'Are they friends? Or are they sworn enemies?' Royl stared at the duo, observing the sharp contrast in expression between the two as he became frustrated, 'I can't tell!'
On one side was Dullip, staring at Iota with the intent to clobber the latter and feed his remains to the fish and then further grill them. Such was the level of hatred he was displaying.
On the other hand, forming a sharp contrast was Iota who stared at Dullip as if reuniting with a long-lost dear friend. The contrast was frustrating for Royl, especially since his life was riding on this.
After all, he was dependent on Iota now, unable to live anymore without the dosages. He didn't wish to see Iota slaughtered by Dullip. If the latter so wished, he could murder them all and they couldn't even resist.
Even among Spirits, Dullip was in a class of his own. A mere Merit Shaman like him wasn't an opponent that could even hope to scratch Dullip.
As for Iota, even though he had mysterious powers, Royl remembered that even against him, Iota didn't dominate the fight. Meaning, he was only a tad stronger than himself, that was if he included the sneak attack by the fish at the start.
Therefore, if they fought, Iota would be killed in a matter of seconds by Dullip. 'I should do something to stop the fight!'
Just when Royl took a step forward, intending to douse the tense situation, despair covered his expression upon hearing Iota's statement.
"You're right on the money."
"So, you killed Norda?" Dullip heaved a slow breath as he stared at the sky before a terrifying volume of Faith blasted out of him, with enough force to cause a wave on the river, one that reached a metre high and rippled out for almost a kilometre.
It was a terrifying display of power, knocking out all the fish in the vicinity unconscious from the ripple alone while the boats were pushed away. Even the couple of giant ships at the harbour—that were anchored—tilted to an alarming degree.
"I no longer care about the usefulness of your power." Dullip uttered as he tightened his hold on the sickle and slashed downward, intending to cleave Iota into two, "Die!"
Swoosh!
Three strings arrived on time and coiled around his swinging arm. They were instantly incinerated by the Faith oozing out of his body, but their actions stopped his swing. Dullip glared at the trio of Shamans that had taken action and snorted.
Cough!
The trio of Royl, Canl, and Menl coughed out blood and collapsed weakly. Only Royl was on the boat. Whereas, Canl had been in the water, catching a few fishes at the behest of Iota while Menl just returned from the pipeline after failing to find Iota there.
Therefore, when they fainted, they straight up drowned.
Out of the three syringes of Yohra, Iota took out two and stabbed them in his thigh, instantly sensing a torrent of power well up within him. He poured all the power into the water within the tank by creating an energy spiral in each palm, causing two geysers to jut out.
In each geyser were the fishes stored in the water tank, behaving like ammunition as the geysers rushed at Dullip the moment his swing was stopped.
'Shit!' Dullip frowned in tension, having never expected Iota to have such power as he braced for impact, raising the defensive coating of Faith surrounding him.
But right as they were about to hit him, the two geysers swerved around and rushed past the fishing boat, slamming into two figures that had appeared there.
"What the…?"
"How did he know?"
Two surprised shouts resounded as the water geysers impacted them, causing a metallic sound to resound at the impact with their respective sickles.
Of course, the water geyser didn't have enough power to take them down. All it managed to do was block their lunge and cause them to plop into the water.
'What the heck was that?' Dullip Garobu came to his senses, realising that Iota had actually saved him at that moment. After all, the two figures that had leapt towards the fishing boat, aiming for an attack with their sickles were targeting him.
He was their target!
Dullip stared at the two figures in the river water, frowning as he muttered, "Vhiny Garobu and Stunra Garobu, did the two of you go mad?"
"Working together with Shamans and shielding a Devil's Spirit, you're the one that went mad, Dullip." A familiar voice resounded as immediately, the river water rippled, flowing in reverse as it converged upon a short-statured individual.
"Are you behind this, Keyn?" Dullip glared at the sole Apostle of the Garobu Faith, the detestable firstborn of their generation, someone he hated to the bone, Keyn Garobu. "Attacking a fellow Spirit is against family rules. Are you not afraid of facing father's wrath?"
"What can a cornered old man attempt to achieve?" Keyn snorted in disdain as he raised his sickle, announcing aloud, "Dullip Garobu has betrayed us, our faith, and most of all, our City."
"Hence, as the Apostle representing my father, the bountiful Sickle Deity, I, Keyn Garobu, will put an end to this disgrace!" His voice was booming, echoing throughout the harbour, landing in the ears of everyone in the region.
"Lord Dullip betrayed us?" A sailor muttered, feeling difficulty digesting it, "Impossible! Lord Dullip has lived in service of us the most!"
"No, this is false!" Another sailor shouted in response, "My family survived a rampant disease only thanks to Lord Dullip. I can die, but I'll never doubt him!"
"Shut up, idiot! The one that announced is the Apostle!" Another sailor hit him in the head and shouted in anger, "Why would Lord Keyn have a reason to lie?"
"Shut up, dumbass! Unlike you, our faith isn't blind!" The one in favour of Dullip punched back before raising a slogan at the top of his voice, "We stand by Lord Dullip!"
"We stand by Lord Dullip!"
The people that had been helped by Dullip Garobu began to raise their slogans one after another. And in respect to the faith they displayed, power welled up from within Dullip.
Boom!
The Apostle Keyn Garobu and the Spirits, Vhiny Garobu and Stunra Garobu frowned in response, observing the massive burst of Faith oozing out of Dullip.
"This bastard…" Keyn focused as he observed finely tuned Faith streaming out of Dullip in dense clusters, counting them as he muttered solemnly, "Did this bastard turn all his organs into Deity Organs?"
"Faith isn't blind," Dullip stated with a solemn tone, "And my people embody that."