Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 154

Simon was perplexed when he came into contact with Flema's White Flame.

It did hurt.

It hurt like shit.

But was it so unbearable?

Kajann and Pier reacted as if they had felt the fires of hell, so why was it so… weak?

Simon felt a seed of doubt grow in his mind.

Fwoosh!

The second White Flame struck.

The nasty pain was reduced to just… pain.

To put it simply: It became bearable.

Fwoooosh!

Right after that, he was exposed to the third blast of White Flame.

It felt like he was stepping into the dorm spas he had become well-acquainted with.

Simon was enduring well enough to describe the attack of one of Efnel's Seven Saintesses as a spa.

It didn't stop there.

'Why are my wounds healing?'

Flema's White Flame was healing the scrapes across Simon's knees and elbows. It was a very confusing situation, but Simon made sure to keep this all hidden.

After all, this opportunity would never come again.

Flema was a monstrous fanatic. She was infinitely proud of being a saintess, and she had to be able to destroy all the wickedness with the power of her 'White Flame' bestowed upon her by the Goddess.

Because this power was her proof of the Goddess.

Her personal faith was one with her ability. But what if that faith was shaken?

It would mean utter turmoil for her emotions.

Finding the crack in her foundations, Simon decided to pull off a trick.

When he touched the White Flame, he rolled around like Kajann or Pier, screaming and drooling. He even bit his tongue so he could cough up blood. Seeing the necromancer suffering from the divine punishment, Flema seemed satisfied.

And when Serene intervened moments later, Flema seemed very stressed that she couldn't burn Serene's feathers all at once.

Fortunately, she seemed to see Serene as a special case, so it didn't lead to her suspecting Simon.

Simon charged in ignorantly, swung his greatsword, had his attack blocked by White Flame, and roiled in false pain.

Repeating that over and over again, he looked for an opportunity. However, he just could not find the proper opening to finish it once and for all.

But it was worth the wait. While Serene was firing thousands of golden feathers, Flema went all-in on defense. Simon took this moment to rush behind Flema in the same way as every other attack.

Having thoroughly been tricked by the acting, Flema responded like usual. She tried to brush off Simon with a small burst of White Flame.

However, Simon proudly charged through the lukewarm flames and swung the sword.

[…!!]

It was the most effective attack so far.

A deep line of crimson went from her shoulder to her hip. The blade didn’t slice her completely in half, but the gushing blood clearly showed her wounds went deep.

[How…?]

Flema was shaken.

She hastily tried to fall back and heal, but wounds inflicted by the Greatsword of Destruction couldn't be recovered. Not even with White Flame.

[How? How?? How?!!]

Her ‘faith’ began to crumble.

[Why?!!!]

Shouting from the lungs, she doubled over and gasped for breath. Her trembling eyes turned to Simon.

[Who in the world… are you?]

Fear.

All she could feel was fear. Fear of the unknown.

"I don't know either."

Flatly replied Simon, fixing his grip on the greatsword.

He was telling the truth. He had no idea how he was fine after being hit by the Saintess's flame. He just made use of that fact but didn't have the time to think about the why.

When people witness something they can't understand and don't want to understand…

[Die!!]

…they want to destroy it.

White Flame extended from Flema's palm, bathing Simon with more flame than a forest fire.

'Kugh!'

Simon immediately put his right arm behind his back to protect Pier’s Bone Armor. He then received the baptism of White Flame with his entire body.

Kajann and Serene screamed in horror.

Although he had some resistance to divinity, Simon was still fundamentally a necromancer. His body was reaching its limit under the overwhelming power.

[Boy! What are you doing? Get out of there!]

'Pier!'

Simon tried his best to smile while enduring the flames.

'How long are you going to hesitate?'

[…]

'If we want to beat a saintess of Efnel, we must first change our essence. If you really are the Marshall of my Legion…'

Simon's eyes sharpened.

'Follow me, Pier.'

[Kuhehehehe!]

Pier laughed.

[Kuhe! Kuhehehehe! Bwahahahaha! Kuhahahahahaha!]

The cackle of a madman—somewhere between laughter and tears—echoed through Simon's mind.

[You can only insult the dead so much, Boy!]

Pier sounded very amused when he said that.

'This is not an insult. Rather, it is…'

A smile crept across Simon's lips, too. Flema, still pouring out a torrent of White Flame, froze with unparalleled terror.

'An evolution.'

Drop.

The sound of a water droplet striking a pond rang out in Simon’s mind.

Simon was the infinitely small drop of water.

Pier was the pond.

The white drop of water vanished without a trace the moment it fell into the rotten black pond.

Drop.

A drop of white water fell again.

But this time, it was different. The moment the droplet landed in the pond, the white color spread in all directions like highly-concentrated ink, dying the entire pond white.

[Kuhehehehehehe! Bwahahahaha!]

Shift.

Slide.

Bones once strewn across the floor now floated in the air and began to attach to Simon's body, enduring the White Flame.

Click.

Clack.

The bones seamlessly connected to form armor, covering the remaining bones on the right arm and connecting to the torso and legs. The cape was wrapped around Simon's body again, and finally…

[Alright, son of Richard!]

Kerchunk!

Pier's skull helmet landed on Simon's head. Simon grabbed the skull and pulled it on further. His eyes were fully covered, leaving only his nose and mouth exposed.

[In the name of victory, I shall now even throw away my identity as an undead!]

Crackle!

As usual, a dark-blue flame burned like a torch in the right eye socket.

But…

Fwoosh!

A White Flame rose from the left eye socket.

* * *

* * *

With flames burning in both eyes, Pier had finally caught up with Simon's growth.josei

"Let's go, Pier."

[Kuwahahahahaha!]

Slaaaaaaaaaash!

Simon swung his greatsword. The sword’s slash continued in a straight line, tearing through White Flame and striking Flema in the stomach.

[What in the world…?!]

Her eyes trembled.

A necromancer who could withstand White Flame was one thing…

But an undead who used divinity?

A series of great shocks came one after another, and cracks began to appear in her rationality.

[Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!]

Flema let out a piercing wail.

It couldn’t be.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

Her pounding heart filled her ears as fear filled her mind.

For priests, this was against the very foundations of their lifelong faith.

Tap!

Simon kicked off the floor and dashed in. The Bone Armor’s potential was fully reached, and his physical ability rose dramatically.

[Kugh!]

She burned with rage upon seeing such blasphemy and flew into the air, cleansing the ground with White Flame. Simon braced himself against the floor and swung his sword up.

Slaaaash!

Simon struck her with a long-range sword slash, but White Flame healed her wounds quickly.

[It's meaningless unless you hit her directly with the Greatsword of Destruction’s blade!]

'Yes, but…'

Simon had no aerial combat skills. His best hope was jumping up and catching her.

But while Simon was dashing around to find a good place to jump off of…

'?'

He discovered that Serene's feathers were following him.

[I'll help you.]

Simon heard Serene's voice. The feathers that caught up to Simon clung to his shoulders and back.

'!'

Simon felt his concentration rise severalfold in an instant.

The same imagery as what she showed in Combat Dark Magic class appeared once more. In addition, the feathers attached to his back pushed with the force of a hundred crows, lifting Simon into the air.

'Okay.'

After getting a sense of it, Simon kicked off the ground and soared up.

Shiiing!

Simon slashed Flema's shoulder as he passed by her.

Blood sprayed from the wound, and Flema's face went pale from fear.

[Kiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!]

Flema flew higher into the air. The shield of White Flame that protected the saintess went up and up, breaking through the ceiling and the rock wall of the cave.

'Hah!'

Simon had to strain his eyes to see her above him.

He couldn’t let her escape.

Having squeezed out every drop of physical and mental stamina, he knew he would collapse the moment he paused to breathe.

So first…

'I'll take her down!'

Simon chased after Flema, bringing the feathers’ speed to the maximum.

Crrrrumble!

Divine spheres and rocks the size of houses rained down. Simon gave up on rationality and entered the realm of madness.

'I'll slash everything in front of me!'

He frantically swung his sword over and over as he rose, white slashes filling the air.

Faced with enough debris to blot out the sun and a baptism of divine spheres that filled his vision, Simon slashed and slashed far beyond all thought.

Whiiiiiiish!

The obstacles blocking Simon's vision were all gone. Bathing in the dazzling sunlight, Simon flew thousands of meters into the air. Harsh winds whipped at his hair and face.

As he looked down, he saw the hole in the top of the mountain where he flew from the command and control room, and the Kizen campus in the distance next to it.

[Why! Won’t! You! Die!!]

Flema, still above him, raised her arms.

Sharp crosses made of White Flame floated in the air. Perhaps her senses had returned to normal. She was thinking of fighting with physical force, abandoning the stubborn need to burn Simon to death with the power of the Goddess.

"Here I go, Pier."

[Kuhehehe! Knock yourself out!!]

As Simon flew up, hundreds of crosses fell down. As he went to cut the ones threatening to skewer him, more came to fill their places. He was left slashing through the air over and over and over.

Kizen students fighting the monsters generated by the Prima Materia on the ground had turned their gazes to the sky at the thundering noises.

"It's a cross!"

Students were all looking and pointing.

"That's a priest, right?"

"But who is it fighting…?"

"Hey, get out of the way!"

Meilyn shoved Rick's head to the side and looked up at the sky. Then…

Both of her cheeks went a bright red.

'Pion…!'

Slaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaash!

Simon's cut through crosses one after another.

But he was starting to feel his limit.

Although she had lost all shreds of sanity, cornering a saintess like this was as difficult as a miracle. If this battle went too long and she regained her composure, Simon would be at an overwhelming disadvantage.

'This is my last chance to attack.'

Simon gnashed his teeth to the point where a cracking was heard inside his mouth.

While floating in the air, he brought the greatsword horizontally behind him, crouching down low.

It was a sword-draw stance, except there was no scabbard to draw it from.

He put all his strength into the greatsword. The sword flickered and began to shake with a terrible force. Then, a brilliant light shone down like a second sun.

"What's going on?"

"I-It's so bright!"

The flash of light on the sword was so great that even the students on the ground were covering their eyes.

'I just have to…'

His arms swung, and his waist spun. Pier's bones, attached to his body, recreated their accumulated experience in Simon.

Simon felt a refreshing sense of liberation and grinned.

'…slash across dimensions!'

Pooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow!

The pure-white trail tore through the air and the buffeting winds, traveling in a straight line. A clear divide was drawn through the clouds marking where Simon had cut the sky. Even the Kizen campus trembled from the aftershock.

[Kuhugh!]

The saintess was split in half across the wait, along with the crosses around her.

However, a saintess was an absolute being. White Flame swept across her dismembered body, trying to reattach it.

'I'm… not…'

Rattle, click, clack!

'Done yet!!!'

Simon, having just unleashed a massive slash, was rotating back once more. All of Pier’s bones were moving from the rest of the body and toward his wrist.

Simon spun in a complete circle, stretched out his arm, and pointed the tip of his sword at Flema.

Simon's hand and the bones attached to it were trembling as they held the greatsword, seemingly struggling to endure the power he had gathered.

'I'll definitely hit!'

Simon added his absolute order.

{Simon & Pier Original - Projection}

Kabooooooooooooooom!

Simon's arm was flung back and Pier’s bones were scattered in all directions as deafening gunfire filled the sky.

Flema, who had been focusing on recovering her split body, found her vision going further up than it should have.

[What did you—?!]

In her moment of distraction, the Greatsword of Destruction grazed her head.

As she followed its path, dazed, she saw the greatsword was moving far, far away.

And…

[Ah.]

Her right arm was flying into the sky.

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!]

The saintess' cries of pain shook all of Kizen.

——