Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 139 Murder and Robbery 2

Perhaps even the heavens were disgusted with the Saint Laurent Empire. The bright moon, once suspended high in the sky, shedding its silvery light, suddenly disappeared into the thick clouds. In an instant, the night sky grew darker and darker, so dark that one could not see one's hand in front of one's face.

In the pitch-black night, Caesar, dressed in a black magic robe, emerged from his extremely hidden spot like a ghost. He walked lightly and quickly towards the foot of the low volcano.

As Caesars gradually approached the camp of the Golden Viper Mercenary Group, he heard bursts of snoring. These snoring sounds came one after another, especially in the quiet of the night, as if they were a provocation to the volcanic area.

Outside the camp of one or two hundred tents, only six or seven mercenaries were on night watch. Caesars pondered, "Such a small number of night watchmen is far too lax. Could there be something fishy going on here? Or is it true, as I suspected, that there are lurkers lurking in the darkness, waiting for an opportunity to strike?" He frowned, a flicker of alarm in his eyes.

Then, Caesars gently patted the black snake beside him and whispered, "Saint Paul, quickly look around to see if there are any sneakers. If you find any, bite them to death!"

After receiving the order, the black magic snake twisted its slender body quickly like an arrow and approached the camp of the Golden Viper Mercenary Group silently.

Caesars wasn't idle either. He expertly inserted the magic blade into his belt and carefully checked the various necessary alchemical potions. He placed several alchemical bombs in convenient locations so they could be readily used at critical moments.

In less than ten minutes, the Golden and Silver Black Demonic Snake returned. Even with its perception abilities far superior to those of humans, it failed to detect the lurker in the darkness. Caesars felt that the Golden Viper Mercenaries were too unscrupulous and arrogant, and they must be mercilessly beaten.

The Black Demon Serpent was left behind, and with the help of Dark Vision, Caesars headed towards the Golden Viper's camp. Seven Night Watchmen in leather armor were scattered in four directions.

There was only one night watchman on the north side of the camp. He was wearing leather armor and looked like a Wind Warrior. He stood ten meters away from the tent. Caesar stopped twenty meters away from him, first casting a harmless verbal curse, then a fatigue curse, and then Caesar walked straight over.

The night watchman was already drowsy, and after being baptized by the curse of fatigue, he sat down on the ground, yawned, and prepared to lie down. He didn't hear the sudden footsteps until two hands like steel clamps clamped around his neck. Just as the night watchman was about to resist, he heard a "crack" and felt his neck break, and consciousness faded.

The success of the attack made Caesars somewhat excited. This kind of killing did not cause any sound of fighting, smell of blood, and left almost no trace. He did not clean up the other night watchmen, but looked at the tents in front of him.

Caesars slowly approached the tent and used his magic tentacles to explore. Although he saw that the magicians were in the middle of the camp, it was always better to be cautious.

After a careful investigation, Caesars took out a bottle of blue potion, poured out a few drops of liquid, and carefully used his magic to control it, sending the liquid into the tent. Then he poured out a few more drops of liquid and sent them into another tent.

After a bottle of powerful sleeping potion ran out, Caesars also began to kill and rob. The Golden Viper Mercenary Group now belonged to the Saint Laurent Empire, so killing them would not be a psychological burden.

In the early morning, all the members of the Golden Viper got up, and many mercenaries were packing up their tents, but there were thirty or forty tents where there was no movement and no one came out.

"Damn it! Get them all up! We're about to leave!"

A middle-aged man in leather armor roared. He seemed to be the leader of the Golden Viper Mercenary Group.

"Trudeau, what's going on?"

An old magician walked out of the tent and asked with a frown.

"Captain Laudenau, we are about to set off, and these damn lazy guys haven't gotten up yet!" Trudeau explained quickly.

Laudenor was Earl Soren's man, while Trudeau was Earl Garon's man. The old magician was the leader, and Trudeau was the deputy leader.

"Trudeau," he heard the name at Caesars, where he was staying. He seemed to have heard it there before, but it had been so long that he couldn't quite recall it.

"Captain, deputy commander, there is no one in the tent here!" an archer shouted.

Following this cry, the mercenaries rushed over, followed by Laudenau and Trudeau. After a careful inspection, they found that all the people and weapons and equipment were gone, leaving only forty-three empty tents.

"Trudeau, send someone to do a headcount. We've been targeted. Destroy all the communication stones scattered on the ground. The other party can hear our conversation!"

Laudno's staff pointed at a communication stone on the ground. A faint magical light flashed on its surface, indicating that the communication stone was performing magical communication.

"Loudno, why did you destroy the communication stone?"

Trudeau was a little confused. A high-quality communication stone was worth more than a hundred gold coins. It would be a shame to destroy it all.

"I'm worried that these communication stones have been tampered with, so let's destroy them all!"

Trudeau nodded quickly after hearing Laudenor's explanation. He was a hurricane warrior and part-time archer, completely unfamiliar with magic. After a careful headcount, Trudeau was shocked to discover that the mercenary group was missing over sixty men, and over thirty message stones were scattered throughout the camp.

At their base, Kaisas felt he had underestimated the Golden Viper Mercenaries. They actually had a great magician, and his little tricks had been discovered. It would be difficult for him to kill a great magician, and now the Golden Vipers would strengthen their defenses.

About half an hour later, the Golden Viper Mercenary Group set off. They set fire to the remaining tents. They were extremely cautious.

Kaisas is now in a bit of a dilemma. The volcanic area is bare and there are not many obstructions. One can see several miles away at a glance. It will be very difficult to track the other party in broad daylight.

"We must pursue them even if it's difficult. They are all walking gold coins!"

After inspecting several storage rings from yesterday's haul, Caesars determined that the Golden Viper Mercenaries were truly lucrative. Converting all their miscellaneous items into gold coins, and distributing them evenly to each individual, the total was well over fifty thousand gold coins. The mercenaries also included several magicians, representing an even greater fortune.

In the magic notebook of the ancestor Caesar, there is a sentence recorded: If there are no gold coins and no resources for cultivation, you can get them all by killing a few magicians!

More than an hour after the Golden Viper's men left, Caesars emerged from his hiding spot and arrived at the foot of the low volcano. He looked at the hard volcanic ash ground and saw very few footprints left by the other party.

The northern part of the volcanic region is mostly dormant, with the ground hardened by rain. In the south, there are many active volcanoes, with lava flowing everywhere, magma splashing in the sky, and volcanic ash covering the sky, creating a scene of impending doom.

Looking at the shallow footprints heading south, Caesars could guess that the Golden Viper Mercenaries had headed for the Lava River. But after careful consideration, he felt they were also quite intelligent. The Lava River's edge was relatively open, and the scorching lava emitted a dazzling light, making visibility quite good even at night.

Kaisas returned to his base and enjoyed the small patch of shade. The sun was now shining brightly, and the temperature on the gray-black ground was rising sharply.

The members of the Golden Viper Mercenary Group were on their way. The scorching sun and the heat waves rising from the ground made everyone look exhausted.

More than 60 people disappeared quietly at night. All of them were elite members of the Golden Viper Mercenary Group, which made the top leaders of the mercenary group tremble with fear.

Before noon, the mercenaries arrived at the edge of the lava river. Tents were set up and huge ice blocks were being distributed. Without the ice to cool down the heat in time, these mercenaries would lose half of their combat effectiveness.

In the large tent in the middle of the camp stood six or seven large tubs, each filled with ice cubes of the same size. Wisps of cold air drifted through the air, bringing a refreshing coolness to the tent.

The great magician, Laudenor, had a troubled expression on his face. He and several other magicians were simulating how a sneak attacker could kill silently, leaving no trace. Trudeau, the deputy leader, was also listening quietly, hoping for a definitive answer.

"Since there are no signs of a struggle, we can confirm that the missing people were unable to resist at the time. They were killed effortlessly, without making any loud noises, and no one noticed anything unusual. This explains it all!"

After some discussion, several magicians finally came to a credible conclusion, which was stated by Laudno.

"Captain Laudenau, how did those people lose their ability to resist?" Trudeau, who was sitting on the side, asked.

"Sleeping potions or drugs, they can make people lose the ability to resist!" said a middle-aged magician.

Trudeau asked doubtfully, "There are two or three people in a tent, all high-level professionals. Even if they lose their ability to resist, they can still call for help in time! As far as I know, the sleeping potion is not very strong. It takes one or two bottles to make someone unconscious, and it takes more than half an hour!"

Half an hour was neither long nor short. They had to pour two or three bottles of sleeping potion into each tent, and several magicians felt that this was too difficult. Not everyone slept soundly, and some people suffered from insomnia.

"There is a potion that can make people fall asleep quickly, and they won't wake up even if you beat them severely!" Laudeno said after thinking it over.

"Great Magician, what potion are you talking about?" Trudeau asked quickly.

"It's a powerful sleeping potion. Just one or two drops and a few minutes can make a person fall asleep. If it's really a sleeping potion, one of us must have offended the Thorn Flower Merchants. This potion is not for sale and only the Thorn Flower Merchants have it. If we encounter an ambush again today, we must return immediately!" Laudeno said with some concern.

"Is the Thorn Flower Company that scary?"

"Trudeau, you're an idiot!" Laudenor cursed, looking at him like an idiot, and continued, "The Saint Laurent Mercenaries were much stronger than us. They all died in the Endless Forest!"

"Great Magician, the Thorn Flower Trading Company is not the Endless Forest!"

"Trudeau, the Thorn Flower Kingdom is on the edge of the Endless Forest. They are the elves of the Endless Forest, not humans. The main ingredients for various powerful potions only grow in the Endless Forest. The Thorn Flower Trading Company sells this main ingredient only to a few major magical forces."

"Not selling it to the Saint Laurent Empire?"

"They won't even sell ordinary herbs to the Saint Laurent Empire. Trudeau, go make arrangements to collect fire flowers and hunt fire lizards this afternoon. We need to return to the Saint Laurent Empire as soon as possible!"

Faced with Laudeno's order to leave, Trudeau quickly stood up and walked out of the big tent, also walking from the shade into the heat.

Laudenor watched Trudeau leave and winked at the other magicians. Then the magicians gathered together and whispered, as if they were afraid of being overheard.

In less than a quarter of an hour, several mercenaries wearing sun hats and carrying animal hide backpacks emerged from the camp under the scorching sun. Their backpacks were filled with ice, and they wanted to pick as many flame flowers as possible before the ice melted. They didn't care about the quality of the flame flowers; they plucked all of them, big and small.

The mercenaries in the tent unearthed their mechanical crossbows and began performing some basic maintenance. This magic steel crossbow was a smaller version of the city defense crossbow, specifically designed for hunting large monsters. Due to its heavy weight, it could only be used from the ground. Its bolts were approximately two meters long and weighed over ten pounds.

At this time, several magicians emerged from the tent. They were all fire magicians, unfazed by the scorching heat. They first surveyed the area around the camp, then began setting up magic circles, both defensive and warning.

After a long wait, Kaisas finally waited until dusk. After leaving his secluded spot, he immediately took out his magic viewing mirror and carefully observed the lava river.

It was too far away from the lava river, and through the magic viewing mirror, all I could see was a camp with many tents.

The direction and location of the target were determined, and Caesars was in no hurry to move on. He came to the foot of the small volcano and took out a lounge chair, a cast iron kettle, some charcoal, and of course, high-quality Barton black tea.

"I remember now. Trudeau, the deputy leader of the Golden Viper Mercenary Group, is the enemy of the Duchess of Barton. If you kill Trudeau and bring his body to Fire Maple City, you can exchange it for a thousand kilograms of top-grade Barton black tea!"

Caesar laughed with great joy and threw out a small piece of cheese. The golden-eyed black snake put its head in and swallowed it.