Gospel of Blood

Chapter 412: Cautious

Yurst had left.

Only Charlotte and Albrecht remained on the observation deck.

Though Yurst’s earlier remarks made Albrecht wish he could immediately unleash his bloodline power and strangle him, once Yurst actually left, Albrecht felt uneasy again.

Help… Now it was just him and the True Ancestor!

Standing next to Charlotte, Albrecht felt as though the air around him had become suffocating.

Even when facing the Blood Demon Archduke Abaddon, he had never felt such fear and oppression!

Albrecht looked at Charlotte with a mix of sighs, nervousness, and fear.

However, Charlotte seemed uninterested in him.

Her gaze was still fixed on the distant night sky, seemingly admiring the brilliant stars.

He held his breath, first moving slightly to the side, then cautiously glancing at Charlotte.

Seeing that Charlotte didn’t seem to notice his movements, he grew bolder, moving a bit faster to the side, speed increasing as he went.

Shuffle, shuffle… Albrecht moved sideways like a crab, quickly scurrying to the other side of the observation deck.

Then, he lifted his leg over the railing, intending to sneak away while Charlotte was distracted.

Of course, Charlotte couldn’t possibly not notice him…

She glanced amusedly at Albrecht, who was escaping like a rat with its tail between its legs, and said calmly.

“Did I allow you to leave?”

Albrecht’s movement froze instantly.

He maintained his posture of climbing over the railing, but his whole body seemed to be petrified by Medusa, stuck in place.

He really wanted to ignore Charlotte’s words and turn into a black mist to fly away, but his body wouldn’t obey.

Deep in his soul, the mark of the blood servant contract glowed faintly, constraining Albrecht’s actions with an irresistible force.

Albrecht’s expression grew bitter.

He mechanically turned halfway, meeting Charlotte’s gaze.

Under the starlight, Charlotte’s blue eyes had somehow turned golden-red.

Their inner light flickered, mysterious and profound.

That half-smiling gaze overlapped with the eyes hidden in the crimson mist at the Blood Throne in his memory, seemingly carrying an incredible power.

When she looked at Albrecht, he felt as if all his bloodline power had frozen in an instant, as if he had returned to being a small, insignificant demon in the hell space before gaining his blood power.

Albrecht felt immense pressure.

Forcing a smile that looked worse than crying, he obediently put his leg back down from the railing and, with a dry laugh, said.

“Um… great Countess, I… I just saw you were too engrossed in admiring the stars and didn’t want to disturb you…”

Charlotte glanced at him.

“Avoiding the question, aren’t you good at sidestepping the contract’s rules? I want to hear the truth.”

“I’m extremely scared, I wanted to slip away…”

With the mark of the blood servant contract glowing faintly in his soul, Albrecht blurted out.

After speaking, he quickly covered his mouth.

Charlotte’s expression was strange.

Although she knew that with the suppression of bloodline and the constraint of the contract, Albrecht couldn’t defy her, his genuine fear still surprised her.

The fear the bloodborne had for the True Ancestor of Blood was stronger than she had imagined.

Seeing Albrecht like a frightened bird, Charlotte felt a bit of teasing interest.

She touched her smooth cheek and tilted her head.

“Am I that scary?”

“More evil than the demon?”

“More sinister than the devil?”

“More brutal than the black dragon?”

Albrecht: …

Seeing Charlotte repeating all his earlier complaints one by one, he wished he could go back in time and give himself a few slaps.

“No… you are great, you are the ruler of the bloodborne, you are the supreme king, you are the existence we bloodbornes look up to!”

“Your power is immense and awe-inspiring…”

Albrecht continued avoiding the question, decisively flattering her.

But his legs still trembled, only holding onto the railing helped him stand steady.

Charlotte glanced at him and said calmly.

“Tell me, why did you come to the Roman Duchy, and… how is the task I assigned you?”

Seeing that Charlotte wasn’t continuing to press on his earlier offense and disrespect, Albrecht sighed in relief.

After hesitating for a moment, he awkwardly said.

“I heard that the Roman Duchy was going to hold the Ancestral Recognition Ceremony, so I thought I’d come and take a look.”

“Definitely… definitely not just to avoid you! Um… maybe… probably… just a little bit…”

As if fearing Charlotte would misunderstand, Albrecht quickly added.

Not just to avoid me?

Charlotte was thoughtful.

Just like how she dealt with the Holy Court’s inquiries after transmigrated, a blood servant couldn’t lie outright, but could speak half-truths.

Albrecht’s previous chat revealed that his action’s purpose wasn’t false. His visit to the Roman Duchy indeed had some “escape” intentions, but withholding information was also true.

And what he withheld might be his main purpose.

Now that Charlotte had revealed her identity, Albrecht, bound by the blood servant contract, couldn’t continue hiding under questioning.

“Are you interested in the Roman Sword’s Recognition Ceremony?”

Charlotte asked with interest.

Albrecht was stunned for a moment, then seemed to understand, awkwardly saying.

“I guess… kind of.”

“Kind of?”

Charlotte frowned.

She was not satisfied with this answer.

Evidently, even at this point, Albrecht was still somewhat unwilling to give up and continued to hold back information. Charlotte’s gaze grew colder.

She put away her smile, looked at Albrecht calmly, and said,

“I want an accurate answer.”

The blood servant contract in his soul flickered again, and the power of the bloodline trembled accordingly.

Facing Charlotte’s unquestionable gaze, Albrecht’s scalp tingled.

He didn’t want to answer this question, but under the influence of the contract, he couldn’t refuse. In the end, he had no choice but to honestly say,

“I’m here to find the Faceless Statue.”

“You confiscated the Faceless Statue, and I must find a new one as a substitute. There is a possibility that the Roman Duchy’s sealed Roman Sword has one, so… I thought I’d try my luck during the ceremony.”

Hearing Albrecht’s words, Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

“You know there’s a Faceless Statue here?”

“It’s possible… just a possibility…”

Albrecht replied.

Charlotte looked at him with a hint of amusement and said,

“You didn’t mention this in the imprinted memories.”

Albrecht’s expression tightened, and his face showed a trace of embarrassment.

He forced a laugh and explained somewhat guiltily.

“You… You needed all the memories about the bloodborne at that time, and I did imprint all of them.”

“However, the information about the Roman Duchy was still just my speculation back then. I was worried I might be wrong, so… I didn’t add it recklessly…”

Charlotte looked deeply at him.

Albrecht immediately lowered his head obediently, eyes on his nose and nose on his heart.

But his height was too conspicuous.

Nearly six-foot-three, in front of the petite Charlotte, his appearance of sincerely bowing in submission looked somewhat amusing.

Clearly, Albrecht had more little schemes than Charlotte had imagined.

The information about the Faceless Statue in the Roman Duchy might indeed have been uncertain before, but even if it was just a guess, it was related to the relics of the True Ancestor and should have been reported truthfully.

However, Charlotte didn’t have much to blame him for.

After all, he was a forcibly contracted blood servant. It was already quite lucky for her to have contracted a Legendary as a blood servant, little schemes were inevitable.

It was also because Albrecht couldn’t figure out Charlotte’s depth and completely regarded her as the resurrected True Ancestor of Blood. Otherwise, his little schemes would undoubtedly be more numerous.

But no matter what, since he had already been made a blood servant, some discipline was necessary.

Thinking of this, Charlotte looked at Albrecht.

The blood divine power quietly operated, connecting with the blood servant contract mark between her and him.

In an instant, Albrecht felt the contract mark in his soul radiate, and the crimson light swallowed everything.

The surrounding world instantly disappeared.

Albrecht found himself back in that majestic and solemn ancient Dark Night Castle.

The “True Ancestor of Blood” sat high on the throne, looking down at him, as if observing an ant.

This time, however, he was not just standing below but was hanging on a cross.

Below the cross were burning flames, and around it floated sharp swords.

The flames quickly engulfed Albrecht’s body, and the suspended swords flew at him, piercing his heart swiftly…

The pain of his soul burning and being pierced by ten thousand swords made Albrecht let out a miserable scream.

He wanted to struggle, but tied to the cross, he could do nothing.

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

It might have been a year, or it might have been many years. The torturous punishment seemed to extend infinitely in time, turning into an eternity.

It wasn’t until Albrecht was about to collapse that everything quietly disappeared.

The world returned to reality.

There was no ancient Dark Night Castle, no cross, and no punishment. He was still standing on the observation deck.

However, the lingering pain in his soul reminded him that he had indeed been punished by the True Ancestor just now.

The pain in his soul made Albrecht’s face exceptionally pale. He swayed slightly, almost losing his balance.

On the other side, Charlotte, who had used the blood divine power to control the illusion magic through the blood servant contract to punish Albrecht, also felt weak and barely managed to maintain her posture without showing any loss of composure.

After all, a Legendary was still a Legendary.

More than a month had passed since the legendary battle of Lutecia. Although Albrecht’s injuries hadn’t fully recovered, he was no longer in a severely injured state.

Without the True Ancestor’s Liberation, Charlotte, merely a pinnacle Silver Moon Blood Viscount, found it somewhat difficult to suppress him solely with the blood divine power and the blood servant contract.

The constraints of the contract were manageable. After all, a blood servant contract was one of the highest-level soul contracts, difficult to break regardless of strength.

But direct suppression of power was another matter.

Just a punitive illusion had nearly drained Charlotte’s mental strength, almost exhausting her completely!

The Gospel of Blood glowed faintly, and the blood divine power quietly converted, transforming into a trickle of mental energy to replenish Charlotte’s mental strength.

Charlotte felt significantly better.

She exhaled lightly, maintaining a calm demeanor, not letting Albrecht notice her weakness.

“This was just a small punishment, let it not happen again.”

Charlotte said indifferently.

After speaking, she gave Albrecht a meaningful look.

“Remember, I despise deceit and betrayal.”

Hearing Charlotte’s emotionless words, Albrecht immediately broke out in goosebumps.

He trembled slightly, and when he looked up again, his eyes were filled with pure fear.

This… this is the power of the True Ancestor of Blood?

Just now… he truly felt as if his soul was about to be torn apart!

With just a glance, he had been thrown into an endless punishment illusion. If she hadn’t let him out in the end, he would have been lost forever, ultimately dying in the torment of his soul!

Recalling the recent illusion and the blood divine power that made him tremble within it, Albrecht couldn’t muster any thought or will to resist.

He trembled as he bowed his head and responded in a quivering voice.

“Albrecht understands, Albrecht… thanks you for your mercy.”

Seeing the Legendary Bloodborne completely subdued, Charlotte also felt relieved internally.

Keeping her expression unchanged, she said indifferently.

“Speak, how do you plan to obtain the Faceless Statue?”

Charlotte was curious.

Having learned from Eudoxia that the Roman Sword’s sealing space was likely related to the Ancient Temple, she had been considering the most convenient way to act.

Now that Albrecht had delivered himself to her, perhaps he could provide some reference.

Hearing Charlotte’s question, Albrecht hesitated briefly and said,

“My original plan was to disrupt the Ancestral Recognition Ceremony and take the defenseless Roman Sword at a critical moment during the ceremony…”

“Then, I would use the Roman Sword to obtain the Faceless Statue.”

Good grief.

This guy was also planning to sabotage the ceremony?

However, his plan was much more brute-force compared to hers and the Nez Clan’s.

No wonder the countries of Myria were generally hostile towards the Blood Demon Cult, such destructive plans were bound to make them notorious.

But…

“Original plan?”

Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, original plan.”

Albrecht nodded.

“After arriving in Roman, I sensed many Nez bloodbornes, including some familiar faces.”

“It seems the Nez Clan is also planning something big.”

“I originally intended to explore tonight and adjust my plan accordingly, but unexpectedly… I ran into you.”

After speaking, Albrecht glanced at Charlotte, hesitated for a moment, and cautiously asked.

“Countess, you seem to be well acquainted with Yurst of the Nez Clan…”

“Have you… already subdued the Nez Clan?”