Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

Slam! Crash!

The sheep in a suit was shot up into the air and crashed down on a table, smashing it into two. Broken plates, glass, and mahogany rained down on it.

"Ugghh!"

It staggered to its feet, its head covered with spaghetti.

No, it tried to get up. The Kizen student, not being used to their sheeply form, kept on wobbling and then fell on its butt. Still, its eyes remained fixed on Simon.

"What just was that?!!"

Its eyes were filled with a mixture of anger and confusion.

"You barely touched me with your palm, so how did you—??!"

The sheep's words were cut short. Because a streak of scarlet light shot into its side pushing it away so quickly that for a second Simon thought it had been deleted.

With a sickening thud, the sheep was slammed against the wall.

Surprised, Simon turned his head, and then he saw Lorain with her right arm raised.

"Did I interrupt you?"

"No, thanks for the help."

As he replied, Simon was looking at what was behind her.

It was amazing, no matter how many times he saw it.

The red eyes that were the product of space distorting around her. Simon wondered what lay beyond that space.

As she lowered her hand, the rifts closed, disappearing without a trace.

"Lorain, what about your opponent?"

She twitched her head to the side to gesture for Simon to look. The cat was buried in a wall, in a very similar predicament to the sheep.

[All assassins from the assassin team have been defeated.]

[Extraordinarily quick clear of game has been confirmed.]

[Additional objective emerging.]

[Additional objective: Protect the Pig Princess from new enemies.]

"It's an additional objective!"

An additional objective popped up, probably because they started a huge mess after relying on their power instead of following the game's intent.

Simon thought it was better this way.

The first game, raft survival, he and Jamie also got an additional objective after running past all the monsters with the deimos. And that was how he got the glasses that helped their user to search for cards.

There must be a reward this time, too.

The sheep and cat failed to fulfill their roles as assassins and dissolved into thin air.

Simon and Lorain glanced at each other, then slowly stepped back toward the Pig Princess, each silently scanning the surroundings.

"…Sp-Spare me."

Said the Pig Princess, shaking in fear.

"We can accept you as one of us even if you have short ears! Even if you freaks have no fur! So please, spare my life!!"

"Shut up and stay still."

Lorain's cold words immediately shut the Pig Princess' mouth.

Simon added,

"Princess, we're here to protect you."

"L-Liar!"

Shouted the Pig Princess, trembling.

"How do you think I would ever believe you?? You just killed the sheep and the cat!!"

Shatter!

Clash!

The conversation was cut off involuntarily. All the windows in the mansion shattered, and assassins shrouded in black hoods soon dove in after.

Tap!

Tap!

In an instant, dozens of men surrounded them. They had no faces to be seen, and instead, gray smoke billowed out from their hoods.

Simon and Lorain got ready to fight, keeping their guards up, while the Pig Princess shrieked in terror.

Clank. Clank.

A man wearing armor inside his robe walked up. Gray smoke also billowed from his helm.

[I have only one command.]

The voice that came out of the faceless figure was unnaturally smooth. There was not a single pause or change in modulation.

[Kill them all.]

Shiiiing!

The unknown assassins drew their swords in unison and charged in.

"Well, now…"

Lorain grabbed a flowing strand of hair and ran her hand through her hair.

"I don't have to go easy on them, right?"

Once again, rifts opened behind her, and the red eyes materialized inside an endless void. Then, pillars of red destruction erupted in all directions, striking the defenseless assassins.

[!]

Crunch!

Bones turned to white powder as nearly half of the assassins died in an instant. All that remained of them was red and white smears on the walls.

'Sh-She really is Nefthis' daughter.'

"Simon! In front of you!"

At Lorain's shout, Simon turned his head. In front of him, an assassin was raising its sword up high.

Swiiiing!

Simon stepped back to dodge the initial strike, then grabbed his opponent by its extended wrist and pulled.

Now that the assassin was stumbling toward him, he let go of its wrist and struck it in the head with his elbow. A splatter of blood stained the floor, and Simon spun around and kicked it in the head with his signature roundhouse kick.

Poooow!

The assassin was thrown to the ground, either unconscious or dead, and three of its teammates rushed in. Of course, Simon had no intention of allowing them to surround him.

'Open!'

Fwip!

Fwiiip!

The Overlord's blades shot out, pushing the assassins back.

'Don't rush it. Take the assassins down one by one!'

Breaking free from the encirclement, this time Simon was the one to charge in. He wrapped his fists with jet-black, leaping after one of the assassins he had just knocked away.

Clang!

Sparks flew as fist and sword collided. However, his opponent was completely off-balance, so Simon's follow-up was faster.

Simon kicked his opponent in the back of the knee, making it kneel on the ground, then quickly moved behind it, grabbing it by the head and lifting it up.

Pshk!

An arrow struck it right in the face under its hood, and the assassin went limp.

"Good job!"

The skeleton archer rattled as it pulled out the next arrow.

But there were still two more left. Sneaking up behind Simon, two assassins thrust in their swords.

Clang!

Clash!

Immediately, two skeletons with shields jumped out and blocked them.

In the meantime, Simon ducked down low, bringing his arms between the skeletons' legs and pointing his closed fists at his opponents.

'Cloud!'

Turquoise smoke billowed out, wrapping around the assassins' legs. Then, he pulled.

Immediately, the two assassins were dragged to the ground, and the skeletons that had just raised their shields were already disassembled into bones that levitated into the air.

Click! Click!

In the air, the jet-black sharpened the bones, the sharp ends hanging dangerously above their soon-to-be victims. Then, Simon pointed straight down.

{Bone Nail}

Pshk! Pshk! Pshk! Pshk!

The bones stabbed down with a force so deadly that every one of the seemingly emotionless assassins watching this scene shuddered in fear.

Also watching on from afar, Lorain silently admired it.

'…What an innate wit. To him, combat is just another logical puzzle that can be solved.'

He was using many difficult skills simultaneously. In addition to his main strength, summoning, he utilized the many skills he learned in Kizen. His combat dark magic and hemomancy perfectly complimented his moveset, honing him into an unstoppable force.

He was still in his first year, but Lorain could see the beginnings of a full-fledged necromancer in Simon.

'After all…'

No matter what happened, she couldn't let Serene take Simon away from her. She vowed this to herself once more.

[What are you doing?!]

Failing to contain his fury in his monotone voice, the armored assassin—who appears to be the captain—shouted,

[How frustrating! I'll take care of them myself!!]

The monster raised its heavy, long spear and joined the battle.

"Oiiiiiiiiiink!"

While Simon and Lorain were busy fighting, the panicked Pig Princess was running away as tears and snot streamed down her face.

It looked like she was going to make it out of the mansion on her own.

"Simon!"

Shouted Lorain, opening her subspace.

"I'll take care of the boss, so I'm counting on you with the princess!"

"Got it!"

Flying skeletons came out of her subspace. As she spread her arms out, the skeletons disassembled and began to attach to her body.

Lorain's Bone Armor.

The armor was neatly designed, with the helmet perfectly fitting her head. The flying skeleton's beak transformed into a spear, which she held in her hand.

Soon, the boss monster and Lorain clashed, spear against spear.

'So cool… I'll leave that side of things to Lorain for now.'

* * *

* * *

"Squueeaalll!"

Two assassins blocked the screaming Pig Princess from running away. The Pig Princess shrieked once more and stepped back.

"Geez!"

Sighing, Simon reached out, as if grabbing something in front of him. At his command, two skeletons flew in and covered the Pig Princess with Bone Armor.

Click! Clack!

The Pig Princess screamed in disgust as her body was instantly covered in bones.

'Two skeletons won't be enough for her!'

She was too big. He had to add two more skeletons—four in total—to cover her completely.

Meanwhile, one assassin leaped out and thrust its sword at the Pig Princess.

"Oiiiiiiiink!"

Tink!

Without so much as thinking about it, Simon expertly shifted the Bone Armor to protect the princess.

The assassin stepped back, bewildered, and Simon continued. Like an experienced puppetmaster, Simon had the Pig Princess clench her fists and chargedin.

"Wh-What? My oink body is moving on its own!!"

Pooooooow!

A clean hit.

The Pig Princess' blow sent the assassin flying in a spray of blood. This time, Simon drew a line to the side with his finger.

Grab!

The Pig Princess lifted a nearby couch with both hands and started spinning it around. The remaining assassins backed away in horror.

"Hah!"

Thud!

It didn't hit any of them—they were too prepared—but it was a good enough distraction for the real attack.

Simon announced his arrival by cracking open one of the assassin's smokey skulls.

"…!"

Another assassin raised its sword defensively. However, Simon's attack didn't come from the front, but…

Shlik!

From above.

Cobwebs fell from the ceiling, immobilizing the hooded figure. Simon had brought out some corpse spiders.

He grinned as he threw his hands forward.

"Now, princess!"

"Oiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiink!"

The Pig Princess, being controlled by Simon, had picked the couch back up and was charging in.

Slaaaaaaaaaaam!

The ground cracked to make room for the cloaked figure being driven down like a stake. A faint groan escaped the faceless form, and then it went limp.

"O-Oh! Ohohoho! Serves you right!"

The Pig Princess put her hand over her mouth as she laughed in the smuggest way possible. Not a thought of danger remained in her mind.

'Ugh.'

On the other hand, Simon frowned and brought his hand to his forehead.

'I got too excited and overused my jet-black…'

Craaaaaaaaaash!

Simon's head whipped around as he brought out what little jet-black remained to face whatever made that noise, but his jaw dropped when he saw what it actually was.

The boss monster had been slammed against the wall with five holes in its chest and head. Instead of smoke, blood poured out from its helmet.

[A-A… monster!]

Puushk!

Lorain's spear pierced through the boss monster's helmet. She scoffed and retrieved her spear. A drop of blood splashed against her cheek.

'I guess there's no need for me to worry about Lorain.'

Having defeated the boss, it wasn't hard to clear out the rest of the remaining assassins.

Once all the assassins were taken down, a new message popped up.

[Additional objective accomplished.]

[Please claim your reward.]

The boss crumbled to dust, and two treasure chests appeared where its corpse should've been.

Simon let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

"Good job, Lorain."

"You too, Simon."

The two then walked toward the treasure chests. Having also removed the Bone Armor, the Pig Princess let out a hiss and ran out of the mansion.

Lorain started to move after the Pig Princess, but Simon grabbed her shoulder.

"It's fine now. Everything is over."

"Yeah… It is."

Simon and Lorain picked a treasure chest each.

'I wonder what's inside?'

Simon opened his treasure chest with excitement.

"Woah!"

A gasp escaped from his mouth.

"A crystal skeleton?"

The treasure chest contained a product with an undead new to Simon.

[Crystal Skeleton]

[A natural-type undead from the Crystal Cave that has been converted into a summon-type skeleton.]

[Reacts strongly to jet-black and mana!]

[Suitable for any combination of skeletons!]

Simon took the product out, grinning like a kid on Christmas.

'Th-Thank you, Sir Endolas Vaudeville…!'

Lorain scoffed and turned her head away sourly while she saw how impressed Simon was by the treasure.

"I don't really need it. Do you want the crystal skeleton I got as well?"

"!"

Simon's head whipped toward her, his eyes shining.

Then, realizing that he behaved indecently, he coughed in embarrassment.

"Thanks, but that's too—!"

"There."

Lorain picked up her chest and placed it on top of Simon's. Simon staggered but quickly straightened up.

"No pressure, feel free."

Simon was visibly trembling with excitement.

"I-I'll find out how much this is worth and send you the money!"

"I said it's fine… Ah."

Lorain grinned.

"Then, let's just say you owe me one."

Simon reeled back in surprise.

He had heard that line before.

"Did you… get that from Serene?!"

"The portal to get back appeared over there. Let's go."

Lorain quickly changed the subject, a sly grin on her face.

Placing the two crystal skeletons into his subspace, Simon soon followed after her.

——