Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 256 Backlash! Curse

Isaac Island.

This was Duncan's last stop in his conquest of the Southern Islands. There wasn't really a proper kingdom here, just a group of natives who made their living by fishing. However, it was a relatively important freshwater supply point, and in addition, a mythical monster had once appeared here. After being killed, it corrupted the land, and it was also the only island where nearly half of the terrain was desert.

"Isaac?"

"This name sounds familiar."

Duncan stepped onto this semi-desert island, and behind him, the witch Greya whispered, "Here we serve Dagon, the chief god of the Philistines."

"His faith, though very weak, should not be underestimated."

Ok?
Dagon?

This name is much more familiar.

Duncan turned to look at Greya beside him and asked, "Isn't Dagon the legendary demon?"

The witch Greya said softly, "That's just a distorted rumor."

"He was originally one of the chief gods of the Semitic people."

"A god who was in charge of agriculture, whose authority over the ocean was later strengthened, and who became the sea god of the Semitic people."

In monotheistic records, some accounts relate to Dagon, such as "The Philistines carried the ark of God from Ebenezer to Ashdod," "The Philistines carried the ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside Dagon," "The next morning the men of Ashdod got up and found Dagon lying down before the ark of the Lord, his face to the ground, and they left him standing in the same place," "The next morning they got up and found Dagon lying down before the ark of the Lord, his face to the ground, and his head and both hands were broken off on the threshold, leaving only the remains of Dagon," and so on.

Dagon was among the first group of primordial gods to be destroyed.

Along the coastline, Duncan saw a very simple shrine and altar dedicated to Dagon, with a half-human, half-fish figure carved on it, which was very different from the image of the demon he had imagined.

Hyjal was also sizing up the heretical god, shrugging and saying, "He doesn't look strong or imposing enough."

Duncan said in a deep voice, "Be careful."

"Even a dying god was once a true god."

Semitic people.

The ancient human branch seems to have come from the Root World, since there are many rumors about other worlds in the Root World. It is also possible that they couldn't compete with the monotheistic religion back then and were taken to other worlds by the gods.

The group quickly set up camp.

Duncan now controls almost all the islands on the southern coast. Although there are only a few large islands, they add up to hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land, but the population is very sparse, totaling only about 200,000 people.

A dim moonlight shone on the coastline.

For some reason, Duncan felt uneasy today, as if he had some kind of premonition, and did not go to sleep immediately.

As he stood up, he saw Haijal walking out of the tent directly opposite him.

Hyjal also had a furrowed brow and said in a deep voice, "Something seems off."

Barbarians have a strong sixth sense; they possess an innate, wild intuition.

"It seems too quiet."

Duncan looked up. Apart from the sounds of the wind and waves coming from the distant coastline, there was almost no other sound. Even the pirates were very quiet.

Oh oh oh!
A strange, piercing sea breeze whistled through the air.

Hyjal's expression suddenly changed, and he said in a deep voice, "The raging gods are warning us!"

At this time.

A wisp of flame appeared, and the witch Greya appeared behind them. The witch's expression was solemn as she slowly said, "It's ritual magic."

“Someone has cursed you.”

The voice just fell.

In the darkness in the distance, some faint outlines seemed to appear, as if they did not exist in the real world, but were summoned directly from the realm of the dead through some kind of ritual magic.

The female pirate Annie cautiously stepped out, and the other barbarians gradually awoke, startled by the unknown killing intent.

Within dimensional space.

At some point, Duncan's projection screen had changed, and the marker in the corner had changed from the real plane to the realm of the dead.

"Have we encountered an undead?"

Duncan brought up his heavy-hearted grandfather. They had only brought a little over a hundred people this time; after all, there were only a few indigenous tribes in the area, and there was no need to bring so many. The people nearby fell silent, as if in a deep sleep, with only a small number of elite units reacting promptly.

— Anubis's Death Servant (Undead) (Two-star Silver Gray).

— Set's Mummy Guard (Undead) (3-star silver-gray).

—Egyptian Pharaoh Mummy (Dead Soul) (Four-star Silver-gray). [Note: Set was the Pharaoh's guardian god around 3000 AD, but was later replaced and transformed into an evil god.]

—Desert Mummy (Two Stars).

—The Legion of Death (One Star).

The surrounding sand and gravel had somehow coalesced into mummies, and skeletons were even crawling out from the ground, their bodies wrapped in bandages, their surfaces resembling dried corpses.

"Weren't all the mummies eaten by Europeans?"

"Why are there so many more?"

Duncan told himself a lame joke, his expression gradually turning serious. Under the cover of darkness, countless undead had risen from the dead, most of them mummified warriors, a few bandaged mummies, and the leader of them was a very ancient pharaoh, whose name he did not know, probably a pharaoh who had left no legends.

“Someone has cursed you.”

The witch Greya had already begun chanting the spell, her expression solemn as she said, "It is a very powerful high priest."

"They summoned an army of the dead from the underworld."

Who else could it be?

It's definitely Prames.

Looking out, Duncan couldn't see the end of the line; it was a dark mass of enemies, densely packed, their numbers impossible to determine, seemingly endless.

However, unlike the concerns of others, Duncan was actually a little excited.

"Why are there so many!?"

Hyjal's expression was also very solemn, and he said in a deep voice, "Is this really the power that mortals possess?"

There are too many enemies.

This army of the dead seemed endless, and had completely surrounded them.

The witch Greya said solemnly, "We must find a way to hold out until dawn, or you will have to pray for a miracle from the raging gods."

"This is real magic!"

The enemy's spellcasting abilities might be even stronger than hers; to draw an analogy, Imhotep from the Mummy movie was the high priest of ancient Egypt.

Seeing the puzzled expressions on everyone's faces, the witch Greya said softly, "The dead cannot move around during the day."

"As soon as dawn breaks, they must return to the underworld."

"However, as long as the curse remains, the dead will haunt you relentlessly."

Ancient Egypt was very skilled at curse rituals.

Duncan then spoke up, "It seems that Prames has really gone to great lengths to deal with us."

The witch Greya said in a deep voice, "The other party should have the legendary 'Book of the Dead' in their possession."

"We shouldn't fight head-on."

"These undead are endless!"

Endless?

Duncan's expression grew increasingly excited.

Seemingly inspired by his fighting spirit, the nearby barbarians also became eager to try, and Hyjal even turned his head and said, "You mean we'll be fine as long as we keep fighting until dawn?"

It was probably early morning, about five hours before dawn.

Given the barbarian's physique, fighting continuously for five hours is not impossible, provided the exertion is not excessive and there are breaks in between.

“Yes.” The witch Greya nodded. “As long as I can hold out until dawn, I will have time to figure out a way to break the curse.”

Duncan had already put on his helmet by then.

"No need to bother."

He turned to look at Annie Porter behind him and said slowly, "You stay where you are and set up the defenses."

After saying that, he glanced at Hyjal, picked up his grandfather, took a shield, and faced the dense army of the dead.

Prames actually wanted to kill him using this method?

Duncan smiled but said nothing.

Grandfather flashed a cold light and swept across the area, cleaving several mummy warriors in two. Their fighting strength was similar to the monsters in the mummy movies, but some were also very agile, no less than the pharaoh's guards in the movies.

A faint glimmer of inspiration appeared.

Duncan charged forward with ferocious force, smashing the mummified corpse in front of him into a shower of bone fragments. Then, he swung his shield and slammed it down, instantly turning a mummy into pieces on the ground.

He was as unstoppable as a tiger descending the mountain!
One man charged into the midst of the army. Wherever the grandfather went, there were only fragments of dried corpses scattered everywhere. These things were very brittle. After closing the distance, Duncan picked up a javelin and threw it at the rear of the army of the dead, at a three-star marked humanoid monster with a jackal's head.

boom!
The opponent was pierced through the chest, and his figure quickly turned into a cloud of black mist and dissipated.

So fierce!
This man is too fierce!
The witch Greya stood there, stunned, watching Duncan unleash his full power amidst the dense army of mummies. It was a true Musou attack, as Duncan casually slew several enemies with a single strike. Wherever his valiant figure went, enemies fell one after another as if being harvested like wheat.

"These mummies don't look very good either!"

Crete and the other barbarians were eager to try. Almost immediately after Duncan made his move, Hyjal followed suit. He swung his warhammer and threw it, smashing more than a dozen skeletons like Thor's hammer.

Duncan and Hyjal easily killed hundreds of mummies. As the other barbarians followed, the massive army of the dead that had surrounded them was bounced back like waves hitting a reef.

"That was great!" "Hahaha! That was so satisfying!"

A group of barbarians fought fiercely, howling like ghosts. They loved this kind of large-scale battle where the enemy outnumbered them and wasn't particularly strong.

If I were to return to the Great Snow Mountain in the future, I would be too embarrassed to greet people without boasting that I had killed thousands of dead souls.

Are these barbarians even human?

The witch Greya had originally planned to set up a magic circle to defend the area until dawn, but she swallowed her words. In just a short while, the warlike barbarians had charged in wave after wave, killing nearly a thousand undead.

Duncan alone killed nearly half of them!

"These barbarians are incredibly strong!"

Don't they get tired?

"The witch Greya murmured, her gaze fixed on Duncan, while also keeping a close watch on the Pharaoh's mummy in the far distance, for that monster possessed magical abilities."

Of course I get tired, but not easily.

Berserk mode hasn't even been activated yet!
Duncan has been putting the Barbarians on a high-intensity training regimen lately, training them directly against the waves. I can't say much else, but the Barbarians' endurance has improved dramatically.

— "Master of Parrying and Blocking (Combat Skill)".

Duncan had killed countless enemies, and as a golden mark appeared, his parrying and blocking skills were instantly upgraded to the Master level.

His stamina bar was about one-third depleted.

In this respect, this human host is not as enduranced as the first human host, and his stamina recovery is also slightly worse. Duncan slowed down his charge slightly and quickly met up with Hyjal beside him. The two exchanged a glance, both in sync, and charged towards the beast-headed, human-bodied monsters at the same time.

boom!
Hyjal resembled a humanoid rampaging dump truck, heavily armored and leading the way with a warhammer and shield, while Duncan followed closely behind, drawing a javelin and aiming it at distant enemies.

A bolt of lightning ripped through the sky.

The beast-headed monster that seemed to be the commander of the legion was killed, and the nearby army of the dead was thrown into chaos.

"Don't linger in the fight."

"Walk."

Duncan covered Hyjal's retreat, and the two turned their attention to each other, making a seven-in-seven-out charge before turning back to support the others.

With the two of them blocking the front line, relying on the nearby terrain, they had the advantage of being able to hold off ten thousand men.

"In a little while, we'll take turns activating Berserk."

Within the entire Barbarian Warband, only Duncan and Hyjal possessed the ability to unleash Unending Frenzy; the other Barbarians would enter a state of exhaustion after activating Frenzy.

Generally speaking, this state of fatigue will last for a shorter period of time as strength increases.

As long as the other barbarians are given time to rest, someone can always activate Berserk.

The witch Greya is numb.

This was the first time she had ever seen someone confront a seemingly miraculous summoning spell in such a head-on manner. Beside her, the female pirate Annie, Storm Ella, and others were also wreaking havoc, but the female pirate's rapier was no longer very effective at this point, so she switched to a pirate scimitar.

The corpses ahead had piled up into a mountain, resembling an artificial city wall, blocking the undead army surging in from all directions.

After the other barbarians had charged in, some were already panting heavily, especially Crete.

But Duncan and Hyjal remained calm and unperturbed, slowly slaughtering the army of the dead before them. Whenever an elite enemy entered within 500 meters, Hyjal would strike wherever Duncan pointed, and one after another, the beast-headed, human-bodied monsters would be slain.

"If this continues, we really can hold out until dawn!"

At this moment, the witch Greya no longer doubted the physique and stamina of the barbarians; they simply could not be regarded as ordinary humans.

at the same time.

Before an underground altar somewhere on the Gold Coast, a high priest draped in black robes held a thick black book in his hands. His expression was one of horror, as if he had somehow glimpsed everything happening in the distance. He couldn't help but mutter, "These barbarians? Are they really human?"

Theoretically speaking.

He used the Book of the Dead to open the gates of the underworld, summoning an endless army of the dead. However, there is a limit to how many of the dead can be summoned at once, even if the number is endless.

It's now clear that the number he can summon is not keeping up with the speed at which the barbarians are killing.

They cut too fast!
The once densely packed army of the dead now appeared somewhat sparse at the front.

"no!"

"We must summon even stronger undead!"

puff.

Nearby, priests clad in black robes, wielding ceremonial daggers, executed the slaves beside them. This was a blood sacrifice ritual; they were offering sacrifices to pray for the arrival of a more powerful dead.

The high priest placed the Book of the Dead in the center of the altar, and as he chanted incantations, a sudden gust of wind arose from all around.

Isaac Island.

The same scene unfolded beside Duncan. Suddenly, a fierce wind swept across the battlefield ahead, like a sandstorm. The soil on the ground surged like quicksand, and a giant mouth suddenly opened up, swallowing Duncan's figure like a sphinx.

"careful!"

The witch Greya just spoke up to warn us.

boom!
With a loud bang, Duncan's figure leaped out of the quicksand underground, and the shock wave he created shook the surrounding quicksand into ripple-like rings.

Duncan leaped into the air, hurling his grandfather's weapon, instantly killing a priest-like mummy.

Buzz!
Swarms of locusts emerged from the darkness, seemingly realizing that the army of the dead could not defeat these barbarians; the dark swarm of insects swept in like a black cloud.

It's finally my turn to appear.

The witch Greya's expression changed drastically. She took out a bottle, opened it, and blew out a flame as she chanted a spell. In an instant, a fire serpent surged out, its body winding for tens of meters, instantly engulfing the swarm of insects and scattering countless charred dust particles.

She planted her cane in the ground, and the spreading quicksand solidified into rock. The surging flames, like dancing fire serpents, engulfed a large number of enemies in front of her.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!"

Those barbarians who charged too fast screamed in agony from the heat, and Crete, with his hair burned off, rolled back in a sorry state.

He glared at the witch behind him, thought for a moment, and then decided against it, since the woman was quite formidable.

Magic doesn't distinguish between friend and foe.

With Duncan's strength, joining forces with Hyjal would have made it easy for him to kill the Pharaoh's mummy in the back. However, he chose not to do so. Instead, he led a group of barbarians to continuously slaughter the enemy. Before they knew it, thousands of people had been killed nearby.

"You just said it's a curse?"

With half his stamina remaining, Duncan returned to the witch Greya's side and said in a deep voice, "If we don't lift the curse, will these undead come after us again?"

The witch Greya was a little confused, but she nodded and said, "Yes."

"The enemy has cursed you with the Book of the Dead."

"As long as the curse remains, the dead will continue to haunt you until you are dragged into the underworld, or until the person who cast the curse cannot afford the cost of summoning the dead."

Is there such a good thing?

It feels a bit like the kind of magic used in Mummy movies.

Duncan immediately began to restrain the barbarians; they were still not leaving. He wanted to see how many more undead the enemy could summon.

A group of barbarians fought their way through until dawn.

Then, as dawn broke, the seemingly endless army of the dead gradually turned to dust and vanished.

But the curse remains.

At midnight on the second day, another dense mass of undead appeared, but there were far fewer than on the first day.

The witch Greya seemed to understand what Duncan was trying to do.

"Does he intend to kill the person who cast the curse until they suffer a backlash from the ritual?" the witch asked, her expression one of shock.

Summoning the dead also comes at a price.

Given the barbarians' frenzied killing methods, even if she were to preside over the ceremony, she wouldn't last long before being drained dry. And once the cursed ritual is activated, it's not so easy to break free.

the next day.

Another great battle ensued. Some of the barbarians were injured, but the damage was minor. The witch Greya had potions that allowed her to fight continuously. The others also looked tired, but out of trust in Duncan, no one raised any questions.

Finally, after the barbarians had killed tens of thousands of undead.

On a distant Gold Coast, a black-robed priest knelt on an altar, his entire body trembling. He was emaciated, like a dried-up corpse, all his life force drained away. His eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was one of deep fear.

How long can these barbarians hold out?

Around this ancient altar, the mummified corpses of black-robed priests lay scattered on both sides. With a gust of angry, eerie wind, the flowing yellow sand formed a burly figure with a jackal's head.

"No!...Great Anubis!..."

"I will continue to offer sacrifices!..."

"Do not!!!"

Click.

The entire altar began to shatter, the Book of the Dead in his hand turned to dust, a gigantic hand grabbed the black-robed priest, and then the ground opened a gaping, black maw that swallowed his soul and dragged it into endless darkness.

Rumble!
The temple where the ceremony was held was collapsing, and quicksand swallowed everything, devouring all the priests who had presided over the ceremony amidst angry roars.

The army of the Kingdom of the Dead suffered heavy casualties, and the priests who summoned them must pay the price.

In just two days.

An ancient ritual that had been practiced on the Gold Coast for hundreds of years suddenly became ineffective, and no one could use the Book of the Dead to initiate the cursed ritual anymore.

Those undead warriors of the underworld no longer respond to any summons.

………………

(End of this chapter)