Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 333 Suggestions

Two days later, in the afternoon, a carriage rolled through the smooth streets and slowly entered the western district of Violet City. The blazing sun cast a golden-red glow over the residential area. In a quiet alley just half a block away from the Thorn Flower Merchants, a stone house covered in ivy stood quietly. In the courtyard, the three-person-embracing fire maple tree blazed with brilliant red leaves. Beneath the tree, on the bluestone tea table, white porcelain tea sets shone with a warm luster.

As Caesars pushed open the aged oak door, he saw Depero gently placing a teaspoon on the stone table. The old man, with his snow-white hair, was vigorous and energetic, his deep brown eyes gleaming with the magical aura of a newly ascended warrior. Barov, dressed in a white robe, leaned back in a wicker chair, a small teacup in his hand. Behind them, Ole, clad in his well-worn leather armor, stood in the shade of the trees, appearing more alert than most knights.

"Old fox!"

Caesars laughed, flung aside his cloak, and unceremoniously took the empty wicker chair, causing the tea set to clink. At his feet, the lava puppies stared intently at the fire maple syrup in the crystal dish with their crimson eyes. Just then, the sound of chaotic footsteps echoed in the courtyard—Lacio, without even tying his reins, rushed in, his grass-stained leather boots skidding on the smooth stone pavement. When he saw the figure at the tea table, the color drained from his bronzed face.

"Gods above!"

The usually steady old paladin's voice trembled, and his right hand unconsciously pressed on his chest, "Depero... I didn't expect that you old guy was still alive, I always thought..." The end of the words stopped abruptly, and his eyes fell on the old man.

"Thought I was dead?" Depero leaned back in a wicker chair, a mischievous smile playing on his aged face. His gray beard trembled slightly with his hoarse laughter. He extended his wrinkled hand, and a wisp of emerald green life energy suddenly burst out from his fingertips. "Fate has played a trick on me this time—I accidentally broke free from the constraints of life." The energy transformed into a swirling leaf in his palm. "I can live another three hundred years..."

The old priest suddenly began coughing violently, and Barov quickly handed him a silk handkerchief embroidered with gold thread. Depero wiped his mouth, tapping his bony knees with a hollow sound and chuckling bitterly. "But thank goodness I have the Potential Activation Potion, otherwise my bones would have rotted in the ground!"

"Depero, I have some important news for you. Saint Paul..." As soon as Caesars mentioned Saint Paul's name, the puppy whimpered in agreement. "You idiot, I'm not talking about 'Saint Paul'. I'm talking about Saint Paul, the Pope of the Church of Saint Laurent, who has become a necromancer!"

"Clang"—Dropez dropped the delicate white porcelain teacup in his hand, shattering on the stone slab. Another clang followed, and Wrathio, startled, let go of the cup. Depero's bony fingers gripped the wicker chair armrests tightly, their joints cracking under the strain. His lips trembled, and the words he was about to tease Caesar froze in his throat.

Barov's crystal monocle clattered onto the codex in his hand. The normally strict high priest now gaped, his mouth hanging open like a stranded fish. Wrathion slumped down on the cushioned bench, mechanically reaching for the holy emblem at his waist, only to find nothing. The silver emblem, symbolizing light, had tumbled to the side.

Ole, standing beside the stone table, immediately cleaned up the broken porcelain pieces, then took out a few small porcelain cups and poured mellow black tea for them.

"In order to seize power and maintain his position, the once inviolable Pope has fallen into the abyss..."

Depero's wrinkled face twitched violently, his cracked lips trembling for a long time, and finally he could only squeeze out a hoarse sigh: "Holy Light..."

"In the final analysis, he is nothing more than a coward who is afraid of death." Caesar sneered and turned the teacup. The amber tea soup shone with a bloody luster in the sunlight. "You may not know yet, but those high-ranking figures in the Saint Laurent Church have to transport two to three hundred living people to the Bitter Water Farm every month - just like transporting livestock." He deliberately paused and looked at the suddenly changed faces of several old men with satisfaction.

Depero slammed the white porcelain teacup in his hand onto the table, spilling the clear tea all over the veined back of his hand. "Tell me! What were those poor people sent to do?"

Kaesas slowly stood up, a shadow covering his angular face. "The necromancers use forbidden magic to extract the essence of blood—those old immortals shamelessly call it 'life essence'." His voice suddenly turned cold. "They sip the blood of the living, and those drained corpses... are thrown into the crypts to feed some unspeakable monsters!"

"Gods behold! This is completely inhumane..." Wrathion's roar rustled the leaves. His massive frame abruptly rose to its feet, sending the wicker chair crashing to the ground. The puppy, startled by Wrathion's action, erupted in dark red fur. A strange flame danced in its crimson eyes, and a sulfurous mist emanated from its sharp fangs. Caesars's slender fingers touched the dark lines on the puppy's neck, and the restless demonic patterns gradually subsided. The abyssal fire in the animal's eyes finally died down.

"Lacio, don't get so excited! You're scaring the fat dog!" Kaesus frowned and held down the restless puppy beside him. "If you really piss it off, with its violent temper, it'll beat you to the ground and leave you unable to move!"

As he spoke, Caesars pulled a strip of partially dried meat from his interspatial ring. The puppy's eyes, bared in a grin, instantly lit up, its drooping ears perked up, and it sauntered forward, its tail wagging joyfully. Its gaping maw revealed a few gleaming canines, but it carefully took the meat strip and purred with satisfaction. The delicious food before it instantly forgot its previous unhappiness.

"Is it really that powerful?"

The question came not from the bewildered Wrathion, but from the elderly priest Depero, seated at the stone table. The old man slowly polished his priestly emblem, his cloudy yet sharp eyes tracing the pup back and forth. In his vast experience, the prospect of this sixty- to seventy-pound puppy, despite its unusual coat color and larger size than a typical dog, standing up to a battle-hardened paladin like Wrathion—a formidable warrior capable of single-handedly wielding a thirty-pound holy hammer—seemed impossible.

"Depero, don't be fooled by its appearance." Caesars rubbed the puppy's head proudly. The puppy was lying at his feet, chewing a piece of meat intently. "Last time in Fire Maple City, this guy sucked the magic sea of ​​a great magician dry in one breath. As for Lacio's holy light energy..." He glanced meaningfully at his pale companion, "It's not even enough to fill his teeth..."

"But after all..." The old pastor gestured to the height, "it just reaches my knees..."

Caesars smiled mysteriously and pulled a photo stone from his spatial ring. As his magic activated, a light curtain appeared before the group. Within the curtain, a puppy the size of a young bull was visible. Caesars was riding it, trotting more steadily than a warhorse. Within its gaping maw, half-foot-long fangs flashed a cold light, and its scarlet eyes seemed to blaze with flames. Looking into them was captivating.

“It can grow this big!”

"No, it should at least be as big as a Frostmane Bull. Depero, I want to ask you something: where exactly is the Saint's Temple?"

Caesars took out the map of the Saint Laurent Empire and spread it out on the stone table. The man with eagle eyes only marked the approximate location.

The others looked at Caesar with confusion. Depero glanced at the animal hide map and then asked, "Caesar, you don't want to capture the Saint, do you?"

"Of course, I won't capture the Saint right away. My strength is still a little lacking. I need to be strong enough to at least compete with the Undead Mage Sandro!"

Depero reached out and touched the animal hide map, stopping at the location marked by the eagle eye. He slowly said, "We're very close to the location marked on the map. This is the Surao Valley—the cradle of priests and also the cemetery of guardian knights."

When the conversation turned to the Surao Valley, a gloom flashed in Depero's eyes. He sighed heavily, his rough fingers unconsciously stroking his long-worn storage ring. He could no longer return to his hometown; the Saint Laurent Church no longer had room for him.

"The Holy Maiden Temple is hidden in the most secret corner of the valley," Depero suddenly lowered his voice, and his dry, branch-like fingers traced a winding line on the map. "To reach it, you have to go through a tunnel where not even moonlight can penetrate. It's not at the foot of the mountain—" He pointed to the center of the snow-capped mountain. "The entire temple is embedded in the frozen heart of Sulao!"

"Inside the mountain?!"

The teacup in Caesar's hand shook violently, and the amber tea almost spilled out. He thought of the reconnaissance reports of the Eagle Eye spies who had failed, and each parchment scroll ended with "search unsuccessful".

Depero grinned, revealing his jagged teeth. "The crater is like a bowl chopped out by a god with a giant axe. It's a lake that never freezes. Nearby, there's a boiling hot spring emitting the smell of sulfur. The steam has smoked the outer walls of the hall. The crystals of pure sulfur are two or three feet thick."

Kaisas finally understood why the Eagle Eye scouts could only circle in vain at the foot of the snow-capped mountains - those magnificent basalt pillars were like black iron fences piercing the sky, and the violent glacial air currents could blow climbers off the cliffs at any time.

"Listen, Depero. The Church of Saint Laurent has long since decayed. It's now nothing more than a decaying corpse wrapped in a golden robe! Just to refine the essence of blood, two to three thousand people are killed every year." His voice was distorted with anger. "The previous lord of my territory was a descendant of the Pope's illegitimate son. His dungeon led directly to the smuggling network of Bitterwater Farm. He used the Golden Viper Mercenary Group to capture thousands of Roland Empire civilians every year just to feed the monsters in the cave!"

Depero's pupils suddenly contracted. This old man, who had remained calm in front of the Pope, was now trembling all over as if bitten by a poisonous snake.

Depero's brow furrowed, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table. He stared at the spread-out map, the outline of Mount Surao standing out in stark relief. "From the Surao Valley to the border of the Saint Laurent Empire, it's at least three thousand miles..." he muttered, his voice thick with worry.

Upon hearing this, Caesars raised his eyebrows and said disapprovingly, "How difficult is that? My flying spell can easily carry someone."

"The problem isn't just the Saint!" Depero straightened up, his gaze sweeping across the assembled crowd. "We need to take her entire guard, ideally even the honor guard. That way, we can ensure her authority is unquestioned." He glanced at the two elderly men beside him, who nodded in understanding.

"Taking away only the Saint is equivalent to giving the Pope the best excuse: it was you who captured the Saint! He can command all believers to attack your territory. The Emerald River looks very wide, but as long as millions of people work together, a tunnel can be dug underground in less than a month!" Depero's student Barov added a few words.

"Wait!" Caesars raised his hand to interrupt, turning to the white-haired old priest, "How many people are there in the guards and the honor guard?"

Lacio stroked his beard and answered without hesitation, "About 150 or so!"

"More than 150 people?!" Caesars almost jumped up from his chair. "How is it possible to lead the Saint Laurent Empire out quietly?"

At this moment, Ole, who had been silent until then, suddenly stepped forward, his bony finger poking precisely at a spot on the map. His voice was hoarse but firm as he spoke: "Look here, the desolate land at the southern foot of Mount Sulao. There are no magical beasts there, and wild beasts are rarely seen." His nails scratched a mark on the parchment. "But be careful, there are countless poisonous insects and snakes hidden beneath those broken rock formations!"

Ole raised his head, his eyes gleaming with shrewdness. "As long as we prepare enough insect repellent powder and antidotes, and leave the Roland Empire through this route, the pursuers will never realize it, and even if they do, they won't dare to pursue us!"

Caesars's gaze slowly wandered across the map, his fingertips lightly tracing the area marked "Desolate Land." The outline of this barren land on the parchment wasn't vast, just over three hundred miles in radius, yet it stretched before him like a natural barrier. He noticed that the southern edge of the map had become completely blank—a dead end that even cartographers wouldn't venture into. The densely packed town markings on the west side made him frown. The golden iris flags flying over the territories belonging to the Saint Laurent Empire now seemed particularly glaring.

As his fingers moved southeast, his knuckles tapped against the tabletop. The azure mark twenty miles away should have symbolized hope, but the salt marsh symbols and the scarlet words "No Man's Land" along the way made the choice incredibly difficult. Caesars withdrew his fingers, sweat dripping from his palms, leaving faint marks on the animal-skin map.

He slowly leaned back into his high-backed chair, frowning slightly as he pondered. This wasn't a simple expedition, not something that could be accomplished alone. Every detail required careful consideration—preliminary preparations, escape routes...

He planned to go to the Thorn Flower Trading Company to order some repellent potions, which could repel almost all poisonous insects and snakes. He didn't need to buy the antidote potion, as he still had plenty in stock.

"I'll leave the carriage to you. Don't cause any trouble until I return. If those vultures of the Saint Laurent Church discover your whereabouts... I'm afraid those black-clad assassins trained by the church will even skip their meals and sleep to hunt you down!"

Caesars stood up and walked towards the door of the small house, and the footsteps soon faded away.

"Depero, can you see his strength?" After looking at the gate, Lacio asked Depero.

The old priest in linen robe shook his head and sighed again.