Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 82

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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 Academy’s Summoning Prodigy — Chapter 82
Simon’s timing in crossing to the center was impeccable.
As daylight brightened and students began their earnest operations anew, the four bridges leading to Kera Island at the center transformed into brutal battlegrounds.
Students who possessed their own means of crossing the river could avoid the conflict, but those without such methods had no choice but to cross the bridges.
“Only fifty points for passage!”
Most notably, on West Island, a faction had formed centered around Special Admission Student Seven, Elisa, and the E Class students under her command—and they had seized the bridges. Using the Tung Pad’s point-transfer function, they collected points as if they were tolls.
As a result, students who started from West Island found themselves trapped on the island for some time—an unexpected development.
Eventually, a large-scale alliance formed on West Island with the explicit goal of toppling Elisa’s faction, and she, quick on her feet, withdrew from the bridges.
While combat scenarios unfolded across the islands in relentless succession, Simon, who had arrived early on central Kera Island, was leisurely devoting himself to searching for Big Crumb.
In a certain sense, finding and contracting with Big Crumb was more important to Simon than securing a high rank in the Island Survival itself.
“Hmm, it’s difficult to find any traces though. Pier.”
Simon parted the undergrowth as he spoke.
[Can’t be helped. He’s not the type to leave traces in the first place.]
Pier’s spirit form, suspended from Simon’s school uniform, answered him.
[But once Kizen students start fighting here on the central island, the chances of Big Crumb appearing out of agitation will naturally increase!]
“I suppose I’ll have to count on that.”
According to Pier’s information, Big Crumb normally appeared as small as a mushroom growing wild on the roadside.
But the more threatened or enraged it became, the larger its body grew, and when fully matured, its length exceeded twenty meters by a considerable margin.
At that point, it would surely become noticeable; Simon thought it wiser to wait in the disputed areas in readiness for Big Crumb’s appearance rather than blindly searching for traces.
As he walked toward the center, a vast ravine appeared in the distance.
When viewed from above, Kera Island’s center rose like a prominent mountain, the slope growing steeper until it suddenly climbed sharply from this very point.
‘It really is quite high.’
To reach the Indestructible Mansion—the final objective of this Island Survival—one had no choice but to cross over this ravine.
Climbing the ravine directly would be difficult without relevant abilities. It was far too visible, making one vulnerable to long-range attacks from below.
Of course, there did exist a more ordinary route upward.
As Simon continued along the ravine, a terrain formed with hills layered like steps appeared before him. It resembled terraced farmland on highland plateaus, yet crude tents and pit dwellings were crammed densely together.
And from within those dwellings, small dwarf-like creatures swarmed.
‘……Oh, there are so many.’
The Kera—a Grade 2 monster.
This was why the island bore the name Kera Island.
The Kera resembled goblins seen anywhere across the continent, though they were smaller and lankier than goblins. Even at adulthood, they reached only the size of a six-to-nine-year-old human.
Yet true to their nature as monsters, they possessed extraordinary reproductive capacity, and through their ability to wield weapons and exceptional cooperative instincts, they were the creatures that truly dominated this island.
The settlement of these Kera monsters stretched across the most advantageous passage for ascending the ravine.
‘I came late deliberately, hoping others might have cleared the way……’
Signs of burned and destroyed dwellings were scattered about.
Yet compared to the vast scope of this entire settlement, it amounted to only a fraction of damage. He would have to break through this place by his own strength.
Rustle.
While Simon’s attention was momentarily diverted by the settlement, a sound of movement came from the undergrowth behind him.
Simon quickly turned around, drawing up the Dark Element. His Skeletons rattled in alertness.
“Wait! I have no intention of attacking.”
A male student in Kizen uniform emerged from the bushes, raising both arms in surrender. He was a man with gray hair swept cleanly back from his forehead.
“……Who are you?”
“I’m Vincent Werli from C Class.”
Vincent continued with a gentle smile.
“You’re planning to cross that Kera Settlement as well, aren’t you?”
“……Yes, that’s the idea.”
“Then let’s join forces with us! Honestly, at that scale, I don’t think it’s possible to break through alone.”
“Us?”
Vincent smiled faintly and gestured behind him.
“I didn’t bring them because I thought you might be wary, but there are eight more back there.”
Eight more, he said.
Simon reflected on how well Vincent had assembled such a number, then replied.
“I’m going alone.”
“……Are you serious? That’s clearly a course designed to test teamwork! Going alone would be madness.”
He wasn’t wrong. Vincent’s proposal to combine their strength seemed entirely reasonable.
But.
“I have another method planned. Sorry.”
Simon couldn’t yet trust Vincent. He possessed a way to break through alone, and he wasn’t desperate enough for a team to accept such risk.
Simon turned his back and disappeared into the forest, leaving those words behind.
Vincent eventually returned to his allies alone, plodding back to where they sat, chatting idly in a suitable location.
“What did you say?”
Vincent shrugged at his teammate’s question.
“He says he’s going up alone.”
“Pfft!”
“Look at him bluffing. Kid still hasn’t had his head cracked here.”
Vincent’s team was in high spirits. Moreover, having arrived on Kera Island on the second day itself, it was fair to say each member possessed genuine skill.
“Should we follow him and drag him back?”
One of the team members spoke. Vincent shook his head.
“Never mind. Waste of time. Let’s focus on our own business.”
“When he comes crawling back begging to be let in, we’ll beat him up and take his Points.”
“Hahaha!”
Vincent’s team moved through the cheerful atmosphere.
It wasn’t long before they reached the front of the Kera Settlement. On the stepped hillside ahead, small dwarf-like Kera creatures shuffled about here and there.
“Now, this is a race against time.”
Vincent drew his team’s attention as he spoke.
“It matters more to climb one step higher than to hunt monsters. We Kizen students won’t lose to the Kera, but if we get tired and our pace slows, we might have to face every monster in the settlement.”
Everyone nodded with serious expressions.
“Let’s take the positions we discussed before and set out immediately.”
“Okay!”
“Right.”
They immediately formed a breakthrough formation. Two Combat Magic students took the lead, followed by those studying Dark Mechanics, Curse Arts, and Blood Arts.
Vincent, the leader, stood precisely in the center of the formation.
“Let’s go!”
Eight team members began climbing the hillside in unison.
-Screech!
-Screeeech!
The Kera creatures around them noticed and rushed forward. Since emergency alert hadn’t been triggered yet, they were only beginning to pour out of their dwellings one by one.
“These Kera are nothing.”
The Combat Magic students at the front gathered darkness into their fists and swung with force.
Crash!
Kera creatures flew tens of meters through the air with their heads snapped back from a single light punch. The subsequent firepower from the rear students poured down, cleanly devastating the surroundings.
“This way! This is the fastest path up!”
Vincent led the team, and they became as one, pushing through with terrifying momentum. The monsters now actively converged on them, and the group struggled—painfully struggled—up to the midway point.
“We’re already halfway! Just a bit more and we’re done!”
Vincent clapped, encouraging his team. The students, drenched in sweat, felt a nagging doubt creeping in.
‘We’ve… only come halfway?’
Climbing a hillside while fighting consumed far more stamina than it looked.
Moreover, hunting these agile monsters, which were barely as tall as one’s lower body, was no simple task.
But there was no other choice, with monsters ceaselessly pouring in from behind. Everyone gritted their teeth and ran.
“Aaaaaaah!”
Amid their reckless breakthrough attempt, a problem finally arose.
One team member, running too hastily, seemed to have twisted an ankle—he was rolling on the ground, clutching his leg.
Everyone spun around in alarm.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ugh! M-my ankle!”
Vincent was the first to rush over and support the boy’s shoulder.
“We can’t leave him here! Hang in there!”
“…Th-thank you.”
With an injured member now in tow, their already sluggish pace dropped to nearly half.
The Combat Magic student at the front felt uneasy even as he beat the monsters down.
‘Am I pathetic? If we drag an injured person along like this, one casualty means the rest of us die too.’
It wasn’t as if anyone truly died—when the Barrier Gauge hit zero percent, an emergency barrier activated and teleportation immediately triggered, transporting them to a safe location.
But right now, even with everyone intact, they couldn’t be sure they could break through the settlement.
There seemed no need to drag along someone with a broken leg.
The other students felt the same; though the team atmosphere was so strong they couldn’t say it aloud, their hearts were alike.
“Ten more ahead!”
“They keep coming!”
The slower their breakthrough speed, the more monsters they had to face.
Now both stamina and darkness magic were running low. Just as everyone was beginning to surrender to the feeling of their limits—
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
A deafening boom suddenly shook the earth.
Everyone’s gaze shifted. A monstrous figure was bulldozing through the dense throng of Kera—clustered together like a swarm of ants—simply by walking straight through them.
“G-golem! That’s definitely a golem, right?”
“Someone’s riding on it!”
Simon sat atop the Mud Golem, grinning as a cool headwind swept past him. Below, Pier’s clone let out a booming laugh.
[Hahahaha! Go! Keep going!]
To the small-framed Kera, the golem was nothing short of a giant.
No other means of attack was necessary. As the golem charged, countless Kera were trampled and crushed beneath its feet.
Was there any other way to breach a monster’s encampment so brutally?
Yet it was devastatingly effective. The aggressive Kera were now preoccupied with fleeing. The golem was like a wolf that had wandered into a flock of sheep.
“Isn’t that the guy who went up alone earlier?”
“Insane—he’s really going to solo this all the way to the end.”
Vincent’s teammates watched Simon with a mixture of admiration and envy.
Granted, they’d mocked him just moments ago, but some of the students harbored a faint hope that perhaps he’d save them. Yet Simon and the golem pressed on without so much as a glance in their direction.
Then it happened.
—Krrrak! (What is this commotion?)
A Kera adorned in elaborate ornaments emerged from a tent upon hearing the uproar.
—Krrrak! Kerrr-rrrak! (Humans have invaded!)
—Kerrr-rrrak! (Leave it to me!)
He was none other than the Kera chieftain.
The mere appearance of the chieftain bolstered the morale of the Kera around him. Those nearby thrust their arms aloft and began to cheer.
Whoooosh!
As the chieftain raised the staff in his grasp, flames began to flicker and form rapidly.
He was the one and only Kera capable of wielding magic!
The moment he leveled his staff to unleash a spell—
Crunch!
The charging golem’s foot trampled him instantly.
Simon, his gaze directed elsewhere, was utterly oblivious.
‘Huh? What was that? Did I hit something?’
Barely a thought.
Yet the ripples of Simon’s inadvertent removal of the chieftain were seismic.
Suddenly bereft of their commander and decision-maker, the Kera descended into chaos and began to flounder.
“What the—why aren’t they attacking anymore?”
Vincent’s teammates noticed the shift as well. Vincent set his jaw hard, his face grim, and stepped forward.
“Something’s changed! Everyone catch your breath for a moment—!”
—Krrrak!
—Kerrr-rrrak!
But suddenly, several of the nearby Kera began to lower one knee in Vincent’s direction.
Vincent stumbled backward in confusion when a blade abruptly pressed against his neck.
“Gah! What—what are you doing?!”
“I thought something was off.”
A male student, blade still fixed on Vincent’s throat, spoke in a glacial tone.
“Your Barrier Gauge is at one hundred percent right now, isn’t it? Why are you the only one the monsters haven’t touched?”
“…!”
“One hundred percent? Seriously?”
The other students murmured as comprehension dawned on them.
“You deliberately made us take detours to exhaust our stamina, dragged the wounded along to play up the dramatics and slow us down. Now that I look at it, the pieces fit. You couldn’t possibly be—”
The male student ripped the Necklace Artifact from Vincent’s neck.
Vincent lunged desperately, but the blade pressed closer against his throat, freezing him in place as the student examined the artifact’s form carefully.
“It looks just like what those Kera are wearing. This came from a Supply Drop, didn’t it?”
Supply Drops that fall from the sky contain not only food but various artifacts useful in this Island Survival.
This was likely either an item that makes the Kera regard him as one of their own and thus refrain from attacking, or a Necklace Artifact that grants the wearer reverence.
He tossed the artifact to a female student beside him. She clasped it around her own neck and approached one of the Kera.
The nearby Kera flinched and retreated before dropping to one knee before her.
The female student’s expression turned cold.
“You played us beautifully, didn’t you, Vincent?”
“N-no! Everyone, please calm down! Just listen to me!”
The atmosphere turned hostile in an instant.
“You were going to let us take all the damage before you claimed the Points for yourself.”
“No wonder only he had so many Points.”
“Are there other victims besides us?”
Once the suspicion took root, it spiraled beyond control. The female student wearing the necklace artifact gestured, as if signaling something.
“There’s nothing more to say. Farewell.”
The blade pressed against Vincent’s throat drew across in one swift motion.

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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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