Black Hearted Mage

Late at night, everything is silent.

Kaisas had already fallen into a deep sleep, and the little black snake, which was still a little afraid of the spring cold, was now curled up in the warm fur.

A silent transformation was taking place within the Duchess's cemetery. Within the pitch-black rock that formed the cemetery, immense magical power surged, flowing continuously toward the seven statues.

Before dawn, the earth was plunged into the deepest darkness. Suddenly, the magic power gathered from the seven statues condensed into a thick pillar of light, like a brilliant star, illuminating the entire cemetery. This dazzling light shot straight into the sky, piercing the clouds until it reached the edge of the void.

A brilliant purple halo appeared in the sky, like a mysterious and magnificent painting. A dazzling fusion of varying shades of purple intertwined, creating a dreamlike illusion. The halo stretched for hundreds of kilometers and continued to expand.

At the same time, a powerful elemental tide surged across Roland Continent, sending magical elements into a frenzy. Countless magicians were awakened, leaping from their beds and gazing out their windows in astonishment at the bizarre scene. However, Caesars, who was closest to the cemetery, remained unaware, still immersed in a sweet dream, slumbering exceptionally soundly.

The three elven elders in the crater had long sensed this sudden elemental surge. Standing atop the Frost Crown, they gazed into the vast expanse of space.

"The test of humanity has begun!"

Old Ethan, an arcane elf, felt the arcane energy and said something lightly. The three old elves smiled slightly, then they took out the elven wine, the flaming maple chairs, and savored the wine carefully while looking at the sky.

The strange phenomenon in the sky made the magicians extremely uneasy. The elemental tide came too suddenly, and the violent magical elements from the outside world caused the magic in their magic sea to become restless.

The magic communication stone sent out messages one after another, all asking the cause of the elemental tide and what the purple halo in the sky represented.

Fire Maple City is the closest to the Duchess's tomb. The pillar of light rising into the sky can be seen in the imperial capital, and it is connected to the dreamlike purple sky.

For a moment, the entire Huofeng City was shrouded in this mysterious scene, and people were speculating and discussing it.

In Fire Maple City, magic messaging was transmitting news to all parts of Roland Continent at an astonishing speed.

At this time, no one knew that a test of human nature had quietly arrived...

In the early morning, the morning dew and the rising sun bathe the cold mountain range.

Still asleep, Caesars was awakened by a gentle sound—the warning hiss of a small black snake. He immediately opened his tent and looked outside. He saw a mysterious aura hovering over the Duchess's grave. A group of people had gathered outside. They stood a few dozen meters from the edge, seemingly observing something quietly.

A wave of doubt welled up in Caesar's heart as he gazed upon the Duchess's tomb, a site that held countless secrets. He noticed that before each of the pitch-black statues stood a strange object. Due to the distance, he couldn't clearly discern what these objects were, but he could sense a mysterious aura emanating from them.

Caesars quickly took out a telescope, pointed it at the Duchess's tomb, and began to observe carefully. Using the telescope's magnifying function, he finally saw the scene in front of each statue. It turned out that in front of each statue, a complete set of weapons and equipment was placed.

These weapons and equipment were not made of stone, but were real weapons and equipment with magic patterns. Even more surprising was that the size of these weapons and equipment was exactly the same as those worn by the statues. Even the ogre's equipment was scaled down so that humans could wear it.

At the southern edge of the cemetery, there stood a huge stone tablet. Caesar was currently in the Cold Wind Mountains to the north of the cemetery, and his vision was obstructed, so he could not see the words on the front of the stone tablet.

"Where on earth did these things come from? There was nothing here last night!"

Caesars lowered his telescope and stowed the hide tent away in his storage ring. He glanced at his robe, then at the hard, yellow-brown sandstone, and sighed. The contrast between his clothes and the rock was too great; hiding here would easily lead to enemy detection.

Suddenly, he remembered the dyed robe, quickly dug it out and put it on.

"Man, when can you help me catch a leaf snake? Like the one we encountered in Felwood last time. I need a belt right now, and yours is too short and dark!"

As Kaisas spoke, he picked up the black demon snake and began to play with it. A gleam shone in the small eyes of the golden snake. It loved eating all kinds of demon snakes and had a deep memory of the dead leaf snake.

Not far from the cemetery, a white-haired figure arrived on horseback. Caesars, looking through his telescope, saw that the new arrival was Duke Barton. Seeing the earlier arrivals, all of them bowing respectfully to the Duke, Caesars roughly guessed their identities.

Not long after, nobles from Huofeng City arrived one after another, each with their own guards. The south side of the cemetery was almost full of people.

Not long after, the team of magicians from Fire Maple City arrived, and they all walked all the way to the cemetery.

"Duke Barton, you should repair the road. There will be more people coming tomorrow!"

Keynes, the grand elder and vice president of the Magic Guild, had sweat on his forehead as he walked.

"Great Magician, there used to be a road here, but it's been in disrepair for so long that it's no longer visible. Building a road requires gold and manpower, and I won't get any benefits at all, so why should I build a road?"

"Duke Barton, just focus on repairing the road. Tomorrow, have people collect gold coins on the way in. You don't have to collect too much. Ten gold coins per person will be a considerable income!"

"Great Magician, the more people come, the more people will die. This cemetery is too weird, and the things that appear in it are not easy to take!"

The weapons and equipment that suddenly appeared in the cemetery were adorned with exquisite magic patterns, emitting a mysterious and powerful aura. Each piece was a peerless treasure. Inlaid on the massive stone tablet were several radiant magical gems, each of which was truly a gem of the highest quality. The uses of these magical gems were clearly marked on the stone tablet.

There are three magic gems that are particularly eye-catching, one is green, one is purple, and the other is gray. They are magic gems that no magician has ever seen before.

"The Gem of Life. Simply carrying the gem increases your health by 50%. It can rejuvenate the wearer and heal injuries and illnesses!"

Cairns stared at the towering stone tablet with wide eyes, slowly reciting the inscription on it regarding the life gem. His gaze was drawn to the emerald green gem, and his pupils unconsciously dilated, as if drawn by an invisible force.

Keynes couldn't help but take a step forward, one step, two steps... He walked towards the stone tablet, completely immersed in his desire for the gem. However, the old Duke of Barton was quick-witted and grabbed him.

"Great Magician Keynes, have you forgotten the danger of the Duchess's Cemetery? Look, there is a note under the tombstone. The specific method of obtaining the gem will not be announced until five days later!" Duke Barton reminded anxiously.

The great magician Cairns woke up as if from a dream, a wave of fear welling up in his heart. The Duchess's cemetery was full of unknown dangers. Countless people had tried to break in, but in the end, no trace of their bodies was left. Their deaths were extremely strange and chilling.

Keynes took a deep breath, calmed himself, and then said, "Duke Barton, start building the road immediately and leveling the land around the cemetery. I bet that in the next few days, the gold coins you receive may exceed the annual income of the entire duchy!"

Seeing the profitability, the elderly Duke of Barton readily agreed to build the road, but he didn't want anyone to take the mysterious green magic gem away.

The Duchy has a huge manpower base, and although the original road has been abandoned, it only needs to clear away the trees and weeds, replace some damaged stone slabs and make some minor repairs.

Caesars hid in a more secret place and found that the number of people going to the Duchess's cemetery was increasing. He looked at the giant stone tablet with curiosity. The crowd gathered around him puzzled him and he was eager to know what words were engraved on the tablet.

At noon, people had already started clearing trees and weeds around the cemetery, and then large tents sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

People continued to arrive in the afternoon, making it difficult for Caesars to leave. Aside from the rocky beach north of the cemetery, the other three directions were filled with tents.

Far away at the border of the Roland Empire, there are still a large number of carriages and horses crossing.

As the number of people in his territory continued to grow, Duke Barton felt the pressure mount. Faced with such a massive influx, he realized he could no longer effectively control the situation on his own. Therefore, he decided to request support from the Roland Empire, hoping that the Third Legion stationed north of the imperial capital would dispatch 20,000 soldiers to help maintain order. He knew full well that the mysterious treasures that appeared in the cemetery would make the situation extremely uncontrollable.

The Duke's private army was limited to a few hundred soldiers, barely enough to defend the castle within the territory. Faced with so many magicians and mercenaries, Duke Barton felt overwhelmed.

At the same time, the Thorn Flower Trading Company also learned the news, but fortunately, the elven elders had already informed them of the relevant information in advance. Otherwise, they would have also embarked on the journey to the Roland Empire.

The carriages from the Northern Tower were already on their way to the Roland Empire, as was the Mage Alliance. Even the Saint Roland Empire had sent a large number of personnel, but they had chosen to disguise themselves to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.

The Roland Empire's royal family, especially the old emperor, had an unquenchable desire for the Life Gem. Without hesitation, he ordered the 50,000 border guards of the Third Legion to depart immediately to ensure that no one could take the Life Gem away.

"How many gold coins did you receive today?"

After nightfall, Duke Barton returned to the castle in his territory, exhausted. As soon as he entered, he couldn't wait to ask the butler about the gold coins collected today.

"Your Excellency the Duke, we only received more than 5,000 gold coins today, which is much less than expected." The butler replied cautiously.

Duke Barton frowned. "Why is it so little? Is there something wrong?"

There were one or two thousand people around the cemetery, but only more than five thousand gold coins were received, which made Duke Barton a little confused.

The butler quickly explained, "Because the mercenaries don't take this route, they all swim over from the Lengshui River. There are simply too many mercenaries, and our people don't dare to ask for the gold coins!"

Duke Barton nodded helplessly, feeling somewhat disappointed. He had originally thought he could make a fortune by collecting tolls, but the reality was far more difficult than he had imagined.

"Forget it, don't collect any more gold coins tomorrow. Five thousand gold coins is a small profit." Duke Patton said with a sigh.

After all, there were too many mercenaries, and a conflict with them for a mere ten gold coins could lead to even greater trouble. Furthermore, the mercenaries, in order to save money, were willing to risk crossing the Coldwater River, which made Duke Barton feel very helpless.

At that moment, a beautiful woman walked down the stairs into the living room. She was dressed in gorgeous clothes and exuded a noble temperament. When the Duke of Barton saw her, he was stunned.

"Madam, why are you here?" Duke Barton asked in surprise.

The woman was none other than the Duke of Barton's wife. She smiled and replied, "I heard in the imperial capital that a treasure had been discovered in the territory, so I came all the way here to take a look."

Duke Barton didn't believe the Duchess's story. One was beautiful, the other was powerless, and they usually didn't talk much. Thinking of the life gem embedded in the stone tablet, the old Duke's heart burned. When he looked at the Duchess, his dim eyes looked different.

"The Duchess's cemetery is mysterious and dangerous. Anyone who entered it in the past would turn into dust. Last night, a strange scene suddenly occurred in the cemetery. A purple beam of light shot straight into the sky. This morning, when the butler led people to investigate, weapons and equipment with magic patterns appeared in the cemetery, as well as several extremely rare gems!"

Just as the Duke of Barton was talking nonsense, at the edge of the Duchess's tomb, in the dark night, someone had quietly approached the huge stone tablet.

There were several magicians' tents nearby. They had already spotted a few sneaky figures, but no one came out to stop them. Some magicians even took out their photo stones, hoping to see if the people who broke into the cemetery had died in the same strange way as described in the records.

Two of them stepped into a place where no grass grew. This was the boundary of the Duchess' Cemetery, which was called the Death Line by magicians.