Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 85

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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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The Necromancer Academy’s Summoning Prodigy — Chapter 85
Dawn was breaking.
Merin, who had been lying draped across Simon’s robe, stirred with a soft groan and pushed herself upright.
She lingered in a daze for a moment, then swept her gaze across the surroundings.
“……Simon?”
Simon was nowhere to be found.
The embers of a dying campfire, scattered fruit laid out in the open, freshly grilled skewers waiting to be eaten — and beside them, a note from Simon.

Her expression flattened as she read it.
“……Whatever. I wasn’t planning to team up with you anyway.”
She muttered the words aloud, pouting slightly as she coaxed the dying fire back to life.
‘Be careful, Simon.’

* * *
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”
At that same moment, Haren and his teammates were tearing through the Jungle.
‘Where the hell did that bastard go?’
Haren had spotted Simon entering Kera Island across the bridge and immediately given chase, but the labyrinthine environment of the dense Jungle and relentless attacks from monsters had forced him to break off the pursuit — and lose the trail entirely.
The situation was far from ideal.
He’d been lucky enough to receive an opportunity from “that person,” but at this rate, he’d accomplish nothing and have to return to Kizen empty-handed.
‘Tsk.’
Haren slipped a hand into his inner pocket and felt around the feathers. He’d already used two of the five feathers he’d been given.
He scratched his head irritably and turned to look back at his team.
“Hey, what are you doing? Search properly, damn it!”
“Yes! Yes! I’ll find him!”
The male student sniffing the ground with exaggerated sniffs couldn’t even meet Haren’s eyes properly.
The other teammates watching this scene were deeply bewildered.
And with good reason.
‘……Why is Malcolm cowering before some loser?’
The ground-sniffing student was none other than Special Case 10 — Malcolm Randolph, who had fought Hector to a draw.
Everyone on this team had followed Malcolm. Haren himself was one of the students who had attached himself to Malcolm out of respect for his power and influence.
Yet at some point, hadn’t the hierarchy suddenly inverted?
Moreover, Haren hadn’t even led the team toward Central Island. He was simply circling through the forest, obsessed with finding Special Case 1 — Simon Polentia.
“Hold on, Haren.”
A female student finally approached him, unable to bear it any longer.
“How much longer are we going to waste time like this? It’s already day three. If we don’t advance on the Central Base soon, we’ll be in danger. In a little while, all of Central Island will become a battlefield!”
Haren picked at his ear absently.
“You’ve been clicking on and on like that since earlier. If you don’t like it, get out of my team.”
“Your team? When did this become your team? The leader of this team is Malcolm!”
“Oh, is that so?”
Malcolm turned back with a crooked smile.
“What do you think? Malcolm.”
The moment Haren asked this:
Thud!
Malcolm pressed his forehead to the dirt and prostrated himself, his rear end thrust upward in exaggerated submission.
“Of course you’re the leader! Haren! You’re the only one who can be!”
“Aha-ha!”
At Malcolm’s uncharacteristic display, the female student’s lips tightened into a thin line.
‘This doesn’t make any sense.’
Her name was Ameli. She was in the same M class as Malcolm, in the same team.
The idea of Malcolm — someone so proud and hateful of losing — behaving like this was simply unimaginable.
“Tell me honestly. What did you do to Malcolm?”
At Ameli’s question, Haren shrugged.
“What nonsense. Did I do this? He’s acting like this because he likes me.”
“Don’t lie!”
She activated her Core and spread her palm open. A Magic Circle instantly materialized across her hand.
“Restore Malcolm to normal right now!”
“Ugh, this is ridiculous.”
Haren let out a dry laugh.
“Think about it logically. Does some kind of Dark Magic that instantly subdues an opponent actually exist? Well, I suppose it could. But could a first-year like us really cast something as powerful as that level of mental Dark Magic?”
“…….”
Not only Ameli, but everyone present found themselves unable to refute Haren’s words.
Talk of hidden tricks, of leverage gained—it was all mere speculation. Worse still, Malcolm himself offered no explanation whatsoever.
‘But that woman. The way she keeps following and pestering him is getting on my nerves.’
Haren’s mouth curved into a thin smile as he spoke to Ameli.
“All right, fine. I’ll give you a hint.”
“……?”
“But you can’t tell the others, understand? Come closer.”
At Haren’s gesture, she narrowed her eyes with caution.
“Ameli! Don’t go.”
A male student standing behind Ameli spoke up.
“I don’t know what this is about, but Malcolm’s finished. We should get away from these people right now—”
“No, I’m going.”
Ameli strode toward Haren with determined steps.
She had to know the nature of the curse placed on Malcolm. If they were planning to use that power against her, so much the better.
Among necromancers, Ameli possessed a rare constitution—curses took poorly on her.
If they tried cursing her, she could analyze it based on that attempt. And if things went wrong, she had five teammates waiting behind her.
As Ameli drew near, Haren smiled with open mockery.
“Closer. The others can’t hear this.”
“…….”
Frustration boiled up to her temples, but she had to swallow it—for Malcolm’s sake.
Ameli shut her eyes tight and stepped in front of Haren. That was when he seized her by the shoulders and pulled her close.
“Yelp!”
“Ameli!”
The male student watching immediately drew his Black Sword.
But nothing came of it. Haren had merely whispered a few words into her ear, and she nodded, then stepped back.
“Yaaawn—this is so boring.”
Haren yawned, watching her.
“Hey, woman. Sit like a dog.”
“……!!”
Her teammates’ faces flushed with indignation.
“You bastard! You’ve crossed the line—!”
But.
Ameli actually crouched down right there and stuck out her tongue like an animal. Everyone’s face went deathly pale.
“What am I supposed to do? She’s doing what I told her to.”
Haren shrugged and laughed in high, sharp bursts.
“Come on, now dance for us.”
“Ameli! Don’t!”
As Ameli actually started to rise, one of her teammates rushed from behind and pinned her arms.
“What are you doing? Please, snap out of it!”
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
Haren clutched his belly, roaring with laughter.
“This is comedy gold! Oh, it’s killing me!”
“Haaaareeeeen!”
Finally, the male student who could no longer hold back gripped his Black Sword and rushed at Haren.
Crack!
A staff whistling in from the side smashed across the student’s face and sent him flying backward. The other students instinctively fell back, their expressions taut.
“Oops, did you forget who’s standing next to me?”
At Haren’s side, Malcolm stood in a lethal stance, wielding his staff with deadly grace.
“Tch, wasting more Feathers on these kids hardly seems worth it. And they don’t look like they’ll listen anyway.”
Haren gestured.
“Just dispose of them all, Malcolm.”
At those words, Malcolm rushed forward like a demon.
It did not take long for the remaining students to crumple to the ground.

* * *
At that same moment.
Simon had returned to the very place where he had fought Merin, searching for clues. But he gleaned precious little.
‘Why did Big Crumb appear at that exact moment?’
Simon replayed his battle with Merin in his mind.
Was it aroused by the noise from the violent fighting? But then again, the entire island was ablaze in combat.
Did it respond only to fire? That didn’t quite fit either.
‘Pier. Does anything come to mind?’
[…….]
Pier, who ordinarily loved to chatter, had grown unusually quiet ever since meeting Big Crumb.
“Is something the matter?”
[Well. No, nothing at all. If anything comes to mind, the primary reason Big Crumb grows is anger. In other words.]
‘You’re saying he might harbor hostility toward me?’
Simon folded his arms. The thought crossed his mind that this might be a case similar to Erzsebet—someone bearing a grudge against the Legion.
But that didn’t quite add up either. Big Crumb had always been utterly loyal to the Legion, devoted enough to sacrifice himself.
[That said.]
Pier’s projection opened its mouth.
[I’d need to venture outside the subspace to be certain, but his atmosphere was definitely different from the Big Crumb I knew.]
‘I see.’
[Best to be cautious, boy. I have a bad feeling about this.]
‘Understood. Once we advance toward the central area, I’ll search thoroughly.’
Simon pressed forward without hesitation.
Certainly, the closer he drew to the center, the fewer monsters appeared—but traces of Kizen students became increasingly frequent.
It was now the third day.
Since all students had accumulated high Dungeon Pad Points, hunting fellow students yielded greater rewards than pursuing ordinary monsters at this stage.
Crunch.
Simon stopped in his tracks. At some point, the ambient sounds had fallen silent.
Tension etched across his face, Simon glanced around—and spotted someone crouched behind a tree.
‘……What?’
Someone was hiding behind the tree, but their hand was visible, clutching the trunk.
If you’re going to hide, why show your hand?
“If you have business, come out.”
At his words, the figure behind the tree emerged willingly.
“……!”
Simon’s face drained of color entirely.
She wore a Kizen uniform, but her face was one that absolutely should not—must not—appear in this situation.
“Why are you…… here……?”
A withdrawn student from Efnel whom he’d encountered on a mission.
Ellen.
She waved her hand and smiled.
As Simon took a step forward, she quickly turned and bolted into the forest.
“Wait!”
Simon rushed after her, gasping for breath as he plunged deep into the woods until he found Ellen crouched down, gazing at flowers blooming on the forest floor.
When Simon approached, she smiled sweetly and fled again.
‘Who plays games like this!’
His head spun. He grasped at once that this wasn’t the real Ellen, yet he couldn’t help but chase her.
Ellen climbed into the trees, danced like a ballerina, even clasped her hands in prayer.
No matter how fast Simon ran, he couldn’t catch her.
And then, at last.
“Huff! Huff!”
He burst into a clearing in the forest.
“……!”
What greeted his eyes was atrocity.
Nearly twenty Kizen students writhed on the ground, screaming in agony.
“P-please…… save us……!”
Crack!
A spear, crimson as blood, descended from the treetops and drove through a student’s body. He shrieked as though truly pierced, then went limp.
Forced teleportation activated, leaving only the amorphous mass of magical energy the Dungeon Pad had ejected.
Thud! Crack! Smack!
A hellscape unfolded across the clearing. Screams rose in terrible harmony.
Nearly twenty students fell without mounting any defense, vanishing one by one as the Dungeon Pad left only residual magical matter in their wake.
“Stop! Stop it!”
One student cried out toward the sky.
“Why are you doing this to us! What did we ever do wrong!”
In that instant, his body was seized by an iron chain and locked in place.
The frame was a blood-stained cross. During the Hundred Year War, Efnel would hang Necromancers on red crosses and execute them.
A symbol of death.
The cross rose skyward, and the sharp spears waiting in the air drove themselves toward its end.
The student shrieked in terror, tears and mucus streaming down his face.
“Noooooooo!”
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The spears pierced him countless times, and his body went limp. The Protection Suit’s barrier faded as Forced Teleportation activated.
In that final moment, Simon saw a Feather drift down and touch the student’s forehead.
On the ground, the remaining students still thrashed against their bonds, only to be caught by chains and dragged toward a massive Guillotine, their necks locked in place.
“Stop! Stop! Please!”
“I’ll do anything! Save me……!”
Without mercy, the Guillotine blade descended, and they fell silent.
“…….”
Simon watched it all with a cold expression. Then he lifted his gaze.
In the trees above, someone sat at ease, savoring the spectacle like entertainment. The shadow was too thick to see anything but a silhouette.
“Everyone’s such a crybaby, really.”
An adolescent voice echoed from the darkness.
“You’re all wearing Protection Suits anyway, and it’s not like you’ll actually die. When you go back, we’ll wipe your memories clean.”
“…….”
Simon’s fists clenched.
“What’s the point of this?”
From the darkness, a girl with ivory-white hair smiled with eerie delight.
“……Amusement?”

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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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