Gospel of Blood

This ancient and quaint temple was also an Ancient Temple.

But unlike the temple Charlotte had seen before, this one showed clear signs of damage and repair, likely rebuilt after being destroyed.

Considering that there was also an ancient temple at the Free Tribe Alliance, if Charlotte’s guess was correct, these two temples were probably the ones mentioned in Nice’s calculation, located in the Northern Grand Duchy and yet to be “discovered”.

At the center of the spell formation, the familiar Faceless Statue was still worshipped.

Charlotte could clearly sense the oppression emanating from it.

Similar to in Griss before, this Faceless Statue continued to operate, capable of interfering with divine detection.

However, Charlotte exploited a loophole, slipping through their magical barrier directly, and thus wasn’t blocked.

Nevertheless, even so, Charlotte felt a great suppression.

She couldn’t determine where this temple was located, nor could she break through the barrier with more divine or mental power to project into reality.

In other words, even though she could see them now, she couldn’t do anything about them.

“Maybe the distance is still too far. If I were in the North right now, or if I had officially established contact through the statue with the descendants of the Free City-States Alliance, maybe I could break through this barrier and pinpoint where they are.”

Charlotte judged.

However, even though she could only observe them, Charlotte could still infer some things from the bloodbornes’ aura and attire.

In her perception, the aura of these bloodbornes was completely different from the Nez and Shedite clans.

Different bloodbornes had subtle differences in their auras, differences that even many bloodbornes couldn’t discern, but Charlotte, as an “ancestor”, was an exception.

For example, Nez gave her a perception that was more inclined towards “elusive”, like the stars in the sky, while Shedite’s aura often felt more “profound”, even oppressive. As for the bloodbornes before her, the aura they gave off leaned towards “vastness” and “heaviness.” Clearly, this was a clan Charlotte had not dealt with before.

As if to confirm Charlotte’s speculation, she quickly noticed a wolf-head symbol on the black robes of the bloodbornes manipulating the magic formations.

“Wolf head? Is this… the symbol of the Harcos Clan?”

Charlotte pondered.

Every bloodborne clan had its own symbol, often the divine symbol of each bloodborne archduke/prince.

Nez’s symbol was stars and scepters, Shedite’s symbol was the eye of the demon, while the wolf head… According to Charlotte’s knowledge of the bloodbornes, it should be the “Flesh and Blood Clan” Harcos, active in the Northern Grand Duchy.

A strong sense of fatigue struck Charlotte. She knew her exploration had reached its limit this time.

There was no way around it. Such long-distance “observation” was particularly exhausting mentally. She, as a latecomer to the field, clearly couldn’t maintain observation for too long.

She scanned the entire temple again, recording all the scenes in the temple and the aura of these bloodbornes who controlled the magic formations, and then ended this observation.

Her vision reversed, and Charlotte quickly returned to reality.

The moist sea breeze hit her face, soothing her temples which were aching from forced observation.

Charlotte sat in her own luxurious cabin, rubbing her temples while recalling everything she had just seen.

It was inconceivable to her that bloodbornes were the ones who set up the magic formations to isolate the belief and exploration of “Gods.”

“Harcos, according to Albrecht’s memories, this clan is the most low-profile among the six major clans, and they don’t like to deal with the human civilization world. Even the Demigod Crimson Queen Rowena of the Harcos Clan is the most mysterious.”

“Why would they set up such a giant magic formation in the Northern Grand Duchy? Could it be… also in preparation for the Divinity Descent?”

Charlotte fell into thought.

The ability of that giant magic formation was obvious: it was aimed at Gods, preventing the power of Gods from descending on the Northern Grand Duchy.

For so many years, the major religions’ missionary work in the Northern Grand Duchy had made no progress, which was probably nine times out of ten related to this.

“The Free Tribe Alliance… a giant magic formation to prevent the power of Gods…”

“Is it a coincidence? Or is it related to the Free City-States Alliance of the past?”

Charlotte pondered.

“Let’s wait for Sebastian’s message. When he finds the Ancient Temple of the Free Tribe Alliance, help me establish contact with the statue there, maybe we can figure out what’s going on.”

Although the giant magic formations in the Northern Grand Duchy were bizarre, they had been ongoing for who knows how many years. It wouldn’t hurt to wait another ten days or half a month.

Although this magic formation could interfere with Charlotte’s contact with her followers, Sebastian was already on his way, and he had already met the people of the Free Tribe Alliance, so the rest would be easy.

She just needed to wait quietly for the news.

What Charlotte was curious about now was the attitude of the Northern Grand Duchy’s Archduke.

She wondered if the reigning Northern Archduke, as the secular ruler of the North, knew about such a huge barrier spell formation in the North.

“Dong…!”

A dull roar broke Charlotte’s thoughts.

Like being hit by something, Charlotte felt the cabin shake upward, then began to shake violently.

The cries of sailors and soldiers came from the deck, and the hurried and chaotic footsteps could be heard.

A terrifying aura slowly descended, oppressive, heavy, and frantic…

Charlotte’s heart stirred.

She looked in a certain direction and squinted slightly.

“Finally… is it here?”

Urgent knocking sounded, accompanied by the serious voice of John Stafford, Chief Speaker of the Starfall Kingdom’s Parliament.

“Your Majesty! We have encountered an attack by the legendary sea behemoth! Please come out immediately and prepare for emergency evacuation!”

Listening to Count Stafford, Charlotte got up and opened the cabin door.

Count Stafford was still dressed in his polite noble attire, but at this moment, there was panic in his expression.

“A sea behemoth?”

Charlotte asked.

The hull shook again, making unbearable creaking sounds.

Through the round window on the side of the cabin, Charlotte saw a giant tentacle covered with suction cups slowly sweep by.

“It’s Kraken, the legendary sea behemoth! It’s coming for us!”

Count Stafford said in fear.

After speaking, he gritted his teeth.

“Your Majesty! We’re not far from Starfall. There’s a griffin on board, and we’ve prepared an instant teleportation array in the control room. Please take the griffin for evacuation!”

“Doesn’t the instant teleportation array have limited capacity? If I take the griffin and leave via teleportation, what about you?”

Charlotte asked.

Count Stafford took a deep breath and said,

“We will hold it off! Buy time for you!”

Charlotte nodded.

Seeing that Charlotte was still calm and seemingly unaware of the seriousness of the situation, Count Stafford persuaded.

“Your Majesty! Kraken is violent and brutal, the most terrifying servant of the Sea King. It never spares its prey easily. Please act immediately and leave here!”

“The servant of the Sea King?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Charlotte was somewhat surprised.

Rather than directly responding to Stafford’s request, she calmly said,

“Take me to the deck.”