Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 639

◈ 639. Three People in Different Places

Shin Jo-woon turned his head, his expression blank. Standing behind him was a man with pink hair.

Although his hair was a soft, light color, his features were strong and rugged, giving him an overall harsh appearance.

Shin Jo-woon frowned. He didn’t recall ever meeting this man, and an unpleasant feeling washed over him.

The moment the pink-haired man grinned, Shin Jo-woon encased his head in ice, shattering it instantly.

Ice shards rained down where the pink-haired man had been standing.

“Missed,” Shin Jo-woon muttered, a hint of dissatisfaction in his voice.

The attack had landed, but it wasn’t a complete success. As the ice shards hit the floor, the demon inside transformed, just like the Fiery Lion from before.

The demon within the ice dissolved into a heat haze and vanished.

“The same phenomenon as imitating the Fiery Lion… Is the real body somewhere else?”

As Shin Jo-woon muttered and scanned his surroundings, he heard a voice directly in front of him.

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit harsh when you don’t even know who I am? A normal human would have died.”

Shin Jo-woon turned his head and raised his eyebrows. The pink-haired figure from before was standing inside the movie theater’s glass door.

His image was reflected in the glass, like a character on a movie screen.

This time, as Shin Jo-woon reached out to freeze the glass, the pink-haired man waved his hand, saying, “Wait, wait.”

When Shin Jo-woon paused, the pink-haired man feigned relief, saying, “Whew,” then smiled and asked, “Hey, you strange human. Are you friends with the High Priest?”

“Maybe.”

“Since you might have forgotten, let me kindly explain. The High Priest joining our side is a scheduled event, you know?”

“!”

“And you were next to the High Priest, even though you knew that.”

“That can’t be.”

“But that’s what I heard.”

The pink-haired man smiled mischievously and knocked on the glass door as if teasing him, asking, “So, why don’t you just join us here in advance?”

“Join?”

“You don’t really have a strong sense of justice, do you? You’d blend in so well with us that no one would be able to tell the difference.”

“You’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

The pink-haired man chuckled mockingly, as if he knew everything.

“Well, if you want to insist on that, go ahead. But there’s no harm in joining us, right? Come to our side and leave if you don’t like it. You can always turn back if you think we’re harming humans.”

“You guys are targeting humans. Why would I do that?”

“How many times do I have to say it? We’re not interested in humans. We just want to escape the Demon Realm and settle down. And I told you the most important reason, right? The High Priest will be involved with us, you know?”

Shin Jo-woon’s forehead furrowed.

He still couldn’t believe he was friends with that weirdo.

It was absurd that not only his allies but even his enemies treated him as if he and that weirdo were a package deal.

“Oops, oops. You haven’t recovered your memories yet, have you?”

Seeing his reaction, the pink-haired man tapped his head as if he had forgotten, then chuckled.

Shin Jo-woon asked indifferently, “As you said, demons stole my memories, so isn’t it strange to accept a proposal from such people?”

“I see.”

The pink-haired man nodded as if he understood, then his expression changed completely, and he smiled eerily.

“Then how about this? If you help us… I’ll find the reincarnation of your ‘childhood friend’.”

“!”

His eyes flickered for a moment, but Shin Jo-woon placed his hand on the glass instead of answering.

‘As expected, the main body is somewhere else.’

This time, only the glass froze. The pink-haired man disappeared in an instant.

“…….”

He waited longer, but after repeated freezing, the man stopped appearing altogether.

Shin Jo-woon turned around, rolling up his cumbersome sleeves halfway.

‘Who’s calling whom a burden?’

* * *

“Ugh. This is why I didn’t want to come into the dungeon with these guys.”

The Fiery Lion stood on the ice-covered floor and muttered blankly.

He hated seeing the monsters vividly trapped under the floor, he was annoyed by Shin Jo-woon, who told him to follow closely and then abandoned him, and he was frustrated with Rembrary, who suddenly disappeared after saying, “Huh?”.

They couldn’t even move in a line of three, so they scattered like this!

“Where the heck is this?”

The Fiery Lion grumbled and looked at the internal map attached to a large square pillar.

Fortunately, he could read the map without issue, but it was difficult to pinpoint his current location because of the monsters that had frozen the walls and floor all around.

“Is that Sector 5 over there? Is that Sector 5 over there?”

The Fiery Lion, who was muttering, stopped abruptly and quickly turned his head. He felt an ominous presence amidst his grumbling.

“…Rembrary?”

The moment he called out in that direction, a loud sound of a large rock breaking echoed, and then he felt something rushing in again.

‘Those monsters!’

It was clear that the monsters were charging in droves again.

“Damn it.”

The Fiery Lion spat out a curse and teleported forward in quick succession.

But he had to retreat again upon seeing monsters rushing in from the front.

“Crazy!”

However, monsters were also surging in from behind.

The Fiery Lion gritted his teeth at the sight of monsters as tall as adults running back and forth with large axes and bats.

“It wasn’t following. I was crazy. I was crazy!”

The Fiery Lion, looking back and forth, gritted his teeth.

‘It’s too dangerous a method. I can’t help it. Should I use that?’

* * *

The Lion Mask seemed to be muttering to itself, then suddenly soared into the air and began to flicker.

Klotz, who was watching the Lion Mask while waiting for Noir to return, elegantly spat out half of the tea he was drinking.

“What is that?”

He coughed, choking, and pounded his chest wildly.

But even after looking again, the Lion Mask continued to flicker in the air, repeatedly appearing and disappearing.

“What is that? Is it an afterimage?”

Klotz frowned.

“Is there something wrong with my eyes, or is there something wrong with that human? That Lion Mask. Why is it flickering in the air?”

It was a phenomenon caused by the Fiery Lion constantly teleporting in the air to avoid being surrounded by the monsters spread across the floor, but it was too bizarre to recognize from a distance.

If he moved in one direction, the Lion Mask’s intention would be clear.

Now, the Lion Mask couldn’t go far and was just circling around in the same spot, making it look even weirder to Klotz.

“Anyway, the High Priest. He always picks friends who are just like him.”

As he clicked his tongue, Noir appeared next to him. Klotz glanced at him and clicked his tongue again.

Judging from his expression, it seemed he had failed to persuade him.

“He didn’t listen?”

“I heard that his weakness was a friend who died when he was young. He immediately tried to freeze me.”

“Isn’t he interested in reincarnation?”

“He’s picky.”

Noir, clicking his tongue, pointed to the Lion Mask flickering in the air and asked, “What is that?”

Klotz shrugged his shoulders.

Noir tilted his head, then suddenly smiled and muttered, “Found it,” and disappeared.

Klotz picked up a piece of mirror left in the place where Noir had disappeared and threw it at the flickering Lion Mask.

* * *

‘Did he follow the illusion in the middle?’

Rembrary, who was diligently following the Fiery Lion, clicked his tongue.

He had been following without looking away, but it seemed an illusion had interfered.

‘Maybe that illusion made it impossible to see the real Fiery Lion.’

Rembrary, who vaguely understood the demons’ methods, muttered to the rushing monsters, “Get out of the way.”

The monsters in the vicinity collapsed instantly, and Rembrary stepped on them and moved forward.

“Well, it’s much better to walk. You guys aren’t slippery.”

The monsters in the front row suddenly rolled on the floor, and the monsters who had stopped in confusion when Rembrary mixed the dignity of God and spoke to himself covered their ears again and fell to the floor.

Rembrary trudged forward, stepping on them, deciding to just walk straight ahead for now.

“If I keep going, I’ll find a way.”

After all, it was a building that 그대로 가져다 둔 [literally brought over] the real movie theater. While living on Earth, he learned that the structures of these square buildings were roughly similar.

Rembrary figured he would meet everyone if he just went to the exit and kept going forward.

Thanks to that, he was able to find the emergency exit not long after.

“I can go down there.”

Rembrary deliberately 뿌리고 신성력 [sprinkled divine power] around with a flourish and threw open the heavy door of the emergency exit.

‘There are no monsters here?’

But unexpectedly, there were no monsters inside the emergency exit.

‘I thought they would appear from this side. Did I come in somewhere else?’

He was puzzled, but it was convenient, so Rembrary began to slowly descend the stairs.

But Rembrary, who had gone down two steps, stopped abruptly, looking at the wall.

His smooth forehead furrowed. It was because one entire side of the wall had turned into a mirror.

And beyond the mirror, Shin Jo-woon’s 모습 [figure/appearance], who was treating Rembrary coldly, was 연이어 나오고 있었다 [appearing one after another].

“Why are you showing me this?”

Rembrary muttered, wondering if it was a good sight to show him.

The video that functioned like a screen was pushed to one side, and about 1/3 of it returned to a normal mirror.

Rembrary’s 모습 [figure/appearance] was reflected in the restored mirror as before.

The only difference was that Noir’s 모습 [figure/appearance], who had placed his hand on Rembrary’s shoulder, appeared as well.

Rembrary raised his hand and touched his shoulder. Noir was not actually there.

“He’s in the mirror.”

When Rembrary clicked his tongue, Noir in the mirror smiled and pointed to the screen next to him with his hand.

“Are you still watching that, High Priest?”

It was a 구도 [composition/setup] that was 당연히 보이는 [naturally visible] if you had eyes. Instead of giving an obvious answer, Rembrary asked 멀뚱히 [blankly].

“Why are you showing me that?”

Noir’s eyes narrowed thinly.

“To feel it.”

“To feel what?”

“Doesn’t it seem like you’ve seen it somewhere, High Priest?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You were so close. Just because your memories disappear, you turn so coldly. High Priest, doesn’t it seem like you forgot Aquari?”

“!”

Rembrary raised his eyebrows for a moment, then went to the mirror and 신성력으로 툭 쳐 보았다 [lightly tapped it with divine power].

The mirror itself seemed to have no problem, and Noir looked fine.

It wasn’t that he was in the mirror, but that he was just reflecting his 모습 [figure/appearance] in the mirror.

“Did you make the anchovy head [referring to Tae-ri’s hairstyle] like that to show me that?”

“The main purpose is different. It’s also fun to see you in a similar situation to Aquari.”

Noir 틀어 올렸다 [turned up] the corners of his lips while 살피다 [observing] Rembrary’s 표정 [expression], which had no 별 변화 [particular change].

“It would have been more satisfying if you were more lonely and 괴로워해 [suffering].”

Rembrary 기울였다 [tilted] his head.

“I thought you guys made the anchovy and Tae-ri 씨 [Mr./Ms. Tae-ri] like that to 고립시키다 [isolate] me.”

“Oh, that’s right. The biggest purpose is that, High Priest. Pleasure is 부차적인 [secondary]. If you feel our 기분 [mood/feeling], will you understand our 처지 [situation/circumstances] a little more, High Priest?”

“Understand?”

“Ah. Do we need one more human to play the role of Redrin? How about it? Should I add it, High Priest? How would you feel if your two friends 가 버리면 [went away] to someone else?”

When Noir 휘젓자 [stirred/waved] his hand, Shin Jo-woon’s 모습 [figure/appearance], who was 냉대하던 [treating coldly] Rembrary, 사라졌다 [disappeared].

Shin Jo-woon’s 모습 [figure/appearance], who was 대화하던 [conversing] with Noir, was 나타나고 있었다 [appearing] in that place.

Even the 모습 [sight] of his 눈동자가 흔들리는 [eyes shaking] for a moment when Noir 하자 [brought up] the story of ‘childhood friend’.

He even 클로즈업해 [zoomed in on] his eyes to show them well.

But Rembrary 멀뚱히 바라보았다 [stared blankly] not Shin Jo-woon’s 눈동자 [eyes], but Noir’s 솜사탕 같은 머리카락 [cotton candy-like hair].

Rembrary knew that it was important to 유지하다 [maintain] his 페이스 [pace/composure] when dealing with demons.

If you start 휘둘리기 [being swayed] by words, there’s 정말로 끝이 없다 [really no end].

Rembrary 분석하면서 [analyzed] Noir’s 말을 하나하나 뜯어냈다 [took apart each word] only to understand why he said those words.

And after a while.

“Ah.”

Rembrary 온화하게 미소 지었다 [smiled gently].

“I understand.”