Despair

Doctor Strange's entire body flickered with crimson-gold light. He truly was not afraid to fight Mordo. But he feared that his intervention would push Mordo beyond the point of no return. He did not want to take things that far.

So Doctor Strange kept trying to discuss these issues with Mordo. But Mordo ignored him.

"It is not that I am forcing you. You simply have nowhere left to retreat to. When you discover that the power within you cannot be controlled, you will understand that magic should not be controlled by any one person." It was still the same argument: there were too many sorcerers. The Boots of Valtorr beneath Mordo's feet lifted him into the air as spells took shape behind him. The staff-like artifact in Mordo's hand grew brighter and brighter. Doctor Strange had no idea what kind of artifact it was; he did not remember ever seeing it before.

Facing Mordo in his current state, Doctor Strange knew he could not keep defending forever. Just as he was considering a countermeasure, Mordo charged at him!

Mordo did not want to give Doctor Strange time to think. Only then could he defeat Doctor Strange!

Faced with Mordo's all-out attack, Doctor Strange did nothing but defend. Spell fragments and energy scattered through the air, countless lights burst forth, and powerful spells transformed into ropes that wrapped around Doctor Strange.

At that moment, countless Iron Men suddenly rushed out of the portal. It was Tony's Iron Legion. Mordo was briefly startled, but he still directed his attack at Doctor Strange.

"You should know that your armor cannot stop me!" Mordo's words reached Tony's ears. Mordo was clearly telling the truth, but Tony did not care. Every one of his weapons systems locked onto Mordo, and all he could see was this corrupted Mordo.

He said, "Maybe I have no way to deal with your magic, but you cannot stop my armor!"

All the weapons systems activated instantly. Doctor Strange roared, "No!"

He knew Mordo could not defend himself at all. Then a white light as bright as day erupted, and the Black Lantern Ring on Quicksilver's hand released a blinding white glow.

A figure left black trails within the white light, then whisked away Mordo, who was about to be attacked from all sides, at incredible speed. That figure was Black Lantern Quicksilver. Black Lantern Quicksilver directly carried Mordo into the portal, while Mordo swiftly opened another portal. They vanished just like that!

Blue-purple lightning burst from Lu Mingyu's body. At that moment, Lu Mingyu resembled Thor, his entire body crackling with lightning, but all the electricity soon vanished. Fear showed in Reverse-Flash's eyes. He crouched on the ground, shielding himself from that one second of blinding light. The Speed Force on Lu Mingyu truly was extraordinary—at least, that was what Reverse-Flash thought.

Tony naturally did not have reflexes fast enough to keep up with Black Lantern Quicksilver's speed, so he cursed under his breath, "Bastard."

Just as Tony muttered that curse, Doctor Strange shattered Tony's armor like some primordial beast and dragged Tony out of it! Tony's face filled with shock. He could not believe Doctor Strange would do such a thing.

Fury burned in Doctor Strange's eyes, a fury that seemed capable of pulverizing the Earth countless times over. Grabbing Tony by the collar with both hands, he said, "Maybe you are an arrogant man. Maybe you do not care whether people live or die. But if it were not for him, you would have died long ago!"

"You are telling me Mordo saved me? Heh. If it were not for him, I would not have nearly died. If it were not for him, you would not have used your Time Stone to save me either! Do not think I do not know what that thing on your chest is. That is no ordinary necklace! I do not know what kind of terrifying bond you two share. I only know that you told me before that he had gone dark. Just now, he almost killed me!" Tony shoved Doctor Strange away and began arguing fiercely with him.

Lu Mingyu came running over with Reverse-Flash. He did not understand what had happened. He only felt that, at the instant the white light appeared, his power had also made a slight breakthrough.

Having just run over, Lu Mingyu did not understand the full story behind Doctor Strange and Iron Man's argument. He said, "Stop arguing. What if this is an enemy scheme to drive you apart?"

Naturally, Lu Mingyu did not know that this was not an enemy scheme at all, but a conflict between their views.

Doctor Strange refused to let go of the fact that Mordo had spared Tony. He said, "A magical attack would make your armor explode instantly. If he had not deliberately used magic to pause the armor for one second, you would already be dead! Even with the Time Stone, I could not bring you back to life like that. It would violate the laws!"

"Oh? Is that so? I have seen you break those laws plenty of times! Maybe Mordo really is right. There are too many sorcerers like you!" Tony looked at Doctor Strange, then turned and left without hesitation.

He walked toward the portal and, just before leaving, said, "Come on, Lu."

Lu Mingyu nodded. Looking back at the dejected Doctor Strange, he softly said, "It will be all right."

"I will organize the Avengers to fight Quicksilver and the others. But you... you are not an Avenger. I hope you will not stop me when the time comes. Since some people have gone dark, if there is no chance to save them, they must be eliminated as soon as possible. Otherwise, they are Hydra in another form." Tony left these words behind before departing. His meaning was obvious. Hydra had always lurked among people like them, and Mordo was the same. Though Mordo had not been infiltrating them, his nature was no different from Hydra's. If he was not eliminated soon, he would remain a threat.

Lu Mingyu placed Reverse-Flash's hand on his shoulder, then faced Doctor Strange with a smile. "Goodbye."

Doctor Strange did not reply. He was trapped in his own world, unable to pull himself free. Watching the figures vanish into the portal, along with the disappearing Iron Legion, a feeling of lonely desolation spread through his heart. He closed this portal and opened one leading to the Sanctum!

"I know Mordo's thoughts are somewhat extreme, but they do make some sense. What should I do?" Doctor Strange passed through the portal and muttered to himself.

Black Lantern Quicksilver took Mordo out of the Mirror Dimension. The portal Mordo opened in an instant transported both himself and Black Lantern Quicksilver to another location. They were not yet suited for a battle like that.

Having Doctor Strange and Iron Man on the other side was troublesome enough. And during this fight, a new speedster had suddenly appeared, moving so fast that even Black Lantern Quicksilver was shocked.

What they needed to do now was follow their original plan and defeat them one by one. They temporarily settled in a small apartment in the suburbs.

Fortunately, the house had no actual owner. It was abandoned. Though they did not know what had happened there in the past, it was indeed an excellent hiding place.

"Did you see that? They wanted to kill you." Black Lantern Quicksilver placed Mordo on a dust-covered sofa. Looking at Mordo's injured right foot, he said, "They are all hypocrites. You believe me now, don't you?"

"I have always believed that bastard Stephen was a hypocrite. I do not need you to tell me that!" Mordo was truly despairing. He had never imagined Tony would want to kill him! Looking around the room, he said, "We will rest here for the next few days."