Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 149

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Summoning Genius of Necromancer School 149
Simon, Kazan, and Erzsebet rushed forward in desperate haste until they reached their destination.
The place they sought lay on the periphery of the Kizen Campus.
A secret facility tunneled directly into a sheer cliff face of the mountain range, managed personally by Kizen’s headquarters. It was a location so heavily secured that students faced near-automatic expulsion for attempting entry.
“Think of it as a kind of command center for the school.”
Kazan spoke as he ran alongside them.
“Not only can you observe the entire school’s situation, but it’s also where the barriers and emergency network spanning the campus are managed.”
Erzsebet, listening from the side, picked up the thread.
[That explanation makes sense, but why would the Priest go to the command center?]
“Because it’s the best place to activate the Prima Materia. Using the barrier system there, she can scatter aberrant lifeforms across the whole of Kizen in a single stroke.”
Simon, listening quietly, swallowed hard.
Four vicious Curse Bombs installed throughout Kizen. From Francesca’s perspective, these bombs needed to detonate only after her barrier was complete.
But if someone discovered them beforehand, or if even one failed to detonate on schedule, the operation would develop a critical flaw. It was the core strategy to ensure the terror attack succeeded one hundred percent. Kazan had described it simply as “Plan B,” but to Simon’s ears, there was a gap as vast as the difference between a backup plan and the main operation.
“We’re here.”
At Kazan’s words, the other two slowed their pace. Sure enough, a large artificial cavern opened before them in the cliff face of the mountain range.
Erzsebet extended her index finger sharply.
[But wasn’t there supposed to be a forest in front of the entrance?]
“There shouldn’t be.”
A dense forest of overgrown vegetation blocked the cave’s entrance.
It was clearly no ordinary forest. Trees had eyes grafted upon them, plants gaped open with gaping maws, writhing in chaotic motion.
They resembled the plant-type monsters that had guarded the Desolator, but their number and scale were on an entirely different magnitude—a truly colossal forest.
“No time. We break through headlong.”
Simon and Erzsebet nodded at Kazan’s words. She drew webbing from her hands, while Simon tapped the Skull of Pier he was wearing.
“Wake up, Pier.”
[Kehehehe! Now we begin!]
Pier’s Skull, which had been tilted back, straightened and slid down over Simon’s head like a helm.
[But boy, you said our opponent is a Toxicology Department instructor?]
“Yes.”
Click.
The Skull atop his head shifted. The jawbone and mouth reshaped, covering Simon’s nose and mouth slightly, transforming from a helm into something more akin to a mask.
[A makeshift respirator of sorts. Won’t be perfect, but weak poisons won’t get the better of you.]
“That’s good.”
Simon turned his head.
“Do you need any precautions against poison, Kazan?”
“My body is naturally resistant to toxins. Besides, I doubt Francesca will try to counter us with Toxicology Department techniques.”
It seemed he possessed some degree of innate immunity to poison. Simon nodded lightly.
“Then let’s go.”
Boom!
Kazan sprinted forward into the forest first, with Simon and Erzsebet close behind.
—Screech-screech-screech!
The forest’s assault began.
Simon’s eyes widened as he stared ahead.
Countless toxic seeds poured down, and barbed vine whips lashed from all sides. Grasses beneath their feet sharpened like blades, and flower petals churned up clouds of poisonous mist.
‘I’m supposed to dodge all of this?’
Simon crouched low as he ran. Toxic projectiles rained down everywhere he went, leaving puddles of poison on the ground.
This was far more intense than he’d anticipated. For a moment, he seriously considered whether he should deploy Internal Darkness Manifestation.
When he glanced sideways, there was no need to worry about Kazan. His Evasion Technique was utterly uncanny—impossible to predict.
Running at full speed with movements like laundry fluttering in the wind, he undulated through attacks, then suddenly accelerated to slip past projectiles, streaking through the forest like a flash of light.
‘Ah!’
Just then, plant-type monsters poured from near a tree and blocked Simon’s path. He tightened his grip on the Great Sword.
[Wait.]
Slash.
Skree.
The plant monsters’ bodies split into three neat cracks before tearing asunder and flying skyward.
[You must conserve your strength before facing the Priest.]
“Erzsebet!”
Erzsebet tumbled in a rolling motion over Simon and landed before whirling her arms in violent arcs.
The tree creatures exposed their pale growth rings all at once and crumbled in massive chunks, their plant-monster bodies scattering through the air.
[Go ahead!]
“Thanks!”
Simon moved again, with Erzsebet following as his escort, launching streams of deep blue webbing in his wake.
Though she was no combat specialist, the Ancient Undead’s strength hadn’t dimmed with time. Her true prowess revealed itself not in single duels, but in battles like this—facing multitudes.
Simon, who had been considering whether to invoke his Internal Darkness Manifestation, found himself sparing his stamina considerably thanks to her aid, allowing him to escape the forest.
Screech-screech-screech!
But the moment they emerged, over a hundred plant-type monsters came charging from behind Simon, their petals curling back to reveal gnashing teeth.
Whip-snap.
Whisper.
Then invisible threads materialized behind Simon. The instant the plant monsters crossed that line, they tore apart in unison, scattering like debris across the ground.
“I’ll handle this stretch!”
Erzsebet cried out.
From the forest, nearly a thousand plant-type monsters—not mere hundreds—came thundering forward with crackling, rustling sounds.
Simon hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“Don’t overextend yourself.”
“Understood!”
As she pulled the webbing taut, the plant monsters shrieked and split apart. Ahead, Kazan was gesturing urgently.
Simon cast one last glance back at Erzsebet, then sprinted hard to catch up with Kazan.
“You’ve found yourself a capable subordinate.”
Kazan said this lightly.
“I’ve always worked alone, but having a summoned creature like her makes me think it wouldn’t be so bad. That’s how impressive she is.”
Simon smiled broadly and made an attempt to recruit him.
“You majored in Summoning Magic too, didn’t you? It’s really engaging.”
“I scored twenty points on the midterm.”
“Oh dear.”
The two of them had ventured deep into the cave. Gradually, the rough natural cavern had transformed into an artificial one with distinct walls and ceiling—it felt like descending into a deep underground bunker.
As the surroundings grew darker, both men had to put on their Glasses again.
“Have we arrived too late?”
Kazan said this, lifting his head.
A massive hole had been torn through the great door that sealed off the entire Command Control Room.
What Dark Magic could possibly accomplish this? Simon felt a chill run through him as he ran his palm across the hole’s edges. It didn’t feel like brute force—something had dissolved the wall itself.
The two men ran through the darkness again.
After what felt like roughly fifteen minutes, they knew they’d reached their destination.
Instead of cold stone beneath their feet, there was carpet. And where the carpet ended on the bare floor, there was moisture—sticky and slick underfoot.
“Simon.”
Kazan spoke quietly.
“She’s detected us as well.”
……
Simon’s throat tightened as he swallowed hard.
“The element of surprise is gone.”
Kazan muttered this as he grabbed a lever-shaped handle protruding from the wall and wrenched it downward with all his strength.
Click!
Whirr!
Beyond the wall came the sound of something engaging—the emergency Magical Power Generator was spinning to life.
A moment later, lights in the ceiling flickered on, and the Command Control Room flooded with illumination.
“……!!”
Simon’s eyes snapped wide open.
Blood. The entire chamber was a sea of blood. Many of those who had been guarding this place lay scattered across the floor in grotesque states.
‘She brought down all these people alone?’
The security personnel stationed at such a critical facility run by headquarters would be no ordinary rabble.
Simon’s gaze turned. In the center of the Command Control Room, drenched in blood, a woman sat atop a table.
Crimson hair, black scarf, black formal suit and shoes top to bottom.
Senior lecturer of the Kizen Toxicology Department, and current professor there—Francesca Belmonde.
She was staring directly at them both.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
Her tongue flicked like a serpent’s. Heat surged into Simon’s face as an overwhelming rage began to boil inside him.
“I wanted so badly to kill you.”
She fixed her piercing gaze on Simon inside Pier’s helm, her eyes gleaming with hunger.
“Thank you for walking in here of your own accord. ‘Witness.'”
……
“And it’s been a long time.”
Francesca added this, turning her attention to Kazan.
“A pursuer that clung relentlessly for over a year.”
“A tiresome year it’s been.”
Kazan replied flatly.
“Why.”
Both their gazes shifted. Simon’s fists clenched with lethal intensity as he glared at Francesca.
“Why did you commit such madness?”
She blinked as if not comprehending the question at first, then let out a soft laugh.
“I am Ephnel. You are Kizen.”
Her fingertips traced from her own chest to the two of them.
“We kill enemy factions. Isn’t that common sense?”
“That’s not the kind of answer I’m looking for!”
Simon ground out the words through clenched teeth.
“No matter that you belong to Ephnel — you came to Kizen and felt nothing? You saw with your own eyes that ordinary people live here too! And above all——!”
Simon’s mind conjured the image of Francesca standing before a chalkboard, chalk moving with fervent purpose as she lectured her students with passion.
Though Simon had harbored suspicions about her, he had believed that when she stood before that podium teaching her students, the sincerity in her was genuine.
“They were your students!”
Simon’s voice cracked as he cried out.
“You feel no remorse? No reproach? There were students who trusted you wholeheartedly, who followed and respected you!”
“……Hmm.”
She spread her five fingers wide, revealing long nails painted a vivid red like blood.
“The classes were a performance to conceal my identity. Those wicked Satan’s children — I feel nothing looking at them. If you sensed passion or joy or sincerity in my expression, then perhaps it was…….”
The corners of her mouth curved upward in a long smile.
“Simply my own satisfaction at how well I was acting?”
Swoosh!
She ducked her head. A long blade of light traced through the space where her forehead had been, leaving a deep gash across the Command Control Room’s wall.
“Thank you.”
Simon, who had swung the great sword, planted it upright across his chest and braced it with his left hand.
“For absolving me of any hesitation in erasing you.”
Thrum-thrum-thrum-thrum-thrum-thrum-thrum-thrum!
Darkness erupted across Simon’s body. She smiled, amused.
“A final lesson, Simon. The answer to your question is…….”
Her darkness poured forth, forming a cross in empty space.
“The great goddess has——”
Shwish-shwish-shwish-shwish-shwish-shwish-shwish-shwish!
Countless crosses materialized throughout the Command Control Room, engulfing it entirely.
“——commanded it be so.”
“……I don’t know how Ephnel’s system works. And even if this atrocity truly comes from the goddess’s command…….”
Simon gripped the great sword tightly.
“Humans make the choice. Murderer.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————