Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

After the game, Simon parted ways with Lorain.

As soon as she got out, she got a call on her communication crystal ball, and she stormed out with a frown. As she left, she gave a quick apology to Simon for not being able to play with him longer.

Piecing together the few words like 'Serene' and 'trouble' Simon heard from the crystal ball, it seemed like Serene was up to something again and Lorain was heading over to clean up the mess.

It looked like their constant fighting would continue until they graduated. Maybe longer.

'Being Nefthis' daughter must be tough, too.'

Simon put on his enchanted glasses and left to find the next card.

It didn't take long for him to find the second card. It was in the gutter of a vacant lot behind the building he was just in. This time, it was yellow.

'Yellow was summoning, right?'

Simon stepped toward the card, inwardly hoping for a summoning theme.

[Entering a new game.]

Simon opened his eyes.

A large gutter had appeared in front of him after stepping into the card that had fallen in the gutter.

No, it was too broad to be a gutter. It was more like an alleyway.

Simon was on a hill above the alleyway.

'Hmm.'

He tried lifting his foot off the ground to try and get down, but a barrier prevented his access. He couldn't go down the narrow path.

'I really can't grasp what kind of theme this is.'

It certainly didn't seem to have anything to do with summoning.

[A person has entered - Simon Polentia.]

[Members: 8/8]

"I-It's Simon Polentia!"

"We're so winning this now!!"

From nowhere, seven students rushed in and surrounded Simon.

"You're the Simon, right? Not some random person with the same name?"

"He is! It's the S.A.1"

"Hey, Simon! That move with the deimos was great!"

Simon could barely keep up with what was going on as everyone was talking to him at once.

"I-I'm begging you, please talk one at a time."

As Simon pleaded, he scanned the faces of the students.

First, he didn't recognize any of them.

There were no famous students like S.A.s. Everyone here was just a normal, ordinary student.

"Then, I'd like to ask him first!"

A female student with a crescent moon headband on her head suddenly approached.

"Are you really Simon Polentia, the S.A.1?"

"Y-Yeah, I am."

"He said he is!"

"Wooooaaaah!"

They were high-fiving each other and jumping in joy. It had gone beyond welcoming Simon. They were looking at Simon like he was their savior.

"B-By the way, guys, what's the theme of this game?"

"Summoning!"

The female student answered immediately.

"It's a game where you use your summons to hunt monsters that pass by down here! You can only attack them with your summons."

So it was a summoning theme!

Simon's eyes lit up as soon as he heard the rules. He couldn't wait to try.

"It was a close call."

The female student continued.

"We were chatting while waiting for another student and soon realized that we didn't have a single Summoning aspirant among us!"

"What…?"

Simon's eyes widened.

"And that's where you came in! The S.A.1 Summoning aspirant! Haha!"

"No, wait!"

Asked Simon urgently, finally realizing the gravity of the situation.

"Really? Not a single one?"

"Yeah!"

"Didn't you all enter a yellow card? Wasn't that because you guys are all somewhat confident in your summoning skills?"

At that question, all seven of them looked askance.

The girl with the headband guiltily whispered,

"Th-The thing is… We're all trying to collect seven different colored cards."

…Oh, no.

Meilyn's voice echoed in Simon's mind.

"I'm sure there'll be a lot of people aiming for all color combinations, just like you, Simon."

Meilyn's prediction was spot on.

After the first test, word spread among the students that the chances of getting the themes actually related to the colors wasn't very high.

So, it became more common for students to aim for the highest scoring combo, the 'rainbow'. They started randomly looking for cards of different colors than the ones they had.

And this was the result.

"But still, Simon! We're lucky to have you here, the pinnacle of summoning!"

Not at all.

Simon found out that the students were all counting on Simon.

When he came to his senses, he was sitting in a chair someone had taken out of their subspace. Some students were massaging his shoulders and arms from behind.

Simon quickly regained his composure and said,

"…F-First, please explain the specific rules to me."

"Got it!"

These were the rules they told Simon.

An evil necromancer was sending monsters to ravage a town. There were good people living in the town.

The students must act as vigilantes and kill every single monster to keep the peace in the town… It was a very stereotypical hero-villain story.

The monsters appeared from a magic circle at the start of the alleyway and could only pass through the narrow path. They don't fight back against the students on the hill but just charge straight for the town.

However, a condition was placed on the students, too. They could only attack monsters with their summons. No curses, no other forms of dark magic.

'…It would really be the end if they had no Summoning aspirant.'

Simon sighed softly.

The students flinched and as they saw a look of defeat on Simon's face.

"I-I guess clearing this will be impossible?"

"Maybe we should just prepare for the next game…"

"…No, it's not that."

Simon wiped the beading sweat off his forehead with a forced smile.

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

Immediately, the students erupted into cheers.

"So cool!"

"Whew! You're the man!"

"Let's do this!!"

And that was the birth of Simon fanatics.

* * *

* * *

The battlefield was simple.

A single alleyway that led from the magic circle to the town. Soon, monsters would come out and pass through here.

First, the eight of them had to choose the sections they'd be incharge of.

Simon was assigned to the last and most important section, the one right before the town. The rest of the areas were divided up between the other students as they chose.

When Simon looked back, he could really see a town. He also saw the residents huddling in their homes, doors shut, trembling in fear.

"Alright! Get ready!"

At Simon's command, the students pulled out their summons.

'…Th-This is so bad.'

It was worse than Simon thought.

Most of them were using just skeletons or zombies, and one of them could control only control three summons at a time.

"I'm sorry, I'm a Combat Dark Magic aspirant!"

The student who could only control three apologized.

'Then, I will…'

Looking at the other students' undead, Simon pondered.

'Which summons should I use?'

He only had so much jet-black. What he needed was efficiency and firepower.

Straight paths were best handled by the deimos' Tidal Cannon, but it was impossible to use it on land.

The idea of using the Overlord was a bit iffy, too. If Simon kept even just six subspaces open, his subspace ring would be boiling hot before he was even halfway done.

"E-Everyone! The monsters are coming!"

Shouted the student at the very front.

At the starting point, armed goblins poured into the narrow alley.

Green goblins. They were only level two monsters, but there was an awful lot of them.

Just as Simon thought that, a number appeared in the air.

[200/200]

'Two hundred of them?'

That many could be easily cleared by eight Summoning aspirants, but the only ones who could be counted on were Simon and maybe one or two others.

"Whoa! I'm getting nervous!"

The first student in the line was the girl with the crescent-moon headband.

She blocked the narrow alleyway with two skeletons bearing shields and placed a few skeletons with spears behind them to make the most of the blockade.

It was a pretty efficient and clever arrangement.

[Krrrrrrrrreeeeee!]

Clang! Smack! Crack!

As the undead blocked the path, the gathering monsters swung their weapons ferociously at the wooden shields.

The skeletons behind the shields were thrusting their spears rapidly, but…

'We can't stop them from the front.'

Eventually, the defensive line broke after being overwhelmed by the numbers. The skeletons with shields collapsed, and the rest of the skeletons soon followed.

[191/200]

Only nine out of 200 were defeated.

"Next person in charge, get ready!"

However, the next students' defenses were no better. First was the Combat Dark Magic aspirant, and his line of defense broke within seconds. After him was a student using a ghoul, but they were lacking control.

"Guys! Don't block the way. Attack them from the flanks!"

Shouted Simon, unable to bear it. Several students looked back in confusion.

"W-Wouldn't they just pass straight through if we did that?"

"I'll do something about that! Right now, it's more important to reduce their numbers!"

The students quickly modified their strategy, learning from their previous mistakes. They gave all their skeletons spears and made them attack from the hills above the alleyway. Those who didn't have enough spears had their skeletons throw rocks.

This strategy would let the goblins move faster, but the number of kills would be much higher.

Then…

[Kwooooooah!]

Kizen students were still Kizen students.

There was a student who wasn't even a Summoning aspirant but had turned a level four monster, a crimson bear, into a zombie and controlled it.

Everyone cheered enthusiastically as it ripped apart multiple goblins at once with every swipe of its claws.

"You're holding up very well!"

"Let's go!"

Certainly, his zombie was good, but his control was the problem.

High level monsters were harder to control. Just accessing their thoughts put an extreme amount of strain on the caster.

Soon, the student collapsed as blood trickled down his nose, and the crimson bear stopped moving, too.

And the undead standing still was then surrounded by goblins and slashed to ribbons.

[103/200]

"Kugh!"

"Now that only leaves Simon!"

The seven students had been defeated, yet half the goblins still remained.

Everyone's eyes turned to Simon, the last hope who held the final line of defense.

'I wonder what he's going to use?'

'The deimos isn't gonna work.'

'Maybe it's that blade summon?'

The students looked in Simon's direction, brimming with expectation.

But what he pulled out was…

"Skeleton archers!"

There were eight skeleton archers. They raised their bows, ready to load a volley of arrows.

"B-But do you think that will be enough?"

"There are less arrows in those quivers than there are monsters."

The students muttered to each other with uneasy faces, but Simon held up his right hand with a confident smile.

'Of course, they aren't just ordinary skeleton archers.'

In his right hand was his golem core wrapped with his Cloud. The Blood Golem was already complete.

Fwooooooooosh!

The cloud that wrapped around the core surged up and passed through a magic circle in the air. Then, it crashed down on the skeleton archers, swirling around them.

The skeleton archers' eyes flashed with a turquoise glow. Their bows and arrows turned emerald, and formless cape made of clouds fluttered on their backs.

As a finishing touch, Simon pressed a crown made of the Cloud to his head.

{Simon Original - Royal Firing Squad}

This time, Simon's royal guards consisted of only skeleton archers.

"Woah! It's that skill, right?"

The students who watched Simon's BDMATs were cheering in excitement.

"Load."

At Simon's command, the skeleton archers drew arrows from their quivers, their cloaks fluttering behind them as they moved.

When they touched the arrows, the arrows were also dyed turquoise. Knocking the arrows against their bow and pulling, they aimed at the swarming goblins.

"Release!"

Ssssssssshhhhhhhhk!

The first arrow shot out, green smoke trailing behind it.

It easily pierced the chest of the frontmost goblin. Then, without slowing for a second, it kept moving, slicing through goblin after goblin like tofu.

With each turquoise arrow, swaths of monsters fell. Seven to eight goblins died every time Simon heard the thunk of the bowstring slapping against wood.

It was quite a sight, seeing groups of monsters turned to corpses with what seemed like ease.

'Pant!'

However, for Simon, this was anything but easy. Sweat gathered on his forehead as he clenched his teeth, moving his tired arms with practiced precision for every command.

The archers imbued more Cloud onto their next arrows and drew them back.

"Release!"

The turquoise arrows flew in rapid succession, wiping out another mass of goblins.

Looking up at the number still hovering in the air, a grimace formed on Simon's face.

[48/200]

But the other students were estatics.

"He…"

The Combat Dark Magic aspirant trembled as he watched this scene unfold.

"…He's crazy."

"He might actually pull it off!"

He had already reduced the number of monsters by more than half.

Hearing everyone's roaring cheers, Simon gathered up all his fleeting desperation.

'Haaah.'

But it wasn't as simple as being desperate.

Unlike the royal bodyguards, who used the same sword constantly, the 'Royal Firing Squad' had enhanced arrows that used up more and more cloud with every arrow.

The turquoise hues imbuing the skeletons had started to fade.

First, their capes disappeared, and then the shine in their eyes and bodies slowly dimmed.

'Everything else doesn't matter.'

Simon gasped and raised his arms.

'Just coat the arrows with the Cloud and shoot it!'

Once again, a volley of emerald arrows pierced through the running goblins, slaying them one after another.

[Monsters remaining: 7/200]

"You're almost done!"

"The final boss monster is approaching!"

A rather large goblin, who towered over the main mass of now-dead goblins, was charging in from the back.

The rest of the students tried to stop it, sending their summons down from where they were fighting on the hill, but one by one, the summons was cleaved through by its huge axe.

"Phew!"

As the last of the friendly summons died, so too did the final smallfry goblin.

However, at this point, the skeleton archers were out of arrows. Like broken machines, they kept reaching into their empty quivers.

[1/200]

All that remained was the big boss goblin coming up. One more goblin stood between victory and failure. The town's survival or death.

Simon swung his arm.

"Come back."

What remained of the clouds in the skeleton archers returned to Simon's magic circle.

Once the clouds left, the royal guards returned to ordinary skeleton archers. As if their power cords had been pulled, seven of the eight archers froze immediately.

'As for the last…!'

Simon broke the delicate balance keeping his blood and jet-black infused in the magic circle. The turquoise circle began to turn a dark blue.

He turned his head to the final skeleton archer remaining. Its eyes burned faintly green from what little remained of the Cloud inside it.

"I'm counting on you!"

{Simon Remake - Blood Arrow}

Simon created a bow and arrow made of jet-black from the magic circle and handed it over to the skeleton. The skeleton archer immediately took it and ran down into the alleyway.

Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp!

The boss goblin was charging from the front as a lone skeleton archer was bravely standing against it, blocking the alleyway.

"It's only the boss left!!"

"Please!"

The students watching shouted and begged, placing all their hopes in Simon.

Simon mimed loading a bow, even straining as he pulled back on the string.

'Load.'

The skeleton archer carefully followed his every move, the mass of jet-black swirling with dark-blue light.

A perfect connection.

Simon could not feel the difference between him and the skeleton archer.

He was the skeleton archer.

"Release!"

Poooooooooow!

As soon as the archer let go of the taut string, the resulting shockwave blew the skeleton to bits.

But the arrow flew true, stabbing cleanly into the goblin's chest.

[Krrrrruuugh!]

The boss goblin was pushed back, falling to one knee.

"Ah!"

"It's not quite enough!"

The boss goblin, blood dripping from its mouth, rose to its feet.

"No."

Simon grinned and clenched his fist.

"I win."

Kaboooooooooom!

The arrow exploded inside the goblin's body. Jet-black sprayed in all directions, ripping through flesh, rock, and steel like it was nothing.

The goblin burst, blood and diced flesh splattering everywhere.

Ruuummmmbbbllleee.

The alleyway shook from the secondary impact, then fell silent.

As everyone watched in sublime fascination and horror…

[0/200]

[All monsters have been eliminated.]

[Objective achieved.]

"Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

The moment the message popped up, everyone screamed and rushed over to Simon like a sports team after the winning shot.

Simon flopped wearily to the ground, a bitter smile on his exhausted face.

'…I'm actually gonna die if I keep playing games like this.'

——