Gospel of Blood

The Elder who exclaimed did not lower his voice.

For a moment, everyone around heard how he addressed Charlotte.

“Lord ‘Savior’? Is Lord Cain the legendary ‘Savior’?!”

“Lord Lilith and Lord Harald called her teacher, could it be… could she really be the one?!”

“Praise the ‘Savior’! Lady Lilith! Lord Harald! Is this true?!”

“Is Lord Cain really our ‘Savior’?!”

“Our Divine… is actually real!”

The surrounding soldiers and citizens quickly fell into excitement and agitation.

Lilith and Harald hesitated.

“Yes, Lord ‘Cain’ is our teacher. The meditation method we taught you was originally imparted to us by our teacher.”

“Our teacher… is the pioneer who bestowed us the key to the extraordinary!”

Upon hearing Lilith and Harald’s words, the surrounding crowd erupted in cheers.

“The Savior! It’s really the Savior!”

“Praise you! Great Savior! We have finally awaited your arrival!”

The crowd cheered loudly, their expressions growing increasingly fervent. Some people, unable to control themselves, even wept and were about to worship Charlotte on the spot.

The intense enthusiasm startled Charlotte.

Lilith quickly noticed Charlotte’s discomfort with the crowd’s fervor. She cleared her throat and kicked the still-astonished Commander Bardock. After he came to his senses, she signaled him to maintain order.

Commander Bardock, also filled with excitement and many unsaid words, followed Lilith’s example and brought the excited soldiers back to their senses, then led them to maintain order.

Taking this opportunity, Lilith loudly addressed the crowd.

“Everyone, calm down. This is the teacher’s first visit to our Dawn City. As followers of the ‘Savior’, please maintain restraint.”

After speaking, she took Charlotte’s hand and said.

“Teacher, it’s not convenient to talk here. Please come with us to the tower.”

Looking at the growing crowd, Charlotte nodded.

Although she was used to being the center of attention, she wasn’t prepared to meet such a large group of fervent “fans” so suddenly, leaving her a bit disoriented and uncomfortable.

Moreover, she had many questions she wanted to ask the two of them.

With the warriors escorting them, Charlotte, Lilith, and Harald entered the central tower of Dawn City. Once inside, things quieted down.

Charlotte curiously looked around the familiar yet unfamiliar tower, subconsciously comparing it to the Royal Library from her own time.

“This is the Tower of Freedom, although… we still habitually call it the Central Tower. We conquered this place five years ago, completely overthrowing the Tower Kingdom and driving those elf rulers from our land. Now it has become the capital of our Free City-state.”

Lilith explained.

Charlotte nodded slightly.

She had already heard from Bardock many times about the “revolution” led by Lilith and Harald against the elves’ rule.

They led Charlotte to the master’s room in the tower.

Unlike the other places in the tower with elvish decorations, this room was quite simple, furnished in a typical human style.

Charlotte almost immediately recognized that this place was modeled after their home in the North Mountain Tribe, with the same furniture and arrangement, even the room she once stayed in was almost exactly replicated.

She instinctively sat at the simple wooden table in the center of the room, the same spot she often sat in during her first “time travel.”

“Teacher, this is your favorite fruit wine from the tribe. Harald has been arranging for its brewing every year, and today we finally get to see you drink it again!”

Lilith took out a bone cup and a wine container, respectfully pouring a drink for Charlotte.

Then she and Harald sat down on either side of Charlotte, looking at her with joyful eyes.

“When we received the report from the legion, we suspected it might be you based on their description. It turned out to really be you.”

“Being able to meet you again is truly delightful.”

Seeing their joyous expressions, Charlotte was filled with emotion.

A long-awaited reunion is always joyful.

Although it was only in a “dream” and she still couldn’t be sure if it was real or another “time travel”, seeing Lilith and Harald again made her genuinely happy.

She looked at the two people who were now vastly different from her memory, feeling the immense power of time.

Fourteen years had passed in the blink of an eye between a “sleep” and an “awake.”

Though Charlotte hadn’t changed much, for the two mortals, they had experienced so much.

The once small children who used to follow her around had now grown into leaders of their faction.

The two who once only reached her chest in height now towered over her, with even the shorter Lilith standing taller than Charlotte.

Their strength had also approached Charlotte’s, both nearing the peak of the Blazing Sun tier.

Of course, some things hadn’t changed much.

For instance, their enduring admiration and closeness to Charlotte.

And their contrasting personalities, one warm and one cold, seemed even more distinct.

Overall, though, Charlotte felt the passage of time keenly.

“Your changes are truly great.”

Charlotte couldn’t help but sigh, looking at the two before her.

“You don’t seem to have changed much, still so young and beautiful.”

Lilith remarked.

“Me? I wish I could grow taller. This small and youthful body always makes me seem like a child wherever I go.”

Charlotte half-jokingly complained, rubbing her shoulder. Charlotte was referring to her height.

But hearing her words, Lilith’s eyes couldn’t help but fall on Charlotte’s chest.

This time, Charlotte wore a fine elvish mithril dress armor, which was elegant and snug-fitting.

After looking at Charlotte’s somewhat curved upper body, Lilith then glanced at her own flat chest, feeling even more quiet.

Yes, time can change many things.

But some sad facts cannot change with time.

Charlotte, of course, noticed Lilith’s expression.

She looked down at herself, then at Lilith, immediately realizing what was going on, feeling both awkward and amused.

She sighed and patted Lilith’s shoulder.

“Well, don’t be discouraged, Lilith. You’re only twenty, there’s still room for your body to develop.”

Lilith: …

Seeing she nearly killed the conversation with a few words, Charlotte quickly changed the topic.

“Alright, let’s change the subject. I’m really happy to see you again, but… I want to know what happened over the years. What about Hafdan and Tamia? How are they?”

However, this time the atmosphere grew even more somber.

Charlotte realized she had touched a sore spot. Both Lilith and Harald’s expressions darkened significantly.

She guessed that Hafdan and Tamia had probably passed away, remembering what Bardock mentioned about the North Mountain Tribe’s destruction years ago. She felt a pang of sorrow.

Just as Charlotte hesitated whether to ask further, Lilith spoke.

“Father and Mother… have been gone for many years now.”

Gone… for many years?

Though she had guessed as much, hearing it from Lilith still made Charlotte sad.

She had only known Hafdan and Tamia for half a month.

But she liked that warm-hearted and simple couple very much and didn’t expect them to have passed away by her second time travel.

Charlotte still vividly remembered meeting Hafdan for the first time.

Her first time travel left her in a snowstorm, unconscious for an unknown period. If not for encountering Hafdan, she might have perished in the storm.

That would have been ridiculous: a dignified Northern Count, the Master of the Gospel of Blood, the nominal True Ancestor of Blood freezing to death in a snowstorm.

So, Charlotte had always been grateful to the Storm Hunter Hafdan for saving her during her first time travel.

“What exactly happened? I heard the North Mountain Tribe was destroyed years ago. Is it related to that?”

Charlotte couldn’t help but ask.

“You… already know?”

Lilith inquired.

“I heard some things from Bardock on the way here, but he didn’t know much. I’ve only just woken from my slumber and know nothing of what happened these fourteen years.”

Charlotte explained.

Hearing this, Lilith and Harald exchanged a knowing look.

“So, your ‘disappearance’ was really because you were in a slumber…”

Lilith muttered.

She sighed deeply and began to recount the events.

“It’s a long story. Everything started the day you disappeared…”