Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 175 Golden Bag

Belon led his army to the desolate valley and first sent out his three-headed hounds, whose sense of smell was the most acute, to search for the lost treasure.

Upon seeing the large number of demon soldiers arrive, the adventurers panning for gold by the river fled in droves. But how could they outrun the three-headed hounds? They were all captured and turned into food for the false humans.

This area was already teeming with thieves, bandits, and petty thieves who were willing to risk their lives for money. When they learned that there was gold to be mined in the valley, more and more of them flocked in.

The previous group of people who obtained the gold had already taken their profits and sold it for a good price, having spread the news in the tavern.

Those who came later naturally knew that this place was extremely dangerous, but with the mentality that as long as they entered quickly enough, they could get the gold in advance and run away, they still came to the valley to take a risk and try their luck, ultimately becoming food for the false people.

Comparatively speaking, Karl's current city can only be considered a settlement, with many buildings and facilities incomplete. Even though the valley is closest to them, they were the last to receive the news, and other forces may already know about the valley's treasures.

Therefore, Belon must act swiftly and decisively to retrieve the treasure before the enemy arrives.

"Quickly! Quickly! Search the entire valley, don't miss any corner!"

The three hounds spread out to search along the river from upstream to downstream, but they still couldn't find any trace of the treasure.

Belon looked puzzled when he saw the dog return empty-handed.

Since gold dust is flowing out, the treasure must be not far from the river. With the three-headed hounds' reconnaissance abilities, they could pinpoint the target as soon as they find the slightest trace. But now there are no clues. Could it be that the treasure is not on the riverbed?

Belon then turned his gaze to the cliff top. The river flowed on the ground, without any hidden passages. However, he still sent Magog to bombard the area with fireballs, completely destroying the terrain at higher elevations.

Rocks fell to both sides, and flames burned everywhere, but there was no trace of the treasure.

This is going to be a bit difficult for Belon. Could it be that someone has already arrived ahead of time and taken the treasure away?

After pondering for a long time, he finally turned his attention to the river and sent out a large number of small monsters to dig the river and divert a small tributary.

As the river receded, the riverbed was gradually exposed, but this didn't last long. The mounds that had changed course were not solid and were quickly washed away, allowing the river to return to its original course, even more turbulent than before.

The three hounds raised their heads, sniffed, and then lowered their heads again.

Belon looked at the nearly destroyed valley with a regretful expression.

"It seems the treasure has been taken by someone else; it's not for me. I can only return and report to the lord!"

After shaking his head in frustration, Perón rallied his troops and prepared to retreat with his men.

Before leaving, he captured a large number of adventurers, feeding them to the false humans by devouring them alive. The blood stained the entire river red and made it murky.

Just as they were about to leave the valley, a star gate appeared in the sky, revealing more than sixty mysterious assassins, clad in black robes and ethereal in the distance.

The leader, an inconspicuous hidden figure, clapped his hands at Belon: "You were almost fooled by the cunning heretic. Tell me, where is the gold bag?"

Belon stood there, stunned and bewildered: "What are you talking about? I have no idea!"

"So, you lot took the treasure?"

The Hidden One stated frankly: "You may not have known where the treasure was before, but after the river changed course, the Three-Headed Hounds changed their behavior, which must have been a special message to you."

Your hasty departure was to conceal the whereabouts of the treasure.

"Hand over the treasure honestly, and I might let you and the dog go. Otherwise, you'll all die!"

This time, Belon stopped pretending to be stupid. His previous surprised expression vanished instantly, replaced by a sinister laugh: "You think you can steal treasure with your meager assassin skills? This place is so close to the lava field. I have already sent word to the lord that if you don't run, you will soon be surrounded by the army!"

The Concealer, brimming with confidence, tossed a swarm of beetles from his sleeve. The beetles, their backs marked with evil fire runes, were all crushed: "A little demonic message spell? Can it escape the detection of the void?"

Seeing that his methods had been exposed, Belon no longer held back. He had four or five hundred men under his command, and their combined strength was considerable. Surely they could take down these assassins?
The battle commenced instantly, but the situation was one-sided. The Void Assassin used a Blink Backstab to eliminate Mago, who possessed ranged firepower. Although the Hellish ranged units had a wide attack range, their health and combat effectiveness were worrisome, and they wouldn't survive a second under the Void Assassin's blade. Of course, Belon didn't expect Mago to be of any use after being brought so close by the enemy.

His real killer moves are the three-headed hound, the long-horned demon, and most importantly, the fake man.

After a massive slaughter, the False Man has reached its strongest form, with 18 points of attack and defense, 10 points of extra fire damage, and 85 health. This level is almost top-tier among level 6 units, and it is not afraid of the Void Assassin at all.

The two attack-independent unit types launched an assault on the agile assassins. Because the enemy rushed to Mag's side to assassinate him, they also entered the attack range of the Hell units.

To some extent, Belon used ranged units as bait; he didn't care about the lives of these Magos at all, just to lure the assassins down.

However, Belon's planned attack failed. Almost all his attacks missed, and he couldn't even touch the assassin, so he didn't deal any damage.

Given the Void Assassin's abilities, it's impossible to dodge all damage, so the source must be the hero.

Belon shifted his gaze to the corner of the Hidden Ones and began to scout.

【虚无名者：攻击9（22），防御6（10），咒力4，知识4（6）

Element: Void

Advanced Phantom Command: For every 3 points of attack a hero has, thieves (including upgraded units) gain 2 points of attack and 2% physical evasion rate, and gain the special magic Void Evasion.

Advanced Evasion: Troops commanded by the hero gain a 15% chance to evade physical attacks.

Advanced Offensive Techniques, Advanced Air Elemental Mastery, Advanced Camouflage

[Void Evasion: Grants the selected unit Void Evasion, initially increasing evasion by 80%. The effect is halved after each dodge, remaining at 5% until it is fully active. It can dodge water-based dispel spells; however, if hit by a dispel, the evasion effect is lost (the target can only receive this buff once per period).]

It can be said that when the opponent's magic is activated, combined with the Void Assassin's evasion (20%), it can evade enemy attacks 100%, and even in the second round of attacks, it can still evade all attacks. Even exorcism magic cannot do anything to them.

The only weakness is the continuous area-of-effect damage, which can reduce their evasion power. It's very likely that a single round of attacks will break their Void Evasion due to being frozen or burned. Although you'll still face nearly 50% evasion afterward, you won't be completely helpless.

However, with the bonus from heroes, the Void Assassin's attack power is so high that it can easily wipe out the enemy.

The powerful three-headed hounds were like puppies in front of them, easily killed by the poisoned blades, leaving no survivors.

Only the fake human survived to the end thanks to his high health, and by using his heterochromatic eyes to control the Void Assassins and carry out a coordinated attack, he managed to kill a few of them.

But that was all. Four or five hundred troops were slaughtered down to only fifty or so puppet soldiers, all of them wounded. Belon was almost at his wit's end.

He and the fake man jumped into the river, walked to about the middle area, and shouted: "Stop fighting, I'll hand over the treasure!"

After saying that, he used magic on the river, blasting a large crater. He then lifted a package full of gold with one hand, scattering many gold coins into the river as if they were inexhaustible.

【Golden Pack (Level 3 Treasure): Provides 500 Spell Power Gold Coins daily.】

Commentary: No one knows where this money came from, or what the bottom of the gold-plated bag is connected to. Perhaps on the other side of the world, some treasure trove is being continuously robbed.

Upon seeing the treasures produced from the gold coins they had been longing for, even a high-level assassin like the Nameless One couldn't help but pause in his tracks.

During this rare lull, Belon roared towards the distant valley, "Humans of Elton, if you don't fight soon, the Golden Bag will be stolen!"

Although Belon's magical power is average, his reconnaissance capabilities are greatly enhanced when combined with the three-headed hounds within the range of the lava terrain.

Ivan descended from the sky with a large number of Gale Griffins and Fearless Swordsmen.

The small valley suddenly became a battleground for the three forces of the castle, hell, and the tower.

(End of this chapter)