Magic Comes to a Halt

"Are your hands and feet not working so well anymore?"

A somewhat lighthearted voice rang in Baron Mordo’s ears, and the hand he had raised in midair froze instantly.

His gaze shifted. When he saw a strange figure dressed in black suddenly appear before him and seize the Darkhold before he could, Baron Mordo went rigid.

"No, impossible! How could you have found this place!?" Baron Mordo cried out, though his voice was so hoarse that it lacked any sharpness.

Seeing Baron Mordo in person for the first time, Zhang Ye studied him closely.

He had once been a formidable opponent. Mordo was a man ruled by greed and jealousy, but he was also a man crushed beneath the mountain-like weight of his own arrogance. In the end, he would become someone slowly devoured by loneliness.

Looking at Baron Mordo, who seemed to have aged decades in an instant, Zhang Ye slowly shook his head. "Nothing is impossible. Without Agatha’s supply of magic, your spell circuits and magic arrays have long since collapsed."

"Dark Dimension above!" Baron Mordo staggered back two steps. "I am the lord of this dimension. How dare you step onto my territory!"

Two clusters of dark green light surged from Baron Mordo’s hands. Zhang Ye recognized the death-filled power at a glance—it was demonic power from the Hell Dimension.

Blinding lasers, accompanied by the wails of the dead, shot violently toward Zhang Ye. Yet Zhang Ye did not panic at all. If Baron Mordo had returned to his peak, this attack would indeed have been no small threat. But now, he was no longer dangerous.

Before the incoming magic could strike Zhang Ye, it was dissolved in midair by blue starlight. In the blink of an eye, countless stars appeared around Zhang Ye, glittering with breathtaking beauty.

"Your rule over this town is completely meaningless. You are no Dimension Lord at all. This magical world you created is nothing more than a spell cast through the Darkhold, and it is nothing but a filthy illusion."

"Liar!" Baron Mordo raised his head dazedly and threw both hands high into the air. Countless streams of magical energy gathered along his arms. "Give me back my Darkhold!"

The magic unleashed by the crazed Baron Mordo was devastating. Dark green flames flooded the interior of the ancient castle. Soon, the stone walls were shattered by the fire, and massive chunks of rock slowly gathered together beneath a coating of green magma, forming a humanoid shape.

The gigantic humanoid creature of lava let out a roar. The bookshelves holding Baron Mordo’s vast collection of books all tilted and collapsed, volume after volume consumed by the flames. Yet Baron Mordo did not care in the slightest. All he wanted now was to reclaim his Darkhold.

The terrifying sight startled the raven on Zhang Ye’s shoulder. It quickly took flight, cawing as it circled around Zhang Ye as though issuing a warning.

"You’re only speeding up the process of your death." Zhang Ye spoke coldly, but Baron Mordo clearly could no longer hear him.

Having fallen into utter madness, Baron Mordo had long become a slave to dark magic. He continuously released and summoned the evils that had originally existed in this world. In the blink of an eye, things lurking in the shadows crawled out from every direction.

Sir, the surrounding parameters have reached their critical point. This space is about to collapse.

Even without Miss Minutes’s warning, Zhang Ye could see it. Baron Mordo had released everything from his nightmares. Heaven only knew how he had opened up such a world to keep these monsters.

But judging from these monsters alone, as well as Baron Mordo’s filthy incantations, this was most likely inseparable from the Darkhold.

"Give it back! Give me back the Darkhold!"

Baron Mordo roared. His lower body had completely merged with the lava giant, while his eyes erupted with scarlet light.

Zhang Ye raised a hand to fend off the lava giant’s attack. The next moment, a violent Mindstorm blasted toward him.

Fortunately, after devouring Shadow King, Zhang Ye’s telepathy and mental power had improved qualitatively. Otherwise, Baron Mordo’s full-force psychic assault could easily have interrupted the magic in Zhang Ye’s hands.

It's time to leave, sir.

Miss Minutes spoke up to remind him once again. Hearing this, Zhang Ye silently nodded.

But immediately afterward, he suddenly sensed something, and his brow furrowed.

". Wait."

Zhang Ye thought he had sensed wrong, but when he released his telepathy again to touch Baron Mordo’s Mindstorm, he realized that he had not been mistaken. Amid that frenzied Mindstorm was also a massive torrent of Baron Mordo’s thoughts.

Countless thoughts turned into tangible words and flooded into Zhang Ye’s mind, changing the way he looked at Baron Mordo.

Magic will not perish.

As long as I am here, magic will not perish!

I am the master of the Dark Dimension. I am the creator of magic!

As the glimmer fades, there will no longer be strange eyes in the shadows. Inspiration in artists’ minds will return to nothingness. The Sprites in the leaves will be devoured by ants, and the decadent melodies in the sky will become a thing of the past.

Everything connected to magic will gradually wither away.

Darkhold, tell me—what is the way to bring magic back?

I will not give up.

"This… this guy."

Zhang Ye’s brow relaxed. Looking at Baron Mordo, who had become completely inhuman, he inexplicably felt a complicated emotion he could not put into words.

A man who had worked with Red Skull and joined nearly every villain in killing all the superheroes was now dedicated to bringing magic back to reality.

He had gone to unimaginable lengths, even risking a break with Red Skull to seize the Darkhold. He had kidnapped Agatha and the villagers of an entire town, and his goal was actually to change the coming age of magic’s decline and restore the glorious age of magic!

"Another pitiful fool deceived by the Darkhold."

Now Zhang Ye understood. Baron Mordo had wanted to establish a "Magic Dimension" entirely so he could create a great world like Avalon and plant the seeds of magic throughout reality.

But unfortunately, this reality no longer had enough nourishment to cultivate magic. Besides, with the Darkhold as the medium, the seeds Mordo planted were unlikely to be anything good.

Even if the seeds truly took root and "magic" was born in this world once more, it would likely be a product meant to bring forth Chthon, the God of Darkness.

Baron Mordo’s original dream of returning this world to the height of magic had been impossible from the very beginning.

"Open the portal."

Zhang Ye sighed. Looking at Baron Mordo, trapped in an extreme nightmare and madness, Zhang Ye finally decided to give him a feast.

His fingers rapidly tapped through the air, striking the keys of the void as though playing a piano. Soon, reality began twisting together in an abstract fashion and changing at a rapid pace.

"Don’t think about running! Give me back the Darkhold!" Baron Mordo noticed Zhang Ye’s intent to retreat. He shouted furiously, preparing to launch an even fiercer assault.

But in the next moment, a voice made him stop.

"By the light of Vishanti and the power of those who dwell long in darkness, in the name of Agamotto, the All-Seeing Eye, and in my name as Sorcerer Supreme, I command you."

Baron Mordo turned back in a daze and saw a middle-aged man in a cloak floating in midair.

"You shall remain confined to this realm—Mordo!"