Gospel of Blood

Chapter 373: Royal x Church Collab

After successfully converting Albrecht, the dark apostle of the Blood Demon Cult, into a blood thrall, Charlotte stopped her endeavors and quietly settled at the estate, waiting for the Central Meeting to commence.

However, the aftermath of the Legendary battle in Lutecia’s night sky was just beginning.

That night, the city guards and Demon Hunter Knights locked down the entire capital city, conducting a thorough search throughout Lutecia, capturing a large number of Blood Demon Cultists and uncovering several cult hideouts.

Particularly noteworthy was the investigation into the manor where the Dark Apostle appeared, revealing a vast hidden underground temple to the public.

According to the church’s internal reports, the temple’s origins could date back nearly two thousand years.

This revelation sent shockwaves through the entire capital.

Lutecia has a long history, having been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times over the past two thousand years. Many old city ruins are buried beneath the current city, which is well- known.

In fact, Lutecia’s existing drainage system is built on the ruins of a previous city.

This drainage system, constructed during the peak of the Yunette Empire when bathhouse construction was popular, remains beneficial even today due to its extensive network.

However, this ancient and intricate drainage system has also made Lutecia’s underground complex and mysterious, becoming a breeding ground for evil and darkness.

The newly discovered ancient temple is connected to this drainage system but extends even deeper, below the drainage system itself.

After further evaluation by a high-ranking cleric from the Holy Court, this temple was identified as likely being left by the True Ancestor from the Blood Moon Era, making it the ninth ancient bloodborne temple discovered on the Myria continent.

Incidentally, the temple discovered a month ago in the Castell territory was the eighth, and the Holy Court had already planned to send clerics for further investigation. However, before they could depart, another temple was found in Lutecia.

Divine Warning Bell, Legendary Blood Demons, ancient temples…

Even the least sensitive individuals could sense an impending storm.

As more investigative reports about the ancient temple emerged from the church, further tremors shook Lutecia— The temple was revealed to be a base for the Blood Demon Cult, where they had constructed a massive sacrificial array directly beneath the Kingdom’s Council Hall!

Through the examination by church officials and the trials conducted by Inquisitors on captured Blood Demon Cultists, the Blood Demon Cult’s plot in Lutecia gradually came to light…

The ambitious Blood Demon Cult intended to take advantage of the Central Meeting of the Crescent Kingdom to eliminate all the attending nobles in one fell swoop, sacrificing them all!

In response, the Kingdom’s First Guard Knight Order, the Church’s Inquisition, and the Demon Hunter Bureau formed an investigation team to thoroughly investigate Lutecia. Their targets included nobles, clerics, merchants, mage associations, mercenary guilds, and the general populace of both the inner and outer city, aiming to capture and trial all those suspected of associating with or joining the Blood Demon Cult.

Nobles, in particular, were the primary targets of this investigation, and those suspected of colluding with the Blood Demon Cult were to face the harshest penalties.

This news caused an uproar throughout the capital.

No one, including nobles and clerics, expected the king and the church to act so decisively and swiftly.

Lutecia, with its nearly one million inhabitants, is a massive city. Issuing an order to lock down the city and conduct a comprehensive search is no small feat.

Moreover, Lutecia’s power dynamics are intricate, with significant noble influence. Even the king’s suppression of the nobles relies mostly on internal noble checks and balances.

The king’s own power is also composed of various nobles. Balancing powers in normal times is one thing, but conducting thorough investigations and trials is another matter, one that far exceeds Charlotte’s scrutiny of the North.

Many nobles indeed have some association with the Blood Demon Cult…

Under these circumstances, noble opposition was almost inevitable.

And so it was.

Shortly after the order was issued, nobles gathered in Lutecia protested, claiming such strict scrutiny violated the Royal Covenant and was the act of a tyrant, an illegal breach of the contract. Some prominent nobles openly refused entry to their families by the guard and church knights.

The Central Meeting hadn’t started yet, but the royal family and the nobles were already at odds.

The Gaston family, known for its neutral stance in the kingdom, strongly opposed the royal and church investigation this time. Duke Gaston, leveraging his near-Legendary strength, became the leader of the opposition.

According to Duke Gaston, while punishing evil is important, the rights of nobles are protected by the Royal Covenant and the Holy Code and are sacred and inviolable.

Even the church cannot subject nobles to such strict scrutiny without sufficient evidence.

As Duke Gaston’s remarks spread, they garnered widespread support among the nobles, further complicating the atmosphere in Lutecia.

From the moment the royal family and the church announced the lockdown and investigation to the nobles’ dissatisfaction and protests, all this happened within less than a day.

Amidst this, various rumors began to spread throughout Lutecia…

Rumors that the royal family had betrayed the nobles and sided with the church, that the Central Meeting was a conspiracy by the king against the nobles, and so on.

Fear spread through the capital, quickly turning into anger.

The nobles refused to cooperate, and there was a trend of uniting to resist the investigation.

However, the subsequent development of events surprised many…

Legendaries intervened again.

The Grand Inquisitor of the Holy Court, Bernard, and Hunter Cardinal, Joseph, personally led a team to investigate the Gaston family.

On the night the investigation order was issued, a terrifying energy fluctuation erupted in Lutecia’s inner city once again, or more precisely, a battle.

This battle’s magic fluctuations, though far less than the previous day’s Legendary battle, still covered a significant portion of the inner city’s sky.

The battle came swiftly and ended just as quickly. Although the magic power intensity reached Legendary levels, it concluded shortly after a dazzling holy light descended like God’s wrath.

As the battle concluded, more detailed and shocking news emerged for the nobles.

One of the Nine Dukes of the Crescent Kingdom, Duke Gaston—the kingdom’s most promising candidate to ascend to the Legendary rank—was dead.

And the person who killed him was none other than Bernard, the Grand Inquisitor of the Holy Court’s Crescent Diocese.

Following this, the investigation team swiftly investigated the Gaston family, uncovering substantial evidence of collusion with the Blood Demon Cult and arresting over a dozen family members who had become Blood Demon Cultists.

This included Gaston’s direct heir, Richard.

Once this news spread, the nobles throughout the capital became subdued.

No one expected the church’s Legendary cleric to act so decisively and ruthlessly.

Moreover, the precise nature of the investigation and trial made the nobles realize one crucial fact: the royal family and the church already possessed significant information.

This was a well-prepared examination!

Many people came to this realization.

As a result, the number of resisting nobles quickly dwindled, with some families proactively admitting their faults and providing the church with substantial intelligence on the Blood Demon Cult.

The investigation team, composed of the church and the royal family, did not rest but continued their investigations, successfully uncovering and suppressing nobles colluding with the Blood Demon Cult.

Even within the Holy Court, more than ten clerics were arrested on charges of corruption.

For a time, the entire Lutecia was in turmoil.

Charlotte’s estate in the inner city also underwent scrutiny, though it was relatively lenient.

Only the shops owned by the Castell family were rigorously examined due to previous incidents involving Blood Demon Cultists.

Of course, no issues were found during the examination, and any potential exposures were easily resolved by Charlotte’s Divine Counter.

Charlotte wasn’t overly concerned about the church’s scrutiny. As the instigator, she knew the investigation of her family was likely just a formality.

The church’s targeted investigation suggested they had received the list she had left behind.

Charlotte inquired about it, comparing it to her recorded list…

It was clear that the initial investigation had a probing nature, but once the list’s authenticity was confirmed, it turned into a direct arrest-then-investigate approach.

However, Charlotte also noticed that the nobles arrested for colluding with the Blood Demon Cult included some well-known opposition figures not listed, who had always been at odds with King Louis V.

Observing everything from a bystander’s perspective and considering her intelligence, Charlotte quickly realized the situation.

Thanks to the Blood Demon Cult, the royal family and the church had indeed united this time.

The royal family supported the church’s investigation and capture of nobles associated with the Blood Demon Cult, while the church tacitly approved the royal family’s suppression of opposing nobles.

Although the Crescent royal family and the church had traditionally been at odds, they unexpectedly found common ground in this instance.

Charlotte clicked her tongue.

This kind of tacit understanding was stirred up by her, the little butterfly.

However, considering what she had seen and heard since arriving in the capital, along with the church’s undercover agents within the Blood Demon Cult, she suspected that the royal family and the church had likely planned to cooperate all along.

Prince Philip was probably abandoned by the royal family long ago.

The true purpose of this meeting was likely not for the nobles and the church to unite and weaken royal power but for the royal family and the church to join forces to suppress the nobles and strengthen central authority and religious faith!

Perhaps the original plan was to act when the Blood Demon Cult made a significant move or, more accurately, during the Central Meeting. However, her actions exposed Albrecht, revealing the Blood Demon Cult’s plans prematurely…

It was foreseeable that once this storm passed, King Louis V’s central authority would likely strengthen further, and the Holy Court’s control over the Crescent Diocese’s faith would also intensify.

The only casualties would be the nobles of Crescent and the troublemaking Blood Demon Cult.

Of course, this had little to do with Charlotte.

As an emerging noble of the kingdom, Charlotte’s interests had not yet directly conflicted with the royal family.

She had not shown hostility towards the royal family, and with the royal family having clearly abandoned Prince Philip, she would not be targeted as long as she did not threaten the royal family.

As for Albrecht’s faction being completely wiped out…

Honestly, Charlotte did not care at all.

She was well aware of the nature of Blood Demon Cultists. Even if she allowed Albrecht to infiltrate the Blood Demon Cult, she would not accept every evil and chaotic element.

Those scum were better off judged, and it was convenient to let the church “clean the house.”

The joint investigation by the royal family and the church was expected to last a few more days, and Lutecia’s chaos would not end soon.

But this no longer concerned Charlotte.

Her goal was achieved, and all that was left was to wait for the storm to pass, attend the meeting, then pack up and go home.

If her prediction was correct, this Central Meeting was probably just a formality. Since the church and the royal family were cooperating, Prince Philip’s fate was likely already sealed—deposed and confined.

Charlotte’s real task would be to meet the king and conduct business with other nobles.

Not a bad outcome.

This purge would inevitably alter the noble power structure, creating power vacuums that could allow emerging nobles like Charlotte to expand their influence.

Having understood everything, Charlotte stopped personally monitoring the investigation, instructing Sebastian to collect relevant information daily for entertainment.

On the fourth day of this “Great Purge”, Charlotte finally received a call from Albrecht.

More accurately, a sacrificial offering.