Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 357 Cutting off heads as a return gift
As Brukan saw his lieutenant, he also saw the routed legion.

Although he had considered that the surprise attack would cause some casualties, he had not expected it to turn out like this.

Half of the mages were killed or wounded, and the gargoyles suffered more than 6000 casualties. Could the enemy be the most powerful Light Priests of Elton?

Lyman naturally sent back news during his retreat, but the battlefield was too chaotic for Brukan to know the specifics.

The lieutenant emphasized human ranged units and crossbows. In Brukan's opinion, no matter how powerful the crossbows were, a level 6 crossbow with advanced artillery could only kill a few hundred people at most. How could they possibly have brought the mage legion to such a state? There was a high probability that there were still powerful ranged units.

But he was only half right. Ranged units did exist, but they relied on giant cannons to unleash their power.

"Sir, retreat quickly! The enemy has heroes who can control more than ten advanced artillery vehicles, and they have plenty of ammunition. They also have a powerful ranged force launching a combined attack. Let's get out of their range first!"

Upon hearing Lyman's words, Brukan was taken aback for a moment, but he reacted quickly, first applying Swiftness to his army to disengage from the battlefield before considering anything else.

Just then, a legion of swordsmen suddenly appeared not far away, charging in with overwhelming force. The troops on the tower didn't even get a clear look at the newcomers before two bolts of lightning struck straight into their ranks.

The mage was almost powerless against them, his body was cleaved in two by a single sword strike, and he instantly turned into a bloody mist.

With this single charge, coupled with high morale and a series of successive kills, the core mage group lost thousands more, and was basically routed.

"Quickly, get to the top of the gargoyles, buy some time for the mage!"

Lyman was also startled by the strongest swordsman's attack. Even though it was an advanced special unit with area-of-effect attacks and combos, its damage was ridiculously high.

Brukan looked toward the hero leading the group, a human general riding a griffin. He hovered in the air, yet he exuded powerful leadership and good fortune; he seemed to be a well-rounded hero.

When facing such an opponent, it is necessary to gather the strongest forces, break through the opponent's defenses, and find the enemy's weaknesses.

"coming!"

Upon noticing Su Mu raising his hand to cast a spell, Brukan immediately took the initiative, casting a magical shield on his troops. The thin clouds condensed into a smooth mirror, reflecting all magical attacks in the air.

The moment Titan's Arrow was unleashed, Su Mu noticed the magic the opponent was using, but he simply smiled and remained silent.

【Magic Mirror (Level 5 Magic, Air Element Bonus): Has a 20% chance to reflect an enemy's spell back to one of the enemy units.】

Advanced Air Elemental Mastery: Has a 40% chance to reflect an enemy's spell back at a random enemy unit.

Powerful lightning struck the remaining mage troops, but the Magic Mirror immediately formed a resistance, about to counter the powerful magic.

Brukan was initially taken aback. As a powerful master of air elemental magic, he was clearly surprised that the enemy commander wielded the terrifying Titan's Arrow. But then he experienced a stroke of incredible luck. His Magic Mirror, cast to defend against debuff magic, unexpectedly targeted the Titan's Arrow. If he could counter it, the enemy's small force would be wiped out after a few counterattacks.

But the next scene left him dumbfounded. The divine mirror that had clearly formed a countermeasure turned into nothingness and was instantly pierced. Powerful lightning struck the mage legion, instantly annihilating nearly a hundred of the remaining troops.

"impossible!"

Although the Magic Mirror has a probability of countering, it shouldn't fail now that it's already activated.

Lyman was completely bewildered, not understanding what Lord Brukan was doing. The opponent had already unleashed Titan's Arrow, so why wasn't he running? The combined stats of the two of them might not even be comparable to the opponent's, so what was the point of fighting?
If the previous heavy losses of ranged units were due to being caught off guard by a surprise attack, now that the enemy general is leading swordsmen in a charge, and even possesses incredibly powerful combination artifacts, what's the point of fighting? Running away is the only real option.

When the gargoyles that had surrounded him encountered Titan's Arrow again, Brukan realized he needed to use his Qi Manipulation Technique. After all, he had initially thought he could turn the tide by counterattacking, but now that he found the Magic Mirror was completely ineffective, he could only defend passively.

Su Mu watched as Brukan swiftly cast his spell, a smile spreading across his face. He hadn't expected to catch such a big fish this time.

A high-level air elemental hero capable of unleashing the Magic Mirror must be the master of flight magic in the tower; such strategic heroes are rare. Furthermore, the flight magic certainly wasn't learned through a magic guild; it must have come from a unique and serendipitous encounter.

He had initially been somewhat worried that a surprise attack on Winterfell would require a swift victory to trap the Arcane Empire's forces, otherwise they would escape thanks to the flying magic, inevitably leading to a difficult siege. But now things were different. As long as Brukan was dealt with, they could either besiege Winterfell or retreat to a point to intercept reinforcements, greatly increasing the flexibility of their strategic deployment.

As for why the Magic Mirror didn't work, his Chaos Wisdom Technique played a crucial role.

In the face of such extreme fluctuations, even the Magic Mirror couldn't accurately counter it. And yet, he possessed the Money Luck spell to increase the probability, granting even greater positive bonuses. Brukan would probably never understand, even in his death, why such a powerful level 5 spell had failed.

But clearly, the powerful air elemental master didn't want to die. He had already sensed that something was wrong. While using Swift Acceleration, he also activated a special secret technique, granting the hero the ability to fly in battle. He quickly left the battlefield and fled south.

Even the most basic hero can have their attributes boosted to insane levels by possessing Titan's Arrow, let alone Su Mu, who doesn't look like a novice at all.

Brukan was already considering retreating. Even if it meant sacrificing nearly 20,000 support troops, as long as he survived, he would have any possibility. That was the meaning of being a hero.

How could Su Mu let this big fish go? He immediately used a slowing spell to reduce the speed of all the enemies.

But Brukan seemed to possess a special ability; his own swift acceleration was not dispelled, and he instead escaped the encirclement with ease.

As he flew, he kept looking back at Su Mu, as if he wanted to remember this great enemy of humanity and take revenge in the future.

However, this wish was clearly a bit difficult. When Brukan flew to the edge of the battlefield, it crashed into a hidden air wall and fell down instantly.

He was met by Wayne and a band of thieves sharpening their knives.

"With your head, the master of the air element, the value of our intelligence has instantly doubled."

"Rest in peace. When you reach the underworld, I will make a special record of this matter and ensure it is passed down forever in the Thieves' Guild!"

Enraged that a mere thief dared to mock him like that, Brukan immediately used magic to punish him.

After multiple upgrades, Wayne's thieves have achieved a decent level of critical hit rate and damage. They are naturally unafraid of fleeing heroes and generals who have lost the ability to share damage among their troops.

In the world of heroes, as long as one has not completely transcended the mundane, one must rely on a powerful army; otherwise, there are a million ways to deal with him.

Before Brukan could even cast a spell, various restrictive spells descended from the sky, and a powerful arrow pierced through the clouds, piercing his entire body and interrupting his spellcasting.

Maggie and Orling arrived; how could such a scene of beating a drowning dog be complete without their participation?

With blood dripping from his mouth, Brukan turned to look at the troops he had abandoned. Although Lyman had not given up, he was gradually losing his ability to resist under the slaughter of the strongest swordsman.

Although several organized counterattacks were launched, inflicting some casualties on the strongest swordsman, the most despairing thing was that Su Mu would be reincarnated and reborn, causing the dead troops to rise again and charge into the fray once more.

Humanity has such a powerful army, yet they still resort to sham peace talks and launch a sneak attack?
And why were the enemy troops so stealthy and well-hidden? Could there be an inside agent within the Arcane Empire?

Brucan thought they had done something foolish, waking the sleeping lion and having it stretch its head out instead.

At the last moment, dozens of Silver Snow bandits surrounded Brukan and trapped him. Wayne drew his sharp dagger and slit his throat.

A master of the elemental energy, who would have thought he would die such a pathetic death.

In his final moments, he vaguely heard human heroes discussing something.

“Sever his head, put it in an exquisite box, and send it to Congress so they can send a negotiating team to deliver it to the Arcane Empire.”

"Tell the tower that this is Elton's return gift!"

(End of this chapter)