Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner-Chapter 372: Episode

Simon and Chatel, now in their dueling suits, walked to the center of the arena. Simon observed his opponent.

’His presence is truly overwhelming.’

Giant. No other word could better describe Chatel. He was well over nine feet tall and seemed to have grown since the entrance ceremony, now approaching thirteen feet. His light gray skin, thick eyebrows, and glaring eyes made him look like a massive statue brought to life. The shadow he cast was so vast it seemed to cover not just Simon, but the entire arena. He felt like he was facing a different species entirely, not a student from the same year.

"Both students, shake hands," the referee instructed.

Simon had to raise his arm above his head, while Chatel had to lower his. They clasped hands.

"Let’s have a good match, Chatel," Simon said.

There was no reply.

"It’s been a while since the BMAT."

An awkward silence ensued.

"So, why did you nominate me for the duel?"

Simon let out an awkward smile. ’Can this guy even speak?’

Following the referee’s next instruction, the two distanced themselves from each other.

"Go, Chatel!"

"Give us another thrilling match!"

"Simon~! Do your best!"

The crowd was split exactly down the middle. Chatel, with his heavy fighting style and his tendency to beat opponents to a pulp like in a classic colosseum bloodbath, was a favorite among the more aggressive students and even some upperclassmen. Simon’s supporters were mostly those who admired his dramatic growth and were captivated by his genius and star quality. The female students were particularly loud.

"Simon! Do your best!" Kamibarez and Dick cheered enthusiastically, holding their pickets.

Benya was clapping as well when someone hopped over from the back row.

"Yes! An empty seat?"

Dick turned to see a girl with pigtails, wearing a white uniform top like a cape over her shoulders. It was the famous Special Admission No. 7.

"Elisa Celine!"

"Hm?" She looked at Dick and frowned. "What are you? Why is a nobody like you acting so familiar?"

At the sharp jab, Dick leaned back with a shocked expression. Elisa covered her mouth and let out a snort of laughter.

"Just kidding, Dick Hayward. As if I wouldn’t know the son of the White Bull Merchant Guild."

"Oh." Dick’s self-esteem seemed to recover as he puffed out his chest.

Elisa’s gaze shifted.

"You’re Kamibarez of the Ursula family, and next to you is... Ah!" She stood up, placed a hand on her chest, and bowed her head. "Senior Benya Vanilla. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Elisa Celine."

"Hi," Benya waved cheerfully.

Kamibarez, sitting between them, looked at Elisa with surprise. She was much more sociable and polite than the rumors suggested.

’A politician, as expected,’ Dick thought, smirking knowingly.

"Yes, Mr. Merchant," Elisa shot back without missing a beat. She sat down properly and looked around. "Weren’t you guys a quartet? Where’s that annoying sky-blue-haired girl?"

"If you mean Meirin, she’s preparing for her match in Arena 3," Kamibarez answered.

"Ah, they overlap. What a shame. I wanted to see that wench get thrashed by Serne."

"Now, we will begin the Dueling Evaluation between student Simon Polentia of Class A and student Chatel Maer of Class I!"

A roar went up from the crowd. The big match was finally starting. As the two boys took their fighting stances, cheers erupted from all sides.

"Yeah, go Simon! Take down Chatel cleanly and let’s move up to second year!!" Dick yelled.

"Simon~ just die!" Elisa shrieked.

Dick turned his head toward her. Not ‘kill him’, but ‘just die’?

"I hope you slip, crack your head open, and get carried off to the infirmary! Go go, Chatel! Don’t go easy on him just ‘cause he’s Special Admission No. 1!"

"...You might as well just cast a curse on him," Dick muttered with a hollow laugh.

Kamibarez, unable to listen anymore, spoke up.

"Th-That’s right! You should cheer for the person you like! It’s wrong to criticize someone!"

"I don’t want to! I’ll do what I want! I hope Simon fails!" Elisa retorted. She wasn’t so much a Chatel fan as she was a Simon-hater, having suffered quite a bit from constantly getting entangled with and losing to him.

---

Meanwhile, in the arena, Simon was confronting an immense pressure. ’Focus.’ Just standing in front of Chatel made the hair on his body stand on end, and a cold sweat trickled down his back.

"Are both students ready?" the referee asked.

Simon and Chatel nodded. After confirming their status, the referee lowered his arm.

"Begin match!"

A deafening screech tore through the air, causing the spectators to cover their ears.

’Ugh.’ Simon frowned and looked ahead. A massive magic circle had unfolded in front of Chatel, its black pointers spinning rapidly to completion. Simon immediately recognized the spell.

’Domain Reversal.’

It was Chatel’s signature black magic. Simon had briefly faced it during the BMAT’s sea theme—a powerful Jet-Black Earth-type magic that turned the soil and rocks of an entire island into projectiles he could fire at will. It was a technique that had long surpassed the level of a first-year.

’I absolutely have to stop that.’ Confident in his martial arts, Simon bent his knees, preparing to charge.

But then he hesitated. ’And after I get close?’

A simulation played out in his head. His form split into five, each engaging Chatel in a different way, but the result was the same all five times: he was sent flying by Chatel’s massive fist.

’I don’t know where to even start.’

Chatel stood with his eyes glinting, his fists held before his chest in a perfect fighting stance. A proper hit from those huge fists would surely deplete his entire barrier gauge in a single blow. The fact that he was so openly casting such a massive spell was a show of absolute confidence. Rather than recklessly charging in, Simon judged it more rational to prepare his own follow-up magic and engage in a firefight.

’Stay calm.’

Simon drew a circle on his right side, preparing the Blood Golem magic circle as a build-up for his ‘Royal Guard’. With his other hand, he opened his subspace.

[Making my entrance!]

He drew out Herseva, the secret weapon and hidden card for today’s match.

"Oh! He’s holding a staff?"

"That’s unexpected. I heard he’s good at martial arts, so isn’t a staff a disadvantage?"

Letting the spectators’ comments fade into the background, Simon heightened his focus.

[Hey! Did you hear that? They said I’m a disadvantage!]

’Don’t pay it any mind, Herseva.’ Soon, everyone here would tremble at her power. But first...

’I have to stop the Domain Reversal from being completed!’

Simon summoned eight Skeleton Mages from his subspace.

"Dark Blaze!"

As Simon extended his staff like a commander, all the skeletons followed his lead, holding their staves forward as magic circles flared to life. In an instant, eight fireballs flew forward, spewing black smoke.

In response, Chatel simply stepped forward, shielding the ’Domain Reversal’ magic circle with his own body.

A massive explosion rocked the arena. The searing heat and the aftershock reached all the way to where Simon stood.

His brow furrowed. ’He’s blocking that with his bare body?’

Chatel’s blessed body couldn’t be wounded by blades like swords or arrows. Still, this was a Dueling Evaluation, and he was wearing a barrier suit. The rule that he would lose if his barrier gauge reached zero was Chatel’s only handicap.

But as the smoke from the explosion cleared, a seemingly unharmed giant was revealed.

"Woooah!"

"That’s Chatel for you!"

Simon quickly checked the screen, but the barrier gauge was still at 100%. Looking closely, he could see a jet-black membrane surrounding his body.

’That’s the technique from the midterm exam. Jet-Black Veil.’

It was a simple principle—enveloping the body in jet-black—but it consumed a massive amount of energy and required constant attention while moving, making its execution incredibly difficult. In any case, Chatel had covered his suit with the veil to replicate his immense defensive power. Most attacks would now be useless.

’Then, next!’

The mages returned, and this time, Skeleton Archers emerged from the subspace.

"Fire everything!"

He thought that against a full-body veil, arrows imbued with a jet-black enchantment would be more effective than simple firepower. However, Chatel predicted their trajectories and momentarily thickened parts of his veil to block them. He had already reached a considerable level of mastery in its operation.

And now, Chatel clapped his hands together.

Another high-pitched screech filled the air as the magic circle was completed. Chatel placed it on the ground and stomped on it hard.

’Domain Reversal.’

A wave of inky energy washed over the arena, dyeing it black. Simon looked around; it felt like he had entered the world of an ink wash painting.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over him. He looked up to see a neatly cut, rectangular piece of the arena floor falling from the sky.

The ground crumbled as he hurriedly retreated to dodge it. Shifting his gaze, he saw that the floor next to Chatel was now empty.

"The ’Domain Reversal’ is complete!"

"Kill him!" the excited Chatel fans shouted.

As Chatel raised both arms, the floor tiles of the ink-black arena rose into the air and then poured down.

’Kugh!’ Simon began to run like mad, jet-black erupting from his legs.

It wasn’t simply a matter of throwing debris. The projectiles were imbued with Chatel’s jet-black, altering their power, durability, and trajectory. It was impossible to deflect or destroy them mid-air.

Debris crashed down all around him.

Simon’s evasive maneuvers were marvelous, his solid fundamentals allowing him to dodge attacks from any direction, but Chatel’s ’Domain Reversal’ continued to expand, the number and size of the projectiles increasing.

[Kid! Behind you!]

’Got it!’ Simon registered the chunk of debris flying from behind and tried to retreat, but suddenly, the ground beneath his feet gave way, and he lost his balance. Due to the ’Domain Reversal’, even taking a safe step was no longer possible.

’Damn it!’ This was the Realm of the Jet-Black Earth. The entire ground was his enemy.

A massive chunk of rock, over thirty feet wide, came flying toward Simon as he slumped to the ground. The spectators shot to their feet, eager to witness the moment the match would be decided.

’Let’s go, Herseva.’

[Okay!]

With a soft swish, Simon readjusted his grip on the staff and thrust it toward the incoming, colossal rock wall.

’‘Golden Transformation!’’

[Golden Transformation!]

’CLANG!’

Something incredible happened. The moment the staff touched it, the entire rock wall turned to gold before completely shattering and scattering like dust. Glistening gold particles blew past Simon, rustling his hair.

"Whoa!"

"What was that just now?!"

Not only the crowd, but Chatel, too, showed a look of shock for the first time. The greatest strengths of his ’Domain Reversal’ were its range and intensity. And yet, the instant it touched the staff, it turned to gold and broke apart.

The staff twirled freely in Simon’s right hand before coming to a sharp stop in front of his chest.

"I’m truly sorry," Simon said, his eyes gleaming. "But it seems you and I are a bad match-up, Chatel."

By then, bandages of gold and black had formed over his suit, wrapping around both of his arms like clothing. Simon released his grip, and the staff plunged into the ground. The black of the arena, which had been consumed by the ’Domain Reversal’, began to recede, replaced by a rich, deep gold.

’Come forth. Mummies.’