Chapter 30: The Hero of Britain! Legend Points

The recoil of this cannon shot felt absolutely perfect.

Deng Ken felt as if divinely guided, and fired a single shot that killed Hengist, the founding monarch of the Kingdom of Kent.

From a god’s-eye view.

As the barbarian army withdrew, everything in the projection changed—a unique mark appeared, and above the projection interface, near the currency-like “Legend Points” indicator, a golden-starred seal slowly surfaced.

——“Battle of Tintagel [Epic Battle]: The brothers Hengist and Horsa, invading the island of Britain, established a kingdom in Kent. Eager to expand his territory, King Hengist of Kent set his sights on Duke Tintagel.

The Kingdom of Kent split its forces to attack western Britain; after decisively defeating Duke Tintagel, Hengist and Horsa pursued their victory and advanced toward Tintagel Castle.

Duke Tintagel hastily recruited over a thousand militia to face the six-thousand-strong Kentish army.

In this battle,

you single-handedly turned the tide, slaying over a dozen barbarian champions, using your overwhelming personal martial prowess to rally this ragtag force and repel three successive assaults by the Kingdom of Kent.

At the decisive moment, you personally operated the ballista, seized the perfect opening, and—like a divine stroke—killed King Hengist, the founding monarch of the Kingdom of Kent.

With the king’s sudden death, the barbarian army retreated.

The Kingdom of Kent plunged into chaos over succession, and the Jutish-led barbarian factions gradually weakened.

Your fame will spread across the entire island of Britain because of this epic victory!’

(Legend Points +3: 1 point from Britons, 1 point from Saxons, 1 point from Germanic barbarians.)

Deng Ken’s mind shifted slightly.

As he focused his attention on Legend Points, another factional marker appeared—Polytheism—Norse Pantheon Legend Points: 2 points (from the Germanic people and their offshoot, the Saxons).

“Legend Points seem like some kind of dimensional currency.”

Deng Ken tried using them, and instantly the projection interface changed.

“Consume Legend Points?” (Consumed Legend Points do not vanish—they simply shift from 3/3 to 0/3.)

Ripples spread across the dimensional space.

In an instant,

Deng Ken seemed to glimpse the echoes of history: the Saxon invasion of Britain, the Jutes founding the Kingdom of Kent, which later became the most powerful realm, ushering in the Heptarchy. Amid the rolling tide of history, all legends of the Kingdom of Kent faded and collapsed, until these historical traces were swallowed by the dimensional space, and boundless legend transformed into tangible energy and absorbed.

In their place, Deng Ken’s own legend entered the river of medieval history.

“Legend Point Enhancement Branch 1—Soul.”

(Significantly strengthen your soul. As your soul grows stronger, you will ascend to a higher form of life. Captured mortal vessels will inherit the corresponding soul strength; upon entering the real world, this soul power will manifest as unique innate abilities.)

(This effect applies to all mortal vessels in the real world.)

What does that mean?

Does it mean that even if I capture a completely ordinary mortal vessel, after soul enhancement, that vessel will become a prodigy?

Or will soul strength grant additional extraordinary abilities?

Deng Ken silently marked it and continued reading.

“Legend Point Enhancement Branch 2—Elevation.”

(You may consume Legend Points to elevate the rank of a corresponding mortal vessel, or ignite the Flame of Divinity to elevate a mortal vessel into an immortal spirit, demigod, or true god. After elevation, the vessel becomes a backup avatar of the dimensional space, regarded as a Saint Form.)

(You may also consume Legend Points to elevate native inhabitants—but only those already dead. The target will be elevated into a spirit form, or granted the status of a land spirit of mountains, rivers, etc.)

The transformed target will possess Legend Points, but if the legend fades, the target will gradually vanish.)

Huh?

This feels similar to the last causal-law projection where the Crow Queen—Tris—forcefully elevated me into a lower-rank spirit?

So Legend Points can elevate not just my mortal vessels, but others too?

Even minor deities?

Like land gods or mountain spirits?

Huh.

Legend Points are indeed powerful—no wonder they’re so rare.

“Legend Point Enhancement Branch 3—Engraving.”

(Directly engrave abilities mastered by a corresponding mortal vessel into your soul. These engraved abilities will transfer when you manifest in other mortal vessels.)

If an engraved ability conflicts with the world’s fundamental laws, activating it may alter the world’s root law.

(Soul-engraved abilities affect all mortal vessels!)

(In dimensional spaces without physical bodies or mortal vessels, engraved abilities function as the soul’s root law.)

[Note: Under law conflict, your engraved root law triggers dimensional instability. In worlds without supernatural forces, this may cause anomalies such as Qi resurgence, elemental tides, or supernatural awakenings.]

The effect is equivalent to a higher-dimensional force pouring into reality—like a drop of ink falling into a basin of water; diluted, it triggers a chain reaction of root laws.

In short, the power you engrave causes the world to ascend.)

Huh.

This feels like a save file from a previous cycle, directly preserving a mortal vessel’s abilities for the next cycle.

The mortal vessel and Deng Ken’s consciousness exist in different dimensions.

Based on Deng Ken’s current understanding of the dimensional space, mortal vessels are merely tools for his consciousness to enter the real world, and the abilities they acquire are stored within the tool itself.

Engraving is like uploading.

Uploading a mortal vessel’s abilities into your soul, then letting your soul carry those abilities to other mortal vessels.

“Am I turning into some kind of extradimensional demon?”

Deng Ken fell into deep thought.

All three Legend Point enhancement branches are useful, but the second can wait—for now, No.1 mortal vessel is still intact, no need to consider this yet.

Even if used, it would be to elevate others.

The third branch, “Engraving,” doesn’t need urgency either—it should be saved for last. No.1 mortal vessel is still alive and well; no rush to upload. He doesn’t even know where the second mortal vessel is.

“Then it’s the first enhancement branch—soul strengthening.”

Deng Ken tentatively spent one Legend Point.

The next second,

a vast surge of energy flooded into his soul—the echoes of history, as if he had glimpsed the endless river of time, each thread of legend converging into energy. At first a trickle, then a roaring tide, pouring directly into his soul, causing a subtle transformation in its essence.

Huh?

That’s it?

Deng Ken felt no obvious change—except perhaps that he now felt more energetic and tireless within the dimensional space.

——“Spirit Soul [Soul Enhancement]: Your soul has been infused with energy. The most primal spiritual essence has taken root within it. Your soul now possesses a trace of mythic being traits. Slightly increases resistance to all supernatural forces—spells, witchcraft, hexes, curses.”

(Under Mana Bar activation, slightly increases your mana capacity.)

Is this a passive trait?

Honestly, Deng Ken felt no dramatic boost—just a sense that his soul truly felt different.

The projection interface gave no hint—no indication how many Legend Points are needed to reach the next stage.

Deng Ken spent another point.

He felt his soul grow slightly stronger.

But he couldn’t precisely measure how much—this soul enhancement seemed bottomless; no matter how much Legend Points he spent, they vanished completely.

“Is soul enhancement truly limitless?”

In the end, Deng Ken kept one point—1/3—just in case, for some unforeseen need.

“I have a feeling any enhancement tied to divinity will demand a colossal amount of Legend Points.”

From a god’s-eye view.

The projection interface showed only one currency marker: “Legend Points.”

He tentatively used “Retreat” to peer into the causal-law projection’s future—and again, it changed.

——“Causal Law [Trial Settlement]: You remained on the island of Britain and were ennobled for your military exploits.

Soon after,

Duke Tintagel died in an accident. Under the intervention of the wizard Merlin, Igerna married King Uther, and Arthur was born.

But it is not yet Arthur’s time.

You are the legendary hero of the Britons!

Your presence inspired countless Britons to rise in courage, raising weapons against Saxon invasions. With your followers at your side, you defeated Saxon barbarian armies repeatedly, and founded a new kingdom in Cornwall, becoming one of the later Seven Kingdoms of Britain.

Years later,

Having unified Britain and grown weary of kingdom wars, you renounced your kingship, adopted Arthur as your son, passed the throne to him, and ultimately chose to follow the Crow Queen—Tris—to sail beyond the sea in search of a new continent.”

The ending beyond this was the same.

He and the Crow Queen—Tris—still died beneath the dragon’s breath.

“No.”

“I’ve grown so much stronger now—plus Tris—and we still can’t kill that dragon?”

The mortal vessel really is devoted—willing to die together.

This causal-law branch is fascinating.

The mortal vessel actually adopted Arthur as his son and named him heir—so there’s no “Sword in the Stone” story?

It seems in this causal branch, the mortal vessel controls most of Duke Tintagel’s and King Uther’s territories, which is why Arthur became his adopted son? As the designated lawful heir, there’s no need for Merlin to manipulate the “Sword in the Stone” to legitimize Arthur’s claim.

I, Deng Ken’s adopted son, Arthur, am the rightful King of Britain—no need for a magical sword to fool anyone!

“You know what? This causal branch is pretty satisfying.”

“Just the ending sucks.”

Is it really that hard to kill a dragon?

Deng Ken treated causal inference purely as a means to gather future intelligence, so he glanced at it and set it aside.

Only when he could kill the evil dragon and change the ending where he died alongside the Crow Queen—Tris—would he truly possess self-preservation in this world.

Before leaving the dimensional space, Deng Ken tried inscription.

He found that only master-level combat arts required a point of legend, while all other combat arts, even dozens combined, consumed only one point.

“So only master-level arts bring a qualitative change.”

“For ordinary combat art proficiency, one point of legend can inscribe five or six.”

But the next mortal vessel was nowhere to be found; he didn’t need to consider these issues yet.

Inscription wasn’t urgent—what if next time he loaded a mortal vessel and entered the real world, the era had changed again?

Had archery become firearms? Had horsemanship become driving?

No rush, no rush.

Deng Ken’s true body existed above the dimension, like an extradimensional demon; time flowed differently, if at all. Only when a mortal vessel was loaded did he connect with the real world.

The first mortal vessel was his only anchor point to the Medieval Age.

Undoubtedly, his initial guess about the dimensional space was correct: only by successfully leveling up could he influence his true soul in the dimension. Before “leveling up” was achieved, Deng Ken couldn’t even meet the threshold to gain legend points.

Leaving one’s name in history wasn’t easy.

Over countless centuries, how many people had truly left their names in history—or become legendary figures within it?

Deng Ken had become a hero of the Britons!

Even Duke Tintagel’s gaze toward him burned with intensity, for Deng Ken’s strength left him incapable of even a trace of envy—if not for Deng Ken’s intervention, the duke’s title would have vanished into history.

With the Saxons looming, Deng Ken was more important to him than Ania!

Tintagel Castle.

This great victory gave Duke Tintagel a reprieve; he ordered servants to prepare a victory feast, reward the soldiers, and bring out his deepest reserves.

He even bypassed Ania entirely, subtly asking Deng Ken if he’d consider pledging loyalty to him as a lord.

Deng Ken politely refused.

At the victory feast.

Duke Tintagel’s expression toward Ania held a hint of envy—he didn’t envy Deng Ken’s martial prowess, but envied this Roman noblewoman’s mysterious seductive methods, which had won such unwavering loyalty from such a fierce warrior!

Clearly, Ania was a seductress.

After Deng Ken’s refusal, Duke Tintagel lost all his earlier deference toward Ania and began plotting how to poach her.

Romans were accustomed to arrogance.

They might not even look down on a remote province like Britain.

This must be handled gradually!

Duke Tintagel was ultimately a political creature; interest was his goal. After careful thought, he decided to seek cooperation with Ania, leveraging Roman power against the barbarians.

This was unquestionable—years ago, Britain had sent letters to Gaul seeking aid, begging the Empire to send legions to crush the barbarians.

But the Empire had ultimately abandoned them.

Now Duke Tintagel understood the Britons’ helplessness of old: the feeling of a discarded lover, powerless to resist, brutally ravaged by barbarians, rushing to her lover’s embrace, only to find the Empire too weak to protect her, left to fight desperately alone.

The Empire’s rule over the British province had ended only decades ago, after four centuries of dominion; severing ties completely was impossible.

Familiarity breeds affection.

Four centuries of time had left the Britons still believing their bond with the Empire ran deep.

“Arrogant Romans!”

“They care only for the European mainland, utterly indifferent to remote Britain.”

In the end, Duke Tintagel chose to yield. After the feast ended, he signaled his attendant to summon Ania to his study.

Whatever else, seize the immediate aid, survive the current crisis.

Though the Saxons had withdrawn, their strength remained unbroken; once the royal succession was settled, they could return at any moment, rallying under the banner of avenging their king.

In the great hall.

Ania rose and whispered to Deng Ken’s ear: “The fish has taken the bait.”

With that, she smiled seductively at Deng Ken, then followed calmly and gracefully.

As long as Duke Tintagel spoke first, the initiative lay in their hands. Ania didn’t seek vassalage—she wanted land on Britain as an ally.

In official terms: “Ania and Deng Ken’s party, at Duke Tintagel’s request, took up residence on Britain and formed an alliance to jointly resist the Saxons.”

Now it depended on Ania’s skill!

Candlelight flickered.

The Crow Queen—Tris—walked slowly to Deng Ken’s side, looking weary, and whispered: “Don’t worry.”

“She’ll convince him.”

Convince.

The word carried emphasis, as if layered with hidden meaning.

Deng Ken pondered, lips moving silently, forming words without sound: “Witchcraft?”

The Crow Queen—Tris—nodded slightly.

She glanced around and whispered: “Ania excels in charm magic, subtly influencing minds and altering thoughts.”

“Duke Tintagel isn’t a man of strong will.”

Understood.

Mind-control magic—charm, mental suggestion—so this was the source of Ania’s supernatural ability.

No wonder she showed no combat prowess.

Such an ability wouldn’t affect someone who’d slit your throat in the next second.

After all, a witch is still a witch.

Against ordinary people, Ania’s methods were astonishingly effective—no wonder Duke Tintagel handed over part of his troops to Deng Ken after just a few words.

Would she use such supernatural ability on him?

As if sensing Deng Ken’s thought, the Crow Queen—Tris—narrowed her eyes coldly: “Don’t worry.”

“If she dares, I’ll whip her to death.”

That night, Ania had dressed meticulously and visited Deng Ken in the dead of night; the Crow Queen—Tris—had sensed something amiss and struck immediately to subdue her.

At the time, Ania likely intended to use mind-control magic.

The outcome: three lashes shattered her dream of being a mistress.

Deng Ken felt considerably reassured.

Though his bond with Ania was intimate—physically intimate—in the causal inference future, Ania never existed, meaning their relationship wasn’t as deep as it seemed, more akin to a close partner and lover.

The Crow Queen—Tris—would die alongside Deng Ken in the causal future, perishing under dragon’s breath to protect him—but Ania might not; she had come out merely to ensure her own survival.

—Weapon Master (Axe): Your mastery of axes is as natural as extending your own limbs. Greatly enhances axe combat arts. Extra combat bonuses: decapitation, waist-cutting, armor-piercing, powerful strikes.

—Naval Combat Proficiency: You move as steadily on deck as on land, unaffected by motion. Greatly enhances naval and aquatic combat techniques.

The third master-level combat art.

Deng Ken wasn’t surprised—combat with barbarians would most likely elevate axe skills.

Additionally, his “Strength” ability gained another star, labeled “Barbarian Warrior,” indicating further physical enhancement.

The only thing unclear to Deng Ken now was “Odin’s Gaze.”

He didn’t worship the Norse pantheon.

Why would Odin gaze upon him?

Could it be he was just watching, waiting for Deng Ken to die so he could drag him straight to Valhalla?

Deng Ken had gained greatly from this battle: all axe-related basic combat techniques improved further; his cleaving attacks now bore golden borders, capable of splitting a man in half with a single strike.

“He’s truly walking the path of the berserker!”

One day passed quickly.

Severus returned on the third day, bringing five or six high-tier Celtic warriors, and had captured a Germanic barbarian prisoner, from whom he unexpectedly learned a rumor Deng Ken cared deeply about.

Troll.

Scandinavia.

Deng Ken finally heard rumors of supernatural beings again—trolls, said to roam the lands of the Vikings in northern Europe.

There were also legends of sea monsters, sirens, half-giants, and dragons.

The drawback: it was far away—Norse pantheon territory.

………………