Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 178

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Necromancer School’s Summoning Genius Episode 178
Simon and Lette finished clearing the standard passenger car and moved into the next carriage.
The Holy Train was a configuration of various specialized cars linked together. After the first, second, and third-class compartments with beds came standard passenger cars and cargo holds, then the pattern repeated with bedded compartments again.
The fierce battle was raging in second class. The Blood Heaven Cult followers had erected beds to form barricades, secured space behind them, and were unleashing a barrage of long-range attacks.
Simon and Lette maintained a Protection Barrier to block the assault, but it was consuming a considerable amount of mental power.
“Honestly, this is getting tedious.”
Lette clicked her tongue. She wanted nothing more than to sweep them all away with a broad physical assault at once, but the hostages further back weighed on her mind.
The hostages all had their eyes and mouths covered, their hands and feet bound, and each wore a Red Necklace around their neck. Lette turned to Simon and spoke.
“Any bright ideas?”
…….
Simon stood silent for a moment, then turned his back.
“Just hold on for five minutes.”
“Five minutes? I’ll finish this in two!”
Simon turned away and ducked into the rear carriage. After confirming it was empty, he undressed and flipped his clothes inside out.
Flutter!
The garment transformed into a coat. As Simon coated the outer surface with Dark Element at his fingertips, it instantly dyed black.
He fastened every button of the coat up to his collar, pulled the hood down low, and finally retrieved a mask he’d bought from the black market.
‘I knew something like this would happen.’
With his disguise complete, Simon looked up. A ceiling hatch above the compartment was visible for climbing through.
He jumped up, grasped the emergency handle hanging from the ceiling with both hands, then pushed the hatch open hard with his legs.
Click!
It opened more easily than expected. Simon climbed onto the train roof, buffeted by fierce wind.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
The sound of the train’s motion was louder out here.
‘The train’s speed has definitely slowed.’
Simon steadied himself and surveyed his surroundings.
Worn rails and trees grown wild and haphazard. This was certainly no ordinary path. It seemed the train’s direction had shifted partway through.
‘Time to move.’
Simon steeled himself and ran. He jumped, vaulting onto the roof of the next carriage.
“This should be about right.”
Below, he could hear Lette and the cult followers fighting. Simon drew a spell circle on the train roof, then retrieved a Hydrochloric Acid Potion from his pocket dimension and placed it at the center.
‘Poison Magic—it’s been so long. Good to see you again.’
Simon activated the spell circle.
Crack!
The potion bottle shattered, its contents flowing into the spell circle. The circle immediately shifted to the same sickly green as the potion.
Hisssssss!
The spell circle’s effect ignited, and the ceiling dissolved in moments. A gaping hole opened up, revealing the cult followers below. Some spotted Simon, but it was already too late.
Simon dove through the gap.
Crash!
Simon trampled through the followers as he landed in their midst.
While everyone reeled from the sudden appearance of the black-cloaked figure, Simon planted his left foot.
‘Gate Opening!’
Overlord blades erupted simultaneously from six directions, sweeping through the followers. A dozen or more bodies flew in all directions, some crashing through windows, others slamming against walls.
“Urgh!”
“Kill the masked one first!”
There were still plenty of enemies.
The followers unleashed a volley of Blood Arrows from their palms, but the Overlord blades coiled protectively around Simon’s body like serpents, shielding him.
“Half of you take the woman, half handle this bastard!”
“Keep shooting! Just drown him in numbers!”
At that moment, in the cracks between the Overlord blades, Simon’s masked eyes flashed.
“Numbers?”
Simon grasped an invisible lever and pulled. A mass of skeletons poured from his pocket dimension.
Simon, who had trained consistently since Lesthill, could now control six Summoned Skeletons simultaneously. Added to that were ten Legion Skeletons with no numerical limit. A total of sixteen skeletal warriors erupted onto the scene, carving through the followers.
‘Forward.’
Simon began issuing commands. He split the skeletons into two squads to simultaneously assault enemies from the front and rear, while a smaller contingent secured the hostages and moved them to the safety of the rear carriage.
‘Spear formation to the front.’
The skeletons advanced with spears and shields locked, while the Overlord covered ranged attacks.
Simon turned his head, having reversed the tide in a heartbeat. Several followers, sensing defeat, were attempting to retreat toward the front carriage.
‘If I let them go, they’ll call for reinforcements.’
Simon extended his right arm. Several skeletons transformed into Bone Armor and shot forward like arrows.
Click! Click!
Then the bones began to fasten onto the bodies of the two cultists who had been the first to flee toward the rear car. Hearing the metallic clicks and seeing bones clinging to their flesh, they screamed in horror.
“What—what is this! Gahhh!”
Even a skull helmet fashioned from bone was fitted over their heads. Soon the two cultists, now fully encased in Bone Armor, turned their backs to the others.
“Why aren’t you moving faster—ack!”
The two armored cultists blocked the narrow passageway, and they began attacking the other cultists who came fleeing.
“You’re betraying us!”
“I—I didn’t do this! My body won’t listen to me!”
Simon’s right hand danced as if puppeteering them. He used these two to seal off the narrow corridor while the remaining skeletons suppressed the cultists from behind.
Nearly thirty people were completely neutralized in less than ten minutes.
Without question, a perfect victory. As Simon, dressed in his black coat, threw his clenched fist into the air, the undead roared with the cry of the departed in triumph.
Simon turned, smiling, to look back.
“All right, let’s move to the next car. Lette—”
Simon caught himself mid-sentence. Lette’s face was even paler than usual, and she was trembling with her arms wrapped around herself. Simon quickly removed his mask and pulled it up over his head as he spoke.
“Are—are you all right? Were you badly frightened?”
She carried a trauma from witnessing skeletons—particularly villagers—being created before her eyes, something only a necromancer could do.
“I’m sorry. I’ll call them back—”
Footsteps.
She walked forward with a set expression. Then she moved through the skeletons that crowded around them and came to Simon’s side.
“Don’t underestimate me.”
“…Lette.”
“You said it yourself back then.”
She continued walking past Simon as she spoke.
“That you would work to change my perception.”
“…Huh? Right, yes.”
“Let’s go.”
Simon exhaled in relief and put his mask back on.
They moved into the next car. Since the strength of the Blood Heaven Cult had been concentrated in the first-class section, the third-class car was empty and pristine, and they moved directly into the next one.
“Good heavens.”
This cabin was drenched in blood.
There were slain passengers and priests, and also fallen members of the Blood Heaven Cult. Their bodies bore massive bite wounds.
“A third faction? Or perhaps something that kills indiscriminately, friend and foe alike.”
“The blood trail continues into the next car.”
Simon gestured forward with his finger.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
The two moved cautiously, passing through the narrow corridor that connected the cars and entering the next one.
And they saw it.
-Krrrrgh! Krrrrgh-krrrrgh.
A monster so massive its head nearly brushed the ceiling appeared before them—raw muscle without skin, with a canine snout jutting from its face.
A priest dressed man hung limply in its foreleg, his breath already spent. The creature hurled the priest against the wall, then fixed its glistening eyes on the two of them.
‘A variant of the Chimera. This will be no simple matter.’
Simon’s expression turned grave.
“I’ve heard rumors of it. The Blood Heaven Cult’s secret weapon—a mangled beast stitched from the flesh and sinew of man and monster alike. We call it a Hellhound.”
-Krrrrgh-krrrrgh!
The Hellhound began to advance. Simon issued an Absolute Command.
Shink! Shink!
A unit of skeletons charged forward, armed with weapons.
In response, the Hellhound raised its foreleg. A massive axe-blade of bone erupted from its paw, and it swung it in a wide horizontal arc.
Crash!
Three skeletons shattered and scattered to pieces in a single blow. Watching bones scatter through the air, Simon thrust his right arm out roughly.
<Simon Original – Bone Nail>
The bones flying through the air hung suspended for a moment, then rocketed forward and lodged themselves in the Hellhound’s body.
But most of the bones failed to pierce the muscle and bounced off harmlessly. The Hellhound showed no sign of even annoyance.
-Krrrrgh-krrrrgh!
As the Hellhound immediately swung its foreleg in counterattack, Lette stepped forward and deployed a Sacred Flame barrier.
Boom!
Lette’s once-solid barrier cracked and splintered under the single blow.
Both of them abandoned defense and retreated. The barrier shattered completely under the second strike.
“Trivial measures won’t work! We need to cut off its breath once and for all!”
“Then show me something certain, will you?”
She swept her hands through the air with dazzling grace, unfurling a fresh spell circle in the void. From the circle rose a thick, drill-shaped spear wreathed in silver light.

Whirrrrrrring!
The silver spear began to spin.
Lette traced the Sign of the Cross and clenched her fists tight. Blessing poured directly onto the sacred spear, manifesting as ribbons of many colors that fluttered and wound around the drill’s shaft.
“Die!”
With a thunderous roar, the sacred spear shot forth and drove squarely into the Hellhound’s chest.
The Hellhound’s body reeled back with a great crash and slammed against the wall.
—Rrrgh-ragh!
Yet even with the spear buried in its chest where a heart should be, it rose to its feet without so much as a tremor. It was no ordinary creature.
“Ah, I pushed too hard.”
Lette gasped for breath as she spoke. Sacred Flame could unfold its spell circle quickly if one willed it, but the drain on one’s Mental Power was considerable.
“Stand back, Lette. I’ll handle this.”
“……What are you planning?”
“You fight a monster with a monster.”
Simon spoke with complete confidence as he tore open a pocket dimension, drawing out a single ordinary zombie and setting it on the floor. Then he raised the Grey Ring on his left hand to his lips and spoke.
“Prince, get ready.”
“?”
Lette’s eyes narrowed at the sight of him suddenly addressing a ring.
“And bring the Crown over here.”
Simon finished the conversation and pressed the ring against the zombie’s body. Of course, nothing happened.
“What in blazes are you doing? Now’s not the time for jokes!”
“It’s not a joke—that’s just how the summoning works!”
“Don’t feed me that! You think I don’t know Dark Magic?”
—Ragh! Rrrgh-ragh!
The Hellhound charged forward savagely, raking with its front claws.
“Ugh!”
Lette threw herself in front of Simon again, spreading both hands wide.
Several layers of Protection Barrier unfurled in the air, but the Hellhound shattered them one by one with each blow.
Lette wove barrier after barrier; the Hellhound broke through again and again.
“Trusting you was my mistake! Get out of here now!”
Despite Lette’s screams, Simon remained motionless, the ring still pressed to the zombie’s body.
One Hellhound was already more than enough to kill them both, but matters grew worse when a commotion erupted from the forward cabin and a horde of Blood Zombies came shambling down the aisle.
“Lette.”
“What?!”
“That’s enough. Fall back now.”
Crash!
Her barriers had already shattered completely. Lette dodged to the side as the Hellhound’s claws came screaming toward Simon.
Rrrrrrrrrumble!
Black lightning fell from the ceiling, striking the zombie’s body.
A spectral axe carved a vicious arc through the air, but it halted with a sharp click in the hands wreathed in black lightning.
[Ugh, waking me up just when I was having a nice rest.]
Lette’s eyes went wide.
The zombie’s frame shuddered and contracted. In its place stood a boy in a golden Crown and aristocratic clothes, his tired eyes blinking open as he rose to his feet.
But that wasn’t what had shocked Lette.
‘……I, I can barely breathe. I’ve never sensed an Undead like this.’
Prince let out a long yawn and turned to face Simon.
[So I just beat down that mutt first, right?]

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