Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner-Chapter 376: Episode

In the fiery pit of the arena, black smoke billowing, two girls clashed.

Explosions rocked the ground as Serne’s ’Dark Flares’ rained down from above. Her ash-covered hair fluttering, Meirin dashed frantically across the arena floor.

Leaping high into the air to dodge the volley of fireballs, she pointed her index finger straight at Serne.

A curse shaped like smoke shot from her fingertip.

"Hmph."

The corners of Serne’s lips lifted as she mirrored the gesture, extending her own index finger. The curse was drawn toward her fingertip like an antenna, where it began to circle harmlessly. Humming a little tune, Serne waved her finger around before flicking it to the side with a soft "Oop!"

The curse immediately shot off in the direction she pointed, crashing into the arena wall and denting it.

"Your specialty, Jet-Black Elementals, is useless. What makes you think a curse would be any different?"

"Now, it’s my turn again."

Dark Flares rained down in succession. Huge explosions erupted wherever Meirin ran, sending plumes of black smoke into the air.

"MUAHAHAHA!"

Serne’s villainous laughter echoed throughout the arena. It was a one-sided display of overwhelming power.

"...I-I can’t watch." The soft-hearted Kamibarez buried her face in her hands.

Dick clicked his tongue and scratched his head. "How is she supposed to... Huh? Where’s Simon?"

"Simon?"

The two belatedly looked around. Simon, who had been in the stands with them, was gone.

Meanwhile, Meirin had been driven to the very edge of the arena, dodging the relentless barrage of Dark Flares.

With a choked gasp, blood spurted from her mouth as symptoms of jet-black backflow began to appear.

[Serne Aindark: 100%]

[Meirin Villenne: 4%]

This was her limit. She panted as her vision swam, and the image of Serne—the one she so desperately wanted to defeat—grew blurry.

’She’s so damn strong. I can’t even touch her.’

Now she understood why the elders had rescinded her position, why they had gone so far as to change the Tower’s laws to name Serne the heir. Even she was starting to accept it.

The tenacity born from her anger faded, and strength slowly drained from her body.

"Meirin!"

The intense shout seemed to cut through the haze, snapping Meirin back to her senses. Directly above, in the spectator seats, Simon was panting for breath.

"S-Simon! Your match...!"

"Forget about that!" Simon yelled, casting a wary glance at Serne. "Think about what you’re good at!"

"...W-What?"

"You’re too fixated on her! If you keep this up, you’ll just be playing into her hands! Think about everything you’ve learned! Focus only on what you excel at!"

Meirin stammered, "B-But! Can’t you see this? The whole arena is a sea of fire! What’s the point of Jet-Black Ice in here?!"

’She can’t think of this as a simple matter of fire versus ice, or she’ll never adapt.’ Simon’s eyes flashed.

"Didn’t you say you were going to become stronger than anyone?"

He remembered the day she first used Jet-Black Ice after enrolling in Kizen. Surprisingly, it had been during a Martial Arts class with Class C. They were playing a game like dodgeball. Meirin had used her ice for the first time to make Serne slip, and then she had declared:

"I’m going to become stronger than anyone, and I will defeat you with my own hands before we graduate. But I don’t need to be obsessed with just you to get stronger."

She had said it herself. From that day on, she had started using Jet-Black Ice as her main skill, and her power had grown exponentially.

"Remember this. Defeating Serne, winning this match..." Simon continued, his voice serious and clear. "It’s all just part of the process."

"Oh, my."

Just then, Serne cupped her cheek and giggled. Simon and Meirin flinched, turning to look at her.

"To think Simon would go so far for a student of our Ivory Tower. I’m just so, so happy." She raised a finger, and the Dark Flare magic circles in the air began to tremble violently. "But if we drag this out any longer, it might get dangerous, you know?"

A dozen Dark Flares shot toward them in a deafening roar, leaving no room for escape.

Meirin lifted her head. For a moment, she simply watched the inferno approach, its gaping maw ready to devour her.

’The things I’ve learned.’

She staggered but corrected her posture, channeling her remaining jet-black throughout her body.

’The things I’m good at.’

Magic circles hummed to life and unfolded beneath her feet, gripping the arena floor.

’Defeating Serne, winning this match... it’s all part of the process.’

Her intelligent, sapphire eyes sparkled with renewed focus. Her unfocused gaze sharpened. Her arms, which had been tensed with strain, relaxed and went limp.

At last, a relieved smile touched her lips. "I don’t care anymore!"

A series of deafening explosions rocked the arena as the Dark Flares slammed into the floor and walls. Even Simon in the stands was pushed back by the fierce shockwave. Despite the protective shield, the firepower was so intense that the front-row seats were beginning to melt.

The spectators shot to their feet, their eyes wide. "Is it... over?"

"No, look!"

A good distance from where the fireballs had landed, Meirin was crouched down, perfectly unharmed. A murmur rippled through the crowd.

"Teleportation?!"

"Did she just teleport or something?"

But a few sharp-eyed spectators, including Simon, saw the truth. A straight line of melting ice traced her path across the floor.

Meirin raised her head.

’Ice Road’

With a hiss of frozen air, her feet lifted from the floor, and she shot forward, a ribbon of ice unfurling beneath her as she moved at an incredible speed. Serne immediately fired another volley, but Meirin was already a blur, dashing across the floor, up the wall, and eventually across the ceiling, effortlessly dodging every incoming flame.

A roar of astonishment erupted from the crowd at the sudden reversal.

Inside an arena dominated by Serne, ’Jet-Black Ice’ was useless; it would melt in seconds, serving as neither projectile nor cover.

However...

’With this Ice Road, where I’m constantly creating new ice to move, it doesn’t matter!’

Meirin’s skill was breathtaking. She weaved through the countless fireballs raining down like stars, executing flawless S-turns and Z-turns as she sped along her icy path.

She was a vision of speed and precise control.

The pale ash that had coated her hair blew away in the wind, revealing the brilliant, sky-blue strands beneath. Her gaze was locked on Serne.

’Don’t be tied down! Think freely!’

Meirin conjured a magic circle in her palm.

’Just like this Ice Road, I need a way to counter fire with my specialty, Jet-Black Ice!’

She began to alter the formulas and circuits on the fly. It was a perilous task she would never have dared attempt before, but she had to succeed.

’Remember! Everything I’ve learned at Kizen!’

Countless formulas and runes from her textbooks flashed through her mind.

"My dear Meirin, you’re quite the dodger, aren’t you?"

Predicting Meirin’s path, Serne drew a Dark Flare directly in her palm and fired. But Meirin was waiting for it. She thrust her own palm out toward the approaching fireball.

’Ice Cannon’

A large ice cannonball shot out with a booming sound, but the moment it met the fireball, it dissolved with a loud hiss.

"Still trying to use ice? Forcing it isn’t a good look." As she spoke, Serne’s eyes widened. The water that had pooled on the floor from the melted Jet-Black Ice was now sloshing and moving.

Like jets from a water gun, streams of melted water shot at Serne, grazing her arm and thigh. For the first time, a red light flashed on her barrier gauge.

"WHOAAAAAAA!"

The crowd went wild at Meirin’s first successful counterattack.

"She landed a hit! What just happened?!" Dick exclaimed.

"She modified the formula for her ice magic!" Kamibarez’s voice trembled with emotion. "Normally, the formula for Jet-Black Ice enhances temperature, hardness, and projection speed, but Meirin lowered all those values to their minimum. She dropped its melting point to the very edge of what could function as ice and, in exchange, added a projection function for when it turned to water!"

Dick let out a disbelieving laugh. "She can make a modification like that in seconds? Without the magic circle exploding?"

"Yes! Meirin really is a genius!" Kamibarez shouted. "Turning Jet-Black Ice into Jet-Black Water Flow! Doesn’t this actually give her the elemental advantage?"

"Not quite," said Simon, who had returned to his seat, panting.

"Simon!"

"There’s a world of difference between preparing Jet-Black Water Flow from the start and mimicking it with melted ice." Having seen a true master like the Student Council President, Phantastus, wield Jet-Black Water Flow, Simon knew this better than anyone.

Dick nodded. "So that just shows how bad a spot she’s in."

"Yeah. But the fact that she created an opening to counter Serne at all is incredible!"

Having found her rhythm, Meirin launched a relentless counteroffensive. She deliberately crashed her ice into the incoming flames, then used the melted water to attack Serne from unpredictable angles.

"Is this a children’s water gun fight? It just feels like you’re squirting water around," Serne said leisurely. "Don’t you have a more serious attack, Meirin?"

"Shut your mouth!"

Meirin pushed Serne with breathless intensity. While dodging with her Ice Road, she continuously launched streams of melted water. "I won’t play your games anymore!"

She roughly threw both arms above her head. In response, all the melted water throughout the arena shot into the air like geysers. A single magic circle, which Meirin had prepared beforehand, hovered in the air.

The moment the large volume of water passed through it...

It transformed with a sharp crackle of ice into a massive, solidly frozen awl—the largest she had summoned the entire match.

’Meirin Original – Glacia’

"She froze the water again!"

"Slam it down!"

By now, the entire crowd was on its feet, shouting in a frenzy.

Serne frowned and extended her arm. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

’Dark Flare’

The Dark Flare that erupted from Serne’s palm swallowed the glacier in the blink of an eye.

"I am not a candidate for heir! Not the second-in-command of the Ivory Tower! And not Serne’s lackey!" Meirin roared, swinging her arms down with every last ounce of her strength. "I am Meirin Villenne!"

With a roar of displaced air, the flames parted, and Meirin’s Glacia pierced through the blaze. As a shocked expression crossed Serne’s face, the ice slammed into her barrier.

"Match over!" the referee shouted, his arm extended, eyes fixed on the screen.

[Serne Aindark: 71%]

[Meirin Villenne: 0%]

"The winner is Serne Aindark!"

The extreme heat of the arena had finally depleted Meirin’s barrier gauge. But the atmosphere in the arena felt nothing like a defeat.

Meirin balled her hands into tight fists and let out a triumphant roar that echoed with all her might.

"ARGHHH!"

A thrill shot through everyone who heard her cry. The spectators followed suit, clenching their own fists and responding with a massive cheer of their own.

"WOOOWWWWW!"

In front of countless seniors and classmates, Meirin Villenne had finally and firmly imprinted her name, once buried under the colossal shadow of Serne of the Ivory Tower.