Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

The Forest of Giants.

A mysterious place on the continent where every creature born within grows to three or four times its size.

It is the home of giants. And for humans, it was a living hell filled with the worst, gigantic monsters.

There wasn't much of a problem as long as humans didn't enter the forest. Not until the 'plecstes', a level seven monster, rapidly repopulated.

The flood of aggressive monsters ventured out of the forest to attack civilians and even entered cities managed by lords, wreaking havoc.

The attacks of these high-risk, gigantic monsters were a catastrophe. A force of nature that was trying to scrub humanity off the face of the continent. Even armies sent by the local kingdom became lunch for the plecstes.

In a time when everyone was terrified by the unstoppable disaster…

A woman appeared out of nowhere.

Riding on a flurry of violet butterflies, she invaded the enemy's base, the Forest of Giants, by herself.

The royal advisor of the Kallos Kingdom bore witness to that historic event.

This monumental battle was rather simple. Butterflies coated the necks of the vicious giants, and the woman swung her scythe to finish them off.

That was the end of it.

Heads rolled, and the plecstes were no more. The surrounding area had been completely overturned, mounds of dirt blanketing the countless corpses.

It was overwhelming.

And it served as a reminder of how and why one organization, Kizen, controlled half of this vast continent.

"Thanks for your hard work."

The woman who had overturned the entire forest in just one day walked up to the advisor.

"The population massively increased because a mutant queen was born. Now that we've eliminated the cause, you can rest assured."

With a wave of her hand, the scythe transformed into a butterfly and flew into the sky.

The manager bowed his head in respect.

"The entire kingdom owes you a great favor, Kizen Vice-President."

The woman's name was Jane Olivia.

This situation was so dire, with casualties almost reaching the thousands, that Nefthis sent her right hand to deal with the mess.

In a single day, this great calamity that looked to be beyond the reach of humanity, had been swept away.

With this, the Kallos Kingdom was once again indebted to Kizen. The anti-Kizen factions, who proposed that Kizen was useless, were also made silent.

"B-But on that note, we didn't expect the vice president herself to come."

"Please, just address me as a professor."

Said Jane, flipping open her notebook and scribbling something down with a quill.

"I hope that the construction of the southern dam that Kizen is spearheading is going well."

As is usual, the door swung both ways. The advisor quickly replied,

"Of course! We won't disappoint you."

As this man who was used to being the one in control at all times found himself acting so subserviently, he solidified one fact in his mind.

In this crazy world, it is impossible to survive unless you side with either the necromancers or the priests.

Placing the notebook back into her suit pocket, Jane called out,

"Ren."

Swiish!

A man in a black robe knelt down on one knee.

"Your orders."

"Prepare me a teleportation magic circle. Before we return to Roke Island, there is a place I would like to pass by, considering we have come this far."

"Where to?"

After pondering for a moment, Jane's lips opened into a grin.

"The dungeon where Professor Silage was dispatched. I would like to check on his progress."

* * *

Jane and the black-robed agent entered the dungeon together.

The sky was black, and the ground was red.

Jane looked up as she walked on the red ground.

"So that is the 'Ring of Blood'."

They had only just stepped foot in the dungeon, and already they could see it.

In the only entrance to the deeper parts of the dungeon, a ring of blood reminiscent of a 'red moon' in the sky, gurgled and spun.

"I have heard that this is some kind of curse based on hemomancy. A curse that boils the blood of any unauthorized person nearing it, killing them instantly."

"Indeed, ma'am."

To think that a curse that big and that semi-permanent existed. Jane felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end just from watching.

"It used to be much bigger than that."

Stated the agent.

"Ever since Professor Silage entered the core of that ring, it has been shrinking its size every day. At the current rate, we expect the ring to completely disappear in three to four months.

"After that, the abominations within that dungeon will be unleashed, then."

Scholars believed that the Ring of Blood was a special phenomenon that only occurred in this dungeon.

However, someone who entered the dungeon figured out how to control the ring and used it to turn the space into their own. They tuned it so it would not destroy the master of the dungeon.

This made it into an unknown space unable to be explored by neither Kizen nor the local kingdom. No one knew what terrible things were happening in there.

But the biggest problem was that it contained a dangerous, first-class wanted criminal being hunted by Kizen.

Now, Kizen had taken moves to capture the man who committed an unforgivable crime. They even dispatched their Professor of Hemomancy, Silage, and although he was having a hard time, the Ring of Blood was definitely shrinking.

Jane nodded.

"Thank you very much. Let us return. I doubt there is much else we can do at the moment."

* * *

* * *

That morning.

An empty lecture room in the Kizen Learning Center.

"Haha! Is everyone here already?"

Shouted Rick condescendingly as he stood in front of the blackboard.

"Welcome to Rick's siege lecture!"

Simon, sitting in his seat, responded with a small cheer.

"Wow…"

Meilyn, sitting next to him, picked up a potato chip and munched on it with a sour face.

"…It's just one of Endolas Vaudeville's games. I'd rather solve a textbook problem than do this."

"How naive!"

Bang!

Rick slammed his palm down on the table.

Startled, Meilyn dropped the potato chip on the floor.

"Ah, you idiot! You'll pay for this, you hear me?"

"The siege theme is a game that Endolas Vaudeville devoted his heart and soul to! You won't get another chance to play something like this in your lifetime, you understand? Huh?"

"Okay, Rick, calm down."

Simon tried to cool the overheated atmosphere.

Meilyn and Simon were planning to join Rick on a siege for the next after-school BDMAT. Camibarez couldn't participate in the siege, as she had planned to collect only blue cards from the very start.

"Let's get this over with already and go grab something delicious! We're skipping lunch for this!"

Rick picked up a piece of chalk and began to explain,

"As you guys may already know, the siege will consist of 15 attackers and 15 defenders. So, it's a game for 30 students in total. We're going to join the defenders."

"Why?"

Asked Meilyn.

"Because I like defending better."

Dodging the potato chip she threw, Rick quickly added,

"I mean, of course, defending is better because I've done a lot of defending. We have the advantage of information! Anyway! Here's what the castle looks like."

Rick drew a square on the board.

He drew the shape of a gate on the outside of the square. The castle had four gates, one on the east, west, south, and north.

"What I just drew is the outer castle,"

Rick drew another small square inside the square.

"and this is the inner castle. If any of the gates are breached, the allied troops in the outer castle will retreat back to the inner castle in no time. And it's up to us necromancers to make sure they retreat safely!"

"Alright. Then how many entrances are there in the inner castle?"

Even Meilyn, who had been grumbling, seemed to focus now that the lecture had begun.

"There are north and south gates."

Rick drew two gates on the small square.

"Unless the attacking team is really bad, it's inevitable for the outer castle to be breached. Of course, the walls of the inner castle are much easier to defend, with higher walls and fewer sections to defend."

This time, Simon asked,

"And what if the inner castle is breached?"

"Then that begins the street fighting!"

Rick drew a series of houses inside the small square.

"The terrain of 'Aeon Castle', the stage of this game, starts on a low hill and gradually rises to higher ground. The enemies who break through the castle walls will come straight up the stairs to the top. And at the very top…"

Rick drew a crown in the center.

"Is the royal palace! It's where the king lives, of course."

Silently listening to the explanation, Simon crossed his arms.

"So the goal of the defending side is to protect the king, I assume."

"Correct! In reverse, the attacking team's goal is to kill the king! Did you guys all get that? Nothing too complicated, right?"

Meilyn tilted her head.

"Then isn't it better to hide the king somewhere other than the palace?"

"Nuh-uh! If the king is away from the throne for too long, the attacking side will be able to see his location. C'mon, the creator of this world is Endolas Vaudeville. Do you really think such cheap tricks would work?"

Meilyn wasn't listening. She covered her forehead in shock and muttered.

"…I can't believe I'm hearing this commoner of all people scolding someone for using cheap tricks."

"Kyahahaha! I won't let myself always be the idiot of the room!"

Rick's humorous lecture continued.

"Now! Aside from that, there's something called a 'Protection Stone' under the palace. If this gets destroyed, the barrier between the inner and outer walls will be broken, allowing the attackers to attack from the air."

Simon took a sharp breath in. This was a pretty big matter.

"A necromancer with the ability to fly would just soar into the palace, then."

"I know! Other than that, there are other structures that give the attacking side a bonus when destroyed, but you don't need to memorize them. You just need to remember the most important one, the protection stone. That's the end of the explanation!"

Meilyn moved the finished pack of potato chips aside.

"Enough with that. How're your results so far?"

"The defending team won the first game, and the attacking team won the second game."

Rick clenched his teeth as he answered, his fighting spirit burning bright.

"That's why I'm trying to gather aces like you guys! Watch closely, you attacking team bastards! I'm going to get my revenge next game!!"

Rick grinned as he looked at the two of them.

"You think we can do it with you guys?"

"Of course."

Replied Simon with a faint smile.

"While we're at it, we'll beat them completely, so don't worry."

Meilyn flicked a strand of hair behind her ear as she confidently sat up straight.

"Why don't we just show how much better we are by not allowing them to breach the outer castle wall, either?"

"Sounds great! That's like the ultimate humiliation you could give to the attacking side!"

The three of them continued discussing the siege, losing track of time.

* * *

At the same time.

Also in the learning center, an empty lecture room on the second floor, just downstairs from where Simon and his party were at.

"Welcome~ Jule!"

A girl with twin tails and a navy coat draped over her shoulders, decorated with medals, clapped her hands and smiled wide.

"To the attacking team meeting!"

She was Elissa Seline, the S.A.7, who drove the Phantom Ships.

"I'm really not sure if we have to go this far."

Answering her call was a boy with an eye patch over one eye. He carried a longsword at his waist, although it was almost as tall as he was.

It was the S.A.5, 'Jule Vincere'. He had his ups and downs in terms of performance, but with the sheer combat power he could exert when at his best condition, he was considered the strongest in the Kizen first-years.

"What's the problem? Don't you want to have revenge against Simon, too?"

"Nothing like that. You're probably the only one who wants revenge."

The veins on Elissa's forehead bulged.

"Of course I do!! I'm getting my revenge, no matter what!"

Elissa lost first place to Simon in the third BDMAT, the ocean theme, her home ground. She hadn't heard the end of it.

And if that wasn't painful and frustrating enough, she'd recently suffered a humiliating defeat in an after-school BDMAT without being able to do anything against Simon's strategy.

"I, Elissa Selene, am a woman who has to repay my enemy tenfold to feel better."

Jule stroked the hilt of the longsword at his waist with an uninterested face.

"I'm fine with anything as long as I get to compete with Simon Polentia."

Jule's encounter on the after-school BDMAT was his first encounter with Simon.

When he saw the blood arrow Simon was using at that time, he knew he wanted to have a proper fight against that guy.

"By the way, are you really sure that Simon Polentia is participating in the siege?"

"I'm certain."

Elissa laughed.

"I heard it from a reliable and trustworthy source. There's this guy named Rick, Simon's best friend, who only does sieges. They told me he was looking for people to help him win against the attacking team. Of course he's trying to convince his friend, Simon, to join. And Simon responded positively."

"Then that means we'll get to see him on this or the final siege."

"So with that…"

Elissa's eyes turned to the door. Heavy footsteps could be heard approaching.

"I recruited the final piece for the attacking team's certain victory!"

"?"

Thump!

The door opened wildly, and a male student with a huge physique came in.

"I heard I can fight Simon Polentia."

Stomp. Stomp.

The force emanating from his entire body made even an S.A. student, Elissa, tense up. Jule silently grabbed the handle of his longsword.

"If this is a lie…"

Thud!

Hector sat back in a chair, kicked his legs up on a desk, and said,

"I'm going to kill you both right here, right now."

——