"Our God blesses us a bountiful harvest for this year too, thanks to our devoted believers." A priest of the God of Rain announced atop a large dais, staring at the crowd of few thousand.
Most of the people from the town had gathered at the plaza to hear the annual sermons of the God of Rain. This was the time period when the crops needed bountiful rain to grow and hence, this was the season when the God of Rain received the most potent of worship.
The needs of both sides resulted in a series of festivals centred around this time. The start of it was the mass sermons.
Hidden amidst the crowd was Eldna, using her hair as a straw to suck in the faith being generated by the believers. But every few seconds, she had to retract the hair and act normal, vexing her, 'Why are there so many priests around?'
She looked around, able to sense waves of faith streaming within the bodies of a few within the crowd itself, disguised as believers, 'They are Spirits of the God of Rain! Why are they part of the crowd?'
She became nervous, 'Are they already onto our actions? Dammit, did the other members mess up?'
She couldn't find an answer. And as she was already part of the crowd, she couldn't simply up and leave. That would be suspicious.
And if the faith of the God of Rain were already looking for traces of the Essencer Guild, she would only end up painting a target on her head.
The fact that Spirits were mingled among the crowd as common believers were already alarming enough. But the more disturbing fact was the entity standing a few people behind her.
His presence was hidden, but through the faith of the God of Rain that she had absorbed, Eldna was able to feel a terrifying vortex of faith concentrated in that individual.
An Apostle!
'Dammit, how did things come to this point?' Eldna was confused. Things were still fine a month ago when she became a Spirit. But gradually after that, she felt as if a noose was tightening around her neck.
Whenever she tried to absorb the essence of people, something or the other always interrupted her. This caused her resource gathering to halt at a minimum, so much so that she was scolded by the Devil she worshipped.
After all, her output was the least as compared to all the Spirits. The Devil warned that if her output remained the same the following month too, then her status as a Spirit would be revoked.
It would mean her situation would return to her pitiful state from before. And that was something Eldna wished to avoid, and hence, she took the risk to join the mass sermons and steal faith from there itself.
Unfortunately, it proved difficult as she had to stop her actions every time a priest or Spirit directed their gaze at her location.
Had this gathering just been organised by a group of priests, Eldna would have taken the risk to kill everyone and somehow manage to escape. She could flee to another town and take up a new identity.
But there were many Spirits, not to mention an Apostle in the place. The moment she exposes herself, she would be put to rest in a matter of seconds.
"Hello there…" Just as she was wracking her brain for a method to protect herself, a hoarse voice resounded nearby as a hooded figure stopped beside her. He was covered from head to toe, appearing terrifying.
The surrounding people were afraid and naturally distanced themselves from him the moment they noticed him.
'Why the heck is he moving now?' The priest giving out the sermons barely managed to not break out of character, 'Is he crazy? There are believers everywhere. The moment they fight, it would cause panic and result in a stampede once the situation derails.'
Eldna frowned as she stared at him, intending to ignore him first before she noticed the faith of the God of Humanity concentrated in him, 'He's a Spirit of the God of Humanity? Did the God of Humanity start accepting Spirits now?'
"I can help you escape." The hooded man spoke.
"Help me…?" Eldna was about to refuse instinctively when she was startled, 'Wait! How does he know that I want to escape?'
"Shit!" She grunted in horror and intended to escape, churning the faith of the God of Rain as she prepared to shoot out lightning bolts and incite chaos among the crowd.
But suddenly, she lost control of her bearings, collapsing to the ground weakly as she was in an intense state of fever. 'No, something is wrong!'
She hurriedly burned up the lifeforce, noticing in alarm that her recovery was very slow.
"Someone fainted!" A Spirit that was disguised among the crowd took the opportunity to shout in surprise as he approached Eldna and inspected her condition, acting, "Oh no, she's ill. We need to treat her immediately."
"What's happening?" The priest giving out the sermons stopped as he asked, bringing the attention of everyone to the matter. The crowd parted way to allow a clear view of Eldna as he observed her and waved his hand at a couple of priests, "Please bring her to the prayer hall. We'll treat her."
Following that, he resumed the sermons, "Our God's blessings allow us to treat even incurable diseases."
He converted the situation into fuel for his propaganda, smiling upon seeing the streams of faith strengthen in response.
Eldna was unable to move as she was carried by a couple of priests and brought to the nearby prayer hall. They quickly moved away from view and descended a hidden flight of stairs, entering the basement where they threw her into a cell.
Soon after, followed by the sounds of footsteps, two individuals arrived before the cell. One of them, donning the clothes of a commoner muttered in surprise, "How did you incapacitate her?"
He was the Apostle hidden in the crowd. And standing next to him, the recipient of the statement was the hooded man.
"Through the food she consumed." The hooded man said, "Unlike the previous Spirit, she has a habit of working out nonstop. So, I tailed her and drugged the fruits and vegetables she was about to buy. I have an accurate grasp of her habit and bias. The drug would remain in her system without showing any effect until triggered."
"And that trigger, I activated it in the crowd." The hooded man spoke, "With enough planning, even a Spirit can be rendered helpless."
He then took out a vial and placed it within Eldna's mouth, shattering it within as he observed the contents flowing down her throat, uttering emotionlessly, "Alright, there are a couple thousand eggs in her stomach now…"
"Enough to consume ten times the lifeforce she has stored."
