Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

“Fire!”

“Scatter! Quick! Quick! Quick!!”

Kyle shouted at the top of his lungs while leading the Holy Guard forward. Panting heavily, he lifted his head to glance at the Compassionate Mother.

He had to estimate where Her limbs would fall, so he could lead his squad to dodge in advance, or seize the brief opening between attacks to fire upon that mountain of flesh.

Did shooting even work? Kyle had no time to observe, but deep down he faintly judged—it most likely did not.

Only by standing in front of this monster could one truly feel how massive She was. It was almost as if the Rhine Cathedral itself had stood up and was launching an assault on them!

Thankfully, the cathedral could not actually stand. After all, it was bristling with machine-gun bunkers—Kyle’s mind wandered absurdly for a second.

Their battle was anything but easy. At the beginning, they were even quite embarrassed, if not for Granny covering from the side. Each time their coordination faltered, a large squad of Holy Guard would suddenly appear, drawing away the Compassionate Mother’s attention, only to be crushed flat by Her.

Kyle knew—that was Granny’s extraordinary ability.

The Holy Guard had once fought side by side with the extraordinary during the Deep Sea War, but this was the first time he had seen an extraordinary personally act on the battlefield. Before, the Chrysalises of the Moths Chasing Fire only aided in command, since the enemy then had been too numerous for personal combat to make much difference.

Seizing a gap, Kyle shouted loudly: “Granny, what should we do next? Rifles alone cannot kill Her!”

Kyle was the leader of this Holy Guard unit, but facing such an extraordinary monster, he chose to trust Granny’s judgment.

Sure enough, Granny’s voice echoed at his ear: “I’ve already contacted Josh and the Prince. The Cult of the Hidden is already in motion. We just need to buy them more time, and they’ll be able to retreat. The Prince’s Harbor Guard will soon arrive as well!”

Hearing this, Kyle could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Though he was tall and broad, in truth he was timid. His steady and cautious command in battle came down to cowardice.

But cowardice was not always a bad thing. Especially in a delaying battle like this, the Holy Guard under his lead sought not merit but survival. Until now, they had suffered no casualties.

Fencing with a heretical god was no different than dancing on the edge of a blade. Kyle’s heart had been trembling all along. Now, hearing that it would end soon, his spirit lifted considerably.

But then a thought struck him, and he frowned: “The Prince’s Harbor Guard? What use could they be?”

Granny shook her head. “I don’t believe they can face the Compassionate Mother head-on either. All of Blood Harbor holds no power capable of resolving Her. To deal with Her, I fear only sacrifice remains.”

Granny had already revealed the Compassionate Mother’s nature to the Holy Guard at the very first moment. Kyle was startled: “Truly, we must find someone to sacrifice? So many followers of the Mother Goddess… The Prince couldn’t possibly gather so many deathsworn, could he? Or… would he send extraordinary ones instead?”

The will of one extraordinary could outweigh many mortals. The Prince indeed commanded extraordinary retainers. With his ruthless decisiveness, perhaps he really would push Galahad forward as an offering.

Galahad’s loyalty was beyond doubt. Even after witnessing the terrifying disparity of power in Castel, he had not wavered in the slightest. Perhaps he truly would sacrifice himself for the Prince.

Which was more important—loyal retainers, or an entire city? What choice would the Prince make?

“Let’s try to move closer to the seaside,” Granny said aloud.

Kyle nodded. He understood her meaning—retreat toward Castel by the shore. Whether Blood Harbor could be preserved would depend on the Prince. Their little band of Holy Guard could harry the monster at best, but to resolve the crisis? They were no supermen.

So Granny did not hold much hope for the Prince, huh. Kyle sighed inwardly, then shifted his focus back to directing the battlefield.

Under his command, the Holy Guard’s style of battle grew even more conservative. Counterattacks became rare, with restraint and survival as the main priority.

But in doing so, the Compassionate Mother’s growth was no longer suppressed. It was not long before Her body swelled larger still.

How could She grow so large? A flicker of doubt crossed Kyle’s mind.

They had come from the Upper District straight toward the Cult of the Hidden without hesitation, yet suddenly this colossal heretical god had blocked their path.

Thankfully, the Holy Guard had grown used to massive monsters in the Deep Sea War. They had seen heretical gods before—there was still one burning in the furnace after all. Otherwise, at the sight of such a terrifying mountain of flesh, they might have broken down entirely, losing half their forces to fear.

When the Compassionate Mother appeared, She was already blotting out the sky!

Logically, at such a size, they should have seen Her already from the Upper District. In this era, buildings were mostly low; three-storied houses were rare. With a body like Hers, half of Blood Harbor ought to have had Her in sight.

Granny had said She grew little by little, but this one—seemed born this large.

Kyle led the Holy Guard into a narrow alley, only to find a group of Mother Goddess followers inside. The Holy Guard raised their rifles, lowered their barrels slightly, and then opened fire.

Blood blossomed from their legs. The cultists fell to the ground with calm expressions.

The Holy Guard chose not to kill. After wounding the Mother Goddess followers, they ignored them and ran past.

This was not merely compassion for the starving masses, but a practical calculation.

According to Granny’s intelligence, the Compassionate Mother would only devour dead followers, never the living.

Thus, so long as they refrained from killing Her followers, She would have nothing to consume. Without flesh and soul for nourishment, She could not continue growing stronger. Meanwhile, the Holy Guard would keep up their fire. By attrition, sooner or later, She might be ground down.

Yet Her strengthening did not slow at all. In fact, it even seemed to worsen. With no other factions nearby killing Mother Goddess followers, Kyle began to suspect whether Granny’s information was mistaken.

Until he once again led his soldiers back to that alley.

When Kyle and the Holy Guard passed through, they were shocked to find only corpses left.

Kyle’s eyes widened. They had clearly only wounded the Mother Goddess followers earlier, not killed them.

Some might have been unlucky, struck in a major artery. But even so, they should have bled for a while before dying. How could there not be a single living person when they came back?

“C-Captain!”

A Holy Guard suddenly cried out, pointing a trembling finger at the heap of corpses.

Following his gaze, Kyle saw that many wounds were not just on the legs. Many throats had been slit.

And in their hands were daggers, knives, even sharp shards of tile.

“Captain Kyle, they… they killed themselves!”