Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner

Chapter 462: Episode 462

[That bastard is here, in this very place.]

Frozen like a statue, Simon whipped his head around. "Where? Where is it?"

Pier silently extended an arm. A space beyond the ruins, previously shrouded in darkness, lit up. And Simon saw it: a mass of dripping sludge, trapped inside a large, transparent, rectangular coffin.

’Uuuhhh, uuhhh.’

It was writhing, letting out a strange, mournful cry.

"This is..."

[Kal, the Beast of Pestilence,] Pier’s voice was like a lament. [Once, it was an Ancient Undead who served as a captain of the 7th Legion.]

His expression tense, Simon approached and placed a hand on the coffin. The creature only writhed. He couldn’t feel any thought or will from it.

"What happened to it?" Simon’s voice trembled.

[It was in an even more gruesome state when we first found it.]

While Simon was on vacation, Pier and the other Ancient Undead had gone to conquer the White Grave Dungeon, where they suspected Kal was hiding. No adventurer, treasure hunter, or archaeologist knew how to enter it. The Dresden Kingdom held onto the site, agonizing over its potential, but it was essentially a nuisance.

Pier, however, knew the way in. [I was certain that dungeon was Kal’s nest.]

One of Kal’s abilities was to turn a dungeon into its personal nest. It could enter a dungeon, consume its master, and use that power to seize control, absorbing the dungeon’s vast energy to endlessly create its ultra-poisonous undead minions. Kal had expanded its territory this way until it was defeated by Richard and Pier. Eventually, it underwent the ‘Legionization’ process and became a captain of the 7th Legion.

Years later, when Richard’s legion was disbanded, the freedom-craving Kal sought a new dungeon to inhabit, and that was the White Grave Dungeon. Having captured Kal once before, Pier knew he would be there and how to get in.

[But that place was no longer a dungeon.] A dark blue jet-black energy flared like a torch in Pier’s skeletal eye sockets. [It had been turned into a human laboratory.]

It was a gruesome sight, even for an Ancient Undead. Humans with bloodshot eyes were mass-producing Kal’s clones as if in a factory, conducting cheMikel experiments with components extracted from its body. In the center, a tattered Kal was trapped in a coffin, being worked to the bone. The dungeon itself had become a laboratory controlled by humans. Kal’s ability to block outsiders had backfired; this unidentified group had infiltrated the dungeon through some special method and was using it as their secret base.

’Wait a minute, I think I’ve heard of a similar case,’ Simon thought, stroking his chin. "Hearing this makes me wonder," he said to Pier. "The entrance to the White Grave Dungeon was guarded by the Dresden Kingdom, right? How could so many people have gotten inside?"

[I have no idea how they entered,] Pier said, crossing his arms. [Only Richard and I know how to get into Kal’s dungeon! They probably didn’t come in through the front. There must have been some other way to bypass it.]

[I will continue.] In any case, Pier and the others had engaged the unidentified group in battle. They unleashed bizarre techniques and firepower the likes of which Pier had never seen, but it wasn’t enough to face four Ancient Undead.

[Of course, those bastards were strong, I’ll admit,] Erzebet said, poking Prince’s head. [Strong enough to kill Prince once.]

[Stop it!] Prince swatted her hand away, annoyed.

[In the end, we were victorious,] Pier said. [I wanted to capture those humans and extract information, but as soon as defeat seemed imminent, they self-destructed by exploding their own brains!]

Simon shuddered. "Suicide?"

[Yes. And the most important executives had already burned the documents and vanished.]

This time, Akemus spoke. [Still, I secured what materials I could, Young Master. I regret that this is all I could bring back.]

Next to Akemus was a hill-sized pile of books and papers. Simon’s eyes widened.

"What do you mean? You got a ton!" He ran over and looked through the books. He put down the first one, picked up another, and then a third. ’I can’t understand a single word.’ Every book was filled with squiggly letters that looked like crawling grubs. No matter which one he looked at, he couldn’t decipher it.

[What’s this, what’s this?] Herseva flew over and perched on Simon’s shoulder, her eyes scanning the letters. [Ah, this is!]

Simon looked at her hopefully. "Herseva! Can you read it?"

[Nope, no idea.]

Annoyed, Simon shrugged his shoulder forcefully, sending Herseva flying before she circled back.

"I’m not in the mood for jokes."

[You look serious, boy! Do you have any idea what this is?]

"Yes." Simon closed the book and sighed. "Haven’t there been an unusual number of incidents like this lately? People taking over dungeons and carrying out evil deeds inside."

He thought of the nameless dungeon where Silage was said to have been dispatched. Its entrance had been blocked by a ‘Blood Ring,’ and various criminals had flooded into it. How did they make the dungeon their own? Simply sealing the master wouldn’t have been enough. Then there was the recent ‘Ice Dragon Karisa’ incident in the Holy Federation. The dungeon had remained intact even when Karisa was roaming outside. Finally, there was this group that took over Kal’s dungeon to experiment on him.

"I believe these three cases are definitely connected," Simon declared. The Blood Cult and Silage. The Minenasi family and the Ice Dragon Karisa. And the experimental group that occupied Kal’s dungeon. It was all too strange. "We need to investigate this more deeply. Please use the legion’s resources to continue tracking them."

Erzebet let out a soft hum and smiled. [This is interesting. It seems we’ve gotten tangled up in something troublesome, haven’t we?]

Prince shot to his feet. [They’re the ones who did that to our comrade, Kal! I’ll never forgive them!]

Akemus lowered his posture respectfully. [Could this perhaps be related to Magnus’s 5th Legion?]

"I don’t think so," Simon answered immediately. "Magnus would have taken Kal for himself, not used him as a test subject."

Just then, Herseva, who had been deep in thought, spoke up. [Kiddo! Couldn’t you think of it this way?]

"Go on, Herseva."

[Those guys captured Kal and experimented on him until he was in tatters, right? Every experiment has a purpose. What do you think that purpose was?]

Simon crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Were they trying to artificially manifest Kal’s abilities? Ancient Undead are the most unknown beings in this world. By mass-producing Kal’s clones made of ultra-poison..."

[Not the clones,] Herseva interjected, her eyes gleaming. [What if the ability to turn a dungeon into his own nest was the primary goal of the research itself?]

"!" A shiver ran down his arm, and Simon’s head snapped up. "Yes, that’s right! The research has already succeeded! That’s how the humans were able to take over the inside of that dungeon!"

[I see,] Pier rumbled.

And the biggest mystery: how the experimenters had entered a dungeon that Kal controlled. Thinking about it, Simon recalled his final battle with Silage. He had trapped Silage in Herseva’s dungeon, but Silage had opened a blood-red portal and summoned Blood Cult followers inside.

"The Blood Cult can move freely between dungeons!" Simon exclaimed. "They use their special portal technology to punch a hole in space and move through it!"

Prince tilted his head. [What? So you’re saying those Blood Cult bastards are still around? And this was their doing too?]

"No. It’s more likely that there’s someone else connecting the Blood Cult and the Mizenasi."

Simon tried his best to decipher the materials Akemus had brought back, but it was no use. The language was far beyond anything known on the continent.

By the time he finished, the sun was rising. He had to get ready for his first class.

"I’ll be at school, so contact me if you find anything. Oh! What are you going to do about Kal?" he asked, looking at the sloshing undead trapped behind the glass.

[For now, we’ve decided to take our time and investigate a little more!] Pier said. [The current Kal is closer to a corpse than an Ancient Undead, but his poison is useful in its own right. We’ll look into other methods.]

"Okay."

[And, take this, boy!] Pier threw a new clone he had carved from his own bone to Simon. It was shaped like a skull badge. [It’s a means of communication!]

Simon fiddled with the clone and smiled. It was small and cute. "Somehow, the design gets cuter with each semester."

’Mwahahaha!’ Pier laughed heartily. [A crude design would be suspected as an artifact! I’ve studied the students’ ‘tastes’!]

Simon attached the clone to his school uniform.

[I also have something for you, Young Master.] Akemus approached and handed him five black feathers.

"What are these?"

[Like what Pier gave you, these are clones of myself. Please carry them with you. Wherever you are on the continent, if you find yourself in danger, I will fly to the location of these feathers at any time.]

"Ah, thank you." He already had Pier’s clone, but thinking it might be useful someday, Simon tucked the feathers into his inner pocket.

[A badge from Pier, feathers from Akemus, a ring from Prince,] Erzebet purred, striding over. [I cannot lose! This maiden must also leave a mark on the Lord Commander!]

A sense of foreboding washed over Simon, and he took a step back. "What are you planning now?"

[Heehee!] Erzebet spread her arms and lunged. [A kiss mark on your slender neck, Lord Commander...!]

Simon quickly stepped on a patch of jet-black and leaped into the air. She ended up hugging empty space as she fell.

[How cruel!!]

"I’ll come again later!" And with that, Simon parted ways with the Ancient Undead. He decided to leave Herseva there for the time being, as she found the subspace stuffy. When he had arrived, moonlight was shining, but by the time he left, sunlight was already filtering in.

---

’I’m late!’

By the time Simon got back to the dormitory, everyone else was already running toward campus.

"Simon!" Toto jumped when Simon entered their room. "I thought you left already!"

"I just got back from an errand. Let’s hurry, we don’t have time."

Simon packed a few things, threw on his coat, and ran down the stairs. They were almost the last of the second-years to leave the dorm.

"I told you not to run indoors!" the Dorm Supervisor, Margaret, bellowed.

Startled, Simon and Toto tiptoed out the door.

"Ugh, my heart almost jumped out of my chest," Toto muttered, clutching his chest.

’Hmm.’ Simon was already thinking of a quick way to get to campus. The distance was considerable. Even if they started running now, they would be late. The students ahead were already riding on crudely summoned creatures.

"Toto! Do you have anything useful?"

Toto shook his head with a grimace. "Nothing that can carry both of us..."

"Then leave it to me." Simon took a golem core from his subspace and dropped it on the ground.

"What are you going to do with a golem?" Toto asked in surprise.

"It won’t take long. Just wait." Simon extended his arm.

Responding to Simon’s jet-black, the surrounding sand, mud, and rocks began to cling to the golem core.

’It’s been a while since I used this technique.’

The gathered earth was finely molded by the jet-black, forming a wide, streamlined body. He omitted the golem’s arms and legs, instead attaching wheels and creating a jet-black-powered engine at the back. From above, it looked like a large mud surfboard.

Simon hopped on. "Toto! Hold on tight!"

"Okay!"

No sooner had Toto climbed on and grabbed Simon’s waist than the golem board shot forward with a hum of flowing jet-black.

"Whoooaaaa!"

The speed was incredible. The scenery blurred past them. Simon held down his disheveled hair and laughed exhilaratingly, while Toto clung to him, repeating nothing but, "Aaaah! Aaaah!" The golem board quickly overtook the other students, drawing surprised stares each time.

"I’m heading straight for campus!"

"Agh, Simon! It’s too faaaast!"

---

They arrived safely in front of the lecture hall.

"Ughhhh." His hair a complete mess, Toto staggered as he walked.

Simon, hands in his pockets, smiled nonchalantly. "You okay?"

"Ugh, I don’t think so. After that ride, my stomach suddenly feels..."

Yesterday’s meal was starting to protest. Toto shuffled away. "I-I’m going to the bathroom! You go on ahead!"

"Alright."

He watched Toto run off, clutching his stomach. Five minutes until class. Simon walked at a leisurely pace to the lecture hall door. The moment he opened it...

’Whoooosh—’

A cool breeze washed over him. Before him stood a girl with black hair fluttering in the wind, her expression blank as she gazed out the window.

’Lorraine?’

For a moment, he thought he was in the wrong classroom. He had expected Dick, Meirin, and Kamibarez to greet him. But no. This was a new semester. A new class, new studies, new lectures. This was his class now.

Simon stepped into the awkward atmosphere of the first day.

"Ah."

Just then, the black-haired girl saw him. Her blank expression melted into a welcoming smile.

"Hello, Simon."

"Hello, Lorraine."

Simon smiled back. He felt it was his turn to speak.

"May I sit next to you?"