Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 17: Alone and Alone!
This time the injury was really severe.

After Duncan and his group entered the forest, they abandoned their horses. He carried Severus on his back, Anya supported the weak Triss, and the four of them staggered to a huge oak tree to rest.

——Abandoned Druid Circle.

There is such a sign on the map from a God's perspective. There are no buildings nearby, but there is a circle of oak trees planted around it. Judging from the age of the trees, it is estimated that they are nearly a hundred years old.

Duncan took off his clothes, spread them on the ground, and helped Severus lie down.

Triss on the side struggled to stand up and instructed Duncan to use the herbs on the druid to treat his wounds again. Anya tore open her long skirt, made a bandage with the softer part of the lining, and then assisted Duncan in bandaging Severus for the second time.

"I'll go collect some dry wood."

Anya stood up and looked for fire starters nearby. Occasionally, she was scratched by thorns. This witch, who looked like a noble lady, immediately looked as if she was about to cry. It didn't seem like she was pretending. She was more than a hundred meters away from the crowd at this time. She almost cried simply because of the pain from being scratched by thorns.

A pampered Roman noblewoman, whose husband was once an imperial general.

Duncan secretly observed from a God's perspective.

When Anya came back, she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, held a bundle of dry firewood in her arms, half-covered it with her long skirt, and limped to the side of the oak tree.

She is really a two-star blank witch.

In the projection screen, Duncan was marked as 'tired', 'weak', and 'severely bruised'. His health bar had dropped by about two-fifths, and the upper limit of his stamina bar had been reduced by nearly one-third. Severus next to him was 'severely injured and dying', 'severe blood loss', and 'mildly disabled'. The Raven Queen - Triss was 'magic overdrawn', 'severely weak', 'mentally depressed', and 'slightly backlashed'.

Anya was the only one in good condition in the team. She was fine when she went there, but when she came back after collecting firewood, she had a "minor bruise".

The witch had mud on her forehead, perhaps because she had fallen hard when Duncan wasn't paying attention.

Duncan managed to give Severus some water.

He looked at Triss beside him and said in a deep voice, "We must first find a safe place to recuperate for a while."

"Otherwise Severus won't last long."

The Raven Queen, Triss, looked pale and said to Duncan, "You are the one who makes the decision now."

Duncan nodded.

He lit a bonfire in front of the three of them and placed Severus beside it, under the shade of a tree. He reached out and touched the druid's forehead. He found no fever, but severe blood loss. He then looked at the witch Anya, who was dazed and a little uneasy beside the bonfire, and said in a deep voice, "You stay and take care of them."

"I'll be back as soon as possible."

It was already dark by this time.

Hearing Duncan's words, Anya looked uneasy, as if she was a little worried that he would abandon everyone and escape alone. After turning her head to glance at the weak Triss, the witch gritted her teeth and nodded, "Okay."

This witch looks delicate and weak, but she is quite decisive when something really happens.

Duncan didn't explain further.

He turned to look at Triss and saw trust in her eyes.

He supported his tired body, picked up the Northern War Bow, put the Farlan Throwing Axe on his waist, then drew the Oathkeeper's longsword, looked up at the sky, and quickly disappeared into the dense woods.

Eleven arrows left.

Duncan's figure was moving forward on the rugged mountain path, and he would stop to rest for a while from time to time, because his physical strength recovery speed had slowed down significantly after his injury.

The weak state disappeared, but the fatigue state would continue for about ten hours.

Severus could not wait that long.

If it rains, Severus might start his banquet tomorrow.

"I can still shoot a bow."

"But I can't max it out. My stamina bar is a bit low."

Dimensional space.

Duncan stared at the projected image in front of him and expanded the map from a God's perspective. Soon, the logo of a building appeared on the map several miles away.

——Bandits in the mountain stronghold.

They lack food, clean water, and a place to rest.

It's more dangerous to go to other towns now.

"Severus must recuperate and receive further treatment, otherwise he won't last long."

From the moment Severus gave up his horse, he became Duncan's comrade-in-arms fighting side by side.

go!
Duncan moved towards the bandit stronghold ahead. He stopped nearby because he saw the mark of the bandit stronghold on the big map.

Until the moon rises.

He finally reached the edge of the mountain stronghold. It didn't look very big, just a very simple wooden stronghold surrounded by a small fence and a small cave inside. In the past few years, rebellions have been frequent in Gaul, and many rebels have become bandits and wandered the mountains.

Weapon Master (Sword): Your sword skills are so mastered that they feel like a part of your body. This greatly enhances your sword fighting skills.

After defeating the Priory Temple, a master-level branch appeared under Military Weapon Mastery.

Military weapons include most conventional melee weapons. The enemies faced in this battle are mainly good at swordsmanship, and the others should not have reached the master's standard. Only sword weapons have differentiated into a master-level combat skill.

——Throwing Mastery: You are proficient in using all throwing weapons. When using javelins and throwing axes, your hit rate is greatly improved.

Many Roman soldiers were trained in javelin throwing, while Frankish soldiers were skilled in throwing axes.

——Deflect Arrows [Special Ability]: An extremely advanced combat skill, a combat instinct formed by the body. You can use any weapon to deflect arrows, and try to deflect thrown weapons. The success rate depends on your comprehensive combat skills and your own physical fitness.

This is undoubtedly the power of the Priory Temple.

——Blood of the Holy Grail (Fake) [Special Ability]: Although it is not the real Holy Grail, the blood of the Holy Grail still gives mortals incredible power. Your physical fitness can break through the limits of ordinary people and gradually improve over time, while strengthening your comprehensive basic attributes.

Ok?
So, the Holy Grail that is rumored to be in the hands of the Priory is a fake?

It seems that King Arthur also searched for the Holy Grail.

The real Holy Grail is probably lost.

This should be the key to the Priory Temple's abnormal physical fitness. Even with adrenaline burst, Duncan could only barely withstand a few attacks.

——Combat Style - Raid: Launch a fatal blow to the enemy with astonishing speed and incredible explosive power. This is the combat skill of the Hidden Assault Assassin. There is no pattern. Grasp the fleeting opportunity and burst out all your strength at any time to launch a surprise attack on the enemy.

This combat style is closer to a charge and raid, with only one move and no defense. Once launched, the force cannot be retracted.

Fast, accurate and ruthless!

Focusing on the fundamental move "Stab," they excel at using short weapons. Life and death often hang in the balance, and success or failure can lead to being hacked to death by nearby enemies. (A relentless, sudden attack leaves no room for evasion.)
This is the combat skill of early assassins, and is usually only trained by death squads.

In the Middle Ages, there weren't that many fancy moves. Even during the Crusades, basic swordplay was still the most important thing in combat. The moves in martial arts novels were more suitable for single combat. If you dared to use those fancy moves against an army, you would be hacked to death in minutes.

When you fight alone, you don't have to defend against so many enemies, so you have more room to use various moves, but on the battlefield you only need the most basic stabbing, chopping, and slashing.

After this battle, all of Duncan's basic fighting moves turned blue, and the most core ones such as stabbing, chopping, and slashing were already dark blue. The basic stabbing move directly appeared with a light golden border.

The imperial army mostly defended with shields and stabbed with short swords, which were well-honed. Duncan stabbed casually at this moment, as fast as an afterimage, as if he had practiced this move for more than ten years.

This is basically muscle instinct.

"It seems that the later you get, the harder it is to improve your combat skills."

"But the basic moves will continue to improve little by little, and we don't know where the limit is yet."

Most weapons such as swords, knives, and axes share the same basic forms, and only long-handled spears and other weapons have additional exclusive basic forms. Duncan sometimes thinks about it and feels that all methods return to their origin, because these basic forms are the origin of all moves.

"If there's any flaw, it's that Western life-and-death combat doesn't have that many footwork techniques; it's more about improvisation."

Duncan made great progress in this battle.

Because the Raven Queen Triss didn't know whether it was intentional or not, those enemies were not completely killed and their heads were harvested by him.

He suspected that Triss had guessed that he was increasing his strength through killing.

Master-level fighting skills probably require mountains of corpses and seas of blood!

Bandits in the mountain stronghold.

Duncan marked the enemies one by one from a God's perspective.

—Saxon hunter.

—Gallic rebel marauders.

--robber.

——Frankish light infantry axeman.

The entire bandit stronghold consisted of twenty-seven people, a small group. Five of them were marked in blue, labeled as 'slave', 'farmer', and 'peasant woman'.

Three farmers were locked in a corner room.

The other bandits were scattered around the stronghold, and there were two or three patrolmen, but they were already drowsy.

The most dangerous target is the 'Fran Heavy Axeman' (Bandit Leader), a one-star unit in a room with a unit marked 'Slave'. In another room, a unit marked 'Peasant Woman' is in a room with three enemy units with extra marks, but they are not bandits.

Twenty-two enemies should be able to be dealt with.

It was dark.

Duncan moved closer bit by bit. He could see the positions of all the enemies through his God's perspective. The patrolling bandits were listless, cursing and turning their heads from time to time to look at the room where the 'peasant woman' and the 'slave' were.

call out!
Duncan shot an arrow, blowing the robber's head off. The robber fell to the ground, making a noise that attracted others.

Duncan didn't hesitate, drawing his bow and firing arrows continuously, hitting one by one, all of them were headshots. These bandits were basically unarmored, with only a few special units wearing leather armor or half-scale armor, but they were probably having fun at the moment and didn't notice the noise at all.

They probably didn't have the chance to wear armor.

Duncan climbed up the wooden frame and glanced at his stamina bar. If he hadn't been injured, it would have been easier for him.

——Flan Flying Axe.

A robber was attracted by the noise and was killed instantly as soon as he showed his head.

puff.

Fran's flying axe hit the enemy's forehead directly. Duncan walked forward slowly and pulled the flying axe out of the enemy's forehead.

The Fran throwing axe in his hand spun a circle, flew out into the air, and with a plop, it blew the head off again.

The six people who were patrolling outside the bandit stronghold and taking turns to keep watch were all ruthlessly killed!

Duncan drew his flying axe and glanced left and right.

Some of the bandits slept in caves, while those of higher status slept in wooden houses in the mountain stronghold.

There was a faint sound of a woman moaning in pain ahead.

Duncan's eyes were cold as he walked up quietly and knocked on the door gently. An impatient voice came from inside. A nearly naked Saxon hunter approached the door, opened it and was about to curse.

"I told you guys it's your turn in the second half of the night...you guys..."

puff!

Duncan split the enemy's head with an axe, and blood and brains spurted out.

Sonorous.

He rushed forward and drew his sword in an instant. The sword light was like an afterimage, and it chopped off an enemy's arm like cutting tofu. The enemy was about to take his weapon, but the next second he covered his broken arm and wailed. The remaining light of the sword pierced his neck. Duncan's figure moved forward and thrust forward. In the dim light, the last person had just picked up the hand axe when the blade of the Oathkeeper had already pierced through his heart and body.

The whole process takes only a few seconds.

At this time, the naked and bruised peasant woman lying on a mat made of rags let out a shrill scream.

The blood spurted out by the bandits covered her head and face.

There was a noise coming from the cabin next door.

From a God's perspective, the Fran heavy-armored axeman shuddered, climbed up from the slave's body, and hurriedly took his weapon and put on his breastplate.

Duncan came to the door and kicked it open.

The bandit leader went around the door and prepared to launch a sneak attack, but suddenly the female slave got up, took out a dagger from somewhere, and stabbed him directly in the neck.

Blood spilled.

After all, she was a slave girl without any combat experience. When the dagger stabbed her in the back, the bandit leader became furious and swung his battle axe, wanting to kill her.

——Flan Flying Axe.

Duncan rushed in and threw Fran's flying axe in the air, hitting the bandit leader in the head at close range. With a thud, the bandit leader's body fell to the ground.

inside the room.

The slave girl was covered in wounds and bruises, and she drew her dagger and looked at Duncan in silence, without any desire to attack. The blue mark turned into a green mark.

"Stay here."

Duncan picked up the Fran throwing axe from the enemy's forehead and took a God's perspective look at the direction of the cave.

He's acquired all the fighting skills along the way, so if he wants to play an Assassin's Creed, he can probably only cosplay the axe-wielding Assassin Berserker. His Flan Axe becomes more and more proficient with use, and the axe's fighting style is chopping, and he can split a person's skull with a single blow.

Among the Germanic barbarians, there are many high-level warriors who are skilled in using axes.

call out!
A sharp arrow flew through the air, and the bandit who had just appeared with a weapon in his hand fell to the ground instantly.

The bandits' equipment is very poor, at most they have a piece of leather armor, and most of them are unarmored.

One arrow, two arrows, three arrows.

At this time, Duncan seemed like a ruthless killing machine. Until all the arrows in his body were shot out, there was already a pile of corpses at the exit of the cave.

"He's out of arrows!"

"Just one person!"

There were loud shouts from the direction of the cave, and a Gallic rebel looter encouraged the other bandits to go ahead.

thump.

Fran's flying axe directly hit his head as he just emerged from the cave.

He even dared to stick his head out and speak.

Duncan's God's perspective allowed him to see everything clearly, even the positions of the robbers in the cave were clear to him.

He drew out the Oathkeeper, picked up a tattered round shield, and walked towards the cave step by step, leaving clear bloody footprints on the ground.

clang!
The round shield blocked the attack from the right, and the Oath Keeper turned into a flash of cold light and stabbed out. When the sharp sword was used to block the dagger coming from the left, the robber with the short axe finally realized it and covered his throat, blood spurting out, and he could no longer speak.

Blood sprayed on Duncan's body, and drops of blood flowed down the shield.

He swung the long sword in his hand, thrust forward and pierced the enemy's throat directly. The Oathkeeper drew his sword, turned around, moved a step, and struck with his shield, knocking an enemy who wanted to launch a sneak attack to the ground.

puff.

Duncan squatted slightly, held the sword with both hands, and stabbed down, the sharp blade piercing the enemy's heart.

"Devil! ... Demon! . . . "

The remaining bandits had collapsed. Some fought back desperately, some knelt down and begged for mercy, and some wanted to escape, but there was no way to escape.

——Combat Style: Decapitation!
A head flew up.

Blood gushed out like a fountain, making the bandits scream like girls. When they bullied and abused the peasants and slaves, they probably never imagined that this day would come.

One step and one kill!

The absolute combat skills suppressed the enemy, and the occasional enemy counterattacks were easily blocked by the shield.

The Priory Temple greatly improved his strength.

Duncan's figure moved forward step by step, with corpses all over the ground, and he killed all the enemies.

When he walked out of the cave, two shivering women were kneeling at the door. The entire village was littered with corpses. There were twenty-two bandits, and not a single one was left alive.

"Release those three farmers."

"Try to find a stretcher. All of you come with me."

Duncan pulled the arrow out of the corpse. He was now covered in blood, like a god of death walking out of hell. He picked up a tattered bandit coat from the cabin, put it on, and then rushed towards their destination with five shivering farmers.

The sky is bright.

A dim ray of morning light appeared in the distance.

"Who?!"

Anya, who had been on guard all night, was drowsy, but when she heard the noise, she immediately stood up and drew her sword.

Duncan's deep, hoarse voice rang out in the darkness: "It's me."

The Raven Queen, Triss, opened her eyes, a bright light appeared in her azure eyes as she stared at the man who slowly walked out of the darkness.

Although Duncan changed his clothes, the smell of blood on his body was so strong that it could not be dispelled.

He nodded slightly to the Raven Queen, Triss, and said in a hoarse voice, "I'm back."

No further words needed.

The Raven Queen, Triss, looked at the man in front of her with a breathtakingly beautiful smile, the light in her eyes like stars.

She had never doubted that Duncan would abandon them.

Three farmers and Duncan carefully carried the stretcher and carried Severus, who was unconscious and waking and sleeping, towards the village. The slave girl took the initiative to support the weak Triss, and when the peasant woman wanted to say something, Anya avoided her with a look of disgust, and looked at the peasant woman with an expression full of contempt.

Finally, the group returned to the village in the morning.

Triss looked at the corpses scattered all over the ground in the village and remained silent for a long time, only looking up from time to time at Duncan's back in front of her.

Anya's face was filled with shock.

Of course she knew that Duncan was very powerful, but she didn't expect that he could wipe out the entire bandit stronghold by himself despite being seriously injured.

The noble lady's eyes sparkled with brilliance. She glanced secretly at Triss, then turned her gaze to Duncan not far away, wondering what she was thinking.

Duncan was too tired.

After settling Severus in the warm wooden house, he was finally able to control the human body on the projection page to fall into a deep sleep.

In this battle, he tried his best and was exhausted.

………………

(End of this chapter)