Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Hughes immediately controlled his body, remaining completely still, not even opening his eyes.

He squinted slightly, allowing a small amount of light to filter through. There was light here, and it was very bright.

Where was this? Had he been released?

A flood of chaotic thoughts surged in his mind in an instant, but Hughes forcibly suppressed them, staying utterly motionless, like an empty husk.

No rush to investigate—he could pretend first.

“Success! It worked!”

“The Evil God has descended!”

“Fantastic! Everything went smoothly! We are saved!”

“As expected of the Chief, he really managed to summon the Lord of Moths.”

The Lord of Moths? Was that the original evil god of this body?

Hughes carefully searched his memories. This didn’t seem to have anything to do with the Candlelight Church, though he couldn’t recall the exact name of the god they worshipped either.

So, they were truly cultists.

This was bad, it wasn’t the Candlelight Church setting a trap; there were actually people in his territory summoning an evil god!

This was a huge problem. He needed to inform the Candlelight Church immediately, and the Sirens had to be ready to act.

Who knew what these cultists were planning? They had just summoned an evil god, what if their next move was to blow Castel to the heavens?

Hughes initially intended to retreat right away, but suddenly, he paused.

Wait a minute… Right now, wasn’t he the evil god they had summoned?

Then… could he use this opportunity to gather information?

Cultists wouldn’t actively harm their god, right?

And even if they did, so what? This body was already abandoned. At worst, he’d just die again.

With that thought, Hughes confidently opened his eyes.

Flames, towering flames, nearly reaching the sky. He was sitting in front of a massive bonfire.

It was nighttime, yet these people had lit such an enormous fire, weren’t they afraid of being discovered? That meant they must be far from any settlements.

Scanning his surroundings, he saw only barren land. There was no ocean in sight, making it difficult to determine the exact location.

Hughes let out a breath of relief. As long as they were far from people, they could get themselves killed all they wanted, as long as they didn’t drag the other islanders down with them.

—This should still be on the island, right?

He looked down at the ground. It was covered with intricate patterns whose purpose he couldn’t discern. Perhaps they had been used for the summoning ritual.

This body… the evil god…

Thinking back to the palace, the worker Hughes had controlled earlier, who had been glancing around, could that have been an evil god!?

Hiss…

Did he accidentally purify an evil god today?

No way, right? That god was that weak? And judging by its behavior, it didn’t seem too bright, unable even to react properly.

Could an evil god really be that weak?

Hughes’ eye twitched as he turned his gaze toward the cultists.

They were all uniformly dressed in oversized red robes, perhaps too oversized. The hems of their robes dragged on the ground, sparkling embers as they moved.

Embers?

Hughes’ eyes widened. He noticed that the hems of their robes were slowly burning, far too slow for normal flames.

So many of them, could they all be Extraordinary individuals?

Hughes swallowed hard. If they were all Extraordinary, then Castel was in real trouble.

He couldn’t immediately determine their exact numbers, but if they clashed with the Sirens, even if they won, it would be a bitter victory.

Hughes grew increasingly tense, and the red-robed cultists seemed just as wary.

They had originally been standing in the gaps between the ritual patterns on the ground, facing the bonfire, engaged in some unknown activity.

But the moment Hughes got up, they all froze.

“How is this possible—the Evil God…”

“This shouldn’t be… How can an Evil God…”

Hughes suddenly shouted, “So you were the ones summoning an Evil God?!”

The red-robed cultists collectively took a step back, exchanging uncertain glances before finally looking toward the shortest figure at the front.

That person hesitated slightly, seemingly sensing that something was wrong. She cautiously asked, “Are you the Evil God?”

Hughes: “What were you doing?”

Red-robed person: “Are you the Lord of Moths?”

Both Hughes and the red-robed person fell into silence, sensing each other’s wariness.

This wasn’t working, there was no way to communicate like this.

Why were these cultists so unfaithful?

Their god had descended into a vessel, yet they weren’t willing to reveal a single piece of information.

Weren’t cultists supposed to be foolishly devoted?

Hughes pressed his lips together and softened his tone.

“I am not a god.”

He could certainly pretend to be a deity to extract information, but after some thought, he decided against it.

For some reason, he felt a vague sense of unease. Something about these cultists wasn’t right. Pretending to be a god might not be the best approach.

These were cultists, people who knew far more about evil gods than he did. If he tried to fake it, he could easily expose himself. But that wasn’t even the main issue.

The real problem was… these cultists were acting too strangely.

Their god had just come to life, stood up, and questioned them, yet instead of frenzied devotion, they were all filled with wariness, as if ready to attack at any moment.

Damn it what kind of cultists were they!?

At that moment, another realization hit Hughes.

What had these cultists just called him?

Evil God.

That was correct. This vessel was full of corruption it was indeed an Evil God. Hughes had thought the same.

But weren’t they cultists? What kind of cultists would call their own god an “Evil God”? Especially the one they had personally summoned?

The woman in front of him remained silent but suddenly raised her hand.

From Hughes’ blind spot, a shadow shot toward him at incredible speed.

Before he could react, iron-like arms wrapped around him, locking him in place.

Hughes was startled, but once he realized what had happened, he didn’t resist.

He had never intended to keep this body anyway, gathering information was enough.

Besides, he wasn’t even an Extraordinary. Struggling would be pointless.

The most important thing now was to gain a basic understanding of these cultists—figure out how many of them were Extraordinary. That way, even if they clashed with Castel, they wouldn’t be caught off guard.

Just as Hughes was about to speak, he caught a glimpse of the person restraining him.

He recognized this person—

“Brother Kaeski?”

His mouth slowly fell open. Then, as if realizing something, he turned his head and looked at the nearest red-robed cultist.

Under the oversized hood, illuminated by firelight, was another familiar face.

“Sister Chloe!?”

Hughes froze in place.

The fire continued to crackle, burning wood hissing and popping, yet the crowd was deathly silent.

“You… you’re not the Lord of Moths…”

Chloe momentarily lost focus when she heard the supposed Evil God call her name. But she quickly snapped back and shouted at Kaeski, “Purify it immediately! Now!”

Her eyes were filled with terror, her voice trembling—but there was no hesitation in her movements.

“It’s an Outer God! Extraordinary ones, restrain it with me! The rest of you, go inform the Lord of this land! He just summoned an Evil God, only he can deal with an Outer God!”