Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 712

◈ 712. I’m Going Home

HwasaJa ended up following Rembrary again, unintentionally this time.

‘This is the problem with being around him!’

HwasaJa grumbled inwardly, but still took care of Rembrary, Moolu, and Ardor, heading to where the Demon King was sealed.

Mors ordered national hunters to thoroughly control access to the area at Rembrary’s request. However, even they couldn’t stop HwasaJa’s teleportation.

HwasaJa lightly passed them without the national hunters even noticing, then released the hands he had been forcibly holding.

“It feels too inconvenient without you, Lion.”

Rembrary said, genuinely regretful, but HwasaJa wasn’t moved this time.

“Am I just a means of transportation?”

“You’re more than that.”

‘Still a means of transportation.’ HwasaJa grumbled, but immediately sat down in place, signaling that he wouldn’t approach the sealed area any further.

Rembrary didn’t press HwasaJa further. Instead, he took Moolu near the sealed area and asked,

“What do you sense?”

Moolu still looked unsure but closed his eyes and focused as much as possible for Rembrary’s sake.

Rembrary quietly held his breath, waiting for Moolu’s assessment.

After a moment, Moolu, who had been breathing slowly, opened his eyes and said,

“It’s similar to the energy I felt back then.”

“Is it also similar to anchovies?”

“That person’s energy… I’m not sure.”

“Shall we get a little closer?”

Moolu didn’t want to get any closer, but when Rembrary strode forward, he had no choice but to follow.

Just as Rembrary reached the wall,

Suddenly, a figure in black clothes appeared in front of them, blocking their path and saying,

“Rembrary-nim [term of respect]. You must not go inside.”

Seeing that they were dressed in black from head to toe, they seemed to be a colleague of Sagamjae.

“I’m not trying to go inside the wall. I just want to get a closer look.”

Rembrary explained the situation as best he could, but Sagamjae’s colleague shook his head firmly.

“Humans are affected if they get any closer. It’s best not to go.”

“I was the one who told you that.”

“!”

Sagamjae’s colleague flinched at Rembrary’s words but remained steadfast. Rembrary had no intention of fighting the Grim Reapers, so he reluctantly turned around.

“Let’s split up and look around.”

However, Rembrary couldn’t completely leave the vicinity and hesitated, eventually suggesting to the group.

“Let’s split up and look around. Moolu, use your energy to sense things, and HwasaJa and Ardor, look for anything strange.”

Then, as he walked east along the wall himself,

He waved to the Grim Reapers he saw along the way, and among the all-black Grim Reapers, he spotted a figure wearing a light gray outfit.

‘Warion?’

It was Warion, a demon.

‘Why is Warion here?’

The Grim Reapers had even noticed Warion, but they were trying to pretend they didn’t see him as Warion quietly circled in place.

Feeling strange, Rembrary stared at him, and Warion also felt the gaze and turned to look.

When their eyes met, Rembrary hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to acknowledge him or not.

In the meantime, Warion quickly approached, grabbed Rembrary’s elbow, and spoke first.

“High Priest. I need to talk to you.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

Rembrary was happy to see him but didn’t show it, deliberately speaking in his usual gentle tone. However, Warion didn’t care and whispered softly.

“It’s important.”

“What is it?”

“Come this way.”

Warion grabbed Rembrary’s elbow and walked to a vague spot between the Grim Reapers and Mors’ national hunters, asking,

“You came because of that too, right?”

Warion pointed to the sky, and Rembrary nodded. Then, Warion opened his mouth in an anxious voice.

“We’ve talked about it a few times too.”

“You guys did this?”

“If we did, I wouldn’t be wandering around like a fool in front of those Grim Reapers.”

“That’s true.”

“High Priest, do you know what that phenomenon is?”

“Not exactly.”

In fact, he had figured out a few things. However, Rembrary wasn’t sure if he should tell this to Warion, a demon, so he decided to keep his mouth shut for now.

Warion didn’t press Rembrary, instead putting his hands behind his back and saying in a serious voice,

“Then I’ll tell you what we’re guessing. We think it’s happening because the Demon King’s divine soul is scattered in three different dimensions.”

“But it wasn’t like this before the seal.”

“Exactly. The Demon King’s soul is divided into three parts. But before, all three had consciousness and controlled their power. But now, the soul on Earth has no consciousness.”

“!”

“Since the soul here lost consciousness due to the seal, it seems like the other two are pulling the parts where control is lost towards themselves. They’re pulling from across dimensions, creating this flow around here. That power that seems to flow from dimensional gaps.”

Rembrary thought that Warion’s hypothesis matched well with the one he had established by gathering information.

The idea that this was related to the Demon King’s soul was new, but Rembrary agreed that the power flowing above the sealed area seemed to be power wandering between dimensions.

Rembrary frowned and asked,

“Then what will happen? Will the seal be broken?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“No? The power floating here seems to be getting stronger and stronger?”

“I think… it will go to one of the two.”

“One of the two?”

“The side where the Demon King’s soul fragment is.”

“Then isn’t that good for you?”

“The problem is that an explosion could occur in the process.”

“!”

Rembrary’s eyes widened at the sudden mention of an explosion.

“An explosion?”

Suddenly, the topic of conversation took a sharp turn and became dangerous.

“The soul is sealed, right? But it’s being forcibly released by the power pulling from the outside. Eventually, the seal will be forcibly解除 [kaijo – Japanese for ‘release’], and an explosion will occur at the center.”

Ardor and Moolu, seeing Rembrary talking to a demon, weren’t sure whether to approach or stop him, so they just stared.

Rembrary noticed them, but instead of telling them to come, he gestured that he would talk a little longer.

Accepting this, Ardor and Moolu went to the other side, and Rembrary asked Warion again.

“Is it dangerous if it explodes there? What if defensive awakeners or Grim Reapers block it from the surroundings?”

“It’s no use blocking it. And if an explosion occurs, a gap might naturally form this time. Should I call it a gap? It’ll be bigger than a gap.”

“!”

“When that happens, more monsters wandering between dimensions will cross over. If the gap they can enter becomes larger, the monsters will also become larger.”

Warion’s story wasn’t painting a good future.

Rembrary listened without interrupting, then tilted his head and asked,

“But why are you telling me this? Wouldn’t it be good for you if this place becomes a monster’s paradise and the Demon King is released from the seal?”

“Help me break the seal.”

Rembrary raised his eyebrows.

“Help you?”

He didn’t know why the story had suddenly jumped there again.

“Why?”

“This phenomenon is happening because the Demon King’s soul is divided into three dimensions, and one of them is sealed. To eliminate the phenomenon, you have to choose either to gather the souls or break the seal. But we can’t bring all of the Demon King’s souls here, right? Breaking the seal is the fastest way, isn’t it?”

Rembrary’s eyebrows returned to their normal position, almost parallel to his eyes, and Warion asked, looking sullen,

“What’s with that expression?”

Rembrary asked back, openly suspicious,

“Aren’t you trying to break the seal?”

Warion pounded his chest as if frustrated.

“There’s no need for that. It’s a seal that will be broken anyway over time. We just have to wait.”

“But it’s hard to believe you.”

“Why?”

“Demons don’t care if this place becomes a land of monsters, do they? But you’re asking me for help to protect Earth? You guys?”

Warion looked like he wanted to punch Rembrary, but instead, he calmly said,

“We like Earth too. It’s peaceful in its own way. Above all, the culture here is enjoyable. And the people here don’t know anything about Aquari-nim [term of respect] at all. Because they don’t know, there are no distorted or biased legends. I like that.”

“…….”

“The Demon King also liked it here. He doesn’t want this place to be destroyed when he’s released from the seal. But the monsters that wander across dimensions have nothing to do with us, and we can’t control them either. You know that, right?”

Still, Rembrary didn’t say anything, and Warion shouted, annoyed,

“How many reasons do I have to give? Should I give you one more? Even if the Demon King’s soul moves to the other side, it’s not all good for us. It’s okay if the Demon King is thrown back into his original world. We can go back there again because the rifts haven’t all closed yet, so we can return there too. But if he’s thrown to a side where we’re not, we may never see him again. Okay? This kind of seal breaking isn’t a good situation for us either.”

When Rembrary still looked unconvinced, Warion turned away, annoyed, and shouted,

“Fine. Do as you please!”

Warion really left.

As soon as Warion left, HwasaJa, who had been watching from afar, brought Ardor and Moolu to Rembrary’s side.

“What’s going on?”

Moolu asked worriedly as soon as he arrived.

“What did that demon say to the High Priest? You don’t look well.”

Rembrary crossed his arms and frowned.

“I heard something a little concerning. I told him I didn’t believe him, though.”

“What is it?”

HwasaJa asked, curious.

“Just a moment.”

However, instead of explaining, Rembrary tried calling Sagamjae on his cell phone, then sighed and hung up.

“He’s not answering.”

Afterward, Rembrary briefly told the three what Warion had said and sent a text message to Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri.

[I have something important to talk about. Let’s have dinner together >ㅅ<] * * * Rembrary thought Shin Jo-woon might not come, but fortunately, Shin Jo-woon appeared at the meeting place. Rembrary arrived at the meeting place first and was texting Sagamjae about what Warion had said when Shin Jo-woon entered the room, and he snorted. "You came after all. I thought you might not." Shin Jo-woon took off his shoes and came inside, teasing with a subtle smile. "Are you angry?" "There's no way. I'm not an anchovy like you." "You seem angry." "I'm not. Didn't I ask you to have dinner together?" "Nana and Tae-ri will pay." Jang Tae-ri lightly tapped Shin Jo-woon's back from behind. "Don't tease him." However, Shin Jo-woon sat down in the seat facing Rembrary, asking with a slightly gleeful tone. "You're bothered that things are progressing without you, aren't you?" "……." "I told Sagamjae not to answer your calls until things are resolved." "Why?" "You've been involved in enough dangerous things and gotten hurt a lot. How long has it been since you came back? Stay out of this one. Rest and wait." Jang Tae-ri shook her head, but didn't stop Shin Jo-woon. She knew that he was doing this because he was afraid that Rembrary would once again single-handedly face danger and get hurt. Besides, Jang Tae-ri, like Shin Jo-woon, was also angry and upset about this, even if she didn't express it. "Demon King's seal―" "I won't listen to that story." Shin Jo-woon seemed really determined, blocking Rembrary from even bringing up the story about the Demon King's seal. "Don't you have any other stories? What do you want to eat? Where do you want to go? Stories like that." At those words, Rembrary thought for a moment and said, "I'm going home." "You're home now, aren't you?" Shin Jo-woon seemed to think that the home Rembrary was talking about was a house in a good school district, answering casually. Rembrary smiled and shook his head. "No. My real home. The one in my original world." As soon as the words were finished, Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri simultaneously fell silent.