Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 341 Saint

After nearly a quarter of an hour of waiting, the intricately carved doors of the Holy Maiden Hall finally swung open. A woman clad in a regal black robe, embroidered with sacred runes in gold thread, shimmered dimly in the sunlight. Behind her followed four fully armed temple guards and two lines of twelve attendants in uniform black uniforms, their steps moving in unison as one.

Surprisingly, the Saint looked remarkably youthful, her skin as smooth as a girl in her early twenties, the fine lines around her eyes barely hinting at her age, perhaps past thirty. However, those in the know knew that the Saint was actually well over sixty—when Depero became her mentor, that was over fifty years ago. The priests of the Saint Laurent Church still debated her professional destiny. She could perform both the Paladin's "Divine Judgment" and the High Priest's "Great Healing." Some even swore they had witnessed the Saint shoot down a falcon from three hundred paces with a single arrow.

"Depero... is still alive?"

There was a tremor of disbelief in the saint's voice, and her fingertips unconsciously stroked the gold embroidery on the black robe.

Caesars stepped forward and solemnly removed two crystal-clear photo stones from his bosom. "It's absolutely true. That old stubborn man is not only alive, but has also been promoted." He gently placed the photo stones in the Saint's palm. "One contains evidence regarding Bitterwater Farm, and the other depicts Depero's voice and smile."

At this moment, a maid wearing silver gloves quickly stepped forward, holding a gilded magical device. This delicate device was engraved with stabilizing magic patterns, and the magic crystals embedded within emitted a soft blue light. Unlike ordinary recording devices, its unique magic buffering structure ensured that the image was played back without any ripples or flickers, and even the smallest details were perfectly reproduced.

Thanks to the incredibly complete imagery of the lair, every horrifying detail is captured from the moment one steps onto Bitterwater Farm. The necromancer's pale, shimmering skeleton looms in the darkness, the twisted and mutated flesh of the aberrations writhes, and shreds of flesh hang from the putrid fangs of the ghouls—all these horrific scenes are vividly captured by the magical imagery. Even more sickening, the imagery details the feeding of mutilated corpses to these monsters, even the teeth-grinding crunch of rotting limbs as they are tossed among the ghouls.

One of the Saint's Temple guards covered his mouth with a pale face, staggered to a corner, and vomited violently. When the scene switched to a necromancer using a bone catheter to extract blood from a living person, the Saint's slender fingers unconsciously clenched around her robe, her beautiful brow furrowed deeply.

"What are they drawing blood for?"

Nearly two quarters of an hour later, when the last ray of light from the image faded away, the saint's voice trembled with suppressed emotion.

"Necromancers use sorcery to extract the essence of blood, which the church's leaders euphemistically call 'life essence.'" Kaisas' voice was a little low. "It takes the blood of ten people to extract a small bottle, but it can extend the life of a dying person by a year."

"Ten lives have to be taken just to live one more year?!"

Shock and anger surged in the Saint's azure eyes. She finally understood that those high-ranking figures in the Holy Throne had already completely fallen. They not only protected the necromancers, but also nurtured these monsters that desecrated life. This completely deviated from the true meaning of the Holy Light's teachings.

"Indeed." Caesars nodded heavily. "The Church of Saint Laurent slaughters at least thousands of innocent people every year to obtain the essence of blood."

"I don't need your escort to the Roland Empire," the Saint suddenly said decisively, her long platinum hair gleaming with a cold sheen in the morning light. "Depero doesn't know the secrets of the Saint's Palace at all!"

After witnessing the truth recorded in the two image stones, she has made up her mind to embark on a journey alone. And Caesars is also curious about the secrets of the Holy Maiden Temple, which the former Patriarch did not know.

Kaisas breathed a sigh of relief. Convincing the Saints had been a challenge. "If that's the case, my mission is accomplished." He keenly sensed an unsettling aura emanating from the Sulao Mountains and was eager to leave. He waved at the plump puppy wallowing in the hot springs, pointing to the mirror-like lake not far away. "Go wash yourself, you idiot! You reek of sulfur!"

The puppy reluctantly climbed out of the hot spring, its short, wet fur dripping with water. It whimpered in frustration as it slowly walked towards the lake. This unusual scene caused the Saint and her followers to exchange complicated glances, their gazes intertwined with confusion, vigilance, and some indescribable depth.

As soon as the puppy's paws touched the surface, they jerked back, letting out a series of disgruntled whimpers. Cautiously, it re-entered the water, only to be frightened by the biting chill and retreat. The creature cried out in grievance, its fur bristling, clearly repelled by the icy water. Less than half a minute into its soak, it frantically scrambled to the shore, thrashing around like a spinning top. Glistening droplets of water traced arcs in the air, glittering in the sunlight.

Seeing this, Caesars frowned. With a flick of his slender fingers, several magical tentacles shimmering with a faint blue light silently extended into the lake. The feedback from the tentacles made his expression froze—the temperature of the lake was much lower than he had imagined, almost like the water from a melted glacier.

He quickly pinched the magic formula, muttering something, first a light blue light enveloped the puppy, and then cast the same spell on himself. To ensure that there was no risk, he also cast a translucent magic shield around the two of them. The light golden light curtain was looming, isolating the biting cold from outside.

With his jet-black elemental wings fully extended, he lifted the plump puppy in one hand and soared into the air, dark energy swirling around the edges of his wings. The puppy's four short legs thrashed futilely in the air, its tiny eyes tightly shut. They streaked southward through the clouds, quickly becoming a black speck on the horizon.

Less than half a minute after Caesars left, the normally tranquil Holy Lake in front of the Saint's Temple suddenly began to ripple. At first, it was just a few subtle ripples, like some massive creature breathing softly underwater. Suddenly, the entire lake surface began to violently tremble, a rapidly spinning vortex forming at its center. A strange green light shone faintly from the deep lakebed, as if a being that had slumbered for a thousand years was slowly awakening.

At this point, Caesars had crossed the border of the Saint Laurent Empire. The lush forests and fertile fields beneath his feet abruptly vanished, replaced by the bare crimson rock formations of the Falling Stone Kingdom. This land, known as the "Forsaken Land of the Gods," was a land of cracked wasteland and jagged boulders, with the occasional dead shrub trembling in the scorching wind. Saint Laurent's expeditionary forces had crossed the border three times, ultimately withdrawing each time due to a lack of supplies in this barren land. Occupying this land not only meant facing the brutal bandits who had mobilized their entire population to fight, but also had to pay for food to feed the starving refugees.

Kaisas pinched the puppy's neck and pointed at the smoke rising from the canyon below, where someone was grilling food.

"Stick up your ears, damn dog! I heard the people who live here can chase dog meat for three hundred miles if they smell it!"

The puppy turned its head sharply when it heard this, its round belly shining with oil. It found that its hind legs were indeed fatter than the meat on the robbers' grill.

In this lawless wasteland, the cold gleam of a dagger could be hidden in the shadows of every rock. Caravans often required the employment of an entire village's worth of men to escort them, and those escorts were often the next wave of robbers. Children in the Falling Stone Kingdom learned to wield a knife even earlier than children in Saint Laurent learned to write. Seven or eight dark figures scurried swiftly along the rock face, the bone ornaments dangling from their waists clashing in the wind with a chilling, crackling sound.

"Let's eat something at the top of the mountain first. We'll definitely have a fight when we get down. Whoever has the stronger fist here is right!"

Caesars took out a few strips of air-dried meat and a soft golden cheese, and simply filled his stomach with water. He unfolded the leather map and examined it carefully. The gravel mountain range marked on the parchment was within reach. After quickly swallowing the last piece of salty cheese, he took out a few pieces of blue magic crystals and held them in his palm, feeling the magic power slowly flow into his body.

The puppy at his feet had already wolfed down the rest of his food, but was still licking its nose unsatisfied. It suddenly pricked up its ears and looked towards the canyon where smoke was curling up from the nearby chimneys. The smell of barbecued meat wafting from there was mixed with the smell of burning, which was obviously not a delicious delicacy.

About half an hour passed, and Caesar's magic power had recovered to about 70%. He dropped the last of his depleted magic crystals, and his staff, inlaid with magic crystals, shimmered in the sunlight. Just as he was about to perform the levitation spell, he suddenly noticed the puppy tense up nervously.

After landing lightly with the Feather Fall technique, Caesars had barely taken a hundred steps when a dozen burly men armed with scimitars suddenly appeared from behind the rock face. The leader had a scar across his face, and his rusty weapon was pointed maliciously at his throat.

"Hand over everything valuable! And—this fat dog has to stay too!"

The scarred robber pointed his rusty machete at the fiery red lava dog at Caesar's feet, and the blade shone blood-red in the sunset.

Caesars slowly smoothed the wrinkles on his sleeves, then suddenly raised his eyebrows and asked, "And then?"

"And then?" The scarred robber grinned with his yellow teeth, and the scars on his face twisted and squirmed with his exaggerated smile, "And then we will drink on your grave! Roast your fat dog until it's sizzling with oil!" He turned around and winked at his accomplices, and more than a dozen robbers suddenly burst into crazy laughter. Some of them even laughed so hard that they choked and coughed while holding onto the tree trunk.

Caesars raised his lip in disdain. These fools probably didn't realize that, in the eyes of the lava dogs, their wildly laughing faces had already turned them into walking roasted meat. He nonchalantly nudged the puppy's round belly with the toe of his boot. "Did you hear that, you idiot? They said they'd roast you till you were sizzling!"

The lavahound pup suddenly reared up, its blood-red eyes gleaming like magma. It extended a front paw, slowly rubbing it against the stone, staring intently at the group of robbers still laughing heartily. To it, these noisy bipeds suddenly became fragrant. The rock lizards it had just devoured in the canyon were barely enough to fill its teeth, but now, a steaming hot roast was dancing before it, recklessly.

The dark red puppy stared at the dozen or so robbers. It then took a deep breath, and its dark red body grew larger, as if expanding. The free fire element in the air began to stir, and the temperature around it also rose.

"Ow..."

The puppy roared, and orange flames erupted from its mouth, rapidly igniting the surrounding fire elements. A dozen meters in radius became a sea of ​​fire, the temperature rising rapidly. The robbers were unable to even utter a scream.

Caesars stepped back in time, observing the puppy's breath. After three breaths, the flames disappeared, the puppy's eyes widened, and the robbers turned directly into piles of ash.

The scarlet little eyes were filled with confusion, and it seemed that it had not mastered the magic roasting skills well.