Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 348 The Bottle and the Oil Lamp

After reaching an agreement, Gwen set off to the border to make contact with the Arcane Empire.

Orders came from Winterfell, and Brody, the border guard in the North, began to allow merchants to pass through.

"What kind of bullshit parliament is this? It actually made the Knight Commander back down. I think the great nobles are all treacherous ministers, just as cowardly and afraid of trouble as Rhodes. They actually came up with the idea of ​​ceding territory. It's utterly shameful."

Regardless, it was the Knight Commander's decision, and although he felt indignant for Conrad, he had no choice but to obey.

A guard beside him reminded him, "My lord, the Congress's concession is a minor matter, but Rhodes is coming back. The North is back in his hands, and although he's just a puppet, he can still influence some decisions."

Our situation will likely be dire then.

During this period, Brody has been openly belittling Rhodes in the Northern Capitol, considering him a disgrace to the Salim family and saying many hurtful things.

Moreover, as a guard officer, if Winterfell and Frostholdt were ceded to the Arcane Empire, they would lose contact with the heart of the kingdom and be vulnerable to a surprise attack from a powerful enemy at any time.

Despite being allies, could the North and the Arcane Empire, after so many years of friction, truly turn hostility into friendship? Brody didn't believe it.

Only those powerful nobles in the capital could come up with this decision out of thin air.

"Even if Rhodes comes back, what can he do? Does he still want to be a powerful duke? After this incident, he'll probably be hated by the humans, and no one will be willing to serve him."

The guard nodded, but reminded him, "It's impossible for him to make a comeback, but he can accomplish bad things."

We've arrested a lot of laborers in border settlements during this period, and if they're investigated, it'll be troublesome.

Brody glanced into the city; inside the tunnels of the fortifications, many goblins were doing hard labor. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but now, after the peace talks, things felt a bit more sensitive.

"How about we..."

The guard glanced at the fairy slaves below, his eyes filled with cruelty.

The border is already rife with conflict, but there has been some restraint on a daily basis. If things escalate, the Arcane Empire might be unable to continue negotiations. If the negotiations can be broken down, the Northern Territory will not cede territory to sue for peace. Although this could potentially provoke retaliation from the Arcane Empire, with the Knight Commander present, they might not dare to launch a large-scale invasion.

Brody's eyes lit up, but quickly dimmed again.

Although he disliked Congress's appeasement proposals and looked down on Rhodes, he was still a hero and knew how difficult the current situation was.

If he drags down the Knight Commander for the sake of momentary revenge, then he is a sinner against Elton.

Historically, there have often been border generals who, due to humiliation or oppression, harbored evil intentions and allowed foreign enemies to enter the country. Brody, however, was not such a person. He was simply dissatisfied with the nobles in Congress, full of passion, but unwilling to become a treacherous minister.

"No, let's not bring this up again. Let's release the goblins and the stone men to avoid provoking the Arcane Empire."

The guards received the order, nodded, and went to carry it out.

When he arrived at the slave factory, he first glanced around and found that there were hundreds of fairies and hundreds of stone men, all of whom had become slaves to build the fortifications.

It's not necessarily true that they are soldiers from a city in the Arcane Empire, but many of them have already been lost in the past few days, and it would be bad if they were discovered if they continued.

"Slave owners and spearman commanders, come here!"

He summoned all the commanders together and announced the hero's orders.

"Lord Brody has ordered that the goblins and stone men be killed on the spot, without exception!"

Upon hearing this news, everyone was taken aback. Normally, no matter how cruel the slave owners were, they would give the hardworking slaves a chance to regain their freedom, and they would not kill them all.

After all, these are tools for making money; killing them all would be a bit excessive.

"My lord, some of these are magic apprentices from the mage tower, quite useful. Isn't it a bit hasty to kill them like this?"

"Do you dare question Lord Brody's orders?"

The guards, their eyes blazing with fury, grabbed their spears and stabbed the slave owner who had asked the question to death. With a twist, they shattered his internal organs.

He took out Brody's token and showed it to the spearmen.

So the guards no longer hesitated; they only followed the hero's command, regardless of whether it was cruel or inappropriate.

The commanders emerged from the wooden door, whispered to their men, and then a large number of spearmen picked up their weapons from the wooden racks and marched out in unison.

Since most slaves worked in pits and tunnels, the spearmen only needed to carry the slave owners' list, enter each compartment, and check if there were any targets.

If you see a fairy or a stone man, walk up to them and stab them with your spear, killing them instantly. After all, they are slaves, their individual attributes weakened to the minimum, making them no match for the guards.

Some of the fairies even greeted them with smiles, but before the "soldier's" greeting was even finished, their heads were nailed to stones, blood splattering everywhere, causing the surrounding slaves to scream in terror.

The cruelest punishment was for the laborers in the large caves. They were blindfolded and led to the stone wall. Before they could even understand what was happening, their heads were pierced by spears, and green liquid gushed out.

Hundreds of spearmen entered and, facing the unarmed slaves, essentially began a massacre. Everyone shuddered, cowering in fear in a corner, worried they would be next.

Even the rare magic apprentices were mercilessly slaughtered, their necks strangled and their heads and limbs chopped off with knives to prevent them from using magic.

The bodyguards watched the massacre from the innermost cabin, a sinister smile on their faces.

Judging by the time, that group of people should show up soon!
……

Brody was unaware of what was happening at the slave factory because he had encountered some trouble on the city walls.

The newly arrived caravans were initially quite normal, dressed in the style of the snowy plateau, with some exotic features, wearing white robes.

They also brought a shipment of goods; the first few trucks contained medicine and resources, but the rest were filled with strange bottles. This was discovered by the city guard inspector, who promptly reported it to the commander.

Brody immediately became wary, but after looking at the Continental Federation's logo, he thought he was overthinking it.

He led his men to inspect the carriage, and upon lifting the curtain of the last carriage, they found it filled with bronze bottles and oil lamps, engraved with strange patterns. The powerful magical runes were concealed by special means, managing to deceive the hero's investigation.

Brody's hair stood on end instantly. If he wasn't mistaken, this was a car full of monsters!
"Enemy attack!"

Before he could utter a word, the wooden cart exploded with a deafening roar, and countless gods and monsters emerged from the oil lamps, floating in the air.

"You audacious human lord, how dare you detain and brutally murder citizens of the Empire! I am Brukan, the Atmospheric Pillar of the Imperial Ring Tower, here to judge your crimes!"

An air elemental hero ascended into the air, unleashing endless lightning that blasted the surrounding human defenders to pieces.

This is a true high-level hero proficient in air element, whose thunderous power is boundless and cannot be stopped by low-level human units.

The flying monsters also unleashed their slaughter, indiscriminately killing humans, their powerful attacks often resulting in instant death.

Brody had no intention of resisting. The other party had gone to great lengths to infiltrate the border town, and was even using the banner of the United Chamber of Commerce. There was no way they would leave any survivors.

The most important thing now is to send a message to Winterfell. Their target is definitely the Knight Commander. We must not let the Arcane Empire succeed, otherwise the North will fall completely, and the situation in the whole country will change drastically.

He sent out all his personal guards and gave himself a speed boost, using the guards to share the damage and withstand the monster's attacks.

Even so, the messenger array that reached the city center was covered in blood and severely injured.

Heroes can also exchange information, and the kingdom's generals have a set of convenient communication magic. But the moment he saw Brukan, he felt that the other party had a way to intercept messages. In order to transmit information accurately, it was necessary to use the communication array between cities.

This is somewhat similar to a beacon tower; once activated, their anomalies will be detected within hundreds of miles, and the anomalies will be irreversible.

If Winterfell receives the news, it will immediately know where the problem lies, and combined with the recently issued orders, it will quickly become vigilant.

But when Brody opened the door, he saw the destroyed magic circle and the energy core cut off under his arm, with the guards he had just sent out to deliver the order standing next to him.

"My lord, you see, if you don't listen to me, you'll suffer the consequences. Why bother?"

A guard stepped forward and took out an exquisite badge from his pocket: "The Salman family greets you!"

Ignoring the other party's taunts, Brody launched a spell attack, attempting to forcibly destroy the communication array.

According to the design, as long as the magic circle is destroyed or altered, it is equivalent to being activated and can transmit messages.

To his surprise, the magic circle remained motionless, as if it had lost its effect.

Just then, a bolt of lightning struck Brody, sending him rolling several meters away before crashing into a rock, his head bleeding profusely.

A pristine white shoe stepped on his head, scoffing, "If someone like you were to raise an alarm, wouldn't my title as the Star Pillar be ridiculed?"

"Don't worry, you won't die for now. After all, you'll have to take the blame for instigating border conflicts and the massacre of the United Merchants Association. You'll have to explain yourself properly in the Continental Parliament!"

As soon as he finished speaking, lightning struck, and Brody's vision went black instantly.

(End of this chapter)