"When you chance upon something mysterious, do a taste test first. The worst that could happen is your death." By—someone wise on the internet.
Iota didn't have many leads at the moment, other than the fact that he had the same energy signature as the crack—since he had just travelled through it. Moreover, when Dullip Garobu was scouring for a Devil, he found Iota and formed a connection using the magic circle.
As a result, Iota had a connection to both energies at the moment. And before that influence wore off, he had to do something to gain anything of benefit. He was vulnerable in this brand-new world, after all.
So, he went with by far the most insane of approaches. Though of course, Iota wasn't sane from day one, so he felt it perfectly logical to perform a taste test.
Boom!
The ground rumbled as the granite shattered. The magic circle carved into it lit up and broke down into a stream of energy that rapidly flowed through his mouth, chasing after the crack he had swallowed.
The room lost its light after that, followed by silence. From the moment he arrived to when the place turned dark, it had only taken five seconds.
Dullip Garobu had been expecting a Devil. So, when two humans—Iota and Spring—came, Dullip was confused. And by the time he managed to react, it was too late.
The contract he wished to establish was no more, for the magic circle was consumed by Iota. Like an aged tube light, it took a few seconds for his brain to register the information that he was supposed to be angry here.
"You! Who the heck are you? Where's the Devil? How did you come here?" Dullip expressed anger as he shouted at the servants, "Catch him!"
The servants leaped at Iota, intending to constrict him first so that their leader could question him.
Swoosh!
There was the sound of the wind flowing past them when suddenly, one of the servants screamed, "Gah! My eye!"
The servant hollered in pain as he rolled around on the ground. Sticking out of his eye was a syringe. Blood began to flow into its barrel gradually through the needle that had pierced through the eye. Shockingly, despite no one holding it, the plunger was moving outward, sucking in more blood into the barrel of the syringe.
"That's dope!" Iota exclaimed as he stared at his hand, watching a golden magic circle flash on it for a moment before transforming into a syringe pattern. Instinctively, when he flashed his hand, a syringe flew out and stabbed that servant in the eye.
"Interesting," He muttered and swiped his hand, watching another syringe fly out and target the second servant. But just before its needle could stab into him, a massive sickle appeared in between, causing the syringe's needle to dent upon impact.
It fell on the floor and evaporated within a second.
"You bastard! Dare underestimate me?" Dullip Garobu glared in anger, holding the massive sickle in his hands, one that seemed to weigh around thirty kilograms but appeared to be no different from a feather for him. He wielded it without effort.
Iota flicked his hand twice, sending two syringes flying at the other party, surprised when Dullip casually defended against them, 'What is this mysterious power he's using?'
"Ugh…" Spring groaned, looking like she was about to wake up. Immediately, Iota let go of his intention to fight and experiment with his newfound powers as he leaped forth to kick away the two servants. He then grabbed the one thrashing about on the floor.
He took the syringe filled with the servant's blood, acting based on instinct as he injected the contents into his body, sensing strength surge in his body; using that, he threw the servant towards Dullip.
"Dammit!" Dullip retracted his sickle to avoid killing the servant, and caught him, sliding on the floor from the force. It was apparent that he attached value to their lives.
The moment he gathered his bearings, Dullip looked forth to notice Iota climbing the ladder.
A twist on the lever and the door opened, allowing Iota to leap out, watching the sickle barely miss his feet. He slammed the door shut, looking around to observe that he was in the living room of a house. He noticed a heavy trunk nearby that he dragged over and placed atop the door.
He went a step further to drag the table and other items to add more weight, intending to trap the people within the underground room for as long as possible.
Iota could already feel the boost in strength waning over each passing second as he hurried through the empty house and found some spare clothes for himself and Spring, not to mention some spare change lying around.
There was a lot that he had yet to know regarding this world, and hence, he swapped their clothes with the local garments and exited the house, staring at the sky instinctively the moment he went out, pausing in surprise, "Damn!"
In the sky hovered a massive celestial object, ten times the size of the Moon on Earth. Moreover, the shocking thing about it was that it resembled the skull of a Devil in appearance.
The shape was rather familiar; Iota held Spring's wrist in response, glaring at the celestial object for a moment before running across the street, "I'm indeed in a different world."
He looked around, noticing that they were in a residential district. The place was unfamiliar, the moon was weird, the air had a strangely nauseating scent, and unsurprisingly, he could neither speak nor understand their language.
That was why he didn't even understand what that Dullip guy had been raging on about.
He ran across the street and made a turn at the closest path, stopping to consider his actions, 'Since I don't know the customs of this world, I won't survive for long like this. And those people might chase after us.'
He stared at his hand, 'At my present state, I cannot win against that guy's strange power. I need to first understand the ability I gained from swallowing that spatial crack and the magic circle.'
'I need time.' Thinking as such, he strolled through the street, straining his ears to focus on the sounds coming from within the houses, intending to find a suitable place.
Ugh!
Spring groaned all of a sudden as her head turned to face a certain house. Iota stopped abruptly, focusing on the house as he considered for a moment before choosing it. Time was ticking fast, and he didn't have any room for second guesses.
It wasn't as if he was scared and hence didn't put much thought into that subtle action of Spring. He knocked on the door, watching an old lady open it almost a minute later.
She stared at him, puzzled by his silence. Iota put on a pitiful expression, gazing at her as he patted his stomach and made a circle over it, the universal sign of begging for something to eat.
The old lady stared at him for a few seconds before focusing on the figure of Spring, observing her thin figure. She motioned for him to enter, closing the door upon his entry.
"Quick! We need to find them!" Sounds resounded from the street as Dullip and his group of three had given chase. Of course, they would have never expected him to take refuge in the house a couple of blocks away.
Sometimes, it was best to hide in plain sight.