Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 23: The Middle Ages - Barbarian Invasion!

(Three thousand readers, I'll add more chapters to celebrate.)
The waves are rolling.

Duncan climbed up the mast and looked out, and saw the Saxon warships in the distance. They looked a bit like the Vikings' dragon-headed warships, and were fish-scale wooden hulled ships, but they were not very large, about twenty meters long and about five meters wide.

The most advanced warship of this era was the Imperial Navy's five-row battleship, which was nearly fifty meters long and five meters wide, and could accommodate three hundred rowers at a time.

During the heyday of polytheism, when the worship of the sea god still existed, the Empire once built the Sky Raven, but it was long since scrapped, and no one later built such large warships. Due to its inherent geographical advantages, the Italian peninsula was relatively advanced in the naval technology tree, and it conquered Egypt as early as BC. (The Mediterranean's shipbuilding technology was first-rate.)
"We should be near Dover now."

The narrowest part of this strait is only about 30 kilometers. If Duncan traveled alone, he felt that with his current physical fitness, he could swim across.

"They are coming after us." a sailor exclaimed.

Among the many Germanic barbarian tribes, the Franks and Saxons are currently the most powerful. The Saxon pirates, in particular, are notorious for their brutality during their nearly century-long invasions. They are roughly equivalent to the early Vikings, and at their peak, they were not much different from the Vikings. Their primary deities were Odin and Thor.

Duncan, with a serious expression, descended from the mast and reached out to test the wind direction.

Because of the strong wind on the sea, the aiming crosshairs in the God's perspective will shake, and even the correction of combat skills has been weakened a lot.

The naval battles of this era were relatively primitive, and the final encounter would probably be a boarding battle.

There are too few people.

These sailors were no match for the Saxon pirates.

Duncan was not very confident, mainly because he was worried about the safety of the witches.

Their melee combat is really weak.

At this moment, the Raven Queen, Triss, came over. She stared at Duncan and asked, "Are you sure?"

Duncan's expression was serious, and he hesitated as he said, "There are too few guards. I don't think these sailors are their match."

— Saxon Corsair (High Morale) (Born Sailors).

The Raven Queen, Triss, nodded slightly and said, "Then leave it to me."

After saying this, the Raven Queen Triss turned her head to look at the Saxon pirate ship from afar, walked to a hidden corner of the deck, knelt on one knee and made a prayer gesture, and it was unknown whether she was preparing a spell.

The magic in this world is extremely restricted.

"The wind is in our favor!"

"They can't catch up with us."

The sailors on the deck were very excited. Some of them praised the sea god loudly. The wind direction on the sea changed slightly. At this rate, they could slowly shake off the enemy and no longer worry about being caught up by the pirate ship.

Can you still control the wind direction?
Duncan looked at the Raven Queen, Triss, who stood up, and felt that this woman was so reliable that it made him feel at ease.

Subconsciously, he turned his head to look at Anya who looked nervous behind him.

Two-star whiteboard.

Compared with the Raven Queen Triss, Duncan had never seen Anya perform any powerful supernatural methods. She did not seem like a real witch, but more like an exquisite daily necessity.

But she is indeed rich.

She was born into an old Roman aristocracy and was a noble lady in the upper class of the empire. She owned her own fleet and her purse was full of gold.

Anya is a believer in the Mystic Cult of Aphrodite, an offshoot of Venus, the goddess of beauty. After integrating with Greek beliefs, it specializes in the sexual and lust aspects of Aphrodite. Her supernatural abilities, presumably limited to various means of seducing and pleasing men, were tragically destroyed by three lashes from Triss, the Raven Queen.

(Ania was so frightened that she never dared to use any enchantment magic again. It was probably the same as a spell to charm a human.)
When she was in the mountain folk camp, Anya had many plans, but in the end, she herself became a part of the PLAY that warmed the relationship between Duncan and the Raven Queen - Triss.

But she is not a person who is really content with what she has. Just because she is well behaved now does not mean that she will not cause trouble in the future.

The true era of civilization on the British Isles was brought about by the Roman Empire.

The Empire established the province of Britain here and began urbanizing the plains, building towns like Londinium, Epolak, and Londinium. There were no true metropolises here, mostly small and medium-sized settlements, with Londinium being the future London. (From now on, it will simply be referred to as London; most cities will use modern names for convenience.)
Around 407-410 AD, the last Roman legion withdrew, the British province was abandoned, London began to decline, and many residents moved away, but were soon replaced by Celtic residents, and it once again became a large town with a population of over .

Duncan and his party's original destination was Londinium, but it had been occupied by the Saxons and the surrounding areas were war zones.

After the Roman Empire's legions withdrew, the British Isles entered the Age of Kings.

Finally landed.

After setting foot on the coastline of the British Isles, Duncan finally relaxed a little. Personal strength is greatly limited in naval battles.

He is not Beowulf, who can hunt sea monsters in the sea and exchange body fluids with the sirens and sea spirits in the sea.

Even if the power of the Holy Grail Blood takes effect, Duncan is currently only half Beowulf.

After most of his combat skills have been improved to proficiency, his strength has reached a bottleneck, and he may need to hunt supernatural monsters to gain more special abilities.

In terms of pure combat skills, the threshold for master-level combat skills is very high, and he doesn't know if there are any higher levels, but he has not yet fought against enemies of that level.

Ok.

It must be mentioned that in this era, Beowulf had not yet been born. His active period was very close to that of King Arthur, but a few years later than King Arthur.

"Are we going directly to the Kingdom of Camelot?" Anya whispered.

Camelot is the legendary kingdom of King Arthur, with its impenetrable castle.

In this medieval world, it was initially subject to the Roman Empire, and regained its independence after the withdrawal of the imperial legions. Its geographical location was in the southeast of the British Isles, roughly covering the area from Hampshire to Wales.

Because of its geographical advantages, the Kingdom of Camelot resisted the attacks of the Saxons, but was often harassed by Saxon pirates.

The current ruler of Camelot is King Uther, Arthur's father.

He had carried out a witch massacre in the country, so Camelot was a sacred place that could not be invaded by evil magic, and it was one of the faith areas where the Church had taken root. (The Church in Britain was very different from that in Europe. It was highly autonomous and was an early church monastic order with different rituals. It was said to have originated during the missionary period of St. Paul. The witcher's pseudonym was George Paul.)
As for Merlin, it's rumored that he was a baptized wizard. The distinction between wizards and sorcerers likely emerged during this period, with wizards generally being referred to as those who practiced evil magic. (After the Middle Ages, male wizards received a certain degree of preferential treatment, becoming sorcerers, and all sorts of stigma was thrown at female witches, a development related to the status of women at the time.)
Merlin is a centrist supernatural being.

Duncan actually didn't quite trust him, but he couldn't avoid this powerful wizard if he wanted to gain a foothold in the British Isles.

"Something's happening!" Severus said in a deep voice.

Duncan had already entered the God's perspective at this time. After hearing Severus' reminder, he immediately expanded the strategic map and soon made a discovery.

But what surprised him even more was that Severus's mark changed after entering the British Isles.

——Severus (two-star silver-gray) (Druid) (mildly disabled) [friendly unit].

Upgraded.

There was no sign at all.

Before crossing the sea, Severus, who was still a two-star blank and slightly disabled unit, suddenly became a two-star silver-gray elite unit.

"Has his spellcasting ability been restored?"

This was the first thought that came to Duncan's mind. Otherwise, there was no way to explain the sudden surge in strength of the mildly disabled Severus. Britain was probably still a Celtic faith area. After entering Britain, Severus underwent some invisible changes.

"Because the British Isles still have Druid beliefs, Severus has regained some of his spellcasting abilities?"

Something even more surprising happened.

Severus approached a woodland in front, and then amid his strange shouts, a stag actually ran out.

The stag was very afraid of people, but not of Severus.

He approached the stag alone, signaled others not to get close, and then whispered something as if he was talking to the stag.

Animal Talk?!
Druid's supernatural powers?
Duncan was now more and more certain that Severus had regained his ability to cast spells. He still didn't quite understand the supernatural powers of this world, but the last time the Raven Queen Triss went berserk, she also used an ancient sacrificial stone from the ancient Roman era.

Their supernatural abilities fluctuate and are quite unstable.

In the team, only Anya has maintained a two-star blank level, operating stably with a low level of ability close to that of an ordinary lady.

"There's a war going on upriver."

Severus returned soon, and the stag disappeared into the woods.

He looked at Duncan and said, "There's a body floating down in the river. It's not very far from where we are."

In fact, Duncan already knew.

After expanding the strategic map from a God's perspective, he could already see an area of fighting, but because it was a bit far away, it was not very clear, and the two camps in the melee were in a mess.

Triss, the Raven Queen, turned to look at Duncan and whispered, "Do you want to go take a look?"

At present, the Saxon invasion has seized a large area of land. London has not fallen yet, but it is also on the front line of the war.

Another force that resisted the Saxon invasion was the Kingdom of Camelot.

London was the last bit of Roman power here. After the withdrawal of the imperial legions, those who accepted the cultural transformation spontaneously formed the 'British Legion' to protect their homeland. Their training standards were very close to those of the imperial field army, but their equipment was still far behind.

In addition, when the fighting was going on in the early years, the London area also formed a naval garrison corps, which was a militia force and its equipment was slightly worse than that of the Imperial Border Garrison.

Back then it was still possible to defend the coastline, but now the Saxon pirates have made a direct advance.

Triss, the Raven Queen, should have guessed that Duncan increased his strength through killing and fighting, because she occasionally mentioned the Spartans and told Duncan that the Spartans were destroyed in the killing.

An era where humans and gods coexist.

The Spartans of Greece believed in the god of war - Ares. They were a true fighting nation. Many of their warriors would rapidly transform in the bloodshed of war and grow into the best soldiers.

With the fall of Sparta, the worship of Ares, the god of war, was severely damaged. Athena, the goddess of victory, rose to prominence, becoming the primary deity of war. Wars subsequently became more reliant on wisdom and strategy, and Spartan traditions became a thing of the past. (The twelve gods of ancient Greece were worshipped over time. As the groups they served faded, their worship became less frequent, until only the title of a deity remained.)
After the rise of the Roman Empire, the belief in Athena gradually merged with that of Minerva.

Around 43 BC, after the Roman legions invaded and ruled Britain, the Romans built many saunas and large swimming baths in Bath. The Romans believed that this place was a sacred place of springs and the goddess of wisdom Minerva.

(The empire had a highly developed bathing culture, with arenas and public baths being an integral part of the early empire. The Romans were very clean, unlike the medieval period, when people didn't bathe.)
Minerva's priesthood of war is unclear, but several of her temples were directly converted from training grounds.

This is a tradition inherited from ancient Greek culture, as the Great Temple of Artemis was also a training ground for excellent archers.

"Does she have any misunderstandings about me and the Spartans?"

The Raven Queen, Triss, probably believed that Duncan possessed the power of the god of war or warfare, or perhaps the special abilities of the Spartans, allowing him to rapidly improve himself through combat and killing.

Duncan didn't know how to explain it, so he just accepted it.

He looked at the strategic map, pondered for a moment and said, "Let's go take a look and find some horses."

"Try not to get involved in their wars."

There are only five of them in their group. Duncan is in full health, Severus has been upgraded to an elite unit but is slightly disabled, and the Raven Queen - Triss has extremely strong burst, but the preparation time is too long and she needs the blessing of relics from the old times.

The witch - Anya is like the slave girl rescued from the bandit stronghold, basically equivalent to half a combat unit.

Her two-star blank strength is nothing but water.

"Five people can only be considered three combat units."

Duncan did not dare to act recklessly. He moved closer along the strategic map and discovered an army fighting on the plains in the distance.

——Saxon pirates.

——Saxon Elite Plunderer (one star).

——Saxon spearmen.

——Saxon Elite Axeman [Thor's Blessing] (one-star silver-gray).

—Saxon hunter.

——Germanic priesthood.

It was the first time that Duncan saw the organization of non-combat units on the battlefield. They seemed to be encouraging the Saxon warriors around them. They were dressed very similarly to the priests in the polytheistic Nordic region. There were both men and women, and they were very small, with only about ten people. They would also bless the Saxon warriors.

They can motivate barbarian troops to a 'high morale' state.

"It's a bit like the Crusades in the Middle Ages, when church priests went with the army."

"Are they a paranormal unit?"

Duncan was quite curious because he had not yet opened his mana bar. The Raven Queen, Triss, had said that many wizards and priests did not have the ability to cast spells, and only a very few could perform some simple witchcraft.

——Barbarian Chieftain Guard (one star).

——Saxon Noble Knight (one star silver-gray).

On the strategic map from a God's perspective, the composition of the Saxon army is quite complex, with all kinds of combat units. They also have a cavalry unit, and the chief guards guard the generals on both sides. The Saxon noble knights are well-equipped and can be regarded as real heavy cavalry.

Fortunately, their number is small, only thirty or forty people.

Opposing them were the native peoples of the British Isles, some of whose troops were very close to the Imperial Legions.

——British Legion (low-level field army).

——Sea Garrison Corps (low-level border garrison).

—Sarmatian auxiliary rider.

——Raguel Heavy Cavalry (one star).

—British Monastic Order.

The most eye-catching of them is a heavy cavalry unit composed of knights, marked as "Duke Dingtagir's Knight Guard". All of them are one-star units, including elite knights, who are well-equipped and all wear full-body scale armor. Their war horses are also armored, similar to the armored cavalry.

There were probably more than ten of them, mixed with some armored riders and a small number of light cavalry.

"and many more!"

Duncan tried hard to recall, and as if he remembered something, he murmured, "Duke Dintagill?"

"Did the legend say that King Uther slept with Duke Dintagir's wife?"

"And then King Arthur was born?"

If Duncan's memory is correct, King Uther took advantage of Duke Tintagel's absence and asked the magician Merlin to transform himself into Duke Tintagel's appearance. Then he sneaked into the castle and spent the night with the Duke's wife, who eventually became pregnant with King Arthur.

Not now, right?

Duke Dintagir was on the front line resisting the invaders, and King Uther took the opportunity to sleep with his wife. Later, Duke Dintagir died, and his wife married King Uther.

From then on, the power of the Kingdom of Camelot was completely concentrated in the hands of King Uther.

"So is King Uther sleeping with his wife now?"

Duncan observed the battlefield and found that the British army was in a very bad situation. The Canti, who served as an auxiliary legion, were about to be defeated.

This is a relatively primitive tribal people.

The Kanti still practice group marriage, whereby different tribes each select a group of young men and women, for example, ten men marrying ten women. These men can freely choose which women to marry, and a woman can also have sex with any of the ten men. (This is to prevent population outflow.)

The British Isles slowly transformed their cultural traditions after being conquered by the empire.

However, in some remote areas, there are still very primitive tribes, even cannibals, and even the more ancient tradition of "mixed marriage". There were still many wild men in the early days of the British Isles.

Many things about Britain were recorded during the Caesar era, and the Romans spent the next few hundred years trying to change the traditions of the primitive tribes.

As a result, group marriage gradually decreased.

"Have you mobilized all the auxiliary troops of the indigenous tribes?"

They had the advantage in numbers, but were poorly equipped and had low morale.

From Duncan's strategic perspective, the three auxiliary corps of the indigenous people were easily defeated. They probably couldn't even beat the young army of the ancient Roman era. They were hacked to pieces by a team of axemen of the Saxon barbarians. The large-scale rout even impacted the center of the army, causing the British army to fall into a state of "chaos".

There are too many miscellaneous soldiers.

Without a strong main combat force, the defeat of the miscellaneous troops would immediately trigger a chain reaction.

"Is this Duke Dintagir going to die?!"

As the center of the formation was thrown into chaos by the fleeing soldiers, the Saxon chieftain's guards and noble knights also began to move, targeting Duke Dintagir's guards.

The British army would probably be defeated before Duncan and others could even arrive.

Beat up!

This is really a beating.

Because the era was very close to the Five Barbarians Invasion of China, the barbarians around the empire were also very fierce in combat.

However, the Five Barbarians' Invasion of Asia should have ended for some time, and the barbarian invasion of the empire has just entered its climax. There will be hundreds of years of barbarian fighting in the future.

"The Saxons' advantage is too obvious."

"If there hadn't been King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, a knightly army close to the Middle Ages, I'm afraid the British Isles would have fallen even faster."

The Knights of the Round Table can be regarded as a heavily armored elite knight group of hundreds of people.

In this era, once you send out an army, it is like throwing the dice, which directly determines the outcome of the entire local battlefield.

According to legend, Duke Dintagir was destined to die.

If he had not died, King Arthur's mother would not have been able to marry King Uther legally.

Duncan had anticipated a rout.

suddenly.

He seemed to have seen something, and was startled. He muttered, "What the hell is that?"

—Valkyrie (3-Star Gold) (Valkyrie) [Neutral Unit]?!

A vague female figure invisible to the naked eye appeared above the battlefield. She seemed to be waiting for something. Under the bird-wing-shaped silver helmet, her eyes were staring at the Germanic barbarian warriors on the battlefield, as if waiting for the moment when they would die on the battlefield.

The ancient Greek pantheon collapsed, and the ancient Roman pantheon collapsed.

Under the polytheistic belief system.

The last faction of the Western pantheon, Scandinavia, the Nordic pantheon officially debuts!
This was the last polytheistic camp that resisted stubbornly and was also the core of the Germanic mythology system. It persisted until a thousand years later before being completely destroyed by the church!

——The Middle Ages-Barbarian invasion!

Against the backdrop of the collapse of the empire, in addition to the enormous pressure from the Hun Empire, many Germanic barbarian tribes also followed the guidance of the unknown and began a large-scale invasion of the [fully Christianized] Roman Empire.

Thus, the Middle Ages ushered in a grand era that lasted for hundreds of years!
Secular monarchy, the faith of the people, polytheism and monotheism, the last polytheistic camp - the Norse pantheon, the prophecy of Ragnarok, with the barbarian invasion as the prologue, opened the final battle of the pantheons!

The war ended hundreds of years later, and the Norse pantheon was basically destroyed.

………………

(Abridged version, omitting background details.)
[PS: Writing about a different world in a gaming world, with a more fantasy-oriented style, is really like a wanderer leaving home, stumbling upon many things, getting bloodied, and finally returning to the place where his dreams first set sail. This makes writing about it much easier and more casual.]

[Finally, I remembered a line from a video I watched: In the name of God, flatten Europe!]

(End of this chapter)