Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 56 Taking the City
Guido was fast asleep, cuddling his stone figure, when he was quickly jolted awake by the sound of a bell signaling an impending attack.

He immediately activated his spell power to connect with the city defenses and discovered that the east gate was no longer under his control, and all the Earth Bows had entered and occupied the defensive towers.

"Halberdier! Mead!"

I will kill you all!

Guido, being a hero, quickly understood what was happening. The garrison commander at the east gate had rebelled, lowering the gate to let the enemy into the city.

He hurriedly climbed the city wall and organized the stone figures to resist.

Several halberdiers on the south city wall were struck by the stone golem before they even knew what was happening, and were killed on the spot.

In this situation, Guido dares not use the halberdiers of White Stone City.

Actually, he was just a bit obsessed with alchemy, not an idiot. He only lost his temper with Mead because of the immense pressure of being surrounded by enemy soldiers. He even sent the castle steward to comfort him afterwards, but the latter was ungrateful.

To be honest, Guido had some regrets, but he couldn't care less about that now; he could only fight to the death.

"The stone men will follow me into the city to fight the enemy. I will completely seal the passage, and the sharpshooters will keep watch on the enemy from the defensive towers!"

In this situation, he has no other choice. Even if he wanted to run away, with the speed of the stone man, he simply couldn't outrun his opponent. He has no choice but to fight head-on.

Su Mu's forces consisted mainly of ranged archers; if they could be surrounded within the city, he would have a significant advantage.

Before the battle, Guido once again used the Stone Summoning Technique to lead a total of more than 90 stone men into the city.

He hadn't gone far when he noticed the enemy closing in on him, and soon the two sides clashed.

"crack shot!"

"Rapid Acceleration!"

First, unleash two air-based spells to boost the speed and attack of the Earth Bow. Against the high-health, high-defense stone golem, the Earth Bow unleashes a barrage of arrows.

Enemies struck by stone arrows, even those made of stone themselves, could hardly withstand the high-powered attack and shattered into pieces on the ground.

What's even more troublesome is that the Earth Bow's built-in slowing skill causes the already slow stone golem to get stuck in the mud, making it even slower than a tortoise crawling.

The halberdiers held the line and suffered the greatest impact, but the stone men clearly didn't want to waste time with them. They advanced from the flanks, trying to find the main archer force and restrict their ranged attacks.

Guido took out the magic book, which contained the water element array of the exorcism technique, but he was caught in a dilemma.

Exorcism Spell (Water-based, Level 1): Removes the effects of magic afflicting friendly or enemy units.

Intermediate Water Elemental Mastery bonus.

Since Guido possesses intermediate water elemental power, his exorcism spell can completely dispel the enemy's air elemental bonus, thus making the Earth Bow's attack less powerful.

The problem is that the stone golems are confined in the swamp and have difficulty moving. If they are not freed, even if the enemy doesn't have that much firepower, they can still fire several more rounds to destroy the stone golems.

Two bottles of poison, you have to take one!
The water curtain was applied to the stone golem, removing the mud barrier and propelling it rapidly toward the Bow of the Earth.

"If they can get close to the archer, they're finished!"

The number of stonemen had been reduced by a third, but they were now within reach of the archers. Guido seemed to have seen the dawn of victory, and a smile appeared on his lips.

However, the next second, Su Mu plunged him into a nightmare.

The houses on the ground collapsed with a roar, revealing a hidden quicksand trap below. The stone figure was trapped inside and could not move at all, becoming nothing more than a target for arrows.

Although Su Mu had used this trick many times, it was indeed effective every time.

The quicksand trap isn't triggered instantly; it only triggers when the stone golem gets close. The Earthbow, however, is unaffected by earth elemental debuffs, allowing the enemy to be easily lured into the trap.

In this way, even if the enemy has exorcism magic, they can only disarm one unit, and they will be powerless to stop any subsequent units from getting trapped.

As the stone figures fell one by one, Guido gradually succumbed to despair.

"No! My great creation!"

When the halberdiers saw the stone man charging forward desperately only to be trapped in the snare, they immediately felt that their opportunity had come.

Mead raised his halberd and shouted, "Brothers, charge with me! Capture Quido alive and present him to Lord Sumu!"

Encouraged by their commander, a large number of halberdiers killed the few stone men they could find and surrounded Guido.

By this time, Quido knew that all was lost, and he raised his longsword to fight his way out. While his right hand was fighting, his left hand used magic to condense the surrounding rubble into a stone horse. Quido mounted it, killed several halberdiers blocking his way, and fled towards the city gate.

With the capture of the bandit leader imminent, how could Ouling possibly let him escape?

He leaped onto the roof, unleashing a whirlwind arrow aimed straight at the stone horse's head. The arrow arrived with the force of thunder and lightning, and the stone horse had no time to dodge before its head exploded.

Surprisingly, the stone horse, even without a head, ran incredibly fast.

Before Guido could even feel smug, Orin's second arrow arrived, aimed directly at the stone horse's crystalline heart. The first arrow had only pierced the outer stone shell; the second was the truly deadly strike.

"boom!"

With a loud bang, the crystal shattered, and the stone horse completely crumbled.

Guido was thrown to the ground, and the halberdiers quickly surrounded him and launched a thrusting attack.

Even though he was a hero, after repeatedly using magic and being attacked by Orling, he was somewhat exhausted.

Even so, Guido took out his stone sword and swung it desperately, killing more than a dozen halberdiers.

"Come on, let's see who dares to touch me!"

"A bunch of scum, betraying their master and defecting to the enemy, I'd like to see what kind of courage you have!"

Blood stained his armor, and Guido stood before the shattered stone figure, like a god of war.

However, he was met with endless halberds and arrows. The Earth Bow cleared away the stone men from the quicksand and aimed at Guido, firing at him.

Facing the Earth Bow enhanced by Orin, Guido was not so capable. After resisting four or five arrows, he was accidentally shot in the leg and arm, and could not even hold his weapon steady.

It must be said that the hero's bones are harder than raw stone. With the protection of magical power, even a stone arrow can only pierce a bloody hole.

Unfortunately, there were too many enemies. Guido was lifted up by more than a dozen halberds, and his legs went weak, leaving him dangling in the air.

At this point, he finally panicked.

"Please, please don't kill me! I'm still useful!"

"I know the secret arts of the Arcane Empire and can help you craft items!"

Su Mu stepped out from the crowd and walked up to Kui Duo.

The fierce and ruthless energy that the other party originally possessed had long since vanished, leaving only the fear of death. He looked at Su Mu with a fawning expression, hoping to move the other party.

Su Mu kicked the stone under his feet and nodded, seemingly quite interested in his skill.

"I can do more than just that. I can also lead you to the seal of Ivan."

“I can give you money. I know my uncle’s vault; he’s hidden a lot of money outside.”

"These lowly people are worthless. Recruiting them is pointless; they're no match for a hero!"

Su Mu nodded in agreement again, but then took the halberd from Mead's hand and used it to sever Guido's throat.

The crescent blade of the halberd slit his throat, and blood gushed out like a fountain.

"The Kyle family is unforgivable!"

"This is the consequence of daring to betray the kingdom!"

Mead and the halberdiers breathed a sigh of relief, then raised their arms and shouted.

[You led your troops to capture Whitestone City and slay the enemy hero—a glorious victory!]

Elton Kingdom Reputation +100.

Defense +1, learn Intermediate Earth Elemental Mastery, obtain Skull Crown

Skull Crown (Tier 2 Treasure): Hero Knowledge +2 when worn.

Evaluation: The last person to wear this crown is now a skeleton. It is said that this magical crown carries an extraordinary curse. Do you still have the courage to wear it? [One of the components of a combined treasure set.]

(End of this chapter)