Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 416 Pseudo-Holy Altar

After Ivan left the ancient ruins, Katherine was somewhat unwilling and sent some skeleton soldiers to follow him.

They had barely left the desolate land when they were bombarded by giant crossbows and arrows from afar, suffering heavy losses. The enemy seemed to have eagle eyes; no matter how well the skeleton soldiers were camouflaged, they could not dodge the shots.

Knowing that Ivan had reinforcements, the Death Lord immediately abandoned the idea of ​​pursuing him. If Ivan alone was so difficult to deal with, how could he possibly fight if another ranged hero came along?
So the Death Lords fell silent and retreated to the heart of the ancient ruins.

Having failed to eliminate Ivan this time, the Ancient Ruins withdrew its forces, allowing the outer perimeter to develop freely and refraining from adding more Death Breath. Otherwise, if Kuraki were to launch such an attack every now and then, even with the Ancient Ruins' resources, it would be unbearable.

"Can't we gather a large army to take down a mere human hero?"

It's a joke that we were actually driven back to our hideout.

A death knight who had not participated in the battle slammed his fist on the stone table in anger, venting his dissatisfaction. His words were pointed and made several death lords who were participating in the battle lose face.

The lich Jacqueline was the first to retort: ​​"Those who did not participate in the war have no right to speak. Ivan has received some kind of boost, which has pushed his defensive spells to the level of the gods. We cannot harm the strongest swordsman with physical attacks at all."

Moreover, he possessed advanced combination artifacts that could inflict various curses on all the soldiers present. Although they were said to be three legions, they were actually separated and defeated one by one.

Edward also spoke up, "We wanted to stall for time and exhaust Ivan's magic, but the enemy's attack was too sharp. Even with Ghost Dragon present, the enemy's morale remained high, and we simply couldn't hold on."

Hearing their explanations, the Death Knight mocked again: "They can find more excuses than the living. No matter the reason, letting the enemy at the door escape is just not right."

And you, after showing your strength in the ruins, I thought you'd changed after receiving the gift of the Artifact of Deception. But it turns out you're still the same coward you were before!

After the previous incident, someone still dared to insult Rhodes to his face, and the atmosphere plummeted to freezing point again. However, this death knight was different from the lich whose skull had been crushed before.

Rhodes sat there without saying a word, then looked up at the Death Knight with a ferocious grin.

Would you like to receive a gift too?

"You good-for-nothing! You only dare to bully your own kind. When you can't beat the enemy, you throw a tantrum here. Who's going to tolerate your lousy behavior!"

The two started fighting immediately after a disagreement. Rhodes raised his Blood Staff to cast a summoning spell, but the Death Knight was one step ahead and pressed the Nightmare Blade against Rhodes' throat.

Dozens of Nightmare Knights had already descended and surrounded the enemy, but the Death Knight was fearless.

"Before that, my blade will destroy the soul fire within your skull."

Normally, with units sharing the damage, heroes won't die directly, but Rhodes smelled a familiar scent of oblivion on the opponent's blade.

Just as the two heroes were locked in a stalemate, the Undead Grand Duke arrived late.

"Alright, Uller, don't make things difficult for our guests!"

The Death Knight lifted his helmet, revealing a skeletal face; it was none other than the Death Knight who had previously acquired the Deception skill.

Since being killed by Su Mu and resurrected using a soul weapon, he has rarely appeared in such situations.

Upon closer examination, it seems that since Ullr's defeat, he has lost the favor of the artifacts. It is quite reasonable that he would become jealous and furious when faced with the newly emerged chosen one, thus causing conflict.

Rhodes paid no heed to any of this. Even with the arrival of the Undead Grand Duke, he remained in a state of madness, his eyes flashing with flowing red flames.

"I want you to die!"

The Nightmare Knights directly attacked Ullr, some of their longswords even gathering the power for a fatal blow.

"enough!"

The Undead Grand Duke plunged his bone sword into the ground, instantly creating a huge crack in the stone platform. The surrounding heroes and troops were thrown about, and Rhodes and Ullr were forced to separate.

"If you win, you can be as unruly as you want, but if you lose, you'd better keep a low profile. Death won't give you any excuses!"

"This battle wasn't entirely without merit. At least we figured out Ivan's skills and the characteristics of the strongest swordsman, which will help us to counter him in the next battle."

"The reason why the Raging Flame Knight is so strong is because of Su Mu's blessing. The best way to deal with Cang Mu is to capture the leader first, but he has too many powerful heroes around him and is rarely alone."

"Next time you encounter Kuraki's hero, remember that his skills are multiplied, so don't fight to the death unless you are absolutely sure you can win!"

Upon hearing the words of the Undead Grand Duke, the Death Lords were utterly astonished. No wonder Kuraki had been invincible since its founding. If Su Mu could amplify the other heroes, that would indeed be somewhat monstrous.

The Undead Grand Duke deduced Su Mu's core skills only after multiple battles with Kuraki and through information provided by the Deception Artifact. He may have had some guesses before, but he couldn't be sure. Now, he has basically confirmed Su Mu's skills.

In this way, he didn't feel ashamed that so many people had failed to beat Ivan. To defeat Kuraki, he had to kill him in one blow and not let him put up any resistance.

Rhodes gradually recovered from his madness, glanced at Ullr, and left the Hall of the Dead.

He had been tormented by hatred for too long and had to retaliate immediately, or he would find it difficult to suppress the rage in his heart.

Seeing Rhodes leave, the Undead Grand Duke was not angry. He simply assigned his subordinates some harassing tasks and began to launch intermittent attacks on the Northern Territory.

"Don't engage the enemy's regular troops head-on. Instead, break into small groups and destroy the villages and towns under their control."

"Kuraki Heroes and his troops are very powerful, but their territory is too large and their forces are too small. They need to concentrate their forces to fight against Isildur's legion and cannot take care of all the towns."

As long as we continue our harassment year after year, the town of Kuraki will live in fear, and without the free citizens at the bottom of society, the principality will be nothing but a castle in the air, destined to collapse sooner or later.

It must be said that Stuart has lived long enough and has a deep understanding of problems. He quickly found Kuraki's weaknesses and launched a targeted attack.

He had originally planned to keep to himself and secretly accumulate power in the ancient ruins to cooperate with Prince Gaunt in the final sacrifice. However, Kuraki did not want them to have an easy time. Since that's the case, then none of them will have an easy time!
After the Lords of Death dispersed, only Ullr followed the Grand Duke of the Dead back to the main hall.

Just now, it seemed like both sides were fighting back and the dispute was quickly resolved. In reality, Stuart was more inclined to side with Uller. Otherwise, given Rhodes' current strength, Uller might actually have been killed if the conflict had escalated.

As for the defeat, Uller was also among those who suffered it, and his words today are more of a test.

After all, he was a general who had followed him before he was converted into an undead, so even though he failed once, his level of trust in him was still very high.

Uller looked down on Rod, believing that even if he gained power, he would just be a spoiled brat.

"I just can't understand why the Deception Artifact would choose someone like this to inherit the power of the Chosen One."

Stuart laughed: "What excellent material. He was given high hopes by his father, but his incompetence led to a complete defeat. He was forced to become a puppet in a foreign land, and his mind was twisted by the fire of revenge."

Such a person will live their entire life in a world of deceiving others and deceiving themselves.

Uller glanced at the Grand Duke: "If self-deception could change the reality of how the world works, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation. Silencing people? How many people can he keep quiet?"

The facts are the facts; his fraud and theft are just child's play!

The Grand Duke walked along the quiet corridor and suddenly stopped in front of a portrait, beginning to tidy the frame.

"If fraud is just a superficial appearance, how can it deceive people? Anger, rage, and confusion arise because it is real enough, even if it is absurd, it still makes sense, which is why you question it."

Someone would only find something obviously fake laughable and question it; they would only find it ridiculous. But when you sense something is amiss, when your emotions are triggered, you gradually begin to approach the truth!

Uller also stopped and fell into deep thought. Usually, the Grand Duke wouldn't speak in such roundabout ways, and the undead don't have so many thoughts. In this light, Rhodes does seem a bit strange; the way he appears to be controlled by desire makes him seem more like a human.

“Rhodes has gone mad in the ancient ruins. He can’t control his emotions at all. Cooperating with someone like that would probably lead to trouble.”

"How can you get revenge without paying a price?"

Upon hearing this, Ullr felt a chill run down his spine. Even as a death knight who was used to scheming and deceit, he felt a sense of dread at this moment.

Those worldly disputes and human emotions all seem to have become weaknesses.

Stuart didn't say much, but kept wiping the portrait with the silk handkerchief in his hand. Uller looked up and found that the portrait was empty, with only a human portrait silhouette embedded in it like a hollow hole.

Have you heard of Rod Hart?

"That guy who instigated a rebellion in the human world, resurrected the king and made him his puppet, tricked the princess into becoming his wife, and deceived all the people and nobles of the kingdom? The fraudster who finally unleashed the Scourge of the Dead, turning the entire kingdom into a graveyard, and ascended to the throne of gods?"

This is an ancient story, and its veracity is unknown; Ullr simply considers it a rumor. After all, this event certainly didn't happen on the continent of Aether, and who knows if it's true or false based on the tale passed down by those bards?

Uller pointed to the portrait, then to the distant mountains.

"Rhodes Hart is just a name, but more importantly, he is a symbol that existed in the past, exists now, and will not be absent in the future."

After saying this, the Grand Duke of the Dead left, leaving Ullr standing there alone.

At that moment, he suddenly understood something and was plunged into an unprecedented fear.

In the world of heroes, nothing happens without a reason; everything comes with a hidden price.

……

In the heart of the kingdom, the legions of the parliament have joined forces with the eldest prince to clear the designated destination.

"This mountainous area is one of the locations the clues point to. Clean it up quickly and don't let any unauthorized personnel get close!"

"Prince, this is an agricultural area, and many people have just planted their crops. If we drive them away, they may lose everything. Why don't we let them harvest the wheat quickly?"

"When has my Kingdom of Elton ever starved its people? This place will become dangerous as soon as the passage opens. Escape immediately, or we will hold the local lord accountable!"

"With war raging on, the lord has long..."

The general tried to explain, but was stopped by the nobleman next to him.

Everyone knows the current situation; both nobles and free citizens are suffering. But if we want to reverse the situation, Cloud City is indispensable. We can only make things harder for the free citizens, and even minor nobles have to make some sacrifices. For the revival of the great kingdom, their dedication is needed.

The swordsmen deployed and began to disperse the local population, treating even the town's officials the same and urging them to evacuate quickly.

Many people were forced to leave their homeland by longswords before they could even retrieve their belongings.

These common people had probably only ever seen spearmen or archers in their lives; they had never seen a legion of swordsmen of such scale. In their eyes, swordsmen were already the lords of the army, let alone the heroes from the capital.

But no matter who it is, they can't take away their jobs.

After nightfall, many people, familiar with the terrain, made their way back, hoping to retrieve some money and grain.

The kingdom's soldiers couldn't bear to treat their own people this way, so they pretended not to see it.

Little did he know that this was exactly what Gunter wanted. He watched as the free people returned, and he saw that they had found a passage to an unknown world.

"An ancient and sacred realm, which once shone with dazzling light, guiding lost sheep back home."

In these times of rampant natural disasters and widespread calamities, we need your guidance to dispel confusion and defeat our formidable enemies!

Gaunt's incantation was incredibly inspiring; the hill, leading to an unknown land, shimmered with light. Many followers of the Church of Light even knelt on one knee, as if they had witnessed the return of light to the world. Even the priests felt a warm sensation in their bodies, as if they had gained unknown divine power.

Although Parliament tried its best to suppress the news, many lords knew what they were about to face.

If, on a secular level, there is still an entanglement between the kingdom and the religion, then the angel is the perfect embodiment of the fusion of the two. He can unite all forces, gather all of humanity's courage, and defeat incredible enemies.

In short, angels are the true lineage.

In order to bring back the angels, they could endure even going against their wishes.

As the light shone, an even greater dark aura surged within, and soon a large number of terrifying monsters rushed out.

Most of them are out-of-control undead and demons, including zombies, ghosts, vampires, hellhounds, horned demons, and evil god kings. These monsters are all mindless beings, only knowing chaos and killing.

"These are all obstacles on the way to the sacred altar. Slaughter them all!"

There's not much to say about the blasphemous troops; the kingdom's army went on a killing spree, and the two sides entered into a bloody melee.

Although the kingdom had a large number of archers, the enemy appeared too suddenly, almost without warning, and the archers were also caught in close combat, resulting in huge casualties.

The monsters inside the cave scattered and fled, quickly disappearing into the night. In order to concentrate their forces, the kingdom's army naturally did not pursue the scattered enemies.

This caused great suffering for the returning civilians, as they were instantly killed no matter what kind of monster they encountered.

Screams and wails filled the entire mountain range.

Blood flowed along the wheat field, converging into a river, and was eventually drawn into the cave.

After a night of fighting, Gaunt finally arrived at the so-called sacred altar.

The base stones were surrounded by corpses; valiant warriors and out-of-control monsters had all fallen, soaking the altar.

Gaunt walked up to the altar, took out a blood-stained feather from under the broken stone platform, and handed it to the messenger.

"Another inherited white feather has been unsealed. The Cloud City of the Ruins should be closer to the ground now. Quickly notify the members of Congress and have them keep a close eye on the situation there!"

Upon hearing the prince's words, the messenger was very excited. He immediately put the blood-stained white feather into the box and hurriedly made his way to the capital.

What he didn't notice was that, apart from the light in the cave, the entire land was shrouded in blood red.

All the soldiers involved in the battle were somewhat agitated, believing they were affected by the lunar eclipse, and were still using their magical powers to control themselves. However, looking at the massacred civilians on the distant hillside, their hearts remained unsettled for a long time.

The violent factors in his blood were accumulating, his mind was foggy, and his hand holding the sword was becoming somewhat out of control.

Under the crimson moonlight, the armor appeared even more vibrant.

"Keep moving forward, warriors of the kingdom, destroy all enemies that stand in your way!"

Punish them, kill them!

(End of this chapter)