Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 343
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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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Summoning Genius of the Necromancer Academy — Chapter 343
Clang! Clang! Clang-clang-clang!
Clear metallic rings echoed in rapid succession.
Against the backdrop of the towering Castle Wall, two youths wielded enormous blades across their shoulders, rotating and clashing with a brilliance that resembled the sword dance of master artisans.
Clang!
Simon staggered backward from the impact of receiving his opponent’s weapon.
His two hands gripping the hilt trembled. Whether from burst blisters or the rough finish of the greatsword itself, his palms smarted.
“Splendid.”
His opponent, Juel, offered unguarded praise and raised his longsword into stance.
An expression of ease. And the blade still hadn’t left its scabbard.
‘…Why wield the sword together with the scabbard instead of drawing it? Though it doesn’t feel like he’s holding back either.’
“Watch out, Simon!”
At the shout from behind him, Simon’s head turned.
“Juel is a Demonic Sword user!”
A Demonic Sword.
Cursed blades, in the truest sense. They grant their wielders tremendous power in exchange, it is said, for blood, death, and every manner of misfortune.
In ages past, no knight would deign to handle such weapons, but since the advent of the Necromancer Age, those accustomed to curses have begun to take up such arms.
‘…A Demonic Sword user. There really are all kinds of Necromancers in existence.’
Simon clicked his tongue at Dick’s explanation.
Click.
At that moment, Juel tucked his sword scabbard into his belt and assumed a stance with his hand forward on the hilt.
The instant he twisted his grip on the handle.
Whoooosh!
A massive cutting stroke carved a straight line across the Castle Wall behind. The wall lurched as if it might crumble, chunks of stone tumbling down, dust billowing outward.
Simon, who had arched his back to evade, stared at Juel with wide eyes.
‘…Quickdraw Technique?’
But he hadn’t even seen the blade being drawn.
Was Juel drawing the sword from that enormous scabbard, launching a cutting stroke, and resheathing it all at a speed beyond perception?
If he truly possessed such capability, there would be no need to rely on the Quickdraw—he should simply overwhelm Simon outright.
“Simon! That’s the ability of Juel’s Demonic Sword!”
According to Dick’s explanation, Juel’s technique was indeed a form of the Quickdraw Technique.
Juel clearly performs the sequence of drawing his blade, slashing, and resheathing it, but from another’s perspective, that sequence skips—it becomes something that never happened in this world at all.
It simply appears as though Juel stands motionless, hand merely gripping the hilt.
This is no mere optical illusion or phantom trick.
It approaches a reversal of causality, or something akin to reality manipulation.
The opponent does not see Juel wielding the Demonic Sword. Only Juel swings the blade—yet in this world, the act itself never occurred. Only the ‘result of the swing’ remains.
‘…Absurd power. At least, mercifully—’
Simon steadied his breathing and raised his greatsword.
‘The Darkness consumption seems heavy, and there’s a cooldown between uses.’
True to Simon’s prediction, Juel pulled the scabbard from his belt and charged. Simon gritted his teeth and swung his greatsword to meet him.
Clang!
The two exchanged frenzied strikes and parries. Simon’s jet-black Enchanted greatsword and Juel’s crimson scabbard clashed violently, scattering sparks in all directions.
“Magnificent! Such skill with the blade as well!”
Juel wore an expression of pure delight, but Simon’s attention had shifted elsewhere.
With Juel’s arrival, the friendly soldiers had abandoned their attempt to scale the Castle Wall by ladder. Dick was directing them toward the south gate of the Inner Castle now—a sound call.
“Dick! You head into the Inner Castle too! I’ll handle Juel somehow!”
“Right, I’ve got it! Be careful!”
Dick moved away with the soldiers, adding one more thing.
“By the way, if that Demonic Sword cuts you directly, you’ll be cursed! Don’t let it land even once!”
‘Easy to say…!’
Clang!
Blade and scabbard collided, sparks erupting violently.
Juel’s right foot surged forward with force. Simultaneously, he drove Simon’s greatsword upward with the scabbard, then his hand moved to grip the hilt.
‘!’
The moment Simon recognized the sequence of movements, he released his grip on the greatsword and threw himself clear.
Whoooosh!
A cutting stroke erupted in a straight line, bisecting the space where Simon had stood and continuing toward the Castle Wall.
Its force unspent, the slash traveled along the wall and finally exploded at its crest, launching a massive burst of sparks into the sky.
‘Wow.’
Cold sweat rolled down Simon’s face. A large crack ran through the Castle Wall.
‘If I really put my mind to it, I could tear down the Castle Wall single-handedly, couldn’t I?’
Special Exception 5 or not, if his condition was good, the claim that Simon was Kizen’s strongest fighter wasn’t mere rumor.
Jule trampled the greatsword Simon had dropped and spoke.
“A hasty dodge shows some wit, but what’s your plan now that you’ve abandoned your weapon?”
Jule drew his sword scabbard upright and charged forward in a straight line.
Simon said nothing, opening his right palm. A magic circle was inscribed upon it.
‘Curse!’
Jule, whose gaze had been captured by the magic circle, suddenly spun his body. In that same instant, he batted away Simon’s greatsword—coming at him from behind—with a sharp clang.
‘Unfortunate!’
It had been a convincing feint, but Jule had the sharp instincts of a true swordsman.
The spinning greatsword wheeled through the air, then snapped cleanly back into Simon’s grip.
‘I got the idea from watching Pier’s Greatsword of Ruin.’
Skeleton bone was affixed to the hilt beforehand.
Simon gripped the greatsword again, and Jule came charging forward. The two youths clashed weapons once more and began fighting with fierce intensity, neither giving an inch.
“Haaaah!”
“Grrgh!”
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!
The hand holding the sword trembled uncontrollably. Predicting the opponent’s blade patterns was extraordinarily difficult.
Crack!
For the first time, his waist took a direct hit.
His Barrier Gauge was shredded in one blow, and Simon nearly retched. Even with a sword scabbard defense, a solid strike would shatter his ribs.
As Simon staggered, Jule stepped back and took a quickdraw stance, sword scabbard thrust forward.
‘Evade!’
Simon immediately threw himself sideways.
Whoooosh!
The slash came straight at him from the front as expected. But—
Clang-clang!
Simon instinctively raised his greatsword. A crimson blade flash struck Simon’s blade.
‘Two strikes in succession from a Quickdraw Technique?’
The power of a Demonic Sword that left no visible trace was far too threatening. Visual and auditory information told him nothing of the Demonic Sword’s trajectory. He had to rely on instinct alone to evade.
If his instinct failed to trigger, or if he misjudged even once? In real combat, he’d be cleaved in two on the spot.
“You’ve come from Kizen and found it pleasant to cross blades, but I cannot fathom why one destined for Summoning Magic fights with a sword.”
Jule adjusted his grip on the Demonic Sword and continued.
“Show me your true strength. Unless you summon your vaunted Personal Guard, you have no chance of victory.”
‘So that was the aim all along.’
Jule had come after Simon from the start. Surely it was on Elisa’s orders.
If Jule defeated Simon, so much the better. And if Jule fell, Simon would have exhausted himself with his Personal Guard anyway—burning vast reserves of Shadow Aura and blood—so the loss wouldn’t be total.
‘There’s no reason to dance to Elisa’s tune.’
If he burned more Shadow Aura here, he wouldn’t have enough left to summon Skeleton Mages and conjure flame.
‘Run.’
Decision made.
Simon summoned a skeleton from his Subspace and donned Bone Armor.
Thinking he was finally about to fight properly, Jule stood ready with a satisfied smile. But—
Whoosh!
Simon simply hurled his greatsword away. While Jule blocked it, he spun on his heel and bolted.
“No!”
Jule’s face twisted with bewilderment.
“How—how can you show your back during a duel! Stop!”
Simon ignored him lightly and sprinted toward the Castle Wall. Jule gave chase, scrambling after him.
‘Return!’
He retrieved the greatsword he’d thrown at Jule moments before, then summoned Shadow Aura to his feet and scaled the Castle Wall.
Thud!
Jule too clambered up the Castle Wall in pursuit.
“I told you to stop! For a swordsman to turn tail and flee—have you no shame?”
‘My apologies, but I’m a Necromancer.’
Just then, the soldiers atop the Castle Wall spotted the two of them.
“Look, look! It’s the Commander!”
“That one-eyed boy next to him is an enemy! Fire!”
The archers unleashed a barrage of arrows at Jule alone.
Yet Jule moved his sword scabbard, deflecting every volley of arrows, and finally caught up with Simon.
‘You’re seriously following me all the way up here?’
Simon clambered up onto the Castle Wall, and Jule, scrambling after him, swung his sword scabbard as he ran.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The weapons of the two boys racing along the wall clashed in rapid succession.
“Hup!”
Jule paused his attack and grabbed the hilt of his Demonic Sword, while Simon quickly planted his Greatsword in front of him.
Crash!
Jule’s slash struck Simon’s Greatsword head-on.
The Greatsword shattered under the impact, and the force sent Simon’s body flying beyond the Castle Wall.
“Whish!”
“Commander!”
Even as he fell, Simon quickly stretched out his fingers.
A teal Cloud shot forth like a rope, anchoring itself to the floor of the Castle Wall. The Cloud grew taut, yanking Simon’s body back toward the wall.
“Out of my way!”
Jule pushed through the soldiers and charged forward. Weapons hurled from all sides he simply smashed with his scabbard before closing the distance to Simon, who had just landed.
‘Relentless.’
Simon extended his index finger sharply.
A curse of vertigo shot out like lightning, but Jule raised his sword scabbard in front of him and blocked it effortlessly.
The moment the curse touched the scabbard, it shattered and vanished as though a cancellation had activated.
“The Demonic Sword is king of all curses! Such attacks are useless against me!”
Jule’s charge was like that of a berserker incarnate.
Wounds opened across his body from attacks coming from every direction, and his Barrier Gauge depleted, yet he seemed utterly unconcerned.
Unlike his plain, exotic appearance, his obsession with combat bore the mark of a true Demonic Sword wielder.
“Hah!”
In the end, Simon descended from the Castle Wall. Now came the critical City District—the heart of the Inner Castle that could only be reached after breaching the fortifications.
‘Even so, Elisa wouldn’t have ordered me to chase him this far……!’
Whoosh!
Yet Jule too descended from the Castle Wall. Simon let out a hollow laugh.
‘If he’s chasing me this far, I have no choice.’
Simon tore down the sloping stairs of the City District, with Jule in pursuit.
Crash!
The moment Jule touched the hilt of his scabbard, cracks spider-webbed through the residences above, and with a thunderous roar the structures crumbled, sending bricks and rubble cascading down to block Simon’s path.
Boom-boom-boom!
Simon darted between the fragments, his figure soon swallowed by a thick cloud of dust.
“Hup!”
Jule swept his scabbard through the dust, clearing his vision—and there on the ground lay Simon, face-down.
“I’ve got you!”
Jule surged forward instantly, but a flash of emerald blade suddenly erupted from the front, striking his scabbard away.
“!”
Jule flinched, stepping back one pace.
“From here on out.”
From within the settling dust, a squadron of Skeleton Swordsmen in teal cloaks materialized, surrounding Jule.
“I’m going all out.”
Simon spoke as he placed the Emerald Crown upon his head.
Jule finally smiled, grasping the hilt of his Demonic Sword.
“Special Exception One’s true strength. I’ll learn from you!”
“Before you do—”
Simon opened his palm, and twenty-three of his Personal Guard surged forward in a flash of light.
“I’ll end this in one stroke.”
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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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