Extra chapter since we are back to the collection rankings.
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Mount Everest.
The bitter wind howled, and snow filled the sky.
A large amount of blue liquid seeped out of Wind God II, instantly enveloping it in return. After a few breaths, the massive Wind God II vanished without a trace, leaving only Rimuru dressed in summer attire.
Seeing Rimuru's true appearance, Baron Mordo was slightly surprised, but not overly shocked. In the world of magic, appearance meant little.
For example, his master, the Sorcerer Supreme, appeared young, yet no one knew her true age.
Although his contact with Rimuru had been brief, Baron Mordo's expression grew increasingly solemn.
Bringing Rimuru to Mount Everest had been a deliberate decision.
The extreme cold here meant that even seasoned magic users couldn't remain long without constantly expending magic to resist the cold.
He had trained on Mount Everest many times and was familiar with its conditions, making battle here equivalent to fighting on his home turf.
More importantly, the extreme cold could greatly limit the performance of the technological armor she wore.
Baron Mordo had witnessed the power of Fengshen firsthand, and even though it had been severely damaged, he dared not underestimate it.
He was not arrogant enough to believe his magic was invincible.
Compared to his teacher, his cultivation was still far behind.
But what he had never expected was for this mysterious visitor to directly shed her technological armor.
Even more terrifying—she didn't expend any magic to resist the cold, completely ignoring the frigid temperature.
Even the Sorcerer Supreme might not be able to ignore this cold, right?
He had miscalculated, and that realization made Baron Mordo once again feel the fear of the person before him.
He had to end the fight quickly; otherwise, the cold of Everest would bury him first.
Crack!
Baron Mordo gripped the black wooden whip across his body and suddenly lashed out. The "joints" on the whip separated, transforming into a bone-like whip forged from Fire magic, with large sparks constantly bursting from the segments.
Mordo was a man of action, not words. He took a few steps, lunged beside Rimuru, and whipped the weapon toward her head.
"Too slow!"
Rimuru tilted her head slightly, dodging with ease.
Baron Mordo ignored her taunt. The long whip in his hand moved like a dragon or serpent, wielded with impressive skill.
Horizontal strikes, vertical chops, sweeping arcs, crushing blows, twisting presses—
Baron Mordo used every technique he had, but to his frustration, Rimuru—hands clasped behind her back—dodged every strike effortlessly, perfectly.
So strong!
It felt as if he were fighting his master herself.
Mordo panted heavily, white mist escaping from his mouth and nose.
The intense assault and extreme cold were draining his magic too quickly, leaving him overwhelmed.
"Mordo, you should already understand the power gap between us. If I wanted to kill you, your corpse would be cold by now. We are not enemies."
If not for Mordo's exceptionally strong backing, Rimuru wouldn't have bothered with small talk.
She would have simply hypnotized him, taken his Sling Ring, stripped him of his robes, and helped him properly promote them.
Rimuru's expression twisted slightly. "Coming at me with a fire poker—are you misunderstanding what a magic user's profession is?"
Mordo remained unmoved. "Demon, don't try to seduce me. I sense an unprecedented darkness within you. I am not fighting you for myself, but to protect this world!"
He stomped his foot hard, sparks erupting beneath him, instantly boosting his speed severalfold.
In a flash, Mordo appeared behind Rimuru. The magic whip in his hand became even more ferocious, breaking the sound barrier as it smashed toward Rimuru's head.
"Success!"
Baron Mordo rejoiced. The "long whip" in his hand was no ordinary weapon.
It was the Staff of the Living Tribunal, a very famous magical artifact even within Kamar-Taj.
His boots were also extraordinary—the magic artifact known as Valtor's Jumping Boots. He had kept them hidden until now, saving them for this decisive strike.
And he had actually landed a hit!
But to his shock, the staff felt as if it had struck steel, numbing his hands.
Baron Mordo then realized that a thick shell-like armor had appeared on Rimuru's smooth forehead at some unknown moment.
So hard!
What was this?
Baron Mordo was utterly baffled, but what shocked him even more was that Rimuru had grabbed the Staff of the Living Tribunal—and he couldn't pull it back no matter how he tried.
Thud!
Rimuru held the staff with one hand, and with the other—covered in thick armor—she delivered a powerful punch to Mordo's soft abdomen.
Mordo doubled over like a shrimp, rolling through the snow for more than ten meters before stopping.
Looking at the magical item in her hand, Rimuru asked, "Great Sage, what kind of weapon is this?"
[Answer: Staff of the Living Tribunal.]
"Living Tribunal?"
Rimuru was slightly stunned. Did this ugly "wooden whip" really have such a grand origin?
In Marvel, the Living Tribunal was a mysterious existence with unimaginably high status—almost omnipotent. His judgment could affect the entire universe.
He once stopped Doctor Strange from destroying Earth, dissuaded the White Phoenix from erasing a universe, and with a snap of his fingers, turned every Infinity Stone into a useless rock—
[Answer: What does the Roman road have to do with Rome?]
Pfft!
Rimuru almost spat out her food. So this was name fraud?
Like how a small grove in the East gets named "Norway Forest," or a street gets named "Champs-Élysées."
So it wasn't just an Eastern phenomenon after all!
Boom!
Just as Rimuru was ridiculing the staff's exaggerated name, Baron Mordo slammed his hands onto the ground.
The earth churned, rising like a wave, and then the entire world seemed to come alive.
"Mirror Dimension?!"
Rimuru was surprised. The most impressive part of Doctor Strange was the Mirror Dimension—arbitrary spatial distortion, terrain manipulation, and no effect on reality.
Experiencing it firsthand, Mirror magic was even more miraculous.
Mordo maintained his stance, hands pressed to the ground, casting continuously. Although the Mirror Dimension was a separate space, it did not alter the climate.
Thus, he still had to expend magic to resist the cold, and Mirror magic itself was difficult to sustain.
Even in Kamar-Taj, only a few magic users could wield it.
"You know quite a lot. Without a Sling Ring, don't even think about leaving here. Farewell."
Baron Mordo waved his hand, manipulating the terrain to fling Rimuru away.
He then used his Sling Ring to open a portal.
Sparks erupted, forming a gateway connecting two completely different worlds: one snowy, one sunny and breezy.
Magic portals truly were incredible.
But before Mordo could step through, he suddenly saw Rimuru—whom he had flung toward the mountain's base—soaring back upward.
A pair of wings had appeared on her back. Unlike angelic wings, Rimuru's wings had no feathers; they resembled bat wings.
At that moment, Baron Mordo wanted to curse. You must be cheating, he thought. Not only can your body grow armor, you even have wings.
[Sticky Steel Thread!]
Rimuru extended her small hand, releasing countless thin, transparent steel threads that instantly wrapped Mordo tightly.
He struggled fiercely, but Sticky Steel Thread was not something one could break easily.
If he couldn't win, then he could only resort to threats.
"Demon, the other side of that portal is Kamar-Taj, guarded by the Sorcerer Supreme herself. Do you still dare to cause trouble there?"
Mordo wasn't lying. He had been captured, but the portal led to Kamar-Taj. With the Sorcerer Supreme's cultivation, she would certainly sense what was happening.
Therefore, he remained calm.
Then Baron Mordo witnessed a scene he would never forget.
[Kamar-Taj magic portal detected. Activate Unique Skill: [Predator]?]
"Yes."
Rimuru, who had appeared as a young girl only moments ago, transformed into a small blue slime. She surged toward the portal, turning into a mass of blue liquid and engulfing it completely.
In an instant, the portal vanished. Rimuru returned to her girl form, wiping her mouth as if she still wasn't satisfied.
Portals could be eaten?
Baron Mordo, chief disciple of the Sorcerer Supreme herself, suddenly wondered whether he had learned fake magic.
(Note: Marvel's scriptwriters retcon too often, causing universe reboots whenever things get messy. So we won't go too deep here. The Living Tribunal getting nerfed isn't a one-time thing—just like the Devourer of Worlds, who is supposed to be unimaginably powerful… well, everyone knows.)
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80 power stones for 2 extra chapters and 3 review for 1