Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 156 Mutated Viper

The normally ferocious black snake seemed to sense the overwhelming pressure from the golden viper. It curled up into a ball, hiding in the backpack, not daring to move. Not to mention the unusually large golden viper before it, even the common vipers found everywhere here would be a formidable challenge for the small black snake. The difference in size was simply too great.

The golden viper, as thick as a bucket, slowly spit out its tongue, emitting a slight hissing sound. Upon hearing this sound, the vipers that had been entwined in front of Caesars quickly swam to the sides, as if receiving some kind of command, clearing a wide path in the blink of an eye.

The massive golden viper, its body gleaming with dazzling golden light, seemed non-hostile. Its golden pupils, like two glittering gemstones, were fixed intently on the uninvited guest, their gaze occasionally glancing at the staff of death held in Caesar's hand.

Caesars took cautious steps, slowly inching forward. As he walked, he assessed the true strength of the golden viper. After careful consideration, he couldn't help but groan inwardly: With his current abilities and means, defeating it would be extremely difficult. If he tried to kill it, there would be little chance of mutual destruction.

When he was only three meters away from the Golden Viper, Caesars finally stopped advancing. He knew he couldn't act rashly at this moment, especially not rashly using his magic to detect the opponent. Otherwise, if the Golden Viper saw such an action as a provocation, the consequences would be disastrous.

The smaller golden viper quickly crawled to Caesar's side, sniffing for something with its tongue. At that moment, a thick golden tail swept across, bringing with it a strong gust of wind, and blew the smaller golden viper away.

The massive golden viper slowly extended its massive head. It had two short horns on its head. These weren't the horn scales of other vipers, but rather true, short, tapered horns with delicate spiral patterns.

Something strange was happening in Caesar's blood, as if the blood from the abyss had been activated. Scaly lines appeared on his skin. The massive golden viper lowered its posture, no longer looking down at the outsider, and extended its massive head to the other's chest.

Caesars instinctively reached out and touched the hard, angular scales on the snake's head. Under his touch, mysterious patterns faintly emerged from the golden scales. These patterns gave Caesars a sense of déjà vu, a strange resonance with the scaly patterns on his skin.

"Blood of the Abyss!"

In the exploration notes of the Magic Tower, Kaisas's ancestors recorded a larger golden viper and the skeleton of an abyss dragon, which were hidden deep underground in the Northern Plateau.

When the two patterns resonated with each other, Caesars discovered that he could communicate with each other. This golden viper was originally just an ordinary viper. Thousands of years ago, when it was still a young snake, it swallowed something very strange.

As for what happened after it devoured the snake, the golden viper had no idea. When it woke up again, it had transformed into a golden viper and had the ability to command its own kind.

"Where did you eat that?"

Within the Golden Viper's soul, a boundless, pitch-black ocean emerged, teeming with luminous fish and aquatic beasts of unspeakable size. This was a mysterious and dangerous underground sea, a forbidden zone no one had dared to explore. The three elven elders of the crater were unwilling to risk their lives, fearing the beasts might be legendary beasts.

The vipers living here are separated from those that escaped from the fissures in the southern plateau by a vast underground sea. Influenced by the giant snakes, the vipers here are generally very intelligent and do not immediately attack intruders.

The giant golden viper stood erect, its snout slightly open, revealing a human-like smile. It had recently benefited immensely from its encounter with Caesars, now able to master a power not inherent to it. Its abyssal bloodline needed to be purified, requiring it to slumber for a long time. All of this was revealed to it by Caesars.

Caesar looked at the golden viper and the dense vipers around it. He no longer had any interest in this place. The nobles wanted the golden viper's flesh, but Caesar refused to agree to that offer and only offered to show them a picture.

This place is a veritable treasure trove of magical gems, dazzling radiance intertwined to create a dazzling spectacle. These invaluable magical gems undoubtedly hold a fatal allure for the nobles. If they were to learn of this place's existence, the consequences would be disastrous. Therefore, this photograph must not fall into their hands in its entirety and must be carefully handled.

Caesars calmly pulled a piece of bloody monster meat from his bosom and placed it before the stout, golden viper with short, whorled horns. He then slowly crouched down and began to pick up the large magical gems scattered around. He placed each one into his interspatial ring and continued to collect them towards the cave entrance.

The flesh of the giant red snake was tough and woody, with a terrible taste. Whenever he ate it, Caesars had to cut it into small pieces, then hammer it with a heavy hammer, repeatedly beating it dozens of times. Only in this way could he manage to soften it a little, making it less difficult to swallow.

The golden viper greedily sniffed the bloodstained piece of demonic flesh before it. It seemed to sense something it desperately desired. In an instant, it opened its bloody mouth, fiercely bit down on the piece of meat, and quickly swallowed it whole.

"Guard these magical gems of mine well and do not let any intruder succeed. Anyone who dares to trespass here will be killed without mercy! The next time I come, I will definitely give you another piece of monster meat!"

Caesar's resonant and majestic voice echoed continuously in this deep cave. At the same time, a powerful soul wave accompanied his words and penetrated directly into the depths of the Golden Viper's soul.

Within that mysterious underground forest, another entrance to the unknown lay hidden. This entrance was a deep, long cavern, like a passage leading to an unknown abyss. Caesars stood before the cave entrance, gazing at the pitch-black depths within. Though filled with curiosity, he ultimately decided not to enter and explore for the time being.

This cave is home to numerous low-level cave monkey-like monsters. Although these monkeys are relatively weak individually, their sheer numbers far outnumber the vipers. Normally, the vipers often target these monkeys as their prey, and whenever the vipers begin their hunt, they emerge en masse, forming a circle.

Monkeys and bats occasionally hunt each other, but most of the time, they prefer to survive on a vegetarian diet. In this mysterious underground world, a simple, primitive survival system has emerged: vipers prey on monkeys and bats, while monkeys and bats prey on each other, as well as mushrooms and fern seeds.

After five or six hours of arduous journey, Caesars finally returned with a full load: over three hundred magical gems bigger than fists, each one sparkling with enchanting light.

As he stepped back onto the ground, the sun shone down on him, bringing a touch of warmth. Spring had truly arrived on the northern plateau, and the vast expanse of grassland seemed imbued with new life and energy by nature. Tender green grass spread out like a sea of ​​green, entering a period of vigorous growth. Some even eagerly burst into delicate, small blossoms, adorning the beautiful plains.

At this moment, a strong urge suddenly surged in Kaisas' heart - he wanted to see the legendary earth rift. There he might encounter gray-skinned ogres, or perhaps even the burly Melissa.

After several days of long journey, on a misty morning, Caesars saw densely packed tents and many busy figures in the distance.

"How many people have come to the Northern Plateau? There should be more people than vipers!"

Soon after, Caesars came to the edge of the tent group. The tents stretched for several miles. It was conservatively estimated that there were more than ten thousand people living here.

"Kaissa!"

Someone beside the tent shouted and waved his hands. It was the old mercenary Geralt.

"Geralt, you have a very sharp eye. I just got here. By the way, I want to ask you something. Have you seen the Highland Ogre?"

Geralt was busy preparing breakfast, and the amount was obvious for the entire mercenary team.

"Of course I've seen ogres. Hundreds of them have appeared here. Their tents are to the west of the rift!"

"Geralt, have you hunted all the vipers? When I just came here, I didn't encounter any!" Geralt rolled his eyes at Caesar, and then he started talking incessantly.

The temperature was relatively low in the early morning, and the vipers would not emerge to bask in the sun until the sun reached the cracks. The "Sword and Rose" mercenary team had been there for over ten days, but they hadn't caught a single living viper and had only killed a few dozen.

Overall, the number of people bitten and killed by vipers is about the same as the number of dead vipers.

"Why can't we catch any living snakes?" Caesars asked with some confusion. Geralt and Clarice were quite strong, so catching a few vipers was easy.

"Brother Caesars, the vipers here are different. They're extremely aggressive and will jump to attack. When you get close to a viper, you never know how many will attack. Two intermediate magicians in the Magic Guild have already died. Viper fangs can pierce magic shields. A magician was injected with venom by dozens of vipers, and even powerful antidotes couldn't save him!"

"Geralt, show me a dead snake!"

"They're all with the captain. There's only firewood, food, and half a barrel of rye in my storage ring!"

Caesar looked at Geralt and shook his head helplessly. At this moment, Clarice came over and heard the conversation between the two.

"Kaisas, the vipers all look weird, all of them are dark attributes. They all have magic cores, but they are only the size of peas!"

Clarice said as she took out dozens of vipers she had hunted. Some of the snakes had been chopped into several pieces, while the better ones had been shot with arrows.

"It's a spotted viper, also known as a piebald viper. Their scales usually have two or three colors, and some may have six or seven. Their heads are a bit strange. They don't have horn scales, but two ridged protrusions that extend all the way to their tails!"

Caesars carefully observed the dead viper. It had a short, thick body, sharp fangs, and very hard scales. The only difference was that the fangs were black.

"Their defense is very high, right?" Caesar suddenly asked.

"Their defense is a bit high, and it's hard to kill them without using all your strength. These vipers are very tenacious and will continue to attack even if they are cut in two!" Clarice replied.

"These are mutated vipers, they should be considered mid-level to upper-level magical beasts!"

As Caesar said this, he picked up a viper and pinched the back of the snake's head hard, and two drops of venom came out of the venom. When Geralt and Clarice were puzzled, he dipped his finger into the venom and put it into his mouth.

"Caesar, do you want to live? Drink the advanced antidote quickly!" Crassus, who was wearing leather armor, exclaimed.

"I'm fine, don't be nervous. I just want to taste the venom to see if it's strong. Don't disturb me for now."

Kaisas savored the viper's venom, which was rich in dark magic, but not as potent as the black magic snake's. If bitten by this viper, drinking an antidote could save your life, but it would take several days to dissolve the remaining dark magic.

"Even if someone is bitten by this viper and drinks the antidote in time, they will still appear listless for several days, right?" Caesars asked.

"That's true." Clarice nodded and responded, "Once bitten by this kind of viper, even if you take a high-level antidote, you'll need to lie down for five or six days to recover!"

At this moment, Geralt, who was standing nearby, had a glint of curiosity in his eyes. He couldn't help but interrupt and ask, "Brother Caesars, how did you guess this?"

Kaisas smiled faintly and explained confidently, "It's actually very simple. The venom of this mutant viper contains an extremely high concentration of dark elements. For ordinary people, it would be impossible to withstand such dark elements in a short period of time. By the way, what is the purchase price of these dead vipers?"

Kaisas had his own plan in mind, because this kind of viper is very beneficial to the black snake. He wanted to collect some viper corpses and use them as food for the black snake in the future.

After hearing Caesar's question, Clarice answered without hesitation: "According to the purchase price given by Vitas Trading Company, each dead viper is worth one gold coin!"

"Then I'll buy them for two gold coins each. I need ten thousand vipers!"