Gospel of Blood

What is going on?

The Nez Can… Is this a collective submission and allegiance?

Charlotte’s expression was one of surprise and astonishment.

With Yurst as a “double agent”, she was privy to much of the internal information of the Nez Clan.

From her understanding of the Nez Clan, she knew that even in the best-case scenario, it would take at least a year or two to completely subdue them into a force loyal to her.

Unable to hold back, Charlotte glanced at Bardock, wondering if this current true leader of the Nez Clan knew what was happening. What she saw was a face even more bewildered than her own.

Of course, despite her surprise, since the Nez Clan had chosen to submit and swear loyalty, as the Progenitor of the Bloodborne, Charlotte had to respond accordingly.

Her gaze swept across the crowd, and her demeanor instantly became imposing.

In the mental world, the Gospel of Blood radiated brilliance. In the physical world, blood divine power surged, and crimson mist filled the air.

An overwhelming pressure descended, as vast as the sea.

Dark, immense, and profound…

Charlotte… unfolded her Spiritual Force Field.

This was the first time Charlotte had showcased her Spiritual Force Field since her breakthrough.

There was no bottleneck, no difficulty.

Because… ever since her journey began, her “Spiritual Force Field” had actually unfolded countless times. That was the Dark Night Castle woven by the mental world.

The deep crimson colored the entire world, and everything around seemed to change.

In a trance, the Nez bloodbornes felt as if they had arrived at a familiar ancient castle.

They seemed to see an old, majestic Blood Throne and Charlotte sitting upon it, merging with the authoritative figure of the ancient True Ancestor of Blood in their hazy memories.

In the sky, clouds covered the moon, gradually turning crimson. As the clouds parted and moonlight once again illuminated the land, the silver moon had turned into a crimson blood moon.

Charlotte sat high on the throne bathed in moonlight, holding an ancient, heavy crimson gospel. Her attire had transformed into a black divine gown woven with thorns and roses, her golden-red eyes filled with authority and profundity.

She sat there, like an emperor ruling over the world. With a gentle raise of her hand, an ethereal yet majestic voice echoed across the sky.

“Descendants of the Nez Clan, in the name of the Progenitor of the Bloodborne, I accept your submission and allegiance.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Charlotte felt her blood divine power within her body erupted uncontrollably, like a floodgate opening, while at the same time, all the Nez bloodbornes in the square radiated crimson light.

Charlotte couldn’t help but inwardly exclaim in surprise, wondering why accepting allegiance would consume such a vast amount of divine power.

However, she soon understood why.

The crimson brilliance continued to spread, from reality to consciousness.

In the depths of Charlotte’s consciousness, among the sea of crimson stars representing the bloodbornes, about one-tenth of the stars suddenly shone brightly.

The number of those stars was at least 30,000, and among them, the brightest ones numbered over 7,000, matching exactly the number of bloodbornes gathered in the square.

Those… were all the existing Nez bloodbornes.

The brilliance spread, enveloping all the stars, and at the same time, Charlotte felt the connection with these stars quickly strengthening…

If previously, she could only use these stars to locate the corresponding bloodbornes, knowing their coordinates, and summoning them through the blood summoning…

Now, whenever she wished, she could project her gaze through the star representing them or directly summon them to her side.

Moreover, she could even strip them of their bloodline power through the “star” or, conversely, bestow them with it.

That feeling… was like they had become her believers.

No…

This was the power of “believers.”

As the connection continued to strengthen, Charlotte quickly realized the essence of this change.

At the moment the Nez Clan officially submitted, they were integrated into her own faith network.

Except… not purely as “believers.”

But as descendants, or more accurately, their connection was through bloodline instead of faith.

Charlotte instantly understood.

The True Ancestor of Blood didn’t spread faith because they had no motivation to do so.

For the True Ancestor of Blood, all the bloodbornes were “believers.”

Only, the connection with the “believers” wasn’t through “faith” but through “bloodline.”

Furthermore, this connection derived from bloodline was even stronger, representing absolute domination.

Just as Gods accumulate divine power through the extraordinary abilities of their believers, from now on, all the power enhancements of the Nez bloodborne would also be siphoned, reflecting a portion of the bloodline power back to Charlotte.

Instantly, Charlotte’s faith network gained thousands of new workers, ones even more difficult to betray than believers.

As if verifying Charlotte’s thoughts, as soon as the “contract” was established, the feedback came immediately.

Charlotte felt the blood divine power she had just consumed flooding back, even more than what she had expended.

Feeling her skyrocketing divine power and the increasingly clear connection with the Nez bloodbornes, Charlotte quickly realized she had taken over the Nez Clan’s faith network.

The Blood Prince of the Nez Clan, the Stargazer Casey, had been “missing”, and for centuries, the Nez Clan’s faith network had been unmanaged.

Though the faith of the bloodborne wasn’t considered particularly devout, centuries of accumulation was still a considerable wealth, and now… it all belonged to Charlotte.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the Nez Clan’s faith was taken by Charlotte.

The faith of the Nez Clan remained intact, and they still worshiped the Stargazer Casey.

However, at the pinnacle of their faith network, above the node representing the faith of the Stargazer Casey, there was now a new node.

This was a higher-ranking node, connecting Charlotte’s faith with the original faith of the Nez Clan, and it also possessed a higher level of control over the Nez Clan’s original faith network.

In other words, it was like a company representing Charlotte’s faith had acquired the Nez Clan’s company, parachuting in a new board of directors that could decide the operation and future of the entire company without changing the composition of the Nez Clan’s company.

This was somewhat similar to the pantheon within the Holy Court.

Charlotte’s own faith was the primary divine system, while the Nez Clan… became a branch under her.

In other words, from this moment on, the Stargazer Casey… was forced to become Charlotte’s subordinate God.

Wait…

Forced to become a subordinate God?

Charlotte was momentarily stunned and quickly realized an important issue she had previously overlooked.

A God’s faith network is controlled by the God.

Even if a God falls into slumber, other entities wishing to take over the God’s faith must directly convert the believers or replace the slumbering God’s divinity.

But now, Charlotte hadn’t actively taken over the Stargazer Casey’s faith network, nor had she preached among the Nez bloodbornes, not even making them her believers.

In such a situation, why had the Stargazer Casey not resisted at all, and instead “acquiesced” to the changes in the Nez Clan’s faith network?

Even if there was suppression from the bloodline, even if there was the influence of the Gospel of Blood, there shouldn’t have been no resistance at all.

It should be noted that in the sea of crimson stars, the star representing the Stargazer Casey was still shining, its dazzling light unforgettable to Charlotte, to the point where she had shielded it, fearing the other might sense her existence.

But now… what was happening?

Unable to resist, Charlotte directed her “gaze” back to the crimson sea of stars representing the bloodborne.

After a moment of hesitation, she lifted the shield on the brilliance of the Princes.

However, when the shield was lifted, Charlotte’s expression turned to one of surprise.

The stars representing the other four clans’ Princes hadn’t changed, still shining with blinding brilliance, though now, this brilliance wasn’t as intimidating to Charlotte as it once was.

But the star representing the Stargazer Casey… was different.

Under Charlotte’s perplexed gaze, the star representing the Stargazer Casey suddenly shattered, its illusory light extinguishing.

What was revealed underneath was its true form.

It was no longer a star. But an ancient stone door.

The stone door had a typical elvish design, with some astrological symbols representing the Stargazer Casey still visible.

The door was covered in intricate inscriptions and chained seals, exuding an unsettling aura.

“This is… a seal? The Blood Prince of the Nez Clan, the Stargazer Casey… is actually sealed?”

Charlotte was momentarily stunned.

She had heard from Yurst that the Nez Clan hadn’t received divine oracles for centuries.

Some radicals within the Nez Clan believed that their prince, the Stargazer Casey, might have fallen into eternal slumber.

Yurst had also suspected this and even shared his guess with Charlotte. However… seeing the five stars in the crimson sea, Charlotte had always harbored strong doubts.

The stars in the crimson sea reflected the state of the respective bloodbornes.

The Stargazer Casey’s star still shone, indicating that he hadn’t fallen.

But now… everything was different.

The Stargazer Casey may not have fallen, but it wasn’t as simple as falling into slumber like other Gods.

He… was sealed.

Moreover, the door sealing him was directly connected to Charlotte’s sea of consciousness.

Charlotte’s gaze focused as she looked at the seals on the stone door.

With her extensive knowledge gained over the past two years, she quickly recognized the writing as ancient elvish, used for the highest level of sealing, specifically for sealing Gods.

These seals had been described in books left by the elves in the Central Tower, used to combat the Old Gods of Myria, supposedly developed before the elves fled to the Myria continent.

Furthermore, this sealing magic was still in use, historically employed in legends where mortals sealed Gods, said to use this very secret art.

Clearly, the Stargazer Casey had indeed been sealed.

Additionally, the stone door bore three lines of blood-written warnings in the common continental language.

“Do not open, do not open, do not open!”

“Do not… open?”

Charlotte’s gaze narrowed.

She examined the text closely, noting that it was rough and chaotic, as if written in a hurry, becoming increasingly disordered towards the end, as if the writer’s consciousness had faded, barely finishing the message.

After a moment’s contemplation, Charlotte condensed an avatar of her consciousness and approached the stone door.

As she drew closer, the details of the stone door became clearer.

Charlotte noticed that the edges of the stone door were covered in cracks, with faint white mist seeping out.

The white mist carried a faint sacred aura, warm and comforting, with an almost fatal allure.

Just being near it, Charlotte felt a deep sense of joy and intimacy, compelling her to move closer and even merge with the white mist.

Gazing at the escaping white mist, Charlotte’s eyes grew hazy.

Instinctively, she took a step towards the stone door.

However, before Charlotte could take further action, the Gospel of Blood in her consciousness radiated crimson light, enveloping her consciousness avatar.

Under the crimson light, Charlotte’s mind cleared instantly.

When she regained her senses, her avatar was only a step away from the stone door, her arm outstretched, almost touching the seals on the eerie stone door.

Startled, Charlotte quickly stepped back.

When she looked at the stone door again, her expression was one of caution and lingering fear.

“To interfere with my mind and judgment without me realizing it… what is this white mist?”

“And behind it… is it really the Stargazer Casey?”

Charlotte frowned slightly, her gaze at the stone door filled with vigilance.

At that moment, she seemed to hear a faint call from within the stone door.

The voice was weak and ghostly.

Charlotte’s gaze focused, her alertness heightened.

She listened intently and finally made out the faint, broken words from behind the stone door.

“Help… help me…”