My Uncle is the Strongest Dark Mage

Chapter 47

The children walking through the hallway suddenly collapse on the spot.

The children faint as if dead, without any convulsions or seizures.

Professors appear amidst the students bewildered by the sudden commotion and begin to check on the fallen children.

Ding!

At the same time, the students' smartphones ring simultaneously.

It was a mass announcement sent from the Student Council.

The message instructed conscious students to send their grade, class, and name to the given number.

The first step was distinguishing between the fallen and the conscious students.

Then, a secondary search ensured no one was lying unconscious in secluded, unfrequented areas.

"Verify the identities of the fallen students and move them directly to the auditorium!"

The first priority was to gather the victims in one place.

While this was partly for ease of management, the main reason was to facilitate the doctors from Aven Hospital, who were on their way to conduct examinations.

Although it was assumed they had merely lost consciousness, medical examinations for the fallen students were mandatory, just in case.

Under the professors' leadership, the students moved with precise coordination.

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, everyone united in action, their voluntary efforts both touching and commendable.

Thanks to their cooperation, it took less than an hour to move all the fallen students to the auditorium.

"What’s the condition of the students?"

Professor Scape examined the fallen students’ faces while checking the Student Affairs records for any possible omissions.

To her question, Amy Putter, a third-year member of the Student Council who had been following her closely, quickly responded.

"As of now, no student has been found with significant injuries aside from minor bruises. The doctors are currently examining the students, but no issues other than unconsciousness have been detected."

That was a small relief.

Professor Scape exhaled a sigh of relief at Amy Putter’s report.

"However, there is one peculiar detail: the students’ internal magic power is gradually dissipating. While it’s a negligible amount now, if the loss increases, it could certainly become a problem..."

"That part is fine."

The outline of the incident had already been relayed.

The Reverse World created by a Black Mage within the Digital Realm.

Through it, a shared network was formed, linking the students’ magic power.

In other words, the reason for the students’ diminishing magic power was that the network’s administrator was collecting the accumulated magic from it, and this issue would be entirely resolved by defeating the Black Mage.

'Professor Carlson...'

A new professor who had joined this year.

To be honest, Professor Scape didn’t know much about him.

She had only seen him occasionally at faculty meetings and had never spoken with him personally.

While she wasn’t fully aware of his capabilities, Professor Scape had no doubt that he could resolve the incident.

Hounds Mendelstone, President of Benedict Academy.

A direct disciple personally trained by Demon Lord Ern Benedict, who was also the academy’s director.

If a superhuman of the 8-star caliber vouched for him, there had to be a good reason.

"Where is the President?"

"I heard he canceled his schedule and is on his way here."

Did he mention he was stopping by the Duke’s estate?

No matter how fast he traveled, it would still take several more hours.

'The incident must be resolved before the President arrives.'

With that thought in mind, Professor Scape halted her hurried steps.

Her gaze shifted to Professor Carlson, who lay unconscious among the students.

'If the resolution of the incident is delayed, I will intervene immediately.'

Professor Carlson undoubtedly possessed the ability to resolve this incident.

However, leaving the matter unresolved for too long was not an option.

While the students’ safety was the top priority, other issues were also pressing—like the reporters who had somehow caught wind of the situation and gathered outside the academy gates like vultures.

The longer the resolution was delayed, the more the academy’s reputation would suffer.

'That must not happen.'

Benedict Academy was a place directly founded by Demon Lord Ern Benedict.

Though it might not always be perfect, it was a place that needed to remain flawless.

Preventing mistakes entirely wasn’t the goal.

Even if mistakes occurred, they must be resolved as quickly and perfectly as possible.

That was the responsibility and duty of the Elemental Kingdom’s premier educational institution.

Only then could those who studied and graduated from this academy take pride in themselves.

Therefore, even if Professor Carlson had the ability to resolve the incident, it couldn’t be left entirely in his hands.

'I won’t let this slide.'

With anger, Professor Scape clenched her fist tightly.

How dare someone turn the sacred grounds of education, created by the Demon Lord, into such chaos?

Determined to ensure regret for their actions, she thought to herself.

"I won’t let this slide."

Meanwhile, in a different location, Maril ground her teeth, sharing the exact same sentiment.

That damned health professor.

She should have never trusted someone so suspicious in the first place.

And now, look at this mess.

As she stared at the fallen students, her anger toward Professor Clara, who had escalated the situation, grew.

Among the fallen students were unfamiliar upperclassmen as well as a few familiar peers.

Some of them had even discussed Magic Boost with her just the day before.

Looking at them, Maril felt a pang of guilt.

Was it her fault they had collapsed like this?

Had she fueled their curiosity by spreading talk about Magic Boost?

If she hadn’t mentioned it, perhaps they wouldn’t have used the app...

"..."

Beside her, Arina seemed lost in thought.

Normally, she would have been worried about the fallen students around her, but her face now displayed only calmness.

No, more precisely, she seemed so deeply engrossed in thought that she had no room for other concerns.

'Uncle definitely knew something.'

What occupied her mind was what had occurred with Cain last night.

He had warned her explicitly.

If the app appeared, she should never think of pressing it.

And if it appeared on someone else’s smartphone, she should never touch it.

His warning could only mean he had foreseen this situation.

'Should I call Uncle and ask him?'

Arina hesitated, fiddling with her smartphone in her pocket.

"..."

But that attempt was abruptly interrupted.

A commotion began among the area where the unconscious students lay.

The doctors, alerted by a nurse checking brain waves, sprang into action.

Even Arina, who had no medical knowledge, could tell the brain wave patterns were fluctuating wildly.

Like an earthquake, the brain wave graphs shook violently, spreading from one student to all the unconscious ones simultaneously.

The students’ bodies convulsed as if in seizures.

At the same time, the smartphones collected from the students with the Magic Boost App installed powered on in unison.

Negative Dimensional Magic Power began to seep out from them.

The sinister black magic extended like a mist, creating the illusion that it was darkening the entire field of vision.

"Quickly form an encircling formation and activate the ritual!"

The students were startled, but the professors knew exactly what the phenomenon signified.

At Professor Scape’s command, all the professors stopped what they were doing and surrounded the pile of smartphones.

'Professor Carlson pulled it off.'

The collapse of the Reverse World.

The space created within the Digital Realm was breaking apart, causing the Negative Dimensional Magic Power stored inside to return to reality.

And what that signified was that Professor Carlson, who had entered the Reverse World, had successfully completed his task.

"Everyone except the professors, please step back!"

Members of the Student Council, who had already been briefed by the professors in advance, ran around shouting loudly.

Their swift actions formed an encircling formation in an instant.

Crack.

Moments later, the smartphone screens shattered, and the Negative Dimensional Magic Power, which had been trickling out, erupted like a waterfall.

A small hole pierced into a massive dam.

It was a tremendous explosion caused by the Negative Dimensional Magic Power that had been trapped within the Digital World.

* * *

The Reverse World.

A world created by the Black Mage for themselves.

The result of imposing their fabricated reality onto the world, and at the same time, a symbol of a master-level mage.

'Where am I?'

Just as magic power differs from person to person, the Reverse World manifested by a Black Mage through it also had unique characteristics for each individual.

If the most distinctive feature of the Reverse World owned by Death King Heukcheon was the pitch-black sky darker than the night, the most striking feature of this place was the reddish sky densely inscribed with the numbers 0 and 1, unlike any other Reverse Clock.

A world of binary numbers in chaos, with electrons endlessly rippling through waves of data.

Standing on a glowing polygonal land floating in that data, Jeon looked around in all directions.

"......."

Before he knew it, he had arrived in a world disconnected from reality.

For a moment, he mistook it for a lucid dream, but only for a moment.

The acrid magic power seeping into his lungs through his nose made his brow furrow deeply.

The Negative Dimensional Magic Power spread throughout the entire Reverse World.

The moment he felt it, Jeon realized that this was indeed the Reverse World of a Black Mage, and shortly after, he noticed something strange.

'Why is it so weak?'

The Negative Dimensional Magic Power he felt was weaker than expected.

It was only after regaining his composure that he could barely sense its presence.

Compared to the Reverse World that Professor Carlson had demonstrated a few days ago, the Negative Dimensional Magic Power here felt even sparser.

That was clearly abnormal.

Back then, the Reverse World demonstrated by Professor Carlson had been deliberately weakened to help the students adapt.

It was impossible for the Reverse World of a Black Mage, wielded in earnest, to be weaker than that.

Thinking that, Jeon walked toward the edge of the ground, to the boundary of the polygons swimming in the data.

"......!"

And when he looked down at the ground, he finally understood why the concentration of Negative Dimensional Magic Power was so low.

It was because the magic power, stolen in the form of shared magic from numerous students, was densely settled below.

Sssssss.

Just the sight of it sent shivers down his spine.

A black abyss distorted and stretching endlessly.

Tangible Black Magic Power churned like a liquid, rotating in a spherical shape.

And clusters of polygons revolved around it like satellites.

There was a vast distance between the polygon Jeon was standing on and the bottom of that Black Magic Power, and in between, similar polygonal clusters orbited around the Black Magic Power's core.

This was the essence of the Reverse World owned by this Black Mage.

If the human body could be expressed as a universe, then the Reverse World was the manifestation of such a universe.

By overlaying their Reverse World onto the boundless imaginary space of the Digital World, they had created an abnormally vast domain.

"That culprit must be at the center."

At this very moment, he could see it with his own eyes.

Magic power was flowing from countless polygonal clusters into the black abyss below.

Wasted mana, an inevitable byproduct of the process of sharing magic power with others.

Once consent was given in the Magic Boost App, there was no way to stop the natural leakage of magic power.

The same applied to Jeon.

Watching his own magic power seep through the bottom of the polygon he stood on, an unpleasant look clouded his eyes.

Thud!

Without hesitation, he leaped downward from the polygon.

Just as when he had pressed the Magic Boost App, his actions were fearless.

Reflecting the fury rising from deep within his heart into his eyes, Jeon charged toward the mass of Black Magic Power, where he presumed the Black Mage to be.