Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 110 Lambert

On a quiet evening, the setting sun shone brightly across the landscape. Two nighthawks were fiercely competing for food, chirping and flapping their broad wings against each other. Their sharp, short cries pierced the night sky, as if announcing the intensity of the fight.

Liv, who was standing by, saw this and put her hands on her hips. She sternly lectured the two naughty nighthawks in clear and melodious Elvish: "How could you two be so unfriendly? You actually started a fight over a bone!"

Her voice was as sweet as a nightingale's, but the majesty contained in it made the nighthawks dare not act presumptuously again.

After a bit of scrambling and scolding, the two nighthawks finally settled down. Satisfied with their sumptuous dinner, they sat down quietly on the ground. Using their curved beaks, they meticulously preened their inky black, incredibly strong feathers. They meticulously cared for each one, as if they were the most precious treasures in the world.

About a quarter of an hour later, the sound of light footsteps approached from afar. Over thirty shadow leopards, their fur striped black and gray, approached with light, swift steps. Atop each leopard sat a dashing elf. This group was a standard squad of elven rangers, charged with protecting the Endless Forest.

In this team, more than half are agile archers, holding exquisite magic longbows, with sharp and focused eyes; there are also five magicians, who are dressed in gorgeous robes, holding wands shining with mysterious light in their hands, ready to cast powerful magic at any time; the rest are elven spellbreakers who are good at close combat, with sharp daggers hanging around their waists.

At this time, a middle-aged elven magician noticed the person standing next to Liv - Kaisas. He frowned and questioned Liv, "Liv, how could you bring a human to the edge of the Endless Forest? This is our elf territory!"

The face of this middle-aged elf looked somewhat weathered, with time leaving faint traces on his face, but his actual age was difficult to estimate accurately.

Liv didn't flinch at the elven mage's questioning. She puffed out her chest and retorted without hesitation, "Nonsense! Caesars is from the Crater, he's no outsider!" Then, Liv glared fiercely at the middle-aged elven mage, her eyes filled with determination and confidence.

"But he's human!" The elven magician questioned him while staring at Caesar. Caesar had no elven features, which was the basis for his inference.

"Kaesus is the snake keeper of the crater. He is the descendant of Lord Raven - the heir to the Frost Crown. Lord Raven has sent back the news that he will return again in more than nine hundred years and tell the old guys in the Elf Council to mind their own business in the crater in the future!" Liv said angrily.

Kaisas noticed that some elves in the elven group had lowered their heads. These were the nature elves, the tribe that lived in the Endless Forest. The nature elves possessed racial talents, and they were able to tame shadow leopards, nighthawks, and even the terrifying dark spiders.

"Is he a descendant of Raven-Rod?"

Upon hearing the news, the elven magician showed an expression of extreme shock. His mouth opened wide, as if an egg could fit in it, because he knew full well the shock and disbelief contained in it.

You know, Raven is a legendary figure! Back then, the elemental elves were extremely domineering and arrogant, relying on their power to do whatever they wanted. But Raven, this brave and fearless hero, resolutely decided to punish these bullied elves in order to seek justice for them.

Shockingly, he fearlessly beat down the elders of the Elven Council one by one! After all, these elders were authority figures within the elven community, highly respected and powerful. Yet, even so, they couldn't withstand Riven's furious attack.

Speaking of the crater, its status is truly extraordinary. Although it has always been occupied by elves, it has always maintained a high degree of independence and is unwilling to accept the jurisdiction and constraints of the Elven Council.

Since the split between the three elven tribes, the situation has become even more complicated. The vast majority of the natural elves, as well as all the arcane elves, have left the Western Continent, completely free from the control of the Elven Council.

However, the Elven Council, controlled by the Elemental Elves, refused to give up and attempted to regain control of the other two elves, even resorting to force and intimidation against the Crater.

Unfortunately, their wishful thinking, though brilliant, ultimately proved to be in vain. Just when they thought victory was certain, Riven appeared in the Elven Kingdom like a divine force. Leading the charge, he engaged the elders of the Elven Council in a fierce contest, armed with his indestructible fists and masterful magic.

That battle was truly earth-shattering! Riven's figure moved across the battlefield like a ghost, his every move carrying the force of thunder, leaving those usually high-handed elders powerless to fight back.

In just a short moment, more than 30 of the originally majestic elemental elves were defeated one by one by him, and were ruthlessly thrown out of the Elf Council like throwing away garbage. They fell directly in front of tens of thousands of elves, losing all face.

The Crater was not a place the elemental elves could touch. The people of the Crater were not under the jurisdiction of the Elven Council.

"Lord Raven is really coming back?" The middle-aged elf confirmed the news with Liv.

"Well, I heard that Lord Raven is already level 45. The demon lords of the Abyss will stay away from him when they see him. Those old guys in the Elven Council can't even deal with low-level demons!"

Liv had no idea where she'd heard the news, but beads of sweat formed on the elven magician's forehead. There were only five Level 28 members of the Elven Council, the five high-ranking Grand Magisters.

"We're heading back to the forest. You two better be careful. There's a well-equipped mercenary group hiding around Blackrock Mountain. Nighthawk spotted them a few days ago, but our Shadow Leopards couldn't track them down."

"The Shadow Leopard couldn't detect their scent?" Liv asked doubtfully. The Shadow Leopard's sense of smell was extremely keen, and it was top-notch among high-level magical beasts.

"Yes, that's right. These people are not simple. They should have alchemical potions that can remove body odor. Although these potions are not very effective, they require high-level alchemists to refine. Moreover, the main ingredients of the potions are limited. They only grow in the central and eastern parts of the Roland Continent, which is now the territory of the Saint Roland Empire!"

The news revealed by the elven magician was truly shocking. It made one think of those well-equipped and well-trained mercenaries, and the inextricable connection between them and the powerful Saint Laurent Empire.

Kaisas said, "We are not heading to the Endless Forest. Our goal is the crystal mine not far ahead!"

At this time, an elven spellbreaker said, "Then you must be careful. All the mines in Blackrock Mountain have now become hibernation nests for black demon snakes. It would be extremely dangerous to rashly enter at this critical juncture!"

I had to admit, the elf's words were true. It was now late autumn, and the Blackrock Mountains were about to be struck by severe frost and heavy snow. The black demon snakes and other hibernating monsters were busy searching for sheltered caves to spend the long winter.

Kaisas said with a firm face: "I am not afraid of the black snake. I just want to find out how many people are in that mysterious mercenary team?"

Clearly, Caesar was filled with suspicion about this sudden and unusual mercenary group. After all, who would choose to spend the winter in such a harsh environment as Blackrock Mountain? Furthermore, even the Nighthawks, renowned for their tracking and reconnaissance, had been unable to detect these people. This meant they were most likely hiding in a hidden cave nearby.

"Over twenty of them, all well-equipped. According to the images in the photo, there are three heavily armored warriors, ten archers, and eight hurricane warriors or stealth warriors. Because they all wear leather armor and short swords, their specific professions are difficult to discern. The remaining seven are all magicians."

"This team is quite strong!" Kaisas couldn't help but sigh when he heard about the mercenary team's personnel configuration. As far as he knew, this mercenary team actually had seven magic professions, accounting for nearly one-third of the entire team!

Typically, a mercenary team of only 20 to 30 people would likely only have one or two magicians. After all, everyone knew that the commission a magician commanded was several times higher than that of an ordinary mercenary. Therefore, the unusual personnel configuration of this mercenary team was truly puzzling.

Kaisas thought to himself that this mercenary group must have some unknown problems. They were definitely not just an ordinary mercenary group. Moreover, the area around the Blackrock Mountains could not provide sufficient returns to support such a high-cost personnel structure.

Kaisas had a vague feeling that this mysterious mercenary group had likely already made their way to the dangerous and unknown crystal mine. Perhaps even the Saint Laurent Empire was involved, perhaps conducting in-depth research on those precious and dangerous exploding crystals.

Thinking of this, Caesars quickly turned to look at the elven rangers beside him and said anxiously, "You are elven rangers. Can you go into the crystal mine to check out the situation? It is said that there is a lot of extremely unstable magic crystal there. Maybe the people of the Saint Laurent Empire are busy digging for these crystals now!"

Facing Kaisas's request, an elven ranger looked puzzled and asked, "What exactly do they want to do with these explosive crystals?"

After a moment's contemplation, Caesars replied, "In my opinion, they are most likely planning to use them to create powerful alchemical bombs!"

The Saint Laurent Empire coveted the Endless Forest, and the vast majority of intruders eliminated by the elves were from the Saint Laurent Empire. Upon hearing that the Saint Laurent Empire was planning to create alchemical bombs, the elves in the forest rangers were furious. If these alchemical bombs were ever unleashed, they would surely be dropped on their heads.

An elemental elf was holding a communication stone and mumbling a few words in Elvish, looking very anxious.

"Liv, what did he say?" Caesars didn't understand the Elv language and could only ask for help from Liv who looked shocked.

"The interior of the mine is relatively narrow and winding, which is undoubtedly a limitation for a Forest Ranger, making it difficult for him to fully utilize his strengths. Furthermore, he is worried that the mine entrance may have been carefully laid by the enemy, a cunning trap. A Spellbreaker alone would be unable to handle such a complex and dangerous situation, so he must rely on the power of a Shadow Warrior to ensure the success of the operation!"

Liv stood aside, quietly explaining the situation to Caesars beside her. She frowned slightly, feeling that the Spellbreaker was being overly cautious and overreacting. However, Caesars disagreed. As an experienced mage, he knew his profession's weakness—his greatest fear was close combat. If the opponent's weapon was engraved with magic patterns capable of breaking magical defenses, then killing a high-ranking mage like him would be a piece of cake. Therefore, it was always wise to be cautious.

As the two chatted, minutes slipped by. Suddenly, a sharp hawk cry echoed from the sky above the Endless Forest. Everyone looked up and saw a massive nighthawk soaring towards them. Its broad wings flapped powerfully, approaching rapidly like a dark cloud. Atop the nighthawk's broad back, a dark figure could be vaguely seen, standing firmly on it.

As the Nighthawk drew closer to the ground, it gradually slowed its flight, passing low overhead. At that moment, the figure, hidden on Nighthawk's back, suddenly leaped, plummeting like an arrow from a bow. In the blink of an eye, the masked figure, clad in pitch-black leather armor, landed on the ground. Inertia forced him to jog forward a dozen or so steps before stabilizing himself.

"Lord Lambert, there may be enemies hiding in the mine ahead, probably more than twenty of them!" The lawbreaker was very respectful and said with a slight bow.

"Liv, you haven't been home for a long time!" The lawbreaker looked at Liv and said in a questioning tone.

"Let's do the important things first, and we can talk about other things later!"

Liv looked at the shadow warrior and said with some dissatisfaction.