Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 444 River Shifting Arrow Fortress
The fighting is still raging in the hilly areas, and the first results of the battle have not yet reached Sumu.

However, judging from Ivan's current marching progress, he has probably already broken through three fortified cities and is gathering at the rendezvous point.

Although Ivan is the commander-in-chief of this legion, Goode is the key to victory. With the Wind Erosion Knights and the Dream Navigation Technique, Lloyd may suffer a great loss.

However, this favorable opportunity only arose because the enemy was unprepared and unaware of the cavalry's skills. Once Lloyd sends his main force, a tough battle is likely to follow.

Moreover, the enemy's golden dragon army hasn't even entered the fray yet, and Dino's golden dragon numbers are far fewer than before, not to mention the new army that Dragon Cliff has been supporting for so long. It seems likely that Isildur has sent another powerful hero to specifically command level 7 troops, so we must be extremely cautious.

Therefore, we must quickly break through the riverbank defenses and rendezvous with Ivan and his men.

"Dino's garrison is in place, consisting of a large number of archetypes and elemental-baptized troops."

It seems Dino also wants to emulate Kenway, setting up layers of barriers along the riverbank to try and destroy their warships.

Su Mu looked at the sparse towers and the not-so-solid embankment defenses and couldn't help but laugh.

Does he really think he's a navigational hero? Is he even qualified to fight in naval battles?
The Barrier only has one ranged unit, and its shooting ability is only considered weak, especially when its opponent is the Orling, a hero with archery specialties such as Earthbow, Gold Elemental, and Arcane Prayer.

Su Mu directly ordered Ou Ling, who was standing next to him, to be ruthless.

"Don't let any enemy escape from the tower. If they do, I will hold you responsible!"

"Don't worry, Your Grace, as long as they're within range of the arrows, they won't be able to escape!"

As the Crystal Warship entered the river, the Gold Elementalist and the Arcane Prayer struck first, unleashing a barrage of golden arrows and spell cannonballs that rained down on the riverbank.

Oling possesses the Soul Archery and Glory Archer skills after taking power, and especially with the bonuses of high morale and high luck, arrows rain down wave after wave.

On the Crystal Warship, the Vengeful Spirit can be perfectly unleashed without taking up any space. A large number of spirits follow the ranged archers to deliver fatal blows.

The element of gold was used for the first time in a large-scale battle, and its power was astonishing.

Because its damage output fluctuates greatly, ranging from 15 to 30, it usually needs to be combined with Holy Spirit Blessing to reach its maximum effect. Now, with the bonus from Advanced Soul Arrow Technique, it can unleash its maximum damage, making it practically tailor-made for this purpose.

With the increased firepower and range of the Phantom Bow, a single golden arrow could destroy a tower. The great elf didn't even have time to retaliate before being crushed under the ruins.

Ordinary arrows do have some penetrating power, but they can only effectively target densely packed groups of people. Gold elements, however, are different. Their arrows are designed for piercing attacks, much like ballistae, and a single arrow can kill more than ten guards.

Some of the more powerful creatures were instantly turned to gold by the golden arrows, rendering them unable to move or cast spells, and were subsequently blasted to dust by the spell-powered cannonballs.

Before the Earth Bow could even be used, the enemy's guards on the shore were almost wiped out, and anyone who dared to show their face had no chance of survival.

Dino had hoped to use the towers along the coast to buy some time, but wherever the warships went, arrows pierced through them, making them invincible.

General Elton, who was standing next to the flagship Orling, was completely stunned.

"Is this still a human army?"

"This isn't archery, it's more like a mobile magic cannon. What's the point of firing if everyone has a cannonball?"

"No wonder Duke Kuraki is so confident. With such a powerful army, Isildur is nothing!"

They had just been quite worried, advising the Duke and Marshal to proceed cautiously and not to speed the warships too much, lest they fall into an enemy ambush.

Although everyone responded to the marshal's call, war is a matter of life and death, so we had to be cautious.

Seeing how violent the Gold Elementalist and the Mystic Prayer were, the generals immediately changed their tune, waving flags and shouting encouragement, even wishing they could rush to the front.

It's no wonder everyone changed their minds. While the warships led by Orling weren't fully equipped with level 6 units, their firepower overwhelmed the Great Elves at the ferry crossing. Despite the numerous fortifications along the shore, not to mention the gold elemental attacks that pierced through the towers, the Arcane Prayer's cannonballs seemed to have eyes, disappearing and reappearing to maximize their destructive power—it was simply monstrous. If one had to describe it, it was like a super-giant warship loaded with a hundred spell cannons arriving at a primitive village, exchanging fire with the locals armed with slingshots.

This is the difference in firepower between the two sides; they're not even from the same era.

The warships advanced with unstoppable momentum, quickly crossing the outer tower defenses and charging towards the central iron chain defenses.

Iron chains were forged by dwarven craftsmen to connect parts of warships and stone towers, creating mobile fortifications along the river, compensating for the shortcomings of the walls on ships, and allowing soldiers to move as if on flat ground.

The idea was good, but Su Mu refused to engage in hand-to-hand combat with them.

Previously, the biggest weakness of ranged archers was their mobility. Even if they weren't caught in close combat by the enemy's high-speed units, it was difficult for them to chase down fleeing enemies or cover a wider area.

If the archers are made to rush to a location and then fire, the enemy melee units will likely have vanished without a trace.

Now, the Crystal Warships perfectly compensate for their poor mobility. With unlimited movement of arrow fortresses along the river and supply vehicles available, the archers don't have to worry about running out of spell power ammo for the time being.

Of course, high-level units also consume a lot of resources, and low-level supply wagons can't replenish them as quickly. But Orling's troops are too powerful, basically killing with one hit, and they don't waste arrows at all, which makes them seem quite fierce.

Dino attempted to repeat his previous tactic, enhancing his high-speed units and unleashing a rapid acceleration buff across the entire army. However, Maggie had already set her sights on the enemy and unleashed her full exorcism spell to purify them.

With the buff from the intermediate water element, she can cast Dispel on any unit, friendly or enemy. It might not be as wide-ranging as a full-scale Swiftness, but wherever Orling points, she can cast it. Furthermore, with the enhancement of Arcane Runes, magic seems to be cast without restraint.

Tatiana was stunned by the dazzling magic that filled the sky.

She knew that this duchess was the lord of Longlet Castle and Su Mu's first superior. Originally, she thought that Su Mu's choice of Maggie, given his current status, was out of consideration for past feelings, and even stemmed from a male's unique desire for conquest.

After all, she's beautiful, wealthy, and a former superior—with so many accolades, she's certainly an option. But that's all. The current Duke has many better choices; in fact, as far as Tatiana knows, the Grand Duke of the Stag even wants to marry her off to Sumu.

Princesses, county princesses, even imperial princesses, and the holy witch of the Star Ring Tower—if he mentions it, it will absolutely come true.

Choosing Maggie can only be described as a bond forged through shared struggles.

But when Tatiana witnessed Maggie casting her spell, she realized how wrong she had been. This heroine was no less powerful than any general she had ever seen, her magical abilities surpassed those of almost everyone present, and her knowledge was vast and boundless.

How many spells have been cast since the start of the war? Ten, or twenty?
Maggie didn't even seem to be breathing; everything was calm and natural, as if eating and drinking were as easy as she could.

Who wouldn't want to recruit such a magician?
It can only be said that none of Kuraki's heroes are weak. This makes one wonder, how did Su Mu manage to do it?
With the combined efforts of Orling and Maggie, the battle became one-sided. The ranged units of the fortress could only lay foes for slaughter. Even if they managed to fire a few arrows that barely reached the ships, they were neutralized by the defensive array of the atmospheric shield and the crystal ships.

Only then did the generals realize that the Gale Griffin was actually the weakest link in the chain. Now, with just a slight increase in intensity, Dino's army was utterly routed.

In fact, Dino had originally planned to send the flying legion to restrict the ships in the river, but when he saw this opening, he didn't think twice and withdrew with the troops behind him.

This time, they made no attempt to stop them and directly joined up with the Lloyd Legion in the hills.

He could clearly see that without a large number of high-level troops to withstand the attack, the tens of thousands below were just targets for Kuraki's ranged attacks. And this was only with the Gold Elementals and Arcane Prayers taking action; once a large number of Earth Bows were unleashed, the situation would only worsen.

If we lose Isildur's fresh troops, even if the dragon knights arrive and join Lloyd, they will be completely powerless to fight.

The best course of action now is to quickly regroup, assemble the legions, and wipe out the enemy's branch forces in one fell swoop.

Thus ended the battle at the hill crossing, with Dino abandoning thousands of corpses and fleeing once more. Pursued by the Storm Griffins, he suffered further losses of ground troops.

He wasn't planning to clash with Kuraki before meeting up with Lloyd!
Even in later river and sea battles, he would run away whenever he saw Ouling. This kind of mobile arrow fortress is too abnormal!

(End of this chapter)