Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 411 Ghost Dragon
Zeke and his companions entered a shattered world, surrounded by swirling clouds and mist, filled with ruins and relics.

It is evident that this place was once very grand, with classical and elegant architectural patterns, full of religious style, and many scenes of angels fighting against enemies.

Zeke was a seasoned veteran. He carefully searched several altar fragments and found that they were ancient, dating back several thousand years. They could indeed be the legendary lost city in the clouds.

But if it really is Cloud City, what kind of enemy did the angels face? How could they destroy this place like this? Could it really be an evil god from beyond the realm? Why is there no record of it in Elton's history books?

The Witcher felt that history was often shrouded in mystery, with many unknowns. He wasn't an archaeologist and didn't care about such things. What he was more concerned about was whether Cloud City could still be restored.

"It's already shattered into this state, can Cloud City ever be restored?"

Gunter pointed to several piles of rubble deep within the ruins: "Based on the clues I've gathered, restoring Cloud City will require a lot of resources, but the most important thing is to repair the sacred altar."

We must pay a price to gain control of the altar.

Zeke glanced at Gunter and immediately understood what he meant.

The eldest prince himself was of average combat ability and led ranged troops, so he was naturally not suitable for charging into battle.

This important task could only fall on Zeke. Although he felt that the illusion was full of dangers, it would be a disgrace to the reputation of a witcher to leave without exploring it.

"Your Highness, you will be in charge of long-range fire support. I will charge into battle. If anything goes wrong, we will retreat temporarily and wait for the kingdom's army to arrive before making further plans."

"Okay, no problem, I'll follow Lord Zeke's orders."

Zeke's biggest fear was that the eldest prince was greedy for credit, didn't understand combat, and insisted on command. Seeing that he was willing to be a secondary hero, he was immediately relieved.

The swordsmen led the way in the front, while the demon hunter priests launched ranged attacks to suppress the enemy with firepower.

The first altar was initially silent, deathly still. But when the soldiers stepped across a certain boundary, a special restriction was instantly triggered, the sky turned blood red, and countless sticky black shadows crawled up from the ground.

Some of them resemble human cavalry and swordsmen, while others look like unicorns and tree-men from the ramparts, and there are even gods and monsters like the Naga.

The mixed troop types had no trace of life, yet their aura was incredibly powerful.

"Demon Hunter Priest, kill!"

Zeke showed no fear. As a witcher who had fought monsters for years, he had seen many strange and unusual things and was confident in his ability to deal with his enemy.

Zeke (Witcher): Attack 6, Defense 5, Spell Power 7, Knowledge 4.

Advanced Resistance: 15% chance to be unaffected by enemy magic.

Intermediate Defense Technique: Reduces physical damage taken by 10%.

Advanced Demon Hunter Commander: When commanding Demon Hunter (special unit) troops, each attack on an enemy will cause a magic reduction, resulting in monsters having -2 defense and -2% magic resistance (this can be reduced to a negative value, i.e., increased damage. The maximum reduction can be up to 60% defense and -40% magic resistance).
Advanced Demon Hunter Insight, Advanced Air Elemental Mastery, Intermediate Water Elemental Mastery.

The Witcher's skills are actually quite powerful, but their unit characteristics are too singular. To advance to the Witcher rank, aside from the fixed Elemental Baptism, special buildings are required for enhancement. Otherwise, given Zeke's abilities, he wouldn't be out of place as the commander of an army group.

In theory, all units below level 7 have a chance to gain the ability to hunt demons, but most units will fall into a state of rage and frenzy, unable to withstand the powerful curse and going insane.

This batch of demon hunter priests is an elite force that Highgarden painstakingly cultivated, specifically to deal with Cloud City; otherwise, they would not be easily deployed.

Although the shadowy figure was eerie, it was still classified as a monster. Demon Hunter's Insight granted a huge damage bonus, while Demon Hunter's Command could weaken the enemy. This combination worked seamlessly and immediately suppressed the rushing enemy.

However, the altar's forces were relentless, and their magical power could not be severed by ranged attacks alone. Therefore, after the swordsman cleared a path, the demon hunter priest transformed into a demon hunter's body, gaining powerful melee attributes, and advanced forward.

Just when Zeke thought he could proceed smoothly, dark clouds gathered in the sky above the altar, and an unprecedented monster appeared.

The thick shadows blotted out the sky, the enormous bone wings stretched for tens of meters when unfolded, the giant dragon bones resembled a mountain ridge, the figure was sometimes illusory and sometimes ethereal, and the soul fire exuded a terrifying pressure.

【Ghost Dragon (Graveyard Tier 7, Tier 2 Unit, Plague Ultimate Divinity): Attack 19*2, Defense 17*2, Damage 25-50, Health 200, Speed ​​14, Large Size.

Element: Undead, Flying unit, Death attack. Ghost Dragon: Reduces enemy unit morale by 1, and has a chance to inflict fear on low-level creatures.

Death Spirit Flame: There is a 20% chance to age the enemy when attacking. Aging can reduce the opponent's health by half (can be dispelled).

Plague Divinity: A ghostly aura permeates the surroundings. Any living unit near the Ghost Dragon will suffer a continuous reduction in magic resistance (up to 40%), and will also be subject to aging erosion every so often (10% chance).

Assessment: The Ghost Dragon uses its ghostly form to spread a powerful plague, striking fear into the hearts of all who face it.

"What, what is this thing?!"

"How could there be a ghost dragon in the ruins of Cloud City?"

Zeke and the Demon Hunter Priest arrived in utter shock. They were both well-traveled and experienced, but how many years had it been since they had seen a Ghost Dragon? And yet it had appeared here.

Could this be a site for converting the dead?

Zeke was terrified. The Ghost Dragon's terrifying roar instilled fear in all the troops, reducing their morale by 1. However, what was even more terrifying was the spreading plague. The once-powerful warriors aged instantly, their skin becoming dry and wrinkled, their life essence drained away, making them look like old men in their fifties or sixties.

Not only that, the Ghost Dragon wreaked havoc in the air, even affecting the troops in the back row.

"Exorcism Technique!"

Fortunately, Zeke was proficient in water elemental magic and immediately cast an exorcism spell to dispel the aging status from all the soldiers.

While the superpower of aging is indeed formidable, its greatest weakness is that it can be dispelled.

Under a curtain of water, Gunter and the ascetic in the distance stood up again.

However, before Zeke could rejoice for long, the soldiers in the plague fog were corrupted again. About one-tenth of the soldiers turned into old men and were devoured by the ghost dragon's ghostly flames, leaving not even bone fragments behind.

"Quickly, kill them!"

The Demon Hunter Priest had exhausted all his strength to fight the Ghost Dragon, but could only face death as he aged.

Fortunately, there were only a dozen or so divine dragons, so the demon hunter priests still had a chance to defeat them if they fought desperately.

"Your Highness! Provide fire support immediately!"

Now only Gaunt has ranged units left, so they can't get close to deal with the Ghost Dragon. Zeke can only pin his hopes on the eldest prince.

Gunter stood atop the hill, waving at Zeke, a chilling smile playing on his lips, one side of his face shrouded in shadow.

"Don't worry, you will be saved!"

Hearing the eldest prince's response, Zeke cheered up slightly.

However, the guard beside him looked puzzled: "Sir, who are you talking to?"

Zeke froze, pointing to the top of the hill: "The eldest prince and his troops! Don't we still have ranged legions?"

The guards looked at each other, their faces filled with fear: "The eldest prince has just been devoured by the ghost dragon's plague and has turned into a cloud of blood mist!"

Zeke rubbed his eyes hard and found that there was only a pile of slimy bones left on the hill, and no ranged units were left.

At that moment, the Witcher felt a chill run down his spine; his fear reached its peak.

He wasn't afraid of inferior ghostly tricks, but rather because if Gaunt was the instigator who had deceived his demon hunter's perception from the very beginning, then the other party's ambitions were far too great!
"It's over!"

(End of this chapter)