Chapter 353: The Harbor Guard Has Arrived

Gwen tried her best to hide behind the street children, avoiding Josh from noticing her disheveled state.

But Josh still noticed.

He sniffed slightly, frowned, and stepped forward to grab Gwen's clothes.

Gwen quickly pulled the hem of her clothes away, lowered her head, and took a step back, trying hard to hide that piece of cloak behind her.

Josh looked down at his own hand, now stained with a smear of red mixed with mud.

"You went outside?"

He glared at Gwen but didn’t say more — time was pressing, and the intel Gwen brought was crucial.

"Yes, Master of Rituals, I just saw that many monsters were mixed among the Mother God believers outside!"

Gwen spoke urgently.

"Monsters? What kind of monsters?"

Josh’s fingers trembled.

No matter what, he was just an ordinary person.

He knew very little about the supernatural world and could only brace himself at the moment.

Damn it, all he wanted back then was to be a merchant — how did he end up having to deal with monsters alongside a cultist?

"Like Tommy! Monsters made by stitching many people together!"

Gwen only got halfway through when she suddenly remembered that Josh hadn’t been present when the Prince faced off against Mira, so she quickly changed her wording.

"Stitched… stitched together!?"

Josh swallowed hard, feeling a wave of unease.

His head was full of chaotic images, but he suddenly frowned and said, "Would stitching more limbs onto a person make them stronger in combat?"

Although he originally planned to be a merchant, he had come from Castel after all.

Having sat through many lectures, he’d picked up a bit of an engineer’s mindset.

So when hearing about monsters, his first reaction wasn’t fear — but whether such mutations were practical or not.

Gwen took a deep breath.

Josh also realized this wasn’t the time for such thoughts.

His tone grew urgent, "Gwen, are you sure? This is very important!"

"Of course. I saw it with my own eyes!"

Josh glanced at the bloodstained cloak she wore and pushed the messy thoughts aside.

After calling out to his companions, he jogged back into the house.

"Granny, I just received news — there are monsters appearing on the streets outside!"

Granny, who had been sitting with her head lowered, almost dozing off, immediately turned to look at him.

"What kind of monsters?"

Josh relayed Gwen’s description.

Granny’s expression turned slightly odd.

"You said… a little girl told you this?"

"Yes, and those monsters are said to be mixed in with the Mother God believers. There are quite a few of them!"

Granny nodded seriously.

"This is very important information. I’ll inform the Holy Guard right away.

Oh, and have your believers prepare themselves — the Holy Guard will be moving in this direction!"

"No problem!"

Granny nodded to him, then seemed to fall back into her half-asleep state.

Josh knew her true self wasn’t here.

She was likely helping coordinate over on the Holy Guard’s side.

Monsters...

Josh forcefully suppressed the unease in his heart, stepped outside, and began organizing his followers for defense.

Distributing weapons, making plans, constructing barricades —

Only after a long while did he finally find a brief moment to catch his breath.

He originally wanted to talk to Gwen properly, to warn her to act more cautiously.

Unfortunately, even after he turned the entire hideout of the Mystics upside down, he couldn’t find that little white-haired girl.

Gwen had left again.

On the other side —

Unlike during the last uprising, this time the Harbor Guard responded quickly to the Prince’s summons.

Not long after the orders were issued, they arrived at the streets of the Upper District.

At this moment, no Mother God believers had arrived here yet.

After the Prince personally led the troops to set up defenses, he hesitated for a moment, then left the Upper District with Galahad.

He had a vague sense that something was wrong —

This uprising by the Church of the Mother God felt off.

The Prince wasn’t the kind of person to ignore a problem.

He planned to see it for himself.

So he selected a squad, and fully armed, they left on horseback.

Everyone accompanying him was cavalry — several dozen riders.

They were elite musketeers, fast and agile with their mounts.

With Galahad accompanying them, even if they ran into trouble, escaping wouldn’t be too hard.

Unlike the last uprising, the Prince had little information this time.

After thinking for a moment, he led his men toward the Mystics.

The relationship between Castel and the Mystics was no secret.

As soon as the rebellion began, the Holy Guard had already moved toward the Mystics’ side.

The Prince did not stop them.

Though the Holy Guard moved earlier, they had no horses and traveled on foot — they actually fell behind the Prince.

Before long, the base of the Mystics appeared before Galahad.

"They’re building barricades. Looks like they’re preparing for defense, Your Highness!"

Galahad turned and reported to the Prince.

"Strange..."

The Prince frowned.

"My lord, something off?"

"An uprising is the perfect time to fish in troubled waters.

The Mystics shouldn’t be choosing to fully withdraw.

They would benefit no matter what they did — focusing on defense makes it more likely that..."

The Prince paused, his expression darkening.

"The situation was completely unexpected for them.

They can’t resolve the trouble on their own — that’s why they’re holding position and waiting for the Holy Guard’s support."

Galahad was also experienced in warfare and quickly caught on.

"A problem that an organization like the Mystics can’t handle — is it something supernatural?"

Even if the Church of the Mother God came in force, the Mystics were strong enough to clash head-on.

But to barricade themselves in and block off roads like this — completely giving up the initiative —

To force the Mystics into the most conservative strategy…

What kind of enemy could it be?

"You think it’s..."

Galahad hesitated to finish.

The Prince shook his head.

"Rather than guess here, let’s go ask directly—"

He spurred his horse forward a few steps and shouted loudly,

"I am Grand Duke William, here to protect Blood Harbor!

Tell me what has happened here!"

There was a stir within the Mystics’ barricade.

But it quickly quieted down, and a voice responded:

"Your Highness, we encountered monsters outside.

They’re mixed in among the Mother God believers and are roaming through the Lower District!"

Although they stood on different sides, they faced the same enemy now.

The Mystics had aligned more closely with the Church of the Mother God, but they still treated the monsters with caution.

So while remaining wary of the Prince’s group, they still provided information.

"The monsters attacked you?"

"We haven’t made contact yet!"

"What do they look like? Describe them!"

However, before the Mystics could reply, a cry rang out—

"Monsters! There are monsters over there!!"

The Prince and the Harbor Guard cavalry immediately turned their heads.

At some point, silhouettes of the Mother God believers had appeared in the alleyway.

And with them… monsters.