Chapter 246
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Blood Golem charged forward like a mobile fortress, kicking up thick clouds of sand.
Andre’s summoned creature, Encipher, swung its greatsword repeatedly, hammering the golem’s body, but the golem didn’t budge. On the contrary, the force of its swing even sent the greatsword flying.
‘Encipher is being overpowered?’
Andre bit his fingernail anxiously.
How could a first-year possibly use techniques meant for third-years?
Of course, Simon’s Blood Golem wasn’t a complete version. Its body sagged, and its size was smaller than that of a true Blood Golem.
‘Right, it’s just a crude imitation. No need to get nervous.’
Steeling himself, Andre forcefully lowered his arm.
VROOOOM!
Encipher’s greatsword slammed down harder than ever before, biting deep into the shoulder of the charging Blood Golem. With a squelch!, blood spurted from Simon’s shoulder too.
‘So even though it’s a knockoff, it still has the Life Link effect? In that case…!’
Andre immediately activated a magic circle on the ground. Just as the Blood Golem reached him, he triggered the spell.
<Solutio>
The Blood Golem’s lower half began to melt like ice cream as it stepped into the magic circle. Solutio was a curse that dissolved matter.
‘Perfect for your pathetic fake Blood Golem!’
As the golem’s feet melted and stuck to the ground, Encipher wasted no time and began slashing. Wounds started appearing all over the golem’s body.
At the same time—
Squelch! Squelch!
Gashes tore open on Simon’s body too, blood gushing out. Andre clenched his fist tightly.
“Blood Golem is a double-edged sword! You’d be better off canceling it!”
Then, the Blood Golem, which had been taking hits, suddenly placed both hands on the ground and launched itself forward using only arm strength.
CRASH!
Andre was flung several meters and tumbled along the ground after being hit. The noble ladies nearby cried out and retreated in alarm.
“Guh!”
That was close. As Andre got up, Encipher had already vanished.
“You really were using a fixed-position magic circle.”
Simon said, panting. It was a type of black magic that couldn't be maintained if the caster moved positions.
“So that was your aim, huh?”
Andre cast another hidden magic circle onto the ground. Smoke billowed around him, and Encipher reappeared once more.
“Of course I expected that! You think I trained coordinate recalculation for nothing?!”
The nobles from the royal palace faction erupted in cheers.
In contrast, despite having his surprise attack blocked, Simon showed no signs of frustration.
In fact, a faint smile touched his lips.
“Hah! You’re smiling even now?”
“I think the Blood Golem’s done its job.”
Simon raised his arm above his head and activated a magic circle.
“Return.”
The dissolving Blood Golem turned to smoke and was sucked into the magic circle.
For Simon, the Blood Golem was nothing more than a stepping stone.
He reached behind his back and grasped the air.
Hrrmph!
With effort, he flung it open.
SSSSHHHRRRRRR!
A portal over 20 meters wide burst open in a straight line, following the motion of Simon’s arm.
Step.
Click.
From within it emerged a unit of skeletons—twenty-three in total, including archers.
“What, just Skeletons?”
Andre scoffed, but those in the know gasped in awe.
Princess Molly, in particular, was jumping in place with sparkling eyes. Smiles even appeared on the faces of Loraine and Serne.
On the other hand, the royalist nobles had turned pale.
“Your Highness! We must stop him!”
“That was definitely on the Keyzen exam…!”
Too late. Simon lowered the arm he had raised above his head.
“Here they come.”
A cloud of smoke descended from the magic circle and enveloped the twenty-three skeletons.
Their white bones took on an emerald hue, and the swords in their hands shimmered like beams of light. A cape of cloud, trailing from their spines, spread out behind them.
Snap.
Clack.
The transformed skeletons tightened their grip on their weapons, their bone capes fluttering in the wind. Emerald light flickered within their hollow eye sockets.
<Simon’s Original – Royal Guard>
‘What the hell is that?!’
The blood drained from Andre’s face. Twenty-three undead moved freely as if they were alive.
He’d never heard of such a technique in his life.
‘Could it be… an original?’
Despite his shock, Andre quickly responded. He opened a subspace and summoned more units to even the numbers.
Slack-jawed corpses poured out of the subspace and began to rise, one by one, through Andre’s black magic.
Grrraaah!
Ruff! Ruff!
Zombies crafted from canine monsters, eight Zombie Dogs.
Using them would decrease Encipher’s responsiveness, but it allowed him to match numbers to some extent.
“It’s all about capital!”
Andre shouted,
“The cost of your pathetic skeletons can’t even compare…!”
At that moment, the Royal Guard crouched and shot forward like bullets.
In the blink of an eye, they closed a 10-meter gap and swung their emerald swords.
SLASH!
One Zombie Dog was cleaved clean in half.
‘A one-hit kill?’
Their swordsmanship, like lightsabers in the dark night, was flashy and brilliant.
The Zombie Dogs were being shredded—literally.
“Damn it!”
In a panic, Andre kept summoning Zombie Dogs from his subspace.
But Simon’s control was exceptional.
Thwack! Stab!
Swordsmen withdrew while spearmen charged forward and pierced through the front lines. The swordsmen flanked and shattered the enemy’s formation from the sides.
Fwoosh!
Fwoooosh!
Then, emerald arrows flew toward Andre, the summoner himself. He had to stop his control and hastily raise a Darkness Shield.
The archers of the Royal Guard were taking down Zombie Dogs while constantly targeting Andre.
“Damn it all!”
By now, Andre had summoned over twenty Zombie Dogs, yet not a single member of the Royal Guard had fallen.
More importantly—
SSSSSSS!
The wounds Simon had sustained from the Blood Golem began to emit smoke and heal.
Andre was aghast.
“W-Why is the skeleton showing the Blood Golem’s recovery effect…?!”
Simon, who had been drained from summoning the Blood Golem, looked visibly better.
“You must be surprised, having seen it for the first time.”
The Royal Guard weren’t just skeletons clad in Cloud.
He had first completed the Blood Golem, and then transferred the Cloud that made up the golem’s body onto the skeletons.
Even now, Simon was still maintaining the Summon Blood Golem black magic.
In other words, the Royal Guard weren’t “skeletons covered in Cloud”, but rather “skeletons wearing the Blood Golem.”
SWOOSH!
SLASH!
The Royal Guard cut through the Zombie Dogs and reached Andre. Flustered, Andre flailed and shouted a command to Encipher.
Clang!
One Royal Guard took a direct hit from Encipher’s greatsword and exploded into a scatter of bones. Even as Royal Guard, they retained the skeletons' inherent weak defense.
“Guh!”
Thanks to the Life Link, Simon staggered in the distance. A sharp glint returned to Andre’s eyes.
‘Life Link is a double-edged sword. If he’s using that technique, then he’s staking his life too. If I stay calm, I can win!’
Encipher continued swinging its massive sword, cutting down Royal Guard units and dealing damage to Simon. But meanwhile, the Royal Guards slashed through Zombie Dogs, allowing Simon to recover his strength.
Attack and recovery, on repeat.
This couldn’t go on. Andre had no choice but to recall the Zombie Dogs back into his subspace.
But in doing so, he made a critical mistake. With the flow of Zombie Dogs stopped, Simon gained spatial dominance through sheer numbers.
Two Royal Guards swiftly flanked Andre.
“Guh!”
Andre quickly ducked, and the sweeping emerald slash grazed his hair.
As the assault poured in from all directions, Andre was overwhelmed. He had to fend them off with Encipher, and even resort to using Magical Combat himself.
Slaash!
Slash!
Wounds inflicted by the Royal Guard slashes appeared all over his body. Outnumbered, all attacks were focused on him.
“Graaaaah!”
Andre threw both arms wide, releasing a shockwave of Darkness that scattered the bodies of two Royal Guards.
He gasped for air, lips curling into a grin.
Click, click.
He realized that the bones of the Royal Guard, which had been flung away, were now suspended in midair.
From afar, Simon opened his palm wide.
<Bone Nail>
Thunk! Thud! Thunk! Thunk!
Emerald-tipped Bone Nails surged at Andre from all directions. The sharp ends of the bony fragments drove into his body like spears.
“Gwaaaaaaah!”
Clang!
His concentration snapped from the pain, and even Encipher vanished.
In that gap, a Royal Guard swung its sword at Andre.
Huff!
At that moment, Andre used the signature skill of a Spiritology major: Spiritualization, escaping the encirclement. The Royal Guard's blade simply passed through him.
[That’s it, boy! He used up his Spiritualization!]
Unless you were someone special like Cindy Vivace, using Spiritualization once meant you had to wait before using it again.
There was even a saying when dealing with spirit mages: “Make them burn Spiritualization first.”
In other words, now was the opening. Unable to maintain it for long, Andre returned to the material plane.
‘Final phase.’
Simon played his final card.
Once more, he activated the magic circle above his head. The Cloud that composed the Royal Guard was pulled back into the magic circle. The skeletons stopped moving like powered-down machines.
Then, modifying the formula in the circle, Simon adjusted the Cloud ratio and pulled out a bow and arrow from the magic circle.
“It’s over, Your Highness. Surrender.”
Simon nocked a dark blue arrow onto the string and gave a warning. Andre’s lips trembled as if spasming.
“Surr... ender?”
If word spread that he lost to a first-year, it would be utterly unrecoverable.
On top of that, he had wagered the royal family’s dungeon exclusive rights, without even his father’s approval, under the royal oath. Losing wouldn’t just mean falling from grace—it’d be like being buried underground.
“I have nowhere...!”
He thrust both arms forward.
“...left to retreat!!”
Multiple layers of magic circles unfolded in front of him, stacking the high-tier defensive spell Dark Gate over and over. It was Andre’s greatest possible defense.
‘No choice then.’
The emerald hue vanished from Simon’s arrow, replaced with a color of pure Darkness.
Simon released the tightened string.
<Simon Remade – Blood Arrow>
BOOOOOOM!
The arrow flew with a sonic boom and slammed into the five-layered Dark Great Gate.
Crack! Crack!
Two gates shattered on contact, and the following gates broke one after another. In the blink of an eye, only one layer remained in front of Andre.
His clothes were torn to shreds, but he barely maintained his stance.
He let out a scream-like roar.
KRAAAAAAAK!
The arrow erupted in a deep blue explosion, spreading across the area. The ground cracked apart, and rocks flew in every direction.
“Haaah!”
As a massive chunk of debris fell toward the observing nobles, Loraine flashed past, wielding twin daggers.
The debris shattered into fine dust.
“What a hassle.”
Floating in the air nearby, Serne elegantly crossed her legs, controlling countless feathers. She effortlessly lifted a boulder-sized fragment with a single feather, an impressive feat.
RUMBLEEEEE!
Simon exhaled deeply, eyes fixed forward.
“Heh... heh heh!”
A laugh echoed.
“Gah... Hahahahaha!”
Out from the explosion staggered Andre, bleeding profusely in tattered rags. His legs trembled violently, as if he could collapse at any moment, but he clung on through sheer willpower.
“I endured it! I endured it! What now, Simon Follentia!!”
Feer’s doppelgänger clicked his tongue at the sight.
[You held back at the end? Such a kind personality.]
‘...Of course I did. I can’t kill royalty. But instead...’
Simon slowly lowered a finger. Andre’s eyes followed that finger.
“!”
His shadow was red. And that red shadow was connected to Simon’s.
‘This bastard! When did he... cast a curse...?!’
“Indolence. The Curse of Numbness.”
“There’s a curse like that?”
No wonder Andre didn’t know. Indolence was one of the four curses Bahil had crafted specifically for Simon.
“It’s a curse that stores all sensory input, including pain, in a magic circle for a set duration so the body doesn't feel anything. But the duration’s almost over.”
Simon smiled.
“Let’s share the pain, shall we?”
URGHHH!
All the pain Simon had felt surged forth like a tidal wave, causing Andre’s mind to go blank.
‘...GAAAAH!’
Indolence accumulated all pain during its duration, and upon ending, transferred it to a linked target.
‘M-My shoulder feels like it’s getting torn off!’
As royalty, Andre wasn’t used to such pain. Frozen under the agony, he hesitated—and Simon, who had endured countless hardships, simply grimaced and charged.
CRACK!
In a life-and-death duel, even a brief moment of stiffness was enough to decide a fate.
Simon’s fist, clad in Darkness, slammed straight into Andre’s jaw. His body was lifted off the ground and slammed down.
“......!”
The head steward came running to check Andre’s condition.
Andre’s eyes had rolled back, and he was completely motionless.
“B-Battle over! The winner is Simon Follentia!”
Simon lightly dusted off his hands.
‘I’ll be taking the dungeon now, thanks.’
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