Ironically, after falling into madness, Mordo had become incapable of casting spells.
Yet after undergoing his mutation and turning into something no longer human, he had somehow begun using magic again.
Moreover, he appeared exceptionally skilled at it.
Relying on the patterns covering his body, Mordo moved continuously through the frozen flow of time.
The immense temporal power surrounding him seemed completely ineffective.
It was not truly ineffective.
Rather, the mysterious power within Mordo's outer shell was neutralizing it.
After crossing the temporal barrier, Mordo appeared directly in front of Karl.
The horns on his head lit up once again as he attempted to strike Karl with another psychic attack.
"Mordo, that technique is useless against me."
"Your psychic attack cannot penetrate my mental barrier."
"Besides, do you think you're the only one who knows soul magic?"
Karl spoke calmly.
A transparent rune appeared before him.
Ripples shimmered through the air.
A translucent spike shot directly toward Mordo.
At Karl's level, true mastery no longer required elaborate techniques.
Even an ordinary Psychic Spike possessed extraordinary power in his hands.
The moment the translucent spike approached, Mordo's expression changed drastically.
His body flashed aside as he attempted to evade the powerful attack.
However, he had no opportunity to escape.
The Psychic Spike relentlessly followed Mordo wherever he moved.
There was no way to avoid it.
Gritting his teeth, Mordo could only withstand it head-on.
The two demon-like horns on his head glowed with dark-red light.
All the mental force within his body erupted at once.
A mental barrier immediately formed in front of him.
Crack!
The Psychic Spike collided with the invisible barrier.
An enormous wave of annihilation erupted at the point of impact.
It was as though a black hole had appeared between them.
The surrounding energy, air and fragments of laws were dragged into it and instantly annihilated.
Crack!
Another crisp sound rang out.
Cracks suddenly appeared at the bases of the two carapace-like horns on Mordo's head.
The fractures continued spreading.
Soon, both horns were covered in cracks.
The next moment, they shattered completely.
Fragments fell from Mordo's head and landed directly in his hands.
Mordo raised his hands blankly.
He stared at the fragments in confusion.
What had just happened?
The horns on his head had shattered?
How was that possible?
They were the crystallization of his mental force and the place where his origin power was concentrated.
They were the hardest parts of his entire body.
Yet now they had shattered.
They had been destroyed so thoroughly that there was no possibility of restoring them.
Had he actually lost in the field of Soul Law—the field in which he was most proficient?
Why did Karl also understand Soul Law?
Weren't most people who mastered Soul Law dark sorcerers?
Mordo was deeply confused.
There was a high threshold to even begin comprehending Soul Law.
Most practitioners needed to conduct extensive research into human souls.
Dark sorcerers naturally had an advantage in that regard.
How had someone like Karl, who looked every bit like a heroic figure, learned Soul Law?
"So you're nothing more than a self-righteous hypocrite."
"You've mastered Soul Law yourself, yet you still dare to claim the moral high ground and condemn me?"
"How are your actions any different from mine?"
Mordo sneered.
"Even if I were a hypocrite, I've still saved the world more than a hundred times."
"I've also protected Kamar-Taj on numerous occasions."
"I've saved tens of millions of people, perhaps even close to a hundred million."
"And a butcher like you thinks he can compare himself to me?"
"You massacred your own kind, preyed upon the weak and reduced yourself to a grotesque monster."
This world was indeed ruled by power.
It had always been that way.
However, what separated humanity from other creatures was that humans had created moral principles to protect their own kind.
Karl admittedly could not sacrifice himself for strangers as readily as certain superheroes did.
But he was still willing to protect the people around him whenever it was within his power.
A hypocrite?
At least a hypocrite still pretended to uphold morality.
A true monster would not even bother.
Karl had no idea how Mordo could say such things without feeling ashamed.
"More importantly, Mordo…"
"You sacrificed so many people to obtain this power, but it doesn't seem particularly impressive."
"Why are you still weaker than me?"
"Could it be that whoever gave you this power deceived you?"
"A lack of talent can be overcome, but if you lack intelligence as well, then there really is no saving you."
Karl spoke slowly and calmly.
Mordo's eyes turned red once again.
"Damn you! You're exactly like Strange!"
"After everything I did for Kamar-Taj, why wasn't the position of Sorcerer Supreme passed down to me?"
"You use your natural talent as an excuse to do whatever you want!"
Mordo shouted emotionally.
Karl sneered.
"Strange was willing to sacrifice himself to protect Earth. Would you have done the same?"
"Your failures are your own. Stop blaming everyone else."
"You never examine your own mistakes. You only accuse others."
"You have no ability, yet you're consumed by jealousy."
"You're nothing but a clown."
Karl curled his lip.
His contempt was written plainly across his face.
Mordo was nearly exploding with rage.
"You!"
"You…!"
He pointed at Karl, too furious to form a complete sentence.
Most human anger was born from powerlessness.
The truth was often the most painful weapon.
Karl had torn away Mordo's pretenses, completely shattering his composure.
The disgust on Karl's face only made matters worse, as though Mordo were something filthy stuck to the bottom of his shoe.
Mordo's mind had already been severely damaged by dark magic.
After being deliberately provoked by Karl, his condition deteriorated even further.
"Pointless rage."
"What can you possibly do to me?"
Seeing Mordo's fury, Karl became even more amused.
Reason was one of the most important things in battle.
Once anger overwhelmed a person's judgment, defeat was not far away.
The best strategy was to break an opponent's mind before defeating his body.
Mordo had already lost all rationality.
"No matter what happens, you will die today!"
"I will collect both of your souls!"
"I will torture you for tens of millions of years!"
Mordo spoke through gritted teeth.
"Anyone can make empty threats."
"Come and prove it."
Karl raised an eyebrow.
"Die!"
Mordo roared.
His body instantly became a violent blur.
Black mist billowed outward.
That astonishingly evil will spread through the surroundings.
Even Karl's temporal field was disrupted by it.
The laws governing the surrounding world also began showing signs of distortion.
The evil aura spread across the sky.
It seemed as though the entire world was about to be swallowed and dissolved.
Even Karl was secretly astonished by the terrifying power.
(End of Chapter)
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