Chapter 602
After the weekend and two days of major classes.
Midterms finally began.
For the time being, Simon had forced himself to forget about Manus and devoted himself to written exam preparation.
“Don’t get nervous. Just show the ability you’ve prepared.”
Aron spoke. In front of each student with hands resting on their heads, an overturned test sheet lay on the desk.
“Cheating will be graded zero. I won’t say don’t do it, but if you think you can, go ahead and try.”
As befitting a Summonology professor, Aron’s way of catching cheaters was unique. Around him floated summoned creatures like dragonflies, each with multiple eyes.
Checking the clock, he opened his mouth.
“Begin.”
It was a forced march.
The exam lasted more than four hours. Even if biological urges came, they had to be endured. It was a ruthless battle of concentration.
Simon focused on the heavy paper and the black letters written within, solving them one by one.
Every professor had their own peculiar way of catching cheaters during midterms, which was a small amusement in itself.
The Summonology professors summoned creatures that compensated for sight and hearing. Jane calculated the classroom space and positioned assistants seamlessly in the rear and sides. Hongpeng climbed atop the lectern and pressed down on the students with a domineering gaze.
“Excuse me for a moment, everyone.”
Bahil cursed the very ‘space’ of the classroom itself. Students trembled inside the blood-red room like a scene out of a horror novel, forced to take their exams in terror.
Not knowing exactly how the curse worked made it scarier. Even without the intention to cheat, if the curse misfired, it would be horrific.
“Hm.”
Bahil left the cheating surveillance to his curse and busied himself pretending to patrol, while actually peeking over Simon’s test paper with great enthusiasm.
‘T-too much pressure!’
Simon felt like crying. Especially when he wrote answers for essay questions, Bahil stood so close behind that he could feel the excited breath on his neck.
—Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!
With such eyes boring into him, Simon’s nape prickled.
Having completely forgotten the duties of an exam proctor, Bahil was finally smacked on the back and dragged away by chief assistant Chehekle.
And the most difficult subject turned out to be, unexpectedly, the last one: Monarch Studies.
—In the Kingdom of Baldwin’s northern and southern regions, select all incorrect placements of dishes and tableware.
—Choose the wrong order of a course meal. Note: the season is summer and the dress code is black.
‘What does dress code have to do with course order!’
The etiquette of Monarch Studies felt like the malicious pranks of nobles. Did one really have to be on such an edge just to enjoy a meal?
The easiest exam, ironically, came right after.
“……What are you doing?”
Professor Farahan of Defense Against Holiness asked with a baffled expression.
“Ah.”
Five minutes into the test, Simon lifted his head from the desk he had collapsed on.
“I finished.”
For a moment, envious glares stabbed at him, but Simon had no time to care. Fatigue had built up, so he just laid his head down and slept.
An hour later, a clear bell rang.
“It’s over!”
“Freedom at last!”
Students tossed their test papers and cheered. Their faces were pale and their eyes hollow, but their spirits were soaring.
But Simon could not celebrate yet.
Another test, as important as midterms, still remained.
‘Let’s hurry back.’
He had gone all-in on midterms, but now it was time to resume preparing Manus Dullahan.
Only two days remained.
Simon headed not to the Mutant Club, but to the ruins of Feer, where the Ancient Undeads of the Legion resided.
—Such a monstrosity must be scrapped!
In truth, when Benya learned Simon had been injured creating Manus, she was furious and insisted on scrapping it. But Simon shook his head.
—The injury was entirely my mistake. It’s too early to abandon this research.
Though worried, Benya could not object further. Manus belonged to Simon.
Still, keeping it in the club basement was risky with first-years around, so Simon decided to relocate Manus to the safe ruins of Feer.
[Khuhuhu! You’ve come, boy!]
[Welcome, young master.]
[Commmaaandeeer~]
Simon’s Ancient Undeads.
Feer, Akemius, and Erzebet—greeted him warmly. The floating lich staff Herseba wagged its body side to side in greeting.
“Have you all been well?”
Simon exchanged greetings with them as he walked.
Atop the altar in the ruins sat Manus’ skull.
“Nothing happened to Manus during exams, right?”
[Khuhuhu! Indeed. It’s been still.]
Simon plopped down and began laying out materials for the dullahan’s creation.
Erzebet approached with concern.
[Are you certain right after exams, my lord? You should rest a day.]
“No.”
Simon pulled out his tools with determination.
“It’s already too late. Now it’s do or die. I need results.”
From subspace, Simon summoned a zombie.
“Want to join in? Prince.”
He touched the gray ring on his left hand to the zombie’s body. With a crack of black lightning, the zombie transformed into Prince.
[Hahaha!]
Prince immediately thrust out his hand at Manus.
[Serves you right, Manus! How does it feel, being just a head?]
Prince and Manus had once clashed for dominance over the Deathland. Simon shook his head.
“Manus’ consciousness is long gone.”
Regardless, Prince continued to jeer.
Simon chuckled faintly and pulled more materials from subspace.
‘Alright, let’s start again slowly.’
Simon managed to produce a dullahan with Abaddon.
But this alone wouldn’t be enough to defeat Hector, Aseraz, or the other students who had obtained Guardians. He had to complete Manus Dullahan.
‘Still, midterms gave me time to process my thoughts.’
The dullahan creation process, in the simplest terms, was as follows:
Draw two summoning magic circles—one on the head, one on the torso.
Connect the two circles using the Rune of Linkage.
This way, though physically separated, the undead’s head could control the torso via the rune.
It looked inefficient at first glance, but there was a reason.
‘……The dullahan’s explosive power and output.’
The dullahan absorbs huge amounts of mana, overdrives the Darkness Engine, and channels Darkness throughout its body. This places tremendous strain on the flesh.
If a summoning circle were placed inside the body, it would be damaged within a minute by the rampaging Darkness.
Like a ghoul destroyed after using Lino’s Golden Line, the dullahan would become a disposable undead.
But in modern dullahans, the summoning circle is kept in the head. With no risk of damage, the body can be overdriven freely.
‘The more I think about it, the more amazing it is.’
The creator of the first dullahan turned the weakness of having a separate head and body into a strength.
This much Simon had learned from the Summonology professors’ special lecture.
But the problem: the Rune of Linkage is designed only for undead whose head and body belong together.
Simon was stuck, unable to break through this bottleneck.
“Another failure.”
Lying flat after another botched trial with practice materials, Simon sighed. Then Feer approached with a dark chuckle.
[Why not simply give up on this ‘Rune of Linkage’?]
“Huh?”
Feer plopped down beside him.
[ I do not know much of human black magic, but that rune cannot link two entirely different entities. ]
“But.”
Simon folded his arms and closed his eyes.
“That is the very essence of a dullahan. Without the Rune of Linkage and the core formulas, it cannot even be called a dullahan.”
He had considered assembling Manus into a skeleton, but attaching another skeleton’s body would never allow it to fully exert its power.
Above all, his promise to Aron—made in exchange for learning the Bone Dragon—was that he would create the most outstanding dullahan among his peers.
The second-year’s ultimate goal, the Bone Dragon, was something Simon could never abandon.
[May I speak a word, young master?]
At that moment, Akemius interjected.
[Even for the undead, their body in life remains important. It is rare for one’s body to be moved by another will. Of course, there is one exception—]
“If there is?”
[A chimera. Specifically, an abomination.]
A strange gleam passed through Akemius’ eyes.
[Though as an undead I do not look favorably upon them, abominations move with flesh and tissue from disparate beings intertwined.]
Hearing this, Simon abruptly leapt to his feet.
* * *
“You’re asking if the will of one undead can move the body of another?”
Simon was now in Grerion’s laboratory, the same cave he had first visited during Summon Materials Science, accessible only by rail cart.
The cave was thick with humid air, and the stench of sweat lingered.
“Hoo.”
Grerion was in the middle of lifting and lowering a makeshift barbell in the center of the cave. On each side of the iron rod hung equally sized boulders.
‘……How can a person even lift that?’
Simon gaped at the sight.
Thud!
Grerion set the weight down and finally approached Simon. Wiping sweat with the towel around his neck, he appeared noticeably leaner than before—likely the backlash from having used a technique that chimerized his entire body during the battle in the Frigod Autonomous Region.
“Why are you curious about such a thing?”
Simon quickly stepped aside.
Grerion had not been approaching him, but reaching for another contraption. This time he grasped a massive lever mechanism connected to the cave wall, pulling and pressing it repeatedly.
Crrrack!
Craaaack!
Each time, the cave shook as though groaning.
“I would think students should be focused on dullahan creation at this time.”
Simon scratched his head and spoke with an awkward smile.
“Well, actually…”
He explained the entire situation honestly—how he only had the Guardian’s body, and wanted to make another undead’s head control that body.
At that, Grerion burst into booming laughter.
“An amusing notion! Most would dismiss such thoughts as delusions, but you seriously came to me for help. That is amusing indeed!”
Thud!
He released the lever and stepped closer.
“Just as Aron said.”
“Pardon?”
“No, nothing. If you ask whether the will of one undead can be linked to another’s body… under certain premises, it is possible.”
He pulled several books from subspace.
“I suppose you came here thinking of abominations?”
‘……How did he know?’
Simon thought, once again, how professors were on another level, and obediently nodded.
“First, these are the runes abominations use.”
Simon’s eyes widened as he saw them.
‘Ugh, that’s complicated.’
Not only difficult, but their system was entirely different from the runes Simon usually employed.
“And while abominations seem like a jumble of mismatched flesh, in truth, chimera techniques integrate the tissues so that multiple bodies function as one. It is not the same as linking two separate bodies.”
“……Ah.”
Thud!
Grerion slammed his fist against the cave wall.
“I ask you this, Simon Follentia.”
“Yes, sir!”
Simon straightened immediately.
“Your concept is undoubtedly radical.”
A grin spread across Grerion’s face.
“Then why is your method not radical?”
“……!”
“Why cling to existing Summonology knowledge? Why restrict yourself to the frameworks of established runes?”
He raised his thick arm.
“To me, your idea is but a delusion. Yet you seek to make that delusion reality. Why? Is it because it sounds cool? Because finishing it would be impressive? Because you want to boast?”
His fingertip stopped just before Simon’s forehead.
“No. It is because you truly believe you can.”
“……”
“The answer is already in your head. Ask yourself—are you truly employing every possible means within your reach to create this delusion of a dullahan?”
It felt like being struck on the back of the skull with a hammer.
Simon’s heart began to pound violently.
It wasn’t even something particularly profound, but somehow a fire was kindled in his chest.
“……Thank you!”
At last, a smile appeared on Simon’s lips.
“I think… I can do it.”
As Simon left, Grerion smiled faintly.
—If Simon ever seeks help in dullahan creation, do not give technical advice. Instead, point him toward the proper path.
‘……So, his mentor’s judgment was correct after all.’
And so, time passed.
At last, the day of the Single Undead Operation practical evaluation arrived.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters