Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 45 Tomb Chamber
There were over 50 Night Skeletons in total. They weren't very dangerous, but they were quite frightening. If they killed the travelers, they wouldn't be able to find their destination.

The skeletons were scattered, and aside from the initial sneak attack, the shield bearers and earth archers quickly dealt with them. Only one unlucky fellow was surrounded by a group of skeletons, had his arms and legs severed, and died.

Most of the remaining people only suffered minor injuries, and Su Mu brought a treatment tent to help them recover.

Are there Night Skulls on the outskirts of this area?

Su Mu became cautious. Don't underestimate them just because they are level 1 soldiers. The sheer number of necropolis units can be terrifying.

The traveler wiped his sweat, still slightly shaken: "When I came here last time, I didn't encounter any on the outer perimeter. It must be that someone entered the core area and disturbed the tomb guardians, which caused the change."

Ouling and Sumu exchanged a glance, then immediately increased their marching speed and headed towards the tomb.

Passing by some eerie temples, with towering stone pillars and strange red lights flashing, terrifying roars echoed in my ears, extremely chilling.

"If we avoid these buildings, we'll probably have to take a long detour."

Looking down at the sinister temple, the traveler could only answer truthfully.

Previously, travelers would naturally avoid the explorers' group whenever possible, but Su Mu and his group are racing against time and are very powerful, so they may not be willing to avoid them.

"Push them down!"

Su Mu glanced at the makeshift evil temple and gave the order.

So the shieldbearers led the way, with the Earthbow at the rear, and the army passed through the middle of the evil temple.

As they reached the muddy ground, the earth shook, and the skeleton army awoke from the ground, their eerie green soul flames flickering within their skulls as they glared menacingly at the intruders.

For the dead, any living being that disturbs their slumber deserves to die!
Thus began a battle between the living and the dead. Shieldbearers recoiled, stone arrows shattered the enemy, and skeletons were felled like wheat, only to be replaced by new skeletons rising from the ground in an endless stream.

"More than 400 of these skeleton soldiers have already died, and they still haven't finished killing them!"

Ouling gazed at the lights of the evil temple, momentarily lost in doubt.

Su Mu wasn't too surprised. Ancient battlefields like this are corrupted by the aura of the dead, making it easy to cultivate cemetery monsters. Skeleton soldiers are worthless, but swarm tactics are indeed troublesome and are the most difficult type of tactic to deal with in the world of heroes.

Fortunately, the enemy only had random troops and no hero to control them, otherwise we could have worn them down with the skeletons.

"Something's not right. These skeleton soldiers seem to be in a peculiar state. Could it be that someone has already taken the boundary stone? Otherwise, why would these sleepers be so violent?"

The traveler muttered to himself, clearly having encountered a situation he had never experienced before.

Su Mu stood on the high slope for a while and could already see the tomb chamber. The long hall, built of black stone, gradually extended downwards. In front of the gate stood two mummified statues, which recorded the past experiences of the tomb's owner.

Unlike usual, thick smoke billowed inside, suggesting a battle had already begun.

"Go this way and block their retreat!"

Su Mu led his troops along the winding path to the top of the tomb hillside, aiming the Earth Bow at the enemy, waiting for them to come to them.

Since someone else has already beaten us to it, we might as well let them explore for us and reap the benefits ourselves.

More importantly, he glanced at the erupting evil temple, which seemed to have an ominous premonition.

……

Inside the tomb, Farik quickly cast the water-based Holy Spirit's Blessing, providing a damage boost to his legions.

【Holy Spirit's Blessing (Level 1 Water Magic): Increases the minimum damage value of the selected friendly unit to the same as the maximum damage value. The duration of the effect is affected by the spell power.

Evaluation: For units with fluctuating damage output, this magic is comparable to a divine skill.

Hordes of wandering thieves clashed with the undead—skeletons, zombies, and even ghosts. These graveyard units had no will of their own, simply guarding the tomb according to their instincts.

Farik had read the inscription on the tombstone in front of the gate. It was said to be the work of a marquis who had made great contributions to the kingdom, but was framed by a treacherous official and demoted to a remote border region where he died in despair.

Therefore, his tomb is filled with vengeful spirits whose anger cannot be released. As a powerful hero, he has created the current situation.

For Fallik, these tombs were difficult to deal with, and there wasn't much profit to be made from them.

If the protagonist is an old duke enjoying his retirement, with a large number of treasures to be buried with him, that would be the tomb he most wants to dig.

The reason he's here now is because his employer offered him a good price.

"Hurry up, you bunch of idiots, get to work, or I'll leave you here to keep company with skeletons!"

The wicked will be punished by the wicked. The vagrant thief who usually swaggered around was trembling in fear before Falric and could only be on high alert when dealing with these undead.

Upon seeing that one of his men was injured, Faric did not waste his magic healing him, but instead ordered the men behind him to kill those who tried to escape.

"You won't get the money unless you defeat these undead. Think it through!"

Hearing Fariq's roar, the thieves' eyes bloodshot, and they began to fight desperately. For money, they would do anything.

Seeing that these guys were finally going all out, Fariq sneered. There's only so much money. The more people die, the less there will be to go around. If you don't understand this, you've lived in vain.

Finally, after more than a hundred thieves died, the tomb was completely cleaned up.

At the very bottom, Farik discovered a human statue: a general holding a greatsword, looking up at a map on the dome, with flickering will-o'-the-wisps—the map of Isildur, the Wildlands, and the Empire of the Omnipotent.

"Hey, you've got big ambitions, it's no wonder you're not getting your way!"

He severed the general's arm with a single sword stroke, sending him plummeting into the green flames below. Instantly, the massive stone dome collapsed and crashed down. Under the burning of the will-o'-the-wisps, the boundary stone solidified.

"Got it!" The rest of his men were looting the tomb's treasures, mostly gold coins and raw stones, with few valuable items.

"Look at your limited knowledge, you can't even walk anymore? Follow the master, and you'll make your fortune in the future!"

The thieves continued their hauling, with few responding.

Just then, a man stumbled in from outside, reporting an urgent military situation: "It's bad, boss! A human force has broken through the evil temple, occupied the high hillside, and is waiting for us outside."

Faric was not too flustered, and simply waited for his men to move the gold.

"Alright, you fools, there are people waiting outside, lying in wait. If you don't want your treasure to be stolen, you'd better run fast!"

After saying that, he placed his hand in the murky river water, and immediately the waves surged, spiritual energy gathered, and absorbed the wood and stones on the bank, and several small boats were born out of thin air.

【Ship Summoning Spell (Level 2 Magic, Water): 75% chance to summon a ship; it can be summoned out of thin air.】

The summoning probability is affected by the level of the water magic; currently, it's at intermediate water magic.

"Hurry, hurry, get on the boat and rush out! Only those who run fast will survive and get the money!"

The thieves waded across the underground river, frantically crowding onto the boats, carrying gold and silver treasures aboard.

Faric lit a rocket and shot it toward the exit of the underground river, a waterway he had discovered before descending into the tomb, which now came in handy.

"Boom!"

With a deafening roar, the thieves frantically rowed their boat, rushing downstream.

But what awaited them was a merciless barrage of arrows. The area struck by the Earth Bow became so muddy that even the rivers turned murky, and the thieves seemed to be walking through the mud, becoming easy targets.

Two, four, dozens.

The Earth Bow reaps the lives of thieves, while shield bearers slowly advance towards the tomb, employing a classic tactic of encircling from three sides and leaving one open. Furthermore, the thieves' unwillingness to relinquish their gold further slows the small boat, making them appear poised for capture.

Just then, a small boat carrying dozens of people passed by. The mud was dissolved by a curtain of water the moment it touched the boat, without any effect of slowing it down.

At the stern of the small boat, there were boundary stones.

Upon seeing this, Ouling immediately drew his bow and shot an arrow at the enemy, which was sure to hit its mark.

Faric didn't even stick his head out; he just hid behind a few thieves, who "willingly" stood in front of him.

After the stone arrow pierced through the thieves' bodies, they discovered that they were tied to the boundary stone, unable to move, and had become shields.

"Goodbye!"

"These gold treasures are for you, so you don't make a wasted trip!"

Farik generously gestured, indicating that the thieves and gold and silver behind him were merely bait; he didn't care about such mundane things. As for the boundary stone, he would take it first as a sign of respect.

Faric looked at Su Mu with a provocative gaze, not Ouling.

The surrounding nobles all said that this mayor had risen to power by taking credit for others' achievements, and that he could only become a hero by relying on his subordinates.

However, after the last battle at the watchtower, Faric discovered the extraordinary nature of this earth-type hero, and the true decision-maker was Su Mu.

Therefore, after receiving the mission to seize the boundary stone, he thought it over carefully and felt that he might not be able to defeat the opponent in a head-on battle. So he used the special properties of water magic, using thieves as bait to lure the opponent into an attack, and took the opportunity to escape.

This strategy proved to be correct; the enemy was extremely close and their strength had increased again. Even if the wandering thieves didn't attack the tomb first, they couldn't defeat the Earthbow and had to run away.

As for the heavy losses suffered by his subordinates?

With the biggest treasure in hand, why worry about not having money?

Just look at how major towns treat boundary markers, and you'll know how valuable they are.

Farik waved again, then proudly sailed away with his ship, cutting through the waves.

The shield bearers then surrounded the remaining wandering thieves, restraining them, and the Earth Bow wiped them out.

[Gold +2000, Primogems +3]

Under normal circumstances, this would be considered a good return, but it's somewhat disheartening that their main objective, the boundary stone, was taken away by Farik.

Ouling felt somewhat guilty, thinking that if he hadn't ordered a full-scale attack, allowing Fariq to exploit an opening, there would still have been a chance to hold off the enemy.

Su Mu wasn't too concerned. The hero on the other side was cunning and treacherous, using his subordinates as pawns, and was also a water-type expert. It was normal that he hadn't been caught.

He escaped twice, and his hand has basically been revealed.

The most crucial question is, can he really escape?
As the black mist over the ancient battlefield grew thicker and the ghostly fire in the evil temple surged incessantly, the aura of death on this land was reviving.

Su Mu felt that the tomb chamber might not be the center point.

"No! Something's wrong! The traveler has disappeared!"

Su Mu walked over and looked at the compass that had fallen to the ground and was spinning, supported by a bone hand, with yin energy emanating from it.

After spinning several times, the compass finally stopped, pointing to a newly dug cemetery not far ahead.

Inside lay a crooked skeleton with only one arm remaining. A yellowed old book covered the face bone, titled "The Three Kings' Battle for Supremacy"!
(End of this chapter)