Black Hearted Mage

The Magic Guild members completely cleaned the collapsed area of ​​the tomb in less than a day. Surprisingly, the two old wizards survived, though Grand Wizard Cairns suffered only broken legs. The magic trap claimed the lives of two nobles and three high-ranking wizards.

Opposite the magic door was a stone chamber that looked like an alchemical laboratory. However, most of the alchemical equipment had been destroyed in the explosion, and the number of intact alchemical equipment left was extremely small, almost negligible.

Looking at the shattered alchemical equipment and broken crystal bottles scattered across the floor, the elderly Kandel stamped his feet in grief. He couldn't help but sigh, "It's such a pity that these precious alchemical items were destroyed like this..."

"Kandel, look over there, there is a wooden door. Maybe there are better things hidden inside!" Old Roman said, pointing to the wall of the stone chamber.

Everyone looked in the direction of his finger and saw a wooden door covered in dust. Kandel shouted excitedly, "Open it and take a look!"

But Old Roman stopped him, saying, "Don't be impatient. We haven't conducted any magical investigations yet. What if it's another magic trap? Let's wait a little longer!"

It wasn't known whether it was good luck or the tomb owner's deliberate act. After several magical probings, the wooden door was revealed to be just an ordinary wooden door, devoid of any useful magic or magic patterns. This left everyone puzzled, yet also secretly relieved.

When they pushed open the wooden door, they discovered a small, warmly furnished room. There was a large, comfortable bed, a soft sofa, and an exquisite coffee table. In one corner, a small bookshelf filled with various books exuded a timeless air. On an old, small desk, a piece of yellowed, enchanted leather sat, its corners held down by golden paperweights, adding a touch of grandeur.

When they approached the desk and took a closer look, they found a line of eye-catching words written on the animal skin: "Stop, or you will die!"

This is clearly a warning from the tomb owner, who seemed to have anticipated that his tomb would be visited by tomb robbers. This line of words is chilling, as if it is warning every intruder.

The room had three old wooden doors and a dark red wool carpet, giving it a mysterious and oppressive feel. Several magicians explored the room, finding no trace of magical energy; it was simply an ordinary room. This brought a sigh of relief, but also a surge of curiosity.

Kandel eagerly headed for the small bookshelf, hoping to find some precious item. He pulled an ancient tome from the shelf, his eyes sparkling with excitement. Just as he was about to turn the page, the book suddenly crumbled into a pile of shreds, scattering across the dark red carpet. Kandel was stunned by this sudden change. He stared blankly at the fragments in his hands, a sense of loss welling up in his heart. Others gathered around, looking at the scattered debris on the floor with expressions of regret on their faces.

As the books were touched, a chain reaction erupted, and every tome on the shelf shattered into a puddle of dust. Kandel was stunned. Looking at the shattered fragments on the floor, he felt a wave of heartache and regret. However, faced with this sudden change, he was helpless. After all, this was all intentional on the part of the tomb owner, who had deliberately not used magic to protect these books, allowing them to gradually deteriorate under the erosion of time.

Old Roman cautiously probed the other two wooden doors. Just as his magical tentacles passed through a door, he suddenly sensed a powerful threat and quickly retracted them. His face was filled with a solemn expression, clearly filled with worry about what lay beyond the doors.

"There are alchemical bombs behind both wooden doors, powerful enough to kill a high-level magician. Kandel, Brian, let's give up!"

Old Roman's voice held a tinge of fear and resignation. He knew full well that the trap set by the tomb owner was anything but ordinary. The alchemical bomb, placed within the magic pattern array, had an unpredictable explosive force. This time, they seemed to have encountered an impenetrable obstacle.

Kandel and Brian exchanged a glance, each seeing resignation and helplessness in the other's eyes. They knew their adventure had come to an end. Despite their regrets, faced with such a dangerous trap, they had no choice but to give up. After all, life was the most important thing.

Several great magicians left the ancient tomb and returned to the luxurious tent. Several nobles also squeezed in and asked about the situation in the tomb.

"It's very dangerous in there. There's a magic circle blessing an alchemical bomb. It should be as powerful as the last explosion. Last time, there was a metal door blocking it, so only a few people were killed. This time, there's only a wooden door. I'm afraid even a great magician might be killed!"

Old Roman looked at the greedy nobles and said a few words with lingering fear.

The nobles did not dare to take any risks and ordered the guards to move out all the things inside to see if there would be any unexpected gains.

Not long after the guards went in, they came out carrying some shocking news. Under the carpet where the desk was, they found a metal plate over a foot square embedded in the floor.

The magicians rushed back to the tomb before they could even take a sip of water. Fearing a magical trap, Kandel used strong acid to corrode the edges of the metal plate, easily removing the half-foot thick metal block.

A pitch-black cave entrance appeared, and a bone-chilling cold wind blew out.

"This cave entrance is too small. There's no way to go down."

Kandel was getting anxious, and Old Roman was now at a loss. The cave was so deep that it was impossible to see what was happening below.

"First, tie the Photo Stone and the Moon Stone together, and lower them down with a thin rope to observe for a while!"

Brian from the Magic Guild reminded them that there was no better solution at the moment, so they could only try this method first. However, the tomb owner seemed to have already realized that the downward passage was not vertical.

"Isn't there a little guy in the camp? Let him take the Moonstone and the Image Stone down there. There's no magic pattern array in the passage anyway!"

Brian's proposal made Kandel's eyes light up. Old Roman was a little hesitant now, and the passage was so small that only Caesars could go down.

"Old Roman, just send Caesars down to take a look. Come back if you find the magic pattern array. I can glue the photo stone, the communication stone, and the moon stone together and let the little guy hang it on his chest!"

Kandel spoke cautiously. He was a little worried that old Roman would get angry. After all, the other party had not accepted any students for hundreds of years.

"It's okay for Kaisas to go down and explore the way, but I have a condition!"

"Old Roman, just say what you want to say!"

Brian from the Magic Guild urged on, and Kandel was a little confused as to how Old Roman could be so straightforward.

"Three bottles of powerful vitality potion, or three bottles of life potion, must be of top quality!"

Brian from the Magic Guild fell silent, and Kandel was also a little hesitant. They all knew what old Roman was up to.

"Old Roman, how about two bottles?"

"make a deal!"

Soon, Caesars arrived at the stone chamber. Despite his immense reluctance, he nodded in agreement. With the help of the guards, a climbing belt was tied around Caesars' waist. The belt was connected to a tough animal hide rope, and he was slowly lowered into the cave.

The three moonstones hanging from Caesar's chest emitted a very bright white light. In the narrow passage, gusts of cold wind blew upward.

Cold, lonely, claustrophobic, and a little bit scary, this is what Kaisas experienced firsthand. The stone wall of the passage was very smooth, and the rope was lowered slowly, and soon Kaisas's feet were standing at the bottom of the passage.

This was the turning point of the passage, and the narrow space made it very difficult for Caesars to turn his body. He needed to tilt his head forward to enter the passage below so that he could crawl in and continue exploring.

Caesars curled up his body. As he was rather thin, although it was very difficult, he managed to crawl into the horizontal passage after suffering a few minor scratches on his body.

"There's no magic pattern array here. Let's put down some ropes. I'm going to climb forward!"

Just as Caesars had crawled in a few meters, the animal skin rope brought him some resistance, and an echo immediately came from the communication stone.

"Kaisas, is the passage down there long?"

Kandel asked anxiously. This great wizard must have been an alchemist in his lifetime, which made him a little impatient.

"Master Kandel, the Moonstone doesn't illuminate the end, and it's very cold here!"

The rope was lowered quite a bit, and Caesars climbed forward quickly. It was too cold here, and his little hands were already numb.

Soon the horizontal passage reached its end, and it led to another vertical passage below. However, this passage was much larger, and the walls were very rough. Caesars took out a few more moonstones and threw them directly downwards.

Several moonstones shattered, illuminating a vast area with white light. The scene below became clear. Just over ten meters below lay a vast stone hall covered in thick blue ice. Numerous enormous crystal jars lay hidden beneath the ice, and a large metal coffin lay in the center.

Caesars threw all the moonstones he had with him down below. He trembled a little as he held the recording stone and carefully recorded everything in the hall. By now, he just wanted to get out quickly. He felt like he was freezing.

By the time the recording was over, a thick layer of white frost had appeared on the ice, covering everything underneath.

Kaisas put away the photo stone, turned around, and quickly crawled back. He felt pain in his finger joints and his legs seemed to have lost all feeling.

"Pull me up quickly!"

Hearing Caesar's voice, the two guards pulled the animal skin rope together and pulled the small figure out of the passage.

The three great magicians were shocked when they saw Caesar's appearance. The little figure was covered in frost, and his hair was frozen together in strands.

"What's going on down there?"

Old Roman's questioning made Caesar very disappointed. The last time was in the ruins of Ludwig Castle. This time he was frozen all over. The great magician only cared about the tomb, and the students were not that important to him.

"Here's the photo stone. Take your time to look at it. I'm going to go out and get some sun first!"

Caesars put down the image stone and hurried out. The further he walked, the warmer he felt. Magicians were no different from nobles; they would use anything as a bargaining chip in their pursuit of profit. From that moment on, old Roman became untrustworthy in Caesars's heart.

"Kaissa, what's wrong with you?"

Joanna did not enter the tomb. She saw Caesars basking in the sun outside with his hair still wet.

"I saw the Archmage's tomb. There's a big metal coffin underneath!"

"They asked you to go in just to crawl through the small cave?"

Joanna was furious when she saw young Caesars nod.

"Old Roman must be afraid of death. Normally he wouldn't be like this. Caesars, you better be careful!"

Joanna had told him that when a magician feared death, they would do anything crazy. There had been several such magicians in history, all powerful and great, who had committed many inhumane and cruel things.

"I have to practice hard!"

"You can go to the Alchemy Tower to meditate. It's where the black snakes are raised. There's a magic circle there that gathers dark elements. You don't need to use tower points yet!"

Caesars listened attentively to Joanna's instructions; this was his only way to escape Old Roman. In another luxurious tent, many magicians were observing the main tomb chamber. A large metal coffin, twenty-five powerful alchemical bombs. Beneath the ice lay an intricate magic array, connecting each crystal jar. At its center was the metal coffin.

"The image was very clear at the beginning, but why did it become blurry later? Where did the white frost come from?"

The injured members of the Magic Guild were all taken back to Fire Maple City by carriage. Now, only the Great Magician, Brian, remained. He didn't understand much about magic patterns and formations, and was puzzled by the images in the photo.

"Because the iron lid was opened, air flowed into the main tomb chamber, and the ice layer continued to thicken. These are just minor issues. There are too many alchemical bombs below. If an explosion is triggered, this stone mountain will be blown away!"

One alchemical bomb killed several high-level magicians, twenty-five of them at once. Kandel felt his scalp tingling just thinking about it.

"Kandel, can you dismantle the alchemical bomb?"

Old Roman, with white hair and beard, asked while looking at the photo.

"Old Roman, the problem right now isn't dismantling the alchemical bomb, but the ice array in the main tomb. This blue ice is as hard as magic steel, and as long as air gets in, the ice layer will continue to thicken. There's no way to dismantle the magic array, and without dismantling the magic array, there's no way to dismantle the alchemical bomb!"

"Let's go back to the Northland Tower first and let Ethan see the magic pattern array!"

Old Roman was getting impatient. He was now even more certain of the great wizard's identity. The tomb owner was once a magician from Ludwig Castle, and the ice magic circle was only found there.