Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 335 Sweep
Liliana's Enchantresses were very capable; they gathered the information they needed in just two nights.

In the area where they rested, to the northeast was a forest road leading to the Far Forest, with three newly built cities along the way; to the southeast was a winding mountain road leading to the border city, which was once the eastern gate of Elden, the strongest shield against the wall, and is now a fortress heavily guarded by Isildor.

Basically, all troops migrating from within the Empire had to pass through this city to reach the Far Forest.

The former Fal Forest was reduced to ashes. The Elder Council of Isildur used the seeds of the ancient sacred tree to rebuild the vast territory and create a magnificent natural land.

I heard that there are hundreds of thousands of basic soldiers stockpiled there, who can be sent to the battlefield immediately after simple training.

Given the amount of time that has passed, and with Isildur's resources, they should have almost finished building level 6 structures by now. Far Forest is basically a forbidden area, so it's impossible to get even a little close.

Even the forest road to the northeast is not to be trifled with. Although a new city is being built there, there are actually fortified strongholds and elite troops stationed there for defense. Moreover, with the forest road, reinforcements can arrive quickly, and scouts can better gather intelligence. Disguise may not be very effective.

Their best direction is actually southeast, but not deep into the border, but to raid those old cities.

I've heard that Isildur is undertaking a major overhaul of the old city, transforming it into an area suitable for the Barrier race to inhabit, which will likely involve a large number of boundary stones.

Su Mu led his undead army to raid the nearest resource site and discovered a fire elemental illusion building.

It is a blazing altar. Under the influence of the Crimson Moon, many such buildings have appeared. However, Su Mu has no interest in elemental monsters. Their numbers are too few, and they do not have any exclusive skills, making them rather useless.

If he were a hero specializing in Doomsday Judgment, having fire elementals might be useful, but he doesn't have any talent in that area under his command.

Judging from the characteristics of the astrological moon and the forces, the barrier has been weakened and the hell has been strengthened. Karl will likely be very active during this period and may even be able to recruit enough powerful subordinates.

While conquering the resource area, Su Mu also killed a Barrier Ranger, handed his corpse to Uli, and upgraded his Soul Crucible.

"His strength is relatively weak, but it's enough as a starting resource. We'll probably need even stronger heroes as materials later."

Uli emerged from the cave, drenched in sweat and covered in green liquid, apparently suffering a backlash. Fortunately, his strength was considerable enough to suppress the treasure; otherwise, he would have been the first to be devoured.

Although Su Mu really wanted to resolve this problem, he didn't want it to be this way. If the treasure were to devour the refiner and advance, it would essentially become an out-of-control treasure. An out-of-control treasure exclusive to the cemetery would be very difficult to seal, and he didn't want that to be the outcome.

After much thought, I still have to go and cause trouble for the barriers.

It is not yet clear whether Katherine and her group have followed. Even if the Bastion knows that someone has entered the plains, it does not believe that they will pose a threat to the Bastion's city.

We have to give them some tough measures to put pressure on Lloyd and prevent him from focusing solely on advancing westward.

"Liliana, prepare for a night raid on this city!"

"Alright, I'll give the order!"

Su Mu was referring to a city in the southeast corner, which was already taking shape.

According to the high-level intelligence gathered by Meiji, this city is under heavy construction and is in a critical period of earth spirit replacement, so there is a high probability of considerable gains.

……

In the windy city of Sovira, druid Rosalind was on the city wall keeping watch. The plains region had been unstable recently. They had received a warning from Marshal Lloyd at the front, saying that an undead legion had infiltrated and might attack the cities around Far Forest, and that everyone should be careful.

In response, the Elders ordered Lloyd to swiftly pursue and eliminate the enemy to ensure the safety of the rear. After all, the Great Migration had already begun, with hundreds of millions of free people arriving in the Fal Forest to build their natural homes within the fortified walls.

Although their defensive capabilities are equally strong, the undead are adept at snowballing. If they manage to kill civilians and amass a skeleton army, the situation could become very difficult to manage.

Of course, this is the worst-case scenario. A third of the Empire's high-ranking heroes have already arrived in the Fal Forest, bringing with them various troops. It won't be easy for the undead to kill civilians; if they rashly rush in, they will most likely be surrounded and killed.

Most people were optimistic, but Rosalind was somewhat worried.

If these undead were truly so easy to deal with, Lloyd wouldn't have let them in. Whether through concealment, disguise, or a night raid, they managed to break through the hill army and reach the Fal Forest; their strength is likely far greater than imagined.

In truth, Isildur's military strength was not afraid of large forces with fixed territories; even Elton's capital was almost breached, let alone other cities. However, they were quite troubled by small guerrilla forces without a concrete base.

Have all the scouts been sent out?

"Reporting to the Druid, the elven scouts are in position, and the newest nature sentinels have been deployed, capable of detecting even the slightest movement within a hundred miles!"

"We should also make preparations to deploy defenses in some satellite cities, the bigger the better. If the enemy attacks, we will immediately report to the council of elders!"

Rosalind was still somewhat uneasy, so she dispatched several special units to create a false impression and confuse the enemy's invading forces. Although the undead possessed artifacts that allowed them to conceal themselves in the night, they would be detected as soon as they appeared. The Elder Council had already formed special patrol teams, reportedly composed of a unicorn legion and silver pegasus, which would be able to encircle and annihilate any enemy movement immediately.

She looked at the city surrounded by natural thorns, where construction was in full swing.

Numerous treants took root beside the pool, diverting water into the river and planning the various areas of the new city. Dwarven craftsmen were rapidly constructing small wooden houses to enhance the vitality of the land and laying boundary stones upon them to alter the magical properties of the earth spirits.

The construction of the fortress relies on tree people and dwarves; these craftsmen greatly accelerate the construction process.

Now that Isildur has taken over the Fal Forest, it will take some time to transform the land's properties.

Seeing no hope of reclaiming his homeland, Elton made a drastic decision, shutting down all production by the Earth Spirits, causing the region to cease gold conversion and temporarily deplete its resources.

In other words, even after the city was built, Isildur did not gain a single penny during these months.

This is the effect of the cursed power's domain; it can not only restrict the opponent's spatial movement but also prohibit resource production. However, the cost is also high. After this period, Elton's control will completely fail, and other forces will be able to use the boundary stones to completely control the territory.

From then on, these areas belonged to those who occupied them.

Wind City is one of the key territories chosen by the Elder Council, but Esildor's current focus is on the Forest of Far, which is why progress here seems somewhat slow.

After repeated urging from the Druids, the Elders brought six cartloads of boundary stones, intending to wait until Elton's earth spirit power was exhausted before opening a new occupation.

This period happens to be a critical one. We've just weathered the depletion of the Earth Spirit, and the new city is under construction at a rapid pace. We're terrified of being attacked.

Rosalind looked at the increasingly dark night and frowned.

"No, it would be safer to have the Empire send more troops to assist in the defense."

After saying that, she sent the scouts to contact the north. However, what she did not notice was that a group of flying creatures seemed to have appeared on the distant hills and were rapidly approaching Wind City.

(End of this chapter)