Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 116: Revenge Journey 2

Caesar knew that it was not appropriate to clash with the powerful Church of Saint Laurent at this time. He turned his attention to the closer enemy - the cunning Earl Ronald and his greedy son-in-law - Viscount Bruce.

Count Leonard, a man of immense greed and insidiousness, used a variety of despicable means to forcibly seize all the property belonging to the Caesars family. His son-in-law, Viscount Bruce, was even more audacious. He coveted Caesars' vast wealth and brazenly sent assassins to assassinate him. If Caesars hadn't been lucky, he would have been killed by their swords.

To take revenge on the enemies, killing them directly would be too easy for them. Caesars wanted them to die in fear.

Time passed minute by minute, and after a quarter of an hour, the dreaded undead rot finally lost its strong corrosiveness. However, a long, narrow hole, over five feet long and nearly half a foot wide, had been corroded through the wall, once made of incredibly solid stone.

Caesars walked to the garden pond, picked up a bucket, and filled it with clear water. Then, he quickly walked toward the hole eroded by the undead fluid. Without hesitation, he raised the bucket and began to rinse the hole. Although the undead fluid's corrosive properties had completely disappeared, it still retained a highly toxic lingering presence. Even a golden-eyed black demon snake, with its strong resistance to poison, would suffer some adverse effects if it passed through it.

"Rad, let your students practice their magic on their own. I have something I want to ask you!"

Caesars put down the bucket, wiped his hands, and walked to the seat in the yard.

Rad said a few words to his students and asked them to come back in the afternoon. Even the naughty little Nivea was driven away by him.

Caesars took out the cast iron tea set, a box of Barton black tea, and three crystal teacups. Liv, sitting nearby, immediately got to work, expertly filling the teapot with spring water from the crater, adding charcoal to the cast iron stove, and then rolling a small fireball into the charcoal stove.

Rad, dressed in aristocratic robes, was a little surprised. He hadn't expected the archer to be able to cast spells, but he didn't ask any further questions. Fireball was a low-level spell, even magic apprentices could cast it.

"Rad, Earl Ronald and Viscount Bruce, what are they most afraid of? It can be a person or something!"

Rad is from Violet City. He has good relations with many nobles and definitely knows more than Caesars.

"Bruce is extremely greedy for money, and Leonard is afraid of losing his current position, and he's particularly afraid of death. And there's another important piece of information: Leonard is afraid of his new wife, Casqi. No one else in Violet City knows where she came from. Rumors say she's the illegitimate daughter of a great noble, but that doesn't seem to be the case now."

Rad talked about what happened some time ago, about Bruce's greed for money and lust.

To minimize the amount of gold coins needed to build this solid stone wall, Bruce racked his brains and put in a lot of thought. This guy, already known for his lust, even brought out his talent for finding faults. Speaking of Bruce's lust, we have to mention the woman who captivated him—Cassi.

Bruce had long coveted Cassie's beauty, but his overly explicit pursuit of her had angered her and her loyal followers. As you can imagine, poor Bruce not only failed to win her heart, but was instead severely beaten, his legs nearly broken. Now, whenever he leaves the house, he has to rely on a cane to support his weight.

Hearing this, Caesars couldn't help but ask curiously, "Since Bruce suffered such a severe beating, didn't Leonard stand up to stop it?"

Rad shrugged and replied, "Rumor has it that Bruce's plight was so horrific that Leonard couldn't just sit back and watch. However, when he tried to stop the violence, he was reportedly slapped hard by Cassie's men. As to whether this is true or not, no one can say for sure. But what is certain is that since then, the old man who always loved socializing hasn't received any visitors for many days!"

Rad didn't completely believe the rumors circulating, but similar rumors were circulating throughout Violet City. Meanwhile, Caesars keenly realized that this seemingly aggressive Kasiki might be a perfect opportunity to break through. After all, if the rumors were true, then Kasiki might hold significant leverage that could threaten Leonard, and had successfully exploited his opponent's fatal weakness. With this thought, Caesars's lips curled slightly, and he began to plan his next move.

Kaisas took out the golden-eyed black snake from his animal hide pocket and affixed a photo stone to its head. He then pointed to a hole in the wall not far away and whispered a few words.

"Kaissa, what are you doing?"

Looking at the black magic snake being manipulated by Caesars at will, Rad asked with some curiosity and envy.

"Let it go around the Viscount's Mansion and get a comprehensive reconnaissance of the situation across the way. Bruce has the guts to send someone to assassinate me, so of course I have to scare him out of his wits first, and then take away all his wealth. Killing him outright would be too boring!"

The black magic snake swam towards the hole in the wall. It moved very fast and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"You want Viscount Bruce to live a life worse than death?"

"Of course, I'll finish him off at the end!"

The tea in the cast iron kettle boiled, and three cups of fragrant tea were poured into crystal glasses. As Caesars reached for the cups, he noticed something missing from the table. It was the box of Barton black tea. It was obvious that Liv had put it into her space ring.

Since Rad had only met Kasqi once, at a noble banquet a few years ago, he only knew that the woman was very young, and everything else was hearsay.

At this time, the butler of the Bano family came quickly, holding an envelope with exquisite patterns in his hand.

"Master Rad, this is an invitation from Count Leonard. Master Bode wants you to attend!"

The housekeeper respectfully handed over the invitation, but Rad didn't even glance at it. He complained, "This old guy is afraid of being bullied. He doesn't want to go, so he wants me to be bullied?"

"Rad, accept the invitation and take me to the Earl's Mansion to see it!"

"Caesars, you need to wear noble robes for a dinner like this. Do you have any?" Rad reluctantly took the invitation, took a look at it and threw it on the table.

"Of course I have, don't underestimate me!"

Rad waved the butler away and spoke to Caesars about the banquet. Since the Violet Alliance lacked dukes, the earls were the most powerful nobles. This Earl Leonard loved to use his power to bully others, often using banquets as a pretext to oppress the lesser nobles. The Bano family had been targeted many times.

The reason was simple: Rad was a low-level magician from the Northland Tower, not a member of the Mage Alliance. The Bano family had always been bullied by his son-in-law, and had been labeled as easy to bully and dared not resist.

Half an hour later, the golden-eyed black snake came back twisting its body with a bulging belly, apparently it was full.

"Rad, are there small monsters in Bruce's house?"

"No, there are only a few jungle hounds!" Rad slapped his forehead and laughed cheerfully. "It eats puppies. A few days ago, there was a commotion in the yard across the street. I heard the hounds had given birth. It's strange. Why aren't the jungle hounds barking?"

"Rad, do you even need to ask? All the jungle hounds must be dead. This guy must have sprayed poison!"

As Caesar spoke, he deftly removed the image stone from the snake's head. He expertly channeled his powerful magic, gently channeling it into the mysterious stone. Instantly, a soft light emanated from the image stone, forming a dreamlike curtain of light.

Through this curtain of light, one could clearly see the beautiful flower garden on the other side of the stone wall. Inside, a variety of exotic flowers and plants competed for beauty, growing lushly and verdantly like a sea of ​​green. The stables and kennels, originally located beneath the high wall, had been moved to the other side of the garden at some point.

At that moment, a pitch-black, dark-skinned snake, emitting a dark aura, quietly appeared in the Viscount's garden. It swam nimbly like a ghost, its body close to the ground, swiftly circling the garden. Finally, as if locking onto a target, the cunning black snake charged straight towards the kennel.

This black devil snake is really too clever. Its sneaky appearance really embodies the word "thief" to the extreme.

In the image recorded by the photo stone, a dazzling golden light suddenly shot out, rushing straight towards the door of the kennel. However, strangely, for a period of time afterwards, the image was completely motionless, as if time had frozen at that moment.

After a long moment, the scene finally began to change again. Several previously ferocious jungle hounds lay sprawled at the entrance of the kennel, foaming at the mouth and clearly half-dead.

Rad, who had been carefully observing the footage, suddenly frowned, as if he noticed something was amiss. He pointed at the black snake, now curled up lazily on the ground, and said, "That's not right. Two puppies disappeared earlier, but looking at the black snake's stomach, there's only one! So where did the other pup go?"

"Rad, you didn't observe carefully enough. It ate both puppies at first, and crawled very slowly when it came back. When it passed the hole in the wall, Liuying stopped for a while. This guy ate too much and got stuck. It vomited out a puppy, and then it successfully got through the hole in the wall!"

As Caesars spoke, the golden-eyed black snake straightened its body and nodded its head.

"You greedy fellow!"

Caesars patted the snake's head gently and continued to watch the photo. Bruce's small castle was heavily guarded, with over thirty guards outside. Guards wearing composite leather armor guarded the entrances and exits, and the black demon snake dared not approach.

"Rad, how is the old man Bordeaux recovering?" When Caesar asked, his eyes flashed with a hint of expectation and cunning.

Bordeaux was a renowned Grand Mage within the Violet Alliance. This seemingly righteous fellow had colluded with Count Leonard. Caesars was determined to eliminate Leonard, and Grand Mage Bordeaux undoubtedly became an insurmountable obstacle in his path.

"Recover? Humph, don't dream! He's in big trouble this time. He was hit directly by the breath of the earth dragon. He was lucky to be able to save his life. After this incident, the vital magic veins in his body were completely destroyed. Although his hands and feet have not been sawed off, he can only lie paralyzed in bed all day like a living dead, no different from a useless person!" Rad's words were full of gloating.

Hearing this exciting news, the questioner couldn't help but curl his lips, revealing a smug smile. "Haha, that's fantastic! But then again, what about that abandoned mine owned by Earl Leonard? I heard there's a vast amount of precious fire crystal ore buried underground. Isn't anyone interested in it?"

Rad chuckled and replied, "Kaisas, you've hit the nail on the head this time. That mine has indeed piqued the interest of countless people! Even forces like the Northland Tower, the Magic Guild, and even the Saint Laurent Empire have sent people to investigate!"

Upon hearing this news, Caesars became anxious. If a major power participated in the mining of the Fire Crystal Vein, it would be difficult for him to destroy the underground passage.

"They mined fire crystals?"

"No, the Earth Dragon is still sleeping there, and no one dares to disturb it. There is too much fire element there, and there is no place to hide, so it is impossible to hunt the Earth Dragon. All major forces are waiting, waiting for the Earth Dragon to leave on its own!"

Kaisas nodded expressionlessly, expressing his agreement. This development had indeed unfolded just as the wise and experienced elven elder had predicted. Those with ulterior motives not only sought to seize the inestimably precious Fire Crystal, but their greater ambition was to completely control the crucial path leading to the mysterious volcanic region.

There are other routes to reach the fascinating yet dangerous volcanoes, but they are all long and arduous. The terrain along the way is undulating and rocky, and the road is winding and rugged, making it difficult for horses to pass in the harsh environment.

If you go on an adventure to the volcanic area in the southern part of the continent, you can only rely on your own legs and walk continuously for more than a month, during which time you will have to face various unknown risks and challenges.