Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 170 King of Kings! Conquering Europe (The End)
Learning magic was more difficult than Duncan had anticipated.

He could easily manipulate elemental forces, such as wind, fire, and lightning, but he learned transformation and summoning spells very slowly. The magic system of the Middle Ages was still in a state of chaos. Many powerful wizards of the early mythological era were born with this power, and there were very few examples in history of mortals becoming powerful wizards through learning.

But now there is finally a beginning. The Wizarding Academy has gathered supernatural power from all over Europe. They are analyzing Celtic runes, runes, and runes, trying to build a new spellcasting system that will allow mortals with weak magical talent to master magic.

This is investing in the future.

Duncan withstood the great decline of mythology, so there is a certain possibility of developing magical civilization. As long as it is not a complete end of magic, even if Europe has basically become a dead magic region, the tradition can still continue on the island of Britain.

Duncan now has a clearer understanding of the medieval era.

The entire European continent is being continuously 'enchanted by death magic,' much like vitiligo, with the areas affected by death magic constantly expanding across the land. However, as long as not all places are enchanted by death magic, there is a possibility that the elemental tides may be restarted someday, similar to a great miracle of 'spiritual revival' occurring throughout the world.

The most important thing in this era is to ensure the continuation of the supernatural system.

Don't let it all disappear at once.

When Duncan stepped out of the room, he saw a sword stuck in the rock of the college; it was Merlin's sword in the stone.

Merlin seemed to notice Duncan's gaze and explained softly, "I am now the Dean of the Academy."

"There's no need to carry it with you anymore."

It's a bit of a pity.

Duncan reached into the stone and pulled out the sword. At first, it wouldn't budge, but he managed to pull it out only after he used the power of the giants. The sword was enchanted, but the power of the giants broke it.

He waved his hand casually and asked, "Does it have a name?"

Merlin slowly said, "The sword in the stone."

Duncan smiled and said, "This name isn't good. How about we call it Lionheart Sword from now on?"

Actually, the Gryffindor sword would be more suitable, but I think I'll pass.

The two strolled along the moat.

Looking around at the scenery, Duncan asked softly, "When do you plan to recruit students?"

Merlin replied, "It will probably take a few more years."

"The academy is working hard to analyze runes, but Celtic and runic runes have been compiled and can be learned by wizards with basic knowledge at any time."

After a moment of contemplation, Duncan said, "Make a copy of those rune scrolls and send it to Rome."

Merlin replied respectfully, "Yes, Your Majesty."

It's not just Duncan who wants to learn; his own martial arts skills are already at their peak, and learning magic would hardly allow him to break through that limit. It would be extremely difficult for him to reach the level of mastery that Merlin the Raven Queen possessed.

Duncan was actually leaving it to his descendants.

His inherited bloodline possesses a built-in mana pool, which is crucial for an emperor in a world with supernatural powers. It would also facilitate direct learning should any of his descendants become interested in magic. Furthermore, if necessary, Duncan would arrange for the establishment of a special organization, independent of the wizarding academy, to oversee supernatural forces.

The church has a Brotherhood of Witchers, and Duncan plans to recruit them.

He's just making random moves now, here and there. Whether they succeed or not isn't important, but as long as one of them can be passed down for a thousand years, he'll have made a profit.

Duncan stayed in the British provinces for almost two weeks.

Upon returning to Rome, the human host under his trusteeship had an additional task: studying the Celtic and Runic runes compiled by Merlin. However, it was clear that with this new responsibility, the human host had less time for administrative duties. Fortunately, things were gradually getting back on track, and Duncan was making an exception by appointing a large number of scholars. Previously, only those of noble birth could hold important official positions, but now anyone with knowledge had a chance.

In early March of 454 AD, the Emperor, who had returned to Rome from the province of Britain, officially issued a 'Decree for the Recruitment of Talented Individuals'.

The entire empire was in an uproar.

In the past, the empire's officials were basically monopolized by nobles. Without status or background, even if one was capable, one could only serve as an advisor or minor official. But this time, Duncan was unconventional. Whether they were Romans, Britons, Celts, or Germans, as long as they were talented, they could be appointed to middle and lower-level official positions.

He has already initiated educational reforms, so he must open up channels for upward mobility. If there are no channels for upward mobility, those with talent and knowledge will rebel even more fiercely.

In the future, he will also try to reform the imperial examination system and select officials in a similar way.

The empire's territory was too vast; local officials had to be assigned to towns, let alone villages, as they simply couldn't manage them all.

For more than a month thereafter.

Duncan weakened the power of provincial governors, increased the number of local courts, and established an imperial court in Rome. Provincial governors retained only administrative power and could give some command over local garrisons. The imperial legions established a separate Ministry of War, independent of the political and legal system, thus limiting the military power of the provincial governors.

This is the separation of military and political power.

The empire has a history of warlordism, and now the emperor is the biggest warlord.

After dealing with all of this, the imperial central government began to continuously promulgate new legal provisions. A small part of the Imperial Code has been completed, and many legal provisions are gradually being implemented.

But just as everything was proceeding smoothly...

Religious conflicts across the European continent intensified, and religious unrest led to a gradual deterioration of local security.

Finally, in May 454 AD, the Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church publicly denounced Pope Patrick as a heretic.

Thus, an imperial civil war, sparked by religion, broke out.

In fact, all of this was foreshadowed long ago. The border disputes between the Eastern and Western Empires were constant, and now that there were no rivals, the war machines of the nations were eager to start again, so conquering the Eastern Empire became a consensus.

A month later, a large-scale war was launched under the name of 'unifying the empire'.

The entire war lasted only a little over six months. Duncan raised an army of 150,000, and the British Legion advanced in two columns. Severus led the British Legion to advance into the Balkans, reaching all the way to Athens. Meanwhile, Duncan personally led an army of 80,000 to attack Constantinople. This formidable city, which was said to be invincible, only lasted a month before being breached by counterweight catapults.

The walls of Constantinople were not as exaggerated as they are in later times, but Duncan still deployed hundreds of counterweight catapults and bombarded the city for almost half a month.

It must be said that this is indeed the most fortified city in Europe.

In July 454 AD, Constantinople fell, and the capital of the Eastern Empire was occupied.

In August 454 AD, Duncan led an army of 8 on an expedition to the Anatolian Peninsula, capturing Ankara, Sinop, Caesarea, Tarsus, and other places along the way. Wherever his army went, the armies of the Eastern Roman Empire surrendered almost without resistance.

In October 454 AD, the imperial army occupied Jerusalem.

In December 454 AD, the governor of Alexandria, Egypt, surrendered, and the Eastern Roman Empire was completely destroyed, its vast territory once again becoming a unified whole.

A new era is coming.

With the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire, a vast empire spanning Eurasia and Africa was born under Duncan's leadership.

He had not expected the Eastern Roman Empire to be so vulnerable. Only Constantinople was slightly more difficult to conquer. After capturing the capital of the Eastern Empire, almost everything else collapsed at the first touch.

In fact, long before Duncan launched his war to unify the empire, the Eastern Roman Empire had already been ravaged by the Huns, and even the Balkan Peninsula had been sacked. Attila the Scots was only a dozen miles away from Constantinople.

Duncan's reshaped Second Empire began to fully take over the borders of the Roman era.

However, because the territory was too vast, the drawbacks of its management began to emerge, and he had to establish a secondary capital in Constantinople and rebuild an administrative team.

This is actually a great Eastern power that we should learn from.

Because Nanjing was historically a secondary capital, it had its own administrative system, but its power was not that great.

He adopted a compromise.

There can only be one emperor. However, there can be two administrative bodies. He learned from past lessons and will never allow two emperors to emerge again. Historically, the Six Ministries in Nanjing were more of a local institution with relatively limited functions and real power, mainly responsible for southern local affairs, tributary states, and sacrificial activities.

Constantinople, as a secondary capital, was centered around the Asia Minor peninsula and the Balkans, which included Greece, and was directly under Roman jurisdiction.

However, the vast territory has always been a major problem.

Limited by the current era, the empire's administrative capacity has its limits, and Duncan plans to conquer Greater Germania in the future, at which point it will be even more difficult to manage.

Several months later, Duncan reorganized the Gallo-Baltistan administrative region, established administrative institutions, renamed it the Kingdom of France, and directly appointed the son born to Princess Placidia as the King of the Kingdom of France.

At this point, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that Duncan was bestowing titles upon the princes.

Not only his sons were granted fiefdoms, but all those who distinguished themselves in battle were also granted fiefdoms. Severus was made Prince of Wales, the highest rank above Duke, and his territory later became the Kingdom of Wales. As a Druid possessing certain supernatural powers, Severus would also be responsible for overseeing Britannia. Kvitto was promoted to Duke and granted a fiefdom in Germania, roughly corresponding to the later Netherlands. Clegane, who had fought alongside Duncan, was also made Marquis and granted a fiefdom on the border of the province of Sarmatia, and so on.

The situation is similar for others.

Duncan only granted Severus a fiefdom on the island of Britain; as for the generals who followed him in his campaigns, they were all granted fiefdoms in the border regions of the empire.

Now, the general structure of the empire has taken shape.

The territories directly under the emperor's control included the Italian peninsula, the Greek region, the Asia Minor peninsula, Alexandria in Egypt, and Carthage in North Africa, which were overseas provinces directly under the emperor's control.

The provinces of Britain were separate from this system because the emperor of the empire would also be king of the Kingdom of Britain in the future.

As for why he did this, Duncan probably felt that no empire lasts forever. If the empire were to fail in the future, given his amazing prestige among the Britons, he would at least have a chance to maintain a secluded corner of the country. If this plan failed, then so be it.

With the Avalon faith present, the British Isles should be the foundation of the empire.

The province of Gaul has been completely transformed into the Kingdom of France, and the future imperial legions will continue to conquer Greater Germania and establish the Kingdom of Germany.

What Duncan did was tantamount to splitting the rebuilt Second Empire into three parts.

The main structure of the empire remains.

However, in addition to this, three independent vassal kingdoms were formed: the Kingdom of Britain, the Kingdom of France, and the Kingdom of Germany.

Late June 456 AD.

After leaving five main legions to garrison the Euphrates River border, the empire's army began to assemble on the border of the Visigothic Kingdom.

In October of the same year, the Visigothic Kingdom was destroyed, and the Iberian Peninsula was conquered.

February 458 AD.

After reigning for several years, Duncan the Great launched a war to conquer Greater Germania. His army of 200,000 men advanced all the way to the region that would later become Denmark, and the Kingdom of Germany was established the following year.

The Second Empire, which was subsequently rebuilt, shifted its focus from territorial expansion to homeland defense. However, even after the transformation, the empire's frontier regions remained unmanaged. Border disputes in the Caucasus and Armenia were ongoing, and the Sarmatia and Caspian regions had to be guarded against incursions by Eurasian nomads. The newly established Kingdom of Germany faced the threat from Northern Europe and was constantly harassed and attacked by pirates.

Peace did not truly arrive, but at least the European continent was unified, which gradually brought an end to the barbarian turmoil that had lasted for hundreds of years.

At this time, an unprecedentedly vast empire had taken shape.

Emperor Duncan reigned for thirty-three years. Under his rule, the empire completed land reforms, educational reforms, and judicial reforms, restoring prosperity to a previously desolate Europe. Although it had largely ceased external expansion, in the twelfth year of his reign, the empire still went to war with the Sassanid Persians in Mesopotamia. The war lasted for three years, and the emperor also incorporated Babylon into the empire's territory.

A year later, the faith of the Vatican suffered a major blow, and legend has it that people saw the phantom of the gods in the sky above Babylon.

Five years later, the defeated Sasanian Empire was severely weakened and was taken advantage of by nomadic peoples from the east. Islam gradually replaced Oklahoma as the core local religion.

Zoroastrianism gradually faded into history, and the ancient Bosnian religion lost its dominant position in the Middle East.

One branch of Zoroastrianism gradually spread to Eurasia.

March 486, 4 AD.

A deep dragon roar suddenly echoed through the once prosperous city of Rome. Thousands of people seemed to see the phantom of a giant dragon soaring around the palace. It was said that the legendary King Duncan, who had ruled the empire for thirty-three years and reshaped the entire European landscape, ascended to heaven on a dragon, and the phantom of the dragon flew towards Britain.

The new emperor ascended the throne as Duncan II.

Half a month later, rumors spread in Britannia that someone had seen the phantom of a legendary dragon in the sky above the Sanctuary of Avalon.

Dimensional space.

Duncan's consciousness seemed to enter a long river of time. Thirty years passed in the blink of an eye. When he finally came to his senses, his thoughts slowly landed on the mark of 'retirement'.

—"Causality [Experience Settlement]:"
You spent six years rebuilding the empire, unifying the divided Eastern and Western Roman Empires, and establishing a new Second Empire.

Under your rule, the empire flourished, its territory surpassing any other nation in history. You enfeoffed numerous kings and were hailed by later historians as the Father of Europe and the King of Kings. You reformed education and land, and compiled the Imperial Code, considered one of the closest medieval legal codes to modern law, with a profound influence on later generations. Although you had few children, for nearly a thousand years afterward, many European kings considered it an honor to have your bloodline.

After your retirement, Duncan II worked diligently to consolidate the empire's control over Northern Europe and established Babylon as a new imperial province for complete rule. Several wise rulers emerged, a phenomenon hailed as a historical miracle. Under their rule, the Renaissance began nearly three hundred years earlier than originally planned, influencing the entire course of world civilization. Human history began to advance rapidly, and the Industrial Revolution occurred almost a hundred years ahead of schedule.

The vast empire you built has lasted for hundreds of years in the long history of mankind.

Even after its disintegration, your descendants continued to attempt to rebuild this vast empire. Although the empire gradually collapsed centuries later, the Kingdom of Britain, the Kingdom of France, and the Kingdom of Germany were still regarded as the successors of the Second Roman Empire.

Although the empire's vast territory was not fully restored, the Kingdom of Britain, the Kingdom of France, and the Kingdom of Germany all rose to prominence over the next thousand years, becoming dominant powers in Europe and controlling most of the continent.

You will ultimately ascend to the status of 'King of Kings' and become an immortal hero, entering the annals of human history.

(As time goes by, the first human form will gradually become deified, and the legend points you leave behind will be converted into the divinity value of the first human form.)
(Human incarnation number one condenses a faint divine quality!)

(Human host number one activates the divine power pool!)
boom!
The dimensional space began to tremble slightly.

Duncan's consciousness detached from reality and entered the endless ladder to heaven, a manifestation of the long river of human history. His palace of heroes was originally among the kings of the Roman Empire, but now it was rising continuously, all the way up to the clouds.

This is a very delicate position, far above the secular kings, even above many gods, but below some special deities.

Duncan regained consciousness.

His projected avatar glanced at Gilgamesh, who was standing far below with an extremely complicated expression, but didn't bother to waste energy on him. Instead, it looked up at the north, above the clouds.

An old acquaintance.

Odin's projection also appears in the long history of mankind. He gazes down at Duncan and nods slightly in acknowledgment.

According to their deal, after Duncan is elevated to an immortal spirit, there will be plans for the real world, but it will take hundreds or even thousands of years to slowly influence the fundamental laws of reality.

"Then who are the ones above me?"

Duncan wanted to see who was above him. When he looked up, he saw a gate to heaven. There were no figures, only hazy shadows of angels, and above heaven was a conceptual, radiant phantom.

This is no longer a conventional deity, but a god that is close to being governed by laws, completely integrated with the origin of the world, and has completely abandoned its human side.

Sorry to bother you!
Duncan turned his head and looked to the west. He seemed to see a great sun. The light and shadow of the law made it hard for him to open his eyes. He could only vaguely see an extremely tall phantom sitting cross-legged on a lotus platform. Around him were projections that were neither real nor illusory. The entire space was shrouded in the law and manifested as a kingdom.

—The Awakened One—Shakyamuni [? ? ?]

I'm sorry to bother you!

Duncan obediently sat back down. There were too many big shots above him, and his current position was pretty good too.

………………

(PS: Volume 1 complete.)
(I'm taking a day off tomorrow. I need to organize the main character's primary human form attribute cards. There are still some side stories in Volume 1; please remind me if there's anything that needs to be added.)
(End of this chapter)