Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner-Chapter 367: Episode

One by one, werewolves emerged from the shadows of the forest. They were fully grown, and the reddish glow emanating from their teeth marked them as a particularly dangerous pack.

Holding Herseva before him like a weapon, Simon declared, "Herseva, we’re going to fight with your power. Tell me the details of your abilities."

Herseva’s expressive, staff-carved eyes went wide.

"[Hey, what are you talking about?! I haven’t given you my permission yet!]"

"Permission? What permission!"

"[Ah! Aah! Don’t grip me so tight! Your hands are all sweaty! It’s filthy!]"

Even as a staff, she was an incorrigibly talkative lich.

Just then, the lead werewolf, which had been crouched and waiting for an opening, lunged.

"Herseva!" Simon shouted urgently.

She let out a grunt and squeezed her eyes shut, then thrust her staff-like body forward. And then...

The staff didn’t strike the werewolf. Instead, it connected squarely with the top of Simon’s head. In that same instant, the werewolf’s claws raked across his body.

’Clang!’

’Whimper!’

The creature let out a pained cry and went tumbling across the ground, as if it had just slashed its claws against solid rock.

In a flash, Simon’s entire body had transformed into shimmering gold. His form, frozen like a statue, returned to normal a moment later.

"Whoa!" Simon exclaimed, his face a mask of surprise. As he regained his senses, he saw the werewolf that had charged him rolling on the ground in agony.

[This is my power,] Herseva announced. [I turn everything I touch into gold. Isn’t it a power that merchants and connoisseurs would kill for?]

The staff moved on its own, kicking up sand from the ground. The scattering grains turned golden and gathered in the air, coalescing into the figure of a woman with beautiful, long hair—likely Herseva’s appearance in life. Perched on her staff like a witch, she spread her fingers.

[The Golden Transmutation lasts about thirty minutes for living beings and a week for inanimate objects. Though, I’m not so sure of the details now that I’m undead. Oh! And since I’m a staff now, I don’t have hands!]

"That’s incredible," Simon breathed, impressed by the explanation alone. But there was no time to catch his breath; another werewolf was charging from behind.

[Got the hang of it?] Herseva, in her radiant female form, wrapped an arm around Simon’s shoulder and placed her hand over his on the staff.

"Yeah."

Together, they aimed the staff at the approaching werewolf and shouted in unison.

"Golden Transmutation!"

[Golden Transmutation!]

’Clang!’ The werewolf turned to gold mid-leap, frozen in its pounce.

[And at the same time!] Herseva’s eyes gleamed.

The golden wolf suddenly shot dozens of meters into the air.

[I can control all the gold in this world as I please, including the gold I create!]

Soaring high above, the werewolf was released from its golden state. It plummeted from the sky, crashed into a rocky mountain, and died on impact.

[And—’pant, pant’—if you can, try not to turn living things into gold! It’s exhausting!]

"Okay. So the main abilities are the Golden Transmutation of objects and control over them," Simon confirmed.

Herseva made a motion of flicking his forehead with her fingertip. The sand that had formed her shape crumbled and fell to the ground. With a firm grasp of her power, Simon gripped the staff with both hands and lowered his stance as three enraged werewolves charged him at once.

’‘Golden Transmutation!’’

He struck the ground with the tip of the staff, and a several-meter radius of land turned to gold. The werewolves, who had been charging across the solid earth, slipped and slid as if they were on ice.

’‘And control!’’

He lifted the staff slightly, then slammed it down again.

’Stab! Stab!’

Spikes of jagged gold erupted from the ground, piercing the werewolves’ abdomens. They tore straight through their bellies and out their backs in a single, fatal blow.

[Not bad, kid!]

Simon let out a soft gasp of admiration as he looked at the spikes he had created. On closer inspection, they didn’t look like spikes at all, but rather the pointed roofs of buildings.

"That’s strange. I never pictured something like this when I was controlling it."

[You give the command, but it’s my power in the end.]

Simon was more than satisfied. The responsiveness was excellent, and the power was immense. Best of all, it didn’t consume any of his own Jet-Black. This was the power of a lich. The lich had done all the fighting; in a way, Simon had defeated the monsters just by swinging a staff, without using a single ounce of his own energy.

’‘With this...!’’

He wouldn’t be rendered combat-ineffective from exhaustion after using his Royal Guard like before. And when he needed to go all out, he could use both his Royal Guard and the Golden Transmutation ability together. For Simon, who currently lacked combat endurance, this was the ultimate summon.

’‘Hm?’’

But then Simon looked down at his arm. Spiraling from his right hand holding Herseva all the way up his arm were strange, bandage-like wrappings of mixed black and gold.

"What is this?"

[...Hmm?] Herseva, having once again formed a female figure from the surrounding sand, stroked her chin. [The Robe of the Golden King. It’s the symbol of the Golden King. Normally, it appears on me when I use my power, but for some reason, it seems to have gone to you.]

Not understanding, Simon touched the strange bands covering his arm. They felt like metal, but their texture was like fabric, and they were gradually spreading from his right arm to the rest of his body.

[That’s proof that you, too, have authority over the Golden City.]

"I’ve never heard of that, so I don’t get it."

[Shall I make you understand?] For a moment, Herseva’s gaze sharpened. [Keep using the power, kid. Until the Robe of the Golden King covers your entire body.]

Then, her form dispersed again and settled on the ground. With a determined expression, Simon nodded and continued to use the Golden Transmutation on the surrounding werewolves. By the time he had subdued about ten of them...

[Good. This should be enough. Place me on the ground, straight up.]

Simon did as he was told and planted Herseva in the earth.

’Rumble!’

From the golden land that spread out from the staff, something was rising.

’‘W-What is that?’’

They were buildings of a peculiar architectural style. This time, not just the roofs but the entire structures rose from the ground. As soon as they were fully revealed, their doors burst open, and figures began to walk out from within.

’‘My god...!’’

’Gya-gya-gya-gya-gya-gyak!’

Monsters with their entire bodies wrapped in bandages. Simon had never seen them in person, but he knew of them from the ’Undead Encyclopedia’. Legendary undead, said to exist not on the continent, but somewhere far beyond it.

’‘Mummies!’’

Herseva continued to raise the buildings of the Golden City with her power, and from within them, more mummies emerged, all awaiting Simon’s command.

[Mwahaha! This is interesting!] Pier’s clone, who must have been watching, spoke up. [I was wondering why you were making such a fuss about creating a lich, but it seems you’ve hit the jackpot, boy!]

The true power of the lich Herseva was the ability to endlessly summon mummies from the Golden City.

[The 7th Legion has been joined by an army of legendary mummies! Congratulations, boy!]

"...Ah."

Simon was somewhat dumbfounded, but he couldn’t suppress the joy welling up from deep within his chest.

[Hmm, the specifications of my ability have certainly changed since I became an undead,] Herseva remarked. [Creating undead like that wasn’t part of my original power.]

"Oh, really?"

[It seems the potency of my Golden Transmutation has decreased, and the ability to create undead as a lich has been newly added. Hmm.]

But a problem arose. The werewolves had all been driven away, but the mummies were now multiplying endlessly. The Forbidden Forest was off-limits to students, and it was the dead of night. It would be trouble if the watchmen found him, so Simon pulled Herseva out of the ground and held her in his hand. At that, the Golden City and the mummies began to scatter in the wind and disappear, as if they had never existed.

[Wait, wait. There’s still one last thing.]

"The last thing?"

[Yeah! I don’t know if your power will be enough while you’re wearing the Golden Robe, but shall we give it a try?]

’Woooooong!’

A massive golden light poured out from the staff.

[Listen carefully. The first tier of my power is Golden Transmutation. The second is the Golden City and its inhabitants. But my true value begins with this third tier!]

Simon could see the robe of black and gold completely forming around his entire body.

[I’ll show you the true extent of my power!]

In that moment, Simon felt his consciousness fade.

And then...

───────────!

He was invited into a world blanketed in sand and gold.

---

[Lord Commander! Lord Commander!]

When Simon opened his eyes, he was met with Erzebet’s worried face.

’‘Huh.’’

He was lying with his head in her lap. As Simon groggily sat up, he saw the other Ancient Undead gathered around him.

[Looks like the final authority was too much for you,] said Herseva, now a staff, dangling from a tree and bound in spiderwebs.

[Shut your mouth, lich!] Enraged, Erzebet’s mouth opened wide like a spider’s. [How dare you do this to the Lord Commander...!]

[Did you think I knew this would happen?] The eye on the staff darted around frantically. [Still, it was quite an experience, wasn’t it, kid?]

Simon clenched his fist and nodded.

"It was. I really want to go back to that world again."

[You’re too exhausted, Lord Commander. You must rest today.]

"Yeah, okay."

Simon stood up, a smile fixed on his lips. He truly felt that he had obtained an incredibly powerful summon.

---

The next day was the weekend. After waking up in Pier’s ruins, Simon headed straight for Rochestr. Gellen Eclipse, the subspace artisan, had said he would be on Roc Island for about a week, so Simon met him with Benya.

"You want me to create a dedicated subspace? Like the one for Overlord?" Gellen asked.

Simon nodded repeatedly.

"Yes! Yes! A version where the main body is safely in the subspace but can still affect the outside, just like with Overlord! Is it possible?"

"It won’t be difficult. I’ve already made one like it before," Gellen said, giving Simon two options: create a brand-new product from scratch, or modify a shelved project into a dedicated subspace. The Overlord’s subspace had been the latter.

"You said you’ll be here for about a week, so please do it the fastest way possible!"

"I see! Then we’ll go with modifying a shelved project." Gellen took out a brown pouch and poured its contents onto the table with a clatter. Countless sparkling accessories spilled out, all of them subspaces. "There are a few good ones here."

Gellen smiled as he picked through them.

"So, you just need a function to connect with the outside from within the subspace, right?"

"Yes! And it needs to be maintained for as long as possible!"

The biggest problem with Herseva right now was that the lich itself couldn’t move. Originally, as a lich, she should have been able to wield the staff herself and use her powers, but her consciousness was currently trapped inside it. Simon planned to store the main body in the subspace and fight with just the staff, just as he did with Overlord. If an enemy’s attack were to accidentally hit the Life Vessel, he would lose not only 25,000 gold but the entire mummy army as well.

Gellen said he would let him know through Benya when the custom subspace was complete. He also offered to modify the Overlord subspace he had made before as a form of after-service, so Simon left that with him as well.

‘I can’t wait to use Herseva in a real fight!’ He was itching all over, about to go crazy. For the time being, he would go all-in on training his new ability.