Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 514 The Sanctuary of White Bones
Gwen didn't know what was wrong with her.

Even though he was so tired that he could barely stand, even though he was desperate and wanted to give up, even though blood and tears filled his eyes, he couldn't put down the long sword in his hand.

She had a fire burning in her heart, which she wanted to extinguish with the blood of her enemies.

"Lady Nora, I understand."

Gwen raised her longsword, her expression resolute, as if she were about to sever her own weakness.

She fantasized about reinforcements arriving at the last moment, about heavy armor concealing her weakness, and about a greater being rescuing her.

Nora shattered her illusions with a flail.

The battlefield seemed to have darkened slightly at some point.

"Only you can save yourself, only resistance can ensure survival, and only fighting can keep you moving forward."

The longsword in his hand was gleaming, and so were his white pupils.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

Even Nora stopped using her flail. She turned slightly to the side, as if her headless body could see the dazzling light.

A moment later, she took a step back and stood behind Gwen.

The longsword slashed down.

The gleaming longsword slashed into the ground, and the light faded.

The next instant, countless cracks appeared in the ground, and bright white light shone through them.

The densely packed dragon tooth soldiers in front of Gwen were engulfed by the white light.

On a hill a little further away, a little girl with white hair silently looked in that direction.

Beside her, the ethereal figure of a tall girl stood leaning on a sword; that was the little girl's "friend," Little Gwen.

Why should we help her?

“I don’t know either. She’s completely different from me. She’s very tall, has very long hair, seems to have a lot of friends, and is the leader of the resistance.” Gwen shook her head and said in a low voice.

Do you envy her? Do you want to be like her? Or do you hate her?

Little Gwen crouched down and looked at Gwen.

"After all, I am the grown-up version of yourself that you imagined, and she and I are somewhat similar."

Gwen looked at her "friend" and slowly shook her head.

“I am different from her, and I am different from you. Gwen is Gwen. She is her Gwen, and I am my Gwen.”

The girl blinked, a barely perceptible smile curving her lips, and turned back to look at the battlefield.

On the battlefield, Gwen cleared out a group of enemies with a single sword strike, but there were still many, many more enemies behind her, like an endless sea, which filled the gap in an instant.

"There are still many enemies. Should we go and help them?" The unicorn beside him spoke in an unusually gentle tone.

"No need."

Gwen turned around and looked at the other side of the mound, where there was a long line of heavy Gatling guns mounted on steel carts, and two huge airships in the sky with menacing shark teeth paint.

"I also brought the expeditionary force here."

In the North, further north than the resistance's battlefields, near the Canary Mountains, in what was once a resistance camp.

The world seemed to have forgotten this place; the attention of the entire North was drawn to the resistance, and this desolate land was no longer visited.

But at that moment, a boot stepped onto the open ground.

The calfskin trim was inlaid with brass, and the high-top boots were embroidered with delicate patterns. These exquisite boots, however, were carelessly plunged into the mud, the embroidery instantly covered by the mud and water.

"Hahaha, I found it! I found it!!!"

A maniacal laugh pierced the tranquility of the woodland, and Bazel's once elegant face was now twisted with joy.

"They're all wrong, all wrong! It wasn't that Nora hid the relic; it's that she didn't even know it existed! The Candlelight Society? The investigators? They could investigate for a hundred years and still not find it!"

Bazel laughed wildly, holding a small earthenware pot in his hand, still covered in fresh dirt.

"Lina, do you know what this is? Do you know what a magnificent creation it is?"

"This is the Sanctuary of Bones, my lord."

“Yes, the Bone Sanctuary, the Silent Sanctuary. I knew their break with Nora wasn’t so simple. Sure enough, they secretly buried this relic here. I guessed it the moment I found out Nora wasn’t dead!”

"The Sanctuary of Bones! The miracle of the Bone Raven! It's in my hands now! Not only the North, but the entire continent will be at my command! I only need to open its lid, and the white mist will fill the entire continent, and the remains of the Bone Raven within the mist will obey my orders!"

Lina looked up and quietly watched Bazel's hysterical revelry.

After a while, Bazel noticed her gaze and turned around with a smile: "Don't worry, Lina, our agreement will not change. In the realm of the dead that I rule, the Firemoth will be the only sect, and you, as the chief of the Firemoth, will be the pope of the state religion!"

"That would be an honor—I hope you won't forget your promise."

"Don't worry, don't worry! The Candlelight Cult? I don't even need to lift a finger. Apart from those keepers, no one can survive the White Disaster!!"

Bazel's trembling hands gripped the lid of the earthenware pot. He took a deep breath and prepared to open it.

"Wait."

Bazel was startled and turned to glare at Lina: "What's wrong!?"

"I'd like to ask what to do with the troops you brought?"

“They will be the first army of bones I will unleash; they have pledged their allegiance to me—but it is not clear whether they are alive or dead.”

"I see. So what about the superhumans in your army?"

"What superhuman? You're the only superhuman in my army! What are you talking about?"

"It's nothing, I misremembered. Please open the Hall of Bones," Lina said, bowing her head.

Bazel frowned and reached for the lid of the jar again, but hesitated and did not open it immediately.

He had a strange, uneasy feeling.

"What's the matter, sir?"

"No. No, Lina. You should know that as the Moths of Fire, you won't have any other forces supporting you, right? My Kingdom of the Dead is the only force that will offer you protection and allow you to conduct your research freely."

Lina sighed, said nothing, but raised her head, her crimson eyes fixed on Bazel.

Looking into those crimson eyes, Bazel felt a strange sense of fear. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly realized that his fingers seemed to twitch.

"Varied"

The next moment, his hand lifted the lid by itself.

Countless grayish-white powders flew out of the jar, like fireflies, which was quite beautiful.

The moment they touched Bazel, his flesh began to melt like blood, and in his terrified state, he was reduced to a skeleton in just a few moments.

As the white ash spread, his army was reduced to bones in an instant. Lina, who was standing to the side, was not spared either. She looked down at her flesh disappearing, but a strange smile appeared on her lips.

(End of this chapter)