I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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When the chief of the refugee village asked Edgar about his identity.

Edgar suddenly recalled the scouts he had met before.

Those who had called him the Lord of Hell and bowed before him of their own volition.

【Can’t you tell who I am just by looking at me? I am your savior. The rightful lord of this land whom you must serve.】

So, Edgar decided to throw out a bait.

If they came down with false humility on their own, it seemed that resolving the situation could be easier than expected.

“C-could it be… the one mentioned in the Book of Prophecy?”

As a result, it seemed his bluff had worked.

Their expressions, gestures, and gazes all conveyed a belief in him as solid as rock.

【Are you the leader here? What is your name?】

Edgar lightly ignored the leader’s question.

If he truly was the Lord of Hell, it would be obvious that he would disregard the question of a mere human.

In an authoritative tone, he demanded the leader’s name.

Finally, the leader knelt on one knee and replied.

“My name is Gric. I hold the rank of Priest. I currently lead a congregation of about 500 members.”

…Priest?

As soon as Edgar heard Gric’s rank, he tilted his head in confusion.

It didn’t match the information he had heard in the Tower of Pleasure.

To be more precise, it seemed that according to the information gathered from the Tower of Pleasure, every fortnight a ‘Demonic Rites’ ceremony was being held.

The hideous and filthy ritual that involved killing a virgin and violating her corpse.

“If he’s a Priest… he surely can’t preside over the Demonic Rites. Is there a higher rank above him?”

However, a Priest rank could not facilitate such a ceremony.

At the very least, one would need the rank of Bishop for that dirty ritual.

The rite intended to transform a half-human, half-horse into a complete demon.

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

Thus, Edgar was convinced that the chief of the refugee village was not the root cause of the trouble.

Gric’s subsequent reply was as Edgar expected.

“Yes. The one who appears with the red mask is… the Bishop. He appears every fortnight… to conduct the sacred ceremony…”

As expected.

Edgar nodded and asked where the ceremony was held.

Gric revealed the location without any suspicion, and Edgar committed it to memory.

Since the ceremony is said to take place on a full moon, he calculated that he could raid that place in six days.

【I see. However, it seems there’s a problem with your hearts. If you continue like this, you will surely be unable to accept more demonic power, and your hearts will stop. I will replace them with new hearts.】

Having obtained all the necessary information, Edgar began to seduce them with plausible words.

If he could simply exchange hearts without the need to fight, he could easily remove the demonic energy.

“…Hearts, you say?”

However, the moment he mentioned the need to change hearts, Gric’s expression turned sharp.

The man who had been kneeling before Edgar rose back up and said.

“But according to our precepts, the heart is the most important part for our congregation, right? I’ve heard we must never give up our hearts no matter what happens.”

【…That’s just a phrase written on paper. Are you saying you believe that silly combination of letters more than my words?】

However, Edgar was not startled by Gric’s change in attitude.

He had already anticipated this level of suspicion.

“…But I was taught that the precepts written in the scripture were a regulation decided collectively by the Seven Dukes. So please understand my position, which cannot disregard the will of the other six.”

But Gric was not someone to be easily fooled.

Since he had been deceived by a nobleman and had lost his wife, it was nearly impossible to trick him.

【It seems words won’t work.】

Thus, judging that continuing the conversation would yield no gains, Edgar immediately began to charge the Repulsor Beam.

As bright light erupted from Edgar’s palm, Gric looked around and shouted.

“Everyone, unleash the demonic energy!”

-Poof!

And at the same instant, the Repulsor Beam incinerated one of them.

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

“Who are you?!”

In an instant, Gric transformed into a monster and questioned Edgar’s identity.

Edgar aimed the Repulsor Beam at Gric and quietly answered.

“I’m Ironman.”

“…What?”

Kii-iiiiiing! Bang!

As Gric was blasted by the Repulsor Beam, he flew away.

One of Gric’s subordinates shouted.

“Everyone attack at once! The opponent is alone!”

“Grrrraaaaah!!”

And then those who had transformed in various forms rushed towards Edgar all at once.

There was one with claws as hard as steel.

One who bled acidic fluid every time it was wounded.

One with pitch-black wings flying through the sky.

One stretching its arm like rubber to try to attack, and so on.

All sorts of half-human, half-monster beings attacked Edgar.

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

So Edgar activated his Plasma Mana Shield at maximum output.

Since he didn’t need to hold back against those who accepted demonic powers, he could unleash this firepower without fail.

“Graaah!”

“Grrrrr!”

Having upgraded his suit’s performance every single day without fail, Edgar was now unharmed even if dozens or hundreds of ‘apprentice priests’ attacked him.

No, there was no possibility of getting hurt at all.

Unless one could distort space like Lucas, it was impossible to penetrate the Plasma Mana Shield and attack Edgar.

【This is perfect. I have many things I want to test.】

So for Edgar, they were merely test subjects.

Test subjects to try out the weapons he had developed.

-Crack!

Thus, Edgar pulled out a test weapon from his inventory.

And the first weapon Edgar pulled out was a super shotgun made by referencing dwarven technology, a style of double-barrel shotgun from another world.

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

【Ah, indeed.】

With the super shotgun now in his hands, Edgar curled the corners of his mouth upwards.

Just holding the super shotgun gave him an extraordinary grip and weight.

It felt oh-so-good to hold.

-Clack!

The highlight was undoubtedly the reloading.

The sound made when bending the shotgun’s waist, pushing in two huge shells, and then reassembling it was pure satisfaction.

Wasn’t it for the mere sound of that clack that he had endured so much to create the super shotgun?

-Bang!

Ah… but the firing sound was no joke either.

The furious firing sound coupled with the recoil felt all over his body.

An intense tremor reverberated through him.

-Vroooom…

However, there was no smell of gunpowder.

Edgar intentionally switched off the purification feature and inhaled the scent of gunpowder that lingered in the air.

Like a chain smoker taking a long-awaited puff of smoke, Edgar’s expression transformed into one of ecstasy.

“Best ever…”

He repeated this process several times.

Clack!

Bang!

Clack!

Bang!

He endlessly pummeled the sweet sounds of reloading and firing into his eardrums.

The bothersome one-shot, one-reload method even felt somewhat grateful in this moment.

“Grahaha!!! Uwaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

And indeed, the performance of the super shotgun was guaranteed.

As soon as one of his enemies’ bullets hit another’s knee, it exploded with a bang, sending that leg flying away entirely.

Even though they had trained their bodies to incredible strength by accepting demonic energy, being knocked down by a single shotgun blast clearly indicated its performance was top-notch.

If he had shot at their heart, they would have died instantly.

【Now… shall I try this?】

Having savored the feel of the super shotgun, Edgar pulled out something else.

This was the true weapon that could give the finest grip.

-Vrrrrrrrrr!

This chainsaw.

Pure, raw handfeel.

Edgar grinned as he wielded the trembling chainsaw.

The faces of the enemies looking at him began to turn pale with fear.

***

“Surely the Lord of Hell…”

Gric was convinced.

He had angered the Lord of Hell.

Because he was foolish enough to doubt him, this tragedy unfolded.

-Bwwwoooom!!

“Graaahhh!!!”

It was no wonder; his subordinates were being slaughtered.

He himself had been hit by an unknown gun, causing one of his legs to fly off, and his arms to be severed by a savage chainsaw.

Such a brutal fighting style was unprecedented.

【I’m glad my regeneration is fast!】

It was terrible.

It was like playing with him.

The strong regenerative power, a trait of demonic energy, was almost cursed.

Every time he regenerated, he was cut down again.

“Cough! Cough! Ugh! Cough! Cough!”

And it wasn’t just that.

This place, filled with thick purple smoke.

Every breath felt like his lungs were on fire.

Tears, snot, and saliva were flowing out in large amounts, causing intense pain.

His consciousness began to fade, and everything felt surreal.

“Grrrrrrrr…”

Eventually, the screams began to fade one by one.

All the warriors he had painstakingly nurtured, over fifty of them, came to such a pathetic end.

Why had they foolishly opposed him?

They should have bowed even lower and offered their hearts.

-Bwwwoooom! Bwwwoooom!!! Ggggggrrrrrr!!!

Gric clutched his fading consciousness and heard the sound of the chainsaw roaring.

The sound of flesh being shredded, muscles exploding, and bones grinding echoed everywhere.

That figure was surely the Lord of Hell.

【What? You’re still conscious? There should be anesthetic in the mix, but does being a Priest make a difference?】

At that moment, the Lord of Hell approached him.

Tears streamed down Gric’s face as he began to apologize for his mistake.

“I-I’m sorry! I-I-I’m unworthy of failing to recognize you, my lord! But please forgive me just once! I must protect my people! I need to save my dying daughter—!”

-Swish!

But before Gric could finish speaking, Edgar’s fist struck his jaw, plunging him into darkness.

Having successfully knocked him out, Edgar murmured as he pulled out a scalpel from his inventory.

【Now, you’re the last one. Let’s turn you back into a human.】

***

“Ughhh…”

Three minutes later.

Gric regained consciousness with superhuman willpower.

His determination to protect his daughter stirred him awake.

-Groan!

But the pain in his heart was immense.

He had hollowed out the heart filled with demonic energy and replaced it with a clean heart, thus leaving him with aftereffects.

“S-Sophie…”

However, worried about his daughter, Gric crawled on all fours with whatever strength he had left.

He struggled through the CS-dust-filled area to reach his dwelling.

When he finally arrived at the place where the village was located.

“Ah… Ahhhh… Aahhhhhh…”

All the villagers were dead.

No, they were merely unconscious, but to Gric’s eyes, they looked thoroughly dead.

Blood splattered everywhere from Edgar’s suit, making it seem as though a massacre had taken place.

“No, no… nooooooo…”

Gric instinctively knew this was how it would turn out.

Although he entrusted himself to the ‘Salvation Church’ out of necessity, deep down he recognized that it was a religion with a twisted nature.

There was no way to disguise the insane act of killing a virgin and violating her as a ‘sacred ritual.’

Moreover, the power they wielded was also of a warped form in a way.

“But… but I had no choice…”

It was the only twisted power he could rely on.

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

Only this could quell his anxiety.

“S-Sophie… Please… Sophie…”

Regretting the past, Gric opened his house door.

Hoping that at least his daughter was safe.

But there, he found—

【Kukukukukuk…】

Edgar was laughing as he sliced open Sophie’s belly with a scalpel.

He had noticed that Sophie possessed divine power and intended to treat her chronic illness with surgery.

Edgar was simply in a good mood for discovering someone who could wield divine power early on.

“Ah… Aahhh… Uwaaaaaa…”

But in Gric’s eyes, Edgar was no different from a demon.

Suddenly, he remembered the Bishop who killed virgins and then poured his essence into them.

【Well then, shall I inject (the healing component) to my heart’s content?】

Moreover, his next words were outrageous.

How dare he inject something into his precious daughter?

“Get, get away from her…! My daughter…! My precious daughter…! How dare you…!”

Gric gathered his last ounce of strength and lunged at Edgar.

However, having inhaled a large amount of CS powder, hallucination powder, and anesthetic powder while crawling here, Gric instead collapsed to the ground.

Then, Edgar approached the fallen Gric and said to him.

【That woman. Was she your daughter? (I really envy her abilities.) Quite remarkable.】

“…Kuhh… My, my daughter…”

【Don’t worry. When you open your eyes again, you’ll be cheering for your daughter.】

As Edgar said this, he injected Gric with anesthetic.

Gric trembled with rage-filled tears at Edgar’s words, believing he would cheer upon seeing his dead daughter.

Yet, he could not keep his eyes open any longer.

‘In the end… I too will end like this…’

Gric’s consciousness faded into darkness.