REAPER SCANS
Necromancer Academy's Genius Summoner
[Translator - Ramen]
[Proofreader - Artethrax]
Chapter 367
Savage werewolves emerged from the darkness of the forest.
Rough fur covered their bulky bodies, standing almost as tall as Simon despite being on all fours. The reddish gleam of their teeth also indicated they were a particularly dangerous pack of werewolves.
Simon held up Herseva, transformed into a staff, and said,
"Herseva, I'm going to fight now with your power. Explain to me in detail the supernatural abilities you possess."
Herseva looked surprised.
[Wh-What are you talking about?! I haven't even given you my permission yet!]
"Permission, my ass!"
[Ah! Ahh! Could you not hold me so tightly? Your hands are covered in sweat! It's filthy!]
Even as a staff, the lich was still talkative.
Just then, one of the werewolves in the front, crouching and waiting for an opportunity, suddenly leaped in.
"Herseva!"
Shouted Simon urgently. She grunted, saying, "Fine!" before tightly closing her wooden eyes, and lifted her staff form up high.
Then…
Pow!
She struck the top of Simon's head hard with the end of the staff, not the werewolf. At the same time, the werewolf's sharp claws struck Simon.
Clang!
[Whimper…!]
The werewolf fell back in pain and rolled on the ground. It was as if its claws had struck a hard rock.
That's when Simon realized he had turned into shimmering gold. His body, stiff like a statue, soon returned to normal.
"Woah!"
Exclaimed Simon. When he came to his senses, the werewolf that attacked was already rolling on the ground.
[This is my ability.]
Said Herseva.
[I can turn anything I touch into gold. Don't you think it's a power merchants and the wealthy would go crazy for?]
Herseva moved on her own, smacking herself against sand on the ground to create a cloud of tiny, gold sharps. The sharps then gathered in the air to form a woman's body.
A beautiful woman with long hair, presumably Herseva's appearance when she was still alive.
Sitting on the staff like a witch, she smiled kindly.
[The duration of Herseva's Touch, if I don't release it, is about thirty minutes for living things and a week for non-living things. I'm not exactly if that's changed now that I've become an undead. Oh! Right, I don't have hands to touch things with anymore now that I'm a staff!]
"That's amazing."
Simon was impressed just from hearing the explanation.
But there was no time to rest, as another werewolf charged in from behind.
[You got the hang of it, right?]
Herseva hugged Simon's shoulder in her glistening female form and placed her hand around Simon's as they held the staff together.
"Yeah."
The two shouted as they swung the staff at the approaching werewolf,
"Herseva's Touch!"
[Herseva's Touch!]
Thud!
The werewolf was turned into gold mid-leap.
[And at the same time…!]
Herseva's eyes sparkled. The wolf that turned into gold suddenly shot up dozens of meters into the air.
[I can control all the gold in the world, including the gold I transformed!]
The golden enchantment was released while the werewolf was high up in the air. Now made of flesh and bone, it started to fall, crashing into a rocky outcrop and dying instantly.
[And… Pant! Pant! Don't turn living things into gold if possible! It's hella tiring!]
"Okay. The main thing is turning objects into gold and controlling them."
Herseva pretended to flick her forehead. The sand forming her female self collapsed and fell to the ground.
Having gotten the hang of it, Simon held the staff that contained Herseva with both hands and bent his knees, ready for action.
Three furious werewolves charged in at once.
'Herseva's Touch!'
Simon struck the ground with the staff's tip, turning the ground around him for a few meters into gold. The werewolves that were once charging on soft dirt immediately slipped as if on ice.
'And control!'
He lifted the staff slightly from the ground, and struck it down again.
Pshk! Pshk!
Grains of golden dirt shot up into sharp spikes, stabbing up through the werewolves' exposed underbellies and all the way out through the back. Needless to say, they were dead
[Pretty good, kid.]
Meanwhile, Simon was in shock as he looked at the spikes he had raised.
On closer inspection, they weren't spikes but instead looked like the roofs of pointy buildings.
"That's strange. I didn't think of something like this while controlling it."
[You give the orders, but it's ultimately my power, after all.]
Simon was satisfied. The responsiveness and power were great. Most importantly, it didn't consume his own jet-black.
This was the power of a lich. In a way, Simon had defeated monsters by just wielding the staff without using any of his jet-black.
'With this…!'
Unlike before, he wouldn't be placed in a situation where he can't fight after using the Royal Bodyguards. In fact, when necessary, he could use the Royal Bodyguards and Herseva's Touch together.
This was the best summon for Simon, whose endurance was lacking in combat.
'?'
But then Simon looked at his arm.
From his right hand holding Herseva to his arm, black and gold ribbons or bandages were swirling at a certain distance.
"What's this?"
[...Hm?]
Herseva, again in her female sand form, rubbed her chin.
[The Gown of the Golden King. It's the symbol of the Golden King. Usually, it appears when I use my abilities, but strangely, it seems to have transferred to you.]
Not understanding what she said, Simon touched the strange bandages covering his arm.
The material seemed like metal, but the texture felt like fabric. It was gradually spreading from his right arm to his entire body.
[That's proof that you also have the authority of the Golden City.]
"Eh? The Golden City? I've never heard of that in my entire life…"
[Do you want me to tell you more?]
Herseva's eyes gleamed for a moment.
[Try to keep using the ability, kid. Until the Gown of the Golden King covers your entire body.]
Then, she scattered again, settling on the ground.
Simon nodded with determination, and used Herseva's Touch repeatedly on the surrounding werewolves.
After subduing about ten werewolves…
[Good. That should be enough. Stick me straight down into the ground.]
Simon did as instructed and planted Herseva in the ground.
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrumble!
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator - Ramen
Proofreader - Artethrax
Join our discord for updates on releases!
* * *
Something was rising from the golden ground centered around Herseva.
'Wh-What is that?'
They were buildings from a culture Simon did not recognize, despite his father's tutelage.
This time, not only roofs but entire buildings rose from the ground.
Soon, the doors flung open from the revealed buildings, and things began to walk out from them.
'What in the world…!'
[Gyagyagyagyagyagyagyah!]
Monsters wrapped entirely in bandages.
Simon had never seen these creatures in person but knew them from the undead encyclopedia.
Undead that didn't exist on the continent but was known to exist elsewhere. Truly a legendary undead.
'Mummies!'
Herseva continued to raise buildings of the Golden City, and mummies came out from inside them.
They all awaited Simon's orders.
[Kuhehe! This is interesting!]
Perhaps he was observing. Pier's clone opened its mouth.
[I was wondering why you insisted on making a lich, but it seems you hit the jackpot, Boy!]
The true ability of the lich Herseva.
It was the ability to infinitely summon mummies from the Golden City.
[Looks like the legendary army of mummies joined the Seventh Legion! Congratulations, Boy!]
"…Ah."
Simon was quite stunned, but he couldn't help but feel a surge of joy deep in his heart.
[Hmm~ It seems the specifics of my abilities have changed since becoming undead.]
Said Herseva this time.
[Originally, creating such undead wasn't part of my abilities.]
"Oh, really?"
[It seems the efficiency of my touch ability has decreased, but a new ability to create undead as a lich has been added. Hm…]
However, this caused a new problem in of itself.
The werewolves had been driven away, but the mummies began to multiply endlessly.
The Forbidden Forest was off-limits to students, and it was already late at night.
To avoid being discovered by the Keepers, Simon pulled Herseva out of the ground and held her up high.
Then, the Golden City and the mummies began to vanish as if they had never existed, blown away by the wind.
[Right, right. There's still one last thing left.]
"There's more?"
[Yeah! I'm not sure if the power will work when you're the one wearing the Gown, but shall we give it a try?]
Whirrrrrrrrrr!
A massive golden light poured out from the staff.
[Listen carefully. The first stage of my ability is the Herseva's Touch, and the second stage is the Golden City and its villagers. But my true power starts from the third stage!]
Before he knew it, a complete gown of black and gold formed across Simon's entire body.
[I'll show you! The limit of my power!]
For an instant, Simon felt like fainting.
But then…
———————————!
He was invited into a world covered in sand and gold.
* * *
[Commander! Commander!]
When Simon opened his eyes, he saw Elizabeth's worried face.
'Huh?'
Simon was lying on her lap. As he staggered to his feet, he saw the Ancient Undead gathered around him.
[I guess the final power was too much after all.]
Saying that Herseva, still a staff, was hung on a tree, wrapped in spider webs.
[Shut your mouth, lich!]
Furious, Elizabeth's mouth opened up as her normally hidden mandibles clicked in warning.
[How dare you, you block of wood!!]
[I-I didn't know it would turn out like this!]
You could see the eyes on the staff spinning wildly.
[But still, that was an amazing experience, wasn't it, kid?]
"…"
Simon clenched his fist and nodded.
"Yeah. I really want to try and go back to that world."
[You're too exhausted, Commander. You need to rest.]
"Yeah, fine."
Simon stood up properly and started the trek back to the ruins.
The smile never left his face.
He felt that he had obtained a truly powerful summon.
* * *
The next day was the weekend.
After spending a night in Pier's ruins, Simon headed straight for Rochest.
Since Gelen Eclipse, the subspace artisan, said he'd be on Roke Island for about a week, Simon went to meet him with Benya.
"You want me to create a personal subspace? Like the Overlord back then?"
Simon nodded repeatedly.
"Yes! Yes! Exactly like the Overlord, where the body is safely in the subspace but can still affect the outside! Is that possible?"
"It's not difficult. I've done it before, too."
Gelen gave Simon two options.
One was to create a completely new product.
The other one was to modify one of his pending works into a personal subspace.
Back when Gelen made the Overlord subspace, he had done the latter.
"Since you said you'll only be here for about a week, I'll go with the fastest option, please!"
"I see! Then let's modify some pending work."
Gelen took out a brown pouch and poured its contents onto the table.
A lot of shiny accessories tumbled out. These were all subspaces.
"There are a few good ones here."
Gelen smiled as he selected one of them.
"It just needs to connect to the outside from the subspace, right?"
"Yes! While lasting as long as possible!"
The biggest problem with Herseva right now was that she couldn't move the lich part of her.
Originally, she would've used her abilities by directly wielding the staff as a lich, but now her spirit was inside the staff.
Simon planned to store her body in the subspace like the Overlord and only pull out the staff for battle. After all, if an enemy luckily hit her Life Vessel, he'd lose not only 25,000 gold, but also the mummy army.
Gelen said he'd notify him through Benya when the ordered subspace was completed. He also offered to modify the Overlord subspace as a bonus if Simon wanted, so he entrusted that to him as well.
'I can't wait to use Herseva in an actual battle!'
He could hardly withstand the itch to use her.
For the rest of the time he had before needing to head back to Kizen, he decided to focus entirely on training with the supernatural ability.
——
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