Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Chapter 187

The sky rumbled as Saintess Israfill played her flute.

The light blue air began to ripple, and motions reminiscent of waves passed through it. Gradually, the entire sky was shifting and shimmering.

"Israfill is sometimes called the Master of the Divine Sea."

Clasping her hands together in prayer, Rete looked up at the sky, ecstatic.

"Master of the Divine Sea?"

"Indeed."

The sky rippled, and then, surprisingly, turned into a vast ocean.

The ripples that spread across vast blue could be seen coming from fish leaping across the surface. Winged instead of finned, they were shaped and colored differently from the fishes who lived in continental waters. Some of the larger ones were even reminiscent of dolphins.

Everyone gazed up at the sky in awe at the never before seen sight: an avant-garde and overwhelming spectacle.

It was as if gravity had been reversed, the sea staying in the sky without even a drop of water falling to the earth.

From afar, it seemed as if two different worlds faced each other. It would be impossible to tell which one was the real ground.

'…Dammit!'

The only one who knew what was going on was Leit, who was gnashing his teeth.

'Are you planning to destroy all the evidence?!'

Israfill's flute performance reached a climax.

A large black shadow formed in the center of the vast sea of divine beasts. The fish that had been swimming in harmony began to scatter and flee before…

Splaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

A whale of impossible size, larger than a city, leaped out from the sea of divine beasts.

Its skin was a pure white and countless wings let it move through the air.

It broke through the water's surface and descended through the world in the sky to the one on the ground.

"Dammiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

Cried out Leit in frustration, tearing his hair out.josei

Soon after its descent, the whale sailed back up safely into the sea of divine beasts, the headquarters of Heavenly Blood being nowhere to be found.

Soon, bubble-like drops poured from the water's surface. The residents and tortured test subjects held in the headquarters were descending, trapped in the bubbles.

With one more short melody from Israfill's flute, the sea of divine beasts closed, and the sky slowly returned to its original state.

'…Haha.'

Watching all this, Simon was horrified.

'Such strong power actually exists in this world, huh?'

"Oh, come on, let's get a closer look!"

Rete pushed Simon aside and started running toward where Israfill descended. A shower of bubbles fell with the Saintess after she cleared Heavenly Blood with a single strike.

"…Rete!"

"What?"

"You said that the Saintess over there is my mother's direct successor, right? Does that mean my mother was capable of such power in her prime?"

She shook her head.

"The Essence of the Saintess changes depending on the holder. Teacher Anna's Essence of Miracle indeed went to Saintess Israfill, but I have heard that their powers were different."

"What was my mom like?"

"I'm not from that generation, so I don't know, but I heard that she was the most powerful Saintess of her time. According to the rumors…"

There was a light echo to her voice as she said,

"…she opened the heavens, not the divine sea."

Israfill brought the captives down to the ground. When the bubbles popped, their wounds were all healed.

All the gathered inquisitors knelt before her in unison and bowed.

"We're glad to see you, daughter of the Goddess!"

Israfill smiled and nodded. She kept her eyes closed for some reason. It wasn't clear if she was blind or there was another underlying reason.

Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaash!

Only one man stood straight while everyone else knelt. Leit threw his cross-sword straight down.

It split the land behind him in two, and an avalanche rumbled nearby as he threw his sword away in a fit of rage.

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

He approached Israfill with undisguised rage.

'Urk… Chief!'

'Looks like he's gonna cause some trouble.'

Some of his underlings, raising their heads, looked at Leit with worry.

Grab!

Leit stepped in front of Israfill and grabbed her hand before she could even offer it. Then he quickly dropped to one knee, barely kissed the back of her hand, and shot back up.

'Wh-Why is he so rough?'

Although he was being polite, it could also be seen as disrespectful for a demigod, a Saintess.

However, Israfill's eyes remained closed, and her smile remained.

"It's been a long time, Chief Inquisitor Leit."

"What is the meaning of this?"

Declared Leit while clenching his teeth. His anger was so great that it wouldn't be strange for him to slap the Saintess at any time.

"This was a legitimate, warranted inquisition! It was our chance to find out everything we could about Heavenly Blood and the group pulling the strings behind it!"

She smirked.

"There's no one behind Heavenly Blood. The Heavenly Blood cult is just the Heavenly Blood cult."

"No matter!"

Veins protruded from Leit's neck.

"No matter how much you oppose war, Saintess, this isn't right! Destroying every shred of evidence?! You achieved nothing but the obstruction of a legitimate investiga—!"

She turned away, cutting Leit off to say,

"Come here, Rete. And your companion as well, please."

* * *

* * *

Rete and Simon came out from behind the tree they were hiding behind while they were watching for a chance to interrupt.

"Miraculum daea! I'm glad to see you, daughter of the Goddess."

Rete drew a cross in the air and bowed in an uncharacteristically polite manner. Simon copied the gesture and fixed his eyes on Leit.

'Woah, look at that bloodthirst. He could tear someone apart with those eyes.'

At this point, it was almost even more impressive that Israfill could stand so nonchalantly before someone who radiated such murderous intent.

Rete stood back up, grabbed the briefcase from Simon, took five steps forward, bowed again, and knelt before the two of them.

"These are the documents that Alloken, a bishop of Heavenly Blood, had."

Then, she politely offered the briefcase to Israfill with both hands.

"Good work."

Israfill smiled and took it. She had blown up the headquarters of the Heavenly Blood cult, so this was now the only piece of evidence.

"The future of the Holy Federation is indeed bright."

Israfill looked amused. Her proud gaze toward Rete also flicked to Simon, who was a step behind her.

"These young kids have done something that even we adults couldn't do. I'm looking forward to their generation."

"…Why don't you just open it already?"

Pushed Leit in his displeasure.

Part of him wanted to burn the briefcase before the documents were revealed, but he couldn't do that in the presence of a Saintess.

Israfill opened the briefcase and ran her eyes over the document on top.

"This is interesting."

She read the document in a voice as soft as the spring breeze.

"Leak information to the Inquisition bureau and make the war-hardliner Chief Inquisitor Leit be the first to witness the scene of the incident. Form strong public sentiment against necromancers, inducing war between Holy Federation and Dark Alliance."

Leit's fists clenched upon him hearing the exposed contents.

"Now that makes it clear. Heavenly Blood aimed to provoke a war between the Holy Federation and the Dark Territory. You almost got played by them as well, huh, Chief Inquisitor?"

"…"

Leit took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

He couldn't come back and say, 'Actually, we were just using Heavenly Blood as an excuse.'

Once the Saintess saw the contents for herself, the war was over. No matter how mad Leit was, as the head of the inquisition, he was obligated to accept defeat and minimize the damage to his bureau.

Israfill knew that, too, so she gave Leit a way out to wrap things up here. She wasn't going to pry into the affairs of the Inquisition Bureau.

In the end…

"…Yeah, we almost did get duped."

Although he was boiling with rage internally, his best option was to accept Israfill's outstretched hand.

"Then you are dismissed, Chief Inquisitor."

Putting her hands together in prayer with the grace of a Saintess, she tilted her head slightly and smiled softly.

"I shall be the one to report this incident directly to the Pope."

"…"

With that, Leit staggered away along with his inquisitors. His feet dragged with exhaustion, but his searing rage and frosty gaze made it clear that he would never give up.

'…Somehow, I survived yet another day.'

Simon let out a sigh of relief in silence as he watched Leit and the inquisitors gradually edging out of view.

"Stand up, Rete."

Said Israfill.

Rete, who had been kneeling the entire time, slowly rose to her feet. Her eyes sparkled as Israfill smiled benevolently and opened her arms.

"Israfill!"

Rete rushed in and hugged her.

It was impolite to act like this with a demigod, but the two seemed close.

Israfill patted her on the back.

"I was so worried hearing that you got dragged into such a great mess, Rete."

Rete, face buried in Israfill's arms, looked up and gave her a sour look.

"Were you really?"

"Of course."

"When I told you that I was on a train hijacked by Heavenly Blood, you said nothing but 'cheer up'. However, when I told you that Heavenly Blood was trying to start a war, you abandoned everything and came running over."

"That's because I trusted your skills, Rete."

Israfill's eyes remained closed, and she maintained her smile.

Observing her, Simon thought momentarily that having such a consistent expression could sometimes be convenient.

Some more time passed where Rete whined and Israfill comforted her.

If Rete treated Anna as some kind of absolute idol and as a mother figure, she treated Israfill more like a big sister.

"My sweet Rete, when will you become a Saintess and play with me?"

Asked Israfill, pinching Rete's cheek.

Rete replied with a smile.

"When you retire, Israfill! I want the Essence of Miracle!"

"You speak blasphemy as if it's nothing! Makes me want to crucify you~"

"Before I get crucified, I'll unveil all your dark history in court, Israfill."

After laughing loudly, Israfill turned to Simon.

"Are you Rete's colleague?"

"Ah, yes!"

Nervously replied Simon.

"Thank you for taking care of and protecting my little Rete."

"Oh, what are you talking about?! I was the one taking care of him!"

"You keep your mouth shut, Rete."

Simon smiled and bowed his head.

"Yes, I am indeed indebted to Rete. It's an honor to meet a daughter of the Goddess."

"Nice to meet you, too. Your name, please?"

"Skar Seraphino."

Israfill then let go of Rete before floating through the air and standing before Simon.

"Priest Skar."

"Yes?"

"You…"

Her closed eyes opened, and a pair of black pupils resembling an abyss gazed directly into Simon.

"You look a lot like someone I know."

——