Gospel of Blood

There’s some force preventing me from establishing contact with the followers in the North!

Charlotte quickly reached this conclusion.

She was certain that with Sebastian’s assistance, she had already established a channel of faith with someone named Astrid. But now, this channel has gone inactive.

Of course, Charlotte could still faintly sense their connection. But like before they established contact, she was back to only “seeing”, not “communicating.”

No, it wasn’t just “communication.”

Charlotte keenly sensed that even her “seeing” ability was rapidly fading.

Her already weak connection with these followers in the North was being further diminished.

This subtle feeling left Charlotte puzzled.

If she were to describe and liken it, it felt as though an invisible barrier separated her from these followers in the North.

This barrier seemed to affect the faith of these Northern followers and… it was quite resilient.

“Affecting faith… could it be a faith network? After generations, the descendants of the Free City-States have formed a faith network similar to totems?”

“No… it seems not just that. Not only the faith of these Northern followers, because even the connection between Sebastian and me seems to be weakening.”

“No, this isn’t just a power against the Northern followers, but seems to be a more widespread force!”

Charlotte pondered.

With this in mind, she once again sank into consciousness, intending to once more cast her gaze upon these Northern followers through the ethereal connection.

She wanted to see what exactly was preventing her powers from reaching them.

Charlotte immersed herself in consciousness and returned to the Dark Night Castle.

Seated high on the Blood Throne, she summoned the Sea of Faith once again.

This time, she used more of her blood divine power to cast her “gaze” towards the north.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The glimmers representing the Northern followers flickered faintly, and Charlotte found the “star” representing Astrid, once again lowering her gaze.

This time, she focused completely, wanting to see what force was blocking her power.

The blood divine power erupted, and Charlotte’s vision shifted again.

However, just as she was about to successfully descend her “sight”, that feeling of ethereal resistance came again.

“Yes, that’s the feeling… that’s the force!”

Following her faith connection with Astrid, Charlotte finally identified the interfering force.

This time, with more divine power, she finally saw the nature of this interference.

It was a spell.

No… more accurately, it was a barrier.

“A barrier? And it’s man-made?”

Charlotte was surprised.

She squinted, then decisively manipulated her divine power, changing her target. Instead of attempting to connect with the followers, she aimed directly at this barrier obstructing her power and charged straight towards it!

Crimson light burst forth, and Charlotte’s divine power collided with the barrier’s ethereal resistance.

And then… Charlotte finally saw what exactly it was.

It was an incredibly vast magic barrier, almost covering the entire North.

“What a powerful barrier! And… it seems to be specifically targeting Gods, capable of blocking the connection between Gods and their followers…”

“Could it be… this is why the missionary attempts of major churches have been unsuccessful in the North for years?”

Charlotte was astonished.

She appraised this barrier, unable to imagine what kind of being could create such a massive magic.

“Could it be… a God?”

“No, it shouldn’t be a God. If it were a God, they would definitely use divine power, not magic.”

Divine power is a more “advanced” force than magic.

Covering the North with divine spells would be much easier than covering it with a barrier.

Clearly… this barrier probably didn’t come from a myth’s hands, but from an extraordinary being.

There’s an extraordinary being preventing the power of the Gods from descending upon the North.

Charlotte quickly made such a judgment.

And at that moment, the “barrier” seemed to detect the intruder.

In Charlotte’s perception, she felt a strong surge of magic flowing through the barrier.

That magic quickly collided with Charlotte’s divine power.

Although its quality was far inferior to Charlotte’s divine power, it relied on the barrier, making it much larger than the divine power Charlotte projected.

Not only that, this magic was quite strange. Although not divine power, it had a trait similar to divine power, capable of integrating with mental power.

“I see… relying on the barrier, weaving a disturbance of mental power with vast magic, and blocking the Gods’ investigations…”

“When Gods project divine power through the void, they can only project limited divine power without a fulcrum, so they can’t bring too much power.”

“So… even Gods’ powers can be obstructed by lower-level magic.”

Charlotte looked surprised, understanding the principle behind this barrier.

The projection of divine power by Gods requires a fulcrum, which is actually the followers.

This barrier can block the connection between Gods and their followers, preventing Gods from projecting power through the support of faith.

At the same time, blocking the power of the Gods prevents them from further strengthening the fulcrum. Without the ability to strengthen the fulcrum, Gods cannot counter the vast magic gathered by the barrier.

It’s simply a closed loop.

“It is indeed a very sophisticated magic, but… it underestimates Gods too much.”

Charlotte squinted.

It was indeed a very sophisticated magic. However, this magic may only be effective when Gods cannot walk the earth or when they have just resurrected.

When Gods do not walk the earth, their connection with their followers is inherently weak, and their faith can be easily shielded.

Similarly, when Gods have just resurrected, their powers are relatively weak, and they can also be obstructed by the massive magic gathered by the barrier.

But unfortunately… Charlotte is no longer a newly resurrected “God.”

As a Demigod who walks the earth and has accumulated considerable divine power, Charlotte’s connection with Sebastian is quite strong.

Although her connection with Sebastian has been affected, it is nowhere near as severe.

In other words, using Sebastian as a fulcrum, she can completely perform a God’s Descent.

However, Charlotte did not intend to do so immediately.

At least, not now.

Sebastian was visiting the Grand Duchy, and if she were to perform a God’s Descent now, it would almost expose the existence of a God behind Castell.

Although Charlotte was well aware that the existence of a God behind Castell could not be concealed for long, every day she could delay it was a day advantage.

However, even though she did not immediately intend to use Sebastian to perform a God’s Descent, she was still quite curious about the extraordinary who cast this barrier.

She temporarily couldn’t break this barrier. But she could see who was behind the barrier manipulating it.

Thinking of this, Charlotte transformed her divine power into a needle, carrying her mental power, and flowed back along the barrier.

As divine power flowed upstream, Charlotte clearly felt the pressure from the barrier.

Fortunately, she didn’t intend to destroy the barrier, so the “infiltration” was much smoother.

With rapid consumption of divine power, Charlotte’s mental power also delved into the barrier.

Following the magical circuit of the barrier, Charlotte swiftly traced the source of the magic.

“I found you!”

Charlotte’s spirit lifted.

She immediately increased the output of her divine power and rushed toward the source of the magic.

The next moment, her mental power entered the “source”, and her vision suddenly changed.

She saw an ancient temple and within the temple, a complex and enormous magic array.

In the magic array, there were many mages clad in black robes.

The moment she saw those “mages”, Charlotte felt her blood instantly begin to surge.

Of course, she knew what this meant.

“Bloodbornes…?”

Looking at those “mages”, Charlotte was doubly surprised.