Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 157

Thud! Crush! Slam!

The demon hand from the magic circle squeezed Flema. Then, Nefthis expressionlessly opened her hand.

The demon's hand also opened, letting the sack of meat once known as Flema fall to the floor.

"Why don't you stop faking and stand up already?"

Coldy said Nefthis.

Fwoooosh!

White Flame rose from the congealed mass. The horribly crushed flesh quickly returned to its original form.

A miracle closer to 'resurrection' than regeneration.

Still, Flema was gasping for breath, clutching her chest as her face went pale.

[…Ngggghhhh!]

The true value of White Flame lay in its ability to recover. No matter what attack a user received, it'd regenerate infinitely with White Flame. Even if her brain and body were crushed, leaving her unable to think or feel, White Flame would forge her back to who she was.

[I'll kill yo—!]

Slice!

A black line flew from behind and severed her neck. Nefthis, having swung her fingertips like a conductor’s baton, watched as black lines carved through Flema’s entire body.

"It hurts, does it not?"

Said Nefthis. Her crystal clear voice was a young girl’s, but the content wasn't.

"Lang would have suffered the same."

Thwip. Flop.

Chunks of meat fell to the floor, sparking with White Flame before regenerating into the form of Flema once more.

[Dammit!]

As soon as Flema regenerated, she hurriedly flew into the sky and poured down White Flame. So Nefthis brought an arm above her head and the black lines from before blocked the White Flame like a shield.

[Hahaha! Mark my words, Nefthis! I'll get you next tim—!]

Clang!

As she flew upward, her back hit something huge. Within moments, a large coffin had enveloped her.

{Iron Maiden}

With Nefthis’ beckon, the coffin shrunk to fit the size of Flema.

Stakes then appeared everywhere and pierced the coffin one after another. Blood seeped from the holes.

Fwooooooosh!

[Kuaaaaaaaaaagh!]

Flema reappeared, setting the coffin ablaze with White Flame. Her expression was twisted with excruciating pain.

[Nefthiiiiiiiiiisss!]

Her offensive wasn't over yet. Nefthis toyed with Flema using her transcendent power.

Flema was fried in scorching dark flame, had each cell rotted by a curse, and was pulverized by a hemomancy blade.

Whether she willed it or not, the saintess’s White Flame continuously resurrected her.

Unable to withstand any more, Flema eventually activated the magic circle drawn on her skin.

{Walpurgisnacht}

Once she set-up the divine barrier, even she couldn’t leave. So, in case of emergency, she had created a teleportation light spell to escape.

Whirrrr!

Her body contorted and escaped through a vacuum in the air.

* * *

Fwoosh!

She opened her eyes to a blinding light.

She was in the 'Sky Island', where Efnel's headquarters was located.

People garbed in white were buzzing about at the sudden appearance of Flema.

Covered in sweat and filth, she gasped for breath and looked up. She could see Efnel's marble buildings.

'I'm back…'

She was relieved just by seeing that.

'I survived. Everything is finally over.'

She flopped onto the floor as her legs gave way.

"Flema!"

An elderly priest came running, panting for breath.

"Y-You're Flema, right? What brings you here without any announcement…?"

[Contact the Pope, his holiness, right now!]

She yelled.

[The Witch of Death is coming! Hurry up!]

"Wh-What?"

Then, a female priest approached from beside the old priest. She pointed at Flema.

"Flema, what is that thing you wear around your neck…?"

[What?]

Her gaze turned to her neck.

A golden collar was hanging there.

[Ah! Ahaha… Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!]

Fear filled her eyes.

Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock!

The sound of the clock pierced her ears, and the people around her froze in time.

The dimensional hole from which she had just exited opened again. Two terrifying blue eyes flashed from the abyss.

[You…! Aaaaagh! Stop! Please, stop! You got your vengeance, you demonic bastard!]

She was already over the edge with insanity so great she forgot her position as a saintess and begged for mercy from the incarnation of evil.

A golden chain was attached to her collar before she realized it and connected to the abyss. A small hand emerged from the darkness and grasped the chain.

"Come."

Grab!

Nefthis tugged at the chain. Flema was dragged through the space and thrown back onto the cold floor of Kizen’s command and control room.

Thud!

Nefthis trampled on the fallen Flema.

"So you had that kind of card up your sleeve, huh? You just wasted your precious time."

Nefthis smiled with a thick undertone of malice.

Flema was caught in a time trap without her notice, and the future where she had used {Walpurgisnacht} had been overwritten with the future where she hadn't.

"Well, shall we continue where we left off?"

Black lines coiled around Flema's neck.

[Stooooooooooooooooop!]

Her body was wrung like a wet towel.

She died.josei

She died over and over again.

She died countless times, each death completely unique.

Even after having her body repaired with White Flame, her mind was still broken.

'I need to somehow get out of here!'

Chomp chomp!

She kept looking for opportunities. While her body was being chewed by a summon, she gave up her physical body and took off in her soul form.

'It worked!'

She saw the summon chewing on her body. Nefthis was still looking at Francesca, waiting for her to be resurrected with her White Flame.

The second ability of the Saintess of Purification: Moving as a soul which transcends the body.

Her transparent body quickly escaped the command and control room's cave and rose high into the air.

'Don't think it'll end like this, Nefthis!'

She vowed to never forget this humiliation.

She would find a new body and would definitely destroy Kizen next time.

Next time, without a d—!

'!'

She stopped. Without her notice, Flema had been trapped inside an invisible cage.

'Wh-What?'

She frantically shook the cage, but it didn’t budge.

She had never heard of this. How could she be restricted as an incorporeal spirit?

"Did you know…"

Flema turned her head in fright. Nefthis appeared beside the cage.

"…the thing that you priests call a ‘blessed sacrament of the Goddess’ is, in fact, almost the same in principle to Kizen's etherealization."

[Wh-What did you say?]

"Of course, it's impossible to dwell in someone else's body as you do, but it's not difficult to move the soul like this. And naturally, we also have ways to neutralize this skill."

Nefthis moved away from the cage and waved her hand.

"I've been waiting for you to fly away as a soul. Now I can finally, truly kill you."

What appeared in the sky was a grim reaper holding a black scythe.

It raised the scythe.

[St-Stop!]

Instinctively understanding that this would be her end, Flema’s soul shuddered in fear.

[Stooooooooop!]

Shiiiiiiiiink!

A horrific sound echoed through the sky.

Then, the saintess was no more.

* * *

* * *

Some time later.

Simon, after passing out from exhaustion during Nefthis’ massacre, at last woke up.

"…?"

The place was unfamiliar, and it stunk of chemicals.

He was wearing a patient’s gown, and IV tubes were connected to various parts of his body. Simon rubbed his eyes.

"Are you finally awake?"

He heard a girl's voice next to him. When he turned his head, he saw a dark-haired girl peeling fruits from her chair next to his bed.

"Lorain!"

Simon shot upright, but Lorain gestured for him to slow down.

"Don't overdo it. You really need to rest."

"…Ah."

"Visiting was originally prohibited. I only got in by using my mother's name."

Already sitting upright, Simon blankly stared out the window.

The place he was in was the Kizen infirmary.

"Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah. Don't worry. Your group members and everybody else are fine."

Lorain retold the story of the aftermath in a soft voice.

The Saintess of Purification was completely erased by Nefthis.

This deactivated the divine barrier that covered Kizen, and the white monsters disappeared once Nefthis retrieved the Prima Materia.

Because students responded so well in the early stages of the attack, there were little over 60 injured and, miraculously, no deaths.

Simon had woken up two days after the incident. Currently, Kizen was in the middle of shortened classes.

"It's a little embarrassing."

She said as she held out the peeled fruit on a plate with a fork. Simon took the fork, speared the yellow fruit he hadn't seen before, and popped it in his mouth.

It was soft and slightly sweet, and it melted in his mouth. Simon thought that it was the perfect fruit for patients.

"What’s embarrassing?"

"In this unprecedented situation where the Saintess of Efnel attacked Kizen, I was the only one who couldn't do anything. I was stuck in the mausoleum after my mom's pestering, I shouldn't have followed her."

Simon let out a bitter laugh.

"You can't help it. You weren't here anyway."

"I can't help it but feel disappointed regardless."

The two laughed and made small talk for a while until Simon decided to ask what had been on his mind the whole time.

"What do you think is gonna happen?"

"With what?"

Simon sighed.

"With the continent. Will there be a war?"

"I wonder… The atmosphere in the Kizen headquarters and among the council of elders does seem to be threatening it…"

Taking a new fruit out of her basket, Lorain continued,

"Miraculously, there were no student victims. But Professor Lang was still lost, and all of Kizen was deceived. Some of elders are in the mood for war. But why don't you…"

Lorain’s gaze turned to the ward’s door.

"…ask Her directly?"

Click.

The door opened, and a little girl with silver hair appeared while waving.

"Halo, halo~! Have you been doing well, Simon?"

"Nefthis!"

As soon as Nefthis entered the room, she dashed forward and jumped onto Simon's bed. Her target was the fruit plate Lorain had prepared.

"Can I eat that?"

"Of course. Please, help yourself."

"…Mom, I peeled that for Simon."

Ignoring Lorain's stare, Nefthis began to nibble on the fruit.

"Nefthis, there's something that I want to ask."

"Yeah? Ask me anything!"

"What will happen to the continent now?"

She smiled.

"Hehe, maybe everyone should tense up a little bit now!"

What was that supposed to mean?

"Will there be a war? Or should people tense up from the hanging threat of war?"

"I don't know if war will break out or not. But Efnel will pay the price."

Declared Nefthis before spearing a piece of fruit with the fork and pushing it at Simon. Since her arms were short, Simon had to bend forward as far as he could.

Simon changed the question after taking the fruit.

"Then, was the terrorism a declaration of war by Efnel?"

"For now, Efnel has cut off its tail."

This time, it was Lorain who answered.

"Their official statement was that Efnel did not make this order, but rather it was an unexpected act by the Saintess of Purification."

"Hehe. They must be a mess after losing a messenger of the Goddess. But a new Saintess of Purification will appear soon enough~"

Simon tilted his head.

"How come?"

"If you kill a saintess, their 'Essence of the Saintess' flows out into the air! Soon, a new saintess will be born in the Holy Federation, nestled in a person with high compatibility. No matter how many times you kill them, saintesses will continue to be born and keep holding us back. Ah, but you don’t need to worry about it."

She stood up and stroked Simon's forehead.

"Don't worry, nothing that would uproot your daily life will happen just yet."

Stated Nefthis as if she knew exactly what Simon was worried about.

"Still, gradual change is bound to happen, right? It's a little early for it, but we’ll be starting vacation."

Simon blinked in surprise, although Lorain seemed to be already aware of it.

"Vacation?"

"Yeah. We decided to move it earlier! Buildings have collapsed, many students were injured, and the situation is chaotic, so we'll have an early vacation and make the second semester a bit longer."

Seeing Simon's dazed face, Nefthis smiled.

"You can look forward to it! It's going to be much tougher than the usual second semester for first-years!"

"…Hahahaha."

How could it be even tougher than it was normally? Simon was getting worried.

Then, Lorain asked,

"By the way, Mom, didn't you say you were going out today?"

"Right, I have to go!"

Having finished eating the fruit, she jumped down to the floor.

"Where are you going?"

At Simon's question, she opened the ward door smiled a meaningful smile.

"The Holy Federation."

"…What?"

"I told you, didn't I? Whether war happens or not, Efnel will pay the price."

She left them with those words.

——