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It has been a week since I set up a camera in Max Zigmund’s secret room.

Finally, the big catch has arrived.

Max has shown himself in the secret room.

[Perform mana detection.]

However, the guy who entered the secret room was thorough.

As soon as he stepped in, he immediately spread his mana waves to detect any entities with mana.

If the camera I had set up operated on mana, I would have been caught.

Or even if a person had been planted there, I would have been found out.

[····No anomalies detected!]

But for such situations, I had installed a camera powered by electricity.

Thanks to Eve, I was able to create a pure microcamera that didn’t rely on any magic.

[Bring the offerings. The ceremony will commence.]

Having completed the security procedures, he immediately prepared for the ritual.

He stripped off his robe, exposing his naked body, with his grotesque desires mounting in a fully erect state.

[Hurry up and get in! You are serving the Archbishop with glorious devotion!]

Soon, as he sat in the prepared chair, five women were led into the secret room by the guards.

All of them had white skin and short white hair.

‘·····No way.’

And I could instinctively tell by their appearance.

His twisted desires were projected onto those women.

No wonder, they were all women resembling ‘Enya.’

“·······.”

The scene that followed was as clear as day.

Dozens of cult members flooded into the secret room, mixing all sorts of flesh colors.

It was truly like watching a mad cult.

Five women being toyed with by Max, and the cultists reciting prayers of praise while watching those women.

The language they spoke was undoubtedly that of demons.

With this, Max has sufficiently secured his justification.

“Eve, I’m going to head to the Zigmund Territory first. Please submit the just-replayed video as evidence to Elena.”

Thus, I quickly prepared and exited the lord’s chamber.

I needed to draw out Max as quickly as possible to prevent the spread of Demon Church followers in the Zigmund Territory.

-Fwoosh!

Bursting out of the lord’s chamber, I summoned my bike immediately.

That bike, through numerous modifications, could achieve zero to sixty in 2.8 seconds, and it took less than five minutes to get me to the location of the dimensional portal.

“L-lord!”

“I’m heading to the central exchange.”

Having arrived at the ‘Fix Territory Exchange,’ I casually acknowledged the guards’ greetings and stated my purpose.

In response, the guard hurried into the exchange building to inform the manager of my arrival and purpose, and the manager immediately began preparing to open the portal.

They infused mana to open the portal.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Having stepped through the portal to the central exchange leading to the capital, I then entered the portal going to the Zigmund Territory.

The bright light enveloped me as the scenery around me changed.

.

I had arrived in the Zigmund Territory.

“F-Fix Count!? What brings you here… The funeral has already…”

The manager of the Zigmund Territory exchange saluted me as soon as he saw me.

However, upon witnessing the suit manifesting in mid-air, the manager couldn’t continue his sentence.

He simply stared in a daze at the spectacle of the suit parts automatically attaching themselves to my body.

-Clank… Clank… Viiiing…

The parts were being intricately assembled while emitting pleasing mechanical sounds.

I calmly moved forward.

With every step I took, I felt the gratifying weight of the suit being completed.

This sensation, which felt like it was completing me, was always exhilarating to experience.

-Wheeeeeing… Beep.

[System loading complete.]

As the last assembly procedure, the helmet was fitted onto my head, a message popped up stating that system loading was complete, and various augmented reality LCD indicators appeared all around.

It displayed information like the suit’s power, status, equipped weapons, etc.

【Check flight system】

I commanded a check of the flight system.

Then, another version of me in my head, ‘Instance,’ connected to the ‘Fix System’ that Eve had uploaded and began checking the flight system.

It meant that ‘Instance,’ a skill I obtained when ‘engineering thought’ reached level 4, was in charge of the overall operation of the suit.

Simply put, another consciousness of mine was acting like Jarvis.

-Wheeeing… Ding… Clank… Clank… Wheeeing…

Thus, my subconscious ‘Instance,’ uploaded into my mind, began inspecting the flight system by connecting to the suit’s system.

Starting from the lower body and sequentially checking each connection point to the upper body, it opened and closed them to check for any anomalies.

[Test complete. No issues with the flight system.]

All checks were completed for thighs, sides, wrists, back, and shoulders, and the system reported back.

It was a message indicating everything was fine.

【Target destination: Zigmund Castle. Heading there.】

After finishing the checks, I set my destination and activated the repulsor device.

The repulsor jet engine in my soles started up, emitting bright light.

As I felt myself lift, white flashes burst forth from the repulsor device in my palms.

“W-whoa…”

The exchange manager and guards watched my appearance with bewildered expressions.

But with steady balance, I immediately increased my power.

In an instant, my body soared into the air, turning the manager and guards into mere black dots.

In the blue skies, my body floated freely.

【This is amazing.】

The completed suit, which operated the flight system instead of the cumbersome ‘three-dimensional maneuvering device’ and ‘jet-black wings.’

Finally reaching the long-awaited stage, I felt overwhelming emotion as I gazed at Zigmund Castle.

From this high vantage point, the structure was clearly visible.

-Fwoosh!

With that, I powered up and flew towards Zigmund Castle.

Although my subconscious ‘Instance’ didn’t have as much supercomputer capability as Jarvis, the flight was impressively smooth.

It wasn’t challenging to fly, just difficult to navigate in free combat in the skies.

-Swoooooosh…

Thus, upon arriving at Zigmund Castle, I hovered for a moment.

I needed to contact Eve before executing the operation.

-Doo-doo-doo-doo… Doo-doo-doo-doo… Doo-doo-doo… Beep.

[Yes, big brother.]

【Did you send the video to Elena?】

[Yes. I’m on my way to get approval for the national treason execution from Her Highness the Princess now.]

【That’s good. I’m heading in right away.】

[…Huh? But I haven’t received approval yet…]

【It will definitely work. And we don’t have time to wait here.】

The true high-ranking members of the Demon Church are of the ‘Archbishop’ level.

Those who reach the archbishop level are truly individuals who have given up on being human.

An archbishop is a true demon who has reached the stage of consuming human flesh.

If I wasted any more time here, the women offered to Max would soon meet their fate.

-Fwoosh!

Therefore, I took a deep breath and gathered my mana in my fist.

To break through the fortified castle with mana.

-Hooowww──!!

Then I pointed my fist towards the ground and unleashed the jet engine.

I propelled my body from the air towards the ground.

As my fist collided with the reinforced bricks of the castle, the castle shattered into pieces.

I plunged down through the castle, directly heading for Max’s basement.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The ceiling above crumbled as I neared Max’s secret room.

Having shattered a few more layers of ceiling, I finally reached the secret room.

As the ceiling broke, light flooded into Max’s basement, swirling up dust.

【······.】

Having arrived in Max’s secret room after demolishing several ceilings.

I raised my body, illuminated by the light from the ceiling.

As the dust settled, I saw women sprawled carelessly on the floor.

Fortunately, they hadn’t been devoured yet.

They had merely fainted from being roughly handled by Max.

【You picked the wrong line. It’s a principle not to spare cultists.】

Confirming the status of the offerings, I crossed my arms in an X and clenched my fists.

With a clanking sound, the LED lights on the back of my hands illuminated in red, emitting a high-frequency sound.

The laser cutter activated, blasting out lasers.

-Hooowng! Hooowng!

I wildly swung the lasers erupting from my hands in every direction.

As I spun 360 degrees and knelt down, clear veins marked the bodies of Max and the cultists.

Once I rose again, their bodies crumbled, and blood gushed out.

“Crackle, crackle, crackle…”

One, but not Max.

The body with clear veins regenerated, healing its wounds.

He glared at me and said.

“Yeah. You’ve always been this way. At the entrance ceremony, during the assessment battle, and now. Always standing in my way.”

He stated as he began to rise slowly.

A dark red aura symbolizing a demon emanated from his body.

It was an unpleasant sensation to encounter at any time.

“But do you know? Now I can evolve just like you. A ‘true evolution’ that doesn’t compare to your junk heap.”

Crackle─ Crackle─.

His body began to grow larger.

Hair sprouted all over, and his fingernails and toenails grew abnormally long.

He had begun to ‘demonize.’

“Welcome my evolved self…! The powers bestowed upon me by the true ruler of this land… You shall─”

-Swish!

But I wouldn’t wait for his transformation.

While he excitedly babbled on, I drew out the Crucible and beheaded him.

The head that had yet to complete its transformation rolled off to the ground.

“W-what?”

His body collapsed instantly.

 

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