I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy - Chapter 33

“… Where did you get that from?”

Click, click, click, click!

The skeleton general in his hand rattled violently, its spine shaking and teeth bared. Yet, with all its limbs gone, resistance was futile.

"I'm quite skilled when it comes to making bone broth, you see."

“You’re amazing."

Unwilling to admit he had been waiting for the skeleton general to spawn, Baek Yu-Seol offered a vague excuse. They didn’t pry further.

“For now, let’s get out of here quickly. If the necromancer disregards the skeleton general and starts controlling the skeletons directly, it’ll be a headache again.”

The boys and girls carrying the wounded followed Baek Yu-Seol.

"Hey, freshman. Your name was... Baek Yu-Seol, right? Got any sort of plan?"

"I do."

Ma Yu-Seong would have already slaughtered the skeletons and taken down the necromancer, but Baek Yu-Seol couldn't do that.

Instead, he chose something more… efficient, strategic, something a player in a game might attempt.

“I’ve scouted the area. The necromancer has already seized the base camp. Breaking through this encirclement is nearly impossible.”

"Darn it."

“There’s only one way left.”

"And that is...?"

"To take down the main body."

“Wait, what?” 

“Are you crazy?!”

Baek Yu-Seol’s suggestion shocked everyone. How could they possibly face the necromancer when they were already struggling with skeletons?

“Didn’t you learn this in school? Necromancers possess an incredibly powerful command ability, but their main body is their greatest weakness.”

If the necromancer was highly skilled, it would be a different story. But based on their estimation, the necromancer they were dealing with was likely Class 5 at most.

If everyone there worked together, they could take the Necromancer on. There’s even a timeline where Ma Yu-Seong, at Class 4, killed a Necromancer solo.

"That may be true, but if that necromancer has any sense, he would have stationed guards around his body."

"Of course."

In fact, Baek Yu-Seol knew exactly how many guards the necromancer had.

There was one skeleton general, six elite skeletons, and 50 regular skeleton soldiers.

As time passed, that number would only increase. Their window of opportunity was limited. The necromancer was at his weakest now, having yet to fully amass power.

Pretending not to know this, Baek Yu-Seol replied, "The necromancer’s control extends over a large area. To maintain such a vast territory, he can’t allocate too many forces to protect himself."

“You have a point, but there is no guarantee that we will be able to win, right?”

‘We can win.’

Having secured one of the three skeleton generals in this event, if all of them combined their efforts, they could surely achieve victory unless something unexpected happened.

The challenge was convincing everyone else. Regardless of his certainty, this was an unpredictable fight.

"That..."

“It’s possible.”

This time, Flame, not Baek Yu-Seol, answered. Supporting Hae Won-Ryang, she spoke with effort.

"He might seem a bit unorthodox, but he has far more experience in combat and strategy than the rest of us. He might even surpass you seniors."

“But… Can a freshman do that?”

Of course not.

'No, what nonsense is she talking about?'

‘What does she mean, I’m skilled in combat? She’s probably lying because of the situation, but who would actually believe her?’

But surprisingly, Hong Bi-Yeon agreed.

“Actually, I think it might work. Honestly, breaking through this siege seems impossible. Striking the core... even a necromancer wouldn’t anticipate that. I think it’s worth a shot.”

With Flame and Hong Bi-Yeon, the most influential figures, backing the plan, the rest of the group fell in line.

"Whoa... I don't know how you have such faith, but there's no way for us to get out alone, so we might as well cooperate."

"Haha, I’ve always preferred fighting anyway!"

Whack!

"Shut it, you."

Ban Di-Yeon calmly organized the situation while scolding Dok Cheol-Gwang.

"Quickly brief us on the plan. Even though the skeleton general you’re holding disrupts the nearby skeletons, if the necromancer notices something’s wrong, we’ll be in trouble."

"Understood."

Baek Yu-Seol looked into the eyes of each person present.

It was daunting to have them place their trust in him, but he had learned a harsh lesson on the frozen cliff.

If the enemy wants to kill you, you have to be ready to kill them first. No matter how terrifying or strong they may seem, if you don’t fight back, you won’t survive.

***

Sa Bae-Hyuk was a Class 5 necromancer of the Dark Mage Tower and a dark mage belonging to the Dark Mage Alliance.

Necromancers couldn’t thrive in mainstream magic circles, making it inevitable for them to turn to dark magic. Yet even within the Dark Mage Alliance, necromancers were poorly regarded.

Their reliance on raising the dead to summon their armies left them powerless in modern times, where purification of corpses was common.

Sa Bae-Hyuk, as a necromancer, had lived in contempt for his entire life without even owning a few skeletons of his own.

'I'm tired now. I can't live like this forever.’

‘If I don't want to be ignored, I have to become powerful.’

'Force Vessel.'

For seven long years, he had poured mana into his precious Force Vessel. Now, though incomplete, his domain allowed him to summon 700 skeletons. Expanding it further would let him raise over a thousand.

‘Running into Stella’s cadets was sheer luck.’

Creating a high-potential skeleton mage was really difficult.

Moreover, the students present were all attractive, making them a prized collection for any necromancer who could resurrect them while maintaining their appearance.

‘Catch them! Dead or alive!’

If he could summon a legendary death knight, a sword-wielding powerhouse, he would gain immense recognition.

For now, he could only summon three skeleton generals… enough to control 700 skeletons.

But…

‘What’s this? My senses are suddenly cut off.’

Using his ability to share vision with his skeletons, Sa Bae-Hyuk had been watching Stella’s students struggle.

Suddenly, the connection was cut off. No vision, no sound, no updates on their location.

… As if his ‘antenna’ had been taken away.

'No way!'

He had focused on expanding his domain rather than direct control, but losing a skeleton general changed everything.

Temporarily halting his expansion, Sa Bae-Hyuk spread his senses wide, regaining skeletal vision.

‘Where are they?! Where are they?!’

Locating the students now required manually sifting through the sights of 700 skeletons… a laborious, time-consuming task.

'Damn it!’

After some time, he found traces of the Stella students. They seemed to have paused for a break, as there were signs they had stayed in one place for a while.

‘This isn’t good.’

Stella’s students were formidable. He couldn’t allow them to regroup.

‘This time, I’ll send out the elite skeleton army.’

Though this would weaken his hold over the mercenaries, securing the students was a higher priority.

‘Found them, those brats!’

Following the trail, he spotted three students… a petite girl with ebony hair, a tall girl, and a handsome boy with a cold demeanor.

'However... Why only three?'

‘Where are the rest of them?’

As he pondered this, Sa Bae-Hyuk’s senses blared in alarm, and his magic activated instinctively.

Creak! Thud!

A sharp icicle awl flew out of nowhere, aiming directly for Sa Bae-Hyuk’s forehead, but a bone shield sprang up instantly to block it.

“Damn it!”

Despite being a Class 4 spell, the bone shield cracked severely. The attack's power was immense, yet he couldn’t even sense the caster's location due to the distance.

He immediately directed his skeletons' vision toward the source and saw a girl with flowing light blue hair sprinting away.

"You brat! You think I'll let you escape?"

After canceling the summoning of several skeletons, the skeletons were re-summoned at the spot where the girl was standing. 

There was no other way because the maximum number of skeletons he could currently handle was 700.

As the girl with light blue hair hesitated before the skeletons, Sa Bae-Hyuk was about to send additional elite skeletons her way.

Whoosh!

From the sky, a giant sphere of flame shot down!

‘This, this...!'

The destructive power was beyond anything achievable at Class 3. Momentarily taken aback, Sa Bae-Hyuk noted the spell's striking resemblance to those used by the Adolevit royal family, renowned for their mastery of flame magic. He also recognized the seemingly boundless mana of Hong Bi-Yeon.

Reacting quickly, he raised the bone shield skyward.

Boom!!! Crash!!!

An enormous shockwave struck the area.

'Damn it, of all times, they had to strike now!'

This wasn’t the moment for territory expansion. With minimal troops stationed here, it was becoming harder to defend against the attack.

‘I should’ve fortified my defenses...!’

Leaving his base unguarded in the assumption that the enemy was still in disarray had been a grave miscalculation.

Even the skeleton escorts sent to handle the students were being overpowered. At this rate, he’d be finished.

'This is bad. Really bad!'

Grinding his teeth, he considered his options. Finding no alternatives, he acted decisively.

Crack! Biting his finger and scattering blood onto the ground, Sa Bae-Hyuk slammed his staff onto the floor, eyes blazing with resolve.

‘Soldiers, assemble!’

Six elite skeletons that had been out elsewhere suddenly rose in front of him.

"Ugh...!"

The forced summoning took a severe toll on Sa Bae-Hyuk, leaving him with intense internal injuries. Struggling through the pain, he gave the order while coughing up blood, his insides feeling as though they were being torn apart.

"Stop those brats…!"

Two elite-class skeletons were first to head for Dok Cheol-Gwang, who seemed to be in a struggle with one skeletal general.

"What the…?!"

"Hey! Retreat for a second! The elite class has been summoned!”

Originally, Dok Cheol-Gwang and Ban Di-Yeon were tasked with keeping the skeletal general occupied, but with two additional elites appearing, they had no choice but to retreat momentarily.

‘Good, we can’t afford to lose the general.’

Sa Bae-Hyuk correctly grasped the battlefield.

Magic continued to bombard the area, but none of it was powerful enough to penetrate his bone shield.

The arrival of the elite skeletons made the students wary, hindering their ability to cast spells effectively.

‘Five there, one here, three over there... two on the opposite side. Good. Now I can relax.’

Sending all his guards to deal with the students left him defenseless, but he believed there was no longer anyone capable of posing a threat.

‘I'll take advantage of this gap and hurry up to seize the territory!'

If his territory expanded further, the skeletons’ abilities would strengthen exponentially. Once that happened, he could easily overpower the students and claim victory.

Although the skeleton troops fighting the mercenaries had been wiped out, restoring that number in the future wouldn’t be an issue.

'Just a little more, a little more...!’

That moment when he concentrated all his energy to gather as much mana as he could and strengthen the power of the force vessel.

Thud!

A figure landed lightly in front of him, as though descending like a falling leaf.

Startled, Sa Bae-Hyuk stumbled back.

"...What?! Where the hell did you come from?!"

This couldn’t be happening.

He had accounted for all the Stella students, a total of twelve. Through the skeletons’ shared vision, their locations were clear.

Yet, this boy hadn’t been among them.

The boy with jet-black hair and eyes tapped him on the shoulder with something and revealed a very relaxed smile.

It was the skull of one of the three general-level skeletons he had summoned with all his might.

“You… you little bastard…!”

He was wondering why his neural network had gone wrong, and now he had finally found the culprit.

The boy dropped the now-useless general-class skeleton to the ground and swung a translucent, glowing sword, shattering the skull.

“Argh!”

The reverse summoning inflicted light internal injuries on Sa Bae-Hyuk. In his current weakened state, recovery was slow, and the situation only worsened.

Baek Yu-Seol took his time surveying the area. Just as he suspected, the guards protecting Sa Bae-Hyuk had been intercepted by Stella’s students, diverting attention and scattering their forces.

Now, there was only one person left in this place—the necromancer.

'This bastard, why is he so confident...?'

Sa Bae-Hyuk took a cautious step back, swallowing hard. While it was true that necromancers had weak physical bodies, he was still a Class 5 mage.

The boy’s casual demeanor unnerved him. It signified confidence in his strength, no matter how inexperienced he appeared.

It could only be interpreted as meaning, 'Even a novice from Stella is still from Stella...!'

At that time, Sa Bae Hyuk's thoughts were full of fear and his entire body was drowned in tension.

While Baek Yu-Seol was breaking out in a cold sweat.

‘Wait a second… this isn’t how the plan was supposed to go...’

He scanned the battlefield.

According to the plan, Dok Cheol-Gwang and Ban Di-Yeon were supposed to finish off the skeletal general and join him quickly.

However, since Sa Bae-Hyuk vomited blood and gathered more elites, they were now focused on holding out against the skeleton generals.

Which left him alone.

‘Do I… have to fight him by myself?’

If one wondered about who the weakest among the thirteen Stella Academy students gathered here was, Baek Yu-Seol would raise his hand without hesitation. To think that the weakest would take on the strongest boss all by himself.

Feeling this was a recipe for disaster, he prepared to retreat.

Sa Bae-Hyuk suddenly coughed up blood.

"Cough... Kugh!"

It was then that Baek Yu-Seol noticed the necromancer’s state. The forced summoning of six elite skeletons had pushed his internal organs to the brink.

"You bastards… I’ll kill you all…" Sa Bae Hyuk said with terrifying eyes, but there was no power in those gloomy eyes.

‘... I think it’s worth a try?'