The scraping sound of Warden's sledgehammer echoed across the Cube.

  Renny shouted, "Stop! I haven't even chosen yet!"

  His hand clenched, the chains tightening around them.

  Devil stood up, the chairs dissipating.

  He walked towards the side of the Cube, which opened for him.

  "Choose wisely."

  The words barely left Devil's lips before he disappeared from the Cube, the wall closing shut.

  What???

  Renny was now stuck in here with the guy who easily defeated a powerful Voidspawn by himself.

  And the guy was advancing.

  This was bad.

  Warden brought his sledgehammer up and spun and swung it sideways.

  Suddenly Renny found himself in front of that sledgehammer.

  Wh—

  The impact was devastating, sending Renny flying.

  Suddenly white, featureless, square faced pillars rose from the ground.

  Renny smashed through a line of these pillars.

  The chains absorbed the impact. He didn't know how long they could last.

  Where did they come from??

  And in the first place how did he even appear in front of the sledgehammer??

  It's as if he and other entities in the Cube were teleported right into Warden's sledgehammer.

  These pillars.

  Were they a part of the Cube?

  He had so many questions.

  And Devil's conversation with him only gave him more.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  But first he had to deal with the matter at hand.

  Join the Hunters or die.

  This guy wasn't giving him space to think damn it.

  A pillar shot out of the side of another block, like a tree branch, aimed straight at Renny.

  Renny lunged out of the way—

  Only to get teleported back into the line of fire.

  Renny was knocked into another building that just rose from the ground.

  He just couldn't catch a break, could he.

  If not for these chains, he'd be dead twice over.

  They're surprisingly resistant.

  But he couldn't think about it now.

  He thought back to what Devil said.

  Choose carefully?

  There was no choice here. Just momentum.

  Right on cue, a pillar rose from beneath him and threw him into the air.

  Another pillar shot from the ceiling of the Cube and slammed into him from above.

  The 2 pillars threatening to flatten him if he didn't move out of the way.

  He threw himself out of the way just as they collided.

  Another pillar emerged from an existing block, towards him fast.

  He narrowly dodged it.

  No room.

  To think.

  To breathe.

  More pillars rose around him.

  Have to keep moving.

  The chains coiled around his entire body were increasing his defense and movement.

  He pushed Heartlight into the chains.

  They curled and hardened—shield on his left, sword in his right.

  What he was used to.

  He raised the shield to block an incoming block.

  It worked—

  Another pillar slammed into him from behind, sending him into a pillar that just popped up from the ground.

  The shield works against 1 pillar.

  No more.

  Sword was dead weight.

  Nothing to strike.

  Can't find Warden.

  Blocks all around.

  Like a small city.

  Renny realised what he had isn't enough.

  Not anymore.

  3 blocks branched towards him fast.

  He leaped high, boosted by the chains, abandoning the sword and shield concept as they uncurled into chains again.

  He wasn't thinking, yet these chains obeyed his intentions.

  Gotta figure out how they worked.

  Later.

  He kept avoiding the blocks aimed at him.

  Barely.

  Good thing he'd been investing Heartlight into his speed and strength.

  But now he needed it invested somewhere else.

  He was being forced to move.

  To run.

  By Warden.

  By Voidspawn.

  By the GDA.

  By the Dive Academy.

  He became a Diver to save lives.

  To defend people from the Void.

  How much of that has he actually done?

  Another pillar narrowly grazed the chains.

  Was he saving people?

  Or was he being saved.

  By Warden.

  By Goliath.

  What was he doing with his life?

  What had he accomplished?

  A block slammed into his side.

  He rolled, chains absorbing most of the impact.

  He kept running.

  Nothing.

  He felt the weight of the word.

  He'd done absolutely nothing with his life.

  He was weak.

  A block hit him from behind.

  He flew.

  Before he could recover from the impact, another block smashed into him, pushing him through the block he landed in.

  He tumbled onto the floor.

  Maybe.

  If he took Devil's offer.

  If he joined them.

  He could be strong.

  Like Warden.

  Suddenly he was teleported.

  He felt a presence.

  Warden was behind him.

  He'd been teleported to Warden's feet.

  Like a lamb to the slaughter.

  Little lamb, always so weak.

  Always being led around.

  No control of his life.

  No control?

  Or had he just never taken it.

  Warden raised his sledgehammer.

  Devil's voice echoed in his head.

  Choose wisely.

  He had to take control.

  Warden's sledgehammer fell.

  Renny's hand flashed out and grabbed the side of the hammer. He pushed it hard and leaped out of the way.

  The hammer slammed into the ground, shockwave echoing through the Cube.

  He was thrown into the air by the shockwave.

  Into the side of the Cube.

  Renny gathered his strength and punched the wall of the Cube with all his might.

  BOOM!

  The Cube was smashed open.

  A black room greeted him.

  Not over yet.

  Had to run.

  So he ran.

  He stumbled into a large room.

  A hole torn into the world, its edges jagged and uneven, as if space itself had been bitten away. It had no frame, no depth he could judge—only a darkness that swallowed the light around it without casting a shadow.

  A Door.

  A lever stood nearby.

  Door: Open / Close.

  Choose wisely.

  He pulled it.

  The crack didn’t change shape.

  Instead, the darkness inside it deepened. The edges sank, as if the floor were bending inward, depth stretching where none should exist. The air shifted, tugging faintly toward the fissure.

  No Coffin.

  He heard voices behind him—urgent, hurried.

  Had to risk it.

  He jumped in.

  Somewhere beyond the Cube, Devil smiled.