Blood Holy Scripture: True Ancestor Charlotte de Castel

The mockery from the girl caused the Northern Territory youth named Gunnar's expression to darken.

He didn't say much but instead let out a cold snort, as the pale blue radiance erupted from his body once again, and he swung his sword towards Astrid.

"Big sister!"

"Be careful!"

A series of exclamations came from Astrid's companions.

Astrid's expression turned solemn.

She clenched her teeth, enduring the pain in her body, and quickly raised her sword to parry.

A look of scorn appeared on Gunnar's face.

The pale blue radiance gathered on the edge of his sword, enveloping it with savage Magic Power and wild madness, pressing down on the girl!

"Boom..."

A thunderous roar echoed.

Astrid felt an unstoppable force bearing down on her, like a plummeting mountain, smashing directly onto her.

Almost instantly, she was thrown to the ground again, unable to hold back another mouthful of fresh blood.

Totem power...

Unlike the Holy Light bestowed to the priests in the Holy Royal Court, as one of Mireya's oldest forms of "faith power" and the source of Transcendent power for many Northern Territory Tribes, this faith-integrated Transcendent power was not something ordinary Transcendents could contend with.

"Astrid, you've lost."

The youth approached the fallen girl, looking down at her from a higher position.

"You cheated! You cheated! To use Totem power in an honor challenge, it's cheating!"

Fuming, the boy next to the old woman said as he looked at Gunnar, who was covered in a glowing aura.

The youths following Gunnar laughed coldly:

"Cheating? No one said before the challenge that Totem power couldn't be used! Besides, if Gunnar could use Totem power, she could too!"

"Oh, we forgot, you are those fake believers who regard absurd legends as Totem worship. You don't actually have a Totem that can provide Totem power!"

The boys were smug.

However, the expression of Marquis Vladimir standing nearby was not pleased.

Totem power had always been the most commonly used Transcendent power among the majority of the Northern Territory Transcendents since ancient times, but to be able to use Totem power also meant that the opponent had not abandoned Totem worship.

Noticing Marquis Vladimir's gaze, Gunnar bowed to him respectfully and said:

"Marquis, please forgive my use of Totem power in battle."

"I was not insincere when I spoke of converting to the great Divine Lord. It's just that... our High Priest has said, our Forest Sea Tribe holding on to our own Totem and worshipping the Divine Lord do not conflict."

"The great Divine Lord has always been tolerant. He allows real deities to become His sub-gods. Our High Priest has already communicated with the Totem Spirit through the shamanic rituals, and our Totem Spirit is willing to submit to the Divine Lord, fully qualifying to become a sub-god of the Divine Lord!"

Hearing Gunnar's words barely eased the grim look on Marquis Vladimir's face.

Next to Marquis Vladimir, Sebastian displayed an equally odd expression.

As a Favored of the great True Ancestor and always keen to spread the belief of the True Ancestor throughout the Northern Land, he had thoroughly studied many of the Northern Land's faiths.

Unlike the True God faith in other parts of the continent, the Totem Belief of the Northern Land did not actually have deities, or rather... the beings sustaining "faith" were not truly Gods.

No, to be more precise, they might have once been Gods, but during the Blood Moon Era, they were hunted and suppressed by a terrifying existence who didn't wish to reveal its name. Since then, they had lost their Divine Position and become mere Transcendent Existences that could only maintain small-scale faith.

Some Totems even had it worse.

Having lost power in the bond of faith and their autonomy, they couldn't draw power from faith anymore. Instead, they became the "blood bags" the Totem Tribes tapped into for Transcendent power, nurtured by the Northern Territory Tribes through "Blood Sacrifice."

Whether the Forest Sea Tribe's High Priest's claim that their Totem Spirit was willing to submit to the Divine Lord was the will of the Totem Spirit or the High Priest himself, frankly, it wasn't clear.

Of course, this was none of Sebastian's concern.

He turned his attention to the challenged girl on the field.

"Just a little bit more..."

Sensing the aura of the girl, he pondered inwardly.

On the challenge field.

Hearing the mockery of the boys, Astrid's fists clenched tighter.

She was in bad shape.

After two heavy hits, her entire body was in severe pain, and her brain felt groggy.

She figured that some of her ribs were broken, not sure how many, and there must be quite a few fractures elsewhere.

But right now, she didn't care about any of that.

She stared intently at Gunnar, surrounded by the glow, with rage in her eyes.

Not being able to receive a response from the faith Totem was a long-standing pain for the Free Tribe Alliance.

Without the protection of Totem power, the Free Tribe Alliance was always at a disadvantage when clashing with other Northern Territory Tribes.

But the faith of the Free Tribe Alliance was not to be desecrated.

Surviving through numerous hardships, persevering in the harsh Northern Territory, the Free Tribe Alliance had always relied on their steadfast belief and devout faith in the Savior.

The great Savior was not fictional; although most of the scriptures were lost during the tribe's long migrations, Astrid knew that within the most sacred hall of the Alliance, there still lay the Holy Artifact documenting the deeds of the Savior!

As a devout Believer, she couldn't tolerate the other party's sacrilege to the divine!

"No... I haven't lost yet!"

Astrid bit her teeth and forced her Source Power into motion, struggling to rise once again with its support.

With trembling hands, she drew a totem symbol on her chest, and then, shaking, she lifted her short sword and pointed it directly at Gunnar, stammering,

"Gunnar, the glory of the God... shall not be sullied. Retract... your blasphemy against our Divine Lord!"

Seeing her wobbly state, the Northern Territory youths following Gunnar burst into laughter:

"Hahaha... Retract the blasphemy against 'our Lord'?"

"Look! She's still stubborn!"

"Astrid, stop being delusional; your Savior simply does not exist!"

"Our Spirit of the Forest Sea wishes to follow the great Divine Lord, and we have become believers of the Holy Royal Court. Yet you presumptuous fake believers seek glory?"

"Blasphemy? Your ignorance is the greatest blasphemy against the Gods!"

The youths wore looks of mockery, provoking angry stares from other boys and girls.

Looking at the smug youths, looking at Gunnar radiating a pale blue glow, and seeing the furrowed brow of Marquis Vladimir, Astrid clenched her lips tightly.

Breathing deeply, her gaze gradually grew firm.

"Sorry, Father... I still cannot stand idly by as these people defile our deity."

"For the Savior's glory, Daughter... I will be wilful just this once."

She murmured.

Having spoken, her expression became stern as the Source Power in her body surged once again!

Her Transcendent aura rose sharply, and her pale blue eyes quickly took on a halo of crimson light.

Upon seeing the girl's rapidly changing eye color, the surrounding youths let out a series of gasps:

"This... this is the Blood Spirit Ignition of the Free Tribe Alliance!"

"Has she gone mad? She's actually using Blood Spirit Ignition!"

Blood Spirit Ignition...

If one were to ask why the Free Tribe Alliance, without the protection of Totem powers, had managed to withstand the harsh environment of the Northern Territory for so long, then the greatest credit should be attributed to this Transcendent Spell, learnable only by those of the bloodline within the Alliance.

This spell, which burns Transcendent blood and soul to unleash formidable combat power in an instant, was the desperate trump card of the Transcendents of the Free Tribe Alliance!

Of course, the price was steep.

At best, one's lifespan would be greatly reduced, completely losing Transcendent powers, and at worst, one would die on the spot.

As the Source Power burst forth, Astrid's gaze was resolute.

However, just as she was about to ignite her Transcendent blood and soul power, a mysterious voice that was neither male nor female sighed in her ear:

"If the great True Ancestor were to see His Believer die in such a manner, I think... He would not be pleased."

"Who?!"

Astrid immediately raised her head.

Yet, apart from her, no one else seemed to have heard the voice.

Their astonished gazes were focused on the girl, seemingly still shocked that she had resorted to a forbidden spell that was likely to result in death.

"There's no need to search; I am conversing with you within your heart, and others cannot hear my voice."

"Hehe, this is one of the bloodline talents I've acquired from the great True Ancestor, a gift from our Divine Lord."

The mysterious voice sounded again, light and detached in a way unlike the people of the Northern Land.

A mystical rhythm that was hard to describe in words passed by.

The next moment, Astrid was shocked to find that the Transcendent blood and soul power she had been trying to ignite had calmed down rapidly.

"Who are you? What have you done!?"

Astrid demanded in her mind, both startled and angry.

The mysterious voice replied again, this time with a warm and friendly tone:

"Don't be angry, I simply didn't want to see the great True Ancestor lose such a devoted Believer."

"Miss Astrid of the Free Tribe Alliance, have you ever considered... perhaps it's not that the great Savior no longer provides protection, but that... you have long since severed the true Inheritance of the Holy Emblem?"

Hearing these unfamiliar words, Astrid grew more vigilant:

"Who... who are you? What are you trying to say?"

With a light laugh, the mysterious voice said,

"I am a Favored of our Divine Lord, and also a messenger of His glory."

"Miss Astrid, I respect your devotion to our Divine Lord, but alas... you are striving in the wrong direction."

"Look carefully within your heart to see... what the True Ancestor's Holy Emblem should truly look like."

The ethereal voice echoed within the depths of Astrid's heart.

Following the speaker's words, Astrid felt shock as the totem imprint of the Savior within her heart began to transform!

Broken vines slowly entwined, and the incomplete pattern gradually restored itself.

A glow of crimson brilliance flickered, and a familiar Holy Emblem made of thorny vines and roses slowly emerged in Astrid's mind...

A feeling of kinship and palpitation, stemming from her bloodline and soul, rose poignantly within Astrid's heart.

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Another chapter will come tonight.