Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 327 Natural Thorns
Su Mu led his troops south, first concealing their whereabouts, and then launching attacks on various villages scattered throughout the mountains.

After capturing the hills, Isildur deployed many scouts, intending to coordinate supply routes and provide mutual support. Unexpectedly, an enemy crossed the mountains and launched a surprise attack from the north.

During the march, Su Mu used the vampire clan to create the Silent Cemetery and frantically transformed vampire counts.

Although the raw stone resources are still somewhat insufficient, gold coins are plentiful, and with a large number of skeleton soldiers, the vampire count's troops can be replenished immediately.

Using war to sustain war not only replenished previous losses but also increased combat power, bringing the number of vampire counts to 1200.

The two each commanded 600 units, with Su Mu having full control over the Vampire Prince.

When the entire army is composed of air units, crossing mountains becomes much easier, and even difficult camps cannot withstand the vampires' sneak attacks.

As night falls, terror strikes, and no one is spared.

"The troops at the fortress are easier to defeat. With the harvest of the necromancy, it's a truly delicious dinner."

Liliana watched as the fortress was engulfed in flames, and the centaurs became nourishment for the vampires, a satisfied smile spreading across her face.

Essentially, she lacks a traditional sense of good and evil; in fact, she's more savage. It's only because Su Mu keeps her in check that she yearns to learn about humanity and try to integrate; otherwise, mass slaughter would simply be a daily occurrence for her.

While guarding the haunted gold mine, the vampires could only hunt wild animals in the wild and get some game, which was obviously a bit depressing.

"It's fine to use all your skills in battle, but you must follow the rules when you return to base!"

Hearing Su Mu's cold warning, Liliana's heart tightened, and she hurriedly nodded.

Akasha, witnessing this scene from the side, felt somewhat aggrieved. The dignified vampire race was being treated like pets kept by humans—it was utterly disgraceful.

However, she dared not say much. She had great respect for Su Mu's strength. No matter how much she looked down on humans, she still behaved very obediently in front of Su Mu, which meant she had learned a lot.

After leaving the canyon, Uri was unsealed and began making the antidote.

This time, he didn't use any tricks. He simply collected some common materials and concocted the corresponding antidote to restore the vampire's sanity.

Moreover, he was very obedient throughout the journey, not only completing the tasks assigned to him but also exceeding them, giving the impression of complete submission.

He even took the initiative to study the curse of the genie, wanting to concoct some soul antidote to solve Su Mu's major problem.

Liliana leaned closer to Sumu and whispered, "I don't think Uli is very reliable. Although soul wizards still have some characteristics of living beings, they may be even more evil than pure undead."

Such a person should not be trusted too easily; we must always be cautious. Letting him accompany us on our march like this might be dangerous.

Although Liliana is a half-undead, she has no liking for the heroes of the Necropolis. It was only after spending some time in the ancient ruins that she learned about their true nature.

Su Mu glanced at Uli in the distance and found him reading a book of the dead, behaving very obediently and not using any magical power at all. The soldiers guarding him were even a little bored.

"It's alright, let him come along for now, I know what I'm doing."

Uli's every move was under his surveillance. Although it was impossible to monitor him completely, Su Mu didn't care too much. He would even find some loopholes for Uli to exploit.

If he wants to go south and cause trouble for the stronghold, his 1000-plus vampires alone are not enough. He must involve the undead of the ancient ruins and let them fight each other like dogs.

Faced with a large number of low-level soldiers in the barrier, the undead will naturally try to convert them as much as possible, and they don't care about the source of the necromancy.

The Barrier couldn't distinguish between vampires and the rest of the undead legions; in their eyes, they were all heretics who needed to be eliminated.

It is impossible for the two sides to communicate or negotiate; the misunderstanding will only deepen.

If Su Mu operates properly, the two sides will fall into a chaotic battle, and Uli is the key to this.

In fact, Su Mu had already noticed something was off about Uli while they were in the canyon. There was no flaw in his words, but the more flawed he seemed, the more eerie he appeared.

If Stuart went to such lengths just to repair a level four artifact, he was seriously underestimating the ancient ruins. Katherine and Fao clearly had their own objectives, one of which was to kill Liliana and eliminate the charlatan vampire army. And what about Uri? If he wasn't there to assist, did he have other tasks?

Uli's failure to tell the truth suggests that he has hidden secrets.

That's why Su Mu led Uli into the southern part of the hills. In doing so, he was like a dog on a leash, luring in a frenzied hound to attack, driving a tiger to devour a wolf.

"My lord, we have found a large defensive fortress, guarded by several thousand men, and equipped with a magic array to prevent flight. It will probably be difficult to break through in a short time!"

They arrived at a high mountain cliff, opposite which was the fortified town of Kaiyuan Stone, the defensive arrowhead of Ekla, one of the three major fortresses in the hills. If they could destroy it, they could continue south and tear apart the enemy's defensive line.

Su Mu and Liliana climbed the cliff and looked across.

The continuous wooden fences, layer upon layer, blend seamlessly with the cliffs, forming a perfect defensive fortification.

"This was clearly built by dwarven craftsmen. It is both ancient and powerful, a perfect combination that makes it easy to defend and difficult to attack."

The fortifications were significantly stronger in terms of defense, and after they occupied the area, they mobilized dwarven craftsmen to further reinforce the fortress's defenses.

But the most troublesome thing is not these, but the special town defense magic array.

[Sky-Splitting Barrier (Town Defense Level 3 Magic Array): Creates a hurricane vortex for a short time, preventing enemy flying units from crossing the city walls and forcing them to land, inflicting some damage.]

[Natural Thorns: Doubles the damage zone distance of the city, increases damage by 50, and ground troops have a chance to be entangled by roots when passing through.]

A deadly defensive combination: first, prevent flying units from flying, then let them fall into the thorn bushes, where they suffer continuous damage and are entangled by roots. This allows the Great Elf on the city wall to attack at will, causing maximum damage output.

"It seems the enemy is also well prepared."

Liliana frowned slightly. She hadn't expected that such a small mountain stronghold would have such a powerful town defense magic array. It seemed that Isildur had put in a lot of effort.

"This is troublesome. If the vampires can't leap over the city walls, they might not be able to withstand the enemy's attack. Unless..."

Liliana looked at Su Mu. She knew the lord could use defensive spells, and if those spells were combined with the Night King, even placing them under the city walls for the enemy archetype to fire upon would likely be ineffective. However, the Thorns of Nature remained a problem; these types of fortifications typically dealt mixed damage, which even defensive spells couldn't completely neutralize.

"We don't know when the restriction will last. Should we wait a day and test the waters?"

Su Mu had rushed over, but his governing skills could not be changed. If he wanted to use defensive techniques, he would have to rest for a day, which would be somewhat cumbersome under the current circumstances.

Seeing the Night Queen looking rather melancholy, Uri stepped forward and said, "I do have some methods for dealing with rigid fortifications like the Barrier, but it will take some time and will require some sacrifices."

His eyes glanced at the vampire prince, probably preparing to sacrifice this group of high-ranking soldiers.

This is actually normal. In the eyes of the heroes of the Necropolis, the undead under their command are all expendable resources, and they are willing to sacrifice everything for victory.

But Liliana was clearly not used to it. As the Queen of the Night, she naturally did not want to use vampires as sacrifices.

Just as she was about to object, Su Mu waved his hand: "These methods are too time-consuming. Right now, time is money. We must break through their defenses before the Bulwark heroes arrive!"

Upon hearing this, Uli simply smiled and stepped back, clearly thinking Su Mu was exaggerating. Facing the Void-Splitting Restriction combined with Natural Thorns, it wasn't something that could be broken through by ordinary means. Perhaps Su Mu wanted to establish his authority and demonstrate his abilities, but you can't catch a wolf without risking your cub; such indecisiveness showed that he had previously overestimated Su Mu.

Liliana was somewhat puzzled. If it wasn't a defensive spell, what other methods were there?
Su Mu slowly floated up, electric currents surging around him. A bolt of lightning descended from the sky, which Su Mu firmly grasped in his hand. His hair stood on end in fury, and he looked like a thunder god.

The reason I didn't use Titan's Arrow when fighting the undead was because I was worried about being exposed.

But this time, when he besieged a mountain stronghold, he wasn't going to let anyone escape.

Is it a no-fly zone? Surrounded by natural thorns? Guarded by a large number of archers?
None of that matters, Titan's Arrow has brought divine punishment!

(End of this chapter)