Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 539

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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 539
“…….”
Before the empty altar of Simon’s group, Hector stood speechless.
His groupmates caught up moments later.
“Hector! Did you find it?”
“What do you mean, it’s not here!”
Watching Hector’s expression darken like a gathering storm, his groupmates quickly assessed the situation and glanced around anxiously.
“Can they really get away with that? If they move the red artifact themselves, isn’t that a rule violation?”
“…….”
Hector fell silent, lost in thought.
That was exactly right. They could seize and move another group’s red artifact, but they couldn’t touch their own at the altar.
Which meant.
“Those bastards……!”
Hector’s eyes flared with raw fury.

* * *
One hour earlier.
The students had been given a thirty-minute break—time for each group to huddle together, review the detailed rules, and formulate their strategy.
Group 4, set to compete in the first match, was doing the same.
“Man, the rivalry’s intense.”
A male student from Group 4 shrugged with a wry grin. This was right after Pier from Group 1 had stopped by to deliver Hector’s message.
The message had been crystal clear.
—Don’t interfere.
Hector’s Group 1 had made it plain they would crush Simon’s Group 10.
“But honestly, this isn’t a bad situation for us, is it?”
A female student from Group 4 spoke up, crossing her legs.
“Worst case would’ve been if Group 1 and Group 10 both came after us and Group 13. But now the big fish are fighting each other—we just stay out of their way and collect artifacts. Easy.”
“Right. At least we avoid last place, and we won’t catch the department’s attention.”
“…….”
The group’s consensus was forming, but Group 4’s leader stood with arms crossed, eyes shut in contemplation.
“Leader, you look like something’s bothering you.”
The male student who’d spoken first narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t tell me you’re actually gunning for first place?”
“…….”
The leader didn’t deny it. He lifted his head.
“What’s wrong with Kizen aiming for first?”
“W-well, it’s not wrong exactly! But let’s be realistic. We got absurdly unlucky—we’re matched against the group with the Student Council President and the Department Representative! How are we supposed to beat them?”
“…….”
Group 4’s leader had no easy answer either.
But he hated the idea of conceding defeat before the match even began, of resigning himself to fighting for second or third place.
—In this school, anyone can climb higher.
He’d watched up close as a classmate started from 900th place in 1st year entrance exams and reached the top by 2nd year—a miracle he’d witnessed firsthand.
It had inspired him. He’d sworn to himself he’d be different by 2nd year.
And now, at the very first major practical assessment, he was supposed to abandon that oath just because the matchups were unlucky?
“Hello, hello~”
That was when it happened.
A girl with orange hair suddenly approached them.
The female student from Group 4 recognized her and waved cheerfully.
“Oh, Eshu! Hi~ What brings you here?”
“Ah, her.”
The male student from Group 4 stiffened with caution.
“She’s from Simon’s Group 10.”
At that, the other Group 4 members immediately shifted into defensive mode.
Regardless, Eshu smoothed out her skirt primly, crouched down in the middle of the group, and flashed a bright, innocent smile.
“What’s this about?”
The Group 4 leader’s mood soured, and he spoke coldly.
“Oh, Hector’s group came by earlier~ I was just wondering if you could tell me what he said!”
“Dream on.”
She really does ask things outright.
The leader turned away sharply with his answer, and Eshu let out a disappointed whine—then, just as quickly, her lips curled into a sly smile.
“Want me to guess? Can I? We’re going to take down Simon’s group, so you lot stay out of it. Something along those lines, yeah?”
Group 4’s members winced, and Eshu continued with a soft chuckle.
“Actually, I came here to relay a message from our ‘Student Council President’……!”
“That’s enough!”
Group 4 Leader barked sharply. The other members flinched.
“Are only you two taking the exam? Huh? You lot grab a little power at school and suddenly treat us like small-timers, just *notifying* us? It pisses me off! Damn it! Aren’t we Kizen too?”
“L-Leader!”
“Why are you suddenly blowing up like this?”
His teammates tried to rein him in. Eshu’s eyes widened.
“I think there’s a misunderstanding. We didn’t come to *notify* you — we came to make a *proposal*.”
“……A proposal?”
“Just hear me out first, then get angry or whatever. I’ll relay exactly what the Student Council President said, word for word.”
She clapped her palms together sharply.
“Starting now, I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”
Simon’s proposal was nothing short of revolutionary.
The leader, having heard everything, muttered in a dumbfounded voice.
“……You’re just giving us your group’s Red Artifact?”
Eshu nodded eagerly.
“Eshu, look me straight in the eye and say it plainly.”
A female student from Group 4 leaned forward intently.
“No strings attached?”
“Yep!”
“Just free?”
“Mm-hmm!”
“Why?”
“I didn’t hear a reason either. I just came to deliver the President’s message.”
……
……
Group 4 Leader rubbed his eyes thoughtfully.
‘Simon knows Hector is coming. Rather than let his top rival take the artifact, he’s planning to give it to us and hit Hector with a surprise?’
Then Eshu spoke again.
“Oh, and he also said this — our side’s altar will be empty, so if you start running as soon as the game begins, you can grab the Red Artifact before Hector does.”
‘……Just as I thought.’
In this exam, the value of a 15-point Red Artifact spoke for itself.
With two Red Artifacts in hand, second place was guaranteed at minimum, and the odds of first place shot up dramatically.
Which meant Simon’s side’s motive was crystal clear.
To use a third party to prevent 15 points from ending up in Hector’s hands.
For Group 4, it was an irresistibly sweet offer.
“Well, I’ve said what I came to say, so I’ll be going~”
The moment Eshu left, Group 4’s members huddled together and began discussing.
“It’s a trap!”
A male student from Group 4 said.
“They’re using the Red Artifact as bait to lure us, then ambush us to thin out our ghoul count!”
“Or maybe they’re actually working with Hector’s group?”
A female student beside him proposed a new theory.
“What if they’re all saying this, but actually they’re in cahoots and planning to each take down one group and split the Red Artifacts?”
“……No.”
The sleepy-eyed male student who’d been quiet the whole meeting yawned and spoke.
“That won’t happen.”
Group 4 Leader turned to look at him.
“Come to think of it, you’re from A-Class, aren’t you? What are Hector and Simon like?”
“……Hector Moor will definitely come after Simon. No question about it. And.”
He smacked his lips.
“Simon Polentia isn’t the kind of guy who’d lie.”
……
Decision made.
The leader stood up.
“I’ll head toward Group 10 with just one ghoul. If something feels off, I’ll pull back immediately.”
Even if this was a trap and he lost one or two ghouls, it wouldn’t be a bad deal.

* * *
And now.
“Huff! Huff!”
Group 4 Leader was charging through the darkness, gasping for breath. Running alongside him, the Ghoul’s body held Group 10’s red artifact.
‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’
It was exactly as Simon had said.
The Altar stood empty, and before it lay signs of battle—a clash between Hector’s faction and Simon’s, it seemed.
Group 4 Leader had made his Ghoul swallow the red artifact and was now making his way back to base.
‘I—we Group 4—’
His lips trembled with exhilaration.
‘First place, surpassing both Simon and Hector!’
As he ran hard, Group 4’s Altar finally came into view ahead.
He wanted to share this good news with his teammates at once. Just as he kicked off from the dark ground and surged forward with even greater speed—
Screech!
A razor-sharp claw tore through the darkness and grazed his Ghoul. Group 4 Leader gasped in shock and jerked the creature backward.
“Hold it right there! Now, now—a routine inspection, if you please.”
At the sudden voice, Group 4 Leader’s head snapped up. Three pairs of eyes gleamed from within the darkness.
“Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?”
-Growl!
At the same moment, Ghouls emerged, slouching from the shadows.
Nine Ghouls in total.
Completely surrounded.
“Your Ghoul looks rather well-fed, doesn’t it?”
Thud.
A male student who’d dropped down from a tree branch raised his index finger with a smirk.
“Would it be all right if we split open its belly and saw what’s inside?”
‘…Those Group 13 bastards! They caught the scent, as expected!’
Group 4 Leader quickly pulled two additional Ghouls from his Subspace.
Even so, it was three versus nine. The numerical disadvantage was stark.
“Come now, smash them all to pieces!”
The nine Ghouls controlled by Group 13 surged forward in a torrent.
“There! I found him!”
“Protect the leader!”
But this time, voices came from ahead.
Group 4’s members had arrived to reinforce him. Six Ghouls were charging at full speed.
“Oh, how quick! But no matter—kill them all!”
Golden Lines traced across several Ghouls, and Funeral Rite Application flared into being. A creature lunged forward, scattering black energy like a billowing cloak.
“No chance!”
Group 4 Leader himself applied Funeral Rite Application to his own Ghoul and clashed head-on.
It was all-out war from the start.

* * *
Simon had not approached Group 4 alone from the beginning.
While Eshu spoke with Group 4, he had sent Toto to Group 13, who were planning their strategy behind the restroom.
-You’re going to give Group 4 your red artifact?
He proposed giving the red artifact to Group 4.
And deliberately leaked that information to Group 13.
Group 13’s members debated whether it might be a trap, but the information was far too valuable for them to dismiss.
They too had been frustrated by their poor matchups and had resigned themselves to simply avoiding last place—but suddenly, an unexpected opening had appeared.
If Simon’s words were true, then ‘4’ would take first place.
And from Group 13’s perspective, Group 4 was quite beatable.
Of course, they had to consider Group 10’s intentions, and there was a chance it was a trap.
-I’d rather die than watch Group 4 take first place like this.
A game where they’d otherwise face a tedious fight for third or fourth—if there was even a slim chance of taking first, they were willing to bet on it.
So when the exam began, Group 13 Leader brought three team members and lay in wait at a choke point between Group 10 and Group 4, both to hunt for the artifact and to intercept.
And just as Simon’s intelligence had predicted, Group 4 Leader was passing through alone.
Soon, a bitter struggle for first place between two groups had begun.
‘Hehe! Our Student Council President sure has a sharp mind, doesn’t he?’
Eshu smirked.
His grasp of Hector’s character. And the circumstances facing all the other groups. Because he understood all of it, he could have conceived such a strategy.
While everyone fought fiercely, Eshu’s target was Group 13’s main base.
“Who, who are you?”
Group 13 had gone after Group 4, leaving only a single member to guard the Altar.
Seeing him flinch in alarm, Eshu waved cheerfully.
“Hello~ I’m a burglar!”
Eshu had established her own criteria.
If there were two or more defenders, she’d skip it.
If the defenders ranked A to B Group, she’d skip it.
But fortunately, only a single D Group student was guarding the place.
Against those odds, she could fight and win.
“You’re from Group 10…!”
He pointed at Eshu, his expression twisted with fury.
“You deceived us!”
“What? No, I really didn’t trick you at all.”
Eshu tilted her head, confused.
“We only provided you with information about Group 4, right? There was no coercion, no demands. Whether you used that information or ignored it was entirely your decision.”
She thrust her arms forward with a sharp gesture.
“So therefore, that Red Artifact of yours—we’re taking it!”
Behind Eshu’s back, a Ghoul painted over in orange began to run. For some reason, it also had lipstick smeared across its lips.
“No sense of style whatsoever!”
The Group 13 student was controlling three Ghouls.
A three-to-one situation. Eshu’s lipstick-wearing Ghoul barely lasted before it was pinned to the ground and subdued.
“What, seriously? Acting all confident and you only brought one?”
While the Group 13 student taunted Eshu gleefully, the mouth of the pinned Ghoul opened wide.
‘Activate!’
A change occurred in her Ghoul’s Summoning Magic Circle.
The computational values of the formulas and geometries that formed an ecosystem shifted, and a new magic circle inscribed beside it blazed to life.
Eshu rapidly reverse-calculated the structure and assembled it anew. The components were instantly reconfigured into a form where a Curse would activate.
—Examinees may only use techniques applicable to Ghouls.
A Curse Doll, created solely from her Ghoul’s Summoning Magic Circle without violating this rule, slipped directly into the mouths of the opponent’s Ghouls.
“Funeral Rite Application for Ghouls. I don’t have a high success rate in actual battle myself.”
She raised both arms like a pianist.
“But I’m quite skilled at failing—by doing the opposite!”
The Curse Doll’s magic successfully penetrated deep into the opponent’s Summoning Magic Circle. Eshu traced the Golden Line in reverse at once.
Splash!
The Group 13 student’s Ghouls shrieked in agony and began vomiting Shadow Aura from their mouths.
“What, what is this? What did you do?”
Eshu laughed aloud, pressing her fingertip against her tongue.
“Everyone thinks to cast Funeral Magic on their own Ghoul, but nobody thinks to cast it on the opponent’s.”
Boom!
Crash!
All three Ghouls the Group 13 student possessed collapsed.
Eshu retrieved a fresh Ghoul from her Subspace and casually had it take the opponent’s Red Artifact.
The Group 13 student could only stand there helplessly, watching it happen.
“Youuuu!”
“Bye! Don’t hate me too much—it’s just an exam, after all!”
She laughed softly and fled with her Ghoul in tow.
‘I think I joined a fun group!’
With this, Group 10 had acquired two Artifacts and taken a decisive step toward victory.
Retaliation from Group 13 was now practically out of reach, and they had no choice but to stake everything on their next showdown against Group 4, who possessed two Artifacts.
The only remaining problem was Hector from Group 1, who had taken a hit from Simon—though he would surely not withdraw so easily.
‘Hehe, I wonder how Hector will come back?’

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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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