Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 368: Clearing the Demonic Blood

Deep in the desolate side yard of Bitterwater Farm, stood a eerie stone house. Its exterior resembled the entrance to an ancient noble's tomb, its rough stone covered in dark green moss, gleaming ominously in the darkness. The building was windowless, its only entrance a heavy iron door forged from magic steel, its facade etched with sturdy magic patterns.

The heavy iron door was wrapped with chains as thick as an arm, each link stained with dark red rust, as if soaked in countless blood. Peeking through the half-foot-wide crack in the door, one could vaguely see a mountain of white bones, gleaming coldly in the dim light. The air was filled with the pungent smell of decay and magical energy.

"It's up to you, you damn dog." Kaisas said in a low voice, holding a burning incense in his hand. "As long as you take care of this place, Master Kaisas will make you a delicious omelet." He narrowed his black eyes and showed a sly smile. "Stuff it with premium diced bacon and fire maple mushrooms. Of course..." He deliberately dragged out the tone, "You have to pay for the fire flowers yourself!"

The fat dog's ears pricked up at the words, its pitifully small eyes blinking laboriously through the layers of fat. It had never imagined that Caesars had hidden a magical beast egg, but the culinary fantasy that filled its nostrils made it oblivious to all else. It could already smell the aroma of an omelet, its thick tongue drooping involuntarily, saliva dripping. At this alluring promise, it felt its entire flesh tremble with excitement, and every pore burst with unprecedented strength.

The burly, fat dog trudged toward the massive gate forged from demon steel, leaving burning claw marks on the ground with every step. Its raised front paws were entwined with eerie, pale flames, which snaked across its sturdy limbs like living creatures. As its claws touched the chain, thick as an adult's arm, a teeth-grinding "sizzle" sound erupted, and golden-red molten iron dripped like molten honey, burning holes in the ground that billowed with smoke.

With a loud "clang," the melted chain slammed to the ground, shaking the entire porch. As the chain snapped, a series of chilling roars emanated from behind the inky black magic steel door, as if countless ferocious beasts were eager to break through.

At this moment, the high-level magic patterns surrounding the fat dog were like a lit fuse, with orange-red flames gushing out from the patterns covering its body. A closer look would reveal that these seemingly ordinary flames were strangely interspersed with wisps of pale flames, looming in the red flames like the tongues of a venomous snake.

The fat dog suddenly took a deep breath, and its already sturdy body expanded again at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the muscles under its fur bulged as if inflated. With a deafening "woof---", the flames around it instantly exploded, illuminating the entire porch like purgatory.

A voluptuous hound, its body ablaze with flames, entered the eerie stone house. Its flames danced like dancing torches, illuminating the ancient stone steps leading underground with flickering light. Caesars activated his magic shield and hurried after it. The building had clearly witnessed the ravages of a brutal battle. The broken stone steps were riddled with cracks, and the mottled walls were crisscrossed with countless claw marks, as if recording the madness of some inhuman creature. The ground was strewn with shards of white bone, glistening eerily in the firelight.

The fat dog suddenly stopped, its wet nose twitching violently. It caught a scent etched deep within its memory—the thick stench of decaying corpses, mingled with the distinct sulfurous tang of demon blood. This sickening odor usually emanated from twisted aberrations or ravenous ghouls. The proud fat dog would never condescend to tear into such stinking flesh. Mastering the ancient, advanced magic rune technique, it could extract demon blood directly from rotting flesh.

At that moment, a series of sticky footsteps echoed from the depths of the stairs. Each step was accompanied by an unpleasant "click" sound, as if something wet was climbing up. At the same time, a stench several times stronger than before hit him. The smell was a mixture of rotting flesh, pus, blood, and some indescribable evil smell, which made Caesars feel nauseous instantly.

Kaesus frowned as he quickly searched through his spatial ring, his fingertips finally touching a cold, hard object. He eagerly pulled out the protective helmet, meticulously crafted from the skull of an abyssal demon. The dark red bone surface was engraved with protective magic patterns. As soon as he donned the mask, a filtering array immediately began to operate, blocking out the nauseating, rancid air. He took a deep breath, then noticed the fat dog ahead had quickened its pace, its glowing red eyes fixed intently on the depths of the cave—evidently, its sensitivity to demonic blood was far more acute than a human's.

At that moment, a chilling wriggling sound emanated from the shadows ahead. Two twisted ghouls crawled from a crevice in the rock, their rotting bodies draped with shreds of flesh, trailing a sticky trail of gray-green pus along the ground as they crawled. These creatures, corroded by undead energy, suddenly stopped moving, their rotting nostrils twitching violently—the scent of fresh flesh and blood drove them into a frenzy. With a piercing roar, the ghouls suddenly reared to their feet, revealing sharp, three-inch-long, white claws. Their rotting muscle tissue unleashed a terrifying burst of force as they lunged at the massive, fat dog.

At that critical moment, the mysterious magic pattern on Fatty's forehead suddenly shone with a dazzling light, its dark red lines instantly transforming into a pale white. Two balls of strange flames shot out from the magic pattern, carving strange paths through the air.

A horrifying scene unfolded—the ghoul, pouncing in mid-air, suddenly collapsed, as if its bones had been ripped out of it, its rotting body slapping to the ground. Even stranger, two drops of sticky black liquid oozed from its body, slowly floating under the pull of an invisible force, eventually hovering in front of the fat dog's open mouth.

Its half-foot-long scarlet tongue curled like a snake's tongue, sucking two drops of sticky demon blood into its bloody maw. It smacked its fang-filled mouth with relish, its sturdy limbs continuing to move forward. As it passed the still-twitching ghouls, a blazing flame suddenly erupted from its nostrils, instantly igniting the deformed monsters that reeked of rotting flesh.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the dark passage. After a few steps, the mottled steps abruptly ended in darkness. Fat Dog led Caesars into a massive, naturally formed cavern. A biting cold immediately enveloped him, and every breath condensed into a pale mist in the air. Ice crystals clinging to the stone walls gleamed coldly in the dim light.

This cavern had clearly witnessed a brutal battle. The shattered remains of ghouls lay scattered across the uneven rocky ground, and in the distance, the distorted bodies of several aberrations could be seen. Their dark purple blood, frozen in the cold, formed strange ice crystals, resembling an abstract mural painted with death.

Since four or five years ago, the church's leadership has been plunged into unprecedented chaos. First, the power struggle between the Knights Templar and the Inquisition, followed by several blasphemous incidents that shocked the Vatican, left the cardinals overwhelmed. Busy quelling internal strife and dealing with heresy, they had long forgotten the remote Bitterwater Farm.

The necromancer, who had been conducting forbidden research here for years, no longer fed these horrific creatures. Now, mutilated corpses could be found everywhere in the cave, some torn to pieces, others reduced to mere bones, all revealing the tragic plight of these abandoned monsters, driven by hunger and engaged in a frenzied killing spree.

The fat dog trudged through this land of death, the hellfire emanating from its body igniting the bones and decaying corpses along its path. Amidst the abyssal flames, the twisted remains crackled and crackled. Wisps of dark red demonic blood, scorched by the intense heat, oozed from the cracks between bones, pooling into eerie beads on the charred earth. This liquid, imbued with unholy energy, emitted a sickening, foul-smelling vapor upon contact with the air.

Caesars clutched the now-yellowed map, his brow furrowed. They had been marching through this silent farm for nearly half an hour, yet the expected swarm of aberrations remained nowhere to be seen. This unnatural stillness brought a cold sweat to his palms, gripping the hilt of his sword. According to the map, the remains of the demon from the abyss should be just ahead—the one responsible for turning the entire farm into a purgatory. Yet, why hadn't they encountered a single living test subject along the way? This question coiled around him like a venomous snake.

Inside a natural stone cavern, approximately thirty square meters in size, at the edge of the main passage, the dim space was illuminated by a flickering, yellowish flame. This strange flame, fueled not by ordinary fuel but by the sticky blood and twisted remains of demons, emanating a sickening stench of sulfur. The remains of dozens of deformed forms scattered across the cavern floor, their twisted limbs and abnormally proliferating bone spurs casting hideous shadows in the flames. The entire scene was permeated with a suffocating, sinister atmosphere.

The enormous, fat dog suddenly tensed its muscles, its tree-trunk-like forelimbs slamming across Caesars' chest, its moist nose twitching violently. Its crimson eyes fixed on the pile of demon remains beside the flames, a low whimper emanating from its throat—these wreckage, which should have been completely dead, was undergoing some ominous transformation.

With a teeth-grinding sound of bones grinding against each other, the pile of corpses on the ground suddenly began to wriggle violently. A massive creature, tearing away the rotting flesh covering its surface, slowly rose to its feet. Its livid skin was covered with pus-oozing cysts, each swollen tumor trembling with its breathing. When it fully stood upright, its five-meter-tall frame nearly touched the cave ceiling. Its half-foot-long black nails scraped against the rock wall, dislodging fragments of gravel. Most disturbing of all were the dark red horns on its forehead—a feature not typical of ordinary aberrations.

Caesars's gaze passed over the terrifying monster and found that the stone pool of blood behind it had already reached the bottom. The remaining demon blood had coagulated into black scabs, and the remains that served as fuel had burned to only a few wisps of green smoke.

"The Fallen Demon, the filthiest bastard in the Abyss!"

The fat dog's hoarse and shrill roar exploded in the cave. Corrosive saliva dripped from the corners of its grinning mouth, burning black holes in the rocky ground.

Kaesus held his breath and retreated silently until his back pressed against the damp stone wall of the main passage. He stared intently at the battle about to break out not far away—the Fat Dog's massive form confronted the Fallen Demon. He didn't want to be drawn into this dangerous fray; the splattering demonic blood or uncontrolled magic could be enough to kill him.

The Fallen Fiend suddenly let out a deafening roar, echoing through the narrow stone cavern and piercing Caesar's eardrums. The demon, nearly two men tall, brandished its claws, leveraging its size to lead the charge. At this critical moment, the pale flame on the fat dog's forehead suddenly lit up, a strange glow that seemed to possess some kind of magical power. The Fallen Fiend's roar abruptly ceased, as if someone had strangled him. Caesar saw the demon, so ferocious just moments ago, suddenly freeze in place, its crimson eyes gleaming with undisguised fear.

The cave suddenly fell into a deathly silence; Caesar could even hear his own rapid heartbeat. He was about to peer out to see what was going on when a pale pillar of fire suddenly erupted from the cave, a scorching wave of air hitting him in the face. The air around him instantly became scalding hot, and the sweat that had just seeped off his skin evaporated. He had to raise his arms to shield himself from the stifling heat.

Moments later, the fat, buffalo-like dog emerged from the dark cavern, humming strange demonic words and shuffling with uncaring steps. Its sleek fur glowed an eerie dark red in the firelight, clearly having spared no effort in close combat, using its innate abyssal flames to reduce the fallen demon to charcoal.

"Dead dog, how did the aberration suddenly turn into a Fallen Demon?" Caesars suddenly grabbed the loose flesh on the back of the fat dog's neck and asked it.

The fat dog shook his head impatiently, a gurgling sound coming from his throat as he replied in a very unstandardized Common Tongue, "That cunning Fallen Demon hid the fragments of its consciousness in its own demonic blood before dying. For over a hundred years, it has been dormant in the flesh and blood of the aberration, waiting to devour enough fresh blood and flesh to rebuild its demonic body." The fat dog opened its bloody mouth, revealing its sharp white fangs. "But it hasn't been fed here for several years. It can only barely revive within the monster's body, unable to even form a complete demonic body."

Kaisas rubbed the dagger at his waist thoughtfully, then narrowed his eyes as if remembering something. "Why did you say it was the filthiest bastard in the Abyss?"

"Bah!" The fat dog suddenly spat out a cloud of sulfur-smelling sparks. "These Fallen Demons aren't pure-blooded demons at all. They're the offspring of goat-hoofed devils from Hell and the short-horned demons from the depths of the abyss." It scratched the ground with its claws in disgust, as if trying to wipe off something dirty. "These half-blooded bastards are born with intrigue and conspiracy. Even the lowest of the lowly demons wouldn't bother to associate with them!"