Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 310 Soul Harvest 3

Caesars slowly descended the spiral staircase. As he reached the next floor, the slightly damp walls shimmered with faint blue magic patterns. This hexagonal floor contained six rooms, only three of which were occupied. A dazzling array of magical light shone through the cracks in the doors. He held his breath, concentrated, and pulled a crystal vial of blue liquid from his belt. He enveloped the liquid with his magic and passed it through the crack in the door into the room.

He started counting the seconds, and when the time was up, he pried open the door on the far right and saw a wizard slumped to the ground, one of them clutching an unfinished scroll. Caesars swiftly looted valuable magical items, even the magic crystals under their pillows.

After descending two more floors, the overwhelming stench of sweat made Caesars pause at the corner of the stairs. Through the observation hole on the door, he saw six bunk rooms filled with young people wearing coarse linen apprentice robes. Some were dozing on the moldy "Basic Spells Collection", some accidentally set their eyebrows on fire while practicing hand gestures in the moonlight, and some were wrestling in the corner over half a piece of black bread that was as hard as a rock. Caesars' right hand, which was touching the dagger, loosened and tightened, and finally sneered: "These apprentices even carve their wands out of oak. Killing them will not only not give you any gold coins, but will also dirty your hands!"

As he descended to the floor marked "Laundry," a draft carried the scent of soapwort. All twelve French windows were open, and the moonlight illuminated the hundreds of hanging robes like floating ghosts. Caesars took down a velvet robe embroidered with gold thread.

Upon entering the actual mage quarters, Caesars cast a modified version of the Shadow Concealment spell. The magical lamps flanking the corridor were animated light elements, alerting any moving shadows. He edged slowly along the wall and accidentally kicked an empty potion bottle. The tumbling sound of the bottle caused three lamps to flicker to a warning red. Caesars froze, waiting until the lights returned to blue before continuing.

Caesars did the same thing, sending powerful sleeping potions into several rooms through the cracks in the doors, and then started counting.

This time, when the time came, Caesars did not rush into the room, but first broke the magic trap in the corridor. After entering the room, he killed people first, and then searched through the boxes and cabinets for something.

He wasn't sure whether he had entered the corridor on the second or third floor of the side tower. As soon as Caesar took his first step, a piercing alarm pierced the silence of the side fort like a sharp blade. The previously peaceful corridor was instantly sealed off by layers of magical barriers shimmering with a faint blue light. These protective arrays unfolded before him like living creatures. Caesar cursed himself for being so careless—he should have conducted a magical survey first. He had never expected such intricate trigger-activated magic traps and protective arrays to be set up here.

With the sound of doors opening one after another, the doors of six rooms opened simultaneously, and six magicians in dark robes filed out. At the same time, from the bottom of the stairs came the sound of steel boots hitting the stone steps in unison. The powerful rhythm indicated that a large number of guards were rapidly gathering. Caesars could feel the entire side tower shaking, like a steel giant awakened.

The situation reversed in an instant. In this cramped corridor, Caesars realized he had no time to deal with the mages, and even less time to fight the heavily armed guards in such a confined space. Only then did he realize with astonishment that Hawkeye's intelligence was riddled with flaws—not only had it omitted the number of magic apprentices, but it had also underestimated the number of certified mages by at least three.

Without hesitation, Caesars raised his hand and unleashed a swirling barrier of darkness. A thick, inky black mist instantly filled the corridor. He then began to chant an obscure, ancient spell, each syllable causing the surrounding air to tremble. As the first ray of bright purple magic shone through the black mist, Caesars, wearing a protective mask, had already straightened his body. His cold gaze swept through the mask to every magician present, and his voice, like that of the abyss, said: "I will come again. You all wait!"

Before he could finish his words, the purple magical light suddenly erupted, its blinding intensity illuminating the entire corridor in a blazing white. Several magicians were forced to shield their eyes. When the light returned to normal, Caesars was no longer in the corridor, leaving only the lingering magical energy hissing in the air.

At that moment, heavily armored guards flooded into the corridor like a tide, huddled together before the dark rampart. The middle-aged guard leading the group pushed through the crowd and shouted at the still-dazed magicians, "Why did you sound the alarm?"

"An assassin has infiltrated the castle." A white-haired old magician finally came to his senses. He leaned his wrinkled hands against the wall, examining the surrounding protective array. "They used magic flash grenades and are likely heading upstairs. We must immediately conduct a comprehensive search!"

The old wizard looked around warily as he spoke, not daring to remove the protective array at all - until they were sure it was safe, these magical barriers would be their last line of defense.

Upon receiving word of the assassin's infiltration, the main fortress of Greystone Fort was immediately placed on high alert. The legion commander personally ordered the dispatch of elite troops, and hundreds of armored guards, holding torches, surrounded the side fort with impenetrable force. The clatter of iron boots echoed in the night, and the cold gleam of unsheathed swords illuminated the solemn faces of the guards. The entire side fort was surrounded so tightly that not even a flying bird could escape. The three layers of encirclement formed an impenetrable iron wall under the moonlight.

As dawn crept into the east, the rigorous search, which had lasted all night, finally concluded. However, the results shocked everyone—the commander of Greystone Keep's army shook slightly as he grasped the report. Twenty-three magicians had mysteriously vanished, with not a single body left at the scene. The experienced guards knew they had likely been murdered, and the assassin had audaciously removed their bodies.

"A dark assassin? How could he sneak into our side tower without anyone noticing?"

The atmosphere in Greystone's meeting hall was almost suffocatingly solemn. Sitting around the long table were Greystone's high-ranking officials, who had just listened to the captain's detailed report. Disbelief was written on every face. The candlelight cast flickering shadows on the stunned faces, and a stifling silence hung in the air. These experienced commanders could not fathom how the heavily guarded Greystone could have lost so many magicians in a single night.

An elderly man in a dark gray robe and with graying hair slowly rose to his feet, his wrinkled fingers unconsciously stroking his staff. "Judging from the traces at the scene, the attacker is probably no ordinary assassin," he said in a hoarse, heavy voice. "All the rooms are intact, with no signs of struggle. Even more bizarre, the intruder didn't enter through the side entrance, but..." The old man paused, a flicker of unease in his cloudy eyes. "He sneaked in from the rooftop. We found clear footprints on the wooden stairs to the top floor. But after a thorough search, we can confirm that the individual is no longer in the tower. And what's puzzling is that the footprints that led to his departure have vanished without a trace!"

"Top of the fort?!"

An elderly wizard with white hair and beard suddenly slammed the table and stood up, his robes swaying violently with his excitement. "That's over forty meters above the ground! Even the most skilled assassin wouldn't be able to..."

The old magician's voice suddenly choked, and a look of fear crossed his age-spotted face. This unfinished question sent a chill down the spine of everyone present.

"Roy, you've also thought of that person. A few years ago, there was a magician with a pair of black magic wings flying over the Emerald River. He won the championship in the Magician Challenge not long ago. It shouldn't be difficult for him to fly to the side castle, and killing the great magician should be no problem. Moreover, not long ago, the Roland Empire gave him an earldom, so he also had a reason to attack the Graystone Castle!" The gray-robed magician looked at his companion and said lightly.

"What should we do now? He's killed all the priests sent by the Church of Saint Laurent. We're no match for him!"

The old wizard named Roy was a little frightened. Before leaving, the other party had already said that he would come again.

As Caesars stretched himself and rose from his bed, the morning light had barely crept over the mottled walls of the Stonewall Fortress. Meanwhile, an urgent report had been delivered to the fortress's council chamber through secret channels. Twenty-three official magicians had mysteriously disappeared from Greystone Fortress overnight. Even more shocking, an alchemy laboratory, along with its precious equipment, had vanished.

"My Lord Earl, did you massacre twenty-three magicians last night and empty their alchemy laboratory?"

Polly hurried over, her brown hair fluttering in the morning breeze, her emerald eyes filled with disbelief. She didn't even bother to perform her morning rituals, but rushed straight into the crystal cottage where Caesars lived.

Caesars, who was tying the belt of his nightgown, scoffed at the words. "The intelligence Hawkeye gave me was ridiculously wrong. How could there be so many official magicians in the side fort? They didn't even find out there were over a hundred magic apprentices there." He walked to the window, the sunlight outlining his sharply defined profile. "Polly, go ask old Hawkeye if all their spies are gathering intelligence in the tavern?"

Based on the results of his personal infiltration into the side fort last night, Caesars was certain that the number of magicians living there could not exceed thirty. This number was slightly different from the information provided by Hawkeye, which made him doubt Hawkeye's ability to gather intelligence.

Polly sighed and pulled a shimmering blue communication stone from her storage ring. She relayed Caesar's words verbatim to Hawkeye's contact, her tone tinged with rare severity. Moments later, hurried footsteps echoed through the castle corridors. Hawkeye's supervisor at Stonecrush—a gray-haired old man wrapped in a wrinkled black robe—stumbled in like a startled crow, sweat beading on his forehead.

Caesars stared coldly at the uneasy Eagle-eyed little leader in front of him, tapping the table impatiently with his fingertips.

"Commander, our intelligence... is really inaccurate?" The old man rubbed his hands, his voice full of guilt.

"Inaccurate?" Caesars scoffed, his eyes sharp as a knife. "Far from accurate! There are six or seven missing mages in the side fort, and there are also many magical traps set up inside. Your spies didn't even discover this?" He leaned forward slightly, his tone dangerous and low. "By the way, what exactly are your spies doing in Greystone Castle?"

Beads of sweat oozed from the old man's forehead as he stammered, "He, he's the stable's groom... I got all the information from him..."

After hearing this explanation, Caesars was silent for a moment, then waved his hand with a slightly weary expression. He knew how difficult it was to infiltrate Greystone Castle. To obtain accurate intelligence, one would have to remain hidden in Saint Laurent for at least two or three generations, and one would also have to be talented enough to rise to the top of Greystone Castle. For a groom to be able to deliver the message was already his best effort.

"Forget it, take these bodies back. They are all on the wanted list for Stonebreak Castle. Exchange the bounty for magic crystals!"

As he spoke, Caesars stood up and walked outside the crystal hut. With a wave of his hand, more than twenty corpses appeared out of thin air and were neatly arranged on the ground. These were all magicians killed last night, just enough to exchange for the bounty.

Caesars gazed at the towering Greystone Castle in the distance, his knuckles drumming an anxious rhythm on the parapet. "It seems I must capture him alive, or I'll never understand the true layout of Greystone Castle!" He muttered to himself through gritted teeth, his nightgown rustling in the biting wind.

As he turned and walked toward the magical telescope at the edge of the parapet, countless tactical calculations flashed through Caesar's mind. Ordinary patrolling guards had no access to core secrets. He had to find a way to capture a figure of Greystone Castle's commander caliber—ideally one with access to the veterans in the war room. He adjusted the rune-shaped lens of the telescope, and the magical patterns on the castle's outer wall were clearly visible in the lens.

This war fortress, known as the "Iron Wall of the South," truly lived up to its reputation. Caesar counted the faint glints of cold light flickering among the battlements. At least a hundred magical crossbows were charging with mana. Those bolts, laced with magic-breaking metal, had brought countless formidable warriors to their doom. Even more formidable were the nine "Dragon's Breath" magic cannons. Though their massive barrels lay silent, Caesar remembered them clearly. Historically, dozens of Roland Empire magic steel warships had been reduced to flaming scrap by these monsters.

"Polly," Caesars suddenly said, his gaze still fixed on those deadly weapons. "With the military might of the Roland Empire, why don't they just flatten this fortress?"

The female warrior who was sorting the medicine box paused, and the sound of bottles and cans colliding stopped abruptly.

"The casualties would be too great, the Empire can't afford it! Greystone Fort is easy to defend but difficult to attack. A century ago, we lost half a legion in the assault. The Imperial Senate says... if we continue like this, the Empire will be drained of its last drop of blood!"

In the shadows beneath the parapet, Hawkeye, the hunched old man, carried the body away. Caesars stroked the gem on the hilt of his dagger. He was in no hurry to harvest souls now. He couldn't absorb the soul energy stored in the soul gem this month.