My Uncle is the Strongest Dark Mage

Chapter 25

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.

A square space made up of cement walls that weren’t even properly wallpapered.

Although the room was fairly spacious, it felt barren with only a desk, a chair, and a few lightbulbs replacing proper lighting.

There wasn’t even a window, and the air inside felt stifling from the dust.

A room belonging to someone unknown, where spending even a single day seemed like it would drastically shorten one’s lung capacity.

Where on earth was this place, and why was I lying here?

"Ah, you’re awake?"

Just as I was trying to grasp the situation with my still-dazed mind, someone spoke to me.

At the sound of that voice, Laila’s memories came rushing back, and she turned her head in shock toward the direction of the voice.

"Sorry, just wait a little longer. I’m almost done."

In contrast, the person didn’t even glance at Laila, instead focusing intently on crafting something.

Freddy, seated with his back to Laila, continued his meticulous work.

"It’s done."

After a moment, he turned toward Laila with a bright smile.

As he moved aside, the object on the desk came into her view.

Sitting there was a small frame, no bigger than the size of a palm.

Inside it was a lock of hair in a familiar color.

"......."

Without realizing it, Laila touched her own hair.

Her hair, which had been styled for the stage, was now completely disheveled.

As her hand trailed down, she felt an odd, abrupt break at a certain point.

"Beautiful, isn’t it?"

Freddy stroked the frame holding Laila’s hair with his palm, as if admiring its beauty.

His eyes were clouded, absorbed in a trance-like state.

"To think you’d give me such a gift. You really are the ultimate star."

Saying so, he rose slowly from his seat.

Freddy shuffled toward her with a lethargic gait.

Then, all at once, he accelerated, grabbing her jaw roughly before she could react.

"So beautiful. Your hair, your nails, your teeth, even your eyes."

From the moment he first saw her on TV long ago.

Freddy had fallen for her at first sight.

And he had always thought about it.

That he wanted to meet her in person.

And that he wanted to possess everything she had.

"You’re mine. Because I’m your fan."

With a brutish grip on her jaw, Freddy slowly brought his lips toward her.

Laila, her eyes wide with fear, struggled desperately, but she couldn’t escape his grasp.

A nightmare turned reality.

Why was this happening to her again?

'Please, someone help me!'

Just like that day.

When no one came to her rescue.

Once again, she closed her eyes tightly, desperately wishing.

"Enough of this nonsense. Seriously."

At the same time, a deafening crash resounded as part of the cement wall shattered, and blinding sunlight pushed against the dim lightbulbs. Someone appeared.

"Hey, it took me a while to find you, you bastard."

Who was that?

Long hair cascading down to the nape of the neck.

At first glance, the figure seemed almost feminine, with strikingly delicate features.

Wearing faint makeup and adorned with colorful nail art on their fingers, the unfamiliar man sauntered in with a casual, dismissive demeanor.

"......."

Was it because of the situation?

There was something oddly familiar about his mannerisms and tone.

Like the person who had saved her ten years ago.

"Who the hell are you?!"

As Laila’s tear-filled, trembling eyes tried to make sense of whether it was her imagination, Freddy, furious at being interrupted, shouted angrily at the man.

Boom!

Before Laila could even register what was happening, the man had crossed the room, slamming Freddy into the opposite wall.

"How dare you raise your voice in front of my brother. So arrogant."

The man had vanished.

By the time Laila spotted him again, he was already pinning Freddy’s face to the wall with his foot.

"I heard someone wrecked Freddy Dog not too long ago? And this building has always been Freddy Dog’s workspace. It was you, wasn’t it? The one who took Freddy Dog down."

He ground Freddy’s face against the wall as though extinguishing a cigarette with his foot.

"Well, I don’t know who you are, and frankly, I don’t care. But you’ll pay for messing with an organization directly under our control."

That punishment wouldn’t come from him, but from Oman himself.

After all, Freddy Dog’s disappearance had only come to light while tracking this guy.

And his current business here wasn’t merely about that.

"Who told you to ruin the concert! Huh?!"

He pressed his foot down harder, driving Freddy deeper into the cement wall.

Still unsatisfied, he slammed Freddy into the wall again with even greater force.

"Do you know how much our Young Lady was looking forward to this concert, and you dared to ruin it?"

The Young Lady had even been scheduled to meet Laila in person before today’s performance.

Though the Dark District had been keeping things under control, and he could whisk Laila away quickly enough to prevent fans or reporters from realizing she’d been kidnapped.

At the very least, the Young Lady would find out about Laila’s abduction.

"Do you even know how kind and emotional our Young Lady is? What if she cries? No, she’ll definitely cry, you bastard, for making her cry!"

Over and over, he slammed Freddy into the wall with his foot.

A sense of déjà vu washed over her.

Yes, it was the same as that day.

Back then, too, someone had suddenly appeared and mercilessly trampled Freddy.

Relentlessly, until their anger had subsided.

"Damn it. My shoes are ruined again."

I knew this would happen.

When I get angry, I lose control.

By the time I came to my senses, my shoes were drenched in the blood of this ugly guy.

How am I supposed to wear these now?

Looking at Freddy, whose head was embedded in the wall like modern art, the man disdainfully tossed aside his blood-soaked shoes.

"These were expensive, you know. Whatever. They’re yours now."

'Now that they’re filthy, you can have them.'

Those final words he muttered.

Laila’s eyes widened in shock.

It wasn’t a mistake.

It was real.

That man.

The man who had saved her that day.

He had appeared before her again, ten years later.

Twitch.

It happened the moment the shoes he had thrown struck Freddy’s body.

Freddy, who they thought was dead, suddenly moved his fingers.

At the same time, the man frowned, and a crack ran through the cement wall where Freddy’s neck had been embedded, causing it to crumble.

"You bastard!!!"

A loud roar erupted from Freddy.

Massive magical energy exploded from his body, and flame bullets compressed in both his hands spiraled into a whirlwind.

"What? Were you a professional all along?"

Whether a magician or a martial artist.

Those who study disciplines and inscribe stars within their bodies are generally divided into five major stages.

1-star and 2-star—'Beginners' who have just learned to handle magical energy and are laying the groundwork for their studies.

3-star and 4-star—'Adept Practitioners' who delve deeply into their disciplines and can finally present themselves as magicians, martial artists, or other professions.

5-star and above—referred to as 'Experts,' having established the path they will follow.

8-star—those who complete their path and are said to have reached the pinnacle of humanity, known as 'Superhumans.'

And although the distinction is ambiguous to the general public, there exist 'Absolutes'—those who break the barriers of humanity and shatter the limits of the stars.

A magician of 5-star or higher corresponds to the level of a professor at Benedict Academy and is regarded as an exceptional force no matter where they go on the continent.

And now, the flame drawn on his palm, as he bled profusely and looked even uglier than before, undoubtedly contained advanced rituals that only an expert magician of 5-star or higher could unleash.

The flame flickered at an ultra-high temperature, so intense that streaks of white were visible beyond the orange and yellow.

It was undoubtedly his full power, fueled by rage to the extent that he forgot the presence of the ordinary person, Laila, nearby.

"But did you just barely reach 5-star? You're so weak that I only now realized you're an expert!"

However, that level was far from enough to instill a sense of crisis in the man.

Before Laila could even struggle to breathe in the rapidly rising internal temperature, the man stepped in front of her, using his magic power to block the heat from reaching her.

And then, watching the flame bullets Freddy recklessly fired, he smirked.

"You’re really done for now."

You should have just stayed smashed into the wall and crossed over into arrogance.

But you just had to hasten your demise.

"Consider this a warning. From now on, keep your eyes closed. It's going to get a bit brutal."

Everything that had happened so far was already at a level unsuitable for anyone under 19.

Just what kind of spectacle was he about to unleash to warrant such a warning?

Clearly understanding the words directed at her, Laila tightly shut her eyes.

"Unlike some people, you listen well."

Glancing at her with satisfaction, the man nodded approvingly.

"Aaaaargh!"

And moments later, in what seemed like only a few seconds, the surrounding chaos abruptly died down.

Hearing the scream, Laila cautiously opened her tightly shut eyes and looked ahead.

"So, was it this arm that attacked me?"

The scene before her was of a room where the desk, chairs, and everything around had been charred black.

And amidst it all stood the man, unscathed, casually stepping on Freddy's back as he gripped both of Freddy's arms.

Snap.

The arms twisted and were torn out.

A living person's limbs were forcibly ripped from their body.

The shocking sight was enough to erase all memory of everything that had happened so far.

Tossing the severed arms onto the floor, the man kicked the screaming, blood-dripping Freddy away and glanced at his own clothes with a long sigh.

"Guess I’ll have to buy new clothes. Ugh, seriously. Blood even got stuck under my nails. I just got them done recently."

A peaceful remark entirely out of place in this situation.

Then, suddenly tilting his head, he turned to look at Laila’s pale, horrified face.

"I don’t remember telling you it was okay to open your eyes yet."

"......."

"Hey, are you okay? Hello?"

Was her body frozen in shock?

Even as the man lightly tapped her cheek, she didn’t move an inch.

"This is bad."

See, this is what happens when you don’t listen and keep your eyes open.

While pulling out arms might be a fairly common occurrence in the Dark District, he wasn’t oblivious to how horrifying it could appear to ordinary people.

Well, since it’s already happened, I might as well clean up.

Ignoring Freddy's screams from behind, the man removed his bloodstained upper garment and draped it over Laila’s head to block her view.

Then, channeling magic power into her body, he gently massaged her stiff muscles to loosen them.

Poof.

And just as focus returned to her eyes, the man pulled her head into his embrace, shielding her vision.

"I’m not a magician, so manipulating your mind or anything like that isn’t my forte. Just stay like this until you calm down."

A handsome face has a way of justifying itself in any situation.

Think about it.

Imagine an ugly, overweight stranger ripping off a kidnapper’s arms and embracing you in their bloodied body to save you.

The only reason this scene could even remotely pass as romantic was because of his good looks. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been much different from what the kidnapper had done.

"You should consider yourself lucky. Do you know how many girls dream of being held by me even just once?"

Who else in the world could say such a thing to a superstar like Laila Ruby?

Yet the man seemed genuinely confident, as if his words carried no exaggeration.

"......."

Strangely enough, the sound of his heartbeat and the assertiveness in his tone slowly but surely calmed her.

Just like when she had held onto the shoe he had discarded long ago.

"Alright, now that you’ve calmed down, hurry back and get ready for the concert."

Why do you think I went through all this trouble to save you?

After embracing you like this, don’t even think about saying you’re too scared from today’s events to perform at the concert.

Glaring sharply at the back of Laila’s head, the man thought he wouldn’t let her off the hook if she dared to say such a thing.

"Just a little longer."

Unaware of his piercing gaze, Laila instead burrowed deeper into his chest.

"If I go now, I think I’ll mess up on stage. So just stay like this a bit longer. I think I’ll be okay that way."

"......."

Well, if you put it that way, I can’t very well push you away.

‘This level of plausibility wasn’t what I was aiming for.’

The kidnapper, still screaming with his arms torn off.

The dashing man who defeated the kidnapper and rescued the woman.

The woman, tightly embraced in the man’s arms.

Within this scene straight out of a romance novel, the man could only hope for this tiresome moment to end so that the woman could return to her rightful place as soon as possible.