Chapter 167: The Access Tag

Rafe checked behind them.

Two men carrying construction materials entered from the other side, walked past the group, and continued without paying attention.

The man in gray remained where he was, watching them from the other end of the passage.

Rhovan’s expression changed slightly. “All right. He’s following us.”

Marek did not answer. He stepped forward instead, stopping several meters away from the stranger.

The man finally spoke. “You’ve checked enough.”

His voice was calm. It also seemed like he was older than Marek had first thought, perhaps somewhere in his thirties, with dark hair cut short and a face that would have been difficult to remember if Marek had passed him once on the street.

Marek kept his hands where the stranger could see them. “Checked enough of what?”

The man looked past him toward Eren and Rafe before answering. “Stop checking the service addresses.”

That confirmed Silas’s suspicion. They had never spoken to the man, and nobody outside the CMS knew which locations they had chosen to visit.

Marek studied him more carefully. “So you have been following us.”

“Leave Lantern Verge.”

“We were already leaving.”

The stranger’s expression did not change. “Then, keep going.”

Marek considered doing exactly that. They already had what they came for, and getting into a confrontation with someone in the middle of Lantern Verge had never been part of the plan.

He had no reason to fight a stranger just because the man had followed them through several streets. They already had useful information. The CMS could deal with the rest.

The man’s attention shifted toward the folded notes in Eren’s hand. “Leave those.”

Eren tightened his grip on them, and Marek’s willingness to walk away disappeared with it.

“No,” Marek stiffly replied.

The stranger stepped forward and reached for Eren, but Silas moved before he could get close. He caught the man’s wrist and tried to turn him away from the group. The stranger twisted out of the hold with enough force to throw Silas sideways into the construction barrier, his shoulder striking it hard.

Marek reacted before he had time to think. Spatial Parallax settled over the space between them, giving him the stranger’s distance, angle, and changing position as the man turned toward him.

The first strike came for his face.

Marek shifted out of its path just in time, feeling the air move past his cheek.

‘Fast.’

The stranger did not give him room to recover and closed the distance again.

Marek kept Spatial Parallax focused on the stranger as another strike came toward his ribs. He shifted away from it, though the man changed direction before Marek could put enough distance between them and drove a knee toward his stomach.

Marek managed to block with both arms, but the impact still shoved him several steps backward.

“Newton,” Rhovan called from behind him.

“I’m fine.”

“You were moved several meters.”

Marek straightened. “Don’t worry. I noticed.”

Rhovan had not stepped in yet, though the way his attention followed every exchange told Marek he was ready to.

The stranger had already turned back toward Eren. Rafe pulled him out of reach while Silas recovered from the barrier and drove his shoulder into the man’s side. The hit barely moved him. Instead, the stranger caught Silas by the back of his coat and started pulling him around.

Spatial Parallax gave Marek the angle before the attack completed.

“Down!”

Silas dropped low enough for the man’s arm to pass over him, giving Marek an opening to step in. He struck the stranger’s wrist, followed by an elbow against his chest, and felt both hits connect.

The man barely reacted.

Marek backed away as an unfamiliar pressure began spreading through the passage. He glanced toward Rhovan and found that the guy’s earlier amusement had disappeared, which bothered him more.

The man lunged toward Eren again, making him retreat behind Rafe while keeping the folded notes close to his chest.

“He’s trying to take these,” Eren said.

Marek moved between them. “Yeah, I figured that part out.”

Their forearms collided when the stranger attacked again, and pain shot through Marek’s arm. He kept himself and the man’s lead shoulder as the two references, using the changing angle between them to read the next movement.

The stranger shifted left, Marek stayed where he was, and when the real strike came from the opposite side, he was already moving out of its path.

The stranger’s expression tightened for the first time.

Marek noticed and felt slightly better about himself. “Yeah. I can do that too.”

A kick landed against his side before he finished enjoying the thought.

Marek struck the wall as his face scrunched. “Never mind…”

The exchange had torn part of the stranger’s coat near the waist. Silas noticed first and called to him, drawing Marek’s attention toward the damaged fabric.

Part of an Astral Mark was visible underneath.

More importantly, a thin black defect ran through it.

Marek’s expression changed the moment he recognized what he was seeing.

Rhovan stepped closer as well, and his face turned even more serious. “An Errant.”

The man no longer bothered concealing it. With more of the damaged fabric hanging loose, the thin, lightless defect running through his Mark became easier to see. It carried the same wrongness Marek remembered from the Errants they had encountered on Earth.

Eren stared at him. “An Errant, huh?”

“Yes,” Rhovan answered, his attention remaining on the man.

Eren looked toward him. “Can you handle him?”

“Of course.”

Marek pushed himself away from the wall, groaning. Although he was definitely stronger now, pain would always be there for him.

“Try not to destroy the street,” he said.

Rhovan looked genuinely offended. “I possess restraint. Besides, he’s not strong enough to defeat me.”

Marek had enough memories from Earth to question that statement, though the Errant moved before he could say anything.

He changed targets and rushed toward Rafe.

Rafe stepped away from the first attack and caught the man’s sleeve, pulling him just far enough off balance for Silas to strike his arm. The Errant tore himself free, and something slipped from inside his damaged coat and struck the pavement.

A small rectangular access tag. Eren’s attention went straight to it. So did the Errant’s.

But Rafe reached it first.

The man changed direction and struck him across the shoulder before he could stand properly. Rafe slammed against the construction barrier, but he managed to throw the tag toward Marek before the Errant could recover it.

Marek caught it with one hand.

“Give it back,” the man said.

That was enough to make Marek look at the tag more carefully.

Beneath the access code was a business registration reference.

Eren had gone quiet several steps away. “Newton.”

Marek looked toward him. Something in Eren’s expression made the answer obvious before he even asked. “What?”

Eren unfolded his notes and compared the reference he had copied at the CMS against the one printed on the tag in Marek’s hand. He checked it twice before looking up.

“It’s the same registration reference.”

Marek looked down again.

The tag was connected to the company that had supposedly moved away months ago, even though its name and registration still appeared in current-period payment schedules. It was also the same secondary company showing up across several separate services Irial had copied.

And the Errant who had followed them through Lantern Verge was carrying access tied directly to it.

Marek lifted his eyes from the tag just as the man came for him again.