Black Hearted Mage

The hunt for the elves had already concluded, and this time Orcus had reaped a bounty, having successfully captured two magicians and two assassins. The spoils, neatly gathered together, included storage rings, leather armor, and several weapons.

Orcus was conducting a magical interrogation, and Caesars listened with gritted teeth. The shamelessness of the Church of Saint Laurent was appalling; there was no bottom line at all.

First, weapons and armor were carefully sorted and placed for later processing. Then, the storage rings were opened one by one, and the items inside were taken out. The variety of items was dazzling.

All food was distributed to the puppies to meet their growth needs. Caesars was responsible for the leather armor, weapons, and a dozen storage rings. As per custom, the Thorn Flower Trading Company would take 70% of the profits.

There were still some potions left on the ground, their variety so numerous it was difficult to distinguish them. Furthermore, there were over three hundred iron lumps and over five hundred crystal bottles the size of wine bottles, each filled with a variety of different colored liquids. Some were clear, others murky, and there was even one bottle of a pitch-black, viscous liquid that looked downright disgusting.

Okus didn't rush to test the potions. His gaze finally fell on the dark red, fat dog. In just a few minutes, the puppy had grown from the size of a newborn calf to the size of a year-old calf.

"Kaisas, this might be the awakening of the Lava Dog's bloodline. It should return to its original size!"

The puppy ignored everyone and was eating its food, as if it couldn't get enough. Caesars sighed as he looked at the puppy weighing hundreds of pounds. He no longer had the strength to fly with it.

"Lord Orcus, please check these things first. If they are dangerous goods, I will find a way to return them!"

It takes a great alchemist to detect dangerous things, and the things brought by the people from the Church of Saint Laurent should not be ordinary.

Okus nodded and said, "The iron lump is a triggered alchemical bomb. It's crudely made, but it's quite powerful. You can put away Caesars and the others for now!"

Orcus asked all the elves to step back, then he took out an alchemical protective mask and a pair of protective gloves.

"The two magicians don't know what's inside the alchemical solvent demon here. They were just told it's very dangerous!"

Okus donned a protective mask and gloves and activated his magic shield. He opened a green bottle, and the magical tentacles reached in and immediately withdrew. Okus switched to a crystal bottle and repeated the same process.

As Orcus picked up a crystal bottle filled with a dark, viscous liquid, he was about to open it when a chubby figure suddenly appeared in his sight. Oh no, now I should call it a sturdy puppy, as its size had significantly changed compared to before.

The puppy had been concentrating on eating, but the moment Okus picked up the water bottle, it seemed to sense something unusual and suddenly stopped, turning its head to stare directly at the water bottle in Okus's hand, and then howled at him. The sound was so loud that it seemed to break through the roof, deafening.

Ocus was startled by the sudden cry. He subconsciously stopped what he was doing and turned to look at the puppy.

Caesars stood by and noticed the puppy's unusual behavior. He immediately became alert and asked quickly, "Damn dog, is that thing very dangerous?"

The puppy seemed to understand Caesar's question. It hummed as if to confirm. Then, it stretched out its sturdy front paw and gently touched its neck, as if searching for something. However, it found nothing, which made it look a little anxious and began to spin in place.

Seeing this, Caesars couldn't help but find it a little funny. He smiled and said to the puppy, "Your storage ring is here, you idiot! Look at your neck now! It's thicker than your butt before. It's broken the rope!"

As he spoke, Caesars pulled out a rope from his pocket and tied the two storage rings back around the puppy's neck. Seeing this, the puppy immediately became excited, grinning excitedly and uttering a few strange syllables that sounded a little unclear.

The puppy pulled a lizardman corpse from its storage ring. The corpse looked quite old and emanated a fishy smell. With its stubby, powerful front legs, the puppy pointed bluntly at the crystal bottle in Orcus's hand, uttering another series of strange syllables, as if conveying some important message to Orcus.

Seeing this, Okus' heart tightened. He stared at the puppy and asked hesitantly, "You damn dog, are you saying that the bottle contains the devil's blood?"

Caesar's mind flashed back to the Bitterwater Farm in the Saint Laurent Empire. In a cave beneath the Emerald River, a demon's corpse lay. Although this demon had been dead for tens of thousands of years, its blood still possessed a powerful corrupting power. Those aberrations and ghouls were the products of that demon's blood.

The puppy seemed to understand what Caesars said. It hummed and then nodded its big head gently, as if to confirm Caesars's guess.

Standing nearby, Orcus was also terrified. He had once entered the stone cave beneath the Emerald River and remembered vividly the strange and dangerous liquid. Anyone who came into direct contact with that viscous liquid or stayed close to it was almost certain to be corrupted by it.

"Kaisas, this thing is too dangerous. If it were left in Violet City, I'm afraid that in just a few days, everyone in the city would be turned into zombies!"

"Go eat that devil's blood, you idiot! It's a great tonic for you!" Caesars patted the puppy's head and added softly, "I'll give you a leg of wild beef that I marinated myself. I added three kinds of spices to it!"

The puppy looked at the dark crystal bottle with disdain, but the savory, salty taste of the bull leg made it unable to control its saliva. Its short, powerful front legs slapped the ground vigorously, and it agreed to Caesar's terms of trade.

Orcus was just worrying about what to do with the demon blood when he overheard Caesars's deal with the pup. The sturdy pup approached Orcus and took the crystal vial filled with a viscous black liquid in its mouth. With a crack, the crystal vial shattered under its sharp fangs, and the pup swallowed the vial fragments and the demon blood.

The puppy blinked its mouth, looking unhappy, as if the food it had eaten was not to its liking. The thick blood vessels in its body were wriggling, as if something was drilling inside, which looked a bit scary.

Kaisas took out a pickled ox leg, placed it on a nearby stone, and thoughtfully drizzled some honey on it. The sturdy puppy was delighted, grinning widely and narrowing its eyes.

"Kaisas, these alchemical solvents are all poisonous pyrotechnic oil!" Orcus' voice was calm and serious, as if this was nothing to be alarmed about. "The reason they have different colors is simply because different poisons have been added."

Kaisas stared in disbelief at the pile of brightly colored alchemical solvents before him, a chill running down his spine. Once ignited, these incendiary oils would not only unleash a blazing fire but also produce thick, highly toxic smoke, posing an absolute lethal threat to ordinary people.

"The people of the Church of Saint Laurent are so vicious!" Caesar said indignantly. He was extremely angry about the cruel methods of these enemies.

Ocus smiled and soothed him, "Don't worry, Caesars. Get a good rest tonight and recharge your batteries. Tomorrow, three groups of Saint Laurents will arrive. They can't sneak in the sunlight, so you can unleash your magic and hunt them down one by one!"

Hearing Orcus' words, Caesars' mood calmed down a little. He knew that this was a perfect opportunity for him to avenge those innocent victims.

The next morning, just as the sun was rising, sunlight streamed through the cracks in the tent onto Caesar's face. He was awakened by a soft snoring sound. Looking closely, he saw the puppy sleeping soundly at his feet. The puppy had grown larger, and its snoring had doubled.

Caesar stretched and walked out of the tent. He looked around and was surprised to find that the elves' tents had been moved more than a hundred meters away.

As purple arcane energy slowly spread like ripples, a spatial rift quietly emerged in the air. Then, Old Ethan stepped out of the rift, as if transcending the boundaries of time and space. He was followed closely by Elder Destro, and the two of them emerged from the portal together.

Orcus had already passed the news of the discovery of the demon blood to the crater via the magic communication stone. When Old Ethan and Elder Destro appeared, they already had a considerable understanding of the situation.

"This fat dog really knows how to enjoy himself. His snoring is even louder than that of an ogre!"

Elder Distro's gaze fell on the unusually large fat dog not far away, and he couldn't help but reveal a hint of surprise.

Seeing this, Caesars hurried forward and turned the fat dog over, letting it continue sleeping in a prone position. As a result, the fat dog's snoring was indeed significantly reduced.

"Kaisas, you should have witnessed the shamelessness and vileness of the Saint Laurent Church by now, right?" Old Ethan's voice was filled with a hint of dissatisfaction. "To retaliate against you, they even resorted to using something as dangerous as demon blood."

Demon blood is an extremely evil entity, capable of distorting human nature and causing them to gradually become corrupt and degenerate. If this substance were to spread throughout Violet City, it would not take many days for the entire city's residents to transform into terrifying aberrations and ghouls.

"Old Ethan, aren't they afraid of being corrupted by direct contact with the demon's blood?"

Kaisas is well aware of the special nature of demon blood. As a high-level magical material, it cannot be controlled by magic and can only be directly contacted with the help of tools.

"Kaesus, don't forget the necromancer Sandro. He is now just a skeleton. For him, the danger of touching the devil's blood is not too great. After we get rid of these assassins, it is time to give that guy a severe warning, otherwise he will never learn his lesson!" Old Ethan said calmly.

The elves have never interfered in the affairs of humans, but now the situation has changed, and it is urgent to severely punish Sandro.

The two elven elders had traveled this far because several groups from the Church of Saint Laurent were preparing to assemble and enter the Violet Alliance. However, according to footage captured by Nighthawk, these groups had unexpectedly changed their original route. They had chosen to climb a collapsed section of Windwhisper Canyon, ascending the towering Western Yellowstone Mountains. This way, they could avoid Violet Alliance border inspections and cross directly into the alliance.

It was not easy to walk from the top of the Yellowstone Mountains. Not only was the road difficult to walk on, but the terrain was so steep that horses could not pass. Therefore, they could only rely on their own legs and trek for six or seven days.

After careful consideration, Okus finally decided to adopt Destro's advice. He led his shadow warriors and headed south. After all, there was only one path down from the Yellowstone Mountains, and that place was undoubtedly the best ambush location.

Caesars was very familiar with the area and knew that the terrain was relatively open, making it difficult to find a suitable ambush position. However, this did not deter Okus. He firmly believed that as long as he planned carefully, he would succeed.

The two experienced elves followed closely behind Caesars and arrived at the ambush point chosen by the elves. Orcus stood in front of the mountain wall, carefully observing the surrounding environment, and then decisively directed the elves to begin excavating the mountain wall.

Under Orcus's command, the elves sprang into action. They cleverly exploited the natural structure of the mountain wall, setting up their hiding place in an unexpected location. This position concealed their presence while providing a good view, effectively killing two birds with one stone.

Orcus personally selected some weathered yellowstone to create a camouflaged stone door. He expertly used alchemical glue to firmly adhere the yellowstone blocks to the wooden planks, then applied some rough processing to make them look more like a naturally formed mountain wall.

"Ocus, well done!"

Destro patted the other person's shoulder and praised him generously.

"Ocus, someone from the Saint Laurent Empire has appeared on the mountaintop. I'm sending you a message immediately. We can't let anyone escape this time. I will provide you with the necessary assistance!"

The blood of demons can also corrupt the elves, and Old Ethan is also worried about possible accidents.