Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 96 Slaying the Druid

The moment Colin died, Locke Kyle of South City knew something was wrong.

This knight was personally recruited by Kyle, who naturally left some safeguards in place to prevent any unforeseen events, but now he has disappeared.

This time, he led his troops to attack the south city wall, serving more of a diversionary role, hence his position was towards the rear.

"Go check on the troops in the west."

He had just given the order, and before the scouts could even set out, news came from the soldiers attacking the city.

"My lord, something terrible has happened! A force of archers has suddenly appeared in the west; they are Su Mu's Earthbows. They have killed the Great Elf and are approaching the city walls."

Upon hearing this news, Kyle froze on the spot.

"How is that possible? Su Mu clearly left with his troops. So many people saw it with their own eyes! There are even magical images as proof."

"The thieves themselves said that Dean and Su Mu had broken up, had a big argument in public, and parted on bad terms. How could this be..."

His first thought was that Dean had already seen through the thieves and was deliberately passing on false information. However, this conjecture was quickly dismissed; Su Mu's troops were so conspicuous that they would definitely be discovered if they were in Qiangnu Town.

Could they be lying in wait around the town, waiting for them to attack?

That's impossible. After the war, the stronghold sent troops to sweep the surrounding area and found no garrison at all. Kyle trusted his inside man completely; he would never miss a message like this.

Moreover, to be on the safe side, they sent out scouts to secretly follow Su Mu. Only after receiving news that the legion had arrived at the archer's tower did they launch this siege.

Where did this army come from? Did they descend from the sky, transported through a dimensional portal?
If Sumu really knew this magic, Kyle felt there was no need to fight; it would be easier to just send his head over.

No matter how unbelievable it may seem, the fact that the nomads near the western city wall were retreating frantically has revealed the truth: the Sumu troops were indeed lying in ambush there.

"Retreat, retreat quickly!"

"The druids are still fighting inside the city. If we just leave like this, won't we be blamed?"

"Don't blame me. It's questionable whether Hillel will even make it back alive. The enemy set up this scheme to mislead us. Su Mu's main force is definitely on its way here. If we don't leave now, we might be buried with them."

Kyle ignored his subordinates' advice and took the lead in retreating to the rear.

Although he has been either on the run or on his way to escape lately, he has managed to save his life.

Just after a small portion of the troops withdrew, a flock of wild griffins appeared in the white clouds, led by Su Mu, who was riding Lie Feng.

He only brought half of the Griffin troops this time, while the rest were sent to the Archer Tower to garrison and confuse the enemy.

As for the Earth Bows led by Orling, they used invisibility to temporarily hide in the southern forest when they retreated.

Aside from essential activities, they remain mostly in hiding. Whenever someone approaches the forest, Orling immediately uses invisibility to slip past unnoticed.

It wasn't until Hillel and his men set off to attack Qiangnu Town that Su Mu hurriedly led his griffin army to their aid.

Who said only Kyle has intelligence channels? Do you really think the Thieves' Guild under the tavern was established for nothing? Wayne's first valuable military intelligence after taking office helped Sumu.

He looked westward and saw the nomads and wolf riders about to disappear into the thick fog.

"He ran really fast!"

Su Mu glanced at Kyle and then ignored him. After all, he was just a surrendered general with a ragtag army under his command, and he posed no threat at the moment.

Kyle was able to escape, but what about Hillel?
From the air, one could see that Hirel had transformed into a stag and was wreaking havoc throughout the city.

He and the centaur army fought their way from the west of the city to the south, and were now close to the city walls, confronting Eugen, Dean, and others.

The halberdiers below were no match for the centaurs, so Hirel piled up the corpses of the halberdiers and archers under the city wall to use as a human ladder to scale the walls, and they were about to threaten the defensive towers.

At this moment, Sirel was still quite puzzled as to why the Great Elves were no longer using suppressive fire, allowing the enemies on the city walls to be so comfortable.
"That idiot Colin is such a jerk. Once I take Qiangnu Town, I'll give him a good beating."

However, this idea will probably never be realized.

A stone arrow shot out from the clouds. Hirel had no time to react and could only use his horns to deflect it, but the heavy arrow struck him against the edge of the city wall. A second arrow followed closely, but instead of striking him, it struck a head on a boulder, the ghastly face staring at him.

"Colin!"

"It's Su Mu's Earth Bow? How is that possible!"

He saw a large number of black-armored archers enter from the west gate, with ghostly blue vengeful spirits floating around them. They drew their bows and aimed at the centaurs, unleashing a volley of arrows.

The centaur hunters, who were still locked in fierce combat, were suddenly thrown into disarray by the attack from behind using the Earth Bow. Some were shot in the neck, others in the head; given the Earth Bow's current destructive power, anyone touched by it was certain death!

In one wave, they wiped out over 400 centaur hunters. This was only to mislead Hryrel, who left some Earthbows at the archer towers; otherwise, this single attack would have crippled the centaur army.

"Thunderbolt!"

Since his last encounter with Su Mu, he and Kyle have reviewed the battle and deciphered the secret of the Arrow of Revenge.

This special magically attached soul body is similar to the level 4 water-based magic Mirror Image, and can be immediately broken by a group attack. However, if the soul body is not shattered, the enemy is attacking with what is equivalent to twice the number of troops—who could withstand that?
The moment Sirel saw the Earth Bow and the Azure Soul, he immediately unleashed Thunderbolt.

A giant bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking the Earth Bow formation. Subtle electric currents filled the air, reducing all souls to ashes.

"No, we have to take out these archers, or we're doomed!"

Hirel immediately transformed into a leopard, increasing the speed of all the centaur hunters. Furthermore, the town's walls weren't far apart, only a few streets away. With a single burst of speed from the centaurs, they could close in on Earthbow. No matter how powerful the enemy was, they were ultimately just ranged archers. Once they engaged in melee combat, they would surely suffer heavy losses, and perhaps this opportunity could be used to annihilate this elite force.

"This is the opportunity you gave me!"

Hirel went completely mad. He led the centaurs and charged toward the Earthbow like madmen, ignoring all obstacles around them and focusing only on the archers.

However, a deep roar came from the sky, and the army of griffins swooped down from the clouds, turning the ground at the forefront into a fence and tearing the centaur hunters apart with their talons.

At the same time, a cloud of dust rose up in the city, sticking to the centaur hunters, making each of them feel as if they were carrying a mountain on their backs, greatly reducing their speed (Slow spell, -50%).

"Hirel, today is your death day!"

Su Mu jumped off Lie Feng and stood on the high slope with the Wild Griffin, blocking the centaur army's charge.

Once they lost their speed, the Stormrage Centaur Hunters became less of a threat, and many skirmishers failed to even reach the mound.

Hirel gritted his teeth, preparing to lead the centaur hunters to fight the wild griffins head-on, but before they could even charge up the earthen slope, another volley of arrows came raining down.

This time, Orling unleashed a perfect shot, increasing the attack power of all Earthbows. With two arrows fired, he took down more than 280 Centaur Hunters, perfectly disrupting their charge.

After these two waves of attrition, plus the previous fierce battle in the city, Hillel's forces are now less than 300 men.

Seeing the reinforcements arrive, the defenders, who had been in despair, were rekindled in their fighting spirit and managed to stop the centaur hunters from launching a charge.

Eugen's crossbow bolts seized the opportunity, taking down more than a dozen soldiers charging ahead and disrupting their formation.

By this point, even someone with little military knowledge could see that Hillel was in dire straits.

"It was so close, so very close!"

Hirel was filled with boundless hatred. With his advanced war logistics skills, he could immediately gain new mobility once he breached the city. Even if Su Mu led a siege, he was confident that he could withdraw from Qiangnu Town, only losing a few more troops.

Needless to say, Kyle outside the city had already fled. If this human traitor had put in a little more effort, he would already be standing on the south city wall, and the situation would be completely different.

Or perhaps, if Su Mu had arrived a moment later, the great elf could have held out a little longer...

In short, he considered countless possibilities, and scenes flowed through his mind, all of them depicting him standing atop Qiangnu Town, winning a glorious victory.

Unfortunately, reality is cruel.

Breaking through the immovable wilderness griffins, they were surrounded by the guards of Qiangnu Town, and the battle circle shrank smaller and smaller.

Finally, the Earthbow itself ended them. The centaur legion that had traveled thousands of miles from the Isidore Empire all fell in pools of blood, and not one of them could get up again.

Orling paid special attention to Sirel and fired four arrows at him.

As expected of a druid, Hirel continued to bite and tear at the heads of the surrounding halberdiers even after being hit by several arrows, and roared as he did so.

Su Mu didn't give him a chance to play the hero. He descended from the sky with a fierce wind and cut him in half at the waist with a single sword stroke, leaving only half of his leopard body crawling on the ground.

Hirel finally reverted to his elven form, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at Su Mu and the surrounding nobles, still shouting, "You can't hold out! The great empire will crush Elton, and lowly humans will only become the lowest of slaves."

"Lord Ivo will avenge me! No one in this town will survive! You will all be burned alive, your bodies hung on the giant trees, dried into ashes."

"Hahahaha! They'll all die!"

Hirel stared at the crowd with bloodthirsty eyes, utterly insane.

Su Mu walked straight up, stepped on his chest, and turned the Crimson Dragon Sword upside down, igniting it with blazing flames.

"I don't know if you can hold on, but I know you're about to die!"

With a single sword strike, flames shot into the sky, and crimson flames burned Sirel's body to ashes, leaving only a head with horrified eyes.

"It seems that even those who enjoy burning people are afraid of fire!"

When it was my turn, I wasn't so tough either.

Su Mu revealed a disdainful expression. How ridiculous was this guy who only dared to be tyrannical to the weak, but was afraid when it came to himself.

He stood on the mound, lifted Hillel's head, and displayed it in all directions.

At this moment, whether it was the garrison of Qiangnu Town, the men of the noble alliance, or Su Mu's own troops, they all raised their weapons, shouted loudly, and chanted Su Mu's name.

"Baron Sumu!"

"Long live victory!"

The cheers were like a tidal wave, one wave stronger than the next, and the entire city was shaken by the slogans.

[You led your troops to a valiant victory, successfully defending Qiangnu Town and eliminating the druids who were ravaging the human race, achieving a glorious triumph!]

[Kingdom Reputation +500, Bulwark Faction Favorability -1000, gained the support of the southern nobles of the Shilin Plains, becoming a symbol in their hearts.]

[+1 Attack, learn Advanced Earth Elemental Mastery]

[Advanced Earth Element Mastery: Greatly enhances the effects of earth magic (most spells become area-of-effect spells), significantly reduces mana cost when using earth magic, and increases casting speed (levels 1-3 spells are instant cast). Allows you to learn level 3-4 earth magic.]

(End of this chapter)