Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 91 Water Element Mastery

When Su Mu led his army to the western battlefield, Baron Eugen's troops were tenaciously holding off the enemy, refusing to retreat despite heavy casualties.

Hillel fled from the south and immediately informed Kyle.

Upon learning that Sumu's troops had improved their combat strength to a new level, Kyle did not hesitate and immediately ordered a withdrawal.

Kyle cursed Hillel as he ran, blaming him for not giving prior notice. The centaurs were fast at retreating, but his force was a mixed bag, all slow-moving troops—how were they supposed to escape?
Fortunately, he had the advantage in numbers, and Eugen's troops did not dare to get too close, only using ranged archers to harass them.

At first, Kyle didn't think much of it, assuming Eugen was just trying to hinder their siege. But when the army was about to retreat, they discovered that spearmen and griffins had rushed to the front lines, biting the dwarves and ironmen in the rear, delaying their retreat.

This was definitely premeditated. Sumu's real target was the western troops; otherwise, why would Eugen be fighting so hard?

But he has over a thousand people here. After Su Mu's repeated battles, is he really confident he can take them all down?

Actually, it's not Kyle's fault. Hillel never mentioned how he was defeated. To save face, he only said that there was a fierce battle, nearly half of his troops were lost, and he was forced to retreat.

Hearing this intelligence, I thought Shirell had wiped out a lot of Sumu's troops.

However, Kyle was still quite intelligent. He had witnessed Sumu's strength firsthand; the power of the Earth Bow was simply beyond imagination. Hirel leading a group of level 1 troops was no match for him.

Considering how quickly the other party ran away, given Sirell's personality, he must have suffered a great setback, otherwise, would he have let Su Mu go?
Therefore, Kyle ran away without turning his head, leaving the slowest dwarves and ironmen to cover the rear, while the rest of the troops hurriedly retreated south.

Seeing Kyle about to run away, Eugen instantly realized that Sumu had gained the upper hand on the southern battlefield.

"Soldiers, Baron Sumu has wiped out the enemy in the south and is rushing here to provide reinforcements. We must hold them off!"

Eugen, riding his horse, led the charge, spearmen and griffins at the forefront. Seeing an old general with white hair charging so fiercely, the other nobles naturally did not want to fall behind and followed suit.

In fact, the allied forces were not weak either, with over 600 spearmen and halberdiers, 300 griffins, and 200 sharpshooters. With such forces, they could keep an eye on the Kyle Legion and prevent them from becoming too rampant.

Now, with the all-out pursuit underway, not only are the dwarves and ironmen unable to escape, but the spearmen recruited by Kyle are also finding it difficult to break free from the battlefield. At this point, the disadvantages of the mixed army are magnified, and with morale plummeting, many spearmen collapse without a fight.

Seeing that the situation was not going well, Kyle had no choice but to slow down his retreat and organize sharpshooters to intercept him.

However, Eugen didn't care about the losses; he just kept a close watch on Kyle's troops, dragging them into the quagmire of war.

Just as the two armies were locked in a stalemate, the bugle call for attack sounded from the edge of the city wall. A flock of tan griffins darted through the clouds and quickly arrived at the battlefield. Using the wilderness as a lock, they cut off the enemy and blocked most of their retreat.

This put a group of short-legged creatures in a terrible predicament. Crowded below the rocky wall, they were being chased and attacked from behind by the Eugen forces, while facing endless counterattacks from the griffins in front of them. In short, it was a dead end for them.

Some dwarves even tried to use heavy hammers to deal with the wild griffins, but each hammer blow only knocked off a few feathers and couldn't break through their defenses. They were then torn to shreds by the griffins' claws.

Faced with this ragtag army, Su Mu used his protective Stone Skin technique for the sake of safety. As a result, the Wild Griffins faced almost no pressure and could kill as many as they came by with endless counterattacks.

Seeing Su Mu's troops getting closer and closer, Kyle dared not delay any longer. He abandoned his own troops and desperately retreated south with the troops that were not stopped, completely ignoring his men who were intercepted.

"crack shot!"

Oling raised his longbow, and a powerful gust of air immediately swept out, protecting the arm of the Earth Bow.

During his time in Longlitburg, Orling naturally did not waste his time. As an intermediate-level air element master, his unerring accuracy was even more powerful.

[Perfect Shot (Intermediate Air Element Bonus): Increases the attack of allied ranged units by 6 points. The duration of the effect is determined by spell power.]

The Earth Bow, which already possessed absurd attribute bonuses, now boasted an astonishing 26 attack power.

The enemies hit by the two arrows were almost instantly killed. Even the Iron Man, known for its high health, was shot and its metal body was shattered, and it was about to fall apart.

If it weren't for the fact that the magical power of the soul body needs a certain amount of time to cool down, even an iron man wouldn't have been able to withstand the sharp arrows today.

When Kyle saw the losses suffered by the rearguard, his scalp tingled. He instantly understood why Hillel had fled so quickly. Had he been any slower, he would have died on the way.

Fortunately, the remaining nomads and wolf riders ran fast, and the distance between the two sides was still quite far. As for the archers who were originally in the rear, they stopped firing arrows and fled in all directions.

They did manage to escape, but the troops blocked by the griffins were completely surrounded. The circle of resistance shrank smaller and smaller, and some of the outer soldiers had already given up resistance, bowing their heads and begging for mercy, only to be met with a fierce attack.

After witnessing the burning of the village by Isildur, all the allied soldiers were filled with rage, and the two sides were now locked in a life-or-death struggle.

Another volley of arrows turned the enemies within the encirclement into pincushions. The remaining soldiers huddled in the pile of corpses, retreating until there was no more space. Some of the dwarves in the very center were even trampled to death.

In one fell swoop, they wiped out more than 200 dwarves, more than 100 ironmen, and more than 200 traitorous spearmen.

But Su Mu wanted to expand his gains, so he rode Gale to the front line of the battlefield and used the Slowing Technique to immediately stop the slow-moving traitor archer.

"Sir, save us!"

"Don't abandon us!"

Seeing that the shooters could no longer move, they could only beg Kyle for help.

When he recruited them, he promised to eat and drink meat together, trample those hypocritical nobles underfoot, and that promotion and wealth would be a piece of cake. That's why everyone followed him.

We can't just abandon it when a crisis comes, can we?
Kyle did hesitate. He could afford to lose a large number of melee soldiers, but ranged units, especially those capable of rapid-fire attacks like archers, were hard to find. After arriving in Streamshire and fighting alongside Ivo for so long, even with his diplomatic skills, he had only managed to recruit a little over 100 archers. Giving up was indeed a difficult decision for him.

This hesitation lasted less than half a second before he lowered his hand, which was about to cast the spell, and decided to take the sharpshooter down with him.

The exorcism technique can indeed remove the earth-type slow effect, but this delay might allow Su Mu to catch up.

The other party rode the Gale and circled in the air, while the flock of wild griffins took flight again, following Su Mu as they chased after him to the south.

Upon seeing this, Kyle sold out the sharpshooter without saying a word.

No matter how capable a soldier is, he is not as important as his life.

Not long after, Kyle led his wolf riders and nomads away from the battlefield.

When Su Mu arrived, he first dealt with the group of defeated archers, and did not pursue them further.

After all, his griffin force now only has about 60 left. If he ventures deep into enemy territory alone and fights against a highly mobile enemy, he will not gain any advantage.

We have now achieved over a thousand kills and also relieved the siege of Qiangnu Town, thus reaching our established goals.

Eugen led his troops to kill the remnants of the army and rode over. As soon as they met, he punched Su Mu hard in the chest.

"What a fine army! Not only did you rout Hillel's centaur legion, but Kyle's troops also fled at the mere sight of you."

"I only heard about it from others before, but after seeing it on the battlefield, it's even more formidable than the legends say. No wonder you have such a bad temper; with a unit like this, I think you're being too modest."

Su Mu laughed heartily, then said modestly, "It's all thanks to my subordinates. I just want to be a lord in peace. They're the ones who are good at fighting."

Eugen looked at the leader who commanded the Earth Bow: "This must be Euling, right? You have good judgment to break with the Griffinson family for him."

"A thousand soldiers are easy to find, but a good general is hard to come by!"

As a fellow hero, Eugen naturally understood the importance of a commander.

Is the Earthbow powerful? Of course it is. But judging from its devastating destructive power, Orling is definitely a hero with extraordinary archery skills; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to withstand even level 3 troops.

After actually fighting alongside Sumu, Eugen felt that Longlitburg might not be without hope, and that the human race was still the chosen one.

Whenever mountains and seas are shattered, and nations are destroyed and people are wiped out, powerful heroes descend.

Su Mu also praised Old Deng, which was rare for him: "I never thought that Old Deng... If it weren't for the Baron's restraint, Kyle would probably have withdrawn most of his troops."

You say you can hold the rock, and I believe you!

The two laughed heartily, after all, it was a resounding victory that brought considerable gains.

Eugen's realm, which had remained stagnant for many years, even showed signs of improvement. However, due to old age, physical weakness, and insufficient blood and energy, he ultimately failed to advance any further.

However, Ouling has mastered a new skill.

After a series of battles, you led the Earthbow to victory against the Centaur Hunters, Iron Men, and Dwarf Legions, achieving a glorious triumph.

[After being hampered by slowed movement and easily escaped by swift units, you are filled with resentment. As rivers of blood overflow the soil, a new idea suddenly comes to you.]

[+1 knowledge point, gaining basic mastery of water element]

There was no other way; with such a powerful army at his disposal, coupled with the blessing of governance skills, Ouling gained insights into war with great ease.

Compared to generals like Ouling, Su Mu's requirements for enlightenment are more stringent. However, he has an advantage: as long as his subordinates improve, Su Mu himself will gain some enlightenment. It's just that advanced governance skills have very high requirements, so he'll probably need to command another new hero.

"Come, Olling, meet the Baron. He speaks highly of you."

"Greetings, Baron Eugen!"

Eugen rode over on horseback, clasped his hands in greeting to the Baron, and Eugen hurriedly waved his hand, saying with a hint of surprise, "Promoted on the spot, truly a valiant general!"

"However, as a genius with a special talent for archery, you might have unexpected gains if you had the chance to operate a crossbow."

Despite his lack of combat skills, Eugen is very knowledgeable. Recalling Master Dylan's spell trajectory that turned the tide of battle, Eugen's words might have a deeper meaning.

After all, Eugen is an intermediate artillery master, so he might actually have some insights into this.

The Baron pulled Ouling aside, and just when Su Mu thought Old Deng was about to impart some secret, he revealed a smug smile: "Playing with arrows is a bit stingy. A real man should master artillery! Kid, do you understand?"

Upon hearing this, Su Mu was so angry that he immediately separated the two of them, fearing that Lao Deng had led his excellent general astray.

"Hahahahaha!"

"I really envy you guys, Elton's young heroes!"

(End of this chapter)