Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 160 Indictment of the Senate
"grown ups!"

"Mount!"

After leading his men out of the encirclement, Kurlin dismounted without hesitation and gave his mount to Duncan.

But Duncan calmly replied, "No need."

After saying that, he began to accelerate and run at a speed that was no less than that of a galloping warhorse. Behind him, Krillin and the others quickly followed.

A bit of cold light arrived first, and then the gun came out like a dragon.

Duncan dragged his spear along, facing the charging enemy head-on. His spear pierced the enemy's chest, and he swung it across the corpse, knocking back several riders in front of him. At the same time, in the howling wind, a warhorse's limbs were completely severed. With the crisp sound of bones breaking, the enemy riders charging from the front fell to the ground.

At that moment, Duncan grabbed a frightened warhorse with one hand, clamped it between his arms, and used brute force to immobilize the horse, rendering it unable to move. The horse's front hooves even knelt down.

Once the frightened warhorse had regained its footing, he gripped the reins and mounted it.

This scene.

Not only were Queen Lysinia and her two daughters stunned in the distance, but even the Imperial Guard cavalry that caught up were filled with utter horror.

“It’s Governor Duncan of Great Britain!…” someone murmured.

all the time.

There are many legends about the British governor Duncan on the Italian peninsula. Legend has it that he killed hundreds of people at the Battle of the Chalons and routed the elite Hunnic army. Legend also has it that he had the strength of a giant and even fought sea serpents and sea monsters with his bare hands.

However, legends are always exaggerated. While they believed the Governor-General of Britain possessed incredible martial prowess—after all, he was capable of slaying Attila the Scourge of God—the claim of killing over a hundred people in a single battle was still a bit far-fetched. In European legends, aside from figures from the mythological era, almost no one could achieve a hundred-man kill.

But what they saw today made them realize that the rumors were a bit too conservative!
This is the only living myth in the world today.

Duncan mounted his horse and, with Kurlin and a dozen others, charged head-on into the hundreds of cavalrymen before him. The exact number was unclear, but there were definitely five or six hundred riders.

A loud shout!
The cavalrymen blocking Duncan's path trembled with fear, some even losing their horses in panic, which seemed to be out of control.

A faint aura of power, seemingly present yet not quite, caused the warhorse to tremble slightly and instilled fear in the enemy.

The warhorse seemed to have encountered something terrifying.

boom!
In the instant the cavalry clashed, one enemy after another fell from their horses in front of Duncan. He was virtually unstoppable wherever he went, and in the eyes of everyone, he slaughtered his way through the enemy ranks. By the time Cullin and the others followed Duncan and turned their horses around, only one of the dozen or so riders behind him had fallen from his horse, while dozens of Imperial Guard cavalrymen had already been killed in battle.

At this moment, Queen Lysinia, who was standing on the opposite bank of the river, even doubted that she could kill all the hundreds of cavalrymen by herself without needing anyone else!

too frightening.

She had seen many brave and skilled generals, but she had never seen anyone with such exaggerated martial prowess.

At that moment, the only thing they could think of were the heroic figures in myths and legends.

The morale of the Imperial Guard cavalry was already crumbling. They looked at the man as if he were a legendary hero descended from a myth. In the first exchange, Cullin and his men only killed a dozen or so men; the rest were taken down one by one by Duncan with a single shot. If it weren't for the group of wounded infantry he was carrying, one might have suspected that he had no intention of stopping.

More than ten riders regrouped and charged again.

Duncan's gaze was icy, utterly fearless. These Imperial Guard cavalrymen had no star markings, and many of them had probably never been on the battlefield in their lives. He might have been slightly more wary of the Visigothic feudal knights, since during the Battle of the Saron, many of the Visigothic heavy cavalry had extra markings, and there were even elite units with two-star silver-gray ranks.

But Duncan charged into these honor guards who had never even been on the battlefield without a second thought.

dusty.

The battlefield was a scene of chaos and destruction.

By the time Duncan launched his second charge, some of the enemy had already begun to flee in panic. Hundreds of cavalrymen were torn in two, like waves parting on their own, as a blazing iron rod pierced through their formation.

A thousand troops would give way to one person!
Duncan locked onto a two-star vanilla unit marked with a commander, thrusting his spear to knock the enemy off his horse. He then rallied the others behind him and launched a third charge. By this time, the Imperial Guard cavalry's formation was in complete disarray.

By this time, the men left behind to cover the rear had already charged back and forth three times, but they were getting easier and easier as the enemy began to flee in large numbers.

Duncan single-handedly routed hundreds of cavalrymen!

The battlefield was filled with the mournful cries of warhorses. Three charges had killed one or two hundred men, and the remaining enemies had no courage to fight back.

"Cross the river!"

Duncan flicked his spear, wiping away the blood, and looked at the excited Curry and the others beside him, saying, "Let's go."

I'll take you back.

Duncan didn't pursue them; it would be too much trouble for light cavalry to catch up.

As they crossed the river.

The sound of galloping hooves echoed in the distance, followed by a mighty force of nearly a thousand cavalrymen appearing in sight. It turned out that Duncan had sensed something was wrong through the strategic map and had led his most elite general's guard on a rapid march, arriving at the battlefield at the last minute.

Of the thousands of elite cavalry, only about a dozen could keep up with him; they were all Sarmatians with exceptional horsemanship, including one Hunnic rider.

A black dragon flag fluttered in the wind.

Queen Lysinia looked at Duncan approaching on horseback not far away, her expression still one of shock, but she reached out and tugged at her two daughters behind her, bowing her head to greet them, "Your Excellency the Governor of Britain!"

Although she was the empress, she was able to discern the situation clearly at this moment.

Duncan slightly pulled on the reins and turned his horse around to avoid the Queen's greeting. This unintentional action calmed the mother and her two daughters, who seemed to realize that the legendary Governor of Britain was not as arrogant and domineering as rumored.

A gentle breeze carried the smell of blood.

Duncan looked the mother and her two daughters up and down, his gaze settling on Queen Lycinia. He said calmly, "The Queen and the Princess have been frightened."

"We will now escort you to Paris."

Queen Lysinia looked as if she wanted to say something but ultimately swallowed her words.

Given the current situation, it would be fortunate if the mother and her two daughters could escape alive; falling into Maximus's hands would only make things worse.

Maximus would soon launch a massive purge of the palace. Having dared to murder Valentinian III, he would naturally dare to immediately usurp the throne, eliminating all remnants of the previous dynasty. Historically, after being forcibly taken as a concubine, Queen Lysinia was forced to serve her husband's killer, and her daughter was also forcibly taken by Maximus's son. Ultimately, this drove her to madness, leading her to seek help from the even more ferocious and barbaric Vandals, resulting in a two-week massacre of the entire city of Rome.

From this perspective, Queen Lycinia is quite ruthless. If the Eastern Empire doesn't intervene, she dares to ask the barbarian army to take revenge.

However, one woman could not influence the overall situation. In the end, the mother and her two daughters were all captured by the Vandals. It was not until much later that they were ransomed by the Eastern Empire, and eventually, the mother and her two daughters gradually disappeared from public view.

In this chaotic world, Roman noblewomen were worthless; under the army's butcher's knife, they were nothing more than lambs to be slaughtered.

Now that Maximus no longer has his queen and three princesses, he has inherently lost some of his legitimacy. Although forcibly taking the queen is illegitimate, it still creates some connection, and historically, his son also forcibly took a princess as a concubine, providing double insurance. But even if Maximus were to forcibly usurp the throne now, he would merely be a puppet emperor without any legitimate claim.

More importantly, historically, there is no clear evidence that he murdered Valentinian III, but now if the queen and princess come forward to testify, Maximus will be a true 'regicide' and 'usurper'.

Paris.

Under Duncan's escort, Queen Lysinia and her two princesses arrived in loyal Paris.

Paris has remained loyal ever since Duncan conquered the Franks.

Outside the Governor's residence.

Rarely, Queen Triss and Anya were both dressed in their finest attire to greet the three exiled queens and princesses. Triss wore a black Greco-Roman gown, adorned with an exquisite gemstone necklace, her long, slender neck and solemn expression resembling an elegant black crane. Beside her, Anya, on the other hand, was like a beautiful peacock in full bloom, flaunting her stunning beauty. Her luxurious silk gown and expensive jewelry completely overshadowed the queen and the two princesses.

Queen Lysinia narrowed her eyes slightly, staring at Raven Queen Triss and Anya before her, as if she had sensed something.

The two women rose to greet them as if they were the mistresses of the house. Anya had met the queen and the princess before, though she was just a nobody in the empire back then. Now she took the initiative to step forward and intimately took the queen's hand, comforting her while leading them into the lord's mansion that had been prepared in advance.

This posture is somewhat like a declaration of sovereignty.

Anya's eyes held an unyielding ambition. From the very beginning, she had followed Duncan, risking almost everything, her entire fortune and life. When Raven Queen Triss tried to surpass her, Anya accepted it without complaint or daring to resist, even if it meant being at the bottom. But for anyone else to surpass her was simply out of the question.

dream!

Let's say that.

If Duncan were to one day ascend the throne and drive his chariot through the Arch of Triumph in Rome, then the seats on either side of his chariot would only be occupied by Queen Raven-Triss and Anya; no other woman could even dream of sitting there.

What are empresses and princesses anyway?
He's just a tool.

Duncan was naturally aware of Raven Queen Triss and Anya's thoughts, but he acquiesced to it all, after all, some people cannot be compared. He had relied on the full support of Raven Queen and Anya to rise to power, and he could not allow beauty to shake their positions.

Everything we're doing right now is for others to see.

Although Anya was unable to bear children, her position remained unshakable. If one day the witch were to become pregnant, her offspring would certainly have a higher right of inheritance.

After settling Queen Lysinia and the two princesses in, Duncan hurriedly left.

The current situation of the Visigothic Kingdom is unclear, and Duncan's full attention is on military matters. Torsmond is his biggest rival in Western Europe at present. The Visigothic Kingdom occupies most of the land in Spain and a large part of Gaul. Its overall national strength is very strong, much better than the barren Kingdom of Britain.

Historically, the Frankish tribes were able to defeat the Visigothic Kingdom by allying with the imperial army; Europe has a long tradition of forming alliances to confront powerful enemies.

The Visigothic Kingdom, if it mobilized all its forces, could muster at least 70,000 to 80,000 troops. Furthermore, Orléans is very close to Île-de-France; their forces are practically pointing directly at the city walls, the two places being only a neighboring county town apart. Duncan's decision to lead elite cavalry to meet the Queen and Princess was a considerable risk, as Torsmond would likely seize the opportunity to launch an attack if he learned of it.

The gap in national strength cannot be closed in a short period of time.

Duncan's army in the Frankish territory consisted of only seven legions, plus auxiliary legions, totaling just over ten thousand men. The prisoners he had recruited were not yet fully reorganized, and their morale was insufficient to fight the Visigothic elites who had just finished the Battle of the Chalons head-on.

Based on Duncan's understanding of Torrismond, this guy was capable of charging straight into the Hunnic camp and would act immediately if an opportunity arose.

Night falls.

After redeploying, Duncan returned to the governor's residence in Paris.

By this time, Queen Lycinia and the two princesses had already settled in. When he returned, he happened to encounter Queen Lycinia, who was requesting an audience. Although a fugitive imperial empress was of noble status, that was all there was to it; they were confined to the governor's residence.

In the dimly lit hall.

Queen Lysinia's expression held a hint of sadness, whether genuine or not was unclear, but rumors circulated that her relationship with Valentinian III was rather strained, given his reputation for dissolute behavior. She seemed to regain a semblance of her regal bearing, her eyes fixed on Duncan before her, and said softly, "Did the Governor know all this would happen?"

It's all such a coincidence.

Quintus just managed to rescue them from the palace, and Duncan immediately led his army to meet them.

Faced with the Queen's questioning, Duncan remained calm and slowly said, "On that day, the Emperor openly murdered the Protector Aetius in the main hall."

"Didn't you foresee all that's happening today?"

This is the backlash that killed Aetius.

If Aetius were still alive, Maximus would never have dared to usurp the throne directly. In fact, if Valentinian III had not openly murdered Aetius, the emperor would not have been hated and abandoned by the army, and he would not have been stabbed to death by two Hunnic assassins in the military camp.

Upon hearing Duncan's words, Queen Lysinia's face instantly darkened, and she could no longer utter a word.

Everything was already destined.

Even if he didn't die in the military camp, Valentinian III would have died somewhere else. Even without Maximus's intervention, Aetius's former subordinates would have sought revenge.

A meritorious official like Aetius, who had fought on the frontier for decades and achieved great military exploits, could be stripped of his power, forced to retire, or even imprisoned, but he could not be killed directly.

Even if he had died of illness or sudden death, there wouldn't have been such a backlash.

Queen Lysinia had somewhat anticipated this outcome, but she hadn't expected it to be so devastating.

Duncan looked down at the beautiful queen before him and said indifferently, "I know what you want."

"I will give you."

"But I have a request."

Queen Lysinia gazed at the man before her and slowly asked, "What are your demands?"

She thought it was related to a marriage alliance, or even that the man wanted to take advantage of her status as Empress of the Empire and Princess of the Eastern Roman Empire.

But to her surprise, Duncan simply said, "Testify against the Senate."

"They were the ones who instigated the emperor to murder Aetius."

"They also hired assassins to kill the emperor."

We will not let a single one escape!
Queen Lysinia seemed to realize something, and she gasped sharply, her delicate body trembling slightly.

If this charge is proven.

The man before them now had a legitimate excuse to unleash a massacre on the Imperial Senate.

………………

(End of this chapter)