Chapter 82 - EPISODE 82 – THE KAPLAN EFFECT (3) (1/2)

‘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 hell, 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 embarrassment 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.

‘Damn!’

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 hell, 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!”

<Strengthen>!

<Strengthen>!

<Smite>!

<Smite>!

Due to the Spell’s Echo, the <Strengthen> and <Smite> 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 <Smite> 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 hell, 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.