Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner-Chapter 358: Episode

"I’ve heard the rumors, Student Simon Polentia."

On the way to the artifact auction house, Simon found himself in an unexpected conversation with a noble from the Ivory Tower.

"You truly are a magnet for attention. I hear you caused quite a stir here in Pentamonium as well; the rumors are already widespread. Haha!"

Simon offered a humble business smile. "You’re too kind."

"And..." The noble’s eyes shifted to the girl with ivory-colored hair clinging tightly to Simon’s arm. A satisfied smile spread across his lips. "You seem to be on very good terms with our heir."

"Ohoho!" Serne laughed elegantly, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "We’re more than just close. More than friends, less than married, perhaps?"

As Serne began to chatter like a songbird, Simon maintained his smile but offered no comment.

The noble turned back to Simon. "If you wouldn’t mind, I would like to formally invite you to the next academic conference hosted by our Ivory Tower."

"Ah, if you would, I would be honored."

"While Pentamonium possesses a great deal of knowledge, the fact that they trade it for money makes them more like merchants than scholars. It’s a regrettable state of affairs," he said, subtly dissing the rival faction while promoting his own.

After parting ways with the Ivory Tower contingent, Simon and his friends stopped by a nearby cafe for a short break.

"Simon. Say ahh..." Serne offered, holding out her ice cream.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed, Simon leaned back slightly. "The Ivory Tower people are gone now, you know." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Aww, what does it matter?" she chirped, her smile bright. But the determined glint in her eyes suggested she wouldn’t back down.

Glancing around at the other patrons, Simon sighed and reluctantly took a bite.

Instantly, Serne opened her mouth—’chomp’—and bit off the exact spot where his lips had been.

"Wai—!"

"?" She blinked her eyes with wide-eyed innocence and began to lick every corner of the ice cream, tilting her head with a foxy grin. She knew exactly what she was doing.

Overcome with embarrassment, Simon turned his head away, which only made Serne giggle.

"You’re living the good life," Kajan commented dryly from his seat between them. "More importantly, an external cafe like this is unsuitable for security. The artifact auction is starting soon. Eat quickly."

"Oh, honestly!" Serne huffed. She was still smiling, but a vein throbbed on her forehead. "You’re so dense! You just trailed behind me while I was talking to the elders. Couldn’t you help me out a little?"

"Simon’s security is more important," Kajan stated flatly. "And regardless of who you’re talking to, there’s always a chance Magnus could be disguised among them."

"You’re such a tiring person," Serne grumbled, taking another bite of her ice cream.

Meanwhile, Simon’s head was whipping back and forth, his expression tense.

"What’s wrong, Simon?" Serne asked.

"Doesn’t it seem a bit... chaotic?"

"Of course it’s chaotic. The cafe is packed."

"No, not like that." Simon stared out the window, then shot up from his seat and bolted out the door.

Once he was free of the cafe’s noise, the feeling became a certainty.

"AAAAAAAAAH!"

Raw, terrified screams echoed from all directions.

Kajan and Serne followed him out, the horrifying sounds reaching their ears as well.

"Run! Run away!"

"They said it was safe inside the city!"

From the sheet-white faces of the fleeing people, it was clear something had gone terribly wrong. As the screams grew closer, the source of the panic became visible.

’Zombies...!’

They were zombies, but they were scrambling on all fours with unnatural speed.

"Huh? Did some foolish necromancer lose control of their summons?" Serne wondered aloud.

"There are too many for that," Kajan observed grimly.

The one or two zombies they had seen in the distance had multiplied into an uncountable horde. He nodded, his expression serious.

"Those are the zombies that lived outside the barrier."

Simon’s head whipped around. "Wait a minute, Kajan! Does that mean...!"

"Yes," Kajan said, his voice chillingly calm. "It seems there’s a problem with the barrier surrounding Pentamonium."

’WEEEE! WEEEE!’

Sirens blared to life across the city, their shrill warning cutting through the chaos.

[Emergency! This is an emergency! Undead monsters are roaming within the city. All visitors, please evacuate to the nearest glass tower immediately!]

Swarms of zombies, an evacuation broadcast confirming this was no mere drill, and flashing red emergency lights—the vibrant city plunged into a pit of chaos in an instant.

"Simon! Look over there!" Serne shouted, pointing behind them.

Protective barriers were beginning to form around the seven towering glass structures that formed the core of Pentamonium. It was an automated defense system, designed to activate and protect the invaluable data stored within.

"If we don’t hurry, we won’t make it inside!"

Simon closed his eyes, a thousand thoughts and emotions swirling in his mind. When he opened them again, his gaze was fixed on the zombies and the terror-stricken civilians.

"Let’s start by guiding the civilians to safety. We can buy them some time."

Simon opened his subspace. Responding to his will, a squad of Skeleton Archers leaped out.

"Shoot every zombie in sight!"

At his command, the archers nocked and fired with lightning speed. Arrows flew true, burying themselves in the heads of the zombies chasing the crowd. Next, Simon swung his arms in a wide, gathering motion, and skeletal bones shot out, latching onto the fleeing people. He lifted them into the air, depositing them in safer locations.

"You two, help me!"

"Well, I suppose I have no choice," Serne sighed dramatically. She gathered a lock of her ivory hair, shook it a few times, and let it flutter down as if posing for a photoshoot. As her hair shimmered, countless feathers rained down to the ground.

"Come forth."

The feathers transformed into magic circles, and from within emerged her ‘Feather Soldiers’—the very ones from her thesis. The soldiers took to the sky to engage the zombies, while Serne herself coated other feathers in jet-black energy and threw them like shuriken.

Wherever the feathers sliced through the air, zombies crumbled, spraying blood.

"Large group, from the right," Kajan announced, dropping into a combat stance as a massive horde surged toward them.

"Wait, Kajan." Simon held out a hand, stopping his charge.

From high above, fireballs of all sizes rained down upon them. A thunderous bombardment of black flames descended, and the zombie horde on their flank vanished without a trace.

"We’re here to help, Kizen!"

Students from Alrand, Sierra, and Moiran had delayed their own evacuations to join the front lines. With deft flicks of their wrists, unfamiliar summons burst forth from the ground, including plant-like monsters and even undead creatures resembling airborne stingrays.

Then, with a low hum, Pentamonium’s counterattack began. Guiding magic circles flared to life across the ground, and massive Patchwork Golems began to plummet from the sky. The golems, streaking down like meteors, crushed the surrounding zombies as they slammed into the battlefield.

"They’re fast," Kajan remarked.

"Pentamonium’s defense system is activating."

While raising a barrier around the seven glass towers, they were also remotely casting shields over civilian-heavy areas like restaurants and outdoor amphitheaters. The moment a zombie touched a barrier, it disintegrated into a pile of black ash with a sickening crackle.

’This flank is more or less under control.’

Simon scanned the area, spotted the only person he knew among the Alrand students, and called out, "Benz!"

An expression of irrepressible joy spread across Benz’s face.

’He still remembers my name!’

"I’m leaving this flank to you. Hold them off as best you can, then retreat to the barrier with the civilians."

"Okay! Leave it to us!"

Golems continued to fall from the sky as barriers solidified all around. The city’s main shield had been breached—an unprecedented event in Pentamonium’s history—but they were responding with impressive efficiency. Above all, the visiting necromancers had stepped forward to join the fight. Everyone who could fight poured into the streets, while the civilians fled to the safety of the glass towers.

Simon, Serne, and Kajan moved across the battlefield, continuing to rescue anyone they could find.

’When it comes to a zombie war, there’s only one real option.’

Normally, he wouldn’t even consider summoning his legion’s Ancient Undead, but in a chaotic battle swarming with so many lesser undead, it was the perfect cover.

"Help me, Prince."

Simon spoke to the ring on his left hand, then placed that hand on the body of a fallen zombie. Instantly, black lightning descended from the sky, striking the corpse.

[As I thought—]

What slowly rose to its feet was a small boy wearing a faded crown. As soon as he opened his eyes, he took in the sea of black zombies and let out a hollow laugh.

[It seems I’m only ever summoned into a mess like this.]

"Prince, I need your power!"

[Hehe!]

Prince gripped the crown on his head.

[So, it’s time for this hidden card to make his grand entrance!]

He activated the power of the Crown. Prince’s crown held the ability to control zombies. The eyes of several zombies in the charging horde flickered and changed to match Prince’s.

And the zombies now under Prince’s control...

’Corpse Explosion!’

As their Lord Commander, Simon could detonate them at will. A chain reaction of massive explosions tore through the swarming horde. A single Corpse Explosion took out nearly twenty zombies at once.

"Keep it up!"

[Got it!]

Thanks to the combined efforts of Simon and Prince, an entire flank of swarming zombies vanished without a trace.

"Oh, impressive, very impressive," Serne purred, gliding over after directing her feather soldiers. "I’ve never seen such a cute little undead before."

[Wh-What did you say?] Prince flared up, glaring at her. [I am Prince, the ruler of Deathland and the pinnacle of all zombies! Don’t you dare call me cute!]

"Oh my. How adorable." Serne completely ignored him and gently patted his head.

Prince’s face flushed crimson with fury. [Stop treating me like a child!]

"Would you like some candy, little one?"

[I don’t want it!]

"You two, stop playing around and help!"

The duo of Prince and Simon, with their immense firepower, had instantly stabilized the front. However, with zombies constantly pouring in through the breach in the outer barrier, it felt like trying to fill a bottomless pit with water.

"The civilian evacuation is almost complete," Kajan reported after listening to his communication crystal. "We should head back to the glass tower. It’s too dangerous out here."

"Right!"

The three of them made for the nearest glass tower, the one dedicated to Summoning.

"Damn it."

The barrier had already completely enveloped the tower, sealing it off.

"I wonder if they should have closed it so quickly," Serne mused. "There might still be people outside."

"Let’s try another one," Kajan said grimly.

They pushed through the remaining zombies and headed for the next tower, but it, too, was completely sealed by its barrier.

"Looks like the higher-ups at Pentamonium are getting desperate," Kajan said, his voice laced with displeasure. "To them, nothing is worse than losing their research. They must have decided that blocking all access was the priority, even if it meant casualties."

"Ah! Look over there!" Serne exclaimed, pointing to the interior of the tower, visible through the translucent barrier.

It was a scene of utter chaos. The area was spattered with blood as if a disaster had swept through, and zombies were shambling about inside.

"What a mess. Do you think they got in before the barrier was fully raised?"

Suddenly, the color drained from Simon’s face.

"What’s wrong, Simon?"

"This building."

Simon’s expression grew grim.

"This is the building Sasha is in."