Gospel of Blood

Chapter 356: The Archbishop's Test

A gentle holy light spread outward from Charlotte as its center.

Sacred, warm, kind…

Although it was merely the projection of the girl’s power within the “Eternal Sacred Realm.” the three Legendary clerics were certain that the light cast by the artifact “Eternal Sun” was indeed the holy power of the Creator God.

God above!

The power protecting her was the Creator God’s holy power?

This… how could this be?

The three Legendary clerics exchanged looks, their expressions complex.

Watching the holy light surrounding the girl, they were unsure if they were seeing things or if they, too, had fallen under the effects of the “Eternal Sacred Realm.”

“God above! This… could there be an issue with the Eternal Sun?”

Hunter Cardinal Joseph’s eyes widened, his expression full of doubt.

Grand Inquisitor Bernard’s expression also shifted.

He stared intently at the functioning artifact, the Eternal Sun, and after a moment, shook his head slightly.

“No, the Eternal Sun is functioning normally.”

He then hesitated, glanced at Archbishop Charles, and asked somewhat uncertainly.

“Your Grace, should we continue to enhance the divine ritual?”

The “Eternal Sacred Realm” could project the hidden power of the subject.

Although they could not yet penetrate the mysterious force protecting the girl to enter her mental world, the hidden power of the girl had already been successfully projected.

In other words, if the goal was merely to use the “Eternal Sun” to investigate the secrets hidden within the girl, they had roughly achieved their aim.

Archbishop Charles was silent.

He frowned at Charlotte, who was enveloped in light, and shook his head slightly.

“No need to enhance it further.”

Hearing this, Grand Inquisitor Bernard breathed a small sigh of relief.

The protective power hidden within the girl had already been revealed, and it was a familiar divine power, indicating that the power safeguarding her did indeed come from the Creator God.

As the Chief Inquisitor wielding the Crescent’s Eternal Sun, he could trace the power source of a subject through the “Eternal Sacred Realm.”

He had even used the Eternal Sun to kill newly resurrected Old God but had never dared to use this artifact to trace holy power…

Because that would mean prying into the Creator God.

And no Gods liked to be spied upon by mortals.

If it was to trace and locate other Gods with the protection of the Creator God’s power, he wasn’t afraid.

But to pry into the Creator God…

Grand Inquisitor Bernard had never done it and did not wish to.

As a devout believer, he feared such reckless actions might incur divine wrath.

He hesitated and said,

“Since we have ruled out her being backed by an unknown God, I won’t continue maintaining the divine ritual.”

Archbishop Charles was silent for a moment and then sighed.

“Dispel it.”

Given permission, Grand Inquisitor Bernard once again manipulated the sun miniature, preparing to awaken the girl enveloped in the holy light.

But before he could act, the halo of the “Eternal Sacred Realm” flickered slightly and gradually dimmed.

Grand Inquisitor Bernard was taken aback.

This was the “Eternal Sacred Realm” automatically dispelling itself.

However, he was not surprised.

The “Eternal Sun” was an artifact created by the Lord, given to the Holy Court to deal with heretics.

Since the girl’s identity had been verified, it was normal for the artifact to autonomously dispel the divine ritual.

The brilliant holy power gradually dissipated, and the crystal mirror floating in mid-air also slowly extinguished its light, returning to the sun miniature in Grand Inquisitor Bernard’s hand.

At the same time, Charlotte, standing at the doorway of the prayer room, swayed slightly.

Her eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.

…

The white world shattered, and a strong sense of dizziness and vertigo returned.

Along with the dizziness came a rapid return of “reality.”

“Huh… finally returning to reality.”

Feeling the real sensation in her limbs, Charlotte sighed with relief.

However, she did not relax but quickly heightened her vigilance.

The “Eternal Sacred Realm” had been broken by her through Divine Ritual Counter.

But breaking the illusion was just the beginning.

She still had to face the church’s Legendary clerics.

She wasn’t sure if her recent trick had worked, so she couldn’t let her guard down.

With her senses fully restored, Charlotte opened her eyes.

What greeted her was still the prayer room of the Lutecia Cathedral, and she remained in the same position as when she had entered.

All the conversations with the Archbishop, the church’s invitation, the Gaston Duke’s banquet… were all illusions.

From the moment she stepped into the prayer room, she had fallen under an illusion-type divine ritual.

With her vision restored, Charlotte quickly met the gazes of three people.

She recognized one of them: the Crescent Diocese’s Archbishop, Charles de Lorraine, whom she had seen upon entering the prayer room.

However, the other two were unfamiliar.

Despite their unfamiliarity, Charlotte guessed their identities from their attire.

The cleric on the right was clearly dressed as an inquisitor, holding a mysterious crystal mirror overflowing with holy light.

Charlotte immediately realized that this must be Grand Inquisitor Bernard de Champagne, who had cast the “Eternal Sacred Realm” on her, and the sun-shaped crystal mirror must be the artifact “Eternal Sun.”

As for the one on the left… wearing a purple-edged clerical robe, clearly a cardinal, with the mark of a Demon Hunter Knight on his chest, he must be the Hunter Cardinal Joseph de Mazarin, who oversaw the Demon Hunter Bureau of the Crescent Diocese as recorded in her files.

Hiss…

The three giants of the Crescent Diocese—the Holy Court certainly thought highly of her, directly waiting for her at the cathedral.

Charlotte clicked her tongue inwardly.

However, she quickly noticed that the three Legendary clerics were looking at her in a strange, inexplicable way.

Surprise, bewilderment, confusion, curiosity…

And the Hunter Cardinal even seemed a bit excited.

However, their gazes lacked vigilance and hostility.

At most, the Crescent Archbishop, Charles, had a slightly thoughtful and scrutinizing look in his surprised eyes.

It seemed… she had succeeded.

Charlotte felt a sense of reassurance.

She could roughly guess why these Legendary clerics were showing such expressions.

If she was correct, just before she woke up, her body must have exhibited the holy light of the God Harald.

The “Eternal Sacred Realm” tried to tempt her into using the True Ancestor’s Liberation power within the illusion world.

Based on her knowledge of the church from books, she guessed that the Holy Court intended to use the illusion to draw out her power and thereby determine her identity.

So… when she modified the 『Divine Ritual Counter』, she cleverly changed it to 『Determine that the power she releases in the illusion world is the Creator God’s power』.

Then, she did the opposite and directly performed 『True Ancestor’s Liberation』 in the illusion world.

Of course, it wasn’t a real 『True Ancestor’s Liberation』.

Realizing it was her mental world, Charlotte had found a way to wake up and could partially control the power of the mental world.

So, she merely “imagined” using the True Ancestor’s Liberation in the mental world.

Then… under the “Eternal Sacred Realm” judgment, the power she used became “Creator God’s power.”

It was a bit convoluted, but since Charlotte didn’t understand the essence of the Creator God’s power, she couldn’t imagine it in her mental world. Thus, she had to take this tricky approach.

Judging by the expressions of the Legendary clerics, it seemed she had succeeded.

However, this was not the end.

Next, it was time to see her acting skills.

With this in mind, Charlotte’s confused gaze gradually cleared, then quickly turned vigilant as she took a step back. She looked warily at the three clerics, quickly pulling a hand crossbow from under her skirt, like a frightened kitten, ready to counterattack.

“Your Grace, what have you done to me?”

She looked at the leading Archbishop Charles and questioned in a voice filled with shock and anger.

Archbishop Charles seemed surprised by Charlotte’s reaction.

His scrutinizing gaze froze for a moment, and then he frowned slightly.

Grand Inquisitor Bernard and Hunter Cardinal Joseph exchanged glances.

Facing Charlotte’s angry gaze, the Grand Inquisitor hesitated and then quietly put the Eternal Sun behind his back.

The Hunter Cardinal tugged at his goatee, his expression somewhat pained and conflicted.

Finally, Archbishop Charles spoke.

He sighed deeply and said apologetically.

“I’m sorry, Countess Castell.”

“The church received an anonymous report alleging your involvement with the mysterious Evil God, ‘God Nyx,’ who resurrected in Borde last year, and that you are a follower of this God.”

“We had no choice but to test you with a divine ritual illusion upon your entering the church to determine your identity…”

“An anonymous report? God Nyx?”

Charlotte frowned, her expression bewildered.

However, her heart skipped a beat.

Good heavens, someone had reported her?

Who could have done this?

Her mind quickly ran through the entities and forces that knew her identity.

Ultimately, a certain organization’s name surfaced in her mind…

They knew about her connection to the “Evil God” in Borde. And they harbored hostility toward her.

Hiss…

Could it be those bastards from the Blood Demon Cult?

Charlotte speculated internally, but she maintained an expression of confusion, her brows furrowed tightly as she coldly said,

“This is slander! My faith has always been steadfast. How could I be a follower of an Evil God?”

Archbishop Charles nodded slightly and sighed.

“Judging by the result, it seems we misunderstood…”

As he spoke, he made a ring-cross sign on his chest. Then, to the surprise of Grand Inquisitor Bernard and Hunter Cardinal Joseph, he bowed slightly to Charlotte in apology.

“Countess Castell, we apologize deeply for the fright caused by this test. To express the church’s regret, we will offer appropriate compensation…”

“But please understand, every appearance of an Evil God brings disaster to the orderly world. Even the slightest possibility requires us to handle it with caution…”

Seeing the Archbishop bowing in apology, Charlotte was also a bit surprised.

As the highest cleric of the Crescent Diocese, a Legendary extraordinary, this gesture was quite humble.

Considering the circumstances, Charlotte’s public identity was merely that of a countess!

Of course, Charlotte believed that the Archbishop’s humility was also because he had seen “her power.”

Given her status and the Holy Court’s influence in the secular world, Charlotte no longer held a stern demeanor.

She frowned slightly and said,

“I understand the church’s concerns, but basing suspicion solely on an anonymous report makes it hard to trust the loyalty of the believers…”

Upon hearing Charlotte’s words, Archbishop Charles sighed.

“Countess, if you read the content of the report, you might understand the church’s predicament.”

He then took out a piece of parchment from his chest.

Charlotte frowned and took the parchment from the Archbishop.

After a quick read, she felt a pang of guilt.

No wonder, the report was incredibly detailed.

From Borde to the Castel County, although much of the content was speculative, the descriptions of her relationship with “God Nyx” were coherent and very convincing.

Clearly written by someone who had interacted with her and saw her as a follower of “God Nyx.”

Frankly, if she were a church official, she would find the report concerning too.

There was no way around it since she really was the so-called “God Nyx.” Her actions were consistent with those of “God Nyx.” and the report pointed out all of this.

After reading the report, Charlotte’s speculation about the informant’s identity was almost certain.

No need to think further. It must have been the Blood Demon Cult!

The only force aware of her divine connection was the Starfall’s bloodbornes, but they sought to recruit her.

The Nez Clan needed to reclaim control of the Starfall Kingdom and needed her as an ally against the church’s intervention, so they wouldn’t cut ties.

However, the Nez Clan had previously been infiltrated by the Blood Demon Cult. The cult must have learned about Charlotte’s “unknown God” status from the Nez Clan and then reported it to the church.

With this realization, Charlotte mentally noted another grudge against the Blood Demon Cult.

She sighed, handed the letter back to the Archbishop, and smiled bitterly.

“Your Grace, I understand now. This letter is indeed very misleading. If I were in your position, I might have made the same decision as the church.”

Archbishop Charles nodded slightly and said kindly.

“I’m glad you understand. Now that you’ve passed the test, one of our major concerns is resolved…”

He then assumed a solemn expression and said,

“Countess, please forgive my impertinence. Could you tell us what you ‘saw’ in the divine ritual illusion?”

Hearing this, Charlotte prepared to lie.

But when she saw the faint gleam in his eyes, her heart skipped a beat, and she raised her vigilance again.

That was the solidified divine spell “Eye of Truth” used by the Demon Hunter Bureau to detect lies.

The Archbishop’s test… was not over yet.

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