Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 144 Murder and Robbery 7

One day, two weeks later, the sun still blazed down on the earth, yet the atmosphere was unusually tense and oppressive. Caesars stood on a desolate patch of land, surrounded by dozens of corpses scattered about. They were the last of the group he had just dispatched. Blood stained the volcanic ash beneath his feet, and the air was thick with the scent of blood.

However, what puzzled Caesars was that after searching through all the bodies, he still couldn't find Trudeau.

"Where on earth did that cunning fox-like guy go?"

Common sense would have made it impossible for Trudeau to escape with the injured mercenaries. Based on Caesar's understanding of him, he certainly wasn't one to easily reveal his whereabouts. So, had he quietly left the group alone? Or had he sneaked away with only one or two trusted associates? These questions swirled in Caesar's mind, but he couldn't find a definitive answer.

It had been a full fortnight since the Golden Viper Mercenaries had separated and fled. Finding Trudeau in the vast expanse of the Southern Continent was akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Faced with this nearly impossible task, Caesars didn't give up. Instead, he calmed down and pondered a solution. After careful consideration, he finally hit upon a potentially effective method: head to the Rocky Mountains and wait for his prey!

According to the map he had, Trudeau's only way out of the volcanic region was through the rocky mountains. Determined, Caesars cast a series of auxiliary spells: Swiftness, which significantly increased his movement speed; Feather Fall, which ensured he would survive a fall from a height; and Lightness, which reduced his weight, allowing him to move more nimbly. Furthermore, he drank a potion of Agility and Vitality in one gulp, further enhancing his speed and endurance.

After everything was ready, Caesars headed non-stop towards the rocky mountains in the eastern part of the volcanic region. Along the way, he rushed past like lightning, raising a cloud of dust behind him.

Time ticked by, and in the blink of an eye, five days had already flown by. On the fifth day, Caesars finally arrived near the Rocky Mountains in the eastern part of the Southern Continent. He gradually slowed his pace, looking up at the massive mountain range before him, towering and piercing the sky. The mountain, crammed with jagged rocks and thickets of thorns, gave it an eerie and terrifying feel. Caesars's eyes still gleamed with determination, as if if Trudeau dared to appear here, he would be in his grasp...

The formation of rocky mountains is inseparable from the formation of craters.

Long ago, in a distant era over ten thousand years ago, a massive meteorite, carrying with it thousands of demons, plummeted from the sky, slamming into the earth with a ferocious force, like the arrival of doom. With a resounding, earth-shattering roar, the massive asteroid's fall left behind a crater of astonishing magnitude. But the impact of this sudden impact went far beyond that, triggering an earthquake beyond human imagination.

In that devastating earthquake, the entire continental plate shifted dramatically. The once flat, vast landmass was instantly transformed beyond recognition. Some areas gradually sank, forming vast, muddy swamps, while other regions rose high, forming a mysterious southern continent dotted with volcanoes. At the same time, the majestic mountain range that only connected the two continents was severely damaged by the earthquake, shattered and ultimately transformed into what people call the Rocky Mountains.

Traveling from Roland Continent to the Southern Continent is fraught with difficulty. Due to the rugged terrain and jagged rocks of this rocky mountain range, true roads simply do not exist. The terrain is undulating, the roads extremely narrow and uneven, and steep cliffs are everywhere. The few paths that are barely passable are often the product of painstaking carvings from the cliffs by previous generations. A single careless step can lead to a descent into the abyss, crushing one to pieces.

This perilous rocky mountain range is home to a wide variety of magical beasts. Among the most dangerous are the spotted spiders and the dark demon spiders. These terrifying creatures possess a potent venom and terrifying hunting abilities. They will unhesitatingly strike deadly upon prey that enters their territory, leaving the enemy vulnerable.

Kaisas waited at the edge of the Rocky Mountains. He had set up his durable armored leather tent at a height of over twenty meters—a massive rock jutting out from the cliff. From this vantage point, he could observe the roads leading in and out of the Rocky Mountains, and everyone entering and leaving.

Winter had apparently passed, and the volcanic region was about to enter a period of even more unbearable heat. The bustling, bustling scene of the past was gone, and only the mercenaries who had chosen to leave the southern continent were gradually drifting away. No one had ever set foot in this vast, scorching, and untamed land again.

Near the rocky mountains, the volcanic ash-covered ground was dotted with countless pits, large and small. These craters crisscrossed the landscape, as if the earth had been wantonly ravaged by greedy hands. They were the marks left behind by mercenaries frantically digging for gems.

Gazing westward, a dormant volcano towered majestically. At its foot, a vast mine, several miles in radius, loomed. In pursuit of the inestimably precious fire crystals, the volcano was mined with frenzied abandon, resulting in the excavation of nearly half its volume. If it weren't for the scorching lava lake hidden beneath its surface, the volcano would have long since been completely razed to the ground.

A few days later, at noon, with the sun blazing brightly, a figure clad in a black fur cloak entered Caesar's field of vision. His every move was strange and unusual: in such a scorching sun and scorching heat, the thick, heavy fur cloak enveloped him from head to toe.

The surface of this animal skin cloak is brushed with grease and is a raincoat that only needs to be worn when it rains.

"Fizz!"

The black demon snake, crouching quietly not far from Caesars, seemed to have sensed a familiar scent. The pitch-black snake, emitting a dark aura, suddenly reared up halfway, its sharp, angular head raised high. Simultaneously, a deep, distinctive hissing sound emanated from its mouth, a sound that stood out against the silence, a peculiar warning.

The black snake was unusually sensitive to scent. Even though the man in the black cloak was still over two hundred meters away, the gentle west wind had already carried the scent towards them. As the faint scent drew closer, the black snake's reaction became increasingly intense.

"From the looks of it, this guy is most likely the target we've been waiting for - Trudeau. We have to leave his body intact this time. Saint Paul, you hide in the distance, and after I knock him to the ground, you go up and bite him right away!" Caesars' eyes were fixed on the figure gradually approaching in the distance, and he lowered his voice and spoke to the black snake beside him.

Trudeau is understood to be a Paladin-level Swift Warrior who also moonlights as an archer. Normally, a head-on confrontation, with Trudeau unleashing his full power, would be a formidable challenge. Fortunately, Caesars understood his strengths. By skillfully maintaining distance and unleashing the full power of his spells, he could easily defeat Trudeau. However, the only concern was the unstoppable torrent of spells. Even if Trudeau were ultimately slain, his corpse would likely be horribly mangled beyond recognition from the sheer force of the spells.

The black snake was wrapped in magic and placed on the ground. Caesars took out the Death Staff and donned the Frost Crown Badge. The magical light of various buff spells fell on him again and again.

Using the special effects of Feather Fall, Caesars' body slowly floated to the ground. After standing still, he slowly walked towards the cloaked figure. The other person immediately stopped and slowly raised his head.

At this time, several mercenaries on their way back noticed something unusual and they all hid far away.

"Trudeau, I've been waiting for you for a long time!"

"Who are you, and why did you kill the Golden Viper Mercenaries?"

Trudeau's heart sank when he saw his carefully crafted disguise so easily exposed, but he quickly made a decision. He reached out and tore off the large black cloak. As it slid to the ground, his exquisite, highly defensive magic pattern leather armor was instantly revealed.

The magic-patterned leather armor shimmered with a faint light, its intricate patterns seeming to hold an endless supply of magical power. Furthermore, at Trudeau's waist hung two sharp daggers, their handles inlaid with gemstones, gleaming with a cold light. Behind him, he carried a powerful bow crafted from magic steel, which he now grasped tightly in his hands.

"Trudeau, your life is worth a lot of gold coins. Sending your body to the Mercenary Guild can get at least 10,000 gold coins. If you hand it over to other places, you can get a huge reward of up to hundreds of thousands of gold coins!" Caesars said with a smile.

Hearing this, Trudeau snorted coldly: "Humph! That depends on whether you have the ability to take my life!"

Trudeau knew clearly that there was no way out and that the only way to survive was to give it a try. So, he quickly pulled out several bottles of different-colored potions from his pocket, tilted his head back, and gulped them all down in one gulp.

Meanwhile, Caesars continued to walk slowly and calmly towards Trudeau, each step appearing steady and powerful. The distance between them was gradually shrinking, and he was about to enter the effective range of the spell.

"Killing you is a piece of cake for me. Do you really think that ordinary magic steel bow can threaten me?" Caesars scoffed with disdain. At this moment, he was only about sixty meters away from Trudeau. If he moved another twenty meters closer, he could unleash a powerful curse spell, completely controlling the situation and making it impossible for Trudeau to escape.

Just as Trudeau was in confusion, Caesars took another dozen steps forward.

"Stop!" Trudeau shouted.

Caesars completely ignored Trudeau's warning and quickened his pace. His already excited face now wore a scornful smile as he walked straight toward Trudeau. At this moment, something unexpected happened—a magical shield, shimmering with mysterious light, appeared without warning before Caesars. Then, with a flash of his body, he rushed toward Trudeau at astonishing speed!

Facing the menacing Kaisas, Trudeau showed no sign of weakness. He quickly drew his exquisite longbow and placed a magic steel arrow on the string. With a flick of his finger, the incredibly sharp arrow soared, carving a beautiful arc through the air. Simultaneously, it emitted a sharp, piercing sound that seemed to rip the air apart.

However, because the distance between the two sides was too short, when Trudeau just released the bowstring, Caesars had already performed a magical flash spell. In the blink of an eye, he successfully entered the effective range of the spell.

In Caesar's hand, the Death Staff, emitting powerful magic, and the large magical gem atop it, flickered with a strange light. Two rays of gray, eerie magical light, representing the Curse of Weakness and the Curse of Fatigue, suddenly shot out from the gem, enveloping Trudeau directly.

Trudeau's eyes flashed before the two gray magical lights flashed across his body. The two powerful curse spells hit their targets accurately and encountered no resistance.

Trudeau felt his strength rapidly draining away, his body growing heavy, and he secretly thought, "Not good!" However, he didn't panic. He knew that close combat with magicians was his strongest form of combat. Without hesitation, Trudeau dropped his longbow and drew two gleaming daggers from his waist.

When Trudeau drew out the dagger, he felt that his most skilled dagger now seemed a bit heavy, and it became increasingly difficult to swing the knife.

The mage grabbed Trudeau and rubbed him against the ground. Caesars whistled, and the golden-eyed black demon snake hiding not far away quickly crawled over.

"Saint Paul, don't bite his face, bite his neck!"

The black demon snake crawled to Trudeau's neck, opened its mouth, and extended its two fangs. Trudeau, the vice-captain of the once notorious Golden Viper Mercenary Group, struggled and screamed on the ground.