Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 562

◈ 562. Demon King’s Castle

The one who saved Rembrary was a stranger. Or, perhaps not even human. In any case, it was an unfamiliar face.

As Rembrary stared blankly, the figure suddenly sniffed in his direction.

Then, its mouth opened wide, like a pelican’s beak. It resembled a person, but it wasn’t.

Moreover, the demon looked as if it would swallow Rembrary whole in one bite.

Rembrary channeled divine power and invoked the authority of God against the demon, but this demon, being an illusion, was unaffected.

‘Do I have to use physical force?’

But Rembrary’s body was small now.

Could he face that demon with this body? It wasn’t a real demon, but its power was granted by the dungeon, unlike Rembrary’s own.

Even while contemplating, he clenched his fist, and suddenly, Ardor Wren [Rembrary’s familiar, a small bird] on Rembrary’s shoulder flew straight into the demon’s mouth.

“Ardor!”

Rembrary thought Ardor was trying to sacrifice itself in his place. But Ardor simply tore at the roof of the demon’s mouth with its beak.

“Ugh!”

Even for a demon, being attacked inside the mouth was unusual, and the demon screamed, dropping Rembrary.

As soon as Rembrary landed, he quickly took off his shoes. Whether he could win or not with this body, he had to try.

In the meantime, Ardor Wren was already madly pecking at the demon’s eyes.

“What is this crazy bird!”

When the demon waved its hand, but Ardor Wren didn’t back down, the demon seemed to get angry, grabbed Ardor Wren roughly with one hand, and glared with red eyes as if to crush it.

At that moment.

“It’s noisy.”

Someone muttered from behind.

It was a leisurely voice, but the demon was startled and quickly released the wren and stepped back.

‘A familiar voice.’

Rembrary turned around. Standing there was the Demon King.

The Demon King glanced indifferently at Rembrary, then looked back at the demon who had tried to eat him.

The Demon King didn’t say anything, but the demon fidgeted nervously.

The Demon King looked at Rembrary, and Rembrary looked at the Demon King. Then, Rembrary sent divine power towards the Demon King.

“Hello.”

But the Demon King only raised an eyebrow. He didn’t seem to feel anything.

This one was also not the real Demon King, but a phantom conjured by the dungeon.

Rembrary wondered what the demons were trying to show. Was the Demon King saving him in this place? Was this some kind of twisted test?

“Demon King. I apologize for being noisy. I will take care of it quickly so that you are not disturbed—”

As the Demon King remained silent, the demon cautiously began to plead.

But before he could finish speaking, the Demon King approached and lifted Rembrary with one hand.

“D, Demon King?”

The demon called out to the Demon King in a bewildered voice. It seemed to be asking why he was suddenly picking up its prey.

However, without any explanation, the Demon King carried Rembrary and left the cave where the demon was.

Ardor Wren settled back onto Rembrary’s shoulder.

Carried by the Demon King, Rembrary kept studying the Demon King’s profile.

The Demon King didn’t say a word, offering no explanation or reassurance. He simply carried Rembrary and walked.

Then, when they arrived at a flat clearing, he put Rembrary down and asked.

“Where did you come from?”

Again, three choices appeared before him.

—Follow the past

—Tell the truth

—Lie

“Number one.”

“Number one?”

Almost as soon as the Demon King frowned, not understanding, Rembrary’s finger pointed to the top of the cliff.

“From there.”

The words flowed out automatically as well.

The Demon King looked back and forth between the towering cliff and the tiny, bean-sized Rembrary, then tilted his head and asked.

“Why?”

The past Rembrary shrugged.

“It just happened that way.”

Soon, the past Rembrary asked again on its own.

“Who are you?”

It sounded casual, but there was a slightly wary tone.

Rembrary realized why the young Rembrary wasn’t telling the story of being kidnapped, chased, and falling. The young Rembrary suspected that the Demon King might be in league with the kidnappers. Of course, this illusion shown by the demons might all be lies, a carefully constructed deception.

The Demon King shrugged and replied.

“You’re not answering, so why should I answer?”

Having said that, the Demon King looked back and forth between the cliff and Rembrary once more, then turned around and walked away alone.

There was no offer to lift him up or tell him to follow.

It was as if his role was over just by saving him from that pelican-mouthed demon, and he left alone.

The automatic progression following the choices ended, and his body moved freely again.

Wren Ardor buried its whole body in Rembrary’s hair. It seemed to be asking what he was going to do.

Rembrary pondered for a moment, then decided to follow the Demon King for now.

He didn’t know how to get out of the dungeon, but anyway, separating from the Demon King and climbing the cliff alone wouldn’t be the way. It wasn’t even possible.

“Why are you following me?”

“It’s hard to climb the cliff alone.”

“What’s the wren on your shoulder?”

“Ardor.”

“A bird’s name?”

“Yes.”

“What’s your name?”

Rembrary stared intently at the Demon King in the illusion for no reason and said.

“Rembrary.”

* * *

The Demon King hardly looked at Rembrary, but when Rembrary stopped in front of a red stream, couldn’t climb a rock that was too high, or conversely, couldn’t come down a rock that was too high, he would stop and lift him up every time.

Rembrary realized that the more they moved, the more the background resembled the one he had seen in the 4-1 area before.

The ground was dark red rock and sand, and the sky was as black as night, but countless stars were floating, making it not difficult to see ahead.

The trees were at least three times larger than the trees on Earth, and sometimes strange things hung and fluttered on the trees.

How long had they been walking like that? A large, jet-black castle came into view.

Wren Ardor made a small squeaking sound.

The castle looked as if it had been carefully and meticulously constructed, and then ink had been poured over it whole.

The shape was beautiful, but unlike ordinary buildings, it was made of a complete monochrome, which was mysterious.

“Do you live there?”

“Yeah.”

The Demon King, who entered through the castle gate, did not enter the castle.

Instead, he walked to a two-story building attached to the side of the castle. It was a building with rose flowers sprouting all over the exterior walls of the house.

Seeing that, the choices came up again.

—Follow the past

—Ask what that is

—Pretend not to know

“Number one.”

The Demon King turned to Rembrary, asking what he meant. As their eyes met, a question automatically came out of Rembrary’s mouth.

“Why are there so many roses?”

The Demon King replied.

“Because it’s my favorite flower.”

Wren Ardor snorted. It was as if it was very funny that the Demon King cherished a flower that was like Redrin’s symbol [Redrin is likely a character or entity associated with roses].

Rembrary also found it strange, but following ‘young Rembrary,’ other words flowed out on their own.

“Then I’ll call you Lord Rose from now on.”

“What about my name?”

“You’re not telling me.”

“You didn’t ask.”

“What is it?”

“Aquari.”

After saying the words, the Demon King looked at Rembrary as if testing him. But the young Rembrary didn’t care at all because he didn’t know the other person was the Demon King.

“I’ll call you Lord Rose. It’s a little hard to pronounce.”

“You’re willful.”

“Everyone likes it, though.”

“You seem to have a very high position, little one.”

“Why?”

“It seems like there are many people flattering you around you.”

As the young Rembrary burst into laughter, his body became free again.

Rembrary followed the Demon King into the detached house. There were a lot of rose decorations inside as well. Perhaps that’s why. He felt like the whole house smelled fragrant.

At that time, when Rembrary’s stomach growled, the Demon King looked at Rembrary’s stomach.

“I’m hungry.”

Since he only looked and remained still, Rembrary told him outright, and the Demon King frowned and went into the kitchen.

Rembrary followed, wondering if he would give him something to eat.

However, the Demon King only went into the kitchen. He didn’t do anything right away. He just stood with his hands behind his back and scanned the kitchen.

The kitchen was neat and tidy, and no dishes were out. Of course, there was no refrigerator here.

If this mansion had the same structure as Rembrary’s world, there would be a separate room for ice storage, which would serve a similar role to a refrigerator.

The Demon King opened various cabinets, but when there was nothing useful, he stood blankly with his hands behind his back again.

“I’m hungry.”

Rembrary said again. He had brought a lot of food when he came here, but he became empty-handed while falling down the cliff.

“Wait a minute.”

Perhaps realizing that the kitchen was almost at the level of interior design. The Demon King eventually said that and went outside.

Rembrary sat on a chair placed against the wall and scratched Wren Ardor’s belly.

Wren Ardor tried to say something, but he couldn’t understand anything other than its chirping.

How much time had passed? Finally, the Demon King appeared. Rembrary quickly stood up and approached him.

As far as Rembrary knew, the Demon King was a gourmet, so he probably brought something delicious.

“Here.”

But what the Demon King brought and handed over was an unidentified black fruit. The problem was that the fruit had arms and legs.

When Rembrary lowered the corners of his mouth and looked at it with distaste, the Demon King urged him again.

“Eat it.”

“I don’t want to eat it. Is there anything else?”

“There’s only this kind of thing here. If you don’t like it, you have to starve.”

The Demon King frowned and said when Rembrary didn’t try to eat the food he had brought with great effort.

“That’s not something people eat.”

Even so, as Rembrary firmly refused, someone suddenly hit him on the back of the head from behind.

“?”

Startled, he turned around after being hit on the back of the head, and Klot was standing there.

The Demon King said to Klot as if it was a good thing.

“Klot. You make something for this kid to eat. He won’t eat this.”

Klot was frowning from the moment he appeared, but he frowned even more and protested.

“Why are you serving a human brat? Who is this kid?”

“I picked him up.”

“Then tell him to eat whatever.”

“He can’t eat it. Do it. Human cuisine.”

At the Demon King’s nonchalant order, Klot asked back in an absurd voice.

“How can I make human cuisine?”

* * *

But in the end, Klot somehow obtained cookbooks and ingredients, and began to cook with one hand while holding a book in the other.

Of course, he kept muttering endlessly while cooking.

“Why am I doing this? Why do I have to cook for a human kid I don’t even know? I don’t even cook for myself, so why am I?”

While listening to that endless grumbling, Rembrary mixed divine power and spoke to him.

“Be careful about hygiene.”

Whether this Klot was also an illusion, he was not affected at all.

“Then you do it!”

He slammed the ladle on the cutting board and shouted.

Klot started cooking again.

Rembrary sat on a chair and watched the scene, thinking that this illusion shown by the demons was not the truth.

The Demon King’s closest aide, Klot, had the nickname ‘Demon King’s Chef.’ But this Klot’s cooking skills seemed terrible.