Although the Church Knights had stopped searching the Clock Tower.
The Church's search operations outside remained just as intense, with the carpet-style search progressing extremely slowly for Rino City. After all, this was a major city, and two hundred Church Knights were simply too few in number.
Norton could only continue squatting in his usual spot every day, secretly observing the Church and eavesdropping for information.
Because he was also extremely curious about what the hell the Church was searching for.
The massive search operation lasted a full month, until one month later, an utterly shocking piece of news arrived from Holy Lord City, bringing this ground-scraping manhunt to an abrupt end.
The Holy Inquisition Tribunal had been defeated!
That's right—the very Holy Inquisition Tribunal hailed as the world's strongest combat force, the foundation of the Pope's supreme authority, praised as God's servants, had been completely annihilated in battle against the werewolves at Holy Lord City!
Even His Excellency Wayne, the Pope's personal attendant, and Rino City's two hundred missionaries had all fallen, having sacrificed themselves for the Church.
Upon hearing this news, Norton's first thought was to immediately rush to Holy Lord City to scavenge the battlefield and drink the blood of those damned Holy Knights to achieve his ultimate evolution!
But upon careful consideration, he realized this was completely impossible.The Holy Inquisition Tribunal's complete annihilation meant the werewolves definitely hadn't been wiped out. Wouldn't he just be delivering himself as takeout if he went there? Besides, the Holy Knights' flesh and blood had surely already been completely consumed by the werewolves.
Additionally, since the news had already reached them, it meant Church personnel must have already been there—the battlefield had probably been completely cleared by now. Going there would serve no purpose whatsoever.
"Whew, it's fine. The Holy Knights were definitely torn apart by the werewolves, all their blood drained dry. I wouldn't get to drink any even if I went! It's fine, Norton, not a pity at all, really not a pity."
Norton's heart bled with anguish.
Although the Holy Inquisition Tribunal had relied on their formidable strength to directly confront twenty thousand werewolves at Holy Lord City, even nearly driving the werewolves to extinction, their complete annihilation meant this entire operation had ultimately been utterly meaningless.
It was worth mentioning that the werewolves stationed outside Rino City to monitor Norton had also disappeared without a trace, seemingly having followed the Wolf King away, or perhaps gone somewhere else.
If His Excellency Wayne's sacrifice for the Church could be considered a matter of varying significance, then the complete annihilation of the Holy Inquisition Tribunal was truly a first-class major event.
One could even say that the Holy Inquisition Tribunal was the very foundation of the Church, the foundation of the Papal States, the foundation of His Holiness the Pope's supreme authority!
Possessing the Holy Inquisition Tribunal was like having modern nuclear weapons—indeed, in this era, the Holy Inquisition Tribunal's power and deterrent effect far surpassed that of nuclear weapons.
Such a steel super-soldier army might not be particularly useful in massive battlefields involving hundreds of thousands of troops, but what if they were deployed for decapitation missions?
What royal family wouldn't fear having their entire household beheaded by the Holy Inquisition Tribunal in the middle of the night?
This was a steel blade poised above the heads of every other nation's royalty—His Holiness the Pope could order it to fall whenever he wished!
And now, this blade had been broken!
......
"Pitter-patter pitter-patter......"
Playing a beggar required maintaining the appearance of a beggar—squatting around on sunny days was fine, but squatting in the same spot during rain would purely expose himself!
So Norton could only remain in the attic, contemplating his comprehensive analysis diagram of the entire Church.
The existence of the Holy Knights didn't just intimidate the royal families of various nations—it also terrified scum like Norton who lurked in the gutters.
Originally, with the Holy Knights' presence plus fear of the Church's special operations methods, Norton had deeply resisted the idea of investigating the Church.
But now, since learning of the Holy Inquisition Tribunal's destruction, he felt this was truly a heaven-sent opportunity!
"Not yet, it's still not time!" Norton stood on the attic's high platform, gazing through the rain curtain at the distant grand cathedral.
Even during this torrential downpour, two Church Knights still stood guard at the cathedral entrance, exposed to wind and rain without the slightest wavering.
Rino City's missionaries had basically been sent to Heaven in one wave, and these remaining two hundred Church Knights were now the final obstacle between Norton and the cathedral.
However, Norton felt he could wait a bit longer, because there was still one more faction that hadn't made its move yet.
The rain intensified, the thick rain curtain making it difficult for Norton to clearly see the scenes below even from the Clock Tower.
Having been in this world for over twenty years, this was the first time he'd seen rainfall of such scale, and the downpour continued relentlessly.
In modern times, extreme weather could already significantly impact people's lives and even cause major disasters—let alone in this medieval European era.
"A once-in-decades torrential rainfall, increasingly numerous enemy spies hidden throughout the city, plus the recently annihilated Holy Inquisition Tribunal... What exactly is going to happen? So hard to predict!"
Norton murmured to himself while watching the storm outside, suddenly feeling as if this world also had something like destiny's mandate.
The Church had originally been at its peak, but suddenly it felt like "the wind sweeping through the tower heralds a rising storm in the mountains."
"Chirp chirp chirp......"
The bats in the Clock Tower attic chirped, their voices somewhat noisy.
As time passed, these two bats had given birth to eight litters, and currently ten bats together were making this small family feel somewhat crowded.
As the undisputed family overlord, every newborn little bat had to hang on Norton's body to absorb his scent before being accepted by the bat family.
Norton withdrew his gaze from the storm outside the window, looking toward the five bats hanging from the attic ceiling, feeling like life was becoming increasingly promising.
He wondered when he, Norton, would finally be able to move with elegant grace like a proper vampire count, accompanied by countless bats during his travels.
Looking at his withered skin and ugly body, Norton felt this dream probably wouldn't be realized anytime soon.
Whether it was from drinking too much werewolf blood or part of the vampire's natural growth process, he felt his height seemed to have increased somewhat.
This change was extremely subtle—almost imperceptible without careful examination.
He knew this mainly because previously when he stood straight, his head would just touch the attic ceiling, but now when he stood straight, he pressed firmly against the ceiling.
He wondered if this was an inevitable part of vampire maturation.
Not understanding the vampire evolution process truly discomforted him—this completely blind growth process filled him with insecurity.
Damn that Kuba!
But upon reflection, Kuba the vampire progenitor had lived even more miserably than himself.
This height increase might represent growth, but it presented some disadvantages for him.
It wasn't obvious yet, but if he grew taller and exceeded two meters, even if he disguised himself as excrement, people would still become suspicious upon seeing him.
People in this era, suffering from malnutrition, simply didn't reach such heights—a two-meter stature would undoubtedly make him stand out like a crane among chickens.
However, Norton estimated that the Church probably wouldn't have time to bother with him in the coming period. They might even significantly reduce their urban surveillance.
Perfect timing—this would give him an opportunity to find a human to feed on, to see how human blood differed from werewolf blood, or to discover whether he possessed the various vampire abilities described in his previous life.