The night was deep.
The heavy rain continued to pour.
Even the temperature dropped noticeably.
Even Norton could sense the extreme nature of this weather. In his memory, he had never seen such extreme weather in the previous twenty years of his life.
The Church's policy of blockade and keeping the people ignorant pushed the level of technology in this era to its lowest point.
Norton initially didn't understand why the world hadn't made much progress in technology over the years, but now, judging from the Church's system, this kind of management system that completely suppresses human nature is so effective that it's remarkable that this group of people has survived. Developing technology would probably be a death sentence.
As a result, the city's drainage system is also very poor; in fact, it's practically nonexistent.
The rain shrouded the entire Lino City.
Due to debris in the drainage system, Lino City has begun to flood after three days of heavy rain.
The already muddy road, mixed with excrement, is now even more difficult to walk on, with water reaching up to the ankles.
In ancient times, such extreme weather was essentially a death sentence for some impoverished families.
The extreme rainstorm not only brought the city to a standstill, but also completely destroyed the farmland surrounding the city. This destroys the very foundation of human survival and is an extreme act of destruction against the Papal State.
The torrential rain provided excellent cover, and under its cover, Norton moved stealthily across the rooftops, slowly making his way towards the Church.
His keen hearing had taken in all the sounds around him, which speaks volumes about the amazing nature of his hearing.
He was able to categorize sounds, distinguishing between the sound of a downpour and the sound of voice. Each sound was clearly classified and categorized in his ears, allowing him to clearly identify the sound he wanted among multiple sounds.
It's a bit peculiar.
"Oh dear, this year's harvest is in trouble. I reckon things are going to get even more chaotic. If we can't deliver the grain, the Church will resort to cannibalism!"
"This damned rain, I beg God to let this downpour stop!"
Amidst the dilapidated, leaky houses around them, the cries of the poor echoed continuously, mostly expressing their despair over the torrential rain. In contrast, the wealthy families had entirely different concerns.
"Why hasn't His Holiness the Pope made a move yet? This news should have reached His Holiness the Pope's ears by now!"
" The Holy See is eerily quiet right now. With all this rain these past two days, I have a feeling things are about to get chaotic. Bishop Good hasn't replied yet; I'm afraid..."
"What's the point of Bishop Good's reply? He's just a low-ranking bishop; the only one who actually receives the message is Archbishop Duoxia."
The torrential rain lashed the rooftops and streets, the rushing water drowning out the barely audible sound of Norton's footsteps.
Two scarlet eyes swept across the exquisitely decorated living room, glancing at Karl, who was hiding in a corner eavesdropping on his father's conversation.
Norton raised his head and headed back toward the Church.
Such a heavy rain and the dense darkness of night provided an excellent cover for murder.
The poor of Lino City were emaciated, reeked of foul odor, and most importantly, were generally anemic.
However, the missionaries, Church knights, and nobles of Lino City, who were carefully trained by the Church, were well-nourished, fully grown, and in good hygiene, and most importantly, had plenty of blood, making them excellent food sources.
Oh, and the spies of the Boya Empire are also good targets.
Most importantly, he needs to Norton out whether it's the blood of the Holy Knight that allows him to super evolve, or whether the blood of Church members bathed in God's light will also allow him to super evolve.
After all, this is still a mythological world. What if the reason for his evolution wasn't physiological but religious?
Norton had previously avoided killing anyone for fear of getting into trouble.
But at this very moment, it is a time of great turmoil.
This is definitely a good time to make a move.
He could be more cautious. In the next few days, he could kill a few missionaries every now and then with broken roof tiles, letting the Church in Lino City get used to the feeling of sudden deaths. Once they're used to it, he could then start creating disappearances. With so many people dead, they naturally won't care about one or two more disappearing.
"Gigi Gigi...(giggles)" Norton felt really bad.
There was no way around it; Norton remembered that in the Vampire stories he'd read in his past life, many Vampire ' abilities were related to drinking human blood.
For example, gaining memories from blood, or bewitching humans, or infecting them to become Vampire or blood slaves. Although none of these are very scientific, this is, after all, a world that values theology. Even if one does not inherit memories, there is no harm in trying.
He still doesn't have any abilities, which might be related to his blood-sucking, so naturally he has to give it a try. The death of even one noble is a major event, so he can only find relatively clean Church members with sufficient blood.
It was absolutely not a deliberate act of retaliation.
Norton is such a good man!
Of course, this was true for Norton; for the Church staff, it was a matter of life and death.
The only problem was that Norton was a little afraid that God's holy light had truly enveloped the entire Church, and that if Norton went in, he would be burned at the stake.
Or perhaps they are utterly powerless and at the mercy of others.
This can only be attempted cautiously.
The imposing figure of the Lino City Cathedral came into Norton's view.
Compared to the Holy Lord Cathedral, which occupies half of the city, the Church of Lino City is much smaller, with only a few thousand people living there year-round. It still retains the style of a castle wall, and the central basilica is about the same size as Notre Dame Notre-Dame de Paris.
However, its decoration and appearance are far less refined.
Even in the rain, the ten-meter-high wall was still very conspicuous.
Even in such harsh conditions of torrential rain, two knights in steel Church stood ramrod straight at the entrance to the church wall, faithfully guarding the church's glory.
The lights at the Church entrance were dim, and even more difficult to see through the rain.
Norton changed direction and ran to the side of the church.
His fingernails were hard enough to pierce the solid wall and allow him to scale the ten-meter-high church wall.
"Puff..."
Norton's hard fingernails dug into the cracks in the brickwork of the wall, and he used his fingernails and toenails to cling to his body as he climbed up the wall.
Norton has been a Vampire for so many years, yet he still hasn't taken on the proper Vampire form, which is a huge insult to the Vampire race.
So today, Norton is going to go on a killing spree, show the bloodshed, and let this damned Church see what, they're Vampire!
It seemed that they had never been attacked like this before, or perhaps they were exceptionally confident in their city walls.
There were no Church knights guarding the edge of the city walls of Lino City, as most of Church were stationed at the entrances of various buildings. This gave Norton the opportunity to sneak in.
"It has to be Lino City! It's so much easier than Holy Lord City!" Norton crouched atop the city wall, carefully avoiding the spikes used to defend it, and surveyed the Lino City church before sincerely remarking.
The Holy Lord Cathedral was heavily guarded, with guards every three steps and sentries every five steps. Even at night, there were teams of Church knights patrolling the Church. In contrast, the Lino City was much more relaxed.
Apart from the occasional comings and goings of Church personnel, there were no other signs of guards among the various Church buildings below.
Most importantly, there are no murals or images of God, so there is absolutely no need to worry about being identified.
Norton deliberately chose a time that wasn't too late to come, mainly for the sake of these Church members who occasionally went out.
After all, if they came in the middle of the night, they would only be accompanied by pairs of Church knights, making a sneak attack difficult.
Although two hundred missionaries were taken away from Lino City, this was not the total number of missionaries in Lino City; the remaining missionaries and priests were more than capable of maintaining the normal operation of the Church.
Norton cautiously extended his finger, reaching inside the Church walls.
Good, there was no oppressive feeling or stinging pain as I had expected.
He became a little bolder and put his arm inside as well.
And I didn't feel anything unusual either.
Norton clung to the wall, steeled his resolve, and moved his entire body inside the wall.
Nothing happened.
Norton was overjoyed. He quietly climbed down the city wall and, under the cover of night and rain, silently entered the Church of Lino City.
This was Norton's first formal entry into a church since becoming Vampire.
There was no stinging pain like direct sunlight that he had imagined, nor any other kind of pressure. He felt the same as he did outside the city.
This relieved Norton somewhat.
It seems that God's holiness can only be somewhat released in certain objects that represent God.
Why does it look like his reed pipe?
At this point, the map of Church personnel distribution that he had previously deduced from sounds and smells became extremely useful. He had figured out where people were constantly on guard, where missionaries gathered, and where the Church's senior personnel lived, which made him feel right at home in the church.