Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 178

Simon and Rete finished up in the daytrip car and moved on to the next.

The divine train was in the form of connecting all kinds of multiple cars. After the first-, second-, and third-class passenger cars with beds, there was the daytrip car and cargo cars, and then again passenger rooms with beds.

A fierce battle took place in one of those later rooms, a second-class car. The Heavenly Blood cultists were barricading themselves with beds, creating space and flinging ranged spells.

Simon and Rete were defending themselves with a barrier, but it wouldn't last forever.

"Ah, they're annoying."

Rete clicked her tongue. Part of her wanted to wipe them all out with a single attack, but she was concerned about the hostages at the back.

The hostages were all blindfolded, had their hands and feet bound, and were wearing red collars. Rete looked back at Simon.

"Do you have any good ideas?"

"…"

Simon pondered for a moment, then turned away.

"Buy me 5 minutes."

"Ugh, what do you mean by 5 minutes? Make it 2!!"

Simon turned away and crossed to the car behind them. After making sure no one was there, he took off his robe and turned it inside out.

Flutter!

The garment transformed into a coat. With a quick flick on its side, he infused jet-black into its exterior, instantly turning it black.

He buttoned the coat all the way up to his neck and pressed the hood down, then lastly, he pulled out the mask he bought at the black market.

'I knew something like this would happen.'

After donning his disguise, Simon looked up. There was a hatch on the ceiling above him.

He jumped and grabbed the emergency handle on the ceiling with both of his hands before swinging up and kicking the hatch open.

Clunk!

It opened easier than he expected. Simon climbed up on top of the train while being buffeted by a strong headwind.

Clackety-clack! Clackety-clack!

Outside, the sounds of the train could be heard louder.

'It's definitely slowed down.'

Simon looked around, finding his balance as he did.

Worn railroad tracks and unorganized, overgrown trees stretched out before him.

It was clearly not the ordinary trail. The train seemed to have changed directions somewhere along the way.

'Let's move, first.'

Simon prepared himself and ran. He jumped and landed on the top of the next train car.

"I think it was around here."

He could hear the fighting between Rete and the Heavenly Blood cultists from below. Drawing a magic circle on the top of the train, he then took out a bottled hydrochloric acid solution from his subspace and placed it in the center of the circle.

'Poisonous Alchemy after so long! Good to do this again.'

Simon activated the magic circle.

Shatter!

The potion bottle was no more, and its contents spilled into the magic circle. Soon, the magic circle turned the same color as the acid.

Sizzzzzzle!

The magic circle took effect, instantly melting away a huge hole in the ceiling and revealing Heavenly Blood cultists underneath. Some of them spotted Simon, but it was too late.

Simon jumped down.

Thuud!

Simon landed in the middle of the crowd, trampling on cultists.

As everyone panicked at the sudden appearance of the man in black, Simon stamped his left foot on the floor.

'Open!'

The Overlord's blades protruded out from six directions and swept through the cultists. A dozen people went flying, falling out of windows or slamming into walls.

"Kugh!"

"Kill the guy in the mask first!"

There were still many enemies left.

Cultists fired blood arrows from their palms, but the Overlord's blades twirled around Simon's body, protecting him.

"Half of you, take the women, and the rest, take down this guy!"

"Just keep shooting! Overwhelm the bastard with numbers!"

Hearing that, Simon's eyes could be seen gleaming through the gaps between the Overlord's tentacles.

"Overwhelm me with what?"

Simon pulled the imaginary lever. Skeleton troops poured out of subspace.

Simon had constantly been training since he got to Les Hill, so he could now control six summon-type skeletons at once. In addition, his ten conscripted skeletons didn't require manual control. A total of sixteen skeletons appeared and began cutting down cultists.

'Go.'

Simon started his conducting. He divided the skeletons into two main troops, leaving one at the front and sending the other to flank the cultist’s formation. The remaining few skeletons secured the hostages and moved them to a safe car behind them.

'Spears, forward!'

Skeletons advanced with spears and shields, and the Overlord covered them from ranged attacks.

Simon, having instantly changed the tide of battle, looked around. A few of the cultists had decided they were losing and were trying to escape to the next passenger car.

'If I let them go, they might call for reinforcements.'

Simon stretched out his right arm. Several skeletons shifted into Bone Armor and flew with lightning speed.

Click! Clack!

Then, they began to attach to the bodies of the two fastest cultists trying to escape to the other passenger car. When they saw the bones fastening on, they both screamed in terror.

"H-Hey, what is this?! Oomf!"

They were even forced to don skull helms. Soon, the two cultists who were fully equipped with Bone Armor turned around

"What are you doing, hurry u— Kuhugh!"

The two cultists blocked the narrow hallway and started attacking the other cultists trying to run past.

"Are you betraying us?!"

"I-I didn't do it! My body is moving on its own!"

Simon's right hand was dancing like that of a puppeteer. He blocked the narrow road with the two, and the remaining skeletons subdued the cultists from the rear.

It took less than 10 minutes for nearly 30 people to be completely neutralized.

An unquestionable victory. Simon, clad in a black coat, raised his clenched fist in the air. The undead cheered with the roar of the dead.

"Alright, let's move on to the next passeng… Rete?"

In an instant Simon had realized that something went wrong. Rete, paler than ever, was shivering and hugging herself tight. Simon quickly took off the mask.

"Y-You alright? Did I freak you out too much?"

The scars of trauma from seeing necromancers turn her own parents into skeletons were still far from healed.

"My bad. I'll retrieve the—"

Step.

She strode over with a stiff face. Then, she walked past the skeletons around her and stood beside Simon.

"Don't underestimate me."

"…Rete."

"You told me back then."

She then walked past Simon as she continued,

"That you'd try your best to change my perception."

"…Huh? Yeah."

"Let's go."

Simon let out a sigh of relief and put his mask back on.

* * *

* * *

They moved to the next passenger car. Most of the cultists were concentrated in the second-class car they had just cleared, so the third-class one was empty. As such, they moved on to the next.

"Crap."

This time, the room was covered in blood.

Some passengers and priests had been sacrificed, as well as cultists of Heavenly Blood who had fallen. Large bite marks could be seen on many corpses.

"A third party? If not, they must've killed indiscriminately, regardless of friend or foe."

"The bloodstains lead to the next car."

Said Simon, pointing to the trail.

"Let's go."

"Yeah."

The two of them moved cautiously. They entered the next train after passing through a narrow aisle connecting the carriages.

That was when they saw…

[Keeeugh! Kegugugugh!]

A large, skinless, muscular monster stood in the center of the car, its head grazing the ceiling from its hunched, half-standing posture. A broken muzzle hung from its jaw.

In its forelegs, it held the fresh corpse of a man dressed as a priest. It threw the priest into the wall and stared at the two with its glistening eyes.

'A kind of chimera. This won't be easy.'

Simon made a nervous face.

"I've heard rumors of them. A secret weapon of Heavenly Blood, an abomination made from the flesh of men and monsters. We call them hellhounds."

[Kegugugh!]

The hellhound started to approach.

Seeing this, Simon took control of his troops and made them charge in.

In response, the hellhound reared its forelegs back. A large, bony axe blade protruded from each of the paws, and it swung them horizontally across the army.

Sliiiiiiiiiiiice!

With a single attack, three skeletons had crumbled and scattered. Simon stretched his right arm wildly, watching the bones scatter through the air.

{Simon Original - Bone Nail}

The bones paused momentarily in midair before quickly gaining momentum and stabbing toward the hellhound's flesh.

However, most of the bones couldn't penetrate the muscles and bounced off the skinless monstrosity. The hellhound didn't even seem tickled.

[Keguguguh!]

It immediately counterattacked with another swing of its paws, and Rete had to step forward to conjure a divine shield.

Poooooooow!

That sturdy shield of Rete's was cracking from just a single strike.

The two gave up on defense and fell back. Rete's shield shattered with the second hit.

"Small attacks won't do anything! We need something we know will kill it dead!"

"Watch and learn, necromancer!"

Rete flamboyantly waved her hand in the air and deployed a new magic circle above her, facing the beast. A silver spear came through, taking the form of a thick drill.

{La Escrime}

Shiiiiiiiing!

The silver spear started to spin.

Rete made the sign of the cross and clenched her fist, and blessings were applied directly to the divine spear. Various bands serving as materializations of the blessings fluttered around the body of the drill.

"Die!"

The divine spear shot out with tremendous speed and pierced the hellhound's chest, having so much force the beast was knocked back and crashed into a wall

[Keguguh!]

However, despite the spear being lodged in the chest where the heart should be, it was still standing. This was no ordinary creature.

"Ah, I overdid it for nothing."

Panted Rete, struggling for breath. Divinity can quickly create magic circles at the user's demand, but it quickly drains one's mental energy.

"Step aside, Rete. I'll take care of it."

"…What are you planning to do?"

"A monster should be subdued with a monster."

Simon, who opened his subspace with confidence, took out an ordinary zombie and set it down on the floor. Then, he brought the gray ring on his left hand close to his mouth and said,

"Prince, get ready."

"?"

Rete was puzzled by Simon suddenly speaking to the ring.

"Please come over here, with the crown."

After the conversation, Simon put the ring to the zombie's body. Obviously, nothing happened.

"Ugh, what are you doing?! Do you think this is the right time to be playing around?"

"I'm not playing around! This is just how his summoning process is."

"Don't lie, you bastard! Are you looking down on me because I don't know dark magic?"

[Keguh! Keguguguh!]

The hellhound pounced wildly and swung with prejudice.

"Kugh!"

Rete jumped in front of Simon again and opened her palms.

Several barriers filled the air, but as the hellhound swung and swung, barrier after barrier shattered.

"It was stupid of me to trust you! Get out of there, quickly!"josei

Despite Rete's shout, Simon remained motionless as he placed the ring on the zombie's body.

The hellhound alone was already tough enough, yet blood zombies now rushed in from the upcoming passenger car upon hearing the ruckus.

"Rete."

"What?!!"

"It's fine now. Step back."

Crack!

Even if Simon didn't say that, she was out of barriers. Rete dodged to the side as the hellhound's paw came down toward Simon.

Crack-ka-duuuuum!

Black lightning fell from the ceiling onto the zombie's body.

The axeblade that rushed in with the intent to kill was blocked by a hand wrapped in that black lightning.

[Mmmmmgh… You're always calling on me when I'm having a good rest.]

Rete's eyes widened.

The zombie struck by lightning had shrunk in size. Within moments, it was replaced by a tired boy wearing a golden crown and the clothes of a nobleman.

But the change in appearance wasn't why Rete was surprised.

'…I-I can't breathe. I've never seen an undead like this.'

Prince yawned and turned to Simon.

[So, do I beat that dog up first?]

——