Werewolves, the offspring of God's union with a she-wolf.
This world actually has another type of monster called the human-headed wolf. This is a monster born from God's union with a male wolf.
However, since male wolves cannot naturally conceive, the human-headed wolf has gone extinct.
Norton had seen images of human-headed wolves in monster encyclopedia books - bizarre creatures with human heads and wolf bodies.
But their strength was far inferior to werewolves.
Whether it was God's genes being exceptionally superior or the werewolf species having overwhelmingly powerful genetics.
Werewolves themselves were far stronger than either wolves or humans.
Because their size differed from wolves, werewolves would be rejected and expelled from their packs after being raised to a certain size, so adult werewolves were typically solitary creatures.
While they could be tamed by humans like wolves, their smarter brains meant they lacked unwavering loyalty, and their cunning minds made them even more difficult to domesticate.
In summary, these creatures were natural hunters combining cunning, brutality, strength, and savagery.
And now, these natural hunters were focusing their attention on Norton.
Blood-red eyes glowed with crimson light in the darkness. This level of luminescence significantly reduced stealth attack success rates, but undoubtedly enhanced their intimidating presence.
Those scarlet eyes rotated within the pitch-black window cracks. Though completely blood-red without distinction between whites and pupils, they strangely gave the impression of focusing on specific locations.
In Norton's vision, deep within the dark forest, werewolves over 1.8 meters tall with robust builds were gathering on all fours.
And their gathering target was his cabin.
This was strange.
These werewolves weren't short on food currently. While Holy Lord City might have food shortages, this dense forest teemed with species that had flourished over the past three years, like wild dogs.
If they wanted food, they could easily hunt other creatures. Why were they fixated on skin-and-bones Norton?
This was exactly like the human-faced birds he encountered before! Even when they had already caught prey, they would abandon it to hunt him.
What exactly did he, Norton, possess that attracted these monsters?
Could it be because he drank the Holy Knights' blood?
The Holy Knights' blood allowed Norton to skip an entire vampire stage. This blood was clearly a precious product cultivated by the Church through mysterious means.
If this blood could have similar effects on any species, then these werewolves hunting him would make sense.
But when the human-faced birds hunted him, he hadn't yet consumed the Holy Knights' blood.
"Chirp chirp chirp......"
The bat hanging from the dark wooden cabin's ceiling seemed to detect something unusual. It opened its mouth to emit strange syllables, then fell from above Norton's head, landing on his shoulder before using hook-like claws to grip Norton's wrinkled, stiff, tree-bark-like skin.
Norton grabbed it and peeled it off himself, then bent down to pick up the Holy Knight armor piled in the corner, putting it on piece by piece.
The werewolves outside seemed to want to surround him.
Norton remembered from previous life movies that werewolves and vampires were natural rivals, but those were previous life movies with completely different story structures from this life's Church records.
"Entering the city means facing the Church's unpredictable methods - a single God portrait can pinpoint and strike me. Staying in the wilderness means dangers everywhere. I haven't even entered the river, otherwise aquatic creatures would tear me apart and feast!
No wonder Kuba was so unbalanced - he must have had a terrible time surviving in the wild."
Norton sighed, then used his withered, slender hands to pick up the golden great sword from the ground.
His current physical condition resembled the bat's membranous wings - essentially skin stretched over bones, with just enough flesh to avoid complete desiccation.
His wrinkled skin was tough and bark-like, but clearly provided excellent defense.
His hands had shriveled from dryness, making his fingers appear elongated and grotesque, with hard, sharp nails.
His body remained perpetually at its peak condition, giving him endless strength. Combined with his current build and characteristics, Norton even felt that not wearing armor or using weapons to maximize his body's agility might be the optimal combat approach.
But facing a pack of werewolves, he thought it better to suit up.
Whenever Norton moved in his steel armor, it produced metallic friction sounds.
His atrophied flesh made the steel armor fit somewhat poorly now.
Two crimson eyes flickered within the steel helmet as Norton's nose detected the musky odor of werewolves carried on the air.
Norton's withered face showed no expression, but his mind raced with thoughts.
Through the increasingly strong werewolf scent on the wind and the glowing green eyes approaching through darkness, Norton could confirm these werewolves were specifically coming for him.
And they displayed remarkable organization and discipline.
Norton didn't understand why these werewolves were so determined to hunt him, but he felt that with his vampire's monstrous regeneration abilities, he could attempt to fight back.
After all, werewolves didn't possess the Church's ability to deal true damage to him.
The vampire's robust physique and near-immortal capabilities left Norton feeling surprisingly calm. Instead, becoming a vampire seemed to have awakened a previously unknown brutal temperament when facing such situations.
"Grrrrrr......"
Norton could already hear the wolf-like growls of werewolves in the air, making him heighten his alertness.
His surroundings seemed to sharpen within his enhanced senses, and Norton's crimson eyes glowed even more intensely.
"After this is over, I must go to the city. The wilderness is no place for anyone to stay!"
"Awooo!!!"
A piercing werewolf howl erupted through the dark forest.
Following this cry, the sound of numerous werewolf footfalls charging forward instantly filled the air.
Dozens of four-legged dark figures burst from the forest, rapidly pouncing toward Norton's wooden cabin in a coordinated assault.