Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 83

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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 School’s Summoning Prodigy: Chapter 83
Having made it safely up through the Gorge, Simon had now entered the core territory.
A jungle sprawled before him, dense with vegetation and layered in a thickness that seemed almost painterly, but the atmosphere here was unmistakably different from before.
Explosions crackled from multiple directions, and the chaotic din of weapons clashing echoed through the air. Even Grade 3 and higher monsters—apex predators of the island’s food chain—had begun to emerge.
With the Golem Core secured, Simon moved with greater caution than before, beginning his search in earnest. A single mistake would paint him as prey for both students and monsters alike.
“Phew.”
Simon wiped the sweat from his forehead, glancing about warily.
He hadn’t faced a single Kizen student yet, but the points he’d earned from hunting alone had already surpassed one hundred twenty-seven. Still, from this point onward, he’d need to steel himself for combat with at least two or three Kizen students.
Whoosh!
As expected. Simon’s head snapped up at the sudden wave of heat. Black flames were falling from directly overhead.
‘Same Black Flame Magic as Merin’s!’
Boom!
Simon retreated and dodged, watching the black flames spread across the grassland, when another volley came hurtling toward his flank.
‘So fast…!’
Crash! Boom!
Thud!
The firepower was formidable, and rapid-fire volleys were possible. Simon ran frantically, weaving between each attack.
Just as he tried to bound up a tree to open distance, a massive inferno swept across it, incinerating the trunk wholesale.
Watching an entire tree burn to ash in mere seconds sent chills down his spine.
‘This is getting dangerous.’
Simon pivoted mid-run and touched down on solid ground. At that moment, his attacker descended from the treetops and revealed herself.
Simon’s eyes widened in shock.
“Merin!”
It really was her. With her arms crossed, she smiled and wiggled her fingers in greeting.
“I knew it was you? Simon.”
“I was worried! How have you been all this time? Have you been eating……”
Slap.
Merin opened her palm toward him.
A warning gesture—don’t come closer.
“…M-Merin?”
“Ever since we entered Kizen, we’ve been on the same team. We’ve cooperated and relied on each other all this time.”
Simon quickly reassessed the situation.
Her usual demeanor was gone. Even the color in her eyes seemed somehow clouded.
“Honestly, aren’t you curious?”
Black flames flickered to life across her palm.
“Which of us is stronger.”
Simon raised his own Dark Element aura, his expression hardening.
“You want to fight me?”
“Yeah.”
Merin answered without hesitation.
“A chance to go all out like this doesn’t come around very often.”
“Calm down. Holding back in a situation like this would be inefficient for both of us.”
Her eyes grew sharper.
“Get ready!”
Blaze!
The flames in her hands intensified. Simon took a breath to clear his mind and sank into focused thought.
‘Something’s definitely off.’
He knew full well that Merin was pressing beyond her position as Class A’s top student, chasing something higher. He understood her competitive hunger and drive. He’d even dimly anticipated that they might clash someday.
But wasn’t this a bit too sudden?
Sensing that something had gone wrong, Simon summoned his Skeletons from the pocket dimension.
“Hah!”
She leaped skyward using the Black Flame Step, unleashing rapid-fire black flames.
Whoosh!
Blaze!
Each strike came down like a devastating barrage.
The angles and trajectories of the projectiles varied wildly. Moreover, wherever the black flames fell to the ground, they ignited the grass and trees, creating zones of danger. The space available for him to dodge was shrinking in real time.
“Haaah!”
Merin was deadly serious.
And now she was employing the Multi-casting technique she’d shown during the last duel evaluation—pouring firepower from her right hand while her left prepared Dark Flare, an attack that could only be called her ultimate technique.
Flawless, in the truest sense of the word.
Merin was cornering Simon with her overwhelming specs.
‘There’s no way around this.’
Simon decided it was time to fight seriously.
‘You know me well, and I know you just as well.’
Simon pulled a Gold-ranked Bow from his pocket dimension. He held the bow in his left hand and nocked an arrow in his right, infusing it with Dark Element.
‘Hup!’
Simon jumped to dodge the incoming Black Flame, turned his back, and drew the bowstring taut.
He took aim at Merin, who continued to pour out streams of Black Flame.
Whoosh!
He released.
The arrow pierced through the Black Flame and reached its mark. Merin couldn’t track its trajectory because her own assault had obscured her vision.
Thunk!
The arrow struck her ribs dead center.
Her Protective Suit kept her from taking damage, but her Barrier Gauge dropped significantly.
He could see her stumble backward in surprise.
‘In terms of pure offensive power, Merin ranks among the very best in all of Kizen. But when someone like her dumps everything into suppressive firepower without diversifying their approach—’
Simon nocked another arrow and released it.
‘They become vulnerable to straightforward, pinpoint physical attacks. No elaborate tactics needed.’
Crack!
The next arrow embedded itself in a tree beside Merin’s face. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.
“Don’t underestimate me!”
She came at him more aggressively now, charging and attacking simultaneously. As Simon maintained distance and fired arrows in rapid succession, she began to channel Internal Dark Element Manipulation.
Her running speed accelerated, and the arrows clattered uselessly to the ground around her feet.
‘Damn. If she adds martial arts to that mix, this gets really difficult.’
Simon clicked his tongue and nocked the next arrow.
Hitting a target moving at full sprint isn’t easy.
The best opening comes when—
“Ha!”
The moment she unleashed a Black Flame, Simon released his arrow.
Both attacks flew simultaneously, and both fighters dodged. She twisted her head; he backflipped out of harm’s way.
Whoosh!
Thunk!
They exchanged blows, then skidded backward, creating distance.
Merin smiled.
‘No need to rush. If I keep drawing this out until Dark Flare is ready—’
Thunk!
A sudden impact on her thigh made her spin around in shock.
‘What? Who just—!’
Simon didn’t give her time to think, firing an arrow straight at her from the front. She leaped sideways to evade, but as she landed, she glanced behind her.
Whoosh!
Thunk!
This time, arrows came from both left and right, striking her Barrier Gauge twice more. Her barrier was already depleted by more than half from arrows alone.
‘What on earth is happening?’
Merin dropped to the ground and quickly rolled away.
Attacks from three directions. She suddenly remembered: Simon commands three Skeleton Archers.
‘Of course. The Skeleton Archers—’
But the dense forest made the arrows’ trajectories obscured in darkness, leaving her unable to pinpoint their source. And she was too far away for her Black Flame to reach them.
‘Load.’
Simon nocked an arrow. The three Skeleton Archers connected to his mind simultaneously nocked their own arrows and finished aiming at Merin.
‘Your weakness is long-range physical attacks. And now you’re facing assaults from four directions.’
The true strength of Summoning Magic is always the numbers game.
Simon had turned the tables completely, using that advantage to the fullest—now it was Merin who found herself cornered.
‘Don’t underestimate me. I’m not the only one thinking ahead!’
She clenched her teeth and unfurled a new magic circle.
Bang-bang-bang!
Two of the four arrows grazed past her as her Barrier Gauge took another heavy hit.
Simon and his Skeleton Archers began reloading. Merin backed up against a tree, dropped to one knee, and placed her hand on the ground.
Dark Element Magic: Black Ice – Wall of Ice
Rumble!
A barrier of ice spread across three directions at once, and the next volley of arrows bounced off harmlessly.
Seeing her stance, Simon lowered his bow with a look of relief.
‘That’ll do.’
In truth, Simon had never intended to eliminate her. Since she’d taken a defensive position first, all he needed to do now was summon his Darkness and escape.
The moment Simon turned to leave.
“Simon!!”
Merin’s cry rang out from behind him.
“Are you really going to end it like this? Our first real duel, and you want to finish it so lamely?!”
“…….”
Simon turned back around.
“Fight me properly!”
Whoooosh!
At last, Dark Flare was fully formed. The ice wall began melting rapidly beneath its heat.
‘I’m not sure what she’s thinking, but…’
Simon picked up his bow again.
‘If she’s going to insist like that, I’ve got some pride too.’
The ice melted completely, and she began her charge. She activated Internal Dark Element Manipulation to its maximum, gripping Dark Flare in both hands.
A combination of speed and attack that made no allowance for defense.
Simon drew his bowstring once more, concentrating Darkness into both legs. The Skeleton Archers prepared to fire as well.
‘Precise predictive shots are still beyond my skill level. I’ll end this with close-range fire when she gets near.’
The distance between them continued to shrink.
One moment from collision.
The instant Simon was about to release the bowstring.
‘……What?’
From beside Merin, cracks suddenly appeared spreading across the ground.
[Boy! It’s him!]
Pier’s urgent voice echoed inside Simon’s head.
[It’s Bigcrum!]
Bigcrum? Simon’s eyes widened in shock.
The cracks spreading from the ground were hurtling toward her at tremendous speed.
At this rate, they would collide head-on.
‘Damn!’
Simon threw down the bow he’d been aiming and dropped low, gathering all his Darkness into his legs as he braced himself.
Then he lunged toward her with a Black Flame Step at maximum output.
‘What? Why is he—’
Merin’s pupils trembled.
A charge like that with Dark Flare in front of her would be suicide. All she needed to do was extend her arm and unleash Dark Flare, and it would be over—but she hesitated.
That desperate expression bore no resemblance to an attacker trying to kill her.
Her arm faltered, then stopped. And finally, the question arose:
‘Why am I… fighting Simon?’
Crack!
In that moment of hesitation, Simon slipped through and struck the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious. Without pause, he scooped her up and threw himself backward in a powerful backflip.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
Simon felt as though the very earth was being flipped upside down. The ground erupted with violent tremors as something massive burst from the cracks.
‘Good God…!’
It was an enormous arm, wrapped in what looked like bandages of sickly green biomatter.
The hand grasped at empty air, missing the tangled figures of Simon and Merin by inches.
‘Ugh!’
His desperate leap left no time to prepare for landing. Simon cradled Merin, cushioning her with his own body as he struck the ground with his back.
Bang! With the impact, Simon’s body sprang upward like a spring, and Merin tumbled across the earth.
“Merin!”
Unconscious and defenseless, she was being pushed toward the cliff edge.
The massive arm swept the area around it as if searching for something, then planted its palm against the ground.
“……!”
Simon froze. From the opposite cliff face of the Gorge, a colossal face began to emerge.
‘That’s…!’
The former commander of the Giant Brigade—Bigcrum.
Bigcrum’s eyes held a hollow, entranced look as he surveyed his surroundings, then turned away as if unable to find what he sought.
[Boy! He’s escaping!]
“But…!”
Merin, still unconscious, was rolling down the sloped ground toward the cliff. That way lay only the abyss.
Simon’s eyes darted between Bigcrum and Merin, and he gritted his teeth as he bolted toward her.
‘Black Flame Step again!’
Simon sprinted at full speed. Just as Merin, sliding down the slope, was about to plummet over the cliff’s edge.
Thump!
He seized her wrist by the barest margin.
Covered head to toe in dirt, Simon lifted his head, breathing hard.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A giant so massive it defied imagination was walking away on the far side of the cliff. His body, which had been turning to look around as if searching for something, began to shrink steadily.
Eventually, it became smaller than the trees and vanished from sight.
‘Phew.’
Simon hauled the unconscious Merin up.
Thanks to the Protective Suit, she appeared to have no injuries. Her Barrier Gauge flickered at a precarious single digit.
‘What’s this?’
But there was an odd white feather lodged in the nape of her neck.
When Simon reached out to examine it more closely, the feather scattered into the air and vanished.
Patter. Patter.
‘Ah.’
Simon looked up.
A few drops began to fall from the overcast sky, and then the rain suddenly burst forth with a roar.
‘First, I need to find somewhere to rest.’
The full story could wait.
Simon lifted the unconscious Merin into his arms and rose to his feet.

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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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