Angel's Thorn

Lord Leo's face lit up with joy. "Qian Nan, you truly are an excellent soldier. I won't hold your mistake just now against you. My two servants and I have traveled for a long time and need rest. You can stand guard for me tonight."

Charlotte welcomed Lord Leo into the adventurer camp. The middle-aged Blood Kindred chose a large tree, leaned against the trunk, and feigned sleep. His two servants stood guard by their master in shifts, clearly not trusting the group of adventurers.

Charlotte wiped the sweat from his forehead, moved away from Lord Leo, found a secluded spot, and plopped down.

First, he had traveled all day, then fought a battle. The sudden incident just now was incredibly thrilling and dangerous, making his adrenaline surge, but afterwards, the exhaustion was doubled. Charlotte felt sore all over, not wanting to move even a little finger.

Although he had temporarily escaped the crisis by reacting quickly, Lord Leo would eventually discover that he wasn't one of their own.

Once Lord Leo found out he wasn't from the House of Adonis, but had cultivated the Bloody Glory, which the Blood Kindred detested most, how could he save his life from the wrath of this high-level Transcendent?

Charlotte still hadn't figured out a way.

He knew that at this moment, although it seemed safe, it was actually full of hidden dangers. A slight mistake could cost him his life. After recovering some stamina, even though his body was still very tired, he forced himself to gather his spirit, circulate the Protagoras Breathing Method, and quickly digest Winterburn's life essence.

Lord Leo's spear had pierced through Winterburn's body, but he hadn't devoured his life force. High-level Blood Kindred valued the purity of blood energy more. Uncontrolled, frantic devouring of life force could easily lead to degeneration into a monster, so they wouldn't casually devour prey of a lower Transcendent rank than themselves, only occasionally supplementing a little.

But for Charlotte, the life essence of a Rank 4 Knight was too precious. He hadn't grown to the level where he needed to "be picky" about food, which was why he had delivered that extra blow.

After more than a hundred breaths, when all the life essence had transformed into Bloody Glory, Charlotte didn't open the fifth Bloody Vortex. Instead, he chose to condense a Bloody Rune—Angel's Thorn!

The reason he made this choice was because of the Blood Rose!

Angel's Thorn was one of the Thirteen Wonders of Bloody Glory and the foundation of the House of Asilo's Blood Kindred secret technique.

The House of Asilo was one of the Three Imperial Blood Kindred Families, highly skilled in martial arts. Their swordsmanship was the best among the Thirty-Seven Blood Kindred Clans. As the foundation of the House of Asilo's Blood Kindred secret technique, Angel's Thorn was not only a Transcendent secret technique but also a Transcendent swordsmanship, renowned throughout the Old Continent.

In the secret scrolls of Bloody Glory, the records about Angel's Thorn were vague. No one knew how the great philosopher Protagoras learned this secret technique, integrated it, and included it in Bloody Glory.

In the four universities of the Empire, there were already few students who cultivated Bloody Glory. Since the death of the great philosopher Protagoras, others had successfully cultivated the other wondrous techniques and runes, but Angel's Thorn had never been successfully cultivated by anyone.

Many scholars, after studying Protagoras's secret scrolls and the customs of the House of Asilo, came to the conclusion that cultivating Angel's Thorn required the "inheritance" of the Blood Kindred.

The elders of the House of Asilo would condense their entire cultivation into a special "seed." Only a Blood Kindred who received this "seed" could successfully cultivate Angel's Thorn and embark on the cultivation of the House of Asilo's Blood Kindred secret technique.

Although Protagoras gifted the secret scrolls to the four universities, he himself never took any disciples. Later, after Fars and Byron established diplomatic relations and announced that humans cultivating Bloody Glory were not allowed to enter their borders, no human could obtain the inheritance of Angel's Thorn.

The Blood Rose being able to forcibly break open the fourth Bloody Vortex indicated that it contained the previous owner's insights into the House of Asilo's Blood Kindred secret technique.

Charlotte didn't want to waste this opportunity.

He reached out and touched it. The Blood Rose felt slightly warm and transformed into a stream of blood-colored light that merged into his left arm.

In the Bloody Vortex of his left arm, this Magic Rapier transformed into a sword-shaped rune structure, constantly vibrating and gracefully thrusting.

Charlotte closed his eyes slightly, and countless strange and ruthless sword techniques appeared in his mind. Each move was incredible, as fast as lightning and thunder.

Fortunately, he had had two experiences of "directly facing" an Evil God, and his spiritual sensitivity was so high that it could rival a high-level Transcendent, allowing him to deeply imprint these sword techniques into his mind and fully accept this inheritance from the House of Asilo.

About several hours later, near dawn, Charlotte opened his eyes. A faint blood-colored electric light flickered in his gaze. He exhaled deeply, and with a flick of his hand, the Blood Rose appeared out of thin air.

He held the Vampiric Rapier in his palm, caressing it carefully, and thought to himself, This Supernatural Weapon gifted by Louis might have some history. He might have gotten the Spear of Sharlons through sheer luck, but to also get this Vampiric Rapier, there might be another hidden reason.

Louis probably doesn't know the origins of these two weapons, otherwise, he would never have given one of them to me.

I have a feeling this matter might still cause some trouble!

Charlotte heard someone call "Qian Nan's" name. He didn't have time to contemplate the newly acquired ability and quickly stood up, running to Lord Leo's side.

The Blood Kindred Lord from Byron had already woken up. Seeing Charlotte, he smiled slightly and said, "I brought some Blood Bait. Would you like a couple?"

Blood Bait was a type of blood food made with Magic, one of the Blood Kindred's favorite foods. It could be carried around and preserved for a long time.

Because the raw material for Blood Bait was 100% human blood, and Charlotte was a human, both in his past life and this one, he was repulsed by this food. He had a psychological barrier.

Charlotte smiled slightly and said, "I brought a Blood Servant."

Lord Leo nodded slightly and didn't press the matter. Instead, served by his two servants, he had a simple yet luxurious breakfast.

The two servants spread a picnic cloth on the ground, took out exquisite tableware, and placed Blood Bait and some pastries on tin plates. They also took out a beautiful wine flask and matching tin wine cups.

After Lord Leo finished his meal, he wiped his mouth with a red napkin and said, "We can set off now."

The two servants quickly packed up the picnic cloth, tableware, wine flask, and wine cups. They stood closely behind their master, protecting him, and didn't say a word the entire time.

Charlotte called for someone to go into Maple Leaf Village and summon the female adventurers. After tidying up the camp, they surrounded Lord Leo and set off towards Machu Picchu.

After a morning of long-distance travel, Charlotte was complaining endlessly. He had truly never suffered like this before.

None of the adventurers he had gathered owned mounts because their income was low.

As for Lord Leo, high-level Blood Kindred were faster than ordinary mounts, whether for long-distance raids or short sprints. As a spy infiltrating another country, bringing a mount was inconvenient and unnecessary.

He also felt awkward getting a horse for himself!

Furthermore, they hadn't passed through any large towns during their escape, so there was no way to buy a horse.

Charlotte increasingly missed the Agility Technique rune that he hadn't been able to cultivate.