Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner-Chapter 130: Episode

[You...!]

Prince lowered his stance and growled. Simon casually glanced around before his eyes landed on Prince’s true body—the corpse sitting on the throne, the crown resting on its head. Reading Simon’s gaze, Prince reacted with visceral hostility.

[Is the crown your goal?!]

"No." Simon shook his head and added, "You are."

[......What?] A bewildered sound escaped Prince.

"I told you. Join my Legion."

[Get lost! I’d rather die before I ever make a contract with a necromancer again!]

"Hmm." Simon pointed out the window with his free hand. "Then how are you going to stop them?"

Outside, the one-sided battle was still raging. Prince had only destroyed a single Meat Golem; the tide of battle hadn’t changed.

"I can lend you my strength," Simon offered. "Of course, on the condition that you join my Legion and swear absolute obedience to me."

[Cut the crap!]

The enraged Prince lunged forward, throwing a flurry of punches. Simon blocked the attack with his greatsword and sidestepped, letting the force of the blow flow past him.

’I can see his movements better than when we first fought.’ Of course, he was powered up by Pier and the Legion, but there was a nagging feeling he couldn’t quite place. Prince, on the other hand, was just shouting and throwing punches without thought.

’He’s agitated. On edge, mentally cornered. He has no composure whatsoever.’ He was like a completely different person from the Prince he had fought in the sewer. Was his mind as young as his appearance? He was being swayed too easily by his emotions.

’At this rate, I might win easily.’

As he parried Prince’s attacks, Simon deliberately struck his arm instead of his fist.

’CLANG!’

Even with Pier’s greatsword, he couldn’t cut through Prince in a single blow. The blade left a gash on his arm and bounced off as if it had hit metal. Without a shred of suspicion, Prince lunged into the opening created as Simon’s right arm was forced upward.

He had fallen for it perfectly.

’Open Gate.’

Subspace gates opened all around Simon. The blades of the Overlord slammed into Prince mid-leap, pinning him to the far wall.

Prince grimaced from the force of the impact. Simon immediately kicked off a platform of Jet-Black and lunged, thrusting the greatsword into Prince’s abdomen with all his might. With the sound of tearing flesh, Prince let out a pained scream.

’Wow, he’s ridiculously tough.’ Not even a quarter of the blade had penetrated. Simon let go of the greatsword and stepped back.

[Grrr! What are you trying to do?!]

"This."

Simon’s body shot forward on a burst of Jet-Black, and he kicked the hilt of the greatsword.

Now, nearly half of the greatsword was buried in Prince’s abdomen.

[Aaaaaargh!]

His body might be tough, but he apparently felt pain just fine. Prince made a choking sound, drool spilling from his mouth. Tears even welled in the corners of his eyes as he trembled.

"We’ll call this payback for laying a hand on my friend." Simon turned his back and approached Prince’s true body.

[Don’t you touch my body!] Prince shouted, struggling, but Simon easily ignored him. He removed the luxurious clothes from the true body, then pried open a crack in its chest.

He could see Prince’s core, beating like a heart.

[Y-Y-Y-You, don’t tell me!!]

Simon answered with a smile. Just then, zombies, drawn by the commotion, swarmed into the room.

"Pier, if you please."

[Got it!]

The Bone Armor Simon wore peeled off like living clothes and reformed into the shape of a large skeleton.

[Bwahaha! Stand back!] Pier boomed, pointing a finger at the forehead of Prince’s true body. [Unless you want to see your master die!]

At his words, the zombies faltered, and Prince ground his teeth.

[You bunch of thugs! Get out of my mansion right now!]

Ignoring Prince’s tantrum, Simon focused on the core before him. He had intended to take his time and persuade him respectfully, since he was one of his father’s old comrades, but the situation was too urgent.

’I’ll just secure him first.’

If Prince didn’t like it, Simon could just get rid of him then. For now, he needed to put a leash on Prince. Simon boldly placed his hand on the core.

Simon’s and Prince’s Jet-Black erupted, raging wildly.

[Damn itttt!]

It was painful, but it passed quickly. A moment later, the Jet-Black stabilized, and Simon’s characteristic blue-black energy flowed from Prince’s true body.

"Phew."

Success. Prince, now the third Ancient Undead of his Legion, looked resigned, as if he no longer had the strength to scream.

"I’ll get you out." Simon approached Prince, pulled the greatsword from his abdomen, and retracted the Overlord’s blades. Prince’s body slumped to the ground and dissipated like black smoke, reverting to an ordinary zombie corpse.

A black thunderbolt struck a nearby zombie. Its body turned black, transforming into the image of Prince. He now had five lives left.

[Hah! Hah!] Prince panted heavily. Perhaps due to Simon’s influence, his appearance had changed. His eyes were now a deep blue-black, and his formal attire had shifted to a navy hue. Prince glared at him with teary, resentful eyes, but Simon was indifferent to them, and smiled as he said, "Welcome to the Legion."

Pier laughed and chimed in from the side.

[Bwahahahaha! That’s right! Once Legion, always Legion!]

[You damn thugs....]

Prince trembled with rage as he got to his feet, his fists clenched tightly.

"You want to fight?" Simon blinked. "Unless I disband the Legion, if the Legion Commander dies, so do you."

[Shut uuuup!]

Prince charged without warning. Simon stood his ground, and Pier, arms crossed, merely chuckled without intervening.

Simon said simply, "Kneel."

As if his knees had turned to lead, Prince collapsed, forced to the ground. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t get up. Drenched in a cold sweat and grunting with effort, he stared at Simon as if he were a monster.

’Crazy! Absolute Command?’

There was no way to resist such an authority. Prince felt his will to fight shatter completely. Simon let out a small sigh.

"Like it or not, we’re on the same side now. If you don’t want to lose your crown, we need to work together."

Prince was silent.

"Explain the situation. If there’s anything I can do to help..."

[Help?] Prince sneered coldly. [Don’t make me laugh! Help, my ass! Because you forcibly made me part of your Legion, the situation is ten times worse!]

Simon looked confused.

[If you have eyes, go look out the window!]

Simon did as he was told and walked over to the window.

’The zombies...!’

The zombies at the front were suddenly behaving erratically, as if their chain of command had been thrown into chaos. Even with enemies right before them, they weren’t attacking. They stood there blankly, randomly dug at the ground, or even bit and fought each other.

[Because you forcibly made me part of your Legion, the connection between the crown and the zombies was severed! Now what are you going to do?!] Prince said, trembling. [We’re already outnumbered! It’s over! Before I can regain control of the zombies, Manus and Javier will storm the mansion and... Hey! What! What are you doing!]

At some point, Simon had lifted the crown from Prince’s true body.

"This is what you use to control the zombies, right?"

[You crazy bastard! Stop it right now! That’s not something a human can withstand!]

"It’s not like we have any other option besides getting this crown working again."

With those words, Simon carefully placed the crown on his own head.

He gasped as an immense flood of thoughts began to pour into his mind.

’Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-’

’Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-’

Not one or two undead. A hundred, a thousand—no, far more than that. The thoughts of a number too great to count flooded his mind. At the same time, their senses were transmitted to him: the steps of every zombie fighting outside, their movements, the blinking of their eyes, the pain of being stabbed, the agony of being crushed to death by a Meat Golem.

In the few seconds he wore the crown, Simon experienced death several times over.

’Clang!’

The crown fell and rolled across the floor. Simon, drenched in a cold sweat, collapsed.

"Ugh!"

His vision swam. A wave of nausea washed over him. It was madness. Connecting with the thoughts of over ten thousand beings was madness.

[Hmph, I told you so,] Prince gloated.

But Simon staggered to his feet and picked up the crown again.

[You... surely you’re not...!]

"This..." Simon muttered under his breath. "It’s more manageable than I thought."

[What...?] Prince felt his thoughts grind to a halt. ’Is this bastard crazy?’

Simon lifted the crown and placed it on his head again. He immediately began to thrash, letting out cries of agony.

[Hey, you crazy bastard! After getting burned once, you’re doing this crap again...!]

[Hehehehehe!] Pier was laughing, his shoulders shaking.

[Why aren’t you stopping him? You’re his overseer!] Prince demanded.

[Don’t try to judge that boy by your pathetic common sense,] Pier grinned. [That boy is more dangerous than Richard, in his own way!]

He dropped the crown again.

This time, however, he held on for an incomparably longer duration.

"Hah... hah... hah...!" Simon gasped, clutching the crown once more.

[Why are you pushing yourself this far...?!]

"Let’s go, Prince."

He had a firm grasp on it now. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Simon offered a faint smile.

"I’ll show you exactly how I’m going to win this war."