Chapter 344
On the eve of the showdown with Simon, Jule quietly recalled his conversation with Elisa.
—If you pushed Simon into using the Royal Guard, then the operation is as good as done. Just run away after that.
Hearing that, Jule shook his head.
—I must decline. The duel with Simon is exactly what I wanted. I will fight him fair and square, win, and return.
—Ugh! The problem is, you’re too un-necromancer-like.
In the end, Elisa told him Simon’s weakness.
—Grand Summoner tactics are basically the same anywhere, right? Avoid the summons as much as possible and target the summoner first. But Simon is skilled in Magical Combat as well, so such tactics don’t work well.
—Then what should I do?
—Target the skeletons that became Royal Guards.
A strange gleam flickered in Elisa’s eyes.
—They say Simon and his Royal Guards are linked. Apparently, it’s because they’re based on Blood Golem, but I don’t know the exact principle. Anyway! If you pressure Simon while destroying the Royal Guards, Simon will take damage as well.
The Royal Guard was both Simon’s strength and his weakness, Elisa had said so.
“Go.”
At Simon’s command, the twenty-three scattered Royal Guards charged toward Jule all at once.
“Hmph.”
As Jule calmly gripped the hilt of the magic sword, the weapon’s power activated.
Scarlet sword strikes radiated outward from Jule in a circle, blocking the Royal Guards’ charge. Three of them failed to dodge and were split apart by the attack.
“!”
Then, far away, Simon couldn’t hide his pain and clutched his chest.
Looking closely, Jule could confirm that the damage was to the same body part as the Royal Guards had received.
‘Indeed, Elisa’s analysis was correct.’
But Simon didn’t take it lying down. A Royal Guard appeared, cloak fluttering, and thrust its sword from the front.
Jule quickly turned his head to evade, but from the side, an emerald sword strike came down, smashing against his barrier.
‘Fast!’
An astonishingly swift blade, hard to believe it belonged to a skeleton.
Jule quickly broke out of the encirclement and ran, with twenty Royal Guards chasing after him.
He would have to take them down one by one.
While fleeing, Jule leapt high, planted both feet on a nearby brick house wall, and launched himself forward like a spring.
His target was the Royal Guard in front.
‘One first.’
Jule swung his sword’s scabbard, and the Royal Guard raised its blade in a defensive stance.
Claaang!
But the moment their blades clashed, the other side’s sword became three. The Royal Guards on the left and right had intervened, boosting their defense.
Shhhhk!
Shhhhk!
At the same time, the Royal Guards behind him struck, heavily reducing his barrier gauge.
‘Their coordination is exceptional.’
Simon was controlling all twenty skeletons himself, leaving no blind spots.
Twenty blades moved as one, tightening the encirclement around Jule. Emerald sword-light poured in from every direction, painting the air in dazzling colors.
‘Once you’re surrounded, it’s defeat!’
Jule abandoned direct confrontation and began fighting in a style that kept his distance.
Each time he gripped the magic sword’s hilt while fleeing, a Royal Guard fell to the ground, and Simon also took damage.
‘Your Royal Guards are without a doubt formidable. Once activated, even skilled fighters from Keyzen would be helpless before them. However!’
Still holding the sword’s hilt, Jule slammed it into the ground.
‘For me, it’s no different than having more targets to cut!’
<Golden Wheel>
From the scabbard stabbed into the ground, seven slashes raced across the floor.
More Royal Guards fell, and this time—thud!—one of Simon’s knees hit the ground.
‘To wield this magic sword, I’ve given up much.’
Though hidden by his uniform, six permanent magic circles were inscribed directly onto Jule’s bare body.
In order to wield the magic sword, Jule had to sacrifice many things.
He had lost an eye, lost his sense of taste, and given up restful sleep. Each day he groaned in pain and was tormented by nightmares.
As a necromancer, nearly all other fields of black magic—curses, summoning, haematology—were sealed off to him. All he had left was this one magic sword.
While other students learned something from professors, Jule gave something up.
And the more he gave up, the stronger the sword became.
Giving things up—that was Jule’s way of growing.
‘I want to know!’
Another Royal Guard shattered under the magic sword’s slash, and Simon’s complexion turned pale.
‘With this magic sword I gained by discarding what made me who I was, how far can I reach?’
As Jule began to adapt to the Royal Guards’ attacks, Simon made a drastic change.
Scrrrt. Scrrrt.
The bluish-green glow faded from some of the Royal Guards, and they crumbled into piles of bone fragments on the ground.
In an instant, the once-numerous Royal Guards were reduced to five. Simon had intentionally diminished his own strength.
‘A blatant mistake!’
To give up the summoner’s greatest advantage—numbers—on his own?
There was no more reason to hesitate. Jule charged straight at the summoner, Simon.
But even as he panted, Simon wore a faint smile.
“Of course, common sense dictates,”
A Royal Guard stepped in front of the charging Jule, blocking his way.
“when the numbers go down,”
From above, a Royal Guard spun like a tumbler and brought its sword down.
Clang!
Jule blocked it, his feet sinking into the ground.
“control quality goes up.”
Jule darted to the side and thrust with the scabbard, but the Royal Guard merely tilted its head to dodge and countercharged, stabbing his flank as it passed.
“Hm!”
Jule immediately gripped the magic sword’s hilt.
Shhhhk!
A straight slash tore through the air, but the Royal Guards simply crouched low to evade it.
‘Impossible!’
The missed strike smashed into an innocent pile of rocks, throwing up a cloud of dust.
Then, cutting through the dust cloud, five emerald sword strikes came crashing down on Jule.
“Khuhk!”
Five blades and one cursed sword clashed fiercely. Blinding sword-light burst again and again.
One Royal Guard spun like a top, slashing; another leapt through the air, launching diving attacks; one met Jule head-on, deflecting his blows; another circled to his rear, thrusting in a flurry.
Sword wounds opened all over Jule’s body, and his barrier gauge turned red.
‘In that case, there’s only one way!’
Ignoring the Royal Guards, Jule charged straight at Simon. Then, gripping the scabbard with both hands, he held it upright before his face.
Click.
‘!’
Simon’s eyes widened at the sight.
Not completely, but for the first time, Jule’s scabbard opened. The crimson blade inside gleamed brightly, reflecting the light.
Jule’s body was facing forward, but his gaze was fixed on the Royal Guards pursuing from behind.
‘No way!’
Simon issued an Absolute Order to the entire Royal Guard.
<Four Wheels>
Shhhhraaaaak!
Four sword strikes cut clean through the torsos of the pursuing Royal Guards. Their upper bodies fell in unison, and Simon’s eyes lost focus as he collapsed to his knees with a thud.
“You were a formidable foe.”
Jule, who had been in the stance of partially drawing the magic sword, was now holding it fully drawn from the scabbard, as if turning the next page of a book.
Thud!
Dropping the scabbard, he raised the magic sword and charged at Simon. The tip of the blade aimed for Simon’s neck.
“!”
At that moment, light flashed back into Simon’s eyes, and he tilted his body to avoid the strike. He stepped in and pressed his palm to Jule’s abdomen.
<Simon’s Original – Shockwave>
Bwooosh!
A wave surged from his palm, blasting Jule backward.
‘How is he unharmed…!’
Jule’s eyes darted behind him.
Of the five Royal Guards he had just cut down, four were charging toward him with their bodies completely intact.
“Of course.”
With a fierce burst of sword-light, the Royal Guards crossed past Jule’s body. They froze mid-swing, blades poised, and from Jule’s airborne form—
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
Four sword-lights flashed, striking home. Jule’s barrier turned a blazing red at its limit.
“I wasn’t cut, you see.”
Panting, Simon raised a finger upward.
Thud!
Jule collapsed to the ground. He groaned softly, looking up at Simon.
“How…!”
“You didn’t cut the Royal Guards.”
When Simon had seen Jule’s gaze fixed backward during that final technique, he realized Jule was aiming for the Royal Guards.
So, predicting the sword’s path, he used Absolute Order to detach the skeletons’ bodies, letting the sword strikes pass harmlessly through the gaps.
Hearing this, Jule was shocked.
“You… you predicted my sword path and detached their parts?”
“Yeah. You still can’t fully control that magic sword, can you?”
The moment it was drawn from its scabbard, the magic sword seemed to slip beyond Jule’s control. Jule could only suggest its direction, and even then, several experiments had confirmed he wasn’t fully aware of the reality-warping process it invoked.
Jule gave a hollow laugh, as if finally convinced.
“I have been completely defeated.”
Click. Click click.
Under Simon’s command, the disassembled bone fragments of the Royal Guards in the air transformed into Bone Nails. Jule closed his eyes.
“I will challenge you again, in perfect condition next time.”
‘…I’d rather not accept.’
From Simon’s perspective too, Jule was truly a necromancer he never wanted to face.
Of all the students he had fought recently, Jule was the strongest.
“Well fought.”
With a downward sweep of Simon’s arm, countless Bone Nails struck Jule’s final barrier.
[Jule Vincere eliminated.]
[Defense Team (12/15)]
[Siege Team (11/15)]
His body vanished completely from the battlefield.
* * *
At the same time, in front of the North Gate.
“Attack! Attack! Keep pushing!”
Elisa, the Siege Team’s Supreme Commander, was personally leading the assault on the north gate.
Just then, a message appeared.
[Jule Vincere eliminated.]
“Hm.”
Even though the Siege Team’s key asset, Jule, had been taken out, she showed no sign of being shaken.
“Well done, Jule. I won’t let your sacrifice be in vain.”
She raised the nameplate in her hand.
“Raq, you got in safely? Destroy it.”
* * *
While Simon and Jule were fighting fiercely, the siege battle was unfolding evenly.
All the forces of the Aoun Kingdom defending the outer wall had retreated to the inner castle, and now the Karl Kingdom had begun its assault on the inner castle.
Amid the fierce fighting, good news arrived.
The Special Admission No. 5, Jule, had been eliminated.
“Wow! They got Jule here!”
“Nice, nice!”
“Don’t let your guard down!”
Everyone was laughing and cheering, but Maelyn’s face remained sharply focused. She was coating the wall with ice to make climbing soldiers slip down.
“We have to hold perfectly until time runs out!”
“Yeah, we know.”
“Still, this place really feels secure.”
In the outer wall, they had to watch for every single arrow from the enemy, but the inner wall’s great height gave them a strong sense of safety.
Whether climbing the wall or breaking the gate, it would be hard for the enemy to breach it. With fewer critical defense points, the students could also conserve their Darkness.
“Good, good!”
Dick clapped his hands, encouraging the others.
“Guys! If we just hold like th—”
[Guardian Stone has been destroyed.]
[Dewey Norman eliminated.]
A sudden message.
The transparent magic barrier enveloping the entire inner castle began to fade.
“Huh?”
“What? We were defending the inner castle, when did—?!”
At that moment, everyone’s gaze turned to the sky.
A black dragon, its massive wings spread wide, was rising into the air.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters
Very good story and translation but half the chapter aren't for free and it is wayyyy too expensive will it stat like tjis foreve or will it get free after some time