My Uncle is the Strongest Dark Mage

Grant Department Store.

Once a thriving establishment, now a high-rise building closed after a terrorist incident a few days ago.

The Grant Association’s dream of entering the capital, centered around this department store, was completely shattered by that incident. It unintentionally created a negative image among the public, turning into the worst nightmare for both the victims and the Grant Association.

“As expected.”

In front of the Grant Department Store building.

Amidst the police blocking public access and still bustling about, Ern Benedict stepped out of an automated carriage in front of the building, casually surveying the surroundings and nodding slightly.

“The Reverse World has been activated.”

Magicians and spirit mages fundamentally draw their power within the laws of this world.

Unlike them, there were entities who defied the world’s laws and imposed their own rules upon it.

Black Mages and the Reverse World referred to the space where their rules overrode the natural flow of the world.

Of course, even among Black Mages, those capable of manifesting their will in the world were rare, requiring a skill level of at least 5-star, or expert level.

“…….”

The culprit in this case was Dekken Nasara.

All the victims identified him as the perpetrator, and the evidence was clear.

The CCTV inside the department store also captured his crime in full detail.

The problem was that, before the police could apprehend him, he had already been killed by someone else.

And in the most gruesome manner, torn apart beyond recognition.

‘The memories of the survivors from the ninth floor, including Nell, had gaps here and there.’

What exactly was the true culprit?

To uncover this, Ern Benedict personally reviewed the police investigation materials.

He also rewatched the recordings of the victims recounting the events several times.

And he noticed a consistent gap in everyone’s stories.

Realizing this, he immediately reviewed the CCTV footage again.

At the same time, he detected the same oddity he felt in the victims’ recordings—certain segments of the CCTV footage appeared awkwardly cut, as if edited.

Feeling both unease and foreboding from this discovery, he canceled one of his duties as an academy director—a congratulatory speech for the entrance ceremony—and rushed to this place.

His instincts as a Demon Lord were warning him of something.

‘It’s Heukcheon.’

The Reverse World was a skill that could typically be used by Black Mages of 5-star or higher.

However, the remnants of magic power left here indicated that what had occurred was no ordinary Reverse World.

There weren’t many Black Mages in this world capable of creating a Reverse World of such high caliber that it could astonish even him.

‘Nasara… could it be?’

How shocked he had been upon first hearing the culprit’s identity.

The Nasara Company—it was an entity that the Death King himself had erased from this world.

Could the Death King have appeared here because the culprit was Nasara?

‘What kind of grudge could it have been?’

It was a well-known fact among the powerful that the Death King always repaid even the smallest grudges.

Recalling this, Ern Benedict let out a wry smile, troubled as he thought of the Death King Heukcheon, whom he had never encountered before.

‘I can only hope this storm passes without incident.’

The Death King was surprisingly gentle toward those who did not provoke him first.

The Twin Ghosts and the Empress.

Those who had suffered greatly at his hands all shared one thing in common—they had provoked the Death King’s forces first.

Of course, the Death King had initially extended his influence into their territories by swallowing up the Dark District entirely.

Yet, the Dark District directly governed by the Death King experienced far fewer incidents and accidents than before.

Or rather, to be precise, they simply kept their affairs hidden from the outside world.

Like the meticulous division of light and darkness, as if they were two sides of the same coin.

In Ern Benedict’s view, this was preferable.

The damage to civilians had significantly decreased, and he had no intention of recklessly stirring up a hornet’s nest and ending up like the Empress, utterly ruined.

This time was no different.

He decided to leave this incident buried.

Even as he made that decision, Ern slowly raised his smartphone and sent a message to Nell.

-Submit a request for an audience with His Majesty the King. Also, send a message to the Intelligence Agency Director to attend.

But that was that, and this was this.

While he had no intention of antagonizing the Death King first, he couldn’t leave a bomb sitting in the middle of the kingdom without any precautions.

First, he would inform the King of the Death King’s appearance and mobilize the Intelligence Agency to track his movements.

“Sigh.”

He sighed, lamenting the fact that, as if his workload wasn’t already overwhelming, it had just increased yet again.

Ern Benedict climbed back into the automated carriage he had arrived in.

＊＊＊

Meanwhile, at that very moment.

The Death King, whom the Demon Lord was so wary of, was currently having an early dinner with his niece.

“Anyway, that’s what happened…”

Arina, who had returned home after her first day at the Academy, was chattering away about her day as she ate dinner, seated across from her uncle.

Tonight’s meal was grilled mackerel, which Arina had picked up at the market on her way home from the Academy, and a simple soybean paste soup with tofu.

“…….”

Cain quietly listened to her, chewing on a piece of grilled mackerel he had carefully deboned.

‘So, that’s how people perceive Absolutes.’

He was half-listening, letting most of it go in one ear and out the other, but a few topics stuck in his mind.

One of them was the story about Absolutes that Professor Magnus had explained.

Typically, one would need to reach the realm of an 8-star superhuman to grasp such information, yet he had already understood it.

Though he hadn’t seen it himself and had only heard about it secondhand, it seemed that this Professor Magnus fellow was quite capable.

‘Of course, not everything he said was correct.’

Absolutes are beings that transcend humanity.

That much was true.

Those who have surpassed the limits of the stars.

In essence, the body of an Absolute becomes a star unto itself.

The eight stars once engraved within their body vanish, replaced by a massive cycle extending outward.

Whereas humans had previously stored external magic power within themselves for use, Absolutes could draw upon external magic power infinitely.

Transcending humanity, they could rightfully be called gods from their perspective.

But they were unaware of one thing.

The position of an Absolute was not an endpoint but a starting point.

‘They’ve only just been freed from the shackles of humanity.’

Having escaped the confines of a human body with fixed growth limits, they were now qualified to grow endlessly stronger.

This was the true meaning of being an Absolute.

The slow aging process and partial freedom from lifespan constraints were due to this very reason.

Cain knew this, but he didn’t bother explaining it to Arina.

After all, anyone who became an Absolute would naturally come to understand it on their own, and ignorance of this fact meant they lacked the qualifications to become one in the first place.

In fact, learning this and growing greedier for the position of an Absolute would ensure one could never truly shed their humanity.

Greed always had a way of preventing people from letting go of anything.

Not that Cain, who had been born with an overwhelming talent as if the heavens had spilled it all at once, and had reached the position of an Absolute without any significant obstacles after his initial awakening, was in much of a position to talk.

Slurp.

Cain sipped the spicy soybean paste soup that perfectly complemented his taste, washing away the fishy aftertaste of the grilled mackerel, as Arina continued to chatter on.

“So then, Maril said…”

Yes, the name Maril, which had initially felt awkward to say, now flowed naturally from Arina’s lips, as if she were practicing calling it. The princess, whose name had been mentioned, left a notable impression.

Hadn’t she defied his intentions?

Despite using Black Magic to manipulate memories, she had pieced together the events of that day as if solving a puzzle, exploiting the gaps.

Whether she possessed the creativity or quick thinking required of a magician was still unclear.

But at the very least, based solely on what he’d heard, he was certain she had the potential to rise as a preeminent scholar of magic on the continent.

If nurtured properly, she could grow into a talent rivaling even Oman.

‘It seems I was a bit clumsy after all.’

Perhaps it was because he so rarely moved to conceal anything.

It seemed that leaving the task of erasing traces mostly to his subordinates had resulted in some mistakes.

If even a mere twelve-year-old princess had noticed, it was only natural that the Demon Lord would have caught on as well.

No matter how brilliant that princess’s mind might be, she couldn’t possibly compare to the Demon Lord.

It seemed likely that the Elemental Kingdom’s Intelligence Agency would soon begin moving to uncover his identity.

‘Well, does it even matter?’

It wasn’t as if he was the Twin Ghosts, who picked a fight every time they crossed paths with him, or the Empress, who ground her teeth at the mere mention of his name.

While he had never directly clashed with the Demon Lord, the information he had gathered suggested that the likelihood of them becoming adversaries was extremely low.

Among the Absolutes, the Demon Lord was one of the rare few who could be considered sane.

He was on a completely different level compared to the other riffraff who picked fights at random.

Cain’s decision to settle in the Elemental Kingdom was partly influenced by the Demon Lord’s personality.

He had no intention of revealing his identity, but even if it were discovered, perhaps he could resolve things through dialogue.

“So.”

Setting down the soup bowl he had taken a large sip from, Cain interrupted Arina and turned to her.

“Is there anything you want to do or become in the future?”

Thick lenses.

Behind them, his drowsy eyes fixed on Arina.

Despite asking the question, his indifferent expression made it clear he wasn’t particularly interested in her answer.

To be precise, he had no intention of speaking from the start, but he had read somewhere that spending time talking with children was important for parenting. That seemed to be the only reason he forced himself to ask the question.

It was a question that practically begged for gratitude, but perhaps that alone was enough.

Arina’s smile grew even brighter in response to Cain’s question.

“Hmm, I guess my current goal is to make lots of friends?”

“Well, connections can be considered a form of power, after all. You’ve already won over the princess on your first day, so if you work hard, you might aim even higher.”

“…No, I don’t have any grand ambitions like that.”

Arina put down her chopsticks and looked at Cain with an incredulous expression.

“Still, that’s a side effect that naturally follows if you have the skills. I don’t intend to meddle in someone else’s dreams, but you should at least set one more goal for yourself.”

For someone of Absolute status, there was no need to actively build connections; people would naturally flock to them, bowing and scraping.

If he were to visit the Elemental Kingdom unannounced right now, even the king would likely drop everything and rush to greet him barefoot.

“I told you, I don’t have any grand dreams like that.”

She genuinely just wanted to make friends, nothing more.

Shaking her head at Cain’s words, Arina picked up some rice with her chopsticks and brought it to her mouth.

‘A goal for myself, huh.’

Professor Magnus, Uncle—both of them.

They all emphasized the importance of dreams, and it made her reflect more deeply.

She was still at an age too young to fully understand the ways of the world.

Yet, the experiences she had gone through had forced her to mature quickly.

Because of that, she could take their words seriously.

For now, she couldn’t think of anything she wanted to do, and setting a concrete goal seemed out of reach.

But perhaps, as she attended classes at the Academy, she might discover something she wanted to pursue.

It was a baseless certainty, but she felt it nonetheless.

“Hmm, then how about striving to become a great magician like my uncle? How does that sound?”

“Quite the ambitious dream.”

Cain let out a faint chuckle at Arina’s words.

Whether or not he was actually a magician himself was beside the point.

The very act of aiming to become an Absolute was the kind of youthful, naive aspiration only a child could have.

Though she didn’t know it, Tokun Masao had boldly declared in front of everyone today that he would become an Absolute.

Compared to that, the goal Arina had presented to Cain was equally absurd and far-fetched.