"You…bastard!" Vhiny glared in rage at Knass Garobu. After all, he was right.
Even if the Garobu Faith was weak, its status was actually high, because it led to a boom in agriculture. Just thanks to Garobu City's ample exports, irrespective of the war or weather conditions, or even during times of disaster, the continent of Deccan never starved.
It was why when the Fisherman Devil attacked Garobu City, the other cities of Deccan swiftly dispatched support. They couldn't risk damage to their breadbasket. Therefore, being a Spirit of the Garobu Faith was actually honourable.
Unfortunately, not everyone was qualified to be one. Vhiny was one of them.
As a result of her being Merku Garobu's child, Vhiny became a Spirit, just because Merku Garobu filled the quota of Spirits necessary for Garobu City through descending order, with the eldest being appointed the Apostle while the rest followed suit as Spirits.
The remainder among the children served as reserve candidates to become Spirits if the ones on duty were to die.
Vhiny had been proud of being a Spirit all along, until the day she realised her body's ticking time clock.
Only a Deity could handle its Faith. Spirits were merely borrowing the Deity's power to better manage the territory.
A Spirit on average could live for around thirty to forty years. Unfortunately, Vhiny had been born lacking. A mere three years as a Spirit, and she realised she couldn't go on anymore. One more year as a Spirit and her life would come to an end.
That was why her Faith crumbled, causing her to defect. Lady Vonne seized the chance to make it easier for her to enter the Fear Path.
'I thought he was a weakling, but he's able to fight on par with me.' Vhiny raged when Knass Garobu saw through her with a glance.
Bang!
The sickle caused sparks as it grazed her arm, only scratching her exoskeleton. As they fought, Vhiny got a better hang of her reinforced physique. But surprisingly, Knass didn't seem like a pushover.
"You are one slimy worm. You behaved to be kind and generous despite lacking strength. But in truth, you are just a wolf in sheep's clothing." Vhiny glared as she brandished her claws in a flurry of attacks like a cat.
Knass leapt backwards, puffed his chest and blasted forth dozens of wheat grains that slammed like bullets, forcing Vhiny to focus on defence. But, all the grains did was bounce upon impact, dealing no damage.
"You're calling me strong?" Knass sighed as he scratched the floor with his sickle, causing grass to grow out of it in a flurry and cover the living room, creating an environment more suitable for him to fight within.
He then condensed a second sickle and stared at Vhiny, "You've never seen Dullip fight, right?"
"You'll never call me strong if you saw that."
Merku Garobu had two wives right after he took the seat of the Sickle Deity. The first wife gave birth to a pair of unidentical twins, Keyn and Knass. The second wife too surprisingly gave birth to another pair of unidentical twins.
The births of all four happened at almost the same time, only having a few hours of difference. This was why Dullip always fought with Keyn.
The rest of their siblings came a few years later as the previous generation of Spirits retired and they took up spots. Therefore, there was an age gap between the first four and the rest of Merku Garobu's children.
As a result, not many among the Spirits had seen the first four children of Merku Garobu fight for real.
'Among us four, I'm the weakest.' Knass sighed as he focused his attacks, keeping up with the long-ranged attacks, aware by now that he didn't have enough power to kill Vhiny.
Therefore, he intended to stall for time until the other Spirit arrived at the scene.
Vhiny too was aware of his tactic and pressed forth with her attacks, but Knass was more than capable of defending himself.
Right as she neared him, Knass spat out a bucketful of pesticide, causing her to shriek and evade, terrified by it, 'No, pesticide isn't even that powerful. It would at most inconvenience a Kjallar…'
Her thought came to a halt as she realised the reason she feared it now. Because a pest grew in her. Because it was a pesticide. Because the Fear Path she had embarked on was the Pest Devil's.
With that, she couldn't near him. Moreover, the second Spirit was almost at her house. Right as Vhiny intended to flee, she heard the footsteps of the second Spirit, mentally smiling as she charged at Knass with reckless abandon.
'Is she planning to kill me before the other Spirit arrives?' Knass tensed up, focusing his everything on defence as his two sickles flailed around, causing sparks whenever they slammed into her. Only the blunt impacts impeded her momentum.
'They are here!' Knass sighed in relief when the second Spirit rushed into the hall and threw a sickle at Vhiny.
"Wait, is that Vhiny?" There was a startled shout from the Spirit.
"She has defected…" Knass said in a hurry, intending to inform the second Spirit of Vhiny's abilities when a hand grabbed his face.
"I know, that's why I rushed here," Stunra stated coldly as she condensed all her Faith into the palm of her hand and activated one of their Faith's deadliest abilities.
Fertiliser Touch!
"You…" Knass stared in disbelief as the front half of his face crumbled into fertiliser. His body plopped to the ground, lifeless.
"Damn!" Stunra cursed as she glared at Vhiny, sensing all Faith leave her body as she lost her qualifications as a Spirit, for Spirits were forbidden from killing each other. "You could have told me beforehand, you freaking dumbass."
"You should have hatched it in a place out of the detective range of the Priests and Spirits!" Stunra cursed in anger, "Because of you, I had to lose my powers as a Spirit."
"I'm sorry," Vhiny bowed in apology before blinking in confusion as she stared at Stunra, "Wait, how come you're still a human? Considering how you're more attuned to the Faith than me, you should have hatched it long before I did."
"Oh, that…?" Stunra took out a ruby from her pocket, "I spat it out a minute after I swallowed it."