Chapter 23: The Medieval Era—Barbarian Invasion! Bonus Chapter

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Waves churned.

Duncan climbed the mast to look out, spotting the Saxon warships in the distance. They resembled Viking dragon-ships—clinker-built wooden vessels—though they were modest in size, roughly twenty meters long and five meters wide.

In this era, the most advanced warships were the Imperial Navy’s quinqueremes, which approached fifty meters in length and five meters in width, capable of accommodating three hundred rowers.

During the height of paganism, when the cult of the Sea God still held sway, the Empire had once constructed "Sky Crow" ships, but those had long since been decommissioned, and no one had built such massive vessels in the later years. Due to its innate geographical advantages, the Italian peninsula remained at the forefront of maritime technology, having conquered Egypt as early as the pre-Christian era. (Mediterranean shipbuilding technology was world-class for the time.)

"We should be near Dover."

At its narrowest point, the channel is only about 30 kilometers wide. Duncan felt that, given his current physical condition, he could likely swim across it if he were traveling alone.

"They are closing in!" a sailor exclaimed.

Among the various Germanic barbarian tribes, the Franks and the Saxons currently possessed the greatest combat prowess. The Saxon pirates, in particular, had gained a fearsome reputation over nearly a century of invasions. They were roughly equivalent to early Viking raiders, and at their peak, they were not far behind the Norsemen, worshiping primarily Odin and Thor.

Duncan’s expression turned serious. He descended from the mast and reached out to test the wind direction.

Because of the high winds on the sea, the aiming reticle in his "God’s-eye view" wavered, and even the adjustments from his combat skills were significantly weakened.

Naval warfare in this era was primitive; the final engagement would likely devolve into boarding actions.

There were too few of them. These sailors were no match for the Saxon pirates.

Duncan was not very confident, mainly worried about the safety of the witches. Their close-quarters combat abilities were truly lacking.

At that moment, the Raven Queen, Triss, approached and stared at Duncan, asking, "Are you confident?"

Duncan’s expression remained grim as he hesitated. "The guard is too thin. These sailors are likely no match for them."

— Saxon Pirate Ship (High Morale) (Natural Sailors).

The Raven Queen, Triss, nodded slightly and said, "Then leave it to me."

With that, she turned to gaze at the Saxon pirate ship, walked to a secluded corner of the deck, and knelt on one knee in a posture of prayer, though it was unclear if she was preparing magic.

Magic in this world was severely restricted.

"The wind direction is in our favor!"

"They can't catch us."

The sailors on deck were excited, some loudly praising the Sea God. The wind on the sea had shifted slightly; if this continued, they could slowly outrun the enemy without fear of being overtaken by the pirate ship.

Can she control the wind?

Duncan watched the Raven Queen, Triss, as she rose, feeling that this woman was truly reassuringly reliable.

Subconsciously, he turned to glance at Anya, who stood behind them looking nervous.

A two-star blank slate.

Compared to the Raven Queen, Triss, Duncan had never seen Anya display any powerful supernatural means. She didn't seem like a true witch; she was more like an exquisite household luxury.

However, she was certainly wealthy.

Coming from an old Roman aristocratic lineage, a noblewoman of the Empire’s upper crust, she possessed her own fleet, and her purse was filled with gold.

Anya followed the mystery cult of Aphrodite, a branch of the cult of Venus. After blending with Greek beliefs, she served the aspect of Aphrodite as the goddess of lust and desire. Her supernatural abilities were likely limited to various charms and means of pleasing men, but unfortunately, those had been whipped out of her by the Raven Queen, Triss.

(Anya was so terrified that she never dared to use charms again. They were roughly equivalent to spells of charming humans.)

Back at the mountain camp, Anya had many schemes, but in the end, she became the sacrificial pawn, turning into a prop for the growing affection between Duncan and the Raven Queen, Triss.

Yet, she was not one to stay truly quiet; her docility now did not mean she wouldn't stir up trouble later.

The true civilized era of the British Isles was brought by the Roman Empire.

The Empire established the Province of Britannia here and began urbanizing the plains, constructing towns such as Londinium, Eboracum, and Londinium during that period. There were no truly large cities; most were small-to-medium-sized settlements, among which Londinium was the predecessor to modern-day London. (I will refer to it as London henceforth. Most cities will use their modern names for convenience.)

Around 407–410 AD, the last of the Roman legions withdrew, the province of Britannia was abandoned, and London began to decline. Many residents migrated, but it was soon replenished by Celts, becoming a large town with a population of over ten thousand once more.

Duncan and his party’s original destination was Londinium, but it had already been occupied by the Saxons, and the surrounding regions were active war zones.

After the Roman legions departed, the British Isles entered the Age of Kings.

They finally landed.

Upon stepping onto the coastline of Britain, Duncan felt slightly more relaxed; personal combat prowess was severely restricted in naval warfare.

He was no Beowulf, capable of hunting sea monsters in the depths or engaging in physical intimacy with water spirits and mermaids while swimming.

Even with the power of the Grail’s blood in effect, Duncan was at most equivalent to half a Beowulf.

With most of his combat skills raised to "Mastery," his strength had entered a bottleneck. He likely needed to hunt supernatural monsters to acquire more specialized abilities.

As for pure combat techniques, the threshold for master-level skills was very high. He didn't know if there was anything beyond that, but he hadn't yet crossed swords with an enemy of that caliber.

Hm.

It must be noted that in this current era, Beowulf had not yet been born; his period of activity was close to that of King Arthur, actually occurring some years after Arthur.

"Are we heading straight to the Kingdom of Camelot?" Anya whispered.

Camelot was the kingdom of Arthurian legend, possessing an impregnable castle.

In this medieval world, it had initially submitted to the Roman Empire, only to regain its independence after the withdrawal of the Imperial legions. Its geographical location was in the southeast of the British Isles, roughly the territory from Hampshire to Wales.

Because of its geographical advantage, the Kingdom of Camelot withstood the Saxon invasions, though it was frequently harassed by Saxon pirates.

Currently, the ruler of the Kingdom of Camelot was King Uther, the father of King Arthur.

He had once carried out a massacre of wizards within his borders, so Camelot was a holy land where evil magic was not tolerated, and it was one of the regions where the Church had taken root. (The British Church differed greatly from that of the Continent; it was highly autonomous, consisting of early monastic orders with different rituals. It was said to have originated during the missionary period of Saint Paul. The witch hunter’s alias was George Paul.)

As for Merlin, it was rumored that he was a baptized magician. The distinction between a "wizard" and a "magician" was likely drawn during this period, with "wizards" typically being those who practiced evil magic. (After the Middle Ages, male practitioners received certain privileges, becoming "magicians," while all sorts of vitriol were cast upon female "witches," a fact tied to the status of women in that era.)

Merlin was a neutral supernatural entity.

Duncan didn't really trust him either, but establishing a foothold on the British Isles was impossible without bypassing this powerful wizard.

"We have a situation!" Severus said in a deep voice.

Duncan had already entered his God’s-eye view and, hearing Severus’s warning, immediately expanded the strategic map, quickly making a discovery.

However, what surprised him more was that Severus’s marker had changed after entering the British Isles.

— Severus (Two-star, Silver-Gray) (Druid) (Mildly Disabled) [Friendly Unit].

He had leveled up.

Without the slightest warning.

Before crossing the sea, Severus was still a two-star white-slate unit with a mild disability, but he had suddenly become a two-star silver-gray elite unit.

"Has his spellcasting ability been restored?"

This was the first thought that popped into Duncan’s mind; otherwise, there was no way to explain why the mildly disabled Severus had suddenly seen such a surge in strength. The British Isles should still be a region of Celtic belief. After entering Britain, some invisible change had occurred within Severus.

"Because the British Isles still hold the Druidic faith, has Severus recovered part of his spellcasting ability?"

Something even more surprising happened.

Severus approached a patch of woodland ahead, and amidst his strange, echoing calls, a stag actually emerged.

The stag was very timid toward people, but it was not afraid of Severus.

He approached the stag alone, signaled for the others not to come near, and then whispered something, seemingly conversing with the creature.

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Talking to animals?!

A Druid’s supernatural ability?

Duncan was now increasingly certain that Severus had recovered his spellcasting powers. At present, he didn't fully understand the supernatural forces of this world, but the last time the Raven Queen, Triss, went berserk, she had also utilized an ancient sacrificial stone from the Roman era.

Their supernatural abilities fluctuated, proving quite unstable.

Only Anya in the group remained at the two-star white-slate level, operating steadily at the low capability level of a near-average noblewoman.

"A war has broken out upstream."

Severus soon returned, and the stag vanished into the woods.

He looked at Duncan and said, "There are corpses floating down the river, not far from our current position."

In fact, Duncan already knew.

After expanding the strategic map in his God’s-eye view, he had already seen an area in the midst of combat, but because it was quite far away, it wasn't very clear, the two sides in the melee tangled in a chaotic mess.

The Raven Queen, Triss, turned to look at Duncan and said softly, "Should we go and see?"

Currently, the Saxon invasion had seized vast tracts of land. London had not yet fallen, but it was on the front lines of the conflict.

The other force resisting the Saxon invasion was the Kingdom of Camelot.

London was the last vestige of Roman Imperial power here. After the Imperial legions withdrew, those who had accepted the cultural transition spontaneously formed the "British Legion" to guard their homes. Their training standards were close to those of the Imperial field armies, but their equipment was far inferior.

Beyond that, in earlier years when the fighting was more balanced, the London region had also organized the Coastal Defense Legions, which were militia units, their equipment even worse than the border garrisons of the Empire.

They had been able to defend the coastline then, but now the Saxon pirates had driven deep into the interior.

The Raven Queen, Triss, must have guessed that Duncan increased his strength through killing in battle, as she occasionally mentioned the Spartans and told Duncan that the Spartans were destroyed by their own slaughter.

It was an era where gods and men lived together.

The Spartans of Greece worshiped Ares, the God of War. They were a true warrior race, and many soldiers would transform rapidly through the slaughter of war, growing into the finest soldiers.

Later, Sparta fell, and the faith in Ares was dealt a heavy blow. The Goddess of Victory, Athena, began to rise, becoming the main deity of the domain of war. Subsequently, war began to rely more on wisdom and strategy, and the Spartan tradition became history. (The twelve major gods of ancient Greece were worshiped according to the era; as the groups serving certain deities died out, those gods received fewer sacrifices, eventually becoming nothing more than a name.)

After the rise of the Roman Empire, Athena’s faith gradually merged with Minerva.

Around 43 BC, after the Roman legions invaded and occupied Britain, the Romans built many bathhouses for saunas and swimming in Bath, a place the Romans considered a miracle site of the goddess of springs and wisdom, Minerva.

(The Empire’s bathing culture was extremely developed; arenas and public baths were an indispensable part of the early Empire. The Romans were very clean, unlike the Middle Ages where people did not bathe.)

Minerva’s war-related divinity was not clearly defined, but several of her temples were directly converted from training grounds.

This inherited the culture of ancient Greece.

For the Great Temple of Artemis was also a training ground, specifically used to train excellent archers.

"Does she have some misunderstanding about me and the Spartans?"

The Raven Queen, Triss, likely believed that Duncan possessed the power of the God of War or the spirit of war, or perhaps the special abilities of the Spartans, allowing him to improve rapidly through combat and killing.

Duncan didn't know how to explain it, so he simply defaulted to silence.

He checked the strategic map, pondered for a moment, and said, "Let’s go take a look, and find some horses while we’re at it."

"Try not to get involved in their war."

There were only five of them. Duncan was at full status, Severus had upgraded to an elite unit but was mildly disabled, and the Raven Queen, Triss’s burst potential was extremely strong, but her preparation time was too long, requiring the support of relics from the old era.

The witch Anya, like the female slave saved from the bandit camp, was basically equivalent to half a combat unit.

Her two-star white-slate strength was entirely hollow.

"Five people can only count as three combat units."

Duncan dared not be reckless. Following the strategic map, he approached and discovered the army currently fighting in the plains.

— Saxon Pirates.

— Saxon Elite Raiders (One-star).

— Saxon Spearmen.

— Saxon Elite Axemen [Blessed by Thor] (One-star, Silver-Gray).

— Saxon Hunters.

— Germanic Priesthood.

For the first time on a battlefield, Duncan saw the formation of non-combatant units. They seemed to be encouraging the surrounding Saxon warriors. Their attire was very close to that of the priests from the pagan Norse regions, both male and female. Their scale was small, only about a dozen people, and they would bestow blessings upon the Saxon warriors.

They could motivate barbarian troops into a "High Morale" state.

"A bit like the priests of the Church accompanying the Crusades in the Middle Ages."

"Are they supernatural units?"

Duncan was quite curious, as he had not yet unlocked his mana bar. The Raven Queen, Triss, had said that many wizard-priests had no spellcasting ability, and only a very small number could cast simple witchcraft.

— Barbarian Chieftain’s Guard (One-star).

— Saxon Noble Knights (One-star, Silver-Gray).

On the God’s-eye strategic map, the composition of the Saxon army was quite complex, featuring a variety of combat units. They even had a cavalry contingent; the Chieftain’s Guard protected the commanders, and the Saxon noble knights were well-equipped, already counting as true heavy cavalry.

Fortunately, their numbers were small, only thirty or forty strong.

Resisting them were the indigenous people of the British Isles, some of whose troops were very close to the Imperial legions.

— British Legion (Low-spec Field Army).

— Coastal Defense Legion (Low-spec Border Garrison).

— Sarmatian Auxiliary Riders.

— Lagal Heavy Cavalry (One-star).

— British Monastic Order.

Most notable was a unit of heavy cavalry composed of knights, marked as "Duke of Tintagel’s Knight Guard." All were one-star units, plus elite knights, well-equipped in full scale armor, with their warhorses armored as well, similar to cataphracts.

There were about a dozen of them, mixed with some armored riders and a small number of light cavalry.

"Wait!"

Duncan struggled to recall, seemingly remembering something, and muttered, "Duke of Tintagel?"

"In the legends, didn't King Uther sleep with the Duke of Tintagel’s wife?"

"And then King Arthur was born?"

If Duncan’s memory was correct, King Uther had waited until the Duke of Tintagel was away, had the wizard Merlin transform him into the appearance of the Duke, and then sneaked into the castle to spend the night with the Duke’s wife, ultimately resulting in the conception of King Arthur.

It wouldn't be now, would it?

The Duke of Tintagel was on the front lines resisting invaders, while King Uther took the opportunity to sleep with his wife. Later, the Duke of Tintagel died, and his wife married King Uther.

From then on, the power of the Kingdom of Camelot was thoroughly concentrated in the hands of King Uther.

"So, is King Uther sleeping with his wife now?"

Duncan observed the battlefield and found the situation for the British forces dire. The Cantii, acting as an auxiliary legion, were on the verge of being routed.

This was a rather primitive tribal nation.

The Cantii still retained some traditions of "group marriage," where different clans and tribes would each provide a batch of young men and women—for example, ten men and ten women would marry, and they could unite at will. A man could mate with any of these ten women to produce offspring, and a woman could also freely engage in marital relations with any of these ten men. (To prevent population loss.)

It was only after being conquered by the Empire that the British Isles slowly began to change their cultural traditions.

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However, in some remote areas, very primitive tribes still existed, including even cannibals and the even older tradition of "promiscuous marriage." There were still many wild men in the early British Isles.

The Caesar era recorded many things about the British Isles, and for hundreds of years thereafter, the Romans tried their best to change the traditions of these primitive tribes.

Group marriage phenomena thus slowly decreased.

"Did they pull in all the auxiliary legions of the indigenous tribes?"

They had the numerical advantage, but their equipment was poor and their morale low.

In Duncan’s strategic view, the three auxiliary legions of the indigenous tribes were easily routed. They probably couldn't even defeat the youth armies of the Roman era, being hacked to pieces by a squad of Saxon barbarian axemen. The large-scale rout even impacted the main army, causing the British Legion to fall into a "Confused" state.

Too many green troops.

Without a strong main combat force, as soon as the rabble routed, it immediately triggered a chain reaction.

"Is this Duke of Tintagel going to die?!"

As the center of the formation fell into chaos from the impact of the retreating soldiers, the Saxon Chieftain’s Guard and noble knights began to move, targeting the Duke of Tintagel’s personal guard.

They wouldn't even wait for Duncan and the others to arrive before the British legions likely suffered a massive rout.

Total devastation!

This was a true crushing defeat.

Because the era was very close to the "Uprising of the Five Barbarians" of that time, the combat strength of the barbarians surrounding the Empire was also extremely fierce.

However, the Uprising of the Five Barbarians in Asia should have ended some time ago, while the barbarian invasions of the Empire had just entered their climax, and there would be hundreds of years of barbarian brawls to come.

"The Saxons’ advantage is too obvious."

"If not for King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and a unit of knights approaching the medieval standard, I’m afraid the British Isles would have fallen even faster."

The Knights of the Round Table could be seen as a heavy elite knight order of about a hundred men.

In this era, once they were sent out, it was like throwing dice, directly deciding the fate of the entire local battlefield.

According to the legends, the Duke of Tintagel was a man destined to die.

If he didn't die, King Arthur’s mother could not legitimately marry King Uther.

Duncan had already foreseen a rout.

Suddenly.

He seemed to see something, his whole body stiffening, and he muttered, "What on earth is that?"

— Valkyrie (Three-star, Gold) (Norse Goddess of War) [Neutral Unit]?!

A blurred, invisible female figure emerged above the battlefield. She seemed to be waiting for something; beneath her silver, bird-winged helmet, her eyes gazed at the Germanic barbarian warriors on the battlefield, as if waiting for the moment they fell in battle.

The ancient Greek pantheon had fallen; the ancient Roman pantheon had fallen.

Under the polytheistic belief system.

The last faction of the Western pantheon, Scandinavia—the Norse pantheon—had officially taken the stage!

This was the last polytheistic faction holding out, the core of the Germanic mythological system, which would persist for another millennium before being thoroughly destroyed by the Church!

— Medieval Era: Barbarian Invasion!

Against the backdrop of the Empire’s collapse, beyond the immense pressure from the Hunnic Empire, various Germanic barbarian tribes followed some dark, unseen guidance, beginning a massive invasion of the [fully Christianized] Roman Empire.

Thus, the Medieval Era unfurled its grand, centuries-long prologue!

Secular royal power, the faith of the masses, polytheism versus monotheism, the last polytheistic faction—the Norse pantheon—and the prophecy of Ragnarök, all taking the barbarian invasion as their opening chapter, ignited the final War of the Pantheons!

This war would conclude hundreds of years later, with the Norse pantheon essentially extinguished.

………………

[PS: This chapter lays out the final background context for the first volume. Although this is a pure "cool" novel, and this is the medieval world of the first volume, I am very serious about laying out the era's background.

Other system-based novels often turn reality into a game, with the system driving the plot and the protagonist as a tool, making a real world look like an RPG. The concept of this book is to make the game a reality—Duncan sees game screens, but it is a series of real and cruel nations.

This is the origin of the "Trans-Dimensional Player."]

[Note 1: The "Heroic" transformation of the first human vessel is because the Norse pantheon still survives. After monotheism destroys the Norse pantheon, it will complete the unification of faith.]

[Note 2: Norse mythology spread to Iceland in the 7th century, thus surviving, and was only completely replaced and extinguished in the 16th century. (The Raven Queen, Triss’s prophecy—this path is actually a retreat left for the Norse pantheon. It was not meant for the witches.)]

[Note 3: The Edict of Milan was issued, the ancient Olympic Games were banned, the sacrificial fires were extinguished, and the doors of the Pantheon were closed. The chronological order is roughly 300–394 AD, and the true massive Germanic barbarian invasion officially began around 400 AD.

The ancient Greek and ancient Roman pantheon factions were declared destroyed in the same year.

The civil war of the polytheistic factions turned into a confrontation between polytheism and monotheism.

Thus, the grand background context of the first volume has completed its logical loop, and the "Medieval Era: Barbarian Invasion (Late Mythological Period)" is officially constructed.

Secular faction warfare is the overt thread, while religious faction warfare is the covert thread.

The Franks, of barbarian origin, ultimately converted to the Church, meaning they lost in the covert struggle of the Norse pantheon. The invading barbarians were subverted by the Church, directly changing their faith.

The barbarians physically destroyed the Empire, while the Church secretly destroyed the Norse faith of the invading barbarians. This is the background of the chaotic Medieval Era.

You fight your battles, I fight mine—sacrificing the Empire to forge the Roman Curia.

You physically destroy the Empire, I spiritually destroy the Norse faith, converting all the invading barbarians into believers of the Church.

Primitive religions have far less missionary efficiency than the Church.

But they have martial bonuses, such as sacrificial traditions.

And the Empire was too strong; a single word could establish a state religion and decide whether polytheism or monotheism would rise, so the Empire had to die.

The Empire could be destroyed, but the faith had to be unified.

Judging the heretics.

This is the grand chess game played by the Church.

The coffin lid must be pressed down, and the remnants must be cleared.

Lest one day a major news story suddenly appears—the ancient Roman (ancient Greek) pantheon faction has been restored.

It had already been restored once during the period of Julian the Apostate.

This is the era node where the protagonist enters.

The flight of the witches stems from this.]

[PS: The power system of the first volume is basically set according to The Lord of the Rings; the suppression of the witches' power also borrows from the Lord of the Rings system.

The supernatural entities of the Norse pantheon are equivalent to the human vessels of the Maiar in Lord of the Rings.

That is to say, the strength of wizards like Gandalf, with the individual god-level entities reaching the level of Sauron or the Elf Queen.

At the beginning, what I wanted to write for the first volume was the oldest fantasy writing style.

Not Japanese-style fantasy, not "priest-heals-the-grandmother" tropes, and not the fantasy style of later web novels.]

[PS: Writing about a game-like otherworldly realm with a fantasy style is, for me, really like a traveler leaving home—bumping into things, getting bloodied, only to return to the place where the dream first set sail, making it feel much more relaxed and casual.]

[Finally, I recall a line from a video—In the name of God, sweep across Europe!]