Hymn of Blood and Fire

Hymn of Blood and Fire is an epic fantasy web novel by the author Jianguo de Zhandou, serialized on Qidian and now complete at 803 chapters, roughly 2.62 million Chinese characters. Set on a continent where many races coexist, the story follows humans, elves, orcs, undead, and other peoples and nations, each with its own agendas, as entrenched great families and ambitious kingdoms vie for dominion over the continent. The protagonist, Paddy Regan, is the second son of Nick Regan, Duke of Kru and Imperial Chancellor. As a child, a failed magical experiment left him with part of his memories exchanged with a soul from another world, making him a "transmigrator" with incomplete memories: he remembers neither his past-life name nor any special cheat-like advantage. Armed only with the insight and skill gained from a noble upbringing and training as a paladin of the Church of Radiance, he serves as a constable at the South City security office of the imperial capital's guard bureau. The story begins with a seemingly ordinary case that gradually draws out layer upon layer of scheming among nobles, the church, the crown, and nonhuman races. The early portion lays out the world and the balance of power through Paddy's eyes; individual martial prowess can hardly sway events, and what truly drives the plot is the political maneuvering among families, states, and interest groups. Only as the story progresses does the protagonist grow from a pawn being moved about into a player taking part in the game. The work has a weighty tone and leans toward the family-saga and power-struggle traditions of classic fantasy.