Chapter 361: Marked for Recovery

Martin knew that stillness.

"Alex."

The Beastslayer smiled at Kumoe. "Three heads. Nice."

Alexandra’s swords lowered by several centimeters, which Martin liked even less than if she had raised them. Kumoe’s curious head growled while the right stayed focused on Alexandra.

"Alex."

"I heard you."

Her voice was quiet. The Beastslayer took one step backward into the gate, inviting her to follow. Martin saw it immediately, and judging by the sharp bark from Kumoe’s right head, so did she.

Alexandra’s weight shifted forward anyway. Martin moved in front of her path, forcing her to stop before she walked straight into his shield.

"Move."

"No."

"He marked her."

"I saw."

"Then move."

Martin kept the shield where it was. "He wants you away from the bellkeepers."

Alexandra looked past him. The Beastslayer was still backing away without attacking, simply waiting for her to take the bait. Her jaw tightened.

Kumoe pressed the right head into Alexandra’s shoulder, and that accomplished what Martin’s shield had not. Alexandra’s eyes closed for one second. When they opened again, the Beastslayer was no longer the only thing she could see.

"Fine."

She turned her blades toward him. "Come to us."

The Beastslayer’s smile disappeared.

Martin stepped aside. "Better."

"Say another word and I’ll test Packblade on you."

Martin decided to let that one go.

The second wave came through before either of them could say more. Contract enforcers followed the Beastslayers with hooked poles, capture nets, and portable relay frames, while two underworld mercenaries pushed a narrow wheeled device containing another set of copied tuning forks.

The invaders had stopped pretending this was a negotiation.

Mireva looked toward her wardens. "Route-keepers leave the lower levels."

Several Sairren moved immediately.

Three did not.

They were positioned at active relay bells.

Martin understood why. "If they leave, the bells stop hiding everyone?"

"The relay can carry a stored pattern briefly," Mireva said. "Not through this."

Another copied note screamed from below. The route-keepers stayed at their posts. One tightened both hands around the bell frame when another false note rolled through the lower district, but none stepped away.

They knew exactly what remaining there meant. If the relay failed while families were still moving above them, the next Dark Force pack might follow the wrong trail straight into the shelters.

Martin hated it. He also knew dragging them away by force would be no better than what the invaders intended to do. The choice had to remain theirs even when he disliked it.

"Then we protect them."

Mireva looked at him.

"Until they decide to move," Martin added.

Her eyes held his for half a second before she nodded. "Yes."

The claw-legged Beastslayer attacked.

She covered ten meters in a single burst and went straight for the nearest route-keeper. Martin intercepted her with Breakwater Aegis. Her first kick landed near the shield’s rim, and the second struck lower.

The third never came.

Rias appeared beside the attacker and cut across the strap holding a black capture seal to her thigh. The Beastslayer twisted away before Gloamneedle reached flesh.

Rias did not pursue. "Seal carries the target designation."

The route-keeper above them suddenly gained a red marker.

[Recovery Target Identified.]

[Qualification: Route authority.]

There it was.

They were not marking random Sairren. They were looking specifically for route-keepers.

The distinction mattered. The original market request had asked for one living route-keeper, and now the invaders were carrying tools that could identify them inside a crowd. Whatever information the buyer possessed, it went beyond knowing that the Sairren had survived.

Someone knew which members of the community actually held authority over the Belfry’s routes.

"Break the seals!" Martin called.

The bone-armed Beastslayer finally came to them. He drove his inherited forearm into Martin’s shield, and Unyielding Grip tightened. The blow did not tear Breakwater Aegis away, but Martin still felt the impact through his shoulders.

The Beastslayer followed with his human hand, reaching around the shield for the strap. Martin turned the Aegis inward and trapped the wrist between metal and Worldshell. Rainwarden Sword came free, and Measured Answer sharpened the counter.

The Beastslayer released his grip and jumped backward before the sword could take his arm.

He landed beside Alexandra.

Wrong choice.

Kumoe’s curious head struck first, forcing the Beastslayer to duck beneath the jaws. Alexandra had already moved toward the opening Kumoe created. Her first sword cut across the bone plating.

Pack Rhythm activated.

The right head snapped toward his human shoulder, forcing him to twist. Alexandra’s second blade entered the gap between inherited armor and chestplate.

The Beastslayer kicked away, leaving blood across the avenue.

He smiled anyway. "Good pack."

Alexandra said nothing. She and Kumoe advanced together without a taunt or performance. The Beastslayer had marked Kumoe as property, and Alexandra no longer felt any need to entertain him.

Behind them, the gliding Beastslayer launched. She did not fly. The membranes caught enough air to carry her from the lower gate toward the bridge above, directly toward another route-keeper.

Katherine saw her first.

"Kinnami!"

The golden wolf spirit leaped onto the bridge. A barrier formed across the Beastslayer’s landing, and she struck it feet-first. The barrier cracked but held long enough to ruin her angle.

A Sairren warden drove a spear toward her shoulder. The Beastslayer folded one membrane, dropped beneath the attack, and fell toward the avenue.

Cassandra was waiting.

She had been at full draw before the fall began, allowing Patient Draw to sharpen while her feet remained planted. The Beastslayer dropped into the lane.

Cassandra released.

The arrow struck the black capture seal attached to the attacker’s chest and shattered it. The red marker above the route-keeper disappeared.

Cassandra immediately moved because three enforcers were already closing on her old position.

Elisebeth cast Mana Shield across the first spear lane, buying Cassandra enough time to retreat behind a bronze column.

"Please stop making stationary skills look this stressful," Elisebeth said.

"I’ll mention it to the system."

That was all Cassandra had time for.

A copied tuning note rang, and Elisebeth spun toward it.

"Where?"

Rias pointed. "Upper left."

Silent Stage curved around a relay frame mounted beneath the bridge, trapping the foreign resonance inside the spell.

Mireva struck the real bell, and the Dark Force monsters pouring from the Lower Belfry turned toward the heavier armed formation again.

Then the claw-legged Beastslayer changed direction.

She stopped hunting a route-keeper.

She went for the bell itself.

Martin saw it too late to reach her first.

"Bell!"

Alexandra moved.