Necromancer Academy’s Genius Summoner - Chapter 121
Chapter 120
“Stop getting so cocky!”
Wearing the Black Knight armor, Malcolm rushed in in a cloud of black smoke. He swung his armored fist savagely.
Whoooosh!
Simon turned his shoulder, dodging with ease, before sliding to the side and swinging his left fist.
Thud!
Malcolm’s head tilted back. However, as he shook off the impact, he flung his other arm. Simon also gave it his all, punching with his right fist.
Pooow!
Wham!
The two’s fists crossed in the air and struck each other’s faces.
The Black Knight’s helmet and skull helmet twisted and creaked, and both their heads twisted back from the impact.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
The atmosphere in the audience was at its peak thanks to the sudden fist fight.
Simon stepped back and wiped his mouth, but Malcolm was fine. Only Simon’s barrier gauge had decreased, even if only slightly.
Knowing this, Malcolm sneered.
‘He won’t be my match with pure hand-to-hand combat.’
Simon’s current Bone Armor was in its infancy. It could increase the defense of parts covered with bones and use the core of the undead to create a strength-enhancing effect like an exoskeleton suit—in fact, at Blue Harbor, this function was used to its fullest to arm the residents and help them drive out the pirates.
But Simon, who operated his own core, couldn’t expect the strength increase to be as helpful.
Wearing a normal skeleton, not Pier, would only make Simon’s movement stiff. It would’ve been better if he had strengthened himself through jet-black operation.
As such, Simon had prepared a slightly different way to operate his Bone Armor.
“Kuhaaaaah!”
He ducked down to avoid Malcolm’s fist and slid up close to Malcolm’s front.
Simon wrapped his arm around the front of Malcolm’s shoulder before moving behind Malcolm’s back. Then, when he did the same to the other arm and pulled, Malcolm lost his balance.
“Wh-What? You bastard! Let go of me!”
No matter how strong your armor is, if you get caught in a grapple, it’s useless.
Simon cast dark magic in that position.
‘Bone Armor!’
The armor covering Simon’s body partially fell off and stuck to Malcolm’s Black Knight armor like a tick.
“You bastard! What’s the meaning of this!”
Simon beamed.
“I don’t think you can beat me with just one suit, so I’m letting you wear mine, too.”
“You damned bastaaaaaaaaaard!”
Malcolm reinforced his body. Simon, concentrating on the Bone Armor, momentarily lost his hold on Malcolm’s right arm and had to quickly step back to avoid Malcolm’s elbow.
“I’ll kill you!”
Freed from Simon, Malcolm jumped in wildly and thrust his fist. In response, Simon bent back to the point where his head touched the ground just to dodge.
‘How flexible!’
The crowd erupted in cheers.
After dodging the attack, Simon grabbed Malcolm’s arm and kicked the back of his knee so it would buckle and fall from the shock.
Click clack!
Click!
At the same time, the Bone Armor attached to Simon’s arm began to transfer to Malcolm’s arm.
‘What the hell is the meaning of this?! This bastard!’
Malcolm, who betrayed sober judgment for anger, swung his fists repeatedly.
However, Simon could see through Malcolm’s attacks that followed only the predictable fundamentals of Combat Dark Magic.
Using that, Simon continued to stick close to Malcolm, attaching more pieces of Bone Armor to his body.
“Simon, what are you doing?”
Meilyn, in the audience, was also getting heated.
“Your opponent is also a special admission! You don’t know what’ll happen if you don’t take him seriously!”
Camibarez, sitting next to Meilyn, looked to her other side with concern.
“Rick! Have you heard anything from Simon?”
“I haven’t really, but I can somewhat guess what Simon will do.”
“What?”
“You know what Simon is particularly good at in Summoning?”
Rick grinned and raised two fingers.
“Restoration and control.”
Simon stepped back while panting.
Before anyone realized what was going on, Malcolm’s Dark Knight armor had many bones visibly attached to it from the Bone Armor. They were mostly concentrated on the limbs where they’d be constantly in contact with Malcolm’s fists and legs.
“Hey, you think you can win by pulling off this weird prank?”
Malcolm grabbed one of the bones attached to his waist.
Bzzt!
He took the bone off and threw it to the floor.
The moment Malcolm grabbed the next bone…
Tap!
Simon kicked off the floor and rushed in. At the sudden attack, Malcolm tensed up and tried to raise his fist to block. But…
‘Stop!’
Simon’s absolute order activated.
Malcolm’s arm paused briefly as a strong force came from the skeleton bones attached to it.
“What, my arm is—?!!”
Pooooooow!
Simon’s straight punch struck Malcolm clean in the face.
Malcolm staggered back and tried to swing his other arm, but…
‘Stop!’
He was interrupted by the bones again.
Simon twisted his waist and hit Malcolm in the head with a heavy roundhouse kick. The huge force momentarily reverted the jet-black helmet into its liquid form.
“Kuhugh!”
Despite going through both armor and a barrier, the impact still shook him.
Malcolm shuddered, feeling as if his brain was rattling around in his skull. This time, even the barrier gauge went down.
“I can just… remove th—!”
Of course, Simon wouldn’t let him do it. After punching Malcolm in the head three times in quick succession, Simon dodged Malcolm’s counterattack and pulled off a deadly spin kick.
Thud!
As Malcolm fell to the floor in shock, Simon immediately launched forward, grabbing Malcolm’s helmet and kneeing it repeatedly.
Thuuud! Thud! Thud!
Malcolm’s helmet kept blurring, turning itself to jet-black and then reverting into a helmet repeatedly.
The barrier gauge went down to less than half in an instant.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Malcolm got up and rushed in with a roar, grabbing Simon by the waist and tackling him to the ground. Simon collapsed to the floor, and Malcolm, who succeeded in getting on top, raised his fist with a grin.
‘Back.’
Simon’s absolute order was followed immediately.
All of the Bone armor attached to Malcolm pulled Malcolm’s upper body back.
Malcolm couldn’t throw a punch and instead got hit by Simon’s punches, and soon he fell off of Simon.
Swish.
Simon stood up and spun around, kicking Malcolm in the stomach. His body flew back several meters.
“Cough! Kugh! Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Malcolm’s face was a mixture of pain, embarrassment, and fury. After pushing himself off the ground, he clenched his teeth and opened the subspace.
‘I don’t care about the aftermath anymore!’
* * *
* * *
What came out of the subspace was that liquid bomb again. Five bottles this time.
Malcolm ignited a potion he was carrying as he charged at Simon with a roar.
‘There’s no way you could dodge from this distance!’
Malcolm was wearing the armor of the Black Knights, and Simon was wearing nothing.
If it exploded here, both would be hit, but in the end, the one who’d survive would be Malcolm with his Black Knight armor.
‘It was a mistake to attach the Bone Armor to me, Simon!’
However…
Simon was letting out a wry laugh.
“How can you not ever go beyond my expectations?”
There was no opponent easier than one consumed by anger.
Simon raised his index finger.
Whiiiiiiiiiish!
Fwwiiip!
Whiiiiiiish!
Blades surged up from the subspace on the floor, lifting Malcolm up from the floor and up all the way to the ceiling.
“Kugh!”
Disorientated by the sudden change of view, he soared up dozens of meters, and the explosive potions in his arms emitted a fierce flash.
“Simooooooooooooooooooon!”
Malcolm’s furious face was covered by the explosion.
Kabobobobobobooom!
Gray smoke and a thunderous roar followed.
The spectators quickly turned away while covering their faces. The explosion blew open the arena’s roof, exposing the sky and letting the winds blow through.
And after a while, Malcolm, completely stripped of his Dark Knight armor, fell from the explosion. Simon raised his right arm.
Fwwiiip!
The four blades snatched Malcolm from his fall and pinned him to the wall. Only after completely finishing his barrier gauge did Simon finally let out a sigh of relief.
[Malcolm Randolph: 0%]
[Simon Polentia: 79%]
The referee raised his arm.
“The winner is… Simon Polentia from Class A!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Cheers erupted like explosions from all sides.
“How overwhelming. The special admission no.1 this year is also something!”
“Is Kizen some kind of a fountain that never dries up? It’s amazing how monsters like that pop up year after year.”
“And he’s that good at 17? He’s giving me a reality check.”
Nobles talked frantically and laughed as they reviewed the game, and scouts frantically moved their quills or turned on their communication crystal balls and spoke with their headquarters.
“I think you need to change your recruiting priorities right now.”
“Are you guys not gonna do your job right? You said he’s a student who didn’t do prior studies! Yet he used fucking Bone Armor, you crazy bastards!”
An all-time prospect, no, a new star has appeared.
“Hah, Malcolm, that bastard… Tsk!”
“The No.1 is giving us a huge loss.”
“Betting is also a thing of luck. Kyahahaha!”
The second-year gave a bittersweet smile and accepted the betting results, and…
“When the money comes in, I’ll treat you to something, Simon!”
“Simon! You were so cool!”
The members of Group 7 waved in the direction of Simon and shouted. Simon also smiled and waved back.
“We’ll prepare for the next match.”
The servants began clearing the arena floor, and Simon returned to the waiting room. He received a brief check from the medical team waiting nearby and returned the barrier equipment.
Then, as he left the waiting room and took a few steps down the hallway…
“Ah.”
Simon ran into someone wearing a Kizen uniform. He bowed his head.
“Hello, Senior.”
It was Noble’s club president and the third prince of the Dresden Kingdom, Andre. He was trembling, the redness in his face reaching all the way to his ears.
“…Hey, do you realize what you’ve just done?”
“Yes, I just finished my Duel Evaluation.”
Slam!
Andre punched the wall with force. The pristine wall cracked, and the windows around it got chipped.
“How dare you beat up the Black Knight, the symbol of the Dresden royal family, in such a vulgar way!”
“…”
“I don’t care if you’re stronger than Malcolm or whatever! But shouldn’t you read the room when Malcolm put on the armor of the Black Knight?! I…! No, don’t you understand that the Dresden royal family is supporting Malcolm? You didn’t forfeit or lose but won? What a crazy bastard! Is it that hard to suck up your pride just once? Do you not know how to get on in the world? Are you a fucking Noble or what!”
Andre’s eyes went bloodshot as he shouted.
“You contempt the Royal family!”
“…Uh, umm. I’m sorry?”
Simon scratched his head for a moment and shrugged.
“I cannot understand you with any kind of common sense.”
“What?”
“Because that’s the most illogical statement I’ve ever heard in my life.”
Simon lightly pulled at his uniform and quietly said,
“This place is Kizen. You should act like it.”
Andre looked dumbfounded.
‘What is this bastard talking about? Is he really speaking to me?’
“Giving Malcolm the Dark Knight armor is up to you, but defeating it is my duty as a Kizen student who does their best in the duel. Wouldn’t it be crossing the line to say something about contemplating the royal family or whatever it was?”
“You lowly—!!”
Andre raised his fist, but Simon didn’t even flinch.
Grab!
“Stop it.”
A hand appeared from behind and grabbed Andre’s wrist. It was a small and slender hand, but Andre’s eyes were shaking as if under tremendous pressure.
“How much more will you disgrace us, Brother?”
It was Princess Mollie of the Dresden Kingdom.
Andre stepped back in fright, then forced a laugh.
“M-Mollie! When did you come to Kizen? Hahaha! You should tell your brother if you arri—!”
“Just as I suspected.”
She put her hands on her waist and glared at Andre.
“Stealing the armor of the Black Knight—the symbol of the Royal Knights—to pass it on to the son of a criminal group, and acting as if it was your own power…? It seems you’re the one who contemped the Royal Family, Brother.”
Simon blinked at the unexpected sight. The third prince couldn’t even say a word to the youngest princess.
“Do you even understand what kind of punishment the Black Knight received for losing his armor because of you? Besides, exposing this kind of shameful conduct in front of the elders of other countries… I’ll report this incident to Father!”
Andre freaked out and grabbed Mollie by the hem of her dress.
“Mollie! Have you forgotten who I am? I’m Andre! Your brother, Andre!! You clearly know what’ll happen to me if you report this to Father! Please…!”
“Then you shouldn’t have behaved like this.”
As she signaled behind her, someone quietly walked up to her.
“Ah…!”
Andre’s face trembled as if he had a tic when he saw that person.
“You’re living quite a nice life, Brother.”
The one who showed up was none other than the female student wearing the maid uniform that Andre treated like a housekeeper.
“How dare you do this kind of thing to a Kizen student. I heard you threatened her after discovering that her father worked in the Royal Gardens?”
“N-N-No! That’s…!”
“I’ll bow my head and apologize to Nefthis personally for this matter. And tell her the whole truth.”
Her gaze went cold.
“You know how much she cares for her students, right? I won’t allow our kingdom to experience what Talheren did.”
“Yeah, yeah! That’s exactly right!”
Said Andre, agitated.
“Why are you deliberately making a big fuss! Nothing good will come from Nefthis or Father finding out, right?! It’s not too late! If we just cover it up—!”
Slap!
Andre’s head snapped to the side.
Simon, who was observing quietly, and the female student in the maid uniform couldn’t help but be surprised.
“Still not getting it and blabbering on…”
She looked disgusted as she lowered her hand.
“You’ve come too far to cover it, Brother. The smell of your excrement pollutes all of Kizen.”
“…”
“I have no choice but to clean up after you. I’ve prepared a carriage outside, so get out of my sight. Now.”
Andre was a second-year student in Kizen and was well respected, but he couldn’t even talk back to Mollie, an ordinary woman who didn’t even have a core.
Seeing Andre’s back as he trudged away, Simon felt like it was good riddance.
“You’re Simon Polentia, a first-year in Kizen, right?”
Princess Mollie’s gaze turned to Simon this time.
——