Imperial Crown.

Chapter 112 Corrupted Soul Essence
Eric blushed when he heard Raven's question: "...Mr. Gordon told me to find a way to urge you to meet the Slater family's envoy as soon as possible."

"But I really mean what I say! I definitely don't mean to deceive you!"

Raven smiled and shook his head: "Okay, I don't blame you."

"The holiday will end tomorrow. You should directly integrate the soldiers and organize them into four teams. Use this time to get back on track."

"Yes! Your Lordship!" Eric stood up and bowed to take his leave.

Looking at Eric's back, Raven shook his head.

He understood old Gordon's thoughts. This retainer certainly didn't want him to offend the Slater family.

But Raven also has his own plans.

First of all, his soldiers need rest. It will definitely have an impact on morale to take people away just after completing a war.

Secondly, there are political considerations.

Raven had just returned from the Bloody Highlands and had barely caught his breath. If he rushed to see that "Eberron", it would seem like he was being too servile.

Everyone knows their own business. The soldiers under Raven's command are indeed elite, but firstly, their numbers are too small, and secondly, they lack extraordinary abilities. Thrown into a war involving thousands or even tens of thousands of people, they can't even make a splash.

If the Nord Province relied on a small baron like him to turn the tables, it would be better for him to die so that he could turn around and surrender to the Hand of Death.

On the other hand, if the Slater family is really in danger, then they have to be more assertive, as there are not many opportunities to bargain with the nobles.

After sitting there in a daze for a while, Raven stood up and headed straight for the dungeon.

The environment in the dungeon was almost the same as before I left, except that it had been cleaned up and looked cleaner. The lingering smell of blood had also disappeared.

He stroked his fingers over the belt, and with a flash of light, a box appeared in Raven's hand.

It contains the second-level magic core looted from Heleti.

The first-level magic core has already reached its limit in strengthening Raven's body and can no longer produce any effect. Now, it depends on the effectiveness of the second-level magic core.

After preparing the crystal bottle, Raven selected a second-level bloody magic core, squeezed it with his fingers slightly, and the magic core shattered, and rich energy flowed out.

If the energy contained in the first-level magic core is smoke, then the second-level magic core is mist, which is more condensed and has a better texture.

Correspondingly, the essence of corrupted souls is more abundant and more concentrated.

Taking a deep breath, a silver light flashed in Raven's eyes. Under the operation of the Eye of Truth, the scarlet energy mist in the air poured into his brows, and the essence of the corrupted soul flowed into the crystal bottle.

A red mark spread out between Raven's eyebrows. At this moment, Raven felt as if a branding iron was imprinted on his forehead!

The defense line maintained by mental strength almost collapsed.

The intense pain was fleeting, and then a burning sensation spread from his forehead, crawling across every inch of Raven's skin. A numbing and itchy feeling spread, as if a group of ants were climbing and biting along his capillaries!
Raven could only breathe evenly, his chest rising and falling, as he digested this feeling.

Perhaps because he was now a magician, Raven could clearly feel his body changing under the influence of these energies.

The muscles were torn apart and bleeding, but they healed again under the action of energy. Although there was no change in appearance, they contained more powerful energy than before.

The inner walls of the blood vessels are thickening, the heartbeat is slowly slowing down, but more and more blood is pumped out, making the blood flow in the blood vessels like a flood rushing through a ditch.

The bones also became denser, and the tiny gaps and cracks were gradually filled up. If they were like tree trunks before, they are now like smooth jade.

"call……"

Raven opened his mouth and exhaled a breath of foul air with a slightly bloody smell, and his heart was relieved.

He thought again of the prophecy made by the witch "Anno".

Raven originally refused to believe this kind of thing, but Lux's prophecy could indeed be said to have come true, and Annuo even demonstrated a power beyond his understanding. If he continued to disbelieve it, it would be a bit of self-deception.

An Nuo calculated that as long as he left the Bloody Highlands, he would face a life-and-death crisis, which he did not dare to take lightly.

But An Nuo would never have expected that he had the Eye of Truth and could use the magic core to strengthen himself, right?

The "Death" card can certainly refer to death, but in Raven's opinion, it refers more to the cult of "Hand of Death".

Thinking of this, Raven touched the second second-level magic core, but eventually loosened his fingers.

More haste, less speed. It would be funny if he couldn't withstand the energy of the second magic crystal and exploded to death.

Turning around and leaving the dungeon, as soon as he opened the door, a fat face suddenly appeared in front of Raven.

“Oh my god!” Raven was almost startled. He was relieved when he saw that it was Weisdong. “What are you doing here?”

"I'm waiting for you, my brother." Weisdong licked his lips and smiled flatteringly: "There is one thing I need your approval for."

Raven closed the dungeon door and walked upstairs. "What's up?"

"That's right...that's right..." Weisdong followed Raven and scratched his head with his left hand: "Look, when will you give me the three thousand gold coins?"

Raven was stunned for a moment: "What do you mean three thousand gold coins?"

"That's right... didn't we say before that whoever serves as a vanguard will be given 3,000 gold coins?" Visdon looked at Raven's face cautiously.

"Oh! That, I remember." Raven's face showed a look of sudden realization, but just when Weisdong was ready to receive the reward, Raven's face became stern again: "No."

"Ah?" Weston's face was full of disappointment: "Why, Brother!?"

"You've only just turned fifteen, what do you need so much money for?" Raven said matter-of-factly. "Besides, the world is in such a mess right now, where are you going to spend these three thousand gold coins? Are you going to just spend them all on the Pink Mansion?"

"This..." Weisdong was speechless for a moment.

Raven's expression softened. "Visdon, it's not that I don't want to part with these three thousand gold coins. It's just that you are too young. Giving you so much money will only harm you!"

"Well, I'll save these three thousand gold coins for you first. I don't want any interest. When you get married, I'll return it to you."

"Ah?" Vesdon widened his eyes, not fully understanding.

Isn't it my money that is deposited with you? Why should I give you interest?
"If you don't have money now, here it is." Raven counted out three copper coins from his purse, took Visdon's hand and patted it on his palm: "Here, use it to buy something to eat!"

After saying that, he turned around and walked upstairs.

Three thousand gold coins turned into three copper coins. Visdon was so sad that he wanted to cry but had no tears. He looked at Raven's back, then at the palm of his hand, sighed helplessly, and put the copper coins back into his pocket.

It’s better than nothing!
After this little episode, Raven felt better.

I thought nothing would happen today, but when I returned to the study to deal with some documents, I saw Margaret standing in the corner of the room, with her head down and her hair hanging down, like a ghost-style floor lamp. "What are you doing standing there? Turn around."

Margaret's voice was buzzing: "...I dare not."

"Turn around." Raven emphasized again.

"Then, Baron, please don't blame me." As if giving a warning, Margaret moved her ankles and slowly turned around.

Even though he was mentally prepared, Raven was almost scared away.

The skin on Margaret's face seemed to have melted, with the corners of her eyes and mouth drooping, revealing large patches of red. Her eyes almost disappeared, and her big mouth looked extremely hideous.

Raven's eyelids twitched: "...You took a bath in holy water?"

Margaret shook her head quickly: "No, Baron, I am..."

Seeing this, Raven quickly moved his eyes away: "You should turn away first, I still have to eat tonight."

Margaret moved her face back to the corner and began to explain in a wronged manner what had happened to her.

It turned out that when Raven was offering sacrifices to his ancestors last night, Margaret felt tremendous pressure and a strong impact.

She also knew that Raven went to worship his ancestors, and guessed that this action had aroused the curse on Raven, and thought that everything would be fine as long as it was over.

But she didn't expect that although the strong feeling at that time had passed, the power of the curse that flowed into her body was lingering, and she almost exhausted all her energy before she was able to digest it. However, doing so also damaged her origin, causing her strength to drop a lot.

Although it has not fallen back to the first level, this body is about to collapse.

"Well... I can't help you." Raven shrugged. "Why don't you just use it for now and don't see anyone?"

Raven felt somewhat regretful that Margaret's strength had been damaged, but he would not feed his subjects to Margaret just for this.

"Sir, you can help me." Margaret whispered, "And only you can help me with this matter..."

Raven became alert: "What do you want?"

"…Corrupted Soul Essence."

As soon as these four words came out, Raven's pupils suddenly shrank, and he looked at Margaret with a look full of hostility: "How much do you know?"

Margaret realized that she had touched upon Raven's secret, and said tremblingly: "My Lord Baron, I just discovered by accident that you... can extract and store the essence of corrupted souls from the magic core. I have never told anyone!"

Raven's expression eased a little. Margaret was completely under her control and she couldn't lie to herself.

"Don't mention it to anyone afterwards." Raven said lightly, "What effect does the Corrupted Soul Essence have on you?"

"It's like this, Baron..." Margaret didn't want to tell her secret, but since Raven asked, she had to tell her.

Except for the divine blood witch like Anno, most witches are born with strong negative energy like Margaret.

This energy can also be used to cast magic, so it is okay to call it "magic power", but its essence is closer to fighting spirit or the innate energy of magic beasts.

The essence of corrupted souls is a type of negative energy, and it is very pure. It is a deadly poison to living creatures such as humans, elves, and orcs, but it is a very precious tonic to witches or undead creatures.

That's why Margaret asked Raven for help, because she needed to use the essence of corrupted souls to replenish her own essence.

After a brief consideration, Raven took out a crystal bottle from his belt and threw it at Margaret's feet: "Take it."

Margaret quickly leaned over and grasped the crystal bottle tightly in her hand.

She put her nose close to it and took a deep breath. Immediately, a purple-black breath flowed out of the crystal bottle and penetrated into Margaret's facial features.

"what--"

A soothing sound flowed out from Margaret's throat, and the "painted skin" began to stick back at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Although it has not reached the same lifelike level as before, it is much better than the old face that looks like a melted candle.

"You can take this bottle of Corrupted Soul Essence first." Raven lowered his voice: "But you are not allowed to show it to anyone, and you are not allowed to use it on anyone behind my back."

"Yes, Baron." Margaret bowed with a smile on her face, turned around and was about to say goodbye.

"Wait." Raven stopped her and said, "How much do you know about the elves?"

"Not much, Baron." Margaret replied seriously, "But the curse on you does come from the elves. This is absolutely true."

"...Go down."

Margaret stepped back, sat at the desk, opened the dictionary written in Elvish, and her eyes fell on the line "curse".

The Elvish explanation for this word is: a spell with endless hatred and malice that is activated at the cost of one's soul and life.

Raven sighed.

There is still too little information on hand. I wonder if Lux has more books about the elves.

Just as I was thinking this, the door suddenly opened and a rich scent of roses wafted towards me.

Without even looking, Raven knew that Denise had arrived.

A white arm placed the plate in front of Raven and poured him a glass of Angel's Tears with his own hands.

Raven raised his glass and savoured it carefully.

The wine was mellow and smooth, and combined with the scent of roses in the air, it relaxed Raven's nerves and a smile unconsciously appeared on the corners of his mouth.

Denise's voice sounded from behind: "I came to bring you dinner in person, and you just drank?"

"No, I didn't drink wine." Raven shook his head slowly: "I drank the night."

"Night? What night?" Denise was puzzled.

Raven smiled.

"I miss your juice."

……

(End of this chapter)