Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner-Chapter 424: Episode

Without a moment’s hesitation, Simon and Lethe stepped into the darkness. Outside, the blizzard raged, but the inside of the cave was unusually warm.

“Seems a bit plain for a dungeon entrance,” Simon commented, eyeing the jagged stalactites hanging from the ceiling.

“I think we’re in the right place,” said Lethe, who was walking beside him. She pointed ahead. They hadn’t gone far, but the end of the cave was already in sight.

The path was blocked by two complex barrier magic circles, one black and one white. Long circuits snaked from each circle into a tiny crack in the cave wall.

“It’s just as Lord Israphel said,” Simon noted, stepping closer. “A jet-black magic circle and a divine magic circle. This is what he meant when he said we’d need both.”

“It certainly would have been tricky if I hadn’t come with you,” Lethe added, examining the design. “Trying to forcefully alter this setup would cause the whole cave to collapse.”

“There’s no need to alter it.” Simon placed his hand on the black magic circle. “Let’s start.”

“Alright.” Lethe placed her hand on the white one.

They closed their eyes in unison, focusing their minds and channeling their respective energies—jet-black and divinity—into the circles.

A low hum filled the air as the dormant magic circles flared to life, runes igniting and formulas activating. Like gears meshing, the components powered up one by one until the mechanisms were fully operational.

A deep rumbling shook the cave. They both turned. The wall beside them, not the one they were touching, began to slide open, revealing a large, shimmering portal.

“Nice.” Lethe dusted off her palms with a satisfied smile. “Everything’s going according to plan. This god-awful cold is finally over!”

Simon removed his hand from the circle and joined her.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay!”

Together, they plunged into the portal.

---

The portal was shallow. They passed through and landed on the ground with a soft thud.

’Hmm.’

Simon’s expression hardened. Bones. A massive hill composed of the skeletons of humans, animals, and monsters stretched before them.

Lethe landed beside him. The rattling sound beneath her feet made her look down, and she let out a terrified gasp, latching onto Simon’s arm. A traumatic memory made her deeply afraid of skeletons.

“Are you okay?” Simon asked gently.

Lethe, her face deathly pale, glanced at him and then hastily pulled away. “Hmph. I-I’m fine.” She cleared her throat, embarrassed.

“If it’s too much, you can wait outside. I can handle this alone.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being kind or just incredibly condescending,” she retorted, her eyes flashing with defiance. “This is a matter for the Holy Federation. As a Saintess, I will not back down.”

He knew she would say that. Simon said no more and started walking, with Lethe sticking close by his side. Beads of sweat dripped from her brow onto a skull below. She flinched with every crunch of bone under her boots but forced herself to look straight ahead, marching forward with grim determination. ’She really is amazing,’ he thought.

“Simon, over there,” Lethe said suddenly, pointing ahead.

Someone was standing there. A young woman in priest’s robes and glasses, a cheerful smile on her face.

’She looks so familiar.’

An ominous feeling crept over him. Simon rustled through his robe pocket and pulled out a photograph.

“I knew it,” he said, his face grim. “That’s the teacher who came to the village before us and went missing.” 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

“Looks like she was offered to the dungeon as a sacrifice,” Lethe replied, her expression turning to ice. “Is it your hobby to transform into the people you’ve eaten, monster?”

As if it understood her, the human-shaped mass of flesh began to swell and bulge, its size multiplying several times over.

With sickening sounds of tearing flesh, massive limbs burst through the skin. An elongated, reptilian head—much like a dragon’s—shot out. Its body was covered in brown scales, with blade-like spines running down its back. A cold mist seeped from its mouth, and its eyes glowed an eerie blue. As a dungeon monster, its threat level was unquantified, but it was common knowledge that all dragon-kin were immensely powerful.

Heavy footfalls crushed the bones beneath it into powder. Perhaps it thought they were just another sacrifice, for the wingless dragon charged without hesitation.

“Ready?” Simon asked.

“Just try to keep up,” Lethe shot back.

The monster opened its maw, revealing rows of sharp teeth. Lethe raised her right arm.

’Divine Barrier!’

A divine barrier materialized just in time, stopping the monster’s charge with a deafening boom. In that instant, Simon darted in, the hem of his black robe fluttering as six vials of potent poison shot into the air.

’Open Gate!’

He pushed it further with ’Overload’. Tentacle blades lunged from six directions, shattering the vials and coating themselves in venom before plunging into the gaps between the monster’s scales.

“’Gyaaaaaak!’” the monster roared in agony.

“Nice!” Lethe yelled.

She deactivated the ’Divine Barrier’ and soared into the air, divinity gathering in her hand and coalescing into a massive hammer.

’Divine Hammer!’

The mighty blow struck the creature’s head with a thunderous impact. It staggered backward, giving Simon and Lethe the opening to press their attack.

“’Grrrrrr!’”

The monster’s body swelled, and with a shift in weight, it rose onto two legs, transforming into a bipedal form. Just like its human disguise, changing its shape seemed to be its specialty.

“So what?” Lethe scoffed, kicking off the ground. “What good will changing your form do?”

Her body became a pure white projectile, streaking toward the beast. It raised an arm to block, but her kick snapped all five of its finger joints.

“’Gyaaaaaak!’”

The monster twisted its head and lunged, its jaws aimed at her thigh.

’Chomp!’

But Simon’s right foot slammed into its face first. The creature’s visage caved in, leaving a perfect boot print, as Simon somersaulted backward to land gracefully.

’I’m in top form today,’ he thought, activating a magic circle drawn on his palm. A vast wave of jet-black energy spread out, seeping into the surrounding bones.

’Follow me.’

At the command of his raised finger, the skeletons on the ground stirred and floated into the air.

’Bone Prison!’

For a necromancer, using the terrain was second nature. The bones swarmed the monster, sticking to its body like glue and linking together to form an inescapable cage. The trapped creature thrashed, trying to break free.

“Lethe!”

“I know!”

Seeing Simon’s ’Bone Prison’, Lethe prepared a corresponding spell. Twenty blades of pure divinity materialized in the air and shot down, slipping through the gaps in the bone cage to impale the creature’s flesh. The monster writhed, letting out an agonized shriek.

“Damn it, this thing is tougher than it looks,” Lethe grunted.

“We have to finish it for good!” Simon yelled.

’Kwaaaaaaaah!’

The monster unleashed a breath of frigid air from within its cage. The bones froze solid and shattered, tumbling to the ground. Simon and Lethe quickly fell back to prepare their next attack.

“’Grrrrrr!’”

Having broken free, the monster began its third transformation. It dropped from two legs back to four—no, eight more legs sprouted from its sides, and it charged toward Lethe on twelve limbs, its form now resembling a grotesque centipede.

“Hah.” Lethe exhaled a puff of white air and brought her hands together as if in prayer. She closed her eyes and began to chant.

’Strength. Bless. Haste. La Vitesse.’

No magic circle was needed. With each word, a different blessing enveloped her, wrapping her in a brilliant, multicolored radiance. Across from her, Simon aimed at the monster, several curse magic circles already hovering in the air around him.

’Exhaust. Sickness. Weakness. Paralyze.’

A volley of curses shot from his fingertips. As the monster grew weaker, Lethe grew stronger. When they finally clashed, the difference in their power was as vast as heaven and earth.

Lethe’s fist, wreathed in divinity, met the charging monster’s head and drove it straight into the ground. A one-sided assault followed. Lethe was a master of Holy Combat, the martial art of priests. Every punch and kick shattered joints and cracked scales with sickening force.

The disparity in their strength and speed was absolute.

A final, straight punch sent the monster flying into the cave wall with a resounding crash. Its senses seemingly jolted, it scrambled to its feet and tried to flee.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Lethe panted, extending her arm. The monster was getting away, and obstacles littered the path.

’In that case...’ Simon thought. ’Switch to divinity!’

He drew back his jet-black and filled his body with holy power. Stretching out his right arm, he manifested a spear of pure divinity. A ribbon of blessing magic flew from Lethe, wrapping around the spear and transforming it into a drill. An identical construct was forming beside Lethe. Their magic reached completion at the exact same moment.

’Lethe Original - La Escrim ×2!’

With a deafening crack that tore through the dungeon, the divine spears shot forward like streaks of white light.

Pierced by the twin drills, the monster’s body slammed into the wall with a roar that shook the entire dungeon. Green blood splattered from its abdomen, staining the ground.

“’Hah.’”

“’Whew.’”

Simon and Lethe lowered their arms simultaneously. They shared a brief, weary glance and then chuckled.

“Not bad,” Lethe admitted.

“Still a long way from the original,” Simon replied.

No more words were needed. For a moment, they leaned over, hands on their knees, and savored their hard-fought victory.

---

After the battle, Simon began rummaging through the monster’s corpse. Lethe, looking queasy, stood with her arms crossed, her back turned. Before long, Simon found a key-shaped ore among the remains. They moved on immediately, finally reaching the dungeon’s last destination.

“The dungeon isn’t as big as I thought,” Lethe remarked, sweeping her hair back.

“Yeah. And it seems that monster was the last one guarding the dungeon master.”

“It feels like someone already cleared most of it,” she said, waving a finger thoughtfully. “Of course, that someone was likely killed in the end, unable to defeat the dungeon master. We can surmise that much.”

“And that very dungeon master is right in front of us,” Simon said. He stood before a large door, holding the key. “I’m opening it.”

“I’m ready.” Lethe gathered her divinity, preparing for any eventuality.

Simon slowly inserted the key into the lock.

’Ah!’

Suddenly, the key slipped from his grasp and was sucked into the keyhole. With a heavy ’clunk’, the stone door began to grind open.

With a low groan of stone scraping against stone, an ominous white smoke billowed out from the opening. Finally, the dungeon master’s chamber was fully revealed.

As they peered inside, the expressions on both Simon’s and Lethe’s faces hardened.

“What is this?”