Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 679

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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 Episode 679
That night was stifling with summer heat.
The final day of the Royal Officer Training Academy.
For the cadets, it was the first time they could drink alcohol after two years of grueling training.
Outside the tent, cadets Ganiro and Romario sat facing each other and clinked their cups.
—Cheers, Ganiro.
Romario, a cadet with dark skin and a muscular frame, spoke while leaning back.
—You applied to the Northern Region?
—Yeah.
—What possessed you to volunteer for such a dangerous, unrewarding frontier posting?
Ganiro drained his cup in several gulps, then wiped the corner of his mouth and spoke.
—Whether I like it or not, it’s my homeland. I’ve sworn since childhood to protect the North.
—I see.
—What about you, Valedictorian Romario?
—I applied to the Central Royal Capital Guard on my instructor’s recommendation.
Ganiro laughed.
—The classic elite path the high-born take. Of course you’d follow it, being valedictorian.
—When you go to the North.
Romario continued, rubbing the space between his brows.
—You’ll need support from the Kingdom and the South. The central nobility has no love for the North, so you’ll need at least one person working from inside.
—You….
—I’ll back you from within, Ganiro.
When Ganiro looked at him with moved eyes, Romario laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.
—I can’t stand sentimental tears from grown men.
—Shut it, you fool!
Ha-ha-ha-ha!
The two young cadets linked arms and spoke of their futures.
What sort of men would we become?
The answer to that question came far sooner than expected.
Five years later.
—The Northern army that marched to Frost Field has been annihilated! The Grand Duke has suffered a mortal wound!
—The Second Legion’s forces have been scattered!
Northern Kalos faced its gravest hour of peril.
Ganiro, who had remained defending Bilkenos rather than join the invasion force, rushed urgently into the fortress.
—Your Grace!
A middle-aged man with black hair lay on a stretcher, breathing dangerously in ragged gasps. Bandages wrapped his frame, yet one side of his clothes was stained crimson with blood.
It was undoubtedly a mortal wound.
—Father!
Beside him, the Grand Duke’s young daughter, Jin, wept as she clutched the hem of her father’s robes. The Grand Duke turned his vacant eyes toward her.
—Ganiro.
Thump.
Ganiro’s legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.
His hero, the man he respected most, was dying before his eyes.
—Listen carefully, Ganiro. The Death God’s undead forces are advancing toward Bilkenos.
—….
—You are the only general left to give orders. Take the people and flee south.
Ganiro pressed back his welling tears and met the Grand Duke’s gaze with bloodshot eyes.
—Please, withdraw that command.
—Ganiro.
—I will go south! I will convince the central nobles and bring back reinforcements!
—The nobility views the North as a thorn in their side. They will not come….
—I have a friend in the capital!
Ganiro struck his chest and cried out with a voice torn by emotion.
—If he will lend his strength, it will be possible! Please, grant me just a little more time, Your Grace!
Ganiro mounted his horse and departed Bilkenos at once.
His lord was dying, and his homeland stood on the brink of trampling beneath the enemy’s heel.
Without sleep, day and night, Ganiro rode until he reached the Front Command Post in Southern Kalos.
—Send reinforcements!
Ganiro cried out, his face hollow with exhaustion.
—The North is in peril! The Death God’s forces will soon descend! Why do you not grasp that if the North falls, the South is next!
Calm yourself.
An officer pulled at his elongated mustache as he spoke.
Do you think moving an army is so simple? Everything in this world follows procedure. I will report your request to my superiors, and you must wait. One month should be sufficient for a proper review.
One month? In one month, Bilkenos will fall into the Death God’s hands!
Ganiro cried out, his neck straining with desperation.
And there are so many soldiers outside—what more procedure is needed? Send the troops to Bilkenos immediately!
Now, listen here.
Forget it! I’m not talking to you obstinate people! Romario! Get Romario out here!
Who do you think you are, calling the Chief of Staff by name like that—!
Creak!
The door to the Staff Office swung open, revealing a dark-skinned man in military uniform.
What is all this commotion?
Romario!
Romario, whom Ganiro hadn’t seen in five years, looked exactly as he had in their academy days.
Ganiro’s voice rang bright with emotion, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes.
Romario! You tell these stubborn fools straight—if we don’t save the Northern Region in time—!
Your manners leave much to be desired.
His voice was ice-cold, devoid of any trace of feeling, and it struck Ganiro like a blow across the face.
This is the military. Conduct yourself with the proper decorum for your rank.
Ro… Romario?
And while the situation in the Northern Region you speak of is indeed unfortunate, we too require authorization from above. You must wait for the proper procedure.
Just then, a heavyset middle-aged man in uniform and a golden-haired woman with a sword at her side emerged from the office.
What is the matter, Chief of Staff?
Senior, do you know this person?
Romario turned his head coldly and walked back into the room.
I do not.
Thud.
Ganiro’s heart lurched, and his strength drained away as he collapsed onto the floor.
Betrayal coursed through his entire body.
Romario!!
Even now, decades later, Ganiro could recall it all with perfect clarity.
That despair.
That betrayal.
And.
If you go to the Northern Region, I will support you from within.
Those academy days, when they had linked arms and spoken of the future, wondering what kind of men they would become.
“Romario!”
Cutting through the driving snow, a sword bearing black lightning plunged downward.
Crash!
A sound like thunder erupted, and Ganiro’s blade met Romario’s. The ground beneath Romario’s mounted form sank deep into the earth.
“What has become of you!”
Ganiro, having dropped to the ground, cried out with bloodshot eyes.
“Did you claw your way up to power just to end up like this!”
Before him stood his friend, now controlled by the Death God and become the “Second”.
Denying that reality, Ganiro gnashed his teeth and swung his blade.
Crash!
Crash!
Black sparks scattered in all directions. Romario, who had blocked Ganiro’s assault, now thrust his sword into the ground.
Dark spikes erupted from the earth, but Ganiro charged forward as if possessed. He twisted his body to evade, stamped down on the rising spikes to clear his path, then leapt back up and drove his lightning-charged blade down toward Romario.
“Say something! Anything! Romario!”
Crash!
The watching soldiers could barely close their mouths.
“General Ganiro is truly magnificent!”
“He doesn’t yield an inch against the Three Subordinates!”
Cough!
Of course, blood black as night trickled from the corner of his mouth as the toll of maintaining the Internal Black Eruption for so long ravaged his body. But Ganiro did not stop.
[Kill me… kill me… kill me…]
Arms grew from Romario’s body, and each one conjured a dark sword in its grip. A total of thirty blades rushed down to engulf the charging Ganiro.
Ganiro’s eyes widened.
“Very well then! If that is your final request!”
Below came thorns, and above came thirty blades in a rushing torrent.
But Ganiro held only a single sword in his hand.
“As your friend, I’ll sever your neck with these hands!”
Ganiro Original – White Severing
A secret technique that transforms the blade into lightning.
The sword, enchanted to its absolute limit, scattered into lightning, and the rushing thorns and blades shattered against the branching electric current that erupted in thousands of paths. Ganiro slipped nimbly through the gap and drew the short sword from his belt.
“Close your eyes now! Romario—!”
Thwack!
Ganiro’s body lurched and froze. His legs, suspended in the air, dangled without touching the ground.
Cough!
Ganiro spat blood.
A single thorn that had erupted from the earth had pierced deep through his flank. The thorn was coated in poison; his body wouldn’t obey him at all.
Romario gazed at Ganiro, suspended before him, with an emotionless stare, then seized his face and lifted him into the air.
Ganiro could not resist, and Romario thrust both arms skyward.
Oooooooooh—!
A massive thorn sword forged from shadow erupted toward the heavens.
The overwhelming disparity in power.
The thorn sword descended toward the earth to cleave Ganiro in two.
In that instant, facing the death that rushed toward him—
[Who gave you leave to rest already, Commander?]
With a honeyed voice, Ganiro’s eyes snapped open.
The descending thorn sword shattered as an arrow hurtled across like a comet, and suddenly beside him stood a black knight clad head to toe in armor.
[I have not granted you respite.]
Ganiro’s eyes glistened with tears.
“Your Grace!”
Meanwhile, Romario moved yet more blades against her.
Thwack!
Without warning, an arrow lodged itself in his face.
—[?]
Yet the Grand Duke showed no sign of having drawn. Her hand, hanging low, merely plucked the bowstring.
Thwack!
The moment the bowstring quivered, an arrow now embedded itself in the body of the horse Romario rode.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Each time the bow in her hand stirred, Romario was battered helplessly.
As Ganiro, who had been held aloft, fell to the ground, she withdrew her hand.
Shaaaaaaah—!
In the Grand Duke’s hand, an arrow forged from shadow appeared. She slung the Storm Wind Bow across her shoulder, then gave the arrow she held a single sharp flick.
Whirrrr—!
With a melodious sound, the arrow lengthened and transformed into the shape of a spear. She charged forward immediately, and Romario drew shadow blades from his countless arms to meet her.
Slash!
As the spearpoint trembled, ten wrists were severed.
Shwish! Slash! Slash!
With each tremor, twenty, then thirty wrists were cut away. The Grand Duke, having disabled his attack pattern in a single breath, soared upward like a butterfly.
Thrust!
The spearpoint pierced through Romario’s chest. What she did seemed simple, but it was a precise and economical strike that allowed him no chance to counter.
Releasing the spear from her hand, she fell away and spun her body once, drawing the bow from her shoulder in an instant and loosing an arrow.
Snap!
The bowstring trembled immediately as the arrow flew.
Boom!
The instant the arrow struck the spearpoint, the spear exploded as if it had been waiting inside Romario’s body.
An execution nearly flawless in its coordination.
The fragments of Romario’s body, reduced to tatters, fell to the ground.
Uwaaaaah!
The warriors of the Northern Region who had been watching while fighting let out a cheer. The Grand Duke touched down lightly and, staring at the explosion, muttered.
[Stubborn creature. Undead.]
Crack!
From within the hazy explosion smoke, Romario’s hand shot out and seized the Grand Duke’s helmet with brute force.
Crack! Tear!
Romario’s other hands, mangled into rags, grasped her arms and shoulders.
“Ah!”
“The Grand Duke’s been caught!”
Warriors who saw her plight rushed forward in panic. Romario staggered, his voice hollow and ragged.
[Kill…… me.]
Inside the helmet, she closed her eyes quietly.
“I’m not the one who’ll kill you.”
The undead Romario sensed something and spun around. Ganiro burst through the inferno, suspended upside-down, and materialized behind him.
“Romario!”
Crack!
His left arm, transformed into lightning, severed Romario’s neck cleanly as it passed. Only then did Romario’s body go limp, having lost both his core and his head.
Thud!
Ganiro, unable to withstand even the backlash of his own blow, tumbled across the ground until he collided with a nearby tree and finally came to a stop, breathing hard.
“Gasp! Gasp!”
His chest heaved as he drew breath. His left arm, hastily transformed into lightning for lack of a sword, hung blackened and withered.
Thud. Thump.
Romario’s severed head rolled belatedly toward Ganiro’s side.
Ganiro looked at that head.
[Ganiro…….]
The head was trying to speak.
[Sorry…… I…….]
Clench.
Ganiro gritted his teeth.
‘Damn it! Now of all times……!’
He had suspected it all along.
That Romario had wanted to help the Northern Region back then too.
—The Northern Region’s plight you speak of troubles me, but I require authorization from above to move forces.
But because of the central nobility and orders from higher still, he simply couldn’t deploy troops.

Wasn’t that how armies worked? What more could he have expected? What could Romario possibly have done there?
He knew all this, yet forgiveness came hard.
“Damn it! Damn it!”
Ganiro’s curses gave way to resignation as his body sagged.
With his left arm, now blackened and useless, he slowly closed Romario’s eyes.
“Yeah, it’s always like this.”
The one who abandoned his friend to claw his way up.
The one whose nature turned foul, ground down in harsh terrain.
The ending is the same. We all return to dust, nothing more.
He barely deserved the title of friend.
“Go well, you bastard.”
For his final journey, he would offer at least a prayer.
Step. Step.
The Grand Duke approached, her armor creaking softly.
[Have you made your peace with it.]
“……Your Grace.”
A bitter smile crossed his face.
“If you came to help me, what about Kronos? The one I was facing?”
[Broken. He fled tail between his legs. I’ve knocked every red moon from the sky.]
Ganiro gazed upward.
The red moons that had been strengthening the undead were gone without a trace. Truly, impossible power.
[Now I command you: rest.]
Ganiro let his arms drop and closed his eyes.
“Thank you.”
Medical attendants carrying stretchers were rushing toward them.

* * *
While Ganiro and Romario clashed fiercely, the situation on another battlefield was escalating just as desperately.
The most pressing trouble lay where the “third” was.
“Haah, haah.”
Simon gasped for breath, his sword hanging limp in his grip.
His opponent was none other than the third, Grayson. As she raised both arms, an endless tide of undead birds poured from the cavities in her back.
‘Grayson……!’
Impossibly, she was in the Royal Army.
But there was a question that troubled him more than any of that.
‘Why did Death God choose Grayson as the third? She’s not even a warrior—just an ordinary person.’
He didn’t know the details, but it occurred to him that she might possess some hidden ability. The way she commanded so many dead birds suggested as much.
Then Pier’s voice reached him.
[You’d best abandon any thought of recruiting the third into your Legion!]
“Pier!”
[The Three Subordinates are entities Death God contracted directly by granting them his power! There’s no room for another Necromancer to interfere.]
“…….”
Simon looked up at Grayson.
So he simply had to give up?
[Simon, I’m sorry.]
She swung her arm in a sweeping motion.
[I can’t defy Death God.]
The birds that poured forth now surged toward Simon. He took a combat stance, sword raised before him.
‘I have to close the distance first.’
Simon and his Elite Unit charged toward the flock Grayson had released, leaving trails of teal light in their wake.
Crack!
Slash!
Simon and his guard swung their blades frantically, cutting through the flock. The gap between him and Grayson narrowed in an instant—but.
‘There are too many!’
The beaks of the black birds were as sharp as daggers. The guards around him began to fall, and Simon himself took damage.
[I’m sorry.]
Grayson, the third, pressed her hands together. The flock consolidated at the center, then surged forward like a spear, hurling Simon backward.
Bang!
Simon barely managed to unfurl his Dark Shield in time, skidding across the ground for several meters before coming to a stop.
Even through it all, Grayson continued pulling birds from her back.
“Just one question, Grayson! Why were you with the Royal Army?”
She hung her head and answered readily.
[Earl Boldmond coerced me…… I’m sorry. I had no choice.]
It seemed she had been on the same side as Earl Boldmond. The leak of Abyss’s location must have come from Grayson.
Then she gripped her head and cried out.
[Please, run away! Simon! I—]
Tears of blood streamed down her face.
[I don’t think I can control myself anymore!]
She looked clearly unwell.
Simon’s mind raced.
‘The first, Kronos, is in a different state. Even after becoming Undead, he cooperated with Death God of his own will—but Grayson is clearly resisting him.’
Simon’s gaze shifted.
‘The second, Commander Romario. He just kept repeating that he wanted to die. Does Death God’s power apply differently depending on the person?’
He wanted to think more, but there was no time. Grayson’s flock was bearing down on him again.
Pier’s voice reached him.
[I’m on my way, boy, so don’t overexert yourself! You’re facing the third!]
‘Yes.’
Simon exhaled slowly with reverence, sharpening every sense in his body.
‘I’ll do what I can.’
Of course, he had no intention of backing down.

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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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