Gospel of Blood

“Run quickly…”

“Run… quickly…”

“Run… quickly!”

The fleeting voice varied in speed, but apart from the same content, it seemed to contain a wealth of emotions.

Panic.

Fear.

Despair.

The Prophet Margo couldn’t imagine what kind of immense crisis would make a mythological figure feel such negative emotions, akin to a mortal facing a natural disaster. But the content of the oracle… she heard it clearly.

“Run… quickly?”

She stood there dazed, her expression blank, her back seemingly hunching over in an instant, making her appear much older.

Seeing the disheartened, dazed Margo, Charlotte sighed softly and released soothing magic to stabilize Margo’s wavering soul.

She could understand Margo’s breakdown.

Without a doubt, the whispers in their consciousness upon arriving here were the true oracles that the Crimson Queen, rowena, conveyed in her last moment of clarity.

First, she almost destroyed her clan due to her “ignorance,” and now she suddenly realized she had completely misunderstood the divine will from the beginning.

For four hundred years, Margo not only failed to awaken her Lord but also ran contrary to the divine oracle, almost ruining everything.

Anyone blessed by the Gods, upon realizing this cruel truth, would likely be unable to bear it.

However…

“Run quickly…?”

Charlotte was pensive.

She, too, didn’t know what the Crimson Queen Rowena had encountered.

However, this desperate warning reminded her of the Stargazer Casey from the Nez Clan.

It was no coincidence. The plea for help from behind that eerie stone door in her mental world was filled with a terror similar to the Crimson Queen’s warning.

Moreover, there was the strange white mist…

When Charlotte purified the fallen high-ranking blood fiends, the white mist that rose from their bodies felt very familiar to her.

It was the same feeling of intimacy and deadly attraction. The white mist was undoubtedly the same source as that which wafted around the eerie stone door. Even the feedback from the Gospel of Blood after absorbing it was the same joyous exultation, affecting Charlotte herself.

Clearly, what caused Stargazer Casey’s “disappearance” and drove the Crimson Queen Rowena to “madness” was the same entity.

Not only that.

According to what Charlotte knew, the “True Ancestor of Blood” also seemed to have gone “mad” in bloodborne records.

Could it be that the same entity that drove Lilith mad and led to her “disappearance” is responsible?

Thinking of this, Charlotte became more serious.

Divine power surged around her, ready to act at any moment.

“Let’s go, she should be deep inside.”

After sensing it again, Charlotte spoke to the Prophet Margo.

Margo was disheartened but eventually mustered the strength to follow Charlotte silently.

The two walked towards the depths of the mental world. As they ventured further, more and more corpses filled the battlefield, becoming denser. Gradually, the persistent “warning” grew clearer.

“Run quickly…”

“Run quickly…”

“…”

Hearing the seemingly nearby warnings, the gradually calming Margo began to feel nervous again.

“There’s no need to be so tense. I haven’t sensed any soul power fluctuations, this should be residual mental echoes, not an immediate warning.”

“Let’s go. I can already feel the bloodline’s resonance. We are not far.”

Charlotte said.

Then, following the bloodline’s guidance, she quickened her pace.

The two continued deeper.

The surrounding corpses became more densely packed, and the “warning” from the Crimson Queen Rowena grew closer.

When they reached the source of the “warning,” a black tomb came into view.

The tomb had a distinct bloodborne style, decorated with various demon sculptures. However, the most noticeable feature was the luxurious and intricate rose symbol, though now faded.

That was the symbol of the Crimson Queen Rowena.

Clearly, this tomb was prepared for the Crimson Queen, serving as her resting place within the mental world.

Charlotte remained vigilant as she entered the tomb.

Inside, the tomb was equally dilapidated. At its center lay a long-decayed coffin, covered in layers of tumors.

However… there was no body inside.

The “warning” was now very close.

But it wasn’t coming from the coffin, it was from behind it.

Charlotte waved her hands, and the decaying coffin disintegrated, revealing the scene behind it.

Her gaze froze upon seeing what was behind the coffin.

Behind it was a stone door.

The door was ancient and worn, featuring typical elven designs, almost identical to the one Charlotte saw deep in her subconscious that sealed Stargazer Casey.

The only difference was that this door was etched not with star symbols representing Casey but with the crimson rose of the Crimson Queen Rowena.

A figure in a black dress was half-kneeling before the door.

The figure appeared to be a woman, her body covered in tumors, her features distorted.

Her taut body pressed against the door, her hands raised high, bracing the door’s center as if exerting all her strength to prevent it from being opened from the inside.

Her eyes were lifeless, just an empty shell, and her mummified jaw kept quivering, repeating a broken, obsessive whisper.

“Run quickly…”

Charlotte felt a chill down her spine.

“Y-Your Majesty the Queen!”

Margo’s eyes widened.

Instinctively, she wanted to move forward but was sternly stopped by Charlotte.

“Stop!”

“True Ancestor, that’s the Queen!”

Margo said excitedly.

Charlotte took a deep breath and nodded.

“I know, but she… has fallen.”

Margo’s excited expression turned to one of calm, replaced by pain and sorrow.

Seeing Charlotte’s solemn expression, Margo knelt down, praying.

“True Ancestor! Can… can you save the Queen?”

Charlotte remained silent for a moment.

She glanced at the Crimson Queen Rowena and after a moment, sighed.

“I told you, Rowena has already fallen.”

“We are now in the remnants of her mental world, or more accurately, in her world of lingering thoughts.”

“What you see is not her true self, but the last remnants of her consciousness lingering in a body that has already been assimilated.”

The Prophet Margo was still not convinced.

“But… but, Your Majesty, isn’t it true that as long as Gods are remembered, they can be eternal and can come back again?”

“I remember the Queen, our Harcos Clan remembers the Queen, and not only us, but many other clan’s blood descendants also remember the Queen! Can’t we… can’t we revive her?”

Charlotte fell silent.

Her gaze fell on the stone door that Rowena was holding back and said,

“Margo, perhaps you’re right, a God remembered has the potential to return, but have you considered whether the one who returns will truly be the God you expect?”

“Rowena has been tainted by some power. What you see now is Rowena’s remaining consciousness. So… have you thought about where Rowena’s main consciousness has gone?”

Hearing Charlotte’s words, the Prophet Margo was stunned.

Charlotte, however, did not continue to explain.

Honestly, she did not know the answers to these questions.

She had some vague guesses, but at this moment, they were just that—guesses.

Thinking this, Charlotte looked again at the eerie stone door.

“Stand back, I’m going to start sealing it.”

She said to Margo.

The Prophet Margo obediently stepped back.

Charlotte took a step forward, coming before the stone door.

She closed her eyes, divine power surged around her, and she once again cast the innate magic she had used to seal the stone door.

With the experience from the last sealing, this time she was much more adept. Crimson light radiated around her, transforming into complex and mysterious runes that sealed the stone door.

Soon, the white mist around the stone door began to dissipate.

Layer upon layer of seals formed around the stone door.

In the midst of the light, Charlotte saw the stone door becoming more and more illusory, and even the eerie aura gradually weakened.

“Hmm? It’s… disappearing?”

She furrowed her brows, somewhat surprised.

But in the next moment, Charlotte froze.

In her perception, within the crimson star sea that symbolized the bloodbornes in her deepest consciousness…

As the stone door before her dissipated, one of the remaining stars representing the four major clan princes, or more accurately, the crimson star representing the Crimson Queen Rowena, began to change!

The crimson light burst like a bubble, and the illusory glow dissipated along with it.

Charlotte was horrified to see the stone door that had just been in Rowena’s world of lingering thoughts, now appearing in her mental world!

Just like the “help me” stone door.

“Damn!”

She instinctively swore.

Charlotte’s mouth twitched, and she immediately increased the output of her divine power, wrapping the second stone door in the crimson star sea with layers upon layers of sealing magic.

After ensuring she could no longer sense the eerie aura of the stone door, she felt slightly more at ease, but only slightly.

After throwing the sealed stone door into the corner of the crimson star sea, allocating a bit of mental energy to monitor it just like the other stone door, she opened her eyes and returned to Rowena’s world of lingering thoughts.

The stone door in the world of lingering thoughts had completely disappeared, but Charlotte felt even more frustrated.

What was this?

Bringing a wolf into the house?

Or… could this also represent the true nature of the enormous light orb that was the Crimson Queen Rowena?

Ridiculous! The bloodborne clan had five princes, and the crimson star sea had five giant “stars.”

Could it be that each star’s true form was an eerie stone door?

Thinking of the three remaining giant stars in her mind, Charlotte felt a bit numb.

At this moment, Rowena’s world of lingering thoughts suddenly changed again.

Golden light pierced through the sky of the world of lingering thoughts, illuminating the entire world like the dawn.

Where the light shone, the corpses quickly dissipated, and green grass and flowers spread…

In the blink of an eye, the entire harsh battlefield-like world of lingering thoughts transformed into a “paradise” composed of blue skies, white clouds, green grass, and flowers…

Seeing this rapid transformation, Charlotte’s gaze shifted.

Does this means…

The lingering thoughts of the Crimson Queen Rowena successfully purified?

A breeze blew by, carrying a faint floral scent.

Charlotte saw a young girl in a black and red dress appear before her.

Her figure was ethereal, with long fiery red hair and a heroic, pretty face.

“Y-your Majesty?!”

The Prophet Margo’s incredibly excited voice came from behind.

The Crimson Queen… Rowena?

Charlotte’s eyes narrowed.

The young girl slowly opened her eyes.

They were beautiful crimson eyes, clear and bright, full of life.

Charlotte saw those eyes looking at her, and soon… they widened slightly.

She saw surprise on the girl’s face, which quickly turned into genuine joy.

She saw the girl gently open her mouth, and a pleasant yet ethereal voice merged with the wind.

“Ah… so it was you…”

“Thank you…”

“Your Excellency, the Progenitor…”

Charlotte saw the girl straighten her posture.

She extended her right hand, respectfully saluting her.

As the wind blew, her ethereal figure began to disintegrate like bubbles…

“Wait! You…”

Charlotte reacted, quickly reaching out to the girl.

But ultimately, she touched nothing.

Cracks spread across the sky, quickly covering the entire firmament, and then extending to the whole world of lingering thoughts.

In the next moment… the entire world of lingering thoughts shattered.

Her vision flipped, and Charlotte returned to reality.

She still stood in the Sanctuary of the Harcos Clan, in the long-collapsed Queen’s Palace.

The Prophet Margo, dazed, was still standing to her rear side.

In front of them was the already collapsed throne of the Crimson Queen Rowena.

On the ruins of the throne, the hideous and terrifying monster had disappeared, leaving only ashes as if after a fire…

In the ashes, a blood-red glow was faintly visible.

It was a crimson book.

The book was ancient and heavy, giving Charlotte a strong sense of déjà vu, with golden ancient elven words inscribed on its cover—

“The Gospel of Blood.”