Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 355 Surprise Attack on the Snow Mountain
The Arcane Empire's conquest of Winterfell was far more arduous than they had made it out to be.

Somra is indeed powerful, but chain lightning takes time. If Conrad focuses solely on defending the city, they can take Winterhold at zero cost. Even with 700 cavalry, they are nothing more than fish on a chopping block under the powerful air elemental magic, waiting to die.

To everyone's surprise, Conrad abandoned the city and led his army in a charge, plunging into the tens of thousands of Arcane Empire troops and unleashing unprecedented fighting power. Coupled with the Soul Binding of the Punishing Priests, the Tower Legion suffered heavy losses.

The cavalry were too fast; basically, the moment they were seen leaving the city, they had already arrived at the Arcane Empire's central army and were engaged in battle with the Naga Queen.

With Conrad's skills enhanced, that Iron Cavalry Regiment was practically invincible. If Conrad hadn't been short of men and horses, and had been given another 1000 cavalrymen, the outcome of the war would likely have been completely different.

"too frightening!"

Brukan shook his head as he led his troops forward.

As a key figure in the raid on Winterfell, he naturally witnessed that great battle.

Once Conrad's Iron Knights began their charge, nothing could stop them. It was like a flash flood, engulfing all life in their path.

The Naga Queen is probably the strongest single unit among the Tier 6 units, right? But she was wiped out in a single encounter, with hundreds of hers dying.

The flaming spear unleashed an area-of-effect attack, incinerating all soldiers in its path. The Divine Monster Lord, aided by Somra's skill, had hoped to stall for time, but was instantly vaporized.

The cavalry charged in one wave, splitting the arcane legion in two.

The scene was truly like the end of the world; many low-ranking soldiers couldn't even move their legs, thinking they were about to be slaughtered by the cavalry.

Although they formed a battle array of ten thousand men, not one dared to face the cavalry directly.

Fortunately, at the crucial moment, Somra unleashed a chain lightning attack, cutting the enemy forces apart and using the Arcane Empire's superior numbers to encircle and annihilate the cavalry. He commanded the Divine Lord to stop the enemy's charge at all costs, even at the cost of his own life, to break free of the cavalry.

The Divine Monster Lord is, after all, one of the best among level 5 units. With the added bonus from Somra, it did have an effect, stopping a group of cavalry at the rear and trapping them in an encirclement.

In the final battle, Conrad mastered a special synergy magic that granted him an extremely powerful boost to his charge ability.

The first wave of attacks required sufficient distance to inflict such devastating damage; the second wave of attacks, however, was significantly less lethal.

But Conrad clearly knew the situation of his troops, so he charged into the weak mage camp and wiped out another wave of enemies.

"That damned man! He should be skinned alive and left to rot in the wilderness. Letting him die on the battlefield is too merciful for him."

Brukan painstakingly transferred his army and even launched a surprise attack on a border city, only to lose more than 1 men. He was forced to return to the Empire to transport new troops, which was completely unexpected.

"In my opinion, we shouldn't have agreed to the peace talks with Elton so easily. We should have compensated them for such huge losses. How could we let them off so easily!"

That being said, Brukan also knew that if Elton was pushed too far and another cavalry charge was launched, Winterfell might not be able to hold out.

Humanity may have lost knightly heroes like Conrad, but their heroes were of high quality, and if it really came down to a life-or-death struggle, no one was confident of winning.

Whether we like it or not, humanity has not yet reached the point where it can be manipulated at will.

At this moment, his lieutenant said, "I don't think the Elton Parliament has any guts. We might get something out of them if we push them a little. After all, they can give up even a hero like Conrad. What can't they do?"
In other words, Lord Somra must keep his promise; otherwise, capturing Conrad alive might bring a hefty reward!

Brukan looked at his lieutenant with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot: "Don't be ridiculous! Let Conrad go back to the mountains like a tiger?"

This time he killed so many of us with only 700 cavalry. If he were prepared, what would become of us? This kind of person must die, otherwise he will become a major threat to the empire in the future.”

On the matter of killing Conrad, Brukan and Somra were in complete agreement; they were both extremely powerful heroes with a deep understanding of hero development.

Even in a battle where certain death is certain, Conrad can comprehend special magic. If he can survive this ordeal, his path as a knight will be unobstructed, and even becoming a legend is not impossible.

Many heroes aren't lacking in talent, but rather in the ability to grow to that level; survival is the most important thing.

"Alright, enough talk, let's see if the mage legion has arrived yet?"

Brukan was ordered to return to the Empire to mobilize troops. The country had already prepared troops, gathering about 8000 archmages and more than 1 gargoyles to replenish the losses from the previous war.

This was kept extremely secret; not only did Elton not know, but even the Tower's own men were unaware that Brukan had returned to the border.

After all, Winterfell is currently suffering heavy losses, and if humans were to learn of their devastating defeat, it would likely cause further turmoil. Fortunately, the Elton Parliament didn't dare to test them and was easily fooled; otherwise, Brukan would have had a real hard time leaving.

Once he gets his new support troops and uses his flying magic to cross the snow-capped mountains, everything will be settled, and Elton will have no chance at all.

Originally, this troop deployment could have gathered more legions, but the nearest Wisdom Throne region was unwilling to contribute, so it was only a gradual approach. Otherwise, with hundreds of thousands of troops pressing in, how could Conrad have successfully launched a surprise attack?
"The Throne of Wisdom? What a blockhead!"

Brukan could only say in private that each country has its own problems and cannot unite as one, otherwise things wouldn't have dragged on until now.

Of course, the Arcane Empire didn't really want to destroy Elton. They wanted to divide up the spoils of the main force while making Elton resist Isildor, and then spend a lot of resources to request the Empire's assistance. This was the best outcome.

Therefore, when Elton shows signs of victory, the Void Throne must step in to balance things out and warn the Elton Council who the real power is.

By dismantling their strongest pillar, Congress will have no choice but to rely on external forces. In this way, it will gain access to a large amount of resources, enabling the Void Throne to subdue the Throne of Wisdom and dominate the upcoming battles.

Brukan was also speechless. An empire that should have been dedicated to academic research and promoting the glory of arcane magic was now embroiled in such serious internal strife. It was truly a complicated situation.

As he pondered his troubles, he suddenly felt something was amiss. His deputy had been gone for so long; he should have received a reply by now.

"Go, send some more men to spread out and search, see where the troops are!"

Brukan didn't suspect anything else, guessing that the heavy snow a few days ago had blocked the mountain passes, making it difficult for ground troops to move around.

After all, even the Tower Legion's mobility in the snow is not very high, especially when crossing high mountains, which takes even longer, so he is needed to lead the team.

As for the unexpected events? The hellish legions that were causing trouble in the surrounding area were blasted to the west; the human kingdoms even knelt down and begged for mercy, having no power to threaten them at all.

But just then, urgent military news arrived from afar.

"It's terrible, sir! Our reinforcements were ambushed while crossing the Great Snow Mountain. The enemy used ranged units to fire, severely damaging the army of mages and gargoyles. The remaining troops are fleeing this way!"
The deputy general, while regrouping the routed troops, was also attacked by crossbow bolts!

Upon hearing the scout's report, Brukan was stunned. He looked at the distant snow-capped mountains, which were at least several thousand meters away. What kind of crossbow bolt could reach this distance?
And what are the mage troops doing? They're clearly ranged units; they should just exchange fire. What are we afraid of? They're getting beaten up like this by the enemy.

Being so far away, a single Great Shield could easily handle it. I don't know what the hero leading the troops is doing!
"follow me!"

(End of this chapter)