Imperial Crown.

Chapter 610 Fifth-Order Filthy Demon Potion
"Boom!" "Boom!"

"kill--"

"kill--"

From inside the memory stone, a deafening roar echoed from the projected image.

Raven watched intently. A rough estimate suggested that the ground forces on both sides numbered at least 40 soldiers. That meant one side had committed at least 20 ground troops alone. The soldiers of the Insa Empire were uniformly clad in black armor, making them highly recognizable. The rumbling sounds came from the clash of magic crystal cannons.

Both sides possessed magic crystal cannons, but the Keynes Empire clearly had more. After all, they were fighting on Keynesian soil, giving them a geographical advantage. Furthermore, the aerial battle was exceptionally fierce. Together, at least 20 air troops were involved! Keynes' hippogriffs and Insa's manticores relentlessly tore and killed each other in the air. Soldiers and magical beasts fell like raindrops.

Fortunately, as Keynes's magic crystal cannons roared incessantly, the soldiers of the Insa Empire immediately began to retreat in a tidal wave. In the memory stone, they truly looked like both black ants and a black ocean.

Seeing this, Raven's curiosity grew even stronger. How could the Keynesian Empire, with such a huge advantage, have lost two provinces? But what he saw next completely overturned Raven's understanding. In the scene, Keynesian soldiers, clad in red, silver, and even gold armor, naturally wouldn't let this opportunity to kick a man when he was down slip by. They pursued relentlessly, bravely hacking and slashing at the enemy. But just then, a woman with wings suddenly appeared in the air. Raven recognized her as a woman at a glance, not only because of her rather impressively rounded chest, but also because she was an old friend he hadn't seen in a long time—

McGinya Fluquinsie.

Black Scorpion

The glowing, enchanted mask on her face was incredibly distinctive. And the wings behind her seemed vaguely familiar to Raven. They were likely from the wing potion recorded in the notes of the vampire Emperor Walz Gibb.

What shocked Raven was that the other party had deciphered the text so quickly and even completed the refining process? The potion in the notebook, while of a high rank, was written in ancient vampire script, a language few, even among modern vampires, could fully decipher. Furthermore, the resources recorded in this ancient, high-level potion recipe were long extinct. Successfully refining it required not only cultivating a large number of high-level magical plants but also constant trial and error to find suitable substitutes… and a refining method. Therefore, although Raven had obtained the notebook, he had yet to successfully refine it.

Of course, this is also partly due to Raven's constant fighting over the years. He simply hasn't had the time or inclination to delve into these matters.

“Red Kama… Asma…”

Before Raven could think further, the voice of the black scorpion came from the screen. It sounded more like an extremely difficult and obscure incantation.

As the incantation was uttered, the Insa soldiers, who had been retreating like a receding tide, each pulled a palm-sized black vial from their robes and drank it down. As the potion entered their stomachs, an unbelievable scene unfolded. These soldiers all roared to the sky, letting out screams of excruciating pain. Interspersed among them were… eerie… incomprehensible… terrifying… and soul-chilling cries. They sounded like words, yet were completely incomprehensible. Truly like the whispers of demons.

Boom boom boom boom——

As explosions rang out, the armor of these soldiers shattered. The Keynesian soldiers pursuing at the front were immediately caught in the crossfire, their faces mangled by shards of armor. They fell to the ground, howling in agony. Even more horrifying, these armor shards also killed their comrades right next to the Insa soldiers.

Huge lumps of flesh swelled from the bodies of the Insa soldiers who had ingested the black potion. They looked like magnified toads, utterly disgusting. Their skin cracked and peeled off, turning them into bloody, monstrous figures. Then, these twisted, dark, terrifying…bloody blobs rapidly transformed into monsters nearly 3 meters tall. Yes. Monsters. Their overall design resembled the 'Demon King' from *Stranger Things*. Except the Demon King's petal-like mouth was on its head, while these monsters' mouths were on their abdomens. Long, white, sharp teeth were embedded in crimson flesh, constantly writhing. Their heads, however, resembled the 'Licker' from *Resident Evil 1*.

"what is this?"

The scene abruptly ended, and Raven felt a chilling coldness creep up his spine.

"I don't know."

Eric and the others shook their heads, their expressions grave. "However, the Keynes Empire calls it the 'Deathly Deformed Demon.'" Eric hesitated for a moment, then added, "It also has a more resounding name—the Belly Devourer."

"The Grim Reaper Demon?" Raven repeated, then activated the second recording stone. The image on this stone was even more stimulating and explosive. Even though Raven had prepared himself mentally, the overwhelming sense of horror still sent his adrenaline soaring. This was likely a recording made by a superhuman general, and also the last image he saw before his death. The over 3-meter-tall Devourer Demon leaped up, pounced on him, and swallowed him whole from its enormous maw. It tore him into gruesome, unsightly pieces of flesh.

The other recording stones contained largely similar images of the Devouring Demons from different angles. These Devouring Demons were virtually invulnerable; even after being blasted halfway through their bodies by magic crystal cannons, they could still continue fighting. They were almost invincible unless their heads were blown off. Even more terrifying was their ruthlessness; many soldiers of the Insa Empire perished at their hands. However, thanks to the Insa soldiers' prior preparation, their losses were not significant. The Insa soldiers either consumed wing potions and flew away, or they prepared iron fences and other barriers to block the Devouring Demons' path. This forced the Devouring Demons, unable to obtain food, to finally flee towards Keynes's side!

"I remembered."

Raven finally understood why the Keynes Empire had lost two provinces. But at the same time, he also realized some clues. "This is a Demonic Potion!" "A Demonic Potion of Rank 5!" "So this was Black Scorpion's true purpose!" The Vampire Emperor's notes recorded many potions, including this Demonic Potion in addition to the Wing Potion. Let alone a transcendent being consuming it, even an ordinary civilian would instantly transform into a terrifying monster of at least Rank 3 transcendent power if they ingested this potion!

In other words, whoever controls this potion controls a continuous supply of third-tier extraordinary beings!
This made Raven realize the truth. It turned out that the Wing Potion in the Elven Empire was just a gimmick used by Black Scorpion to get him to cooperate. The fifth-tier Demon Potion was her real goal! However, Black Scorpion was extremely down on her luck at the time, lacking both strength and money. To obtain the notebook quickly, she tricked Raven. After Raven paid the gold coins for the teleportation array, she immediately abandoned him and ran away. This woman, what deep cunning. What a ruthless heart. What a vicious scheme.

In order to win the war, Inza's soldiers were turned into monsters one by one.

Even if Raven could concoct such a potion, he couldn't actually do this. In this respect, Raven concedes defeat.

This reminded Raven of what Grand Duke Ochison of the Insa Empire had said. Ochison had mentioned that Black Scorpion had been restored to her earldom. Raven had wondered at the time if Emperor Hoken Bentham of Insa had lost his mind, allowing Black Scorpion to rise again. He had even suspected that Black Scorpion might have offered a fourth-tier wing potion as tribute. Now it seemed the truth was far more complex than he had imagined. Black Scorpion had likely offered not only a fourth-tier wing potion, but also a fifth-tier demon potion! Only such a powerful weapon, capable of overthrowing Keynes, would be worth Hoken Bentham taking such a great risk to reinstate Black Scorpion as an earl. After all, this woman was a descendant of the Mad King Frederick.

After piecing together the clues in his mind, Raven figured out many of the key points.

"The Potion of Impurity?" "And who is Black Scorpion?"

Eric and the others were completely confused.

"That's all, you can go now." Raven waved his hand, ending the meeting, and walked towards his temporary bedroom.

Chaos! Chaos! Chaos! Chaos! The situation is in complete chaos.

The entire Keynes Empire... and even the entire Middlesbrough continent, was in complete chaos.

To the south, the Hand of Death occupied the province of Eastwood. To the east, the Orcish Empire swallowed up the provinces of Crispi and Derenti.

To the north, the Insa Empire conquered the Blackwater Province and the Silver Pine Province.

If Raven himself is included, it means that in the west, Raven controls both the Nord Province and the North Sea Province.

Back in the Elven Empire, the Titan orc Litanshi's words proved prophetic—the Fourth Continental War had begun.

Middlesbrough Season 4?
However, for Raven himself, this chaotic situation is somewhat of a blessing in disguise.

The reason it's a bad thing is that the Keynes Empire was, after all, Raven's own kingdom, and now that it's being divided up by everyone, he's naturally not happy. The good thing, of course, is that he can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Otherwise, he really would have to bear the pressure from the Keynes Empire alone.

Perhaps this is what is meant by "national destiny".

Raven has a few things to deal with as soon as possible. First, he needs to find Ferdinand's real family. Judging by the time, they should be arriving by now. Second, he needs to rescue Viston as soon as possible. So much time has been wasted; he doesn't even know if Viston is still alive.

As for the third matter—that is to take advantage of the chaos to quickly annex the surrounding territories, including the North Sea Province and the Molinell Province. Once these two provinces are taken, there will be a buffer zone between Raven's stronghold, the Nord Province, and the capital. From then on, there will be no longer any fear of the capital's army pressing in.

A nation or territory without strategic depth has virtually no chance of rising to power or becoming strong. Even elementary school students on Earth, where Raven lived in his previous life, understood this.

Although the current situation is extremely difficult, the Keynes Empire is, after all, a behemoth. Even a centipede with a hundred legs doesn't die easily. The Keynes Empire hasn't fully retaliated yet; once it does, the entire continent will inevitably descend into even greater turmoil. Moreover, with the Insa Empire's actions, the Holy See of Light will certainly side with the Keynes Empire. After all, the Insa army's methods are no different from those of the Death Hand Order.

As long as I don't go too far, the capital will definitely appease or even win over Raven first.

An era of great strife! The strong will prevail! The weak will perish!
Having carefully considered his future plans, Raven felt increasingly clear-headed. He exhaled a breath of stale air, and the next moment, he activated his Martial Soul, intending to search for Viston's whereabouts. However, to Raven's surprise, his entire vision was filled with a vast, chaotic white expanse.

"Hmm?" Raven's heart skipped a beat. He had only encountered this scenario once before, when he used his martial soul to search for Nancy.

Viston is dead?
Raven was tense all over, his anus clenching involuntarily. Although he had received a distress message from Veston pleading for help with the words "rescue immediately," he never expected that Veston would be murdered so soon.

"No, no, no!"

Raven quickly noticed something was wrong. In the vast, white chaos, a faint yellow glow appeared. From a distance, it was easily overlooked. Raven's consciousness drew closer; the yellow glow resembled a plastic eggshell. The inside was blurry. "I see," Raven mused. It seemed the capital had activated a magic array. That's why Raven couldn't see anything inside.

"Fine." "Then let's find Ferdinand's family first."

Raven withdrew his Martial Soul and activated it again. This time, his target was Mansani. Both Mansani and Savannah became Raven's Shadow Guards. Raven had them wait in different townships of the Nord Province to prevent missing the people arranged by Vesdon. After consuming the Doumu Potion, Mansani successfully advanced to the third-tier transcendent, becoming the third second-generation transcendent to achieve this. However, strictly speaking, Mansani wasn't really a second-generation. She and Raven had known each other before; she was just a bit younger.

The first to break through to the third level of the extraordinary realm was Julia. She is currently stationed in Snow Maple County.

The second one is Vestun.

"No," there was nothing unusual in Lanxia County where Mansani was. The woman was idly lounging in the mercenary guild of Lanxia County. Raven once again projected his martial spirit towards Savanna. Sure enough, there he saw Savanna in a room with several people bound by demon-sealing steel shackles. If Raven remembered correctly, Savanna was in Cambri County.

Ferdinand has four grandsons and one granddaughter… a total of five people. This certainly isn't all of Ferdinand's direct descendants. Raven remembers that Ferdinand had three granddaughters and two sons. However, given the urgency of the situation, it's quite impressive that Vesdon managed to kidnap so many people. As for Ferdinand's sons, they likely spend most of their time inside the family castle, making it difficult for Vesdon to harm them.

Ferdinand's four grandsons were all quite old, around 30 years old. After all, Ferdinand was over 70. At this moment, some of these four grown men were kneeling and begging Savannah, some were insulting and threatening her, and some were trying to reason with her, attempting to awaken her "conscience" and persuade her to release them for the sake of the Lord of Light, and not hand them over to the man-eating demons—the little bees.

As for Ferdinand's youngest granddaughter, only about 14 years old, she was sobbing uncontrollably while munching on the food on the table. She was trembling like a leaf, terrified. It seemed she intended to eat her fill and die.

hum-

A dark crack suddenly appeared in the void near the ceiling of the room.

The next moment, Raven appeared in the room, hovering in mid-air.

This scene not only terrified Ferdinand's five grandsons, but even Savannah was startled. However, when she saw Raven, an excited smile immediately appeared on her face. "Raven!" she shouted. Her longing was overflowing. No, it was overflowing the screen. If it weren't for the five prisoners beside her, she would have rushed over to him.

But after only a moment's hesitation, she pounced on him.

Raven felt an overwhelming surge of desire against her hot chest. He hugged her, squeezed her shapely buttocks for a moment to comfort her, and then Savannah reluctantly pulled away. Upon seeing Raven, the room fell eerily quiet. The four men remained silent, staring at him with terrified eyes. The little girl, meanwhile, stuffed bread into her mouth even faster and more vigorously.

However, Raven walked up to the little girl first, a strange smile on his lips. "Your way of relieving stress is quite unique." "But do you know what?" "The reason why crabs desperately eat ginger in the steamer is because they don't know what's wrong with them and think that eating something will make them feel better and survive."

"Guess," "Will you survive?"

Upon hearing Raven's deliberately lowered voice, filled with murderous intent, the little girl immediately opened her mouth, closed her eyes, and threw her head back to wail.

……

(End of this chapter)