Necromancer Academy and the Genius Summoner-Chapter 425: Episode

As they peered inside the dungeon master’s chamber, Simon and Lethe’s expressions hardened in unison.

“What is this?”

There was nothing inside the room. It was completely empty. A bewildered sound escaped Simon, who had been on high alert.

“Don’t let your guard down,” Lethe warned, stepping inside. “It might be hiding.”

But even after sweeping the area with Simon’s jet-black detection and her own divine senses, they found no trace of a dungeon master. They searched the surrounding area with the same result. It was the first time either of them had encountered a dungeon without its master.

“Uh, isn’t this a huge problem?” Simon pressed a hand to his forehead, his face grim. “The dungeon only disappears when the master is destroyed.”

“I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this. My brain’s short-circuiting,” Lethe muttered. “Give me a second to think.”

A dungeon master stays in its dungeon. That was a fundamental rule. While they might send their minions out, the master itself never left. The very fact that the dungeon was still active while its master was gone was bizarre.

“I’m counting on you guys,” Simon said, summoning his Corpse Spiders from his subspace while Lethe was lost in thought. “Bring me anything that could be a clue.”

’Kirik!’

The spiders scattered, some wiggling their rears as they dug into the bone pile, others scurrying across the ceiling and walls. A minute later, one of them returned.

“Find something?” Simon asked, his face lighting up. He leaned in, only to see a common bug clutched in the spider’s foreleg.

’Kirik! Kirik!’

The spider hopped up and down, clearly proud of its magnificent find. Simon just shook his head.

’Kiri...’

Dejected, the spider lowered its body, popped the bug into its mouth, and sulked away.

“What was that?” Lethe asked, having watched the exchange from behind. “That spider’s kind of cute.”

“It’s still an undead.”

“Vile creatures,” she sniffed.

Simon raised an eyebrow.

A moment later, another spider returned with a strand of a woman’s hair and a scrap of old clothing. Simon examined them carefully.

“Hey,” Lethe called out, returning from another sweep of the master’s chamber. “We’re not going to find any answers just standing here. Let’s head outside. Maybe something has changed.”

“Good idea,” Simon agreed. “That monster we fought earlier might have been the dungeon master after all.”

They took the gate back out of the dungeon, but the cave was exactly as they had left it. Nothing had changed.

’KABOOM—!’

A loud explosion echoed from outside the cave. Simon’s head snapped up.

“There’s someone out there!”

“Let’s go!”

They sprinted out of the cave.

They emerged to find themselves surrounded by gray-haired figures.

’Mizenasi!’

It was the ruling clan of Eskyl village, with Nenya Mizenasi herself standing in the center.

“So, you found this place,” Nenya said, her gaze turning to ice. “If you had just gone down the mountain and pretended you saw nothing, you might have lived.”

The others chimed in.

“How dare you set foot in the sanctuary!”

“You won’t be leaving here alive!”

They raised their palms, aiming at Simon and Lethe. Pure elemental ice magic shimmered in their hands.

’Can’t let my guard down,’ Simon thought. These mages had dedicated their lives to ice magic; their proficiency was dangerously high, reminding him of Meirin’s own jet-black ice.

“Sanctuary, my ass.” Lethe stepped forward, divinity flaring around her. A dazzling white light enveloped her body. “Tell me where you moved the dungeon master while I’m asking nicely.”

Nenya’s eyebrow twitched, but she offered no other reaction. Lethe’s lips curved into a sweet, menacing smile.

“Well, then I guess I have no choice. I’ll just have to beat it out of you...”

’BOOM—!’

Another explosion ripped through the air. Simon’s eyes darted toward the sound. It hadn’t come from the Mizenasi.

’That direction is...’

Eskyl village. The village was under attack. Judging by the use of explosives, it wasn’t monsters. As soon as he narrowed the attackers down to humans, a memory flashed in his mind.

’”We won’t just sit here and wait for death, either.”’

He remembered the voice of Lord Kula, his eyes filled with hatred as he looked upon the Mizenasi village.

’The people of Kula from the city below!’

---

“’AAAHHH!’”

“Burn the village! Capture the mages!”

“The source of the cold is right before our eyes!”

Pushed to the brink by the brutal weather, starvation, and monster attacks, Kula had only one option left. Their vigilantes and the men of the village were storming the steep mountain slope, invading Eskyl.

Hiding behind the palisade, the people of Eskyl drew their bows.

“The filthy Kula bastards have shown their true colors!”

“They took our warm lands, and now they want our village too!”

“Defend Eskyl with your lives!”

Arrows rained down, felling Kula’s men in the snow. But Kula had the advantage in numbers.

“Charge!” the lord of Kula roared, deflecting arrows with his sword. “Don’t back down! We must end this godforsaken cold here and now!”

---

Simon stared toward the village. The blizzard was subsiding, and he could now see Eskyl clearly. He couldn’t make out the details, but he could see the fence burning and hear the steady rhythm of explosions. His suspicion hardened into certainty. The people of Kula, pushed to their limit, were attacking Eskyl.

“Shouldn’t you be getting back to your village?” Lethe asked the Mizenasi, her tone nonchalant. “You’re supposed to be their greatest strength, aren’t you?”

But despite the attack on their home, the Mizenasi didn’t move. Nenya simply raised her staff and struck the ground, causing a large ice magic circle to spread out beneath them.

“Eliminating you, the witnesses, is more important,” she stated coldly. “That is the mission of the Mizenasi.”

They were beyond reason. Simon turned his head.

“Lethe, you go to the village. Stop the war.”

“...What about you?”

“This time, I’ll handle them alone. I’m more than enough.”

Lethe studied him with a worried expression, then squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. “I’ll trust you.”

“Yeah.”

Lethe took off, sprinting down the snowy mountain.

“Catch that girl!” Nenya shrieked.

The Mizenasi mages unleashed a volley of ice magic, but in that same instant—

Purple lightning crashed down around Lethe, obliterating the spells without a trace.

The Mizenasi mages stared in shock.

“What was that?!”

The bolts of lightning that had been frantically dyeing the air purple soared into the sky, gathering in the palm of the airborne Simon.

’Simon Original - Chaos Spear!’

He hurled the spear of chaos, planting it at the feet of the mages chasing Lethe. They skidded to a halt, startled.

’That bastard!’ Nenya thought, seething.

Glancing back, Lethe let out a wry chuckle. ’He was still hiding a technique like that?’

“Summon the golems! Stop her at any cost!” Nenya commanded.

At her order, a mage raised an ice golem from the ground. “You shall not pass—!”

’Craaack! Crack!’

Two more purple spears shot through the air, embedding themselves in the golem’s torso before exploding violently.

“You shall not pass,” Simon echoed, landing lightly with both feet on the shaft of a chaos spear still embedded in the ground.

In that brief moment, Lethe cleared the explosion and continued her frantic descent toward the village. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

“I prepared this for the dungeon master,” Simon said, his hand moving to the magic circle at his waist. “I didn’t expect to use it on you.”

Like a knight drawing a sword, three crackling purple spear shafts materialized between his fingers.

“Who in the world are you, Teacher Sean?!” Nenya Mizenasi screamed, her voice bordering on hysteria. “Who sent you?!”

“I’m afraid I can’t answer that,” Simon replied, tossing the three shafts into the air. They became streaks of unpredictable purple lightning, tearing through the sky. “But if you had nothing to hide, you wouldn’t need to worry about who sent me.”

With a sound that ripped through the air, a flash of chaos descended upon the Mizenasi.

---

“Shoot! Keep shooting!”

“Get in there!”

The battlefield was a cauldron of chaos. For both Eskyl and Kula, years of accumulated anger had finally boiled over, leaving only raw hatred. Rational thought was a casualty of war. The battle was a desperate melee, its outcome impossible to predict. Kula had the advantage in numbers and training, but they were exhausted and starving from their climb. Eskyl was severely outnumbered, and with their main fighting force, the Mizenasi, absent, they were on the verge of collapse.

Arrows flew as the clang of steel on steel echoed through the air. Kula’s men hurled flaming bottles of rum, setting the palisade ablaze and tearing a hole in the village’s protective barrier. As the barrier fell, the blizzard’s icy winds swept into the village. It was a tragedy in the making. At this rate, whichever side won would simply freeze to death. Annihilation was certain, yet no one even considered stopping.

Until someone did.

“Everyone, stop!!”

A figure appeared, striding calmly across the blood-splattered battlefield: a girl with white hair.

“T-Teacher Leah!”

“My lord! It’s the priestess who saved our domain!”

Lethe walked through the heart of the battle as if it were a stroll in a park. Stray arrows zipped past her, but she didn’t even blink.

“Priestess!” the lord of Kula cried, rushing forward. “Step back! It’s dangerous! We will handle—!”

Lethe suddenly seized the lord by the collar. And then—

’SMACK!’

She slapped him so hard across the face that he went tumbling to the ground, a bright red handprint blooming on his cheek.

“M-My lord!”

The startled vigilantes leveled their swords at Lethe. She glared back, her eyes wide with fury, and they flinched, freezing in place.

“Ah, seriously!” she spat, swinging her arm toward the fallen lord.

It wasn’t an attack. She had snatched an arrow aimed at him out of the air with her bare hand.

She squeezed, and the arrow snapped in two.

“CAN’T YOU BASTARDS UNDERSTAND WHAT I’M SAYING?!”

She grabbed the choker around her neck—the seal on her power—and shattered it.

In that instant, the blizzard weakened. The night sky brightened as the dark clouds parted, and a column of brilliant light descended upon her.

---[My name is Lethe Shardena!]--- her voice boomed, imbued with divine power.

A distinct, star-shaped sigil ignited in each of her pupils.

---[I am the Saintess of the Stars.]---

She raised her arm, and the stars in the night sky flickered in response. Countless white meteors began to materialize above, hanging in the air like a celestial judgment.

“A-A Saintess?”

“Teacher Leah is a Saintess?”

Both sides erupted in chaos.

---[Choose,]--- she commanded, her eyes bloodshot. ---[Stop this fight, or die by my hand. Both of you!]---