Charlotte had a rough idea of what the "key" Guardian's Staff was referring to.

As the source of Harald's Bloodline powers and an existence with a higher status than the Divine Artifact of the Holy Royal Court, there was only one such item in Charlotte's possession, deeply integrated with her—the Blood Holy Scripture.

As for why Harald knew about the Blood Holy Scripture, considering his relationship with Lilith, and since the Blood Holy Scripture was crafted by Lilith, it was no secret to Harald.

Of course, following the current course of history, when Charlotte and Lilith's positions are fully integrated, Harald would probably view the Blood Holy Scripture as something crafted by Charlotte herself.

Regardless, leaving this as a contingency plan was indeed clever.

Exactly, a contingency.

Charlotte was confident that the so-called "key" was definitely Harald's contingency plan.

Harald knew of the Sun Divine Palace's existence, and whether it was the Wisdom Divine Artifact, Guardian's Staff, created specifically for Charlotte's arrival, or the Blood Holy Scripture as a backup "key"... all signs indicated that he likely foresaw this day before he went into slumber.

"The Divine Artifacts of the Church are currently all in the hands of the High Tier priests. Since the Sun Divine Palace has decided to act during the succession ceremony, the control over these Divine Artifacts has likely been mostly infiltrated, hasn't it?"

Charlotte asked.

"Indeed, but ultimately, the owner of the Divine Artifacts is my lord. As long as my lord has not fallen, they cannot completely seize the control of the Divine Artifacts with their power!"

"Over the years, I've occasionally issued Oracles in the name of my lord, giving them the false impression that my lord hasn't completely fallen into slumber, which is why they haven't dared to openly seize the power of the Royal Court, only slowly infiltrating over millennia."

"They're afraid of my lord's awakening, which also means they can only borrow my lord's Divine Artifacts' power. Borrowed power can always be blocked by higher authority."

Guardian's Staff respectfully replied.

"But this intervention must be executed silently, without raising alarms, and it must be completed before the succession ceremony, correct?"

Charlotte continued to ask.

"Correct, so in the coming days, I will do my best to help you establish contact with the many Divine Artifacts of the Royal Court and strengthen their control. This is one of the reasons for my existence; I can sense the state of all Holy Divine Artifacts. According to my calculations, it will take you at most a month to achieve indirect control over my lord's Divine Artifacts!"

Guardian's Staff replied.

Charlotte nodded slightly.

Guardian's Staff had made thorough preparations, and the plan was well thought out. If she could seize control of the Divine Artifacts first, defeating the infiltrative forces of the Sun Divine Palace, conquering the Holy Royal Court would be a piece of cake.

However, Charlotte still didn't feel completely assured.

She always felt that things couldn't progress this smoothly, especially considering her premonition of a threat deep within the Holy Capital hadn't vanished.

The mythical crisis only manifests when facing a real threat, indicating either a hidden force providing an overwhelming advantage over Charlotte exists in the Holy Capital, or... there's a specific, targeted threat against Charlotte.

Of these two options, the first can be ruled out, because if there were truly an overwhelming force, the Sun Divine Palace would have already acted.

There is also a resonance between primordial powers; Charlotte sensed no strength from Helios, indicating Helios wasn't present in the Holy Capital. Of course, even if He were, during a magic power low tide, Charlotte was confident she could retreat unscathed.

Thus... it must be the second scenario.

There may already be a special "trap" set in the Holy Capital specifically for Charlotte!

Charlotte had considered whether the Sun Divine Palace might possess its own Divine Artifact capable of threatening mythical safety.

But she quickly dismissed this idea.

The reason was simple: if they truly had a Divine Artifact capable of threatening myth, Helios would have used it long ago; there'd be no need for such complexity.

This is also related to the history of the Holy Royal Court.

From what Charlotte knew, at its peak, to avoid Mireya Continent being plunged into a myth-level destructive war like the Mythical Era and Blood Moon Era again, the Holy Royal Court had confiscated almost all powerful Divine Artifacts on Mireya Continent by various means, melting them down and sealing them as the Holy Royal Court's Holy Divine Artifacts.

In other words, those Divine Artifacts capable of threatening Charlotte were, in fact, all within the Holy Royal Court.

After some thought, Charlotte said:

"Guardian's Staff, since you can sense the states of Divine Artifacts, are any of those God Slaying Divine Artifacts currently in a state of readiness? Or were any powerful Divine Artifacts confiscated by the Royal Court centuries ago ever forged into a Holy Divine Artifact?"

Guardian's Staff contemplated for a moment and said:

"True Ancestor, according to my senses, there are currently no powerful Divine Artifacts in a state of readiness, and a millennium ago, during the Royal Court's confiscation, the Sun Divine Palace's infiltration wasn't as severe as today, so no powerful Divine Artifacts leaked out."

"As far as I know, the Sun Divine Palace's higher-ups are likely aware of your identity, just as we're concerned about alarming them; they... are equally worried about alerting you. Before the succession ceremony, they won't act against us."

"Of course, they're unaware of my abilities; to them, I'm just a gatekeeper of my lord's Divine Country; they don't even know I'm a Wisdom Divine Artifact!"

Upon hearing this from the Wisdom Divine Artifact, Charlotte nodded and fell into contemplation.

"True Ancestor, may I ask... do you perceive any flaws in this plan?"

Seeing Charlotte's furrowed brow as she pondered, Guardian's Staff respectfully inquired.

Charlotte thought for a moment and said:

"Your plan sounds good, but my spiritual sense tells me that things may not be that straightforward."

"I sense a threat from the depths of the Holy Palace, if that's not the God Slaying Divine Artifact of the Church, then there must be other traps in the Sun Divine Palace."

Upon hearing Charlotte's words, Sebastian and Nisi's expressions instantly became solemn, even the Guardian's Staff looked serious.

After pondering for a moment, Charlotte asked again:

"Guardian's Staff, think back carefully, have all the mythical-level divine artifacts on the continent truly been confiscated by the Royal Court?"

The Guardian's Staff once again sank into contemplation and memories.

After a while, it shook its head:

"They should all have been retrieved, that was when the Royal Court was at its most powerful. Even though My Lord was asleep, merely by relying on the leftover power, there weren't many myths on the entire continent that could rival it, which made the retrieval of strong divine artifacts by the Royal Court go quite smoothly."

After speaking, it thought for a moment and then added:

"If there's anything that hasn't been retrieved, it would only be the missing you and the overseas Sea God Church and Moon God Church."

Upon hearing this, Charlotte's expression changed instantly:

"Wait, are you saying that the divine artifacts of the Sea God Church and Moon God Church haven't been confiscated by the Holy Royal Court?"

"Of course, the Sea God Church and Moon God Church are, after all, mainstream churches on the continent, Sea King Your Majesty and Moon God Your Majesty are strong deities themselves, even My Lord must show them a certain level of respect."

The Guardian's Staff replied as a matter of course.

Upon hearing this, Charlotte's expression became serious, even Sebastian and Nisi's expressions changed slightly.

The Guardian's Staff noticed the unusual atmosphere.

"Could it be... has something happened to the Sea God Church and Moon God Church?"

It looked at Charlotte and the others and cautiously asked.

"Moon God Island has been infiltrated by the Sun Divine Palace's forces, the entire island has been closed off for over three years now, and as for the Sea God Church... it has long since become non-existent."

Charlotte sighed.

Upon hearing her words, the Guardian's Staff widened its eyes instantly:

"What? They... have been infiltrated by the Sun Divine Palace as well?! Your meaning is, could it be that the Supreme Divine Artifacts of the Sea God and Moon God fell into the hands of the Sun Divine Palace?"

"Very likely."

Charlotte nodded.

She was familiar with Sea King Oceanus's Supreme Divine Artifact.

It was the Sea King Trident, an offensive divine artifact, which exerts its greatest power in the ocean.

This divine artifact was peculiar, when Charlotte crossed over to the past she even fiddled with it; it was nearly invincible on the ocean, but once it came ashore, it became no different than ordinary divine artifacts.

As for Moon God Artemis's Supreme Divine Artifact, Charlotte also knew it well, it was the most powerful sealing divine artifact on the Mireya Continent, named Moon Dream Heart, said to be able to suppress True Gods.

Of course, the cost of activation was high, legend has it that mortals wanting to use it must perform a targeted homogenous sacrifice to the artifact.

Moreover, the stronger the target to be sealed, the more homogenous sacrifice is required.

Wait...

Homogenous sacrifice?

As if realizing something, Charlotte's expression subtly tightened:

"Guardian's Staff, did the Holy Royal Court conduct a large-scale capture of many bloodlines in the Central Diocese recently?"

The Guardian's Staff paused for a moment, then nodded:

"Indeed they did."

"Where are they being held?"

"This... I need to investigate, the prison system of the Royal Court is controlled by the Sun Divine Palace, while waiting for your arrival, I haven't allotted my energy to this matter."

Charlotte closed her eyes.

The Blood Holy Scripture emitted a faint glow, Charlotte once again summoned the Crimson Star Sea representing the bloodline.

Soon, she sensed a large number of bloodline presences, and countless stars appeared throughout the Star Sea.

However, when Charlotte wanted to locate these stars, they suddenly became elusive, as if shrouded in an unseen veil.

After a moment, Charlotte slowly opened her eyes:

"I cannot discern their exact location; they must be obstructed by some divine artifact. Guardian's Staff, you are familiar with the Church Authority Country, try to find out where my bloodline descendants are being held."

…

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.