Imperial Crown

"You go down first."

Raven waved, Patty nodded and saluted, and left first.

It wasn't until Patty's figure disappeared and there was no one in the corridor that Raven said, "Tell me, what is it?"

Simon looked serious: "Lord Baron, I want to report Chief Eric for using power for personal gain!"

"On the day of the decisive battle in the Bloody Highlands, when selecting the vanguard, Chief Eric arranged the drawing of lots, but in fact he had secretly pressured us and colluded to cheat."

“Every ball of paper that was drawn at that time had a mark on it!”

“Sir Eric’s move is just to make Master Weston die!”

Simon's muffled voice echoed in the corridor, full of anger and dissatisfaction.

The air was as heavy as lead, and Simon waited nervously for Raven's response.

However, after a long silence, Raven just looked at Simon deeply, then turned and left.

"Big..." Looking at Raven's back, Simon still wanted to speak, but he only uttered one word and could no longer speak.

He suddenly felt a chill.

Could it be that Lord Raven knew this a long time ago? Could it be that Lord Raven arranged all this?

But that is the Baron's younger brother after all, so how could...?

On the other side, Raven had already caught up with Petty who was waiting downstairs, and walked downstairs together.

He was not surprised at all by Simon's report.

If you didn't say it, it wouldn't be Simon.

And he also believed that this did not require his own warning or admonishment. Simon was not a talkative woman and would not talk nonsense.

The entrance to the cemetery is located on the edge of the first floor of Eagle Fort, and Old Gordon is already waiting here.

Behind him are three servants, each holding a bronze plate in their hands. On the plate are a jar of wine, a short knife, and a bronze urn.

"Lord Baron." Old Gordon saluted respectfully: "Everything is ready."

Petty retreated voluntarily, and Raven walked up to Old Gordon: "Let's get started."

Old Gordon nodded, took out the bronze urn from the plate behind him and put it into the groove on the wall.

With a click, the wall vibrated, and the bronze urn slowly sank into it. With the sound of the bricks rubbing against each other, the wall separated, revealing a deep passage.

The decaying air came to his face with the smell of dust. What caught Lei Wen's eyes was a passage with stone stairs extending all the way down. The ancient patterns should have been carved on it, but they had become blurred under the erosion of time. clear.

"Lord Baron, please." Old Gordon handed a burning torch to Raven's hand.

Taking the torch, Raven put it close to the ditch on the wall. The flames ignited the grease inside, and two flaming snakes suddenly ignited on both sides of the corridor.

After walking down the stairs for more than sixty steps, I finally arrived at the tomb.

This underground cemetery is three meters high. There are thick granite pillars at regular intervals. There are braziers on the pillars. When Old Gordon led the servants to light the braziers one by one, the full view of the tomb finally appeared in Raven's eyes. In front of you.

The length of the stairs was enough to exceed Raven's expectations, and the scale of the cemetery exceeded his imagination.

It's almost like a football field was opened underground.

Stone coffins that almost reach the ceiling of the tomb stand on both sides. After a long time, the sarcophagi are covered with spiderweb-like dust, and the coffin lids are carved with the appearance and image of the owner.

After these coffins, there are also some coffins lying on the ground, those belonging to the spouses of past family heads.

These ancestors of the Griffith family were all wearing heavy armor and holding giant swords in both hands, as if they were seriously examining those who came after them.

If it weren't for the fact that he had become a monster and lost his qualifications, Donald would have been buried here.

Raven took a gentle breath and straightened her waist. Under the influence of the environment, a trace of solemnity and solemnity unconsciously rose in her heart.

"Lord Baron, please." Old Gordon bowed and held his hand.

Taking steps towards the inside, the sound of footsteps echoed clearly in the empty cemetery.

Raven's eyes fell on the sarcophagi on both sides. The giant sword sculpture on the coffin lid was engraved with the name, title and life of the owner of the coffin.

The further back you go, the rougher the style of the sarcophagus becomes, the more clumsy the armor style, the more words on it, the richer the deeds, and the higher your personal strength.

Most of the ancestors at the entrance were at the second to third level in strength. Going to the back, their strength was at the fourth or fifth level, and their achievements became more and more detailed, from killing a certain monster to defeating a certain legion head-on.

It is like the precipitation and condensation of thousands of years. While showing the changes of the times, it also allows Raven to intuitively feel the history of the Griffith family from prosperity to decline.

Every ancestor has never lived past the threshold of forty years!

After walking through a long passage, Raven finally came to the tomb of the founder of the Griffith family.

On the blue-gray coffin, the image of this ancestor is clearly visible.

The shape of the armor is not the heavy plate armor today, but a metal breastplate and skirt armor cast in one piece. The muscle lines on the thighs and arms are rough and clear. He holds a round shield in one hand and a spear in the other. He is stepping on a The blood-soaked corpse of the orc roared loudly!

Don Quixote Horta Griffith, seventh-level bloody knight.

He was born in the 170th year of the Guangming calendar and died in the 221st year of the Guangming calendar.

At the age of... fifty-one years old!

Raven's pupils suddenly shrank. This was the first time he saw one of his ancestors live beyond forty years old.

The curse may have begun to spread from this ancestor.

His eyes fell on the tombstone, examining the life of this ancestor.

Born as a slave, he joined the army at the age of fourteen. As soon as he went into battle, he showed a very high fighting talent, killed three enemies, and was awarded the God-given potion for his merits, becoming a first-level bloody knight.

At the age of nineteen, he was promoted to the second-level extraordinary and was awarded the title of knight.

At the age of twenty-one, he served as a centurion.

At the age of twenty-four, he was awarded the baron, and his own strength reached the third level, becoming a thousand-man leader.

At the age of thirty-one, he participated in the third orc war, broke through to the fourth level on the battlefield, defeated the enemy with fewer people, and completely wiped out three thousand-man orc teams. He was ordered to become the commander of a 5,000-man legion.

At the age of thirty-three, he participated in the "Havarian" battle, led his team into the orc formation, forced the orc commander to flee, defeated the orc army, and was awarded the viscount. In the same year, he was promoted to the fifth level.

At the age of thirty-six, he was promoted to the sixth level.

At the age of 38, he served as the marshal of the Western Route Army of the Empire, attacked the Orc Empire, annihilated the main force of the Western Orcs, bought time for the Central Route Army, and was promoted to Earl.

At the age of 51, he died in Eagle Castle as a baron.

"This is..." Raven frowned: "Gordon, why is there a thirteen-year gap in the life of this ancestor?"

"Master Donald also asked this question." Old Gordon adjusted his monocle: "My answer at that time was I didn't know."

"What about now?"

"Now..." Old Gordon glanced at the servants on both sides, and waited until they had all left before lowering his voice: "I can only provide some irresponsible guesses."

"Go ahead."

Old Gordon swallowed his saliva, his voice low and erratic: "Ancestor Don Quixote, whether in terms of personal strength or merit, is enough to pass down a family business at the earl level, but in the end he died as a baron in this remote place of Eagle Territory."

"All this is probably because the ancestor committed a serious crime, a serious crime that cannot be recorded in history and cannot be known by anyone."

"And..."

At this point, Old Gordon's voice paused.

"And this serious crime is likely related to the royal family." Raven had no expression on his face.

Old Gordon lowered his head and kept silent.

The reason why he came to this conclusion was because Raven knew that the contributions made by his ancestors were too great.

The third war between orcs was about nine hundred years ago. After that war, the human race drove the orcs to the peninsula in the south of the continent, and since then, the human race has established its dominant position on the continent.

Being able to serve as the commander-in-chief in the final decisive battle, his achievements need not be said much. Raven could hardly imagine what kind of serious crime caused such a meritorious minister of the empire to be demoted to the level of baron!

With the status of a military earl, if the punishment is unfair, it may even lead to a rebellion!

But the ancestor actually accepted the punishment, and the king did not kill them all, leaving the inheritance of the Griffith family.

Therefore, Raven judged that the royal family was involved.

But where did the curse come from?

"Nine hundred years ago..." Raven muttered this time, his mind working rapidly.

Suddenly, a detail emerged in Raven's mind.

Lux once told him that although the elves had sealed themselves off, they had communicated with the outside world for a long time, and even appeared as an ally of the human race in the Third Orc War.

The accessories, magic props, and equipment of the elves that are now circulating among the human race all came out during that period.

After the Third Orc War, the elves really began to isolate themselves and never communicated with the outside world again.

This seems to have nothing to do with the ancestors, but Margaret once said that the curse on her body was very much like the handwriting of the elves.

Raven originally thought that this was just Margaret's illusion, but now in connection with the life of the ancestors, Raven's heart began to waver.

Could it be that... after the ancestors defeated the orcs, they had any intersection with the elves?

"Continue the ceremony."

Raven's current strength is not enough to enter the Ancient Forest.

But in the future, one day, Raven will definitely go there and ask for the answer clearly!

Old Gordon placed the wine jar respectfully in front of Don Quixote's tomb, and held the dagger in both hands and brought it to Raven.

Raven picked up the dagger and gently cut his palm. Blood gushed out and fell into the wine jar, turning into clouds of blood. The wine was boiling and blood smoke was spreading.

The next moment, blood-red light flowed out from the wine jar, and Don Quixote's coffin began to vibrate. The eyes on the coffin lid were covered with a layer of blood-red light, as if they suddenly opened their eyes.

The whole cemetery seemed to start shaking, dust peeled off, and blood-red light seeped out from each coffin, gathering on Raven like fireflies, and then penetrating into it.

Raven seemed to clearly see the embodiment of the curse, and the scarlet energy spider web enveloped him around him, constantly washing his body!

At the same time, Margaret, who was in the room, suddenly jumped up and fell on the bed, her tongue sticking out, her hands digging at her throat, but she couldn't even breathe a little air!

The invisible connection between her and Raven suddenly tightened!

It was not until a few minutes later that the force finally disappeared. Margaret lay on the bed, sweating profusely, her eyes were dull, and she had no idea what was going on.

At the same time, in the underground cemetery, Raven finally understood why the Griffith family's successive heads awakened bloody fighting spirit.

Because the curse that has been passed down for nearly a thousand years has penetrated into the bones of every member of the Griffith family and profoundly changed their physique.

Raven picked up the wine jar. Obviously no one drank it, but at this moment only a thin layer of wine was left.

Raven looked up and drank it. He felt as if he was not drinking wine, but a mouthful of sticky blood!

At the same time, he also clearly felt his remaining life.

Nineteen years, less than nineteen years.

No wonder Donald went crazy like that.

Every year, he was reminded that his time was running out. It was really not easy not to collapse when he watched himself walk to the end of his life step by step.

After the worship was over and dinner was over, Raven returned to his room and began to meditate as he had to do every day.

However, for some reason, the meditation was interrupted by sleepiness, and a picture suddenly broke into Raven's mind.

Shouts and killing followed.

…