Imperial Crown

Thank you very much for the 2 rewards from Qidian Dad [Fish Questioned by Water]!

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Peter is just one of the people in Eagle Town, and there are many people like him.

The next day, he still couldn't ask for leave, and Eagle Town, like him, was running in an orderly manner according to the existing rhythm.

As the registration work for Griffith Comprehensive College was gradually completed, Eagle Town had about 600 more foreign families, most of whom were businessmen, and a small number of knights who were unsuccessful under their respective lords.

With the children here, it is inevitable that part of their respective industries will be moved here. Although they were unable to fully digest the consumer market that expanded after the competition, there was no wave of unemployment that Fiona was most worried about.

The time came to January 1, 1197.

Raven officially turned 24.

At noon, he had lunch with Nancy, and in the afternoon, he took a bath, changed clothes, and prepared himself. It was not until the sky was about to get dark that he drove to Eagle Castle under the escort of a team of personal soldiers led by Eric.

It was the annual day of ancestor worship again.

According to the tradition of Nord Province, nobles can only worship their ancestors by the current head of the family, and spouses and children are not eligible.

If they are not heirs, they can only enter the cemetery after death.

Eagle Castle is still the same as before, but it is much more deserted - after all, since moving to Eagle City, there are only a few guards left to take turns to guard it.

Raven originally planned to transform it into his own wizard tower, but after all, this is the ancestral land, so he gave up in the end.

Ordering everyone to guard outside, Raven took Eric into the hall. Margaret and William were already waiting here, and they immediately saluted together: "Master!"

There were two muffled voices beside him: "Baron Raven!"

Turning around, it was Mark and Doug.

Their hair was still long, their skin was pale, and their eye sockets were a little sunken, but after shaving their beards and being able to wash freely every day, they didn't look so miserable.

After the two prisoners were emptied of Eagle Castle, although they still couldn't leave here, their range of activities was also larger.

Raven nodded casually, came to the corner of the first floor, turned on the mechanism, and soon the empty corridor appeared in front of everyone.

Stepping into the underground, the cold and slightly turbid air gradually floated up, and the sound of footsteps echoed in the empty cemetery.

The environment of the cemetery will never change, but every time he comes here and looks at the coffins of his ancestors, Raven will have some different feelings.

Walking to the end of the cemetery, he came to the source of his bloodline-Don Quixote Ota Griffith, the tomb of a powerful man who was once as high as the seventh level.

Lighting the torch, Raven cut open his palm as usual, dripped blood into the wine, and then picked it up and drank it all.

Every time he worshipped his ancestors, Raven would think of the blood curse wrapped around him, and every time he would be reminded of how much life he had left.

In less than 16 years, when he was 40 years old, the blood curse would follow.

But this is not completely without a solution.

Earlier, at a banquet during the competition, Anthony mentioned that every 10 to 30 years, the Keynes Empire would send a group of envoys to the ancient forest to visit the Elf Empire.

Many of the specialties of the Elf Empire are circulated through this channel.

Including the root of life in Raven's hand.

What really makes all the nobles covet is the sixth-level material - life juice.

As long as you take it, you can extend your natural lifespan by 8-15 years.

Its function is not only to prolong life, but also to make a person's body younger.

Maybe it can fight against the blood curse, so that Raven has a chance to breathe before he can really solve it.

The opportunity to go to the Elf Empire is very rare. Only those above the rank of Imperial Earl are eligible. Each person can only bring two followers, and there is only one chance in a lifetime.

Marquis Anthony has not been there yet, and he is also qualified to bring people there.

Undoubtedly, he is hinting to Raven not to stand on the wrong side.

Now that Anthony left in anger, it cannot be said that it had nothing to do with Raven, but Raven did not play a decisive role. Even if Anthony wanted to hate him, he would not hate him.

And Raven would not completely pin his hopes on Anthony - only when he became the earl and strived to obtain this qualification, would he be really sure.

Earl... I don't know when I can reach this position.

I hope that day will not be too late.

At this moment, a violent vibration sound came, echoing throughout the underground cemetery, shaking the dust on the wall and making the air more turbid.

A soldier strode in and knelt down to report: "Baron, there was a large-scale explosion and fire in the direction of Eagle Town. It should be caused by human beings!"

"Human beings...?" Raven frowned slightly: "What is the scale?"

The soldier's tone trembled slightly: "It's very large. It can be seen clearly in Eagle Castle. Only a strong man above level three can cause such damage!"

A trace of doubt came to Raven's heart-who attacked Eagle Town, and why did they choose this time to do it?

"Eric, you take people over immediately, deal with the situation, seal off the scene, and send someone to report to me at any time!"

"Yes, Baron!" Eric saluted heavily, then turned and walked out of the room.

When Eric came out of the dungeon, even though he was prepared, he was still shocked. He saw a raging fire in Eagle Town, just like a huge bonfire, and the ashes fell like snowflakes under the firelight.

"The first team, stay where you are and protect the baron; everyone else, follow me!"

The explosion caused chaos among the residents of Eagle Town. The streets were crowded with people, crying and screaming. Some of them obviously rushed out of the fire, with burn marks on their bodies. When asked, they cried and couldn't even speak a complete sentence.

Eric had to order some people to maintain order, and sent others to the military camp to mobilize people for support. He separated the crowd and rushed to the center of the fire.

The fire started in the Crystal Palace, as if it was ignited by firewood from the inside. The whole building was wrapped in flames, and there was a tendency to spread to the neighboring buildings.

Such a large-scale explosion, of course, also attracted the attention of the Eagle Eye Guards, who had already come to the fire scene. Thor was delighted to see his father coming, and hurriedly asked: "Father, we have blocked the surrounding streets. What should we do next?"

Eric glanced at him: "There is no father and son here."

"Immediately dispatch all Eagle Guards to lead the entourage to block key streets and maintain order."

"Kill those who disobey orders! Kill those who dare to take advantage of the chaos to rob! Kill those who dare to spread rumors to confuse the public!"

"Take people to the Paramount Hall, evacuate the people, cut off the passage between the Crystal Palace and the fire to prevent the spread!"

Thor's face was stern, and he immediately saluted and said: "Yes, Sir Knight!"

After arranging Eric's order, Thor immediately led the team to the Paramount Hall not far away, but not long after rushing in, he screamed and rushed back in the crowd.

Seeing his miserable appearance, Eric frowned: "Why are you panicking!?"

"Undead, there are undead!!!!"

Before he finished speaking, a group of skeletons rushed out of the Baile Hall amidst a heart-wrenching scream.

They were wearing worn-out and rusty armor, their bones had turned yellow, and their skulls were burning with gray or white flames.

They were all cannon fodder and first-level skeletons.

They were not slow in their pace. Once they caught up with the chaotic crowd, they would immediately swing their weapons and chop them down.

The rusty blades tore open the clothes, chopped into the body, and after stirring, they would use weapons to drag out the internal organs, and then continue to make up the knife, splashing the sticky blood and squirming internal organs all over the ground until the people on the ground were motionless.

And their skulls without flesh and blood would open wide, and they would laugh silently amid the sound of bones rubbing against each other.

However, the Hawkeye Guards were indeed the best of the best. Even the followers were still organized to fight against this tragic situation. However, they lacked actual combat experience and were killed by the skeletons, leaving behind corpses one after another.

Eric's eyebrows trembled slightly, and his fighting spirit rose. He grabbed the rusty weapons in the hands of the skeletons and flew in front of him. Then he raised his hand and waved it. The silver fighting spirit was crisscrossed, and these weapons sank into the heads of their original owners.

Just like cutting wheat, they fell down immediately.

"Don't panic, switch to blunt weapons and hit the head." Eric shouted: "Hold on, if you let them go, you won't have enough heads!"

Thor's face flushed red, knowing that his father was silently instructing him, he gritted his teeth, picked up a wooden stick from the roadside, and returned to the team: "Everyone, follow me and guard the door!"

But the skeletons did not only appear in this place, screams rang out everywhere, and many skeletons were rushing out from the shadows around the Crystal Palace, and even Eric could not completely stop them.

This scale of unrest must be the work of the Death Hand Cult, and there must be a necromancer nearby!

Damn, where is that guy hiding! ?

A fire-colored spear passed by Eric and nailed a first-level skeleton to the ground, and then the flames surged up, engulfing all the skeletons within a few meters around.

Link rushed to Eric: "The first to fifth battalions of the Eagle Army are all in place!"

"You've arrived just in time. Take people to clear the skeletons on the street immediately. I'll go find that damned one--"

Ah--

Eric hadn't finished his words when a sharp howl like a ghost suddenly sounded. Eric looked in the direction of the sound, and his pupils suddenly shrank.

It was Eagle Castle.

Damn it, I've been tricked! ! !

...

Time went back to 20 minutes ago.

The fourth-level necromancer Impir was shrouded in a gray-white robe and came to the outside of Eagle Castle.

He held a bone staff in his hand, and a gray gem was held in a palm bone at the top of the staff.

The skin on his arm was dry and thin, and even blue-black blood vessels could be seen.

Under his hood was a stiff face like a corpse, with deep eye sockets and a mop-like dense and messy gray-white beard under his jaw.

He gently opened his mouth, revealing his yellow teeth and a cold smile.

He had come to Eagle Town as early as last year, but the competition was still going on at that time, and there were too many strong people gathered here, so he chose to hide.

As time passed and the heat of the competition passed, it should have been time for him to take action, but Raven moved into Eagle City again - even for him, attacking such a magnificent fortress alone was a foolish dream.

So he must continue to endure, and the endurance finally brought rewards. Raven left Eagle City and returned to Eagle Castle.

Although Raven took Eric with him for safety reasons, Impil was not an idiot and deliberately caused chaos in the Crystal Palace in order to weaken the guard strength around Raven.

Now it seems that he succeeded.

"Go ahead, my little darlings."

He waved the staff in his hand, and gray-white death energy surged out like clouds and burrowed into the ground. The next moment, white bones with blue flames burning in their pupils broke through the soil and stood upright.

Although the armor on their bodies is rusty, it still shines with magic luster, and the weapons in their hands are even more breathtaking, making them absolutely extraordinary at first glance.

These are 13 third-level skeletons, which are also the wealth accumulated by Impil in the past hundred years!

The guard standing on the city wall immediately realized something was wrong. He reached into his arms to get the fireworks warning and shouted loudly at the same time.

But at this moment, a skeleton silently jumped onto the wall and slashed with the long sword in his hand. The guard only felt his arm go cold, and then saw his arm falling to the ground with blood spurting out.

He opened his mouth to shout, but the skull sword swung again, cutting into his skin and severing his throat, and he could only make a sizzling sound like a ball leaking air.

The body fell to the ground with a muffled sound and blood flowed into a pool.

Almost at the same time, eight sentries on the city wall fell to the ground dead.

This movement immediately attracted the attention of the soldiers guarding the gate of the castle. Volaf looked at the empty city wall and suddenly shuddered.

"Enemy attack - protect the Baron!!!!"

Raven's personal guards lined up at the entrance of the hall.

The next moment, skeletons leaped down from the city wall, and the cold light of the weapons in their hands made every guard feel like a light was shining on their backs.

The eagle feather sword in Volaf's hand emitted an icy cold light. There was no shouting or howling, and the 13 skeletons pounced on without emotion.

The soldiers formed a formation, which was the result of countless trainings, but it seemed so vulnerable in front of these third-level skeletons.

A soldier suddenly saw the tip of a sword appearing on the shield. Amidst the harsh sound of metal cutting, before he could react, the sharp blade cut into his palm without any hindrance.

There was a slight sound of tendons snapping, and the shield split into two, falling to the ground along with his four fingers.

The grey-white undead vindictiveness wrapped around him, causing his arms to begin to rot, fester, dry up, and turn into a death-like color. This vindictiveness snaked all the way up, making his whole body decayed and fragile until he could no longer withstand the weight of the armor. , scattered on the ground with a crashing sound.

Another soldier swung his sword forward, but the long sword in his hand only bounced off the opponent's armor in vain. His own chest had been cut open by the oncoming scimitar. The armor broke, and his internal organs burst with a pop. Steaming heat poured all over the ground.

Almost in the blink of an eye, all the comrades around him had died in battle.

"Damn skeleton...!"

Volaf waved his long sword, ice-blue fighting spirit winding on it, roaring and slashing towards the skeleton in front of him.

In a daze, he seemed to see a hint of amusement in the empty eyes of the skeleton in front of him.

The skeleton swung the sword with his backhand, and the gray-white undead fighting energy flowed, cutting Volaf's sword into two pieces, and then cut through the armor without any hindrance and sank into his chest.

When the blood spurted out, it began to decay and turn black, and the cold feeling spread. Volaf felt that his body was weak, the sword in his hand fell with a clang, and he knelt on the ground with his knees.

The long sword slashed across his neck.

Volav's head was thrown high, then rolled to the ground with a thud, and he died with his eyes open.

The skeleton who killed Volav kicked over his body and was the first to rush into the hall.

At this moment, blood burst into the hall and rushed away, sending the skeleton flying backwards.

Its speed was no longer slow, but the bloody whirlwind that followed was faster. It rushed in front of the skeleton, protruded its sharp claws from the whirlwind, grabbed the skull's head, and slammed it to the ground.

It was difficult for the sharp claws to penetrate its hard bones. William let out a low roar, and the blood rushed into the claws, dispersing the death fighting spirit overflowing from the skull's head, pouring into the skull, and blasting it to pieces.

Shaking the bone residue from his hands, William showed up and said, "Hey, a group of enslaved people, being put in the same category as you, is really a shame to my blood clan."

Before he finished speaking, two more third-level skeletons were slashing at him with swords. William jumped up lightly, dodging the blades, and then more skeletons came up to attack them.

The blood-colored figure wandered back and forth in the courtyard. Even though William also had the third level, he was very agile as a vampire. Skeletons were always weaker than creatures of the same level, but the blood energy that specifically targeted living creatures was difficult to exert against a group of dead people. With 12 soldiers besieging them together, although William would not be defeated, it would be difficult to achieve anything for a while.

More importantly, there must be a Necromancer behind these skeletons. There is no reason to hand over all the cards here.

"Hey, damn bitch, why don't you take action?"

William shouted.

Before he finished speaking, the 12 third-level skeletons that were besieging him suddenly stopped in place. Then half of them suddenly turned around and attacked their companions, cutting down 3 skeletons in an instant.

Margaret Shiran walked out of the hall, her long hair flying, and the Holy Emblem of Death on her chest shining with misty light. It was obvious that she had taken away the control of the skeleton with the help of this holy object: "Don't worry, the guys behind these skeletons are not good. It will take me some time to deal with it... Wow!"

A puff of black blood suddenly spurted out from Margaret's nose, and the control of the skeleton she had just obtained changed hands again. The impact on her soul made her mentally disturbed, and she subconsciously grabbed the Holy Emblem of Death:

"Who is it!?"

Impil's body surrounded by the dead white air slowly floated into the door, and an old, dry sound like iron friction sounded: "Oh, it seems that I guessed it right, the Holy Emblem of Death is really in the Eagle Territory! "

"Pali Hill, you betrayed my lord!?" His eyes first fell on the Holy Emblem, and then he saw Margaret: "No, no, this breath... you are a witch, you have occupied Pa Li Lisiel’s body?”

"Interesting, interesting. A baron from the Cairns Empire actually raised a third-level witch and a third-level vampire." Impil chuckled, looking past Margaret and landing on Raven On the body: "It seems that this time, not only can I take back the Holy Emblem, but I can also plant a deep nail for the Holy Religion in Nord Province."

"Baron Raven, I can give you a chance to dedicate your loyalty to the Holy Religion. Our Lord will definitely be able to protect you from the crisis of the blood curse and enjoy eternal life!"

Grabbing the Holy Emblem of Death in his own hand and asking for the belt in the space, Raven looked calm: "I never make deals with heretics."

He has no moral obsession and has no faith in the Church of Light. He will not refuse to cooperate with the Order of the Hand of Death because of this - but even if he cooperates, it will be on his own initiative rather than signing an alliance under the city.

"superior!"

After Raven gave the order, William's heart suddenly trembled, a pair of bat wings came out from under his ribs, the nails on his hands grew wildly, a bloody halo wrapped around his body, and turned into a scarlet whirlwind and rushed straight towards Impil!

Skeletons are nothing to fear. Only by killing this necromancer can this crisis be ended.

Although he lost his True Ancestor Blood Core, William was able to control blood energy without any burden, and his combat ability was not reduced but increased compared to when he fought Raven.

The scarlet whirlwind bypassed the remaining nine skeletons and rushed to Impil's back. The speed was so fast that even the dust raised when it started did not fall to the ground.

Magician? So what if it's level four? As long as it's close, it's meat to be slaughtered.

William didn't believe that every mage had a strong body like Raven.

Impil did not. He didn't even have time to look back. He just lightly stomped the staff on the ground. Then William saw a woman rising from behind Impil.

She has hair that is as wet as algae, her eyes are pure dead white and have no focus, her face is extremely pale, and her body is even more illusory and formless.

Third level magic, Banshee’s Howl! ?

A trace of alarm arose in William's heart, but it immediately evoked a sneer. Even if the Banshee's Howl had an effect, he was confident of ending Imperial's life before then.

Stretching out his sharp claws, William thought he could easily penetrate the banshee in the soul body state, but when he stretched out his palm, it seemed as if he had plunged into a thick swamp. The raging death air roared in, making his palm feel like it was soaked in It started to fester like sulfuric acid.

William was horrified and wanted to retreat, but the banshee opened her mouth wide and howled suddenly.

"ah--!!!!!"

The shrill scream echoed in the castle, instantly shaking away the scarlet wind, and as the image of the banshee became blurred, a seemingly non-existent white bone shadow grabbed William's arm and clung to his body.

A trace of panic arose in William's heart. He did not expect Impil to be so cunning. The Banshee's Wail was only used to confuse him. The real killing move was the fourth-level magic Embrace of the Dead hidden in it!

William fell to the ground, and half of the white bone shadow attached to his body was embedded in his chest. The skin festered, rotted, and was constantly filled and replenished. It looked like a phantom that kept playing repeatedly.

Margaret also took action.

A large-scale third-level magic like Banshee's Wail is extremely lethal to first- and second-level supernatural beings, but it is not too serious for third-level magic.

But Margaret also knew that facing a fourth-level necromancer, the necromancy magic she got from Parisiel was useless, so she used the curse technique inherited from the bloodline at the beginning.

The black air flow rushed out from under her skirt, and her long legs wearing garters between the flying robes were particularly eye-catching.

This did not affect the skeletons that were charging towards them with their teeth and claws, but the thick black energy turned into thick black thorn vines, binding 9 third-level skeletons in them with a sticky sound that sounded like the friction of scales.

Skeletons are not living creatures, their joints are more flexible, and the undead fighting spirit is constantly rising, eroding the vines, and constantly wielding weapons to cut down.

Margaret's face became increasingly gloomy. While maintaining control, she took out a dagger.

At this moment, William on the ground let out a shrill scream and tore off the flesh on his chest with his own hands. The flesh turned into a pile of rotten, dirty and stinky meat when it hit the ground.

William's chest was exposed with white bones wrapped in fascia and a vigorously beating heart. Although he was seriously injured, he was freed from the clutches of the dead, and then he suddenly swept his claws over Imperial's heels, with a sound like defeat, Not even a trace of blood flowed out, only a bit of gray flesh hanging on his fingertips.

Impil frowned, and as soon as the staff in his hand vibrated, a black energy rushed towards William, but this time it was in vain.

William turned into a whirlwind and flew back to Margaret, putting the bit of flesh and blood into her hands.

Margaret stuck out her tongue and swallowed the piece of meat, then slowly raised the dagger and stabbed herself hard in the chest!

call--

A strong gust of wind blew by, causing Impil's robe to rise up. A gap opened in his chest, and then gray flesh burst out from it.

This is already Margaret's strongest method, the curse of death, which requires three stand-in puppets to be cast, otherwise it will be her own life.

"Well done." Impil suddenly sneered, took a deep breath, and a thick mass of dead air overflowed from between his skin, as if a ball of moist starch enveloped his entire body.

Margaret's hand suddenly froze, her wrist couldn't help trembling, and the three straw puppets she wore around her waist were filled with black smoke, but the dagger in her hand could no longer be stored at all!

Looking at the tragic scene in front of him, Raven frowned slightly and quietly took a step back.

From the performance point of view, it should be the third-level necromancy magic "Styx Soul Mud", but its intensity is far beyond what this magic should be!

Is this the magic engraved by Impil?

"Well……"

Margaret's voice was as sad as crying, and black energy surged around her body, but the dagger in her hand could not penetrate even a little bit!

Finally, with a bang, the hard edge of the dagger suddenly shattered like glass, and then spread to the entire dagger, causing Margaret's hand to drip with blood!

The black energy suddenly dissipated, and the vines that originally bound the nine third-level skeletons were also eliminated.

Driving nine third-level skeletons to approach, Impil stepped forward, casting a shadow on the ground, shrouding Raven: "Baron Raven, your courage is worthy of praise, but excessive courage can only be reckless."

"Now, I give you one last chance."

"Hand over the Holy Emblem of Death!"

Before Raven could reply, a sound of horse hooves came galloping from far to near.

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