Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 566

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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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The Summoning Genius of the Necromancer School — Chapter 566
Two hands thrust out from the wall, clamping down on Simon’s mouth.
“?!”
[Be quiet!]
But they were merely the phantom arms of a ghost, so they passed right through his lips without sealing them shut. The specter’s arm pointed ahead.
[That wall over there! Press yourself against it!]
‘The Time Spirit!’
Simon bolted for the wall and flattened his back against it.
Whoosh—click!
The wall pivoted like a revolving door, and Simon stumbled through into an entirely new space.
He spun around, startled, taking in his surroundings.
[Heh-heh-heh! The Time Tower is riddled with hidden passages and labyrinths!]
The Time Spirit emerged through the wall behind him, laughing with delight.
[I’ve lived here for three hundred years—this passage is mine alone to know!]
“Thank you for your help, truly.”
Simon pressed his ear to the wall, standing motionless as he steadied his racing heartbeat. Thump—thump—thump—the footsteps were growing fainter.
He must have ascended to a different floor. Girdon’s presence had vanished entirely.
[Our next destination is Room 10, if I’m not mistaken? This way!]
“At this point, it’s second nature.”
Room 10 was just the next chamber over.
Having arrived safely at his destination, Simon unfolded the briefcase and activated the Artifact. Hazy gray images blurred and merged, overlapping in succession.
[Ready again, then?]
“Yes.”
Once the Artifact scan concluded, it was time to peer into the past once more.
“Though there is something I wanted to ask.”
[What is it?]
“Will seeing Merin and Serne’s pasts truly help us with this crisis?”
[Heh-heh! Did I not tell you?]
He spread both hands before Simon.
[You already possess everything and are capable of everything. What you need now is merely the motivation that will drive your judgment and your actions once you know the truth.]
“As if…”
Simon smiled, resting his chin in his hand.
“…past and present and future are all one.”
[Quick to understand! You truly are a current student!]
He swept his hand through the empty air.
[Then, let us begin.]

* * *
Merin, having overheard the conversation between the Ivory Tower Master and Serne that day, found it nearly impossible to maintain her sanity afterward.
-I promise. I’ll make you the Ivory Tower Master.
-Merin isn’t skilled enough! I’m the one who’ll become the Ivory Tower Master!
Two words.
Two faces of Serne.
Which was the lie, and which was the truth?
Merin spent her time in silent anguish, wrestling with the question.
And in that time, everything around her shifted steadily in Serne’s favor. The adults especially would summon both of them repeatedly, sitting them side by side to compare their Dark Magic abilities.
The outcome was always clear, and praise and applause cascaded upon Serne in a one-sided flood.
The adults had been searching, surely.
For justification in making Serne the Ivory Tower Master, even if it meant rewriting the Tower’s laws.
For validity in their own actions.
To ease their guilt and shame, they threw back their heads and cheered and clapped for Serne with desperate fervor.
In the roar of acclaim that erupted from every quarter, Merin simply bowed her head and stood in silence, like a condemned soul.
-It’s all right.
Each time, Serne would console her in a quiet voice.
-No matter what the adults say, you’re the real Ivory Tower Master, Merin.
Merin had not yet told Serne what she had witnessed. But at those words, she felt a fury so intense it nearly turned her vision red.
When the spell demonstration finally ended, Merin summoned Serne to a place where only the two of them could meet.
Thud!
“I heard everything, Serne.”
Merin slammed Serne against the wall, her voice harsh with accusation.
“Why—why are you like this, Serne? You’re scaring me.”
Serne shrank back with frightened eyes, and even that gesture filled Merin with such revulsion that anger surged through her.
“A week ago, I came here on an errand and overheard you talking with the Ivory Tower Master.”
“……!”
“I’ll recite it for you exactly. ‘Look at this! I’ve frozen the Ice Sage’s jewel this much! Merin can’t do this!’ That’s what you said.”
Merin spoke coldly, leaning close to Serne’s now-ashen face.
“‘I’m going to become the Ivory Tower Master!'”
“…….”
“That’s what you said, isn’t it? So? Do you have any excuse?”
Serne, who had been cowering, suddenly exhaled deeply—a long, deliberate sigh.
Then, with a face as cold and glassy as ice, she curved her lips into a smile.
“Well, I’ve been caught. Can’t be helped.”
Merin flinched without meaning to.
It was a side of Serne she’d never seen before—not in all their years of hardship and joy together. A mask slipping away.
“That’s right. I do plan to become the Ivory Tower Master.”
Merin had hoped for an excuse, any excuse at all.
A flimsy lie would have done.
More betrayal, more deception—anything but this.
“But you said you’d make me the Master. You promised……!”
“You believed that?”
Serne laughed coldly.
“I thought you’d filter it, consider it skeptically. But your magical ability and your thinking—well, you’re hopeless in every way, really.”
Merin’s voice trembled as she spoke.
“Then why—why did you stay close to me all this time? All the moments we shared together……!”
“Oh, it was fun. Enjoyable.”
Serne laughed thinly.
“But that’s all it was. And if I cultivate a friendship with the Ivory Tower heir, the adults naturally begin to see me at that same level. The real reason I’ve been close to you is because—”
Serne lifted the corners of her mouth higher.
“I wanted you to willingly give me the Master’s seat. It makes such a beautiful picture, doesn’t it…….”
Crack!
Serne’s head snapped to the side.
Merin’s hand was trembling, palm still open, her eyes flooded with blood.
“My.”
Serne laughed, touching her flushed cheek.
“So you do know how to strike when you lose your temper.”
“Serneeeee……!”
Merin lunged toward her.
“What’s going on here!”
Adults drawn by the commotion rushed over. Merin, startled, rolled her eyes and quickly hid her open palm behind her back.
“Actually.”
Serne waved her hand dismissively.
“There’s one more secret I haven’t told you.”
Merin saw it.
As Serne gestured, strange white feathers swirled through the air on the wind.
And then.
“…….”
“…….”
The adults stood frozen in place, stunned, making no move to scold or stop either of them. They simply turned and trudged back the way they’d come.
Each adult had a single white feather embedded in the back of their head.
“Actually, I can control people as I please. It’s my anomaly—I was born with it.”
“You……!”
Merin’s lips trembled as the shocking truth struck her.
“Did you use that power to manipulate everyone in the Tower? To change its laws?”
“Who knows.”
Serne walked with hands clasped behind her back, her cream-colored hair flowing, her smile fox-like.
“I’ll leave that to your imagination.”

* * *
Everything unfolded with impossible swiftness.
The Tower’s laws, maintained for centuries, which the elders taught were solemn and immutable—were reversed as easily as turning over a hand.
And so time passed until today—the day of Serne’s official appointment as heir.
“…….”
Merin stood behind the door, grinding her teeth.
Music drifted through from beyond it, mingled with the aroma of delicacies. The Tower’s nobility, thoroughly drunk on wine, babbled endlessly about the new Ivory Tower Master’s heir who would soon surpass Kizen in the near future.
And at the center of it all stood today’s protagonist.
Serne, dressed in fine clothes, conversed with the adults around her.
‘I can’t let it end like this.’
She intended to make it clear right here and now.
That Serne had been manipulating the people here with her supernatural ability, that they’d all been nothing but her dupes.
She walked forward with long strides and shoved the door open roughly.
“Just a moment, everyone!”
All heads turned toward her. Even the wine-drunk nobles noticed Merin.
“I am Merin, who was originally the Ivory Tower’s heir. I have something to say!”
Then she stepped forward with confident strides and positioned herself before Serne.
“I……!”
That instant.
Merin’s pupils blurred.
After that, she remembered nothing.
When she came to, she found herself being carried in the arms of servants toward the Medical Ward.
She spoke, trembling.
“What happened just……now?”
The servants relayed to Merin exactly what she had said moments before.
—I, Merin, shall cleanly renounce my claim to the position of heir.
White feathers fell from beneath her clothes, scattering across the floor.
Until the very end, Serne had deceived Merin.

* * *
Simon returned to his lodging in the worst of moods.
At least the journey back had been manageable thanks to the passage the Time Spirit had shown him.
Coo—coo—
Merida lay on the bed, sleeping soundly and oblivious to the world. Since this room had two beds, Simon lay down on the opposite one and gazed up at the ceiling.
His mood was restless and tangled. His stomach churned.
For now, he had no desire to pass judgment on either of their pasts or their actions. So he turned his thoughts to the work at hand instead.
Two days remained.
Soon something would unfold in the Tower.
Yet Simon had found no thread to follow beyond the fact that the two of them had clashed. The only real gain was the message sent from Kizen’s side, but interpreting it would require taking it back to headquarters. The sheer effort necessary made his head ache.
Even if he wanted to contact headquarters directly, there was no decisive intelligence for Kizen to warrant direct intervention, and the Barrier drawn around the Time Tower’s exterior made communication with the outside impossible.
And if he were to use the Legion’s power to tear through the Barrier, the Ivory Tower would detect it immediately.
‘Complicated.’
His mind was tangled, but both physically and mentally, exhaustion had accumulated so heavily that he found his eyelids irresistibly heavy.
‘I have two more days, so let me restore my condition today.’
Thus, before dawn properly broke, Simon woke with a start, his body tossing in response to a Curse Merida was casting in her sleep.
‘……!’
Jolted awake, Simon’s mouth fell open in surprise.
The Rabbit Mask worn by the Time Spirit was stuck to the lodging’s ceiling.
‘What?’
Letters were drawn beside the mask.
[A serious problem has come up!]
Simon bolted upright. As if sensing his gaze, the letters changed.
[The future’s shifted. Someone from outside has entered the Tower and interfered in the situation! Time’s moved forward! The Tower’s darkened future isn’t the day after tomorrow anymore!]
Simon’s gaze fixed on the final sentence.
[It’s today! Get out of there right now!]
Knock, knock, knock.
Before he’d even finished reading the message, a knocking came at the door.
“This is the Ivory Tower! Dispatch Student Simon, Dispatch Student Merida—please open the door!”
Simon broke into a cold sweat, glancing to the side. Merida was still asleep, completely oblivious.
‘People sent by the Ivory Tower Master—I absolutely cannot follow them!’
First, he had to get Merida out of here. Simon crept quietly to the bed and cast Sleep on her repeatedly to ensure she wouldn’t wake.
‘Sorry.’
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Simon! Merida! Open the door!”
It had long since passed the level of normal knocking—the guards were pounding with their fists, and some were kicking at the door.
‘Not much time left.’
Simon hurriedly scooped Merida into his arms and rushed toward the window.
In the same breath, he summoned Achemous from his Subspace.
‘Achemous, take Merida to a safe room in the Lodging and come back.’
[Understood, young master.]
Simon pulled a notebook and quill pen from his clothes, scribbled a few words in the continental tongue, and tucked the note deep into Merida’s pocket.
‘I’ll catch up shortly. Go!’
[Yes!]
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The noise outside the door grew louder—rough curses mixed with shouts that they’d break down the door by force.
Achemous flew low along the outer wall and slipped away, and Simon immediately shut the window.
At that same moment.
Crash!
The Lodging door shattered, and guards from the Ivory Tower poured in, staves raised.
“Hm…”
And there.
Simon lay in bed, still half-asleep, rubbing his eyes.
“What’s all this commotion about?”
The guard approached him with a cold expression.
“Why didn’t you open the door?”
“Oh.”
Simon displayed a Sleep magic circle on his palm.
“I suffer from insomnia whenever I’m in an unfamiliar place. I had cast Sleep on myself to rest.”
……
“What’s happened?”
Since the guards had already been briefed that both Simon and Merida used an unusual Sleep curse, they didn’t suspect him further and let it pass.
“Where did your partner go?”
“I don’t know. Probably to the bathroom?”
Another guard opened the bathroom door and shook his head.
“She’s not in the bathroom.”
“Ah, then that must be it.”
Simon continued speaking in his still-drowsy tone.
“Since Merida’s a necromancer who specializes in Sleep curses, she has some odd sleep habits. Sometimes she even throws curses at empty air while sleeping, and she’s prone to sleepwalking.”
……
The guard looked at the scattered state of the room. Sure enough, there were traces of curses striking the walls and floor.
“I was startled at first, but I’ve grown used to it now. She probably wandered outside in her sleep again.”
“Is there any place you might guess she’d be?”
“Probably just somewhere nearby, lost in thought as usual.”
The guard signaled with a gesture of his chin.
The guards behind him rushed out again.
“But what’s this all about?”
Simon asked while scratching his tousled hair.
“The Ivory Tower Master, who requested your dispatch, wishes to speak with both of you directly. You’ll need to come along.”
No matter how much power a Kizen student wielded, during Dispatch Evaluation season they were still dispatch students and had to obey the orders of the one who had requested them.
The guard’s tone made it clear there was no room for refusal.
Simon nodded obediently.
“But wouldn’t it be better if I washed up first? I can’t really see the Master like this…”
“Right now. You’re coming immediately. The Ivory Tower Master came ahead and is waiting.”
His voice was cold and forceful.
Simon had no choice but to rise from the bed.
Pad. Pad.
And so Simon and the guards left the room and walked.
Fortunately, whether due to his cooperative attitude or his status as the Kizen Student Council President, they didn’t drag him along by force or lay hands on him.
“Now that I think about it…”
Simon followed the guards as they walked, suppressing a yawn.
“It was awfully loud upstairs yesterday. I woke up even with Sleep cast on me. What happened?”
The guard answered with an expressionless face.
“It seems the one called Girdon, who was confined in the 70th layer, went berserk.”
“Oh no—did he escape?”
“He attempted to, but we’ve prevented it, so please rest assured.”
“Thank goodness.”
Even as he spoke to the guards, Simon quietly opened his right palm.
‘Ready.’
He’d heard countless warnings about what the Ivory Tower Master was scheming. This was enemy territory, and he’d made his preparations in the heart of it.
‘Corpse—’
Simon’s fist clenched tight.
‘Poison Burst!’
Explosions erupted in succession from all directions, deafening and violent. The guards jumped in alarm, staffs raised, eyes darting about frantically.
“What—!”
“Explosion! Watch out!”
But it was no ordinary blast.
A gaseous toxin, concocted from Kabara Poison, filled the chamber in an instant, turning the air opaque. Through that haze, the ghouls Simon had positioned in advance rushed in, triggering another Corpse Poison Burst.
The entire space vanished beneath a veil of smoke.
“Disperse this fog!”
“Damn it—what is this smoke? The Magic Circles won’t activate properly!”
“Do whatever you can!”
A sharp whistle cut through the chaos.
The mages strained against the haze, staffs sweeping in wide arcs as they summoned Wind Magic.
As the smoke cleared, they finally grasped what was wrong.
Simon was gone.
Click—
One of the guards lunged for a Communication Crystal.
“The Kizen Student Council President has vanished! Repeat: the Kizen Student Council President has vanished!”
“Merida Hu Ikel is also missing! Find them swiftly, and keep it discreet—the other guests must not notice!”
The situation was now spinning into chaos, beyond anyone’s control.

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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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