The battle between the necromancers devolved into a chaotic melee. What began as a skirmish of twenty students quickly escalated into a large-scale war, with nearly fifty on each side once the undead were summoned to the field. Explosions rocked the courtyard, the air filled with the roars of undead and the shriek of flying curses.
"Break through! Push forward!"
"Get an ice wall up, Meirin!"
"Don’t overdo it! Send in the undead and just fire curses from behind!"
Everyone screamed themselves hoarse, veins bulging in their necks. All thoughts of cards or prizes had vanished, replaced by the singular, burning desire to win.
While the bloody battle raged in the palace courtyard, Elisa, aboard her ghost ship, employed a different strategy.
’If I get too close, we’ll be hit by Meirin’s jet-black fire. If I fire the cannons, I risk hitting our own allies.’
Her solution was to target the inner castle itself. Tilting the three ghost ships, she unleashed a simultaneous barrage on the soldiers defending the walls, wiping them out. The Defense Team necromancers who could have stopped her were all preoccupied at the palace.
Under Elisa’s relentless bombardment, the inner castle’s defenses crumbled.
[The inner castle’s North Gate has been breached!]
[The morale of the Aron Kingdom’s soldiers has dropped drastically.]
[The morale of the Khan Kingdom’s soldiers has risen.]
The Khan Kingdom had broken through. Seeing this, Simon raised his commander’s nameplate.
"We will now execute Plan E. All troops, barring a minimal defensive force, are to fall back to the royal palace."
The order from the commander-in-chief was a full retreat—not to hold the gate, not to fight in the streets, but to abandon the walls entirely. Though some of the beastmen subcommanders protested, an order from the guardian commander was as absolute as an order from the king himself. The soldiers of the Aron Kingdom moved to obey.
’Alright, for now, just like this....’
’Kaboom!’
"Simon Polentia!!!"
Hector burst through a wall of flame and ice, charging directly at Simon. His maw opened wide, but the Dark Blaze from the Skulldrones orbiting Simon was faster. Struck repeatedly by fireballs, Hector staggered back, trailing black smoke, only to be driven further back by Meirin’s ensuing blizzard and a hail of curses from the other students.
"Damn it!"
Retreating from the smoke, Hector punched a nearby tree in frustration. A fellow Siege Team student cast Cancellation on him and tried to reason with him.
"Hector! As long as they’re hiding behind their undead and spamming curses, a direct assault is impossible."
"You worms...!"
Hector ground his teeth, then glanced back at his allies, who were now watching him cautiously.
"From now on, I’m in command!"
Finally, Hector had decided to make use of his team.
"Dick! Meirin! Hold them off for ten minutes!"
Simon had ducked back inside the royal palace to prepare a new spell. Deactivating the Skulldrones, he reattached their skulls to their bodies and then traced four new magic circles in the air.
’Simon Original - Magiv System’
The new circles linked with the magic circles of the skeleton mages. Taking a deep breath, he focused his mind, altering the runes and formulas. Having changed the spells his skeleton mages could cast, Simon led them back outside.
’Boom!’
The moment he stepped out, an explosion erupted at his feet. The enemy’s assault had intensified dramatically in the short time he’d been gone.
"Bwahaha!"
A male student using Spirit Form phased through the Defense Team’s wall of fire. He spotted Simon, materialized a scythe in his hand, and lunged.
’Bounce’
The instant he solidified to attack, a curse struck him like lightning, flinging him back the way he came.
"Hey! What are you spacing out for?" Meirin yelled, panting as she rushed to Simon’s side. "If you’ve got something prepared, do it now!"
"Thanks."
Meirin was the linchpin of their defense. She was single-handedly erecting ice walls, launching fireballs, firing pinpoint curses, and even controlling skeletons with her thoughts—a showcase of her skills at their absolute peak.
Simon slowly closed his eyes and raised both arms.
’Rise.’
He could feel it. The monster he had buried deep below.
’Rise.’
He focused his thoughts, slowly coaxing the creature from its slumber.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently. The students, who had been frantically exchanging attacks, faltered and backed away.
"W-What is it this time?"
"...An earthquake?"
Meirin whipped her head around to see Simon, his eyes closed, muttering under his breath as if chanting an incantation.
"There you are!" Hector roared.
’Strangle’
He swung his arm, sending a curse flying toward Simon.
’Cancellation’ Meirin leaped in front of Simon, swiping her arm to nullify the curse just before it hit.
"How dare you, you insect!" Hector roared.
"Not a chance," Simon retorted.
As the two exchanged fierce curses, the floor began to shake violently. Deciding words were not enough, Hector blasted through the wall of ice Meirin had conjured and charged straight for Simon, the ground groaning and splintering beneath his feet.
Just then, the entire floor shattered, and something jet-black erupted from the chasm below. Caught mid-charge, Hector slammed into the mass and was sent flying with a deafening crash. "Hah—’gaahk’!"
The maw of a colossal monster burst from the ruins of the floor.
"GROOAR!!!"
Everyone was left speechless at the sudden appearance of the beast.
"Th-That’s the one, right?" Meirin stammered, her trembling gaze fixed on Dick. "The one Simon caught in the sea during the third BMAT!"
"That’s right," Dick confirmed, his eyes wide. "It’s the Gwoegong."
The zombified creature, with its patchy scales and flesh sloughing off in gruesome chunks, was a far more horrific and menacing sight than they remembered.
Simon issued an Absolute Command.
[Wipe them out.]
With a tremendous crash, the Gwoegong began its rampage. Every time it twisted its massive torso and swung its tree-trunk-like arms, students from the Siege Team were swatted away like flies. It was like watching a mountain come to life.
"Block it!" one of the students screamed.
The Siege Team unleashed a barrage of black magic, but the Gwoegong continued its assault, shrugging off their spells as if they were nothing. With each thunderous blow, the floor shattered further, and students were caught in the shockwave, flung helplessly through the air.
"Hey, commoner! What the hell is going on?" another student yelled at Dick. "I thought you guys were going to salvage that monster’s corpse and sell it off!"
"Heh heh, it’s a bit of a long story," Dick said with a sly grin.
The Gwoegong, salvaged from the seabed, had been put up for auction piece by piece. The organ that produced its breath attack and certain skin tissues had been sold for a high price by Vanilla, netting Simon a hefty 2,000 gold. However, no one wanted to buy the Gwoegong’s hollowed-out carcass. They had hoped some nobles might buy it for display, but its poor condition made it an undesirable trophy. Simon had refused a paltry offer of 30 gold, deciding to put the remains to use himself.
With the help of the artisan necromancers from Vanilla he had befriended, he had turned the Gwoegong into a zombie.
"It only lasts for twenty minutes," Dick explained. "It’s a one-time-use undead."
"What?" Meirin cried. "Twenty minutes and one-time-use? What’s the point of something like that?"
Dick shrugged. "Well, it’s coming in pretty handy right now, isn’t it?"
It was certainly impressive. No matter how furiously the Siege Team attacked, the Gwoegong seemed completely unfazed.
Hector panted, his eyes locked on the undead behemoth. Simon had defeated this thing in its prime during the third BMAT. ’If he could do it, so can I!’
Hector soared into the air. Having transformed into a near-perfect Corpse Dragon, he unleashed his breath upon the Gwoegong’s back. The mountainous creature roared, raising its massive body to give chase.
"Is this some kind of monster movie?!" a student yelled as the two titans clashed.
In the midst of their fierce battle, a voice echoed from the Siege Team’s cards.
[Sorry to interrupt, but you need to retreat now!]
It was Elisa, her tone urgent.
[The Aon Kingdom’s soldiers are coming up. If you stay there, you’ll be surrounded!]
It was true. Commander-in-Chief Simon’s order had been to fall back to the royal palace. The Aon soldiers who had fled the inner castle were now rushing up the stairs toward them. If the Siege Team stayed, they would be caught in a pincer attack from above and below.
[I’ve prepared a ghost ship behind you, so get on!]
Looking down, they saw the stairs swarming with the soldiers of the Aon Kingdom. The Siege Team had no choice but to board Elisa’s ghost ship.
The Gwoegong roared, trying to swat the ghost ship from the sky, but even a beast of its size couldn’t fly.
"We managed to drive them off, but that was close," Meirin said, wiping the sweat from her brow as she looked at Simon. "What now?"
The situation was still overwhelmingly dire for the Defense Team. Over six hours remained, and the inner castle had been breached. Though their allies were ascending, ten times that number of Khan Kingdom soldiers would soon pour into the city streets. The Siege Team would return once the Khan forces arrived, and the entire royal palace would be surrounded. Even if they all holed up inside the indestructible palace, a necromancer had plenty of ways to attack soldiers trapped inside, from poison gas to wide-area curses.
"Leave it to me," Simon said, his gaze fixed on the Gwoegong.
The creature immediately followed his command and began to lumber back down the city streets. Simon then issued another order through his Commander-in-Chief nameplate.
"All forces, move to the royal palace."
The dark tide of the Khan Kingdom’s army began to surge up the stairs, chasing the fleeing soldiers of Aon. Simon and the other students immediately moved to provide support, squeezing out their last reserves of jet-black to slow the enemy’s pursuit and shepherd their allies into the palace.
"Hurry!"
"Move it, move it!"
By the time the Aon soldiers began to file into the royal palace, the Khan army had reached the midway point of the ascent.
"Ugh, disgusting," Meirin muttered with a frown.
The path below was so densely packed with Khan soldiers it looked like a river of black sludge. The Aon soldiers entered the palace, their faces etched with uncertainty.
’Murmur, murmur, murmur.’
"The palace is too small! Go all the way to the obsidian mine!"
"Move quickly!"
The civilians, seeing their army pushed back to the palace itself, trembled in fear and clung to one another. The king, who had been sitting resolutely on his throne, was startled when the soldiers abandoned the walls, but he trusted the Guardians and didn’t intervene.
"Just a little more," Simon muttered under his breath, even as the enemy drew closer. "Just a little... a little more."
The soldiers of the Khan Kingdom were now at the very gates of the royal palace. Hector and the rest of the Siege Team disembarked from the ghost ship, their confidence restored.
"They’re cornering themselves for us."
"Anyone know a good recipe for smoke poison?"
The Siege Team was already celebrating their victory. But Simon remained calm, four magic circles hovering in the air before him. The Skeleton Mages stood ready, their staves glowing with nascent power.
"Th-The enemy is here!" a soldier cried.
"This is the end of the kingdom," another whispered in despair.
Just as resignation began to spread through the palace, Simon, who had been preparing his spell, opened his palm. Meirin flinched at the sight of his posture.
"Hey! You’re not thinking of...?"
Simon’s palm faced the ground. Following his lead, the Skeleton Mages slammed their staves down in unison. He had been concentrating with his eyes closed, but now he slowly opened them, a faint yellow light glowing within their depths. He had achieved a state of perfect immersion.
"[Corpse—]" he began, clenching his fist as his lips moved. "[—Explosion.]"
A deep thud resonated from far below, quickly escalating into a deafening roar that shook the very foundations of the castle. And then—
The entire Aon Castle was instantly consumed by a dark blue light. The ground gave way with a cataclysmic crackle. The soldiers of the Khan Kingdom who were climbing toward the palace screamed as they were swept away in a torrent of rock and debris. Pillars shattered, houses disintegrated, hills crumbled—everything fell apart. The world was instantly shrouded in black smoke as the soldiers of the Khan Kingdom rained from the sky.
"You crazy bastard!" Hector screamed, his eyes blazing with disbelief. "Don’t tell me you used ’Corpse Explosion’ on that Gwoegong...!"
The capital of a kingdom began to crumble at the hands of its own defenders.

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