I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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The chill of the night air lingered into dawn.

Having gathered all the information about the territory, I settled on my priority.

It was to wipe out the Demon Church.

Reviving the lives of the people and establishing a new order would be meaningless as long as the Demon Church existed.

Like cancer cells spreading, they must be removed for this place to function properly as my territory.

“The one wearing the red mask.”

To uproot the Demon Church, I must eliminate its leader.

The one presumed to be the leader of the Demon Church here is “the one wearing the red mask.”

In other words, this person has presided over the “sacrificial ritual” for the past month.

The initiation of offerings signifies they’ve fully fallen into the Demon Church and are undergoing demonization.

I must find and eliminate them without fail.

“Is it around here?”

Thus, I made my way to the location suspected to be the hideout of the band of thieves.

I had heard they wield bizarre powers.

I needed to confirm whether they were members of the Demon Church.

“Hey, you over there.”

At that moment.

Three men wielding weapons approached me.

I had indeed found the right place.

“Are you a noble? That outfit looks quite pricey. If you spit out everything you have, we’ll spare your life, so hand it over while we’re still being kind.”

The thugs, with their swords slung over their shoulders, were threatening me.

For a commoner who couldn’t even handle Mana to intimidate a noble, they must have some sort of backup.

Surely, they weren’t relying solely on those shabby weapons, so it must be…

‘I’ll find out if I test them.’

I decided to act like a typical arrogant noble.

“You idiots are out of your minds. You’re nothing more than trash, worse than insects. How dare a foolish lower-class who doesn’t even know how to wield Mana threaten anyone?”

“………”

Their expressions started to turn murderous.

Raw hatred for nobles was clearly reflected in their eyes.

“Typical noble scum. How many brain-dead nobles have there been that couldn’t grasp the situation? You’ll be one of them.”

They grit their teeth while displaying animosity towards me.

Then, the one who seemed to be the leader began to swell grotesquely.

His whites turned black, and his skin turned a pale purple.

A clear sign he was using demonic power.

“You thought only nobles could wield special powers? Not anymore. The likes of you, who looked down on us, can also wield special powers.”

He smirked as he spoke.

Despite only emanating the mana of a low-class demon, he looked smug.

But still, that was enough to be a threat to a low noble.

With that level of mana, he must at least be an intermediate sword user.

“Shall I rip off one of your arms first?”

With that, he grinned and charged at me.

In an instant, he closed the distance of several meters.

-Ki-yi-yiing!

A bracelet had already secured itself on my wrist.

In a flash, the bracelet transformed into a gauntlet, and I delivered a counterpunch to the charging thug.

Crack! The sound of bones cracking resonated.

Simultaneously, his body flew backward.

His body floated momentarily in mid-air before landing with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.

His comrades, taken aback by their leader going down in one hit, took a step back to glare at me.

Their silly expressions involuntarily made me chuckle.

“How dare you use that filthy power in front of me. I won’t let that slide.”

The territory’s people, who had succumbed to thievery due to the former lord’s tyranny.

But touching demonic power is something I cannot forgive.

I pulled out components of my suit from my inventory all at once.

“Actually, I wield a special power too. Ever heard of the Repulsor Beam?”

-Ki-yi-yiing!

The palm of the gauntlet glowed brightly.

I raised my right hand and aimed at them.

Their eyes began to fill with fear.

***

Gregory, who had briefly lost consciousness after being struck by Edgar, managed to regain his awareness.

With the demonic power granting him monstrous regenerative abilities and vitality, he quickly recovered from this minor blow.

Resolved for revenge, Gregory bit down hard on his teeth and rose to his feet.

-Shuaaaaat!

However, his target for revenge was nowhere in sight.

The area was now shrouded in black steam.

Gregory looked around, searching for Edgar.

He aimed to take revenge on the insignificant noble who had gotten one punch in on him.

“What in the world…”

However, the state of his comrades seemed strange.

They were retreating slowly with dazed expressions.

Why did they look so frightened?

Then he noticed a strange sound.

The grinding noise of machinery could be heard through the black mist.

And as the steam gradually cleared, Edgar’s figure came into view.

“………”

In that moment, witnessing his form, instinctive terror gripped Gregory.

The red glow emanating from within the black fog,

And the shape reminiscent of a demon brought to mind ‘that person.’

His body drenched in pitch-blackness, the Lord of Hell.

‘No, no… this being is on a higher level than him.’

No, the person before him felt like something entirely more exalted.

Even the Lord did not possess such smooth, obsidian skin.

It was as if he was closer to the ‘God’ that the Lord spoke of.

One day, to descend upon this land and rule all worlds, the Lord of Hell!

“Lord, Lord!”

Gregory was convinced.

This being was indeed the Lord of Hell that the leader had spoken of!

Gregory knelt and began to worship the Lord of Hell.

“Oh, Lord of Hell! Have you finally descended upon this land? I have awaited you for so long! Tear apart the hypocrites that plague this land, and pour their blood and flesh upon us! Grant us the freedom to fulfill our desires!”

Gregory started to recite the scriptures he had learned from the ‘ritual’ over the years.

It spoke of the moment when the Lord of Hell will descend upon this land, destroying all empires and kingdoms to offer freedom.

-Crack, crack…

Then, the Lord took a step forward.

With each revelation of the Lord’s form from the obscured steam, Gregory’s conviction grew stronger.

An exterior so smooth and solid that it could hardly be believed to belong to a human.

A gaze glowing red like the sun.

A light emanating from his chest, like twinkling starlight.

No monster nor human could ever take such form.

This being was undoubtedly the Lord of Hell.

Amidst all this, the Lord finally spoke.

【What the hell are you blabbering on about?】

***

“Ughhh…!”

The last thug I had struck finally fell.

To dare confront me with that detestable demonic power! If they weren’t my territory’s people, I would have torn them to shreds.

‘Though, even then I was supposed to kill them.’

Nevertheless, I let them go, even after they had embraced demonic power.

They had only absorbed a smidgen of mana, allowing them the chance to return to being human.

Most importantly, these thugs were merely people of the territory who had fallen into thievery due to the previous lord’s tyranny.

Originally earnest laborers of this land, there is still a chance for redemption.

【From now on, answer sincerely to what I say.】

Thus, I needed to act quickly.

The fact that even underlings resort to wielding demonic power indicates the influence of the Demon Church has risen to uncontrollable heights.

The leadership must be dealt with before their power spreads any further.

-Swooosh…

So, I activated the release device infused with hallucinogenic fluid.

The surrounding area filled with a purple fog, and their expressions began to glaze over.

And then, I posed my first question.

【Where is your hideout?】

***

“The leader has returned!”

In the dense woods.

A man dashed between the wooden houses, announcing the news.

The head of the ‘Black Bandits’ was returning here after five days.

“The leader? So soon?”

“The leader has come back!”

At this, every household began to open their doors to celebrate the leader’s return.

Even the child, who had been glum just moments ago, brightened and joyfully ran around the field.

“Leader!”

Then.

A crowd emerged, centered around a burly middle-aged man with a full head of white hair and a black beard.

The townspeople hurriedly poured out of their homes to greet the middle-aged man with the black beard, while a seven-year-old child grabbed the hem of his trousers, gazing up at him.

“Leader! Did you bring a lot of food this time? Mom and I have been waiting for you!”

The middle-aged man looked at the child with a warm gaze.

He kneeled on one knee to meet the child’s eyes.

Ruffling the child’s hair, he said.

“Of course! You’ll be eating until you’re stuffed, so look forward to it! Hahaha!”

He laughed heartily, gesturing to his subordinates.

Then, a subordinate dropped a large backpack onto the ground with a thud! and opened it to reveal the contents.

It was filled with dried jerky and various grains.

“Waaaaah!!”

The child squealed in delight.

The women beamed at the child, and the young men observed the contents of the bag with excited expressions.

In the meantime, a woman approached the leader with an anxious expression and said.

“Um… Leader. Wh-where’s Kevin?”

“………”

At her words, the atmosphere sank in an instant.

The leader silently placed a hand on her shoulder.

As soon as the woman met his gaze, she covered her mouth and swallowed her tears.

Then, a man handed her a bone urn, speaking up.

“Kevin… fell bravely fighting against the nobles… Thanks to Kevin, we all… managed to escape safely.”

The woman collapsed, clutching the urn, sobbing uncontrollably.

Her friends gathered around her, comforting her.

The leader looked at them with sadness in his eyes but soon composed himself and issued orders with a stern expression.

“Distribute food and essentials. Classify the supplies into the warehouse, and we will hold a ‘successor ceremony’. We need a warrior to fill Kevin’s place. Are there any volunteers?”

He glanced around at the youths in the village as he spoke.

Some young men recoiled in fear, while others raised their hands with determination.

Finally, the leader nodded and said.

“One hour from now, volunteers should come to the cave for the ceremony. One among you will be the new warrior.”

“Yes!”

The leader nodded once more and began to make his way to his quarters.

As he passed, the townspeople bowed their heads in respect.

Amidst all this, his steps suddenly halted.

Looking around as if searching for someone, he eventually grabbed hold of a nearby youth and asked.

“I can’t see Gregory. Where is he?”