Rolling on impact, he lay on the floor, breathing heavily.

  A rush of Heartlight entered his body.

  Finally.

  Back to the Surface.

  His headache and disorientation eased.

  Traces of it still nagged at him.

  The Door had formed embedded in the ground of a large traffic crossing surrounded by many buildings.

  Powerful legs.

  Lighter.

  Stable.

  He scrambled to his feet and broke into a controlled jog, wincing with each step.

  He wasn't out of the woods yet.

  The Crawler—

  A screech pierced through the air.

  It stormed through the Door.

  Like a millipede coming out of the soil.

  Its trunks flailing, smashing violently into nearby buildings, causing massive damage to them.

  Debris fell onto the streets.

  Screams echoed across the crossing.

  Renny managed to reach a building a decent distance away, still in the line of sight of the Crawler.

  He paused, catching his breath.

  "Everyone, head to the closest shelters!"

  Renny turned to look.

  A group of 5 armoured men were running toward the Crawler.

  Their armour was yellow and white plated, fitted with boosters at the back which they used to rush on site.

  Renny recognised them instantly.

  Holy Knights.

  They drew their swords and readied their shields.

  One of them stayed at the back while the others moved in.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  He spoke into his radio, "This is J-Bravo squad. Sector 3, Zone 5, Crawler appearance, send Saviour. Request Beacon activation."

  A circular beam of iridescent light shone on them from above for 5 seconds, then vanished.

  Renny could feel it in the air.

  That beam was pure condensed Heartlight.

  The Holy Knights' Heartlight skyrocketed.

  They charged the Crawler.

  One of them swung their sword in a wide arc.

  The sheer power of the swing sent a shockwave at the Crawler.

  The Crawler blocked with a trunk, then slammed another trunk into the Knight.

  The Knight's shield glowed bright as he poured a ton of Heartlight into blocking the trunk.

  The trunk bounced off the shield with a sickening thump.

  The trunk was strong enough to tear chunks of a building off with a simple swing, yet a shield enhanced by Heartlight was able to stop it so easily.

  Just how much Heartlight did these guys get from that beam?

  The Crawler maneuvered around and slammed its trunks into 2 Knights' shields, then pierced their body armour with its sharp centipede-like legs, and threw them aside, engaging with the other 3.

  Renny watched as the 2 Knights who sustained what should have been life threatening injuries waved their hands over their wounds.

  Heartlight shone brightly from their hands.

  After a few seconds, the bleeding stopped.

  They'd just healed themselves of life threatening injuries in an instant.

  That's not possible.

  Even top tier Divers only knew how to heal superficial wounds.

  The level of skill required to use Heartlight to restore damaged and destroyed organs, tissue, fibres took an insane amount of concentration and time.

  They'd likely used the Heartlight to temporarily fulfil the functions that the damaged organs and cells would be doing.

  That must've been how they're rejoining the battle so quickly.

  Renny thought that was only possible in theory, as a normal person didn't possess enough Heartlight to maintain it for long.

  Yet here they are.

  A few civilians were still caught in the fight.

  They were being gathered and evacuated by one of the Knights.

  Renny looked down at his hands.

  He'd been in the Void for who knows how long, fighting who knows how many Voidspawn.

  He definitely felt stronger.

  Yet he stood there, watching.

  Why did he get strong again?

  To prove himself?

  What then?

  He took a step towards the fight, then hesitated.

  Holy Knights were the militia of the Covenant of Lux, an organisation that opposes GDA ideology of entering the Void.

  If they discovered the chains were Void related, they'd kill him.

  But the people—

  "Pst!"

  Renny snapped his head over, chains coiled tight as he tensed up.

  What?

  A pair of wary eyes peeked out of the drain covers beneath him.

  The guy lifted the drain cover and spoke, soft, "Follow me, quick!"

  Huh?

  Renny spoke for the first time in what felt like forever, "Why?"

  The guy urgently gestured, "Quickly! Before he comes."

  He?

  Renny hesitated.

  Renny noticed the guy was trembling ever so slightly.

  He huffed, "Fine, you want him to capture you? Go right ahead. I was never here."

  He closed the lid and disappeared down into the darkness.

  Renny stood there for a bit, confused.

  The sound akin to a piece of meat being slammed into concrete reverberated through the streets.

  The pounding continued, loud, powerful, almost rhythmic.

  What was that.

  It didn't sound like a sound the Crawler could make. Was someone fighting the Crawler? Winning?

  Renny didn't want to know.

  He wanted to help, but he couldn't.

  As he turned to follow the guy, he heard a scream and shut his eyes.

  I'm sorry...

  It was dark.

  The stench of sewage wafted in the air.

  A voice called out in the darkness, "Over here!"

  The drain guy stood at the base of the ladder, a match lit.

  He was in his 30s, short, facial hair overgrown.

  He was dressed in worn combat gear reinforced with mismatched armour plates, everything about his build suggesting efficiency over strength.

  He beckoned, "Come on."

  They walked down the tunnel.

  He let out a deep sigh.

  "You're real lucky I was here you know. If it was another IDCG guy they'd have just left you there to die! Especially the ones out for blood."

  The ground above shook.

  Dust fell.

  The guy paused, checking, then continued as if nothing happened.

  "We just want to make a living out of this you know? Divers these days don't get paid enough for the risks we take. If not for this Guild I wouldn't be able to feed my family. Divers these days are dropping like flies, I'm just barely escaping every time you know?"

  IDCG?

  What's this guy talking about.

  A loud crash sounded above.

  The tunnel shook.

  Renny thought it sounded like a building collapsing.

  The man paused again, listening, then continued after a while.

  "... and those solo Dives, nasty. I wouldn't even dream of ever doing something so dangerous, kudos to you my friend."

  It slowly became apparent to Renny that this guy had misidentified him, and had absolutely no clue who Renny was.

  The guy turned around and extended his hand.

  "I'm Bob by the way. Been using the IDCG for years."

  Renny stuck out his hand wrapped in chains awkwardly, "Renny."

  "Pleasure to meet you Renny! We're almost there. So, when did you graduate from Dive Academy..."

  As Bob spoke, Renny tuned out.

  He gripped the chains covering the palm of his hand.

  He kept telling himself he’d made the right choice.

  The nagging feeling in his chest didn’t agree.