Imperial Crown

On December 3, 1193 in the Guangming calendar, at nine o'clock in the morning, the weather was cloudy and the north wind was howling.

Outside the Eagle Castle, there was a group of 200 pack horses, crowded together, carrying food and military supplies tied with sacks and ropes on their backs. Each horse had a load of hundreds of pounds, and when they gathered together, it was a spectacular sight.

Passing through this group of pack horses, you can see a more orderly, more high-spirited, and stronger group of war horses.

They were wearing black cloth vests with eagle patterns embroidered on them; they snorted from time to time, and hot air kept coming out of their mouths and noses, which was blown away by the north wind.

Beyond the war horses, there were three neatly arranged square formations. The recruits held their own weapons and wore heavy cotton robes. Under the cotton robes were newly made half-monster leather armor.

Their red faces were nervous and serious, and there was a trace of anxious confusion. They were all worried about their future fate.

In front of them, Eric, wearing full helmet and armor, stood like an iron tower.

On the periphery, there were many people who came after hearing the news. The front row was Denise and Old Gordon, followed by Philip and some big merchants in the town of Shining Gold, and further back were the people who came to watch, mainly private soldiers and the families of the personal soldiers.

Click, click, click...

The crisp sound of horse hooves rang out, and in the direction of Eagle Castle, the herd of horses automatically split open a gap, and a two-meter-high, snow-white warhorse walked out slowly.

On its back was a knight wearing jet-black leather armor. The leather armor was plain and simple, but it reflected a metallic luster, which was completely different from ordinary leather armor.

On the knight's shoulders was a snow-white fur cloak, which fluttered in the wind like a flag.

His face was three-dimensional and cold, and his black eyes were as sharp as an eagle, making everyone who was swept by his eyes consciously lower their heads.

Behind him was a dark red blood-eyed warhorse, and Nancy was riding on it. Although her expression was serious, her eyes were filled with uncontrollable excitement.

Wesdon, who was also riding a blood-eyed warhorse, lagged behind Nancy by half a body length.

He was wearing a polished enchanted chainmail, holding an enchanted half-sword with his prosthetic hand, and holding the reins with his other hand. His face was tense with excitement and nervousness.

After that, there were Raven's personal soldiers, a total of 19 people, all riding semi-magic beast warhorses strengthened by magic cores. Simon and Volaf, who were at the front, were wearing plate armor and chain armor respectively, and the 17 people behind were all wearing gray-black semi-magic beast leather armor.

The horses stopped and Raven pulled the reins: "Eric, how are the preparations going?"

Eric stepped forward, pounded his chest with his right hand and shouted loudly: "The first battalion of the first legion of the Eagle Army, the three battalions, a total of 108 people, are all here!"

"Please give the order, Lord Baron!"

"Very good!" Raven nodded, his eyes passed Eric and fell on the soldiers of the first battalion, raising his voice: "I know that you all want to ask the same question in your heart now: where are we going?"

"Now, I will answer you."

"The goal this time is the bloody highland!"

Although they were deeply disturbed by the news, four months of military camp life and nearly half a month of intensive training still allowed them to maintain a high level of discipline.

There was no noise or movement, the soldiers looked at each other, and saw fear and panic in each other's eyes.

They had heard the news a long time ago, and they all had guesses in their hearts, but when they heard the answer in person, they were still quite afraid.

Bloody Highland!

That was the lair of horse thieves and bandits, the most dangerous place in the world.

And Raven was actually going to take them to that evil place.

This uneasy mood spread quickly, and Raven saw this. He asked loudly: "It seems that you have different opinions. Who will stand up and talk to me?"

The soldiers looked at each other, and many of them cast their eyes on White.

This kid was the recruit who made a big fuss last time and caused the whole team to run and vomit.

But White lowered his head and would never be the first bird to stand out.

Although he knew that the baron was very tolerant, he deserved to be beaten to death for the mistake he made last time, but in the end he only made him run more than 20 laps.

This was of course very painful, but it was much better than being beaten to a disability.

Seeing that White was not going to take over, the soldiers began to exchange glances with each other again.

The baron has always been open-minded, and now is the best opportunity to persuade him to take back his decision.

Finally, a soldier who looked to be in his thirties stood up: "Baron, I think you should think about it again. Bloody Highlands is too dangerous."

"Last year, a group of bandits came in. The ironworker Mai Lin, a two-meter-tall strong man, was killed by a knife! We are definitely not their opponents!"

"Very good, very good, so that's how it is." Raven nodded slowly.

Everyone thought that Raven would consider accepting his advice or find a way to communicate with him.

But the next moment, Raven's right hand suddenly raised, uttered a few strange syllables, and a ball of fire condensed at his fingertips.

Just when everyone was shocked and didn't know what Raven wanted to do, the fire broke through the cold air and slammed into the soldier!

"Ah——"

The fire rose, and the man screamed miserably and fell to the ground. The raging fire wrapped him up, burning his cotton robe and penetrating his leather armor.

He rolled and struggled on the ground, and the sound reached every soldier's ears, but no one dared to take any action. Even the few closest to him did not look at him straight in the eye.

All the soldiers of the first battalion were pale, and they stood straighter, not daring to move.

At this moment, they realized that Raven's magnanimity and kindness in the past were all illusions. He had a heart as cold and hard as stone!

The baron's order was unquestionable!

Especially White, his palms were full of sweat, his heart was beating very fast, and he felt a sense of excitement of brushing shoulders with death.

"Well done!" Nancy said in her heart.

Raven's move today was very much in line with her appetite.

Nancy had felt that Raven was too tolerant of these guys from serfs before, and he even let them make any comments.

To deal with these guys from the lower classes, this should have been done long ago!

She was even eager to try. If there was another guy who didn't know how to live or die, she would take action.

Eric's face was stern, and the screams in his ears made him realize the Baron's determination again.

He did not sympathize with the soldier because he violated a taboo that should never be touched-

The Baron's dignity should not be violated!

You know, the Baron killed his uncle Donald with his own hands!

Weisdong's heart was even more complicated. On the one hand, he really realized how tolerant Raven was to him. He interrupted the training and only shaved his scalp.

On the other hand, he laughed at the new recruit for not seeing the situation clearly and not knowing how terrible Raven would be when he was ruthless.

He still remembered the arrow that Raven shot at him when the bandits attacked the city!

Philip secretly swallowed his saliva, and the flame of ambition that had slightly expanded because of taking over the town of Shining Gold was extinguished in an instant.

The screams gradually disappeared, and only a burning charred corpse remained on the ground.

"Now, does anyone have any objections?" Raven's voice resounded throughout the venue.

This time, no one spoke.

Raven snorted and suddenly changed the subject:

"He said that he had seen the brutality of the bandits with his own eyes, so he couldn't go against them."

"If you ask me, this is called shamelessness!"

"You were civilians before, and it was understandable that you were timid, but now, you are soldiers!"

"Obeying orders is your duty; fighting the enemy is your responsibility."

"You are afraid before the battle, are you worthy of your status?!"

"If you don't go now, do you have to wait until the bandits attack next year, and then you will cry bitterly when you see your trampled homes!?"

He swept his eyes over the soldiers, and they all lowered their heads, and no one dared to look at Raven.

Taking a deep breath, Raven said loudly:

"So, I'm going to take you to fight today!"

"If they can come to rob us, we can rob them!"

"Wash your shame with their blood and build your honor!"

This speech was deeply engraved in the hearts of everyone present, and the emotions in their eyes were surging and changing, each different.

Excited, self-blame, angry, disdainful...

The only thing missing was fear.

The originally stiff atmosphere, low morale, and scattered thoughts were gradually pulled back and twisted into a rope again.

"Now, I want to ask you." Raven took a deep breath and shouted loudly: "Are you all ready!?"

"Ready, Lord Baron!" Eric was the first to respond.

"Ready, Lord Baron!" Gore, Link, and Mosingan followed closely.

"Ready, Lord Baron!!!" The soldiers shouted in unison.

"Humph, not bad!" Raven laughed and ordered:

"Raise the flag, get on the horse!"

Upon hearing this, Weisdong hurriedly took off the battle flag on the side of the horse and held it up with one hand. With the sound of fluttering, the black eagle battle flag with a red background fluttered in the wind!

The soldiers rode on the prepared war horses under the leadership of their respective captains. They were not qualified knights, but they could still march on horseback.

When they all got on their horses, old Gordon removed his guard and asked their relatives to come forward and serve them a last bowl of wine before leaving.

This is the tradition of the Nord Province.

It is not Angel's Tears, but a beer with a higher degree and better body warming.

Denise looked at Raven with a complicated expression, then walked to the side of Weston's horse and handed over the wine glass in her hand.

Weston took the wine glass and smiled apologetically when he remembered what happened yesterday: "Mom, don't worry, I will be fine."

Denise's eyes suddenly turned red, and she nodded gently: "Well, take care of yourself."

Nancy had no family present, and it was Jenny who brought her the wine. The maid was too short and had to stand on a stool to deliver the wine to Nancy.

She whispered, "Miss Nancy, if you are not feeling well, remember to come back and I will make your bed."

Nancy wrinkled her nose, "Oh, you are really, I will not be a deserter."

It was his wife who brought Eric the wine. Unexpectedly, she was well-maintained, which showed that she had not been treated badly. She looked at her husband with worried eyes.

She came up and shook Eric's hand tightly, then took the wine glass from their son Tony and put it in her husband's hand.

Eric said to his son in a deep voice, "Take good care of your mother."

It was Lux who brought Raven the wine for the ceremony.

In the cold weather, she was wearing a priest's robe that seemed a little thin, holding the wine glass in both hands:

"Don't forget, you still owe me two thousand gold coins."

Raven took the wine glass and said with a smile: "Then you should pray to the Lord of Light to protect me."

The time to say goodbye always passes quickly, and relatives reluctantly leave amid the urging.

Drums sound.

Old Gordon raised his glass and shouted loudly:

"Ad victoriam!"

This is an old proverb from Nord, which means——

Invincible!

The farewell relatives jointly expressed their blessings:

"Invincible!"

In the midst of this slogan, everyone raised their glasses and drank the ale.

The hot wine entered the throat, and the eyes of all the soldiers began to become firm.

Led by Raven, they turned over the wine glasses and then all threw them to the ground!

Raven raised his arms and waved violently:

"Set off!"

He swung the reins, waved the whip, and drove the horse to gallop away.

Behind him, the war horses raised their hooves and followed closely. The sound of horse hooves sounded intensively, and the horses rushed like a tide!

It wasn't until long after the soldiers left that the crowd slowly dispersed, and Denise returned to Eagle Castle with Angel's support.

Without Vesdon and Raven, Eagle Castle was only missing two people, but it seemed empty.

"Go down, I want to stay by myself for a while." Denise said.

"Yes, ma'am..." An Qi turned around and left.

After opening her door and entering the room, Denise threw aside her high-heeled boots, revealing the flesh-colored stockings inside, and immediately put on a pair of slippers to cover them up.

Pushing the door with a bang, she took off her fur coat and threw it on the bed, shook her waterfall-like hair, unbuttoned her belt and let her petticoat fall to the floor.

A feeling of relaxation and emptiness came to her mind. Denise bit her lip gently, her consciousness suddenly went blank. She was stunned for a while before she started to untie her waist.

Wearing only close-fitting clothes, she walked to the window and looked at the gray sky and turbid land. Denise poured herself a glass of Angel Tears. She didn't drink it, but just stared at the deep purple wine and fell into deep thought.

She thought of Wei Dong's words again, with a trace of tears in her eyes: "The child is getting older..."

When thinking of Vesdon, one cannot help but think of the culprit who brought him to the bloody heights——

Raven.

Denise now couldn't see through Raven's intentions more and more.

Did he take Vesdon to the Bloody Highlands to take advantage of this opportunity to get rid of Vesdon, or did he really have a deeper meaning?

It wasn't that Denise was deceiving herself, but Raven's layout ability forced her to think deeper.

Using Donald's death to create a trap, her greed forced her to jump.

At that time, Denise only thought Raven was crazy enough, but the various things that happened after she spoke out made her gradually change her opinion of Raven.

Trap Anderson and take back Goldshire.

What shocked her the most was Raven's treatment of Judra.

When he was still extremely poor, he thought of using gold coins to win over and control Judra.

And it actually succeeded.

Compared with Raven, who was just twenty years old, Judra, who was thirty-five, looked like a child.

She didn't see the urgency of this action at first, but now the results are starting to show.

The most threatening nobles around the Eagle Territory are the Wharton family. Seizing Judra's handle is equivalent to planting a nail in it that cannot be pulled out.

In this way, Raven can safely go out with all his troops, leaving only some militiamen who have been recruited for less than half a month, without having to worry about possible small moves of the Wharton family.

This kind of foresight reminded her of Raven's previous change in attitude towards Vesdon.

Even before the announcement of the attack on Bloody Heights, Raven's attitude towards Vesdon had already improved.

I'm afraid that from that time on, he has already reached this point.

Denise herself, on the other hand, was still ignorant, unaware of Raven's thoughts and Vesdon's changes.

Denise crossed her legs, hooked her toes on her shoes, swayed, and sighed:

"I am not unjust for losing to you."

She took a sip of Angel Tears, and the feeling in her heart became more and more complicated.

On the one hand, she was extremely dissatisfied with Raven's behavior in coaxing Vesdon into the battlefield; on the other hand, she had to admire Raven's careful thinking and deep thoughts.

Perhaps, under his leadership, the Griffith family can really shine with new glory.

"I really want to see your future achievements."

Denise picked up Angel's Kiss, applied a drop of perfume to her wrist, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes:

"So, you must return victoriously."

…