Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 684

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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 684
Following the plan she had devised with Simon, Jin Arskalter led Hate and the Phantom Dullahans out of the Abyss first.
“The Grand Duke has returned!”
The Northern Military warriors who had been fighting outside the Abyss spotted her and surged forward like clouds. Ganiro, the general whose one arm had turned pitch-black, approached her as well and spoke.
“Grand Duke! Thank goodness you’re safe!”
“Indeed.”
“The Northern God! What happened to the Northern God?”
“Did you finish him?”
The warriors looked ready to throw both arms in the air and cheer at any moment.
Seeing her subordinates’ expressions, Jin Arskalter’s heart ached. She was grateful that her helmet could hide her face.
“There was no Northern God in the Abyss.”
The warriors’ expressions hardened at once.
“We have fallen into a trap. This expedition ends here. Retreat.”
She turned her horse around. Her red cloak fluttered dramatically in the wind before settling down, forlorn.
The soldiers’ eyes reflected a disbelief they could not conceal.
“What do you mean by that?”
Ganiro’s lips trembled.
“No Northern God? Then who is controlling those Undead? He definitely exists! We must find him! Even if we freeze to death searching the Frost Field—!”
“The Fourth is attacking Bilkenos.”
At those words, Ganiro and the excited warriors fell silent.
“The people are in danger. Hate and I will ride ahead swiftly, so do not worry yourself, General Ganiro.”
“Yes, Grand Duke.”
“You must see to it that all forces are gathered and return to Bilkenos safely.”
She seized the reins of her command horse and departed first. Hate and the Phantom Dullahans of the 2nd Legion followed her in unison.
“There must be no further sacrifice. Ensure all troops return unharmed. The Northern God will certainly send forces to strike our rearguard as we withdraw, so steel yourselves.”
Ganiro, his jaw set firm, bowed his head low. Warriors scattered across the field planted their weapons in the earth and crumpled down. Cries of desperation and anguished shouts erupted from every direction.
Defeat.
They had failed to capture the Northern God once again. They had not avenged him. They had not ended it in their generation. They could not leave a peaceful world for their children.
The sorrow of all echoed like a refrain.
Thump—
As Jin Arskalter rode toward Bilkenos, she pulled her helmet lower over her brow.
‘Forgive me.’
She could not tell her despairing soldiers that Simon and the 7th Legion were actually preparing to drive a dagger through the Northern God’s heart.
To deceive the enemy, one must first deceive one’s own side.
The Northern God had to believe that the Northern Military acknowledged defeat and were withdrawing. Only then would he think victory was his and dispatch forces to pursue the retreating warriors.
Only this way could she buy Simon time.
“I beg you, Son of Yona—no.”
She drew an arrow to the string.
“Simon.”
She rode forward, piercing the cores of the Northern God’s Undead that lingered across the field.
She had to ride hard to reach Bilkenos.

* * *
That night.
The heart of the North, Bilkenos.
Chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp—
The sound of field insects filled the night.
The assault by the Fourth, who had thrown the entire city into terror, ceased as darkness fell. Since the Fourth was nowhere to be seen around the city walls, it seemed he had departed to replenish his Dark Element.
Whether warriors or townspeople, all had collapsed from exhaustion by dawn.
‘There’s no one about?’
A middle-aged man with a bundle slung over his shoulder peered cautiously from atop the city wall.
“There’s no guard here. Hurry!”
He was a merchant who traded leather goods between North and South. He had brought along his children, his wife, and every acquaintance who had clung to him begging to be taken, and now they all stood at the city wall.
Seizing a moment when the guards’ eyes were elsewhere, he lowered a rope down the wall and, cradling a child in one arm, carefully descended along it.
“Come down slowly! There’s no rush, take your time!”
The others descended one by one along the rope. The man waited behind them, his lips pressed tight.
‘Fight together in Bilkenos? What madness. I won’t die a dog’s death.’
The power the Fourth had displayed at midday was horrifying.
Meanwhile, the Grand Duke who could stop him was fighting the Northern God in the Frost Field.
It was impossible to defeat the Fourth with only the forces remaining in Bilkenos. Even if victory bells rang out from the Frost Field, Bilkenos would be annihilated. The calculation was too simple.
‘Fortunately, once night fell, the Fourth’s attacks stopped. Whether he went to sleep, I don’t know, but we got lucky.’
Everyone who had fled with the man climbed down from the city wall. He gestured to them and started walking ahead.
‘I’m not about to die for honor’s sake! So long.’
What kind of pride was that, anyway?
Until now, he’d spouted noble words about his pride while trying to make a living in the Northern Territory, performing every act befitting a northerner—but his true nature had always been that of a merchant.
The man led the group into a run.
‘A little farther and we’ll reach a village. We can catch a carriage there and head south and—’
—Screeeeeech!
A scream.
A piercing cry suddenly tore through the air behind them. When he turned, a woman was flailing helplessly in mid-air.
It was as though the darkness itself had seized her.
‘What—!’
A giant form gradually emerged from the shadows.
An grotesquely swollen face and a squat, bloated body.
It was the Fourth—that very creature who had plunged Bilkenos into terror. From his lips flowed shadow-dark energy, weaving itself into a magical circle.
[The Way of… Death.]
“Ugh—aaaaaaagh!”
People screamed and bolted in panic. With a casual flick of his fingers, the Fourth crushed one man, then unfurled a blackened magical circle across the sky.
Grotesque projectiles began to pick off the fleeing crowd one by one. Terrible screams echoed beyond the castle walls.
“Guh—guuugh!”
The man lay writhing on the ground, clutching his leg. Fragments of black magic had embedded themselves deep in his flesh.
Heh heh—
The Fourth swept his gaze across the corpses, then swept his arm to unfurl another magical circle above them. The dead bodies began to convulse and transform.
‘No. Please no.’
The man backed away on trembling legs.
A woman, now drenched in blood, lurched violently to her feet. The zombie that had been her shuffled forward, drawing closer.
“Wait—please! Honey! It’s me! It’s me! Can you hear me?”
The man forced a smile through his trembling.
“Didn’t we say we’d go to Blue Harbor when we got back south? Remember? We made good money, so now—!”
Crunch!
The zombie woman tore into his throat.

* * *
Crunch! Crunch!
Smack. Smack.
Godrick set down the bone from the plump chicken leg he’d been gnawing and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.
The stress of recent days had hollowed out his cheeks.
Sigh—
This was the war room of Bilkenos Castle.
Godrick exhaled a long breath and drained a glass of cool water.
“I apologize that we have so little to offer our distinguished guest.”
“Oh, no! It’s fine!”
At the center of the round table sat Kamibarez, a vampire girl with pale violet hair. She laughed nervously and spoke.
“But is it… all right for me to sit here?”
Kamibarez had taken the seat of honor at the head of the round table.
This was the place where the Grand Duke or Ganiro normally sat—now offered to a guest. It was a far cry from the atmosphere when she’d first arrived in the Northern Territory, when she’d been greeted with complaints about “another outsider.”
“It is only proper.”
Godrick wiped his mouth and spoke.
“You may be an outsider, but you declared that you would stand boldly against our enemy and fight alongside us.”
—If he keeps hurting people, then I’ll fight for the Northern Territory and Simon too!
“In those words, we felt steadfast resolve and true honor. And indeed, you have proven yourself a greater warrior than any here, and have saved countless lives.”
Godrick bowed respectfully.
“As the commander responsible for Bilkenos’s defense, I offer my deep gratitude from the bottom of my heart.”
The soldiers responded with a thunderous “Oooooh!” The old men grinned widely through their thick beards, looking rather ridiculous.
“Th-thank you.”
Kamibarez bowed her head shyly. Though they were rough and hot-tempered by nature, she realized they were not bad people at all.
“Um… isn’t anyone going to eat more?”
All they’d had was a slice of bread and a bowl of thin soup—which they’d devoured in under ten seconds of arriving.
The only proper meal on the table was the chicken dish on her plate. Even Godrick, the highest-ranking person here, had only taken a single leg.
Everything else had gone to her.
“Haha! We’ve all eaten, and now we’re here for the war council!”
“Don’t worry about it—please, help yourselves!”
“Watching the little one eat is enough to fill our bellies.”
The soldiers laughed with innocent warmth. Kamibarez fiddled with the fork in her hand, then quickly took a small bite of meat and spoke in a hurry.
“Ah, that was so delicious! I’m quite full now.”
She patted her belly and slid the plate toward the soldiers.
“There’s still a bit left—if you wouldn’t mind, would you finish it for me?”
The soldiers’ eyes could not help but drift toward the plate.
“Ahem! Well, if there are leftovers to be had…”
“Waste is never acceptable. I suppose there’s nothing for it but to eat one wing…”
“Now, see here!”
Godrick shot to his feet in alarm.
“Have you no shame? To dare take food meant for our honored guest!”
But.
The roasted chicken that Kamibarez had left behind shot into the air. Like ravenous piranhas, the soldiers descended upon it, and the dish was reduced to dozens of pieces in an instant, vanishing without a trace.
Only a few white bones clattered to the floor.
“Tsk.”
Godrick clicked his tongue as if to say he couldn’t have stopped them and sat back down. Kamibarez laughed brightly.
“I apologize for the unseemly display. Now, let us resume the defense council for Bilkenos.”
Godrick set his expression grave and surveyed the entire war room.
“The undead attacking Bilkenos is without doubt a Triumvirate-class entity. Whether the Northern God originally could command a Fourth, or whether it was hastily created after losing all three of the Triumvirate, we cannot say. What matters is the reality before us: the Triumvirate is assaulting Bilkenos while the Grand Duke and the Northern Military are away in Frost Field.”
Godrick rapped his clenched fist against the table.
“Until the Grand Duke returns, we must endure by any means necessary.”
The soldiers nodded with grave expressions. Kamibarez fluttered her wings vigorously.
“I’ll fight hard until Simon comes back too!”
At her small cry, the soldiers’ expressions brightened considerably.
Just one girl stepping into the room had transformed the usually dreary atmosphere.
“Much appreciated! Now, let us discuss the specifics.”
Various observations emerged among the soldiers. There was even fairly detailed analysis of the Fourth.
“Fortunately, it seems the Fourth’s physical abilities are extremely limited. It couldn’t clear the city walls of Bilkenos. It can’t seem to jump properly.”
“A Triumvirate that feels pain from arrows? I’ve never heard of such a thing!”
“In my estimation, it might actually be able to scale the walls.”
A young Flag Bearer turned his head with a slight grin.
“The real problem seems to be its excessive fear. It must be wary of someone inside the city.”
All eyes turned toward Kamibarez. She tilted her head and fluttered her small wings.
A vampire girl whom even the Fourth deemed worthy of caution.
Especially when her eyes turned blood red, the full power she displayed was formidable enough to send shivers down the spines of these warriors who had spent their entire lives in the world of war.
It was no wonder she was Kizen’s premier necromancer.
“The Fourth will continue to be cautious and deliberate.”
Godrick rose from his seat and spoke.
“It may lack physical prowess, but it wields powerful dark magic. It’s hurling spells at Bilkenos from the safety of the walls outside.”
With those words, he gazed out the window at the landscape.
From just a day’s fighting, a third of this vast city had become ruins. It was unlikely to hold out much longer.
Once resistance weakened, the Fourth would eventually breach the walls and attack the Grand Duke’s Inner Castle at the center.
Then it would all be over.
“Fortunately, the creature is timid. We must press it with all our might and prevent it from scaling the walls.”
“Agreed!”
“Let’s give it a try!”
The soldiers hoisted their weapons, rallying their spirits.
“Yes!”
Kamibarez clasped her hands together and cried out in a bright, ringing voice.
Gurgle—
Then everyone fell silent.
A sound from the belly.
The soldiers’ eyes all turned in one direction.
“Ah… um…”
The sound had come from Kamibarez’s stomach. Her face was turning red with embarrassment.
“These ungrateful bastards!”
Godrick finally burst with the anger he’d been holding back.
“You stole the food from Kamibarez herself, and now she’s hungry! Act with some decorum! Some decorum!”
The warriors began bowing their heads as though laden with guilt. Kamibarez flailed her arms in exasperation.
“That’s not it! It’s not about being hungry…!”
“?”
“It’s just that… well……”
As she tapped her two fingers together, her face flushed deeper and deeper red.
“I shall order the cook to prepare something new!”
“No, that’s not it!”
“You dense fools!”
Bang!!
The war room door suddenly burst open, and a group of women appeared.
The warriors jumped in shock, their mouths falling open.
“My… my dear!”
“Why are you here!”
“I didn’t do anything wrong today!”
The women watched the warriors’ frantic stammering with disdain. Godrick observed them.
“W-what brings you here…?”
“You thick-skulled men. Didn’t you hear what that girl said earlier?”
The women wheeled a cart into the room.
Kamibarez’s eyes widened.
“Blood…!”
It was containers filled with blood.
“You said you’re a vampire. People at the shelter collected it, giving a little bit each.”
The woman brought the cart before Kamibarez.
“We’re people of the North too. We have pride. Defending the North doesn’t mean we have to swing weapons around like those brutes, does it?”
Women, children, elders, and even the wounded.
Each one spoke their piece.
“Thank you for saving our son.”
“Stay strong, Necromancer!”
Kamibarez’s eyes grew round, then glistened with tears of emotion.
Being a half-vampire was a secret she had always wanted to hide.
Being different from others was painful.
But this was the first time everyone had gathered their strength for her sake, pooling blood to bring to her.
Watching Kamibarez’s tears, the people smiled warmly.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
She wiped her eyes with her school uniform sleeve, then broke into a smile as radiant as sunlight.
“I’ll drink this blood and fight even harder!”
“We’re counting on you!”
“Let’s go! We can do this!”
The atmosphere reached its peak.
According to the Northern God’s original plan, the people of the North should have despaired at the power wielded by the Fourth, and cracks should have formed from within, crumbling them apart.
But centered on Kamibarez, who had come to the North by chance, Bilkenos was now united more firmly than ever before.

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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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