Black Hearted Mage

When Hawkeye's middle-aged spy took out the magic crystal stone, he also took out a magic photo stone. The image recorded on this photo stone was not simple. It was the image of the mysterious magic door at the exit of the "underground corridor" of the Holy See.

Even Carlos, the renowned spy chief of the Roland Empire and known as the "Imperial Jackal," had failed to successfully enter the underground corridor. The reason was that he did not know how to open the magic door.

Caesars stepped forward, took the image stone, and activated it with his own magical power. Instantly, a dazzling flash of light flashed, and a vast and complex magic array appeared before everyone. The densely packed lines intertwined like an intricate spider web, dazzling and overwhelming.

Kaisas stared at the magic pattern array, frowned slightly, and slowly said: "The magic pattern array is too complicated. It is of no use to me. I don't have any in-depth research on the magic pattern array!" After that, he shook his head helplessly.

At this time, the middle-aged spy beside him hurriedly said, "Lord Carlos has instructed you to keep the photo stone. Perhaps you can go to the crater to ask for advice!"

Caesars thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. He knew that if he could use this opportunity to weaken the power of the Church of Saint Laurent, a trip to the crater wouldn't hurt. Furthermore, some of the more profound dark spells were stored in the small library of the Frost Crown.

Cassi and Hawkeye's spy left one after another. Cassi and her guards went out from the main gate, and Hawkeye's spy left from the back door.

At this point, Kaisas was feeling rather bored, unsure how to pass the time. After much deliberation, he decided to head to the Thornflower Trading Company. After all, taking an outside carriage to the crater would be quite risky—those elven archers could attack at any moment. In contrast, riding the Thornflower Trading Company's carriage was undoubtedly much safer.

It had been years since Kaesus left the crater. When he returned to this familiar yet unfamiliar land, he found that most of the elves were still as aloof and arrogant as ever. They looked at him with disdain, not even looking him in the eye. There were two reasons for this: first, Kaesus's own strength was truly low; second, and most crucially, he wasn't even half-elf, but merely an ordinary human.

In a world where strength reigns supreme, the elves seem to be born with a sense of pride, deeply ingrained in their very blood. To earn their recognition and respect, one must constantly improve their strength, becoming formidable enough to command respect. There are no other shortcuts.

Just then, a towering black magic tower came into view. It looked as if newly constructed. Despite enduring over ten thousand years of age, its surface remained mirror-smooth and flawless. The dazzling ice crystals within its layers basked in the warm sunlight, emitting a dazzling, captivating light.

This mysterious and powerful magic tower was constructed from materials sourced from the Abyssal Plane. Its inky black main body was forged from the incredibly hard Abyssal Obsidian, a rare stone imbued with the energies of darkness and fire. The ice crystals atop the tower also emanated from the Abyssal Plane, gleaming with a chilling light. Even without activating its defenses, no one on the vast Roland Continent could inflict the slightest damage.

The puppy, originally full of life and energy, seemed to be overwhelmed by some magical power the moment it entered the magic tower and immediately became unusually well-behaved. It followed Caesars closely, never more than three feet away.

At this time, Caesars held a photo stone and said anxiously: "Old Ethan, I have a photo here. Can you help me find the weakness of the magic pattern array?"

Among these three highly respected elf elders, only Old Ethan is present now, and the other two have gone to the Endless Forest.

This discussion cannot help but touch upon the Elven Council's attitude toward Revan's impending return. Ever since they learned of this news, the Council's elders have been in a state of apprehension. They fear that this supremely powerful figure's return will inevitably unleash a fury over the past incidents. Concerned about the prospect of another terrifying beating, the Council's elders have resorted to overtures to the Crater in an effort to appease its wrath.

Hearing Caesars' request, old Ethan, who was lazily leaning on the sofa and drowsy, slowly opened his eyes and said, "Hurry up and bring it here, let me take a good look!"

Although there was a hint of weariness in his words, his eyes, which had experienced many vicissitudes of life, still revealed keen insight and profound knowledge.

The old elf took the image stone and activated it with his magic power. A light screen appeared in the living room. Looking at the complex magic circle, the old elf laughed out loud.

"Kaisas, this is just a bluffing magic circle. It has many magic patterns on it, but its actual protective power is not great."

The old elf took out a projection device and placed the image stone on it. Then he took out an elven sword and pointed at a magic pattern on the image.

"Look, the simplest way to crack it is to directly cut off the magic circuit of this magic pattern. However, the magic crystal is definitely not enough to support so many magic patterns running together. It is unstable. I estimate that there should be a small magic pool behind this magic door. Based on the conduction distance of magic copper, the magic pool should be thirty meters behind the door. Boy, you've made a fortune. Such a large magic door must be made of magic steel. Selling scrap magic steel will bring a lot of gold coins!"

"Old Ethan, this is the exit of the underground corridor of the Vatican, the Vatican from more than 10,000 years ago!" Caesars explained hurriedly.

"Really? This is such great news! It's worth my personal trip! Raven was too impatient back then. He caused White Rock Mountain to collapse, and we didn't get many of the Vatican's treasures. Later, after interrogating the Vatican, we found out that they had hidden all the treasures in the underground corridors!"

When old Ethan talked about his treasure, he became very energetic.

"Old Ethan, do you want that gold?"

Kaisas was a little confused. The elven elder didn't need gold at all, and even if he had the gold, he had no place to spend it.

"I don't want gold, I want a magic pool, a precious magical material. The Roland Empire has ordered a batch of magic pattern leather armor from the Thorn Flower Trading Company, and they need a small amount of magic copper!"

"Leather armor made of salamander leather?"

"Earth dragon leather, only about thirty sets of leather armor!"

Hearing Old Ethan's explanation, Caesars was not surprised. The Roland Empire was going to take action against the Delta family. Since there was no solid evidence, and the Delta family was a noble family, they could only use assassination to eliminate them.

"Old Ethan, when are you going to get the magic pool?" asked Caesars.

"It will take at least a few months. The two old guys went to the Endless Forest, and Orcus just went to the southern continent to hunt earth dragons. Kaisas, I'm not really going there for the magic copper. There are quite a lot of stocks in the Magic Copper Crater. I want to retrieve the magic array!" Old Ethan explained.

"Why is there a magic gathering circle there?"

Kaisas was very puzzled, because the elves were forbidden to spread the magic circle.

"That's a long time ago. All you need to know is that the elves' tomb was destroyed by an earthquake, and the magic gathering circle lost its function. It was eventually discovered and taken away by human mercenaries."

Old Ethan didn't want to talk about the past and spoke very briefly.

"Mithril array?"

"Of course, but that's a special array used in tombs over 10,000 years ago. It can't be copied. Once used, humans can't stop it!"

Old Ethan explained seriously, he was almost certain that it was the lost formation plate.

"Old Ethan, is the Duchess still alive?"

Caesar thought of the Duchess's tomb. He had a vague feeling that the Duchess did not seem to be dead, but rather was in a deep sleep.

"It turns out she was indeed dead, but she was protected by Raven's rune spell. From the moment the Life Gem and Soul Gem fell, it also meant that her life began to revive!"

When talking about rune spells, Old Ethan once again seemed very excited.

"Can the dead come back to life?"

"Kasas, magic is endless! Vivian received the Life Guardian Rune while she was still alive. It's just a small rune among the Life Runes. Compared to the Life Rune, the Necromancer is just a despicable thing!"

"Where did my ancestors learn the rune magic?"

"A great being. Except for Raven, we can only silently recite his name, but cannot speak it out loud!"

"Why can't you tell it?"

"Because several of us old elves have seen him, his name represents the power of the higher laws, so we are bound by the power of the laws!"

"How strong is he?" Caesars asked tentatively.

"The moment he woke up, he devoured the clone of the Abyss Overlord. He's much more powerful than this lava dog in his prime!"

As soon as Old Ethan finished speaking, the puppy whimpered and lay beside Caesars, not daring to move.

Soon after, Kaisas left the crater and, as a member of the Thorn Flower Trading Company, was tasked with delivering goods. Over the course of more than a decade, he only served the company two or three times, but he never missed out on receiving any elemental crystals.

"Kaisas, you are too lazy. You have already accumulated ten escort missions."

Phyllis, the manager of the Thorn Flower Company, was looking at Caesar with dissatisfaction.

"Ms. Phyllis, I just returned to Violet City today!" Caesars explained quickly.

"I sent you a message immediately because I knew you were back. Otherwise, after you left Violet City, I would have to complete the delivery task again. This time, I have to deliver the goods to the North Tower and the Magic Guild, as well as the Magic Academy in Fire Maple City, which counts as two tasks!" Phyllis said with some complaint.

Caesars also felt a little ashamed. He asked, "What goods are you delivering this time?"

"Potions, alchemical materials, and magical materials. The Thorn Flower Trading Company doesn't accept gold coins now, only magic crystals, so we don't need to deliver goods like food!"

"The stuff is very valuable, so I'll leave tomorrow!"

"Caesars, come pick up the goods tomorrow morning. Ocus is not here, so I have to go and count the goods now!"

Not long after leaving the Thorn Flower Trading Company, Kaisas returned to the small stone house in a remote corner. Thinking about going to the Northland Tower, he also realized that there were still some things that needed to be properly handled.

They were the three golden-eyed black snakes from the Northland Tower. If they could be brought back, they wouldn't have to worry about guarding the family's backyard. However, getting these three golden-eyed black snakes was no easy task; Kandel's approval was required.

The next morning, just as the sun rose, Caesars couldn't wait to rent a carriage and arrived at the Thorn Flower Trading Company. At that moment, Phyllis, wearing exquisite leather armor, was standing at the window on the second floor of the trading company. She saw Caesars' carriage slowly approaching from afar.

When the carriage stopped, Phyllis walked down the stairs lightly and handed the prepared items to Caesars one by one.

Rodman always drove the carriage himself when delivering goods, and never asked the guards from the Thorn Flower Trading Company to accompany him. As an elf, Phyllis naturally understood the innate arrogance of the elves.

Watching the carriage that Caesar was riding in gradually go away and disappear at the end of the street, Phyllis sighed helplessly.

At that moment, Caesars sat quietly in his carriage, eyes closed, his mind mulling over his next plan. Now that he knew Old Ethan was heading to the Delta Family's territory, he decided to wait for him in Fire Maple City. As for the three golden-eyed black snakes, all problems would be solved with Kandel's consent.

Meanwhile, a plump puppy was happily lying next to the car window, looking out curiously. Caesars was completely immersed in his own thoughts and didn't pay much attention to the puppy's behavior.

The Delta family's defenses were tight, and Caesars wouldn't dare go alone. The Roland Empire had already begun assassinating members of the Delta family, and the Church of Saint Roland would soon learn of this. To protect the secrets of the underground corridor, the necromancer Sandro, who was hiding at Bitterwater Farm, was likely to come to the Roland Empire.

Old Ethan said that Sandro was no longer just a necromancer; he was also a spirit, possessing many weaknesses, such as fragile bones, fear of sunlight, and fear of fire. Sandro was no longer a human, but a spirit encased in a skeletal shell. The undead could absorb soul energy, and to grow stronger, they needed to sleep. With each sleep, Sandro's soul forgot something, until it had completely forgotten who it was.