Imperial Crown.

Chapter 274: The Fall of the Fox Family
Dark night, Fox Castle.

The Fox family dinner was as quiet as usual, with only the crisp sound of knives and forks hitting the plates.

Montreal enjoyed his dinner in a very methodical manner, his movements perfectly in line with aristocratic etiquette. Even the royal etiquette officer present could not find any fault with his behavior.

Gul'dan stood straight with his back like a proud rooster.

He was always very particular about his meals, and the maids he trained had sharp eyes and reactions, and had to always remember to wipe the sauce off the edge of the plate without disturbing him in the slightest.

Only Sanchi, the youngest son of Montreal, leaned his left hand across the table and let his right hand hang casually on the plate. He picked up a large piece of steak with a fork and stuffed it into his mouth, eating until his mouth was full of oil, and then washed it down with red wine.

So he eats the fastest.

Using a napkin to wipe the grease from his mouth, Sanchi stood up with dark circles under his eyes: "I'm done, father, brother."

As he said this, he pushed the chair and was about to walk out.

Gul'dan put down his fork, took the silk scarf handed to him by the maid behind him and wiped his mouth: "My dear brother, can't you spare some time to spend some time with your family?"

"My dear brother, look who is sitting here!" Sanqi stopped and turned back helplessly with a sneer, "An imperial earl, the first heir to the earldom. And what about me? My God, I have no official position, no title, and you want me to sit with these two big men. You should also consider my feelings, right?"

Gul'dan frowned and was about to reprimand his unruly brother, but Montreal put down his fork with a snap and said, "I have recently been discussing with Archbishop Thomas and have obtained an admission permit from him to Stormwind Seminary."

"Sanchi, are you interested in going over to take a look?"

Sanchi showed an extremely exaggerated expression of surprise: "Wow, Stormwind Seminary, that's really an amazing place. I heard that in the Kingdom of Lozeren, if you don't have a theology degree, you can't even inherit the family title!"

"My dear father, with all your arrangements, have you left me a piece of land in the Kingdom of Lozeren?"

Montreal looked Sanchi straight in the eye: "I am asking for your opinion now."

"Asking for advice?" Sangqi sneered, "Do I have the right to refuse?"

"But I still want to thank you for not informing me on the day of departure."

"Well, please forgive me for being so rude. I have to prepare for this cross-continental journey."

After saying that, Sangqi put his left hand on his chest, raised his right hand high, crossed his legs and squatted down to make an exaggerated farewell gesture, then turned around, opened the door and left the restaurant.

Gul'dan muttered, "This guy is getting worse and worse."

Montreal did not respond. After all, the Papal States was far away in the eastern part of the continent. Sanchi was going thousands of miles away, so why should he leave a bad memory before leaving?
And in the final analysis, Sanchi's becoming like this has something to do with his father.

Seeing his father remained silent, Gul'dan thought for a moment and changed the subject: "I heard that Raven successfully dealt with the minor civil unrest in Snow Maple County and has stationed troops in Kogar County. He can now be considered a powerful aid to us."

"You have a very far-sighted eye in choosing a husband for Nancy."

Montreal just nodded at the flattery, then suddenly asked, "Have you been in touch with Nancy recently?"

"No." Gul'dan shook his head. "But I heard that since she married Griffith, her bad temper has improved a lot. She organizes cocktail parties every once in a while. Not only Snow Maple County, but also many noble ladies from the five northwestern counties have attended."

"After all, it's the blood of my Fox family." Montreal's lips curled up into a smile.

The ability of a noble lady is reflected in establishing a social circle, and cocktail parties are the only way to build this network of relationships.

A long-term and stable social circle can provide strong help to the husband, whether it is collecting and exchanging intelligence or strengthening the relationship between aristocratic families.

For a baroness, being able to organize a cocktail party for the wives of knights in the territory is a basic requirement; being able to win over the wives of surrounding nobles is a skill; and for someone like Nancy, being able to attract the nobles of the entire county, or even the five northwestern counties, as a baroness is truly outstanding.

"The one in your family should learn more from Nancy on this point." Montreal nodded to Guldan and said, "After all, she will become a countess in the future."

Gul'dan looked a little embarrassed. His wife came from a viscount family and had been spoiled since childhood. She had no talent in socializing.

And he was quite jealous. Gul'dan would occasionally show up at a cocktail party, but if he looked at the ladies or girls for a few more seconds, he would quarrel with them for half a month over this matter.

But Gul'dan couldn't use this to complain to Montreal.

Just like the Fox family motto says, a noble who can't even manage his own family cannot manage his territory.

Gul'dan coughed to cover up his embarrassment and asked, "Speaking of which, Father, if Anthony comes back, how should we deal with him?"

"After the last competition, he should have known that our Fox family is deeply rooted in Nord Province and cannot be shaken by an outsider, even if he is the governor." Montreal said slowly: "Also, even though Slater has been silent, they definitely don't want another big shot to appear in Nord Province to put pressure on us."

"So, next, we have to deal with each move accordingly. If Anthony knows his limits, then we might as well give him some face; if he insists on suppressing us by force, we might as well back off, but if he goes too far..."

Gul'dan nodded slowly. He could now understand about 70% of Montreal's words.

The Fox family did not just focus on the province. Through clues, they also learned that the empire was planning a war on the northeastern border. The more times came, the more there must be no chaos within the empire.

The Fox family has the ability to stir up unrest in the Nord Province and completely destroy the entire province!

Therefore, if Anthony wants to stay in the governor's position for a long time and make some political achievements, he can't do without the Fox family. Even if there have been many conflicts before, he can only hold his nose and endure it.

Thinking of this, Gul'dan stroked the Hyperion's Hatred around his waist. He was looking forward to what expression Anthony would have when he saw the sword hanging around his waist.

"Father, I will take my leave now." Gul'dan stood up and saluted.

At this moment, a chaotic sound of footsteps came from outside the door, and shouts of killing could be heard from all over the castle.

With a bang, the captain of Montreal's personal guards broke open the door of the restaurant, howling: "My Lord Earl, there is a thorn——"

He choked before he could finish his words.

With a dull sound, a rapier pierced through his back and came out of his chest. Purple electric light burst out from the rapier and turned into a crackling electric net, completely covering the captain of the guards.

Green smoke rose from his armor, and the captain of the guards howled miserably. His eyes popped open, his skin and flesh were burnt and shriveled, emitting a foul odor, and then he fell to the ground with a plop.

The tip of the sword was retracted, and a man in a black robe appeared.

He was less than 6 feet tall, about 1 meters. He wore a black soft hat with a curly brim that held down his naturally curly long brown hair. He wore a black mask that barely covered the upper half of his face. Under the mask was a pair of mustaches with the ends curled into a swirl shape.

Nourishes—

The two rapiers in the man's hands overlapped, and a dazzling flash of lightning burst out: "Count Montreal, it is an honor to come and take your life."

"You can call me J. When you meet your ancestors, you'll have something to talk about."

"J?" Gul'dan sneered, "What an ignorant and fearless thief."

"Where do you think this is? This is Foxburg, the territory of the Fox family!"

Fiery fighting spirit gushed out from his entire body, outlining a human figure exactly like him behind him, and he suddenly drew out the rapier from his waist.

"Back off." Montreal said suddenly.

Gul'dan was stunned: "But father..."

The man who called himself J nodded and praised: "Haha, Lord Earl really has a good eye."

As he spoke, Gul'dan suddenly felt his whole body stiffen and all the hairs on his body stood up.

Then, a surge of electric light suddenly burst out from J's body, and a real human figure condensed behind him. The figure's face was blurred, and then it suddenly disintegrated and flowed onto J's body.

Just like a thick brush, the shattered shadows left streaks of light on his body. When the light streaks faded, silver snake-like lines appeared on his face and hands, pulsating with tiny electric light.

Gul'dan's pupils shrank.

Battle Mark, a fourth-level warrior! ?

Montreal was not to be outdone, with flames surging all over its body, from orange to dazzling white, then to dark blue, then slightly pausing at light green before transforming into misty purple!

The fifth-level flame fighting spirit spread out vigorously, and the fighting spirit quietly flashed behind Montreal, then opened its arms to embrace him, as if being washed in magma, flowing deep purple grooves on his skin, especially on his forehead, where a flame pattern with five flames emerged.

At this moment, J's body was covered with electric light and he turned into a bolt of lightning and rushed straight towards Gul'dan!

His figure left a scorch mark on the carpet, and Gul'dan could clearly see the fine hair of the carpet being singed into a red color and then turned into black carbon filaments.

But Gul'dan could not move his body, and could only watch the lightning getting closer and closer. His hair began to stand up because of the lightning, and he could even smell the smell of his beard being burnt!
However, the sword stopped firmly an inch in front of him.

J's feet were one in front of the other, still in a stabbing stance, but his body was pinned to the spot.

A python-like purple flame whip had been wrapped around his waist at some point, and the other end of the whip was firmly held in Montreal's hand.

Montreal raised his wrist and flicked the whip, which suddenly straightened up, lifting J's feet off the ground and slamming them against the wall, creating a human-shaped dent!
J coughed up a mouthful of blood and grinned, "Haha, I was originally thinking of killing Gul'dan first to give you a gift, but now it seems that I can't do it without killing you."

Montreal gathered his fighting spirit and tightened the whip in his hand suddenly, and purple flames burned along J's body.

A hint of satisfaction flashed in Gul'dan's eyes, but Montreal's face remained gloomy.

Just when his whole body was about to be set on fire, J suddenly opened his mouth and a bolt of lightning shot out of his mouth, transforming into three flying knives that suddenly broke through the air!

One was smashed by Montreal, but the other two suddenly cut off the long whip made of fire.

“Fifth, fifth level!? How could there be such a young person at fifth level!?” Gul’dan’s eyes widened, his heart in a panic.

Although this J covered his face, Gul'dan could tell that he was no more than 40 years old.

But the method of using fighting spirit to condense elemental weapons can obviously only be performed by a fifth-level strongman!
The severed flame whip exploded, igniting a thick smoke with purple flames in the house.

Montreal held a long sword in his hand, staring intently into the depths of the smoke.

His ears suddenly moved, and he slashed downwards at the void in front of him. There was no movement when he raised the sword, but when the sword tip fell, it clanged and cut out a rapidly flying dagger!

The rapier spun and fell to the ground, piercing into the floor. At the same time, another rapier flew out from the thick smoke. Montreal frowned and turned sideways. The rapier passed by him and was nailed to the wall behind him!

The next moment, a streak of lightning as thick as a water tank and shaped like a giant python rushed along the ground with a clang, sliding and sliding on the ground, and wherever it passed, it actually eroded a smooth and round dent on the hard granite floor!

Amid the sound of explosive lightning, the giant snake arched its body, suddenly jumped up, and came towards Montreal to bite!

Montreal took a deep breath, the tip of the sword was engulfed by purple flames and turned into a torch, and he slashed forward fiercely, just getting stuck on the fang!

boom--

The horrifying sound wave swept across the entire room with shock waves, the smoke and dust dissipated, the tables and chairs flew and shattered, the purple flames and the dazzling white lightning collided, and a sun was created out of thin air on the ground!
J's figure appeared in the giant python, with two daggers made purely of electric light in his hands, pressing against the long sword in Montreal's hand!

Although he was also at the fifth level, he was still too young. Montreal was confident that his fighting spirit was far superior to his, but for some reason, a smile suddenly appeared on J's lips.

hum! ! !
The two rapiers knocked down by Montreal, one fell behind him, and the other fell at his feet. At this moment, they suddenly buzzed, trembled, and flew up suddenly, with bright electric light, and suddenly pierced into Montreal's body!

One pierced his back, and the other penetrated his side!
"Explode!" J roared wildly, and the lightning that was originally surrounding him and formed the shape of a giant python dispersed, and flowed along the two rapiers on Montreal's body!

Montreal's eyes suddenly widened, and the fighting spirit in his body burned like never before, and the battle patterns on his body seemed to be deeply engraved into his skin!
The lightning and fire intertwined and collided, producing a violent explosion!

The aftermath of the explosion knocked J away, and before he could land, the devastated ground finally couldn't bear it anymore, and it cracked, shattered, and then crashed down!

In the ruins, J slowly stood up, the battle marks on his body slightly dimmed. He raised his arm to wipe the blood from his lips, and casually stabbed a maid who ran to him in a panic. He looked at the ruins in front of him, chuckled, and then cast his eyes on the corner.

There, Gul'dan was holding his chest, breathing heavily.

Falling from the second-floor restaurant to the first-floor lobby was not enough to injure a level-three Gul'dan, but the impact just now was deeply imprinted in his mind.

J condensed two daggers in his hands with lightning, kicked away the rubble in front of him, and walked towards Gul'dan step by step.

"...You, who are you?!" Gul'dan screamed, "Who asked you to come?!"

"Master Gul'dan, your memory is not very good. I told you my name is J." The man smiled softly: "As for who asked me to come - you can't even think of this, then you really deserve to die."

He slowly took a step forward, but it was this step that made his face change suddenly, and then he looked to the left in disbelief.

Right in front of him, the ground had turned into molten magma at some point, separating him from Gul'dan.

Following the magma back to its source, we saw Montreal, engulfed in flames, slowly rising from the melted boulders.

He didn't know when he had a set of plate armor on his body. The pure black background and the lotus-like patterns had now turned into a gorgeous purple and were burning brightly.

J's brows knitted tightly together: "Melting embers!"

He finally understood why Montreal was able to survive after being hit by his Annihilation Razer!

Standing up from the lava, Montreal reached out and pulled out the two charred and twisted daggers, threw them on the ground, and let the lava swallow them.

A trace of cold sweat flowed down J's forehead. A fifth-level warrior combined with a fourth-level enchanted armor is not as simple as 1 plus 1!
Electricity surged on his body and gathered on his feet. He slowly floated into the air, waiting for Montreal to make the slightest move so he could respond immediately.

Montreal moved, raising his arm and clenching his fist.

A hint of doubt flashed across J's eyes, but suddenly he saw the shadow in front of him become clearer than ever before.

He crouched down and lunged forward. There was a loud bang behind him. He turned his head and saw a giant flaming hand over 3 meters high slamming down on the place where he had just stood, creating a pool of molten lava!
If you stay any longer, you will die!
J's eyes were fixed on the window not far away, and his body was wrapped in lightning as he rushed forward.

A giant flaming palm condensed in front of him. J was prepared. He jumped up suddenly with his feet, but what greeted him was another flaming palm.

Snapped--

Lightning flashed, flames exploded, and J was slapped to the ground like a fly. Before he could struggle, the ground turned into magma and enveloped him.

The lightning fighting spirit condensed into armor on his body surface, protecting his life for a short time, but J could no longer escape because a giant palm was pressing on him, pinning him firmly inside!

Montreal condensed a purple flaming sword in his hand and walked towards J step by step, leaving a trail of burning footprints.

"Wait!" J breathed heavily, his eyes trembling, "Don't kill me, I can tell you who sent me!"

Montreal ignored it and loosened his hand. The purple flaming sword, driven by fighting spirit, turned into a meteor and stabbed towards J.

He had already guessed who had done it, so he couldn't leave anyone alive, not even a corpse.

But at this moment, a gust of wind blew in the hall, a cold wind.

It scraped close to the ground, and wherever it passed, the magma solidified, the flames were extinguished, and even the flame spirit on Montreal's body was weakened.

Everything surrounding J, the magma, the giant hand, and even the fiery sword that was about to fly over, were all wrapped in solid ice.

Da da da……

Following the sound of high heels, Gul'dan looked towards the door and suddenly froze in place.

What a tall woman!
She is 7 and a half feet tall, or about two meters.

On her head she wore a dark purple pointed wizard hat with a very wide brim, which looked just right on her head.

Not only was she tall, but she also had large facial features, her oval face had watery eyes, her lips were painted with bright purple lipstick, and her pearl earrings swayed with every step she took.

The soft wizard robe is also pure purple, with a low neckline, so exaggerated that it looks like a lactating mother animal. Even the mithril necklace cannot attract other people's attention.

Under the pure purple wizard robe, only the hem of the skirt that opened to the base of the thigh had a golden pattern, revealing extremely plump legs, and the edges of the black suspender stockings squeezed out a full curve.

The nails on her fair fingers were dyed purple. She held a wine bottle in her left hand, and in her right hand...

It was a head with a frightened look!

With a snap, the head was thrown in front of Monterey. It stopped after shaking a few times, and its dead fish-like eyes stared at Gul'dan.

Gul'dan's heart suddenly twitched, and unprecedented fear and anger exploded from his chest.

Montreal leaned forward and roared like a wild beast:
"Sanchi——"

Afterwards, no more human sound could be uttered.

"Q, you're finally here." J let out a long sigh of relief: "Huh, if it was any later, I would really be dead!"

"Well, I think I should teach you a lesson." A slippery voice flowed out from Q's plump lips, and the voice made people feel like a snake crawling on their bodies: "We agreed to sneak in secretly. Who asked you to make such a big scene?"

J spat, "Come on, if you weren't so obsessed with drinking that you couldn't even maintain your invisibility, would I have been exposed so early?"

Q did not argue, he raised his head and drank the last of the wine in the bottle, then threw the bottle to the ground and smashed it to pieces with a bang: "Angel's Tears... it lives up to its reputation!"

"Count Montreal, there is still not enough wine in your house..."

Before he could finish his words, Montreal suddenly roared, raised his hands high, grasped a purple flaming sword, and slashed at Q's head!

The sword pierced her shoulder and came out from her ribs.

Misty water vapor rose up, and with a bang, Q's upper body hit the ground and turned into broken ice.

"My Lord Earl, it is really rude to attack a lady by surprise." Footsteps sounded, and Q slowly appeared beside J, raised his hand and grabbed a dark purple staff: "I originally wanted you to spend more time with your family before you die, but now, I can only apologize."

She waved her staff and with a light tap, created an invisible crack in the air.

A wind as sharp as an ice prison blew up from the crack, and a pair of sharp claws made of ice stretched out from it, grabbed the edge of the gap, and then suddenly tore it apart!

A huge triangular head poked out from it, and the head alone was as big as a carriage!

A sense of despair began to spread in Montreal's heart, and he knew clearly what this meant.

Elemental Rift...

Sixth level magician!

"Run, run--" Montreal roared.

The roar woke Gul'dan, who was trapped in fear. He took a deep look at the head on the ground, broke the window, and jumped out without looking back!
Q's expression darkened, and he raised his staff and pointed it at Gul'dan's back. A cold light condensed on the tip of the staff, and a thin silver line was drawn to chase after him.

But just as the light was about to fall on Gul'dan's back, a giant flaming palm lifted up the floor and blocked its path.

Galala...

The light fell on it and instantly disappeared without a trace, replaced by thriving solid ice that almost covered half of the hall!

"Don't just stand there." Q glanced at J coldly: "You can't deal with Montreal, Gul'dan is in your hands."

J jumped up from the ground: "Don't worry..."

After saying that, he rushed out of the hall with lightning wrapped around his body.

However, the figure of Montreal stood in front of him like a city wall!

"Armengo!" Q gave an order, and the frost beast that had already struggled half of its body out of the crack suddenly opened its huge mouth and roared out a gust of cold wind!
The tiniest water vapor in the air was precipitated at this moment, turning into a cloud of ice chips that blew towards Montreal in the biting cold wind. The light of the molten embers on his body was suppressed, and streaks of ice began to spread and grow on Montreal's body.

Although he was not frozen for a while, his movements obviously could not keep up with J's speed!

But at this moment, he took a deep breath, and the battle patterns on his body quietly disappeared, turning into a martial soul floating behind him, and the martial soul also collapsed at this moment, flowing into raging flames attached to his body!

The molten embers on Montreal's body were ignited again. He suddenly dodged and grabbed J's ankle in mid-air, and swung him back, leaving a trail of fire on the ground.

At this time, in the crack, the frost monster named Armenger finally struggled out. Even with all four legs lying on the ground, it was still more than 5 meters tall.

Its inverted triangular head is like that of a bison, but the sharp teeth protruding from the corners of its lips show its ferocity. A dark blue ice crystal is embedded on the top of its head, and the horse-like mane on its back is like frozen flames.

The forelimbs are shaped like human arms, with sharp razor-like claws; the hind limbs are like horse hooves.

Overall, it looks like an ice sculpture made by a child, but it is covered with smooth cross-sections like processed gemstones. On each cross-section, a wailing and twisted soul is vaguely reflected.

The rift did not close, and more small and medium-sized ice elemental creatures began to emerge from it.

Struggling to stand up from the ground, J said sternly: "He is burning his martial spirit!"

Looking at the torch-like Montreal, Q shook his head gently: "Since you know who sent us here, you should know that resistance is meaningless. The destruction of the Fox family is a foregone conclusion."

"Why bother?"

There aren't many fighting skills on the continent that can burn martial spirits, but each one will completely burn the user's soul. For the Nords who seek to return to their ancestors' side, this is a fate more miserable than death.

In response she was greeted by clouds of flames surging from the molten embers.

……

In the distance, in the sky, Gul'dan rode on the horned hippogryph raised by his family and hurriedly flew away to the northwest.

His hands grasped the hippogryph's reins woodenly.

The shocking change today was far beyond his ability to bear. His mind is still in chaos and his thoughts are as chaotic as a mountain torrent that swept through the village. He can't find any clear ideas.

boom--

When the explosion sounded, Gul'dan turned around unconsciously and saw that in the hall on the first floor of Fox Castle, it was as if hundreds of barrels of kerosene exploded at the same time. Sticky purple flames gushed out from the door, windows, and broken walls, bringing up debris and the bodies of servants who had no time to escape.

Before Gul'dan's hope could be ignited, the ice spread, freezing the flames, ashes, and burning corpses and debris, as if imprisoning time.

Until it covered the entire castle.

Then, there was no change.

Gul'dan turned his head like a wooden stick and flew towards the night sky that seemed like an abyss.

……

(End of this chapter)