62 Crack in Space

"Are you curious about this?" Vhiny stared at the severed head in her hand and chuckled, "When I plant my eggs in a Spirit's body, the birthed Hhoka is very strong."

She pointed at Nedy's back, "As strong as the one on your back. No Merit Priest or Shaman can ever hope to kill one. You need to be as strong as a Spirit to kill it."

Vhiny proudly pointed at the egg within the severed head that was about to hatch, "This is the second egg that's about to hatch from a Spirit's body."

"You don't need to tell her so much," Stunra warned Vhiny, "She's just a pawn. Keep her at that level."

"It's not like she can escape," Vhiny pointed at the Hhoka lodged in Nedy's back, "If she betrays me, I'll know."

Soon, they arrived at the Sect's entrance, staring at the boat there as Stunra frowned, "We have company."

The duo then spotted the unconscious figure of the middle-aged woman near the entrance. Upon staring at her, Nedy was worried, "She never leaves the Sect. The fact that she's out here unconscious means something has happened."

She stared at the location where the Sect leader sat usually, failing to find him there. She then observed the canal water and dipped her index finger in it, retracting it in a hurry to state in alarm, "Pesticide! Someone from the Garobu Faith was here!"

"We need to hurry," Stunra said as she rushed up the flight of stairs leading into the Sect.

Followed by a jump, Vhiny took the lead, for she could tank any surprise attacks. Soon, they arrived within the dome and frowned, unable to notice anything amiss. The Sect looked the same as usual. The stacks of paper, the items required for their business to function, and the money they had been paid. Everything was in the same place as usual.

Nedy looked around and couldn't find any traces of the Sect leader. She then looked at Stunra, "Can you do Spirit Tracing?"

"I can't," Stunra inspected the place and upon determining that she couldn't figure out any clues, she brought everyone to the entrance and grabbed the middle-aged woman. "Nedy, look into her memories."

"Alright," Nedy nodded as she patted the middle-aged woman's forehead and churned her Fear, condensing it into a needle that she stabbed into the brain of the woman.

Ray Tracing!

"To perform a sneak attack, you must first mask your intentions perfectly."

"Is she important?"

"Yes."

"Well, good for you."

Bam!

Nedy grunted as her Ray Tracing was cut off, for the middle-aged woman had been knocked unconscious after that. Unfortunately for her, enough time had passed that she was unable to find anything of significance.

But one thing she was aware of, stating in all seriousness, "The target of the hitlist struck here. He has managed to defeat the Sect leader."

"What was his name…?" Vhiny frowned, trying to recall the figure that stood next to Dullip when she tried to sneak attack him.

"Iota," Nedy said, "When I investigated upon him, all I drew was a blank."

"He doesn't look like someone from our city," Stunra muttered before shrugging, "Any other details you managed to find?"

"Nothing else," Nedy shook her head.

"Vhiny, are you good at digging?" Stunra asked next.

"Why do you ask?" Vhiny tilted her head in confusion.

"There should be a secret establishment within this hill. Let's unearth it."

"Leave it to me," Vhiny grinned in excitement as she closed her eyes. A couple of minutes later, the egg within the severed head hatched fully as the first thing it did was consume the rest of the Spirit's head.

'Isn't that Knass Garobu?' Nedy was stunned as while the Hhoka was eating his head, it sucked in his blood first, cleaning up his face enough for her to recognise him. It made her realise that Vhiny and Stunra were serious about destroying Garobu City.

The hatchling Hhoka seemed to be hungry as it latched onto the middle-aged woman's head and devoured her brain matter first. After eating some of her body, it was satiated, having also grown to be as large as a human head.

Upon seeing it consume the middle-aged woman's body, the Hhoka on Nedy's back wriggled, feeling hard to resist as it just wished to consume Nedy.

"Now, now, she's not food." Vhiny patted its back as it crawled and engaged in a feast. Following that, it returned to burrow into Nedy's back.

Even though Nedy wished to escape, she didn't have any confidence in doing so, especially feeling the strength possessed by the Hhoka, not to mention Vhiny herself.

"Now, let's dig!" Vhiny felt around a softer patch on the ground as her hands dug into the soil like it was just water.

…

"Hmm…how does this work again?" Iota thought as he pondered aloud.

There were treasures all around him, each valuable enough that Garobu City had been safeguarding them carefully. As long as he looted them all, he'll have enough foundation to establish his own force anywhere in this world.

There were wheat stalks around. The roots absorbed nutrients from the ground and condensed them in the centre of the stem where something resembling a cocoon was secured. It was similar to a baby being fed while in the womb.

Within the cocoon was a baby Kjallar. Iota looked around, counting more than twenty baby Kjallars stored in the same way. "Why is a baby Kjallar stored here and not in the Guild or somewhere else?"

"There probably are many Kjallars stored there too." Molido Garobu said truthfully, "The ones here will be experimented upon to see if we can create soldiers similar to Priests using their bodies."

"Have you succeeded?" Iota asked.

"Partly," Molido nodded, "Those soldiers are a reserve force of Garobu City."

"Then…" Iota patted the cylinder containing the corpse of the Fisherman Devil, "Have you tried anything with this guy?"

"Not yet," Molido smiled wryly, "It's too valuable a specimen. So, we intended to experiment only after gathering some data first."

"Well, in that case, let me help." Iota laughed as he gave a cue to the Kjallar.

"No, wait. That's…no! Please! Stop!" Molido Garobu shouted in a fluster as the Kjallar craned its arm before lashing out like a whip as it slashed apart the cylinder. The fluid within gushed out as Iota grabbed the Fisherman Devil's corpse and stabbed an empty syringe into it.

Immediately after, space cracked, similar to when he transmigrated to this world.