Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 153 Intermediate Combined Spell Power
You defeated a powerful enemy using dozens of Thunder Swordsmen, achieving a hard-won victory, gaining +1 Defense and learning Advanced Fire Elemental Mastery.

[Advanced Fire Elemental Mastery: Greatly enhances the effects of fire magic (most spells become area-of-effect spells, or increase the range of area-of-effect spells), significantly reduces mana consumption when using fire magic, and increases casting speed (levels 1-3 are instant cast). Can learn level 3-4 fire magic.]

This battle forced Ivan to unleash his full combat and command abilities.

To be fair, the opponent's heroes and equipment were very effective against him. To dare to launch a desperate attack in a dire situation to buy time for the army was incredibly brave.

Without Ivan's desperate struggle, the entire army would likely have been wiped out before Sumu even arrived.

Su Mu picked up the rat monster, grabbed its tail, and spun it around in the air. Interestingly, no matter which way you looked at it, the rat's head was wearing a skull mask.

"Tell me, what does the Undead Grand Duke want? How did he manage to replicate magic onto you?"

"Squeak!"

"Squeak your head, where's my brother?"

Ivan was furious. He led the remaining Thunder Swordsmen to the back passage, but only found Soya's broken sword and shield, and no sign of him.

Su Mu waved his long sleeves and used the special spell power of the Governing Technique to give the undead rat the ability to communicate.

This rat monster was originally a powerful hero, but it lost its memory due to the influence of the relic's treasure. Or rather, its memory was altered, and it now believes itself to be Stuart. This effect is similar to the religious conversion of the Void God Cult, which is why Su Mu used the power of the Eight Kings Palace to dispel the seal.

"Spare me! Hero, spare me! I am just an ordinary subordinate of Stuart. The Undead Duke is extremely cruel. He sealed my soul fire into the body of a four-headed spirit rat, making me work for him."

Su Mu drew the Crimson Dragon Sword, placed it on the rat's head, and threatened, "Don't tell me these lies. Are you some kind of cabbage on the roadside that can withstand the mastery of three advanced elements? If you don't explain the matter of the ruins and Soya, I'll lock you up in prison, scorch your soul with flames every day, and subject you to the baptism of light."

After he said this, the undead rat monster was clearly stunned. He hadn't expected that a human could be even more vicious than an undead.

"After that Soya was captured, he was sent to the ancient ruins. Actually, this city is not entirely under my control. You saw those zombies outside. They were used to sacrifice White Stone City to collect the energy of the forgotten buildings."

How did Stuart discover Argyle's family identity?

This was the thing that puzzled Su Mu the most. The Grand Duke of the Undead clearly didn't know about the Argyll family before, and even forced him to make a promise in order to find the lost family by following the clues in the wood carving. Now, he had come to Su Mu's door directly. Su Mu would never believe it if no one had tipped him off.

After hesitating for a while, the undead rat monster finally spoke as the Crimson Dragon Sword drew ever closer: "The Argyll family has unearthed a special ancient building, which is related to the previous Roar of the Earth and also connected to the teleportation portals hidden throughout the North."

Salman discovered Argyle's secret through this clue and used it to blackmail him.

He encountered trouble at Longlet Castle and intended to use the building for his own purposes, but his men were captured by the hero of the Undead Grand Duke, and he learned of this.

"I came to Whitestone City for two reasons. First, to start the plague and collect energy for the Forgotten Buildings. Second, to capture Soya alive and force his father to hand over the beacon tower."

"Soya has already been sent away through the underground portal. The person in charge is a spearman commander who has been corrupted and is directly controlled by a forgotten artifact. There's nothing I can do about it."

Ivan gritted his teeth in frustration upon hearing this. Who would have thought that Salman, that idiot, would make such a basic mistake?

What's even more surprising is that there are connecting portals underground in the North, which only an old relic like Stuart would know about.

"Where was Soya taken? To some ancient ruin?"

"It's highly likely that he went to Bear Castle, the county town of the Argyll family, because the Undead Grand Duke can't leave the ruins, so these things can only be done outside."

Su Mu guessed correctly. If Stuart had a way to break free of the seal, he would have gone to find someone himself long ago, instead of going through all this trouble.

"When I entered the ancient ruins before, I noticed that the evil temple and other buildings were acting strangely. Is the seal loosening even more now? Even a hero like you can escape?"

"The Moon of Calamity loosened the seal on the ruins, but the main reason was the effect of the Forgotten Relic. It made the seal forget its duty, which allowed us to sneak out. As for my acquisition of mastery of three advanced magic elements, that's also a secret technique—forgetting oneself and inheriting the identity of another hero. It can only be used once in a short period of time, and its effectiveness will gradually weaken. If doubts or suspicions arise during this period, the effect of the inheritance will be greatly reduced."

We usually call it a 'deceiving ghost'!

How could it possess such miraculous abilities? This treasure is definitely beyond level 4, and may even contain the power of rules.

No wonder the undead were able to deceive everyone by wearing human skin; this treasure from the ruins is truly extraordinary.

It can make the dead forget certain memories, thus making them real in reality. If enough magical power is accumulated, could it also make enemies forget certain things?

The deeper you think about it, the more terrifying it becomes.

"An undead force has appeared in the North; we must inform the Church of Light!"

If anyone has the most authority to speak about the dead, it has to be the Church of Light. The High Priest even left the contact information for the Judgment Priest, Lean Regan, so why not use it?

As for the oath made before the Tower of Heroes, Su Mu now has other thoughts. The other party possesses a deceptive holy artifact; could it be concealing crucial information within it? If the Grand Duke of the Undead's demands are met, even if the agreement is fulfilled within two years, whether the curse can be lifted remains a question.

In that case, it would be better to directly control the beacon towers and take the initiative.

Ivan and Sumu exchanged a glance and said, "Let's return to Cangmu City and discuss this further. With our current forces, there's no point in chasing after them!"

Using magical telepathy, he told his father that Bear Fortress's defenses far surpassed those of this place, and that he believed his father could hold out.

Since the other side has captured Soya to blackmail Argyle, it seems that the undead are also hesitant to act rashly.

Su Mu is right. With such a large-scale appearance of the undead, we need to unite more people, especially the Church of Light.

As for Bear Castle, it is absolutely the pride of the Argyle family, and Ivan doesn't believe that these skeletons can break through it.

The two agreed and decided not to linger any longer, leading the Thunder Swordsmen straight out of the tunnel.

At this time, a large number of Blood Poison Zombies had gathered outside and were besieging the Wild Griffin. Due to the contamination characteristics of the Plague Blood Source, the anti-magic spells had failed, and even the Wild Griffin could not withstand the endless zombie explosions, and some of them had already been lost.

Su Mu didn't want to get entangled with these mindless monsters, so he had the swordsman and Ivan ride on the griffins and flew into the air.

The zombies chased the griffins, letting out terrifying roars. It was a pity they couldn't fly; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to escape once surrounded by thousands of blood-poison zombies.

Looking down, White Stone City was completely destroyed, the streets were filled with mindless zombies, and it no longer resembled a human city.

With thousands of zombies, if the ratio of zombies to those summoned by the necromancy were used, the citizens of White Stone City would probably all be dead by now!

This is war, so cruel!
Su Mu released his grip, tossing the undead rat monster down from the air. He then unleashed a thunderbolt with his maximum spell power, blasting the already severely injured undead monster to smithereens, leaving not even a trace of bone dust behind.

[Having experienced a fierce battle, you have developed a deep hatred for evil undead. +1 Knowledge, and have learned Intermediate Combined Magic.]

[Intermediate Combined Magic: Increases the damage of attack spells by 10%. When using area-of-effect spells, an additional effect is triggered (for every 4 points of spell power a hero has, the magic effect is increased by 50%, meaning a hero with 8 points of spell power will have their magic damage increased by 20%).

Since the opponent is the cemetery, we must find the priest of light and learn the magic of the undead killer.

Let them experience what despair is like.

(End of this chapter)