Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 299 Ambush

Two days later, the three-day Magician Challenge finally concluded. Standing on the podium, a satisfied smile playing on his face, Caesars accepted the shimmering purple champion badge from Grand Duke Redstone. To his surprise, his attendant also presented him with a heavy wooden box—an additional reward from Grand Duke Redstone. This generous gift was no accident. It turned out that during his travels in the Roland Empire, Caesars had once saved the dying Count Nicholas, who was also Grand Duke Redstone's son-in-law. Even more coincidental, Caesars' Thornflower Trading Company happened to be affiliated with Grand Duke Redstone's mother. These intricate connections made this reward particularly meaningful.

Emily's performance was equally gratifying. In the finals of the low-level magician category, her rapid spellcasting impressed the audience, ultimately earning her the runner-up prize. At that moment, she was holding a small wooden box containing three hundred top-grade magic crystals in her storage ring. In her hand, she held a crystal-clear magic crystal, which refracted a rainbow of light in the sunlight.

"Brother, there's something I can't figure out!"

On the return carriage, Emily suddenly put down the magic tome in her hand, frowned, and said, "Those priests of the Saint Laurent Church were released the day before yesterday, and the Redstone Kingdom didn't even leave a single one behind! They all have forbidden magic patterns engraved on their bodies..."

The girl grew increasingly excited as she spoke, her slender fingers unconsciously clenching the hem of her skirt. In her opinion, every Saint Laurent priest who came to Red Stone City should be sent to the stake.

Caesars sighed softly as he gazed out the window at the receding walls of Redstone City. He reached out and stroked his sister's soft golden hair, saying gently, "Emily, you must understand that the Violet Empire is a behemoth capable of rivaling the Roland Empire. Their Hellscream Legion ranks among the top three in the entire Roland Continent." His voice remained remarkably steady despite the jolting of the carriage as it rolled over gravel. "Redstone City has only survived thanks to the presence of several powerful wizards. Without them, and if the Saint Roland Empire had been thoroughly enraged, they could easily send a single legion to razed the city. The Redstone Kingdom is truly helpless in releasing the hostages!"

Emily fell silent upon hearing this, but a flame of unyielding determination still flickered in her amber eyes. Caesars, observing his sister's stubborn profile, shook his head. Some truths might only become clear to her when she's older. Those mage forces might be able to deal with ordinary kingdoms, but they would never truly fight to the death with the Saint Laurent Empire.

The carriage continued to move forward, and the dust it raised gradually blurred the outline of Red Stone City.

Kaisas closed his eyes and thought quietly. It was very troublesome to run around for cultivation resources every time. Running from the southern part of the continent to the northern part wasted a lot of his cultivation time.

At this moment, he thought of the old mercenary Geralt. This guy was simply a rag picker, and he would not let go of anything that could be sold for silver coins. However, if he picked up enough, it might be a shortcut to earning gold coins.

The day after leaving the Redstone Kingdom, the carriage was traveling along the smooth road leading to the Violet Alliance. This road, built by ancient magicians, was as straight as if measured with a ruler. The road was paved with a special magical material that made the wheels almost imperceptible to bumps. With only two or three hundred miles to the Violet Alliance border, it should have been an easy journey.

However, Caesars was keenly aware of something unusual—although the carriage remained stable, its speed had unknowingly slowed down. When he looked through the window at the driver's seat in front, the driver in the brown cloak had long disappeared, leaving only the reins hanging loosely there.

"Emily, add a piece of top-grade magic crystal to the protective bracelet!" Kaisas' voice suddenly tensed. He quickly took out a magic steel shield with a faint blue light from his space ring. "It seems our driver has escaped!"

Just as the shield touched the carriage window, Caesars noticed his sister's slender fingers trembling as she replaced the crystal. He forced himself to remain calm and quickly issued an order: "Emolly, stay in the carriage. Saint Paul, you are responsible for protecting Emily." Then he kicked the dark red puppy dozing at his feet. "You stupid dog, go scout the dense forests on both sides first. If you see anyone, just bite them to death!"

As Kaesus pushed open the carved carriage door, the seemingly plump puppy leaped into the roadside bushes with astonishing agility. Almost instantly, a piercing whistle filled the air—dozens of gleaming magic steel arrows shot out from the dense forest on both sides, their tips flashing with a blue-green light, all aimed at the open carriage door.

"Dark Barrier!"

Caesars chanted an incomplete spell rapidly, a series of obscure magic patterns emanating from his fingertips. A gray-black, translucent barrier suddenly rose from the ground, and the deadly arrows were frozen in the magical wall as if they were stuck in a quagmire, their tails still trembling slightly.

Without a pause, Caesars continued chanting a more complex incantation. As he swung his staff, inlaid with magical gemstones, two dark purple energy ripples spread out from the carriage, forming a hemispherical "barrier of darkness." A muffled "thump" sound had already been heard from the oaken carriage—apparently, the arrows from the other side had penetrated the wooden defenses.

"Emily, are you okay?"

There was a rare hint of panic in Kaisas' voice. Through the arrow slits, he saw his sister's petite figure huddled behind the magic steel shield, her long, light-gold hair gleaming slightly.

"Brother, I'm fine!" Emily's voice was trembling, but she was still calm. "The protective bracelet hasn't even been triggered!"

Only then did Caesars breathe a sigh of relief. He carefully examined the arrow lodged in the carriage—it was made of ordinary magic steel, devoid of any magical patterns or formations. This at least indicated that the ambusher wasn't a professional assassin, but most likely a mercenary. However, this assessment only heightened his vigilance, as it suggested the enemy might have a backup plan.

"Amelie, the carriage is safe now. You can watch from the window and see how I deal with these people."

Demon steel arrows rained down like a torrential rain, streaking countless dark streaks in the air. However, the gray-black curtain wall surrounding the carriage remained motionless. Each sharp arrow, upon contact with the dark barrier, was trapped as if in a viscous swamp, its tail still vibrating and humming unwillingly.

From the depths of the dense forest, screams echoed one after another, punctuated by the crisp crack of bones breaking. Even without witnessing it, one could imagine the puppies darting through the trees at breakneck speed, their sharp white fangs inevitably drawing a puff of warm blood with each flash.

Caesars, his black robe fluttering, leaped onto the carriage's roof. His pale, slender fingers traced intricate patterns in the air. As he chanted obscure incantations, dense dark elements swirled and gathered around him like living creatures, making his figure even more eerie and terrifying. Deep in the dense forest, fifty meters to the right of the carriage, the rain of arrows continued. Suddenly, Caesars raised his staff, and a cloud of black mist, obscuring the sky, crashed down from the clouds.

This dark sky was far more terrifying than ordinary corrosive clouds. The swirling mist gaped like the maw of a living beast. In an instant, it devoured the dense forest within a forty-meter radius, extinguishing all life in its path. The once lush green leaves withered and curled up at a visible speed. Amidst the rain of falling leaves, heart-wrenching wails echoed.

Kaesus closed his eyes, concentrating as invisible tendrils of magical energy meticulously explored the rotting mist. The sight he saw shocked him—a dense forest shrouded in death, devoid of life. Corpses lay scattered about, rotting at an unnatural pace. The attackers were clearly young men, their crude leather armor and uncarved longbows betraying their shabbiness.

Most horrifying was the transformation of the towering ancient trees. Under the encroaching darkness, the lush canopies first transformed into a cascading stream of black powder. Then, as if drained of time for millennia, the thick trunks cracked and peeled, revealing the decayed wood within. In a matter of seconds, the entire dense forest collapsed into a bubbling humus swamp, completely burying the mangled corpses.

Caesars turned. To his left, the dense forest still held numerous archers. He deployed a glowing magic shield and cast a layer of flowing magic armor over his black robe. He calmly traversed the dark ramparts riddled with arrows, his boots treading over verdant grass. Behind him, wisps of gray mist drifted from the decaying forest in the distance.

The puppy's deep growl had long been heard not far ahead. He gripped his staff tightly and rushed in the direction of the strongest smell of blood.

Puppies normally only howl, but only when confronted by a formidable foe or in extreme anger do they let out a deep, terrifying roar. At that moment, that battle-filled roar echoed through the dense forest. Caesars followed the sound, his black mage robes rustling. Dozens of corpses clad in cheap leather armor lay scattered along the path, their necks twisted at strange angles, evidently severed by the sharp teeth of some ferocious beast.

When Caesars burst through the bushes, the sight before him made his pupils shrink—a blood-soaked puppy bared its fangs, facing twelve heavily armored warriors spread out in a fan shape. The gilded armor, gleaming with extravagant golden light in the sunlight, stung his eyes, and the Saint Laurent emblem engraved on the chest of the armor only confirmed his suspicions.

"These haunting Saint Laurent lackeys!" Caesars cursed inwardly. The seemingly scattered positions of these priests actually concealed a hidden strategy. Groups of three formed a cornerstone, with each group forming a larger encirclement. He noticed that the puppy's short fur was a bit matted, clearly having suffered a heavy loss in this battle.

"You stupid dog!" Caesars strode over to the puppy, his black leather boots crushing a bloody branch. "They're using the Judgment Battle Formation to consume you!"

The puppy shook its head in dissatisfaction when it heard this, making a grievance gurgling sound in its throat, with pieces of meat still hanging on its fangs.

Caesars glanced coldly at the corpses dressed as mercenaries at the edge of the battlefield. Their leather armor was very ordinary, and even their weapons were rusty, which was in sharp contrast to the luxurious equipment of the priests.

"Are these cannon fodders yours? All their belongings combined are not worth a piece of your armor. How shabby!"

The priests' heavy breathing could be heard beneath their visors. They had originally planned to ambush the black carriage with hundreds of archers, but they hadn't expected this plan to fail. Their eyes shifted restlessly behind their gilded visors, and cold sweat broke out on their palms gripping their swords.

"Silence?"

Kaisas suddenly laughed, and that smile was like an ice flower suddenly blooming in the winter night, causing the priests in the front row to unconsciously take half a step back. The scepter made of magic steel collided with the ground with a crisp sound as it trembled.

"It's okay, I won't force you."

Kaisas' voice was like poisoned wine mixed with honey, and each syllable was wrapped in a trembling tenderness. "After you die..." His slender fingers gently crossed the void, and a pale blue soul fire danced between his fingers. "As long as I extract your souls, I can still get the answer." The flames reflected on his smooth face, and his dark eyes were filled with strange shadows.

Kaisas suddenly opened his arms, and his dark gray robe fluttered in the holy light: "The Judgment Battle Formation is indeed powerful, but--" the staff in his hand turned into a wisp of black smoke and dissipated, "It's just a child's toy to me." This action made the priests' holy light chains tremble together, and they curled up like frightened golden snakes.

Caesars bowed gracefully to a dozen combat priests. When he raised his head, the smile on the corner of his mouth reminded the oldest priest of the abyss demon recorded in ancient books.

"Now allow me to formally introduce myself." His right hand, which was touching his chest, suddenly burst out with bright purple arcane light, and the light condensed into a continuously collapsing nebula in his palm.

"Kaissa-Rod, a recently promoted low-level mage, will also be the gravedigger of the Church of Saint Laurent!"

Amidst the Judgment Battle, a young priest suddenly stumbled back. With trembling fingers, he pulled a magical communication stone engraved with golden patterns from the inner pocket of his sacred robe. Just as the communication light was about to illuminate, the surrounding elemental crystals were engulfed in an eerie purple light. Thirty-three arcane patterns erupted from the ground, interweaving into a translucent purple curtain, trapping everyone in a prismatic cage. The priests were horrified to find that not only did their limbs feel heavy as lead, but even the holy light flowing within their bodies had turned into solidified golden amber.

"Don't get excited, dear messengers of holy light!"

Caesars gently stroked the smooth surface of the arcane barrier. Within the amethyst barrier, a dozen battle priests were trapped. He slowly drew an elven dagger from his belt, the scabbard detaching with a hissing sound like a venomous snake. Silver magic patterns slithered across the dark golden blade like a living thing, leaving only the blade blank, as if eagerly waiting to drink blood.