Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 438 Riverside Eagle City
The Isildur soldiers were stunned, and this was certainly not solely due to the gale and the Titan's arrow.

Behind Gale followed a massive army of griffins, numbering at least a thousand. While a thousand might not seem like much on such a battlefield, the combination of the Griffin King's Sky-Splitting Wings and the magic capable of killing a golden dragon immediately created pressure.

"Su Mu! How did he get here so quickly!"

Upon seeing the hero on Gale's back, Dino immediately knew who the enemy was.

Isildur knew that Kuraki possessed a portal to another dimension, but Goat's Horn was under siege and teleportation was impossible; the nearest county town was more than half a day's journey away. Besides, wasn't it widely rumored that the Witcher Marshal was a staunch supporter of the Congress and at odds with Kuraki?
Why did Su Mu arrive to provide support so soon after the fight had just started? This gave Dino a bad feeling.

"My lord, the enemy's griffin commander has cast a path-tracing spell; apart from the golden dragon, no one can get through!"

"Let the Golden Dragons charge forward, and let all the Wind-Breaking Wooden Boats rush up to the watchtowers. Quickly take control of the middle and rear watchtowers; we can't delay any longer!"

Now that Su Mu has arrived with his army of griffins, the reinforcements must be much larger. The Gale Griffins are accelerating rapidly, indicating that the enemy is arriving at top speed. We must break through Goat Horn Town before all the reinforcements arrive; otherwise, this meticulously planned attack will be wasted, and it will also disrupt Lloyd's plans.

Under Dino's command, the Isildur Legion launched its fiercest attack since the start of the war, and the Windspeak ships gradually landed to fight the Witcher Crusaders, slowly holding off the pressure.

Centaurs are straightforward; their sheer numbers and speed allow them to quickly close the distance to the Demon Hunter Crossbowmen, limiting their ranged attacks. Unicorns, however, pose a significant challenge. As a Tier 6 unit, their powerful attributes and destructive force can cause considerable damage. Combined with their blinding effect, they can effectively limit the Demon Hunter Crusaders.

Once one ship landed, the rest followed faster and faster, and the shore was surrounded by Isildur's troops.

Su Mu glanced at the battlefield and immediately commanded the Gale Griffin to launch a swooping attack, targeting the Demon Hunter Crossbowmen and Demon Hunter Priests to help them escape.

The Griffin King casts a special spell, granting the Demon Hunter Crusaders +2 counterattacks, which is well-suited to the current chaotic battle situation. Since the Gale Griffin already has infinite counterattacks, there's no need for this additional spell. Furthermore, the Demon Hunter Crusaders are easily surrounded, and the increased counterattack spell power allows them to handle more enemies.

After a large number of Gale Griffins landed, they formed an iron wall along the riverbank, intercepting the enemies rushing up. Combined with endless counterattacks, they instantly suppressed the enemies, preventing them from successfully landing.

Centaurs are no match for griffins; they can basically take one down with a single talon. Unicorns are few in number, only a few hundred, so they can only manage a stalemate. The key issue is that the riverbank isn't wide; once those in front are blocked, those behind can't immediately get ashore and have to jump from boat to boat.

Seeing the griffins' formidable fighting power, Isildur's generals were stunned. Although they had heard of Kuraki's glorious achievements in Silvertop City, they only realized how terrifying they were after actually fighting them.

Dino wore the Crown of the Oracle, with both his attack and defense attributes exceeding 20. Coupled with the overwhelming effect of advanced troops, the unicorns couldn't even break through the griffins' lines, which was simply outrageous!
"Advanced Defense Technique! Kuraki's signature move. This Su Mu is indeed troublesome!"

【迪诺·汉森（闪电游侠）：攻击8（25），防御8（24），咒力6（18），知识7（15）

Element: Air
Advanced Avenger Mark: Can mark up 3 enemy legions with a vengeance mark. For every 6 points of attack and defense a hero has, the damage of their commanded troops when launching a vengeance attack is increased (+5% natural elemental damage).

Advanced Swift Strike: Select a unit, the unit gains +3 speed, and for every 4 points of speed the commanding unit has, it gains +5% increased damage.

Advanced Guerrilla Logistics: Increases the hero's land movement ability by 30% and adds +1 speed after killing an enemy (maximum increase of 5).

Advanced Lightning Ranger: When commanding a bastion unit with a speed higher than 8, if the hero's attributes reach 20 points, the attack power will increase by (unit level * 2) and the defense power will increase by (unit level * 1 + 3).

Advanced Air Element Mastery, Advanced Pathfinding, Intermediate Defense

To be honest, Dino's bonus is quite high, making him especially suitable for high-speed units such as Silver Pegasus, Centaur, Unicorn, and Golden Dragon, all of which can directly benefit from the bonus. As for other units, they can also benefit from the Lightning Ranger's bonus after gaining Swiftness.

However, the Lightning Ranger only has a one-time threshold limit, unlike other heroes who have growth potential. Nevertheless, it is still a rare skill that enhances all types of units, and the higher the unit level, the stronger the attribute increase.

Normally, Dino could overwhelm his team in large-scale battles with his high-level Lightning Rangers, but now he's encountered Su Mu.

Isildur's generals were still shocked by the griffin's terrifying attribute bonuses. They never expected that someone could actually compete with Dino in both offense and defense, especially since the Lightning Ranger wore the Crown of the Oracle.

Fortunately, no heroes arrived in time for Kuraki, otherwise he would have laughed uncontrollably at the enemy's doubts. 20 attack and defense might be impressive against other heroes, but in front of the Duke, it's merely enough to qualify him to come forward and fight. Aside from his abnormal attributes, Kuraki's governing skills are the key.

With the added bonus of advanced defensive spells after taking power, the Griffin is both durable and capable of counterattacks, making it the sharpest shield.

Moreover, Su Mu also applied skills such as Protective Stone Skin and Protective Divine Shield, making them even more resistant to attacks.

The only thing he couldn't defeat was the Divine Golden Dragon. Faced with this terrifying level 7 unit, Su Mu could only use Titan's Arrow to deal with it.

If the golden dragons were close together, each Titan's Arrow could kill 3-4 divine golden dragons, a terrifying amount of damage. This made the golden dragons dare not be too arrogant on the front line, and they all folded their wings and retreated to the rear.

Although the Sky-Splitting Wings lasted only a few minutes, the battle, which was on the verge of defeat, was instantly turned around. The Gale Griffin stood atop the riverbank, preventing the ships from approaching. Moreover, the anti-aircraft mode created a windless zone, slowing down the Wind Breath wooden ships, which relied on air element enhancement, and exposing more weaknesses.

Without the harassment of the flying army, the Demon Hunter Crossbowmen regained the initiative and launched a barrage of attacks on the Windbringer warships and the Natural Wood Ships.

Despite having so many ships, Isildur was unable to break through the steel walls at the front, and his fighting was extremely frustrating.

"My lord, something terrible has happened! Scouts have spotted dozens of warships approaching from upstream. They seem to be Kuraki's reinforcements and are rapidly closing in. They should arrive in no more than half an hour!"

Upon hearing this news and looking at the situation on the battlefield, Dino punched the guardrail, creating a large hole.

Although he knew that even if Su Mu had arrived a little later, Yangjiao Town would have only suffered more losses and would not have been able to be breached, Kenway's defenses were very effective, and river warfare was something he was good at, so it was indeed a difficult battle.

But he was still somewhat unwilling. If Su Mu had received the news any later, and Yangjiao Town hadn't had so many demon-hunting troops, he would have been the sole recipient of this enormous credit.

After a few seconds of silence, reason prevailed. Since the surprise attack had been discovered, it meant that the other side was prepared. This battle needed to be planned carefully. He even suspected that Kenway's division of forces was just a bait. He had to warn Lloyd and the others, or else they would lose everything.

"Withdraw the air force, turn the Wind-breathing wooden boats and Nature's wooden boats around, and we're withdrawing!"

The generals exchanged glances, but ultimately decided to follow their commander's orders. Although some felt they could still fight and had the advantage, the prospect of Kuraki's reinforcements made the situation risky.

A person's name is like a tree's shadow; Su Mu's power to intimidate was immense, and seeing him today only deepened their fear.

This man was already a major threat to Isildur, but unfortunately, no one could easily target him anymore.

The only one with foresight was perhaps Ivo, the Storm Ranger, who saw Su Mu's potential. Unfortunately, he was defeated in the first battle and became the Duke's stepping stone. Now, the Duke has grown into a towering tree, unshakeable.

Once the Isildur air force has retreated, the demon hunter crossbowmen can more easily aim at the ships and shoot down the enemies.

The griffins soared into the sky and mercilessly slaughtered the drowning dogs in the river.

Su Mu didn't try to take credit for himself. Dino had a larger force, and he couldn't possibly defeat them with just his griffins. If they retreated to land and were surrounded by the enemy, the griffins would also be in trouble, since the golden dragons and unicorns were also very powerful.

It would be better to pursue and kill the enemy who fell into the water and expand the victory.

The situation on the battlefield became extremely strange, with hundreds of griffins chasing hundreds of warships, and Isildur was forced to flee in terror.

What's worse is that the magical east wind is still there, so the ships at the front that wanted to evacuate couldn't escape at all.

In the end, Dino had no choice but to abandon his tail and flee, hastily landing on land to escape.

(End of this chapter)