Imperial Crown.

Chapter 110 The Source of the Curse

"You go down first."

Raven waved his hand, and Patty nodded and saluted before leaving.

It was not until Petty disappeared and the corridor was empty that Raven spoke: "Tell me, what's going on?"

Simon's face was serious: "My Lord Baron, I want to report Chief Eric for abusing his power for personal gain!"

"On the day of the decisive battle at Bloody Highland, when selecting the vanguard, Commander Eric arranged a draw of lots, but in fact he had been secretly pressuring us and conspiring to cheat."

"Every piece of paper used for drawing lots had a mark on it!"

"Captain Eric's move is to send Master Weisdong to his death!"

Simon's suppressed voice echoed in the corridor, full of anger and dissatisfaction.

The air was as heavy as if filled with lead, and Simon nervously waited for Raven's response.

However, after a long silence, Raven just looked at Simon deeply, then turned and left.

"Big..." Looking at Raven's back, Simon wanted to speak, but he only uttered one word and couldn't say anything else.

He suddenly felt a chill.

Could it be that Lord Raven had known this for a long time? Could it be that all this was arranged by Lord Raven?

But he is the Baron's younger brother after all, how could he... ?
On the other side, Raven had caught up with Patty who was waiting downstairs, and they walked downstairs together.

He was not surprised at all by Simon's report.

If I don't say it, it wouldn't be Simon.

He also believed that this did not require his warning or admonition, as Simon was not a gossip and would not spread rumors everywhere.

The entrance to the cemetery is located at the edge of the first floor of Eagle Castle, and Old Gordon is already waiting here.

Behind him were three servants, each holding a bronze plate with a jar of wine, a dagger and a bronze urn on it.

"My Lord Baron." Old Gordon saluted respectfully: "Everything is ready."

Petty stepped back on his own accord, and Raven walked up to Old Gordon and said, "Let's get started."

Old Gordon nodded, took the bronze urn from the plate behind him and placed it in the groove on the wall.

With a click, the wall shook and the bronze urn slowly sank into it. Along with the sound of bricks and stones rubbing against each other, the wall opened up, revealing a deep passage.

The rotten air with the smell of dust blew in his face, and what came into Raven's sight was a passage with stone steps extending all the way down. There should have been ancient patterns carved on it, but they had become blurred due to the erosion of time.

"Baron, please." Old Gordon handed a burning torch to Raven.

Taking the torch, Raven held it to the groove in the wall. The flame ignited the grease in it, and immediately two fire snakes burned on both sides of the corridor.

We walked down the stairs for more than sixty steps before finally arriving at the tomb.

This underground cemetery is three meters high. There is a thick granite pillar at regular intervals with braziers on top. When old Gordon led the servants to light the braziers one by one, the full picture of the tomb finally appeared in front of Raven.

The length of the stairs was enough to exceed Raven's expectations, and the scale of the cemetery was beyond his imagination.

It's like opening a football field underground.

Stone coffins, almost reaching the ceiling of the tomb, stand on both sides. After a long time, the coffins are covered with spider-web-like dust, and the coffin lids are carved with the appearance and image of the owner.

Behind these coffins, there are some coffins lying on the ground, which belong to the spouses of the family heads of successive generations.

These ancestors of the Griffith family were all wearing heavy armor and holding huge swords in both hands, as if they were seriously looking at the later generations.

If Donald had not turned into a monster and lost his qualifications, he should have been buried here as well.

Raven took a deep breath and straightened his back. Under the influence of the environment, a sense of solemnity and dignity rose in his heart unconsciously.

"Baron, please." Old Gordon bowed and extended his hand.

He walked inside, and the sound of his footsteps echoed clearly in the empty cemetery.

Raven's eyes fell on the sarcophagi on both sides. The giant sword sculptures on the coffin lids were engraved with the name, title and life of the coffin owner.

As time goes by, the style of the sarcophagus becomes more rough, the style of the armor becomes more primitive, there are more words on it, the deeds become richer, and the personal strength also increases.

The strength of the ancestors at the entrance is mostly at level two or three, and as you go further back, their strength reaches level four or five, and their battle records become more and more detailed, ranging from beheading a certain monster to defeating a certain legion head-on.

It was like the precipitation and condensation of thousands of years of time. While showing the changes of the times, it also allowed Raven to intuitively feel the history of the Griffith family from prosperity to decline.

None of our ancestors lived past the age of forty!

After walking through a long passage, Raven finally arrived at the tomb of the founder of the Griffith family.

The image of this ancestor is clearly visible on the blue-gray coffin.

The armor was not the heavy plate armor of today, but a one-piece metal breastplate and skirt armor. The muscle lines on the thighs and arms were rough and clear. He held a round shield in one hand and a spear in the other, and was stepping on the bloody corpse of an orc and roaring!

Don Quixote Ota Griffith, the seventh-rank bloody knight.

Born in the 170th year of Guangming calendar and died in the 221st year of Guangming calendar.

He died at the age of...fifty-one!
Raven's pupils suddenly shrank. This was the first time he saw one of his ancestors live past the age of forty.

The curse may have started from this ancestor.

His eyes fell on the tombstone, examining the life of this ancestor.

Born a slave, he joined the army at the age of fourteen. As soon as he went into battle, he showed great fighting talent and killed three enemies. For his merit, he was awarded a divine potion and became a first-level bloody knight.

At the age of nineteen, he was promoted to the second-level extraordinary and was awarded the title of knight.

At the age of 21, he was appointed as the leader of a hundred men. At the age of 24, he was awarded the title of baron, and his own strength reached the third level, becoming the leader of a thousand men.

At the age of 5000, he participated in the Third Orc War. He broke through to the fourth level on the battlefield. He defeated the enemy with a small force and wiped out three thousand-man Orc teams. He was then ordered to become the commander of a -man legion.

At the age of 33, he participated in the "Havarian" battle and led his troops into the orc camp, forcing the orc commander to flee, defeating the orc army and was awarded the title of Viscount. In the same year, he was promoted to the fifth rank.

At the age of thirty-six, he was promoted to the sixth level.

At the age of 38, he served as the Marshal of the Empire's Western Army, attacked the Orc Empire, annihilated the main force of the Orcs in the west, bought time for the central army, and his title was promoted to Earl.

He died at Eagle Castle at the age of fifty-one as a baron.

"This is..." Raven frowned, "Gordon, why is there a thirteen-year gap in the life of this ancestor?"

"Master Donald asked the same question before." Old Gordon adjusted his monocle. "My answer at that time was I didn't know."

"what about now?"

"Now..." Old Gordon glanced at the servants on both sides, and waited until they had all left before lowering his voice: "I can only provide some irresponsible guesses."

"Go ahead."

Old Gordon swallowed his saliva and said in a low and erratic voice: "Our ancestor Don Quixote, both in terms of personal strength and merit, was enough to pass down a family business of the earl level, but in the end he died as a baron in this remote place of Eagle Territory."

"All this is probably because our ancestor committed a serious crime, a serious crime that cannot be recorded in history books, let alone known to anyone."

"and……"

At this point, Old Gordon's voice paused.

"And this serious crime is likely related to the royal family." Raven said expressionlessly.

Old Gordon lowered his head and kept silent.

The reason for coming to this conclusion is that Raven knows clearly that the contributions made by his ancestors are really too great.

The third war between orcs took place about nine hundred years ago. After that war, humans drove the orcs to the peninsula in the south of the continent, thus establishing the dominant position of humans on the continent.

Being able to serve as the commander-in-chief in the final decisive battle, his contribution needs no further explanation. Raven could hardly imagine what kind of serious crime could have caused such a meritorious official of the empire to be stripped of his title to the level of baron!

As a count with great military merit, if the punishment is unfair, it might even lead to a rebellion!
But the ancestor actually accepted the punishment, and the king did not kill them all, leaving the Griffith family heritage.

That's why Raven concluded that the royal family was involved.

But where did the curse come from?

"Nine hundred years ago..." Raven muttered this time, his mind working rapidly.

Suddenly, a detail popped into Raven's mind.

Lux once told him that although the elves had closed themselves off from the outside world, they still had communication with the outside world for a long time. They even appeared as allies of humans in the Third Orc War.

The accessories, magic props, and equipment of the elves that are currently circulating among humans all came out during that period.

After the Third Orc War, the elves truly began to isolate themselves and never had any communication with the outside world again.

This seems to have nothing to do with the ancestors, but Margaret once said that the curse on her was very much like the work of elves.

Raven originally thought that this was just Margaret's illusion, but now thinking about the life of his ancestor, Raven began to waver.

Could it be that... after defeating the orcs, our ancestors had some interaction with the elves?
"Let's continue with the ceremony."

Raven’s current strength is not enough to enter the Ancient Forest.

But in the future, one day, Raven will definitely go there and get the answer clearly!
Old Gordon placed the wine jar respectfully in front of Don Quixote's tomb, and held the dagger in both hands and handed it to Raven.

Raven picked up the dagger and gently cut his palm. Blood gushed out and fell into the wine jar, turning into clouds of blood. The wine was boiling and bloody smoke filled the air.

The next moment, a blood-red light flowed out from the wine jar, and Don Quixote's coffin began to vibrate. The eyes on the coffin lid were covered with a layer of blood-red light, as if they had suddenly opened their eyes.

The entire cemetery seemed to begin to shake, dust peeled off, and specks of blood-red light seeped out from each coffin, gathering on Raven like fireflies and then seeping in.

Raven seemed to clearly see the manifestation of the curse. The scarlet energy enveloped him like a spider web, constantly washing over his body!

At the same time, Margaret, who was in the room, suddenly jumped up and fell on the bed, her tongue sticking out, digging her throat with both hands, but she couldn't even breathe a little air!
The invisible connection between her and Raven suddenly tightened at this moment!

It was not until a few minutes later that the force finally disappeared. Margaret lay on the bed, sweating profusely, her eyes dull, and she had no idea what had happened.

At the same time, in the underground cemetery, Raven finally understood why the heads of the Griffith family in all generations awakened bloody fighting spirit.

Because the curse that has been passed down for nearly a thousand years has penetrated into the bones of every member of the Griffith family and profoundly changed their physique.

Raven picked up the jar of wine. Obviously no one was drinking it, but there was only a thin layer of wine left.

Raven raised his head and drank it. He felt as if what he drank was not wine, but a mouthful of sticky blood!

At the same time, he also clearly felt his remaining life span.

Nineteen years, just less than nineteen years.

No wonder Donald is so crazy.

Every year I am reminded that I don’t have much time left. It is really not easy not to collapse as I watch myself approach the end of my life.

After the worship was over and dinner was finished, Raven returned to his room and began his daily meditation.

However, for some reason, his meditation was interrupted by sleepiness, and a picture suddenly broke into Raven's mind.

Shouts and sounds of killing followed.

……

(End of this chapter)