Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 598
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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 School – Chapter 598
“Are you ready, everyone?”
Benya approached the skull of Manus, which sat upon a pedestal, as she spoke.
There was something resolute in the way she gathered her hair as she walked, and Simon answered with an equally tense expression.
“Yes.”
Benya swept her arms through the air, layering magic circles linked to Manus one after another into the empty space, then activated something with her fingertips.
But then.
‘?’
Nothing happened.
Simon, who had been waiting in a state of nervous anticipation, was about to speak when he sensed something was wrong.
A deep, rumbling growl erupted.
The air trembled and the floor began to vibrate. Within the hollow eye sockets of Manus’s pure white skull, a ghastly light suddenly blazed.
Extraordinarily complex magic circles activated from within the skull itself. Various geometric forms shifted into alignment, their segments interlocking while circuit pathways extended outward from the center with meticulous precision.
Now, the switch of the former Swordmaster Manus was being flipped on.
A piercing shriek—!
The blazing light in its eyes grew brighter and brighter. Then the skull’s jaw wrenched open with a horrible crack.
-!@&!^*$@%&!!!
A violent, bestial wail tore forth. Simon hastily deployed the Dark Shield. The dark element, sharp as a blade’s edge, carved gashes across the basement walls.
“Urgh! I only activated it, and this is—!”
[Kekekeke! How fascinating!]
Pier’s fragment, which had attached itself to Simon’s school uniform at some point, spoke.
[So they constructed this using only the lingering remnants of consciousness that remained. Your human dark magic is quite advanced indeed.]
‘But, but the output seems somehow wrong!’
[That’s inevitable.]
Pier’s voice became grave.
[It is no longer the Swordmaster we saw in the Deathland. It is merely—]
The skull of Manus, thrashing about, suddenly lifted into the air. Black sparks erupted around it, and a fierce windstorm swept through the surroundings.
[A rampaging slaughter weapon, nothing more.]
The high-pitched screech intensified.
It was too dangerous. Simon cried out urgently.
“Senior Benya! The basement can’t withstand this any longer!”
“I know!”
She forcibly shut down the power to the summoning magic circle. The light blazing in Manus’s eye sockets gradually dimmed, and the skull descended back onto its pedestal.
Once the rampage had ended, both Simon and Benya collapsed where they stood, breathing heavily.
“…As you can see, this is the situation.”
Benya spoke.
“We succeeded in forcibly pulling a corpse—one that was losing its identity and consciousness as a natural undead and decaying to dust—up into a summoned undead. But.”
She regarded Manus’s skull with a complicated expression.
“The moment we infuse dark energy to set it in motion, this undead consumes all of its resources in a rampage. Eventually, it will even burn through the summoning magic circle that maintains it.”
“…”
“If it destroys itself that way, there’s no repairing it a second time.”
Simon’s expression hardened.
As it stood, the summoned creature was uncontrollable and dangerous. Just as Pier had said, it was little more than a weapon of slaughter devoid of will.
‘But it’s certainly powerful material too.’
An Ancient Undead that had matched Prince, or perhaps surpassed him.
Seeing that immense output now, Simon felt a stirring of interest as a necromancer.
“But what do you intend to use it for?”
“Ah, well…”
Simon answered with a rueful smile.
“I plan to use it to create Durahan’s head.”
“????”
Benya’s jaw fell open in blank astonishment.
* * *
“You’re going to create a Durahan by attaching Manus’s head to the Guardian’s body?”
“Yes, senior!”
“…Think it through again, will you?”
Benya, having carefully verified the seals on the basement, continued speaking as she climbed the stairs.
“There are many ways to subjugate a Durahan. I couldn’t help with the Guardian itself—extraction is forbidden—but I can acquire an A+ ranked Ogrelord or Abaddon corpse through my connections.”
“I appreciate the offer, senior.”
Simon followed up the stairs with a wry smile.
“If my research fails, I’ll ask for your help then.”
“……Ha ha.”
Benya’s lips curved upward as if to say she couldn’t stop him.
“I knew from the start—when you made undead from the bones of a yellow river whale’s offspring, when you created exploding ghouls.”
She tapped Simon’s shoulder lightly.
“You’re the person who best embodies the spirit of the ‘Aberrant.'”
“That’s quite an honor, then.”
“Good! I’ll supply the materials you need to conquer your eccentric Durahan!”
“Ah, if you would do that, I’m grateful!”
Simon bowed to her and opened the door leading to the club room.
“Oh, you’ve come out!”
“Student Council President!”
The moment the door opened, a cluster of first-year students appeared huddled together like chicks.
“Student Council President! Benya!”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Are you alright?”
Simon smiled gently.
“Sorry for startling you all. The floor shook suddenly, but it was nothing to worry about.”
Benya also opened her mouth in a broad grin.
“Our little ones! You were worried about us?”
For a moment, the atmosphere turned warm. Fitzgerald, already overshadowed by the first-years’ attention, stood off to the side swallowing his tears and scribbling in a book.
“Simon. But what’s underneath here?”
Sasha asked.
Since there was nothing to hide, Simon answered plainly.
“Materials for the Durahan I’ll use in this midterm exam.”
Whooaaa!
Exclamations erupted from all corners.
“Durahan! The headless knight, right? I know about them!”
“Do we make Durahans when we become second-years too?”
“I want to make one!”
“First fix your skeleton doing leg dances.”
“Ugh! Don’t bring that up!”
Simon let out a soft laugh.
Still, after confirming Manus’s power, his mood was good today.
“Then shall we keep working through the problems you don’t understand?”
“Yes!”
* * *
At Kizen, classes during exam periods were notoriously grueling.
The Magical Combat course was no exception. On the mountainside of Rocksum, Simon in his physical education uniform was running breathlessly.
“Almost there! You’re almost there!”
“A little more effort! Students!”
Today’s Magical Combat course theme was a comprehensive obstacle course. Simon glanced back and spoke.
“Hang in there, Kamibarez!”
“Hah! Hah! Yes, Simon!”
She too in her physical education uniform was running hard with her eyes squeezed shut. Simon encouraged her and looked ahead.
The next course awaited.
Polearms were displayed on a shelf—war hammers, spears, shields, bows, whips—a diverse array.
“Weapons all of a sudden?”
“Look here! It says each of us picks one?”
The students, momentarily quiet, rushed forward and grabbed weapons in hand.
‘A greatsword!’
Simon immediately spotted the weapon he wanted.
He reached out to take the greatsword that dominated the shelf with its impressive presence.
Snatch!
A large hand beat him to it, seizing the greatsword’s hilt.
“Predictable.”
Hector flashed a thin smile.
He too was taking Hong Peng’s Magical Combat course.
“I won’t let you keep wielding your preferred weapon so freely.”
‘Damn!’
Simon missed his Greatsword by mere inches and had no choice but to examine the remaining weapons. The other students who’d arrived late were picking through the more familiar bladed arms.
Kamibarez chose a Shield.
‘I suppose…’
There weren’t many weapons left.
Simon reluctantly settled on the Whip—the least popular choice, the one the other students had spurned. He cracked it experimentally, and found the flex quite satisfactory.
Click!
Click!
Then the ground beneath them split open, and mechanisms connected to crossbows rose up, aiming at the students.
The students jumped back in alarm, but fortunately the ammunition wasn’t real arrows—the tips were blunt.
“So we’re just dodging arrows this time.”
“Thank goodness.”
The students seemed relieved. After all, arrows were easy enough to evade without any weapon at all, using nothing but their bare bodies.
-Team C, here comes the next task!
That’s when Hong Peng’s voice rang out.
-Only the ten who ‘shoot down’ the most arrows will pass!
“?!”
So it wasn’t about dodging?
Before anyone could process that, arrows poured down from every direction.
“Ungh!”
The students swung their swords and spears with awkward motions, but narrow-bladed weapons made it nearly impossible to intercept arrows.
They couldn’t even block the arrows coming straight at them, instead taking hit after hit and getting knocked out of the arena.
Kamibarez crouched behind her Shield, frozen with fear. Her small frame let her hide her entire body behind it.
By simply holding the Shield steady and deflecting arrows, she’d already secured a position in the top ranks.
“Damn it! I should have grabbed a Shield instead of an offensive weapon!”
“Kami’s looking cute even in the middle of all this!”
Boom! Boom!
Meanwhile, Hector was swinging his Greatsword irritably. While broader than other bladed weapons, its weight made it hard to land solid strikes on the arrows.
“Damn!”
Hector hadn’t chosen the Greatsword merely to counter Simon. He was confident in his technique with it, but the rule about shooting down arrows was something neither of them had anticipated.
And then.
“Waaaahhh!”
“What—who is that?!”
Simon was flying through the air.
He’d wrapped the Whip in Dark Reinforcement to give it perfect control despite its natural curve, then swung it freely in all directions.
Snap!
Crack!
He was shooting down not only the arrows headed toward him, but also arrows sailing through the air elsewhere, with complete ease.
Every time Simon cracked the Whip, three or four arrows fell.
“Son of a—!”
As Hector watched, beads of pure black fluid began dripping from his body. Internal Dark Burst—the technique to temporarily enhance one’s physical form.
Watching Hector swing the heavy Greatsword like a chopstick with his enhanced strength, Simon grinned.
“Using Burst already? Won’t you tire out?”
“Shut up!”
The other students roared as the two boys engaged in their fierce competition.
“You lunatics! Try watching what you’re doing before you swing!”
Like the last obstacle course, this one belonged entirely to first-place Simon and second-place Hector.
* * *
The next class was Holy Defense Magic, taught by Professor Parahan, a former Priest.
Parahan stroked his long, sage-like beard as he studied the textbook, then began asking the students questions one by one.
“The meaning of the Sign of the Cross, drawn vertically and horizontally as shown in the text—”
Then.
A hand shot up faster than anyone else’s.
“Simon Polentia. It signifies ‘obedience to one’s superior.'”
“And Caritas?”
“Simon Polentia. It represents ‘the rite of the Eucharist.'”
“In this formula, what is the function of the Audio Rune Language—”
“Simon Polentia. It is a White Magic of the Blessing studies branch, used to enhance hearing.”
Just as it had been in his first year, Holy Defense Magic was Simon’s domain in his second year as well.
Students from Class A were accustomed to it, but the others all gaped in astonishment.
“How is he managing all of this?”
“……at this rate, isn’t he basically a Priest himself?”
Watching Simon steadily accumulate store points and practical assessment scores, Parahan let out a wry smile.
“Student, come see me after class.”
“Yes, sir!”
After finishing the final Holy Defense Magic class of the midterm examination, Simon and Parahan made their way together from the Campus Grounds to Parahan’s Residence, which lay at some distance.
One had to climb quite far up the mountain to reach his house. Though the distance was considerable, it made for a rather pleasant walking route.
“Why do you work so hard?”
Parahan spoke with a smile.
“In any case, you’ll top the Holy Defense Magic class, won’t you?”
There was no way the other Necromancer students, who had only studied theory, could match Simon—who had visited the Sacred Federation and could even wield Holiness directly.
Simon laughed along and replied.
“I can’t afford to be careless.”
—Meow! Meoow!
—Meow! Meow! Meow!
As they drew near the house, a loud chorus of cries rang out from afar. Hayang and Kkamangi, Simon’s Divine Beasts, had come out to greet them.
“Hello! Have you been well?”
Simon rushed over and scooped up the two kittens in his arms. They squirmed frantically, their front paws tousling his hair.
—Why don’t you come more often?
—You’re the worst!
That’s what they seemed to be saying. Simon smiled gently and soothed the little creatures.
“Sorry, I’ve been swamped lately. I’ll visit more often.”
Akalion, a Divine Beast that resembled a small bear, padded over and rubbed its cheek against Simon’s leg.
Simon entered Parahan’s house with his three Divine Beasts.
As they shared a cup of tea and conversation, Simon told Parahan about his experiences in the Tower of Time—particularly about Chaos and the Void.
“So your future self handled that power with complete mastery.”
“Yes.”
Simon raised white and black auras in both his hands.
“But I still can’t fully merge the two elements.”
“Don’t rush yourself.”
Parahan slowly fanned himself with the fan in his hand.
“You haven’t yet achieved complete mastery of either Darkness or Holiness, have you? As your capacity accumulates, the path toward the Void will naturally open before you.”
Simon nodded in agreement with those words.
Merging Darkness and Holiness.
The method seemed simple, but the depth of enlightenment and the heights of attainment required were almost beyond measure.
“From that perspective, it’s Holiness that’s more pressing.”
Parahan continued.
“Your level in Divine Beast Studies is high thanks to your Divine Beasts, but I’ve taught you no offensive Holy Magic at all.”
“Ah, I know one.”
Simon immediately demonstrated White Magic.
Lines of Holiness unfurled, and bands of blessing spiraled around the lance, transforming into the shape of a drill.
“Oh my, what technique is this!”
Parahan leapt from his seat.
“Such a beautiful and efficient technique! A fusion of Holy Mechanics and Blessing Studies! Yes, taking the simple performance of Holy Sphere-class spells and transmuting it through five blessings——”
Working in Kizen, Parahan rarely encountered White Magic of this caliber, so his excitement was evident.
He paced back and forth, absorbed in observing La Escrime. Simon, with his chin resting on his hand, watched him for a moment before turning his gaze away.
‘Come to think of it.’
White clouds drifted past the window.
‘I wonder how Rette is doing these days.’
* * *
The sacred ground of the Sacred Federation and the headquarters of Efnel.
Sky Island.
“Gracious Holiness, descend upon us.”
“We behold the Goddess’s most cherished daughter.”
“Grant blessings upon our son who marches to battle……”
The inhabitants here all bowed deeply or prostrated themselves in reverence.
And then.
“I pray that you return safely, my lord. The goddess will watch over you.”
A path swept clean, not a speck of dust upon it.
There walked a white-haired girl, stirring up a shower of stars with each step.
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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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