Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 122 The Patriarch

The assassin, approximately fifty years old and slightly thin, faced the powerful Liv with a look of terror, fearing no resistance. Furthermore, a golden-eyed black demon snake was tightly coiled around his bony neck. The snake's body was pitch black, save for its twinkling golden eyes. Its cool, slippery body twisted constantly, as if sending the assassin a warning of danger, a constant warning: dare to resist, and you will die!

"Take us to find Depero quickly. I just want to ask him some things. As long as you listen to me, I might let you go after the task is done!" Liv stared at the assassin with cold eyes, her tone unquestionable.

"But... let's wait until tomorrow. Old Depero must have gone to bed by now!" The middle-aged assassin raised his head tremblingly, glanced at the bright starry sky above his head, and answered cautiously.

"No! Go right now! We have more important things to do tomorrow!"

Upon hearing this, Caesars, who was standing by, stretched out his powerful hand without saying a word, and easily picked up the middle-aged assassin like a chicken, and untied the animal skin rope that bound him.

"Don't even think about running away, or you will face consequences that you won't be able to bear! Don't blame us for being ruthless when the time comes!" Caesars glared at the assassin fiercely and threatened.

The middle-aged assassin nodded subconsciously, indicating that he would not act rashly. After all, at this moment, not only had he lost his life-saving weapon, but even his precious storage ring had been ruthlessly taken away. And the cold, slippery black snake remained tightly wrapped around his neck, making it impossible for him to break free.

Caesars said goodbye to Rad, took Liv and followed the middle-aged assassin, leaving the Bano family in the dead of night.

The middle-aged assassin was very familiar with this place. After leaving the Bano family, he only looked around and immediately found the right path. In the dim light, the assassin's speed was a little slow. Caesars cast dark vision on the three of them.

The assassin, encountering such a miraculous spell for the first time, had a face that was usually expressionless, now filled with shock. Shrouded in the inky blackness of the night, distant objects that had previously been hidden in the darkness suddenly came into view, as if daylight had returned.

This middle-aged assassin was honest and simple. He remained silent throughout the journey, silently leading Liv and Caesars towards the civilian area of ​​Violet City. Even though his heart was filled with doubts and worries, he didn't even dare to look back, only focusing on the journey.

Finally, they arrived at a small stone courtyard. The middle-aged man paused for a moment, then, as nimble as a wildcat, he easily climbed over the high wall, quickly slipped into the courtyard, and opened the gate.

Then, he pushed open the door of the slightly old stone house with ease. At this moment, a slightly hoarse voice suddenly came from inside the house: "Ole, why are you back so late today!"

Hearing this, the middle-aged man named Ole quickly responded: "Old Depero, a guest is coming!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a slight rustling sound was heard from the inner room. Not long after, a figure in a white robe slowly walked out. This person looked to be in his twilight years, with a head of snow-white hair hanging loosely. In his hand, he was tightly grasping a metal staff that shone with a cold light. Every step he took seemed to be particularly laborious.

Caesars stared sharply at the seemingly old and frail old man in front of him, thinking to himself: Judging from his relaxed posture when holding the extremely heavy metal staff, it was enough to prove that the staggering and trembling he had shown before was just a carefully designed disguise.

Caesars said straight to the point, "Patriarch, please stop pretending. We are not from the Church of Saint Laurent, so please drop this disguise immediately. To be honest, we came here to ask you about some of the Church's secrets, especially those unknown secrets hidden underground at the northernmost tip of the Saint Laurent Empire and its border with the southernmost tip of the Roland Empire!"

Hearing this, Old Depero, who had been feigning composure, was startled, a hint of surprise crossing his face. He slowly put away the metal staff in his hand, then walked slowly to a nearby chair and sat down. He raised his head and surveyed Caesars and Liv with a scrutinizing gaze.

After a moment's silence, Depero finally asked, "Mr. Magician, I wonder which faction you belong to?"

Caesars answered without hesitation: "We are from the Thorn Flower Trading Company!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Depero's expression suddenly grew solemn, even hinting at a hint of nervousness. He might not have been overly concerned about the members of the Saint Laurent Church, but facing the renowned Thorn Flower Trading Company, he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of awe. While his years of experience had given him a rough idea of ​​Caesar's strength, he was completely unable to discern the true power of the silent archer.

"So it's the Thorn Flower Trading Company... In that case, it might not be a bad idea to tell you those things. Even Ole doesn't know these secrets. Come on, sit down and let's talk together!" Depero calmed down a little and waved to Caesars and Liv to sit on the chairs opposite.

Depero gestured for all three to sit down. Caesars sat opposite him, and Liv moved her chair aside. She didn't want to be too close to Depero.

"There's a massive cave beneath the Emerald River. It was discovered about a hundred and fifty years ago by Earl Soren of the Roland Empire. Inside the cave lies a bizarre corpse, with horns on its head, but only the upper half of its body remains. The corpse is immersed in a strange and mysterious liquid that makes even corpses that have been dead for tens of thousands of years appear fresh and alive."

The Saint Laurent Empire had already planted spies around Earl Solon. Before he could report to the Roland Empire, he was massacred by the Saint Laurent Church. The entire Earl's mansion was assassinated, and then the Saint Laurent Church found someone who looked similar and replaced everyone in Earl Solon's mansion.

Regarding the strange liquid in the cave, the Church of Saint Laurent began to send people in to study it, and then some horrible things began to happen.

"As long as they come into contact with that strange liquid, it will slowly corrupt and degenerate them. Their bodies gradually become deformed. We call those who retain consciousness deformed, and those who lose consciousness ghouls!"

"From what I know, the Saint Laurent Church captured mercenaries just to feed these monsters. Now I want to ask, do the people of the Saint Laurent Church still have any humanity?"

Caesars looked at Depero coldly, and Ole, who was sitting next to him, was also startled.

"I don't know about these things. If that's the case, the Saint Laurent Church should be destroyed. The power struggle within the church is so cruel that you can't even imagine. Over a hundred years ago, I retired to the church's library and never asked about other matters. Even so, I still couldn't find peace and was once again drawn into the vortex of power, so I had no choice but to leave the church!"

Depero didn't seem to be lying, so Caesars continued to ask, "Where is the entrance to the underground cave on the Saint Laurent side?"

"Bitter Water Farm is a training camp for ascetics. The defenses there are very tight!"

Caesars took out the map and took a look. There was indeed a place called Bitter Water Farm. It was on the border of the Saint Laurent Empire and covered a very large area.

"Depero, what is your relationship with Count Leonard?"

"Bah, that idiot Earl! That bastard is a vampire. I asked him to buy herbs from the Thorn Flower Merchants, but this bastard actually added 10% to the price and even sold inferior goods. If Ole hadn't warned him in the middle of the night, this bastard would have dared to replace high-quality herbs with low-quality ones!"

Depero felt resentful at the mention of Count Leonard. Caesars also knew about the Thorn Flower Merchants and refused to sell herbs to the Violet Empire. Buying herbs in bulk wouldn't be easy for ordinary people, especially since Depero was a member of the Church, and Ocus could tell at a glance what he was.

"How did you and Leonard meet?"

"The Leonard family owns a magic crystal mine, and they withheld a large amount of magic crystals. Since they didn't dare sell the magic crystals to the Violet Alliance, they sold them privately to the Church of Saint Laurent. The person who contacted him was a priest, so it wasn't difficult for me to find out about Leonard!"

Caesars nodded slightly in acknowledgement, clutching the evidence of Leonard's crimes firmly in his hand. Before him stood the aged, hunched priest. Caesars's gaze was sharp, and he could clearly sense that the old priest's vitality was like a candle in the wind, about to be extinguished.

He continued to question the pastor about the situation within the church, but the answers he received shocked him greatly. It turned out that the seemingly indestructible church was not as united as everyone imagined, but rather more like a dilapidated wall riddled with holes and cracks. Even the slightest external force would cause this shaky wall to collapse, and that moment might only be a matter of time.

As the dawn light quietly spread over the earth, Caesars ended his night of exploration and set out on the road back to the Bano family. At the same time, an exquisitely decorated invitation letter with beautiful floral fonts had already been sent to the Earl's Mansion by Rad.

Across the bustling Violet City, shocking news spread rapidly: Count Leonard, the notoriously stingy and miserly, had suffered a crushing loss in a gamble yesterday, losing over a million glittering gold coins! Although the winners were some minor nobles, the news still rejoiced the common people of Violet City. Count Leonard's misdeeds had long been widely known within the Violet Alliance. His vast wealth, amassed through various underhanded means, was stained with the bitterness and pain of the Violet Alliance's common people.

In a magnificent castle, sunlight streamed through vast French windows onto the richly carpeted floor. Like a precious work of art, an exquisitely decorated invitation slowly made its way through numerous checkpoints. First, it passed through the hands of the majestically standing guard at the door, then was carefully delivered by a well-trained maid, finally arriving in Kaschi's room.

Kashiqi hadn't dressed yet, and her long golden hair, cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall, looked a little messy. She sat bleary-eyed in front of a crystal window, enjoying the warm, gentle sunlight.

"Who sent the invitation?" Kashiqi didn't even raise her head, still lazily leaning on the comfortable recliner, and asked casually to the maid standing beside her.

The maid quickly replied respectfully, "My dear madam, this invitation is from Mr. Rad Bano. He is a low-level magician from the Northland Tower, and the Bano family's mansion happens to be located next to Viscount Bruce's mansion."

Hearing the name, Kashiqi frowned slightly, as if recalling something unpleasant. "Oh, it's him... I remember him. He was the one who caused the trouble at yesterday's banquet!"

As Kashiqi spoke, she reached out to take the invitation, casually glanced at the contents on it, and then threw it aside as if discarding an insignificant item, continuing to bask in the sun leisurely.

Kashiqi appeared calm on the surface, but she was actually thinking about it. She couldn't help but wonder what Rad had suddenly invited her to; it definitely wasn't just an ordinary afternoon tea.

Caesars came to the backyard to bask in the sun, but the tall walls of Viscount Bruce's mansion blocked the morning sunlight, making the entire backyard look gloomy.

Caesars took out the Death Staff and walked to a place about thirty yards away from the wall. Rad was explaining magic to several students, and when they saw Caesars waving the staff, they all looked over.

Caesars stuck his staff into the grass and took out his own alchemical bombs from his storage ring—explosive crystals and magic crystals. These alchemical bombs looked a bit crude and lacked any aesthetic appeal.

Magic activated the alchemical bomb, which was thrown by Caesars towards the solid high wall in just a breath of time.

There was a loud bang, rubble flew, smoke and dust filled the air, and the ground in the entire backyard shook. Then there was a huge crash, as if something had collapsed.