Chapter 119
“Damn it!!”
Enraged, Malcolm kept squeezing out Darkness to summon doppelgangers.
Simon knocked away the staff embedded in the ground, but the magic circle remained intact, and the doppelganger summoning continued without issue.
‘So the staff wasn’t the medium for the spell.’
Simon let out a regretful smile. Malcolm, on the other hand, grew even more determined.
‘So what if one attack got blocked! Nothing has changed!’
Malcolm’s doppelgangers charged at Simon once again. This time, it wasn’t a surrounding assault, but a staggered attack.
Simon calmly scanned his surroundings and moved his arm. Subspace opened again, and four bladed tentacles slid out with a whispering sound.
Each blade moved in a different direction and at a different speed.
They complemented one another simultaneously.
All objects that move in straight lines inevitably leave gaps, but these blades coiled and covered each other’s openings, forming an organic flow.
A control that surpassed practicality and entered the realm of beauty.
The four blades crisscrossed in different directions, flawlessly protecting their master, and in that state, Simon began to move.
Screeech—
He advanced with his left foot still planted on the ground. The magic circle formed under his left foot remained active, and Simon was free to maneuver the blades of the Overlord.
Meanwhile, Malcolm, with his magic circle spread across the floor, couldn’t run away. To summon doppelgangers by channeling Darkness, he had to keep his foot on the circle.
In other words, Malcolm’s maximum range of movement was the edge of the circle.
Chwarurururuk!
Chwaruruk!
Blades sliced through, and the doppelgangers burst and vanished like coal dust scattered in the wind.
Now, doppelgangers were being destroyed the moment they appeared. Malcolm bit his lip as he watched the summons, perfect copies of himself, get slaughtered.
“Waaaahhh!”
“Well done, Number 1!!”
The stands were in a frenzy.
Malcolm’s doppelgangers were certainly impressive, but Simon was displaying a combat style so unique and unmatched by any other necromancer. Naturally, all attention was on him.
Even the high-ranking officials watching from the VIP section couldn’t hold back their admiration.
“Amazing. The title of Keyzen’s top student suits him well.”
“What kind of black magic is that?”
“It’s not black magic. It’s a combat style using subspace to summon and retrieve something. What’s in the subspace must be summons!”
The one who answered wasn’t a noble from a necromancer background, but Princess Molly of the Dresden Kingdom. The nobles around her nodded knowingly.
Everyone knew she never missed a duel assessment at Keyzen and that she was a necromancer expert.
‘Incredible!’
The princess turned her head back to the arena with an excited face and bit her thumb lightly.
‘Even if a necromancer’s summons are undead, such intricate control is possible?!’
Jane wasn’t bluffing when she said Simon was worth watching. The princess didn’t want to miss a single moment of his fight. She leaned forward, even lifting her hips slightly.
‘That name is worth remembering! Simon Follentia!’
Meanwhile, in the stands slightly away from the VIP area, silence lingered.
“Professor Bahil. Keep your expression in check. Ex…pres…sion.”
Chehekle, the top assistant of Katarology, snapped her fingers, reminding Bahil.
Bahil had been in a foul mood all month. Nothing had gone his way.
Simon hadn’t joined the Curse Research Club, and now, in front of a large audience, he was fighting using summonology.
But.
‘……?’
Chehekle was startled when he saw Bahil’s face. Instead of his usual demonic expression, he wore a soft smile, like a grandfather watching his grandchild perform.
“Talent, potential—those things all have limits.”
Bahil licked his lips with his tongue and continued.
“But this far exceeds any limits! Isn’t it magnificent?”
“………”
Chehekle looked surprised.
“You’re not angry that Simon isn’t using curses?”
“Of course I’m angry. I’m furious! However!”
Bahil, unable to contain his excitement, sat up straight.
“If a genius like that even considers joining me, then yes. I’ll gladly be patient!”
“……Though anyone can see Professor Aron from Summonology is in the lead in the Simon recruitment race.”
“No need to rush. That talent will come to me eventually.”
Bahil rested his chin on his raised knee, smiling.
“At least for this moment, watching his match, I want to be a pure necromancer too.”
The tide of the match increasingly shifted in Simon’s overwhelming favor. Twenty doppelgangers, carefully amassed by Malcolm, vanished with a single slash from Overlord’s blades.
‘Damn it!’
Even when Malcolm directly controlled two or three doppelgangers to create a feint, Simon didn’t fall for it.
Simon wasn’t predicting their movements, he was reading them to the end and reacting accordingly.
It was a luxury made possible by a vastly superior speed, and the stability that came with it.
‘Darkness is starting to run out. And he’s closing in.’
Malcolm took a step back.
Before he realized it, he was standing at the very edge of the doppelganger circle. If he fell back any farther, he wouldn’t be able to summon.
‘I have to go all in now!’
This wasn’t the time to worry about means and methods.
Malcolm reached behind him. He opened subspace, dropping a fist-sized blue potion bottle into his palm.
A specialty product of the giant Randolph gang family.
Its true nature: a liquid bomb that imbued Darkness to trigger a massive explosion. Based on byproducts of the explosive monster Longor, the Randolph gang had made a fortune distributing it, toppling countless other organizations.
Usually, the odds of the caster getting caught in the blast were too high, so it was only used in desperate situations—but for Malcolm, who used doppelgangers, it was a different story.
He squeezed out Darkness, instantly summoning ten doppelgangers.
Chachachak!
The doppelgangers moved busily, swapping positions like a shuffle. At first glance, it seemed like a trick for confusion, but during the shuffle, Malcolm had handed the bomb to three of the doppelgangers.
‘This ends it! Go!’
The ten doppelgangers with bombs sprinted toward Simon from all directions. Simon left one blade in defense and sent the remaining three to attack the doppelgangers.
Chwaruk!
Chwarururuk!
The blades slithered like snakes, tearing through the doppelgangers.
Then, as one was destroyed, a potion bottle fell to the floor with a thunk. A trailing doppelganger quickly picked it up, but Simon didn’t miss the scene.
‘An explosive potion……!’
‘Even if you noticed, it’s too late!’
Malcolm grinned triumphantly.
The doppelgangers, with the potions lit by Darkness, rushed toward Simon.
From the potion bottle, a flash of black light spread out.
‘I won!’
Convinced of his victory, Malcolm’s lips twisted into a grin.
KWAHHHHHHHHHHHHNG!
A grey explosion erupted in the center of the arena.
Spectators screamed and ducked. Though a massive barrier was deployed around the stands, everyone could feel the force and impact.
Malcolm laughed madly as he took the explosion’s backlash head-on.
It was worth sneaking that bomb out behind his father’s back. He’d get an earful later, but defeating Special Admission Number 1 and getting into Noble was a far greater reward.
KUGUGUGUGU—
A cloud of smoke and thick dust settled over the entire arena. A heavy silence spread through the stands.
Everyone held their breath, waiting for what would come next.
“……There!”
Someone shouted.
“I see him!”
“He’s still fine, as expected!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Amid the roaring cheers, Malcolm looked around in confusion.
No way. He withstood that firepower?
But now, even Malcolm could see it.
Chark.
Charururuk.
Six blades of Overlord coiled tightly around Simon, like a snake forming a nest, leaving no gaps.
The blades slowly spread apart, and from the darkness between them, Simon’s eyes glowed with a piercing light.
Malcolm felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand, chills running down his arms.
‘I’m, feeling fear?’
Impossible. I’ve always been the object of fear, the one who instills it.
Just as Malcolm bit his lip until it bled, one of the Overlord blades came slicing through with a shwik!
Thud!
It pierced a doppelganger standing right in front of Malcolm. Cold sweat dripped down the back of Malcolm’s head, but fortunately, the blade didn’t extend further and simply slithered back after destroying the doppelganger.
“Ha!”
Malcolm opened his mouth.
“Hahahahaha! It’s useless! I’ve already calculated your attack range!”
Chwarururururuk!
Another blade shot out toward Malcolm.
“I said it’s usele—!”
Just then, the tentacle-like blades unfolded, revealing a mithril frame inside. The length extended by one and a half times.
Simon smiled.
‘This is fun!’
There was a special thrill in trapping an opponent in patterns and logic, then breaking it.
Malcolm’s face twisted spectacularly.
KWAANG!
The tentacle slammed into Malcolm’s chest. His body was hurled several meters and smashed into the wall.
As the excited cheers of the crowd rang in his ears, Simon exhaled deeply.
‘My limit’s approaching.’
The finger wearing the ring was burning hot. Simon retrieved all the blades and began walking toward Malcolm.
For now, everything had gone according to plan.
The earlier explosion was unexpected, but he had countered it safely, and before the ring overheated from the overload, he successfully pushed Malcolm out of the magic circle.
Malcolm had overused his Darkness summoning doppelgangers, while Simon had managed the match primarily with Overlord.
Simon had far more Darkness remaining than Malcolm.
If both Overlord and doppelgangers were sealed, Simon would hold an overwhelming advantage from now on.
“Hehehe……!”
Malcolm staggered to his feet and glared at Simon.
“You think you’ve won?”
He grabbed the artifact hanging from his neck.
“The real battle starts now.”
Wuuuuuuuuung!
The artifact emitted a fierce light. Then, refined Darkness began to flow out of it, coating Malcolm’s body.
It took the form of armor. From the stands, Princess Molly stood up abruptly at the sight.
‘W-What? Why does that treasure belong to a gang member’s son?’
It was entirely different from the Dark Robe armor type of magical combat, which coated the body using internal Darkness. The Darkness solidified, forming a full set of armor, even covering Malcolm’s face with a helmet.
The infamous “Dark Knight” armor. An artifact armor used by the dark knights of the Dresden Kingdom.
“Bwahaha!”
Malcolm let out a mad laugh and traced an R-shaped symbol with his hand.
Princess Molly’s expression turned cold as she watched.
‘You foolish brother……!’
“Simon Follentia.”
Malcolm, now clad in the Dark Knight’s armor, grinned as he approached.
“This is a gift from someone who holds a grudge against you.”
“……”
Simon scratched his temple.
He couldn’t recall doing anything that would make someone resent him like that.
“This is what people call karma, right? Your past actions returning like a boomerang.”
“That’s amusing.”
Simon smirked and pulled an imaginary lever. Two skeletons emerged from subspace.
“Then I’ll wear mine too.”
“What?”
Chwarururuk!
The two skeletons scattered and began attaching themselves piece by piece to Simon’s body. The nobles with necromancer backgrounds went wild.
“It’s Bone Armor!”
“A first-year is using Bone Armor?!”
Chak.
Chak.
Chachachak.
As his entire body became covered with the skeleton’s bones, Simon spoke.
“Wanna make a bet?”
“What?”
Simon stroked the newly equipped Bone Armor with satisfaction and grinned.
“On whose suit is better.”
Superb.