Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner-Chapter 306: Episode

When Simon put on the glasses and looked around, the stream glowed with a navy blue light. The field was a brilliant blue, and the distant castle walls were a deep purple. The glasses allowed him to see the locations of cards, color-coded.

’This is a must-have for collecting seven different colored cards.’

It was an excellent start. He immediately set off to find his next card.

---

[1 Black Team member has entered.]

[Black Team (1/3), White Team (2/3).]

Simon opened his eyes. He had found an orange card on the ground and entered a new game.

’...Where am I now?’

He was standing on top of a giant cylindrical pillar. Below was a sheer drop into a sea of clouds, suggesting a considerable altitude. More pillars dotted the space around him, arranged in a three-by-four grid. The distance between them was short enough to cross with Jet-Black.

’What am I supposed to do here... Aha.’ It had said Black Team and White Team. In the center of his pillar, a black flag was planted. In the far distance, a white flag fluttered in the wind. ’It’s a 3v3 capture the flag match.’

Simon tried lifting the flag. It was surprisingly heavy, requiring both hands.

[1 Black Team member has entered.]

[Black Team: (2/3). White Team (2/3).]

’Another teammate.’ Simon waited in anticipation. He’d had fun with Jamie in the last game and hoped for another skilled, good-natured partner.

’Flash!’

A magic circle unfolded beside him, and a male student appeared. He had black hair with streaks of yellow and carried a long staff of unknown purpose on his shoulder. It was a familiar, and unwelcome, face. The newcomer looked just as startled to see Simon.

"Y-You!"

"...Hah." Simon let out a small sigh. It was Malcolm Randolph, Special Admission No. 10, a member of the Randolph gang from Class M. A necromancer who used the ‘Doppelgänger’ black magic to create countless clones of himself. Simon had fought and overwhelmingly defeated him in the first-semester duel evaluation.

Malcolm’s face twisted into a scowl. "Damn it, of all people to be on a team with...!"

[1 Black Team member has entered.]

[Black Team: (3/3). White Team (2/3).]

Just then, their final team member arrived. Simon and Malcolm fell silent, watching the transport magic circle. A male student with white hair and a white hat appeared. He was shirtless, revealing tanned skin above his pants. It was someone he had fought recently.

’Raheim Northfold.’ Special Admission No. 8, the current Lord of the Snowy Plains. And the very man who had been brutally rejected by Meirin.

"Y-You!" Raheim’s mouth fell open as he spotted Simon, and he pointed an accusatory finger. "Jumon Bolendis!!"

"...It’s Simon Polentia," Simon corrected him, his expression souring. This was the worst possible lineup.

"Excellent! Jemon Bolentona! This time, we’ll have a proper fight with Meirin on the line—!"

"Seriously, what kind of team is this?" an annoyed voice cut in. Malcolm shook his head, pressing a hand to his forehead. "I don’t want to carry these idiots."

Raheim’s head snapped around. "What did you say?"

Malcolm’s face flushed with anger. "Y-You don’t know me? I’m Malcolm Randolph, Special Admission No. 10!"

"Who’s that?" Raheim dismissed him.

Simon decided to ignore them. The White Team’s roster had just filled, and a new screen appeared, revealing the names of all participants.

Black Team

Simon Polentia. Malcolm Randolph. Raheim Northfold.

White Team

Jule Vincere. Elisa Celine. Enki Daft.

Personalities aside, the names alone were impressive. It was a war of the special admissions. Jule Vincere was the 5th-ranked special admission student, known to be incredibly strong.

"Interesting." Malcolm crossed his arms. "So No. 1, No. 8, and No. 10 are on one team. And No. 5 and No. 7 are on another."

Hearing this, Raheim scoffed. "What’s this nobody rambling about? Do they even count Special Admission No. 10 as a special admission?"

"You’ve been getting on my damn nerves from the start. You really wanna die?"

The two pressed their foreheads together and growled. Simon, who had stepped away to avoid getting involved, watched them with exasperation. In terms of name value, their team had the upper hand, but there was no chance of teamwork.

’Should I just take them all down and do it myself?’

As Simon entertained the thought, the game rules appeared.

[The team that gets their hands on the opposing team’s flag wins. Anything is permitted to capture the flag.]

[The game will begin in 10 minutes.]

The rules were simple enough.

"In matches like this," Malcolm began, "it’s standard for one person to defend and two to attack. I’ll go with Polentia. You, Lord of the Snowy Plains, you defend."

Raheim let out a scornful laugh. "Cut the crap. You two defend. I’ll go alone."

They started bickering again, grabbing each other by the collar and spewing insults. Meanwhile, the White Team had already assigned roles and planned their strategy. Elisa could be seen summoning three ghost ships into the air.

"This is getting annoying—" Simon finally spoke up. "Both of you, shut up."

"...!" Malcolm and Raheim flinched, turning to look at him. Their expressions hardened.

"D-Don’t order me around!"

"Jemon Bolentona! That remark showed no respect for the Lord of the Snowy Plains—!"

If they were the type to listen to reason, he would have spoken gently, but they weren’t worth the consideration. Simon opened his subspace.

"Just..." Six subspaces hissed open to Malcolm’s right, the Overlord’s tentacles shooting out. "...come at me right now."

To Raheim’s left, another subspace opened, and Deimos’s head emerged, its maw gaping wide. Another thing these two had in common was that they had both been thoroughly thrashed by Simon during the debut battles of the Overlord and Deimos.

’Gulp.’

The area fell silent. As if recalling past traumas, Malcolm and Raheim’s eyes darted around nervously.

"W-Wait a minute! Such an extreme decision isn’t good," Malcolm said, his tone softening into a forced smile.

"Th-That’s right!" Raheim added, breaking out in a cold sweat. "We are rivals competing for Meirin! A temporary alliance would be best here!"

As is often the case among boys who have fought, a subtle hierarchy had been established. Simon recalled his summons.

"Just follow my plan."

---

Meanwhile, on the White Team, Elisa looked down at her enemies from her ghost ship. ’They might have bigger names, but this is doable.’ It was obvious they would be fighting amongst themselves. She looked at her reliable allies with satisfaction. Elisa and Jule would attack, while Enki would defend. And though Enki wasn’t a special admission, he was the ace of Class E. She didn’t think they were at a disadvantage.

"Jule, keep going," she said into a communication crystal. Her ghost ship had powerful firepower, but it was slow. She wanted to use Jule to test the enemy’s reaction first.

Just as Jule was leaping from pillar to pillar, he noticed something. ’...Snow?’

The clouds began to change, and snow started to fall. Soon, a blinding blizzard raged, obscuring half of the enemy’s field.

"Jule, don’t panic," Elisa said into the crystal. "It must be Raheim’s golden snow magic. Wait where you are." The intent to obscure their vision was obvious. She wouldn’t fall for it easily.

’Huh?’ Just then, she saw one side of the snow fog turn black. Someone emerged from the fog at the edge of the rightmost pillar. ’It’s Simon Polentia!’

A bow made of Jet-Black was in his hands.

’Wait, that technique!’ Elisa had, of course, analyzed the primary black magic of Kizen’s Special Admission No. 1: a three-stage technique that raised a Blood Golem, used its power to create a royal guard, and finally fired that power as an arrow.

’But he’s skipping all the intermediate steps and going straight for the bow?’

She watched as Simon raised the bow, drawing up Jet-Black. He was too far away for Jule to stop him.

‘Simon Remake: Blood Arrow.’

The dark arrow glinted, then shot forward, trailing a long, comet-like tail. Elisa, who had been preparing to jump off her ship, thinking the attack was aimed at her, felt her eyes widen. The Blood Arrow wasn’t flying toward her, but toward the flag in her team’s base.

’D-Does it have that kind of range?’

’Kabooooooooom!’

Surprisingly, it did. Simon’s arrow struck near the White Team’s flag, causing a massive explosion. Elisa clutched her flying hair and looked down from her ship. ’But what’s he going to do now?’ Did he misunderstand the rules? The winner was the one who held the flag, not the one who destroyed it.

The smoke cleared, revealing a huge crater. The flag had been blown away and was now lying on the ground. It was heavy, so it hadn’t flown far.

’Thunk!’

A staff that had been embedded in the crater rose up on its own. Elisa’s eyes widened in realization. ’Damn it! He sent Malcolm’s weapon with that arrow!’

A magic circle unfolded beneath the staff, and a doppelgänger that looked exactly like Malcolm popped out.

"Enki! Stop him!" Enki, on defense, hurriedly fired a black magic spell, but the distance was too great. The doppelgänger easily dodged the attack and grabbed the flag.

’But it’s useless!’ Elisa smiled. ’The game only ends when the real person grabs it, not a clone! To pull such a stupid stunt without even knowing the rules...!’

However.

’Whoosh!’

The doppelgänger promptly threw the flag off the cliff.

’What!’ It was a series of incomprehensible actions. She had never imagined they would throw away the flag they had worked so hard to get. Elisa moved her ghost ship to intercept the falling flag. But before she could...

"Hahahaha!" The Black Team also had a necromancer who could fly. Raheim was charging forward, propelled by bubbles of magic on his arms and legs.

Elisa’s face turned pale. ’Aargh! I fell for it hook, line, and sinker!’

While Raheim’s snowstorm, Simon’s arrow, and Malcolm’s doppelgänger had systematically distracted them, Raheim had already descended below the cliff.

"The flag!" Elisa fired a cannonball from her ghost ship, but Raheim effortlessly dodged it in mid-air and caught the falling flag.

"I have claimed it!" he roared, waving the flag wildly in excitement.

’BEEEEEEEEEEEP!’

[The game has ended.]

[Winner: Black Team!]

[A card will be provided to all members of the Black Team.]

"Argh! How infuriating!!" To think it was decided so easily! Elisa slammed her fists on the ghost ship’s railing in frustration. ’There’s no way those idiots came up with a strategy like that.’

Her gaze turned to Simon, who was holding the jet-black bow.

"...Simon Polentia."

He dissipated the bow into thin air and looked up at her. With a faint, knowing smile, his body teleported away.