Imperial Crown.

Chapter 117 Angel's Test
There was no visiting card sent in advance, and Raven did not issue an invitation. Angel's rash visit was undoubtedly very rude.

But considering that after the Slater family issued the transfer order this time, Viscount John led the troops personally, but Angel only sent Judra with two hundred mobs, and all the elite troops were left in Ironforge. This shamelessness was openly exposed, and this level of rudeness was nothing.

"Baron Angel, long time no see." Outside Eagle Castle, Raven greeted Angel who was riding a horse and leading the team. "Are you ready to return Eagle Beak Mountain and Thousand Needles Jungle to me?"

While greeting, Raven also examined this "old neighbor".

After more than half a year, Angel's complexion was much worse than before, and he had not yet fully recovered from the failure of the breakthrough. However, his copper bell-like eyes were still bright, his lion nose and wide mouth, and his beard was as thick as a felt carpet.

When he is not angry, he really looks like a kind-hearted elder.

Perhaps because he had already lost face, or perhaps because he had pushed all the responsibility onto his eldest son Judra, Angel did not show any embarrassment: "Brother Donald rented those two plots of land to me personally, but he didn't say that I had to return them now. Could it be that he was cared for by the Lord of Light and crawled out of the grave again?"

As he said this, he laughed and said meaningfully: "However, if my brother were alive, I'm afraid the first person he would deal with wouldn't be me."

Having lived next to the Griffith family for generations, Angel knew about the Griffith family curse. Several generations of family heads and members died on time at the age of 40, and Donald was only 39 years old when he died.

How come he died not long after Raven came, and why did Raven inherit the title?
This is too much of a coincidence.

However, Angel had no evidence, and Raven also knew that he had no evidence, so he immediately retorted: "I really don't know who Uncle Donald is going to deal with. Why don't you, Baron Angel, go first to the Kingdom of the Lord of Light and ask Uncle Donald on my behalf?"

The two looked at each other, sparks almost flew in the air, and the atmosphere was so tense that it was almost about to explode.

Angel suddenly stretched out his hand and went straight to Raven's shoulder.

But before his hand could be fully stretched out, Volaf's sword was pulled out of the scabbard with a clang.

Angel's hand just brushed off some non-existent dust on Raven's shoulder, then gently put it down: "Baron Raven, your guard is still not calm enough."

Volav held his sword awkwardly in the air.

Raven didn't say anything, but stretched out his hand as Angel had done before.

Angel sneered in his heart.

You are testing me in the same way. Don’t say you are a magician. Even if you are a knight, you are not a threat to me at all!

however.

As Raven uttered a short syllable, a ball of fire suddenly rose from the palm of his hand on Angel's shoulder.

Almost subconsciously, Angel mobilized his own earth fighting spirit and immediately condensed an invisible armor on his shoulders, extinguishing the flames while deflecting Raven's palm.

No, it didn't bounce off. Raven didn't hit it firmly at all. He had already retracted his hand before the fighting spirit was activated.

"Did you hear that, Volaf? Learn more." Raven said in a gloomy tone, "Look at Baron Angel's guards. They are professional. They won't move even if their master dies."

"Yes, sir!" Volaf straightened his chest and retracted his sword, not forgetting to look at Angel's guards provocatively.

"You!" Angel's personal guards turned pale with anger.

"Okay, it's just a little joke." As if nothing had happened, Angel stopped his guards.

His actions just now were mainly intended to test the quality of Raven's soldiers, not to cause trouble.

Raven did not continue to pester him: "Since you are here, Baron Angel, why don't you have lunch with me and taste the new Angel's Tears?"

The corner of Angel's eye twitched. It was because of the Angel's Tears that he lost face last time. Now, the sale of Angel's Tears is banned in the entire Iron Furnace Territory.

"No need. I am old and cannot enjoy myself like you young people."

"Now that the outside world is in such chaos, as border nobles, we must always repair our military equipment. I heard that Baron Raven went deep into the Bloody Highlands, defeated the famous horse thief 'Sand King' Heleti, and cut off his head with his own hands. He must have a good way of organizing the army."

"I don't know, can you let me see it with my own eyes and learn from it?"

Raven smiled to himself, this old man really came here for this matter.

Just as Raven thought, the purpose of Angel's visit was to spy on the Eagle Territory's strengths and weaknesses.

Earlier, Raven and his party passed through Eagle's Beak Mountain and returned to Eagle Castle from Bloody Highlands in a mighty manner. The momentum directly alarmed the guards of Eagle's Beak Mountain Mine. If they hadn't seen Raven's battle flag, they would almost have thought that it was bandits attacking.

Afterwards, news of Raven’s great victory spread through various channels.

Of course Angel refused to believe it. Raven was just a "little bee". It was already a fluke for him to become a magician. How could he have the ability to lead troops in battle?
What made Angel speechless the most was that Raven even dared to boast that he killed Helaiti with his own hands. He was simply ignorant of his own limitations and blew his own trumpet!

But those hundreds of war horses, pack horses, and boxes of spoils could not be faked.

Seeing that turmoil has begun in the Nord Province, Angel must know to what extent the Eagle Territory has developed and what kind of benefits he can gain from this battle.

This also involves how he will handle the relationship between the two families in the future.

"Baron Angel is joking," Raven said indifferently, "I suffered heavy losses in the battle of Bloody Highland. I only have half a hundred men left. It's not worth seeing."

The "half a century" that Raven mentioned was the Imperial military system.

According to imperial practice, a legion consisted of about 5,000 people, consisting of ten battalions; each battalion had about 500 people, consisting of three detachments; each detachment could be divided into two centuries, and a century had about eighty soldiers.

For example, the "Iron Legion" was reorganized completely in accordance with the Imperial Military System.

However, when it comes to each lord, the situation is completely different. For example, Viscount John's elite troops have about three hundred people, which is the size of two detachments, but they call themselves the "Snow Maple Legion."

Baron Angel's elite 100 men are only slightly larger than a century-man squad, and can also be called the "Ironforge Legion."

"Quality is more important than quantity," Anger said, "Baron Raven should not refuse."

"Since Baron Angel has said so..." Raven pondered for a moment and ordered loudly: "Volaf, go inform Eric to assemble and conduct drills!"

"Yes, Baron!" After giving a glance to the guards behind Angel, Volaf immediately rode his horse towards the military camp.

"Please come in." Raven extended his hand to lead the way.

The road was not long. When they arrived at the military camp, even though Angel was well prepared, he was still shocked by the appearance of the personal guards!
There were only thirty people in the team, but the order of the ranks was the most neat he had ever seen in his life. Even the Iron Furnace Legion he had trained himself could not compare to it.

They stood there, each wearing a full set of heavy chain mail and plate armor, standing straight like statues. The most eye-catching thing was their faces - they were covered with hideous masks like those of the devil!

These masks were ordered from Baron Roger long before they set out for Bloody Highlands, but Raven had to set off before they arrived.

It was originally a small trick to boost morale, but now worn on the faces of the soldiers who have fought on the battlefield, it no longer simply relies on its ferocious appearance to deceive the enemy.

Their inner selves are far more ferocious than their masks!

There was a sound of people sucking in a breath of cold air behind Angel, who was obviously frightened by the murderous aura of the guards. Even Angel himself had a gloomy face.

He didn't know that Raven had strengthened these soldiers, but his intuition told him that if these thirty people rushed forward, even if he was only one step away from the fourth level, he would have to pay a price to deal with them!
Besides, there's Eric.

The iron warrior walked up to him and saluted Raven with his hands on his chest: "My Lord Baron!"

Angel's eyes narrowed.

Judging from the material alone, the enchanted armor on Eric's body is probably of the second-level quality, and Eric's temperament is completely different from before!

When following Donald, Eric was like a rusty shield, solid and steady, but lacking vitality and enterprising spirit, as if he would be dragged into the grave by Donald at any time.

But now Eric has turned into a giant sword as wide as a door panel, which can be used for attack or defense, and is heavy, tough, sharp and powerful!
This made Angel refresh his thinking again.

With Eric leading the team, even I might fail on the spot.

It's not unfair for Helaiti, a horse thief, to die at the hands of such a team!

But at the same time, this also made Angel more disdainful of Raven - with such a team, there were still such heavy casualties. His military talent was simply negative. If it weren't for Eric, Raven might not have come back at all.

"Well done." Raven was also very satisfied with the appearance of his soldiers. He turned to look at Angell and said, "Baron Angell, you are a senior and have more combat experience than me. Since you are here, would you like to guide my soldiers?"

Raven's eyes passed over Angel's shoulder and fell on the guards behind him: "I will send ten people to practice with your guards. What do you think?"

"No need." Angel suppressed the twitch of his mouth: "I have seen Baron Raven's military appearance, so I won't stay any longer."

In fact, even if Raven didn't say it, this item was included in his plan. However, the performance of this group of soldiers has exceeded his expectations. He doesn't want to do such a thing to humiliate himself a second time.

With his mouth corners slightly lowered, Ingres said:
"I wish Baron Raven good luck in military affairs!"

Raven smiled and said, "Thank you for your kindness. I am not greedy. I just want to be more prosperous than Judea."

Angel's face darkened: "Goodbye!"

After saying this, he turned his horse around and was about to leave.

At this moment, Eric shouted: "Send Baron Angel!"

brush brush --

There was a sound of a blade being unsheathed, and Angel looked back, only to see Raven's private soldiers on the training ground all drawing their weapons.

Although they are different in shape, they all emit a faint blue glow, which is even more dazzling against the bright armor!
Raven's elite troops are all equipped with enchanted weapons! ?

Ingres' brows twitched slightly, and he squeezed his legs hard on the horse's belly and sped away.

"It's just a mere Angel, there's no need to make such a big fuss, right?" Raven looked at Eric and smiled helplessly.

"Hehe, this old guy used to be arrogant. He was like this when Lord Donald was still around. It made people angry." Eric smiled innocently and asked nervously, "Lord Baron, am I in trouble?"

"That's not the case." Raven shook his head, looking at his heroic and high-spirited soldiers, a trace of sadness rose in his heart.

"Ugh--"

A single enchanted weapon is nothing, but when these thirty pieces are put together, they can really be said to shine. He himself would not believe that they were not elite!

But Raven himself is weak and only a baron. If he really joins the battle, it would not be a good idea to be assigned a vanguard position.

We have to find a way to conceal this enchanted light.

"How to do it……"

Raven walked towards Eagle Castle in great distress, but in the end he had no idea what to do - he couldn't just hide the enchanted weapon to hide his incompetence, right?

That's not hiding one's incompetence, that's being really stupid.

He has not forgotten Annuo's prophecy. No matter how cautious he is in dealing with the "Death" card, it would not be too much.

As soon as they returned to Eagle Castle, Jenny came over and saluted respectfully to Raven: "My Lord Baron, Miss Nancy invites you to come over and have lunch with us."

……

(End of this chapter)