Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 366 He refused.

At this moment, the prince and his party were very close to the "Mother," about to rush into Her attack range. Just then, the prince raised his gun and fired.

boom!
Gunshots rang out, bullets flew... No one noticed where the bullets went, but the knights suddenly pulled on their reins, and the charging group abruptly changed direction.

The loving mother had already raised her hand, waiting for them to move forward a little more before she slammed it down. But the prince and his party suddenly changed direction at the sound of the gunshot, speeding past her falling limbs.

Stone fragments flew everywhere, but the prince and the others had already left, and the "loving mother" had struck nothing.

"Great, awesome!"

A gasp of surprise came from the side of the Guardians of the Faith. They could also dodge the attacks of the "Mother of Compassion," but that was by fighting and retreating and anticipating the attacks in advance. In fact, they were quite embarrassed when they were maneuvering around her.

After all, they only move on two legs, so their speed is quite limited.

But the prince and his harbor guards were all on horseback.

This group of people were all skilled horsemen, and the horses they rode were also carefully selected. The group moved like the wind, and their dodging movements even had a touch of elegance.

However, this is like dancing on a knife's edge. They don't have sustained firepower to weaken [Mother] from a distance, so they can only get closer to lure her away.

The evil god seemed to be enraged, and He kept swinging His limbs at the prince and his party, causing stones to fly everywhere and dust to rise from the ground.

But this group of people were as nimble as rabbits, always managing to dodge at the last moment, which provoked the "compassionate mother" to attack them frantically, as if she were trying to crush an insect.

"Guys, don't just stand there, seize this opportunity and shoot! Don't stop!" Kyle shouted.

Upon hearing this, the guards raised their guns and opened fire. The bolt-action rifles were already using fixed ammunition, so there was no need to load gunpowder. After firing, the spent cartridge case was ejected, and a new bullet was inserted before it could be chambered and fired again.

They no longer need to dodge and fight back at the same time; the firepower density has increased instantly. Given the size of the "Mother," there's no need to aim; just pulling the trigger guarantees a hit.

The damage from a single bullet is negligible to [Mother], but when gunshots come in succession, the damage is far more significant.

But the loving mother seemed to be bewitched, relentlessly pursuing the prince and his entourage, completely ignoring the guards on the side, even though the prince's side hardly retaliated.

Kyle was initially puzzled, but he quickly figured it out.

【Mother】represents the will of the believers of the Mother Goddess. These poor, starving people had little interaction with the Castel people and did not have any deep hatred for them, but they truly hated the prince to the bone.

Regardless, the prince is the lord of Bloodharbor, and he is largely to blame for the chaos and famine there.

Perhaps they should hate the nobles and the system, but the only person standing before them is the prince, and they can only hate the prince.

Thus, the battle turned into a situation where the prince fled ahead with his mother, while the Christian army kept firing from behind.

As she continued to inflict damage, Kyle was surprised to find that [Mother]'s growth had stopped, and even showed a faint tendency to regress.

Even though He kept taking the time to devour the Mother Goddess's followers, He was still no match for the bullets of the Guardians of the Faith. Once the Guardians of the Faith were free to deal with the situation, their firepower increased by more than tenfold!
"There's hope!" Kyle's eyes lit up, and he grinned. "Fire! Keep firing! Keep going like this, we'll wear Him down eventually!"

But soon, Kyle's smile faded.

"Captain, we're running low on bullets!"

"What!?" Kyle was startled and turned to look at the soldiers around him, only to find that most of their ammunition pouches were empty.

They came prepared for a major battle, with ample ammunition. However, this "ammunition" was based on normal combat conditions; they could hold out for a long time even against a large army of cultists. But the ammunition consumption in the fight against "Mother" far exceeded their expectations.

Kyle's math skills were average, but a simple calculation showed that the remaining bullets could not have allowed the Guardians to kill [Mother].

No, it's not just the bullets they have; even all the bullets in Blood Harbor combined wouldn't be enough.

[Mother] has an extremely fast recovery speed, and will continue to grow stronger if its firepower is slightly weakened. The fact that they have achieved the current situation proves the power of bolt-action rifles.

On a normal battlefield, a "Mother of Mercy" of this size would be a natural disaster. Where would an ordinary lord find a Guardian Army with rich experience in monster battles, and a prince who is not afraid of death to personally lead the team as bait?

Even with these elites gathered at Bloodharbor, they could only barely limit [Mother's] continued growth, and now they can't even do that anymore.

Kyle opened his mouth as if to say something, but only felt a bitter taste in his mouth and felt very unwilling—they had done so well, but they still couldn't protect Blood Harbor.

His mother-in-law's figure suddenly appeared beside him.

"Mother-in-law, we're running low on bullets. We won't be able to restrain [the loving mother] anytime soon."

The old woman nodded, her voice low: "It's alright, child. The Secret Order has already assembled and is heading towards the port. We have ships at sea, so they'll be safe soon."

Kyle nodded. It was a good thing, but he felt like he had something stuck in his throat.

He glanced reluctantly at the receding evil god and whispered, "Do we... have no choice but to abandon Blood Harbor?"

He wasn't from Tisse, and he hadn't stayed in Bloodharbor for long, so he didn't have much affection for the place.

But he spent many years at the bottom of society.

There are indeed many despicable nobles in the port, but most of them are just ordinary people struggling to make a living.

He came from Castel and had no obligation to save the people here, but that did not stop the pain welling up in his heart.

It is precisely because I have witnessed suffering that I wish to pull others out of their misery.

The mother-in-law sighed: "I will tell the prince, and he should be able to make a decision."

[The loving mother] Although she is incredibly powerful and difficult to resist, she can still run away if she wants to.

The prince and his party managed to hold out for so long despite being deliberately lured; if they wanted to escape, they could have done so long ago.

Abandoning his people and his land to escape for his life shouldn't be too difficult for a prince, right?

The mother-in-law's expression froze. Kyle knew she had gone to remind the prince. Soon, her eyes cleared again, and she revealed a somewhat incredulous expression.

She paused for a moment, and only spoke hesitantly when Kyle tentatively asked her.

“I told the prince about the situation here, and told him that the [Mother of Love] can no longer be weakened, but will only become stronger.”

“I invited him to retreat with me; we could provide some cover.”

But he refused.

(End of this chapter)