Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner-Chapter 140: Episode

The final match began: Class A’s all-star team versus Class C’s weakest lineup. Deciding they had no chance with a conventional approach, Class C opted for a peculiar all-in strategy. The plan was to funnel every ounce of their Jet-Black into one student: Lexio, the top scorer on their midterm exams.

Lexio was a boy with a messy mop of frizzy hair and tired eyes. A girl skilled in link-type black magic acted as a conduit, connecting him to six other students who poured their energy into him. The rest of their team played normally at the front.

’They definitely have something up their sleeve,’ Simon mused. ’What happens when he gets that much power?’

Class A had no choice but to be wary. After a brief timeout, they settled on a simple plan.

"You two stay back," one of their teammates said to Simon and Hector. "We’ll handle the opening phase."

To prepare for any contingency, they decided to conserve the stamina of their aces. It made no difference to Simon or Hector when they joined the fray, so they agreed to hang back and observe.

Of course, even without them, Class A’s offense didn’t falter. These were Kizen students who had survived more than half of the first semester; their skills were undeniable. They executed a variety of attack patterns, achieving a one hundred percent success rate.

"Hyaa!"

Their defense held strong as well. A portly student named Miller used an adhesion magic circle drawn on his body to stop a ball dead in its tracks.

"Nice defense, Miller!"

"Counterattack!"

Miller scanned the court before tossing the ball to a girl who was signaling for it. She instantly formed a round, tennis-like racket from the blood flowing around her arm and slammed the ball with vicious force. It struck a Class C student squarely in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Great finish!"

"You both were awesome!"

The mood in Class A was electric. Simon clapped along, encouraging his classmates. Hector merely watched, his hands shoved in his pockets, a displeased scowl on his face.

Meanwhile, Class C remained ruthlessly committed to their Lexio strategy. Students who had exhausted their Jet-Black would rush to the front lines, absorb an attack, and get eliminated, all to buy more time.

Time trickled by.

Class A: 8 survivors.

Class C: 3 survivors.

Both teams were down to single digits. Simon had joined in on a few attacks, but Hector remained a spectator.

The girl linking the Jet-Black to Lexio was finally taken out by a Class A attack. Only two Class C students remained.

"I have no choice," Lexio sighed, finally stepping forward. "Let’s give this a try."

His remaining teammate secured an attack turn and eliminated a Class A player, bringing the score to 7-2. Now, it was Class A’s turn. The girl with the blood racket, their main offensive weapon, stepped up. She tossed the ball high and swung with all her might, sending it hurtling toward Lexio.

’He can’t possibly dodge this!’ she thought, confident in her power.

In response, Lexio activated his prepared magic. A transparent glass wall materialized, shielding him on all sides.

The ball slammed into the barrier, spun uselessly, and dropped to the ground. Lexio extended an arm, pointing at the boy standing next to the girl.

The ball shot forward with the same force it came with, striking the boy in the torso and knocking him down.

"W-What was that?"

"Did it just reflect?"

Murmurs rippled through the crowd. This was no ordinary black magic; it was a unique art belonging to a powerful family, much like Haren Cork’s.

Class A regrouped and attacked again, but the result was the same. The ball bounced off the glass wall and took out another student. Muffled gasps could be heard from all sides.

"How do you break that thing?"

"For this game, that’s basically a cheat code."

On their next turn, they managed to eliminate Lexio’s last remaining teammate, but another Class A player fell to the reflected attack. In an instant, the score was 5-1. Lexio now had to face five opponents alone, but he looked completely at ease.

"How long are you two going to pose back there?" Lexio taunted with a crooked smirk. "Come on."

A loud, blatant yawn cut through the tension. All eyes turned to Hector, who was stretching his jaw wide.

"Ball."

At Hector’s command, the girl with the blood racket flinched.

"Get me the ball."

"Oh, okay!" she stammered, quickly handing it over.

Hector took a deep breath and hurled the ball at Lexio’s glass wall.

"Ooooooh!"

The sound alone was on a different level from the other students. But even Hector’s throw couldn’t break the barrier. The ball ricocheted back and struck the arm of the very girl who had handed it to him. Groans of disappointment echoed from the sidelines.

"Don’t tell me even Hector can’t break through?"

"It’s over. We’ve lost."

Seeing the ball roll away after hitting his own teammate, Hector’s lips twisted into a strange smile. He picked it up and threw it again.

Another teammate was hit.

Miller, who had been so effective on defense, couldn’t withstand the force and collapsed.

Now, only two remained for Class A. In a flash, it was 2-1.

"H-Hector! Stop!"

"Throwing it blindly like that won’t work! Find another way!"

Hector casually ignored their pleas and threw the ball again. It slammed against the glass wall and shot straight back, aiming at Simon.

A smirk spread across Hector’s face.

’So long.’

The world went silent. Simon had extended one hand and caught the ball with almost insulting ease.

Caught in his powerful grip, the ball’s furious spin slowed, then stopped completely.

’That bastard!’

Just as Hector bit his lip in frustration, Simon threw the ball.

The ball instantly reflected off the wall and slammed into Hector’s face. He grimaced, absorbing the impact and catching it with both hands. His body slid backward across the court.

When Hector pulled the ball away, a perfect red circle was imprinted on his cheek. Amid the stunned silence, a few stifled chuckles.

’How?’

Hector whipped his head around, his face a mask of rage. But beneath the anger was pure bewilderment. He knew Simon’s combat magic was advanced, but he shouldn’t have been able to catch that ball so easily.

Sure enough, droplets of pure Jet-Black were dripping from Simon’s body. Internal Jet-Black Eruption. The bastard was already using the technique they had learned just today in a real fight.

’What on earth are you...?’

Simon took the fruits of Hector’s life-or-death efforts and dismissed them with a single word: talent.

’Who on earth is this guy?!’

His advanced training had always been Hector’s pride, proof that he had started earlier and worked harder than anyone else. Wasn’t it only natural for a student who worked harder to dominate one who hadn’t?

But Simon was different. He showed rapid progress, learning only what Kizen taught him. Professors and scouts alike were constantly saying, "To be this good without any prior training is incredible."

The injustice of it made his blood boil. Why was he, the one who had put in the work beforehand, being treated like a fool? Why was he constantly being used as a measuring stick for Simon’s genius? To Hector, Simon Polentia was a living negation of everything he had ever built.

"JUST WHYY?!" Hector roared, hurling the ball with all his might. It struck the wall and flew back toward Simon.

Simon crouched, absorbing the impact in a stable stance.

"He’s holding on!"

"Nice defense!"

The Class A students murmured in awe. Simon allowed himself a small smile. ’It was worth observing all this time.’

The ball was like a guided missile; it would track a person no matter how they tried to run. Specifically, it targeted the torso—the core. The moment the ball flew, Simon had positioned himself slightly off its direct trajectory. This forced the ball to curve from its current angle to strike his chest. By precisely anticipating the point of impact and reinforcing his body with Internal Jet-Black Eruption, defending wasn’t so difficult after all.

"Whoo!"

Simon threw the ball with all his strength.

Hector caught the reflected ball, sliding back as he fought the momentum. He gritted his teeth and threw it back.

"HEY, YOU CRAZY BASTARDS!" Meirin finally snapped, unable to watch any longer. "WHO ARE YOU EVEN FIGHTING RIGHT NOW?!"

Simon and Hector had completely forgotten about Lexio. Simon was focused on his own growth, and Hector was focused on Simon. To them, Lexio was nothing more than a convenient, highly reflective wall.

’No, for fuck’s sake,’ Lexio thought, thoroughly flustered. ’What kind of freaks are they?!’

The glass wall began to spiderweb with cracks under the continuous assault. It was a ridiculously brainless strategy, but the shockwaves were now reaching Lexio himself, the caster of the spell.

"SIMON POLENTIAAAAAA!" Hector roared, tearing open his Subspace. A cascade of foul-smelling corpse dragon scales poured out, adhering to his right arm. "I’LL KILL YOU!"

He hurled the ball, his threat echoing across the court. It slammed off the wall and flew at Simon with terrifying force.

Simon slid backward, his shoes carving long gashes into the floor.

"Heh!" Hector sneered.

But Simon’s expression remained unchanged. He stood up and opened his own Subspace.

’Bone Armor.’

The disassembled parts of skeletons swarmed over his right arm, reconfiguring into Gauntlet Mode. With the gauntlet equipped, he focused his Internal Jet-Black Eruption into his arm and threw.

Hector was thrown back violently as he caught the deflected ball. This time, his heels skidded to a halt just shy of the court’s boundary line. Any further and he would have been out.

"ARRRRRRGH!"

Hector tore open his Subspace even wider. Scales swarmed over his entire upper and lower body, his very skin seeming to writhe and welcome them.

A pair of massive wings erupted and attached to his back, his muscles clenching as if to fuse with them.

Hector took the ball and soared into the sky.

’Watch out, Simon Polentia,’ he thought, glaring down from above.

Simon looked up, his face placid. The sight of that calm expression made Hector’s anger boil over. He was the one looking down, so why did he feel so agitated?

"RAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Hector slammed the ball down from mid-air. The sky flashed, and the ball descended like a comet, crashing into the glass wall.

"Whoa!"

"AAAAAAH!"

A violent shockwave blasted outwards, forcing the students on the sidelines to duck and retreat. The glass wall groaned, cracking loudly. A strange light flickered in Simon’s eyes.

’Not yet! It’s not broken!’

He sprinted to the front of the court, opening his Subspace.

"Simon, dodge it!"

"He’s trying to hurt you! Don’t block it, just take the out!" Kamibarez and Meirin screamed.

A smirk touched Simon’s lips as he planted his feet at the front of the court.

’Sorry, but I can’t back down from this fight.’

The ball flew at him with all the force of Hector’s dive. Simon opened his Subspace and unleashed his entire unit of summoning-type skeletons.

’KABOOOOOM!’

The skeletons shattered like dominoes against the ball’s onslaught. But as they broke, their bones began to cling to the ball’s surface.

’Full body, Internal Jet-Black Eruption.’

Jet-Black bled from every pore of Simon’s body. He took a deep breath, slowly raising his hands in front of his chest.

The ball collided with him. His body was thrown back, his outstretched arms slamming against his chest. The tremendous force threatened to lift him off his feet, but he gritted his teeth and activated Absolute Command.

’Stop!’

The bones attached to the ball instantly exerted a counter-force, pulling in the opposite direction.

’Open Gate!’

From a second Subspace, the Overlord’s blades shot out, wrapping around his arms, legs, and waist like living ropes. The force began to transfer to the Overlord as well. Just as Simon’s body was about to be pushed out of the court...

He stopped, a hair’s breadth from the line.

Internal Jet-Black Eruption, the skeletons’ counter-force, and the Overlord’s anchor. The three powers had formed a perfect trifecta to absorb the blow. The bones clattered to the ground, and the blades retracted into their Subspace.

A deafening silence fell over the class. Students from both Class A and Class C stared, their mouths agape.

’They were told to play a game, not film a damn movie.’

’They’re on a completely different level.’

Simon walked forward. Beyond the glass wall, which looked as if it would crumble at a touch, Lexio’s face was deathly pale.

’You crazy bastards! I used the Jet-Black of several Kizen students for this, and you’re just going to break it with sheer force?’

Simon gripped the ball with both hands and settled into a stance. Thirty seconds before his Internal Jet-Black Eruption faded. This was his last chance.