Imperial Crown.

Chapter 536 A Thousand-Year-Old Dark Room, Illuminated by a Single Lamp

"Hmm, she's good-looking, I'm very attracted to her."

Beneath the visor was a sweet-looking face, with a small, firm, and rounded nose that looked so adorable one wanted to take a bite. The Undead Transcendent couldn't help but let out a delighted exclamation. However, Black Scorpion's appearance was somewhat different from the aloof, mature woman she wanted to project, which explained the need for the visor. But this contrast, in the Undead Transcendent's eyes, had become a unique and intriguing feature.

There was a bang.

The undead superhuman grabbed the dagger that the black scorpion was about to use to kill itself. "Want to die? Don't be in such a hurry... All mortals must die."

"Boss, we've been tricked!" "That damn woman... doesn't seem to be an elf! She seems to be a dark-skinned drow!"

A voice, tinged with anger and a hint of panic, rang out. They only had one of those fourth-tier runes; if they only managed to capture one drow, they'd probably lose even their underwear.

"Third brother!" "Stop messing around! Let's get down to business!" Sure enough, upon hearing the second brother's words, the leading undead superhuman immediately roared angrily.

The third brother was torturing Black Scorpion's supernatural being. Upon hearing this, he frowned, clicked his tongue, but dared not disobey the order. He snatched the dagger from Black Scorpion's hand and slapped Black Scorpion hard across the face, causing half of Black Scorpion's cheek to swell up and blood to seep from the corner of his mouth.

The eldest and third brothers strode towards the second brother, wanting to confirm with their own eyes whether it was indeed a drow.

"I'll fight you guys to the death."

Although the bar wasn't far from the stairs, everything happened with lightning speed! At that moment, Quarok had just swallowed an antidote and pulled out something resembling a gas mask, putting it on. His large frame, and the gray fog that shielded his senses, made it quite a struggle just to put on the gas mask. Having lived in the Elven Empire for many years, he frequently needed to gather magical plants and potions, so Quarok naturally carried these antidote items and potions with him. Without even greeting the bard he had just met, he leaped over the bar, shouting as he did so.

Unfortunately, he was only at the second tier, and before he could even regain his footing, he was kicked away by the third brother who had caught up from behind. "If I didn't need to keep you around to find the Angel's Tears inventory, I would have killed you, you orc, long ago!" the third brother cursed menacingly. "Bah! Mr. Demon Frog, my foot!" "No matter how kind you pretend to be, no matter how refined you dress, the elves will never accept you!"

"Scum of the Hand of Death! I truly regret believing your lies." Quarok, being an orc, was tough and quickly got to his feet, wielding a scimitar and slashing at the undead superhuman before him!

A cold snort echoed from the gray mist, followed by a buzzing sound. A flash of pale battle aura then disappeared, and the flying wheel split in two again, striking towards Quarlock. With two clean, sharp "swoosh" sounds, it severed both of Quarlock's arms!

Quarlock was stunned. He looked left and right at his missing forearm, let out a shrill wail, and scrambled toward the door.

"Come back, Third Brother!"

The third brother wanted to chase after her, but was stopped by the eldest brother's loud shout. Then, the eldest brother stretched out his dark, bony hand and yanked the drow off the ground. He examined her closely for a while, and had to admit, even as a dark elf, she was extremely beautiful, with captivatingly pointed ears. "Slap!" The eldest brother slapped the drow across the face, causing her to cough up blood from the corner of her mouth. "What are you yelling for? Why are you pretending to be an elf?!"

"If you don't want to die, you'd better answer my boss's question as soon as possible," the second-in-command said with a grin. "Because my boss never gives anyone a second chance."

"I...I'm called Ernada! Please don't kill me! My master has plenty of money! If you hand me over to him, you'll make more money than you selling elves!" the black-robed elf cried out in a panic. She had been kicked in the stomach, her internal organs wracked with pain. Then she was poisoned by the gray mist, rendering her completely unable to muster any fighting spirit. Adding to this, she had witnessed the extraordinary ruthlessness and decisive killing of the three undead. Now, slapped by her leader, she was dizzy and her courage had completely shattered. All she could do was beg for her life, telling him everything she knew.

"Oh?" The leader was clearly intrigued. "Could it be that your master is a human noble? Perhaps a viscount?"

“What is a mere viscount?” Ernada’s tone became somewhat arrogant. “My master is the famous Earl Raven! And the reason I’m staying at the Continental Inn is to wait for him.” “Even your favorite Angel’s Tears was invented by him.”

"Raven? That little bee?" The leader was clearly surprised and lowered his head to examine Ernada carefully, as if trying to verify the truth of what Ernada said.

Ernada got up from the ground, clutching her stomach and saying painfully, "It's absolutely true! I have a soul contract with him. If you kill me, you will not only get nothing, but you will also be hunted down by him."

"Boss, I think we should just hand her over to Raven," the third brother said. His voice was quite unique, always seeming to echo. "This black-skinned drow wasn't going to fetch a good price anyway, and with Raven as its owner, it's probably been played with by that little bee countless times already!" "Hehe," the third brother said excitedly, "Boss, can I finally have some fun this time? I've caught so many Pokémon, but I've never played with any of them before."

"Shut up, you little bastard!" the leader gritted his teeth and cursed, "What else do you do with your head all day but that?! One day you'll die on a woman's belly." After cursing, the leader's voice became deep and thoughtful, as if he was thinking about something. "Raven..." "Forget it." "This man's methods are too insidious and cunning. Let's take him away and sell him."

"Huh?" Even the second brother was a little surprised. "Boss, why? Selling it to Raven not only allows us to extort a lot of money from him, but also gives us an endless supply of Angel Tears!"

"Fools!" The leader couldn't help but shout, "Have you heard of that old man, Impil?" "That old bastard was a fourth-tier necromancer, killed by Raven years ago." "Do you think the three of us could come back alive if we really made a deal with Raven?" "The risk is too great, not worth it." "And there's Bone Chewer. He's a member of our Shadow Brotherhood, sent by Venerable Rudolf over a year ago to investigate Raven's true strength. Can you even find him now?" "I heard Venerable Rudolf recently went to the Orc Empire and is making a deal with Raven. We'd better not act rashly. If we anger the Venerable, the three of us might suffer a fate worse than death!"

After these words were spoken, the second and third brothers immediately showed expressions of deep fear.

"But..."

The leader's voice suddenly turned playful as he rubbed his chin and said, "Since we can't get a good price, we can get a discount. I'm actually quite interested in experiencing the bone-corroding taste of elves."

"Haha!" The third brother was the most excited. "Thank you, eldest brother!"

He hastily darted out of the gray mist, hoisted the black scorpion that was silently crawling towards the door from the corner, and grabbed it onto his shoulder. No matter how much the black scorpion cursed, it was to no avail. To put it bluntly, at this moment, the black scorpion and Ernada were like fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of the three undead supernatural beings.

bang

The second and third brothers unleashed pale battle aura, causing Ernada and Black Scorpion's clothes to explode, revealing their delicate pink bodies.

"Boss, you go first!" The second and third brothers subdued the two women and shouted loudly, ignoring their pitiful cries.

"Ugh--"

Suddenly, a faint sigh came from the gray mist.

"Who?!"

The three men scanned the area and soon spotted a figure. "It's you?" the third brother exclaimed, slightly surprised. He remembered this person—the bard who had been sitting at the bar, constantly clinking glasses with Mr. Frog.

Although the gray fog was growing thicker, the three remained unaffected. Under their watchful eyes, the bard slowly rose from his chair and stood opposite them, calmly straightening his clothes. "Why won't you listen to advice? Why are you so determined to die?"

"Who are you?" the leader asked in a hoarse voice, his eyes filled with gloom.

“You may call me—” the bard, holding a cane and never removing his hat, said with a slight bow, “The Hermit.”

"A hermit?" "What do you mean?" The second brother was a little confused and asked subconsciously.

"Never mind all that, let me kill this idiot!" The third brother was the most impatient, immediately heading towards the bard. Of the 6-70 people in the tavern, the three brothers had slaughtered almost half. Only a handful escaped. The rest either feigned death or were poisoned into unconsciousness. Who dared to utter a sound? This bard had actually interrupted his good deed at the most crucial moment?! Did he have some nerve? Didn't he know this was exactly what he loved to do?! "Wait a minute."

The bard quickly stretched out his arm to stop the other person.

"Scared? Gone?" The third brother grinned sinisterly. "Too late!"

“No,” the bard said calmly, “I have something I want you to tell Rudolph.”

"You know our Venerable One?!" Upon hearing this, the expressions on the faces of the three undead transcendent beings changed drastically. "And who are you?"

“Not only do we know each other, we’re very familiar with each other.” “What I want to say is, when you go down there, tell him that I will eradicate the Shadow Brotherhood one day.” The bard said slowly, a faint smile playing on his lips under his hat brim.

"Arrogant!" "He's asking for death!" "Kill him!"

Upon hearing this, the three brothers were completely enraged and shouted in unison.

"A room that has been dark for a thousand years can be illuminated by a single lamp."

However, the bard suddenly snapped his fingers and said in a low, slightly indifferent voice.

With a sharp "snap," like a whip cracking through the air, three dazzling purple flames suddenly appeared in the cold, gray mist.

The next instant, it landed directly on the heads of the three undead extraordinary beings.

ahhh-

The three brothers simultaneously let out painful and shrill howls, seemingly completely unprepared for the appearance and power of the flame. The scorching heat, capable of tearing apart even the soul, caused the three brothers to immediately roll to the ground, writhing and roaring, scratching their bodies incessantly.

The bard walked leisurely to them, killed them one by one with his cane, and then took their storage rings.

In just a few minutes, the three fourth-tier undead transcendents perished one after another, turning into a handful of white ash.

"Thank you for saving my life." Black Scorpion hurriedly stripped clothes off the dead man to cover her delicate body.

Ernada ignored everything and rushed forward, "Master! Is that you, Master!" Although she wasn't sure if the person in front of her was Raven, more than a year of torment had already broken her nerves, and she was hoping almost every moment that Raven would come to the Eastern Region to pick her up.

"Alright, Ernada." The bard pushed Ernada, who was clinging to him like an octopus, away. He had to admit, her skin was incredibly soft. Every inch of Ernada's naked body was clearly visible, both what should and shouldn't be seen. But Raven didn't want to reveal his identity. After silently mourning for Hoyaz for three seconds, he said, "Hoyaz is still waiting for you to go back. Put your clothes on."

"Yes! Yes, Master!" Ernada cried tears of joy! While dressing, she took out a bag from her ring. "Master, this is the Dawn Sprout."

Raven took the bag and opened it. The Dawn Sprouts inside looked like glowing highlighters, each only the size of a little finger. He figured these would be enough for Lux to neutralize the toxins. "You did a good job," he said. "However, I'll have to wait until I get back to dissolve the soul contract." To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, Raven remained as cautious as ever.

"What do you mean?" Ernada, who had only put on her lower body clothes, looked up in astonishment. "Master, aren't you coming back with me?"

Raven slowly shook his head. "I still have some things to take care of."

“Actually…” Ernada’s words were loaded with meaning. She glanced at the black scorpion not far away, then leaned forward and deliberately lowered her voice, whispering in Raven’s ear in an extremely seductive tone, “I, I can stay and keep Master company.” As she spoke, she gently rubbed her chest up and down.

This was the second time Raven had saved her. The first time, he had driven away the fourth-tier elf Luvita, and this time, he had wiped out three fourth-tier transcendents right in front of her. Even if Ernada was stupid, she should have realized by now that Raven's aged appearance was all a facade, and his true strength was probably already unfathomable.

“Ernada,” Raven sighed leisurely, “You seem to have been gone for too long and have forgotten something. Do you need me to help you recover your memory?” Although his voice was still gentle, the chill within it was clearly heard even by the black scorpion standing next to him.

Ernada trembled slightly, quickly bowed her head respectfully to admit her mistake, then put on her clothes and gracefully left.

"You are Raven?"

After Ernada left, Black Scorpion asked with a hint of curiosity.

Before Raven could answer, the tavern's wooden door was smashed open with a bang, and a number of people rushed in.

"You three, you didn't expect your grandpa to be back, did you!"

Quarlock roared.

Raven looked closely and saw that Quarlock had brought back quite a few people this time, mostly frog-men orcs, with some elves as well. These people all wore gas masks and carried various weapons. However, their ranks were rather low; the highest was only third-tier, and the rest were second-tier transcendents. But there were enough of them.

"You're still alive?!" Quarlock immediately spotted Raven and Black Scorpion standing by the bar and exclaimed in shock, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

"Just a stroke of luck," Raven said casually. "But Mr. Demon Frog is a surprise to me." Raven looked at Quarok, whose severed limbs had regenerated, and was indeed a little shocked. Before Quarok ran away, both of his arms had been cut off by the boss. In less than an hour, they had been completely healed. It must have taken at least a level 5 healing potion.

It seems the Mainland Inn is indeed very profitable. Even Raven hasn't seen a Tier 5 healing potion yet. The reason he took so long to act was because, besides the Desolate Death Flame hidden in the magic rune stone, he needed to chant two more Desolate Death Flames. That's how he managed to wipe out the three undead transcendents in one fell swoop; otherwise, a real fight would have taken much more effort.

"Uh"

A flicker of unease crossed Quarlock's face as he blurted out, "It's just a racial skill of my frogman race." Then, he suddenly flew into a rage, "What about those three undead transcendents?"

"gone."

Raven smiled faintly, and with a "pop," a gold coin popped out. "Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Demon Frog. It's time for me to leave." After saying that, Raven ignored the black scorpion beside him, walked out of the continental post station, and disappeared into the vast darkness.

"Gone?" Quarlock frowned, somewhat puzzled as to why the three undead transcendents would leave. He had already been quick enough to call for reinforcements. Before Quarlock could ask Black Scorpion any more questions, he saw Black Scorpion also hurriedly leave the tavern, chasing after the bard.

It was as if that bard owed her money!
……

(End of this chapter)