Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 465

◈ 465. One Is a Trap

“You’re saying they have no emotions?”

When Hwasa asked in surprise, Rembrary nodded.

“I’d be more afraid if a machine or doll had a soul inside. But it seems they don’t have anything like that at all.”

Ardor kept shooting at the opponent’s feet to prevent them from approaching.

Rembrary crossed his arms.

Ardor’s attacks healed quickly, and even the dignity of a god didn’t work on them. It was troublesome. Where did these things even come from?

‘Someone must have sent them. They can’t attack on their own.’

Rembrary thought about using the God’s Flash, but soon dismissed the idea.

If they were moving using black magic or demonic power without their own will or emotions, he could attack them with divine power, but these things weren’t of that kind either.

At that moment, as the mannequin-like red attackers were unable to advance due to Ardor’s shooting, they suddenly began to change shape.

Their necks stretched out and thickened, becoming difficult to distinguish from their waists, and their hands became very long, allowing them to wield their arms like whips even without legs.

It seemed they intended to attack this way since they couldn’t move forward.

When Ardor shot off their arms in addition to their legs, the arms simply started to grow back, one by one.

Hwasa spat out a small curse.

Rembrary packed the remaining rice balls into the basket, while keeping his eyes on the bizarre attackers.

This world might not be exactly the same as Rembrary’s own, but in his experience, things that moved under orders without their own will usually had a core that received those orders.

In difficult cases, that core was hidden inside their bodies, and in even more difficult cases, the place receiving the orders and the attacking entity carrying them out were different, but there was always something.

If this place followed the same principle…….

‘Is that it?’

Finally, something suspicious caught Rembrary’s eye.

‘They’re naked except for a ring on each of their fingers.’

“Ardor.”

At Rembrary’s call, Ardor, busily moving two arms, turned his head.

“Yes, High Priest!”

“Shoot their fingers.”

“I don’t know where their hands are!”

“Aim for the rings. They’re wearing rings. The rings are also red, so it’s hard to see, but…”

As soon as Rembrary finished speaking, Ardor immediately fired three shots, hitting three rings in a row.

The bodies of the red attackers, which had been regenerating no matter where they were shot, even in the head, crumbled as the rings shattered and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

When the attackers disappeared, all that remained was a bit of blood that slightly dampened the soil.

Hwasa sighed in relief, “Hoo.”

“That was surprising.”

* * *

It was more surprising on this end.

Gasora, who hadn’t intended to kill them in the first place, but still hadn’t expected to lose so one-sidedly, marveled quietly.

‘One is the brain, one is the attack, and one is the agility, huh?’

The brain, the attack, and the feet. A truly perfect combination. Very symmetrical and good.

Gasora admired the enemies’ balance and turned away.

‘I shouldn’t attack when all three of them are together.’

* * *

Meanwhile, Seol-ryu, who had followed Rembrary to the capital on the orders of the Martial Arts Alliance Leader, was in a difficult situation.

‘I can’t get inside.’

It was because of the palace’s massive walls.

The walls were high, but he could cross them using his lightness skill [a martial art technique that allows one to move with great agility and speed]. The problem was that crossing those walls would inevitably alert the guards.

The guards densely packed around the palace walls, both inside and out, and the rumored shadows that guarded the palace from unseen places would drag him out and throw him into prison before he could even finish crossing the wall.

If he was caught crossing the palace walls, even the Martial Arts Alliance wouldn’t be able to help him, no matter how much power they had.

‘This is troublesome.’

The Martial Arts Alliance Leader had said that if all else failed, he could make up any excuse to join their group.

However, none of the members of the Harmonious Kin troupe were unaware that he belonged to the Martial Arts Alliance.

Or how diligently he was tracking down the “Disciples of Yumena.”

If he suddenly asked to join the group in this situation, wouldn’t anyone be suspicious?

‘The only one in the same situation as me is that Grand Disciple of the Demonic Cult, dozing off over there.’

Seeing the Grand Disciple nodding like a sick chicken, he felt a pang of sympathy despite their not being on good terms.

Although it wasn’t crucial information, Seol-ryu had learned that the Grand Disciple suffered from severe insomnia and couldn’t sleep unless that suspicious blonde sang him a lullaby.

To be unable to sleep without a lullaby at his age. What a shameful weakness. Of course, he would still report it.

In any case, just because he was in a similar situation to the Grand Disciple of the Demonic Cult didn’t mean he could form a bond of sympathy and build camaraderie with him.

After the Harmonious Kin left, Seol-ryu waited for several days, but when it didn’t seem like Rembrary would come out of the palace, he left a subordinate behind and decided to report the news to the Martial Arts Alliance Leader himself.

* * *

The next day.

After telling the anchovy impersonator [referring to the Emperor, implying he is bland or insignificant] about the strange things that had attacked them, Rembrary also instructed Ardor and the Lionheart Lord while eating.

“The Emperor wouldn’t attack us to this extent. He wants our abilities, not to kill us. The attackers are definitely hostile to us. We must be careful from now on. Do you understand?”

“The High Priest is right.”

Ardor nodded unconditionally.

The Lionheart Lord also thought for a moment before bringing up what he had concluded.

“In my opinion, the enemy seems to be someone who doesn’t care if we die. Or someone who doesn’t care if we get seriously injured.”

“Yes. So we must be careful.”

“Rembrary, do you have anyone you suspect as the culprit? It would be better if you had even a vague idea. Whoever the culprit is, their power is the opposite of ours.”

“I don’t have anyone who comes to mind right away.”

When Rembrary shook his head, the Lionheart Lord looked at Ardor this time.

“What about you? Isn’t there anyone who holds a grudge against you? There must be many.”

Ardor, seemingly uninterested in the discussion, grinned widely and began to mutter to himself.

He’s not even concentrating. The Lionheart Lord clicked his tongue and looked at Rembrary.

Fortunately, Rembrary seemed to be seriously discussing the matter.

Although his mouth and the hand holding the chopsticks seemed to be moving faster than his brain.

Still, before he finished his meal, Rembrary came up with an idea.

“Ardor. Lionheart. I think we can catch the enemy if we do this.”

“What is it?”

The Lionheart Lord, as well as Ardor, stopped muttering and looked at Rembrary.

“We pretend to be dead.”

At Rembrary’s words, Hwasa and Ardor couldn’t answer right away.

The two, who were on bad terms, looked at each other once and then looked at Rembrary.

It was too sudden.

They wondered if it was a joke, but Rembrary was smiling gently.

His smile was full of satisfaction with his idea, and Ardor hesitated between the instinct to follow the High Priest and the reason to ask what he was talking about.

He succumbed to his instinct and shouted, “I see!”, but fortunately, Hwasa, who didn’t have the instinct to follow the High Priest at all, asked Rembrary on his behalf.

“Pretend to be dead? Where? Why?”

“The culprit will attack again if we split up. They might attack when we’re together, but since they failed once, they’re more likely to attack when we’re apart this time. Especially since the place is the Imperial Palace.”

“I guess so? But how does that lead to the conclusion that we should pretend to be dead?”

“It’s not that we’ll just stand still and pretend to be dead. It’s that when an attack comes, we’ll pretend to be hit and pretend to be dead. Then the enemy, who’s been watching the situation from afar, will come out, won’t they?”

Hwasa asked hesitantly.

“‘He’s dead! Mission complete!’ and then leave? They might be assassins.”

It was a pointed question, but Rembrary answered nonchalantly.

“Then we’ll know that the enemy was an assassin, won’t we?”

“!”

“But the attackers the enemy sent didn’t seem to have any cognitive abilities at all. To handle that level, they probably weren’t far away themselves.”

Rembrary then looked back and forth between Ardor and Hwasa and asked.

“Who’s better at acting?”

Ardor and Hwasa looked at Rembrary at the same time.

* * *

Gasora, who had learned that the three people he had found were the Emperor’s guests, and that the one with the outstanding attack power was Ardor, the one with the outstanding lightness skill was Hwasa, and the one who used his brain was named Rembrary, continued to track their movements from time to time.

Attacking when all three were together had a high probability of failing again due to the palace’s characteristics, which required a swift and silent attack.

So he was planning to wait for an opportunity and attack and kidnap them when they were separated.

Then, finally, an opportunity came to Gasora.

The group, who always traveled together as a trio, had split into two and one for some reason.

‘Who should I attack?’

The two with the lion mask and silver hair and eyes seemed to have nothing better to do, so they packed some fruit and went out for a picnic again.

The other one – the blonde with red eyes – went to the place where they had been attacked before and was sitting there in a comfortable position, blankly looking at the sky.

‘The one who’s alone is a trap.’

Gasora used his brain and decided to attack the two who were together.

At first glance, the one who was alone seemed to have a weaker defense, but it was strange that he was alone in the place where they had been attacked before, of all places.

On the other hand, the two were constantly whispering to each other and staying only in the Emperor’s residence nearby garden.

The location was precarious, but it was obvious that there were no traps here.

It seemed they were trying to protect themselves.

‘He used his brain, huh.’

Gasora stayed as far away as possible and waited for a time when there were no people around, then sent attackers to them again.

This time, the attack power would be a little weaker, but the attackers would be so small that even the guards wouldn’t notice them if they came.

Could it be that it worked?

Suddenly, one of the two collapsed, and the other one started shaking him in surprise.

However, perhaps because he had been pricked by a powerful paralyzing needle, the one who had collapsed didn’t respond, and the other person seemed flustered and disappeared from the spot, saying he would call a doctor.

Gasora increased the size of the attackers he had sent in small sizes and ordered them to take the fallen person and quickly return to his side.

When the attackers returned, Gasora ordered them to put the person in a nearby closed pavilion and quickly left the place himself.

And after waiting until late at night.

Gasora walked alone to the closed pavilion where the successor’s companion was being held.

Opening the creaking door, the successor’s companion was lying on the floor, tied up tightly and not moving at all.

Gasora slowly walked towards him.

It wasn’t intentional, but it was fortunate that the one he had captured this time was the one who used the strange lightness skill.

Because he seemed to be the most troublesome to deal with.

“I’m sorry it turned out this way. But there’s something I need to find out.”

Gasora muttered and reached out to grab the mask of the fallen person and lifted it up.

However, the face that came out from under the mask was the blonde with red eyes who had clearly gone to see the sky alone.

‘How?’