Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 148

Despite Elizabeth demanding the priest to show themselves, nothing happened.

She took a deep sigh and was about to fling spider webs in all directions before…

"Wait."

Kajann stopped her.

[What is it?]

"It seems that Francesca isn't here."

As though having found something, Kajann strode forward.

There was a table at the end of the storeroom, and perhaps the item meant for it was extra dangerous. Wards littered the table. Yet whatever was meant to be on it was missing.

Kajann concentrated and began to examine the empty space. He took out various tools, such as a tape measure, seemingly trying to figure out what the original item was.

[Master!]

After examining a magic circle on the wall, Elizabeth ran to Simon and reported,

[I think it's been at least a day since she installed this!]

"Maybe she set a trap up and escaped."

"Looks like we've fallen for her trick."

Kajann raised his head and said.

"She never came into the hidden hazardous commodities storage in the first place. And above all, it seems that she had a Plan B in case the four desolators—her Plan A—didn't work. That Plan B may not have been in your future.

"…!"

Simon's complexion turned pale.

It meant that the threat of mass genocide wasn’t over yet.

"What’s the missing item?"

"Prima Materia."

Answered Kajann.

"It's a terribly complicated item, but to put it simply, it infinitely creates monsters of countless varieties."

"Don't tell me, with that…"

"Yeah, she's probably thinking of attacking Kizen with this."

Kajann looked at his watch.

"By now, Francesca's barrier must be more than half-way done. When the barrier is complete, even the professors will struggle to break through. The monsters of Prima Materia would slaughter the first-years who are trapped within before help can arrive."

"We need to stop it."

Proclaimed Simon, gritting his teeth. Kajann nodded.

"I have a guess for where Francesca might use the item. Follow me."

"Okay!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Meilyn, who finished dealing with the desolator she was in charge of, arrived at the last location. The Learning Center.

Thunk!

She opened the door to the lecture room and looked around.

'Huh?'

Plants were torn to shreds or had withered away before being piled up on the floor.

Meillyn quickly finished grasping the situation.

'Someone must've arrived before me! Was it Cami? If not, then—'

Crash!

Suddenly, the window shattered, and someone jumped inside.

Meilyn recoiled in shock. The man who got up acting all cool had a very familiar face.

"Ugh, you startled me! Why the hell did you do that? Doors exist, you imbecile!"

"I couldn't help it, the situation's too urgent."

Rick, fully absorbed in playing secret agent, put on Kajann's glasses and glanced around. The plants were all dead, but the desolator was nowhere to be found.

"I obviously thought I'd be the first one here. Did you deal with it?"

"It wasn't me. If it was neither of us, it must’ve been Cami."

"Okay."

Rick took off the glasses and tucked them into his inner pocket.

"Then, with this, the desolator incident is settled, right?"

Meilyn nodded her head at that question.

The three of them had decided to deal with the desolators one by one in their respective places and then come to the Learning Center. If Camibarez came first and cleared it, it meant that all four bombs were now neutralized.

"Bwahaha!"

Rick raised his arms in celebration.

"Once again, we saved Kizen's peace!"

"…There you are again, acting up. We still have to remain vigilant."

She rubbed her temples, exhaling with enough force to kill.

The situation was only over when Simon and Kajann took Francesca down. Until then, no one could drop their guards.

"Other than that, I have a slightly more… fundamental question."

Meilyn folded her arms.

"It’s about Simon and Kajann. How are two first-years going to defeat a necromancer at the level of a chief assistant teacher or worse?"

Rick shrugged.

"Simon is the Special Admission No.1, and Kajann is really, really strong

"That weird guy is?"

"Yeah. This is a secret, but no one who met Kajann in the Island Survival assessment survived."

He said, creepily lowering his voice and wiggling his fingers above his face to try to add to the descriptions.

"Among the second-years, he's famous for going undefeated in the Duel Evaluation. Also, he's repeating a year! That's rare enough in Kizen to mean he must be something. And he’s also from the Thieves Guild? He must be a professional necromancer who infiltrated Kizen for a mission!"

"…"

Meilyn couldn't believe everything Rick said, but if it was true to some extent, those two might be the combination with the greatest hopes of defeating Francesca.

The only people left inside now were first-years, servants, and a few greenhorn assistant teachers. The two of them were the best they would get.

"Alright. Then let’s do what we can right now."

* * *

* * *

"Like what?"

"We need to take control of the broadcasting room and inform the students of the danger. With all the desolators removed, it's safe to make an announcement."

Meilyn had a hunch that they weren't done with danger just yet.

The defenses of the desolators were too lax, even if Francesca never expected them to be found.

It felt like a plan where success was a bonus, not a necessity. It occurred to her that Francesca must have something else planned for the main act.

Hearing her train of thought, Rick clapped his hands together.

"Ohh, I didn't think that far ahead!"

"Follow me. If we can't convince the servants in the broadcasting room, we'll have to force our way in."

"Okay!"

The two bolted out of the lecture room, out of the Learning Center, and toward the Broadcasting and Communications Center. On campus, students preparing for their next classes were bustling about.

"Hey, Meilyn! By the way, don't you think we're really cool?"

Exclaimed Rick.

"The other students have ordinary lives, but a serious incident lurks beneath! And we're the ones moving at the agent's request to solve the case! It really feels like we've become secret age—"

Pshk.

Rick stopped talking. Meilyn didn't notice because she was too busy shouting at him to stop blabbering bullshit.

Eyes glazed over, Rick slipped to the side and went to a narrow alley alone.

"That's an interesting story~"

In the alley was a smiling female student with ivory hair.

Rick, a feather stuck in the back of his head, looked charmed the moment he saw her.

"You're one of Simon’s friends, right?"

"Y-Yeah!"josei

"Could you please secretly tell me what this serious incident is?"

Asked Serene as she held her hands together and gave a cute wink.

Rick nodded repeatedly, still utterly charmed.

* * *

"Huff! Huff!"

Camibarez was running to the north of Kizen while sweating profusely.

As she ran, she skimmed through a few pages of the diary. That alone was enough to give her chills. Francesca really was a priest of the Holy Federation and was trying to destroy Kizen?

When she thought about how everyone's lives depended on her, she couldn't stop running even as she gasped for breath.

Thud!

"Urk!"

While running frantically, she let out a yelp and fell backwards onto the ground. She had bumped into something in the air and bounced off.

She quickly stood up and looked around. There was something like a reddish, tough-looking barrier in the air blocking her path.

Even if she felt around with her palm to see if there was a gap or even ran to see if there was an edge, she knew the barrier had severed all connection with the outside.

"This can't be…!"

She involuntarily took a step back.

"Please…!"

Clasping her hands together, she fired blood bullet after blood bullet, but the barrier didn’t even budge.

"Let me go!"

She gathered jet-black into her little fists and—Bang! Bang! Bang!—slammed them into the wall. She punched it, kicked it, even headbutted it. Yet the barrier remained.

"Why…?"

She collapsed in front of the barrier.

"Why can't I even run away?"

A huge feeling of helplessness overtook her.

Even now, Simon, Rick, and Meilyn would be doing their parts, fighting with all their might.

She was always nervous. Sometimes, even when the four of them were laughing and chatting happily, she felt like she was watching the other three from far away.

Simon always shined by himself no matter where he was; Meilyn was like a superhuman, smart and able to do anything; even Rick made good use of his own strengths and did his part in any situation.

Those three seemed set to push through any obstacles ahead as they continued their schooling.

But she wasn't.

There was nothing she was good at, and she was unreliable. She also was anxious about whether she could be among those people, and worried that she'd be abandoned after falling behind. That the others might leave her for greener pastures.

Her clenched fists trembled.

She wanted to escape. Not just from Kizen, but from her ever-present despair.

Staggering off the ground, she stared at the barrier. Her red eyes had turned bloodshot.

"It's a pity."

A muffled voice, like a mist, echoed through her head.

"You were born with the best blood, but your body was inherited from a weak mother."

"For the noble's blood to flow in a half like her. Fate isn't on her side."

"Such a frail being won't be able to withstand her own blood. She'll slowly die."

"If it had been the opposite, There might have been some room to expect greatness."

"What a mess."

Cami took a deep breath before…

Slip.

She started undressing. Her school jacket fell on the grass.

"My daughter."

Among the many voices, one stood out above them all.

"This is your mother's request. From now on, I'll seal your blood to protect you."

She unbuttoned her shirt and threw it aside. A red magic circle drawn with blood was placed just below her ribs.

She took a deep breath and placed her palms over the magic circle.

"The blood I gave you will eventually be your death. This is the only way for you to live."

After taking a moment to gather her resolve, she took one last deep breath before turning the magic circle to the side.

Clack!

As the magic circle rotated, the blood in her body began to bubble like lava.

"Kugh!"

She stumbled.

The seal was broken. Reddish mana rose from her body, and crimson tears dripped from her eyes of the same shade.

The pain, as if her entire body was being torn apart and reassembled again, made her scream and cling to the barrier.

Then, she opened her mouth. Her fangs flashed through the air as they drove themselves into the barrier.

Crunch!

A small hole was made in the impenetrable wall. The tips of her fangs burrowed deeper and deeper into the barrier little by little.

She clung on with her whole body and put more strength into her fangs. As the fangs dug deeper and deeper, the barrier began to crack like glass.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The cracks got bigger and bigger until finally…

Crash!

The barrier broke around the fangs, and a hole was made. As soon as Camibarez escaped through that hole, the barrier was restored and returned to its original form.

"Huff! Huff!"

She strained her red eyes and looked ahead.

'Please stay safe, everybody!'

Holding Lang's diary in her arms, red energy sprayed all over her body. The little wings on her back suddenly grew as if she had been fed with blood.

Leaping off the ground, she began to fly through the air at a tremendous speed.

——