Chapter 246
<em>Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!</em>
The blood golem kicked up a cloud of dust as it charged like a mobile fortress.
In response, Encifer—summoned by Prince Andre—mmed its greatsword down toward the golem.
The turquoise mass didn''t even flinch.
However, it did move, deflecting the sword to the side with the flick of a wrist.
''Encifer is losing in a battle of strength…?!''
Andre nervously bit his nails.
How could a first-year use skills for a third-year?
Of course, Simon''s blood golem wasn''t perfect—it dripped everywhere, and it was smaller than a typical blood golem—and Andre quickly noticed that.''Okay, it''s just a poor imitation. There''s no need to be nervous.''
Determined, Andre flung his arm downward.
<em>aaaaash!</em>
Encifer''s greatsword mmed down harder than ever, cutting deep into the shoulder of the charging blood golem.
Blood spurted out from Simon''s shoulder as well.
''It has the lifelink even though it''s an imitation? If that''s so…!''
Andre immediately created a magic circle andid it on the ground. He activated it the moment the blood golem reached his feet.
{Solutio}
The lower half of the blood golem''s body melted like ice cream after stepping on the magic circle. Solutio was a curse that dissolved objects.
''This should do the trick for your flimsy fake blood golem!''
As the blood golem''s feet melted and it became stuck in ce, Encifer swung its greatsword over and over toplete the trap.
Every blownded, cutting deeper and deeper into the immobilized golem
And at the same time…
<em>Pshk! Pshk!</em>
shes appeared on Simon''s body, and blood began to gush out. Andre clenched his fists in victory.
''The blood golem is a double-edged sword! You''d better dissipate it!''
The blood golem, which was being attacked one-sidedly, suddenly put its hand on the ground. Then, using only the strength of its arms, it pulled itself across the ground and tackled Andre.
<em>Booooooooooosh!</em>
Andre flew several meters back and skidded across the ground from the sudden impact. A noblewomen nearby let out a startled yelp as she backed away.
''Kugh!''
That was dangerous. When Andre picked himself up, Encifer was gone, too.
"So it really was a stationary magic circle after all."
Said Simon, gasping for breath. He was saying that the spell Andre was using required him to stay still, copsing if the caster took a single step.
"I see what you''re after, but…"
Andre revealed a hidden magic circle on the ground. Smoke billowed around him as another Encifer formed.
"Of course I prepared for this! How many times do you think I''ve practiced coordinate recalction!"
The nobles who were on the side of the royal family cheered enthusiastically.
Simon, on the other hand, was unperturbed by the fact that his counterattack was nullified.
In fact, a faint grin remained on his mouth.
"Hah! Can you still manage to smile in this situation?"
"Looks like the blood golem has finished its part."
Simon raised his arm above his head and conjured a magic circle.
"Come back!"
The dissolving blood golem turned to smoke as it was sucked into the magic circle.
For Simon, the blood golem was just the first phase.
With an arm behind his back, he grabbed the air.
''Hmph!''
And he yanked it open.
A huge portal, over 20 meters wide, opened behind Simon like a giant door being pulled open.
<em>tter.</em>
<em>Rattle.</em>
Emerging from it was a skeleton army, 23 skeletons in number, with some of them being archers.
"Huh, I was wondering what you''d bring out, but just skeletons?"
Andre scoffed, but those who knew were in awe.
Princess Mollie in particr was jumping in ce, her eyes shining. A smile finally appeared on Lorain''s and Serene''s faces, too.
Meanwhile, the faces of the nobles vying for Andre''s victory turned pale.
"Prince! You must stop him quickly!"
"I''m sure it''s that thing from the Kizen test…!"
It was already toote. Simon lowered the arm he had raised above his head.
"Here I go."
A cloud of smoke descended from the magic circle and settled on the 23 skeletons.
The white bones turned emerald, and the swords in their hands glowed as if they were holding beams of light. Behind their backs, the Cloud that connects to the bones unfurled into a cloak.
<em>Click.</em>
<em>ck.</em>
The 23 skeletons, nowpletely unrecognizable from their pre-transformed selves, readjusted their weapons to better fit their new strengths, cloaks fluttering in the wind. Their hollow eye sockets were filled with turquoise re.
{Simon Original - Royal Bodyguards}
''Kugh! What the hell is that now?!''
Andre''s face turned pale. A total of 23 undead were moving freely as if a living army.
It was a skill he had never heard of in his life.
''Don''t tell me, an original?!''
Andre was surprised, but quick to react. He opened his subspace and pulled out his summons to challenge the headcount.
One by one, the limp corpses that appeared from the subspace began to move under Andre''s dark magic.
<em>[Ruff!]</em>
<em>[Woof! Woof!]</em>
Zombies made from the corpses of the canine monsters. A total of 8 Zombie Dogs.
Using them would reduce his ability to control Encifer, but the zombies were enough to even the ying field despite still being outnumbered almost 3:1.
"The money we can afford to spend is too different!"
Shouted Andre.
"The amount I spentpared to those lowly basic skeletons of yours will—!"
As he was monologuing about how rich he is, a royal guard bent knees shot out like a bullet.
It moved ten meters in a sh, and when it swung its turquoise swords at its destination, a zombie dog was sliced in two with a swish of a sword.
''A-A single strike?''
The skeletons may as well have been wielding lightsabers, not swords, with every swing illuminating the darkness of the stormy night.
The zombie dog was literally being cut to ribbons.
"Kugh!"
In a panic, Andre continued to send zombie dogs out of his subspace.
But Simon''s control was something else.
<em>Stab! Stab!</em>
The swordsmen stepped back, and the spearmen charged from the front, thrusting their polearms into the pack of hounds.
As the charging wolves were forced to stop, the swordsmen moved to the nk, smashing into and breaking the opponent''s formation.
<em>Swish!</em>
<em>Fwoooosh!</em>
A turquoise arrow shot toward Andre, the caster, forcing him to pause his control to prepare his jet-ck shield.
The archers were on alert for an opportunity to slip past Andre''s concentration as the rest dealt with the zombie dogs.
''Dammit!''
At this point, Andre had taken out nearly 20 zombie dogs, but he hadn''t been able to take out even 1 of the royal guards.
And above all…
<em>Psssshhhhh!</em>
Smoke rose on Simon''s wounds from the lifelink with the blood golem, and they healed.
* * *
* * *
Andre was shocked.
"H-Howe the blood golem''s healing effect is on skeletons…?!"
Simon, who had spent a lot of stamina to summon the blood golem, looked as good as new.
''He''d be surprised if this was the first time he saw it.''
The royal guards weren''t just a matter of putting clouds on a skeleton.
The blood golem had to bepleted first, and then the clouds that made up the golem had to be applied to each skeleton''s body.
Even right now, Simon was maintaining his ''summon blood golem'' spell.
In other words, the royal guards weren''t skeletons dressed in clouds, but skeletons dressed in blood golem.
<em>aash!</em>
<em>sh!</em>
The royal guards arrived at Andre, having broken through the wall of zombie dogs. Panicked, Andre floundered to gave orders to Encifer.
<em>Crush!</em>
A royal guard that was directly hit by Encifer''s greatsword scattered into countless bones. Even if it was a royal guard, it was helpless with the fragile defense of a skeleton.
"Kugh!"
You could see Simon staggering due to the effect of the lifelink. Andre''s eyes shone.
''Lifelink is still a double-edged sword. The fact that he used it means he''s risking his life. If I stay calm, I can win!''
Encifer continued to swing his menacing greatsword, reducing the number of royal guards and damaging Simon. But in the meantime, the royal guards shed at the remaining zombie dogs, restoring Simon''s health.
There would be no end to this. Andre had no choice but to call the zombie dogs back into his subspace.
But that didn''t work either. As the supply of zombie dogs was cut off. Simon was able to stabilize with his advantage in numbers.
Andre was quickly being encircled by two royal guards who slipped past Encifer.
"Ugh!"
Andre hastily ducked down as a turquoise de sweeped just above his lowered head, slicing off a few hairs.
Andre''s hands got busier as attacks came at him from all sides. It got to the point where he had to parry attacks withbat dark magic while keeping royal guards in check with Encifer.
<em>sh!</em>
<em>sh!</em>
Sword wounds made by the royal guards covered his body. Outnumbered, he was forced to face the brunt of every royal guard that Encifer couldn''t keep busy.
"Kuaaaaaaaaaagh!"
Andre flung out his arms wildly, and a jet-ck shockwave stretched out, scattering the bones of two royal guards.
As he gasped, a satisfied grin forming on his face…
<em>Rattle.</em>
He realized that the flying bones from the royal guards had now stopped in midair.
Simon,manding from afar, spread his palms wide.
{Bone Nail}
<em>Pshhk!!! Pshk!</em>
Emerald Bone Nails rushed toward Andre from all directions, their sharp, bony tips lodging into him like spears.
"Kuaaaaaaaaaagh!"
<em>Shatter!</em>
The pain snapped his focus, and with it went Encifer. He could no longer maintain the spell, and hisst defender was gone
Royal guards used that opening, all gathering around him and swinging de after de at the cornered prince.
Having nowhere to run, Andre used the signature move of the Necromancy aspirant, ''Etherealization'', to escape the field of death. A royal guard''s sword uselessly passed through him as he sprinted out.
[That''s it, Boy! You made him use etherealization!]
Except for special cases like Cindy Vivace, it takes a while between each use of Etherealization.
So much so that amon piece of advice when going against Necromancy aspirants is to make them use Etherealization first.
In other words, this was a chance to attack.
Andre couldn''t keep the Etherealization going for long, and reappeared in the material world.
''This is thest step.''
Simon made a decisive move.
Activating the magic circle overhead once more, the clouds that had formed the royal guards drained from them and entered the magic circle. The skeletons stopped moving, like a switched-off machine.
Then, Simon tweaked the magic circle form to twist the clouds'' proportions and drew a bow and arrow from the circle.
"It''s all over, Prince. Please surrender."
Simon warned, loading a dark-blue arrow into the bow. Andre''s lips twitched.
"Su…rrender?"
If rumors spread out that he''d been defeated by a first-year, he''d never recover.
He''d even put the exclusive right to a dungeon at stake and took a royal oath without his father''s, without the king''s, permission. If he loses, he wouldn''t just lose everyst drop of his status, but he would be locked underground.
"I have…!"
His arms faced forward.
"Nowhere to run anymore!"
Layers andyers of magic circles unfolded before him, interlocking the high-level defensive skill ''Jet-ck Gate''. It was the best defense Andre could use.
''I guess I can''t help it.''
The emerald color of the arrow waspletely gone, reced by the color of jet-ck.
Simon released the taut bowstring.
{Simon Remake - Blood Arrow}
With a roar, the arrow shot out toward the fiveyers of Jet-ck Gate.
<em>Crack! Crack!</em>
Instantly, twoyers shattered, and in the blink of an eye the next two were also gone. There was only a singleyer of Jet-ck Gate standing between the fallen prince and certain death.
Andre''s clothes were torn from the cutting winds,rge swaths of ruined cloth sent flying behind him. But he stood defiant.
The prince, throwing everything left in his life at this fleeting chance to gain even a scrap of dignity, roared with everything he had, the sound quickly transforming into a violent scream.
<em>Kabooooooooooooooooom!</em>
The arrow exploded in a dark-blue st, spreading out around him. The ground cracked open, sending rocks flying in all directions.
"Oh!"
Just as arge fragment was about to fall on the spectating nobles, Lorain, daggers in her hands, shed past.
The rubble was soon diced into a fine powder.
"He''s giving us a hard time."
Simrly, levitating, Serene leisurely crossed her legs as she controlled countless feathers. Seeing a single feather lift a rock close to the size of a boulder was amazing.
<em>Rrrrrrrrrrrumble.</em>
Simon let out a long breath and stared straight ahead.
"Hah… Haha…"
A lowugh came from the center of the destruction.
"Pfft! Bwahahahaha!"
Through the explosion, Andre could be seen dressed in rags and dripping with blood. His legs trembled as they threatened to fall out from under him, but he was holding on out of spite.
"I endured it! I endured it! What are you going to do now, Simon Polentia?!!"
Pier''s clone clicked his tongue at the sight.
[Did you go easy at the end? How nice of you.]
''...I mean, of course. You aren''t supposed to kill a royal. Instead…''
Simon slowly lowered his finger. Andre''s gaze was also focused on this finger.
"!"
His shadow was red. And that red shadow merged with Simon''s.
''You bastard! When did you put this curse—?!''
"Indolence. It''s another name for the curse of analgesia."
"There is such a curse?"
It wasn''t odd that Andre didn''t know.
Because Indolence was one of the four curses Bahil had created for Simon.
"It''s a curse that keeps my body from feeling anything, including pain, for a certain period. Now that it''s about to wear off…"
Simon smiled.
"Why don''t we share the pain?"
<em>Tremble!</em>
The pain Simon had been feeling washed over him like a tidal wave. Andre''s rationality simply evaporated.
''…Kuuuuugh!''
Indolence would let all the pain build, and then the caster could share it with another target as the duration ended.
''I-It feels like my shoulders are going to fall off!''
As a child of the royal family, this kind of pain was foreign to him. While he was left paralyzed for a split second as the pain overcame him. Simon—who had suffered through all sorts of hardship—charged forward with only a slight grimace.
<em>Pow!</em>
In a life-and-death duel, even a momentary pause by the opponent was enough to take their life.
Simon''s jet-ck infused fist punched upward into Andre''s chin. He flew up a meter before copsing to the ground like a sack of bricks.
"…!"
The chief butler rushed over and checked on Andre, who was out cold.
He pulled open Andre''s eyelids, and there was no movement in the eyes.
"Th-The match is over! Simon Polentia wins!"
Simon lightly dusted himself off.
''Thank you for the dungeon.''
——