Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner

On top of the battlements, the werewolf Carnis and Rick confronted each other.

She glared at Rick and took a fighting stance.

'The opponent is a Kizen student like me. Should I just retreat and slaughter the common soldiers?'

She thought for a moment, but soon shook her head.

This war would be decided by the 30 jet-black wielding necromancers. It'd be more beneficial to the war to get the enemy commanders, the Kizen students, than to consume jet-black on a bunch of common soldiers.

'Above all, that smirking bastard knows my identity.'

If she let him go, everything about her, including her bluff, would be known to the defending team. She decided to fight.

'…But what are those?'

To charge in blindly… The metal cases on either side of Rick were mighty suspicious.

They were made of smooth metal. Heavy, judging from the crack on the battlement floor.

Carnis had no idea what kind of equipment that was. She'd never seen a necromancer wielding a metal case before.

"Well then…"

Seeing Carnis hesitate, Rick placed his palms on the two metal cases.

"Let me go first!"

{Enchant}

As Rick's jet-black flew into the metal cases, they flashed as if they were powered on. Soon, the devices whirred into life.

[Hm!]

Feeling something grazing over her face, she quickly leaned her head back. When she looked back, she saw a tiny ember flying like a ray of light.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to react to this! Is this what you call animal instincts?"

As Rick taunted his opponents, he fed more jet-black into the case. Then, the holes in the case rattled open, and countless rays of lights poured out of it.

[Kugh!]

Carnis hurriedly turned and ran down the battlements, and the rays of lights chased right behind her.

'What even are they? A curse?'

She wasn't sure what that skill was, but she knew getting struck by it wouldn't do her any good.

Using her increased flexibility, she continued to dodge while managing to imbue her claws with a jet-black and swing.

Clang!

The ray that hit the claw bounced off.

'What a relief. It can be countered with jet-black!'

"Mm."

Rick grimaced slightly, then pulled more rays of light from his metal cases and fired.

The volley of attacks dodged and deflected by Carnis continued for a while. At the two necromancers' spectacular battle, the beast-human soldiers couldn't even dare to meddle.

'Alright.'

But as time passed, the tide of the battle slowly shifted. Carnis was getting better at dodging, and Rick, the attacker, was the one gasping for air.

Naturally, the consumption of jet-black would be huge when launching attacks in such large numbers.

Becoming more relaxed and confident in dodging, Carnis drew a curse magic circle on her palm.

'I'll cast a howl on him and end it with one blow.'

She quickly completed the curse. Then, after only dodging for a few minutes, she lunged at Rick and placed her palm near her mouth.

[Awooooooooooooooo!]

Then, she howled.

Once again, the curse that hit all who heard it, {Wolf's Howl} spread out.

"Gasp!"

"Kugh!"

When the soldiers who were trying to help Rick heard the howl, their faces went pale, and they stumbled backward or fell to the ground as their legs gave away. Rick's eyes were also shaking as his face went pale.

The perfect chance.

With nimble movement, Carnis got behind Rick and shot forward in a straight line.

'I won!'

The moment her two claws were about to pierce Rick's back…

[!]

Rick quickly twisted his waist and dodged it.

Rick, who should've been afflicted by the howling curse, easily moved to the side, and Carnis, who was expecting to get slowed down from the collision, staggered.

Shiiiing!

Shiing!

Then, the sword-like claws on her hands clicked and stuck to the metal cases.

[Wh-What is this?!]

She tried to move her arms, but they wouldn't even budge. The weight of the metal case only made her claws hurt like they were falling apart.

"Whew."

Rick smiled and stood up. He looked quite unharmed.

[H-How did you avoid it? I'm sure you got affected by the howl!]

"Hm? What are you saying?"

Said Rick, pulling something like earplugs out of his ears.

"I bet it's something like, how come I wasn't affected by the curse, right?"

Her mouth dropped open.

[When did you put such…! I'm sure I never saw you sticking earplugs in!]

"Ah, of course, I had them in from the very beginning."

Rick had information about her. He knew her metamorphosis, and he knew the skill that she could use while in the metamorphosed state.

"With that information, there's no way I'd challenge you without any preparation for the howl, right?"

[…Dammit!]

Rick shoved his earplugs into his pocket.

"Most of the things I use in combat are powered on and off with 'Enchant'. The same goes for these earplugs. If I just wear and let the jet-black flow through them, it'll be perfectly soundproof."

Seemingly still frustrated, she growled and tried to pull her arms, but her claws still clung to the metal casing and refused to come off.

Carnis' claws were like a part of her body, and in the werewolf form, it was impossible for her to sheath and unsheath her claws.

And Rick was also well aware of this, of course.

"And…"

Rick raised his finger.

"Did you know? The things that were flying like curses before? They don't actually do anything."

[…What?]

"It was all just a bluff. A bluff."

Jeered Rick.

"Since everyone has been traumatized by curses from duel evaluations, everyone is on edge and wary of anything that resembles a curse, you know? So, I thought I'd take advantage of that mindset. This metal casing is actually like a magnet that activates with jet-black."

Lies and thorough deception.

That was Rick's way of surviving in Kizen.

* * *

* * *

[So what?]

Carnis glared fiercely at Rick, trembling with fury at the thought of being deceived.

[What do you plan to do now after capturing me like this?]

Rick's plan was to get her to undo the metamorphosis.

Although she wasn't able to use her arms, she still has legs, teeth, and a tail. She was confident that she could do something about it if Rick tried to stab her with a knife or something and approached her.

The muscles in her legs twitched.

[Come at me if you want!]

"I'm a coward~ So I'm afraid of going in."

Rick pulled a potion bottle out of his subspace and threw it at her. Her whole body was drenched by the viscous liquid.

It smelled a little sweet. Perhaps it was a neurotoxin or a paralysis potion.

But Carnis had been in Professor Belya's class, so she was confident of her immunity.

Above all, her claws were rattling. She could feel the magnet getting weaker.

It likely only lasted a minute. Rick was going to be the one who would be eliminated for letting his guard down.

Thunk.

The last thing Rick dropped at her feet was a trio of hornet's nests. Her expression stiffened coldly.

[Hornet's nests? Do you really think you can hunt a necromancer with that?]

Rick had his back turned and was walking away from her.

"Those wasps are a hybrid from a monster. Even if you cover yourself with jet-black, their stings will still pierce through."

Rick brought his arms behind his head and snapped his fingers.

{Dismiss}

"Goodbye."

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

With a horrible sound, a swarm of wasps burst out of three hornets' nests. And almost simultaneously, the metal casing's magnet power holding her claws weakened, releasing her.

'There we go!'

Finally regaining her freedom, she tried to run away, stomping on jet-black, but the wasps were quicker, clinging to her body drenched with honey.

[Awoooooooooooo!]

It hurt her like crazy.

Pain.

As if every cell in her body was being stung by microscopic needles. Carnis started running with a cry of pain.

But, no matter how fast she ran, the wasps wouldn't get pushed back, and even though she wrapped her skin with jet-black, the stingers still dug into her skin.

[Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!]

Going wild from the pain, she fell off the battlements. With a huge thud, she hit the floor, and her barrier gauge ran out.

[Carnis McGrory eliminated.]

[Defending Team (15/15)]

[Attacking Team (14/15)]

Her body disappeared as if scattering across the battlefield.

"Mwahaha! First blood is mine!"

Celebrated Rick, raising his arms in the air.

* * *

After Rick had eliminated Carnis, the situation on the battlements had fallen back under control, like a fire being extinguished.

"Alright, let's go!"

With Rick at the lead, the soldiers gathered and began to push back the soldiers of Khan Kingdom who climbed up to the battlements. When Rick enchanted the armor and weapons of the soldiers, any of them could become elites.

However…

Crusshh!

The soldiers before him were falling down as they were struck by something.

When Rick tiptoed in and stuck his head out to see what was going on, he saw a siege ladder beating up the soldiers.

"Huh?"

Now, even the siege ladders that had been manually placed up against the castle walls were now floating up in the air.

"Shit! What's going on?!"

Soon, the ladders had left the other soldiers behind and were now chasing after Rick. Rick hastily threw away his sword and ran.

'T-Telekinesis? Was there a student in Kizen with this level of telekinesis?'

Rick jumped up, a ladder soaring beneath him, and he placed his palm on the ladder.

'Enchant!'

When he cast the enchant, the power that was moving the ladder was gone in an instant, falling down on the floor.

With that, Rick was certain. It wasn't anything like telekinesis.

Step. Step.

"I thought my only job was to move around ladders."

Just then, a girl stepped in front of him.

A girl with short hair and rounded eyes. She wore a Kizen school uniform.

Despite being in the middle of enemy territory, she was strolling around the battlement at a leisurely pace.

The truth was, the ladders she controlled were moving around like bodyguards, beating the shit out of the beast-human soldiers.

"It truly amazes me. How did an idiot like you manage to defeat Carnis?"

"Th-That's confidential business information, you see~"

Replied Rick in an attempt at casualness, wiggling his eyebrows up and down like an excited salesman. But he'd spent too much of his jet-black on the werewolf earlier.

And Rick recognized her right away.

"Millena Hearts, is this really your time to step up?"

"Recognizing me at once, huh? I'm getting a little sick of my fame~"

Millena raised a finger. Then, the siege ladders around her crashed down, and in return, the stone tiles of the battlement began to rise into the air.

'I'm screwed.'

The people that threw anything that wasn't jet-black or metallic into multiple ranged projectiles were Rick's worst enemies.

Rick scrambled to his feet to run, and the bricks started flying towards him, moving fast enough that they cut through even the wind.

Thud!

Pow!

Just a few grazes hurt like hell.

Even while staggering, Rick ran at full speed.

"You're pretty good at running away."

Rick heard a voice speaking right next to him. He felt his heart skip a beat. When he turned his face, he saw Millena running alongside him.

Swiiish!

Rick forcefully bent back to dodge her kick. However, it made him lose his balance, and a puff of black smoke gusted into him.

{Exhaust}

It was an exhaust that was cast half a step earlier. Rick's body immediately felt heavy.

'Sh-Shit! If I don't get rid of this right away…!'

The second and third exhausts would seal the deal.

Rick quickly conjured a magic circle in his palm, preparing a 'cancellation' curse, but…

Swish! Swish!

The second and third stack of exhaust from Millena's finger passed through Rick's body.

A full three stacks of exhaust.

Rick trembled as he tried to hold on, but fell to his knees in the end. The cancellation he'd been preparing failed, and his heavy hands fell to the floor.

"Clear~"

After checking Rick, who has been neutralized, Millena lowered her finger.

"Heuk, honestly."

Grumbled Rick.

"This is why I fucking hate Cursers. Aren't you guys just too overpowered in a one-on-one fight?"

"Sorry about that~"

With an unapologetic face, she smiled and lifted her hands into the air. The surrounding castle wall bricks floated into the air.

"Bye bye~"

The bricks shot at Rick, preparing to make his grave. Just when he lowered his arms in defeat…

Swaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

A wall of ice rose up in front of him, and the flying bricks hit it before bouncing off.

"You dumbass! Are you seriously lazing around like this after defeating just one enemy?"

"!"

Before either of them realized it, a girl with light blue hair was at Millena's back.

{Frost Nova}

Crrrrrrrrrrush!

A flower of ice blossomed from her palm, devouring everything around her.

——