I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy – Chapter 61

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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“Dagran!”

Nothing else mattered. Reina ran to him and embraced him.

“Grrrr! Click!”

But there was no time for reunion.

Monsters surrounded them.

Only about 40 soldiers remained capable of fighting.

Dagran and Reina stood their ground with their backs to the tunnel entrance, with the remaining people behind them.

Dagran entrusted a skilled blacksmith with repairing the control panel, and then they charged into battle.

Despite her pregnancy hindering her movements, Reina fought fiercely.

Her overwhelming desire to protect Dagran fueled the holy sword, amplifying its power.

“Kyaaaaaaa─!”

But the Ekayan was in a league of its own.

The holy sword was no match for the Shadow Forest’s most powerful monster, a genetically modified creature infused with demonic energy.

“W-What…?”

To make matters worse, zombified dwarves appeared.

The sight was horrifying for Reina.

Her friends, Dagran’s subordinates, their faces twisted into grotesque masks, lunged at the survivors, biting and infecting them.

The cycle of infection repeated, turning the living into undead attackers.

“Reina!”

Dagran shook Reina, who was staring blankly at the scene.

“Reina! There’s no time to explain! We have to kill the infected! If this plague spreads to the city or the capital…”

Suddenly, Dagran pulled Reina into his arms, shielding her as she fell to the ground.

“Dagran…?”

The smell of burning flesh filled the air.

The acidic fluid spewed by the Ekayan, had burned Dagran’s back.

He had seen the trajectory of the acid and pushed Reina out of the way, taking the hit himself.

“…I’m going to be infected.”

“W-What… Y-Your wound…!”

“You must survive. A man’s dream lives on, even after he’s gone.”

Dagran pulled a dagger from his belt.

Reina, horrified, knocked it away.

The dagger clattered onto the snow.

“Ha… Ha… Ha…”

Reina stared at Dagran, her breath ragged with fury.

But his expression remained calm.

The image of the zombified dwarves flashed through her mind. She understood why he had tried to kill himself.

A wave of grief washed over her.

“H-Healing! Healing will make it better!”

Reina frantically examined Dagran’s back, tears streaming down her face.

She channeled all her mana, casting healing spells.

The wound closed, but she couldn’t remove the parasites that had already entered his body.

She didn’t even know they existed.

“Reina.”

Dagran took her hand, looking at her tear-streaked face.

“I’m going to… become like them. A monster… attacking the person I cherish most… the one I love…”

Dagran’s eyes were half-closed as he spoke his last words.

He groaned in agony as the parasites invaded his brain.

“Please… Kgh… Make sure I… stay myself… And survive… Survive…”

As Dagran’s body began to contort he groped for the fallen dagger.

“Ugh… Ugh…”

Reina could only watch, tears blurring her vision, as her husband convulsed.

“It-It’s… n-not your… f-fault… I-I… l-loved you… truly…”

Dagran mustered a final smile, then plunged the dagger into his throat.

Blood gushed out, staining Reina’s white clothes crimson.

Reina, sobbing, prepared to heal him.

She reached for his neck, but…

“Ugh… Hngh…”

She stopped.

She understood Dagran’s greatest fear – becoming a monster and attacking her.

She saw it in his eyes.

Dagran died in her arms.

“Aaaaaaaaagh! Aaaaaaaaagh! Aaaaagh…”

Reina screamed, clutching his lifeless body, feeling the warmth slowly fading.

She repeated his name, apologizing for failing to protect him.

“……”

Then, silence. Her screams stopped, and the world fell silent. Everyone capable of human speech was dead.

“Grrrr!”

“Kgh… Kgh…”

“Keuk! Gurgle!”

Only monsters remained, circling her, cautiously waiting for an opportunity to attack. They were afraid of her.

“Heh…”

But then, Reina suddenly burst into laughter.

She felt a warm liquid flowing down her legs.

It was blood.

The hot blood was running between her legs.

She had miscarried.

“I’m sorry, my love.”

Reina gently laid Dagran’s body down and stood up.

A deep red haze, an aura of pure rage and hatred, erupted from her and swirled around her.

“I… won’t be able to keep my promise. Our child… just left to be with you.”

She whispered, gripping the holy sword. The sword absorbed her hatred and grief and generated black magic power.

-Whoosh!

She swung the sword with all her might.

Monsters were obliterated.

The destructive power was immense – the wrath of a wife who had lost her husband, the fury of a mother who had lost her child, the rage of a friend who had lost loved ones…the despair of one who had lost everything.

“Aaaaaaaaagh!”

She fought a hopeless battle, charging into the horde of monsters but her eyes fixed on the Ekayan.

She had to kill the monster that had driven her husband to suicide.

“Kyaaagh!”

Monsters blocked her path, including the zombified dwarves she once knew.

But it didn’t matter. She cut them all down.

The holy sword, fueled by her endless rage, unleashed black magic power and tore the monsters apart.

‘If only I could devour everything here!’

She had lost everything. She didn’t care if she died. If she could annihilate these vile creatures with her life, she would gladly do so.

“Die! Die!!!”

The holy sword answered her call, its blade turning black, absorbing her rage.

It was becoming the Black Obsidian.

The corrupted holy sword, now a demonic blade, began to consume her life force, granting her infinite regeneration in return, revitalizing her body, ravaged by pregnancy and miscarriage.

Reina laughed maniacally and slaughtered her enemies.

After cutting down tens of thousands of monsters, she finally reached the Ekayan, the monster that had killed her husband.

A fierce battle ensued between the wielder of the demonic Black Obsidian and the monster, empowered by countless parasites.

Reina emerged victorious.

Her wounds only made her stronger and her rage was unending.

Black magic power consumed the Ekayan and devoured its flesh.

“Grrrr… Grrr…”

But by the time she had slain the Ekayan, Reina had lost her sanity.

An unknown rage consumed her.

There was someone else she had to punish, but she couldn’t remember who.

“Aaaaagh! Aaaaagh!”

She swung her sword, slaughtering the fleeing zombified dwarves, now free from the Ekayan’s control, and any remaining monsters.

“Fuck… Is it over?”

Croto and his men emerged from hiding.

The battle seemed to be over.

*Thud… Thud… Thud…*

The ground began to tremble. The sound of countless hooves filled the air. Dagran’s reinforcements had arrived.

“Hey, shit! Wound yourselves! Make it look like we fought hard!”

Croto devised a plan.

If they were unscathed, their hiding would be exposed.

He scratched himself with monster claws, smearing blood on his body. He looked like a warrior who had fought valiantly.

“…What happened? Where are the other survivors?”

The commander, leading the reinforcements, demanded an explanation.

Croto fabricated a story.

He claimed that the control panel had been destroyed during the battle, forcing them to fight to the death.

He said Reina had gone mad, slaughtering friend and foe alike.

“……”

The commander didn’t believe him. He couldn’t believe that the wise and beautiful Reina would do such a thing.

“Over there! That’s where the madwoman fled!”

Croto and his men had peeked through a crack in the tunnel door while Reina was fighting, witnessing her descent into madness.

She had been like a beast after defeating the Ekayan.

If the commander saw her now, he would believe their story.

“Follow me.”

The reinforcements followed Croto.

They found Reina slaughtering the fleeing zombified dwarves and any remaining monsters, venting her rage and hatred.

“……”

The commander was horrified. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

The beautiful Reina, lost to madness, was rampaging like a beast.

He saw his fellow dwarves being cut down as they fled from her.

“S-See! I told you she went mad! And look at her sword! That’s why her husband… killed himself out of shock!”

“Shut up!”

The commander still couldn’t believe it, especially not the words of this cowardly human.

‘But… she’s clearly…’

However, Reina was undeniably not herself. She was still slaughtering her fleeing compatriots.

“T-There was a monster… that drives people mad! She… she was affected by it! And so were the other dwarves!”

“……”

The fleeing dwarves did seem strangely deranged.

“Grrrrrrrr…”

Reina turned her gaze towards them. She had spotted Croto, standing beside the commander.

A black haze erupted from her.

“Aaaaaaaaagh!”

In her fury, she charged toward them, her rage unleashed. The terrified soldiers scattered.

“Damn it!”

The commander couldn’t allow further bloodshed. He took his elite guards and rushed to intercept her.

“Come to your senses!”

The commander raised his shield and pushed her back. His guards also raised their shields, blocking her advance.

“Graaaaaah!”

But Reina was unstoppable. She had found her target, the enemy she had to kill, the one she had momentarily forgotten in her madness.

“Stop! Please stop!”

But the commander didn’t understand. He had to stop her, now a madwoman, to prevent further casualties.

“Kgh… Kgh…”

Reina’s life force began to fade.

It was a miracle she had defeated the Ekayan, a creature bordering on a lesser demon, especially after the strain of miscarriage and prolonged fighting.

-Thud.

Reina collapsed, her blood staining the snow. As her rage subsided, her mind began to clear.

‘Dagran…’

As she lay dying, she thought of Dagran, her husband, who had sat beside her on the snowy mountain, offering companionship.

Dagran, who had saved her.

Every moment she shared with him, the memories flashed through her mind – his hearty laugh, his promise to make her smile.

‘I’m sorry… I couldn’t… avenge you…’

Regret.

A deep longing and hatred became her final emotions.

She closed her eyes, clutching the sword that had once connected her to Dagran, the sword that had now become a demonic blade.

Though her body perished, her spirit remained within the sword, whispering to its wielders:

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Croto and his men returned to the Empire.

Despite some inconsistencies, their testimonies aligned.

But the dwarves couldn’t accept it.

Dagran and Reina had been the lovers they had cherished.
They were once trusted leaders and friends who were destined to lead the Dwarf Kingdom.
Yet, such a couple met such a tragic death.

How could such a tragic fate befall them?

“…You think you can settle this with money?”

The Empire offered a massive compensation, enough to build an entire city.

But the dwarves had lost something far more valuable.

The love story of Dagran and Reina, a story that had captivated the entire kingdom, had been tarnished.

The value of the woman who had been saved and the man who had saved himself had been diminished.

The holy sword, once a source of pride, had been corrupted into a monstrous weapon that drove its wielders mad.

“It’s… too painful to look at… Take that sword away…”

The dwarves gave the demonic sword to an Imperial merchant, passing the cursed blade back to the human world they despised.

The Black Obsidian was passed from hand to hand within the Empire. Its wielders always met tragic ends, corrupted by its power and driven to kill.

But House Sigmund was an exception.

They were a family specialized in controlling artifacts.

They could control even a demonic sword imbued with powerful resentment.

The Black Obsidian became their family heirloom, contributing to their success in the Great War.

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“……”

Silence filled the lab.

The visualized memories from the sword’s resentment had been deeply disturbing.

Elena, tears streaming down her face, said with fury,

“Right now! We have to capture those bastards and make them pay! Even now, they must─!”

“Wait a moment.”

But at that moment, Ed stopped Elena. He looked at her enraged face and said quietly,

“No, that won’t do. We’ll escort them personally.”

“…What?”

“To the Dwarven Allied Kingdom. We’ll escort them personally. They’re heroes who fought for the dwarves 40 years ago. I’m sure many dwarves will be delighted to see them at the exhibition.”

“……”

Elena saw a chilling glint in Ed’s eyes. She understood what he was planning.

“…Yes. I was mistaken. Our seniors, who bravely fought against the monster invasion 40 years ago… They should be at the forefront of the celebration, to help normalize relations between our kingdoms.”

“Yes. Precisely.”

“Then I’ll go inform them. You can handle the rest of the preparations, right?”

“Hahaha. Of course. I’ll make sure they receive a warm welcome.”

“Good. I’ll leave it to you.”

Elena vanished in a puff of blue smoke. As soon as she was gone, Ed’s face hardened.

It was time to reveal the truth.

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[T/N: Fuck you onion ninajs]

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