Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

“Prince!?”

Josh widened his eyes, filled with shock.

He had thought that the Prince’s group had simply abandoned them and fled for their lives, but unexpectedly, they had brought reinforcements back.

Behind the Prince stood the musketeers of the Harbor Guard. They almost packed the entire alley, and the followers of the Mother Goddess, who had been moving toward the barricade, slowly turned their heads—what greeted them were the dark muzzles of guns.

“Fire!”

The officers roared out the order. The monsters of the Church of the Mother Goddess had not even managed to advance before being suppressed by a storm of bullets. The mindless followers feared not death, yet flesh could never withstand bullets. Like wheat toppled by the wind, they fell in waves.

Though the monsters gnawed upon the believers, the people in front were falling too quickly. They too had no choice but to meet powder and bullets with flesh and blood.

Flowers of blood burst across their massive bodies. Their roars of fury were drowned by gunfire, and in but a moment, the alley was turned into a river of blood.

Josh was dragged back by several cultists of the Cult of the Hidden. He panted heavily, the brush with death almost draining him of all his strength.

“Thank goodness, thank goodness, the Prince came to save the day,” Josh said haltingly. But soon he noticed Zoe beside him—the girl did not look well at all.

“What’s wrong, Zoe, is something the matter?”

“Something’s not right.” Zoe stared fixedly at the Harbor Guard outside. Unlike the small squad of cavalry the Prince had led before, these were infantrymen. They kept repeating the cycle of loading and firing, and in that rhythm, the enemies on the other side grew fewer and fewer.

Josh followed her gaze and gradually realized as well. The Harbor Guard were also in the Upper City, but why were they here, while the Holy Guard were not?

From the beginning, Granny had already informed the Cult of the Hidden that the Holy Guard would be coming to support them. In theory, they should have set off even earlier than the Harbor Guard. Both were infantry without horses, so by all logic, they should not have arrived later than the Harbor Guard.

“Maybe they got held up? There are so many followers of the Mother Goddess.”

“Impossible. Enemies like these could never stall the Holy Guard.” Zoe’s face darkened. She had gone through the Deep Sea War and knew the combat strength of the Holy Guard. Just these followers— even without heavy firepower support, the Holy Guard could push through to here swiftly.

“And even if the Holy Guard were delayed, why hasn’t Granny come? What kind of enemy could stall Granny?”

Josh swallowed hard.

What kind of enemy could stall Granny?

Josh knew little about the supernatural, but he did know that Granny’s Path was best at concealment and escape. If even Granny could not extricate herself—

Josh quickly pulled out a map from his clothes, pressing it against the wall to get his bearings.

“The roads in the Upper City are too narrow. They couldn’t have gone west!”

The Cult of the Hidden was not far from the Upper City. With a rough judgment, Josh pulled Zoe along and darted through the alleys, running toward the other side.

Here, the Prince and his Harbor Guard could hold the line. What was happening with the Holy Guard was far more important.

The two stumbled through the hurriedly retreating believers. The Cult of the Hidden was preparing for evacuation—no one knew if this place could be held. Several carriages were stopped on the road, women clutching infants fled from houses in panic, while the believers barely managed to maintain order.

Josh knew the place well. Leading Zoe through a winding route, they climbed up into a tower.

Pushing open a rotten wooden door, passing by a rusted old bell, they reached the window. Josh nearly lost his footing at a crack in the wall, teetering until Zoe caught him in time.

The two scrambled upright, peering through the gap toward the distant Upper City.

“My god… what is that…”

Josh’s eyes widened at the massive figure ahead, muttering in disbelief.

This was the bell tower—one of the tallest structures in Blood Harbor, built during its prosperity. Back then, bell-ringers would sound the morning chimes daily. Now only ruined walls bore witness to that lost splendor.

From here, half of Blood Harbor lay in sight. Farther away was the Upper City, the entire district encircled by stone walls and guarded by many soldiers.

Following the streets southward, they could see a group of soldiers wielding bolt-action rifles. They wore matching uniforms—something Hughes had recently organized. This newly arrived unit of the Holy Guard was the very first batch to wear them.

Yet their situation now was dire. Soldiers dashed desperately through the alleys, firing occasional countershots under their officers’ command.

The bolt-action rifles they used surpassed the muskets of the era both in power and rate of fire. The soldiers, veterans of the Deep Sea War, coordinated seamlessly. Yet the battle remained grueling.

Because they faced a monster as large as a small mountain—so tall it blotted out the sky.

“What… what is that?”

Josh’s gaze locked on the creature. It looked like a mountain of piled flesh, or perhaps an extremely obese man. Beneath its folds of skin swelled revolting fat.

Yet upon closer look, beneath that flesh writhed countless maggots, slowly squirming, distending the skin into grotesque ridges.

Upon its hide sprouted countless limbs—no, not so small, only appearing so because the creature itself was colossal. The dense, grafted limbs resembled a layer of writhing fur.

Fur that never ceased to squirm.

Josh staggered, nearly collapsing onto the ground. Zoe’s face went deathly pale, and she almost vomited on the spot.

They steadied themselves, exchanged a look of terror, and spoke at once.

“Don’t you think it looks like—”

“The monsters among the followers of the Mother Goddess!”

The creature was indeed familiar. They had seen those monsters on the streets just moments ago, and now before them loomed this titanic mountain of flesh.

In form, in limbs, in movements, it resembled them greatly. The monsters in the alleys had been growing larger by devouring corpses, but neither had expected one could grow to such a size.

The mountain of flesh was already taller than the tower itself. Fortunately, its movements were still sluggish. Otherwise, with sheer size alone, the Holy Guard would have no way to contend with it.

Even now, though the Holy Guard could barely cope, the battlefield was fraught with peril.

The monster tried to seize the tiny humans below with its limbs. Yet the Holy Guard moved with astonishing agility. Each time a limb crashed down, the soldiers scattered and regrouped swiftly—sometimes even returning fire in the midst of their maneuvers.

Thanks to the Deep Sea War, the Holy Guard had ample experience battling colossal enemies. Compared to the Arm Monster, this flesh mountain was actually easier to handle.

“Zoe, let’s head down first, then find someone—Zoe?”

Josh was startled to see his companion oddly distracted, as though listening intently to something. At such a critical moment, she was spacing out?