Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 446 The Knight Who Devours Flames

After Ivan breached the fortress, he headed south and soon reunited with Goode.

The mighty army of the strongest swordsmen and rock shield soldiers entered the valley, while some gale griffins patrolled in the air, and wind-eroded knights roamed the dream world on the outermost perimeter, making the entire defense line impenetrable.

"The Duke sent me a message: the hill crossing has been captured, and Dino has led his army north to join Lloyd. He told us not to go any further south, but to hold our ground here and wait for reinforcements!"

As an architect, Forrest rarely went on expeditions with his troops, but this time, the counterattack against the hills required a hero with high-level earth elemental proficiency to siege the city, so he came along as well.

Militarily, he rarely commanded; he merely cooperated with Ivan and Goode to sabotage the city.

Ivan also specially assigned a group of his strongest swordsmen to protect Forrest. He knew very well that as Kuraki's de facto second-in-command, he might be ranked after the Duchess now, but his importance was second to none, and his safety had to be guaranteed.

If this battle hadn't been so urgent, Forrest certainly wouldn't have gone to war. But since he was already there, he didn't interfere much and just followed Ivan's orders.

If it were the kingdom's military supervisor, regardless of ability, he would definitely try to make his presence felt. This isn't the case with Kuraki; everyone here knows him inside and out, has a broad perspective, and prioritizes ultimate victory above all else.

However, since Forrest is here, no matter who the general is, he has to give him face.

Ivan had originally intended to capture a few more fortresses to demonstrate his military might, but now he obeyed orders and withdrew all his troops to the valley to prepare for an enemy attack.

In fact, Ivan's provocation was very successful. The Hill Legion used the Eye of Atmosphere to see the devastation in the fortress and were filled with righteous indignation, so they rushed over to kill the enemy.

But Goode's cavalry was too strong, moving through the hills as if they were flat ground. Even a legion of several thousand men couldn't withstand their charge and were scattered and routed. This forced Lloyd to first gather his legions on the outskirts before launching a pincer attack.

Lloyd originally planned for several legions to advance simultaneously and converge in the valley, but they were defeated one by one instead, so he had to gather them together before attacking.

When Lloyd heard that Sumu had decisively defeated the hill crossing and was chasing Dino everywhere, he knew that he could no longer delay. Once Ivan and Sumu joined forces, the battle would be over.

Therefore, he gathered all the legions in the southern part of the hills, a total of more than 60,000 troops, and sent them all to this valley to besiege Ivan.

This time, the troops are not all low-level; there are a large number of silver Pegasus and Treants, and even some Unicorns.

As the personal guard of the Red Tree Tribe, they also received the promotion of dual-element baptism after building a large number of fortified cities on the Far Plains.

Looking out, a group of fiery trees moved forward through the rolling hills, taking root and burning continuously, as if trying to set the whole world ablaze.

【Fire Tree Mud Crown (Barrier Level 5 Tier 2 Unit, Fire/Earth Elemental Baptism): Attack 14, Defense 18, Damage 12-18, Health 100 (110), Speed ​​6, Huge Size.

Element: Fire/Earth (Units gain +30% resistance to fire/earth magic), attacks have a chance to inflict fire burns.

Muddy Roots: Enemies attacked or touched by the Fire Tree have a high chance of being entangled by the Fire Tree Roots and dragged underground, unable to move and continuously taking muddy damage (unless the Red Tree Warrior leaves the spot or is destroyed).

Treant Wall: When there are more than 10 Firetree Mudcannons within the area, it can unleash the Entangling Roots spell, granting +5 Defense and reducing physical attack damage by 6.

When the Red Tree Warrior undergoes a dual-element baptism, combining the two most compatible elements, it will be able to unleash extremely powerful effects.

【Intertwined Roots (Level 3 Special Magic): Creates a dense root system within a certain area, slowing down enemy movement (-4 speed) and blocking spatial magic and movement (teleportation and corresponding displacement will gradually become visible within this area; the larger the area, the greater the probability of visibility)】

When hundreds of fiery tree canopies connect together, their root systems stretch for kilometers, the entire land transforms into a nest of giant trees, making it difficult to move.

Furthermore, Lloyd cast a Fire Shield on the Firetree Mudcrown standing at the forefront, and he and the other high-fire heroes kept a close watch on the battlefield, releasing it immediately if it was dispelled.

Lloyd was clearly aware of the enemy's extraordinary destructive power, but the Fiery Shield was designed to counter powerful opponents. If necessary, they would trade lives. Kuraki only had a few thousand men in total. Even if they were all wiped out, as long as Dino arrived, it would still be a victory.

Upon seeing the fiery tree mud crowns surrounding the mountains and fields with the Fiery Shield, Ivan and the others frowned. Lloyd was cunning and shrewd, and a hero who started out in defense, so he certainly had a way to deal with it.

But do you really think this will keep them in check?
Goode sounded the horn, and the Wind Erosion Knight raised his lance, ready to charge. The Crimson Dream Beast has a 40% lifesteal bonus, and when combined with the Intermediate Horsemanship Mastership after becoming a ruler, which increases the warhorse's bonus by 80%, the Wind Erosion Knight has a 72% lifesteal bonus.

The Fiery Shield is indeed powerful, but it only has a 30% counterattack effect. Judging from the opponent's current state, they likely have a hero with the Fiery Shield specialization, but the Wind Erosion Knight is not afraid.

As the knights prepared for battle, Ivan waved his hands, simultaneously casting a fiery shield upon the strongest swordsman.

Fire shield? Ivan has never been afraid of anyone.

I didn't use it much before because the strongest swordsman was just too powerful; he could annihilate the opponent in his physical form alone.

Now that a war of attrition is about to begin, he'll have to show off his prowess as the Raging Flame Knight.

The two armies stood across the valley, eyeing each other menacingly. With a long horn blast, the horses began to gallop across the rooted earth. Since they couldn't use void-type skills, they would charge head-on. With Goode's speed, he wasn't afraid of the opponent's restrictions at all.

"Boom!"

The strongest spear clashed with the fiery tree city wall, and the battle on the hills entered its most intense moment!

……

While the battle raged on the front lines, there were also plenty of underhanded maneuvers behind the scenes.

The Arcane Empire deliberately dispatched a small gargoyle legion, intending to take advantage of the chaos to launch a surprise attack on the Northern Territory. However, Cloud Eye discovered them early on, and they were surrounded and annihilated by Sederlos' elite squad.

The Void Cult was still vying for control of the Void Ruins, but seeing that there were not many opportunities left, they gave up, since the war at the Barrier had little to do with the Arcane Empire.

To their dismay, the Cult of Wisdom, which had been suppressed some time ago, somehow obtained a large amount of magic potions, reversed its previous decline, and made great strides, gaining the upper hand in the recent battles.

This consumed a great deal of the Void God Cult's energy. They traced the transportation route and determined it originated from other countries, but even with strict blockades, it was ineffective. The cult's higher-ups then guessed that it was sent from the Northern Territory. They hadn't considered Silvertop City, after all, it was a newly built tower city. Could its research capabilities be stronger than those of cities over a hundred years old?
It is possible that other forces are using this passage to fund the Church of Wisdom, and therefore want to block the border.

But now, any attempt to make contact is met with resistance, and the matter is dropped.

Aside from the northern border, the ancient ruins were also stirring, but Liliana was stationed near Bearhold and intercepted a large number of undead legions, so things didn't go too wrong.

Even though the skeleton army was too large to be completely wiped out, it ensured the safety of the main city and prevented the undead from breaching the city and snowballing their attacks.

The most troublesome area is the hinterland. The bloody regime is escalating, and Gaunt, as the eldest prince, is inciting a rebellion that is becoming increasingly brutal, sweeping across almost the entire central and northern hinterland.

The kingdom's legion sent to quell the rebellion was initially able to hold its own, but as Gaunt grew stronger, it became increasingly difficult to defeat him, and even became his stepping stone.

Kuraki's cities in the hinterland gradually fell. After all, Kuraki had launched a counterattack and moved almost all of his troops away, so he could only guarantee that Langlit Castle had basic defenses.

At this point, Kuraki's weakness due to insufficient troops was fully exposed, but there was nothing that could be done. The officials of Langlit Castle tried their best to get the inland people to evacuate eastward as soon as possible.

Everything will have to wait until this battle is over.

But some seemed unwilling to wait. Rhodes, who appeared in the heart of the ancient ruins, led a large number of Nightmare Knights and, together with Katherine's skeleton army, secretly marched toward Longlet Castle.

Taking advantage of his weakness, Rhodes harbored a deep grudge from his previous defeat. He seized the opportunity while Sumu was at war with the fortress to launch a surprise attack on his city.

Do you really think that you can conquer the world by fighting with a few thousand soldiers all at once?

As for why they had such accurate information, it was naturally provided by Isildur. The world is developing too fast; even the Barriers are willing to cooperate with the undead. It can only be said that the pressure from Kuraki was too great.

Rhodes couldn't help but let out a cold laugh. When Su Mu returned after the battle, he would be greeted by a city of skeletons!
(End of this chapter)