Chapter 174: Mordo Joins the Grey Knights
The lively party that night came to an end. Unexpectedly, Ancient One came to find him the very next day.
She wore a white robe.
The two of them stood on a cliff overlooking the island, with reefs and the sea stretching out below.
"It's over."
"Did Dormammu give up?"
Matthew knew what Ancient One meant by "over," and asked in return.
Ancient One smiled and shook her head. "He will never know what it means to give up. He is a collection of greed and desire. All he pursues is the expansion of darkness."
"The Dark Dimension is not that simple, and his rule will also be shaken with time."
Matthew nodded.
Although Dormammu was now the ruler of the Dark Dimension, powerful enough to have ruled an entire dimension for countless centuries, the Dark Dimension did not belong to Dormammu alone. It had native inhabitants, and there were quite a few of them.
Those natives had long been unable to endure Dormammu's oppression and rule.
In secret, a resistance army had already formed.
It was just very small and had yet to become anything meaningful.
But as the saying went, a single spark could start a prairie fire. Once the seed existed, the flames of resistance would inevitably rise in the future.
And the one who would lead those flames of resistance was still wandering through the Dark Dimension.
Dormammu was too powerful, so powerful that he did not care about such things at all. To him, resistance meant nothing.
If someone resisted, he would kill them.
They would be devoured into darkness and turned into Dormammu's power.
In a certain sense, his arrogance was justified. So from the beginning, Dormammu's gaze and energy had not truly been on the Dark Dimension, but on expansion.
The Earth of the main universe was the most important territory in his expansion.
Through Earth, he could devour and assimilate this universe.
Of course, Matthew knew just how deep the waters of this universe were. Leaving aside whether Dormammu could successfully descend, even if he really did, his ending would most likely be getting slapped twice and slinking back to the Dark Dimension in disgrace.
"But you don't need to worry about him. Right now, there are many things he is already powerless to do."
Ancient One treated Matthew as the next guardian.
There were many things she would not hide from him at all.
Ancient One had already faintly guessed certain things.
She was not completely sure. Mainly because if things were truly as she expected, then Matthew was a little too terrifying.
Whether it was true or not, she had already decided to invest in him. Since she was placing her bet, she might as well go all in.
The Sacred Timeline had been completely changed, yet the universe had not undergone irreversible changes because of it. Instead, it was still running steadily.
But this change actually represented one problem.
At some point in the future, the causal loop of the timeline had been completed with the present and the past.
Ancient One, Matthew, and all the changes on Earth were very likely part of the future.
Since that was the case, Ancient One could no longer be considered as merely putting on an act.
This was her showing her edge before retirement.
Before Matthew fully grew up, she wanted to create an absolutely safe environment for his growth. At the very least, threats like Dormammu absolutely could not reach him.
She would never allow any threat to strangle Matthew in the cradle.
If Matthew was the anchor point and something happened to that anchor, even Ancient One feared that this universe might face some terrible and irreversible ending.
Matthew was a smart person. From Ancient One's attitude, he saw certain things.
This Sorcerer Supreme was not only accomplished in magic; in wisdom and vision, she was the greatest person he had encountered so far.
However, the two did not discuss this issue further.
Instead, Ancient One turned to ask Matthew a question.
"Have you solved the energy problem?"
Matthew had told her before that he intended to form a magic warband, but he did not want to follow the same path as the Masters of the Mystic Arts of Kamar-Taj. Clearly, he intended to follow a path like his own.
In that case, the energy problem was crucial.
"I found a dimension with infinite kinetic particles."
Matthew did not intend to hide this either.
Because even if Ancient One knew, she would not have any designs on that dimension. After all, this old debtor was clinging tightly to the Vishanti and refusing to let go.
When you owed too much, you stopped worrying about paying it back. When you had too many lice, the itching no longer mattered.
"Ah ha. It seems the Goddess of Luck has always been favoring you." Ancient One was surprised. She had not expected Matthew to actually find such an ownerless dimension.
"Then, would you mind having another instructor?"
"Who?"
"Mordo."
Matthew looked at Ancient One, a huge question mark practically hanging over his head.
What did she mean?
…
"Sorcerer Matthew, thank you for your help, and for the help from Reacher and the others."
When Mordo saw Matthew, he was slightly nervous and very respectful.
Whether it was because Reacher and the others had rescued him, Wong, and the group of sorcerers, or because they had resolved a huge crisis, he had every reason to be respectful.
Most importantly, Mordo had personally witnessed, inside the Mirror Dimension, how Matthew had fought the Dormammu possessing Kaecilius until the latter could no longer fight back, ending the battle in an instant.
Although it had not been Dormammu's true body, the aura alone still left Mordo with lingering fear whenever he recalled it.
One could only imagine how powerful Matthew truly was.
Matthew's impression of Mordo was neither good nor bad. To him, Mordo was simply a stranger.
Mordo was a rather paranoid individual with somewhat rigid thinking, viewing matters in strict black-and-white terms.
If the timeline had not changed, this man's future would have involved an ideological split with Doctor Strange, after which he would leave Kamar-Taj and eventually become a villain. His ending would not have been pleasant.
Ancient One had sent Mordo to Matthew's side, clearly intending to use him to correct this disciple's thinking and, at the same time, alter Mordo's own fate somewhat.
Matthew was quite pleased. What pleased him most was that he had gained another free laborer.
He called for Needy and instructed her to put the newcomer to work—or rather, to have him begin organizing the Grey Knights.
As for Matthew, he continued training.
The Manhattan incident itself had not brought him much gain. The Devil Fruit Encyclopedia's absorption of demon souls had requirements for quality.
Even the lowest-level Devil Fruit required a demon soul of a certain quality.
If the quality met the standard, one demon soul could light up one fruit. If the quality did not meet the standard, then no matter how many demons were harvested or how many souls there were, the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia would not absorb them.
Matthew was not in a hurry.
He simply did not dare go directly to Hell yet.
As a steady player, before his strength reached the standard, he was fully focused on turtling up on Earth and waiting for those demons to come knocking.
In any case, the current formation and development structure of his warbands was already very complete.
Having Devil Fruits would clearly be icing on the cake. Even without them, the construction progress would still steadily advance.
Many times, the personality and style of a leader could directly influence those beneath him.
As a result, after the Manhattan incident, once Matthew quickly returned to calm, Reacher and the two warbands also did not cause any ripples.
They still ate when they should eat, drank when they should drink, and trained when they should train.
Only Needy's side became somewhat busy.
As the Commander of the Grey Knights appointed by Matthew, she not only had to screen members, but also handle later training and organize a magical knowledge system from nothing, from the basics to entry-level learning, then to advanced study.
Fortunately, Mordo was there to help, which saved her a great deal of trouble in this regard.