Chapter 158: Castell's Enemies

“Bloodbornes… undead… that means the ones attacking us are probably from the Blood Demon Cult. Those disgusting people love playing with corpses.” Sebastian said with a slight shiver.

Charlotte frowned.

“Those people really are persistent.”

“Heh, after all, the Crescent Kingdom is the main activity area for the Shedite Clan (Dark Clan)… Master, what do you plan to do with these traitors who betrayed you?”

Sebastian asked respectfully.

He had already adopted the role of the True Ancestor's steward, viewing all bloodbornes who attacked Charlotte as traitors.

As for locating the necromancers, Sebastian no longer inquired, trusting that his great master would have a way to handle it. After witnessing Charlotte awaken slumbering undeads in Borde with just a wave, sparking an undead calamity, he knew these bloodborne-controlled undeads were no threat to her.

He believed that if his master wished, she could seize control of all these undead instantly.

His confidence grew, but Charlotte had no intention of confronting the bloodborne necromancer head-on.

Her true strength was only at the First Tier Starry Sky. Although she had improved greatly over the past year through intense training, she was still a low-rank extraordinary.

Competing with the bloodbornes for control over the undead would require tapping into her divine power of blood and partially activating the True Ancestor’s Liberation, which would likely consume a lot of divine power as it did in Borde.

Charlotte had learned over the past year how difficult it was to replenish divine power. She preferred not to use it unless absolutely necessary.

Using divine power against these mid-to-low-level undeads would be overkill. Plus, seizing control of the undead would escalate the battle and create more unpredictability.

The best way to deal with a necromancer is to catch the leader.

Knowing that Bloodbornes were behind this, Charlotte already had a better idea.

Glancing at the camp fortifications, still holding under the protection of divine and magical powers, she pondered for a moment and said.

“Guard the outside for me, don’t let anyone disturb me.”

With that, she entered her tent alone.

Black Cat Nice and Sebastian exchanged glances, Nice feeling a slight tremor.

“Is she going to use the Ancestor’s Authority?”

Sebastian smiled, showing his white teeth.

“Guess?”

Nice: …

Charlotte, once inside the tent, immediately sank into her consciousness to connect with the Gospel of Blood.

The night belonged to the bloodbornes, and they were adept at hiding. Finding the bloodbornes controlling the undead in the vast Violet Forest would be challenging.

Even if the necromancers weren’t at the Blazing Sun level, they were at least Silver Moon level. Without using the divine power of blood, she might not be a match.

However, Charlotte had the Gospel of Blood.

She could summon any Bloodborne consciousness into the Dark Night Castle through Blood Summoning.

Once she summoned the mastermind's consciousness, the undead horde would lose their mental connection and collapse.

Regardless of the necromancer's real strength, in her mind realm, they would be at her mercy.

To locate the necromancer… she would find the nearest crimson star with the same aura as the undead blood she sensed.

With this plan, Charlotte decisively entered the Dark Night Castle mind realm.

Transforming back into her adult form, she sat on the ethereal Blood Throne, gently flipping through the thick Gospel, and began the Blood Summoning.

Crimson mist filled the Dark Night Castle, and crimson stars gradually appeared.

The first stars she saw were those representing Sebastian and Nice.

Both had traces of her power in them, being her blood servant and contract servant, making them observable through Blood Summoning.

Following them was the star symbolizing Marie, Lottie’s sister.

When Charlotte saved Marie in Borde, she used her bloodborne power, leaving a trace of bloodborne in Marie's soul.

Of course, since they hadn’t found a suitable body, Marie's soul was still in a crystal ball, temporarily kept by Lottie.

These were the closest stars representing "her people."

Next would be the star representing the Bloodborne necromancers behind the undead horde.

When the fourth star appeared, Charlotte was stunned.

The fourth star… was very close, almost overlapping with the first three stars!

Moreover, its crimson glow was incredibly pure, far more than Sebastian’s, giving Charlotte an unprecedented sense of closeness.

Charlotte’s heart skipped a beat: was there another bloodborne hiding in her convoy?

And it seemed closely related to her by blood?

Charlotte became intrigued.

The person hid so well that she hadn’t noticed all this time!

However, although curious, Charlotte quickly suppressed the thought.

The Gospel of Blood had grown stronger with the addition of dozens of pages. Through the crimson star, she sensed this wasn't the necromancer.

This was just a bloodborne hiding in the convoy.

And their strength wasn't high.

The star's glow wasn’t bright; though pure, it was weaker than Sebastian’s.

Charlotte didn't act rashly.

Even though she was curious about the person’s purpose.

They probably didn’t know they were discovered.

She could investigate after dealing with the undead horde.

For now, finding the necromancer was most important.

With this resolve, Charlotte focused on the vast crimson star sea.

The mist spread, and soon… two new stars appeared.

One had a mixed aura but a brighter glow, and the other had a purer aura but dimmer glow.

Only two?

Charlotte was surprised.

Summoning so many undead, she expected more, but only two stars were near the convoy.

Moreover, these two stars’ auras weren’t strong, at least not stronger than Sebastian's.

This instantly piqued Charlotte's curiosity. How did the other party manage to summon such powerful undead waves?

Did they have some other method?

Or had they controlled other necromancers?

Charlotte wondered.

Meanwhile, she also keenly sensed a familiar aura from the star with a purer aura.

It was similar to the undead's scent, and only this star had it…

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Charlotte's lips curled into a slight smile.

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Catch the ringleader first.

Having identified her target, Charlotte did not hesitate and immediately pointed at the star, beginning the Blood Summoning.

Crimson light flared, and the mist churned.

However, just when Charlotte thought she was about to pull the opponent into the Dark Night Castle, the summoning failed.

The star representing the necromancer merely trembled slightly before becoming still again.

"Failed?"

Charlotte was astonished.

She knew that the blood power of this star was not strong, even weaker than Sebastian's.

Yet, she had summoned Sebastian successfully on the first try. Why did this summoning fail?

Charlotte's interest was piqued.

She tried summoning again.

But again, it failed.

Vaguely, Charlotte felt a faint resistance preventing her summoning.

Charlotte frowned.

She strengthened her connection to the Gospel of Blood, enhancing her power. But as her power grew, so did the resistance.

Determined, Charlotte intensified her summoning, even starting to use her divine power. However, at that moment, the entire crimson star sea trembled slightly.

In the depths of the star sea, which Charlotte had screened off, a brilliant star suddenly shone brightly, almost blinding her.

"Whoa!" Charlotte exclaimed, quickly stopping her summoning. The dazzling star slowly faded.

Charlotte's mood darkened slightly.

There were five giant stars in the depths of the crimson star sea, likely representing the five princes of the Bloodborne.

Her failed summoning suggested only one thing: the summoned was under the protection of a Bloodborne prince.

Charlotte believed she could break through this resistance with enough divine power of blood.

But that would also likely draw the attention of the Bloodborne prince.

"Is the mastermind a vassal of a Bloodborne prince?"

Charlotte frowned.

She became alert, her mind racing with possible reasons why her convoy was targeted.

She had to be cautious; her identity was too special.

If a Bloodborne prince discovered the existence of the Gospel of Blood, Charlotte doubted her fate would be good.

"It shouldn't be my identity that's exposed. If it were, it would be normal for a bloodborne duke or marquis to come after me…"

"The other party probably just has the protection of a Bloodborne prince."

"A divine favor? Or just a devout follower?"

Charlotte pondered.

Besides Sebastian, she hadn't performed Blood Summoning on anyone else, so she couldn't be sure what this meant.

Even when she pulled the perverted High Priest into the Dark Night Castle, it was because he prayed to her first.

Although the summoning failed, her actions allowed her to sense the opponent's general location.

Since she couldn't summon them to the spiritual world, she would go directly.

The opponent's aura wasn’t strong anyway.

With this thought, Charlotte withdrew from her consciousness and exited the tent.

"Sebastian, come with me."

...

In the depths of the Violet Forest, atop a raised hill.

From there, through layers of trees, one could faintly see the winding road to Castell.

At the horizon, holy light flickered, and the battle between the convoy and the undead tide on the road could be vaguely seen.

A girl, appearing about seventeen or eighteen years old, stood under a tree, gazing into the distance.

She wore a black long dress, her beautiful flaxen hair slightly fluttering in the night breeze, and her crimson eyes were indifferent.

In her hands, she held a thick book with a deep black cover inlaid with dark golden patterns.

She flipped through the heavy book, its yellowed pages emitting a profound glow. Around her, one undead after another rose, roaring and rushing towards the distant road.

The night breeze blew, making her flaxen hair a bit messy.

She gently brushed her hair aside with a delicate hand and withdrew her gaze from the distant camp, murmuring,

"It seems the intelligence wasn't accurate. There's a powerful contract priest hidden in Castell's convoy..."

She glanced at the heavy book in her hands, her eyes flickering.

As if making a decision, she bit her fingertip, squeezing out droplets of blood onto the open pages.

But the next moment, a strong hand stopped her.

"Miss… it's enough. We've summoned enough undead."

Said a robust middle-aged man.

He was nearly two meters tall, wearing heavy knight armor, with a resolute expression.

The girl frowned slightly.

"No, Lahel. The Castell family has deep foundations. You can't imagine their hidden strength. To keep the young Countess of Castell here, we must go all out and avoid any mistakes!"

Lahel, the middle-aged knight, hesitated.

He glanced at the distant holy light, hesitated for a moment, then asked in a deep voice.

"Miss, do you truly believe that person's promise?"

"With all due respect, I don't think a bloodborne can truly gain a title in the Crescent Kingdom. Walking in the sunlight means death for them."

"Besides… you never intended to leave any survivors."

The girl fell silent at his words.

She bit her lip, a flash of deep hatred crossing her crimson eyes.

"So what?"

"For our goal, I won't let our enemy return to their territory easily!"

"Everyone in Castell deserves to die!"

Her voice was resolute.

At that moment, a graceful laugh suddenly came from beside them.

"Oh? Enemies? Hehe, I never heard that the noble Castell family had any enmity with the bloodborne?"

"Who?!"

Lahel instantly turned, drawing his weapon.

From the shadows of the forest, a tall red-haired elf emerged.