37 Keyn Loses His Composure

Gah!

Iota surfaced as he coughed violently, dragging three people as they all plopped on the banks of the river. His hands trembled while blood oozed out of his orifices.

He had overdosed on the drugs, especially two syringes of Yohra's blood and one of Royl's blood. His body wasn't yet at the level where it could withstand repeated uses of blood containing the power of Shamans.

"It seems there's a price to pay for your power," Dullip said as he walked out of the water, his clothes drying up in a matter of seconds as he coughed once and spat out all the foreign blood in his body.

With that, he avoided any side effects, having also gotten rid of the gills and fins on his body.

Midway through the journey, the fish's blood began to run out, causing Iota to hasten in response. Eventually, he had to swim the final stretch while holding his breath and using his hands to drag the trio of Shamans.

They were useful subordinates that he didn't wish to let go of without a valid reason. It did strain him further, as a result.

"Of…course," Iota gagged as he vomited bile. His vision spun while a ringing sound constantly reverberated in his ears. There was also a high-pitched tune echoing aloud, akin to a mosquito's noise, irritating him.

Ignoring his plight, Dullip looked around, noticing that they had arrived beyond the city. He focused on the walls of the city, measuring the distance, "Around three kilometres."

He stared at Iota in praise, "You swam a pretty long distance with all of us."

He approached Iota and crouched before him, gently choking the latter, "You saved these three while increasing the risk to your life. So, why did you kill Norda?"

"You don't seem someone desperate to live. So, I'm genuinely curious. Why did you do that?"

"Will you believe me if I said I killed Norda for some resources?" Iota flashed a bright smile.

"Man…" Dullip exhaled slowly as he clenched his hand into a fist and slammed it into Iota in the face, knocking him out unconscious, "Remain as is until I decide what to do with you."

Dullip stared at a ship that just exited the city, frowning as he condensed his sickle and dulled its blade. He dug into the ground and lifted the trio of Shamans with it, carrying them like luggage while he held Iota in the other hand.

With a dash, Dullip sped away from the river, heading deeper inland until he came across a hill and climbed it, digging out a cave using his sickle as he entered it, for the time being intending to rest and gather his bearings.

…

"Shit!" Keyn Garobu cursed in anger upon failing to nab Dullip, shouting at the Priests, "What are you all dallying for? Find him!"

"He couldn't have gone far!"

Just as Keyn was about to dive into the river water to personally scour through its depths, Larru stopped him, "Sir, please control yourself. There's a chance sir Dullip has sprung a trap there. Let me scout through the place first."

"No, you stay here." Keyn then motioned at a group of Priests, "The lot of you, jump into the water. Scour through its depths until you find him."

"Yes, sir Apostle." Bowing in response, ten Priests jumped into the river and headed deep into the waters, looking around in search of any traces of Dullip and the crew that fled with him.

"But sir, they are only Merit Priests. Their senses pale in response to mine. Only I can detect sir Dullip…" Larru argued at the arrangement, shutting up when Keyn raised his hand and signalled her to stop arguing.

"Unlike the others, you're valuable. If the Merit Priests die, there's plenty available to replace them. But you're not replaceable." Keyn said in all seriousness, "After all, you came into existence through me."

"I won't sacrifice you for something negligible like this."

"Yes, I understand." Larru bowed in response, sighing in disappointment as she touched the right side of her hip, where her kidney was. Keyn Garobu's kidney—a Deity Organ—was transplanted into her, turning her into a Laurel Priest.

As she attained power from an Apostle that was still active in duty, she was special even among the Laurel Priests. And since she was created through his Deity Organ, Larru answered only to Keyn Garobu, and no one else.

An hour turned into two and Keyn's frustration only grew. All the searches resulted in nothing. Two Priests headed to his quarters in a hurry and returned with a few Nasps trained to Iota's scent.

But by then, a lot of time had passed. Moreover, the Nasps were only able to sense a limited scent belonging to him at the location of the river where the fishing boat stood before. They couldn't detect his scent beyond that.

"Train some Nasps towards Dullip's scent. Barge into his home and use some of his clothes to get his scent signature." Keyn ordered Larru who proceeded to take action immediately.

"Useless," He grunted upon seeing the group of Merit Priests return to the shore, carrying the fishing boat. They could perform Spirit Tracing on the boat to get some details about Iota and Royl.

Unfortunately, it was already two hours since the boat was split in half. Meaning, no Merit Priest would gain anything valuable from it. It should be noted that a Priest from an active Faith like the Garobu Faith couldn't perform Spirit Tracing.

Only a Priest from a destroyed Faith could perform it, hence only those from the Guild were capable of doing so. And among them, only the leader of the Guild, a Laurel Priest could get some information out of the fishing boat by this point in time.

Unfortunately, the Guild was located a couple of hours away by boat. Meaning, by the time they reach the Guild, the two halves of the fishing boat would be useless. This was why Keyn commented about the uselessness of the Priests, for it took them so long to find and bring the fishing boat.

They couldn't be blamed though, for they weren't geared for a deep water dive, especially since the river ran pretty deep and the currents were rougher towards the bottom.

"Sir Keyn, we couldn't detect any traces of sir Dullip here or in the nearby areas. We believe they might have left the city." One of the Priests said as he pointed to the river, "It's downstream to leave the city, so it's easier to escape that way."

"Then why are you waiting around?" Keyn raised his voice in displeasure, pointing at the harbour, "Get some boats and venture out! Search for their traces downstream."