Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 716

◈ 716. Who’s Mad at Whom

Rembrary realized that excessive worry could morph into anger, and that someone’s noble sacrifice could become a source of anger for those who cared about them.

But he couldn’t afford to be swayed by such emotions now. Rembrary took a slow, deep breath and stepped forward.

Once again, he felt that knife-like energy rushing toward him from all directions.

‘It’s okay. These aren’t real knives.’

Ironically, Rembrary would have found real knives less dangerous. He was confident in his ability to defend against this concentrated flow of power.

Having previously shielded Shin Jo-woon from the overwhelming energy released when the Earth cracked, Rembrary calmly moved forward, assured that he could navigate this treacherous space.

Rembrary defended himself with divine power, striving to maintain unwavering focus.

How long had he been walking amidst these icy fragments?

‘Is that it?’

Rembrary spotted a place where the ice was exceptionally thick.

As if protecting something, a single area was completely encased in ice.

‘Is it in there?’

Rembrary frowned.

The layers of ice appeared undisturbed, though the surface showed signs of wear.

‘If it’s inside, it seems to have been well-protected. Why did he die, then?’

Puzzled, Rembrary moved closer and discovered a hole in one side of the stacked ice.

‘Not here, then.’

It seemed something had occurred in this area, prompting them to stop and rest for a moment.

Perhaps the energy had intensified, or they were simply exhausted or injured.

The moment his concentration lapsed, a sharp, knife-like wind grazed his back.

Rembrary quickly regained his focus and reinforced his divine power barrier.

‘It would have been easier if Redrin hadn’t become a demon.’

He suspected that Redrin’s transformation into a demon was the reason he felt the energy attempting to penetrate his divine power, even with the slightest lapse in his defenses.

Then, Rembrary noticed blood within the ice wall.

‘Either Mullet [Shin Jo-woon’s nickname] or Tae-ri got hurt. That’s why they stopped.’

Rembrary touched the blood with his hand.

‘It seems like… they passed through here a few hours ago.’

Rembrary rubbed the blood on his white clothes to gauge the stain, then continued onward.

‘The ice fragments are becoming less frequent.’

After walking a few dozen steps, Rembrary noticed the difference between the initial ice fragments and the current ones, and his expression grew somber.

It was evident that the two had become rapidly exhausted after passing that first ice wall.

The diminishing number of fallen ice fragments indicated that the ice wall they were creating was shrinking.

‘It’s okay. I can save them.’

Everything was happening because of this demon’s seal, but conversely, he could save them thanks to this demon’s seal.

Rembrary tried to maintain a positive outlook as he followed the trail of ice fragments.

‘The energy is getting stronger and sharper as I walk. It shouldn’t be getting stronger as I move outwards. Mullet and Tae-ri seem to have chosen the right direction.’

As he continued, Rembrary found the second ice wall.

“……”

The moment he saw it, a sharp pain grazed his shoulder again. His concentration had wavered once more.

Rembrary composed himself and walked forward.

The desire to quickly find Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri warred with the apprehension of what he might find.

Slowly approaching the ice wall, Rembrary noticed a blurry silhouette beyond it this time and placed his hand on the icy barrier.

Feeling the cold at his fingertips, Rembrary slowly walked along the wall.

Finally, behind the wall, Rembrary found Shin Jo-woon and squeezed his eyes shut.

‘Mullet.’

Shin Jo-woon, who had never borne a scar on his skin, was now covered in cuts all over his body.

But considering he had been in this state for several hours, his body was relatively intact.

Seeing that the knife-like energy wasn’t harming Shin Jo-woon now, it seemed that only the living were being attacked within this space.

‘Tae-ri must have gone further.’

It appeared that after Shin Jo-woon died here, Jang Tae-ri had continued alone to fulfill their mission.

His concentration rapidly scattering, knife-like energy poured in from all directions, but Rembrary wiped his eyes and approached Shin Jo-woon.

Examining him closely, it seemed that the energy that had pierced his neck was the ultimate cause of Shin Jo-woon’s death.

Shin Jo-woon had been injured earlier, and there was a deep, ice-covered cut on his neck.

But in the end, he had succumbed to excessive bleeding.

Rembrary brought his hand to Shin Jo-woon’s neck but realized he couldn’t heal him in this state and retracted his hand.

He wanted to heal him immediately, but if the energies were targeting living beings, it would be better to heal them after finding Jang Tae-ri as well.

Otherwise, Shin Jo-woon might die again after being revived.

Having made his decision, Rembrary took off his coat and covered Shin Jo-woon, then lifted him up and carried him on his back.

But Rembrary soon faced a difficult situation.

‘Where did Tae-ri go?’

Around the wide chamber, there were roughly thirty entrances that resembled cave openings, even at a glance.

The inside became wider and more complex as it went deeper.

Moreover, until now, he had been following Shin Jo-woon’s ice fragments, but from here on, Jang Tae-ri had moved alone, so there were no remaining signs.

‘If it were Tae-ri, where would she have gone?’

Rembrary carefully scanned the numerous exits, trying to anticipate Jang Tae-ri’s thought process.

All the entrances looked similar on the surface. However, the energy flowed slightly weaker in some parts and stronger in others.

The fact that Jang Tae-ri had left the dead Shin Jo-woon in this place meant that she felt a strong sense of duty to complete the seal, having come this far.

Therefore, Jang Tae-ri would have headed towards the stronger center, not the weaker areas.

But there were still half a dozen entrances with strong energy, which was the problem.

‘Where is she? Tae-ri, where did you go?’

Rembrary searched the surroundings thoroughly, but there was no discernible difference in the power flowing between those six entrances.

‘Do I have to go into each one?’

In the end, Rembrary decided to check them one by one, even if it took longer, and headed towards the most central area.

Then Rembrary discovered an unbelievable sight and stared blankly at one side.

“Mullet?”

The one presumed to be Shin Jo-woon’s spirit was leaning against a passage entrance, looking this way.

“Mullet!”

Without realizing it, Rembrary ran towards him and stared at Shin Jo-woon. It really was Shin Jo-woon. It was Shin Jo-woon’s spirit.

Rembrary clenched his jaw.

“You Mullet.”

He wanted to get angry, but he couldn’t muster the anger looking at Shin Jo-woon’s expression.

Shin Jo-woon looked at his own body on Rembrary’s back, shook his head, and smiled.

Then he said something, but his voice was scattered by the knife-like energies and couldn’t be heard.

But seeing Shin Jo-woon pointing alternately at his body and the ground, it seemed he was telling him to leave the body behind.

The moment he understood that, Rembrary was so angry that he almost unleashed his divine power.

Rembrary barely suppressed that impulse and glared at Shin Jo-woon, saying,

“You are a really bad Mullet. Do you understand?”

[…….]

“You are. You are a really bad heretic. Do you understand?”

Shin Jo-woon shrugged and smiled as if he couldn’t accept the accusation.

Rembrary was about to protest, asking if he was laughing at the situation, but he closed his mouth when his mental strength wavered and wounds reappeared all over his body.

Seeing that, Shin Jo-woon widened his eyes and reached out as if to block the wounds, but when it was no use, he clenched his fist in the air and withdrew his hand.

“I’m okay. Look at this. It heals quickly, doesn’t it?”

Rembrary showed him his arm, which had healed almost instantly, and then reinforced his divine power barrier again.

Shin Jo-woon looked at Rembrary with a heavy heart, but instead of saying more, he walked ahead as if telling him to follow.

“Let’s go to Tae-ri. Tae-ri.”

Rembrary shouted from behind and ran hard to follow Shin Jo-woon. Then, when Shin Jo-woon suddenly stopped, Rembrary stopped as well.

“Why are you stopping?”

Rembrary went to Shin Jo-woon’s spirit and realized why he had stopped.

There, Jang Tae-ri was holding a very thin glass bead in her hand.

Inside the bead, a gray smoke containing what looked like stars was swirling around. It seemed to be the sealing artifact that Yama [a deity or spirit, often associated with death or judgment] had imbued with power.

Rembrary approached Jang Tae-ri and squeezed his eyes shut again.

“Tae-ri.”

Jang Tae-ri was in even worse condition than Shin Jo-woon, probably because she had ventured further. It seemed that excessive bleeding was the cause here as well.

But Jang Tae-ri seemed to have tried to move forward until the very end, dying in a posture of running and then collapsing.

“Mullet, what about Tae-ri’s soul?”

Rembrary blankly looked at the scene and asked Shin Jo-woon.

Unexpectedly, Shin Jo-woon shook his head, indicating that they hadn’t been together.

Then he pointed at Jang Tae-ri once with his hand and leaned against the pillar next to her, then stepped away.

It seemed he was saying that he had stayed here ever since he found Jang Tae-ri’s body.

“So you didn’t meet Tae-ri’s soul?”

When Shin Jo-woon nodded, Rembrary looked at the direction Jang Tae-ri had been running towards just before she died, the direction the hand holding the sealing artifact was stretched out.

“Then Tae-ri’s soul might have gone to the place where this sealing artifact needs to be broken.”

At Rembrary’s words, Shin Jo-woon nodded.

Rembrary looked back and forth between Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri’s bodies for a moment, then looked at the path he still had to go.

It was good that he found them, but it became difficult as there were two people to move.

Could he continue on this path with the bodies of two full-grown adults and a seemingly fragile sealing artifact?

The sealing artifact was bound to fall and break.

‘What if I take the sealing artifact to the center, finish the seal, and then come back and heal them?’

Rembrary shook his head again this time.

If he did that, the two people’s souls might become entangled together when the second seal was made as the sealing artifact exploded.

But if he healed the two people now and then moved forward, he was worried about whether the two could endure the journey.

Shin Jo-woon pointed to the sealing artifact to Rembrary, who was hesitating. It seemed he was telling him to leave the bodies and take the sealing artifact.

Rembrary hesitated for a moment, looking at Shin Jo-woon, and then tried to put the sealing artifact in his pocket.

However, when it didn’t fit in his pocket, Rembrary began to move forward with only the sealing artifact, as Shin Jo-woon had suggested.

Shin Jo-woon followed behind without any sign of regret.

Further on, Rembrary finally found the center of the seal.

There, a small star-like object was floating in the air, surrounded by a black barrier. And several pillars were visible around the barrier.

‘Aquari.’

When Rembrary saw it, he felt a pang of pain in his heart due to the amplified emotions from drinking Binak’s liquid, but he pretended not to notice and placed the sealing artifact in front of him.

Then Rembrary found Jang Tae-ri.

Jang Tae-ri had been looking around, and she appeared from behind one of the pillars, and immediately approached after discovering Rembrary and Shin Jo-woon.

“Tae-ri.”

Rembrary was dumbfounded that Jang Tae-ri was approaching with an angry face in this situation.

They had entered on their own and died, yet who were they angry at?

But instead of arguing with the two ‘Mullets’, Rembrary put down the sealing artifact and turned around.

“!”

Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon were surprised to see that and jumped to Rembrary’s sides, trying to say something, but Rembrary completely ignored their hard-to-understand words and continued to move away from the center.

The place Rembrary arrived at was where he had left Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri’s bodies.

Rembrary picked up the bodies, one in each arm, and then started to return to the center.

The plan was to heal their bodies like this and then quickly detonate the sealing artifact.

However, Rembrary’s eyes widened in surprise when he arrived at the center.

‘The sealing artifact? It’s gone?’