Black Hearted Mage

Caesars left the towering Burns Castle in a hurry, his steps hurried and urgent.

Not long ago, he suddenly received an urgent remote transmission from the Thornflower Trading Company, demanding that he return to the crater as quickly as possible. This order came so suddenly and urgently that even the specific method of return had been carefully planned for him: a giant nighthawk would be escorting him directly from Burns Castle.

The night sky was filled with twinkling stars, like dazzling gems set against the black canopy. A massive nighthawk spread its broad wings and carried Caesars into the vast darkness. The wind whistled past them, and time passed minute by minute, from the deep darkness to the approaching dawn.

After several long hours of flying, Caesars finally returned to the familiar yet unfamiliar crater area that he had been away from for a long time.

As soon as Caesars appeared before the crowd, the Great Elder Krasus hurried over to greet him. Before Caesars could even open his mouth to greet him, Krasus's first words were a concerned, "Caesars, I heard you were assassinated? How's the situation? Are you injured?"

Caesars was taken aback, his heart filled with confusion and surprise. Word of his assassination attempt a few days ago had reached here so quickly, and even the elven elders knew about it. He quickly replied, "Great Elder, I was indeed assassinated, but fortunately, I'm not seriously injured. But... how did you learn of this?"

Krasus looked at Caesar with a serious gaze and said slowly, "We have not only found out who committed this murder on you, but we also have the identity of the assassin who hired the assassin. Those who dared to attack us elves will surely bear our wrath and punishment! Caesar, you should have returned immediately after being promoted to an intermediate magician. Do you really think that relying on just a few bottles of alchemical potions can significantly improve your strength? Such a thought is truly naive!"

"Great Elder, please be frank. The more you listen, the more confused I become!" Kaisas knew that the elven elder must have something important to tell him.

"We're going to throw you into a magic circle, strengthen you, and refine you in an alchemical solvent. First, go to the demon ruins and get a bottle of snake venom from the largest red demon snake. Also, don't bring your little snake in!"

Crassus had known about the giant snake for a long time. Instead of attacking Caesar, it became very close to him.

"We need to bring some food for it. I don't think there are any black snakes there anymore!"

"Well, it ate all but a few small snakes!"

The three elven elders knew very well that the giant red snake was about to leave the demon ruins, and there was no food for it there.

"Great Elder, the great undead wizard Sandro should be hiding in Earl Soren's territory!"

"As long as the Necromancer doesn't provoke the elves, then it's the human race's own business. The elves won't interfere in human affairs!"

Caesar thought of the life gem, which now seemed to have lost its life. He immediately found it and handed it to Crassus.

"Great Elder, I only used it once and it became like this. Can it be restored to its original state?"

"Boy, this isn't a true Life Gem. It's a tool for testing humanity. Riven carved half a low-level Life Rune into this attributeless magical gem. It can be restored, though it will take many years."

"So the gems I brought back are all fake?"

Caesars was a little discouraged. He picked up three magic gems in total.

"Strictly speaking, they're all fake gems, but you've seen the test of human nature. Many people would go crazy for these things. Even though that soul gem is fake, it's still incredibly precious. It's the magic core of some demonic creature, capable of absorbing souls. It can replenish your soul energy!"

"Great Elder, how do you know so clearly? You all know that I took the Soul Gem?" Kaisas asked with some confusion.

"We saw you lying in the rocks for several days. How could we not know?"

Caesars knew without hesitation that the magic tower must have a surveillance array, and the three elven elders had seen everything. They must have known about the Undead Mage for a long time.

"I'm going home first!"

"Get out of here! An elf will take you to the canyon tomorrow!"

This familiar stone courtyard is not far from the magic tower. It has been almost two years since Caesar left here.

When he pushed open the gate, Caesar was stunned. His grandfather and father were standing at the table in the yard, huddled together, as if looking for something.

"Grandfather, Father, what are you doing?"

"A few little snakes have escaped from the cage, Caesar, catch them quickly!" Old Ludwig said with some fear.

"Grandfather, you used to raise snakes, so why are you afraid of a few small snakes?" Caesars found that his grandfather and father became less courageous as their lives became more comfortable.

"Those that escaped were all little golden-eyed black snakes. We haven't encountered black snakes in years. I'm scared just seeing them!"

"How many little snakes came out?" Caesars asked with a puzzled look.

Old Ludwig, standing nearby, frowned and thought for a moment, then replied uncertainly, "Hmm... probably three or four, or maybe five. These little snakes were just hatched today!"

After hearing what Old Ludwig said, Caesars couldn't help but feel a little helpless. He shook his head slightly. He took out the little golden-eyed black snake from his pocket and gently placed it on the ground.

"Hey, man, do me a favor! Find those little snakes that ran away quickly, but don't eat them." Caesars patted the head of the little golden-eyed black magic snake and said.

Because these newly born snakes were so small, and there were a lot of miscellaneous items in the yard that blocked their view, Caesars was too lazy to bother searching. However, this little black snake seemed quite human. It first looked around with its round eyes, then quickly began to search carefully along the stone house.

It wasn't long before the little black snake discovered something. It opened its mouth and accurately bit a small snake that was only as thick as a finger, then quickly delivered it to Caesar's hands.

However, at this moment, an accident happened. Perhaps because the little snake was bitten by the little black snake, it was hurt. When Caesar took it over, it suddenly opened its mouth without any warning and bit Caesar's finger tightly.

Instantly, Caesars felt a sharp pain in his finger. Seeing this, the small golden-eyed black snake beside him suddenly became agitated, hissing non-stop, as if it couldn't wait to swallow the little snake.

"Hey, man, I'm fine! Don't worry about this for now, the most important thing is to find the other little snakes!"

The venom was injected into Caesar's finger, and the wound no longer hurt, but instead felt a slight itch. He put the little snake into a cloth bag. These little creatures had to be placed in small cages, and the male and female snakes had to be kept separately.

The six little snakes were quickly found. Old Ludwig and his son were frightened because the number of little snakes that came out exceeded their expectations.

The little snake was placed in a special cage. Caesars walked around the big iron cage again and found that there were still three snake eggs that had not hatched. These snake eggs that hatched slowly should all be female snakes.

"Come down!"

Looking at the two people still sitting at the table, Caesars said something with some dissatisfaction.

"Kaisas, you were bitten by the golden-eyed black demon snake. Do your fingers feel stiff?"

"It hurt a little at first, and now it's a little itchy. Grandfather, if you had asked me any later, my wound would have healed. I brought you some good wine, two barrels each, to save you from arguing every time you drink!"

Whenever Ludwig and his son drink, they always discuss who drank more. After each of them drinks a glass, they will argue about whose glass is fuller. This is a drama that the father and son have to perform every day.

"Let's drink our own drinks from now on!"

"That's what I've been waiting for!"

When they heard that each of them would receive two barrels of wine, the father and son immediately spoke from the bottom of their hearts. They could ignore everything else except the wine.

"Creamy treats, cheese, dried meat, and snacks, divide them among yourselves. I'll also give you two storage rings so your food won't spoil even if you keep it for a long time!"

When Caesars took out the storage ring, Ludwig and his son became excited. In their impression, storage rings were only owned by noble lords, and the two began to pester Caesars, asking him to teach them how to use the storage ring.

The next morning, in the morning dew and the rising sun, a team of elven rangers set out with Kaisas. This time, there were no other magicians in the team, and he was the only one who entered the Grand Canyon.

Rangers are basically magic archers, and most of them can use stealth. They patrol the crater regularly, hunting high-level carnivorous monsters and eliminating potential threats immediately.

"Kaissa, go down by yourself. We will patrol the surrounding area today."

The ranger team stopped in front of the canyon and split into two, one team preparing to patrol south and the other team heading north.

"Okay, Captain Doring!"

The captain of the rangers is a sharpshooter, and the effective range of his magic arrows is over sixty yards. Within this range is the enemy's death zone.

Caesar cast Levitation and Feather Fall on himself, then jumped into the Grand Canyon. In order to save some distance, he adjusted his descent direction, gliding as far south as possible.

According to the elven elders, the giant red snake is now extremely aggressive. When Orcus was catching the golden-eyed black snake, he was attacked by it and even had several of his ribs broken by it.

Over the past few years, the elves have not set foot in the mysterious and terrifying demon ruins for a long time. However, now there is an urgent task before them - the giant red snake lurking in the ruins must be hunted down as soon as possible!

According to the three highly respected elven elders, the giant snake's power has increased again, and it has now become a truly legendary monster. Its danger even surpasses that of the earth dragons in the volcanic group. After all, the venom it spews is extremely toxic, and currently available antidotes are completely ineffective against it.

If this giant snake managed to escape the confines of the Grand Canyon and enter the vast, deep, and boundless Endless Forest to the west, it would undoubtedly trigger a massive disaster, wiping out countless lives.

At that moment, Caesars descended from the sky like a feather, landing steadily at the bottom of a damp, sweltering canyon thick with the stench of decay. This spot was within easy reach of the entrance to the demonic ruins. He planted his feet firmly on the ground, but before he could even begin to reach the deep, black hole of the stone cavern, a crimson figure suddenly pounced upon him at lightning speed.

The giant red snake grew even larger, its scarlet tongue flickering constantly, capturing the scent of its prey. Its cold, greedy eyes fixed on Caesars, as if examining a delicious meal about to be eaten.

It opened its bloody mouth slightly, revealing sharp fangs. Its upper and lower jaws moved incessantly, making a chilling "crackling" sound. Facing this scene, Caesars couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding, as if he had become a lamb to be slaughtered. With years of experience dealing with black demon snakes, he knew the giant before him was warming up for its next meal.

"I brought you food, you idiot!"

Kaisas immediately threw out a few jungle boars to draw the snake's attention. He was also thinking about how to get the snake venom. This giant snake was different from before. It no longer approached Kaisas, but instead regarded him as food.

The giant snake possessed considerable intelligence, its gaze switching between the Jungle Boar and Caesars, as if weighing something. It finally chose the boar, which had plenty of food, allowing it to have a full meal.

"I want some of your snake venom!"

Even if Caesar racked his brains, he couldn't come up with a better idea to deal with the predicament. In desperation, he decided to give it a try and walked straight towards the huge and terrifying red snake, and mustered up the courage to make his request to it.

When he opened his mouth to speak, he carefully took out a crystal clear bottle from his arms, and then gestured to the giant python to show the size and shape of the bottle.

The giant python seemed to fully understand Caesar's intentions, nodding its head in agreement without hesitation. For it, exchanging its own venom for food was a perfect bargain. After all, the venom stored in its body had to be released regularly, otherwise the excess would accumulate in its venom sacs, causing intense pain and swelling. Even a casual release of venom was preferable to the constant torment of such pain.

Then, the crimson-colored python slowly opened its bloody maw, revealing its two previously hidden fangs. The snow-white fangs, a foot long, gleamed with a chilling gleam, each curved with an elegant yet deadly arc, like two meticulously tempered, poisonous daggers. Anyone who even imagined being bitten by such sharp teeth would shudder—their entire body would be instantly pierced!

However, Caesars was too scared to be afraid because he realized that he couldn't reach the python's fangs from his current position. So he shouted at the python, "Lower your head! I'm too short to reach your fangs!"

Seeing such terrifying fangs so close, Caesars couldn't help but sweat in his palms. At the same time, he quickly replaced the small crystal bottle in his hand with a larger one, ready to collect enough venom.