Hyper-Dimensional Player Chapter 15 - 7: Forest Demoness! The End of an Old Era

Night falls deeper.

In the dense forest, a sudden rustling sound was heard, followed by the ergence of a towering figure cloaked in a gray robe, wearing light gray leather-trimd chain armor, brown arm guards on both arms, black fingerless gloves, a belt wrapped around the waist, and gray leather pants below.

Under his hood were a pair of cold and unfeeling eyes, and when he squinted slightly, his pupils transford, resembling a cat’s, outlining a vertical-like shape closer to the legendary dragon’s eyes.

This formidable figure seed to possess an exceptionally keen sense of sll, and hanging from his waist was a cloth pouch seeping dark red blood, the outline appearing to resemble a head.

"The scent of sorcery."

He drew his longsword and crouched down to examine the corpse on the ground, expressing surprise, "Killed in one strike? The Franconian throwing axe?"

"An expert."

He retrieved a bag from the ranger’s corpse, containing food, sowhat resembling barley flour, and tasted a strand by putting it into his mouth, soon consuming half along with water. Then the figure exited the forest and swiftly ran along a country path, agilely surpassing the Barbarian Berserkers, instinctively avoiding obstacles along the way.

Running fiercely all the way.

This nimble figure eventually stopped where a group of crows lingered, placing his hand on the sword hilt, cautiously observing his surroundings, and finally crouching down, seemingly searching for sothing.

But he seed to find nothing.

Unwilling to abandon his search, he removed the cloth pouch from his waist, took out a horrifying severed head covered in black spiked hair, used his longsword to open it, extracting a small cluster of dark yellow material resembling grease, and after so mixing with a few bottles and jars, he drank it, his eyes directly transforming into vertical dragon pupils, pursuing invisible traces until he reached beside the riverbank.

"Crow Queen - Triss."

The figure instantly turned to look at a group of crows perched on a nearby tree top with an extrely solemn expression, muttering, "Unexpectedly able to track down one of the founders of the witch assembly."

The ground quivered slightly.

In the distance, the galloping sound of warhorses could be heard, appearing to be several hundred in number.

This daunting figure hesitated slightly, then chose to avoid and leave. His individual combat prowess was astounding, but not a match for an army. Ordinary warriors numbering three to five wouldn’t worry him, but ten or so would pose a challenge; encountering small organized units could lead to him being surrounded and killed by troops.

If confronted directly by several hundred cavalry, they could easily trample him into a pulp.

The moon rose, its hue pale red, ominous.

A convoy of people abandoned goods to rush through the night, finally reaching a resting place before the path beca utterly impassable in darkness.

Duncan dared not relax his vigilance, feigning sleep with closed eyes, and everyone rested for only three hours before setting out again as dawn approached, with the injured among the convoy already having soone in a coma, weakly placed on a wagon, uncertain how much longer they could hold on.

Finally, in the afternoon of the second day, the convoy saw a small town from afar.

Upon inquiry, they had reached the northern province of Pannonia.

For Duncan, he had only fled for three days, but for the other refugees in the convoy, they had escaped for a full five days, with many expressing tears of surviving a disaster.

The guards sent the leader to town urgently seeking out a pharmacist for treatnt.

So people’s wounds had only received simple bandaging, now festering, while the guard leader suffered severe blood loss; if not treated quickly, he might end up dying shortly.

After the empire conquered the Barbarian Race in the Northern Territory, they also absorbed so of their cultural traditions.

Herbalists from the Northern Territory are unmatched in empire lands, with a dical skill level far superior to other regions, as they originated from Celtic priests, the legendary druids. Today in many Barbarian tribes, Celts have declined, and most of Gaul Region has been completely assimilated by the empire, yet their herbal dicine has been preserved through the tradition of physicians.

Currently, what the empire refers to as the Barbarian Race mainly points to Germanic people, West Germanics are the acclimated Barbarians, conquered by the empire for several hundred years, forming a ruling group of five tribes. North Germanics residing in chilly regions are a wild Barbarian branch, frequently intruding and attacking the empire’s borders.

Additionally, Barbarian Race has nurous tribe branches, with the empire’s cultural tradition arrogantly viewing most surrounding tribes and ethnicities as savages.

At present, the empire’s Barbarian rcenaries, the Franconians, are the most formidable in battle.

In its heyday, the empire mobilized 36 legions, nearly three hundred thousand troops to wage conquest wars against surrounding Barbarian Race, effectively integrating acclimated Barbarians were during that acceptance of empire cultural transformation. Under Constantine I’s rule, the empire brought in a large number of Barbarians within its borders, gradually making them a backbone of the army, these Barbarians beca major components of the military after being assimilated by the empire.

Currently, the empire’s competent legions mostly consist of Barbarian leaders.

Empire authenticity lies with the Barbarian Race!

Throughout hundreds of years, widespread corruption from top to bottom led to the empire’s increasing frailty, losing the spirit and bravery it once had in continent conquest.

"Seems like this is possibly the Earth of a parallel universe."

Upon entering the town, Duncan saw the church’s cross, Polytheism had retreated from the historical stage, with the empire’s national religion now being Catholicism; the Witch Hunting Movent was initially initiated by the church, but it wasn’t aid at witches at first, rather its objective was to strike all heretics, including the empire’s forr orthodox Polytheism.