CHAPTER 343: CHAPTER 169: KING OF KINGS! SWEEPING ACROSS EUROPE (END OF VOLUME 1) (PART 3)

What Duncan did was essentially divide the reforged Second Empire into three parts.

The main structure of the Empire remained intact.

But outside of this, three independent and autonomous vassal kingdoms were formed, namely the Kingdom of Britain, the Kingdom of France, and the Kingdom of Germany.

Late June, AD 456.

After leaving five main legions to guard the Euphrates border, the Empire’s army began to assemble at the border of the Western Goth Kingdom.

In October of the same year, the Western Goth Kingdom was destroyed, and the Iberian Peninsula was conquered.

March, AD 458.

After having ascended the throne for several years, Duncan the Great launched a war to conquer Great Germania, with an army of two hundred thousand advancing all the way, eventually reaching the region that would later be known as Denmark, and the Kingdom of Germany was established the following year.

Subsequently, the focus of the reforged Second Empire shifted from territorial expansion to homeland defense, but even after this transformation, the border areas of the Empire remained unmanageable, with ongoing boundary disputes in the Caucasus and Armenia, the need to guard against invasions by Eurasian nomads in the Sarmatia and Caspian Sea regions, and the newly established Kingdom of Germany facing threats from the north, constantly harassed by pirate raids and attacks.

Peace did not truly arrive, but at least the European continent was unified, which gradually quelled the Barbarian Race turmoil that had lasted for hundreds of years.

At this point, an unprecedentedly vast empire had taken shape.

Duncan the Great reigned for thirty-three years, under his rule, the Empire implemented land reforms, educational reforms, judicial reforms, among others, revitalizing a once declining Europe. Although external expansion had largely ceased, in the twelfth year of the emperor’s reign, the Empire still engaged in a war with the Sassanid Persia in the Mesopotamian region, which lasted for a full three years, during which the emperor also incorporated Babylon into the Empire’s territory.

A year later, the Worship faith suffered a heavy blow, with legends claiming that apparitions of Divine Spirits were seen in the sky over Babylon.

Five years later, the defeated Sasanian Empire was severely weakened, giving Eastern nomads an opportunity to invade, and Islam gradually replaced Worship to become the local core faith.

Zoroastrianism gradually became history, and Ancient Persian Wotism lost its dominant position in the Middle East.

One branch of Zoroastrianism began to spread towards the Eurasian region.

April 1, AD 486.

The suddenly prosperous city of Rome resounded with a deep Dragon Roar, with thousands seeming to see an apparition of a Giant Dragon soaring around the palace. Rumor had it that Duncan the Great, who had ruled the Empire for thirty-three years and reshaped the entire European landscape, ascended to heaven with the dragon, and the apparition of the Giant Dragon flew towards the direction of Britain.

The new emperor ascended the throne, named Duncan II.

Half a month later, rumors appeared in Britannia, with people claiming to see an apparition of a legendary Giant Dragon in the sky above Avalon’s Holy Sanctuary.

Dimension Space.

Duncan’s consciousness seemed to enter a long river of time, where thirty years passed in a flash. When he finally awoke, his will slowly settled on the mark of ’Retreat’.

——"Law of Cause and Effect[Trial Settlement]:

In six years, you reshaped the Empire, unifying the divided Eastern and Western Roman Empire to establish a new Second Empire.

Under your governance, the Empire prospered increasingly, surpassing any historical nation in territory, you bestowed kingship upon various lords, earning you the title ’Father of Europe, King of Kings’ from future historians. Your reforms in education, land, and compilation of the Empire’s code were celebrated as the closest medieval code to modern laws, having a profound influence on future generations. Although you had few offspring, throughout nearly a thousand years into the future, numerous European kings took pride in your bloodline.

After you retreated, Duncan II diligently governed, consolidating the Empire’s control in the Nordic region and designating Babylon as a new imperial province for complete rule. The Empire witnessed the emergence of several wise rulers over time, recognized as a historical miracle, whose governance ushered in the Artistic Enlightenment Era almost three hundred years earlier and impacted the entire world’s civilizational progress. Human historical progression began to stride forward significantly, with the Industrial Revolution occurring more than a century earlier than intended.

The vast empire you established continued for several hundred years in human history’s long river.

Even after its disintegration, your descendants continued to attempt to restore this immense empire. Although the Empire gradually fell apart over the next hundreds of years, the Kingdom of Britain, the Kingdom of France, and the Kingdom of Germany continued to be regarded as successors to the Second Roman Empire.

Though unable to fully restore the Empire’s vast territory, the Kingdom of Britain, the Kingdom of France, and the Kingdom of Germany each rose to prominence at various points in time over the following thousand years, becoming the overlords of entire Europe, controlling much of the continent’s territory.

Ultimately, you were exalted as an ’Immortal Heroic Spirit’ with the title ’King of Kings’, entering humanity’s historical river."

(As Number One Human Form ages, it will gradually deify, and the Legendary Level you left will translate into the divinity value of Number One Human Form.)

(Number One Human Form condenses faint divinity!)

(Number One Human Form opens the Divine Power pool!)

Boom!

The Dimension Space began to tremble slightly.

Duncan’s consciousness detached from reality, entering the Endless Celestial Ladder, which is the manifestation of the human historical river, his Heroic Spirit Palace initially among the Roman Empire’s kings, yet now it continuously ascended, rising above the clouds.

This was a very subtle position, far above the secular kings, even surpassing many Divine Spirits, but inferior to certain special deities.

Duncan’s consciousness awakened.

His projected form glanced down, noticing with a complex expression that Gilgamesh was far below, but he couldn’t be bothered to waste energy on him, instead raising his head to look towards the north above the clouds.

An old acquaintance.

Odin’s projected form was also in the human historical river, gazing at Duncan below, nodding slightly in acknowledgment.

According to their agreement, Duncan’s exaltation as an Immortal Heroic Spirit would also involve arrangements for the real world, although it would take hundreds or nearly a thousand years to gradually affect reality’s Root Law.

"And who are those above me?"

Duncan wanted to see who was above him, and when he looked up, he saw a gate of heaven, no figures were present, the Angels were blurred silhouettes, and above heaven was a conceptual brilliance shadow.

This was no longer a normal Divine Spirit, but a law-like existence, completely integrated with the world’s roots, forgoing humanity entirely.

Sorry, I bothered you!

Duncan turned to the west, seemingly seeing a great sun, the law-like silhouette making it difficult for him to open his eyes, only able to vaguely see an extremely tall shadow seated on a lotus pedestal, surrounded by elusive projections.

The whole space was enveloped by laws manifesting a kingdom.

——Enlightened One - Shakyamuni[???]

Sorry, I also bothered you!

Duncan obediently sat back, there were too many big shots above the clouds, his current position was good enough.

.........

(PS: End of Volume One.)

(Taking a day off tomorrow. Organizing the protagonist’s Number One Human Form attribute card. Volume One has some extra sections remaining, remind me if anything needs filling in.)