Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 178 Research Tools
The kingdom has decided to change its leader, but Raven won't be removed immediately; the king isn't that incompetent.

The royal family selected a highly respected marshal from among their trusted generals to take up a post at the front, while Raven served as the deputy marshal to facilitate the handover. They would return to the capital once the transition was smooth.

The overall strategic goals have not changed, and the fact that Jade Land has been given a stepping stone is already the best option at present.

The North, taking a trivial matter as a pretext, used Congressional orders to compel Bear Fort to send troops.

Ivan boasted about his success in stealing the gold pouches, claiming it was to rid the North of demons who were causing havoc. He then ignored the other party and waited patiently for the massive army buildup during the Month of Mighty Soldiers.

Now that there's the gold pack, Kuraki's gold coin resources are finally enough to barely cover all expenses, and there are over fifty fearless swordsmen every week.

Forrest personally visited Bearhold to build the monastery and add advanced civil engineering special effects. With the castle's bonus, Bearhold can provide more than a dozen monks every week, which is quite a powerful output.

Without the forced restrictions of the Church of Light, everyone is willing to develop level 5 combat buildings. Even though the output is a bit less, monks still play a significant role on the battlefield. Not to mention that Kuraki Castle has the upgrade building for the Mysterious Sanctuary, so recruiting troops is basically a no-brainer.

Isildur continued his paving-the-road tactics, advancing step by step, almost reaching the central region of the withered grass and snowfields, and even finding Silver Pegasus scouts in Bear Fortress.

At this point, the North finally stopped bickering and began sending large armies to guard the border cities, calling on the nobles to resist foreign invasion, and even offering the treasures accumulated by the duchy over many years as a reward.

Rhodes softened his stance towards Kuraki considerably, sending Marquis Cox, who had a good relationship with Maggie, as an intermediary. Rhodes promised to fight the enemy together, and he was willing to apply for titles of nobility for Sumu and Kuraki, and would also facilitate the bestowal of boundary stones or treasures. If the kingdom refused, he would go to the parliament and the Arcane Empire for help; in short, he would grant any request.

Rhodes had no choice. Isildur was clearly heading towards Winterhold. If he let the enemy advance any further, they would really be at the city gates.

Now he wants to rally the city of Frostnight, in conjunction with Frostfortress and Frozen Wall, satellite cities of the Frostwinter, to hold off the army of Isildur.

Frost Fortress is a city connected to a snow-covered mountain range. The city is nearly 100 meters high and is supported by the frozen cliffs, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. The city is equipped with defensive equipment such as Frost Arrow Towers, which are extremely powerful.

The Frozen Wall, located south of Frost Fortress, is a more open northern city. This terrain is protected by magical energy, enhancing water magic effects by 50% while weakening other elemental magic effects, making it ideal for the Flood Swordsmen. However, the Frost Treants that have arrived this time are also water-elemental-baptized units, making them somewhat difficult to deal with.

Rhodes wanted the hero to use his water manipulation magic to gain higher magic resistance in the area, in order to counter the Frost Treant.

Su Mu thought this was a foolish idea. While he couldn't be certain about other things, the Frost Treants' commander, Levin Farrell, was undoubtedly a master of water elemental magic. His ability to command such a massive water elemental baptism force was undeniable. Besides, rumors circulated that Levin possessed level 5 water elemental magic. Trying to fight them with water elemental magic on the Frozen Wall?
Ban Men get an axe!

However, Su Mu did remember that the Salman family possessed a treasure called the Frozen Heart, which could limit powerful water elemental magic damage and increase resistance. Rhodes might have relied on this heirloom to devise the strategy of fighting a magical battle near the Frozen Wall.

But even the most powerful treasures need heroes to use them. With the few heroes in Winter City at present, none of them are particularly strong, so Su Mu is not very optimistic about the opponent.

Rhodes' other reliance is the Void Cult. Now, Isildur's army has reached the heart of the Dry Grass Snowfield. Although anti-war sentiment is rising in the country, the Void has not changed its will and still chooses to support Rhodes.

Su Mu originally thought that the Void God Cult's initial goal was to freeze the heart, but now that they have obtained the treasure, they still haven't given up on Rhodes. It seems that the other party has much bigger ambitions.

Su Mu couldn't be bothered with the mess in the North. As long as Rhodes had support, at least he wouldn't abandon the city and flee again. To resist Isildur's army, the North really needed to step in; otherwise, the Kuraki family alone would face an extremely difficult situation.

If Rhodes possesses the ability to summon reinforcements, he would be a decent leader. Hopefully, he will develop further after becoming a duke. Regarding Isildor's Frostwood Forest, Su Mu is already researching ways to counter it; he cannot allow them to so easily pave roads into the heart of the territory.

Frost trees are a type of magical tree that can withstand severe cold and has strong vitality. They can even be felled and processed into logs when needed.

Forrest was a master at logging, having developed many logging tools, but he didn't know much about frost trees.

So Orling took the Gale Griffin and the Mystic Prayer to the snowfield, burned a section of the forest in the middle, and encountered the Silver Pegasus guard, engaging in a small-scale battle.

Oling was very quick-witted. He used the high damage of the Arcane Prayer to finish the battle quickly, and then applied Swiftness to leave the battlefield.

Within ten minutes, the Silver Pegasus army arrived from all directions, and even ground troops came to support them. If they were delayed even for a moment, they would likely be surrounded.

Levin's reconnaissance abilities are too strong; he can detect any movement around the battlefield in advance. Orling only succeeded once by using the high mobility of the Gale Griffin for a surprise attack; it probably won't be so easy next time.

Forrest obtained the Frost Branch and used the log ash to stimulate its growth, and it quickly became a new towering tree.

"These trees are incredibly cold-resistant. They can not only grow in the freezing cold, but they can also absorb ice crystals in heavy snow and clear the roads. Only a stronghold could cultivate such a tree species."

"The tree trunks are very sturdy and cannot be cut down with ordinary knives and axes, making them difficult to clear. What's even more difficult is that the trees have absorbed snowmelt, so ordinary fire magic cannot quickly ignite them, making them very difficult to burn."

Forrest circled the frost tree, using different logging tools, but none of them were very effective.

Su Mu provided support from the side, using various types of magic to attack. Apart from high-damage magic, the other spells were somewhat ineffective.

"It seems that we can't destroy them on a large scale with magic. Isildur's choice to have the Frost Treants attack the North was a well-thought-out decision. We can only use defensive cities to resist their invasion."

Su Mu was about to abandon his plan to destroy the forest when Forrest poured enough snow water onto the tops of the trees and tapped the trunks again, making a new discovery.

"When this type of tree bears snowmelt for a certain period of time, the toughness of its trunk will actually disappear. Perhaps we can start from this angle."

"Give me some time, and I'll be able to develop a tool to cut down frost trees!"

Forrest was full of confidence; as a logging master, his words carried considerable weight.

Su Mu naturally trusted Forrest and allowed him to begin developing new equipment.

This could be a surprise tactic, but we still need to see how things go on the main battlefield.

I've heard that Isildur's vanguard has encountered the Northern Patrol, and war is imminent!
(End of this chapter)