Chapter 223


    <em>Yona was an indomitable man.</em>


    <em>Countless forces challenged him relentlessly, yet he could not be broken.</em>


    <em>One of the Seven Saintesses, having just burned the Dresden Kingdom''s great armies to the ground, told her challenger, Yona,</em>


    <em>"Give up. Your allies are dead."</em>


    <em>Yona replied,</em>


    <em>"Nonsense. Death is only the beginning."</em>


    <em>At that, tens of thousands of undead rose from the ashes.</em>


    <em>The situation had been reversed.</em>


    <em>Even if priests purified the corpses so they could never rise again, the priests would rise from their graves once they were in.</em>


    <em>Victory in the War of White Night.</em>


    <em>Victory in the Naval Battle of Graham.</em>


    <em>Victory in Heitz Field.</em>


    <em>He needed no help from any necromancer.</em>


    <em>An unstoppable army all by himself.</em>


    <em>Yona and the Legion that followed him tore through the Holy Federation with terrifying speed. Priests would whisper his name in fear of summoning him if they spoke too loud.</em>


    ""


    Having read this far, Simon briefly closed the book and double checked the title.


    ''Have I picked up an old epic?''


    [The History of the Legion]


    No, it was indeed a history book.


    Simon, struggling to grasp how such an ount was in a nonfiction text, read over the table of contents once more.


    The book recorded historical facts, but Yona''s achievements were so glorious that they could be mistaken for a heroic tale fabricated to inspire necromancers.


    He looked at the entries for the othermanders, wondering if they were all like this, but they were nd. It was just a bunch of historical records.


    The author seemed to only get excited writing Yona''s history.


    <em>No one could match Yona, the living god of war. He even killed the Master of the Blue-Cloud Mountain and raised him as another subordinate.</em>


    Simon scoffed.


    ''This author is such a fan of my father.''


    At first, Simon thought the story was silly and exaggerated, but something about it made his heart grow fonder the more he read it.


    He also found it fascinating that the story''s main character was the mild-mannered man he grew up in the same house with.


    However, the ending was a little anticlimactic.


    <em>The Battle of Balot.</em>


    <em>The Battle of Harona.</em>


    <em>The Battle of Hanverse.</em>


    <em>The death of Yona.</em>


    <em>The Seventh Legion is disbanded.</em>


    The author, who had written everyst detail of every other battle, simply listed the historical facts at the end without diving into what actually happened. It was almost as though the author was disappointed with the way it ended.


    ''Kizen and Efnel alike They were both in a hurry to hide the truth, huh?''


    The greatest Commander and the greatest Saintess of the time.


    Thest of the two, their respective factions'' aces up the sleeve, had settled in a way neither could have imagined.


    In Efnel, to protect divinity''s dignity and the authority of the Saintesses, stated that Anna had died in battle.


    In Kizen, they imed that Yona was killed in battle alongside the Saintess of Miracles, and all other ounts were erased.


    Either way, they both didn''t want the story to end with union between the two sides.


    Simon closed the book, an odd feeling in his chest. Then, he took the next one from the towering pile.


    Just as he was opening it to the chapter on Yona and began to read


    "How nice of you to study so early in the morning."


    "!"


    Simon felt his hair stand on end.


    He slowly turned to look behind him and saw a man wearing sses and with hair the same shade of brown as fallen leaves.


    "What are you reading?"


    Walter Han, the new Professor of Hemomancy.


    Simon audibly gulped despite not having done anything wrong.


    Before Simon could reply, Walter took the initiative.


    "Oh, you have been reading about Yona, the final Commander of the Seventh Legion. I also quite like him."


    Simon calmed his frantic heart and smoothly asked,


    "Why do you like him, Professor?"


    "He is a legend among professional necromancers. Not much is known about him because he worked alone, but his aplishments are great. I was of the impression that kids were not interested in him due to hisck of mention in the textbooks."


    Walter put one of his thick hands on Simon''s head.


    "You''ve been researching Yona since this morning, I see. Well done. Knowing history is as important as studying dark magic."


    Then, he slowly patted Simon on the head.


    It only made him more scared, so he moved away to avoid Walter''s touch and tried to smile.


    "You seem to be very interested in cores."


    Simon had quickly looked at the titles of the books Walter borrowed.


    There were two. [Study of New Core Development] and [Secrets of Core Awakening].


    "Well, yes. It is certainly something the Professor of Hemomancy should be interested in. Especially when ites to core operation"


    "Not core operation."


    Simon pointed to the first book.


    "It seems like you want to create an entirely new type of core."


    Walter merely smiled.


    "Interesting idea."


    He tucked the book under his arm and turned away.


    "You are in ss A, the same ss as Camibarez, right? Studying history is good, but make sure you are notte for your first ss."


    With that, Walter strode off.


    Simon watched him until he waspletely out of the library before finally letting himself sigh with relief.


    ''I thought it''d be alright with how early I was. I should be more careful from now on.''


    Simon picked up the books and walked away, putting them back in their proper ces.


    * * *


    * * *


    He was almostte to ss. Simon gathered his things and arrived at the Hemomancy lecture room.


    Rick was the first to arrive, and he was slumped over his desk with massive bags under his eyes.


    When Simon sat next to him, he looked up with a yawn.


    "Where were you this morning? You worried me when I saw no one in your bed."


    "Just a quick trip to the library. I had a few questions on my mind."


    Rick''s eyes widened sharply at Simon''s reply.


    "Y-You traitor!"


    "?"


    "You''ve be such a grinder! Did Meilyn do this to you? Are you going to study out of spite now? We may have enrolled at different times, but I thought we promised to get expelled at the sa <em>Bleeeeeegh!</em>"


    He suddenly covered his mouth, swallowing down vomit. The students around him scattered like cockroaches at the sound.


    Some students even ran to the restroom, covering their mouths as if the sound was contagious.


    "Ugh, the after-effects of Poisonous Alchemy are crazy."


    Barely calming down, Rick slumped back into his seat.


    "Hello, you two!"


    Camibarez and Meilyn had arrived in the lecture hall.


    After exchanging greetings, Simon looked over at Meilyn.


    "What''s wrong, Meilyn?"


    Her face was coveredpletely with her light-blue hair, making her look like a freaky ghost.


    Meilyn whispered something to Camibarez, then bowed deeply.


    Camibarez ryed it.


    "She said, ''I''m still embarrassed by the spots and rashes on my face from the poison, so please don''t look at me.'' "


    "Hah~ you''re being weird. So weird."


    Teased Rick, chuckling to himself.


    "I mean, we all look ugly. Don''t you think you''re being too sensitive about it? It''s early in the morning. Let''s talk freely without hiding our hideous faces."


    Meilyn whispered again to Camibarez, and with a smile, Camibarez said,


    "She said, ''Shut the fuck up.'' "


    "Wow, it''s quite painful hearing such harsh words from Cami. Who would make her say such a thing?"


    "Fuck offfffffffff!"


    Rick flinched as Meilyn, who had been covering her face with her bangs, flipped her hair back in frustration.


    "I don''t care, I don''t care! Go ahead, look at me all you want!"


    Simon and Rick''s gazes immediately fixed on her. There were gray streaks going vertically across Meilyn''s face.


    It was like a


    "Watermelon?"


    "Shut up!!"


    Meilyn blushed and threw a textbook at Simon. The pattern on her face was quickly hidden by her bright red face.


    Rick pped and pointed to her face.


    "Wow! Now it''s the inside of a watermelon!"


    ""


    This time, the air around her went cold as she gathered ice, seriously intending to kill Rick. Camibarez and Simon had to desperately hold her back.


    "Sigh, honestly."


    Hell had broken loose. Only after freezing over two chairs did Meilyn sit back down, clutching her forehead.


    "I have to take sses like that more than once a week for the rest of the semester? I''d rather die."


    Before Rick couldment on her statement, somebody shouted, "Professor ising."


    The students scurried back to their seats, and a new set of assistant teachers entered the ssroom.


    Lastly, Walter made his appearance. Now nicknamed the ''chiseled statue'', he had be very popr from day one.


    The question of who was more handsome, Bahil or Water, had be a hot topic among the girls and even some of the guys at Kizen.


    "Nice to meet you all."


    Walter spoke with a gentle smile.


    "I am Walter Han, and I shall be taking over for Professor Sge in Hemomancy."


    Screaming cheers erupted from around the room. It felt more like a fan club than a lecture.


    "I grew up under Professor Sge''s tutge as well, so there will not be any major changes from the curriculum you are used to. Be rest assured that there will not be any need to adjust."


    This was a wee change to the ss A students who had just been through Belya''s Poisonous Alchemy ss.


    "Then, let us do a quick review before moving on."


    Walter stepped up to the stage and cleared his throat. His voice was like chocte for the ears.


    "Hemomancy is a form of dark magic that uses blood as its medium. As you know, a necromancer''s body has both jet-ck and blood flowing through it. Of course, nothing happens in this state, unless"


    He formed a magic circle in the air.


    "a necromancer can artificiallybine the jet-ck and blood in the form of dark magic to create a variety of magical reactions."


    He cleanly sliced open his finger and let drops of blood fall onto the circle.


    The moment a single red drop of blood passed through the circle, it rapidly expanded and swirled in the air. The students all let out surprised gasps.


    Then, Walter demonstrated the reverse. He moved the swirling blood into a new magic circle and dripped inky jet-ck on top of it. The circle and the jet-ckbined to form a blood-red thorny rose.


    He handed it to a female student in front of him with a gorgeous smile. Her squeal of delight could be heard from all the way on the opposite side of the lecture hall.


    "Ew."


    Meilyn looked disgusted as she turned away. Simon looked at her and asked,


    "What''s wrong?"


    "No, it''s just I don''t get the big deal with him. He feels kinda cheesy."


    Hearing that, Rick and Camibarezughed a little from behind her.


    "You''ve got a very unique taste."


    "That''s because Pion is the only prince for Meilyn~"


    "Th-The two of you, shut up!"


    Flustered, Meilyn looked back and turned red. Equally flustered, Simon looked out the window so others wouldn''t see his face.


    After themotion subsided, Walter resumed his exnation.


    "Hemomancy is fast and powerful, but it depletes your stamina as quickly as it consumes your blood."


    He pped his hands lightly, and the magic circles dispersed into thin air.


    "Now then, show me. What potential does each of your bloods carry?"