Episode 459

-I understand aspiring to glory, but getting into the habit of always facing only overwhelmingly strong opponents is not good!

At the undead mage’s advice, Gainando subconsciously nodded his head.

Lee Han smacked the back of Gainando’s head and spoke.

“It’s not like I wanted it to turn out this way…”

-You can explain later. I’m low on mana! I need help!

The undead mage looked at the students and spoke.

As he was not of this world, every time the undead mage was summoned across a dimension, it consumed tremendous existence.

Furthermore, he had not yet recovered from the wounds he’d suffered fighting the Ghoul King last time.

No matter how outstanding an undead mage was, it would be hard to perform properly without support.

-Snake, run, gather the energy of the eight directions, from Qian to Kun, from Kan to Dui!

For now, he drew a magic circle around himself and frantically gathered mana, but it was still not enough.

The undead mage shouted at the students.

-To your positions! Move to your places and lend your power to the magic circle!

Lee Han did not ask about the intricacies of the magic circle, drawn with snakes, bones, and dark elements.

Instead, he quickly did as the undead mage directed. There was no time to waste with an army approaching from afar.

“Still not recovered…”

“L-Lee Han. Wouldn’t it be better to just summon the sulky spirit?”

“It’ll be better to go with this than Perkuntra in this situation.”

“That’s what I thought, huh?”

-You, the lazy one! Move faster!

When the undead mage shouted, Gainando jumped in surprise and ran.

But there was no need.

As soon as Lee Han stepped into the concentric ring inside the magic circle, the circle blazed with light and began to circulate mana.

-There’s still not enough mana! If this keeps up, I’ll get forcibly banished even before casting greater magic—wait. Oh. That’s enough.

“……”

“……”

Gainando and his friends, who were rushing in, stopped.

“It’s done?”

-Ah… Right. You’ve got a lot of mana.

The undead mage, though he lacked facial muscles, showed embarrassment through his movements.

Come to think of it, the magician he contracted with had not only genius talent for his age, but possessed unbelievable mana that would even shock lords from other dimensions.

Thanks to that, he didn’t even need to scrape up bits of mana from the other students; every ounce required was instantly supplied.

With this much mana, there was no need to worry about being forcibly banished, and he could summon plenty of undead.

-Thank you.

“I’m the one who called you.”

-Then… Arise, my legion!

With a commanding voice, the undead mage began to summon the contracted undead.

From the dimension connected to the magic circle, a dimensional gate opened, and skeleton warriors began to form up in ranks.

Their appearance was clearly different from normal skeleton warriors, so Lee Han asked, just in case,

“Are they dragon tooth warriors??”

For summoned undead, their strength varied with bone material, and skeleton warriors made from dragon teeth were icons of strength and fear.

If their size and menacing aura were any indicator…

-Are you crazy? Do you know how prideful summons made from dragon teeth are? There’s no way to command those like this. Of course, these warriors aren’t ordinary either.

“Ah. Maybe made with demon bones…”

-There’s a little bit of dragon tooth mixed in.

“……”

-That alone is amazing, you know!

“I-I see.”

It sounded less impressive stated aloud, but the undead mage wasn’t wrong.

Even with just a bit of dragon tooth mixed in, the skeleton warriors exuded overwhelming presence.

The summoning didn’t stop there.

Once the shield-bearing skeleton warriors established a phalanx and solid barrier, banshee mages lined up behind them.

The banshee mages tried to wring all the magic they could from the earth, but the moment they saw Lee Han, they fell prostrate in greeting.

“…That’s because I have a contract with that mage.”

“Y-yeah.”

Imirg looked puzzled as Lee Han answered an unasked question.

-…I pour all my remaining mana, O king of horses and king of kings, aid me according to the contract!

As the undead mage wrung out his last mana for a final summon, centaur ghouls burst out from one side.

The gigantic beast cavalry of the centaur ghouls began to charge on their chief’s signal.

-All right, preparations are complete! Intercept the enemy! Don’t worry about mana!

“Isn’t this a bit too bold?”

A bit worried, Lee Han asked, and the undead mage peeked down at the magic circle.

Satisfied, he shouted again.

-Don’t worry about mana, pour even more into your spells!

“……”

• * *

“Whew. All done.”

Finished with the undead summoning, Koholti plopped down hard.

Even for excellent students at Einrogard, summoning that many was no easy feat.

They’d used up all the reagents and rune circles they could find, and no matter what, the fatigue was unavoidable.

“Are they moving right?”

“Yes. They’re heading the right way.”

Ogoldos answered, watching the undead army in the distance.

He’d seen something similar last year, but as a second-year equipped with more knowledge, he felt anew how incredible it was.

Not only was summoning that many undead surprising, but the anti-compulsion technique to so strongly control all those unruly undead was astounding too.

Even as countless undead thundered by like an obliterating tide, the juniors in between weren’t harmed in the slightest.

Ogoldos recalled an old memory.

‘I decided to devote myself to black magic after seeing that.’

It had been truly terrifying at first.

He’d walked into the classroom, only to find himself in another dimension, with an undead army charging at him. Who wouldn’t be scared?

He’d trembled, thinking it was the end, when suddenly the undead host parted miraculously, rushing past without a finger laid on the students.

Only then did Ogoldos realize it was all an elaborate play staged by the black magic school seniors!

‘It’s just as amazing looking at it again…’

“Hey, hey! Hey!!!”

“What’s wrong? Hang on. Don’t come near my back.”

Ogoldos looked at Koholti warily.

Koholti, as if wrongly accused, showed his empty hands and shouted,

“Look at the undead army over there!”

“Why… huh.”

Both gasped.

No matter how you looked, the scene in the distance did look like a real fight.

Why???

“W-what’s happening? D-did the anti-compulsion not work? Maybe they didn’t understand not to attack the juniors?”

Koholti turned pale and trembled.

The phrase ‘Every first-year student withdraws from the black magic school’ ran through his head.

Even though Professor Mortum was generous, if something happened, Koholti might be sent to the punishment room forever.

“…W-wait a minute, senpai. Isn’t something weird?”

“What? What? Did I see wrong? I saw wrong, right? Yeah, right? I must have seen wrong, right?”

“That’s not it! Look over there, they’re… our side is pushing theirs back!”

“???”

Koholti blinked.

Come to think of it, something was off.

If the command hadn’t taken, the undead would’ve trampled the juniors and that would be it. But now there was a fight happening.

A real, even fight.

And now it wasn’t even. Their side was…?

“!!!”

Koholti rushed undead bats into the sky to get a clearer look, and when he saw the scene, he froze.

Some unknown undead army was orderly pushing back their own side’s undead.

Elite skeleton warriors, clearly of a higher tier than normal skeletons, formed a wall and blocked the path. Behind, centaur ghouls charged in and out, tearing through formations.

On top of that, the banshee mages used some mysterious secret, casting magic in endless bursts as if mana were inexhaustible. A green ghostly cloud spread like mist, melting away the defending undead.

‘What is this…!’

Their own undead army hadn’t been made for combat anyway, with no tactical movement or defense. Other than numbers, they were completely outclassed, so when it came to a clash, they had no chance…

No chance. But…!

‘How is this possible!?’

Forget everything else—how could first-years summon a legion like this!?

Koholti kept watching, unable to believe it even as he looked.

It would take a lich several centuries old to pull something like this off.

Not just the summoning, but the composition, the deployment, the command…

“…Sir! Senpai!!!”

“Huh! Huh!?”

Startled by Ogoldos calling from behind, Koholti regained his senses.

The battle was so intense he was enthralled without realizing it.

“Whatever the situation, don’t you need to contact the other side right now and make them stop fighting!? At this rate the summoned undead will all get destroyed!!”

“…Ah!”

Only then did Koholti return completely to reality.

The big issue now wasn’t how the first-years had managed to summon all those undead.

Of course, that was a huge mystery too, but…

‘No!!’

The most pressing issue now was the sheer amount of reagents that had gone into summoning that host.

If the undead could be safely banished back, at least some of the reagents could be recovered—but if they were destroyed like this, nothing.

Direte was probably already waiting in the next classroom, ready to reclaim the reagents after the demonstration…

If this kept up, the only thing Direte would find would be a devastated wasteland.

Along with Koholti, possibly buried upside down next to it…

• * *

-Junior! Misunderstanding! Misunderstanding! Midterm! Play acting!

An undead bat fluttered over, shrieking frantically with half its words missing.

Lee Han, fortunately, quickly understood.

“Oh, so this was a demonstration ahead of the midterms? No wonder there wasn’t any aggression…”

-Exactly! Stop! Stop!

“Isn’t this a trap?”

“Could be a trap. Lee Han, let’s just smash everything. We can think after.”

From behind, Raphadael and Gainando whispered, but Lee Han was unmoved.

The black magic school’s seniors weren’t so low as to spring a trap like this, and above all, everything else fit the context.

“We overdid it. Should’ve just left it alone.”

-…Wh-what…?

The undead mage beside him looked at Lee Han in disbelief.

He had thought their lives were in mortal danger, but something felt off now.

“It was an exam. You know? Like when you’re tested by your teacher…”

-■■ ■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■!

The undead mage raged in another dimension’s language.

Thinking Lee Han’s life was on the line, he had mustered his not-yet-recovered body and gathered an army, only to find out what??

-And what boneheaded black magicians show this off like some performance! The undead legion is a hammer and an axe to smash the enemy, not something for bragging!

-……

Listening through the bat, Koholti was at a loss for words.

“I apologize. Next time, I’ll only summon you when it’s a true emergency.”

-Remember that wasting such a precious opportunity is your own loss!

The undead mage, thoroughly taken aback, scolded Lee Han several times.

Powerful beings from other dimensions, once summoned, couldn’t be easily called again until they recovered, and the undead mage was injured on top of it all…

Gainando, standing nearby, asked curiously,

“But didn’t you recover your wounds, since you just got a lot of mana?”

-……

The undead mage stared daggers at Gainando with his icy blue gaze, and Lee Han hastily shut him up.

“No, Verdus, sir. My mistake. Please take your rest now.”

-Hmph!

The undead mage glared at Gainando once more and vanished.

And then, as if there had never been any undead at all, the field was deathly quiet again.

Imirg, who was nearby, fidgeted a bit before finally asking, unable to contain his curiosity,

“W-Wardanaz. Did you turn Professor Verdus into an undead?”

“…No!”