One of the classic medieval nightmares, the werewolf, had now become a headless corpse, being dragged away like a dead dog by church knights using hook chains.
The combat power comparison between heavily armored knights and beasts was strikingly clear.
This made Norton, hiding in the distant grass, feel a chill running down his spine.
Good thing he hadn't lost his mind and rushed back to seek revenge on that idiot Mia after becoming a vampire, otherwise he'd be dead without even knowing how.
These church knights were absolutely monstrous!
Their physical abilities didn't seem to exceed human limits, but they had definitely undergone rigorous training, enabling them to remain so powerful while wearing heavy armor.
Moreover, these church knights possessed exceptional combat prowess—utterly fearless, taking the initiative from start to finish without retreating a single step!
Damn it, how was Norton supposed to survive in the cracks when the Holy Church cultivated so many monsters?
The recent battle scene sobered up Norton, who had been secretly delighted about becoming a vampire.
"The Church really has some tricks up its sleeve, probably with special countermeasures against vampires too. These church knights are trained beyond belief!"Norton quietly hid in the grass, watching the departing church knights as he pondered.
He had walked all afternoon but, unfamiliar with the roads and without a map, ended up lost while wandering through the forest.
Because he was fleeing, he hadn't dared to spend much time observing his mutated body, only discovering a few advantages of becoming a vampire.
For example, his strength had increased. He couldn't determine exactly how much stronger he was, but it was significant though not excessively so. The twenty to thirty kilograms of heavy armor worn by church knights felt completely manageable on him—probably not much different from that werewolf earlier.
Secondly, his body seemed dead—his heart had stopped beating. He didn't know what powered his body now, but there appeared to be no blood inside him. His skin had turned a pale, bloodless bluish-white. His recovery rate had greatly improved too; after walking all afternoon, his charred body had completely healed.
Finally, his sense of smell, hearing, and perception had enhanced. He didn't know by how much, but the vampire-oriented nature was clear.
It was precisely because he smelled blood that he found his direction.
The weekly Mass required flower offerings, so the Church had ordered the removal of farmland in and around the city, commanding all farmers to grow flowers to decorate the city and highlight God's holiness.
But policies above meet countermeasures below. Though these farmers grew flowers in their fields, careful observation revealed black wheat plants or potato sprouts hidden among the blossoms.
The four church knights dragging the werewolf corpse grew increasingly distant, their torchlights becoming mere specks.
"Seems we're relatively close to the city. Or have I never left at all?" Norton's gaze turned toward the livestock shed.
The family of three farmers at the livestock shed were still wailing in grief. The old man had been kicked to death by the church knight, leaving only a girl and a woman kneeling before his corpse, crying uncontrollably.
Fortunately they weren't in the city, otherwise the old man's body would already be gone.
Witnessing this heartbreaking scene, Norton sighed deeply. Though he didn't know the old man or his family, he considered himself a conscientious person—it would be highly improper to crawl over and drink the old man's blood during this sorrowful time.
Besides needing to adapt, the main reason was that the church knights had just left. He worried that attacking these two survivors might allow the knights to track him using their methods, leading to his precise elimination like that werewolf.
"Never mind, I'll drink from the cattle first," Norton sighed, lying low in the bushes as he waited.
He waited for the mother and daughter to carry the old man's body back inside before he would sneak into the cattle shed.
Though blood still smelled like blood to him now, he could no longer taste any other food.
Norton had tested this during the afternoon in the dense forest.
He climbed a tree, picked two fruits, and tried eating them. The taste was like chewing wax—something only those who've actually eaten wax would understand.
Let's just say it was slightly more chewable than shit.
However, Norton felt somewhat different from other vampires.
For example, he didn't fear sunlight. He could consume blood from dead creatures (the church knight he drank from was already dead).
These two traits were common in previous-life movies or novels, but here, they violated the established rules: the records in church scriptures.
According to The Holy Covenant, Kuba avoided sunlight throughout his life to escape death.
This suggested vampires should fear sunlight, or at least that sunlight could erode their bodies.
Yet Norton had walked all afternoon under constant sunlight exposure without any discomfort.
Of course, it might be because he wore church knight steel armor, but the armor had gaps—sunlight reached his face and he could feel it!
Based on Norton's speculation, either he was special, or sunlight—or rather, the sun itself—had developed some problems.
Between these two theories, Norton leaned toward the latter.
Ascension described God being killed by Kuba, and over the years, priests had been living increasingly longer lives.
The Holy Covenant depicted the sun as death created by God.
Combining these three points, Norton formed a hypothesis.
Could it be that because God died, cutting off the supply of divine energy, sunlight had been continuously weakening until even vampires like them could openly appear under it?
Highly possible.
And his ability to consume blood from dead creatures could mutually corroborate this.
According to The Holy Covenant: ["Let Divine Cause be as the Lord, governing the origin of life; let Jonah be the final dusk, overseeing the decay of living beings."]
Jonah forbade Kuba from consuming corpses, so Kuba couldn't even drink blood from dead bodies—only secretly sip from living creatures before they died, and even then he couldn't drain them completely. First, because Divine Cause did not agree, and second, because the dead became subjects under Jonah's domain, and Jonah wouldn't allow him to feed on them.
Thus, from this perspective, vampires shouldn't be able to consume blood from dead creatures.
And Resurrection stated: ["The Messengers annihilated the earth; Jonah was imprisoned within the sun."]
Now, as a vampire, he could consume blood from dead creatures—clearly, Jonah could no longer enforce his rules.
This corroborated the account in Resurrection: Jonah had been imprisoned!