown up and was still grabbing her sleeve and clinging to her.

Unable to let go of her sleeve because he was scared, yet begging her to leave, Lumena couldn’t leave Lapsus.

Noticing that, Lapsus let go of Lumena’s sleeve himself.