Imperial Crown

Hearing Raven's question, Eric's old face suddenly blushed: "...Mr. Gordon told me to find a way to urge you. It's better to meet the envoy of the Slater family as soon as possible."

"But what I said is sincere! I definitely don't mean to deceive you!"

Raven smiled and shook his head: "Okay, I don't blame you."

"The holiday will end tomorrow. You can directly integrate the soldiers and organize them into four teams. Take the time to re-train them."

"Yes! Baron!" Eric stood up and saluted.

Looking at Eric's back, Raven shook his head.

He understood old Gordon's thoughts. This retainer certainly didn't want him to offend the Slater family.

But Raven also had his own calculations.

First, his soldiers needed to rest. It would definitely affect their morale if they had just finished a war and had to take people away.

Second, that was political considerations.

Raven had just returned from the bloody highlands and had barely breathed a breath. If he rushed to see that "Eberron", it would seem too much of a dog.

One knows his own business. The soldiers under Raven's command are indeed elite, but firstly, they are too few in number, and secondly, they lack extraordinary skills. Throwing them into a war involving thousands or tens of thousands of people, they can't even make a splash.

If the Nord Province relies on a small baron like him to turn the tables, it would be better to die, so that he can turn around and surrender to the hand of death.

On the other hand, if the Slater family is really in danger, then it is even more necessary to have a good tone. There are not many opportunities to bargain with the nobles.

After sitting for a while in a daze, Raven stood up and went straight to the dungeon.

The environment in the dungeon is similar to before leaving, but it has been cleaned up by someone, and it looks cleaner. The lingering bloody smell has also disappeared.

His fingers touched the belt, and a light flashed, and a box appeared in Raven's hand.

It contains the second-level magic core looted from Heleti.

The first-level magic core has already strengthened Raven's body to the limit and can no longer produce any effect. Now, it depends on the effectiveness of the second-level magic core.

After preparing the crystal bottle, Raven chose a second-level bloody magic core. He squeezed his fingers slightly, and the magic core broke, and the rich energy flowed.

If the energy contained in the first-level magic core is smoke, then the second-level magic core is mist, which is more condensed and has a better texture.

Relatively speaking, the essence of the corrupt soul is more and more concentrated.

Taking a breath, a silver light flowed in Raven's eyes. Under the operation of the Eye of Truth, the scarlet energy mist in the air poured into the center of his eyebrows, and the essence of the corrupt soul flowed into the crystal bottle.

A red mark spread out between Raven's eyebrows. At this moment, Raven felt that a piece of iron was printed on his forehead!

The defense line maintained by mental power almost collapsed.

The intense pain was fleeting, and then the burning sensation spread from the center of his eyebrows, crawling over every inch of Raven's skin, and the tingling sensation spread, as if a group of ants were climbing and biting along the capillaries!

Raven could only breathe calmly, his chest rising and falling greatly, digesting this feeling.

Perhaps because he was now a magician, Raven could clearly feel that his body was changing under the influence of these energies.

The muscles were torn, bleeding, and then healed again under the influence of energy. Although the appearance did not change, it contained more powerful energy than before.

The inner wall of the blood vessels was thickening, the heartbeat was slowly slowing down, and the blood pumped out was getting more and more, making the blood flow in the blood vessels like a flood washing through the ditch.

The bones also became tighter, and the small gaps and cracks were gradually healed. If it was like a tree trunk before, it was now like a smooth jade.

"Hu..."

Raven felt much more relaxed as he opened his mouth and spit out a slightly bloody turbid air.

He thought of the witch, the prophecy made by "Anno".

Raven was originally unwilling to believe this kind of thing, but Lux's prophecy could indeed be said to have come true, and Anno even showed a power beyond his understanding. If he didn't believe it, it would be a bit self-deception.

Anno calculated that as long as he left the Bloody Highlands, he would definitely face a life-and-death crisis, which he dared not take lightly.

But Anno would never have expected that he had the Eye of Truth and could use the magic core to strengthen himself, right?

The card "Death" can certainly refer to death, but in Raven's view, it is more about the "Hand of Death" cult.

Thinking of this, Raven touched the second second-level magic core, but he finally loosened his fingers.

More haste makes waste. If he couldn't withstand the energy of the second magic crystal and exploded and died, it would be too funny.

Turning around and leaving the dungeon, just as he opened the door, a fat face suddenly appeared in front of Raven.

"Oh my god!" Raven was almost startled, and only felt relieved when he saw that it was Weisdong: "What are you doing here?"

"I'm waiting for my elder brother." Weisdong licked his lips and smiled flatteringly: "There is something that needs your approval."

Raven closed the door of the dungeon and walked upstairs: "What is it?"

"It's...it's..." Weisdong followed Raven and scratched his head with his left hand: "Look, when will I get the three thousand gold coins?"

Raven was stunned: "What three thousand gold coins?"

"It's...didn't we say before that whoever is the vanguard will be given three thousand gold coins." Weisdong looked at Raven's face carefully.

"Oh! This, I remembered it." Raven had a look of surprise on his face. However, just when Vesdon was ready to receive the reward, Raven's face became serious again: "No."

"Ah?" Vesdon's face was full of disappointment: "Why, brother!?"

"You've just turned fifteen, why do you need so much money?" Raven said matter-of-factly: "And it's so chaotic outside now. I'll give you these three thousand gold coins, where will you spend them? All of them will be thrown at the Pink Mansion?"

"This..." Vesdon was speechless for a moment.

Raven's expression softened: "Weisdong, it's not that I don't want to part with these three thousand gold coins, it's just that you are too young. Giving you so much money will only hurt you!"

"Well, let me save these three thousand gold coins for you first. I won't take the interest. I will pay them back to you when you get married."

"Ah?" Vesdon's eyes widened and he didn't understand everything.

Isn’t my money stored with you? Why should I pay you interest?

"If you don't have any money now, here it is." Raven counted three copper coins from the purse, took Vesdon's hand and patted his palm: "No, take it to buy something to eat!"

After saying that, he turned around and walked upstairs.

Three thousand gold coins turned into three copper plates. Vesdon was about to cry without tears. He looked at Raven's back and then at his palms. He sighed helplessly and put the copper plates back into his pocket.

It’s better than nothing!

After such an episode, Raven's mood improved a little.

I thought nothing would happen today, but as soon as I returned to the study and wanted to do a little processing of documents, I saw Margaret standing in the corner of the room, her head lowered and her hair hanging down, as if she was a woman under a lamp. Ghost style floor lamp.

"What are you doing standing there? Turn around."

Margaret's voice was buzzing: "...I don't dare."

"Turn around." Raven emphasized again.

"Then, please don't blame me, Lord Baron." As a warning, Margaret moved her ankles and then slowly turned around.

Even though he was mentally prepared, Raven was almost scared out.

The skin on Margaret's face seemed to have melted, and the corners of her eyes and mouth drooped, revealing large patches of red. Her eyes almost disappeared, but her big mouth looked extremely ferocious.

Raven's eyelids twitched: "...you took a bath with holy water?"

Margaret shook her head quickly: "No, Lord Baron, I just..."

Seeing this, Raven quickly moved his eyes away: "You'd better turn around first, I have to eat tonight."

Margaret's face moved back to the corner, and she began to introduce aggrievedly what happened to her.

It turned out that Margaret felt tremendous pressure and strong impact just last night when Raven worshiped his ancestors.

She also knew that Raven went to worship his ancestors, and she guessed that this behavior aroused the curse on Raven, and thought that as long as it passed, it would be fine.

But she didn't expect that although the strong feeling at that time had passed, the power of the curse that flowed to her by the way would still linger, making her almost exhaust her own energy before she finally managed to digest it, but in doing so It also damaged her origins and caused her strength to drop a lot.

Although it has not fallen back to the first level, this skin is about to be unsustainable.

"This... I can't help you." Raven shrugged: "How about you make do with it first, so you don't see many people?"

Raven felt somewhat regretful that Margaret's strength had been damaged, but he would not feed his subjects into Margaret's mouth just for this reason.

"Sir, you can help me." Margaret whispered: "And only you can help me with this matter..."

Raven became wary: "What exactly do you want?"

"...Rotten Soul Essence."

As soon as these four words came out, Raven's pupils suddenly tightened, and he looked at Margaret with evil eyes: "How much else do you know?"

Margaret realized that she had touched Raven's secret, and said tremblingly: "Lord Baron, I just accidentally discovered that you... can separate and store the rotten soul essence from the magic core. I have never told anyone Said it!”

Raven's face turned pale, Margaret was completely under her control, she couldn't lie to herself.

"Don't mention it to anyone in the future." After giving a simple instruction, Raven asked: "What effect does the rotted soul essence have on you?"

"That's it, Lord Baron..." It was a secret of her own that Margaret didn't want to say, but since Raven asked, she had to tell it.

Except for divine-blood witches like Anno, most witches, like Margaret, are born with strong negative energy.

This energy can also be used to cast magic, so it's okay to call it "magic", but its essence is closer to fighting spirit or the innate energy of Warcraft.

The rotten soul essence is one of the negative energies, and it is very pure. It is a fatal poison to humans, elves, orcs and other living creatures, but it is a very precious tonic to witches or undead creatures. .

That's why Margaret asked Raven for help, because she needed to use rotted soul essence to replenish her origin.

After weighing it for a moment, Raven took out a crystal bottle from his belt and threw it at Margaret's feet: "Take it."

Margaret quickly leaned down and held the crystal bottle tightly in her hands.

She put her nose close to it and took a deep breath. Suddenly, a purple-black breath flowed out of the crystal bottle and penetrated into Margaret's facial features.

"Ah——"

A soothing sound flowed out from Margaret's throat, and the "painted skin" began to stick back at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Although it has not reached the level of lifelikeness before, it is much better than the old face that looks like a melted candle.

"You can take this bottle of corrupt soul essence first." Raven lowered his voice: "But you are not allowed to show it in front of anyone, and you are not allowed to use it on anyone behind my back."

"Yes, Baron." Margaret bowed, with a smile on her lips, and turned to say goodbye.

"Wait." Raven called her: "How much do you know about the elves?"

"Not much, Baron." Margaret replied seriously: "But the curse on you does come from the elves, this is absolutely true."

"... Go down."

Margaret retreated, sat at the desk, opened the dictionary written in Elvish, and her eyes fell on the line of "curse".

The Elvish explanation of this word is: a spell with endless hatred and malice activated at the cost of soul and life.

Raven sighed.

There is still too little information on hand. I wonder if Lux has more books about the elves.

Just thinking about this, the door suddenly opened, and a strong rose fragrance came to his face.

Without even looking, Raven knew that Denise had arrived.

The white arm placed the plate in front of Raven and poured him a glass of Angel's Tears.

Raising the glass, Raven tasted it carefully.

The wine was mellow and smooth, and the rose scent in the air made Raven relax, and a smile appeared on his lips unconsciously.

Denise's voice sounded from behind: "I came to deliver dinner to you personally, and you just drank?"

"No, I didn't drink wine." Raven shook his head slowly: "I drank the night."

"Night? What night?" Denise was puzzled.

Raven smiled:

"Miss your liquid."

...