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Chapter 96: Juliana (1)

I didn’t know why, but my legs seemed to be shaking.

It had been difficult to call the Garden of Terror’s dungeon boss a real dungeon boss. Even though it had been colossal, its resilience had not been enough to withstand the party members’ attack power.

However, the woman in front of me was different. Though I knew nothing about her, I could feel an ominous aura in her presence. She certainly seemed like a priest with the uniform she wore, but the atmosphere she gave off seemed overbearing, to the point that I felt overwhelmed.

I realized at once that she was the predator, and I was the prey.

At this very moment, I missed being in a safe area in the rear of Kim Hyunsung’s party.

‘Hyunsung… Is this okay?’

Ahhh… Gedric… My Gedric! You finally came to see me…

‘What bullsh*t is she talking about?’

You finally found me. My lovely Gedric!

Upon saying this, the woman bent her neck at an impossibly awkward angle, horrifying my party members. Then, she reached out to me.

I thought about pretending to be Gedric for a while, but it would be dangerous to take the lead in a situation like this. It would be best to retreat to the rear and wait until the leaders themselves figured out what to do.

‘Can the woman not see?’

At this moment, Kim Hyunsung took one more step.

You are not him. Not him.

After frowning heavily, the woman who had been called Juliana opened her eyes, showing black pupils that seemed to have the ability to suck the life out of anyone.

The physiological effect was instant. Goosebumps rose on my skin.

‘Sh*t…’

You’re not him!

The very ground we stepped on began to crack, and the inside of the dungeon shook tremendously. I could sense strange energy as magic power began to spread in all directions, accompanied by a loud ringing voice. This caused me to cup my hands over both ears.

When I thought I would start bleeding from the intense pressure, a barrier covered the whole party. It turned out to be Sun Hee-young’s defense, choosing to block the energy with divine magic.

It’s not him!

“Everyone, prepare for battle! Wizards, prepare your spells, and priests, keep the divine power going. We judged that it was a monster that couldn’t attract aggro, and we will proceed with the operation as defensively as possible. This will be a long battle.”

“Noted!”

Lee Sang-hee, who was calmer than expected, covered the rear with a large shield. As soon as the spell was recited, magical power began to rise from the area. It was up to the vanguard to earn us some time until we finished casting the magic.

Of course, this did not mean that my side stood still.

Starting with Kim Hyunsung, some began to shoot at Juliana.

‘Stay safe, Hyunsung.’

The energy that seemed to be neither magic nor divine power burst out in all directions. The owner of this energy was blatantly obvious.

‘Juliana.’

“Please prepare your defense magic.”

You… You dare invade this place… This place!

Shing!

It was a spectacle to witness the black sphere of energy rushing towards us, leaving cracks on the ground in its trail. However, this did not bode well for us.

Lee Sang-hee instinctively brought up her shield to block the incoming attack. In the end, she was successful, but it had not been an easy task. It had only been possible because she had been infused with divine magic.

‘This will not be an easy fight…’

Our strategy needs to be a little different than our usual method of hunting monsters.

Back in the Garden of Terror, the monsters’ attacks focused on those at the forefront. However, it seemed that Juliana had chosen not to target anyone in particular. Her main goal was to eradicate everyone she saw as ‘intruders.’

This was the ideal moment to run away.

It wasn’t easy to deal with her and attack simultaneously, as our forces also had to focus on protecting the party’s weaker defenses. The casting time proved to be longer than expected.

Since this was meant to be a withstanding battle, the tankers had to make sure that we wouldn’t receive any lasting damage. Archers with high agilities couldn’t expect any additional help.

As Hwang Jeong-yeon and Jung Hayan recited their spells, the resulting magical power was enormous. It enveloped the madwoman in no time at all, but the black sphere of energy returned to combat the power.

At this moment, I released the spell that I had been memorizing.

A huge arm arose out of the air and fell with the momentum to crush Juliana, who was currently wrapped around in the black sphere.

Swoosh!

The expressions of my fellow party members showed their initial surprise at this. The dust soon settled to reveal Juliana looking my way.

You dare!

My magic was strictly classified as physical. I didn’t know if this was why I was able to inflict some damage on our opponent. However, this did not spell good news for me.

‘Sh*t.’

I didn’t know if it was intentional, but the black sphere of energy was now coming my way.

Kim Hyunsung was in a position where he couldn’t easily deflect the attack with his sword, should it ever come my way. I knew I would be able to continue inflicting damage as long as I was being protected.

‘Is this how heroic-grade dungeons are?’

I knew it wouldn’t be easy, and yet I didn’t expect it to be this hard.

Now and then, roars reverberated throughout the dungeon, and the ground shook, cracks opening in various places. Perhaps this was why Kim Hyunsung couldn’t move properly.

Lee Sang-hee was able to hold her ground, but Park Deokgu, who only had a meager amount of magic power, could only block small attacks.

The only good thing was that the curse had not afflicted us yet. If one were to see hallucinations in this situation, it could prove fatal on our side.

Somehow, I had to make a decision.

I wanted to stay away from situations that could end up costing me my life. In the end, I settled for speaking up.

“Ah, my Juliana!”

Soon, a strange vision settled upon the room.

Ah, Gedric?

My voice unexpectedly burst in the middle of the battle, effectively causing a lull within the fight. At this, my fellow party members looked at me confusedly, wondering what I was doing. However, I did not incline to answer.

They would know soon, anyway.

“Juliana! My Juliana!”

Gedric! Ah, you came. Gedric… You finally came.

“Juliana! I’ve been looking for you for an eternity. This shrine!”

Gedric, finally…

“Juliana!”

Oh, no. You are not Gedric.

‘Damn.’

“Many years have passed, Juliana. Contrary to you, who has been bound by this shrine, I have undergone many changes. An insurmountable amount of time has passed. My tone, my existence, and everything I am have changed.”

No. You are not Gedric.

“Juliana! My love, Juliana!”

You are not Gedric!

“Juliana, I have changed, but I still remember that day. I have always kept my memories of you within this body.”

Ah…

“That precious memory…”

Ged…rick?

I didn’t know what exactly she was thinking about, but I knew something would come to mind. Black tears flowed out of Juliana’s empty eyes. It was a grotesque sight to behold.

However, I needed to focus. If I could find a way to weasel out more information…

On that day…

Anxiety rose within me. All it would take was one mistake for her to find out.

“We are each other’s… Ahhh! Juliana!”

Gedric!

“They are oppressing me, Juliana! Ahh!”

Lee Sang-hee, Park Deokgu, and Sun Hee-young all looked at me with irresistible curiosity. Meanwhile, jealousy was written all over Jung Hayan’s face.

‘Everyone has noticed…’

As I glanced around the rest of my comrades, I caught sight of Hwang Jeong-yeon, nodding.

Nevertheless…

“Silly, stupid Juliana. Yes, yes, the Gedric you love is in our hands!”

‘Ah…’

Knowing Jeong-yeon loved watching the drama, I’d have expected her to exhibit some good semblance of acting skills. However, upon seeing her enact her role, I began to feel concerned about Juliana catching on to our scheme.

Hwang Jeong-yeon’s face was a bright red, but thankfully, Juliana didn’t seem to have any doubts.

“Juliana! Do not save me. Run, run right away!”

Gedric!

“Run away! Juliana!”

You guys dare! Gedric!

I don’t know if this would turn out effective, but it worked better than I had initially thought. Of course, there would still be room for doubts in this kind of situation.

However, there was no way she’d be willing to fight out of the illusion. Gedric, who she had been waiting for all her life, had finally appeared, only to be on the brink of death once more. It would be natural for her to have such a reaction.

‘It would be a problem if she decides to go crazy with her powers, but…’

I also knew there was no way she’d dare create an explosion with her energy sphere. By doing so, she would also end up killing her beloved ‘Gedric.’

Unlike the rest of my party members, who continued to look with mounting confusion, Kim Hyunsung rushed towards Juliana, swinging his sword.

In truth, Hyunsung was still not at the stage where he would thrive easily inside a heroic-grade dungeon. It was only right to say that he was still in the growth stage.

However, the way he moved to block Juliana from rushing over to our party surprised me. Kim Hyunsung managed to block the black energy that extended from all directions with a single slash.

Even though her attack range was limited, Juliana kept the attacks coming, with Hyunsung parrying in turn.

Quadduck… Quazzik!

Only

As sounds reverberated from within the dungeon, the two continued to unleash a flurry of attacks and counterattacks that I could not even begin to comprehend.

‘Huh…’

Kim Hyunsung tried to extend his sword, but Juliana forced him to retreat halfway. At the same time, her black sphere unleashed a flurry of energy, yet it did not take him much to block.

Meanwhile, the rest of our party members looked on with expressions that could only border on shock. No one knew when the right timing was to intervene.

In the first place, it didn’t seem easy to set the timing of how to intervene.

I will hold them at bay… Can’t you run away at this point?

“…”

Gedric! Gedric!