Chapter 174 -24- Master, Your Sacrifice Has Arrived
Chapter 174 -24- Master, your sacrifice has arrived
Black dragon?
Sebas and Luf were both stunned.
Without him, among all the giant dragons, the black dragon has never had a very good reputation.
This chaotic and dark dragon species has always been synonymous with evil and betrayal, and has a strong desire to dominate other intelligent creatures. Unless they encounter a stronger existence, it is almost impossible for them to communicate with ordinary intelligent creatures on an equal footing.
"You mean to say that there is an evil black dragon, the most cruel and brutal of all dragon species, living in the mine, and this black dragon... actually became friends with a miner?"
Sebastian looked weird and couldn't help but complain.
"It's true. I didn't lie to you. My brother said it was really a black dragon!"
Looking at the two people's obvious disbelief, Noah insisted.
The werewolf Luf shook his head and said:
"Little Noah, you are too young."
"When I was young, I was lucky enough to see a black dragon in the black land of East Unite. Such a creature... arrogant, powerful, evil, crazy... far beyond your imagination. In just an instant, it destroyed a whole building.
The city built by mercenaries was just because the mercenaries refused to surrender to it..."
"The so-called black dragon is your brother's theory. Maybe...it's not necessarily true that he admitted his mistake. Not to mention, how can we explain the missing miners?"
Lu Fu recalled the past with a look of awe on his face, obviously a little afraid of what he had experienced in the past.
Sebastian suddenly changed the subject:
"However, if everything is true as he said, it seems that there is really some monster hiding in the mine. Maybe it's not a black dragon, but maybe... it's a dragonborn."
As he spoke, he looked at Charlotte and asked in a respectful tone that the little werewolf couldn't sense at all:
"Lesa...what do you think?"
Charlotte looked deep into the mine and said:
"It doesn't matter what it is, just go inside and take a look."
As she spoke, she touched her chin with interest, with a look of eagerness on her face:
"If there really is a dragonborn, I hope it really is a black dragon."
After hearing Charlotte's "unbelievable" words, Lu Fu was stunned and hesitated to speak.
Sebastian's eyes lit up, he bowed respectfully, and looked at Charlotte with eyes full of respect.
That's right...
For the great Lady of the Dark Night, and for the returning True Ancestor of Blood, I am afraid that only legendary terrifying dragons such as the Black Dragon are qualified to enter her sight!
"Let's go and see the depths of the mine together."
Charlotte said.
She raised her head and looked into the depths of the cave, her eyes gradually getting darker.
Yes, she is very interested in the legendary black dragon.
However, she was more interested in the role played by the Castel nobles in this matter than the black dragon.
A monster suspected to be a black dragon appeared in the mine. The nobles should not hide it and declare the mithril mine to be exhausted.
There must be something hidden deep in this mine that cannot be seen.
Those nobles who knew about it must be hiding something.
Thinking of this, Charlotte took steps towards the depths of the mine.
Sebastian and Luff also quickly followed and took the oil lamp that the old werewolf Logan gave them for lighting in the mine.
"Wait! I want to go too! I know the road to the mithril mining area!"
The little werewolf Noah slapped his butt and chased after him with a huff.
Sebastian glanced at Charlotte, who nodded slightly, acquiescing to Noah's action.
The information was given by Noah, and he was considered a relevant person, not to mention he knew the way.
As for encountering danger... I am still confident of safely evacuating Charlotte.
Of course, whether the memory of the little werewolf should be retained by then is another matter.
Consciously or unconsciously, the group of people surrounded Charlotte and quickly entered the depths of the mine.
The mine tunnels deep in the mine are more complex and extend in all directions. Some are obviously not well dug, while others appear to be in disrepair and are in danger of collapse at any time.
Soon, everyone stopped in front of a fork in the road.
"Grandpa Logan and the others should have gone to the depths of the mine tunnel there. There are still some scattered mithril mines there, which are also the focus of the workshop's current mining."
Noah pointed to the mine tunnel on the left and said.
After saying that, he pointed to the right again:
"Here...is the mine tunnel leading to the restricted area, and it is also where the mithril veins are located."
Charlotte and Sebastian looked at each other and nodded secretly.
"Let's go in."
Entering the mine tunnel on the right, the surrounding temperature became obviously lower, and Charlotte noticed that the magic in the air began to become richer.
Mithril is a precious magic material that has two properties: magic superconductivity and magic storage. It is normal for places with mithril mines to have strong magic power.
After advancing for about ten minutes in the winding mine tunnel, Charlotte and others finally reached the end.
At the end of the mine tunnel is a cave, which should have been an abandoned ore transfer center. The underground track for transporting ore ended here.
Inside the cave, there is an entrance that is sealed by a chain. There is a sign hanging on it that says no entry. It is a bit eerie under the dim light of the oil lamp.
"That is the entrance to the mithril mine. It has been completely sealed by the magic-forbidden chain. No one can enter."
Noah sneezed and said.
Once here, the surrounding temperature is obviously lower.
The three of Charlotte were all advanced transcendent beings and did not feel any discomfort, but for the little werewolf, it was already to the point of trembling.
Suddenly, a coat fell on Noah, covering him tightly.
Noah was stunned, and when he looked back, he saw that the werewolf Luf was half-shirtless.
"Uncle Luf?"
"Put it on, don't get cold, we are all beginners."
Luv shook his head.
"us?"
Noah was slightly startled.
He couldn't help but look at Charlotte beside him, and found that the werewolf girl who was about the same age as him looked as if nothing had happened and had not been frozen. He was immediately shocked again:
"Enter... an advanced person! Lessa, you are actually an advanced person too!"
Charlotte smiled at the little werewolf, neither admitting nor denying.
She took a step forward and arrived at the sealed entrance to the mithril mine.
Sebas also followed, closed his eyes and stretched out his hand to feel the seal, and said with some surprise:
"Double seal?"
Charlotte raised her eyebrows:
"Is it easy to understand?"
Sebastian's expression was a little unnatural:
"Unblocking... is not my strong point."
"What can't be solved, what can't be solved here, I heard from the mercenaries in the tavern that in order to prevent extraordinary people from sneaking in, the mine invited the Mage Association to use a powerful and ingenious seal. Even the legendary Archmage can't find it."
Break open.”
Noah on the side shook his head.
"But...my brother told me about a hidden hole. We should be able to climb in if we squeeze..."
He said again.
But after he finished speaking, he found that no one picked up his words.
Noah turned to look at a few people, but saw the girl suddenly saying to the darkness:
"Now that you've followed me in, stop hiding and show up to work."
As soon as he finished speaking, a plump black cat jumped out of the darkness, meowed, and came to Charlotte's side:
"Xia...Ms. Lesa, isn't it because I see you guys chatting so happily that I can't bear to disturb you?"
"Pig? A little black pig that can talk?"
The little werewolf's eyes widened again, with a look of astonishment on his face.
Black cat Nice staggered.
"Keep your wolf eyes wide open and look. Mr. Cat is a noble, elegant and handsome Coriat shorthair cat!"
It glared at the little werewolf with dissatisfaction, and at the same time raised its head proudly.
"Cat...cat?!"
Noah's eyes became even rounder, and he didn't seem to see any connection between the spherical creature in front of him and the elegant and vigorous cat...
"Okay, stop being poor and come over quickly to do some work."
Charlotte rolled her eyes at Nice.
"Hey, hey, okay!"
Nice rubbed the cat's paws, looking eager to try.
When he came to the seal, he first glanced at Sebastian provocatively, his mocking eyes seeming to say, "Is this all your skills?", and then, with Sebastian's stiff expression gritting his teeth, he proudly looked at the cat.
The paw was placed on the seal.
After a silver glow, the chain on the seal slipped away on its own in Noah's shocked eyes.
"A black cat that can talk and can break legendary seals..."
He muttered to himself in disbelief, already feeling a little numb.
"Hehe, it's just a third-level compound sealing technique set up by a trick. I guess I just hired a few Silver Moon mages who have been studying sealing magic for a certain period of time. The technology is still a bit poor. Even the magic torque matrix and the double-strengthening technique
Neither, nor have I made use of the rich magical power around me, which is far inferior to Master Cat and me!"
Nice raised her tail proudly.
This guy... his magical attainments are really high. He has all kinds of theories at his fingertips. What is his origin?
Charlotte couldn't help but glance at Nice again.
"good."
She put away her curiosity, nodded with satisfaction, and entered the sealed mine first.
Inside the mine, the magic became even more intense, so intense that Charlotte felt like the pores all over her body were cheering.
Vampires are magical creatures, so they naturally prefer places with strong magic.
She almost subconsciously took a deep breath, but this breath almost stopped her from holding her breath.
Without him, when the seal was broken by Nice, the pressure caused by the different magic concentration differences inside and outside the cave formed a wind from the inside to the outside, and this rotten wind was mixed with a strong stench.
Charlotte is no stranger to this stench.
Or to be more precise, she will never forget it in her life.
It was the same stench she smelled from the living corpses around her that day when the old witch hung her on the cross——
Corpse stench!
"vomit……"
Behind him, the little werewolf who had also taken a mouthful of evil wind had already vomited.
"Be vigilant and go in and take a look."
Charlotte's expression became serious.
Sebastian and others nodded, drew their weapons, and were ready to fight at any time.
The group of people entered the deeper mines.
Not long after entering, Charlotte saw gleaming silver patterns on the surrounding cave walls.
The pattern is like melted silver, integrated with the cave wall, shimmering in the dark, colorful and dreamy.
"This... is a mithril mine. Sure enough, the mithril mine is not exhausted at all!"
Sebastian said solemnly.
Isn’t the mithril mine exhausted?
Charlotte's eyes flashed slightly.
After getting this answer, she felt somewhat relieved.
The income from the mithril mine accounts for 80% of the income from the Castel mine, and the income from the mine accounts for 70% of the income of the earldom. In addition, the other 30% of the income of the earldom is related to the mithril industry.
In other words, a full 70% of her income is actually related to the mithril mine.
The mithril mine was fine, which meant that as long as she uncovered the matter and regained control of the mine, her income could increase again.
But at the same time, Charlotte also became wary.
Being able to disguise the intact mithril mine as depleted, the person behind this may have a bigger plan...
At this moment, Charlotte suddenly felt something in her heart and pricked up her ears.
A vampire's abilities will be greatly enhanced at night, and the rich magic power around her will further stimulate her keen perception.
At this moment, Charlotte seemed to faintly hear a "treading" tapping sound coming from deeper.
"Did you hear anything?"
He looked at Sebastian and the others.
Luv shook his head blankly.
Ness, the black cat, closed his eyes and sniffed.
As for Sebastian, he pricked up his ears and listened for a while, looking a little surprised:
"It seems... the sound of mining?"
Charlotte suddenly narrowed her eyes:
"Be careful and keep going."
Everyone increased their vigilance and continued to walk deeper. As they went deeper, the faint knocking sound gradually became clearer.
In the end, even Noah, the weakest werewolf, heard it.
"This... seems to be the sound of mining."
He murmured in disbelief.
Charlotte's expression became more solemn.
Nothing else, because as we go deeper, the stench in the air becomes stronger.
Thinking of the missing miners in the mine, inexplicably... she suddenly had a bold guess in her mind.
"Be cautious, we may meet old friends again."
She narrowed her eyes and said.
Everyone moved on.
After walking for another three minutes, we finally arrived at the end of the mine tunnel.
At the end of the mine tunnel is another huge cave, and it is larger than any previous cave.
The percussion sounds were close to my ears, dense and dense, but the rhythm was strangely uniform, like a machine.
The little werewolf Noah boldly stuck his head out, but when he saw the scene in the cave clearly, his eyes widened instantly, his expression fell into great panic, and he subconsciously wanted to scream.
However, he was quickly covered by Charlotte who took a step forward.
Charlotte looked more serious than ever.
Her eyes fell on the cave.
In the cave illuminated by the bright mithril veins, miners whose bodies had long since rotted one after another were wielding mining tools and chipping away at the mithril ore.
If you look around, there may be thousands of them!
Their eyes were empty, flashing with faint green fire, and behind them, mountains of mithril ore were being pushed by mine carts and transported deeper into the cave.
Charlotte looked deeper, her scarlet eyes filled with light.
In an instant, her pupils began to dilate, and her iris also expanded, soon covering her entire eye.
【Eagle Vision】
This is one of the innate magics of the wildness among the blood tribe's innate magics that she learned after destroying Bold's Blood Demon Order and obtaining the fragments of the holy book.
Under Eagle Vision, Charlotte's already sharp vision became sharper and clearer, and she saw the scene at the end almost instantly.
It was a huge workshop hidden in the darkness.
One undead after another mechanically operated various instruments and worked tirelessly.
On one side of the workshop, there are mountains of mithril.
…
At the same time, there was a gentle knock on the door of a room in Castel's mining workshop.
"Come in."
A lazy voice sounded in the room.
The door was pushed open, and a middle-aged steward wearing a robe walked in.
If Noah were here, he would probably recognize that this steward was the mine steward Maher, who was on good terms with the old werewolf Logan, who often opened back doors for demi-humans and turned a blind eye.
It was he who had just allowed Charlotte and others to enter the mine.
He came to the desk and said respectfully to the shadow in the dark:
"Master, your sacrifice has arrived."
Hearing this, the shadows in the darkness slowly turned.
A pale face was revealed, with red eyes like lanterns in the darkness.
"Are they the three werewolf miners from last time?"
The lazy voice asked calmly.
The middle-aged steward Maher hesitated for a moment and said:
"Only one of the three came today. The other two didn't come. There were new people."
"It's been replaced? Then why are you still looking for me? Aren't you afraid that I will eat you?"
The lazy voice suddenly became louder, slightly dissatisfied.
The middle-aged steward's face turned pale.
He gritted his teeth and said:
"Master, although the people have been changed, after they entered the mine, I got reports from some miners. I'm afraid they... are all extraordinary people!"
"Extraordinary?"
The lazy voice finally raised some interest.
"I know, you did a good job, go down and receive the reward."
He said calmly.
The middle-aged steward showed joy and resigned, and the shadow in the darkness also stood up, completely revealing his true appearance.
It was a dark-haired man wearing a black robe.
His arms were covered with black scales, and there were a pair of black dragon wings behind him.
I saw him licking his lips, with a trace of bloodlust in his eyes, and chuckled:
"A transcendent who wants to steal mithril..."
"Haha, I haven't tasted the taste of extraordinary blood for several days."