Chapter 121: The Tollbearer (2)

Misha found herself being surrounded by corpses again, only this time, she wasn’t alone.

That should have made the situation better, in theory. In practice, it meant there were now several different people making decisions she had no control over, and one of them was Hiiro.

Caius struck first. Purple-white mana crawled along the length of his staff-spear before he swept it sideways. Lighting burst from the blade in a wide arc, skipping over the wet stone and ripping through the first wave of Vestiges before they could close the distance.

The street flashed and for one brief second, every broken window and rusted railing stood out in stark violet.

Then came the smell of burned cloth, scorched meat, and something sour beneath it.

Four Vestiges convulsed where they stood and a fifth dropped to one knee with smoke curling from the black veins webbed along its throat.

"Now!" Caius shouted.

Hiiro was already moving. Of course he was.

The boy shot forward before the last trace of lightning had even faded from the road, shoes striking stone in quick, uneven beats as he headed straight for the Tollbearer.

Misha’s brow twitched. He heard ’now’ and somehow translated it into ’personally challenge the mutated corpse with three arms.’

The Tollbearer reacted. One of its two heads snapped toward Hiiro. Then a chain whipped through the air.

WHOOSH!

It missed Hiiro’s head by less than an inch. He felt the pressure of it before the sound reached him. Rusted links tore through the space where his face had been and smashed into the side of a building hard enough to burst stone outward. Chunks of masonry scattered across the street.

"Whoa–!" He dropped beneath the returning arc, one palm scraping against the pavement as he twisted.

The first chain passed and the second arm came immediately after. Just a gray fist the size of his skull driving straight toward his ribs.

Hiiro crossed both forearms at the impact. Pain burst through his left side as his feet left the ground.

The strike launched him backward and he hit an abandoned cart shoulder-first. One wheel exploded beneath the impact. The frame collapsed and Hiiro rolled through a mess of splintered planks before disappearing behind the wreckage.

"Hiiro!"

Misha barely had time to look since three Vestiges were already on her.

Clang!

A cleaver struck both daggers and her knees bent under the weight.

The dead butcher leaned into the weapon without any concern for joints or muscle limits. Black veins crawled visibly along its neck as the parasite forced more strength through an already ruined body.

Misha shifted her footing and twisted, letting the cleaver slide. Her left dagger hooked the Vestige’s wrist, and her right punched beneath its jaw and tore it across.

Something black and wet snapped behind the throat, making the corpse sagged.

「 You have killed a Vestige!

EXP +75 」

As Misha kicked it off the blade, another one came immediately, giving her no space to breath.

GOONNNG.

The bronze disk sounded again. The note rolled through the avenue and vibrated behind her chest. Every time the bronze disk sounded, more bodies spilled from alleys and doorways as if Exodus itself were coughing up its dead.

Farther down the street, dormant figures jerked upright. Head snapped toward the sound and bodies corrected directions. Every toll was calling them. Every toll made the streets worse.

"Hiiro!" Caius shouted without looking away from his own opponents.

"I’m alive!"

A broken cart shifted, Hiiro shoved his way out from beneath one of the planks, coughing dust, then he stood too quickly, his left leg nearly folded.

Misha saw it, so did Caius. Hiiro saw both of them seeing it which apparently meant his only available response was denial.

He rolled one shoulder, grimaced when the movement tugged at his ribs, then flashed them a grin wide enough to be insulting. "See? Completely fine."

"You just got thrown through furniture!" Misha snapped as she ducked under a spear. The rusted point passed over her hood and she caught the shaft beneath one arm and drove Twinfang into the Vestige’s neck.

「 You have killed a Vestige!

EXP +75 」

"Decoratively damaged," Hiiro corrected.

A Vestige staggered toward him. He punched it square in the face with his mana-coated fist. Bone cracked and the corpse went down.

The Tollbearer moved toward him and Hiiro’s grin disappeared. "...Okay. Maybe slightly less fine."

One of the Aberrant’s two heads tracked Caius, and the other never left Hiiro. That alone made the creature worse than every standard Vestige. It tracked the strongest immediate threats in the group, had three arms with too much reach, and the chains long enough to turn half the avenue into a kill zone.

Caius ducked as one came screaming through the air. It passed over him and wrapped around a stone post instead.

Then the Tollbearer yanked and the stone cracked. The entire upper section tore free.

Misha stared for half a second. ’Right. Don’t get caught by that.’

She could keep fighting in her own body for a while. But that was the problem. It was for a while.

Soul Possession had limited duration. Using it too early meant potentially having nothing left if something worse appeared later.

Normally, Misha rationed it, saved it, and treated every minute like a consumable. But their current problem was not simply survival. They needed to break through, protect Carl, keep the others moving, and hold the road long enough for someone to make an opening.

She knew exactly which Constellation Soul was suited for that so she drew in one breath before she called out, "Gerbaut!"

「 Constellation Soul within the Taurus Chamber Requesting Authorization. 」

"Come!"

She sheathed Twinfang then reached into her storage. Strompiercer came free in her hand.

「 Authorization Accepted. 」

「 Possession Initializing... 」

The world lurched and Misha felt the familiar pull.

「 Control Transfer Complete.

Possession Time Remaining: 00:15:00 」

Amber light flared behind the mask’s eye holes and the Hearthkeeper’s Cloak reacted with Gerbaut’s first movement.

Black fabric tightened inward, mana threaded through it, and the cloak compressed into Combat Form with its loose layers becoming fitted armor lined in gold.

"Whoa! It can do that!?!"

Misha ignored Hiiro as she hovered beside her body. "Our priority is keeping the others alive long enough to escape.

Gerbaut heard her, he always did, and he gave no verbal response. Instead–

Swiiish!

Stormpiercer moved. The nearest Vestige lost its head. The corpse took one more step before collapsing.

「 You have killed a Vestige!

EXP +75 」

The street flashed violet-white again as Caius drove the butt of his weapon into the wet stone.

Lightning crawled outward in branching veins. The current caught four Vestiges at once. Their bodies seized, muscles locked, and weapons dropped from stiffened fingers.

"Left side!" Caius shouted.

Gerbaut understood immediately and he moved. Stormpiercer swept low, one Vestige lost both knees, then the reverse strike punched through another throat. He stepped into the third, shoulder driving into its chest before the spearhead cut upward beneath the jaw,

Hiiro launched himself at the Tollbearer again.

Misha almost swore. Actually–

"Fuck! That kid just won’t listen!"

Then he was already inside the Aberrant’s reach. The Tollbearer swung one chain and Hiiro slipped beneath it. His footwork was slower than before, but not by much.

Misha saw the flaw immediately. His injured leg dragged half a beat behind every pivot.

Normally Hiiro fought with the kind of reckless physical confidence that made bad decisions look intentional. He trusted his body too much, sometimes. Now his body was not returning the favor since every dodge cost him more and every turn took longer.

Hiiro knew it too, the tightening around his mouth gave him away but that did not stop him. He planted his good foot, rotated through the hip, and his fist drove into the Tollbearer’s lower ribs.

THUD.

The impact visibly dented the Aberrant’s side.

Hiiro’s face lit up. "Yes!"

Both heads looked down at him at the same time.

His grin faded. "Oof. That’s totally unfair, dude."

The third arm hit him. It was not even a proper punch but an open-handed backhand.

Hiiro flew sideways again. This time he managed to turn before hitting the ground. One foot skidded across the street and his bad leg hit next. Pain shot upward making his knee fold.

He caught himself on one hand. "Still got it," he gasped.

Astrid stared at him from the rear position. Her sidearm remained trained on a Vestige approaching. "You annoyed it dumbass!"

"I damaged it!"

She fired and the ice spread through the Vestige shoulder. "Barely."

"Damage is damage!"

The Tollbearer charged. For something so large, it moved wrong and too fast. Its chains screamed across the stone behind it.

Hiiro tried to push himself upright but his left leg betrayed him.

"Gerbaut!"

Misha turned. That had not been her voice.

Caius stood several yards away, purple current snapping around his weapon. He had called the name.

Misha stared at him. ’How does he–’

No. She shouted Gerbaut’s name, and he already knew about her Soul Possession ability. That alone could explain it. She still had her doubts, she still couldn’t give Caius her full trust. But after the relief she had felt seeing him alive with others, and with no better option left to her, Misha had to admit she trusted him at least a little.

Gerbaut didn’t seem to care since he moved without hesitation.

The Tollbearer brought one arm down but Stormpiercer came up. Metal screamed against the chain as Gerbaut caught the strike at an angle rather than trying to stop it directly, boots grinding backward over stone as he redirected the chain away from Hiiro.

"Move."

It was one word and Hiiro did not need more.

"Yes ma’am!" Hiiro rolled aside.

Misha raised a brow. ’Ma’am?’

Behind them, a mandolin chord rang out, bright and fast. Once again, almost offensively cheerful considering the dead were actively trying to beat them into paste.

Music rippled over the battlefield. The group’s muscles lightened, their breathing steadied, stamina surged through their limbs, and even Hiiro’s injuries began healing up.

"♪ Stay alive. Stay upright– ♪"

Misha slowly turned. ’Right... we have him now.’

Alaric was crouching behind the stone buttress with Carl beside him.

"♪ Nobody make this my final night. ♪"

Carl was staring at him, not impressed and not confused, just judging. The expression was so painfully ordinary for a kid listening to a grown man sing about his own survival that Misha almost laughed when she saw it by the time she floated near them.

"♪ Keep breathing, keep moving. I am far too handsome for a tragic ending– ♪"

Carl’s expression got worse. "Mister, you put that in the song?"

Alaric missed half a beat as he turned to him. "I improvise, kid."

"Keep playing." Astrid stood several paces ahead, pistol raised. She fired when a Vestige came around the corner.

Alaric stared at her then slowly adjusted the mandolin. "I’m receiving a disturbing lack of empathy from every woman in this party."

Hiiro bounced experimentally on his injured leg, then twice. His grin came roaring back. "So you’re a healer!"

Alaric’s hand remained poised over the strings. "Excuse me?"

The boy rolled his shoulders. "Keep the battle music on, sir! Time for round two!"