Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 172 Frost Tree
The northern border is covered by continuous snow-capped mountains and frozen landscapes. Ordinary troops can only travel a short distance in this area and are easily targeted.

But the snowfield near Norton was covered by frost trees, stretching only a hundred meters wide, like a newly paved road heading north.

The Frost Tree can absorb the snow on the ground and turn it into magical energy to maintain the passage. Even in the worst snowy weather, it can use its lush branches and leaves to provide cover and ensure the progress of the Bastion Legion.

Although the world of heroes is centered around magic, its combat techniques and modes are constantly evolving.

Several thousand years ago, major powers often used surprise attacks to capture key enemy castles or fortresses. Time portals or interdimensional portals were very powerful tactical magic.

Later, the heroes improved the boundary stones, incorporating more magical energy to strengthen their control over the territory. If an enemy trespasses into the area controlled by a boundary stone, a portal must be used to teleport them to a large county city, consuming a great deal of resources. Even the dimensional portal's crossing distance is reduced; only heroes with special advanced pathfinding skills combined with advanced air elemental mastery can find loopholes in the boundary stones.

The days when cities could only be defended by garrisoning troops or by delaying the enemy through terrain, and heroes could conquer new cities everywhere, are long gone.

Some cities can even leverage their unique strengths to completely disorient enemies once they enter their territory, preventing them from using spell maps to observe their surroundings and making them vulnerable to surprise attacks by the defenders.

The cemetery faction is naturally the best in this regard. The Dark Canopy can protect the secrets of the city and heroes, and when combined with the Boundary Stones, it can completely confuse the enemy.

This is why boundary stones have become so precious. Although most of the kingdom's land is covered by them, the density, control range, and authority vary, resulting in vastly different outcomes in battles.

Isildur was clearly preparing for a protracted war. After capturing Norton, he didn't rush to advance but instead laid down frostwood forests, altering the terrain to create a battlefield favorable to his fortifications. This method of warfare, steady and methodical, while lacking any extraordinary elements, proved highly effective.

The North has already sent several waves of troops to attack, including the core Floodwave Swordsmen Legion.

The Frost Treants remained unmoved, simply guarding the Frost Forest and fighting their enemies. The Isildur forces, holding the advantage of terrain, naturally achieved a great victory. Even in victory, the Frost Treants did not pursue, but instead continued paving roads and advancing towards the North.

Although the Frost Forest is only a hundred meters wide, its influence is extensive, controlling the terrain for about ten kilometers laterally. The further away it goes, the weaker it becomes, until it becomes useless.

With such a long battlefront, didn't the North consider intercepting it from the middle?
In fact, the North had specifically dispatched griffon troops to intercept them, and even invited mages skilled in fire elemental magic to assist them. Unfortunately, the enemy had a Silver Pegasus Legion under constant surveillance, guarding the entire Frostline.

If the Griffin troops dare to penetrate deeper, the Silver Pegasus will immediately organize a large army to counterattack, and may even be able to encircle the Griffins and cause huge damage.

The griffon troops would merely harass the front lines or raid from secluded passages before quickly retreating. Isildur paid them no heed, simply scattering frostwood seeds afterward and using fertilizer made from special resources to rebuild the structure within days.

Such a small-scale raid could not cause much damage and could not shake Isildur's will to advance.

What's most terrifying is that Isildur's camp has heroes with advanced reconnaissance skills, capable of monitoring the Northern Legion's movements at any time. The moment the Griffin units show any sign of movement, the Silver Pegasus will arrive with incredible speed. It's as if a celestial eye is constantly watching the battlefield, leaving no room for the flying forces to hide; this battle is unwinnable.

A massive ancient tree-man stood at the forefront of the Frost Forest, his eyes always closed, yet he could observe all the movements on the battlefield.

【利文·法雷尔（寒霜树人）：攻击7（15），防御9（17），咒力7（14），知识6（8）。

Advanced Natural Reconnaissance: Increases the hero's vision range by 30 kilometers. Allows the placement of Natural Sentinels or True Sight Sentinels to enhance observation capabilities. When in towns, it can establish natural reconnaissance agencies to prevent sabotage by local spies or special natural disasters. It also counters all stealth, disguise, and concealment skills and magic.

Senior Frost Treant Elder: For every 3 points of Defense Power a hero has, the Treant Guardian (including upgraded units) gains 1 point of Defense and 2 points of Health, and the Treant's Entangled Roots gain the Frost attribute (after being entangled, the opponent's speed decreases by 1 each time, and there is a chance to be directly frozen, unable to move and continuously taking water elemental damage).

Advanced Natural Defense: Reduces the physical damage taken by troops by 15% (the effect of the defense is increased by 50% for every 10% increase in base health or 5 points of health (whichever is higher).

Advanced Pathfinding, Advanced Water Elemental Mastery, Advanced Air Elemental Mastery

Isildur sent this Frosttree chieftain to the North after considering various factors. Although he possesses a variety of powerful combat skills, his most outstanding skill is reconnaissance, which he can fully utilize in the North.

With him in command, the Northern forces could not advance an inch and could only watch helplessly as the Tree People army marched into Winterfell.

Of course, capturing Winterhold was a tremendous success, but the treants might not necessarily choose to advance north; a detour through the plains towards the heart of Elton was also an option. He had long heard of the defenders of the Shirin Plains. Everyone attributed Isabel's defeat at Longlet Castle to Conrad, but Levin disagreed. Lord Kuraki played a crucial role, slaying the Children of the Forest and wiping out half of the raiding party, which prevented Isabel from acting rashly and led to her being besieged and repelled by Conrad.

It's such a pity that Storm Ranger Ivo died. With his talent and aptitude, if he hadn't died, he would definitely have entered the Elder Council and become a famous hero.

But war is a very real thing; anyone who goes to the battlefield could die, and without growing stronger, one cannot be called a legend.

Therefore, Levine was also very concerned about the movements of Bear Fort and Longleat Fort. If the other side made any moves, he would send more troops to prepare for a protracted war.

This time, the Empire has reinforced him with nearly 2000 Frost Treants, 4000 Silver Pegasus, 5000 Archelves, and countless Dwarves and Centaurs. The army is advancing from Norton. Their sole objective is to open a breach in the North and continue their advance into the heart of the kingdom.

【Frost Treant (Bullet Level 5 Tier 2 Unit, Water Elemental Baptism): Attack 10, Defense 13, Damage 11-15, Health 80, Speed ​​4, Huge Size】

Element: Water (Units gain +30% resistance to water magic), attacks have a chance to inflict freezing damage.

Frost Path (path can be dispelled): Areas traversed by the Treant will be frozen. Enemies who approach will be eroded by the cold, taking 1 point of frost damage every so often, and have a chance to be frozen instantly.

Tree roots entwined.

The neighboring countries have recently felt Isildur's determination. The Arcane Empire and the Western nations have united to condemn the Temple of the Sacred Tree, and they may take some action on the border.

But so what?
Unless you personally engage in combat, it has no effect on large-scale legionary operations.

However, isolation was never his strategy. The elven thieves learned that Rhodes, the heir to the dukedom, was getting close to the Void Cult of the Arcane Empire. Leven then had the elders use their connections to bribe the high-ranking mages in the tower, persuading them not to participate in the battle.

After all, war costs money and people die. Wouldn't it be better for the mages of the Arcane Empire to focus on their magic research? If they insist on getting involved, there will likely be a lot of resistance from society.

Once public opinion takes hold and the archmages grow weary, the Arcane Empire's support will weaken.

A newly appointed duke in the North is simply no match for him.

Even at the border between Elton and the Arcane Empire, a group of demons is rising up, occupying large areas of uncontrolled territory, and even building underground portals.

Although the Barrier also despises the forces of Hell, it is advisable to deliberately leave that conflict zone unattended, allowing the demons to continue to restrain the Arcane Empire and Rod Suliman, based on the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend for the time being.

Next, all he needs is time to press forward step by step.

Another purpose of this decision was to force Raven to come and save the North.

Once Raven makes a move, Lloyd can find an opportunity to defeat him and turn the tide of the game.

Although he and Lloyd were usually at odds, Levin still had a sense of the bigger picture when it came to serving the Empire.

Of course, if Raven doesn't fall for it, he can conquer Winterfell and claim all the credit, which would be absolutely wonderful.

From any perspective, Elton had no way to crack his tactics. After all, war is essentially a contest of national strength, and Elton was too weak to have any chance.

However, this advantage did not make Levin happy; he was very worried about the recent month of calamity.

If war is not used, races that are close to nature will not rashly resort to violence; it is simply survival of the fittest. If Elton has anyone to blame, it is that they are too weak!

(End of this chapter)