Imperial Crown.

Chapter 86 Decision
"Nancy is just stubborn, not stupid." Raven's anger had almost subsided: "Don't worry, she will come back."

This sudden turmoil finally ended with Raven conquering Margaret, but he had no time to be happy because his condition was not as good as it seemed.

The Song of Dark Souls itself had caused considerable damage to Raven, draining all of his mental strength. He also had a big fight with Nancy, and now he was so tired that he could hardly even open his eyes.

"I need to take a break." Raven bent down and pulled out the enchanted crossbow arrows on the ground and put them away. "Keep sending people to keep an eye on the Scorpion Nest and report their movements at all times. Wake me up immediately if anything happens."

"Yes, sir!" Volav respectfully accepted the order.

Raven laid a blanket in the corner and fell asleep wrapped in it.

Raven did not sleep well that night. Various scenes and images flashed through his mind, but he could not remember any of them clearly.

"My Lord Baron... My Lord Baron!" Volaf's voice sounded in his ears.

"Ah..." Raven opened his eyes and felt a splitting headache. This was the sequelae of over-consumption of mental energy without full replenishment: "How long have I slept?"

"In less than four hours..." Volaf paused and said something that was completely beyond Raven's expectations: "The brothers caught a tongue."

"Oh? Then you should wake me up." Raven's eyes flashed with joy, and then he turned his sore shoulders: "Is it not exposed?"

"No, sir." Volaf helped Raven up and said in a relaxed tone, "The guy was just about to release the water when he was pinned down by several brothers. He didn't even have time to make a sound."

Standing up, Raven glanced around and saw Nancy secretly glancing at him in the corner. When she noticed his gaze, she immediately looked away.

Raven shook his head and stopped looking at her: "How is the situation at the Scorpion Nest?"

"It's not optimistic." Volaf said with a worried look on his face. "In the past four hours, the Scorpion Nest sent out eight waves of sixteen scouts. Otherwise, it would not be so easy for the brothers to capture people back."

"Heh, Heleti is not stupid." Raven stood up and steadied his shaky body with the help of Volaf. "He knows that his intelligence is insufficient, and now he is trying to make up for it."

Coming up to the horse thief, Raven looked him up and down.

This was a man who looked less than 30 years old. His face was covered in dust and he was obviously a guy who was used to sleeping in the open air. There was a hint of disdain in his eyes as he looked at Raven.

Raven winked, and Volaf understood what he meant. He stepped forward and tore off the cloth that sealed the horse thief scout's mouth, and a blood-stained stone fell out.

“Bah…” The bandit scout moved his cheeks and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, looking at Raven provocatively: “Hey, are you their boss?”

"How dare you!" Volaf shouted, "Look carefully, this is our Lord Baron, don't confuse him with you!"

"So what if you're a baron? You still have one nose and two eyes." The bandit scout twisted his body and said, "I just don't understand why you guys have to come to Bloody Highlands to die when you can live a good life. What's your intention? Are all nobles masochists?"

Stopping Volav who was about to continue scolding, Raven stared into the horse thief's eyes and asked, "What's your name?"

"It's none of your business." The horse thief scout looked away.

Raven wouldn't get angry over such a small matter, but he knew that it was useless to speak softly to the horse thieves.

With a clang, Raven drew out the long sword from Volaf's waist and put it against the bandit scout's face: "Ask again, what's your name?"

A trickle of blood flowed down the horse thief's face. The latter's eyes condensed, and then revealed a hint of ruthlessness. He suddenly stood up and rushed towards the sword!

The action was too sudden. Raven retracted his sword very quickly, but the sharp blade still left a bloody wound on the horse thief scout's face and almost pierced his right cheek.

"What are you doing!?" Volav asked loudly.

"I know what you want. Isn't it the information about the Scorpion Nest?" The bandit scout raised his head, the muscles on his wound twitching and squeezing out blood. "I won't tell you!"

"Lord King Sand will definitely avenge me!"

As he said this, he suddenly closed his mouth tightly.

Raven's heart tightened: "Stop him!"

But it was still too late.

Just as Volaf reached out to pinch the horse thief scout's cheeks, the latter had already opened his bloody mouth, and half of his tongue fell into the dust with blood mixed with saliva.

Even so, he still did not forget to look at Raven with a provocative look.

The corner of Raven's mouth twitched slightly, and he thrust a sword into his throat. He shook off the blood on the blade and inserted it back into Volaf's waist.

"My Lord Baron, it's all my fault for reacting too slowly." Volaf blamed himself.

"...No one could have imagined such a thing." Raven's face was gloomy, and his heart became heavier: "Move it out and bury it."

Volav led his men to deal with the bodies, while Raven returned to his seat and sat down.

Closing his eyes and opening them again, Raven's gaze unconsciously fell on the open space where the horse thief scouts were.

Although the body had been moved away, the bloodstains and the half tongue were still there.

Raven's eyebrows twitched violently, and the look of the horse thief scout before his death appeared in his mind again.

In order to avoid exposing information, he chose to bite off his tongue. This kind of ruthlessness and decisiveness was the first time Raven had seen it.

If this person was really a assassin, a spy, or a fanatic believer of a god, Raven would not be so surprised.

"He is just a small horse thief scout."

If the scouts are like this, what about the elite troops under Helaiti?
Thinking of this, Raven's heart sank.

After thinking for a while, he said to himself: "Margaret, come out."

The next moment, a crow flew out from the corner and landed on the ground, revealing Margaret's deformed body.

A foul smell spread.

Raven frowned in disgust. "Can't you clean yourself?"

“This…” Margaret poked her forehead with her finger, looking a little embarrassed: “Baron, it’s not that I don’t like cleanliness, but when we witches get older, we will have this smell.”

"I'll give you a bottle of perfume later." Raven reluctantly moved back a little, pulled the blanket up to his nose, and lowered his voice:
"You said before that the curse in my body was unusual?"

"Yes, it's ancient and powerful." Margaret's body trembled: "I felt like I was about to die of old age after just a little contact. We witches have a lifespan of thousands of years!"

"Then do you know how to break this curse?" Raven asked.

"Please forgive me, Master. The power of this curse is far beyond my limit." Margaret rubbed her fingers together. "But... judging from the way it works, it doesn't seem to be the work of humans or us witches. It's more like the work of the elves."

"Elf?" Raven raised his eyebrows: "This is interesting."

Through the connection between the two, Raven knew clearly that Margaret could not deceive herself, which meant that his curse was most likely related to the elves.

But this is really weird!

Thousands of years ago, the elves have been hiding in the ancient forest in the southwest corner of the Middles continent, but the Griffith family has taken root in the northwest of the continent, more than half a continent away!
What did the ancestors of the Griffith family do to deserve such an abominable curse from the elves?

Keeping an elf princess as a slave?

Or burn the elves' world tree?

Shaking his head to expel these strange associations from his mind, Raven showed a trace of disgust as he felt the increasingly pungent smell: "Can't you transform? Why don't you become the Black Pearl you were before?"

Although I know it is fake, it is good to be pleasing to the eye even if it is not pleasing to the eye.

"That requires very complicated procedures and rituals." Margaret sensed Raven's disgust. Although she was dissatisfied, she could only answer honestly:

"I need to control the target first, make her unconscious, and then perform the ritual, just like what I did to you before, except that the process will take longer. Once successful, I will be able to obtain a substitute dummy and transform into someone else's appearance."

As she spoke, she glanced at Nancy with ill intent: "It is difficult for ordinary people to make a qualified substitute puppet, but she is very suitable. When the time comes, I will not only be able to retain some of the characteristics of a magician, but also be exactly like her from the inside out, so that I can serve you better!"

"If you dare to have such thoughts again, I will kill you." Raven's voice was calm but unquestionable: "If you do such a thing without my permission, I will also kill you."

Margaret was awed and nodded repeatedly: "Understood, Baron!"

Raven's gaze once again fell on the place where the horse bandit scout had fallen.

Four hours and sixteen scouts showed that the Eagle Army's performance exceeded Heleti's expectations, which made him more vigilant.

In this case, it was meaningless to just let Visdon yell.

In the exchange of positions, if Raven is Heleti, with no idea of ​​the opponent's cards, and with the home advantage and no responsibility to defend the territory, the best option is to use stillness to overcome movement.

But Raven didn't have the capital to drag it on any longer.

Now the Death Hand Cult has probably begun to wreak havoc in the Nord Province and may spread to the Eagle Territory at any time; the supplies that Raven and his men carry do not allow for too much time to be wasted.

Helaiti must be lured out as soon as possible to end this expedition.

Raven broke the silence and suddenly asked, "If the distance between you and me is too far, can you break free and weaken my control?"

"...Yes!" Margaret's mouth twitched as she reluctantly told the truth: "The effective control range of this curse is from here to the outer edge of the scorpion nest. If it is farther, I will execute your previous orders, but I will not be able to receive new instructions or provide any feedback. You cannot kill me with the curse during this time."

“There is a risk of it getting out of your control.”

Raven nodded slowly and asked another question: "How far can your crow fly?"

Margaret immediately replied: "There is no hard limit, but the farther the distance, the more magic power I consume, and I have to focus on controlling and maintaining it."

"Hmm..." Raven hesitated for a moment and said, "Volaf, bring me some paper and pen."

The soldier whose name was called handed over the parchment and charcoal pencil. Raven began to write on it without hesitation. After a while, he finished writing and handed it to Margaret:
"Use your crow and send it to Eric."

"You yourself cannot leave my effective control range."

"Yes, Baron!" Margaret took the envelope, walked to the corner and sat down. Then wisps of black air rose from her body and condensed, turning into a crow with beautiful feathers. It picked up the envelope and flapped its wings to fly away.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and rest, Raven saw Nancy coming over. Just as he was about to speak, Nancy spoke first: "...Why did you give this letter to her?"

Although she was somewhat emotional, she didn't seem to be here to argue. As long as she didn't make a fuss, Raven didn't bother to argue with her: "In just four hours, Heleti sent out eight groups of sixteen scouts. This shows that he has begun to be alert."

"The bandits in Bloody Highlands are all very good at riding horses, and each of them is a qualified scout. Heleti will definitely not send out only this few people."

"So if I send my personal soldiers to contact Eric, and they are discovered by the scouts of the Scorpion Nest and I fail to kill them in time, Heleti will know that there is another troop hiding nearby that he doesn't know about. He will never come out again until he is sure that we have left or we have been eliminated."

Raven spoke in detail, and Nancy heard it very clearly. She snorted with dissatisfaction in her tone: "You can let me do this kind of thing. No matter what kind of horse thief is, he can't escape my magic and will never be discovered. Why do you have to use her?!"

"..." Raven lowered his head. He really didn't have the energy or interest to continue explaining.

Seeing that he was still silent, Nancy felt a little bored and left mumbling, "Humph, you'll regret it sooner or later..."

Feeling exhausted, Raven fell into a deep sleep once again.

The next morning, when Raven woke up from his sleep, Margaret came up to him and said, "Baron, the letter has been delivered!"

"What did Eric say?"

"I'm sorry, Lord Baron, I didn't hear you." Margaret's voice was full of apology: "Such a long distance consumes too much of my magic power. I can't keep the crow alive after sending it there just now."

Raven looked at her with a scrutinizing gaze, and clearly saw that she still had more than half of her energy left.

Although you cannot disobey my orders, you can execute them at a discount.

It’s a good opportunity to try out the power of this “Song of the Dark Soul”.

A ray of silver light flashed in Raven's eyes, and Margaret's expression immediately twisted. She felt that the magic power in her body suddenly began to rebel, rushing around, almost tearing her internal organs apart.

"Be quiet," Raven ordered calmly.

So Margaret opened her mouth wide, but no sound came out. Her claw-like hands dug into the ground, raising a lot of dust and blood.

It wasn't until a layer of dirty sweat soaked her that the painful feeling finally disappeared.

"You can talk now."

Margaret's face was pale: "My Lord Baron, I, I will never dare to..."

"Yes, I know." Raven interrupted her: "Next, use your crow to scout the terrain and layout of the scorpion nest. The more detailed the better."

"Yes……"

Margaret felt like she had become a tool, being used at Raven's disposal.

But she didn't dare to resist, so she had to drag her big belly back to the corner and call out a crow.

The cave was peaceful and silent, with only the occasional crackling sound from the burning campfire.

Raven leaned against the wall and glanced across the cave, seeing that his personal soldiers were already fast asleep and Nancy was curled up in the corner.

Finally, his eyes fell on Margaret's back.

The emotions that were suppressed and ignored due to fatigue quietly grew at this moment, and Raven's heart suddenly beat faster.

Reaching out and caressing the ground beneath him, Raven recalled the pain that seemed to tear him apart, the despair of powerlessness, the feeling of facing death...

fear!

His hands suddenly began to tremble and cold sweat flowed down his forehead.

He is afraid.

I was just a little bit away from death!

Does Raven really have no intention of killing Margaret?
how could it be possible! ?

But reason prevailed over impulse. Raven knew how precious a witch was, especially a witch who was completely under his control.

He has a long life, magical powers, and is an expert at using and breaking curses and poisons.

It can be used to fight against enemies and to protect yourself.

Moreover, her crow is also a rare tool for reconnaissance and communication in this era.

When he had an argument with Nancy, Raven seemed to be trying to persuade Nancy, but wasn't he actually trying to persuade himself?
"Lacus, your calculations are really accurate..."

With a wry smile, Raven stretched out her legs, remembering what she had said to herself the night before they set out.

Think carefully and make decisions cautiously.

Could it be that the Lord of Light really has the ability to see the direction of the river of destiny?

Raven originally thought that the danger came from Heleti, but he didn't expect it to be from Margaret.

If she hadn't been so greedy and hadn't used the curse, I would have been doomed to die.

"It's better to die." Raven put his hands together and flexed his wrists:

"Maybe if I die I can go back."

His hands gradually stopped shaking, and Raven's mind calmed down. He closed his eyes and reviewed his entire plan.

Although Heleti's caution was beyond Raven's expectations, Eric successfully resolved Heleti's tentative attack.

There were some twists and turns in the plan, but the overall process went smoothly.

The next thing to do is to prepare for the attack on the Scorpion Nest.

Raven's hand reached across his waist, and he grasped a magic core and a crystal bottle in his hands respectively, and then he gently crushed the magic core.

At this moment, the energy began to flow and converged into Raven's brows, beginning to expand his magic power reserves, while the essence of the corrupted soul flowed into the crystal bottle under the diversion of mental power.

Margaret seemed to have noticed something and shook her neck slightly, but in the end she did not dare to look back and continued to maintain her concentration.

A comfortable feeling of fullness filled Raven's heart.

The upper limit of the magic power that can be converted from the energy of a first-level magic core is comparable to Raven's meditation for about fourteen days.

Raven rarely used this method to strengthen his magic power before.

As a magician, in addition to magic power itself, the growth of mental power is also very important. If magic power grows too fast, it will make it difficult for mental power to control it accurately, which will reduce the success rate of casting spells.

Therefore, Raven had always taken a break before, waiting for meditation to gradually make up the gap between his mental power and magic power, before continuing to absorb magic cores.

But the situation is different now. Heleti's cautiousness exceeded Raven's expectations, and the bravery of his horse thieves also left a deep impression on him.

Even if the subsequent plans go smoothly, the outcome of this battle is still unknown.

Therefore, Raven must improve his strength and expand his magic power as soon as possible.

On the battlefield, every extra spell you can cast is good.

After absorbing the energy of three magic cores in succession, Margaret also took back the crow.

"My Lord Baron, the terrain has been surveyed clearly."

After taking a look at Raven's face, Margaret spoke cautiously, "Overall, it's not much different from what's marked on your map, except that there's a barbican after entering the first city gate."

"瓮城..." Raven muttered the word, his brows furrowed.

The so-called 瓮城 means that after entering the city gate, you will not go directly into the city, but there is an open space surrounded by a wall.

Even if the attacking party breaks through the first city gate, if they cannot quickly break through the second gate, they will become sitting ducks for the archers on the city wall.

After a while, Raven took a deep breath and perked up: "What time is it now?"

Margaret calculated carefully: "Judging from the direction of the moonflower, it is about three to four in the morning."

Raven nodded, and suddenly clapped his hands heavily: "Assemble!"

The long-established habit made the sleeping guards wake up quickly, and they immediately picked up their weapons: "My Lord Baron!"

Nancy also rubbed her sleepy eyes and sat up unhappily.

"Everyone, get ready for battle." Raven looked around at his soldiers, "Pack your equipment, prepare your horses, and set off in twenty minutes!"

"Why so early?" Nancy grumbled in dissatisfaction: "It's not even daybreak yet."

This time, Nancy helped Raven. He loudly explained the question to everyone: "It is because it is still dark that we can avoid the eyes and ears of Heleti and sneak to the side of the scorpion nest to catch Heleti off guard."

"Once daybreak comes, with the density of the Scorpion Nest scouts right now, it will be really troublesome!"

The bodyguards were busy in an orderly manner, checking leather armor, weapons, crossbow arrows, and feeding the war horses with fine feed.

As they were about to face a major battle, Raven and his party traveled light. Apart from their own equipment, each person only brought a water bag and a portion of rations. The luggage, supplies and pack horses were all hidden in the cave.

Twenty minutes later, the personal soldiers, led by Raven, gathered in the pitch-black night. Everyone was silent, and the war horses were all covered with leather bridles.

There was no fire, only the howling north wind and the rising snow foam.

Raven took a deep look at them, then focused on Margaret, who was covered in a black robe, and waved his hand to give the order:
"set off!"

Twenty-one people and twenty-one horses disappeared in the howling cold wind.

……

(End of this chapter)