Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 102 The Rock Lord
Eugen's first action upon returning to Rock City was to set up defenses and report the fall of Strongbow Town and Dean's betrayal.

Only after that did he simply bandage his wound and write a letter to Su Mu.

Not long after he made the arrangements, Kyle and Dean led their troops to besiege Rock City and shouted from below the city walls.

"Amirka lost the Valley's most elite troops, Lady Isabel's divine intervention brought Elton to the brink of defeat."

Baron Eugen, if you continue to be so stubborn, the people of Rock City will suffer because of you!

"The troops from Stream County are already on their way here. Lady Isabel is leading the Unicorn Legion. How long can your dilapidated city hold out?"

Consider the title the kingdom has bestowed upon you; it's merely a baronial rank. By joining the empire, you could attain a higher title.

"Don't you like women? When we storm the capital, what kind of noble ladies won't we have? You can choose any you like. Isn't that better than dying and the city falling in the future?"

Kyle was the loudest, being the first traitor and possessing diplomatic skills and a deep understanding of human weaknesses.

But he was met with two giant crossbow bolts. Kyle hurriedly dodged, but his mount was pierced through the head and pinned to the ground.

Eugen manipulated the giant crossbow and aimed it at Kyle again, scaring the latter into retreating desperately until he was far enough away to dare to turn around.

"Hahahahaha!"

"You cowardly rat, how dare you speak to me about the fate of the kingdom?"

"Those who surrender without a fight as lords of fiefdoms shall be killed! Those who betray the kingdom and slaughter their people shall be killed!"

"If you dare to attack the city, you'll be the first one I kill!"

Upon hearing the lord's loud rebuke of Kyle, the soldiers on the city walls responded in unison, denouncing the traitor.

Kyle retreated in shame, intending to settle scores with Ivo's army once they arrived. However, the way the soldiers around him looked at him had changed; after all, who would want to follow a cowardly general?
After the enemy withdrew, Eugen came down from the city wall. He summoned the officials of the Ministry of the Interior and instructed them: "Let the people evacuate from behind the checkpoint, leaving only the soldiers and auxiliary troops."

The administrator hesitated for a moment, but still did as the lord instructed.

In fact, Eugen knew that if Isabel led a large army over, Rock City would not be able to hold out at all.

But time is the most precious thing at this moment. As long as he can delay the enemy's advance, Maggie can rush back to Longlet Castle and organize a defense.

From the valley to Longlet Castle, there is only one fortified pass at Rock City; the rest are isolated cities. If he doesn't defend it, Isildur's troops will truly be able to enter an uninhabited territory.

Eugen was prepared to sacrifice himself. The Isildur soldiers were cruel and ruthless, and would surely massacre the city if they encountered resistance. Therefore, he ordered the city's residents to flee first to avoid being slaughtered.

As the city's inhabitants migrated away en masse, they silently gazed at Eugen standing atop the city walls. Some did not wish to leave, but were forcibly driven away by the guards, told they could return to Rock City after the war.

The massive fleeing force took a full day to escape. Fortunately, Rock City was a fortified city, and Kyle and his men were afraid of crossbows and dared not send out flying units; otherwise, the city's inhabitants would not have been able to escape at all.

During this time, Kyle seemed to have noticed the commotion and made some attempts to attack the city, but he was repelled by Eugen and the guards on the city wall, so he stopped sending troops.

The stalemate continued until the early morning of the next day, when a large number of bastion units began to appear on the horizon.

The phalanxes of centaurs and dwarves stretched as far as the eye could see. Archelves arrived at the front lines carrying longbows. The sky was filled with countless silver pegasus, and there were even unicorns basking in the sunlight on the ground.

Putting aside the quality of the troops, in terms of sheer numbers, the enemy outnumbers the defenders tenfold.

Isildur's army has arrived!
Eugen took a deep breath and turned to look at the soldiers guarding the city.

They were all utterly ordinary, just regular halberdiers and archers, and the griffin troops were few and far between. Compared to the enemy, they were utterly insignificant.

"Soldiers, are you afraid?"

"If you want to leave, do so now. The civilians have been safely evacuated, and you have fulfilled your duties. I will not pursue deserters."

The halberdiers' hands trembled as they held their weapons, but none of them moved. Then one of them stepped forward and said, "My lord, my wife and three-year-old daughter have already evacuated. If I escape, they will not be able to outrun the silver pegasus and centaurs at their current speed, and will only be killed along the way."

For them, I am willing to stand guard on the city walls and fight the enemy to the death!

After he finished speaking, the group of people became resolute, looked back reluctantly, and stopped trembling.

Another man stepped forward, carrying a weapon; he was an archer: "My mother was in a town to the south. I was planning to save enough money to bring her to the city to enjoy her retirement, but she was ambushed and killed by Kyle and his men. I witnessed my hometown burned to ashes and her body hanging from the trees. After burying her, I swore an oath to make those bastards pay the price!"
Even if it means death, I want to kill one more enemy!

"My lord, there's no need to say more! Everyone knows why you decided to defend Rock City."

Anyone who retreats even a step is utterly unworthy to be a soldier of the castle!

Everyone responded loudly, and morale soared.

[Influenced by your will, the soldiers' morale has soared and will not decline.]

Eugen nodded: "To be honest, I'm scared too!"
But I do not want my descendants to become slaves, or for humanity to become a lowly, inferior race.

As lord and nobleman, I will lead by example and protect the kingdom!

The soldiers took these words to heart and began to take their respective defensive positions.

Upon seeing Isildur's army arrive, Kael seemed to become arrogant again, confidently approaching the front of the formation. Before he could even utter a word, an arrow pierced his thigh, causing him to howl in pain.

All the soldiers who stood in his way were shot through, leaving a trench of blood and flesh.

What was being shot was no longer a crossbow bolt, but rather a spell arrow that combined the power of many bows and arrows, making it extremely powerful.

When facing enemies many times your size, you never considered retreating, and you unleashed the most powerful attack with your ballista, gaining new insights.

+1 Attack, learn Advanced Artillery Technique

[Advanced Artillery: Able to control more advanced ballistae to attack, greatly increasing the number of attacks and damage (2 attacks, and dealing double damage), and can also add elemental abilities.]

Learned the special magic Giant Crossbow Raging Waves

【Giant Crossbow Wave (Special Magic): Combines a certain number of ranged unit ammunitions, attaches them to crossbow bolts, and fires them together. It inherits the unit's characteristic abilities and ignores some of the opponent's magic (below level 4) and 50% hero defense bonus, dealing 200% linear area damage (calculated by adding the base damage value).

Crossbow bolts can deal basic penetration damage to heroes (referring to the damage of a single crossbow bolt excluding combined attacks; this damage ignores the commander's health sharing and has a chance to kill them instantly).
The number of troops gathered is affected by the power of the spell, and is also boosted by the level of the ballista.

Eugen gazed at the battlefield, where a bloody path had been cleared by crossbow bolts, and felt an immense sense of satisfaction.

It's a pity he was using a level 2 ballista with insufficient attack power; otherwise, he could have shot and killed the old hag by aiming directly at Isabel!
Upon witnessing the extraordinary power of the ballista, Ivo and his men became visibly tense. They immediately ordered their men to form a defensive formation to prevent the enemy from directly attacking and killing the heroes.

When had Isabel ever suffered such humiliation? "What are you blocking? You think you can kill me with just a little advanced artillery skill?"
The silver winged horse swept across the sky; I checked how many troops the tiny Rock City had.

Under the commander's orders, a large number of silver pegasus horses launched an attack, charging toward the rocky city walls.

Eugen aimed his giant crossbow at the silver Pegasus again and fired two arrows in quick succession.

The giant crossbow bolt, like a bolt of lightning, instantly pierced into the enemy ranks, carving out a path of flesh and blood.

The silver pegasus had intended to disperse, but after the giant crossbow flew a certain distance, the surrounding magical energy formed a vortex, and the range increased, directly breaking through the flight formation and shooting into the sky.

Such terrifying artillery skills left even Ivo and Levin below stunned. If Eugen hadn't lacked offensive power, wouldn't these archers have been able to shoot down the unicorn?

Fortunately, they had enough troops.

As the silver Pegasus took off, the centaurs entered the narrow mountain path and approached the city gate.

Several siege engines fired in rapid succession, and Levin even unleashed a powerful earth-shattering attack on the walls of Rock City. Although Rock City was very sturdy, it could not withstand such an assault, and the city gates were quickly smashed down, allowing the centaurs to charge in with axes.

"Kill them! Kill those bastards from the Bulwark!"

The halberdiers blocked the city gate, fighting the enemy with their bare hands.

The heroes on both sides had vastly different bonuses, but the halberdiers used their high morale to unleash a barrage of attacks, doing their utmost to hold off the enemy.

As the men in front fell, the halberdiers behind immediately filled in, continuing their attack while the enemy was unable to retaliate.

Row after row, countless people had died, and the city gate passage was reduced to a narrow path by the piles of corpses, yet the centaur legion still had not stepped into the city gate.

Large numbers of silver pegasus fell from the city walls, and the griffin troops, in order to protect the archers, directly resisted them in the air. Even if they were cleaved into pieces by the numerous silver pegasus, they did their best to slow their descent.

"Slowing Technique, Holy Spirit's Blessing, Swift Acceleration, Curse Possession..."

Countless spells were used on the siege force, but the powerful magic of the past seemed to have no effect. The army, which clearly had the upper hand, was stopped by the enemy on the city walls and at the city gates.

The soldiers of Rock City utilized the city's unique features to maximize their strength.

This city was a meat grinder, and the soldiers fought with their last ounce of strength to buy time for their lord.

Eugen relentlessly fired his giant crossbow bolts, each shot taking away dozens of enemies.

However, it was still too few compared to the number of enemies.

"Is he an idiot? Instead of destroying the crossbows, are we just going to let him kill like this?"

Isabel looked at Eugen on the defensive tower and flew into a rage.

Silver Pegasus also tried to get closer to the tower, but it was guarded by the most elite archers, not to mention the griffins that were chasing and blocking them. No one wanted to become the target of crossbow bolts.

Seeing the ballista continue its attack, Isabel unleashed a bolt of lightning-fast ice, instantly freezing the defensive tower into an ice pillar and collapsing its dome.

However, because this tower was a defensive structure connected to the city wall and was protected by the city's defensive spells, it did not collapse.

Eugen pierced the ice hole with his sword and continued to control the giant crossbow to shoot down enemies.

For a time, no one dared to approach this airspace.

"The earth is shaking! What are you waiting for?"

Seeing that Isabel was about to go berserk, Levin hurriedly adjusted his spells and unleashed an earth magic attack on the defensive tower.

The attack was very effective; the tower collapsed completely, and after a cloud of dust, Eugen appeared to have fallen to the ground along with the crossbow bolts.

Despite the resilience of the Rock City soldiers, they could not withstand the endless human wave tactics after such a long battle.

The corpses in the gate had already been pushed into the city, and the centaurs finally charged in. They only breathed a sigh of relief after killing the last halberdier.

The city was spotless; not even a drop of blood had been spilled.

Looking back, not a single soldier had fallen inside the city walls.

The battle on the city wall was also nearing its end. The sharpshooter, who was engaged in close combat, simply put down his bow and arrow, took out a dagger, and stabbed Silver Pegasus with it before dying. Finally, he fell off the city wall while holding onto Silver Pegasus.

Not a single person retreated, and not a single person was afraid to fight.

Ivo wanted to call Kyle forward to gather the remaining troops, but after looking at the battlefield before him, he swallowed his words.

This was completely different from their previous battles. In the eyes of senior generals like Ivo, humans were full of cowardice and baseness, and that a large number of soldiers would surrender once the war went against them. But today, their views were overturned.

Isabel was very unhappy; nearly 400 of Isildur's soldiers had died in the attack on such a small city.

Keep in mind that this was a unit she personally commanded. Judging from the difference in attack and defense, humans probably couldn't even break through the skin of a centaur, and their losses were mostly due to being killed by the combined crossbow bolts.

The culprit was Eugen, of course. She walked toward the ruins, determined to grind him to dust.

At that moment, the collapsed mound of earth suddenly trembled, the piled stones were instantly shattered, and the last giant crossbow bolt was fired at Kyle, who was not far away.

Kyle had no time to react and could only barely dodge the fatal blow. The quick-reacting Ivo immediately struck, using a magical shield to deflect the crossbow bolt.

Although it didn't hit a vital spot, it pierced Kyle's waist and other leg.

The traitor to humanity clutched his leg, screamed in terror, and collapsed to his knees, unable to stand up.

Eugen leaned against the rock, his face covered in blood, and looked regretful that he hadn't been able to kill Kyle.

His arms rested on the ballista, barely supporting his broken legs. Even though the most powerful four-elemental archmages of Isildur were in front of him, and thousands of high-level bastion troops followed behind him, there was no fear in his eyes, let alone the possibility of him kneeling before them.

Eugen looked directly at Isabel: "The kingdom will remember every blood debt, and our people will never yield!"

"Arrogant guy!"

Enraged, Isabel raised her hand and unleashed another bolt of lightning, vaporizing Eugen and his ballista.

As the thunderous roar subsided, the ground turned charred black, and everyone involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief.

For some reason, the baron before them, who was clearly an extremely weak hero, was like a mountain standing in front of them, making it hard for them to breathe.

Even the wise Ivo felt a wavering in his heart for the first time.

If Elton's warriors were all like Eugen before them, could they still win this battle?

Soon, he looked at Kyle and Dean beside him, and seeing their fear of being implicated in this matter, Ivo felt a little self-deprecating.

At least for now, Elton isn't like that.

The army marched through Rock City and then proceeded smoothly, but it did take a considerable amount of time in the city, and Longlet Castle may have already received a warning.

Some frenzied soldiers wanted to massacre the city, but found that the citizens had already evacuated. They searched carefully but couldn't find a single living person, so they had no choice but to set the ruined city on fire.

Most people just want to leave this unlucky place as soon as possible and reach the next human settlement to vent their frustrations.

Ivo looked at the stone city engulfed in flames, seemingly moved.

At the place where Eugen was buried, Ivo obtained a signet ring with the word "Rock" engraved on it.

This represents the baron's status and power, as well as his obligations.

He was as steadfast as a rock, and he truly succeeded.

Ivo threw the ring with all his might into the burning city gate, where it burned along with the soldiers guarding it.

Although he was an opponent, he was a respectable general.

Humanity still has true heroes.

(End of this chapter)