Black Hearted Mage

Caesars walked slowly and steadily to the yellow-brown stone door. He narrowed his eyes slightly, concentrated his mind, mobilized the powerful magic power in his body, extended his flexible magic tentacles, and carefully probed into the stone door.

After a careful investigation, Caesars understood clearly: this seemingly ordinary stone door is actually an exquisite alchemical creation. Despite thousands of years of baptism, it is still basically intact, which makes people admire the superb craftsmanship of its maker.

At that moment, Caesars keenly sensed a faint but undeniable surge of magical energy emanating from beneath the stone gate. The magical tendrils continued to extend, revealing two crudely crafted alchemical bombs resting on the ground. Don't underestimate these two bombs; while they may appear unremarkable, their power is truly formidable.

"Rodman, the situation is not good! Someone deliberately wants to kill you, and they have obviously made sufficient preparations for this. You guys wait outside the door first, and I will take out the good stuff first!" Caesars said to Rodman behind him with a serious expression.

Caesars took a deep breath and exerted force with his arms. With a low grinding sound, the once tightly closed and unusually heavy stone door was forcibly pushed open, a gap about a foot wide. He then quickly entered the stone door, located the triggering mechanisms of the two alchemical bombs, and successfully dismantled them. Then, holding an alchemical bomb in each hand, he calmly walked out of the stone door and placed the two dangerous items, which could cause a devastating explosion, firmly on the ground outside the door.

"Rodman, these guys know that you are very strong, so they have deliberately increased the power of the alchemical bomb. If it is detonated when you are unprepared, you will probably be blown to pieces in an instant and turned into a pile of horrible rotten meat!" Caesar said lightly with an expressionless face.

Rodman, standing nearby, glanced down at the ground, where two alchemical bombs, each significantly larger than his own head, lay. A chill shot up his spine, spreading through his entire body, leaving his back and chest icy. He knew that if he were to be hit by one of these things, even if he managed to survive, the terrifying force of the explosion would likely send him careening off the cliff, leaving him in a heap of shattered flesh.

"Caesars, if the two alchemical bombs explode at the same time, no one standing here will survive!" Rodman said with lingering fear.

"I won't die, but you four will definitely not survive!" Caesar said solemnly.

He carried two extremely powerful protective bracelets, passively designed to activate a Grand Mage-level shield. Even facing a devastating explosion, he would at most be pushed off a cliff by the blast. With these magical bracelets, he had ample time to react and prepare for any unexpected situation. The rest of the mercenary team had no chance of surviving the terrifying blast.

Caesars paid no attention to Rodman. His sharp eyes fixed on the other three people, carefully observing every subtle change in their expressions. Stella, Beatrice, and Wagner all wore expressions of terror. Amidst these three panicked faces, Caesars keenly detected a peculiar difference—an inexplicable sense of loss mingled with one of them, a feeling that felt like deep disappointment and a tinge of unconcealable despair.

In this small group, Rodman has always played the role of leader, while Caesars is an outsider. He expects Rodman to shoulder the due responsibilities and take decisive actions instead of letting the situation fall into chaos and disorder. He should not make decisions for him.

"Since someone has already used the dangerous alchemical bomb, let's give these guys an unexpected 'surprise'!" After saying that, the corners of Caesar's mouth rose slightly, revealing a mysterious smile.

As Caesar spoke, he squatted down and examined the two crudely crafted alchemical bombs. They had been hastily crafted, and the shells hadn't been properly treated. He took out some alchemical glue and carefully applied it to the bombs, then scattered dust and gravel from the cliff corners on top.

The alchemical bomb's appearance changed dramatically, transforming into a angular, dusty piece of yellow stone. The trigger was reinstalled, and several strands of dyed spider silk were affixed to it. Caesars placed the alchemical bomb on the cliff edge, only three or four meters from the cave's stone entrance, with several black threads attached to different locations.

Rodman was talking to the other three people, not as if he was accusing them of something, but rather talking about their previous adventure times.

"Rodman, there may be someone in the cave, but the probability of no one is higher. The alchemical bomb has left a gap for entry and exit behind the stone door. Let's go, exploration is more important!" Caesar urged.

Rodman nodded and walked towards the heavy and solid stone door, which he had pried open last time in order to get in.

After entering the cool cave, the light dimmed instantly. Just as the others took out their moonstones, Caesars cast darkvision on them.

"Dark Vision!"

The youngest, Beatrice, exclaimed softly. She immediately put the moonstone away. The difference between the two was too great. After being exposed to sunlight, the moonstone could illuminate about four or five meters away, while darkvision could see objects more than thirty meters away.

Caesars carefully observed the cave. It was only two meters high and nearly two meters wide, and looked like it had been carved out with tools. Although Yellowstone was very hard, it was also very brittle, so carving it out wasn't too difficult.

Rodman walked at the front of the group with firm, powerful strides, his sturdy figure like a mountain blocking the way. The other three walked cautiously in the middle, maintaining a proper distance from each other, their eyes scanning the surroundings vigilantly. Last in line was Caesars, who walked at a leisurely pace.

The sound of their footsteps echoed in the silent cavern, hollow and eerie, like the whispers of ghosts deep beneath the earth. Silently, they advanced over a hundred meters. Caesars, ever vigilant, spotted a massive magical array on the ground. However, the array, supposed to protect the area, was now dim, evidently devoid of its magical power source. Only a lifeless, chaotic pattern remained.

Time passed minute by minute, and after more than ten minutes, Rodman, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped.

He turned around and said to his companions with a serious face, "Everyone, get ready. We need to change our equipment. The passage ahead is carved out by magical power, and it is inhabited by a large number of dark bats. There are so many of those disgusting things, so many that it's almost terrifying!"

Rodman then produced a set of sturdy composite leather armor. This armor looked incredibly thick, and its protective power was astonishing. Composite leather armor is typically crafted from three layers of Warcraft hide. The inner layer is made of soft, comfortable leather, ensuring the wearer's freedom of movement; while the outer layer consists of two layers of iron-hard armor, effectively protecting against all forms of attack.

The leather armor Rodman wore was no ordinary item; it was made by the Thorn Flower Trading Company, and was crafted from specially treated magical leather. This magical leather not only possessed exceptionally strong defense, but was even comparable to magical steel heavy armor.

Stella was also changing into leather armor, Wagner was putting on magic steel armor, and only Caesars and Beatrice were free.

Rodman quickly donned his multi-layered leather armor, then put on his heavy, wide cloak. Meanwhile, the others had also completed their preparations.

Kaisas pulled the puppy from his backpack. Although the lava puppy was small, it was a genuine high-level magical beast, even surpassing the legendary magical beasts. I imagine that the disgusting dark bats would be afraid of the puppy.

The puppy seemed to be able to see clearly in the dark. It rushed into the mirror-smooth and unusually flat passage quickly, as if it had smelled some special smell.

"You dead dog, don't run so far!" Caesars shouted hurriedly when he saw this.

Hearing Caesar's call, the lava puppy immediately stopped, raised its stubby tail and wagged happily, and ran back to Caesar's side. Seeing the puppy so well-behaved and sensible, Caesar smiled with satisfaction and quickly took out a fragrant milk soufflé from his backpack and handed it to the puppy as a reward for its obedient behavior.

The expedition team continued forward, with Rodman, Stella, and Wagner walking side by side in front, weapons tightly gripped in their hands, their eyes scanning the surroundings vigilantly. Beatrice followed closely behind Caesars, walking cautiously.

Not far away, about fifty meters, a huge stone hall suddenly appeared before everyone. At the same time, a strong and disgusting stench hit their noses, like the smell of rotting animal carcasses mixed with excrement.

This stone hall was quite tall, estimated to be 20 to 30 meters high, and its circumference exceeded 30 meters. A closer look revealed a thick layer of bat droppings at the edges, emitting a foul odor. The surrounding stone walls were dotted with hundreds of holes, varying in size, some barely wide enough for a single bat to pass through, others much wider. Clearly, these were the passages through which the dark bats entered and exited.

As Caesars gazed at this strangely designed hall, he couldn't help but feel puzzled. The surrounding stone walls were incredibly smooth, leaving virtually no place for bats to rest. This meant the dark bats' lair wasn't here. Perhaps only certain conditions triggered these bloodthirsty bats to enter this hall.

Despite their doubts, the expedition team didn't stop and continued along the passage. Before long, they suddenly stopped again. A pungent odor, similar to a mixture of methane and kerosene, began to permeate the smooth, flat passage.

Caesars quickly pulled a pen and paper from his backpack and began meticulously drawing a topographical map of the passage. His strokes were swift and precise, not missing a single detail. Once the map was complete, he put away his tools and strode briskly to the front of the group. He set aside the disk of the low-level wind array and filled it with a magic crystal to activate it.

The temperature here was significantly lower, a chill penetrating into his bones. Caesars was somewhat familiar with this situation; the ancient magician tombs he had explored before all had roughly the same design.

As long as they are magicians from the Ludwig School of Magic, the tombs they build will use ice, alchemical creations, magic patterns and arrays, and they will even raise some small magical beasts.

There was no air flow in the passage, which made the low-level wind magic array useless and unable to take away the smell of kerosene and methane.

"Put on a protective mask, the smell might be poisonous!"

Caesars put on a protective mask and walked towards the biting cold ahead. The chubby puppy followed closely beside him, wagging its stubby tail, unconcerned about the change in temperature.

After walking for dozens of meters, the road ahead became extremely narrow. There seemed to be things piled on both sides of the passage, covered with thick frost, and there was magic power fluctuating slightly inside.

Caesars took out his magic blade and carefully cut through the frost-covered ice. He couldn't let any sparks ignite these alchemical creations, and if he wasn't careful, he would be blown to pieces.

The incredibly sharp magical blade slowly sliced ​​through the hard, thick ice. With each cut, ice shards flew everywhere, and the object hidden beneath the ice gradually revealed its true appearance.

When the last thin layer of ice was completely cut through, a dark red object appeared before everyone's eyes. It appeared transparent, somewhat like solidified maple syrup. However, upon closer inspection, a faint glow of fire elemental light seemed to flicker within it.

A closer sniff revealed a pungent, unpleasant odor, a strong smell of kerosene mixed with the distinctive scent of methane. After some identification and analysis, Caesars was surprised to discover that this dark red, gelatinous substance was also a rare alchemical artifact.

"The main ingredient of this alchemical artifact is fire oil, which is rich in fire. Even more shockingly, it also contains a large amount of white phosphorus. You must know that once the ice layer completely melts and loses the suppression of the low temperature environment, this white phosphorus will quickly burn. Due to the extremely high concentration of fire element contained in this alchemical artifact, the high temperature generated when it burns is enough to melt magic steel!"

Hearing this, the others present turned pale with fear. After all, facing such an extremely dangerous and powerful object, who wouldn't be terrified?

At this moment, Rodman lowered his voice and asked Caesars, "The passage ahead is too narrow. How can we get through?"

Just as Caesars was about to answer, a sudden "crunching" sound reached everyone's ears. They looked in the direction of the sound and saw the playful dark red puppy desperately scraping at the ice with its sharp claws, gnawing on the alchemical creation inside!