Imperial Crown

The sharp claws on the bone dragon's limbs were nailed into the city wall. Its back was high and its head was drooping. Its mouth, like that of an ancient giant crocodile, opened wide and its deadly white dragon breath roared out like a thick cloud!

More than a dozen defenders on the city wall were frightened by the dragon's might. They stood there trembling. Under the dragon's breath, their armor and weapons decayed and shattered. Their flesh seemed to have experienced the baptism of time. It first became shriveled and wrinkled, and then turned into ashes. They didn't even have time to scream before they turned into charred bones.

They were lucky.

Because the dragon's breath did not stop, the blazing white flames rushed into the city wall, and large pieces of bricks broke and shattered, turning into dust all over the sky. Every inch of the gap was filled with dragon breath from the inside out, trembling and roaring, and then collapsed in all directions!

The debris stained with dragon breath flew, and the power was even more fierce than the catapult. As long as it touched a little, the defenders would break bones and blood would fly.

Unfortunately, these people were not fatally wounded and could not die immediately, but the dragon's breath was like a ulcer attached to the bones. Once it touched them, it would spread all over the body, corroding their skin, flesh and even souls. The screams were so miserable that even ghosts would have nightmares.

Whoosh——

The bone dragon flapped its wings and soared into the sky. The strong wind swept across, blowing up a large amount of smoke and dust.

Raven's heart was beating wildly, and he immediately turned his horse's head: "Retreat——"

At this time, rushing to the inner city would be giving the bone dragon heads and achievements.

Shedding blood for the Slater family? What a joke!

In mid-air, the bone dragon turned back, and the empty eye sockets looked at Raven and his party.

The perspective of undead creatures is different from that of living people. What he sees is not the appearance, but the life energy under the skin.

A few first-level and one second-level are not worth Lord Gregory's energy.

The bone dragon named Gregory flapped its wings and looked around the sky above the inner city.

The inner city, which is less than one-tenth the size of the outer city, is built on a hill. The wall is nearly twice as high as the outer city. There is a vertical drop of nearly 20 meters from the wall to the ground. Even if the undead army piles up at the foot of the city, they can't climb up.

The only access is a ramp in the southwest direction, which is enough for five or six carriages to be parked side by side. At this moment, it is full of undead armies, but they are suppressed by the guards on the wall and can't move forward at all.

It depends on me, Lord Gregory!

Today he appeared here at the request of Sachni to break through the gate of the inner city.

Flapping his wings, Gregory sped up and rushed to the city gate, but he was in a bad mood.

Although it has been more than half a year since he was revived, this body of bones still makes him quite uncomfortable. Every time he flies from a high altitude, the feeling of the airflow blowing through the bone seams makes him very uncomfortable.

He wants flesh, he wants the majestic dragon body full of muscles and scales, not this dry body of bones!

He bet that no female dragon would like this body.

Even if he liked it, he didn't have the tools to commit the crime now!

Ultimate Transfiguration, Prayer, Advanced Shaping, these magics can improve his current situation, but Gregory now only remembers the names and has forgotten how to use them.

Long ago, when he was still alive... when he was alive...

The memory began to blur. Whenever this happened, Gregory would become irritable, and today was no exception.

On the ramp leading from the inner city to the lower city, the skeleton soldiers were crowded there. Under the guidance of the Plague Colossus, they wanted to break through the city gate, but the defenders on the top of the city resisted their offensive.

Kerosene, crossbows, and magic bombarded each other, like a noisy stage play, and like two groups of ants fighting for territory.

Gregory became more and more irritable, the dragon breath brewing in his chest condensed in his throat, flapped his wings and swooped down, aiming at the inner city gate and swooping violently!

The huge body brought wind pressure. Before the dragon body arrived, the strong wind had already blown the defenders on the city to stand unsteadily. Combined with the dragon's might, under the shadow, some defenders had already jumped off the city wall in panic.

Diving to the edge of the city wall, Gregory opened his huge mouth, and the deadly white dragon breath gushed out!

At this moment, a knight in black armor suddenly jumped up, six or seven meters high, holding a flaming giant sword in his hand, burning with a blazing lavender fire flow all over his body. Under the surging fighting spirit, the flame on the giant sword has turned purple!

Level 3 Flame Knight!

The giant sword slashed in the air, and the lavender flame drew an arc of light, meeting the gushing dragon breath!

This is exactly the combat skill that Fire Beard used before, the Flame Slash!

Now in the hands of the Level 3 Flame Knight, this combat skill is even more powerful. The blazing purple fire is like a long sword, trying to split the dragon breath in half!

However, the dragon breath almost swallowed up the purple fire without stopping, washed over the third-level knight, blew out his protective flame, and imprinted the whole person on the city wall. When the dragon breath swept over, only a black mark was left on the ground!

The dragon breath was like a carving knife, inserted into the brittle and thin city wall, and then cut it horizontally!

The dead white jet spread along the city wall. For a moment, whether it was the city or the city, the living or the dead, they were all swallowed up by the dragon breath.

The terrifying impact force caused the bricks and stones on the city wall to collapse, and the earth trembled at this moment.

This dragon breath lasted only more than ten seconds, but it wrapped the hundred-meter-long city wall in dead white, and then-it collapsed!

The defenders on the city wall were thrown away like stones, and the undead creatures under the city wall were destroyed by the soul fire one after another, turning into a pile of bones.

"Ang——"

There was another neighing sound. Looking at the destruction he had caused, Gregory's depressed mood was not relieved at all, but he only felt more and more hungry.

He drew an arc in the sky, flapped his wings, and suddenly picked up a defender in his mouth. The armor was broken between his sharp teeth, and the blood spilled out, but he couldn't taste it at all!

Empty, hungry.

This feeling filled Gregory's consciousness. He shook his head and threw the corpse away. He flapped his wings and landed among the undead army. He opened his mouth and bit off the head of a plague-phobic colossus, violently absorbing its soul fire.

The green flames penetrated into the skull along the nostrils and overflowed from the bones, without benefiting Gregory at all.

Gregory waved his limbs like crazy, his tail swept around, and his huge body dashed left and right in the sea of ​​skeletons. Whether they were cannon fodder skeletons, first-order elites, undead cavalry, or plague colossi, they all turned into broken bones. , for a time all kinds of soul fires bloomed on the high slope like fireworks.

This scene made the defenders in the city dumbfounded.

Just when Gregory was so crazy that he could hardly contain it, he suddenly heard a voice: "Lord Gregory!"

Gregory looked over and saw a life form with the power of the dead rising in his body approaching him. The voice was very familiar, it was the "Soul Saint Saint" Pali Sil.

Just as she was about to rush forward and absorb the pure power of death, Parisiel suddenly raised a emblem with both hands.

This emblem is about the size of a plate, completely black, with a withered arm engraved on it with gold lines.

This is the emblem of the Order of the Hand of Death and one of the five sacred objects of the Order of the Hand of Death.

The energy emanating from it temporarily calmed Gregory's restlessness, making him quiet, and he made a gurgling sound in his throat: "Hungry..."

"Please take me with you." Parisiel said, "I will fulfill your wish."

Gregory did not refuse.

Parisiel took a deep breath, walked carefully to the bone dragon, climbed up along its huge front paws, and sat on the back of its neck.

The next moment, Gregory rose into the sky and flew towards the bone spire outside the city.

Parisiel swallowed her saliva and looked back at Gaopo behind her.

In less than two minutes just now, the nearly 100-meter city wall on the high slope has collapsed. There are countless casualties, and the originally dense army of undead outside the city gate has dented a large area, full of The ground was filled with broken bones.

For a moment, Parisiel was very glad that the Bone Dragon was on her side.

When she turned back, a crow flew past her in her peripheral vision, making Parisiel feel in a trance for a moment.

Should crows be around this season?

When he tried to pay attention again, the crow had disappeared.

Gregory flew all the way back to the Bone Spire and landed on the top of the tower. Now there were many undead creatures guarding the place. At this moment, affected by the increasing pressure, they all knelt down.

This is the instinctive obedience of lower-level undead creatures to their superiors.

"Let's start, don't make me wait too long!" Gregory said.

The voice was hollow but full of majesty. Parisiel nodded slightly, held the Holy Emblem in both hands, and recited the prayer in a low voice.

The bone spire shook, and the aura of the dead rose up, wrapping Gregory within it.

This made Grigory feel as relaxed as soaking in a hot spring, but it was of no avail to the hunger in his chest. It was like feeding a person who was about to starve to death grains of wheat, which only made people feel worse. Unbearable.

"not enough--"

Gregory shook his body irritably.

Parisiel trembled: "Please wait a moment."

As she spoke, the necromantic power in her body poured into her hands and wrapped the holy emblem. As she chanted strange spells, a little bit of silver light drifted out of it. For a while, various screams and cries sounded, and the sinister wind gusted. , as if reaching the side of the Styx.

This is the soul, the soul collected in this war.

These souls flowed into Gregory's nostrils and penetrated into his skull, calming down the restless soul fire in his eyes, and finally giving him a sense of satisfaction.

The body slowly relaxed, and Gregory's huge body entrenched itself on the top of the tower, falling into a deep sleep.

There was worry in Parisiel's eyes.

On the one hand, the bone dragon's combat power is extremely powerful, but it also consumes huge resources. It has swallowed more than 600 souls just now, which is a big hidden danger to the Holy Cult.

On the other hand...

How should I get down! ?

At the same time, in the Silver Hand Brotherhood headquarters in the old city of Menn City, Margaret also told Raven what the Bone Dragon had done before.

"Lord Baron, I think this is a good opportunity." Margaret said seriously: "I can help you conquer the bone dragon! Once this legendary creature is controlled, the entire Nord province will have to look at your eyes from now on. Act!”

Raven was noncommittal: "Can you really conquer the bone dragon? You can't even deal with me."

Margaret said: "That's different. The curse in your body, Lord Baron, is too magical. I can't resist it."

"But this Skull Dragon is different. He is a necromantic creature himself. He was born from a powerful necromancy spell, but it is beyond the control of his master. He is now more helpless than serving the Hand of Death. partnership.”

"Oh?" Raven became a little interested: "Tell me about it."

Margaret said: "This skull dragon is called 'Gregory' by Parisil, the soul master of the Order of the Hand of Death. I have heard of this name before, and it is indeed an adult dragon. Like all dragons, he was violent, irritable, lustful, and greedy for pleasure. He was seriously injured in the war for about 1,200 years and has never been seen again.”

"Many people thought that he left the mainland and went to the Kingdom of Dragons, but they didn't expect that he died."

"Even if this kind of adult dragon dies and is resurrected as an undead creature, even though its power is greatly reduced, its nature will never change and it will never condescend to mere humans."

"I didn't mean to offend Lord Baron." Margaret apologized quickly: "For legendary creatures like dragons, most races on the earth are just ants."

"And judging from his crazy performance today, he is not controlled by any contract - the Death Hand Order should have tried, but failed. With the strength of the soul of a legendary creature, it cannot be easily enslaved."

Raven slowly digested Margaret's words and asked a question: "Since the Death Hand Order that awakened it cannot control him, how can you do it?"

"It's not me, it's you." Margaret looked at Raven with piercing eyes: "Undead creatures have a plane of the undead suitable for their own survival, and if they want to stay in the material plane, although they don't need to drink water, they also consume a lot of energy. of."

"They consume the power of the undead, especially when the atmosphere of the undead is not strong in the environment. The higher the undead creature, the greater the consumption. Even the soul of a high-level creature like the Bone Dragon will Slowly dissipates, and the created undead does not have the ability to directly absorb souls. "

"And the Death Hand obviously has the ability to make up for the bone dragon's consumption." Raven said with a sudden look on his face: "That's why you said that Gregory cooperated with the Death Hand Order out of desperation."

Creatures naturally have the instinct to survive. If Gregory is awakened, he will of course avoid the end of death.

"But, what does this have to do with me."

Margaret said: "Essence of rotten souls."

"I told you before that the rotten soul essence is extremely pure negative energy, which can completely meet the daily consumption of undead creatures, and can even supplement Gregory's soul. This is a temptation that he cannot refuse."

"The Hand of Death is just a small trouble for the Cairns Empire. Gregory is a highly intelligent creature that knows how to judge the situation and continues to cooperate with the Order of the Hand of Death. It will only end up returning to the grave again."

"With the essence of rotten soul as bait, and your title and honor as guarantee, I believe he can clearly judge the situation."

Raven looked at Margaret with careful eyes: "This is indeed a good idea."

"But..." Raven paused and asked, "If you betray me, wouldn't it be a big loss?"

"No, Lord Baron, how could I betray you?" Margaret rubbed her hands: "Even the great divine blood witch Annuo favors you, how can I have the courage!"

Raven frowned slightly and tapped his fingers on the armrest, thinking about the pros and cons.

Judging from today's performance, the mental state of this bone dragon is really worth worrying about. If it can be subdued like Margaret said, even if it is just transferred away from the battlefield, it will be a good thing for Raven.

Now that he has accumulated a lot of rotten soul essence, he won't be able to use it for the time being, so it doesn't hurt to give some to Margaret.

Moreover, Margaret does not have the ability to extract the essence of rotten souls. If she wants to control the bone dragon, she cannot do without herself.

Even if Margaret finds some other way to appease the bone dragon, as long as she dares to appear around her, she will inevitably be controlled by herself.

At that time, even if Margaret wants to do something bad, it will never affect herself or the Eagle Territory.

Calculating this, the most it would cost is a few bottles of rotten soul essence and the loss of a witch.

But the profit is likely to be a bone dragon.

Worth doing!

"I agree to your request." Raven nodded and touched his belt, and immediately three crystal bottles shining with purple-black light appeared on the table.

It is the rotten soul essence. Each bottle is extracted from sixty or seventy rotten soul essences.

Margaret's eyes sparkled and she took the three crystal bottles into her arms: "Lord Baron, I will definitely live up to your expectations!"

Raven nodded: "Go ahead."

Margaret left quietly as if she had never been there.

At this time, Raven was not the only one secretly plotting.

The news that the inner city was breached quickly spread throughout Men'en City, and the thoughts of the nobles also came alive.

A small number of people have the mentality of gamblers. This is undoubtedly the time when the Slater family is at its weakest. Anyone who can go to the inner city at this time is simply bringing water to travelers in the desert. There is no doubt about that weight.

Most of them have made up their mind to stand still and wait for the Fox family and the Church of Light to come together. Even if they get less credit, their lives will not be in danger.

Raven shuttles between the villa and the military camp every day, and has contact with both kinds of nobles. If someone comes to ask for his advice, Raven will never reveal his position at all, and just wears the badge on his chest.

If someone wanted to charge, he expressed his full support and assured them that he would never steal the credit again; if someone wanted to stay, he also expressed his full support and assured them that he would never stand against most nobles just because of a medal and become a dog of the Slater family.

Time passed day by day, and soon it came to late April.

In the first spring rainstorm, the Governor of Nord Province, Montreal Shiva Fox, and the Cardinal Thomas of the Church of Light, led the army to the outside of Monen City.

Unlike the four temporary legions that were obviously a mob, the army of the Fox family was neat and tidy, with flags flying. Montreal's bright red fourth-level enchanted plate armor "Molten Embers" was emitting flames, and even the defenders on the city wall could see it clearly.

Almost without stopping, the army of the Fox family immediately launched a charge, led by Montreal.

With the assistance of "Molten Embers", Montreal was like a comet that no one could stop.

With the help of the divine arts of the priests, the army's offensive was overwhelming. In just half a day, they rushed into the gap opened on the city wall and divided the undead army inside and outside the city into two parts.

Count Montreal did not rush in. After entering the city, he immediately set up camp to rest and sent messengers to contact the inner city and the temporary army's stationing location.

By the evening, the camp had taken shape, and the messengers returned one after another, delivering their own news.

"Are you sure that this letter was handed to you by Tyrone himself?" Montreal stared at the messenger and asked.

...