Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 539 Sacrifice
"You guys go up first, I'll cover you," Ash said in a deep voice.

She had discarded the machine gun and replaced it with the Dragon's Breath Cannon. Although this weapon had a short range, it was a fan-shaped attack. Every time Ash fired, she would twist her body and wrists to make the jet of the Dragon's Breath Cannon cover a large area.

This is a cannon fighting technique invented by Nini. It is quite effective, but it requires a high level of physical fitness. Every time Nini tries to use it, she twists her waist.

"There's no other way, let's give it our all!" Hodge turned to look at the few soldiers around him, these were the last few left.

"We tied the rope ladder around our waists, then let the airship ascend directly to altitude, and detonated the explosives the moment we left the firing position!"

"Lord Ash, please inform the airship."

There are also banshees on the airship. Ash has just established a mental link with one of them, and they can exchange messages in real time.

"I've already said it, they're about to climb!"

The skeletons were almost upon them, and the heavy machine guns fired frantically, but the horde of skeletons surging forward was far greater than the number that had been blasted away.

"It's now!"

The steam engine on the airship roared loudly, and the operator instantly threw off all the weights, causing the entire airship to jerk upwards!
At the same time, the people on the airship desperately pulled up the rope ladder, and Hodge, Gwen and the others rose about ten meters high almost instantly.

But the skeletal remains surged up and pounced on the people in the air.

Ash glanced down at the monsters and suddenly let go of their hands.

"Lord Ash!"

"What are you doing?!"

Ash didn't speak. After falling a short distance, just as he was about to fall into the swarm of bones, six hands suddenly drew their dragon breath cannons and opened fire at once!
The immense recoil erupted instantly, all of it downwards, even lifting Ash's heavy body a considerable distance upwards, catching up with the others who were ascending. She casually tossed aside the Dragon Breath Cannon and firmly grasped the rope ladder.

This scene left everyone speechless, and even Gwen was filled with admiration. It required extremely high courage and boldness, something she herself probably couldn't do.

No wonder Ash is the strongest in Castel.

Hodge breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Ash come up, still filled with disbelief. They actually survived? Surrounded by white mist, how could they still survive?
Not only that, his soldiers were also brought back intact, with casualties so few as to be negligible.

After this battle, he must return to Castel to recuperate for a while; it was truly too exciting.

Just as he was imagining life in the sanatorium, the exclamation of the soldiers around him brought him back to reality.

"Lord Hughes, what kind of monster is that?"

Upon hearing this, Hodge lowered his head, and then froze as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water.

Countless bones were pieced together to form a giant skull, and an arm made of bones was grabbing at them fiercely!
In the rush, the skeleton was only pieced together to the upper half, but even just half a skeleton filled all the land below them!
Gwen's machine guns roared, and Ash's dragon breath cannons thundered. The airships above even risked dropping bombs, but all of this was insignificant in the face of that skeletal hand.

The skeleton was assembling rapidly, and the white mist was closing in at a speed many times faster than before. If this continued, they would surely die.

Even if the skeletons don't kill them, the closing white mist will engulf them forever.

Some of the soldiers around him screamed, while others prayed. Hodge pursed his lips and slowly closed his eyes.

Ash's expression beneath her armor was as cold as an iceberg, unwavering in the slightest. She turned her head to look south, in the direction of Castel.

"My lord, I'm sorry, I haven't fulfilled my promise and can no longer protect you."

Her six hands fell to her sides.

Gwen was still firing. The battle had reached its most intense moment, but Gwen seemed lost in thought.

Time seemed to stand still for her.

Gwen looked down and saw the skeleton roaring, twisted and ferocious, amidst a sea of ​​writhing white bones.

She looked up again at the blue sky, the white clouds high above, the warm sunshine, and the enormous airship.

She looked down at the heavy machine gun in her hand.

The resistance has always been like this: looking up, there is the unattainable beauty of Castel; before them lies an endless purgatory; thankfully, they still have friends by their side.

"It's terrible, but this is my life. Thankfully, you're still by my side, so let's fight to the very end together, my friend."

She smiled broadly, watching the approaching skeletons, her loyal heavy machine gun roaring as it prepared to face its end.

But at that moment, she suddenly felt something and turned her head to look to the side.

A little girl with white hair was falling rapidly through the air, and just then, she passed right next to her.

It looks like it fell from an airship. Strange, how could there be such a small child in the expeditionary force?

Looking at her, Gwen felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if she were facing her younger self, the self that didn't want to grow up.

She stared blankly at the little girl, and saw the girl open her mouth as if she were saying something.

The wind was too strong for her to hear, but an answer inexplicably formed in her mind—

"Live."

Gwen instinctively reached out, but missed and grasped nothing.

She watched helplessly as the girl fell downwards.

She fell, landing in the closing skeletal giant's hand; her tiny body was like a speck of dust before the skeletal giant.

Shouldn't these smooth, white bones be stained with a little bit of blood? Gwen thought subconsciously, but what she saw next made her eyes widen.

The enormous skeleton suddenly stopped.

The writhing sea of ​​white bones beneath the skull also came to an instant halt.

Then, from its skeletal hand, the entire skeleton instantly shattered into dust, a massive explosion erupted from its hand, and countless rays of light engulfed it. It howled and tried to escape, but was completely swept up in the explosion.

The airship and Gwen and the others were swept up by a strong gust of wind and flung upwards, rising just before the white mist closed in.

Gwen stared blankly at the churning white mist below. She had survived, but she had a strange feeling, as if a part of her had died.

Who is that little white-haired girl? Gwen doesn't know her, nor does she know why she jumped down. Could she have been the one who did everything just now?
How is that possible? Such terrifying power, even Lord Isaac couldn't achieve it, right?

Gwen felt her eyes stinging, so she rubbed them and stared blankly at the tears on the back of her hand.

"I cried?"

Gwen's tears flowed uncontrollably under the clear, warm sky.

(End of this chapter)