Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 182
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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 182
The train came to a halt.
Aloken, the archbishop of the Blood Heaven Church, was completely neutralized.
Metin approached the fallen Aloken with labored steps to assess his condition.
‘……A massive explosion from a Sanctified Zombie. The destructive force is incomparable to Exorcism.’
The Hellhound that Aloken had been wearing vanished without a trace, and Aloken himself was vomiting black liquid from his mouth, his rationality completely gone.
Typical symptoms from when a Core is destroyed. You could tell even from the smell. He would never be able to use Dark Magic again.
‘I wanted to capture this bastard myself.’
In the end, it wasn’t Metin the Inquisitor, nor Rete of Efnel, who apprehended Aloken—it was the Necromancer.
Metin shackled Aloken’s wrists, his feelings hopelessly complicated by that fact.
Meanwhile, Rete, who had bundled up the female Inquisitor and thrown her into the Passenger Cabin, approached Simon.
“Well, I have no choice but to acknowledge your abilities this time.”
“…….”
And Simon was sprawled on the train ceiling, gasping for breath.
“You saved all the passengers on this train—wait……?”
Rete trailed off.
Simon’s condition was strange. He set down the Crown with obvious effort, his whole body trembling uncontrollably. His shaking arms then reached for the Crown, trying to place it back on his head.
Thud!
With transcendent willpower, Simon forced the Crown back down. His forehead glistened with beads of cold sweat.
“What’s wrong? Why are you acting like that?”
“Don’t come near me!”
At Simon’s cry, Rete flinched and stopped in her tracks.
She’d never seen him speak so forcefully before.
“Take that far away from here!”
Simon hurled the Crown. Rete caught it instinctively and clutched it to her chest, but her expression was utterly bewildered.
“Why are you doing this? You should at least explain what’s happening!”
“Ugh……! There’s no time to explain—get back! Now!”
She wanted to cast Recovery Magic, or perhaps a Mental Stabilization Blessing, but Simon kept insisting she keep her distance.
She edged backward slowly, then turned and ran with quick, light steps.
‘What’s so special about that Crown?’
Eventually Simon couldn’t hold back any longer. His eyes rolled back, showing only whites as he let out a bestial howl, then bolted toward Rete on all fours like a wild animal.
“……!”
He closed the distance in an instant. As Simon’s arm reached for the Crown, a startled Rete clutched it tighter to her body and spun around.
Crash!
The violent impact sent Simon flying across the train ceiling, tumbling in a heap.
[I knew this would happen.]
Prince, who had somehow placed a hand on his waist, approached with an expressionless face.
“You……!”
As Simon tried to rise again, Prince lunged forward, grabbed him by the hair, and slammed his head against the floor with a bang! Rete cried out in alarm.
“Hey! What are you doing!”
[The Priest needs to sit this one out.]
Whether from the impact or something else, Simon’s body went limp. Then a vacant, idiotic laugh escaped his lips. His golden eyes faded back to their original color.
“……Thanks, Prince.”
[You better not get hurt pushing yourself like that, or I’ll catch hell from Pier!]
“The opponent was just too strong—I couldn’t help it. And grab that Crown again for me, would you? I’m going insane.”
At those words, Prince turned and approached Rete.
She looked wary as she held the Crown, glancing back and forth between Simon and Prince. When Simon nodded to reassure her, she reluctantly held out the Crown.
Prince snatched it and placed it on his own head.
[If anything happens, call me right away. Got it?]
“Yeah, thanks.”
Shhhhhhh.
Prince’s entire form darkened with the Crown, his body dispersing like smoke as his spirit withdrew. All that remained in his place was the body of an ordinary zombie.
“He……vanished?”
“He just returned to his original location.”
Simon groaned and sat up on the spot. Only then did Rete hurry over to him.
“Are you all right? Should I cast a healing spell……?”
“Recovery isn’t necessary—just give me something to restore my vitality.”
Rete cast a Long-Duration Blessing on him. Simon then staggered to his feet. Rete steadied him with an arm, her expression full of concern.
“Please, don’t push yourself. If you’re exhausted, wouldn’t it be better to rest?”
That’s when Simon suddenly shoved Rete away forcefully with a loud smack.
Her eyes widened as she fell backward onto her rear with a thud, her expression flickering between hurt and indignation before she flared up in anger.
“I helped you up, and this is how you repay me! You want to die—!”
“There’s no need for such theatrical dramatics.”
She turned away just as Metin, an Inquisitor from the Heretic Inquisition Bureau, came dragging Aloken’s limp body across the floor.
“I swear by the name of the great Goddess that I will cause no harm to you or to Rete.”
……
But Simon merely touched the mask on his face once before remaining silent, his identity still hidden. Rete’s mind raced as she tried to decide what to do.
Should she deny any connection to Simon? Or should she help him and dispose of this man once and for all?
Then Metin spoke.
“You are a Necromancer, yet you risked your life for the people here. In the end, you saved hundreds of lives. We Inquisitors were pathetic. I’ll admit it—we couldn’t even match one Necromancer.”
He tore the Inquisitor Badge from his chest and threw it away.
“So I will abandon my interrogation of you.”
The strange turn of events left Simon and Rete silent.
“You saved hundreds of lives, so you deserve to ascend to Heavenly Island and receive a great reward. But you are a Necromancer, so you will receive no compensation here. Yet you saved people anyway, knowing all of this. I speak on behalf of all the Heretic Inquisition Bureau to thank you.”
Metin bowed deeply.
“Thank you.”
Hearing the sincerity in his voice, Simon finally withdrew the Darkness he had summoned. Though he remained cautious nonetheless.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
Rete asked, looking at Metin.
“The slump could hit you hard.”
A Priest’s Sacred Flame stems from faith.
But once doubt takes root in that ‘faith’—the foundation of Sacred Flame—it snowballs like a gathering avalanche, until it becomes irreversible.
When faith is damaged by some event and a Priest can no longer use the Sacred Flame as before, they call it a Sacred Slump.
There were countless examples in the Sacred Federation of Priests who had experienced such a slump due to war or unreasonable orders from superiors, and had abandoned their calling. Especially those like Metin, who possessed strong convictions and passion, were more susceptible to falling into such a slump.
“It doesn’t matter. Wrong is wrong.”
Metin said this while looking at Simon.
He hoped Simon would say something, but he remained utterly silent. Simon was truly thorough.
Simon turned and descended into the Passenger Cabin.
* * *
The situation had largely been brought under control.
Rete, an Efnel student with absolute authority, and Metin, the only surviving Inquisitor, joined forces to calm the passengers and dealt with the remaining Blood Heaven Church members.
The captured Blood Heaven Church followers were bound tightly and thrown en masse into the Cargo Hold, while Aloken and the female Inquisitor were sealed with Metin’s own Sealing Magic and hung from a Torture Wheel.
“Stay here and keep watch over these people. Ellen.”
“Of course, I’ll take good care of them!”
Ellen saluted and replied. Rete and Metin re-entered the Engine Room.
“Welcome.”
Simon, having removed his mask and changed back into white robes to resume his position as a novice priest, bowed with hands pressed together.
“Are you trying to kill me? You’re ridiculous.”
Rete laughed and spoke.
“I’m not sure what you mean, Priest.”
“Right after the fight ends, you show up all shameless with a straight face. Where were you this whole time?”
“I was in the Rear Car, cleaning up stragglers.”
Watching the two of them trade lies with equally straight faces, Metin let out a hollow laugh.
“Well then, shall we go in?”
The three entered the Engine Room. It was clean, already cleared of bodies. At the center of the Engine Room stood the Eternal Sacred Magic Circle that could control the train.
“Can you operate it, Rete?”
“Let me see.”
The magic circle was so complex that Simon felt dizzy merely looking at it, but Rete seemed to think it was worth attempting as she began slowly unpacking its structure.
Meanwhile, Metin began to explain.
“We’ve regained control of the train, but the threat from the Blood Heaven Church is not yet over.”
Simon nodded.
“Because we don’t know when reinforcements will be sent from their headquarters.”
“Exactly. They intend to offer all the passengers on this train as sacrificial offerings. Their headquarters will have noticed that contact with Bishop Aloken has been lost, so they will certainly send additional forces.”
“So you’re planning to move the train and escape.”
“That’s correct.”
Metin waved the case he held.
“While Rete checks if she can move the train, let’s examine these Blood Heaven Church documents.”
Inside the Document Case were classified files of the Blood Heaven Church. Simon’s eyes widened.
“Where did you get these?”
“It was in Aloken’s pocket dimension.”
The two of them carefully examined the contents of the documents, searching for anything that might serve as a clue.
As Simon spread out the papers before him, he immediately caught something odd.
“Every directive here bears the signature of a bishop-rank official. But the signature of Aloken himself—the man claiming to be a bishop—doesn’t appear on any of them.”
Every directive bore the hasty signature of a different bishop, not Aloken.
“However, there is one exception.”
Simon pointed to the directive at the far right with his finger.
“The mission request for the Sacred Train theft. Only this one bears Aloken’s signature. Even so, the approval came from a different bishop.”
“I see.”
Aloken struck him as a figurehead—a mere puppet. It was entirely possible that either there were ranks even among bishops, or that Aloken, a newcomer just promoted to the bishop’s position, had recklessly attempted this scheme to build up credentials.
‘Hmm.’
Simon methodically tore through the materials.
-Recruitment of Inquisitor Sarah Crawford.
-Preparation for theft of the No. 1631 Sacred Train under Sarah Crawford’s jurisdiction.
-Assassination of Odel McFerdin, fake lover of Sarah Crawford, and acquisition of biological face.
-…….
Sarah Crawford was that traitor inquisitor Rete had captured. Simon already knew the broad strokes of this part from what he’d been told.
He turned to the next page.
-Sacred Train theft complete. Transport to headquarters.
-Convert captured passengers into Blood Zombies.
-Leak information to the Heretic Inquisition Bureau. All headquarters personnel evacuate.
Simon’s hand froze.
What kind of nonsense was this? Deliberately leak information to the Heretic Inquisition Bureau’s headquarters?
Simon flipped to the next page with sudden intensity.
-Inquisition Chief and war hawk Raite launches surprise attack on the scene.
-Raite secures evidence at headquarters proving the Dark Alliance is behind the Blood Heaven Church. Forms anti-Necromancer hardline public opinion.
-Provokes war between the Sacred Federation and the Dark Alliance.
‘……Wow. This.’
Simon felt his lips go dry.
‘The scale just keeps spiraling insanely upward.’
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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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