Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 135 The Viscount of Thorns
The High Priest of Light was an elderly man with white hair, over fifty years old, with a kind and approachable face.

It was thought that Elton's Church of Light was gradually weakening, but unexpectedly, when Jonia di Medici stepped into the city, the roadsides were filled with believers who devoutly bowed to the high priest.

In terms of the hierarchy within the Church of Light, the High Priest is already one of the bishops, second only to the Pope. Since the headquarters of the Church of Light is not in Elton, Jonia is the de facto leader of the Church of Light in Elton.

Similar to history, the struggle between royal and divine power also played out in Elton, eventually reaching a balance where royal power dominated secular affairs and divine power governed faith, each fulfilling its respective role.

Realistically speaking, the royal family still holds more power; after all, without angels, cavalry is the castle's strongest fighting force.

"Praise the light!"

"May the God of Light be with you!"

As the high priest walked, his priestly team performed gentle holy water healing, providing physical and spiritual comfort to the people, with very good results.

【Monk (Castle Tier 5, Tier 1 Unit): Attack 12, Defense 7, Ammo 12, Damage 10-12, Health 30, Speed ​​5, Small Size】

Element: None. Ranged Units

【Priest (Castle Level 5, Tier 2 Unit): Attack 12, Defense 10, Ammo 24, Damage 10-12, Health 30, Speed ​​7, Small Size】

Element: Light (Double the duration of healing and prayer spells). Ranged unit.

Divine Power: Allows free switching between light elemental damage and physical damage; melee combat effectiveness remains undiminished.

The monks wore grey linen robes, while the priests wore light blue robes; they buried their faces in their hoods, making them appear incredibly mysterious.

If an ordinary person looked directly at the other person's face, they would only see a ball of light composed of spiritual will. The blinding light was actually a manifestation of the priests' powerful spiritual energy, and their attacks were also powerful spiritual energy.

Even among the many factions in the world of heroes, priests are an extremely powerful ranged unit. People will only say that their numbers are few, never that their abilities are weak.

Moreover, the Church of Light has special buildings that can be constructed, and priests are the easiest unit to be baptized by elements, so they are very strong.

When the High Priest entered the council, Maggie, Su Mu, and the others bowed. After all, it was the kingdom's state religion, and proper etiquette could not be omitted. Moreover, the other party had come to bestow a title upon Su Mu, so they deserved even more respect.

"This must be Lord Sumu, who guarded the plains and slew the Son of the Forest, right?"

The high priest spotted Su Mu at a glance and beckoned him over with a smile.

"Your Excellency, I am Su Mu. It is everyone's responsibility to protect the kingdom. These are the heroes who fought alongside me!"

The high priest then turned his gaze to the others, nodding as he looked, until he saw Maggie, at which point his eyes lit up: "Hmm, very good."

"As expected of Garfield's successor, his mental strength is very powerful."

As the High Priestess of the Church of Light, Jonia is more sensitive to magical power and knowledge. Maggie possesses intelligence and scholarship, and her magical power level is also quite high, which is rare even in the royal capital. She is a promising talent.

After looking around, the High Priest gradually came to a conclusion. It seemed that the great battle with Isildur was not just a matter of luck and tactics. The core members of Longletburg were also very strong. This was a newly emerging noble force. If they could survive the upcoming battles, they would become another great noble family in the future.

Jonia has a keen eye. Although Maggie is the heir to a marquisate, the key figure is Su Mu, who was recently granted the title. Everyone looks at Su Mu with an inquiring gaze, indicating that Lord Kuraki is the one who made the final decision.

This piqued Jonia's curiosity. He could tell that Su Mu's magical power was considerable, and his attributes were also quite high. He couldn't figure out his specific skills, but they vaguely revealed a powerful and profound aura, which he guessed was a mastery of advanced earth element, but he couldn't discern anything else.

“Sumu, I have come here to commend the generals who performed outstandingly in the battle against Isildur. You have just been promoted to baron, and the knight-errant was appointed on your behalf. You should not have been granted a title consecutively.”

However, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. On behalf of the King and the Church of Light, I bestow upon you the title of Viscount Thorns, hoping that you will continue to guard the kingdom and uphold the will of Light.

With a wave of his long sleeves, the High Priest of Light sent down a beam of divine light that enveloped Su Mu. The intense power of light cleansed his body, and a crown of thorns was placed on his head, stimulating his even greater potential.

"Thorns bring hardship and suffering, but light is born from darkness. Faith is fraught with peril, hence the crown of thorns!" [Viscount of Thorns: A cult-honored title that increases affinity with castle soldiers, making it easier to recruit castle faction troops, and grants access to the special Earth Spirit building, Thorn Wall.]

[Thorn Wall: Increases the castle moat's defense reduction effect by 2, damage value by 50, and delays ground troops from passing through for a period of time.]

Resource consumption: 1500 gold coins, 5 logs

As expected, he was granted the rank of viscount, much as anticipated; the parliament rarely bestows titles that skip ranks lightly. However, to appease Su Mu, the High Priest of Light specially granted him an additional title bestowed by the Church, a favor beyond the usual protocol, demonstrating the kingdom's high regard for him.

Because divine and royal authority complement each other, the High Priest of Light also has a portion of control over the earth spirits, and in accordance with the religious nature of the Church of Light, can bestow additional rewards upon the lord.

Although I didn't receive titles like "Light" or "Holy," Thorns is still a decent bonus, at least providing some improvement in defending the city.

Moreover, the viscount is already able to participate in parliamentary proceedings, making him a backbone of the kingdom's noble class. He can also directly submit requests to parliament when there are issues, thus gaining the right to speak out, which is already a significant improvement.

Kuraki can now be called a city with a certain degree of autonomy, and Su Mu has also obtained a special title from the Divine Cult. They are a rising force in the plains, and even a powerful family like the Duke's can no longer underestimate them.

Due to the expansion of the base using advanced civil engineering, the moat is currently being dredged. Once fully completed, combined with the Thorn Wall, it will create an obstacle that slows down the enemy for a long time, reducing their defenses and causing continuous damage.

When the time comes, we just need to send swordsmen to hold the inner wall to wear down the enemy.

Compared to Earl of the Empty Head, Su Mu was more satisfied with the Thorn Wall.

After bestowing the title, the high priest also brought two treasures and presented them to Sumu.

【Divine Body (Tier 3 Treasure): The city where this treasure is placed (or the hero wearing it) will have its Tier 4 troop production increased by 3. This is unique to this city and cannot be stacked.

Evaluation: One of the five components of the combined treasure, Heavenly Weapon.

This is a stone-carved body part, bearing the marks of time and the divine power of propagating magic.

Dragon Tooth Necklace (Level 3 Treasure): +3 to Heroic Spell Power and Knowledge. One of the nine components of the Dragon King's Divine Power combination treasure.

Commentary: An elderly wizard stopped the knight's path, uttering a series of incomprehensible words. A wisp of smoke drifted by, blinding the knight. When the smoke dissipated, the wizard had vanished, leaving behind only a string of dragon teeth.

The teeth on the Dragon Tooth Necklace are tiny, but they are magically compressed. If their true forms were revealed, they would probably be larger than a person.

"The Knight Commander speaks highly of you; do not betray his trust!"

The high priest seemed to be alluding to something, and didn't take credit for it himself, which suggests that he had a good relationship with Conrad.

Upon seeing these two treasures, Su Mu was pleasantly surprised and deeply grateful to the Knight Commander.

He was just a minor baron, and although he had some military achievements, would the noble lords of Parliament respect him? He needed someone higher up to speak for him.

Given Conrad's steady character, he only said he would do his best before leaving, but he helped in every way and even invited the High Priest of Light to bestow a reward upon Su Mu, which shows how much he valued him.

Thinking back to the Knight Commander's calm words at the end, Su Mu felt nothing but admiration.

"I don't ask for anything in return, I only hope that you can do your part for this kingdom and for its innocent people."

"If we give our all and fight to the very end, peace will not be a distant dream."

"Remember, you are not fighting alone!"

This is a true human knight.

(End of this chapter)