Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 80 The Magic of Leadership

The battle inside the arena was extremely difficult. Although the shield bearers blocked the passages on both sides, the attackers kept coming, not to mention the arrows hidden in the shadows. The soldiers could only defend themselves.

"Boom!"

A violent explosion rang out as Ak personally stepped forward, unleashing a magical arrow that blew a large crater into the passage, ignoring the shield bearers' defenses.

The halberdiers seemed to have received a shot of adrenaline, charging even more fiercely at the defensive formation.

Just then, Su Mu raised the sealed longsword and shouted loudly, "Ouling has gone to get reinforcements. Everyone, hold on a little longer. Once we defeat Griffinson, we'll eat our fill of good wine and meat!"

The soldiers below were greatly encouraged when they heard that there was a rescue.

Soldiers wielding massive shields retaliated, crushing the halberdiers to dust, and laughed loudly: "The lord is right, these Griffinson family's trash are as weak as women, I can take on seven or eight of them!"

The people around burst into laughter: "You're just bragging, Lyle. You don't even have a wife. You're probably already exhausted. Watch out for your flanks!"

Despite their banter, the teamwork became increasingly refined, with small-scale collaborations even resulting in two consecutive attacks, instantly boosting morale.

"The lord doesn't have a wife either. This time, after conquering Griffinson, we'll bring out all those noble ladies and let Lord Sumu choose to his heart's content!"

"Can the women of this family be worthy of the lord? Why doesn't he marry the daughter of a marquis?"

"Hahahaha! I'm a veteran of Kuraki. Just follow the leader and charge forward. There's no obstacle we can't overcome!"

Hearing the soldiers' vulgar language, Maggie spat, "What a bunch of uncouth soldiers."

Su Mu didn't seem to mind and continued, "We're not bandits, but the brothers have worked so hard for so long. It's not unreasonable for us to take some treasure from Griffinson. If we win, we'll share the money. I won't be stingy at all!"

"Woo!"

The shield bearers and the Earth Bowmen cheered and fought even harder against the halberdiers, even pushing them dozens of steps away, and for a time they were on the defensive against the halberdiers.

Seeing the soldiers' sudden burst of fighting power, Maggie, being a hero, naturally knew what was going on. She saw Su Mu jump to the front of the formation and personally wield his sword to kill the enemy, almost being shot by an arrow from the shadows.

Maggie used a flying spell to deflect the sneak attacking arrow: "Just use your spell power skill directly. Now is not the time for you to play the hero."

Su Mu chopped off the enemy's head and threw it into the enemy ranks, eliciting cheers.

He then retreated, panting as he said, "People think that inheriting magic means you can do whatever you want. A high-ranking general only needs to say a few polite words to boost morale and make the army fight to the death."

But what is magic? The true magic of leadership lies in the hearts of the people!

"If I stand on the high platform and give orders, it will indeed boost morale. Because I always keep my word and reward and punish fairly, the soldiers trust me."

But in the most difficult times, if the lord fights alongside the soldiers, they gain confidence, knowing that the promise of reinforcements is true, that I will not abandon them, and that they will naturally not abandon me.

Maggie followed Su Mu's gaze and saw that the shield bearers on the field were all incredibly resolute, possessing the belief that they could survive even when surrounded by enemies several times their number. The Earth Bow fired several arrows in quick succession, and although some halberdiers were already within arm's reach, they did not panic at all, trusting their comrades guarding the front lines. It seemed that a flame burned in everyone's eyes, and not a single person retreated.

Seeing that he couldn't break through the high platform of the arena after a long time, Ak was furious.

"Useless! Useless! They can't even take down such a small number of people. After this battle, I'll reduce them all to slavery!"

Faced with the shield-bearers' defense, Ak has already fired two magical arrows, creating large craters in the passages on both sides, allowing the attackers to deploy their formation more effectively.

The shield-bearers, however, stood firm like rocks, resisting layer by layer. Those who were exhausted retreated to rest, and the rear ranks continued to fill in. After nearly half an hour of fighting, they had killed less than half of the enemy, while they themselves had lost over a hundred halberdiers.

Just as Griffinson was enraged, the sound of flapping wings came from the outside of the arena.

"Great! My army of griffins has arrived!"

"Let's see how you die now!"

"I'm going to cut off the heads of those shield bearers and embed them in their shields. And that bastard Su Mu, I'm going to stuff him into the ass of his ugly mount and parade him through the streets!"

Ak, accompanied by his personal guards, charged toward the center of the field, but before he could reach the edge stone wall, he was intercepted by a sudden cannonball.

Upon closer inspection, the griffin's shattered body had crashed into the bluestone slab, turning into a pool of bloody mud.

Dozens of brown griffins circled in the air, swiftly swooping down on the enemies surrounding the viewing platform.

Ak's mind went blank for a moment. Where were the reinforcements from Griffin Cliff? Why did Su Mu's griffon army arrive first? His hundreds of griffons were only a few miles away, a ten-minute flight at full speed. How could they be bullied by a few dozen wild griffons? So where are the reinforcements?

He strained to look at the distant clouds, but could only see drifting clouds; he couldn't see a single bird, let alone the army of griffins.

The wild griffins didn't care what Ak thought. They used Wilderness Lock to trap the halberdiers surrounding the wall within the massive stone enclosure, then launched a swooping attack. Their earth-elemental claws, like plowshares, brutally tore apart the trapped halberdiers, their corpses shredded into strips of flesh—a gruesome sight. "Ah! Help! I don't want to die!"

"Lord Ak, save us!"

The halberdiers were almost powerless to resist the slaughter by the wild griffins. They desperately trampled and squeezed, trying to get over the boulder fence. Many soldiers were crushed underneath and trampled to death.

Su Mu raised his greatsword and shouted, "Reinforcements have arrived! It's time for our counterattack!"

Having said that, he took the lead and charged ahead, with the shield bearers following in their lord's footsteps as they began to advance outwards.

On the other hand, Griffinson's side did not see the promised reinforcements. Instead, they were suppressed by the enemy's air force and could not raise their heads. Their morale dropped sharply, and the halberdiers at the front even abandoned their halberds and retreated.

"Pick up your weapons and kill them! You cowards!"

Griffinson was going crazy. Despite his army still having the numerical advantage, the battlefield situation had already turned completely one-sided.

Several nobles who had pledged allegiance to him, seeing the situation was turning against them, had already secretly retreated.

The Griffinson family's key members hugged Ak: "Lord, retreat quickly! Su Mu has somehow summoned reinforcements to cut off our supplies."

"Let's go to Griffin Cliff at the castle for reinforcements first. Besides, there are two more Griffin Cliffs outside the castle. As long as we can escape, we'll have a chance!"

As Aké watched the team crumble on the field, he finally snapped out of his rage.

"Yes, I still have three Griffin Cliffs. As long as I gather a large army, I can slaughter little Kuraki."

After saying that, he hurriedly mounted his mount and flew out of the arena.

Seeing that Ak was about to escape, Su Mu was not about to let him go. He rode on Gale and led the Wild Griffin in pursuit.

However, the griffins besieging the viewing platform were very loyal and stronger than the halberdiers below. In order to buy time for Ak, they used their physical strength to block the attack, which did hold Su Mu back for a while.

Once Su Mu had escaped, Ak and the others had already disappeared into the clouds, but judging from their direction, they seemed to be flying towards the Griffin Cliff. He must still be wondering why his proudest Griffin Cliff had disobeyed orders.

With Orling and the Bow of the Earth there, Ak's journey is nothing more than walking into a trap.

Su Mu returned to the arena and stood beside Maggie: "The Marquis is my witness, disarm and you will be spared! You must quickly lay down your resistance to have a chance to live!"

Seeing their commander flee, the halberdiers had already lost the will to resist. With Maggie's promise, they dropped their weapons, knelt down, and begged for forgiveness.

"It was all instigated by the Griffinson family; we had no choice but to comply."

"We are all soldiers of Longlet Castle, please forgive us, lord!"

Maggie didn't want to cause any more bloodshed, since these were all human soldiers, so she said, "Only the ringleaders should be executed!"

The shield bearers went down, gathered their weapons and armor, and then found the captain and leader of the team, publicly executing them in the center of the arena.

These men were mostly core members trained by the Griffinson family, and Su Mu didn't trust them to lead the team anymore. As for the ordinary soldiers, it didn't matter much; he gave them a way out.

Gazing upon the mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood in the arena, and the surrendered soldiers kneeling at their feet, the soldiers of Kuraki Town raised their shields and shouted.

"Wan Sheng!"

Even though only a few dozen people remained, the shouts were even louder than those from the arena earlier.

Su Mu stood at the highest point of the viewing platform, enjoying the soldiers' admiration for him, and returned their salutes.

Maggie stared at the scene before her, deeply shocked.

In an era where soldiers and civilians are merely expendable resources, it's astonishing that some still value them so highly. Powerful magic elevates heroes to unparalleled heights, yet they forget their very origins.

They are all human beings, with desires and goals: to earn more money, to live a better life, and to survive the battlefield. But the power that unites them needs someone to unleash it. If that person can lead them to victory, they will fight to the death to protect them, no matter how difficult the road ahead. That is the true meaning of morale.

Maggie imprinted this scene in her mind, and she began to understand how Kuraki Town had become so powerful.

[Having experienced a difficult war and achieved a glorious victory, your understanding of leading an army has been further enhanced, you have gained +1 Attack, and have mastered Intermediate Leadership Skill.]

[Intermediate Leadership Skill: Morale of troops led by the hero +2]

(End of this chapter)