Gospel of Blood

Chapter 197: Beat the Lackey, the Boss Appears?

Charlotte knew that the Nez clan had been preparing for a long time and that they would inevitably make a move against her today.

What surprised her, however, was that the one targeting her was not an ordinary bloodborne, but a Blazing Sun Bloodborne Count.

Though the enemy’s power was shocking, it wasn’t beyond Charlotte’s expectations. Since learning from Agnes that there was a Bloodborne Count among the Bloodbornes targeting Castell, Charlotte had prepared for the worst—to face a Blazing Sun during the banquet attack.

To this end, Charlotte even ordered Nice to set up five high-level divine and magical spells throughout the count’s estate, almost draining the last bit of the black cat’s magic and exhausting it to the brink of collapse.

As for herself, she was always ready to unleash her True Ancestor form to deal with the possible appearance of the Bloodborne Count.

Charlotte’s plan was comprehensive. What she didn’t expect was that the attack would come not from a real Blazing Sun but from a projection of the Bloodborne Count’s will, facilitated by a forbidden spell.

This outcome left Charlotte somewhat frustrated. If the real Blazing Sun had descended, she could potentially use her True Ancestor’s power to keep him there, but dealing with a mere projection of will was more challenging.

A Blazing Sun’s greatest strength is their extraordinary mental power. Destroying a remotely projected will would at most inflict some mental damage on the Blazing Sun.

Yet, the situation was dramatic. The Nez clan aimed to control Castell, and the Bloodborne Count’s projected will chose mental domination as the most convenient and likely to succeed approach for the Nez clan.

Honestly, this wasn’t a wrong judgment. A Starry Skky extraordinary had no power to resist the mental invasion of a Blazing Sun.

But Charlotte was not an ordinary Starry Sky.

Though her actual power wasn’t formidable, her fusion with the Gospel of Blood had altered her soul in ways she herself hadn’t fully understood, imbuing it with some divine-like qualities.

Even without using her True Ancestor powers, the automatic protection of the Gospel would give any invader a hard time.

Both Sebastian, who had suffered mental trauma, and the disgraced, fallen knight of the Holy Court's Inquisition could testify to this.

Seeing the radiant will projection, Charlotte offered no resistance, letting the immense mental force invade her mental world.

She didn’t plan to use the Gospel’s power to harm the invader immediately. Mental connections are mutual, since the opponent had come, she intended to turn the tables and control him instead.

It was a bold and crazy idea, but Charlotte decided to try.

As the Bloodborne Count Humphrey de Lachlan’s will successfully invaded, the Gospel of Blood deep in Charlotte’s consciousness automatically opened, radiating red light, and an ancient aura rose from her.

The invading will quickly sensed something amiss. Upon entering Charlotte’s mental world, instead of a misty soul realm of typical extraordinary, he saw a vast, boundless sea of blood.

“This... is a little girl’s mental world?!”

Staring at the near-infinite soul sea, the invading will trembled slightly, stunned.

He had invaded many mental worlds, including those of powerful extraordinaries.

However, even the strongest extraordinary he had invaded did not have a soul realm as boundless as this ocean.

The will projection immediately sensed danger, a faint sense of crisis rising...

Bloodbornes, nearly immortal and old monsters, were masters at self-preservation. Sensing the strangeness of the mental world, the Bloodborne Count Lachlan’s will projection wasted no time, turning to flee swiftly from the mental world.

His actions were quick. Deciding to leave, he immediately disengaged from the invasion and returned to the real world.

However, just then, a soft laugh came from behind him.

“Since you’re here, why leave in such a hurry?”

The will projection’s heart skipped a beat. Looking around, he found himself not in the study of the count’s mansion but in a grand, solemn castle.

Turning back, he saw not a bookshelf and a girl behind a desk but a tiered, elevated platform.

Atop the platform sat a majestic throne, upon which a silver-haired, red-eyed girl was seated.

The girl’s appearance was identical to that of the Countess of Castell, but her crimson-gold eyes and the exquisite black divine robe filled the will projection with a sense of foreboding.

This isn’t the real world! This is the mental world! A vivid mental world!

Damn it! How could she have a dominion over the mental world?

How did she silently pull me into her mental world?

The will projection instantly grasped the situation. Shock, absurdity, confusion, panic... various emotions surfaced.

The will projection had intruded into others’ mental worlds before, but being passively drawn into a mental world only meant one thing: the other party’s soul strength far exceeded his imagination.

On the elevated platform, Charlotte, seated on the throne, gently flipped through the Gospel of Blood disguised as an ordinary book, and chuckled.

“Come as you please, leave as you wish. Sir Lachlan, do you think my mental world is your backyard?”

“Who are you? Who exactly are you?!”

The will projection looked at the petite figure on the throne, his voice filled with uncertainty and suspicion.

From her high vantage point on the throne, Charlotte smiled down at the will projection she had drawn into the Dark Night Castle.

“Me? Just a young countess who recently inherited her territory.”

As she spoke, she turned the pages of the Gospel and, using the mysterious soul connection, summoned:

“Nice, come see me.”

The Gospel radiated light, and the black cat Nice’s figure slowly materialized beside Charlotte. At this moment, he too had been drawn into the mental world.

However, Nice seemed much calmer, clearly having anticipated this.

Seeing the black cat in the mental world and the girl on the throne, the will projection’s gaze darkened.

By this point, if he hadn’t realized he had fallen into a well-prepared ambush, he would have wasted all these years of life.

He couldn’t stay here any longer! If he remained, the other side could reverse the invasion through his will projection and invade his true self!

Quickly, the will projection made a decision. Without hesitation, he struck his chest, intending to self-destruct this thread of will.

Even though destroying this thread might leave his true self weak or even comatose for a while.

But just as he raised his hand, silver light suddenly burst forth, and chains of illusion shot from all directions, quickly binding him.

Simultaneously, he realized with horror that he had lost control over the projection!

“The God of Contracts' Heavenly Lock!”

He cried out, never expecting to encounter the high-level divine magic of the God of Contracts here.

On the other side, the black cat Nice snickered and proudly raised its tail.

“Trying to run? I can’t perform such divine magic in the real world, but here, it’s different!”

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“Enough. Is the ritual ready?”

Charlotte glanced at the smug black cat and asked calmly.

“Hehehe… Lady Charlotte, it’s long ready. The Servant’s Final Oath is my specialty in contract magic!”

Nice patted its chest confidently.

The Servant’s Final Oath?! The will projection’s eyes widened in shock.

Seeing the eager black cat and the calm girl on the throne, he quickly realized Charlotte’s intention.

“You… you want to enslave me?!”

Charlotte laughed softly.

“So what if I do?”

Yes, she planned to use the Servant’s Final Oath to enslave him.

Although Charlotte had some authority as the Bloodborne True Ancestor, she was still a low-level extraordinary and had not mastered the forbidden method of turning other bloodbornes into blood servants, as the dark clan Shedite did.

Even though she could suppress targets with her bloodline in her True Ancestor form, this form had time limitations. For stability and security, using a fundamental contract like the Servant’s Final Oath to control enemies was safer than bloodline suppression.

After all, Nice had once dared to use this contract to control a “newly resurrected God”!

Although it had ultimately failed.

The will projection was finally panicking. The Servant’s Final Oath was infamous, and he knew its terrifying power.

“No! Please stop! Perhaps we can talk!”

He shouted urgently.

But Charlotte had no intention of continuing the conversation.

Talk? If it weren’t for her unique abilities, he would have already completed the mental invasion and turned her into a mindless puppet.

“Begin.”

She ordered Nice.

“Alright!”

Nice replied excitedly.

As a victim of the Servant’s Final Oath, he was pleased to see another suffer from it.

As for the potential threat to his status, he wasn’t worried at all.

He knew the powerful ally he had attached himself to wouldn’t truly accept this troublemaker, who had wreaked havoc on Castell, as a servant.

The Servant’s Final Oath was a temporary measure.

In Charlotte’s deeper vision, he saw clear coldness toward the enemy.

Thinking of this, Nice snickered. He drew a complex symbol on his chest with his paw, and his voice became solemn.

“Contract: Servant’s Final Oath!”

Silver light shone from Nice, a manifestation of the God of Contracts’ power within Charlotte’s mental world.

With Charlotte’s permission, Nice temporarily had some control over the mental world’s power!

Silver light transformed into chains, linking one end to the will projection and the other to Charlotte on the throne.

Charlotte quickly sensed a connection forming between her and the will projection.

But this wasn’t enough.

The will projection was just a fragment of Humphrey de Lachlan’s consciousness, not his true soul.

To succeed, Charlotte needed to use the Servant’s Final Oath to reverse-invade Lachlan’s mental world and plant the contract deep within his soul!

Determined, Charlotte activated the power of the Gospel of Blood.

This was the crucial moment. With a chance to control a Bloodborne Count, she had to seize it with all her might!

As Charlotte used the Gospel’s power, her image in the Dark Night Castle quickly changed.

In an instant, she transformed into her “adult” form.

At the same time, the will projection felt a familiar and terrifying power emanate from Charlotte.

“A Bloodborne! You… no, you are also a Bloodborne!”

“Who are you? Which clan duke are you? There must be some misunderstanding between us!”

The will projection spoke frantically, clutching at straws.

Charlotte didn’t respond.

Under the augmentation of the divine power of blood, her mental strength surged, using the Servant’s Final Oath to channel up the connection towards Humphrey de Lachlan’s true self...

It felt like traversing countless dimensions. Charlotte sensed herself breaking through an invisible barrier, her vision changing, just like when she had once used the Blood Totem’s power to descend on Sebastian. She “saw” the true body of the will projection, Bloodborne Count Humphrey de Lachlan.

In an old castle, in a bedroom, there was a black coffin where Humphrey de Lachlan lay.

He appeared as a middle-aged noble in a black cloak, his eyes tightly shut and face filled with terror.

Without hesitation, Charlotte launched her final invasion through the mental channel. But just as she broke into his mental world, another dark red light suddenly burst from his mind.

An even more powerful, vast, and terrifying aura, far stronger than the one she faced against the Flame Demon Valaroka, descended!

Charlotte’s heart skipped a beat as she realized a crucial flaw in her plan.

Most bloodbornes have Elders.

Bloodborne clans have strict hierarchies.

A Bloodborne Count, especially a core count of the Nez clan, would certainly have an Elder!

Her invasion had triggered the mental mark left by Lachlan’s Elder!

And this Elder was a Legendary.