Gospel of Blood

Ending the God’s Descent, Charlotte’s consciousness returned to the mental world of the Dark Night Castle.

This long-distance descent had taken a considerable toll on her, even dimming the divine brilliance of the Gospel of Blood.

Charlotte assessed her situation. Based on the standard of consuming 1 divine power point per second for the True Ancestor’s Liberation, her divine power had dropped from nearly full at 60 points, accumulated over recent times, to about 25 points.

However, it wasn’t without gain.

Charlotte gently extended her right hand, and a crimson brilliance condensed in her palm, gradually forming a blurry statue. The statue’s face was unclear, and it was only palm-sized, glowing with a misty brilliance, seemingly containing some strange power.

This was the mysterious statue that the Blood Demon Priest had forcibly implanted into the black dragon to facilitate the descent of the Blood Demon Archduke. It was also the object that had caught Charlotte’s eye in the ruins.

No, it wasn’t just in the ruins. Even now, holding it in her hand, Charlotte could feel a strong sense of calling and intimacy from it. It seemed as if this was something that inherently belonged to her.

Moreover, Charlotte could sense the great power contained within this small statue—specifically, divine power.

Although she hadn’t yet examined it closely, relying on the Gospel of Blood’s sensitivity to divine power, she could clearly sense that the power within was definitely divine!

“Ancient Temple, the mysterious temple left by the True Ancestor Lilith, worshiping the mysterious statue…”

“Undoubtedly, this statue is the core of the Ancient Temple. The Blood Demon Cult chose the Ancient Temple as the ritual site precisely to utilize the divine power within this statue.”

“Yurst mentioned that the Ancient Temple was likely built by the True Ancestor either to facilitate her return or to revive a venerable elder.”

“Regardless of whether my previous ‘time travel’ was real or not, since the Ancient Temple was established by the True Ancestor and stored a certain amount of divine power, it likely stored the blood divine power!”

Pondering the small statue before her, Charlotte was deep in thought.

After some consideration, she closed her eyes and cautiously extended her perception, probing into the statue.

Simultaneously, she heightened her vigilance, ready to end her exploration at any sign of danger…

After all, the nature of this object was still unclear. Despite the sense of intimacy in her perception, it was best to be cautious to avoid any unexpected incidents.

For instance, there might still be some residual will of the True Ancestor within, waiting to take over her body.

However, Charlotte’s fears proved unfounded. Once her consciousness entered the statue, she quickly discerned its nature.

In her perception, within the statue, a viscous red liquid, like blood, emitted a misty brilliance.

No, it wasn’t actual blood but the materialization of blood divine power. It was divine power, the purest divine power, and… it was the blood divine power that Charlotte had longed for!

Charlotte finally understood why the statue made her feel such a strong sense of calling and intimacy.

The statue contained blood divine power, and as the successor of the Gospel of Blood, it was only natural for her to feel a sense of kinship.

Staring at the immense divine power within the statue, Charlotte was nearly overwhelmed. She instinctively calculated how long True Ancestor’s Liberation this amount of divine power could sustain, and the result startled her.

The divine power stored within the statue could likely allow her to fully undergo True Ancestor’s Liberation, sustaining it for half an hour without any issue!

This meant that even without replenishing divine power, Charlotte wouldn’t need to worry about the consumption of blood divine power in the short term and could act freely.

“It’s fortunate that the Blood Demon Cult’s ritual didn’t succeed. If it had, with this scale of blood divine power, they might have truly summoned the Blood Demon Archduke into the world.”

Charlotte couldn’t help but marvel.

The answer was evident. If her judgment was correct, the Blood Demon Cult’s infiltration of Castell was to use this statue for a God’s Descent Ritual, summoning the Blood Demon Archduke. Or more precisely, to help him quickly regain power after being summoned.

Since her transmigration, Charlotte had gained considerable knowledge about the mysterious side of the Myria world.

As far as she knew, most of the Gods in Myria were currently in slumber. This included Creator God Harald, the God of Contracts Mithra, and even the Nez Clan’s Stargazer Casey.

However, there were exceptions. According to records, the Blood Demon Archduke had completed his resurrection, and it was his revival that enabled the Dark Clan Shedite to overthrow the rule of the Crescent Kingdom.

Of course, revival didn’t equate to full power restoration. Otherwise, the Crescent Kingdom wouldn’t have returned to the Holy Court’s rule afterward.

If Charlotte’s guess was correct, the Blood Demon Cult intended to use the Ancient Temple’s statue to not only summon the Blood Demon Archduke but also help him rapidly regain power, avoiding the fate of being expelled by the Holy Court again.

This was just Charlotte’s speculation.

“The Blood Demon Cult has attempted God’s Descents multiple times. Such frequent attempts are impossible without divine authorization. The Blood Demon Archduke’s eagerness to descend into the world suggests that something significant might be about to happen in Myria.”

Charlotte mused.

Unfortunately, Charlotte was not a God and didn’t know much.

Although she sensed a looming storm, she couldn’t discern the truth from a divine perspective.

“Let’s take it one step at a time. Thinking too much is futile. Next, I’ll continue hunting the Blood Demon Cult. They must know something.”

“Additionally, since this statue is unclaimed, perhaps I can try leaving my mark on it…”

With this thought, Charlotte gently raised the statue.

She took a deep breath, channeling the blood divine power she had mastered from the Gospel of Blood, converting it into the Thorny Rose’s mark, and then covered the indistinct statue with it.

In the next moment, a strange scene unfolded.

After the thorny rose mark covered it, the indistinct statue suddenly emitted a crimson brilliance, and its appearance gradually became clear.

When the brilliance dissipated, the statue no longer looked indistinct but had taken on the form of Charlotte. However, it was not the “youthful and immature” version of Charlotte but rather the “mature lady” version.

Charlotte was momentarily stunned and then sensed that she had become connected to something in a mysterious way. Following that sense of connection, she quickly discovered that it was this statue with which she had formed a bond.

A strong pulse of emotion surged within her, accompanied by an inexplicable calling and guidance.

Charlotte was astonished to perceive that the statue seemed to have become a part of her, as if it were an extension of her own body, like an external embodiment.

Moved by a thought, the statue lifted off on its own, merging into her body just as the Black Dragon had once done.

But unlike with the Black Dragon, after merging into her body, the statue quickly dissolved, as if an extension had merged back into the main body, like a wanderer returning home.

In Charlotte’s perception, the statue swiftly transformed into a mass of crimson light, which, after flowing through her limbs, finally converged at her heart, bursting forth with unprecedented brilliance.

A warm sensation spread from her heart, making Charlotte feel as if she had turned into a blazing fireball or perhaps initiated some kind of new transformation. Points of light spread out, swirling around Charlotte.

In the real world, her body lifted into the air on its own, her heart radiating dazzling light, a golden-red brilliance enveloping her body…

In an instant, her body transformed into an ellipsoidal cocoon of light. A subtle energy wave spread out from the cocoon, sweeping over the Count’s mansion, the Castell’s estate, and eventually spreading throughout the entire Northport…

At that moment, all the extraordinary beings in Northport felt an inexplicable heart palpitation, and the extraordinary blood within them seemed to be stirring.

“Thump…”

A heartbeat echoed in everyone’s hearts. The extraordinary beings looked puzzled, not knowing where the sound came from.

“Thump…”

Another heartbeat, much stronger than the previous one.

The extraordinary beings in the northern lands were bewildered to find that as the heartbeat thumped, their own hearts echoed in near unison.

“Thump…”

“Thump…”

“Thump…”

The heartbeat became clearer, like drumbeats.

The extraordinary beings were thrown into complete chaos.

“What is happening?”

“Do you hear the heartbeat?”

“What’s causing it? From where?”

The extraordinary beings looked puzzled, unable to locate the source of the heartbeat, but feeling their blood and power quivering with each beat.

Meanwhile, across the northern lands, some children who had not awakened their bloodline powers suddenly felt as if some shackles within them had broken, and signs of extraordinary awakening began to appear…

In the underground liaison office of the Nez Clan stationed in Northport.

The guarding bloodbornes had long since prostrated themselves with the heartbeat. What sounded like drumbeats to other extraordinary beings resonated like thunder in their senses.

At this moment, all the blood descendants in the northern lands felt a strong bloodline tremor, a soul-deep pressure strengthening with each heartbeat, enveloping their hearts.

Even Sebastian and Yurst, far away at the border, felt this tremor. They exchanged glances, seeing a hint of bewilderment in each other’s eyes.

In the Castell mining area, within the tribe of demi-humans who had resumed their ancestral faith, the thorny rose symbol on the altar also suddenly changed. Crimson brilliance spread, and the divine symbol swiftly “melted” and then “reformed.”

When the light receded, what appeared before the demi-humans was no longer the divine symbol but a lifelike statue!

The statue’s appearance was exactly that of the mature Charlotte!

Seeing the reformed statue and feeling the mysterious pressure and tremor, the demi-human priests were elated, and overjoyed.

“It is our Lord! Our Lord’s brilliance! Our Lord’s heartbeat! Our Lord’s statue!”

“Our Lord’s power… has recovered a part of it!”

“Praise to You! The Supreme True Ancestor! The Embodiment of Darkness and Shadow! The Source of all Bloodbornes!”

Unusual phenomena appeared all over the northern lands, even causing the Holy Court in the Crescent Diocese to sound the warning bell again, throwing the capital cathedral into chaos…

“Archbishop! The warning bell has rung! Another Evil God power has revived!”

The priest said in panic.

Before the statue of the God, the Archbishop in gold and red robes slowly opened his eyes.

“Which direction?”

“The northwest!”

The priest said urgently.

“The northwest…”

The Archbishop murmured, then closed his eyes, gently stroking the holy scepter in his hand.

After a moment, he reopened his eyes with a hint of surprise.

“It’s the northern lands…”

After a moment of contemplation, he said in a deep voice.

“Summon the Chief inquisitor, there’s work to be done.”

…

Charlotte was unaware of the great commotion caused by her fusion with the statue.

After about ten minutes, the cocoon of light shattered, and she regained her freedom.

Opening her eyes, she saw in the small mirror on the desk that she was once again naked, her previous clothes having turned to ashes.

Charlotte casually grabbed a spare outfit from the rack and put it on, then began to examine her body.

Although her power hadn’t significantly increased after fusing with the statue, she could sense that something within her body had changed in a mysterious way.

The most obvious change was her skin. Her body, which already had skin like coagulated fat, now appeared even more perfect and exquisite, almost divine.

When Charlotte closed her eyes and carefully sensed, she was astonished to find that her heart was no longer its usual red but had turned golden.

It beat powerfully, each beat seemingly resonating with some mysterious rhythm. On a higher realm of perception, Charlotte “saw” a slowly rotating crimson crystal at her heart, like a heart’s embodiment.

The crystal bore the thorny rose mark, with flames dancing in its center, seemingly connected to something else in a mysterious way. However, the crystal appeared somewhat illusory, not entirely complete.

Following her instinct, Charlotte communicated with it and quickly discovered that she could manipulate the “heart’s” power as she did with the Gospel of Blood.

Upon channeling the power, her consciousness instantly spread out. To her surprise, she found herself directly connected to the statues worshipped by the demi-human tribes, forming a vast network!

The Gospel of Blood radiated light, its pages flipping on their own.

In Charlotte’s perception, the Divine Chapter within the Gospel glowed, new words appearing.

『Gospel of Blood · Divine Chapter』

『I am the longing of the mortal.』

『I am the grace of miracles.』

『Faith ignites the divine flame; the flame forges the divine throne.』

『Eternity is with me; yet divine grace is also a shackle.』

『Divine Chapter ability unlocked—』

『Faith Network』