Chapter 82 – EPISODE 82 – THE KAPLAN EFFECT (3)
‘It’s not Kaplan’s fault.’
Kaplan’s ability was to attract rare monsters like the Rare and Named Monsters, and not to create them.
In other words, it was to attract rare or named monsters among the monsters scattered all over the place, and not to strengthen ordinary monsters into rare or named ones.
‘It had been here from the very beginning.’
This happened because the named Nazarus was in Endymion’s underground from the start.
‘So it’s not Kaplan’s fault!’
But…but still…
“Here it comes!”
Cordelia quickly shouted, and Jude focused on the battle before him.
He could hear the startled Kaplan screaming behind his back.
“Named Nazarus.”
“Caracola. Cara and Cola.”
“Rare, and they have one body.”
“Named are capable of dividing itself, also have a special ability!”
That was it.
Caracola’s figure was fully revealed from the darkness.
It had the upper bodies of a naked man and woman, and its lower body was that of a giant snake monster. Both of them were monsters from h.e.l.l, so they looked very evil.
“Kaha-!”
The male monster with a spear and shield, Cola, opened his mouth wide and spewed out fire.
To avoid the flames that spread out in a straight line, Jude and Cordelia split as they ran to the sides, and the woman holding a cane, Cara, chanted the spell as if she had waited for it.
“Metamorphosis!”
Paa-!
At that instant, a tremendous amount of life engulfed all the darkness underground.
Jude and Cordelia knew Caracola’s pattern, so they had closed their eyes just before the light burst to prevent sight loss, and thus, they lost the opportunity to track Caracola’s movement for a while.
Therefore, Jude used his sense of hearing.
He tried to figure out the movement of Caracola by the sound.
“Agh! Eyes! My eyes!”
But it wasn’t easy. Because Kaplan had screamed from behind his back and rolled on the floor.
Bang!
There was a loud noise.
It was at their front.
At the same time, Jude felt their murderous aura. After having opened the third door of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors, his sharpened senses filled in the gaps of his hearing and sight.
His eyes were closed, but he could somehow sense in the darkness that Caracola had divided itself into two.
Chwaaak-!
A sharp attack pierced through the air.
Jude avoided the attack with minimal movement at the exact timing, opened his eyes and then clenched his teeth. This was due to the unexpected situation happening in front of him.
‘Cordelia!’
Cordelia was in front of him.
To be exact, it was Cara who had transformed into Cordelia.
The special ability of the named Nazarus was transformation.
It wasn’t just a transformation that only mimicked the appearance. With the power of the horns on their foreheads, they were able to glimpse at their opponent’s memories and mind and then use it to create an ideal look that was more real than the real person.
‘They usually transform into a lover or a colleague who were with the victim.’
It wasn’t quite a great ability in the game, but in reality, it was clearly different.
“Jude.”
It was Cordelia’s voice.
Moreover, the Cordelia in front of him had wet hair.
It seemed to have taken the form of Cordelia when she was bathing under the moonlight in order to lure the Fall Fairies.
“Ugh.”
It was the appearance of Cordelia that Jude had thought was the most beautiful.
Jude was suddenly filled with embarra.s.sment as he thought that his innermost feelings have been laid bare.
“Jude, let’s play. Okay?”
Speaking in a Cordelia-like tone, Cara drew closer to Jude.
It was not an exaggeration to say that her approach was full of gaps, but just before he used his fist, Jude stopped and hesitated.
‘d.a.m.n!’
His mind knew that it wasn’t Cordelia.
But still, it was Cordelia’s face and voice. He felt a strong reluctance to hit her, and at that decisive moment, he instinctively hesitated.
His attacks didn’t hit, or his attack speed slowed down, and Cara broke into that gap.
“Will you hit Cordelia?”
Kara tilted her head and said while she created magic blades that moved in the air, and Jude clenched his teeth again.
By using the Twenty-Four Gale Steps, he made a dash and avoided the magic blades that rushed in to kill him.
‘Whirlwind!’
The seven whirlwinds surrounding Jude suddenly shot forward and blew away the magic blades. In that short moment, it created a path between Jude and Cara.
‘Gale!’
Jude rushed forward. After narrowing their distance at once, he tried to use the Holy Cross Punch on Cara’s abdomen.
But it was impossible.
Again, he hesitated just before the attack.
“I don’t want to be hurt!”
Cara shouted in Cordelia’s voice, and his attack went awry, which was enough for Cara.
As a monster from h.e.l.l, she dodged Jude’s fist and blew her breath onto Jude at a close distance.
“I love you so much.”
Along with those sweet words, poison penetrated into Jude’s body.
Jude hurriedly chanted the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors and activated the energy of his whole body.
It wasn’t an overstatement that the energy inside Jude was unrivalled in its clearness and purity that it not only repelled the poison but also completely purified it.
“Haa!”
Jude attacked again with a shout, and Cara quickly stepped back and evaded Jude’s attack.
Jude’s attack lost its usual sharpness, but he couldn’t help it.
‘This won’t do.’
It was more difficult than he thought.
Even though it was just her appearance, he kept reacting to it.
‘What about Cordelia?’
Jude was primarily good at fighting, but he was now struggling like this. So it was natural that he was worried about Cordelia.
Despite being in the middle of a fight, Jude diverted his gaze to the side and saw it. No, he ended up seeing it.
“This is so good!”
It wasn’t Cara but the real Cordelia.
T/N: Cara and Cordelia actually said the same words in Korean (너무 좋아), and that was why the next sentence clarified that it was the real Cordelia and not Cara. Jo-ta (좋아) can both mean ‘love’ and ‘good’ in Korean. However, Cara’s words were more of seducing or enticing Jude, so I used the ‘love’ for the translation, while Cordelia’s words were more of her feeling good about the current situation, so I used the ‘good’ meaning.
She excitedly laughed and one-sidedly cornered Cola.
“Be hit more! Be hit more!”
A storm of magic attacks raged.
Cola got hit by more than ten magic bullets, and Cordelia clenched her fist. As if this was not enough, she bolted towards Cola and shouted.
“Die! Jude!”
“Hey!”
The real Jude exclaimed, but Cordelia didn’t pay him any attention.
He looked exactly like Jude but was not Jude. This was such a good situation.
‘I don’t have to control my strength!’
She struck him with full power.
She hit him with the determination to really kill him.
“This is for Hong Yoo Hee!”
!
!
!
!
Due to the Spell’s Echo, the and spells were cast in succession.
Cordelia’s fist struck Cola’s abdomen with frightful precision, and Cola even vomited blood from the intense impact.
“This is for Yellow Storm!”
Cordelia’s roundhouse kick exploded.
It wasn’t just a roundhouse kick but an attack that struck Cola’s neck like a guillotine.
She used again this time.
Thud!
Cola’s head hit the floor. But Cordelia did not stop.
“This is for…Cordelia!”
She stamped on Cola’s back, and it seemed to be a little weaker than her previous two attacks, either because of her mood or of the reality.
“Die! Die! Die!”
At any rate, Cordelia repeated her lethal attacks without any hesitation, and Cola groaned in pain.
“Hey! That’s too much!”
It was when Jude shouted.
“Gyaa?!”
Cordelia’s magic bullet flew at a terrifying speed. As he managed to avoid the attack by rolling down the floor, Cordelia said with a calm face.
“Ah, I thought you were a mob.”
He looked just like Cola whom she was stepping on now.
Cordelia focused on attacking Cola again while Jude trembled, and Cara, who had unknowingly watched all that had happened, said with Cordelia’s face.
“Uh…she’s your fiancée, right?”
Without affirming or denying it, Jude vigorously raised his strength and ran towards Cara.
However, Cara didn’t attack Jude. It was because Cola’s condition was too serious.
“Reunion!”
As Cara shouted loudly, a tremendous light burst again, and Jude urgently closed his eyes to prevent being blinded.
“Aaah! My eyes! My eyes!”
Hearing Kaplan’s screams, Jude expanded his senses. He then felt Cordelia approaching him.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m not okay.”
“What? Were you hit? They’re weak when they’re divided.”
“No, it’s not that.”
It was because of his feelings for a certain someone.
But Jude swallowed down what he wanted to say and looked straight ahead again.
Caracola, the named Nazarus.
But it was quite different from before. Unlike Cara who looked fine, Cola’s whole body was covered in blood.
“Wow, you barely hurt her. Fighting gae-mo-tae, really.”
T/N: Gae-mo-tae makes an appearance again! This time, Cordelia is saying that Jude is bad at fighting since birth.
Jude began to tremble again at Cordelia’s words, but he soon calmed himself down. No, he clenched his fists in burning fury.
“I’ll take on Cola.”
Caracola was still transformed into them and he detested it.
It was somehow strange, but if it looked like him, Jude could hit it without hesitation. But Cordelia opposed it.
“Eh? You want me to hit Cordelia? That’s a bit difficult…”
“…Then, let’s just hit both of them.”
“Yes, yes, that would be good.”
Cordelia grinned and used the Spell’s Echo to create more than ten magic bullets at once, and Jude kicked the ground.
“Gale!”
It was literally a raging dash.
Nazarus, a monster from h.e.l.l, was not an easy opponent, but Jude and Cordelia had risen in level after they defeated powerful enemies at a rapid pace.
Moreover, the combination of Cheonmujiche and Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors was truly like a cheat.
Chwaaak!
The true strength of Twenty-Four Gale Steps was in the whirlwinds and gale.
It wasn’t simply just a footwork technique that was as fast as the wind. Golden whirlwinds rose and not only blocked the enemy’s attack but also controlled the enemy’s movement.
“Die!”
Cola spewed out fire and Cara sent a barrage of magic blades.
But none of those could hurt Jude. The whirlwinds blew away the magic blades, and the gale twisted the trajectory of the flames. Cordelia’s flying spells made Caracola unable to focus on attacking.
‘They’re buying time.’
As Cordelia had said, Cara and Cola were weak when divided.
But they were now weak even when combined. Because Cola’s injuries were severe.
Their reunion and use of ranged attacks instead of close combat were all aimed at buying Cola some time to recover.
So don’t let them buy time.
‘Hit them with the strongest attack.’
Black Dragon Release Technique.
No.
Black Dragon Release Technique was simply not enough.
“Jude!”
Cordelia cried out, and Jude read the wind.
Cara’s magic blade flew as it aimed for his head, but Jude lightly moved his head to avoid it before he stepped on the wind. As if gliding, he leapt towards Caracola and created a golden vortex in his left hand.
Kwooo!
The wind pulled Cola.
Cara tried to hit Jude, but Cordelia immediately responded.
“!”
It was the power that the White Snake in Frost Anvil had.
The pupils in Cordelia’s blue eyes sharply turned into slits, causing not only Cara, but also Cola’s movement to be temporarily stopped.
“Now!”
Jude drew his fist.
He focused his sacred battle aura on his fist.
The opponent was a monster from h.e.l.l.
So the sacred battle aura and the Holy Cross skills were nothing but poison to them.
However, the Holy Cross Punch wasn’t enough.
Its power was weak.
So he had to add strength.
He applied the power of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors to strengthen the Holy Cross Punch!
Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors – Improved Form.
Black Dragon Cross Strike!
The golden cross became pitch-black. The huge pitch-black cross was released from his fists and crushed Cara and Cola.
Boooom!
The ground was destroyed. Its giant snake lower body was smashed at once.
And lastly.
There was still one shot left.
Using the recoil from the releasing of the pitch-black cross, Jude rotated in the air, filled himself with the dragon’s energy, and struck down like a lightning bolt.
His heel that was full of the Black Dragon’s power smashed Cola’s head.
Boom!
Their transformation was released. At the moment of Cola’s death, Cara also died since they shared one body, and when the monster from h.e.l.l died, the air around them fluctuated, just like when demonic humans died.
“Huuu.”
Jude let out a long breath as he looked down on Caracola who had turned into ashes.
A series of pure white rings surrounded Jude.
Then Cordelia’s voice came.
“Wow, your new skill is awesome. What’s the new one called?”
She came running and then asked with brightly shining eyes.
It was the real Cordelia.
The real one and not the fake.
“Haaa.”
“Eh? Why are you sighing? You did well.”
She tilted her head as she asked, and her appearance was really cute.
“…I must be seriously ill.”
“Eh? What? Have you been poisoned? Should I use ?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“What nothing? If you want to say something, just say it. Are you upset because you couldn’t fight?”
At Cordelia’s question, Jude shut his mouth at once, and soon scratched the back of his head and said.
“No, that.”
“That what?”
“So that…”
“Ah! I understand! Are you upset that I hit you without hesitation? Is that it? Am I right?”
“Ahem, ahem.”
Cordelia laughed at Jude clearing his throat before she shrugged her shoulders.
“But it was too obvious.”
“Too obvious?”
“It’s fake. Well, how should I say it? My instincts say it’s not Jude! My intuition told me that. It smells different.”
“Smell?”
“Yes, it smelled different from you.”
Jude frowned at Cordelia’s explanation.
Instinct, intuition, and smell.
It was certainly very much like Cordelia.
“Indeed, you’re a real beast.”
“You want me to kill you?”
When Cordelia growled, Jude cleared his throat. Because he was relieved after hearing her explanation.
“By the way, you really didn’t injure it. You found it cute. Can’t you do anything because it’s my face?”
“Because I’m a gentleman.”
“Bullsh*t.”
Cordelia cursed, but she had a big smile on her face. One way or another, she seemed to be pleased with Jude’s behavior.
“Anyway, we defeated it.”
“Yes, we defeated it. I think we’ve really gotten stronger.”
It was something natural when they thought about it. All of the enemies that they had defeated while on the way here were of a higher level than Jude or Cordelia.
Therefore, Jude and Cordelia were able to quickly grow stronger beyond belief.
“But Jude. Will we continue to go with Kaplan from now on?”
When Cordelia spoke in a low voice as she peered at Kaplan who had fainted under a low pillar some distance away, Jude nodded his head.
“We should. As you know, Kaplan’s ability is not to create Named Monsters. He attracts those that already exist. Perhaps if we came here even without Kaplan, we would still have fought the named Nazarus.”
“Umm…if you think so, then so be it.”
“…It seems like you’re not doing any thinking nowadays.”
“Because I have JudeWiki.”
Cordelia proudly spoke as she posed with her chest out. Afterwards, she looked back at Caracola, who had completely turned into ash, except for the horns that could be called drop items.
“Then, we’ll continue to go together with him?”
“We will. It’s much better to use Kaplan’s discovery ability if we’re going to encounter rare mobs anyway.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Huh?”
“No, I thought that Kaplan would suffer a lot if we left him.”
“Wouldn’t it somehow be more troubling for the one who took him along?”
Nazarus appeared after Lacto.
There was no knowing how many more monsters or demons were hiding in the underground of Endymion.
“Well…let’s think about that as we go. We need to save Lena too. In the first place, Kaplan would have already been prepared to come all the way here to the wild lands.”
“You’re right.”
Jude nodded before he picked up the horns of Nazarus which were dropped by Caracola.
It was an excellent item that could show a glimpse of other people’s memories depending on whether it was processed or not.
‘It’s worth the trouble.’
Gaining experience was also quite good.
Jude grinned as she said to Cordelia.
“Let’s go wake up Kaplan and continue moving. There might be other monsters who have heard the sounds of fighting.”
“Yes, sir!”
Cordelia saluted like a soldier and ran towards Kaplan, and Jude turned around as he stared beyond the darkness from where Caracola came out.
Lacto and the named Nazarus, Caracola.
Why were they here?
Who summoned them?
‘Lena.’
The hero of the first episode of Legend of Heroes who had died in Endymion.
Jude turned back towards Cordelia. He stepped forward to help her pull the groaning Kaplan.
***
At a different place at the same time…
Gaël and Adelia were heading towards the village of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe at a time when Jude and Cordelia were traveling with the fainted Kaplan.
However, their positions were a little different from usual.
“Ahem, ahem, is it uncomfortable?”
“It’s fine. What about Lord Gaël?”
“I’m fine too.”
Red Gale had given them only one stag (male deer).
Gaël stiffly sat in front as he looked forward, and Adelia buried her face on Gaël’s back as she thought with her lips curled up.
‘It couldn’t be helped.’
Because the wild land was unbelievably cold. They had to rely on each other’s body temperature. Moreover, it would be a disaster if she fell off the deer.
‘Yes, that’s it. It’s a rational and valid enough reason.’
Having convinced herself, Adelia’s lips curled up again, and she hugged Gaël’s waist a little stronger.
And in another place…
In a place near the border.
Inside the territory of the Sälen Kingdom.
It was place for a man who did not know that Jude and Cordelia, as well as Gaël and Adelia, have already crossed the border.
“There is nothing like this that could invigorate the body. Just a bottle of this would…”
Count Chase’s eyes narrowed at the words of the merchant who continued his pa.s.sionate explanation while turning here and there.
What was in front of him was a special potion made by processing a giant eel, which was said to be only caught in the northern part of the Sälen Kingdom.
“This is a secret, but my brother-in-law ate this and now, he had twins…”
“Ahem.”
As Count Chase’s eyes narrowed even more, the excitedly talking merchant shut his mouth.
Although he diligently and loudly spoke about his wares, the existence of Count Chase seemed scary.
He was tall and had a well-trained body, which was unimaginable for a wizard.
His terrifying eyes and serious expression seemed to be able to kill one or two people with just a look of his eyes.
“…Give me.”
“Yes?”
“Give me two.”
“Two?”
“Two.”
Two, not one.
One might not be enough.
“Thank you! I’ll wrap it up right away!”
“Hmm.”
Count Chase nodded to the merchant who started packing the potions, and his mind was briefly troubled.
He had concerns regarding the whereabouts of Gaël and Adelia, as well as Jude and Cordelia, but what occupied his mind now was something different.
‘I need to get a new bag.’
The bag that he brought was already full before he knew it.
As he slowly nodded his head, Count Chase turned his attention to the other items on the shelves.
He couldn’t just put two bottles in his new bag.
“What is that?”
“Ah, speaking of that…”
The merchant’s explanation continued again, and Count Chase listened with a serious att.i.tude, as a small but satisfied smile came to his face.