"Miss Vhiny and Miss Stunra have allied with a Devil. Miss Vhiny has already defected to the Fear Path." Saying so, Yuddu dropped the bundle on the table and revealed the corpse of the Hhoka inside, "This is a Rave Beast created by Miss Vhiny."
"Interesting," Iota plunged a syringe into the Hhoka's corpse, sucking in the blood. But, upon noticing the absence of golden stream mixing into it, he thought, 'Has it lost its essence? Is that why this failed?'
The blood contained within the syringe was just normal. If injected into someone, there would be no effect. Iota still brought out a dozen syringes and sucked in all its blood. It was still useful in that it could be used to trace Vhiny's location with the help of a Nasp.
Iota stared at the high-profile customer before him, "Respected Sir, can I trouble your men to search for the traces of the two people? They are no longer Spirits."
"Yes, my merchant house has its private guards." The customer nodded, "I can mobilise them to most parts of the city. Give me two days and I'll figure out their location."
The customer was then escorted out of the room as Iota stared at Yuddu, "How strong was Vhiny?"
"A Spirit's sickle isn't sharp enough to kill her." Yuddu concluded, "At least two Spirits are necessary to kill her. But if she manages to raise an army of Rave Beasts, then it's hard to say."
"If she has an army, we only need to match with our own." Saying so, Iota rang a bell on the table, watching Royl enter in a hurry.
"Sir, do you need something?" Royal asked in a hurry.
"The Sect Branch only has the Branch Leader standing guard, right?" Iota asked, speaking upon seeing Royl nod, "Explain his nature."
"I see," After a couple of minutes, Iota wrote down some bullet points on a scroll, "He always has his severed legs immersed in the canal water. He feels the touch from the fishes invigorates his wounds."
"That can be used," He spoke once he finished writing on the scroll, smiling as he scanned through it once and furled it. After learning of the Sect's location, he got up and wore his Nasp Suit, "I'll be out for some time."
"It's risky!" Royl stopped him in a hurry, "Going alone is dangerous, especially since many are still in search of you."
"They won't have the time to bother with me any longer," Iota patted Yuddu, "The Sickle Deity's second son has been killed by Stunra, right?"
"Yes," Yuddu nodded.
"Good, leak the details to the rest of the Priests." Iota said, "Eventually, anyone who is not on their side would chase after those two. Contact an influential Spirit to order a hitlist on Vhiny and Stunra. The Sect will have to drop my case and pick this up, since it's more urgent."
"Yes, I'll get to it immediately." Yuddu then cupped his fist and pointed at the Hhoka corpse, "I had to use the emergency syringe while facing this. I request to gain possession of another one."
"Is Farraiha's blood fine with you?" Iota asked.
"Yes," Yuddu nodded, "Her long-range ability is perfect for my use, since mine is a sickle. It was thanks to it that I managed to kill this Rave Beast quickly."
"Fine," Iota motioned for Royl to leave, "Give Yuddu the respective syringe."
"Sir, please hear me out." Royal didn't budge from his spot, "If you're planning to target the Sect branch leader, going alone is a death sentence. He's a Laurel Shaman. His fighting prowess is almost on par with a Spirit."
"I'll be bringing a stronger ally." Iota smiled as the cupboard behind him rattled. The doors opened as a Kjallar—with a blade shell—sauntered out.
Iota patted it and stared at Royl, "Is my life at risk with this guy by my side?"
"It's not." Royl had to acquiesce in the end. He exited the room and arrived at the bottommost cabin in the ship, opening the storage where syringes had been carefully packed in boxes and stacked on the shelves.
Seated in the middle of the room was a Kjallar—with the hammer shell. It remained on guard, staring at him calmly.
"I came to retrieve Farraiha's blood under Sir Iota's orders," Royl said. The Kjallar stared at a particular shelf where the respective syringe had been stored. It appeared no different from a statue after that.
Despite knowing that it wouldn't attack him, Royl was still jittery as he grabbed the syringe—with Farraiha's blood—and exited the room. Only he was permitted to enter and leave this room, a responsibility he didn't like, since it meant he had to face the Kjallar every single time.
Phew!
'It felt like I would die this time.' He gasped as he returned to the deck and handed over the syringe to Yuddu, whispering, "Once you're done with the task, please tail the Sir."
"No worries," Yuddu covered himself with a hood and disembarked from the ship, "Nakdu and Farraiha are tailing him from afar. They'll guard him well."
Swoosh!
Iota felt the breeze as he rowed a boat, carrying a large crate. The Kjallar was hidden within it.
He no longer felt an itch, at least on his face since the skin there had healed fully by now. There were still some small patches on his body where it hadn't healed fully, but after a few more days, that too would vanish.
Rustace and his family were on board his ship, supplying him with their blood daily. By now, Iota had created a foothold for himself in this world. It wasn't stable yet but was valuable.
Six Priests, three Shamans, and two Kjallars; it was a sizeable force, especially since the powers of all three were pretty relevant in Garobu City's landscape.
He paddled for close to three hours, stopping at the entrance to a narrow tunnel as he opened a small box and took out three needles, absorbing them onto his body in the form of a tattoo each.
He observed the canal and pointed his palm toward a fish, having immersed his hand in the water. Like a predator, he was still like a statue, observing the actions of the fish as he calmly trailed over its movements mentally. And after ensuring its path, he shot a syringe, accurately stabbing it, and injecting his blood into it.
Iota repeated the same for two more fishes and then rowed the boat through a tunnel at the end of the small canal, staring at the figure of an old man who was seated at the end, with his legs immersed in the water, his figure almost masked by the darkness.