Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 168 The Crow Queen's Secret Cult
The empire's territory continues to expand.

However, Duncan no longer needs to personally lead the campaigns. The British army has recaptured the Danube defenses, and apart from the Visigothic Kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, the empire he rebuilt has essentially returned to the size of the Western Roman Empire at its peak.

Half a year passed quickly.

Shortly after Anya gave birth to her child, Princess Placidia also became pregnant.

By this time, the Reformation had reached a fever pitch, and as religious conflicts intensified, the conflict between the newly formed empire and the Eastern Roman Empire also escalated. In particular, the resumption of the Olympic Games led to a near-complete rupture between the monotheistic sects of the East and West, with the Eastern Orthodox Church becoming the radical faction.

With the support of the emperor, Protestantism has become a rising faction of monotheism, and the only one that can rival it is the patriarch of the Eastern Empire.

But the Pope has already taken care of it; the Patriarch can take his time.

London, Britannia.

More than a year later, Duncan returned to the British Isles.

Central Square, London.

Duncan traveled in secret this time, accompanied only by his bodyguards, including Courlin, and arrived in London in the afternoon.

It's getting dark.

There was little entertainment at night in this era, but in London's square district, quite a few people still gathered, mainly concentrated near the Temple Quarter. However, this was not a monotheistic or polytheistic temple or altar, but rather a continuation of the early imperial tradition—an altar dedicated to the emperor, used to embody his divinity.

As the birthplace of Duncan, the religious structure of the British provinces is quite peculiar. The most active religion is actually the worship of the emperor himself, and the main group of people are Britons.

Duncan can be said to have single-handedly saved the British from their gradual decline.

Furthermore, with the blessing of the Avalon faith, there were signs that Duncan was gradually deified among the people. As a result, the abandoned Emperor Altar was reopened, and the priests who presided over it all came from the Avalon faith.

This can be seen as a return of favor.

Human lifespan has its limits, and the guardian fairies are probably planning for the future. They are a small local faith that has regained its glory by clinging to Duncan's coattails.

A sacrificial fire burned on the altar in the distance, and six priests were presiding over the ceremony.

Right in the center.

The statue of Duncan is different from those elsewhere; here, the statue holds the Sword of Excalibur, while the other sword, the Oathkeeper, is not seen. The altar is surrounded by kneeling British people; the rituals here have been ongoing for over a year, with British people coming to pray almost every night.

A very strange thing.

Surprisingly, the largest group of people who worship Duncan were caravan guards from various places, people with a mercenary-like status, as well as soldiers from the army.

These altars, dedicated to the emperor, currently serve no purpose.

The process of divine power coalescing is extremely lengthy, potentially taking decades or even centuries to accumulate even a small amount of divine power. Most imperial emperors don't live to see that day; once a new emperor ascends the throne, they immediately switch to a different idol for worship.

But after Duncan rebuilds the empire, this altar dedicated to the emperor will likely remain for a long time.

"Let's go."

Duncan glanced at it and quickly left.

In the early days of the empire, there was a tradition of worshipping the emperor as a god, and it was this that inspired him to want to elevate Queen Raven-Triss to a divine position.

London has a specially designated temple district.

The monotheistic church is on the right side of the street, while the polytheistic temple is on the left. Inside, there is a newly built temple dedicated to Freya, a figure from the Norse pantheon, as part of a secret deal.

Duncan made a deal with this goddess.

He traded the divine authority of Dionysus for the lower magical concepts of arcane arts and sorcery from her, and allowed her faith to spread throughout the empire's borders. In return, Freya had to help Queen Raven-Triss acquire divine authority.

But all of this was still not enough to make Raven Queen Triss a god.

After removing Raven Queen Triss from her position as High Priestess, Duncan began to secretly arrange for the formation of a church to serve her. This was a very long process and could take many years for Raven Queen Triss to be elevated to a demigod.

As for its final form, it will probably be decades from now.

At that time, Raven Queen Triss will likely become a deity with a minor divine power, whose faith will only spread among the supernatural and will not compete with other deities for secular faith.

What Duncan needs most is to grant Raven Queen Triss 'immortality,' whether she becomes a demigod or a true god is irrelevant.

He will arrange the rest.

In fact, Duncan has already begun to arrange the cleanup work for the future, because the Visigothic Kingdom has been crippled by him, and the Eastern Roman Empire has long been weakened by the successive defeats of Attila the Scourge of God in earlier years. The Eastern Empire is only defended by the strong walls of Constantinople, otherwise the Hunnic Empire would have destroyed them.

Duncan has already mastered the technology of the counterweight catapult. He can only take Constantinople a month at most before he smashes it to pieces.

In this way, within the entire map of Europe, only the rotten land of Greater Germania remained as a difficult target. The Alemanni, who were somewhat worth mentioning, were no longer a threat, and the Lombards further north were slightly stronger in combat, but neither of them were formidable enemies.

By conquering these areas, they gradually pushed forward, and Duncan has essentially dominated the entire European continent.

Anya craves worldly power, so Duncan grants her wish and makes her his queen. However, Anya is too weak, and in the future, she will probably only be able to rely on him to promote her to his subordinate Heroic Spirit through legendary advancement.

The Samsung whiteboard is probably Anya's limit.

But Raven Queen Triss is different. She is much stronger and has never asked for anything. So, how to settle Raven Queen is a problem.

Duncan couldn't accept letting her die alone.

However, directly bringing him into a dimensional space is impossible, because he is the only being beyond dimensions, and it's currently impossible to bring others in. Therefore, the best solution at present is to find a way to grant Raven Queen Triss immortality, and then see if it's possible to summon her to other worlds by summoning otherworldly creatures.

Even if that doesn't work, the Raven Queen can still be deified in the medieval era.

This is a compromise. The others are relatively easy to manage. For example, Severus; if he dies of old age, Duncan can simply spend some Legendary Points to directly promote him to a High-Rank Heroic Spirit. In fact, it might not even be necessary, since Severus already has some Legendary Points, which is enough to meet the threshold for a regular Heroic Spirit.

Of all the people, only Raven Queen Triss possesses legendary strength, and only she has the potential to be elevated to godhood.

As for Merlin, I'm sorry, I'm not very familiar with him.

In fact, the most suitable divine role for the Raven Queen is that of a god of wizards or a goddess of witches, as it would be easier for her to become a demigod. However, given the current circumstances, she can only rely on herself to gradually transform herself.

An organization called the "Cult of the Raven Queen" or "Sect of Mystery" has now been established with Duncan's covert support.

This secret cult only spreads on the British Isles.

Furthermore, it is one of the officially recognized religious cults within the Empire, assisting in the management of male and female sorcerers, supernatural beings, and other entities in the transcendental world. In the future, a wizarding academy will be incorporated into it, effectively locking the Queen of Raven's faith within the transcendental world and preventing conflict with other religious cults.

In the future, if we can bring Raven Queen Tristana to a world with a magical civilization, we can consider helping her compete for the divine office of 'God of Mages'.

Duncan could even play the role of Pope or Patriarch.

Avalon Sanctuary.

When Duncan arrived, the guardian fairy Tethys personally appeared to greet him.

Unlike in the past, this time Duncan did not need to separate his soul from his body; he directly entered Avalon with his physical body. He was already a demigod, and could not be considered an ordinary mortal.

Duncan has even planned out his final exit.

He didn't want to manage the empire for too long; the recent administration had overwhelmed him, and he almost became a tyrant.

Eating, drinking, and having fun every day, with beautiful women in your arms, is much more comfortable than being a wise ruler.

When his descendants grow up, he will directly pass the throne to them, enfeoff them as kings, and ascend from the Father of Europe to the King of Kings. Then he's going to do something big: ride a giant dragon to heaven, similar to the Yellow Emperor's ascension to heaven. (Forced summoning of a second human host)
Some of the things Duncan did were tantamount to 'severing all ties'.

Therefore, his final place of seclusion was Avalon in the mist. His first human host did not intend to die of old age, but instead entered the Avalon Sanctuary and directly became a demigod.

They might live in seclusion in Avalon for decades, eventually transforming into immortal heroic spirits with a demigod template.

In this way, if mythology revives in the future, he will be able to enter the real world without being summoned.

In this way, it can be seen as a way of returning the favor to the guardian fairies. Even if Duncan eventually retires to the Sanctuary of Avalon, no matter what, the faith in this place will not perish.

Avalon Island.

The surrounding mist gradually dissipated, and the figure of Raven Queen Triss appeared ahead. After Duncan began to push her to godhood, Raven Queen went into seclusion in Avalon, no longer active in the secular world, but instead controlling everything in the entire cult from behind the scenes.

She was already the High Priestess, so founding a sect wouldn't have been too difficult for her.

The guardian fairies nodded in acknowledgment and gradually withdrew, leaving Duncan and the Raven Queen with some private space.

Duncan looked at the Queen of Ravens before him, pulled her into his arms, and, pointing his fingers across mountains and valleys, teased, "How does it feel? To be a god served by a sect?"

Queen Raven-Triss, slightly out of breath and with a blush on her cheeks, said softly, "There is still much to learn."

"The guardian fairies taught me a lot."

She was a priestess from birth, never imagining that one day she would become a deity worshipped by others.

Duncan slowly and deliberately relaxed the Queen of the Raven's body and mind, mainly her mind. This required a firm and skillful kneading, since the pressure of ascending to godhood was immense and needed to be relieved and relaxed. He said calmly, "The existence of gods is not that complicated."

"There are too many beings born as gods."

"It is difficult for mortals to become gods, but it is not impossible. Besides, I have made some preparations for you."

Within the dimensional space, there is also an annihilated realm.

If Duncan is kept in our possession, he'll be like a figurine. Perhaps in the future, he can transform into the Queen of the Crows's divine kingdom, which would at least save us a hundred or two hundred years of faith accumulation.

A soft, panting breath was heard.

Queen Raven-Triss trembled slightly, her breath sweet as orchids, and said, "Since you're going to become a god, there's no need to stick to the oath."

Sometimes, she even wondered if Duncan was waiting for her there.

correct.

If we don't mention the Queen of the Raven, we'd all forgotten about Duncan. Since the goal is to help her become a god, then all talk of divine choice and vows of chastity are useless. What virgin goddess? If he weren't so weak, there wouldn't be so much trouble. We should just solve everything at its source.

In an instant, Duncan's gentle touch turned into an unrestrained feast.

Today we must stand up and push.

After a night of fierce wind and rain, when Duncan left the Sanctuary of Avalon with satisfaction, the mark of Raven Queen Triss had already transformed into a four-star gold mark. However, as the power of the Chosen One dissipated, a divine power of her own was also gathering and gradually transforming into a new skull mark.

This time, it's not relying on external forces. Queen Raven-Triss is gathering divinity and ascending to become a demigod of the Middle Ages.

Most of Duncan's women are just accessories; Anya is merely a larger version, destined to become subordinate Heroic Spirits. Only Raven Queen Triss has the potential to accompany him to other realms as a deity.

The Raven Queen is trapped in the medieval world. With her talent and strength, she would easily be a legendary mage who dominates a region in the world of Dungeons & Dragons.

Given the right opportunity, it's possible to compete for a clergy position.

Anya will at most be summoned by some relaxing countries, treating it as a vacation. As for truly dangerous places, with her abilities, she'd just be feeding kills, maybe playing a support role at best.

In the ultimate competition, we still have to look to Raven Queen Triss, who has broken the world's constraints and the shackles of the laws!
………………

(End of this chapter)