Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 106 The Fate of a Traitor

After Dean surrendered to Isildor, Strongbow Town barely maintained stability.

Because Dean's feigned surrender was successful, he followed the army north to attack Longlet Castle and received many resources and rewards.

The city is being garrisoned by Dean's son, Jayne, and has been receiving a large amount of resources these days.

Dozens of carts carrying logs and gold coins entered through the city gates, escorted by guards along the main street, a sight witnessed by all the townspeople.

"See that? That's what a wise ruler looks like! That's what a generous reward looks like!"

“My Rich family has served Longleatburgh for many years and made great contributions to Garfield. We have never seen such an honor before.”

"Follow the Empire, overthrow the Garfield family's rule, and everyone can live a good life!"

Jayne rode his horse, making announcements as he went.

The people on the roadside bowed their heads and kowtowed, not daring to look at them at all.

In recent days, the Richie family has killed nearly a thousand people in their crackdown. In fact, most of the people are innocent; they were put on the list simply because of unfounded rumors or because they did not pay the investigating thieves.

Jayne's solution was to kill them all and hang their heads on the city gate as a warning to others.

Such a high-pressure policy naturally caused discontent among the people, and some castle soldiers even secretly plotted a rebellion, but it was thwarted by the remnants of Jain and Isildur's army, which instead increased the killing.

As soon as the transporting carriage entered the government office, Jayne immediately dismounted and jogged into the hall.

Just then, a centaur hero emerged, dragging a white cloth behind him. Inside the cloth was a human noblewoman, stained with blood and ravaged, her bones crushed in several places, her entire body deformed and bent.

It is none other than the new hero Feuer, who succeeds Shirell. He is tall, mighty, and powerful, and according to the age of a centaur, he has just come of age and needs to vent his frustrations.

So they randomly grabbed a few human women from the Richie family's yard and whipped them.

Jayne stared at his favorite mistress, her body now cold, trembling as he dared not say a word, only managing to stammer, "M-Sir, the resources from Longlet Castle have arrived..."

Fau waved his hand impatiently: "Put them in my house, I'll share them with the brothers later."

After saying that, he dragged the white cloth to the door and threw the body outside like trash.

"As expected, the women in noble mansions are really something else. In a few days, I'll host a banquet and bring my brothers over to have some fun. You can make the arrangements."

Fauci left without paying any attention to Jayne's attitude.

The Rich family heir's face turned pale and then red, his fists clenched, and finally he stood there helplessly.

Currently, the private army belonging to the Richie family in Strongbow Town numberes less than a hundred, and is entirely managed by Isildur's soldiers. As for the bandits, they completely obey Kyle's orders and will not pay any attention to him, the acting lord of the town.

Although it is said that the Richie family still manages the city, in reality, Fauci is gradually taking over, wanting to completely control this crucial city.

Although young and reckless, Fauci wasn't entirely brainless. He sent Jain to capture women, spread imperial policies, and suppress civilians. The more he did this, the more the Richie family would have to rely on Isildur, or face certain death.

Jayne went back into the house, wiped the blood-stained chair clean, and slumped down on it.

Only now did he understand the difficulties his father had told him, but by then, there was no turning back for the family.

The people of Qiangnu Town hated the father and son to the core, and if they had the chance, they would eat their flesh and drink their blood.

"Go to a commoner's house and find a dozen or so women, wash and dress them up, and lock them in the bedroom."

Prepare some fruits, vegetables, and ingredients that centaurs like to eat; we're having a feast for Fuo in a few days!

Upon hearing this, his personal guard hesitated and asked, "That batch of treasure..."

Jayne shoved the cutlery away angrily and said, "Of course it's for Lord Fauci and the others. Do you think you can eat it all by yourself? Don't you know your place?"

The guards hurriedly retreated, their hearts filled with dissatisfaction.

"Pooh!"

Didn't you say yourself that this was Isildur's reward? Besides, the brothers have worked so hard to suppress them for so long, and not only have they received no benefits, they also have to serve those centaurs. It's really bad luck.

Having no other choice, he could only go to the commercial area to extort money again and give some tips to his men.

Qiangnu Town endured this high-pressure environment day after day, and many people were secretly dissatisfied.

On that day, Fau received orders that a group of troops were heading north from Stream County and that he was to guide them. So he led Jayne out of the city and south.

When I passed by that familiar forest, it had been burned and cleared away, and I could see the end of the mountain at a glance.

Fau said smugly, "Hirel was wise all his life, but he fell for that human's treacherous scheme. The first thing I did when I arrived here was to clear out the forest. Even if the enemy wanted to besiege the city, they could see it clearly. How could we be ambushed?"

He had originally commanded a large centaur force, but Shireel's druid form was better suited to the Windrage centaurs, so many of his men also came under Shireel's command. After finally waiting for his opponent to fall in battle, the southern centaur legions gradually came under his control, and their strength steadily increased.

Jayne hurriedly flattered, "Lord Fauci is far more insightful and has a clear understanding of the battle situation than Sirel."

Upon reaching the border of the valley, they found that the troops that were supposed to meet them had not yet arrived.

"What's going on? Could something have happened in Xiliu County? We clearly agreed on this time."

Fauci was somewhat puzzled. He felt that there was a lot of dust today, and he had a vague sense of foreboding.

Just as he was about to lead his men back to town, a force was rapidly approaching from afar. Due to the dust and smoke, it was difficult to see the leader, but the one at the very front was indeed a centaur.

Fau was immediately delighted. At present, the defense of Qiangnu Town was not strong. However, the city walls were intact and the territory had sentinels who could observe the enemy's movements, so they were not afraid of being ambushed.

[Sentinel's Eye (Magic Item): Can be placed in roadside bushes or trees to provide vision within a certain range and offer sentinel warnings.]

If he could acquire a large number of centaurs, his strength as a hero would be greatly enhanced.

【弗奥（半人马酋长）：攻击4（6），防御4（6），咒力1，知识2。

Element: Earth

Characteristics: running, trampling.

Intermediate Centaur Specialty: For every 5 points of attack and defense attributes a hero has, the attack power of centaurs (including upgraded units) is increased by 1 point and their defense power by 1 point.

War Stomp: When leading a centaur in a charge, their attack deals damage in a cone-shaped area. Enemies take 40% damage and have a chance to be stunned.

With the arrival of a large number of centaurs, Feuer felt as if he could see himself commanding an army and rising through the ranks.

Jayne, standing to the side, was puzzled. How could this army, which could only be seen as a few dozen centaurs, produce such a large amount of dust and run at such a slow speed?

"My lord, something seems amiss. Why are these centaurs running so slowly?"

However, the distance between the two sides had closed to about 400 meters when a sudden change occurred.

As the smoke and dust slowly dissipated, a team of ranged archers clad in black armor began to draw their bows and aim at the enemy.

With a command from Orling, countless arrows rained down from the sky. Without even using the Arrow of Vengeance, a single volley nearly wiped out the centaur legion.

"Enemy attack! Retreat immediately!"

Fau was terrified, having no idea why the Bow of the Earth had appeared.

He didn't care about anything else and turned around to flee towards Qiangnu Town. As long as he could enter the city and cooperate with the city's defenses, there was still a chance to defend it.

But Orling didn't give him a chance at all, and fired a barrage of shots, aiming to pierce through his four legs.

Fauci skillfully dodged, using his formidable defensive abilities to withstand the arrows, and even with his leg pierced by a bullet, he continued to run at top speed.

Then Orling commanded the Earth Bow to fire a concentrated barrage, turning Feuer into a pincushion.

Without the support of troops, and with the hero's own strength not being particularly high, it was already quite remarkable that Fauci could withstand so many attacks. When Orin approached, he found that Fauci and Jayne were barely alive, so he used the medical tent to revive them.

To think they could die so easily would be letting them off too easily.

Ouling turned around and asked a man whose soul was wrapped in black cloth, "Should we attack the city directly or coordinate with an inside agent?"

The man smiled and pointed at the half-dead hero: "With them here, entering the city will be a piece of cake."

Upon closer inspection, this man was none other than Wayne, the intelligence chief of Cangmu Town. After numerous intelligence gatherings and meritorious service, Su Mu had led him to another level of life.

【Wayne (Thief): Attack 3, Defense 1, Spell Power 2, Knowledge 1.

Loyalty 80, Element: None.

Characteristics: Knowledgeable in the industry, skilled in disguise and reconnaissance.

Scouting Specialty: Greatly enhances the Thieves Guild's intelligence gathering capabilities, and brings unexpected news every week. For every 5 points of attack a hero has, thieves (including upgraded units) gain 2 attack power and 2% critical hit rate.

Basic Concealment: Your troops become more hidden and mysterious, making it difficult for the enemy to ascertain their exact numbers and characteristics. They gain special magical abilities to disguise themselves.

[Disguise (Special Magic): Temporarily transforms a unit into another type of troop, deceiving the enemy. The effect is automatically broken once the enemy reaches a certain distance. The chance of being deceived is greatly reduced when encountering heroes with high spell power or those who possess Eagle Eye or scouting abilities.]

The fact that the Earth Bow was able to slip through was naturally thanks to Wayne's special magic. As for how they were able to obtain the enemy's information, that was related to unexpected news.

However, the unrest within Qiangnu Town makes it easy to obtain some special intelligence.

Although Wayne has been promoted to hero, he has not yet been given the authority of Su Mu. After all, this bandit who walks in the shadows still needs to prove himself.

Wayne first had Orling use the Earth Bow to become invisible. He and Jayne arrived at the city wall they had agreed upon earlier, opened the city gate with almost no effort, and brought in the Earth Bow.

Once inside the city, the archers no longer worried about being blocked, especially since they had the ability to become invisible, making the rebels and Isildur's garrison easy targets.

"Don't panic, everyone. We are the troops from Kuraki Town, here to eliminate the traitors and Isidore soldiers."

"Go back inside and wait. Come out and identify the traitor once the situation has stabilized!"

In this raid, more than 300 centaurs died in Qiangnu Town, and more than 200 dwarves were also wiped out.

As for the human rebels, those who dared to show their faces were basically killed instantly, while the rest removed their armor and fled back to their dwellings to hide, hoping to slip through unnoticed.

However, Orling quickly launched a city-wide manhunt and had civilians identify the traitors.

"My lord, it wasn't me, it wasn't me! I was framed."

"I'm a good citizen, I was framed by them!"

Although the identification was discordant, it wasn't that difficult. Wayne had a way to identify these traitors. After all, those who could become superhuman soldiers were much stronger than ordinary people, and they were basically all found and escorted to the square.

The bandit group was a mixed bag; apart from those who secretly contacted Wayne, the rest were all arrested and put on trial.

Thus began an unprecedented public trial in Strongbow Town, starting with Feuer and the remaining Isidore soldiers.

There's nothing to say about that; the other party killed so many people, so naturally they should be punished in the same way.

Wayne recounted their crimes one by one, and finally Orling lit the pyre, burning Isildur's beasts alive.

"Ah! Lord Ivo will not let you get away with this!"

"Foolish humans, you deserve to die! You deserve to be killed!"

"No, no! Ah!"

The fire continued to burn on the centaur's body until the last drop of oil was burned away, finally causing its massive form to collapse.

As the civilians watched the vicious Isildur soldiers being tortured, they went from cursing to embracing and weeping, offering solace to the fallen heroes.

As for the traitors, needless to say, they were paraded through the streets in shackles, and many of them were hit on the head with stones, bleeding profusely and dying on the spot.

Upon arriving at the trial grounds, they were made to kneel before the people of Qiangnu Town, after which the giant axe fell and their heads rolled to the ground.

Just a few dozen days ago, they were respected guardians, protecting their homeland and its people. But under the influence of the Richie family, they completely defected to the Wall side.

As a newly surrendered person, he naturally couldn't help but harm his fellow countrymen and wreak havoc in the town, thus proving his loyalty.

They thought the kingdom was on the verge of collapse, and mocked those foolish and inflexible individuals, becoming even more reckless. Little did they expect that someone would turn the tide and recapture Qiangnu Town.

Jayne was tied to a pillar and sealed by magic; he's still in a daze.

What happened to the promise that Isildur's army would be invincible wherever it went?

How dare Kuraki Town? Aren't they afraid of being wiped out by Lady Isabel and then massacred?

They killed their men, raped their women, and subjected them to daily whippings and severe punishments, destroying their hard-earned homes in an instant.

A small town like this can't possibly withstand it. Has Su Mu gone mad?

"You're all crazy! You're all crazy! I'm trying to save you, you know?"

“Isildur’s men will not let you off easily. When they storm into Kuraki, no one will survive.”

Fear, anger, and resentment coalesced on Jayne's face as he roared hoarsely at the crowd below.

The townspeople were momentarily stunned and didn't know how to refute it.

Orling walked up to the execution platform, raised his sword, and chopped off Jayne's arm with a single stroke.

One moment the other person was threatening them, and the next they were screaming in pain, looking at their severed arm bleeding profusely, with snot and tears mixed together, and they were so scared that they kept begging for mercy.

Orling threw the severed arm off the stage. There were hundreds of white sheets on the ground, all of which were used to cover the women who had been murdered. Although the bodies had been buried, the blood on the sheets represented evidence of the Richie family's crimes.

“We, the people of Elton, have always loved peace, peacefully farmed, and pursued development. But if anyone dares to invade our homeland, we will surely rise up and fight back.”

"The Isildors are extremely brutal, massacring and killing people everywhere, leaving no survivors, thinking they can intimidate us?"

"Then let's stop killing with killing, and stop bleeding with blood."

After saying that, he opened the fence, and the people with grudges walked up to the execution platform with forks and stabbed Jayne hard in the ribs.

"You dare? I am a nobleman of the Richie family, you bastards..."

When the first avenger entered with a white cross and exited with a red cross, the others also became brave, thinking of the terrible persecution their own children had suffered, and stepped forward one after another.

“This is to avenge my son Matt. He was the most steadfast and brave man in the crossbow guard, yet you cruelly murdered him and hung his head on the city wall.”

“My youngest daughter, Heidi Hunt, had previously donated gold and silver jewelry to fight the enemy, but because Fauci took a liking to her, you sent men to kidnap her. When she returned, she was already a cold corpse.”

"Because I didn't give the thieves enough bribes, my whole family was falsely accused of being traitors and executed!"

A knife, a fork, and even people went up to bite.

"Despicable! Shameless! I am a nobleman... a member of the aristocracy."

Jayne's voice grew weaker and weaker, his body was covered in forks, his face was swollen from being slapped, and all his teeth had been knocked out.

In the end, all he could do was mumble and cry out, "I...I don't want to die!"

Ouling stepped forward, raised his sword, and brought it down with a swift motion.

He gave the people of Strongbow Town an explanation; the seeds of hatred had sprouted, and Isildur would have to pay with even more blood.

(End of this chapter)