Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 262 Reproduction, Human Correction!
While Haijal's offensive faltered, Duncan's side continued its triumphant advance.

The strength of Upper Gold Coast is clearly far superior to that of Lower Gold Coast. Hyjal fought against the Crocodile God's Chosen for several days in a row, and the battle remained evenly matched. As more and more heroes from Upper Gold Coast gathered near the Nepal River, he had no choice but to make a strategic retreat and turn to attack the nearby city-states in order to cut off the connection between Upper and Lower Gold Coast.

Duncan's side successively captured several cities.

However, the gods worshipped on the Lower Gold Coast are all minor ones. The area is not as wealthy as the Upper Gold Coast, and the gods worshipped here are ones whose names were never even heard of before. For example, there is the fierce god Anate, the god of evil Barbara, the god of the graveyard, the god of resurrection Herabi, the treacherous Heriyubris the bull, and the powerful serpent god Apophis, the ruler of the Night Kingdom.

Many of them were demigods and dared not descend to their incarnations to resist. Only the Serpent God caused Duncan a little trouble.

Night falls.

At this point, Duncan had strategically divided the Upper and Lower Gold Coasts into two parts. If the victory could also be achieved on the Hyjal side, then the Golden City where Prames was located would become an isolated city.

The high walls of the Golden City are a tough nut to crack, and Duncan certainly doesn't want to fight a ten-year siege.

A splashing sound of water rang out.

Inside the tent, Duncan, who was studying the complex structure of the local religious beliefs, looked up and saw a beautiful figure appear as the marker of God's perspective appeared. He then put down the scroll in his hand.

—The Goddess of the Thebit River (Five-Star Gold)!
The radiant Ocean Goddess emerged from the river, dressed in a magnificent water-veil gown, and entered Duncan's tent after casting a spell.

Almost no one around noticed, except for the witch Greya, who stood up alertly as if she had sensed something.

Duncan put down the scroll in his hand, looking slightly surprised, and asked, "What brings you here?"

He didn't want the Thebit River Goddess to get involved in the conflict between the two pantheons. The Oceanic Gods' strength was no longer what it used to be, and if something happened, someone might actually step forward and kill the River God, Shui Bo.

The goddess of the Thebit River offered a passionate kiss, then leaned her delicate body against Duncan's chest, took his hand and placed it on her heart, and whispered, "The heroes from the Upper Gold Coast have offered me sacrifices, asking me to create a flood to sweep away the barbarian warriors as you cross the river."

Offering sacrifices to the gods is a tradition of our time.

As if sensing the Oceanid's nervousness and fiery passion, Duncan lifted her alluring figure around the waist, then lifted her silky long dress and placed it on his lap. He soothed the Oceanid before him with extremely gentle touch, and said in a deep voice, "You did very well."

Regardless of how they initially met, now that the Thep River goddess has made her choice, Duncan must give a passionate response.

She came here tonight both to claim credit and to seek refuge.

The fact that the Goddess of the River Thebit did not respond to the sacrifices offered by the heroes of the Gold Coast made it clear that she would not help them fight Duncan. Naturally, she also became a potential enemy of the Gold Coast heroes.

If Duncan loses this battle, she will likely face retribution, and may even lose her position as the River Goddess of the Thebit River.

In this situation, Duncan would certainly need to calm her down first.

A long, low murmur rang out.

The Thebit River Goddess swayed her slender waist, her arms encircling Duncan's neck like vines, and whispered, "The Nematode Crocodile God rules over the river gods on land. On the high seas, they have no way to deal with the Lady of the Raging Waves, but in the inland rivers, you must beware of floods."

Duncan nodded with a serious expression.

Regardless of the outcome of this battle, he was determined to protect the goddess of the Thebit River. Since she had chosen to side with him, he could still preserve her small position as a river goddess. If all else failed, there were no other great rivers outside the Thebit River; he would simply go and behead the local river god and install the goddess of the Thebit River in her place.

Anyway, he's already a barbarian.

Just then, the radiant Thebit River Goddess turned her head to look behind her. She glanced at her rosy profile, quickly relaxed, and continued to sway her slender waist.

Duncan looked up and saw the witch Greya outside the tent.

As the witch Greya gazed at the erotic and depraved scene before her, with the Thebit River goddess practically wrapped around Duncan's waist, she couldn't help but spit out a curse inwardly. "These barbarians really sleep wherever they go," she thought, "they even have lovers on inland rivers."

She thought an assassin had used magic to infiltrate the area.

The witch Greya looked up again, then turned and left. Before leaving, she couldn't help but curse inwardly, "Beast."

At midnight.

After seeing off the trembling Thebit River Goddess, Duncan sat alone in his tent, lost in thought.

The enemy is resorting to all sorts of tactics.

Similarly, while the barbarians were forcing other city-states to take sides, the Gold Coast states were also forcing surrounding powers to take sides. Now, those who were opportunistic had no room to survive, and they had to choose a side to stick with until the end.

In fact, yesterday, two large snakes suddenly appeared in the barbarian army's path. They intertwined with each other and spoke in human language: "If you continue forward, you will meet your death."

"The rivers will wash you away, the desert will devour you, and your bones will be buried here."

The barbarians scoffed at this.

A barbarian warrior from the wolf tribe stepped forward and smashed the snake into a pulp with a single blow of his hammer.

Who are you scaring?

This trick can't shake the morale of the barbarian army at all.

But undoubtedly, as the situation changes, the gods of the Beast Worship Cult are also taking sides, and they may unite with the native gods.

"Now it all depends on Hyjal."

"If he cannot cut off the main road to the Gold Coast, it will ultimately be an extremely difficult battle."

"It's likely to turn into a duel between legendary heroes."

Duncan's gaze fell upon the Kingdom of Aswan. If they could subdue the Elephant Woman, there would be virtually no force on the Lower Gold Coast that could stop them.

at the same time.

Amidst a vast expanse of yellow sand, thousands of camel riders are advancing towards the city of gold.

It must be said that the kingdoms here are indeed wealthy, possessing both land trade routes (similar to the Silk Road) and maritime trade conveniences (similar to the Mediterranean). Thousands of years of commercial prosperity have allowed them to accumulate wealth far exceeding that of other kingdoms, even enabling them to purchase rare treasures spanning the continent from dwarves and elves.

Nearly half of these camel riders were heavily armored cavalry. In the current era, having thousands of armored camel riders is simply unimaginable.

At this moment, a valiant young man was commanding his troops to cross the river. His expression was quite solemn as he asked in a deep voice, "Mentor, what do you think of this battle?"

No one has absolute certainty.

No one knows where the gods' bottom line is. If the fighting really gets to an irreversible point, will the gods personally intervene?

Moreover, a divine kingdom that believes in gods needs divine messengers from other worlds, so how many people will die?
Beside him stood an old man with a turban wrapped around his head. He wore a white robe with a heron emblem. The old man gazed at the distant river and said slowly, "Gold cannot buy loyalty, and a camel cannot carry a crown."

"Prames of the Golden City will likely lose his status as the leader of the Gold Coast nations."

"Your Highness."

"The outcome of this battle is not important; what matters is what you gain from it."

Medis.

This monarch, who enjoys a high reputation in the Golden Desert, was once a descendant of the royal family that ruled this land. However, with the change of dynasties, the gods chose the Golden King, and these remnants of the previous dynasty had no choice but to retreat to the desert kingdoms. In doing so, they discovered a trade route to the east and accumulated great wealth through trade with those who worshipped fire.

The main lineage they came into contact with worshipped a deity called Mithra.

These fire-worshipping people possessed extremely unique combat skills. In some ways, their fighting style was completely different from the head-on clashes of Western civilization. In their initial encounters, there were conflicts between them, but neither side could gain the upper hand, so they entered a relatively peaceful period of trade.

However, Medis held their marriage customs in contempt. He had previously thought the people of the Gold Coast were decadent, but he hadn't expected the ethnic groups there to be even more outrageous.

The people there permit and encourage intermarriage among vampires. In their eyes, brothers and sisters, uncles and nieces, and even mothers and sons can all marry. They believe that intermarriage among vampires can not only cleanse them of great sins but is also an effective way to combat demonic plots, a form of pious merit, and a source of immense spiritual benefit.

To the southeast of the Golden Desert, Sisimethus, the king of the Sogdians, married his mother and they had two children.

This is a remnant of the matriarchal society era.

According to unofficial historical accounts from the early period, Alexander the Great suppressed this practice, instructing the Persians to "respect their mothers and not marry them."

But Medis didn't know how much of the rumor was true or false, as he had never personally traveled to the more eastern desert regions.

"What can I get?" Medis pondered.

He had always believed that the bloodlines of the Gold Coast royal families were cursed because, through an excessive pursuit of divine power and millennia of intermarriage, the curse had seeped into the deepest recesses of their blood.

So when Medici came of age, he seized power, banished his father, and imprisoned him in a small town.

He then refused to marry his sisters, allowing them to marry outsiders, and married a commoner woman of low social standing himself. This behavior led the royal families of the Gold Coast to believe that he was no longer of pure blood and lacked sacred lineage, which is why the relationship between the Gold Desert and the Gold Coast was not harmonious.

But they are ultimately a civilization of the same faith, and at this critical moment, they still chose to send troops to help the Golden City.

Medis believed that the bloodline curse of this era was extremely serious!
It's not just the royal bloodline of the Gold Coast, but also the human races that worship fire; their bloodlines are similarly shrouded in an unknown curse.

He once wrote a letter admonishing those people not to marry their mothers, sisters, and daughters, but this sparked conflict and was seen as a contempt for their customs, almost leading to a war.

In the end, Medis could only let the matter drop, warning his subjects that intermarriage among vampires would bring a curse.

He sat on the camel, lost in thought for a long time.

Finally, the king, who was extremely prestigious in the Gold Desert, said in a deep voice: "I wish to obtain supreme power on the Gold Coast, only in this way can I initiate reforms from the top down."

"To save the people of this land."

In many places, marriage systems have only existed for about a thousand years. Some tribal civilizations still maintain the tradition of group marriage and multiple wives, but they are not as severely affected as those on the Gold Coast. If this continues, it won't be long before the curse of vampire intermarriage alone destroys their bloodline. Their descendants may not even be normal people.

Similarly, the confusion of beliefs here also worried him. Deep in his heart, there was a terrible idea: to reform the religion and let the image of the gods merge with the existing old beliefs.

But he couldn't achieve all of this easily, especially in an era where gods were everywhere.

They rule in the name of divine blood, so reforming religion is no easy task.

"Your Highness."

"Don't rush."

The elderly man gazed into the distance and murmured, "The storm from the grasslands is gradually spreading, and they will reshape the world order with a devastating war."

"The ancient traditions of the barbarian tribes in the far north also influence many other ethnic groups."

In the unseen realm, the world is correcting everything.

The fall of ancient Egypt and ancient Persia was not only because they faced powerful enemies, but also because their own problems were insurmountable, ultimately leading them to rebuild everything from destruction.

The most important thing now is to ensure that this branch of civilization in the Golden Desert, with its wise rulers, abandons old traditions, and breaks free from the bloodline curse, continues to be passed down.

This is also the significance of his existence as a wise man.

Even if the barbarians fail this time, they will come back again, and the Golden Coast, where the bloodline curse has seeped into its very bones, will be destroyed by them sooner or later.

One day.

Many ethnic groups along the Gold Coast will be replaced by foreign bloodlines, and their descendants will be freed from the bloodline curse that has lasted for thousands of years.

"Grasslands? Nomadic people?"

Medis gazed into the distance and said slowly, "I have heard their legends; they are a group of warriors who believe in the heavens."

"Legend has it that they fought their way to the edge of the continent and encountered the legendary Middle-earth elves."

The old man said in a deep voice, "They have returned now."

"When they draw their warbler bows, raise their longswords, and tear everything apart with devastating warfare, the opportunity you've been waiting for will arrive."

The invasion of nomads was devastating and catastrophic.

However, their invasion also brought about a new round of bloodline fusion, which, to some extent, actually resolved the bloodline curse of the Dark Ages.

The massive army continued its advance.

Behind the mighty camel cavalry were tens of thousands of spear-and-shield infantry. These soldiers from the Golden Desert originated from the very edge of the Upper Gold Kingdom. Compared to the natives Duncan had met, they were stronger and darker-skinned. The yellow sand and storms had honed their bodies and wills, and after the reforms of a wise king, their soldiers had become even more powerful.

"Barbarians..."

Medis gazed toward the direction of the Nepalt River, her eyes deep and her expression seemingly hesitant, and murmured, "Great Isis, Mother of Life, Savior."

Can you offer me a glimmer of insight?

"This battle."

"what should I do?"

Even the most wise and virtuous kings are powerless in the face of the tides of time. The raging gods are not an easy group to deal with, and their barbaric expansion will inevitably force all the gods of the Gold Coast to unite in response. Moreover, the era of worshiping gods has arrived, and the gods of the Dark Ages are all seeking change.

The older wise man seemed to see the king's worries and confusion, and he too was seeking answers, for the raging gods were not an easy group of deities to get along with.

They need more rational and wiser allies.

These wise men who served Thoth, the god of wisdom, had foreseen the decline of those who worshipped fire, for the fire that originated in ancient Persia might not continue to burn in this land.

The mother overthrew her son's rule.

They were waiting, waiting for the great goddess to decide to deal with her son.

This was an extremely difficult decision.

But that great goddess had been to Rome and had a strong faith there.

Not only she went there, but Mithras also went there. Aetius's protection was the "Mithras's Army".

It originated from Zoroastrianism.

The great goddess seemed to be waiting for something.

I don't know if it was a certain person or a certain time.

Recently, there have been some unusual developments within the Beast Worship Cult, suggesting that some deities have escaped from the conflict.

They neither supported nor remained neutral; they simply fled, even relocating the church priests.

The army marched westward.

Upon arriving at a rushing river, enormous crocodiles appeared in the murky waters ahead, followed by herds of hippos, which were even larger than the hippos of the Root World, almost the size of elephants.

The hippos blocked the river with their bodies, forming a dam. Then, a small channel appeared in the shallow part of the river, which was large enough for the soldiers to ride their tall camels across directly.

This was nothing short of a miracle.

The soldiers of the Golden Desert who had followed Medis on his expedition were energized. They easily crossed the river and could reach the battlefield more quickly.

But Medis' expression was extremely solemn as he murmured, "The god of hippos, and the god of crocodiles."

"They are helping us!..."

The enemy is stronger than they imagined!
If the situation weren't critical, he couldn't think of any reason why powerful demigods would use this method to help them quickly cross the river and reach the battlefield.

This is not good news.

The barbarian army may have breached the Lower Gold Coast, forcing them to place their hopes on the Upper Gold Coast and even the desert kingdoms on the periphery.

In fact, Medis' predictions were all correct.

Duncan arrived in the Kingdom of Aswan once again, but this time he brought tens of thousands of troops. A coalition of many northern barbarian tribes had arrived, including the Thunder Beast Tribe, the Wolf Tribe, the Bear Tribe, and so on. Thousands of barbarians led tens of thousands of servants and advanced triumphantly.

Duncan cut off the Thebes River, conquering enemy city-states one by one, forcing them to submit, and finally besieged Aswan with his army, compelling the Elephant Woman to make a statement.

——Elephant Queen - Eiko (Animal Spirit) (Totem Spirit) (Six-Star Silver Gray)!
A series of heavy footsteps sounded.

At the edge of Duncan's vision appeared a group of extremely large elephants, with the leading elephant queen bearing a six-star silver-gray mark, stronger than many legendary heroes.

He met the Elephant Woman, Ashati, again, but this time, she had to give him an answer.

Cutting off the upper and lower Gold Coasts is now an impossible strategic goal.

Therefore, Duncan must first conquer the Gold Coast to avoid being attacked from both sides. Moreover, after eliminating the numerous beastmen demigods, he wouldn't have to worry about being outmaneuvered in the final battle. Along the way, Duncan also killed one or two legendary figures, although the barbarian heroes also suffered some casualties.

Unless they put up a desperate resistance, Duncan will generally not massacre the city.

He's not the Kratos of the early days, after all.

The Elephant Woman, Ashati, stood atop the majestic Elephant Queen, her expression solemn, hesitant, and struggling.

She knew that one wrong choice could plunge the city-state into a devastating war, because their strength alone was simply insufficient to stop the overwhelming barbarians.

Duncan slowly moved forward, lifting his heavy grandfather's battle axe, pointing it at the elephant woman before him, and said in a deep voice, "Make your choice."

"Asati".

The storm raged, and the thunder roared like fury.

The raging gods are watching this place; they want not only the attitude of the Kingdom of Aswan, but also the attitude of the elephant goddess behind it.

finally.

The elephant woman, Ashati, landed slowly and knelt on one knee before Duncan, expressing her submission.

At this moment, the first Beast Worshiping God appeared, siding with the raging gods.

Elephant Woman Azathie sent messengers to the Upper Gold Coast requesting reinforcements, but received no response. She had no other choice; she alone could not save the country.

When war breaks out, she too will be surrounded and killed by barbarian heroes!

If they resisted at all costs, according to barbarian tradition, they might completely destroy the entire kingdom and kill all the adult men.

Duncan didn't want to massacre the city either.

………………

(End of this chapter)