Ejected from the Faith

Two days later, seated in her home was Vhiny, meditating as she focused on the Garobu Faith streaming into the ruby in her stomach thinning out, "Almost there."

She patiently kept watch as the Faith trickled down to a halt, allowing her to fully recover her Faith. The ruby showed no signs of change, confusing her as she didn't even feel anything different about her.

Crackle!

A sound as if a metallic egg was cracked resounded, the thundering noise alarming her, especially since it was from her stomach. Vhiny was able to feel it now, a disgusting sensation as instantly, the Faith in her body tried to destroy it, moving naturally.

Gah!

She collapsed in pain as a dense stream of Fear erupted from the ruby that pushed the Garobu Faith out of her body. A change occurred in her nature as upon determining that she was no longer fit to be a Spirit, the Garobu Faith left her wholeheartedly.

Normally, only the Sickle Deity could remove the powers allocated to a Spirit. But when the Spirit in question voluntarily sought the Fear Path and defected to it, then the Faith in their being would naturally abandon them.

As a result, Vhiny lost her qualifications as a Spirit of the Garobu Faith. But that didn't matter to her as immediately, she felt the ruby shatter as a bug, part centipede, part mantis, and part beetle hatched.

An overbearing concentration of Fear was present in it, to an extent rivalling the quantity of Faith in her before.

The moment the creature hatched, the stomach acids intended to melt it, actually showing some success in that. The bug looked around and then spread its Fear around instinctively in an effort to survive.

The Fear mixed with the ruby shards, melting them into liquid form that seeped into the stomach walls, instantly terraforming it. As a result, even the digestive fluids secreted by her body transformed into a nourishing substance that healed the creature's body.

The changes didn't stop at that as the entirety of the ruby fused with her body, causing her to instinctively sense the presence of the creature. A moment later, the minds of the two clashed, resulting in the creature's defeat as it had just been born.

As a result, Vhiny gained control of it, watching its exoskeleton melt as it was no longer necessary. Her stomach formed the perfect environment for its survival now.

Mixing with the ruby's fluid form, the exoskeleton transformed into an essence that empowered her.

Creak! Cricket!

Vhiny's skin hardened and darkened, sporting a brownish-red colour, transforming into an exoskeleton that protected her. Her nails elongated a little before turning conical, fully covering the girth of her fingers to become claws sharp enough to pierce the hides of any animal.

In terms of external changes, it was just this. But internally, the changes were more drastic.

"Lady Vhiny, are you alright?" One of the servants in her house rushed to her room upon hearing her shout, gawking in shock upon staring at her monster-like appearance, a humanoid entity with the exoskeleton of an insect, one radiating Fear to the extent he was affected by it, rooted to the spot in fear.

"Good timing." Vhiny approached the servant and she smacked him on the back of his neck, causing him to faint. She threw him to the top of her bed and traced her finger over his body, gently poking a hole in his stomach, watching him bleed.

A bestial desire surged in her as Vhiny wished to feast on his flesh and drink his blood. She controlled her urge though and exited her room, eliciting screams from the servants who were all captured.

"I'm hungry," She picked an unconscious servant and bit his thigh, gorging on his flesh. It seemed her mouth secreted a neurotoxin similar to a leech. Hence, even when she ate his thigh muscles, the servant wasn't even aware, as if fully dosed on anaesthesia.

She was only satiated after consuming half the servant's body, patting her stomach in contentment. Her hand then slipped further downward until reaching her nether region, stressing her muscles a little as she ejected out an egg.

It resembled a fist-sized ruby but was soft to the touch. Vhiny planted it into the bleeding stomach of a servant, watching root-like tendrils extend out of the egg and drill through the wound, reaching deep into his body.

The servant's body convulsed in response as his essence was being sucked out in real time, causing the implanted egg to slowly, but surely increase in size.

Vhiny could feel another egg begin to form in her uterus, thinking as she sensed her Fear being consumed, "At this rate, I'll be able to produce three eggs daily."

Goosebumps formed on her skin when she sensed two streams of Faith approaching her, "It seems they sensed the Fear I emitted before."

That couldn't be helped, since the creature in her had released a lot of Fear to transform her body to its needs. The pulse wasn't strong, but it entered the detection radar of two Spirits who were rushing in her direction now.

"No…there's also a Priest, but they are slow." She didn't bother with the Priest, for they weren't a threat. Instead, all her attention was on the Spirits as she calmly arrived at the living room of her house and watched, observing a cross mark appear on the door before it collapsed into four pieces.

The first Spirit entered and stared at Vhiny in shock, "V-Vhiny? Is that you?"

"Why did you betray the Faith?"

"Oh, it's the second son!" Vhiny said in surprise, "Fancy seeing you here."

"You…dumbass!" The Spirit was Knass Garobu, second born of Merku Garobu, vastly inferior in attunement to the Garobu Faith but was righteous. He glared at Vhiny, "Did a fish eat your brain? Why the heck did you defect to the Fear Path?"

"Why not?" Vhiny snorted as she leaped at him, flashing her sharp nails, "I'll choose the path that leads to my growth."

"You couldn't endure it, huh?" Condensing a sickle in his hand, Knass Garobu defended against her, "It seems even being a Spirit took too much of a toll on you. I can sense it from you,"

He snorted in disdain, "You barely have a year left in you."