Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner-Chapter 288: Episode

"We don’t have much time. I’ll explain now," Simon began. While scouting, he had discovered a creature used by the Priests, confirming they were being tracked. Their target was undoubtedly Sasha, the Saintess candidate. Fortunately, the environment was to their advantage—it was night, and the dense forest made searching difficult.

With this in mind, Simon devised a strategy: split into two teams. Seiwyr would use his illusion magic to create a decoy carriage to draw the Priests’ attention, while Sasha and the rest of the group escaped through the forest on foot.

"Are you telling me to go die?!" Seiwyr shrieked, leaping to his feet.

"Perhaps," Simon replied with a faint smile. "But if you refuse, you’ll face a punishment from both Vengeance and Kizen that will make you wish you were dead."

"...Ugh!"

"Cooperate, and I’ll report to Kizen that you fulfilled your duties as a mentor perfectly." As long as Seiwyr intended to remain in the Dark Alliance, he had no other choice. He reluctantly accepted.

"I’ll go with him," Dick volunteered, stepping forward to act as Seiwyr’s watchdog.

"Are you sure?" Simon asked.

"It’s obvious that if we send this guy alone, he’ll just drop the illusion and run to save his own skin," Dick scoffed. "Someone has to go with him."

Simon’s expression grew serious. "You could be in danger, too."

"Ah, don’t you worry about me! I’m confident I can take care of myself."

He was right. When it came to survival skills, there was no one more reliable than Dick. Simon and Meirin nodded in agreement.

"You have to be safe, Dick!" Kamibarez pleaded, her expression fraught with worry.

"Of course!"

They moved quickly. The real carriage was sunk in a nearby lake, and Meirin led the horses into a dense thicket, casting a sleep curse on them to keep them hidden.

Dick tore the mana engine from a boat and attached it to a cart he pulled from his Subspace. When Seiwyr cast an illusion over the makeshift vehicle, it became a perfect replica of the carriage.

"We’re heading out!" Dick called. "See you on the other side!"

The decoy carriage, carrying Dick and Seiwyr, sped away. Simon’s group, with Sasha in tow, set off in the opposite direction. Meirin took the lead, followed by Kamibarez and Sasha, while Simon brought up the rear, keeping an eye out for any pursuers from Efnel.

"Kami, just focus on protecting Sasha," Simon instructed.

"Right, Simon! I’ll do my best!" Kamibarez was already using her ’Blood Silk’ magic, a crimson carpet that floated in the air, carrying Sasha as they ran.

"Meirin, if a Priest gets close, break off and intercept them."

"Okay. What about you?"

"Same here. If I spot anyone from Efnel, I’ll be the first to peel off. If I’m gone, just assume I’m in a fight."

Meirin nodded. Simon had been the one to expose Seiwyr and find the creature. This time, she would trust his judgment completely.

They moved through the forest, the darkness exuding an eerie silence. Every rustle of leaves, every snap of a twig, put them on edge, their minds racing with the thought that a monster or an Efnel Priest could leap out at any moment.

"Sasha, are you uncomfortable?" Kamibarez asked gently. Sasha just shook her head. Kamibarez gave a small nod back before turning to Meirin. "Is it possible the Priests will come straight for us?"

"Who knows?" Meirin replied, glancing over her shoulder. "If any of them can sense presences or Jet-Black, it might be a different story. But this is our best shot. Isn’t that right, Si—huh?"

Both girls skidded to a halt, startled. Simon, who had been running right behind them, had vanished.

"D-did he already leave?"

---

Five figures dashed across the open field, divinity flaring from their legs like silver afterburners. Four were young women in Efnel uniforms. The fifth was a middle-aged man in work clothes, his orange hair streaming behind him.

"Instructor, are you certain they went this way?" Lirinet asked, her breath misting in the cool night air.

The instructor, Figaro, nodded. "Yes, my creature spotted them. They appear to be moving in the carriage the gang members were using."

Lirinet hummed, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "It’s late, they’ve just been in a fight, and it’s dark. They’ll probably be setting up camp soon. It would be easy to take them out while they’re sleeping."

"Unfortunately, the Kizen students have likely realized we’re approaching," Figaro continued. "One of my creatures was destroyed."

"Sloppy work!"

"Haha, my apologies for my imperfection."

Just then, all five of them stopped in unison.

"Hmm, so it’s true Kizen knows we’re coming," Lirinet mused, a hollow laugh escaping her lips as she pointed a finger. "But you came alone?"

At the edge of the dark forest stood a boy in a brown robe. He was frozen in place, staring at the group from Efnel as if rooted to the spot. The other students exchanged looks of disbelief.

"Is this some new form of suicide?"

"How annoying."

"I guess it’s true that necromancers have no brains, sisters."

Despite the five-to-one odds, the boy seemed remarkably composed. He was even crossing his arms and beckoning with a single finger, as if to say, ’come and get me’. His confidence was so absolute that it was unnerving.

’...Something’s fishy.’ Lirinet found herself reluctant to approach.

"Could it be a trap?" she asked.

Figaro shook his head. "I sense no other presence nearby. It seems he’s simply confident in his own skills and came out alone."

"He’s completely insane," Lirinet muttered, wrapping her hands in holy light. A white aura pulsed in her palms. "We don’t have time for this! Let’s go!"

The five Priests charged, silver tails of energy flaring from their feet. Simon made no grand movements. He simply lowered his stance and raised his right arm.

’Bone Armor.’

Fragments of bone flowed from his Subspace, seamlessly encasing his arm. Lirinet, at the center of the formation, suddenly accelerated, blurring into a flash of light. Simon met her head-on, swinging his armored fist.

’KABOOOOOM!’

A deafening roar erupted as their fists collided. The force of the impact whipped their clothes about and sent the surrounding trees swaying. But while they were locked in their struggle, the other four Priests used their divinity to leap right past them.

"Ah." Simon’s eyes widened as he glanced back.

"Do you have the luxury of worrying about them?" Lirinet taunted.

Seeing her open her other hand, Simon quickly leaped back. A volley of divine spears rained down, impaling the ground where he had just stood.

"I don’t know what you’re scheming by standing here alone," she said, thrusting out her clenched fist with a smirk. "But tying all five of us down is just playing right into your hands. Am I wrong?"

Simon scratched his head, looking almost surprised. "Efnel students are smarter than I thought."

Lirinet’s expression contorted in a flash of anger, but she quickly regained her composure, recognizing the cheap provocation for what it was. "The Neutral Zone pact prevents me from killing you, but I’ll make sure you can never flap that mouth of yours again!"

"Hmm." As he faced her, Simon recalled Professor Parahan’s lesson.

’If you know your opponent’s major, you can gain a great deal of information from that alone.’

His gaze shifted to her hand. It was wreathed in an aura of light that pulsed like a boxer’s glove. ’It’s not just divinity. That’s a ’Holy Burst’ from Healing Arts.’

While Healing Arts specialized in support, it had naturally developed offensive magic to counter necromancers. Its most effective technique was ’Reverse Heal,’ which, instead of mending, forced an opponent’s cells into chaotic division, destroying them from the inside.

A single touch could wreck a person’s organs. For a necromancer with Jet-Black coursing through their veins, it was even more devastating.

’And on top of that...’ He saw a purplish blessing envelop her body. He remembered another of Parahan’s lectures.

’It’s a kind of doping effect. It grants immense strength and speed at the cost of damaging the body. It’s a forbidden white magic, but healers are permitted to use it since they can recover from the damage as they fight.’

The more you know, the more you see. Just as Simon began to draw a magic circle for a counter-curse, Lirinet charged.

With an animalistic reflex, Simon threw himself to the side. The attack hadn’t come from the front.

’Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!’

It came from behind. A shower of triangular divine projectiles rained down.

"Ugh!" Simon backflipped and cartwheeled, frantically dodging the assault. High in a tree, he saw a girl with freckles and pigtails grinning down at him. ’The frontal charge had been a feint. The real attack was from behind!’

"Your reactions are pretty quick," the girl called down. It seemed that while four of them had pretended to leap past him, their real plan had been a two-on-one assault from the start. "Did you really think we’d just leave an enemy standing there all alone?"

The freckled girl landed on the ground and extended her arms. As a continuous volley of divine triangles shot toward him, Lirinet closed in from the side, swinging her fists.

"Ugh!" He was instantly surrounded. The moment Simon tried to leap back to dodge the projectiles, Lirinet’s persistent fist struck him squarely in the abdomen. A flash of light erupted from her Holy Fist. Simon’s eyes widened, and a strangled choke escaped his lips.

"You’ll be in enough pain to wish you were dead!" Lirinet snarled.

As Simon staggered and dropped to one knee, the freckled girl leaped from the sky, unleashing a divine bombardment on him. ’KABOOM! BOOM!’

Simon’s body was engulfed in holy light. It should have been enough to incapacitate him, but they wanted to be certain. The two girls exchanged a look, then charged simultaneously into the smoke.

’Stab! Splurt!’

The smoke cleared. Simon stood frozen, a dazed expression on his face. Lirinet’s Holy Burst had exploded against his chest, while from behind, the freckled girl had pierced him through with a sharpened spear of divinity that protruded from his sternum.

The light in Simon’s eyes faded.

"Got him!"

"Serves you right for being so cocky."

A perfect takedown. But as they began to withdraw their divine energy...

A rough hand seized the back of each of their heads.

"Huh?"

Their foreheads collided.

"Ack!" The freckled girl’s eyes rolled back in her head as she fainted from the impact.

Simon, standing between them, looked not only composed but almost bored. ’...Maybe I should have pursued a career in acting.’

"Ouch! What the—? I’m sure that was a clean hit!" Lirinet grimaced, clutching her forehead as she stumbled back. The freckled girl collapsed in a heap.

Simon strode toward Lirinet. "H-how?! I’m sure my divinity—"

Without a word, Simon charged, his fist wreathed in Jet-Black. Lirinet’s pupils widened. The wind had blown back his robe, revealing a flash of blue hair.

’Ah!’

She remembered Lethe’s warning back in the Neutral Zone.

’If you see a Kizen boy with bluish hair during the mission, just assume you’re dead and run.’

As she watched Simon place a palm on his own abdomen, Lirinet’s eyes widened in horror.

’If you get on his bad side, someone like you will really die.’

’It was this guy!’ Lirinet stared in futile despair as the black magic manifested on her own stomach.

’Hongfeng Original – Chwita’

’THWACK-CRACK!’

Lirinet’s body bent into a C-shape as she was sent flying, smashing through a line of trees before disappearing into the darkness.