Gospel of Blood

Chapter 328: Retreat

“Oh? They found this place so quickly? Castell’s speed is quite impressive…”

Upon hearing the girl’s words, the male noble looked surprised. After thinking for a moment, he said,

“It must be the secret passages in the castle that were discovered. For them to find this place so quickly, it should be Castell’s vanguard…”

The Blood Demon Priest’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Unlike the male noble, as an experienced Blood Demon Priest, he knew that at such a critical moment, Eudoxia’s reaction wasn’t simply about someone intruding here.

Especially since it had led to her avatar’s self-destruction…

“Who is it?”

He asked with a serious expression.

Eudoxia closed her eyes and sensed for a moment, then said,

“It’s a familiar aura. It should be that elf who once allied with Castell. Besides… there’s also the aura of a bloodborne, and it’s very strong, even stronger than his.”

“Elf? Sebastian? Bloodborne?”

The Blood Demon Priest was slightly taken aback, then his expression turned solemn.

A weakened elf wasn’t enough to make him feel threatened, but the problem was, after their last encounter, he knew that elf might have recovered his strength.

And it would be very troublesome if that elf was fully recovered.

Adding a bloodborne of similar or even greater strength made the situation worse.

Although he could activate the Fallen Grace to gain power to counter them with God’s help, it would only be short-term.

If they couldn’t achieve a quick victory, it would be full of uncertainties.

“Eudoxia, stop the ritual. Take the container and the sacrifice core, and we’ll retreat.”

The Blood Demon Priest decisively commanded.

The middle-aged noble was stunned.

“Retreat? Priest, you’re saying we should retreat?”

“No, we’ve prepared for this day for so long, even sacrificing the entire Lagrisse family. Why retreat now?”

The Blood Demon Priest glanced at him.

“The Third Prince has already failed, and this ritual was a hastily prepared last resort…”

“Those chasing us are not ordinary people but those with Blazing Sun strength. Battling Blazing Sun is too risky, not to mention there’s more than one!”

“I’ve met Sebastian. It was impossible for him to recover his strength on his own, yet he did…”

“Lord Chait, you’re a core believer of our Blood Demon Cult and aware of some of the intelligence we’ve gathered. I think… you should know what this implies…”

Hearing the Blood Demon Priest’s words, the male noble’s expression changed.

The Blood Demon Cult had been plotting in the Northlands for many years, mainly leveraging various forces’ ambitions to subtly gain control, building power for the Blood Demon Archduke upon his descent.

After the failed ritual in Borde City, they had an additional task: using the ancient temples hidden in the Northlands to attempt summoning the Blood Demon Archduke again.

However, since the ritual in Borde was thwarted by a mysterious “God”, the Blood Demon Cult had faced numerous setbacks, with every plan falling apart at critical moments…

The Blood Demon Cultists weren’t fools.

The targeted nature of these setbacks over the past year was too obvious, all stemming from the failed ritual in Borde and the mysterious God dubbed “God Nyx” by the Holy Court.

“That… mysterious Evil God? You mean to say, he is backed by that mysterious Evil God?!”

The noble exclaimed.

“It’s possible.”

The Blood Demon Priest said solemnly.

Then he began gathering the sacrificial items while speaking.

“Suitable containers are hard to find, and accumulating the sacrifice core takes time, but there are multiple ancient temples…”

“Besides, we’ve already obtained the power here. Even if we leave, we can perform the ritual elsewhere.”

He took out a crystal-clear statue from his robes.

The statue was identical to the one in the ancient temple, its features indistinct, emitting a misty glow, hinting at some mysterious power.

“For the Archduke’s grand plan, it’s better to be cautious.”

The Blood Demon Priest said, putting away the statue.

“And… what about her?”

The noble pointed to the unconscious Laura de Lagrisse not far away.

The priest’s eyes flashed.

“She’s just a sacrifice. It’s a pity, but we can’t take too many burdens with us. Deal with her.”

He signaled Eudoxia with his eyes, but the girl didn’t move.

“Eudoxia?”

The Blood Demon Priest frowned.

“Leave her. Accumulating power again will be difficult. Keeping her might be useful later.”

The girl said.

The Blood Demon Priest was momentarily stunned, then narrowed his eyes at Eudoxia and Laura, and spoke in a deep voice.

“Then leave her here. Mark her, and we’ll retrieve her later.”

The male noble was dissatisfied with this decision, but seeing the other two had decided, he could only look regretfully at Laura on the ground, reluctantly preparing to leave.

…

Sebastian and Yurst encountered no further resistance.

They advanced unimpeded until they reached the grand temple.

By the time they arrived, there was no trace of the Blood Demon Cultists, only a large blood pool surrounded by the corpses of Lagrisse family members, indicating a recent sacrifice.

“That’s the Desecrated Cross, a sacrificial artifact of the Blood Demon Archduke, capable of blocking other entities’ detection.”

Yurst said, looking at the cross in the blood pool.

Soon, he also saw the unconscious Laura on the ground.

“Bloodborne?”

Sensing her aura, Yurst was surprised.

Sebastian was not.

“She’s Laura, the head of the Lagrisse family.”

Looking around, he said,

“It seems the Blood Demon Cult abandoned the Lagrisse family. The disturbance we caused must have alarmed them, prompting their retreat.”

“Ha, those guys are getting more cautious.”

Yurst took a deep breath and frowned.

“With the Desecrated Cross here, they didn’t leave any traces. Tracking them down will be difficult.”

“What do you think? Should we pursue them?”

“No need…”

Sebastian shook his head.

He walked to the center of the altar, looking at the demon eye on the cross and the thorny rose symbol below it, carved by a cat’s paw, with a peculiar expression.

“They’re carrying the True Ancestor’s locator. Since they’ve left here, the True Ancestor probably knows where they are already.”