Chapter 24: Chapter Twenty-Three: The Middle Ages—Barbarian Invasions! Bonus Chapter

(7,000-word bonus chapter; setup complete. Tomorrow’s chapter will also be long. Entering the next major climax. Wishing everyone a happy new year in advance—celebrating over three thousand consecutive reads!)

Waves churned.

Deng Ken climbed the mast to scout and spotted the Saxon warships far off—similar to Viking dragon ships, fish-scale wooden hulls, but not large, about twenty meters long and five meters wide.

The most advanced warships of this era were the Roman Imperial Navy’s quinqueremes, nearly fifty meters long and five meters wide, capable of carrying three hundred oarsmen simultaneously.

During the height of polytheism, when the sea god was still worshipped, the Empire once built corvus ships, but they had long been decommissioned, and no one had constructed such large vessels since. The Italian Peninsula, due to its natural geographic advantages, remained ahead in maritime technology; as early as BCE, it had conquered Egypt. (Mediterranean shipbuilding techniques were among the best of the age.)

“We’re probably near Dover.”

The narrowest point of this strait is only about thirty kilometers. If Deng Ken were alone, he felt his current physical condition would let him swim across.

“They’re coming after us!” a sailor cried out.

Among the Germanic barbarians, the Franks and Saxons were currently the most formidable, especially the Saxon pirates, infamous throughout nearly a century of invasions. They were roughly equivalent to early Viking raiders, nearly matching them at their peak, worshipping Odin and Thor as their primary deities.

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

With strong winds on the sea, the aiming reticle under God’s-eye view shook, and combat skill corrections were significantly weakened.

Naval warfare in this era was primitive; actual contact would likely come down to boarding actions.

We’re too few.

These sailors can’t fight the Saxon pirates.

Deng Ken had low confidence, mainly due to concern for the witches’ safety.

Their close combat skills are truly weak.

At that moment, the Crow Queen—Tris approached, gazing at Deng Ken: “Do you have a chance?”

Deng Ken’s expression grew grim. He hesitated: “We have too few guards. These sailors won’t stand a chance against them.”

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

The Crow Queen—Tris nodded slightly: “Then leave it to me.”

Saying this, she turned to gaze at the Saxon pirate ships, walked to a hidden corner of the deck, knelt on one knee in a prayerful posture—whether preparing magic or not, no one could tell.

Magic in this world had extreme limitations.

“The wind favors us!”

“They can’t catch us.”

The sailors on deck grew excited; someone loudly praised the sea god. The wind shifted slightly—under these conditions, they could slowly outdistance their pursuers without fear of being overtaken.

Can she control the wind?

Deng Ken watched the rising Crow Queen—Tris, feeling this woman was genuinely reassuring.

Unconsciously, he glanced at Aniya behind him, her expression tense.

Two-star plain.

Compared to the Crow Queen—Tris, Deng Ken had never seen Aniya use any powerful supernatural abilities. She didn’t seem like a true witch—more like an exquisite household item.

But she was indeed very rich.

A veteran Roman noblewoman, an upper-class lady of the Empire, owning her own fleet, her purse filled with gold.

Aniya worshipped the secret cult of Aphrodite, a branch of the goddess Venus, fused with Greek beliefs to specifically serve Aphrodite’s aspects of sex and desire. Her supernatural abilities likely amounted to nothing more than seduction and pleasing men—but unfortunately, the Crow Queen—Tris had beaten them out of her with three lashes.

(Aniya was so terrified she never dared use seduction-based witchcraft again. Roughly equivalent to the spell “Charm Human.”)

At the hillfolk encampment, Aniya had devised many schemes, but in the end, she herself became the sacrifice—merely a plot device to deepen the bond between Deng Ken and the Crow Queen—Tris.

Yet she was never truly passive. Her current compliance didn’t mean she wouldn’t cause trouble later.

The true civilized era of Britain came with the Roman Empire.

The Empire established the province of Britannia, initiating urbanization of the lowlands, building towns such as Londinium, Eboracum, and Verulamium. There were no true major cities—mostly small and medium-sized settlements, with Londinium being the future London. (From now on, refer to it as London. Use modern names for most cities for convenience.)

Around 407–410 AD, the last Roman legion withdrew, Britannia was abandoned, and London began to decline as many residents migrated. But soon, Celts filled the void, transforming it once again into a large town of over ten thousand people.

Deng Ken’s original destination had been Londinium, but it had already been seized by the Saxons; the surrounding regions were war zones.

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

They had finally landed.

As Deng Ken stepped onto the British coastline, he relaxed slightly—personal martial prowess was severely limited at sea.

He wasn’t Beowulf, who could hunt sea monsters in the ocean or exchange bodily fluids with sea spirits amid the waves.

Even with the Holy Grail Blood’s power active, Deng Ken was at best half a Beowulf.

After most of his combat skills reached proficiency, his strength hit a bottleneck—he might need to slay supernatural monsters to gain more unique abilities.

Pure combat technique: the threshold for master-level skills was extremely high; he didn’t know if higher tiers even existed. He had yet to face an enemy of that caliber.

Hmm.

One thing must be noted: Beowulf had not yet been born in this era. His active period was close to King Arthur’s, even slightly later.

“Shall we go directly to Camelot?” Aniya whispered.

Camelot was the legendary kingdom of King Arthur, possessing an impregnable castle.

In this medieval world, it had once been subordinate to the Roman Empire, then regained independence after the legions withdrew. Geographically, it lay in the southeast of Britain, roughly covering the area from Hampshire to Wales.

Thanks to its geographic advantage, Camelot had repelled Saxon invasions, though it was frequently harassed by Saxon pirates.

The current ruler of Camelot was Uther Pendragon, Arthur’s father.

He had once conducted a witch-hunt within his realm, making Camelot a sacred land immune to evil magic and one of the Church’s foundational faith regions. (The British Church differed greatly from Europe’s—highly autonomous, an early monastic order with distinct rituals. Said to originate from the missionary era of Saint Paul. The Hunter’s alias was George-Paul.)

As for Merlin, rumors claimed he was a baptized mage. The distinction between witch and mage likely emerged during this period: witches were typically those who used evil magic. (In the medieval era, male witches received certain privileges and became mages, while all the dirt was dumped on female witches—a reflection of the era’s gender hierarchy.)

Merlin was a neutral supernatural entity.

Deng Ken didn’t fully trust him, but he couldn’t establish himself in Britain without dealing with this powerful wizard.

“Something’s happening!” Severus said grimly.

Deng Ken had already entered God’s-eye view. At Severus’s warning, he immediately expanded the strategic map and quickly spotted something.

But what surprised him more was that Severus’s marker had changed upon entering Britain.

—Severus (Two-star Silver-Grey) (Druid) (Mild Disability) [Friendly Unit].

Upgraded.

Without any warning.

Before crossing the sea, Severus had been a two-star plain, mildly disabled. Now, he was suddenly a two-star silver-grey elite unit.

“Has his spellcasting ability returned?”

The first thought in Deng Ken’s mind was this—otherwise, there was no explanation for Severus’s sudden power surge. Britain was still a Celtic belief region; upon entering it, invisible changes had occurred to Severus.

“Because Britain still holds Druidic faith, Severus has regained some spellcasting ability?”

Something even more astonishing happened.

Severus approached a patch of woodland ahead, and at his strange call, a stag emerged.

The stag was terrified of people—but not of Severus.

He walked alone toward the stag, gesturing for others to stay back, then whispered something—as if conversing with the animal.

Animal speech?!

A Druid’s supernatural ability?

Deng Ken now became more certain Severus had regained his spellcasting power. He still didn’t fully understand this world’s supernatural forces, but last time, the Crow Queen—Tris had gone berserk using an ancient Roman altar stone.

Their supernatural abilities fluctuated wildly—highly unstable.

Only Aniya remained consistently at two-star plain level, operating at the low standard of an ordinary noblewoman.

“War has broken out upstream.”

Severus returned quickly; the stag vanished into the woods.

He looked at Deng Ken: “Bodies are floating down the river. Not far from our position.”

In fact, Deng Ken already knew.

After expanding God’s-eye view, he had spotted a battle zone—but it was distant and unclear, the opposing forces locked in chaotic melee.

The Crow Queen—Tris turned to Deng Ken and whispered: “Shall we go take a look?”

The Saxon invasion had already seized vast territories. London had not yet fallen, but it was on the frontline.

The other force resisting the Saxon invasion was Camelot.

After the Roman legions withdrew, those who embraced Roman culture spontaneously formed the “Britannian Legion” to defend their homeland. Their training standards approached those of the Imperial field army, but their equipment was inferior.

In earlier years, when resistance was evenly matched, London had also formed the Coastal Guard—a militia force even worse-equipped than the Imperial frontier troops.

Back then, they could still defend the coastline. Now, Saxon pirates had pushed deep inland.

The Crow Queen—Tris likely suspected Deng Ken enhanced his strength through killing and combat, as she occasionally mentioned the Spartans and warned him they were destroyed through slaughter.

An age of gods and mortals coexisting.

The Greek Spartans worshipped Ares, the god of war. They were a true warrior people; many soldiers rapidly evolved through battle and slaughter into the finest soldiers.

Later, Sparta fell, and the worship of Ares suffered grievous damage. Victory goddess Athena rose, becoming the primary deity of war. Warfare then relied increasingly on strategy and intellect; the Spartan tradition became history. (The Twelve Olympians of ancient Greece were worshipped according to the times; when their worshippers vanished, so did their power, leaving only their names.)

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

Around 43 BCE, after the Roman legions invaded and ruled Britain, the Romans built numerous baths and swimming pools in Bath, declaring it a sacred site of the goddess Minerva, patroness of springs and wisdom.

(Roman bathing culture was highly advanced. Gladiatorial arenas and public baths were indispensable in early Roman society. Romans valued cleanliness—unlike the medieval era, they bathed regularly.)

Minerva’s war domain was unclear, but several of her temples were directly converted from training grounds.

This tradition inherited ancient Greek culture.

Artemis’s great temple was also a training ground, specifically for elite archers.

“Does she misunderstand me and the Spartans?”

The Crow Queen—Tris likely believes Deng Ken possesses the power of Ares or war, or some Spartan ability, rapidly growing stronger through combat and killing.

Deng Ken didn’t know how to explain, so he simply accepted it.

He glanced at the strategic map and paused before saying, “Let’s go take a look, and find a few horses along the way.”

“Try not to get involved in their war.”

There were only five of them: Deng Ken at full capacity, Severus upgraded to an elite unit but lightly crippled; the Crow Queen-Teris had immense burst power, but her casting prep time was too long and required relics from the old era to empower her.

The Witch-Anya, like the female slave rescued from the bandit stronghold, was essentially half a combat unit.

Her two-star base stats were all filler.

“Five people only count as three combat units.”

Deng Ken dared not be reckless; he moved closer along the strategic map and spotted an army engaged in battle on the distant plains.

—Saxon pirates.

—Saxon elite raiders (one-star).

—Saxon spearmen.

—Saxon elite axemen [Thor’s Blessing] (one-star silver-gray).

—Saxon hunters.

—Germanic priestly corps.

For the first time on a battlefield, Deng Ken saw non-combat units in formation—they seemed to be inspiring nearby Saxon warriors, dressed similarly to polytheistic Norse priests, both male and female, numbering only about a dozen, and they bestowed blessings upon the Saxon fighters.

They could rally barbarian troops into a “high morale” state.

“It’s like medieval crusader priests accompanying armies.”

“Are they supernatural units?”

Deng Ken was deeply curious, because he hadn’t unlocked a mana bar yet; the Crow Queen-Teris had said many wizard-priests lacked spellcasting ability, and only a tiny few could cast simple witchcraft.

—Barbarian chieftain guard (one-star).

—Saxon noble knights (one-star silver-gray).

On the god’s-eye strategic map, the Saxon army’s composition was highly complex, with all kinds of combat units; they also had a cavalry force, with the chieftain guard protecting their commander, and Saxon noble knights heavily armed, already true heavy cavalry.

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

They were being resisted by the native inhabitants of the British Isles, some of whose units closely resembled imperial legions.

—British legion (low-spec field army).

—Coastal garrison legion (low-spec border garrison).

—Sarmatian auxiliary horsemen.

—Ragel heavy cavalry (one-star).

—British monkish order.

Most striking was a heavy cavalry unit composed of knights, labeled “Duke of Tintagel’s Knight Guard,” all one-star units, including elite knights, fully armored in scale mail, their warhorses also armored, nearly identical to ironclad cavalry.

They numbered about a dozen, mixed with some armored riders and a few light cavalry.

“Wait!”

Deng Ken strained to recall, as if something surfaced, murmuring, “Duke of Tintagel?”

“Didn’t King Uther sleep the Duke of Tintagel’s wife?”

“And that’s how Arthur was born?”

If Deng Ken’s memory was correct, King Uther had taken advantage of the Duke’s absence, had the wizard Merlin transform him into the Duke’s likeness, secretly infiltrated the castle, spent the night with the Duke’s wife, and thus conceived Arthur.

Could it be happening now?

The Duke of Tintagel was on the front lines resisting invaders, while King Uther slipped into his wife’s bed; later, when the Duke died, his wife married Uther.

From then on, the power of Camelot was fully centralized under King Uther.

“So is Uther sleeping with his wife right now?”

Deng Ken observed the battlefield and saw the Briton army was in dire straits; the Cantii auxiliary forces were nearly broken.

They were a primitive tribal people.

The Cantii still retained some “group marriage” traditions: different clans would send out groups of young men and women—for example, ten men and ten women married each other, freely pairing off; a man could mate with any of the ten women to produce offspring, and a woman could have marital relations with any of the ten men. (To prevent population loss.)

The British Isles gradually transformed their cultural traditions after being conquered by the Empire.

But in remote regions, primitive tribes still persisted, even cannibals and older “promiscuous” customs; the early British Isles were full of wild people.

Caesar’s era recorded many things about the British Isles; for centuries afterward, Romans struggled to change the tribes’ primitive customs.

Group marriage gradually declined.

“Are they pulling in all the native tribal auxiliaries?”

They had numerical superiority, but poor equipment and low morale.

From Deng Ken’s strategic perspective, three native auxiliary units were easily shattered; they couldn’t even match Roman youth soldiers, crushed by a Saxon axemen unit, screaming and fleeing, their mass rout even disrupting the center, throwing the British legion into “chaos.”

Too many irregulars.

No strong core combat units—once the irregulars broke, the collapse spread instantly.

“Is the Duke of Tintagel going to die?!”

As the center formation collapsed under fleeing troops, the Saxon chieftain guard and noble knights began to move, targeting the Duke of Tintagel’s personal guard.

This was going to be over before Deng Ken and his group even arrived—the Briton army was about to suffer a total rout.

Total slaughter!

This was real, brutal slaughter.

The era was close to the Five Barbarians’ Rebellion; the barbarian forces on the Empire’s borders were extremely fierce.

But the Five Barbarians’ Rebellion in Asia had ended some time ago, while the Empire’s barbarian invasions were just entering their peak, with centuries of barbarian chaos ahead.

“The Saxons have overwhelming advantage.”

“Without Arthur, without the Round Table knights—a knightly force approaching the medieval era—the British Isles would fall even faster.”

The Round Table knights could be seen as a heavy elite cavalry unit of over a hundred men.

In this era, once deployed, it was like rolling the dice—directly deciding the fate of the entire local battlefield.

According to legend, the Duke of Tintagel was fated to die.

He couldn’t live, or Arthur’s mother couldn’t legally marry Uther.

Deng Ken had already foreseen the rout.

Suddenly—

He seemed to see something, froze, murmuring, “What the hell is that?”

—Valkyrie (three-star gold) (Shieldmaiden) [Neutral Unit]?!

A faint, invisible female figure appeared above the battlefield, as if waiting; beneath her winged silver helmet, her eyes fixed on the Germanic barbarian warriors, as if awaiting the moment they fell in battle.

The Greek pantheon had fallen. The Roman pantheon had fallen.

Under the polytheistic belief system,

The last surviving Western pantheon—Norse mythology—had officially arrived!

This was the final resisting polytheistic faction, the core of Germanic mythology, holding out until it was utterly extinguished by the Church a thousand years later!

—Medieval Era—Barbarian Invasions!

Against the backdrop of the Empire’s collapse, besides the immense pressure from the Hun Empire, various Germanic barbarian tribes, guided by unseen forces, launched massive invasions against the Roman Empire, which was being fully Christianized.

Thus, the Medieval Era began its sweeping, centuries-long prologue!

Secular power, popular faith, polytheism versus monotheism, the last polytheistic faction—the Norse pantheon, the prophecy of Ragnarök—opened the final war of the pantheons, with the barbarian invasions as its prologue!

This war ended centuries later; the Norse pantheon was nearly wiped out.

………………

【PS: This chapter concludes the final part of the first volume’s era background. Though this is a pure wish-fulfillment novel set in a medieval world, I took the historical setup seriously.

Other system novels turn reality into a game, driven by systems, making the protagonist a tool while the world feels like an RPG. This book does the opposite: it turns the game into reality—Deng Ken sees a game interface, but it’s a real, brutal world.

This is the origin of the hyperdimensional player.】

【Note 1: The First Human Vessel’s spirit transformation occurred because the Norse pantheon still survives.

After monotheism eradicated the Norse pantheon, it achieved religious unification.】

【Note 2: Norse mythology spread to Iceland in the 7th century and survived there, only fully replaced and extinguished in the 16th century.】 (Crow Queen-Teris’s prophecy: this path was left as an escape route for the Norse pantheon, not for the witches.)

【Note 3: The Edict of Milan was issued, the ancient Olympic Games banned, sacred fires extinguished, the Pantheon’s doors sealed—the timeline is roughly 300–394 AD, while the major Germanic barbarian invasions began around 400 AD.

The Greek and Roman pantheons declared their extinction the same year.

The internal wars among polytheistic factions became a war between polytheism and monotheism.

Thus, the first volume’s era background achieves logical closure: the Medieval Era—Barbarian Invasions (Mythological Endgame)—is now fully constructed.

The secular faction’s war is the overt plot; the faith faction’s war is the hidden thread.

The Franks, originally barbarians, eventually embraced the Church—they lost the hidden Norse struggle. The invading barbarians were turned by the Church, switching faiths.

The barbarians destroyed the Empire physically; the Church destroyed the invaders’ Norse faith spiritually. This is the chaotic backdrop of the Medieval Era.

You fight your war, I fight mine—sacrifice the Empire, forge the Roman Papacy.

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

Primitive religions had far lower conversion efficiency than the Church.

But they had ritual and martial bonuses.

The Empire was too powerful—it could decree a state religion, deciding whether polytheism or monotheism would rise—so the Empire had to die.

The Empire could fall, but faith must be unified.

Heresy Trial.】

This is a grand scheme orchestrated by the Church.

The coffin lid must be nailed shut; the remnants must be purged.

Otherwise, one day a shocking headline might appear— the ancient Roman (ancient Greek) pantheon has made a comeback.

The apostate-Julian era already witnessed one such restoration.

This is the pivotal historical moment where the protagonist enters.

The witch’s flight stems from this.

[PS: The power system of Volume One is largely based on the Lord of the Rings setting; the witches’ power suppression also borrows from the Lord of the Rings framework.

The supernatural beings of the Norse pantheon are roughly equivalent to the Maiar in human form in Lord of the Rings.

That is, the power level of wizards like Gandalf, and certain divine-tier entities, can reach the level of Sauron or the Elven Queen.

At the outset, I intended to write the oldest style of fantasy.

Not Japanese fantasy, priestly grandmothers, nor the later webnovel fantasy style.]

[PS: Writing a game-based fantasy world, leaning into a fantasy style, feels to me like a prodigal son returning home—bumping into walls, bleeding from every bruise, only to find himself back at the very place where his dream first set sail, now writing with surprising ease and casualness.]

[Finally, I recalled a line from a video: “In the name of God, cleanse Europe!”]