Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 54 The Alchemist's Hand
The majestic city walls stretch for miles, and the unique buildings are far from the residential center. This is usually quite convenient, but at this moment, it is difficult to manage them effectively.

One of the main streets, the bluestone pavement, was stained red, the sewers were clogged with piles of corpses, and the air was thick with the stench of blood.

Every household kept their doors and windows tightly shut, no one dared to come out, and they didn't even dare to make a sound, for fear of causing trouble.

A squad of halberdiers was patrolling the street, but they seemed somewhat distracted.

"Brother, did you see the piece of cloth that was shot in? I heard the city lord..."

"Do you want to die? Throw those things away! I'll pretend I didn't hear you."

Seeing his subordinate extend his arm forward as if to hand over a piece of rag, the halberdier captain Mead's expression changed, and he gave a stern warning.

So the soldier could only tear the strips of cloth to shreds and kick them away, but he was still not giving up. He leaned over and whispered, "The Kingdom's army at the front has not been defeated yet!"

Langlit Castle is said to have been captured, but the lord of the castle has not returned yet, and nobody knows what happened.

Now that the enemy's troops have arrived at the city gates, doesn't that mean the situation is dire?

The halberdier captain, Mead, glared at the other man with a stern look, but said nothing more.

As they walked down a street, they happened to hear cries for help ahead and rushed over.

Several thieves were seen breaking down the door and robbing valuables inside. It seemed to be a merchant's shop, as the door was tightly closed, but it was unclear how they had attracted the thieves.

The thief came out with gold and silver jewelry in his hands, but did not leave. He just stood guard outside the door, while the sound of a woman crying could be heard from inside.

"What are you doing! Instead of fighting a formidable enemy, you're breaking into people's homes and looting their property. Are you looking for death?"

The halberdiers stepped forward and surrounded the enemy, filled with rage.

These merchants were all residents of White Stone City, and they were neighbors with them. They had interacted with them regularly, and perhaps even had distant relatives among them. Being insulted like this naturally aroused public anger.

The thieves, however, were not afraid at all, leaning against the door with a grin. After a while, the noise gradually subsided, and the thief leader, Zachary, pulled up his belt and walked out with a displeased look on his face.

"What a bummer! I wasn't even satisfied before I was about to kill myself. Let's go to the next place!"

Hearing the other party's arrogant remarks, Mead could no longer hold back and swung his halberd horizontally to block the thief.

"General Guido ordered you to patrol and search for traitors, but you took the opportunity to rob and kill. Aren't you afraid I'll arrest you and bring you to the council?"

Mead's expression gradually turned cold. He took out a token containing a spell, engraved with the Kyle family's symbol.

“We were directly appointed by Commander Guido. What right do these lowly halberdiers have to arrest us?”

Besides, I didn't wrong any innocent people; they deserved what they got!

He waved his hand, and the thief handed him several pieces of rags, which were the proclamation of war that had been shot in from outside the city.

The halberdier protested, "These things are everywhere. You can just take them and leave them at anyone's house to accuse them of a crime. Who knows what's going on!"

Hearing this, Mead smiled sinisterly: "What, did you also take these strips of cloth? Then I'll have to gather my brothers and deal with you first!"

The halberdier's eyes darted away slightly. Mead stared at him for a moment, then finally stepped aside.

The thieves possessed the best intelligence in the city, and were therefore assigned to the core force to purge the city. This was a personal order from Guido, and everyone else had no choice but to obey.

If Captain Wolf were still around, he might have been able to keep these thieves in check. But since their last mission, he hasn't returned, and the entire White Stone City's halberdiers have been reduced to the lowest ranks, so they really can't do anything to Zachary and his men.

"Hahahahahaha!"

Several thieves walked past the halberdier, looking arrogant and smug.

After they left, Mead had his men go in and check. Finding no one alive, he ordered a fire to be set, burning the hut and its owner to the ground.

"It's bad, Captain Mead, the enemy has boarded the catapults."

"Quickly, get up to the city wall."

Disregarding his patrol duties, Mead rushed to the city wall, only to find that there was no large-scale attack, but only his own men being carried down.

The dead all had arrows in their chests or heads, with no other wounds. As for the breach in the city wall, it appeared to be damage caused by the enemy testing catapults; the soldiers quickly filled it with mud and stones, thus repairing the structure.

It seemed to be a false alarm, but the commander defending the city was furious.

Quido Kael, a collateral descendant of the Kael family, studied and trained in the Arcane Empire. Upon his return, he was entrusted with the important task of guarding the city by the city lord.

But because of his experience, Guido was more inclined to believe in alchemically created soldiers rather than human beings like himself. Even in the defense of the city, he used stone golems to monitor the halberdiers and send them into battle.

"Idiots! They're all idiots!"

"If it weren't for those refugees, my gargoyle army wouldn't have suffered any losses. If we had flying units, how could the enemy have dared to get so close?"

"And the archers in the defensive towers, you call yourselves sharpshooters, yet you got hit by an enemy arrow. You were hiding in the towers, but the enemy couldn't even touch you."

"You were tasked with destroying the catapults, yet you only managed to hit some stones. What a waste!"

The enraged Guido was throwing a tantrum and slapped the archer commander.

Mead braced himself and walked over. He had just knelt down, intending to report on the military situation in the city, when he was kicked over by Guido.

In front of so many of his men, Mead rolled over several times, blood still in his mouth, and lowered his head even further.

"And you lot, patrolling for half a day and not even finding a single traitor. Anyone who dares to take a strip of cloth shot into the city by the enemy will be beheaded in the street! Do I need to teach you that?"

"Yes!"

Mead kowtowed frantically, only leaving when Guido waved him off.

The other party ignored these people and focused on studying his alchemical items. He added crystals to a large pot, poured in a large amount of raw stones, and used incantations to create a large number of stone figures.

"Alright, even though the quantity is a bit small, let's use it for now."

"You guys are much more reliable, unlike these idiots!"

Guido gently stroked the lifeless stones, his expression extremely tender, a stark contrast to his earlier attitude towards the soldiers.

【Quido Kell (Alchemist): Attack 3, Defense 3, Spell Power 4, Knowledge 2 (4)】

Intermediate Alchemist: Can practice exclusive alchemical summoning magic, enhancing the life of the corresponding alchemical object (for every 5 points of spellcasting or knowledge, 1 point of life is increased).
Basic Academics: Able to communicate with heroes to learn level 1-2 magic (communication speed varies depending on the level of Wisdom and Elemental Magic).

Intermediate Water Elemental Magic Mastery

[Intermediate Stone Summoning (Special Magic): Consumes magic power to summon stone golems. The number of golems summoned is equal to the magic power * 3. They cannot be summoned again within a certain time and will shatter after battle.]

Heroes are mysterious and powerful in the eyes of ordinary people, and Guido is no exception.

The halberdiers guarding the city walls trembled with fear, lest they offend their commander and be turned into stone statues.

Mead naturally observed these events. He took a deep breath, returned to the watchtower, reorganized the equipment, and continued his patrol.

About half a day later, the castle steward brought out another pile of gold coins and handed them to Mead.

"You know Lord Quido's character; he loves arcane magic. He didn't mean to blame you. He will definitely apologize to you after the siege is over."

One more thing: Lord Kell has attacked Longlet Castle, and we are currently defending it with the fortified army. We must hold the city at all costs. The defense will depend on the captain!
With Wolf missing, you have the best chance of taking over the position. Keep up the good work!

After saying that, he patted him on the shoulder.

Mead was naturally very grateful and offered his assurances.

After the butler left, he looked out the window at the street and watched the stone man wreak havoc on the house where the strips of cloth were hidden.

In fact, those strips of cloth were simply blown to the window by the wind, but they only obeyed Guido's orders and didn't care about the lives of these lowly people.

If towers are like this, what about fortifications? Perhaps they would be stronger?
Mead didn't know that as he pulled the window shut, darkness completely engulfed him.

(End of this chapter)