Gospel of Blood

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!"

Falling out of the teleportation, the bloodborne girl felt like her head had hit an iron plate, causing her to grimace in pain.

Until a weak voice came from beneath her.

"Miss, you're... pressing on my wound."

The girl's face stiffened as she realized she had fallen directly onto the knight. The rough contact she felt was from his dented armor. At that moment, blood was seeping through the cracks in his chest plate.

"I'm sorry, Lahel! I didn't mean to!"

She exclaimed, quickly wriggling her bound body like a large caterpillar to the side.

Then she cautiously brought her face close to his, worriedly asking:

"Are you... are you in pain? You're bleeding!"

The knight coughed weakly, his face pale. He struggled to get up, but the girl stopped him.

"Don't move, I'll untie you!"

Then she realized she was also bound.

"Dagger... there's a dagger at my waist."

The knight said weakly.

The girl looked at the knight and quickly found the dagger. She wriggled into position and awkwardly used her hands, tied behind her back, to take the dagger from his waist. Slowly, she cut through the anti-magic chains binding her.

Once free, she wasted no time and immediately cut the chains on the knight.

"Quick, treat your wounds!"

She struggled to help the knight up and took a flask from her pocket. Opening it, a strong smell of blood wafted out. The flask didn't contain water, but blood, which had long coagulated. However, the girl seemed used to this.

Biting her fingertip again, she let a drop of her blood fall into the flask. Like a magical reaction, the coagulated blood quickly liquefied.

The knight tried to take the flask, but she stopped him again.

"Don't move, I'll feed you."

"Lahel, you're my last family. I don't want anything to happen to you! That's an order!"

Seeing her determined eyes, the knight reluctantly opened his mouth, and she fed him the blood. As he drank, his eyes glowed a strange crimson. With each gulp, his pale face regained color, and his wounds began to heal.

Seeing the knight recover, she breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.

"Phew... Being a bloodborne isn't all bad. This healing method is far beyond human capabilities."

"Good thing I prepared the teleportation array, or we would have been prisoners of Castell today!"

She then asked, puzzled.

"Lahel, isn't the Scarlet Flame Blade Sebastian supposed to have fallen in rank? Why is he still so strong? Even you, undefeated at night against another Silver Moon, aren't his match?"

"And... what's the deal with Castell's heir? Why did that annoying book spirit betray me for her?"

"Strange! It's really strange! Even the sadistic Count Sherdet didn't get that level of respect, and he's a devout follower of the Bloodborne Archduke!"

The knight Lahel thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"I don't know..."

"As a bloodborne, my power at night far exceeds that during the day, but I clearly felt I was no match for the Scarlet Flame Blade Sebastian..."

"He’s not an ordinary Silver Moon; he originally fell from Blazing Sun rank. Before his fall, he was famous in the mercenary circles of Eastern Yunette Blacklands and Coria Kingdom."

"It seems he has found a way to regain his power. Though not fully restored to Blazing Sun, he's far beyond an ordinary Silver Moon."

"As for Castell's heir, I've heard some mercenary rumors, some uncertain guesses..."

The girl was intrigued.

"Tell me!"

The knight hesitated, then said.

"There are rumors that a year ago, when Charlotte de Castell was attacked by the Blood Demon Cult, she awakened and received the favor of the God Harald..."

"Recently, there were also rumors that during her coming-of-age ceremony, a miracle occurred, with the Holy Light of Harald descending directly."

"She... might be a saint chosen by the Gods!"

"If that's true, the Book of the Dead likely sensed Harald's power."

"You know, for such an evil artifact, the power of the Holy Court is its greatest fear..."

Hearing this, the girl frowned.

"A saint of the Holy Court... can she be called a 'saint'?"

The knight shook his head.

"I don't know... Unless she's a reincarnated God? If that were the case, the Theocratic State would have dispatched the Templar Knights to escort her. But look at Castell's convoy, only a hundred or so of their own armored knights came, clearly not heavily guarded."

Hearing this, the girl's face remained troubled. She sighed.

"Fine, I'll ask that damn book spirit directly later."

After some thought, she muttered in frustration.

"Damn it! That squinty-eyed prince's information was too inaccurate! Had I known Castell's side was so strong, had I known there were so many secrets, I would have extorted him more! At least doubled the commission, no, tripled! No, quadrupled!"

"Even with quadruple the commission, such opponents are beyond us."

"But I could have sought reinforcements! Many Bloodbornes are very interested in this castle. Using it as a trade, I could find a Bloodborne Count. I bet a Bloodborne Count could handle them! An awakened extraordinary for just a year can't be that powerful!"

Lahel: ...

"Miss, this castle is worth far more than any commission."

The knight pointed out.

"But it's not our castle. We might stay here for now, but we'll have to leave eventually. We can't sell it to humans; that would endanger them."

"Trading a destined-to-be-lost castle for Castell's head, a hefty commission and a Bloodborne Count's friendship seems worth it!"

She exclaimed excitedly.

Hearing her reasoning, the knight was speechless.

Remembering something, he asked.

"Miss, did you really put our task contract in the storage ring?"

"Of course not! I tricked them! The contract is here in the castle."

She shook her head, smiling proudly.

Surprised by her response, he stared at her, making her uncomfortable.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing... I just didn't expect you to lie."

The knight shook his head.

She fell silent.

After a moment, she spoke softly.

"After all... people grow. Since becoming a Bloodborne, I'm no longer who I was."

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Sighing again, she added.

"However, our mission has failed..."

"As long as there's a backup plan, there's always hope, Miss. We’ll have another chance."

His words brought a faint smile to her face.

She patted her cheeks and forced herself to cheer up.

“You’re right, we still have a chance.”

She pursed her lips, took out a pre-drawn scroll, and said through gritted teeth.

“Alright, time to summon that damned book spirit back. Don’t stop me, today I’m going to give it a proper lesson! It needs to know who its true contractor is!”

Contractors have a binding link with their sacred objects. No matter where the sacred object is, it can be summoned back through the contract. That’s why, even though the Book of the Dead was taken, the girl wasn’t worried.

However, when she injected magic power to activate the summoning scroll, the Book of the Dead didn’t respond. The scroll burned to ashes in the flames of magic power, confirming the contract was active, and she could feel the Book of the Dead receiving her summon… but nothing happened.

The girl’s eyes widened and she exploded.

“Not coming back? It dares… it dares not come back?!”

...

“Master, there is no mercenary contract in the storage ring. We’ve been deceived.”

Sebastian reported, holding the tattered package with a grim expression.

Hearing this, Charlotte slowly opened her eyes, withdrawing from her inner thoughts. She had suspected as much when the girl and the knight escaped, but knowing for certain they had been tricked still irked her.

She quickly adjusted her mood and chuckled.

“Never mind, let them go. They’ll come back.”

She had just used Blood Summoning to search and found that the stars representing the girl and the knight had vanished from the nearby vicinity. Clearly, their teleportation destination was far away, blending them into the vast sea of stars, making it difficult for Charlotte’s current perception to track them unless they were nearby or unless she used divine power.

But she wasn’t planning to expend extra divine power to find them. She knew they would return.

The Book of the Dead was still with her, and it was clear the girl was its contractor. Unless a legendary force intervened, the sacred object contract couldn’t be unilaterally terminated. Though the contract prevented the Book of the Dead from outright betraying its contractor, and Charlotte likely couldn’t extract specific information about the girl, holding the book gave her leverage over the girl’s life.

The reason was simple. The Book of the Dead would draw power from its contractor to function. For the bloodborne girl, this meant using her blood and life force to maintain the book's operations.

This book, which bullied the weak and feared the strong, wouldn’t dare trouble Charlotte. If she used the book, it would continue to drain the bloodborne girl’s strength. In other words, Charlotte didn’t plan to sever the contract but instead use the Book of the Dead to continuously bleed the girl dry. With this lethal leverage, the girl would undoubtedly try to reclaim the book.

Thinking this, Charlotte’s gaze shifted to the Book of the Dead in her hand. It was shimmering faintly, emitting a soft glow. Feeling a mysterious rhythm, Charlotte smirked.

“Trying to run?”

The Book of the Dead trembled slightly, its glow extinguished, and it obediently settled down, acting as docile as the Gospel of Blood.

“That’s better.”

Charlotte nodded in satisfaction.

...

After confirming that the remnant teleportation circle couldn’t track the girl and knight, Charlotte and Sebastian returned to the camp.

With the undead tide retreating, the battle in the camp had ended, and the knights and mercenaries were tallying casualties.

Thanks to Nice’s high-level area protection spell, the caravan had few casualties. Apart from the knight Daren, who ventured alone into the woods and was ambushed, only four died, all during the initial surprise attack of the undead tide. Thirty others were injured, but the accompanying priests were treating them.

“If it weren’t for Miss Reina’s support, I would’ve been killed by the undead.”

A mercenary undergoing treatment by Lottie remarked.

“Indeed, me too.” others echoed.

“Reina?”

Charlotte was slightly curious.

“Reina?”

Sebastian was puzzled, finding the name familiar.

“A young mercenary lady from the Kane Trading Company. She’s very young!”

A mercenary enthusiastically introduced her to Charlotte.

A mercenary...

Charlotte became interested.

“Where is she?”

“She’s… huh? Where did Miss Reina go?”

“Huh? Where is she? She was just here…”

The mercenaries were puzzled.

Seeing no sign of her, Charlotte didn’t press further. She knew not all mercenaries liked nobles. Many young mercenaries particularly disliked them. Reina’s disappearance seemed to indicate she was avoiding Charlotte, so she let it go.

“For those who died in battle, triple compensation.”

Back in her tent, Charlotte instructed Sebastian.

“And… quietly check the people in the caravan for anyone suspicious. Don’t reveal yourself.”

“Suspicious people?”

Sebas raised an eyebrow.

“For example… a hidden bloodborne.”

Charlotte said.

Sebas was taken aback but then nodded solemnly.

“I understand.”

“Additionally, spread the word that the attackers were mercenaries skilled in necromancy, hired by the third prince of the Crescent Kingdom.”

Sebas raised an eyebrow again and bowed.

“As you command.”

With the orders given, Sebastian went to make arrangements. Charlotte leisurely took out a cup of extraordinary blood and began to sip.

She hadn’t forgotten there was still a hidden bloodborne in the caravan. However, since they hadn’t caused any trouble, they were likely just catching a ride with the Castell convoy.

Curiosity didn’t compel Charlotte to use divine power to root them out; this task was better suited for Sebastian, who had become more sensitive to the presence of Bloodbornes due to his connection with the Blood Magic.

As for the Third Prince, who allegedly orchestrated the attack, Charlotte was inclined to believe the bloodborne girl’s claim. But for now, returning to her territory took priority, and she didn’t have time to confront the prince directly. The prince, being a member of the royal family, was well-protected, unlike the more vulnerable Count Tulip.

Without the mercenary contract to prove the prince’s conspiracy, rumors would suffice to handle many things.

As for concrete evidence, that would come when the bloodborne girl returned for the Book of the Dead.

...

Meanwhile, in an inconspicuous tent within the Castell convoy.

An elderly woman, Anna, frowned at the girl before her.

“Reina, didn’t I tell you not to act recklessly on this journey?”

Reina trembled slightly and looked up with big, pleading eyes at Anna. Seeing those beautiful eyes, the elderly woman’s heart softened, and she sighed.

“Alright, alright. I had planned to observe a bit longer, but since you’ve taken action, we might be exposed.”

“In that case… tomorrow, come with me to meet her in person.”

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