Gospel of Blood

Chapter 367: Steadfast Albrecht

Albrecht was both furious and frustrated. As the Third Dark Apostle of the Blood Demon Cult, he had always been known for his ability to appear and disappear without a trace, excelling in concealing his presence and tracks.

Even when the Blood Demon Court, which secretly ruled the Crescent Kingdom, was besieged by the Holy Court, resulting in the fall of three Dark Apostles, he managed to escape unscathed easily. Yet today, inexplicably, he was caught off guard.

Recalling the recent heart-pounding ambush, Albrecht couldn’t help but feel a tinge of fear.

That sword just now—if he hadn’t escaped a bit faster, it wouldn’t have slashed his shoulder but his head!

Thinking of this, Albrecht’s pale face darkened further.

To infiltrate the Crescent’s nobility and church, he had been lurking in Lutecia for nearly a century. To prevent his whereabouts from being exposed, he never showed himself, relying instead on forbidden blood thralls and contract slaves.

Other Dark Apostles even mockingly called him “Coward” Albrecht, but he never cared. The more flamboyant, the quicker they die.

He watched as those apostles rose to fame, stirring trouble, and then watched as they were either exiled or directly fell under the Holy Court’s purges.

Over a millennium, the Dark Apostles of the Blood Demon Cult had changed numerous times. But he had always survived. Even his rank among the apostles automatically rose by three, despite never participating in the internal power struggles of the cult, never vying for ranking, and never seeking favor from the Archduke.

But what just happened?

Albrecht remembered he was holed up in his stronghold, in the deepest darkroom of the stronghold, a place so meticulously protected that even if the Archbishop of the Holy Court cast forbidden divine spells directly at it, he could retreat unscathed, and even flip off the Archbishop before leaving…

Yet, in such a secure place, he was still caught off guard!

He recalled lounging on a cushion woven from velvet and brocade, a tribute from a Crescent noble, sipping the extraordinary blood of a pure maiden while listening to the reports from his contract slaves.

The Divinity Descent Day was imminent, and even though he wasn’t very interested in summoning the Archduke, he knew he had to do something to prove his worth.

He chose to target the Crescent nobles and the capital of the Crescent Diocese.

The net was cast, and he was ready to strike during the Central Meeting, delivering a blow to the Holy Court and strengthening his control over the nobility.

Then, he felt a reaction from the mark he had left on the soul of a blood thrall… He wanted to see what was happening, but who would have thought he would be directly pulled through that blood thrall’s mark!

Before he could react, he was summoned to the inner city of Lutecia, right next to the Lutecia Cathedral!

Even more absurd, the three Legendary clerics of Lutecia Cathedral were in the church, and the four of them stared at each other across the distance!

At that moment, Albrecht was dumbfounded.

Wasn’t it said that Bernard and Joseph had gone to Castell to investigate the affairs of God Nyx?

Why were they still in the church?

And… how was the timing so coincidental?!

Albrecht’s thoughts raced, feeling aggrieved, depressed, angry, and puzzled.

He was aggrieved because he wasn’t prepared for a fight and suddenly bumped into three Legendary clerics. He was depressed because his nearly century-long infiltration was ruined, and the sacrifice council’s plan was likely to fail. He was angry because the culprit behind all this was the strongest blood thrall he had personally groomed. And he was puzzled as to what wind had blown into the other party’s head and how he managed to summon him…

What the hell was Bertrand up to?

How could a mere blood thrall summon his master?

Moreover, such a grand summoning?

That was demon summoning, right?

He was already a bloodborne, with a bloodborne identity that overrode the demon one, and his demon true name had long been hidden… How did they know?

Who was setting him up?

Albrecht didn’t believe a mere blood thrall he had fooled to such an extent could dare to set him up, nor did he believe the thrall could unearth his demon true name, which hadn’t been used in who knows how many years, let alone successfully reverse summon him.

Naturally, he thought of those old fellows who knew his true name…

Only, those old fellows had almost all been crucified by the Holy Court or exiled to some unknown dimension over time.

In retrospect, it seemed like no one was left after nearly a millennium.

So… was it some old fellow with a grudge crawling out of another dimension to seek revenge?

But that didn’t make sense either. He was quite sure none of the exiled ones who knew his demon true name had returned, and as for others who might know it, they could only be ancient ones from even earlier…

Thinking this, Albrecht fell into contemplation.

There were very few who knew his demon true name, apart from those fallen or exiled to other dimensions.

Those were the flamboyant ones. If someone returned, it would surely cause a stir, like last year’s Valaroka, who was said to have been re-sealed the moment they stepped out of the seal.

Unless it was someone from an even older time, like a myth he had dealt with before the blood clans split.

Or perhaps those Demigods who could deduce demon identities and true names based on remaining traces…

Wait… Demigods who could deduce true names?

Seeming to have realized something, Albrecht’s eyes widened slightly.

“According to information from within the Holy Court, last year, Valaroka was re-sealed by ‘God Nyx’…”

“The Cult’s Starfall branch had sent a message before its destruction, stating that there was a mysterious God behind Countess Charlotte de Castell of the Northern Lands, who is highly likely to be ‘God Nyx’…”

“‘God Nyx’ is suspected to be an ancient bloodborne myth and seems to hold great hostility towards the cult. A month ago, They seemingly triggered the Holy Court’s divine warning bell again…”

“To divert the Holy Court’s attention to the Northern Lands, I once ordered followers to gather information on the North and anonymously report it to the Holy Court just as the divine warning bell rang again…”

“However, the Holy Court clearly didn’t take the bait. The three Legendary clerics didn’t leave!”

“Not long ago, followers watching the Castell family reported that Countess Castell went to the church today and left unscathed…”

“And shortly after, I was ambushed…”

“The three Legendary clerics were all in the cathedral, obviously pre-arranged.”

“Hiss… Could it be that ‘God Nyx’ has also come to Lutecia, has formed some kind of cooperation with the Holy Court, and it was they who ambushed me?”

Albrecht’s thoughts raced, his expression full of suspicion and uncertainty.

It’s not that he was paranoid. He was well aware of the power of those ancient Gods and the nature of the Holy Court.

Based on known information, ‘God Nyx’ is very likely an ancient bloodborne myth from before the blood clan was established. At that time, Albrecht had already received the initial embrace, becoming a member of the Blood Legion, and had once followed the Blood Demon Archduke Abaddon in continental conflicts.

Even after nearly two thousand years, Albrecht still remembered that era. Back then, some bloodbornes who couldn’t obtain legion command disliked the six Blood Princes, especially the domineering Blood Legion, which had many enemies.

‘God Nyx’ was likely among them.

As for the Holy Court… Although the Holy Court proclaimed to fight and kill unknown Gods, as someone who watched this behemoth rise, Albrecht knew very well that the Holy Court was not as hostile to unknown Gods as it appeared.

More precisely, the Holy Court targeted those unknown Gods who refused to join its pantheon and obey its holy rules.

Albrecht still remembered that when the Holy Court first emerged, it worshipped only the Creator God Harald. Later, they gradually absorbed one God after another who was willing to join, like Mithra, the God of Contracts, Aphros, the Goddess of Beauty, and Garimo, the God of Judgment…

With each God joining, the Holy Court grew rapidly, eventually forming a polytheistic belief system with the Creator God Harald at the center and numerous subordinate Gods.

God Harald became more powerful by sharing the authority of these subordinate Gods!

Thinking of this, Albrecht’s expression grew more serious.

In the past thousand years, the Holy Court had absorbed no less than forty subordinate Gods. The last one was the God of Contracts, Mithra, who joined the pantheon centuries ago and is the most powerful subordinate God, second only to God Harald in terms of followers.

Since appearing in the world, ‘God Nyx’ has been hostile to the cult and has acted more like the Holy Court. Even that little countess suspected to be associated with ‘God Nyx’ is called the Holy Court’s Saintess…

Hiss… Could it be that ‘God Nyx’ had long been colluding with the church, and the Holy Court intended to absorb ‘God Nyx’ into its ranks?

The cult’s report was in vain, not only failing to divert the Holy Court’s attention but also exposing himself?

The more Albrecht thought about it, the more he felt it was highly likely. After all, the Blood Demon Cult had interacted with ‘God Nyx’ several times and could already determine that They were likely a bloodborne myth.

The most puzzling aspect was the behavior of Their followers, which resembled a righteous God’s church rather than followers of a bloodborne myth!

If these two had been in cahoots all along, it would make sense.

Indeed, there was no way Bertrand, that useless minion, could have forcibly summoned him. Only a Legendary or even a God could accomplish that!

If it were a Legendary, it wouldn’t be so quiet, and he wouldn’t have been caught off guard. Only a God could ignore his will and summon him before he could react!

Thinking this, Albrecht’s expression fluctuated.

“No, I can’t stay here. I need to find a place to heal and lay low for a while…”

He glanced at his severed arm and muttered to himself.

Maybe those ambitious Legendaries would be thrilled to hear about a newly resurrected God, thinking it was their chance to kill a God and take their place.

But Albrecht, always prudent and low-key, had no intention of confronting them. He firmly believed that opportunities came with risks, and even a 1% risk was 100% if bad luck struck.

As an immortal being, he could afford to wait patiently, achieving his goals bit by bit without taking rash risks, especially life-threatening ones.

‘God Nyx’ could kick Valaroka back into the seal with one foot, although this might partly be due to Valaroka’s weakened state, the ‘God’ Themselves likely had regained a significant portion of Their power.

He had no reason to rush into danger.

“Better to find a safe place to sleep for a few years, waiting for the Archduke’s summons. I’ve done enough over the years, even lost an arm and suffered serious injuries to strike at the church…”

“The cult still has other apostles, anyone willing to charge ahead can do so! The Archduke will surely understand.”

Albrecht muttered to himself, quickly making up his mind.

He was indeed seriously injured. Although his severed arm could regenerate given time, the power left by Louis V was hard to remove.

He was now so weak that he would need to consider avoiding even a Blazing Sun. He indeed needed to heal.

Taking a deep breath, Albrecht picked a direction and quickly fled as a shadow.

He chose the northeast.

He planned to go to Eastern Yunette Blacklands, a haven for mercenaries with chaotic beliefs, no unified power, and many ruins, perfect for hiding!

Albrecht concealed his presence, quickly distancing himself, eager to leave Crescent immediately.

However, after fleeing for four or five minutes, he suddenly reappeared and stopped.

Clutching his wound, he looked around, his expression filled with doubt and alarm.

Toppled gravestones, withered and rotting trees, circling crows, and flickering ghost lights… Even though he had fled over forty kilometers, he was still in that small graveyard!

Something was wrong…

Albrecht’s heart sank. He became highly alert, scanning his surroundings, then saw the circling crows perching on branches, slowly turning their heads to stare at him.

The endless cawing stopped, the faint ghost lights extinguished, and the world fell silent, save for the flickering crimson eyes and the large blood moon hanging in the sky.

The next moment, Albrecht saw crimson mist spreading from all directions, quickly enveloping the entire world… In the mist, the surroundings began to warp and change.

The crows disappeared, the withered trees vanished, and the gravestones were gone. In their place were dark stone walls, ancient and magnificent chandeliers, and cold, hard floors.

He was not in the graveyard but in a majestic and solemn ancient castle. The castle walls were adorned with vivid murals, depicting stories of Gods and their followers.

Before him, layers of steps extended, converging on a mist-shrouded high platform. He saw an ancient throne at the center of the platform.

And on the throne, a graceful figure shrouded in crimson mist sat lazily…

Seeing the divine symbols around the throne and the pair of smirking golden-red eyes in the mist, Albrecht’s eyes widened instantly, his face turning pale, his entire being in distress.

“Thorny… Rose…”

“God Nyx!”

His throat went dry, his voice trembling.