Chapter 123: The Tollbearer (4)

「 〔Soul Marionette〕

Effect:

• Allows the user to temporarily transfer their Soul into a non-living object while their physical body is under [Soul Possession].

• The chosen object becomes a temporary vessel through which the user may perceive their surroundings, move, and communicate.

• Humanoid objects such as dolls, puppets, mannequins, statues, and empty armor provide greater mobility and control.

• Non-humanoid objects may also serve as vessels, but their movement and functionality are limited by their physical structure.

Limitations:

• Can only be activated while [Soul Possession] is active.

• Only one vessel may be possessed at a time.

• Cannot possess living beings, monsters, and corpses.

• The user cannot access their normal physical Attributes through the vessel.

• The effective range from the user’s physical body is 20 meters. Exceeding this range forcibly cancels [Soul Marionette].

• [Soul Marionette] immediately ends when [Soul Possession] ends.

• If the vessel is destroyed, the user’s Soul is forcibly returned to their physical body, causing temporary disorientation.

• Vessel destruction also forcibly terminates [Soul Possession], regardless of the remaining Possession Duration. 」

Misha read every line carefully, then read the limitations again. ’Of course it has a catch.’

The skill sounded absurdly useful until she reached the part where destroying the vessel forcibly ended Gerbaut’s possession and threw her consciousness back into her own body whether she wanted it or not.

That turned useful into useful with the possibility of catastrophic stupidity.’

Misha could already imagine the worst-case scenario. Possess a nearby mannequin, get ambitious, walk it into danger, the mannequin gets smashed, Gerbaut gets kicked out of her body mid-fight, and she returns disoriented. By then, the enemy discovers a free meal.

Still, that changed things. Right now she could float beside Gerbaut and speak only to him. Everyone else saw her body fighting with a personality that was very obviously not hers while occasionally responding to someone invisible.

[Soul Marionette] would let her actually participate. She could scout, communicate with the party, move separately while maintaining possession, and if somebody carried her physical body while a Constellation Soul controlled it–

Misha paused when she thought that was actually interesting. It was much better in safer environments since the range was the real leash. Twenty meters. It was enough to move around a room, maybe cross a street, but it was not enough to wander independently. And the destruction clause meant using [Soul Marionette] during a chaotic battle was practically begging the universe to punch her in the face.

It was risky, restricted, but useful.

The Observers had shown no reaction. As far as she could tell, they could see the public spectacle of her fighting but personal System notices remained hers. Level gains, Skill unlocks, Attribute changes, none of that appeared to be broadcast directly to them.

Swish!

Something passed straight through her chest. Misha jerked and her head snapped around.

For one ridiculous instant, she expected pain. There was none. The arrow continued through her spectral form as though she were mist and headed straight toward Caius.

He did not see it. His weapon remained planted against the wet road, both hands locked around the shaft as purple-white lightning continued tearing down the street he had opened through the Vestiges.

A figure stood on an upper iron walkway across the street. Thin, half its face gone, and a rotting bow clenched in its hands. Another arrow was already sliding from the quiver at its hip.

"Caius!" Misha shouted uselessly.

Gerbaut heard, Caius did not, and Hiiro did–or rather, he saw the arrow. His head snapped around as he pivoted and shot out his right arm. The arrow struck across his palm, and he caught the shaft inches behind the arrowhead. The point stopped less than a foot from Caius’ shoulder.

For half a second, Hiiro stared at the arrow in his hand. Then his face lit up. "That was close!"

Caius finally looked back, his gaze dropped to the arrow then to Hiiro. "You caught that?"

Hiiro’s grin became smugger. "What? Impressed?"

Another arrow landed in the road beside him.

Hiiro flinched sideways. "Okay, admiration later!"

Caius’ mouth tightened in a way that suggested he had not been planning admiration.

Gerbaut moved, Stormpiercer flashing upward. The spearhead caught a Vestige beneath its chin and tore through the back of its skull. The corpse folded.

「 You have killed a Vestige!

EXP +75 」

「 Possession Time Remaining: 00:04:02 」

Misha’s attention locked onto the timer. Four minutes was nothing. That should be enough time to escape, right?

Gerbaut cut down another Vestige approaching from the side. Then he turned her masked face toward Caius. "Move."

Caius understood immediately. He withdrew his weapon from the ground and the lightning began collapsing almost at one. Purple current broke apart across the wet stones, shrinking into branching sparks.

The Vestiges it had stunned started twitching. Fingers tightened around their weapons, necks jerked, and black parasite strands writhed beneath burned flesh, forcing ruined muscles to work again.

Gerbaut looked toward Hiiro. "Run."

Hiiro opened his mouth, probably to object. Then he met the glowing amber gaze behind Misha’s mask. "Yes ma’am!"

Caius grabbed Hiiro by the shoulder. "Come on."

Hiiro grumbled something under his breath before they finally broke away and ran west after Astrid, Carl, and Alaric. Within seconds, their figures disappeared behind the far intersection.

"Good. One problem reduced." Misha turned toward Gerbaut. "Now us."

He did not move since his attention remained fixed on the Tollbearer.

Following his gaze, she saw the Aberrant was standing again. The damage should have crippled something living. Its left leg bent inward at the knee where Gerbaut had carved through the supporting tissue. Stormpiercer had punctured its chest badly enough to expose blackened ribs. One of Hiiro’s earlier strikes had mangled the more human-looking head, leaving half its cheek hanging from the jaw. Still, it stood.

Then the Tollbearer roared with its two voices. The first head produced a deep, damaged bellow while the second screamed over it. The overlapping sound made the air vibrate. Then both mouths closed and the Aberrant stopped.

Misha frowned in confusion. It did not charge, did not swing the chains, and did not reach for the gong.

"Why did it stop?"

Gerbaut said nothing. Instead, her posture changed. He slightly lowered the spear, not relaxed but watching.

One corpse approached the Tollbearer, then another. A dead guard reached the Aberrant first and the Tollbearer’s third arm shot outward, grabbing it and pulling it against its chest. The parasite threads erupted beneath both sets of skin.

Misha’s expression changed as confusion gave away to alarm. "What–"

The Tollbearer’s chest split open, not like flesh tearing under force. It was more like something inside had decided a mouth belonged there. Gray skin peeled apart from sternum to abdomen and black filaments stretched between the opening ribs. The dead guard sank into it.

She froze, staring at it in shock. "What the fuck?"

The Aberrant pulled it harder. The guard’s legs kicked once, not because it was alive. It was all because the parasite still operating its muscles had not stopped issuing instructions. Bones snapped, not from being crushed but from being rearranged. Its shoulder folded inward, one arm disappearing beneath the Tollbearer’s ribs.

The outline of the limb remained visible for several seconds beneath the stretched gray flesh before the Aberrant’s body absorbed the shape entirely.

Misha hovered backward. "Nope, we’re not doing this."

Then the Aberrant seized two more Vestiges and pulled them in. Its body swelled and the already distorted ribcage expanded. Muscles rolled beneath dead skin, one of its broken heads straightened with a wet crack. One of its broken heads straightened with a wet crack, its damaged leg thickened, and the chains sank partially into flesh and emerged again farther up the new growth.

Misha felt the air change even if she was not in her body. She watched the transformation in horrified fascination.

A red window appeared across Misha’s vision.

「 〔CRITICAL WARNING〕

Aberrant Vestige has initiated Forced Assimilation.

Multiple compatible entities detected.

Variation threshold exceeded. 」

The Tollbearer threw both heads backward, a deep groan rolled out of one throat and a shriek tore from the other.

Its bodies–because Misha could no longer think of the shapes inside it as one body–convulsed. A fourth arm began forming itself through the shoulder, then stopped, split, and changed direction. Black matter crawled over the bronze gong, old markings along the disk ignited with a dirty crimson light.

Another notification appeared, larger. It was flashing red as if the System was screaming.

「 〔VARIATION EVOLUTION WARNING〕

Evolution in progress...

Aberrant → PRIMARCH

Species: Vestige

Class: Elite

Former Designation: Tollbearer

Recalculating Threat Assessment... 」

Misha stopped breathing out of habit despite no longer needing to.

Primarch. It was not another monster class. It was a Variation, a rare, high-order specimen.

Behind the Tollbearer, more Vestiges began moving. Not toward Gerbaut, it was toward the Tollbearer. All of them walked willingly toward the thing eating their kind even though no gong had sounded.

The Observation Channel stirred. They could not see the red System windows but they could see the monster consuming its own followers.

<First Mourner Beneath Creation> The shepherd consumes its flock. This is a familiar ending. Kings have committed the same sin beneath a thousand banners.

<The Last Survivor of an Unwritten World> Do not allow it to finish, little Gravekeeper. I have watched hungry things become sovereign by devouring those who bowed first.

Ding!

Another System window appeared, only this time, it was back to blue.

「 〔SYSTEM NOTICE〕

An Observer has issued a Side Quest.

Participation is optional.

Opening Observer Quest... 」

Misha raised her brows. "An Observer Quest?"

Then the next window unfolded.

「 〔OBSERVER QUEST〕

Issuer: ◘◘◘◘

Objective:

Eliminate the Primarch Vestige.

Reward:

Unidentified Stigma (UR)

—

This quest may be accepted by any eligible Awakener currently present in the Floor.

Reward will be granted to the Awakeners who fulfills the objective. 」

Misha stared in disbelief. The reward was an Ultra Rare Stigma... something offered directly through an Observer Quest.

Under different circumstances, she would have wanted to know what it did. Ultra Rare was tempting enough. But a shiny reward did not suddenly make suicide strategic. Her priority remained unchanged: Get everyone to safety, simply avoid boss monsters altogether and keep climbing.

Everything else could go to hell. The Observer Quest did not matter, the reward did not matter, and the evolving monster did not matter as long as they could outrun it.

Every second spent fighting only gave the surrounding Vestiges more time to reach the Primarch and feed whatever it was becoming.

She turned toward Gerbaut. "Do not try to kill it. We only need enough distance to escape. We get to the Crematorium, get the Passage Seal, and move to the next Floor. That’s it."

Gerbaut looked at the evolving monster before he gave one short nod. "Understood."

Relief loosened something in Misha. She always knew Gerbaut was a sensible person. At least she has one sensible person with her.

He turned and started running while Misha floated beside him.

Behind them, the Primarch continued changing.

Misha refused to look back. They could make it since she still had two minutes left on the possession timer. It was more than enough to close the distance and catch up with the others.

Ding!

「 〔SYSTEM NOTICE〕

An eligible Awakener has declared participation.

Participant Registered:

Shimura Hiiro

Quest Status: Active

The objective remains available to all eligible Awakeners until completion. 」