Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 187 The Seventy-Two Pillar Demons
A gust of wind blew up.

The space of the secret realm seemed to be covered, and an inherent domain barrier opened up.

As if beams of light were rising from the ground, countless phantoms of heroic spirits began to appear around Duncan. The imperial legions that had followed him in his conquests all descended into the misty Avalon barrier in the form of heroic spirits.

—Tetis (Guardian Fairy of Avalon) (Demigod) [Five-Star Gold]

— Moreno (Guardian Fairy of Avalon) (Demigod) [Five-Star Gold]

—Greydon (Guardian Fairy of Avalon) (Demigod) [Five-Star Gold].

The figures of the six guardian fairies also appeared behind Duncan. In the gradually spreading mist, Severus, Clegane, Cullin, Kvito, Barton and other imperial generals who once fought on all sides also emerged one by one.

Most of these imperial generals were three to four stars strong, much stronger than when they were alive, except for Severus, who was marked as a five-star silver-gray.

After all, he later rose to become a Grand Druid of the British Order.

Historically, Severus lived to be nearly 120 years old and was quite active during the reign of Duncan II, which makes him even more legendary.

A flock of crows appeared eerily.

—Triss, the Queen of Ravens, Goddess of Sorcery and Arcane Arts [Crimson Skull Mark]!
The newly appeared Raven Queen was shrouded in a magnificent black robe. With a gentle wave of her hand, her tangible magic seemed to sever the barrier of reality. The powerful force field shattered everything in front of her, leaving blood and limbs scattered everywhere. Hundreds of enemies were instantly cut in half at the waist by the Raven Queen's gentle wave.

A demon god who resembled a fallen angel attempted to retaliate, but the avatar of Raven Queen Triss gently clenched her fist, and terrifying magical power formed an invisible force field giant hand, directly crushing the lower-ranking demon god into a deformed pile of rotten flesh.

The oldest record, the Book of Revelation, states that one-third of the angels became fallen angels, and their numbers were enormous.

One legend tells of King Solomon's magic book, "The Key of Solomon," which records that he made pacts with 72 demons and inscribed their names on 72 pillars. This historical figure, whose status was once comparable to that of a gatekeeper in early monotheistic religions, was also the one who established the First Temple, which housed the ancient Ark of the Covenant.

Oh oh oh!
A mournful bugle call sounded.

Above the fallen angel legion, the figures of nine Valkyries appeared, seemingly just awakened from their slumber, circling and landing on either side of Duncan. One of the Valkyries, clad in a golden winged helmet, gazed intently at Duncan's imposing figure, directly guarding his rear.

A victory spear pierces the sky!
Behind the numerous demon and fallen angel legions, the figure of the demon god Amon was pierced through and pinned to the ground.

This vanished Egyptian god-king, one of whose faces was suppressed by monotheism and transformed into the seventy-two demons, his other faces are currently unknown. After all, gods don't only have one face; throughout history, gods whose foundations of faith in reality were severed have transformed into all sorts of monsters.

A hooting of an owl echoed in everyone's ears.

Amidst the swirling mist and spatial rifts, a hazy, indistinct image of a goddess barely managed to enter the secret realm that lay between reality and the afterlife.

This is probably the only place where she can barely manifest her avatar; in the real world, she probably wouldn't even be able to dream of it.

—Minerva-Athena-Suris (Tripartite Unity) (Greek God-King) (Divine Incarnation) [Golden Skull Mark]!
The entire battle was almost a one-sided crushing defeat.

When Duncan activated his Reality Marble 'Avalon in the Mist', all the enemy's summoned seventy-two demon gods, demon legions, angel legions, and so on were mercilessly suppressed, and even a rumbling thunder could be heard in the sky.

The god from the Norse pantheon glanced at it, seemingly deciding that he didn't need to take any action, and then silently dispersed his avatar.

The power of the Norse pantheon has weakened considerably, and they no longer readily descend in avatars.

Outside the secret realm.

King Solomon, who had just completed the summoning of the seventy-two demons, felt a chill run through his body. He wanted to escape, but it was too late.

Because a ghostly owl had already located him.

Dimensional space.

Duncan marked King Solomon, who was hiding in the gap between the barriers. This guy's casting range was indeed very long; he actually managed to evade the detection range of God's perspective in this way. Duncan's current location was the Otherworldly Secret Realm, while King Solomon's location was the Reality Gap.

To use a Dungeons & Dragons analogy, there's a legendary mage hiding in a demiplane, observing the battlefield through a clairvoyant eye on the screen, and then summoning familiars to attack you in the material plane.

This guy is really sneaky!
He probably realized that he couldn't fight Duncan head-on, so he used Gilgamesh as bait and secretly launched a séance across dimensions.

But once he's exposed, escaping won't be so easy.

Queen Raven Triss directly cast a spell to open a spatial rift, and Duncan rushed in without hesitation, instantly traversing the other world to lock onto King Solomon's figure. The opponent's heroic spirit form was a young man dressed in a magnificent red and black robe, surrounded by seemingly tangible magical power, with seventy-two pillars reflected behind him, among which faint phantoms of demon gods appeared.

As the first person to establish a temple in Jerusalem, Solomon married the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh, sought wisdom in dreams, and made a pact with the seventy-two demons.

He invented and created the earliest magic spells in the West.

However, this type of summoning spell has evolved differently in different places. In the West, it mainly focuses on summoning spirits and demons, while in the East, the system is different, and commanding ghosts and gods is the mainstream. In places like Japan, it is a spirit summoning ritual to summon shikigami.

In about a hundred years, the era of the Onmyoji Abe no Seimei will begin, and the rituals for summoning spirits in Koichi's daily life will gradually become systematic.

At this moment, two kings from different eras meet in the gap of reality.

King Solomon stared intently at the blood-red wings behind Duncan, his expression extremely solemn, and nodded slightly, saying, "Your Majesty Duncan!..."

"I never expected we would meet at this time."

This guy is much more polite than Gilgamesh.

Duncan also carries a certain degree of Monotheistic legend; otherwise, the Oathkeeper wouldn't have become a relic of the Church. However, Duncan's stance is one of absolute monarchy. Although he supported factions within Monotheism, he prevented the unification of Monotheistic beliefs. Within the entire Church system, Duncan's existence is extremely unique.

"King Solomon."

Faced with an opponent who was willing to address him as "Your Majesty," Duncan appeared very humble, nodding slightly and saying, "I have long admired Your Majesty."

This is not a remnant of the Gilgamesh myth of destruction; King Solomon held a very high position in the early days of monotheism.

One of the gatekeepers of the Old Testament era.

He shares some similarities with Duncan, but later King Solomon became obsessed with women, was seduced by his concubines and strayed from God, and began to worship other pagan gods, which led to the gradual decline of the nation.

According to legend, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. His wives were all foreign princesses, including the daughters of Pharaoh, Moabite women, Ammonite women, Edomite women, Sidonian women, and Hittite women.

There is certainly some exaggeration involved, but King Solomon did indeed abandon his monotheistic beliefs at one point.

In contrast, although Duncan became somewhat lax in the later years of his reign, he was not as addicted to women, and he only had about ten women serving him in bed. Moreover, the empire gradually entered its golden age.

Politeness is one thing, but if it's necessary to fight, then it's still necessary to fight.

The instant King Solomon raised his hand, spells rained down from the sky. His spellcasting and incantation were almost instantaneous, with no pause between them. Apart from the seventy-two demon gods he summoned, he could summon almost any creature belonging to the concept of familiars. Furthermore, he possessed a revelation-like special ability, almost equivalent to a constant 'prophecy,' allowing him to foresee Duncan's attack direction in advance.

This is a kind of ability to foresee the future, to glimpse what Duncan will do next.

Intuition is the best fighting instinct!

King Solomon possessed a special ability close to a 'sixth sense'. The moment Duncan appeared, he had already set up defensive arrays around himself.

A towering pillar of magical light rose into the sky!

The moment Duncan charged forward, the surrounding magic began to nullify. King Solomon's magic ring suppressed the magic of others. As one of the most powerful magicians in history, he could strip mortals of their spellcasting abilities.

But unfortunately!

Duncan's spellcasting ability is only second or third-rate; he rarely casts spells on his own initiative during battle.

Click!

The defensive barriers in front of King Solomon were instantly torn apart. Duncan broke through the opponent's legendary protective spells almost with brute force. With the dual blessing of dragon blood and giant power, his power in mythological form was close to that of the powerful giants in Greek and Norse mythology.

Blood spurts!

King Solomon's figure was pierced directly by Duncan's cursed spear. All his foresight was useless, because his physical abilities were simply no match for Duncan's attack.

Even though he was a Grand Mage, he barely had any chance to cast spells after Duncan closed in on him.

Duncan casually stirred something, and a hole appeared in the chest of King Solomon in front of him.

"Something's wrong!"

Duncan's expression was alert; it didn't seem logical that he had so easily dealt a heavy blow to King Solomon.

Gilgamesh managed to withstand several of his attacks.

really.

King Solomon was not dead at this time.

Behind his hollow body, the phantoms of the seventy-two demon gods gradually emerged. Then, one demon god after another merged into his body, gradually healing his injuries. At the same time, his life form also changed from human to demon god.

He knew long ago that he was no match for Duncan, and had already initiated the highest ritual of séance ahead of time.

That is to use oneself as the vehicle!
The true contract binding the seventy-two demon gods was not the stone pillars, nor the Key of Solomon, but himself—a Grand Mage who was close to the strongest in history.

all the time.

King Solomon was not a perfect image of a monarch.

He embodied almost all the elements of the seven deadly sins, and even once turned away from the faith in God. In his later years, Solomon indulged in extravagance and debauchery, which led to the gradual decline of the nation.

At this point, King Solomon's image had completely changed; he was no longer like a mortal, but rather a demon god like a fallen angel.

—Demon King Solomon (Awakened) (Collection of Seventy-Two Demon Gods) [Golden Skull Mark]!
Monotheism is truly afraid.

Duncan suppressed the rise of monotheism for hundreds of years, and this time they brought out their most treasured relic, the Key of Solomon from the mythological era.

Only artifacts of this caliber can summon King Solomon at near his prime.

Even the seventy-two demon gods bound by contract can descend into reality in the form of a familiar.

………………

(End of this chapter)