Imperial Crown.

Chapter 85 Witch (Part )

Black smoke gushed out from Margaret's palm, spreading out like a spider web, and penetrated into Raven's facial features.

Raven only felt that every inch of his skin was spreading with unspeakable pain, as if he was wearing a mask embedded with sharp steel needles. The mask was constantly shrinking inwards, squeezing out the deepest pain between his skin, causing his consciousness to gradually move away from his body.

Margaret murmured a difficult spell and slowly raised her rough hands.

Raven's face reappeared, and his eyes, which had once been bright and lively, had turned into a pure black without boundaries, just like Margaret's.

In the darkness, silver light would occasionally appear, but it would be squeezed and eliminated by the pervasive black air.

"What a strong mental power." Margaret's narrow mouth curled up into a smile: "It's a pity that you don't know how to use it."

Gradually, Raven's face began to undergo horrific changes. Blood vessels were dyed black, emerged and exploded, like worms swimming under the skin.

They twisted, pulsated, and jumped, propping up pieces of skin, revealing a greasy, wet, and corrupt texture.

When the black blood vessels eroded below Raven's neck, Margaret raised her hands and let out a short scream.

As the scream broke out, a strong wind swept out with Raven as the center, and thick black smoke rushed out from under the ground, lifting Raven's body up.

The black gas was extremely thick, like ink floating in clear water, condensing into whip-like tentacles that danced wildly around Raven's body.

This is a curse ritual, the magic that witches are best at.

This curse, called "Song of Darkness," extracts the soul of the cursed and replaces it with a replacement carefully crafted by the witch.

Margaret's voice began to become high-pitched, and she kept emitting sharp, hoarse but strangely rhythmic hisses. The black tentacles began to move in this rhythm, and a little bit of silver light flowed out from Raven's facial features.

At first it had a mercury-like texture, then it rose up and turned into tiny specks of light, but every time it just floated up it was swallowed up by the black air, and the black air slowly began to grow stronger.

Mental power is derived from the soul and also protects the soul from being harmed by strange forces. At this time, the curse is draining Raven's mental power bit by bit and stripping off the armor of the soul.

"Wow, what a pure spiritual power." It was like a picky customer appreciating a product: "If I really made you into a puppet, maybe you can understand human nature better than others?"

whoosh-

At this moment, a sound of breaking air was heard. Margaret turned her head slightly, and a long sword wrapped in icy fighting spirit brushed past her, hit the wall and bounced to the ground.

She tilted her head slightly and saw Volaf struggling to crawl out from the flock of crows, leaving a long pool of blood behind him. His facial features were all bloody, his ears were pecked to pieces, and even the bones could be seen on his wrists.

"Oh, what a loyal knight." Margaret sniffed and smelled the blood in the air: "Go to sleep, sleep first, when you wake up you will find that all this is just a nightmare."

She raised her hand, and a stream of black energy flowed from under Raven and landed on Volaf's face.

The latter's eyes widened, his breathing began to become difficult, and he felt dozens of voices echoing in his mind, urging him to fall into a deep sleep.

He didn't want to sleep because Baron Raven was still under the control of this witch, but the voice was magical, constantly tempting the tiredness in his heart and making his eyelids heavier and heavier.

“Baron...Your Excellency...!” he muttered, using his last bit of strength to put his palm into his mouth and bite it hard!
Ten fingers connected to the heart.

The tingling pain drove away his tiredness and refreshed him, but the next moment, he felt that he had lost consciousness from the neck down.

"Witch...! What have you done to me!?"

Margaret chuckled: "You can have a good rest and don't disturb our 'world of two'."

In a place that Volav couldn't see, in the center of his spine, several wisps of black air were interweaving, and it was they that blocked Volav's power.

Feeling weak, Volav could no longer resist and fell into a deep sleep in reluctance.

Although most of the strength was occupied by Raven, dealing with a seriously injured knight did not take Margaret much effort.

thump.

A staff rolled to Margaret's feet.

She turned her head and saw that Nancy had struggled over to her and was less than ten meters away from her, but at this moment she had finally exhausted her strength.

"Oh, I almost forgot about you." Margaret snapped her fingers lightly, and the black air lingering in Nancy's throat slightly dissipated: "I like your body very much. After controlling Raven, I will transform into your appearance and follow him."

Nancy spat out a mouthful of blood, and then gasped: "Dream on, I am from the Fox family..."

"Shh..." Margaret put her dry fingers on her lips, and a dark air locked Nancy's throat again: "Lady, you should be quiet."

Looking at Nancy's angry and desperate eyes, Margaret felt filled with pleasure.

"Even the high and mighty nobles have moments like this!" She laughed happily, because another noble was about to fall completely into her hands.

When Nancy heard this, she was immediately furious, her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

No one can stop Margaret anymore.

At this time, Raven was completely surrounded by black tentacles. Silver liquid no longer flowed from the corners of his eyes and lips, but was replaced by scarlet blood.

Margaret clapped her hands, and the black tentacles like bushes lifted Raven and moved him towards her.

As Margaret's gestures continued to change, there was a bang, smoke and dust rose, and black tentacles lay on the ground, forming a complicated inverted pentagram magic circle.

"It's time." Margaret walked forward, gently stroked Raven's chest, and slowly opened his clothes, revealing his body that was already swollen with black blood vessels.

Raven's heart had completely bulged out and was beating vigorously on the surface of his skin, and his ribs seemed to no longer exist.

Taking out a small knife from her dirty robe, Margaret cut her finger with it, and the purple-black blood stuck to her finger like asphalt.

She placed her fingers on Raven's chest and squeezed gently, causing sticky blood to drip onto the surface of the heart in thin threads.

The heart suddenly began to beat wildly, and the black blood dissolved and seeped into the paper like ink.

"Mother of Pure Black..." Margaret chanted the name: "Please awaken the spirit in my blood!"

Raven's limbs began to twitch as if they were electrified, and little bits of transparent, sticky substance were squeezed out of his pores.

This is his soul.

When the soul dissipated, there was no Raven in the world anymore, only a puppet that obeyed Margaret's orders.

"Ah..." Margaret made a sound of pleasure. She could feel an invisible connection being built between herself and Raven, like the silk thread controlling a puppet.

The feeling of holding someone else's life and death in your hands is truly wonderful, and Margaret will never get tired of it.

The connection gradually became more stable, and the squeezed soul wrapped around Raven's body, like a layer of jelly, or a crystal coffin built to fit the body.

This wasn't the first time Margaret had performed such a ritual, and she knew that it meant Raven's soul had been completely forced out of his body.

She took a deep breath, mobilized her mental power, and rushed through the invisible passage:

"Goodbye, Baron Raven!"

boom.

Along with Margaret's mental impact, the transparent substance on Raven's body suddenly disintegrated like raindrops.

Raven, finally

Soul-smashing
?
The smile on Margaret's lips suddenly froze.

Because at this moment, the soul that should have dissipated like a dewdrop in the sun actually rolled back and poured into Raven's body from his forehead.

At the same time, a layer of dark red light covered Raven's body, illuminating the entire cave scarlet!

The pungent smell of blood filled Margaret's nostrils, as if she was in a pool of blood.

Spiritual feedback also followed. Margaret felt that her mental power did not hit a crumbling soul, but hit a volcano that was about to erupt!

Her mental strength was annihilated in it, and then the energy that was about to burn her to death rebounded and pierced into her soul!
Those originally dark eyes also showed a layer of blood color!
"How... is this... possible!!" Margaret screamed miserably, "Curse... you, how could such a powerful curse be on you!?"

She used her most proud curse ritual to try to dispel Raven's soul, but she didn't expect that Raven's soul had already been possessed by an even more terrifying curse.

The curse carried a power that she could not imagine, like a sleeping dragon, but she had awakened it!

“No...no...no!!!!” Bloodstains began to appear on Margaret’s shriveled skin, which then turned into black spots like brands. Her hair began to turn into ashes and disappear, and her nails broke and fell to the ground like dust.

Raven also opened his eyes at this moment.

His whole body was wrapped in a surging red light, as if he had been reborn in blood.

Raven's legs slowly landed on the ground, his expression full of surprise. He looked at his body, then at Margaret, and a smile of sudden realization appeared on his face:

"It seems that although this curse doesn't want me to live too long, it also doesn't want me to die too early."

“You, you——” Blood continued to flow into Margaret’s body, causing her to scream wildly: “You already knew it, you already knew it, right?!?”

"I don't know." Raven blurted out the truth: "Your strength is far superior to ours. As the saying goes, 'all conspiracies are useless in the face of absolute power'. You have indeed achieved this."

"Thank you for teaching me this lesson. Next time I face an unfamiliar force, I will never be so careless again."

This sentence made Margaret feel worse than death. If all this was Raven's plan, she could still convince herself that the other party had stronger power and more adequate preparation.

But it was luck that determined the outcome between them!

"Damn... Damn... this bitch fate..." The witch's body was trembling. Her voice was filled with panic and fear, as well as a strong sense of unwillingness.

As Raven regained consciousness, the scarlet power began to fade, as if it had passed through an invisible crack and gradually disappeared without a trace.

Margaret remained frozen in place, unable to move.

Raven didn't intend to give her another chance to move, so he picked up his staff and was about to chant magic, but Margaret's voice suddenly rang out.

"Don't kill me, please don't kill me!! I have lived for three hundred years and know a lot of useful knowledge!"

With a sneer on his lips, Raven was about to continue chanting the spell when he was suddenly stunned.

Because he saw that Margaret's lips clearly did not move.

"Master... Master!" Margaret's eyes showed a trace of pleading and flattering: "Please, don't kill me!"

A trace of suspicion appeared on Raven's face, and he thought to himself:

"Am I dead now, and all this is just my hallucination? Or am I really being controlled by Margaret, and what I see now is what she wants me to see?"

"No...! It's not an illusion!" Margaret's voice was even tearful: "Curse... I was bitten by my own curse. Now you are my master!"

"Really?" Raven still didn't want to believe it.

"Really! The curse in your body is too powerful, far beyond my reach." Margaret sighed, "Now, I have to do whatever you tell me to do. Without your order, I can do nothing!"

Upon hearing this, Raven immediately opened the Eye of Truth, and then a sense of enlightenment came to his mind.

He saw that there was an invisible rope connecting himself and Margaret. One end of the rope was in his hand, connected to the deep curse that enveloped his soul; the other end went deep into Margaret's head, connecting to her soul.

If she exerted even the slightest amount of force, Margaret would inevitably and immediately face death.

"Now, remove your magic." Raven gave the order for the first time.

Margaret straightened up immediately, rubbing her hands in front of her chest, and the black air flew back to her palms and merged into her body.

The flock of crows disappeared, and the black aura that was entangled with Nancy and Volaf also disappeared.

The guards were all exhausted, but they immediately surrounded Margaret after seeing what was happening.

"Okay, no need to be so nervous." Raven shook his neck. "She is no longer a threat to us. Settle Volav and Nancy down, and bandage your wounds."

"Yes, my lord!"

Strangely, the injuries of these bodyguards were not as serious as those of Volaf, who broke out of the crow formation twice.

Sensing Raven's confusion, Margaret took the initiative to explain: "Master, the magic of 'Crow Storm' is actually based on illusion. People who enter it will lose their sense of direction and sensitivity to time. Only those who see through the illusion will be attacked by crows. That's why Volaf's injury is the most serious."

Raven nodded slowly, and suddenly realized something was wrong: "Margaret, now I give you two orders."

"First, do not look into my heart without my permission."

"Second, if you have something to say, say it with your mouth. Unless reality doesn't allow it, don't speak in my heart!"

After saying these two sentences, Margaret froze in place, without any reaction at all.

Raven hesitated for a moment, then gave a tentative order: "Third, from now on you can move and talk freely, but you cannot run away, and you cannot attack my people."

After saying this, Margaret's expression suddenly became vivid. She rubbed her palms and approached Raven step by step with a flattering smile on her face: "Baron, you are so magnanimous and kind! You are simply the most perfect nobleman in the world!"

As she said this, she knelt down and held Raven's shoes with both hands.

The latter took two steps back and said in a cold voice: "What are you going to do!?"

"Well..." Margaret opened her mouth, revealing her black teeth: "Of course, it's to clean your shoes!"

"Get lost!" Raven's mouth twitched, "Don't touch me without my order!"

You wanted to lick me before I conquered you, and you still want to lick me now. So, didn’t I conquer you in vain?
Thinking of this, Raven rubbed his cheek and said, "If you dare to do this again, I will pull your tongue out!"

At this moment, Nancy also woke up.

She choked on a mouthful of saliva, her chest heaving violently, her eyes went from blurry to clear, her gaze moved everywhere, and the moment she saw Margaret she screamed, grabbed the staff at hand, and began to chant a spell.

"Nancy, stop!" Raven shouted.

But Nancy seemed not to hear Raven's words and continued chanting her spell.

Raven's face darkened, and he raised his crossbow and pointed it at her: "I want you to stop!"

Nancy still didn't care. She didn't believe that Raven would really dare to shoot an arrow at her.

Fire began to wrap around the staff, and just when the magic was about to be completed, there was a whoosh, and the crossbow arrow brushed Nancy's wrist and was nailed into the ground, and the spell in Nancy's mouth was also heard.

Her face turned from white to blue, and then from blue to red, and she shouted at Raven: "Raven! What are you doing!?"

The latter walked up to her and said, "I told you to stop, didn't you hear me?!"

"Wake up, she's a witch!" Nancy's voice was exasperated: "Could it be that you have been controlled by her!?"

"I controlled her." Raven corrected her and turned to verify his words: "Xiao Ma, do a somersault!"

Margaret was so angry. Do you think I am your dog? Little Margaret?

But her body was much more realistic than her mental activities. She simply bent down, supported herself on the ground with her hands, and did a somersault with an ugly shape but impeccable posture.

Raven nodded secretly.

As expected of someone who has lived for over three hundred years, he is so multi-talented!
Nancy was also stunned, but she quickly came to her senses: "Since you have controlled her, why don't you kill her now!?"

"Why would I kill her?" Raven asked in confusion, "Now that I can control her, she is my property and can play a very important role."

"But she almost killed me just now!" Nancy pointed at her chest and said, "I was almost going to die at the hands of this old witch!"

"In fact, you are still alive." Raven's voice began to become a little impatient: "And you are still full of energy. Now you still have the energy to argue with me!"

Nancy seemed surprised that Raven would say such a thing to her: "I am still alive now? Yes, I am still alive, do you think that is enough? This can make up for the harm she has done to me!?"

"I'll ask you one last time, are you going to kill her or not?"

Raven's answer was simple and straightforward: "Can't kill him."

"Good, great!" Nancy's face flushed, she nodded repeatedly, and then went straight to grab Raven's crossbow.

"What are you doing?" Raven pushed her out.

The latter took a few steps back and sat on the ground, staring at Raven unyieldingly: "If you don't kill her, then I will!"

"Fox family, debts must be paid!"

"Fox Family, Fox Family...!" Raven was really mad at her, and said sternly: "This is Bloody Highlands, not Nord Province, not your Fox Family's Hovi City!"

"Here, no one will care about your identity as Miss Fox!"

"Please control your princess syndrome!"

It was the first time that Nancy had heard such harsh words since she was a child. The grievances she had endured along the way, the anger she had felt for being deceived by Margaret, and the fear between life and death all burst out at this moment:
"Princess syndrome? I gave you money and magic to bring me to Bloody Heights! Have I ever done anything to let you down? Have I ever been disobedient?!"

"Now, because of this witch!" She pointed her finger at Margaret: "She wants my life! Not only do you not let me kill her, but you also scold me!? Is she that important!?"

"You want to keep her, right? Okay, I'm leaving!"

As she said that, she picked up the staff on the ground and walked out angrily, but when she reached the cave entrance, she couldn't help but slow down.

Raven looked at her back, still angry: "Okay, go ahead, why aren't you moving?!"

"How easy it is, just step out of this hole, get on your horse, and run!"

"You are so amazing, Miss Fox Family, 'Fiery Rose'. You can survive in the ice and snow all by yourself. You will never be cold or hungry, you will never be caught, and you will never die!"

"Bloody Heights is your Fox family's playground!"

Nancy clenched her fists and sobbed, "Do you really want me to die?!"

"I really want to!" Raven said, "So you'd better get out right now, and don't ever come back!"

"Okay! That's what you said!" Nancy took a step and rushed out of the cave without looking back.

The cave immediately became quiet.

Margaret came forward and said, "My Lord Baron, do you think I turned the page well?"

"You get out too! Get out where I can't see you!" Raven was too lazy to pay attention to her.

The witch was stunned, and suddenly black smoke flashed from her body, and she turned into a crow and flew away.

"My Lord Baron..." Volaf had already drunk the healing potion, and the wounds on his body were healing quickly. He limped to Raven's side.

The latter rubbed his temple tiredly: "Are you here to persuade me to kill Margaret too?"

"Of course not." Volav waved his hands repeatedly: "Her ability is very powerful. If you subdue her, it will be of great help in the next battle. How can I object?"

"If only Nancy could be as mature as you." Raven sighed helplessly.

"Speaking of this..." Volaf lowered his voice: "Are you really going to let Miss Nancy go like this?"

……

(End of this chapter)