Chapter Summaries

After the Werewolves destroyed his home and kept pursuing him, Norton fled toward Holy Lord City, hoping the Church knights would protect him from the wilderness predators. At the cathedral, Father Andrew led a sparsely attended nightly prayer as the Church’s population continued to shrink amid famine and plague.

• Norton escaped the Werewolves by jumping from the cliff, but they tracked his position and continued the hunt.
• Norton stripped off his damaged armor and ran through the forest toward Holy Lord City, with his bat companion clinging to him.
• Norton decided to seek refuge behind the Church’s defenses, despite having once been persecuted by the Church.
• Father Andrew lit the cathedral candles and led the few remaining missionaries in their nightly prayers.
• The chapter revealed that judgment, famine, cannibalism, and plague had left Holy Lord Cathedral increasingly deserted.

Bishop Rosen told Father Andrew that growing Werewolf attacks had prompted the Church to withdraw its knights and secure Holy Lord Cathedral. As the cathedral closed again and Holy Lord City faced another period of danger, a strange, shadowless figure with scarlet eyes appeared outside the city.

• Bishop Rosen greeted Father Andrew and explained that reports of increasing Werewolves had led him to recall Church knights and warn Father Andrew to stay indoors.
• Father Andrew agreed that the people of Holy Lord City were beyond saving and supported keeping the Church away from them.
• A year later, Holy Lord Cathedral closed again, and Church knights withdrew their patrols from the city’s neighborhoods and outskirts.
• As darkness fell over the devastated city, a slender, shadowless figure with scarlet eyes appeared outside Holy Lord City.

Norton fled Holy Lord City after choosing not to lure Werewolves toward its starving survivors, and the Werewolves later attacked the city. By autumn, he had reached the livelier Lino City and settled unseen in a church-owned clock tower.

• Norton entered the ruined Holy Lord City, saw its starving survivors near the cathedral, and struggled with guilt as he considered leading Werewolves to them.
• Norton fled the city, and dozens or hundreds of Werewolves charged into Holy Lord City and attacked its inhabitants.
• By autumn, Norton had left the Holy Lord City region and discovered that other cities in the Papal State were less extreme in their religious rules.
• Norton arrived in Lino City, where laborers noticed fresh claw marks climbing the stone wall while the city carried on around them.
• Norton made his home at the top of a Church-owned clock tower and spent his days observing Lino City and learning about the Church.

Norton had spent a month in Lino City, where Archbishop Duoxia’s relatively open rule made him consider settling down and searching the Church for books about Vampires. Despite the city’s peace, Norton still hated the Church and remained focused on understanding his abilities while evading the Werewolves hunting him.

• Norton considered Archbishop Duoxia’s practical rule normal and liked that Lino City allowed commerce and daily life to flourish.
• A vampire bat returned to Norton at the bell tower, joining the other bat that stayed with him.
• After a month in Lino City, Norton decided its openness might let him hide from the Werewolves and search the Church for Vampire research books.
• Norton worried that, without inherited memories, he did not understand his Vampire abilities and could be vulnerable to new threats.
• Norton looked over the sleeping city and felt no belonging or sympathy for its people, while retaining his hatred of the Church.

Norton settled into a routine in Lino City, hunting periodically and gathering information while considering how to learn more about Vampires from the Church. He learned that the Papal State was close to electing a new pope, whose rule might make his quiet life more difficult.

• Norton hung the hide of a Werewolf he had hunted and wondered why the same pack had pursued him from the mountains near Holy Lord City to Lino City.
• Norton described his daily routine of listening to people in the streets and secretly observing Lino City's church for a chance to find books about Vampires.
• Norton listened outside a tavern as a drunk man praised the Boya Empire and criticized the Church, and Church knights dragged the man away.
• Norton recalled that the old pope's seat had been vacant for more than five months while the eight archbishops traveled to elect a successor.
• Norton worried that the incoming pope would worsen people's hardships and bring stricter oversight that could threaten his routine.

Norton watched the Church’s new activities after His Holiness Adam established the Eye of Holiness to hunt and study monsters and Vampires. While spying from a beggar’s corner, Norton also discovered Boya Empire spies and was repeatedly approached by a kind boy offering him pastries.

• His Holiness Adam was confirmed as the new pontiff and burned the old pope’s attendants and servants during his ascension ritual.
• His Holiness Adam established the Eye of Holiness to capture and research monsters and Vampires, worrying Norton, who was a Vampire pursued by Werewolves.
• Norton watched squads of unfamiliar armored knights leave the city at night and spotted spies planted by the Boya Empire.
• Norton continued disguising himself as a beggar to observe the Church, but the priest’s favorite boy repeatedly brought him pastries.
• Norton ignored the boy’s latest offering, hoping to discourage him from returning.

Norton continued hiding in Lino City, studying the Church and avoiding the Werewolves while he waited to grow stronger. Months later, a family of bats made their home with him in the bell tower.

• A young boy brought Norton pastries and confided his troubles while Norton silently sketched the Church’s layout and guard positions.
• Norton threw away the pastry the boy had left behind and returned to his bell tower to copy his sketch.
• Norton observed that the Eye of Holiness had made little progress in Lino City, though Church knights had hunted three Werewolves.
• Norton remained hidden in the city for months and watched the Church without seeing a Gold Saint appear.
• A baby bat was born on Norton’s chest, and he moved it and its parents onto a branch he had set up in the bell tower.

Norton spent years in seclusion, growing stronger through drinking blood while becoming less able to tolerate sunlight, and gradually grew attached to life in Lino City. He continued mentoring Karl and learned that the Pope was dissatisfied with the Eye of Holiness and might be preparing a major move.

• Norton reflected that drinking blood had increased his strength, especially the blood of the two Gold Saints, but he resisted pursuing more because he wanted to stay hidden.
• Norton grew familiar with Lino City and developed a faint sense of belonging after living there for two years.
• Karl asked Norton whether he could leave Jennifer for Mary, and Norton told him he could pursue both.
• Norton asked Karl for news, and Karl reported that the Pope was unhappy with the Eye of Holiness and might take major action.
• Karl added that the Church had secretly obtained something from Holy Lord City and that the Pope seemed intent on consolidating power, though Archbishop Duoxia and the other bishops might oppose him.

Norton learned that the Church had obtained something from Holy Lord City, then watched tensions rise as the Pope condemned the Eye of Holiness and Boya Empire spies arrived in Lino City. Sensing disaster ahead, Norton resolved to rise in power while continuing to hide with his bats.

• Norton asked Karl what the Church had obtained from Holy Lord City and wondered whether it was a plague, Werewolves, a monster, or Father Mia.
• A little over three months later, His Holiness Adam raged at the Eye of Holiness for failing to carry out its work.
• Norton noticed increasing numbers of Boya Empire spies in Lino City and identified them by their heightened senses and the scent of their blood.
• Norton sensed that a disaster was approaching and decided he would rise rather than keep hiding and swallowing his humiliation.
• Norton returned to his bell tower, where five bats now lived and where he had named the first one Coal Ball.

As Werewolves gathered near Lino City, Norton considered leaving but chose to stay under the Church’s protection while hunting Werewolves to ease his guilt. After discovering they were passing through from other directions toward Holy Lord City rather than following him, he stopped keeping watch over the city.

• Karl warned Norton that Werewolves might attack Lino City and offered him shelter at his home, but Norton refused and praised the Church’s protection.
• Norton decided to stay in Lino City, reasoning that leaving would draw the Werewolves after him and that the Church could shield him.
• Although Norton claimed not to care about the city’s suffering, he watched for danger and went out at night to hunt Werewolves.
• Norton deduced that the Gold Saints could track him through the aura left by exposure to God’s holiness.
• Norton detected that the Werewolves had come from other directions and were merely passing through Lino City on their way to Holy Lord City, so he stopped keeping watch.

Norton hunted a werewolf in the forest outside Lino City, then continued monitoring the Church while avoiding the passing packs. Months later, Karl told him that werewolves had gathered in Holy Lord City, leaving Norton to suspect a connection to a mysterious cargo sent to the Holy See.

• Norton chased down a lone werewolf, killed it, and drank its blood before fleeing to avoid nearby packs.
• Norton decided not to kill all the werewolves because he considered them a source of high-quality food.
• Norton continued watching the Church in Lino City as Karl visited less often but brought him stored-up information.
• Karl told Norton that werewolves had occupied Holy Lord City and were gathering for a major move.
• Norton wondered whether the gathering was linked to something the Church had found in Holy Lord City, but Karl said the cargo had been sent directly to the Holy See.

At the Holy See’s research center, Pope Adam studied a human-looking werewolf cub and sought the substance that had caused its mutation, hoping to begin his own path to godhood. As werewolves gathered toward Holy Lord City and Boya Empire spies appeared across the Papal State, Adam ordered an attack on the werewolves and prepared to confront the empire.

• Pope Adam admired the human-looking werewolf cub in a cage and watched the Eye of Holiness study it for signs of what had caused its mutation.
• Pope Adam recalled abandoning his plans for expansion after seeing a god’s corpse and became determined to pursue godhood through the cub’s mysterious origins.
• An aide told Pope Adam that werewolves were gathering toward Holy Lord City, Bishop Rosen wanted aid near Lino City, and Boya Empire spies were active across the country.
• Pope Adam ordered the Holy Judgment Order to eradicate the werewolves, promoted Bishop Rosen to high bishop over Hadley District, and told his forces to feign ignorance of the spies while preparing to join forces against the Boya Empire.

Norton learned that Holy Lord City had fallen to the werewolves, then watched Lino City come under martial law as the Holy Judgment Order arrived. Archbishop Duoxia welcomed Wayne, His Holiness Adam’s trusted aide, who had come with the Papal Holy Decree to command the campaign against the werewolves.

• Norton overheard Lino City residents spread news that Holy Lord City had fallen and worried that Father Mia might have died.
• Less than a week later, Lino City imposed martial law, and Norton hid in the shadows to gather information.
• The Holy Knights arrived and took control of Lino City as Archbishop Duoxia led a solemn procession through the streets.
• Norton realized the Church knights did not detect him, confirming that God’s holy radiance had exposed him before.
• Archbishop Duoxia met Wayne, who carried His Holiness Adam’s authority to command the Holy Judgment Order, and entrusted the remaining arrangements to him.

Norton resisted the urge to attack the Holy Knights and stayed hidden while the Church’s response to Holy Lord City unfolded. In Lino City, Archbishop Ethan suspected the source of the Werewolf infant’s mutation was there, making the city a likely target.

• Norton smelled the Holy Knights’ blood and longed to feed on them, but chose to hide rather than risk a fight.
• The Holy Judgment Order left Lino City for Holy Lord City with two hundred missionaries as logistical support.
• The people and Church members in Lino City discussed the fall of Holy Lord City and the coming conflict with the Werewolves.
• Archbishops Duoxia, Milio, and Ethan discussed the mutant Werewolf infant while abusing boys during their supposed religious rituals.
• Archbishop Ethan said Werewolves were watching Lino City and proposed that the source of their mutation was there.

Norton hid among Lino City’s beggars while the Church searched the city for an unknown target. In Holy Lord City, the werewolves gathered under their dying wolf king and then fled together as the Holy Judgment Order approached.

• Norton destroyed his pastry walls and disguised his bell tower after Church knights began searching homes throughout Lino City.
• Norton stayed among the slum beggars at night and wondered what the Church was seeking, while its search caught no Boya Empire spies.
• The werewolves filled Holy Lord City after the wolf king summoned them two years earlier to pursue their race’s transformation.
• The wolf king bred with she-wolves in the cathedral, but their mutated cubs were grotesque or stillborn as the king weakened.
• When a warning howl sounded beyond the city, the wolf king led the werewolves out of Holy Lord City, and the pregnant she-wolves followed under guard.

Lord Wayne led the Church forces against the Werewolves, but the vastly outnumbered Holy Knights began to fall and Wayne charged into battle with the missionaries. As the rain washed away the battlefield, Norton grumbled about bat droppings in his clock tower, where the Church knights had failed to recognize the bats as a threat.

• Lord Wayne watched the Holy Knights meet the Werewolves’ charge and initially trusted their strength to hold the line.
• Lord Wayne realized Archbishop Duoxia had reported far too few Werewolves when tens of thousands surrounded the hill and overwhelmed the five hundred Holy Knights.
• Lord Wayne cut the carriage’s reins, mounted his warhorse, and led the two hundred missionaries in a charge toward the Werewolves.
• The Holy Knights and missionaries fought as the rain intensified and washed the battlefield’s blood away.
• Norton caught rainwater and wiped his clock tower floor, complaining that bat droppings had made it stink.
• Church knights had searched Norton’s clock tower but dismissed the bats as ordinary creatures and did not return.

After the Holy Judgment Order was annihilated by the Werewolves, Norton saw the Church’s weakened position as a chance to investigate it, but chose to wait while the remaining Church knights still guarded the church. As a relentless downpour trapped him in the bell tower, he considered his changing body and the opportunity to test his vampire abilities.

• Norton learned that the Holy Judgment Order and the missionaries from Lino City had perished in Holy Lord City, and abandoned his idea of scavenging the battlefield because surviving Werewolves might still be there.
• The Werewolves watching Norton outside Lino City disappeared, while the two hundred remaining Church knights continued to guard the church.
• Norton decided the Church’s loss of the Holy Judgment Order created an opportunity, but resolved to wait until the Church’s defenses weakened further.
• Heavy rain kept Norton in the bell tower, where he watched the church and wondered what the storm, enemy spies, and the Church’s defeat foreshadowed.
• Norton noticed that he had grown taller and planned to find a chance to drink human blood and test his vampire abilities.

Norton used the storm as cover to sneak into Lino City's cathedral, hoping to test whether Church members’ blood could trigger his evolution. He entered without feeling any holy pressure and began navigating the grounds toward potential targets.

• Norton crossed flooded Lino City under cover of the rain, listening to residents and Church members discuss the storm and the Church’s silence.
• Norton decided to hunt Church personnel to test whether blood from people touched by God’s radiance could cause him to evolve.
• Norton reached the cathedral, climbed its unguarded outer wall, and cautiously tested whether crossing its boundary would harm him.
• Norton entered the cathedral unharmed and used his knowledge of the staff’s locations to move through the grounds unseen.

Archbishop Duoxia urged the Boya Empire to act against the Papal State, hoping to destroy the Holy See’s rule and rebuild the Church as a missionary institution. Norton overheard the plan and began hunting inside the church, targeting the confessional.

• Archbishop Duoxia criticized the Boya Empire for delaying action while the spy explained that the king feared acting without confirmation from the Holy See.
• Duoxia warned that the pope could create another force of Holy Knights and urged the empire to overthrow the Papal State before it was too late.
• The spy offered Duoxia the position of next pope if he cooperated and fomented rebellion, while admitting the empire still doubted his motives.
• Norton eavesdropped from the roof, delighted by the prospect of upheaval in the Papal State.
• Norton searched the church for a place to hunt and chose the confessional as his target.

Norton assassinated a missionary by dropping loosened masonry on him at the Lino City confession hall, then escaped over the Church wall. At the Holy See, Pope Adam killed a cardinal who challenged his plan to keep the people ignorant and society impoverished, fearing that prosperity might lead someone to discover the divine corpse.

• Norton waited on the confession hall roof until night, then dropped heavy tiles and masonry onto a missionary leaving the group, killing him.
• Norton escaped across the rooftops, climbed the Church's outer wall, and fled as the missionaries raised the alarm.
• As famine loomed, a cardinal publicly urged Pope Adam to open the granaries and help the people, while the other cardinals watched in silence.
• Adam defended his plan to suppress the people's minds and development, then had a golden Holy Knight stab the cardinal to death.
• Adam reflected that he was keeping society stagnant to prevent anyone from finding the divine corpse hidden in the hills behind the Holy See.