Karl and Strange did not spend long deliberating.
After remaining at Kamar-Taj for a short while, Karl opened a Portal and arrived in the Sahara Desert.
Only after reaching their destination did Karl ask,
"Which country did Baron Mordo sacrifice?"
Even in the Marvel Universe, Africa was one of the least developed regions.
Wakanda was located there, but it had no intention of helping its neighbors.
It remained isolated from the outside world, and even Wakanda itself still retained a tribal system.
Karl had assumed that Baron Mordo had sacrificed some country with a population of around one million.
He had never expected the answer to shock him so deeply.
"Chad."
"He sacrificed the entirety of Chad."
Strange answered with a cold expression.
Karl's face stiffened.
"What did you say?"
"You heard me correctly. He sacrificed a country with a population of nearly twenty million."
Strange's face was filled with coldness.
More accurately, there was almost no emotion left on his face.
Karl was equally stunned.
He had assumed that Baron Mordo had merely sacrificed a tiny country.
There were some small nations in the Marvel Universe with populations numbering only a few hundred thousand.
Even Wakanda did not have a particularly large population.
However, Karl had never imagined that Baron Mordo could be deranged enough to sacrifice more than twenty million people.
Had he completely lost his mind?
What did twenty million deaths represent?
Even if someone killed ten thousand people every day, it would take nearly five full years!
It was an utterly horrifying number.
"He's truly insane!"
"Baron Mordo must have lost his sanity while studying Dark Magic."
"After slaughtering so many people, does he have a death wish?"
"He isn't an entity like Galactus or one of the Celestials."
"Even beings like them have paid with their lives for destroying civilizations."
Karl was deeply shocked.
Even someone as powerful as Galactus had been killed several times after destroying civilizations.
Baron Mordo had sacrificed twenty million people in a single act.
Even if Karl and Strange did nothing, the resulting cosmic backlash would eventually descend upon Mordo.
Was he simply trying to get himself killed?
Karl could not understand it at all.
"You should have told me sooner."
"After sacrificing twenty million people, Baron Mordo's strength may have risen to an unimaginably terrifying level."
"This is the Main Universe."
Karl's expression became grave.
Different universes contained different amounts of energy, and the value of human souls also varied between them.
Human souls from the Main Universe were exceptionally valuable.
With so many souls, Baron Mordo could probably obtain an enormous amount of power from those Evil Gods.
Karl could not even imagine how powerful Mordo had become.
It seemed that leaving the other sorcerers behind had been the correct decision.
Otherwise, Karl and Strange would have been forced to spend the entire battle protecting them.
"Strange, it appears we'll have to be extremely careful."
"The Dark Magic of this universe is exceptionally dangerous."
"Now that Baron Mordo has obtained such immense power, his soul will inevitably become distorted."
"There is no avoiding that."
Karl spoke seriously.
In this universe, Dark Magic could influence the minds of sorcerers.
Since Mordo had chosen to obtain power through it, he would inevitably suffer its effects.
"I understand."
"I'll be careful."
"I brought a magical artifact with me."
Strange spoke with extreme caution.
Even he felt uneasy about confronting Baron Mordo in his current state.
That was why he had brought along a powerful magical artifact left behind by the Ancient One, hoping to use it to suppress this formidable enemy.
Seeing that Strange was taking the situation so seriously, Karl nodded.
With a wave of his hand, the two of them became transparent and entered the country.
The moment he crossed its border, Karl sensed an aura of death.
Death Energy constantly drifted through the air.
In a distant city, Karl saw countless dried skeletons scattered across the ground.
He knew that all those people had been sacrificed.
Their deaths had saturated the entire country with an aura of death.
"What a monstrous atrocity."
Karl could not help but sigh.
After being sacrificed by Baron Mordo, those victims had not even been given the chance to pass on to an afterlife.
Their fate had been utterly tragic.
"Hmph."
"Let's find him quickly and kill that bastard."
Karl released his immense psychic power.
In the blink of an eye, he discovered a location where the aura of death was exceptionally concentrated.
A tremendously powerful soul aura was present there.
Karl sensed that the aura was nearly comparable to his own.
As expected, the current Baron Mordo was extraordinarily powerful.
"I found him. Follow me."
After speaking, Karl waved his hand and opened a Portal.
A moment later, they arrived at the center of the country.
This was probably the nation's capital, so it was somewhat more developed than the surrounding regions.
However, even this place had been completely consumed by death.
This was the destructive power of a sufficiently powerful individual.
The instant he emerged from the Portal, Karl gave Baron Mordo no opportunity to react.
Without saying a word, he launched an immensely powerful spell.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion erupted.
It resembled the detonation of a nuclear bomb.
A gigantic mushroom cloud immediately rose from the ground.
"Who's there?"
"You're courting death!"
An enraged voice rang out.
A figure surrounded by black smoke shot out from beneath the ground.
Who else could it be but Baron Mordo?
"Strange?"
"So it's you."
"I haven't even gone looking for you yet, and you've delivered yourself directly to me!"
"You walked straight into your own grave!"
Baron Mordo burst into wild laughter.
As Mordo spoke, Karl carefully examined him.
This Baron Mordo looked completely different from the one in Karl's universe.
He wore a black robe and had allowed his hair to grow long. His face looked as though it had been covered in bizarre makeup.
He resembled a vampire dressed entirely in black.
The sight was exceptionally unpleasant.
"Baron Mordo."
"We still don't know which one of us will die today!"
"You've committed an unforgivable atrocity. I will never make the mistake of showing you mercy again."
"You will die today."
Strange spoke furiously.
His voice carried both grief and anger at what Baron Mordo had become.
Mordo had once been Strange's guide, so Strange still cared about him.
That was why he had spared Mordo numerous times in the past.
He had never imagined that Mordo would not only waste those opportunities but become even more depraved.
This could no longer be tolerated.
"Such arrogance."
"We haven't seen each other for a few days, and you already think you've become more capable?"
"Do you truly believe I'm still the same man I was before?"
"Don't worry, Strange. I won't kill you."
"I'll transform you into my puppet."
"You will become my most powerful and evil creation."
Baron Mordo spoke with a sinister smile.
"You'll never succeed!"
Strange's eyes widened with fury.
Baron Mordo merely sneered.
Karl froze for a moment.
Something was wrong.
These two seemed to have completely forgotten that he was there.
"Baron Mordo, it seems you don't consider me worth your attention at all."
Karl spoke helplessly.
"And what are you supposed to be?"
Baron Mordo asked with an arrogant expression.
"You'll find out very soon."
A smile appeared on Karl's face.
(End of Chapter)
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