Gospel of Blood

After planning out the future development of the “joint company” for the Nez Clan, Charlotte felt much more at ease.

Perhaps it was because of the cooperation from the bloodbornes, or maybe it was because Charlotte had no intention of implementing a centralized power policy in Starfall at the moment. The transfer of power after she inherited the throne of Starfall went much more smoothly than Charlotte had imagined.

Of course, aside from ensuring the rights of the nobles in Starfall and achieving a delicate balance between the monarchy and the nobility, there was also the factor that Charlotte’s displayed power was strong enough.

When your power is formidable and your influence is significant, as long as your demands are not excessive, the nobles will naturally give you sufficient respect.

In short, the Starfall nobles were far more cooperative than the Castell nobles had been initially. For Charlotte, who clearly intended to take a hands-off approach as the monarch, the various factions were quite satisfied with her succession.

Except for the Crescent Kingdom.

Everyone knew that the Crescent Kingdom would never give up the Castell County and the Roman Duchy, but after Charlotte ascended to the throne, the Crescent Kingdom did not make any further moves.

The reason was simple. Although Charlotte inherited the throne of Starfall, she did not sever ties with the Crescent Kingdom or expel the Crescent royal family’s share in the Castell mines.

It wasn’t that Charlotte didn’t want to. The mithril mines of Castell were a treasure trove. If she could take full control, castell’s wealth would at least triple.

But she couldn’t. The inheritance of the territory was legitimate and followed the common inheritance laws of the Myria continent. However, expelling the Crescent royal family’s share in the Castell mines would be a direct declaration of war against the Crescent Kingdom.

Charlotte had just taken the throne. Although the Starfall nobles were cooperative, the situation would be different once a war started.

The bottom line was that Charlotte was not ready for a war with the Crescent Kingdom, at least not ready to initiate one.

Therefore, Charlotte only stopped the contractual tax payments to the Crescent Kingdom.

This did draw protests from the Crescent Kingdom, but at least it didn’t touch their bottom line.

The Crescent Kingdom responded with verbal threats but made no significant moves.

This brought relief to many Starfall nobles who feared renewed warfare.

But Charlotte understood that the Crescent Kingdom hadn’t backed down, even King Louis V himself might not yet be ready for war with Starfall.

Though powerful, the Crescent Kingdom had its internal issues, with sharp conflicts between the nobility and the royal family. King Louis V was eager to strengthen central authority and couldn’t afford to be distracted by external conflicts.

Neither side had crossed the other’s bottom line, and neither was ready for war, resulting in a delicate balance and a temporary peace.

In the future, a war between Starfall and Crescent was inevitable, and Louis V would surely initiate the conflict before the Divinity Descent Day.

Thus, even if she didn’t intend to start the war, Charlotte had to prepare for it.

Winning the support of the Starfall nobles to protect Castell and the Roman Duchy was crucial, and the development of the “joint company” with the Nez Clan was part of this strategy.

The formation of the company would take time, and the internal conflicts within the Crescent Kingdom wouldn’t be resolved overnight.

Charlotte estimated that she still had some time for development.

As for dealing with the Crescent Kingdom’s threat, Charlotte had a clear plan.

On one hand, she aimed to ally with the Northern Grand Duchy for a mutual defense agreement, which she had already achieved.

On the other hand, she needed to bind the nobles to her cause to gain their support for the war, which depended on how Nice executed the plans.

Finally, she needed to enhance the strength of the Nez Clan and her own forces, especially high-level combat power.

Although the development of magical formations had changed the mode of warfare on the Myria continent, high-level combat power was still a decisive factor.

Even with the Gods’ return, legendary combat power would remain crucial, and enhancing this power was essential for both confronting the Crescent Kingdom and preparing for the Divinity Descent Day.

Starfall’s military foundation was thinner than that of the Crescent Kingdom, making it unrealistic to quickly match their conventional military strength, but the potential to rapidly boost high-level combat power was there.

The method was simple: provide the old and weakened Legendaries of the Nez Clan with enough bloodline power to restore them to their peak.

This would not only strengthen her forces but also further secure the loyalty of the Nez Clan.

However, the bloodline power required to help these Legendaries regain their strength was substantial.

Charlotte could convert her blood divine power into bloodline power, but helping these Legendaries fully recover would consume a considerable amount of divine power.

Therefore, Charlotte looked forward to the return of the Free Tribe Alliance.

The Free Tribe Alliance had worshipped the “Savior” for thousands of years, and their faith was far more devout than that of the bloodbornes. Although they weren’t bloodbornes, Charlotte could still sense the bloodline power within them.

However, this power was suppressed by the northern barrier, currently in a dormant state.

This was similar to the Blood Wolf Tribe’s situation before.

But this dormancy was temporary. Once Charlotte could integrate them into her faith system, she could awaken their dormant bloodline power, leading to a significant influx of bloodline power.

The Free Tribe Alliance had hundreds of thousands of people, and even if each individual’s contribution was limited, it would add up to a considerable amount.

Moreover, the blood divine power contained in their worshipped Faceless Statue would bring significant benefits upon their return.

Charlotte estimated that with the bloodline power from the Free Tribe Alliance and the divine power from the new statue, it should be enough to restore the strength of the Nez Clan’s Legendaries.

After entrusting Nice with various tasks, Charlotte quietly left the Starfall Kingdom.

This time, she went alone, without any followers, planning to head to the Northern Grand Duchy by herself.

This was Charlotte’s first truly solo mission.

She didn’t choose to teleport directly to Sebastian through a “God’s Descent.”

The Northern Grand Duchy was far away, and there were restrictions in place above them.

Direct teleportation was not only extremely costly but also difficult to pinpoint accurately. A small mistake could potentially alert the Harcos Clan’s Demigod, the Crimson Queen Rowena.

The Crimson Queen Rowena was a bona fide Demigod, and her bloodline suppression could likely be countered by the barrier. Facing a Demigod who might already be eligible to ascend to true God, Charlotte had no confidence in defeating her if a conflict arose.

Moreover, there was the disparity in divine power between them.

Charlotte’s divine power was limited, but a Demigod who had lived for one or two millennia would have accumulated a terrifying amount of divine power.

During the mana ebb on the Myria continent, demigods could not unleash their full power and couldn’t even deploy their “divine domains”, which meant that battles were essentially contests of divine power.

Without the assurance of victory and the risk of exposing her “identity”, Charlotte could end up facing an onslaught from Bloodborne Demigods.

Charlotte had no doubt that if the “True Ancestor of Blood” was known to have resurrected, all the dormant Bloodborne Princes would wake up and descend immediately.

So, it was better to proceed cautiously.

Ultimately, her main objective this time was to assist Sebastian in welcoming the Free Tribe Alliance back into her faith.

After leaving the Starfall Island, Charlotte directly invoked her divine power to enter her saint state.

As a Demigod, her divine power reserves and usage efficiency had greatly improved. Appearing in her “Demigod form” now significantly reduced divine power consumption, and she could maintain this form far longer than when relying on the 『True Ancestor’s Liberation』 ability.

If she didn’t engage in battle with other Legendary beings, she could maintain her “Demigod form” for several days without any issues.

This was thanks to the existence of the Nightshade Cult.

With continuous extraordinary feedback from the faithful and Charlotte’s self-recovery after igniting the divine flame, the divine power she gained per unit of time was enough to sustain the minimum consumption of the saint state.

Of course, Charlotte’s true body hadn’t completely reached the level of a Demigod yet and was still infinitely close to the Legendary level.

If her true body reached the Demigod level, she could maintain the saint state without consuming extra divine power.

At that point, she would be a full-fledged “Demigod.”

Divine power surged as Charlotte soared into the sky.

She deliberately concealed her aura, not alarming the Legendaries on Starfall Island.

As her vision rapidly ascended, Starfall Island grew smaller in her eyes.

Soon, she reached an altitude of over ten kilometers.

After confirming the direction of the Northern Grand Duchy, Charlotte manipulated her divine power, concealed her form, and transformed into a shooting star heading north.

Despite the interference of the mana ebb, the speed of her saint state far exceeded that of a Legendary being.

In less than an hour, Charlotte had crossed the Star-Moon Strait, passed through the Castell territory, and entered the airspace of the Northern Grand Duchy.

Upon entering the northern airspace, Charlotte felt an indescribable suppressive force from below, interfering with her blood divine power.

This was clearly the barrier enveloping the entire Northern Grand Duchy.

Simultaneously, as she entered the Northern Grand Duchy, Charlotte’s connection with Sebastian strengthened. Though not restored to its usual state, it nearly counteracted the interference of the northern barrier.

Yet Charlotte still refrained from using “God’s Descent” for teleportation.

Playing it safe was always better.

After sensing Sebastian’s location, Charlotte closed her eyes to confirm.

Although she had anticipated this, seeing that Sebastian was out of danger and had successfully met with Astrid, Charlotte sighed with relief.

She then decided to keep her form concealed and lower her altitude while reducing her speed.

She didn’t intend to reveal herself directly but planned to follow Sebastian and the others discreetly.

They were not far from the Free Tribe Alliance, and Charlotte could already see the canyon she had once viewed through Astrid’s eyes.

As she descended, the restrictive force grew stronger.

Charlotte felt the suppression of her divine power increasing as she entered the forest.

The restrictions had reached an unbelievable level, almost suppressing half of her power.

Charlotte frowned slightly.

It was clear that this wasn’t just a simple barrier. There was likely something else, possibly an artifact enhancing the restrictive power, specifically targeting Gods.

Charlotte muttered to herself.

After some sensing, she realized that using divine power under this interference would be much harder and more consuming.

Her saint state, at full power, would now be comparable to a regular Legendary being.

Though her true body’s strength was unaffected.

Even so, Charlotte became more cautious.

In such suppression, a direct encounter with the Crimson Queen Rowena would be even more unfavorable.

Not to mention facing any Legendaries, she had to be extremely cautious.

With divine power suppressed, even mortals could slay a God!

For a moment, Charlotte hesitated about proceeding. But after some thought, she decided to stick to the plan.

Given the strong restrictions, Sebastian alone might struggle to establish full contact with the Free Tribe Alliance’s faith. Perhaps, she needed to intervene personally.

I could only be as careful as possible.

Charlotte muttered to herself.

She cautiously landed in the forest, and as she did, she sensed many vague bloodborne presences.

Charlotte’s mind stirred.

She split her focus to summon the Crimson Star Sea from the Gospel of Blood, discovering numerous crimson stars within it.

These stars likely represented the Harcos Clan.

However, due to the interference or perhaps their location in a different dimension, most stars couldn’t be precisely located, only a few could.

These few stars, although also bloodbornes, had distinct auras from the Nez Clan, indicating they were the Harcos Clan active in the Northern Grand Duchy, not in a different dimension.

This discovery delighted Charlotte.

“Indeed, the best way to find the Harcos Clan was to come to the Northern Grand Duchy myself…”

But this joy quickly turned to surprise.

Many stars were moving towards her location.

No, more precisely, towards Sebastian and the Free Tribe Alliance.

“Their target is the Free Tribe Alliance?”

Charlotte mused.

Thinking it over, she continued to conceal her form and, following the bloodborne presences, quietly flew towards the coordinates of the stars…