I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy – Chapter 97

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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When the chief of the refugee village asked Ed for his identity.

Ed suddenly recalled the scouts he had met before.

The ones who had called him the Archdemon of Hell and bowed their heads on their own.

【You don’t recognize me even after seeing me? I am your salvation. The rightful master of this land, whom you must serve.】

So, Ed threw out some bait.

If they mistook him on their own and came out with a subservient attitude, it seemed that the situation could be resolved more easily than he thought.

“N-No way… Are you the one from the Book of Prophecy?”

As a result, it seemed the bait had been taken.

Expression, gestures, gaze.

All those elements created an atmosphere of them believing him implicitly.

【Are you the chief of this place? What is your name?】

So, Ed lightly ignored the chief’s question.

Because if he were truly the Archdemon of Hell, it was obvious that he would ignore the questions of a mere human.

He inquired about the chief’s name in an authoritative tone.

Soon, the chief knelt on one knee and answered.

“My name is Grick. I am of the Priest rank. I am currently leading a congregation of 500 members.”

…Priest?

Ed tilted his head as soon as he heard Grick’s rank.

It was because it didn’t match the information he had heard from the Pleasure Tower.

Indeed, if he compiled the information he heard from the Pleasure Tower, it seemed that a ‘Demonic Advent Ritual’ was being held every full moon.

The vile and filthy ritual of killing a virgin and violating her corpse.

‘If he’s a Priest rank… he shouldn’t be able to preside over the Demonic Advent Ritual. Is there someone higher up?’

However, the Priest rank could not perform the Demonic Advent Ritual.

At the very least, one had to be of the Bishop rank for that dirty ritual to be possible.

That ritual to be reborn from a half-human, half-demon into a complete demon.

【You are not the master of the red mask.】

Thus, Ed was certain that the chief of the refugee village was not the root cause of the problem in this area.

Soon, Grick’s following answer was as Ed had expected.

“Yes. The one who appears wearing a red mask… is the Bishop. He appears once every full moon… when the sacred ritual is performed…”

Just as I thought.

Ed nodded and asked for the location where the ritual was held.

Grick told him the location of the ritual without any suspicion, and Ed memorized the location.

He calculated that since the ritual was said to be held every time the full moon rose, he could raid the place in 6 days.

【I see. More importantly, your hearts seem to have a problem. If this continues, you will surely be unable to accept any more miasma and your hearts will stop. I will replace them with new hearts.】

Having obtained all the necessary information, Ed began to coax the men with plausible words.

If he could just replace their hearts without having to fight, he could easily remove the miasma.

“……Our hearts, you say?”

However, as soon as he brought up the story of having to replace their hearts, Grick’s expression turned sharp.

He, who had been kneeling before Ed, got back up and spoke.

“But according to the doctrine, isn’t the heart the most important part for us followers? I was told that we must never give up our hearts, no matter what.”

【……It is merely a phrase written on paper. Are you saying you believe in that mere combination of letters more than my words?】

However, Ed was not flustered by Grick’s changed attitude.

This level of suspicion was already within the range of his expectations.

“……But I was taught that the doctrine written in the scriptures is a rule jointly decided by the Seven Archdemons. Therefore, please understand my position of not being able to ignore the will of the other six.”

But Grick was not the type to be easily fooled.

In the first place, it was almost impossible to deceive him, who had been deceived and tricked by nobles to the point of losing his wife.

【I see words won’t work.】

Thus, Ed, who judged that there was nothing more to gain from continuing the conversation, immediately began charging the Repulsor Beam.

As a bright light burst from Ed’s palm, Grick looked around and shouted.

“Everyone, release your miasma!”

Peeong!

And at the same time, the Repulsor Beam blasted one of the men.

A subordinate, his body bent into a ‘ㄷ’ shape, flew several meters through the air.

“Who the hell are you!”

At that, Grick, who had instantly transformed his body into that of a monster, asked Ed for his identity.

Soon, Ed aimed the Repulsor Beam at Grick and answered softly.

“I’m Ironman.”

“…What?”

Kii—iiing! Peong!

Grick was sent flying after being hit by the Repulsor Beam.

Grick’s close aide shouted.

“Attack all at once! He’s alone!”

“Krrrrrrrr!!”

At that, those who had transformed their bodies into all sorts of forms rushed at Ed all at once.

A man who grew claws as hard as steel.

A man who bled acidic blood every time he was wounded.

A man who flew in the sky with jet-black wings.

A man who tried to attack by stretching his arms long like rubber, and so on.

All sorts of half-human, half-demons attacked Ed.

【I like that I don’t have to go easy on you guys.】

At this, Ed turned on the Plasma Mana Shield at maximum output.

Since there was no need to go easy on those who had accepted the power of a demon, he was able to display his full firepower without holding back.

“Kraaaaaaaaak!”

“Krrrrrrk!”

Ed, who had been improving and upgrading his suit’s performance without missing a single day.

Now, even if tens, or hundreds of ‘Apprentice Priests’ rushed at him, they couldn’t even leave a single scratch.

No, forget a scratch, approaching him was impossible in the first place.

Unless one could warp space like Lucas, it was impossible to penetrate the Plasma Mana Shield and attack Ed with conventional methods.

【This turned out well. There were a lot of things I wanted to test out.】

Thus, to Ed, they were nothing more than lab rats.

Test subjects to test the weapons he had developed.

Pajijijik!

So, Ed took out a test weapon from his inventory.

And the first weapon Ed took out was an other-worldly double-barreled shotgun made with reference to dwarven technology, in other words, a Super Shotgun.

The weapon that first comes to mind when you think of demons.

【Ah. As expected.】

Soon, Ed, who had gripped the Super Shotgun that appeared in the air, curled the corners of his mouth up.

Even though he was just holding the Super Shotgun in his hand, the grip and weight were no joke.

It had a taste that clung to you, so to speak.

Clack!

But the highlight was, of course, the reloading.

The sound of reloading that occurred when he broke the barrel, pushed in two huge shells, and then reassembled the barrel.

Wasn’t it to hear this ‘clack!’ reloading sound that he had gone through all that trouble to make the Super Shotgun?

Taang!

Ah… but the firing sound was no slouch either.

This recoil transmitted through the body along with the fierce firing sound.

The intense tremor that could be felt throughout the whole body.

Wiiiiing…

However, there was no smell of gunpowder.

Ed deliberately turned off the purification function, then took a deep breath of the gunpowder smell floating in the air.

Like a chain smoker taking a drag of a cigarette after a long time, Ed’s expression turned ecstatic.

‘This is the best…’

Ed repeated this process several more times.

Clack!

Taang!

Clack!

Taang!

He continuously hammered his eardrums with this reloading and firing sound that he never got tired of hearing.

He liked the cumbersome method of firing once and reloading once so much that he felt rather grateful for it.

“Keuhaaaaaak!!! Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

And as expected, the performance of the Super Shotgun was certain.

As soon as the enemy’s bullet hit the enemy’s knee, it exploded with a ‘pang!’, and a whole leg was blown away.

Even though it must have been a body trained to an enormous strength by accepting miasma, to be knocked out with a single shot from the shotgun meant the performance was certainly decent.

If it had hit the heart, it would have been an instant kill.

【Now… shall I test this?】

Having savored the feel of the Super Shotgun to his heart’s content, Ed took out something else.

If we’re talking about the real feel, wouldn’t it be this?

Brrrrrrrrrng!

This chainsaw.

The raw feel in his hands.

Ed grinned, holding the taltaltal- vibrating chainsaw.

The faces of the enemies looking at him began to be dyed with fear.

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‘He is definitely the Archdemon of Hell…’

Grick was certain.

That he had dared to piss off the Archdemon of Hell.

That this catastrophe had occurred because he, not knowing his place, had doubted him.

Booooooooooooooooong!!

“Keuaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!”

And for good reason, his subordinates were being slaughtered.

He too had a leg blown off by an unidentified gun, and both his arms were sawn off by a barbaric saw blade.

Such a brutally cruel method of combat was unprecedented.

【It’s great that you regenerate so quickly!】

It was horrifying.

It was just him playing with them.

The strong regeneration characteristic of miasma couldn’t have been more of a curse.

Because as soon as they recovered, they were sawn off again.

“Cough! Cough! Keoheooo! Cough! Cough!”

That wasn’t all.

This place was filled with a dense purple vapor.

Every time he breathed, it felt like his lungs were on fire.

Tears, snot, and saliva were secreted in large quantities, and he felt enormous pain.

His mind grew distant, and all of this felt unreal.

“Keueeeeeee……”

And so, the screams began to die down one by one.

The 50 or so warriors he had painstakingly raised had been defeated so futilely.

Why had he foolishly opposed him?

He should have bowed his head even lower and offered his heart.

Booooooooong! Booooooooooooooong!!! Kagagagagagak-!

Grick barely held onto his fading consciousness and heard the sound of the chainsaw revving.

The sound of flesh being torn, muscles being ruptured, and bones being ground echoed all around.

That being was definitely the Archdemon of Hell.

【What? You’re still conscious. I mixed in an anesthetic component, so does this mean being a Priest really makes a difference?】

Just then, the Archdemon of Hell came to him.

Grick began to apologize for his blunder, shedding tears.

“I-I’m sorry! I-I-I committed a discourtesy, failing to recognize you, Your Grace! But please forgive me just this once! I have people to lead! I have to protect my dying daugh—!”

Peok!

But before Grick could finish his words, Ed’s fist slammed into his lower jaw, and his consciousness went dark.

Soon, Ed, who had succeeded in physical anesthesia, took out a scalpel from his inventory and muttered.

【Now, you are the last one. Let’s return to being human.】

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“Uuugh…”

3 minutes later.

Grick regained consciousness with his superhuman mental strength.

His sense of mission to protect his daughter at all costs had awakened his mind early.

Throb!

But the pain in his heart area was enormous.

The aftereffects remained because he had cut out the heart area filled with miasma and restored a clean heart.

“S-Sophie…”

However, Grick, who was worried about his daughter, used every last bit of his strength and crawled.

He made a difficult crawl through the area thick with CS gas to his residence.

It was when he arrived at the place where the village was.

“Aah… Aaaaaah… Aaaaaaaaaah…”

All the villagers were dead.

No, in reality, they were just unconscious, but in Grick’s eyes, they looked sufficiently dead.

This was because the blood on Ed’s suit was sprinkled all over the place, making it look like a scene of a bloody massacre.

“N-No… Nooooo…”

Grick had instinctively known that it would come to this one day.

He had no choice but to entrust his body to the ‘Salvation Cult,’ but he was aware deep in his heart that it was a religion with a twisted essence.

If that wasn’t the case, there was no way they would package the crazy act of killing a virgin and raping her as a ‘sacred ritual.’

Besides, the power they used was also twisted in some way.

‘But… but I had no choice…’

However, the only thing he could rely on was this twisted power.

Even though he knew deep inside that this was not the right path, the more he knew it, the more he decided to blindly believe in the religion.

Because that was the only way to soothe his anxiety.

“S-Sophie… Please… Sophie…”

Grick, who had been regretting his past days, opened the door to his house.

Hoping that at least his daughter was safe.

But there—

【Kekekekekek…】

Ed was laughing, having cut open Sophie’s stomach with a scalpel.

It was because Ed, who had noticed that Sophie had Holy Power, was going to treat her long-standing chronic illness with surgery.

Ed was simply laughing because he was happy to have found someone who could handle Holy Power at such an early stage.

“Ah… Aaaah… Uwaaaaaah…”

However, in Grick’s eyes, he was no different from a demon bastard.

It was because he was suddenly reminded of the Bishop who would pour his seed into a virgin after killing her.

【Now, shall we inject (the healing components) to our heart’s content?】

Moreover, the line that followed was a masterpiece.

How dare he ‘inject’ something into his precious daughter?

“R-Right now…! Step back right now…! To my daughter…! To my precious daughter… h-how dare you…!”

Grick squeezed out his last strength and rushed at Ed.

However, Grick, who had inhaled a large amount of CS powder, hallucinogenic powder, and anesthetic powder while crawling here, ended up tumbling to the floor instead.

Soon, Ed, who found Grick collapsed on the floor, approached him and said.

【That woman. Was she your daughter? Truly (her ability is) quite coveted. She was very excellent.】

“……Keuheuk… M-My daughter, at least…”

【Don’t worry. When you open your eyes again, you’ll be cheering at the sight of your daughter.】

Ed said so and injected the anesthetic component into Grick.

Grick shed tears of anger at Ed’s words that he would cheer at the sight of his dead daughter’s corpse.

But he couldn’t stop his eyes from gradually closing.

‘In the end… I too, like this…’

Grick’s consciousness went dark.

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