Imperial Crown.

Chapter 401 Why don’t you ask?

"Stop fighting, stop fighting!!!"

Shati Nightmare wailed while holding his swollen nose. His spear had long been thrown away. He knelt in the corner with his hands covering his face.
"I admit defeat, I admit defeat, isn't that enough!?"

He is the owner of the 4th level bloody fighting spirit and the leader of the Wild Hunt Mercenaries.

As for why he went from being full of energy and vigor to being in this state now, the story started from more than ten minutes ago.

After he made that threatening statement, Eric took action!

He used all his strength as soon as he attacked, with his martial spirit showing its might behind him. With just a wave of his hand, the red-armored mercenaries around him could no longer hold their weapons and flew into the air one after another.

Eric drew the long sword from his waist and slashed it downwards. Various weapons turned into a waterfall of steel and smashed down!

Shati's expression turned serious, he had known for a long time that Eric had awakened his martial soul, but he had not expected that it had only been 4 or 5 years since his breakthrough, yet his fighting spirit was already at the level of 3rd stage 10 stars, and only a step away from the 4th stage.

The spear shook, and bloody fighting spirit flowed out from the gaps in the armor, outlining a huge blood-red wolf behind him, howling towards the sky!
"Purgatory Ghost——"

Blood rushed up into the sky, as if a blood-colored torrent was rolling back. In the torrent were the souls of the dead in battle, including humans, werewolves from the Nightmaw tribe, lionmen from the Mane tribe, lizardmen covered with scales, and dwarves with long braided beards...

8 bloody ghosts that seemed to have entities met the steel torrent that fell from the sky. They used their fangs, claws, and weapons to tear open the steel fighting spirit wrapped around the torrent, and tore the weapons inside into pieces!

Two bloody souls shattered in the process, and the remaining six rushed down from the air and pounced on Raven.

Just as Eric was about to continue intercepting, Shati had already raised his spear and rushed towards him!
when--

The spear and the sword collided with each other, and Shati was slightly startled. He did not expect that Eric was one level lower than him and a weak human, but he seemed to be no less powerful.

But he still bared his teeth and showed a ferocious smile:
"Don't be distracted, or you will die!!!"

Eric sneered and responded sharply:

"It's just right to kill you and make a set of dog-skin cushions for the adults!"

"I am a wolf!" Shati was furious. He drew back his spear and fought with Eric.

Originally, according to his idea, he should quickly deal with Eric and then subdue him before Raven cast the spell.

In this way, not only can he obtain the 80000 gold coin bounty promised by Little Flayed, but he and his Wild Hunt mercenary group will also become famous throughout the continent, and their net worth will skyrocket.

However, the opposite happened.

Although Eric yelled fiercely, his fighting style was flawless. He mainly focused on defense and would only counterattack when he found an opportunity.

The embarrassment of the bloody fight was revealed at this moment.

Although it can withstand more sustained combat, it inevitably lacks in explosive power, especially when facing an experienced 3rd level 10-star Iron Dou Qi user with awakened martial soul.

Eric, who was focused on defense, was like a rogue iron ball and could not be taken down in a short time.

The bloody souls that his Purgatory Ghost had released earlier were strangled to death with the tacit cooperation of Raven's guards. The younger brothers he brought with him also lost their most powerful weapons and could only fight with spare weapons. They were suppressed by Raven's guards and could not raise their heads.

Looking at Raven who was still standing there leisurely, an idea came to Shati's mind.

Otherwise... retreat?

But this is not the end of the matter. If they withdraw now, it will deal a huge blow to the reputation of the mercenary group.

Persevere for a while, at least play for half an hour before leaving, it means you have done your best!

Thinking this in his mind, during the fight with Eric, he put his left hand behind his back and made a silent gesture.

The mercenaries seemed to understand what he was trying to do, and before long, they were knocked to the ground by Raven's guards.

And the guards were finally able to free up their hands and join the siege of Shati.

The first thing to arrive was a battle axe wrapped in dark yellow earth fighting spirit. The height of the axe wielder was almost a little taller than Shati. Although the quality of the fighting spirit was inferior, the power was so great that Shati did not dare to resist it head-on and found it a little difficult to deal with it.

Next came a flaming spear.

As soon as the spear arrived, Shati's pressure increased dramatically - although this man had not yet awakened his martial soul, he was indeed at level 3!
This doesn't match what the intelligence said!
Isn't it said that the hyena with the axe is only level 1, and Link with the spear is only level 2?

When did they level up!?
Raven was watching from behind. He could see Shati's anxiety and could guess why he was anxious.

War is the best shortcut for a knight to be promoted. Any warrior who has participated in a fierce battle and survived will be able to rapidly improve his fighting spirit.

Maybe this is where the name "douqi" comes from.

This kind of power is indeed born for struggle!

Not only Hyena and Link have been upgraded, basically all the extraordinary people who participated in the Eivor War have been upgraded to varying degrees, and some have even jumped two levels.

As for Eric, he obtained the materials to break through to level 4 shortly after the war ended. If he had not been delayed by rescuing Raven, he would have succeeded in breaking through long ago.

"Ow—"

Shati suddenly screamed like a dog.

Because he was suddenly hit hard on the lower back, and his protective fighting spirit was unable to completely block it. The deformed armor even hurt his fur!

Who?
who is it! ?
He looked around and turned around a lot, but he could still only see Eric, Hyena and Link!

when--

Using his spear to block Eric's slash, Shati was about to counterattack when he suddenly heard another wail:
"Ouch!!!"

It hurts, it hurts deep into my bones.

I don't know what hit his foot, but it directly deformed his special combat boots.

He could clearly feel that the claws on his toes had been broken and the sole of his foot was caught between two pieces of iron.

When I looked down, I saw that what was on my right foot was not a combat boot, but a discus!
It was this lowering of his head that finally allowed him to see the "culprit" who had been attacking him.

A gray dwarf!

God have mercy on him, Shati is a member of the Nightthroat tribe and has royal blood flowing in his body. He is 8 feet tall, and this dwarf is at most 4 feet tall, not even as tall as his waist.

No wonder I couldn’t see it at first glance!

In the blink of an eye, the hyena had already swung its battle axe and chopped at him.

Having just blocked the attack, Shati was looking for the right moment to give Eric a hard blow, but he felt a pain in his right knee again and almost fell to his knees.

If it wasn't the gray dwarf Pinard who did it, then who else could it be! ?
"I kill you!!!"

Shati was so angry that he was about to go crazy. The bloody fighting spirit in his body surged, exploding into a blood wave that forced back the three people around him. Then he turned around and stabbed the gray dwarf with his gun.

The 4th level knight burst out with all his strength, so that as soon as the spear was thrust out, the wind pressure created tore a gully on the ground. How could the gray dwarf avoid it! ?
However, the gray dwarf suddenly rolled on the ground and grabbed an unconscious Wild Hunt mercenary in front of him, still shouting:

"Use force, don't show mercy on me!"

"Shameless!!!"

Shati was so depressed that he wanted to vomit blood, but he had to stop for the sake of the lives of his fellow tribesmen. At this time, Eric and others had already surrounded him.

He turned his spear to force Link back and blocked Eric's attack, but his nose was hit hard by the hyena's axe handle. He cried out with tears in his eyes:
“Ah~~~Ah~~~!!!”

This is the codeword of the Nightmaw tribe, which means: Stop pretending, get up and help me out!!!
However, the Wild Hunt mercenaries lying on the ground did not move.

An ominous feeling arose in Shati's heart.

Could it be... Could it be... that...

My mercenaries have really been beaten to the point of losing their combat effectiveness! ?
Are Raven's men so strong?

His mind was in a mess, his hands were even more chaotic, and with his injured legs and feet, Shati was hit hard by four people in an instant. He was hit by a sword in the chest, a gun in the shoulder, and an axe on the forehead. The most hateful one was the dwarf, whose hammer hit him on the buttocks secretly, almost breaking the tail hidden in the armor!

His shoulder went numb, and the spear in his hand fell to the ground. Shati was about to find a direction to escape from the city wall, but he was surrounded by these four ruffians. How could he escape? ?
"Stop fighting, stop fighting!"

Shati wailed while holding his swollen nose, kneeling on the ground with his hands covering his face:
"I admit defeat, I admit defeat, isn't that enough!?"

A 4th-rank knight, leader of the Wild Hunt Mercenaries, and werewolf of the Nightmaw royal bloodline, cried like a dog with a broken tail—

Well, his tail was indeed broken.

When the little peeler on the city wall saw this scene, his face turned pale and he turned around and rushed into the castle!

At this moment, Raven also floated up and landed on the city wall.

Flying is a tier 3 magic that most magicians will learn regardless of whether their affinity with the storm element is high enough.

However, this spell is not flexible enough and consumes a lot of energy, so it can only be used as an emergency. For long journeys, one still needs to rely on magic props or flying monsters.

When Sir Norfinn, the uncle of the young flayer, saw Raven coming up, he quickly came over, cleared his throat, and said in a typical aristocratic manner: "Lord Raven, I think there is something a little bit..."

Raven didn't bother to pay attention to him and strode forward. Seeing this, Nofin wanted to pull Raven's sleeve.

As a result, Raven walked too fast and Nofen missed a chance. His footing slipped and he fell to the ground with a thud. His chin hit the ground and he fainted with his eyes rolled back.

In a way, this is lucky.

Little Flay was running very fast, but just as he was pulling the wooden door of the castle, he suddenly felt his collar tighten, and then he fell backwards to the ground.

Raven's face appeared in his eyes.

"Raven, calm down, Simon is still here...Ah!!!!"

The first half of the sentence was said calmly, but before he finished it he started screaming loudly.

Because his right thumb was smashed to pieces by a gray staff!

Bone fragments, flesh and blood mixed together, melting the remaining snow on the ground.

Xiaopi's face turned extremely pale: "How dare you...ah——"

His right index finger turned into pulp under the staff.

Raven had a blank expression on his face as he swung the gray-white Tree of Life staff like a hammer.

Boom, boom, boom!!
With three consecutive hits, he smashed the remaining three fingers of Xiao Bopi's right hand into pieces, then raised it high and crushed Xiao Bopi's entire right hand from the wrist!

Little Peeler was screaming at the beginning, but now his body was arched high like a shrimp, and the only sound coming out of his throat was "ho ho".

However, Raven did not stop. He swung his staff again and did the same to the little skinner's left hand.

Little Flayed wanted to escape, but Raven stepped on his shoulder tightly with one foot. His legs kicked back and forth on the ground, kicking off his shoes and clearing all the snow on the ground. His heels rubbed two bloody and red marks on the rough bricks and stones!

When his left hand was completely shattered, Xiao Peeling had already collapsed on the ground like a dead man, his body was soaked with water, it was unclear whether it was blood, sweat or something else.

Just when Little Flayed thought the torture was over, Raven suddenly picked up the Tree of Life Staff and poked the tip into his mouth!

Six or seven teeth were broken, the flesh on his lips was torn, a piece of bone fell out of his upper jaw, and his tongue was rotten.

Putting the staff back into the ring, Raven twisted his wrist, took out a bottle of healing potion, uncorked it, and poured it into the little skinner's mouth.

The teeth did not grow back, but the tongue healed rapidly. Little Peeler spat out the broken teeth with blood.

"Go ahead." Raven said calmly.

"You...just ask!" Little Peeler said vaguely, with a bit of anger and grievance.

Raven asked, "Where's Simon?"

"I, I'll take you there right now..." said Little Peeler.

Raven didn't attack again, but he obviously had no intention of helping him either. Little Peeler had to endure the pain and propped up his body with his elbows. He shuddered when he saw the blood spurting from his wrist, but still managed to stand up.

Leading Raven, he staggered into the castle.

at the same time.

At Changzi Castle, at the corner of the city wall at the gate section, a soldier withdrew his gaze from the castle.

He lifted up his kettle-lid-like helmet, revealing his light blond hair. In the light of the fire, his two eyes, one red and one white, were revealed.

He is the Little Flayed One, the real Little Flayed One.

The person who was taken away by Raven was just a substitute he had carefully prepared and controlled by threatening the lives of his entire family.

"I underestimated you." Little Peeler whispered to himself.

He did have a premonition that Raven would not give up, but he did not expect that Raven would actually dare to attack Changzi Castle with only 18 people, and succeed!

Thinking back to what Raven had just done to his stand, Little Flay couldn't help but shudder.

Fortunately, I was cautious enough!

The stand-in was not prepared for Raven.

He knew that his usual brutal behavior and the fear it brought could certainly overwhelm the majority of the people, but there would always be people who rose up.

A stand-in is there to deal with possible emergencies.

In fact, as early as five years ago, Xiao Peeling had already begun to appear alternately with a stand-in on various occasions.

After 5 years, the substitute's behavior, habits and words were exactly the same as his, so he was able to hide from the royal guard knight Dalton and even his uncle Norfin.

Unexpectedly, this substitute is actually playing a role now.

crunch...

After lifting the straw and turning seven mechanisms, a secret door in the corner opened and a pungent smell of oil hit me in the face.

What appeared in front of Xiaopi was a pool of thick black grease.

This is not ordinary kerosene, but the "fire of annihilation" that has been refined by alchemists and added with several magical ingredients. It is also called "oil of hell."

It is flammable and explosive, and can burn without contact with air. It is extremely expensive, and is extremely troublesome to transport and store. It can cause deflagration if not carefully managed. There are countless cases of huge losses caused by improper storage.

Therefore, despite its great power, it has long been eliminated from the battlefield.

What is exposed here is only a very small part.

It is connected to the castle through a hidden groove in the city wall. The oil of hell is stored in every wall of the castle. There are two huge oil storage tanks in the cemetery under the castle.

As long as it explodes, not to mention that Raven is only level 4, even if he has the strength of level 7, he will suffer a great loss!

"Goodbye, Lord Raven!"

With a mocking look on his face, Little Peeler loosened his grip and dropped the torch into the oil.

call--

Black and red flames burst out.

……

(End of this chapter)