Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 155

The saintess' arm flew off.

It might've been possible to kill her if Simon had thrown it a little more accurately, but just hitting her was hard enough with how far away she was.

Simon reached out toward the sword while struggling against his building weariness.

'Restore!'

A light flashed in the distance, and Pier's greatsword came flying into Simon's hand. However…

[Hey, Boy! Snap out of it! You can sleep when you’re dead!]

Simon was falling. All the way down to the hole in the mountain range.

Tatap. Tap.

Just in time, two of Serene's feathers flew in and attached themselves to Simon's shoulders. They quickly re-righted him and slowed his descent.

Supported by the feathers, Simon drifted down the hole in the mountain range.

Feathers lined the hole, disintegrating into magic circles after Simon fell past to seamlessly fill the hole with dirt and stones.

"I’m getting some déjà vu from last time, you know? To think that the successor of Ivory Tower is just taking care of someone else."

Serene smiled wearily and approached Simon.

"I did so much to help you, yet you only got a single arm? From now on, you can be the one supporting me."

A loud chuckle came from inside Pier's skull helm.

Simon sat down with shaking legs, still laughing. Meanwhile, Kajann was also laughing, but in a much less hearty fashion. He shook his head in resignation.

'…Crazy bastards.'

Two students managed to band together to corner a saintess and even blow off one of her arms.

It was a story that would make anyone laugh. It occurred to Kajann that this information was so unrealistic it wouldn't even sell.

"Ugh."

Simon’s head began to droop as he threatened to pass out. So Serene jabbed feathers into his arm, bringing him to his senses.

"Wake up. I don't think it's time for you to pass out just yet."

"…?"

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrumble!

Right on cue, the entire command and control room shook violently. Everyone's gazes moved up.

"How persistent."

Muttered Kajann. The ceiling was collapsing, along with the rock wall.

Serene clicked her tongue and sent out feathers to form a protective magic circle over their heads.

Ka-ba-ba-booom!

The ceiling was destroyed once more. The saintess descended from the sky, leaving a hole five times larger than the one from before.

Tap.

Her heels clicked against the ground. But this time, missing an entire arm, she looked almost dreary.

[Now I understand.]

She raised her head.

[I understand what the Goddess desired.]

The hem of her habit fluttered, and an indescribably tremendous amount of energy rose from her body. The three warily backed away.

[A Legion Commander against whom divinity does not work.]

Her gaze turned to Simon.

[An irregularity. This is a serious catastrophe. I've confirmed that even that undead he controls is immune to divinity. When he is fully grown, he shall be Efnel's worst enemy. The Goddess led me here not to terrorize Kizen, but rather…]

Fwoooooooooooooooooooooooosh!

Her entire body went alight with dazzling White Flame.

[To get rid of you. Simon Polentia.]

Flema began to recite a prayer. Serene smiled bitterly and pointed behind her.

"Why don't we run away for now?"

The moment Simon nodded and turned around, a huge wall of White Flame rose up and blocked their escape route.

[Please forgive how your lowly servant has disrespected you.]

Flema could be seen kneeling.

[I've realized that the power of the Goddess does not work on the heretic in order to enlighten the foolish me of who is most needing judgment.]

"Oh, this is dangerous. It looks like she's already starting to calm down…"

Said Serene.

Kajaan added,

"Nothing’s changed. But she's accepting this situation to be an ‘enlightenment’."

Then, Flema—drenched in White Flame—began to grow and shift.

It no longer took the form of a human. Its body seemed to turn into a white and smooth divine metal, starting from her legs and spreading up to her face. Some mass split off to form a new right arm.

Curved wings hung behind its back and its face was covered with smooth metal, featureless apart from the shining blue eyes. Something like a disc made of the same material floated above her head.

[According to the will of the Goddess, I shall sacrifice everything I have to purify the soils of evil.]

She had activated ‘executioner mode’, which she had to maintain by burning her own lifespan with White Flame. She was really putting her all into this fight.

Clank.

A sword made of White Flame rose from Flema's wrist. Her metallic body also radiated heat, making the air around her hazy. The body was likely also made of White Flame.

The three knew it before they even faced her.

They couldn’t defeat her.

[Now…]

She raised her newly forged right arm high into the air. A sword of White Flame stretched dozens of meters into the air and exploded into a huge flame.

[Be purged from this realm.]

The flaming sword started to descend. Simon hurriedly raised Pier's greatsword.

'I can't stop with my current—!'

Claaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!

The sound of metal striking metal filled the entire cave, and Flema's sword was blocked.

Simon's eyes widened.

He wasn’t the one who blocked it.

Before he realized, a golden magic circle had appeared between him and Flema.

'Don't tell me! This is…!'

[So quickly?!]

Flema was focussed completely on the magic circle

A golden portal was opening in the air.

* * *

* * *

"His true strength is… madness!! He's a talent who can truly go insane for something!

Shouted Bahil in excitement.josei

Aaron, listening to the story, frowned as if finding Bahil to be pathetic.

"…You merely found a similarity between him and you."

"Madness is also the virtue of geniuses."

Bahil shrugged.

"Let me tell you of my experience. I briefly interfered with Simon in one of Class A's Curses classes to help him practice. I placed a sensory curse on him to maximize his concentration."

His grin went manic.

"Since then, in every battle and every important moment—especially in Professor Jane's cyclops evaluation—Simon mimicked the curse-induced state. He seems to perceive it simply as 'reproducing the imagery', but that's not true."

He paused for dramatic effect.

"Compéllo. He's reaching the state of compéllo, something which great necromancers only occasionally experience. Yeah! A 17-year-old kid is reaching compéllo just to reproduce the sense of concentration he felt in Curses! Does that even make sense?"

Seeing the bewildered faces of the three, Bahil smiled in superiority.

"Now that you mention it…"

Hong Feng stroked her chin.

"Even if it was with the help of another student, Simon mastered Jet-Black Eruption in two attempts. I think it's true that he opened the door to compéllo."

"Oh, that's news to me."

Bahil nodded and continued,

"Anyway, the reason for sharing this information is for us to come together to make the most of his—"

"I'm against it."

Said Silage as he coughed.

"Compéllo will break one’s mind if entered too often. He is only 17. You probably know what end the necromancers addicted to compéllo face. Like a thin candle, their lives burn away fast."

"However…"

Bahil smirked.

"They accomplished amazing achievements and left their names in history."

"Professor Bahil!"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm confident that no faculty member cares about Simon's health as much as I do. People who ruin themselves by often reaching compéllo are just at that sort of level. It was bound to happen to them. However, Simon has a different talent."

"A talent known as ‘overworking’?"

Bahil’s eyes went cold.

"Professor Silage, I am sorry if this sounds rude, but are you really a necromancer?"

"You shouldn't have said it in the first place if you thought it sounded rude. You need to guide him to reduce his usage of compéllo. It's the role of the professor to help him build skills that enable him to overcome situations without such excessive means. Even without compéllo, that boy can rise to the top."

Bahil's face quickly filled with frustration.

"His possibilities are endless! Using ‘the role of the professor’ as an excuse to clip the wings of a genius should disqualify you as an educator and is a great sin as a necromanc—!"

"Enough!!"

Clap clap.

Hong Feng forced herself between the two.

"This might lead to a fight with the way things are going. Today is Professor Lang's funeral. The time and place is not right."

"…"

Silage closed his mouth and his cheeks turned slightly red. But Bahil seemed like he was still itching to say something.

Then, Aaron's eyes shifted to the door.

"…It's pretty noisy outside."

Sniff sniff.

Silage sniffed the air before rushing out. The other professors followed after him.

Many mourners had gathered and were loudly whispering between each other.

The group waded their way through the crowd.

"Camibarez!"

Silage ran up to her.

A female Kizen student was entering the mausoleum, covered in blood. Her eyes and mouth were constantly bleeding, and the large wings behind her back drooped.

"…Ah."

Camibarez' eyes welled up with tears when she saw the professors.

"Professors, please!"

"Calm down. You’re far too hurt."

Said Silage, grabbing her shoulder to stop her from falling.

"…Please save Simon! Save the students!"

"Save? What are you talking about?"

Then, with a flash of light, a small girl appeared next to Camibarez.

"Looks like a problem has come."

Nefthis Archbold.

Upon her appearance, all the mourners—including the professors—bowed in unison.

"You're…"

Camibarez' eyes trembled. It was the little girl who came to the lecture room to play and grab some snacks.

"Hello! Can you show me that, please?"

The girl pointed to Lang's diary, which Camibarez held in her arms.

Camibarez glanced around in a slight hesitation, but after seeing Hong Feng nodding her on, she handed the diary to Nefthis.

Flick.

Nefthis opened Lang's diary.

Other professors also came over and read the content from behind her.

[My assistant teacher is trying to kill me.]

The professors who saw the first sentence felt their eyes pop out of their sockets.

"It's Lang's handwriting."

Muttered Nefthis before turning to the next page.

The professors' expressions changed moment by moment. Surprise became horror, horror became confusion, and—finally—everything became rage.

"Yeah. There's no need to read any further."

Sighed Nefthis before returning the diary to Camibarez.

As Camibarez held the journal back in her arms, Nefthis smiled and stroked her head.

"Everything is fine now."

Camibarez, adrenaline flooding her veins, felt her heart calm at the voice.

"Leave it to us."

She let her eyes finally release their tension, lose focus, and close.

"Ah, gosh~"

Nefthis let out an exhausted sigh and straightened her back.

"I want to tear everything apart."

Craaaaaaaaaaaaackle!

Suddenly, broad daylight was covered with thick darkness, and black lightning struck.

The mourners shuddered.

The weather had changed in an instant.

Nefthis turned around.

"Silage, please take care of this child."

"Yes, Nefthis."

"And…"

Said Nefthis while looking back at the procession.

"Anyone who's gonna come with m—"

Before she even finished speaking, Aaron, Bahil, and Hong Feng raised their hands with bloodied spirits.

Some other necromancers and mourners raised their hands behind them, but they all slowly lowered their arms at the determination of the three.

"Alright."

She nodded and snapped her fingers. The air shook and Jane appeared, bowing her head.

"Get ready, Jane."

"Yes."

With Jane’s dark spell, Aaron, Bahil, Hong Feng, and herself were enveloped in jet-black and converted into small cubes, which Nefthis subsequently grabbed.

Nefthis then reached up into the air.

Click! Clack! Click! Clack!

A rotating golden clock in the form of a magic circle unfolded in the air before turning into a huge gate.

"Let's go."

The Witch of Death was making her move.

* * *

5 minutes later.

Claaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!

The sound of metal striking metal filled the entire cave, and Flema's sword was blocked.

Simon's eyes widened.

He wasn’t the one who blocked it.

Before he realized, a golden magic circle had appeared between him and Flema.

'Don't tell me! This is…!'

[So quickly?!]

Flema was focussed completely on the magic circle

A golden portal was opening in the air.

Inside was a little girl with silver hair that flowed in the wind.

"It's been a while."

Nefthis broke into a laugh befitting her title of ‘Witch’.

"Saintess of Purification."

——