Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 338 Ironfury Dwarves

[Boundary Stone +1 cart, Boundary Stone +2.5 carts, Raw Stone +4, Raw Wood +5, Crystal +3...]

Since conquering Wind City, the vampire legion has been operating at night and hiding during the day, plundering many new cities on the plains and acquiring considerable resources.

The border city sent a large number of troops to encircle and annihilate them, but Su Mu, with his advanced air elemental skills, advanced logistics skills, and intermediate confusion and disguise, combined with the vampire's flight ability, traversed mountains and valleys, moving around in all directions, leaving the pursuers completely bewildered.

Often, when they are about to be surrounded, they will find the enemy's weak points and break out with great force, keeping the enemy busy and unable to cope.

Of course, aside from Wind City, they could only survive in remote places and avoid approaching powerful towns. This was a key point to avoid being caught, otherwise they would have been caught long ago.

According to Su Mu's estimate, Esidor mobilized at least 6 troops to encircle and suppress them, but the enemy's air legion suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Sunset, losing at most four or five thousand troops, which was far from matching their strength.

Another important point is that Uli and Fao did indeed pursue them, drawing the attention of the Lloyd Hills Legion. The two sides fought several fierce battles near the hills, suffering considerable losses. The undead's summoning and spirit-gathering magic were countered, and nearly half of their army perished.

These messages were obtained by Meiji from the generals of the fortified city, so they are relatively accurate.

Su Mu couldn't help but look at Uli. What secrets did this soul wizard hold that made Katherine and the others go to such lengths to bring him back?

"Lord! Another harvest! The vampires went hunting, captured the windmill building, and obtained 5 portions of mercury. The materials for the Soul Cauldron are complete!"

Liliana came to deliver good news: after many hardships, they had finally gathered all the resources and even found nearly 200 Primal Stones. Apart from keeping the materials for crafting the treasure, they transformed the rest into the Vampire Prince.

The undead legion is currently at full strength, with 230 princes and over 1000 counts, making it unprecedentedly powerful.

Liliana pointed to the next city: "Should we plan to raid this new city and plunder even more resources?"

Su Mu did not reply, but looked at the bright moon in the night sky, a disc like a flaming pearl. Its magical energy had reached its peak and was about to transform into new magical properties. The Moon of Magical Energy was about to pass.

Since taking on the defensive mission, a full astrological month has passed. Instead of passively defending, Su Mu has used his undead legion to disrupt the enemy's internal lines and delay Lloyd's attack, with remarkable results.

The message from Congress has reached Longleat Castle. Maggie said that it will probably take some more time to negotiate. The Witcher Marshal is training new recruits and is still in the Southern Valley. Recruiting is not progressing well, so it will be difficult to send reinforcements in time.

Moreover, they continued negotiations with the Arcane Empire and the Emerald City, hoping to launch a counterattack together when reinforcements arrived.

Elton had obviously heard about the Scourge of the Plains, and he could really gloat at this point. At least the nobles felt that the defenses didn't need to be fortified so quickly, and Isildur was in trouble too.

"A bunch of idiots! Instead of taking advantage of Isildur's distraction to set up defenses in advance, are we going to wait until they are free to launch a full-scale attack before we respond?"

Always relying on other people or chance factors to achieve victory is a pipe dream!

The new marshal is certainly capable, but he is constrained by others, lacks a strong sense of the big picture, relies too much on external factors, lacks the determination to fight head-on, and is overly concerned about losses. These are all fatal flaws.

Did Raven not know what would happen if the decisive battle at the hills failed? Or was Karen unaware of the risks of mobilizing the cavalry?

But at the crucial moment, they overruled all objections and made the final decision.

Kenway Haytham, as the Speaker, is heavily influenced by the nobles of the capital and needs to balance the various forces, which makes him seem slow and inefficient, but he is about to ruin things.

Su Mu unfolded a map of the plains, looked at the city Liliana pointed out, and then shook his head.

“We can’t attack the new city anymore. Isildur’s patience has reached its limit. The Forest of Far and the border city must have sent troops to encircle and suppress us. If we don’t leave now, we may have to stay here.”

Regardless of Su Mu's skills, he only has a little over 1000 vampires. If he really angers the other side, Isildur can definitely send out elites to wipe them out.

Hearing the lord's words, Liliana felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her, and she instantly sobered up.

The new city she was referring to, though seemingly isolated, was close to the forest path and positioned under the watchful eyes of the Tree People army. If they couldn't escape in time and were surrounded, they would easily be ambushed, posing a real risk.

The recent victories had made her somewhat arrogant. After all, Su Mu possessed such powerful teleportation abilities, moving like the wind, and Liliana was confident she would never be caught. But nothing in the magical world is certain; many special treasures or spells can render them immobile.

"The lord is right. We have already reaped a great harvest and have basically accomplished our mission of containment. It is time to withdraw. Staying in enemy-occupied territory for too long is indeed very dangerous."

Liliana was also aware of her own limitations. The main reason they were able to break through Isildur's encirclement was that the enemy lacked flying units and mostly consisted of low-level troops. If Isildur were to increase their strength and send unicorns or silver pegasus, it would be a much tougher fight.

Moreover, with the Golden Dragon unsealed, more and more dragons are appearing in the sky. If a real battle were to break out, the speed advantage would weaken. Without speed, the vampires' situation would become dangerous.

After all, logistics skills only provide a movement bonus outside of combat, not an improvement in combat performance.

Su Mu reviewed the collected resources; there were an astonishing 19 cartloads of boundary stones, and countless other resources as well. It's worth noting that Congress only allocated 10 cartloads of boundary stones for this promotion. If things continue at this pace, they can quickly gather enough resources for Congress.

It is precisely at times like these that the danger increases.

Su Mu had a vague feeling that Esidor was laying a trap, waiting for them to fall into it.

One should not be too greedy. These gains are already enough. We can ask for some more from the capital to make up the resources.

Su Mu drew a line on the map, no longer heading east, but instead detouring westward back to the hilly area.

"Returning from the central hills? That would mean passing through Black Cliffs. Wouldn't that lead the fortified army to the Shilin Plains?"

Liliana raised her doubts, feeling that going south would be better, even though the terrain was difficult, as the enemy would likely not be able to catch up, making it easier to escape.

"Before we leave, we need to resolve this problem completely!"

Su Mu glanced at Uli in the distance and at the thick darkness of the night before saying this.

The Soul Cauldron is still missing the soul of a powerful hero, Uri's secret has not yet been revealed, and the undead army has been weakened.

This is a golden opportunity that we must seize.

Liliana gave the order for the vampire army to march immediately, turn west, and then enter the hilly region.

……

Located in the southeast of Wind City, the Dwarven Ironstone Fortress is a new city near the border city, formed from steel and giant stones. Many underground ore factories have been built, and the forging technology has been improved to strengthen the fortifications.

At this moment, a powerful dwarf hero stands in an underground cave, directing the dwarves to move pickaxes and hammers. A deep, winding tunnel leads into the distance, its destination obscured. "Well, has the tunnel been dug yet?"

"Pretty much. This time, Marcus Wrathstone will lead the team, and using the newly developed secret lacquer, the tunnel will be hidden so well that even heroes with advanced earth elemental proficiency will not be able to detect our presence unless they are within a few miles of us."

In the Isidore Empire, there is a dwarven secret art that can produce a special lacquer material, making the tunnels hidden and impossible to observe.

[Iron Lacquer (Magic Material): Can conceal tunnels or secret chambers, preventing enemy heroes from detecting any activity inside.]

Ironfury Dwarf (Bastion Tier 2, Tier 2 Unit, Baptism of Fire and Earth Elements): Attack 11, Defense 12, Damage 4-8, Health 40, Speed ​​6, Small Size.

Element: Earth/Fire

Scorching Earth Magic Resistance Skin: 50% magic resistance chance, +30% resistance to earth and fire elemental magic.

Hammer Power: Construction speed +30%, forging speed +30%, can build special defensive fortifications, and improves concealment in tunnels.

Assessment: Beside the scorching furnace, we forged extraordinary resilience.

[Magnetic Cart (Tier 2 Mine Cart): Increases rider's speed by 5 and increases movement speed by 100%]

Large numbers of heavily armored Ironfury dwarves are building tracks in the cave, connecting underground passages that stretch for hundreds of miles, allowing for rapid travel by special minecarts.

This mode of transportation was originally used to move minerals. In some densely mining areas of Isildor, the dwarves built a vast network of underground mines and tunnels that could transport resources from all over the world to the Dwarven Fortress for centralized processing and manufacturing.

Having just arrived in the Fal Forest, Isildur hadn't yet had time to build a transport line; otherwise, no mountains or hills could have stopped the dwarf army.

"The troublesome undead are currently resting in a hilly forest in the southwest of the plains, and are very likely to continue their attack on the new city."

"The enemy's location has been locked? Didn't they say the enemy had advanced stealth and a dark veil, making it impossible to pinpoint their location?"

"A high druid in the holy city made a prediction, which basically confirmed their whereabouts, and since the sentinels were already in place after the previous battles, they could draw a map of their location."

In this battle, your task is to transport the dwarven army and unicorns to flank the enemy from the rear. The aerial forces have been reinforced with silver pegasus, and powerful heroes carrying golden dragons will surround them. They've even brought artifacts that counter flight; the enemy has nowhere to escape.

The person speaking to the dwarf hero was Ryan Silvertree, another hero of the Elders' Council. He was a general of the border city and had put in a lot of effort to suppress the bandits.

The fall of Wind City had a significant impact on the Empire, as Rosalind was a rare horticultural master who could greatly enhance the Empire's gold reserves.

The war between the two countries, in essence, is a battle of economies. Isildur's continued dominance is largely due to their accumulated wealth and unique architecture. They had initially planned to locate the Garden City in a safe location, but the enemy's breach was a slap in the face to the higher-ups, and the Elders' Council is determined to retaliate.

We underestimated them before and didn't take them seriously. The vampire army's ability to sustain itself through war is extremely powerful, and we must crush them in one fell swoop.

In short, with the large army surrounding them layer by layer, it's impossible for them to escape.

"Where are the undead troops who broke through over the hills? Do we need to dig tunnels there?"

"No need. Dino has already gathered more troops and is closely pursuing the skeleton army. They will soon be driven out of the territory. If they dare to stay any longer, they will only face death."

When Isildur truly exerts his power, it's possible for him to muster hundreds of thousands of troops within his territory. After all, many soldiers are stationed in cities, deeply intertwined with the natural defenses, and it's impossible to send them all out to fight.

"Could this be a human trick? Why would the undead from the ancient ruins suddenly appear and even dare to break into the Far Forest? It doesn't make sense!"

Ryan Silvertree couldn't answer the dwarf hero's question. Logically, with the two countries locked in fierce battle, the ancient ruins shouldn't have rashly gotten involved, especially since they had ventured so deep into the territory. It was easy for them to be seen as participating in the war.

However, considering the migration of Isildur and the resulting influx of people, it's not impossible that a Necropolis hero skilled in necromancy might impulsively test the waters.

If the Battle of Sunset is lost and Isildur shows signs of weakness, he is likely to be attacked by wolves.

Therefore, we must win this battle, and win it cleanly and decisively!
The consensus among all the heroes of Isildur was that internal problems must be resolved before venturing out to wage war. Lloyd also suspended his westward march to focus all his efforts on eliminating the undead and ensuring the development of the rear.

"The miners' guild in Ironstone Fortress has been established, and the training of Ironfury dwarves will increase rapidly. At that time, I can send more subordinates to support the construction in the north and build up all the planned new cities!"

Isildur's confidence in undertaking the Great Migration was partly due to their construction capabilities. Once the earth spirits were dealt with, both the dwarves and treants could increase the construction speed of their fortified cities. Soon, one natural city after another would rise from the ground. With powerful cities as defenses, it would be much more difficult for the undead to break through.

Compared to the fact that humans dragged their feet and didn't finish building Black Mountain Cliff even after a month, the construction of Isildur here was incredibly fast.

"I heard that Dino needs a magical artifact to control dragons? The elders have already transported a large amount of materials over there. Are there any cursed crystals or dragon blood essence among them?"

If possible, please save a few copies for us. Several special buildings in Ironstone Fortress require Tier 2 materials, which will allow us to forge more powerful giant hammers and improve efficiency.

"The Iron Fist Tribe is in charge of forging Dino's materials, so there probably won't be many left. I'll try to get them for you. If there's a real shortage, we can apply to the Elders' Council for some. Once Dragon Cliff opens, these Tier 2 resources won't be a problem."

Dragon Cliff, as a recruitment site for level 7 troops, is home to many dragons. Although not as greedy as the dragons in the dungeons, the green and gold dragons will occasionally collect high-level resources to decorate their lair.

Bulwark heroes can trade with other treasures or resources to obtain what they want.

Satisfied with the answer he wanted, the dwarf hero shared a message: "The Crimson Moon is about to end. A large amount of flame has gathered in a basin within the Hills Realm, seemingly summoning the Kingdom of Flame."

My men are building fortifications in the hills, saying that hundreds of meters underground there are lava volcanoes, which may soon create a dreamlike landscape.

However, this is only a strong possibility; it depends on the characteristics of the astrological and lunar changes. Therefore, the council of elders has not yet been informed. You and the officials of the border city are sufficient to know!

Upon hearing this news, Ryan Silvertree's eyes lit up, and he patted the dwarf on the shoulder.

Isildur also had factions; he wasn't a monolithic entity. When dealing with external enemies, unity was natural. But if there were special benefits, it was better for his own people to take them.

A special illusion like the Astrological Moon, which gathers such powerful Crimson Flame Curse, must contain remarkable fire-type treasures and special resources.

If we can't intervene, fine. But since they're already planning to encircle the enemy and send troops westward, we might as well take it.

"Very well, if there are any gains, I will definitely ask Lord Longshi to recommend you for credit!"

(End of this chapter)