Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 9 The End of the Gods! Please read on

Dimensional space.

This is still a void of the starry sky. In the endless darkness, there is only a huge nebula in the distance that looks like a feather.

Duncan's consciousness returned without a physical body here.

The projection image in front of him was still from a God's perspective. He could see the guard leader, Cartus, waiting downstairs in the hotel, and the Raven Queen, Triss, quietly poured herself a cup of tea, as if she knew everything that happened next door and was quietly waiting for Duncan's decision.

The Witcher George was buying supplies in the town, all of which were relatively cheap daily necessities. It looked like he was planning to leave soon.

Duncan's mind moved.

The projection image in front of me immediately began to change.

——"Retire from the world?"

It’s still a familiar scene.

A line of words gradually emerged.

——"Retreat [End Training]: You will sever your connection with your human form and will no longer be able to enter the real plane through this human form. Your human form will replicate your current personality and experience, and it will no longer be able to gain additional abilities."

"The dimensional space will switch to 'Observer Mode', and your consciousness will temporarily fall asleep until your energy is restored and you can capture the next compatible human body."

——"Law of Cause and Effect [Experience Settlement]:
Branch One: You accepted Catus's invitation and joined the Aetius family's army. Your exceptional strength quickly earned you the Aetius family's respect, and you were adopted as their son and given the surname Aetius. You quickly rose to prominence on the empire's frontiers, achieving numerous feats in the war against the Germanic barbarians. You helped suppress the Frankish rebellion and repel the Saxon attack.

But the empire has long been in decline, and neither you nor the Aetius family can save the situation. With the Huns' renewed invasion, the barbarian invasion of the empire has become more and more severe.

The Scourge of God is dismembering the entire empire.

Half a year later, you were hit by several arrows in a battle with the Huns and had to retreat to the rear to recuperate, but this injury had left you with an incurable hidden disease.

Three months later, you were besieged by barbarian rebels in Lower Germania, killed more than ten people in battle, and died of exhaustion.

You are recorded in history as an adopted son of the Aetius family, and historians consider you one of the most skilled adopted sons under the Roman Protector Aetius.

Ok?
The Last Roman - Aetius?

Duncan tried his best to recall, but knew very little. He seemed to be the last famous general in the late empire, but his end was that he was murdered by the emperor of the empire.

The empire's emperors changed frequently. First, they were crowned by the army, then assassinated by the guards. Later, a barbarian became emperor, was poisoned, committed suicide, or was deposed. In any case, the emperor was always rotated among the people. If the naturalized barbarians had not been integrated into the empire, the empire would have long since ceased to exist.

The Whip of God?

Duncan knew that Attila, the emperor of the Hun Empire, was mentioned in history textbooks. It was said that a large part of the reason for the barbarian invasion was that the Huns migrated to Eurasia, which indirectly led to the destruction of the empire.

"But this is clearly a parallel world, and it's unclear whether the course of history will deviate."

no doubt.

This time the outcome was much better than the last time. At least he was no longer a beggar. He was more or less a grassroots general of the empire. Dying on the battlefield was much better than dying of illness on the street.

"Where's branch two?"

"Why is the deduction of causality so much slower than the last one? Is it due to supernatural forces?"

Duncan waited for a moment.

The causal settlement of branch two appeared on the projection interface in front of him.

"Branch Two: You agreed to travel to the British Isles with Triss, the Raven Queen. Beyond the vast borders of the Empire, the dark forces of the past still linger. You encountered many legendary monsters. With Triss's help, you slew trolls, ghouls, half-giants, sirens, and other supernatural creatures.

Gradually, you have your own legend in the British Isles.

You became friends with the legendary wizard Merlin, you witnessed the birth and growth of King Arthur, and you won the love of Triss, the Raven Queen. The extreme pleasure she brought you made you gradually lose interest in other women.

But it is almost impossible for a witch to give birth to an heir. After entering middle age, you were bewitched by the Lady of the Lake and gradually became estranged from the Raven Queen - Triss.

In order to find the peaceful kingdom predicted to shelter her kind from the Dark Ages, Triss, the Raven Queen, began to plan to explore the world beyond the sea. She built a large ship in the British Isles and took the witches who followed her to search overseas for the 'Iceland' you mentioned.

At the last moment, you suddenly realize that the true love of your life is Triss, who has gone through countless crises and difficulties with you. You finally gave up everything and boarded that ocean ship.

Going through dangers.

You have luckily escaped the pursuit of the North Sea Monster and found Iceland, which has not yet been colonized and discovered.

But this place is inhabited by terrifying monsters that settled here in mythological times to avoid humans. You have encountered the greatest crisis in history: a mature dragon, the Raven Queen Triss, who died in battle to protect you.

In the final battle, you find that your sword and arrows are simply unable to penetrate the dragon's scales.

Only then do you realize that you are just an ordinary person with a little bit of martial arts skills.

All along, it has been Triss, the Raven Queen, who has silently protected you. The legends and fame you possess are all the result of Triss attributing all the honors to you, forging your legendary story in the British Isles.

You are just an ordinary person.

Under the fiery breath of the evil dragon, you embraced the body of your lover, and turned into ashes in the blazing flames.

Dimensional space.

Duncan was suddenly stunned.

Silent for a long time.

He stared at the second outcome deduced from the law of cause and effect, and was stunned for a long time.

At this moment, the projection image changed again.

"The law of cause and effect interferes with the law of origin!"

"The Raven Queen, Triss, has infused her final magical power into your soul. Your soul is transcending the laws of reality!"

"Your human form left a legacy in the real world, becoming a prominent figure in the legends of King Arthur. Legend has it that you were King Arthur's second mentor, teaching him archery and horseback riding when he was young. In Icelandic legends, you are considered the first human to challenge a dragon."

"Your human form has been integrated with the laws of the world, and has been promoted to a lower-level Heroic Spirit!"

—Monster Hunter - Duncan! [Human Form No. 1] [Lower-Rank Heroic Spirit] [Witch's Love] (Can transform into a transdimensional avatar, entering any captured reality through a summoning ritual.)
The characters are jumping.

——"Retire from the world?"

——"After retreating, the laws of causality will be assimilated with the laws of reality, and Human Body No. 1 will enter the dimensional space as the incarnation of a 'lower-level heroic spirit'."

no!
Duncan refused without hesitation.

Although this ending is better than the previous one, he absolutely cannot accept it.

According to his understanding of dimensional space, after he severed the connection to his human form, it could no longer increase its power at the same astonishing rate. The second causal ending clearly showed that the Raven Queen, Triss, had been secretly contributing to the situation. A mere mortal of standard knighthood could never have defeated so many supernatural monsters, let alone created his own legendary story in the British Isles.

As a result of all the consequences of the law of causality, only Duncan lived beyond middle age.

More importantly, the enemies encountered in this ending were the most dangerous, but he remained safe until they found Iceland and encountered the dragon that lived there. Duncan thought for a moment and knew that this ending was because Triss, the Raven Queen, had been protecting him the whole time.

Even a key factor in a human body's promotion to a lower-level Heroic Spirit is Triss injecting the last of her magic power into his soul.

The Raven Queen, Triss, dies.

Monster Hunter-Duncan survives as a heroic spirit.

This is Witch Love.

Duncan really wanted to smoke a cigarette. His head was buzzing, and he couldn't help but sigh, "We haven't even held hands yet."

"How come we're in love?"

Neither of them has a good ending.

Duncan now understood that unless his strength was strong enough, in this turbulent era, once he chose to cut off the connection with his human body, this human body would most likely not have a good end.

After he severed the connection with his human form, his abilities would no longer increase dramatically, retaining his current strength. His melee combat was equivalent to that of a skilled infantryman, his archery was comparable to that of a forest hunter, and his riding and archery skills were roughly comparable to those of a nomadic archer. He was decent in all areas, making him a relatively well-balanced warrior. Such a figure could still serve as a minor general in the Imperial Army, and if he seized the opportunity, he could achieve meritorious service and rise to prominence. However, in the era of the Empire's collapse, a peaceful death was nearly impossible.

The city of Rome was looted again and again, the entire European territory was in chaos, and few people had a good end.

Duncan already had the answer in his mind.

He pushed open the door and saw Catus being supported by someone in the hotel lobby. He knocked on the door next door without hesitation, staring at the veiled Raven Queen Triss before him, and said slowly, "I will escort you to the British Isles."

"But you have to pay me a lot of money!"

Need more money!
Even if they lived and died together according to the law of cause and effect, so what? That was just a personality recreated through experience!
Still have to pay extra!!!
The Raven Queen, Triss, showed a hint of surprise. Her emerald blue eyes were like crescent moons. She said without hesitation, "Yes."

Duncan is very strong.

At least with the help of his God's Perspective, the strength he displayed was completely beyond his current combat skills. Even the Demon Hunter George was quite wary of him. After all, Duncan had killed 19 enemies in three days, all of whom were real soldiers. On the ancient battlefield, killing a soldier in battle could earn you a promotion.

As soon as the God's perspective was turned on, the hint of murderous intent under Duncan's cold and handsome face had already shocked the others in the group.

Downstairs in the inn, the guard leader, Catus, saw Duncan talking to the witch and couldn't help but show a hint of disappointment on his face. After all, if such a sturdy warrior joined the army, he would definitely make a name for himself. His bravery and strength alone would be enough to inspire others.

But Duncan knows his own strengths and weaknesses. Without the blessing of the God's perspective, he is only slightly better than the experienced veteran.

Joining the military right now is not an option in the first place.

According to his personality, he would be more comfortable being an independent lord than being mixed up in the corrupt imperial bureaucracy.

Now the one who gets killed is the one who sticks out.

Looking at ancient Chinese history, few of those who emerged at the end of a dynasty persevered to the end.

The leader of the guards, Catus, was helped to leave. Before leaving, he took a deep look at the witch. The caravan took her along for another reason. After all, the Aetius family had some connection with the priests who served the gods in the old times.

The legacy of Triss, the Raven Queen, served Trivia hundreds of years ago. This is an alias for Diana, one of the twelve Roman gods, and is equivalent to a face of a god.

The empire's polytheism was syncretic.

In the case of Diana, she was not of Roman origin, she was the goddess of Nemi, 'Diana of the Woods', a great nature deity who was worshipped in the forest around Lake Nemi.

Diana was originally just a Roman forest goddess, but she later annexed another Roman moon goddess, Luna, and thus became the most important moon goddess in Rome.
The Romans favored using Roman gods to subsume foreign gods with similar functions. Around the fifth or sixth century B.C., the worship of Diana came into contact with the ancient Greeks. By the Roman era, Diana had subsumed the Greek goddess Artemis, and was thus also considered the goddess of hunting, plants, and beasts.

At the same time, Diana also annexed the Greek goddess Hecate and the Carthaginian goddess of the sky Celestia.

The polytheism of the empire was a process of continuous growth.

As the Roman Empire conquered continental Europe, it began to absorb Greek religion and mythology. Greek gods like Castor, Polydeuces, and Apollo became Roman deities, and these deities were integrated into the Roman religion. After Rome suffered a crushing defeat in the Second Battle of Carthage, in an effort to escape Carthage's control, it also introduced Cybele, the great goddess worshipped by the people of Asia Minor, into Roman religion, according to an oracle.

In addition, the Persian god Mithra and the Egyptian gods Osiris and Isis also became objects of worship for the Romans.

The gods of the conquered nations were generally absorbed into the Roman Pantheon.

This is the origin of the original 'Pantheon'.

This is somewhat similar to the people of the Celestial Empire. The gods can take it and use it, and absorb everything that can be used as a part of us.

Today, the Pantheon has been closed and no sacrifices are allowed. Since Catholicism became the state religion of the empire, the priests who once served the gods have disappeared one by one, and some have even been tried as evil witches.

The legacy of Triss, the Raven Queen, originated from here. Those who possess supernatural powers are more likely to worship gods, after all, they cannot understand where their magic comes from.

It was because of this relationship that the forest nymphs asked her for help and called her 'High Priestess'.

If it were still the era of polytheism.

The Raven Queen - Triss would never live in exile. She would most likely be the chief priestess of the goddess Diana, with a very high social status, equivalent to the archbishop of the church.

Hecate's alias, Trioditis, was translated into Latin by the Romans as Trivia.

This is the origin of Triss, the Raven Queen. Their branch served the Roman goddess Diana, which was the face of the goddess Hecate after she devoured her. Hecate was the goddess of witchcraft and death, so this branch of priests from Trivia was brutally suppressed by the church.

Perhaps some of the witches who were burned to death in the Middle Ages may have awakened their magical powers later in life, or learned and mastered witchcraft through some means.

But before the empire was destroyed, many wizards were descendants of the priests of the gods during the polytheistic period.

Or to be more blunt.

If gods really exist in this world, then the Pantheon combined would not be enough to defeat God alone, and eventually the secular world would completely replace polytheism with monotheism.

Those priest systems that have been passed down for thousands of years and have existed since the ancient Greek era have all been branded as "heresy."

Ancient Olympic Games.

It was held every four years from 776 BC until it was banned by the Roman emperor in 394 AD, lasting 1170 years.

That year.

The ancient Olympic Games were banned, the doors of the Pantheon were closed, the sacrificial fire was extinguished, polytheism became history, and the priests who once served the gods also saw the end of an era.

The Inquisition was quietly established.

As Triss, the Raven Queen, said, "Our time has ended..."

The gods have fallen.

The Raven Queen, Triss, only wanted to find a country that could shelter her kind. She glimpsed the future through prophecies and foresaw that "monotheism" would unify the beliefs of the European continent.

This is a confrontation between faith and divine authority above royal power.

God wins.

………………

(End of this chapter)