After a year's time, Norton jumped off the cliff once again.
Good news - building his home on a cliff indeed made for convenient escapes, just like that two-entrance cave.
Bad news - the new home that had taken Norton so long to build had been destroyed again, and along with it, this new dwelling could no longer be inhabited. What's more, due to the werewolves' mobility and formidable tracking abilities, Norton now had to begin a thousand-mile dash to prevent these werewolves from following behind him and continuing their harassment.
The vampire's only weakness lay right here - their growth speed was simply too slow. During this period, he had tried increasing his blood consumption to see if boosting the blood quantity could accelerate his growth rate, but it hadn't produced any effect.
His growth remained extremely sluggish, possibly related to vampires' ultra-slow metabolism.
But did these creatures even have something called metabolism?
Although every vampire that lived long enough probably became an extremely monstrous old creature, the prerequisite was actually being able to survive for such an extended duration.
Originally, Norton had thought vampires could survive quite easily in these wilds without surveillance cameras or satellites. But whether it was the previous monster attacks or this recent werewolf assault, both had completely shattered his naive assumption.
"So why suddenly start hunting me?" The wounds on Norton's body from being pierced by branches were rapidly healing themselves. The flesh on his arm that had been bitten off by the Wolf King had completely regenerated even during his fall from the cliff.
Throughout this entire battle, he hadn't experienced any real pain. The werewolves' attacks still couldn't inflict lethal damage upon him. Unlike being exposed to sunlight or God's statue, which produced that needle-pricking genuine pain sensation.But pain wasn't the main issue - the primary question was why the hell were these damned werewolves hunting him?
"Am I some kind of particularly cheap target?"
Norton felt utterly wronged.
He had been properly minding his own business as a vampire, usually drinking blood without killing animals, just taking small amounts from multiple creatures in separate sessions to maintain sustainable food sources and avoid draining the pond to catch the fish.
As such a well-behaved vampire, could he still be targeted like this?
Norton was genuinely getting angry!
He mentally recorded a serious debt against this pack of werewolves.
"Damn it, they almost made me cry..."
In the darkness, Norton's two crimson eyes looked up toward the cliff top above.
Just at that moment, the howling cries of the werewolf pack echoed from the cliff top.
After their roars, the werewolves on the cliff edge quickly turned and departed.
Yet one werewolf remained standing at the cliff's edge, staring down at Norton who had fallen down the mountain, occasionally emitting growls that resembled communication.
This werewolf seemed to be reporting his position to its companions!
"Am I some kind of particularly despicable target?"
These werewolves were far too clever, and they appeared not to have stopped their pursuit of him.
This made Norton feel quite tense.
Compared to dealing with this pack of werewolves, he'd rather face a group of those steam-powered knights he'd encountered before.
At least those knights had no brains, while these werewolves not only had organization and discipline, but were also extremely cunning, truly the most elite hunters.
Being chased by such a pack of damned elite hunters gave him an intensely oppressive feeling.
"Squeak squeak squeak..."
The dried-up, ghost-like vampire Norton swiftly moved through the dark forest, heading toward Holy Lord City.
The bat that had kept him company for two years flew over from somewhere and landed on him again, using its claws to hang upside down on his wrinkled skin, bumping against his body with each of Norton's running steps.
Norton's expression turned bitter.
All sorts of monsters in the wilderness seemed to want to hunt him, as if he were some kind of Chengdu must-eat delicacy.
Originally he thought that if he just lived long enough, he'd eventually uncover all the secrets. But now it appeared that if he didn't figure things out, he might not even survive very long.
So it had to be the city, it had to be the Church after all!
Because only the Church possessed detailed research about vampires.
"Father, I'm coming to find you."
In the quiet forest, a figure resembling a hellish vengeful spirit swiftly passed between trees, leaving behind only a voice filled with profound resentment.
----
The cotton wick in the white wax was lit. Father Andrew placed the flint in his hand on the divine altar, then picked up the white wax and sequentially lit the candles on the church altar according to their proper order.
In this era, expensive candles could only serve as decorations to highlight God's holiness during church evenings.
The dim firelight illuminated the silver cross hanging on his chest. The polished, smooth surface of the cross even reflected the flickering images of the candle flames.
Who knew what reasoning the Holy Church had for using the weapon that suppressed God's Resurrection as a sacred symbol? In any case, this thinking certainly carried a somewhat insane quality.
Outside the church, the night was pitch black. Inside, despite numerous candle flames, the light remained dim and gloomy.
Holy Lord Cathedral had never been particularly lively, but it always contained plenty of missionaries. Today however, the church was unusually quiet, with only a few missionaries sitting on the choir chairs used for confession, waiting for the recitation to begin.
After lighting all the candles, Father Andrew arranged his face—slightly younger than Father Mia's elderly features—into a compassionate expression.
"May God forgive our sins and grant us..."
Father Andrew made the Church's prayer gesture with both hands, mumbling quietly as he prayed softly.
As his voice rose, the few missionaries sitting on the choir chairs below also bowed their heads one by one, beginning to mumble their prayers.
This counted as Holy Lord Cathedral's nightly compulsory ritual, though today's attendance was clearly much smaller than usual.
After the Holy Inquisition Tribunal's year-long judgment, Holy Lord City's population had been reduced to less than one-tenth of its former numbers.
What followed was a dramatic reduction in food sources, along with the emergence of plague.
This made conditions within Holy Lord City even more destitute.
Yet thanks to the greatly reduced population, this plague didn't spread too wildly, showing its power mainly only in Holy Lord Cathedral where population density remained relatively high.
At least those knights had no brains, while these werewolves not only had organization and discipline, but were also extremely cunning, truly worthy of being called the most elite hunters.
Understanding Holy Lord Cathedral's sharp population decline requires analysis within the overall context.
The reduction in food sources didn't mean fewer people farming and raising livestock led to less food. Actually, with fewer people, there was less food because Holy Lord Cathedral consumed human soup!
To ensure the Church upper echelons could enjoy better meat provisions while still unable to go outside, the acolytes who had been raised in captivity since childhood became the best food source.
Thus the number of acolytes had been gradually decreasing during this period.
Meanwhile, the arrival of plague caused continuing losses among the missionaries who ventured outside.
This combination resulted in Holy Lord Cathedral's current desolate appearance.