Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 422 Blood Scorpion

When the shieldbearers stepped into Otale, the Scarlet Rebels clearly knew they were outmatched, and the remnants fled through the city gates, trying to escape in the chaos.

However, the Mystic Prayer had already surrounded them, giving them no chance at all, and launched a ranged attack at high speed, killing the enemies one by one.

Even though the Crimson units are all incredibly powerful, they are not omnipotent, at least not in terms of speed.

Faced with the relentless bombardment of the Mystic Prayers, they were quickly routed.

The prayers came to the bloody battlefield, hoping to find the rebel leader. Otale was clearly a rebel base, with a hero stationed there, and it had been strengthened to some extent during the recent battle. Su Mu wanted to capture the commander, hoping to find the mastermind behind it all.

To their surprise, however, they found no hero among the enemies.

They captured a commander and questioned him closely. It turned out that the hero, knowing he could not escape from the battlefield, had found a tunnel in the city's training grounds and escaped through it.

According to him, the Crimson Training Grounds lead to a special ruin, from which the Crimson Regime's curse power also originates.

Su Mu was also taken aback when he received the news.

"Is the Crimson Power connected to a special tunnel? Is it the underground world or an ancient ruin?"

"Judging from the current situation, it seems to be a mixed contamination of demons and a lunar eclipse. Could it be something Gunter did?"

The exploration of Cloud City continues, but not even a single hair of an angel has been seen. No, they can only see a few hairs of angels, but not even a completed building.

Although Congress, in order to maintain secrecy, completely surrounded the ancient ruins of Cloud City to prevent any leaks of information about them.

But after Gunter had been operating in the heartland for so long, it wasn't really a big secret anymore.

Meanwhile, the Arcane Empire is exploring the Void Ruins, and has already opened several high-level Cloud Temples. With the help of Silvercap City, even the Cult of Wisdom has obtained a second Cloud Temple, making rapid progress. It is estimated that dozens of divine Titans have already appeared, and the number of giants is even greater.

This is what development and exploration look like; this is what progress looks like. Even though level 7 barracks buildings are very rare, they are not completely untouchable under the influence of the Cursed Tide.

The kingdom's exploration was kept very secret; not a single word was leaked.

"This rebel leader isn't very capable, but he's quite good at escaping. Seal off the entire city and search for his whereabouts!"

"Oh, and while you're at it, search for Hammondell and see if he's still alive."

Su Mu hadn't forgotten their purpose in coming here. In fact, defeating Otale's rebels was expected, since he had great confidence in the fighting capabilities of Kuraki's troops.

Logically speaking, they had already attacked the county town at top speed, and the rebels might not have had time to deal with the prisoners. In addition, Hammondal's attributes were not bad, so his survival rate was very high.

But in times of war and chaos, anything can happen; it all depends on whether this novice blacksmith has the luck to succeed.

"My lord, the Duke of the Stag's army has reached the heartland and has been deployed to various villages and towns to begin the pursuit and suppression of the remaining rebels."

"Grand Duke's daughter, Tatiana Amirka, personally traveled to Otale to express her gratitude to you."

"Let's go and meet the Bucks family."

……

Hammondell was digging at a crucial moment when the garrison troops withdrew.

This surprised him greatly, as he knew he could escape by following the predetermined route.

Moreover, based on his deduction, the rebels were likely attacked by a powerful army and were unable to resist, which is why they pulled all the troops out of the city.

The only force capable of causing such panic among the Crimson Rebels must be the kingdom's main legion. However, as far as he knew, the kingdom was focused on exploring Cloud City and had not addressed the rebellion, which led to the current uncontrollable situation.

The only possibility is that Kuraki has sent troops. Otale is not far from Via, a town in Kuraki's heartland, and poses a serious threat to the town's safety.

Previously, the internal strife might have been somewhat contained, but now the rebels are arrogant and dare to invade anywhere. It seems they have stepped on a tiger's tail.

With Kuraki's military strength, he was able to withstand the presence of 10 troops from the Arcane Empire, so wiping out the rebels in a small town would be a piece of cake.

Of course, all of this is just Hammondal's speculation; we'll have to climb up and see for ourselves.

However, as long as it targets rebels, even ordinary human lords, Hammondal considers it good news.

He used the forbidden tail hammer to continuously strike the broken stones, and was about to break through the seal.

But at that moment, he witnessed an unexpected scene: a hero clad in armor and with disheveled hair opened the forbidden area's gate and frantically fled in. Hammondal had seen him before in Otale; he was Bloodhand Zaven, the leader of this Crimson Base. What had he done here?
As the Crimson Ritual was still ongoing, the interior was filled with a violent and bloodthirsty atmosphere. All the Selectors were attacking each other, and when they saw Zaven break in, they attacked him indiscriminately.

However, the hero's strength is naturally superior, and even when facing an attack from hundreds of thugs, he still has the strength to spare.

"I am the commander-in-chief of this war, your master. Wake up at once!"

Although Zaven was screaming desperately, this ascension arena had clearly unleashed too much blood curse power. Even if they completed the ritual, they would need to calm down for a few days. In the current situation, they were basically unable to distinguish friend from foe.

"What a bunch of mindless, low-level beasts!"

Only at this moment did he feel the backlash of blood-red power.

However, Zavin had few options left. Faced with the terrifying human army outside, he knew he couldn't escape. His only way to survive was to pass through this secret passage and reach the unknown ruins.

In fact, as a rebel hero, he was not simply a refugee who rose to power. He was originally a down-on-his-luck nobleman who lost everything during the last invasion by Isildur's army.

Zavin wanted to reclaim his territory, but the greedy trading city seized it and drove him out of the heartland.

Just when he was at his wit's end, he came into contact with a powerful figure who gave him the power to take revenge, which sparked a new wave of rebellion.

Although he used the rebels to avenge his past enemies in the heartland, he also clearly saw that the rebellion was doomed to fail. It was merely a means for the higher-ups to eliminate dissidents; at best, it was just internal strife within the kingdom, and they were all just tools.

Therefore, upon witnessing the unstoppable offensive of Kuraki's army, he did not follow his previous pronouncements and instead abandoned the elite core, escaping through the tunnel.

This place of advancement is connected to part of the ruins. In his current state, although entering rashly would be somewhat dangerous, it is his only way out.

Just as he was painstakingly killing all the tyrants underground and preparing to open the connection passage, some different sounds came from the cliff.

A man was seen striking the upper wall of the opening passage with a hook-like hammer. The originally solid crimson curse power was eroded away by a large chunk, and the passage instantly became extremely unstable.

"you wanna die!"

Zavin was filled with rage and wanted to climb the cliff to kill his opponent. However, Hammondel had chosen a good spot, which was the very steep cliff face where he had dug the hole. If Zavin did something unnecessary, it would definitely delay his chance to escape.

So Zaven had no choice but to put aside his hatred and rush inside while the passage was being constructed.

Seeing that Zavin was about to run, Hammondal was also prepared to fight desperately.

Hammondal absorbed enough of the crimson berserk spell power, and a crimson mark appeared on his right hand, outlining the shape of a massive scorpion lion.

The manticore seemed to come alive, gradually spreading across Hammondal's skin. His arm and the forbidden tail hammer merged into one, instantly transforming into a deadly and powerful tail hook, flashing a terrifying red light.

"Boom!"

With one strike, the entire cave resounded with a deafening roar.

A violent explosion occurred in the blood-red passage, and Zaven was ejected, his entire body scalded.

He stretched out an arm and reached towards the broken passage, but only managed to leave behind a few drops of blood mist.

"no no!"

After a heart-wrenching roar, Zaven, like a bloodthirsty beast, stared at the culprit.

However, Hammondell had already dragged his injured arm and fled towards the tunnel he had dug earlier, smashing away the last thin layer of soil that served as a barrier with a single blow.

Hammondell shouted at the top of his lungs: "The rebel leader, Bloodhand Zaven, is here!"

He's trying to escape through a tunnel! Catch him!

Upon hearing this shout, Zavin felt as if he had been struck by lightning and almost fainted.

Wasn't this kid very brave just now? How come he's so cunning now?

He wanted to use the hero's speed to kill Hammondal before he died, but unfortunately the Arcane Prayer had already surrounded him.

He will face Kuraki's trial.

(End of this chapter)