Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

The more troublesome issue was that they couldn’t stay here for too long. In fact, their current states were already quite poor. Castel was simply too far away, and the Symbiotic Contract was constantly draining their life force.

Soon, the Banshees roughly determined their direction, came ashore from the river, and entered the forest.

Half a day later, the three Banshees returned to the river with frustration written all over their faces.

“Why isn’t it here?”

“I think it’s because of the map. Its accuracy is way too poor!”

Nini dejectedly set the map aside. They had searched for quite a while but found no trace of the camp.

Moreover, while the Banshees moved swiftly in the river, they no longer held that advantage in the forest. Exploring the woods consumed time, and they weren’t efficient at all.

“In that case, let’s search along the river. The Resistance Army’s camp surely needs a water source, so it shouldn’t be too far from the river.”

After a brief discussion, the three dove back into the river.

The wind rustled through the trees, causing the branches to sway along the riverbank.

After a while, a splash of crimson suddenly appeared in the forest.

A red-haired girl pushed through the underbrush, dragging an unconscious man in her hand.

It was Lina.

“That’s strange. I definitely sensed extraordinary energy from this direction, but it suddenly vanished.”

Lina’s gaze landed on the riverbank, where scattered stones had been brushed aside, forming winding tracks that led directly into the water.

Lina narrowed her eyes.

Once they entered the water, the Banshees’ speed surged significantly. They split up, searching along both banks of the river.

If the Resistance Army’s camp was truly near the river, there would certainly be signs of drawing water. The Koller River ran rapidly, and there weren’t many shallow spots nearby—it shouldn’t be hard to find.

Nini agreed on a rendezvous time and location with the other two and began traveling upstream, searching all the way.

Soon, she found a few suspicious spots. After investigating them one by one, most of the day had already passed.

But her efforts weren’t in vain. At last, she discovered a small trail in the woods not far from the riverbank.

There were many footprints on the trail, suggesting frequent use—and recent.

Nini immediately grew excited and began weaving through the woods along the muddy path.

The forest was difficult to traverse, often blocked by branches and underbrush. A path meant for humans was a bit narrow for a Banshee.

But that wasn’t a big problem for Nini. She was clad in heavy armor, and had no need to worry about anything—she simply charged forward. Behind her, the once narrow trail had been forcefully widened, and shattered trees were crushed to the ground.

It certainly made some noise, but Nini didn’t care.

Banshees were never good at stealth anyway. In such dense woods, trying to hide was far too difficult.

She might as well just crush her way through.

It didn’t take long for her to arrive at the camp.

This was the very Resistance Army camp that had been evacuated the day before. At present, the area was a mess.

Though the Resistance had left in a bit of a rush, it shouldn’t have been this chaotic. The main reason was—

Nini narrowed her eyes, staring at the soldiers rummaging around the camp.

There were over a hundred soldiers—it was Bazel and his subordinates. After leaving Sleddinburg, they had gone to the town where the Winter Wolves were stationed, gathered troops and supplies, and pushed straight into the forest.

He had brought nothing but elite troops. With the Frostsoil Guard present, the Resistance’s muskets wouldn’t even dent their formation.

Besides, the camp mostly housed women and children who had received only basic training. The real combat units had gone to reinforce Gwen. And with Lina accompanying them, even if Nora appeared, she wouldn’t be able to stir up much trouble.

Lina was the strongest—Bazel had no doubt about that.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t expected to find nothing here.

The Resistance Army had just left and hadn’t even bothered to cover their tracks. Bazel’s expression turned cold.

Yet he didn’t order a pursuit. Instead, he had the soldiers search the area. What they were looking for, he hadn’t specified. His only command was:

  “Bring me anything strange.”

This left the soldiers a bit confused.

Just then, Nini stormed into the forest.

Bazel and his men had heard disturbances in the woods earlier, but assumed it was just animals and didn’t think much of it. After all, their soldiers were fully armored and always ready for battle.

He simply had the Frostsoil Guard gather and load their muskets, waiting.

When Nini emerged from the forest, the soldiers were stunned.

The Frostsoil Guard were Bazel’s elite—tall, strong, and armored—much more robust than ordinary men.

But standing before Nini, they looked like harmless kittens. Nini towered over them by more than double.

And she wasn’t just tall. She was wearing full-body heavy armor, designed by Hughes—its icy metallic aesthetic struck awe into anyone standing before her. People couldn’t help but hold their breath, afraid to disturb this steel giant.

“Lord Earl, wh-what is that monster?!”

A soldier cried out. Nini slowly turned her head, the eye slits of her helmet glowing faintly.

“Earl?”

She spoke in a raspy voice, tinged with excitement and bloodlust—like a devil from hell.

The soldiers in front of her all took a step back, stunned—this towering giant could talk? They’d thought she was nothing but cold, unfeeling steel.

“Lord Bazel is the Frontier Count granted title by Her Majesty! What kind of monster are you?! Step aside at once!” a soldier shouted, lacking conviction.

Behind him, Bazel gestured subtly, signaling the nearby troops to encircle her, while he himself quietly retreated and looked around.

It didn’t take long before he spotted a streak of red in the forest, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

“Lina, come here!” he called out, his voice rising. “Monster, state your origin! Drop your weapon and surrender immediately!”

Nini said nothing. She calmly fastened something onto the six arms hidden beneath her armor, ignoring the encircling soldiers entirely.

“You’re Earl Bazel?”

She asked. Just as Bazel was about to answer, he saw her raise her six arms in all directions—beneath her steel gauntlets were pitch-black cannon muzzles.

One of them was aimed directly at him.

Bazel instantly sensed danger. He had time only to shout “Lina!” before everything turned crimson before his eyes.

The forests of the Northlands weren’t particularly bright—tall, thick trees blocked the sunlight.

But in that instant, the trees and the scattered sunlight above were consumed by surging flames.

The roaring fire dragon surged from the cannon like a beast in fury, violently erupting from the muzzle and engulfing everything around it.