Gospel of Blood

In the mines, time always passes slowly. Day after day, year after year. Until the young demi-human grows a beard, until the injured black dragon gradually heals.

“Miss Eudoxia, today I brought a Yunette Red Pig from the market, it’s absolutely delicious!”

The young demi-human happily said, carrying a fat, red-haired wild boar.

“Is it okay for you to bring food to the mine so frequently?”

“Don’t worry, I come through the secret passage quietly at night, no one has noticed.”

Kael said with a smile.

“Thank you…”

“Thank you for what? I should be thanking you for the mithril you give me every time! Aren’t we friends?”

…

A true black dragon. I used to think that, as a proud black dragon, friendship and companionship could never be a part of a dragon’s life.

But I seem to have been wrong. After more than ten years together, Kael’s presence has become almost a part of my long healing process…

Habit is a terrible thing.

Even someone like me has gradually become accustomed to things I would never have touched before.

I no longer plan to kill him. When I recover, I will say goodbye to him, then soar into the sky.

As a friend. I thought these days would continue until we parted.

I thought so…

“Eudoxia, did you go to the eastern mining area a few days ago?”

“I went to look for mithril, you know, my injuries are almost healed, and I need better quality mithril in these final stages.”

“Be careful recently, the workshop has begun to suspect the presence of a dragon in the mining area.”

“I will.”

…

“Eudoxia! Run! The workshop has hired Yunette’s dragon-slayer mercenaries! They’ve discovered your whereabouts!

They’re coming for you!”

“What about you?”

“I’ll hold them off, they don’t know about our relationship, I can cover for you and buy you some time to escape!”

…

“Evil black dragon! So you were hiding here all along!”

“Defiling the glory of our Lord, our Lord will surely bring down punishment!”

“Prepare to die!”

…

Charlotte saw the memories.

She saw many, many memories.

From a black dragon covered in scars waking up, to accidentally meeting a demi-human, from resistance and vigilance to familiarity and understanding, finally becoming friends.

The ending of the memory was not pleasant.

The black dragon, whose whereabouts were exposed, was hunted by the Yunette Mercenary Group, while the demi-human died covering for the dragon.

A fierce battle broke out in the forest, and the enraged black dragon killed the mercenaries at the cost of being seriously injured again, but the demi-human was gone forever.

Charlotte felt strong emotions, emotions belonging to the black dragon.

It was not entirely sadness and pain, more so sorrow, self-blame, and confusion…

The demi-human’s death had a profound impact on the black dragon, but it was not just the grief of losing a friend, there seemed to be something deeper.

This strong impact was somewhat familiar. She seemed to have experienced it once in the distant past.

The black dragon felt as if she had forgotten something. Something extremely important. Until… someone found her.

“It seems, Ms. Eudoxia no longer needs our help.”

In a ravaged forest, a figure in a black hood laughed hoarsely.

“Who are you?”

The blood-soaked black dragon looked wary.

“Who I am is not important, what’s important is, Ms. Eudoxia, do you know who you are? Do you know your past? Do you know why the Yunette mercenaries are hunting you? And do you… want to revive those you cherish?”

The black hooded figure asked.

The black dragon was silent. Her gaze never left the demi-human’s corpse.

“Who are you? Can you revive him? Do you… know my past?”

She asked.

The black hooded figure laughed.

“You can call us the Blood Demon Cult.”

“Join us, and you can know everything you want to know…”

…

Charlotte finished reading Eudoxia’s memories.

It wasn’t a very complicated memory. Aside from the day-to-day healing in the mines, the real change happened at the end of the memory.

Charlotte also understood the reason why this black dragon joined the Blood Demon Cult.

“So, it was to revive her friend and find her past…”

Charlotte pondered.

Regarding the friend in the black dragon Eudoxia’s memory, if Charlotte guessed correctly, it should be the older brother of the young werewolf, Noah.

He disappeared seven years ago, and now, after seeing the black dragon’s memory, she realized that he had already died.

Charlotte couldn’t judge anything, she could only sigh in her heart that even a brutal black dragon could have a friendship.

However, after reading the black dragon’s memories and integrating the dragon’s emotions, Charlotte also knew that what truly made the black dragon join the Blood Demon Cult without hesitation, willing to work for them, was not just to revive the demi-human Kael.

More importantly, it was to find her past. The death of the demi-human Kael was just a trigger, and with the death of Kael, the shock deep in her soul was the strongest for Eudoxia.

When reading the memories, Charlotte could clearly feel the emotions bursting from Eudoxia at that time.

It was a kind of anxiety that, even though she knew she had forgotten something important, even though she knew she had forgotten something she must do, she just couldn’t remember.

This anxiety, combined with the sorrow of her friend’s death, made the black dragon extremely agitated, ultimately leading her to join the Blood Demon Cult.

Of course, in the end, it seems she was deceived by the Blood Demon Cult. Because in the memories Charlotte read, the black dragon Eudoxia never got the answers from the Blood Demon Cult…

The crimson light spread over the black dragon.

The hideous demonic spines slowly melted, and the black-red corrupting power gradually dissipated, or more accurately, transformed into the purest blood divine power, which was ultimately absorbed by Charlotte, who was possessing Nice.

Corrupting power was the power of the Blood Demon Duke Abaddon, and the source of all bloodborne power is the same.

For Charlotte, who had mastered the Gospel of Blood, absorbing this power was troublesome but not impossible.

What surprised Charlotte was that her compatibility with this black dragon seemed quite good, or perhaps it instinctively sensed that her power was helping it.

During the absorption process, Charlotte didn’t feel much resistance, and the whole process was quite smooth.

As the power was absorbed, the black dragon gradually returned to a normal state, and after all the “polluted” magic was completely removed, a strange scene appeared.

The black dragon, as large as a mountain, suddenly began to shrink, finally transforming into a naked black-haired girl.

Seeing this, Charlotte was stunned.

Sebastian reacted quickly, instantly taking a black robe from the storage space and covering her.

When Charlotte cast a surprised glance at him, he smiled awkwardly.

“Sorry, Master, I’m used to it.”

Charlotte: …?

Charlotte didn’t delve into what this elf, who had spent years mingling in the human world, was used to.

She looked again at the girl who had transformed from a black dragon.

The girl’s breathing was steady, clearly having fallen asleep due to exhaustion of magic.

This made Charlotte wonder.

When a dragon exhausts their magic, do they transform into human form?

“Strange, she exhausted her magic and turned into a human. Could her true form be human?”

On the other side, Yurst couldn’t help but ask the same question.

Human?

Charlotte’s mind was stirred.

She stepped forward, sensing the black-haired girl’s aura again, and after probing, she found that apart from having a human appearance, her essence had nothing to do with being human.

Charlotte was confident she wouldn’t be wrong. After all, one of the five resonance paths of the bloodborne, the Wild Path, included the ability for transformation magic, with dragon transformation being a well-known spell.

Bloodborne transformation magic requires understanding and mastering the essence of the target’s bloodline.

Charlotte had drunk the extraordinary blood of sub-dragons many times to build a foundation. In her perception, Eudoxia’s blood was more pure and delicious than any sub-dragon blood she had ever tasted, definitely not a human with transformation magic.

To explain it, there was only one reason: although she was a black dragon, she had a fixed human form.

This black dragon named Eudoxia must have a complicated background…

Charlotte naturally came to this conclusion.

Surely, it’s not that simple. Charlotte had checked, and even using divine power, she found nothing wrong with the girl’s brain or consciousness, meaning her mind was perfectly normal.

However, after reading her memories, Charlotte knew this black dragon had no memories from over ten years ago.

She had lost her memory, and the loss was bizarre, as if the memories had vanished into thin air.

Charlotte was very curious about this.

Erasing, modifying, or deleting memories always leaves traces, and the bloodborne, skilled in mental magic, are very sensitive to this.

Charlotte was no novice. She had studied mental magic deeply and mastered mind control and memory alteration magic.

Yet, even with the help of blood divine power, she found no trace of tampering in Eudoxia’s consciousness.

Her memories seemed too normal. But too normal is abnormal in itself.

The only explanation Charlotte could think of was that a stronger power, so strong that even with the Gospel of Blood she couldn’t understand it, had influenced everything.

She naturally thought of the ethereal female voice she heard when reading Eudoxia’s memories…

“Is it the owner of that voice…”

“That voice sounded familiar, but I can’t remember where I heard it…”

Charlotte pondered.

The female voice was ethereal, fleeting, and seemed to carry a strange power.

As time passed, Charlotte felt her memory of those whispers fading quickly…

She hastily reinforced her mind with blood divine power, barely stopping the process, but she could no longer recall the tone of the voice, only that it sounded familiar.

With no answers, Charlotte temporarily stopped dwelling on it.

She glanced at the sleeping black-haired girl, pondered for a moment, and said to Sebastian.

“Send her back to Northport.”

Sebastian respectfully agreed, while Yurst was taken aback.

A black dragon is still a black dragon, even if wounded, unconscious, or in human form.

If he wasn’t mistaken, this seemingly delicate girl might be the same evil black dragon that descended upon Eastern Yunette years ago, slaughtering an entire city and earning the name “Dark Scourge.”

He couldn’t understand why they would bring this ticking time bomb to a big city like Northport, seemingly without restraining her power.

However, the thought vanished quickly. It was a command from the divine True Ancestor, indicating the black dragon couldn’t cause much trouble in Northport.

Wait… couldn’t cause much trouble?

An idea struck Yurst.

He looked at the glowing black dragon, eyes filled with uncertainty.

Could it be… the True Ancestor’s true body is now in Northport?

“Yurst, I’m very interested in the black dragon attack on Eastern Yunette over ten years ago. Prepare a report when we return.”

Charlotte said.

Interrupted from his thoughts, Yurst quickly regained his composure and respectfully agreed. For a moment, he felt this resurrected True Ancestor wasn’t as inscrutable and mysterious as he thought.

So… even the True Ancestor has things she’s interested in and doesn’t know about…

Yurst mused.

Despite this, he couldn’t forget the awe-inspiring power he felt when the True Ancestor descended into his consciousness.

That kind of power that made his soul tremble was unforgettable.

Now, Charlotte sensed it was time to end this possession through the Gospel of Blood.

The goal of this God’s Descent had been achieved, and it was time to return, avoiding unnecessary consumption.

Blood divine power is hard to replenish and should be used sparingly.

With this in mind, she glanced around and said to Sebastian.

“The northern lands have been pacified. Arrange things here and return as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Master.”

Sebastian replied respectfully.

With that, Charlotte ended the possession and dispersed the light.

The crimson glow faded, and the black cat Nice fell to the ground, also falling asleep.

Sebastian and Yurst simultaneously bowed toward the fading light.

“Take care, Master!”