Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 530

◈ 530. You’re the Only One Standing Still

I needed to show some kind of reaction. Rembrary didn’t know what a ‘luminous angler’ was.

‘Luminous’ is a pretty word. I’ve heard of ‘spicy braised anglerfish.’ Are they related?

“What is a luminous angler? It sounds pretty.”

In the end, Rembrary asked outright.

Sagamjae stared at the cave ceiling for a moment, then smiled as he shifted his gaze to Rembrary.

“It’s a very beautiful-looking fish.”

“Prettier than an anchovy?”

“It’ll be stronger than an anchovy.”

That’s good then. Rembrary nodded contentedly. An anchovy is a whale [referring to their relative size and importance, not literal species].

So, a luminous angler is stronger than a whale. So, it must be a good thing.

Hwasa looked at Sagamjae with ‘that swindler’ eyes, but he didn’t want to go into that lake either, so he kept his mouth shut.

Emboldened by the praise, Rembrary went to the water’s edge with a satisfied expression.

“…….”

Certainly, the black water instinctively caused revulsion.

Perhaps it was even more so because the view was blocked to the point where he couldn’t even see what was inside.

‘Is the water black, or does it just look black because there’s no light?’

It was still unsettling, but since everyone else was a coward except for him, Rembrary took off his shoes and top and slowly entered the lake.

Hwasa, more frightened, asked.

“How is it?”

“The water isn’t very cold.”

“What about the fish?”

“I can’t tell just by looking.”

Rembrary turned on his halo and completely submerged himself in the water.

Fortunately, the water wasn’t actually black, it just looked black because it was dark. When he turned on his halo and went into the water, he could see.

‘It’s a strange space.’

The places where the light reaches are okay, but the places where the light doesn’t reach are still black. Besides, the water was murky.

Rembrary looked around at the murky water and went further inside.

How long had he been pushing through the murky space? Something quickly passed by in front of him.

‘A fish?’

Thinking that maybe it came because of the light, Rembrary stretched his arm forward so he could catch the fish as soon as it came.

As he kicked his feet, his body slowly moved forward.

Rembrary blinked his eyes as little as possible to catch the fish as soon as he saw it.

As he did so, he saw something round at a distance where the light seemed to barely reach.

The shape wasn’t clear, but it was too big to be trash.

‘A fish!’

Rembrary quickly approached it, but the closer he got, the harder it was to make out the shape of the ball.

‘The fish looks strange. Is it really a fish?’

Well, it definitely has a black, shimmering surface.

Maybe this is a place where the Demon Realm is realized, so the fish look like they’re from the Demon Realm.

Thinking that, Rembrary reached out to the black, shimmering ball, but startled by the squishy feeling, he pulled his hand back.

‘It’s softer than I thought?’

But he still had to take it, so Rembrary mustered his courage again and put his hand on it. And then…….

* * *

Why do I feel scared even though I’m not going in?

Hwasa watched the black lake, which had become quiet after Rembrary went in, and swallowed hard.

The Black Dragon found a rock to sit on alone and leisurely.

Hwasa periodically checked to see if the Black Dragon was up to anything, while waiting for Rembrary to come out.

How long had he been doing that?

The water splashed once, and Rembrary, who hadn’t been in for long, popped his head out.

But his expression was completely different from when he went in.

“Are you okay?”

Worried that something might have happened, he rushed over, but Rembrary hurriedly supported himself on the ground with both hands and climbed onto the surface of the water, shuddering.

“What’s wrong?”

He’s a guy who recovers well on his own with divine power, so he wouldn’t be acting like this if he was attacked inside.

Hwasa asked, worried, even as he saw that Rembrary wasn’t hurt anywhere.

“What’s wrong?”

Rembrary squeezed the water from his hair and looked at Hwasa with a stiff expression.

Hwasa flinched at the unusual attitude of Rembrary, who usually maintained a gentle expression.

“What’s inside?”

“There is. Things that my aesthetic sense can’t accept, a lot of them.”

“What is it?”

“Fish, I guess. Maybe.”

“‘Maybe’ applies here too?”

Having squeezed all the water from his hair, Rembrary sat down on a nearby rock and shuddered.

“There were fish that looked like cockroaches that had grown thirty times bigger. And they were very squishy.”

The words that came out were surprising. Hwasa was surprised too.

“Cockroaches?”

“They’re fish, but why are their pupils so black? There’s no life in their pupils.

They’re looking at me, but I don’t know if they’re looking at me or my soul.”

As soon as he heard those words, Hwasa hurriedly turned around and tried to leave.

Even someone with Rembrary’s mentality is shuddering like that. If he were to see that ‘cockroach thirty times bigger,’ he might really faint.

“I’m not going in there again.”

Leaving behind Rembrary’s voice declaring resolutely, Hwasa teleported to avoid the place.

But Rembrary, who was squeezing the water, grabbed him at an incredible speed, and Hwasa had to stop.

“Why, why?”

As Hwasa stammered, Rembrary asked back, “Why?” and then laughed.

“I’m not going in anymore. You go.”

“!”

* * *

It was drizzling.

The Demon King was watching the people walking around on the rooftop of a five-story building, holding a long umbrella like a cane.

The people were all walking quickly, constantly looking around.

They seemed to be very wary, not knowing when or where a demon might pop out.

“Demon King.”

Even when he heard a quiet voice from behind, the Demon King didn’t bother to turn around.

He could tell who the owner of the voice was just by hearing it.

“Noir.”

When the Demon King called his name while looking straight ahead, Noir nodded once and continued.

“The Black Dragon has come to the dungeon created by Cloth. Mixed in with the High Priest’s group. It seems intentional.”

The Demon King’s lips faintly curved upward.

“Leave him be. It’s not like he’s only been playing around on his own for a day or two.”

“If things were going well, it wouldn’t matter if he played around on his own, but…… the High Priest’s group is passing through the dungeons one by one, so I’m worried. I’m afraid they might really break the pillars.”

“They might.”

However, unlike Noir, who was uneasy, the Demon King answered nonchalantly.

“But by that time, the High Priest’s side will have suffered great damage too.”

Noir asked with a dubious expression.

“We’ll be sealed away, though?”

“If five pillars collapse, the area we created will collapse too. But by that time, the High Priest’s trust in Redrin won’t be the same as before.”

“!”

* * *

Meanwhile, Rembrary was still bickering with his party inside Area 4-1.

“Okay. Then, Black Dragon, you go and find the fish.”

When the party all hesitated to enter the black lake, Rembrary finally suggested it to the enemy who had joined them.

The Black Dragon smiled and refused.

“I can live here forever without leaving, High Priest.”

He was saying it in a roundabout way, but he meant he didn’t want to.

“You’re not helpful.”

“I told you, I can only be cute.”

“You’re not that cute.”

“If you see my true form, you’ll be so moved that you’ll scream.”

“Then show it to me. I’ll tell you what I think after I see it.”

Sagamjae listened to their conversation and, knowing that Rembrary was talking to the enemy too familiarly and that the High Priest actually liked animals, he cut off the conversation in the middle.

“Since he’s a dragon, he’ll look like a giant lizard. What are you expecting?”

That’s unlikely, but just in case Rembrary was really moved by seeing the dragon.

“You’re saying that because you haven’t seen the dragons in our world, Sagamjae.”

“Do they look different?”

“On average, they’re pretty cool.”

The Black Dragon narrowed his eyes.

Hwasa sighed as he watched the party fighting. Either way, doesn’t that mean everyone is saying no?

* * *

After much discussion, the topic returned to who would go into the black lake.

Rembrary asked Hwasa.

“Hwasa, can’t you go into the water and keep teleporting?”

“I can teleport in the water, but I don’t want to catch something thirty times the size of a cockroach in that pitch-black water.”

“Isn’t someone going to have to do it anyway?”

“I don’t want to hear that from you? You could do it, but you came out, right?”

“Still, I at least went into the water.”

While bickering, the party couldn’t easily find common ground on who would catch the fish.

Usually, they would have acted first to fight the enemy or escape the dungeon, but this time, no one was willing to step forward, so there was no way to have a conversation.

They repeated the same pointless conversation over and over again.

The party got hungry and ate the food they had brought and drank water.

“Do we need to prepare for camping too?”

“I don’t know. I can’t tell if it’s night or day here. Are you tired?”

“I’m okay.”

“Me too, not yet. Then let’s prepare later.”

While Sagamjae and Hwasa were talking, Rembrary walked to the cave exit for a moment.

As he stood there looking outside, someone came and stood next to him. It was the Black Dragon.

When Rembrary glanced at him, the Black Dragon asked.

“Isn’t it pretty here too?”

Instead of answering, Rembrary put his hands behind his back and asked.

“Why did you come here?”

“To sightsee.”

“Is it fun?”

“No. It’s more static than I thought. Of all things, it’s fishing.”

Sagamjae, who was glancing at them, was reminded of the time when the Demon King appeared to Rembrary and proposed a deal, so he stealthily approached them.

He felt like that demon was going to suggest to Rembrary again that he should just go back to his original world.

But as soon as he got close, the first thing he heard was a story about the dungeon.

“Shall I tell you a fair way to get out quickly?”

Before Rembrary could say anything, Sagamjae interrupted first.

“If you’re going to talk nonsense, stop it.”

The Black Dragon glanced back at Sagamjae, but finished his sentence as if it didn’t matter if he heard.

“There are three of you. There are also three fish to catch. It’s a perfect match, isn’t it? Each person catches one.”

Sagamjae approached Rembrary with a stiff face and said.

“Don’t listen to what a demon says.”

However, it was Hwasa who answered, having moved next to Sagamjae at some point.

“I agree.”

Sagamjae frowned and looked at Hwasa.

“Are you saying you’ll follow the method the demon suggested?”

Hwasa shrugged.

“It’s better than one person taking on everything alone. I don’t want to catch them, but I can try to use my strength for one.”

Sagamjae was about to say something more, but Rembrary also thought about it and agreed.

“I think that’s a good idea too. If it’s just one.”

Sagamjae’s eyes widened as he looked at Rembrary.

“Otherworld Saint?”

It was a look that said, ‘How could you do that?’ but the reason why Sagamjae was the only one surprised and why Rembrary accepted the Black Dragon’s suggestion was the same.

“You haven’t been doing anything since earlier, have you?”

“!”