Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 151 Deceptive Clone (Bonus chapter for 950 votes, only 50 more needed!)

Upon seeing the powerful lich before him, Ivan's expression turned solemn like never before.

Although he was confident in his defensive skills, he was not blindly arrogant. He was basically completely countered by Graveyard heroes with high stats in all three skills.

The opponent is currently only using their madness to make them kill each other. Once the Burning Crusade is wiped out, they will probably use high-burst magic damage to launch a direct area-of-effect attack.

A fierce battle was raging inside the tunnel. The Thunder Swordsman was in a state of chaos and no longer held back against his comrades.

In this way, the Thunder Swordsman, with his high attack and defense, almost completely overwhelmed the surrounding Crusaders, slaughtering them.

Although Ivan still wanted to use exorcism to remove the status quo, he was powerless to do so while soaked in blood.

【Blood River Erosion (Level 4 Special Magic, Affected by Water Element): Creates a blood river in the battlefield area. Any unit affected by the erosion will have all buffs dispelled, and its physical defense will be continuously weakened (up to 6), and its maximum health will be continuously weakened (up to 3).

Advanced Water Elemental Mastery: This effect cannot be dispelled by Exorcism, but if Blood River is dispelled by Obstacle Removal, the status can be dispelled.

The Thunder Swordsmen are currently submerged in the River of Blood, making it impossible for them to use their exorcism techniques and escape their predicament.

Meanwhile, the opposing lich was already gathering terrifying earth magic and launching an attack towards the very center.

"Jie!"

A strange and terrifying howl echoed throughout the tunnel. All living beings that heard the sound wave were fatally struck, clutching their heads in agony.

【Death Ripple】

It was still a death ripple from a high-level earth elemental. The opponent's spell power was quite strong, almost instantly killing more than a dozen Thunder Swordsmen, as well as the remaining low-health Burning Crusaders.

"Oops!"

Ivan's unease had reached its peak. Against this lich, his proud defensive magic was completely useless. The opponent didn't even need to send out troops; a single hero could destroy the elite Thunder Swordsmen.

"We can't do that, we have to restrict him!"

Ivan was, after all, a hero, and the insane magical effects could not completely sway his mind. So he picked up his greatsword and charged towards the lich.

As the commander of the Thunder Swordsmen, he should lead from the front; if there is no other way, then he should die on the front lines.

The lich watched Ivan charge forward without hesitation, then let out a mocking laugh unique to the undead. He once again condensed a massive fireball, its magical power even more terrifying than death ripples.

【Chain Fireballs (Level 3 Magic, Fire Element): Wide-range area-of-effect damage, dealing magic damage equal to 10 + 15 spell power.

Advanced Fire Elemental Mastery: Range is twice that of Basic, deals magic damage equal to 10 + 60 of your spell power.

In such a crowded tunnel, large-scale fire-based area-of-effect magic would be the best choice, but for Ivan and his companions, it was a disaster.

The lich's casting speed was very fast; in just over ten seconds, he condensed a massive fireball, which even evaporated the surrounding blood river.

Ivan raised his sword and unleashed the strongest strike of his life. His own attack would not have been a threat to his opponent, but with the added attributes from Su Mu, he was confident he could sever the lich's casting arm with a single blow.

The opponent initially appeared dismissive, but when the sword energy carved a deep gash several meters deep into the stone wall, the lich hurriedly raised his left-hand shield, barely managing to block the fatal blow.

"Boom!"

A series of sonic booms echoed through the tunnel, pulverizing all the rocks within a five-meter radius of Ivan.

As the smoke cleared, the lich's massive body was revealed to have been crushed by the greatsword, its two bony legs blasted into the ground. The skull on the shield split open, spewing crimson flames and emitting a painful roar.

The lich finally spoke: "You Earth Howling family are still so stubborn!"

The immense recoil force came from the shield, and Ivan was instantly thrown back, crashing into the rocky path and spitting out blood.

"Your brother doesn't seem to know where the beacon tower is. I'll capture him and exchange him for that treasure with your father!"
I initially felt there were still some shortcomings, but now that you've come to me of your own accord, I can take them all with me.

I want to see if he's willing to sacrifice two heirs to protect a useless treasure.

The lich's voice was extremely low, like the wind whistling through a cave, sending chills down one's spine. Ivan was, after all, the commander. Although he was injured in direct combat, his soldiers helped to share the damage. To defeat him, the Thunder Swordsman still needed to be dealt with.

The Thunder Swordsman in the passage, his eyes bloodshot, had already wiped out the Burning Crusaders. With no enemies in sight, he automatically targeted the standing lich.

While the ruthless and insane are powerful, they are not omnipotent. If there are no more enemies in the area, units of the same type will not fall into a situation of killing each other. After all, they are all cursed energy bodies of the same origin and will automatically regard each other as their own.

Therefore, the lich decided to take matters into his own hands and make the Thunder Swordsman disappear in the flames.

Several fireballs were hurled at the Thunder Swordsman, and Ivan could only watch helplessly.

In this terrain, even with the Thunder Swordsman's high health, being attacked by a barrage of fireballs would be extremely dangerous.

"No!"

Mountains collapsed, passageways caved in, and even the Blood River was evaporated.

But the outcome was not as the lich had predicted. The thunder swordsmen were enveloped in earthen-yellow magic cloaks, and the fire magic could only burn on the surface, quickly dissipating. The warriors regained their clarity and looked at the heroes behind them.

"Lord Su Mu!"

At the most critical moment, Su Mu unexpectedly appeared in the tunnel.

He led his griffins in circles in the sky and discovered the blood river flowing into the tunnel, immediately realizing something was wrong.

Ivan has been inside for so long and hasn't been able to come out yet. There's also a corrosive river of blood flowing into the tunnel. The purpose must be to remove the anti-magic spell from the Thunder Swordsman.

Ivan possesses near-immunity to physical attacks. If he had a magic resistance spell, he would be almost invincible, and the opponent would definitely try to dispel this magical state.

Su Mu then had Lie Feng land at the tunnel entrance, using his army of griffins to clear out the surrounding zombies and guard the area. He then entered the tunnel alone to search for Ivan.

Hercules changed the terrain and even affected the transmission of magic, but it was no match for Su Mu, who was also a master of advanced earth element.

Based on his senses from the aura-gazing technique, he used earth magic to directly open a passage, finally arriving at the battlefield a minute before the chain of fireballs was triggered.

Seeing that the Thunder Swordsman had fallen into a frenzy and was facing fire magic attacks, Su Mu used an anti-magic spell to dispel the madness and withstand the fire elemental attacks.

Su Mu looked at the lich in the distance and asked, "Carlos Stuart?"

No, you're nothing but a self-deceiving lich.

Upon hearing Su Mu's question, the lich roared, "You insignificant and despicable human, how dare you address me by my name?"

"Watch how I punish you!"

After saying that, he gathered powerful water magic, preparing to dispel the attack.

Su Mu wouldn't give him a chance. With a single glance, Ivan instantly understood his lord's meaning and commanded the Thunder Swordsmen to launch a lightning strike, rushing towards the lich with lightning speed.

Having been caught off guard before, Ivan is now protected by the Anti-Magic Magic and is not afraid of his opponent at all.

The thunderous greatsword struck in a flash, and the lich could only barely raise his giant shield before being knocked to the side, enduring the extraordinary attacks of dozens of soldiers.

The lich's soulfire was halved, and his bones shattered, but he did not die.

Dozens of wails echoed from the dark cave behind him; it turned out that a group of ghosts were taking the damage for him.

However, it was no use. With him and Ivan working together, even if the Grand Duke of the Dead came in person, there might not be a chance, let alone the fact that he was just a puppet.

If Su Mu wasn't mistaken, as he revealed the other party's identity, the lich began to doubt his own perception, causing his magical power to drop sharply.

That treasure in the ancient ruins must be linked to fraud.

Of course, he was more concerned about the shield that had fallen to the ground. As expected of the undead race, they had finally waited for this!
(End of this chapter)