The massive fire spell from Delilah scared the Deep Dweller off, but not for long. As they closed in on the portal, the monster returned. Just as it had risen from Hannah's river of shadows, it now emerged from the very stone the large group ran across. Its tentacles reached for them and found targets right away.

  A stone's throw away, the portal shimmered, waiting for them, its motes of light reaching out as if inviting them into a secure embrace. Abraham never reached that embrace. Lifted off his feet, he screamed as a shadow carried him off. Another joined in, and they tore the poor Gunner apart without Luke being able to do a damn thing to stop it. It happened too fast.

  Abraham was not the only one taken. They all screamed. So much screaming. Soon, it wasn't just the tentacles, but the Deep Dweller's main body as well, rising from the ground almost right next to them. Those who caught on used their gems as shields, but they helped little against such an overwhelming threat.

  The first Integrated reached the portal and threw themselves through without a second of hesitation. More followed. A tentacle of shadow lashed out and grabbed Luke's ankle, but he'd seen it coming and slashed at it with Threads of Mana and Needle of Life, freeing himself without breaking stride.

  More reached for him. Luke brought out The Gem of Communication, hoping its light would chase the Deep Dweller off. While the shadows touched by the light disintegrated, it failed in forcing the monster back. Instead, it grew more frantic.

  Luke passed three snared Integrated. Nymh was one of them. Using The Healer's Moment, he bought himself enough time to free them. Stumbling forward, Nymh and the others ran without so much as a thank you.

  Half of the Integrated were through the portal at that point. Another couple of steps and Luke would be safe as well. How many seconds remained before it closed and the dungeon collapsed? He'd lost count. Slashing at the shadows, Nymh made it out, followed by another Integrated he hadn't caught the name of. Penny, Mateo, Curtis, and Milla were all through.

  System Message: Dungeon closing in 1 minute.

  Out of the three Integrated he'd just freed, one didn't make it. An almost impenetrable wall of shadow-limbs blocked the portal, and the poor bastard flung himself right into them. Severed limbs fell to the cave floor, and blood splattered far enough to reach Luke, who was a few steps behind.

  Holding out the large gem in front of him, Luke hurled himself at the tentacles, lashing out like a madman with Threads of Mana to create a clear path forward and through the portal. It worked! The Deep Dweller withdrew its undulating limbs with a hissing sound, almost as if the light from the gem burned them.

  "Yes!" Luke shouted as the motes of light from the portal drifted as if on a gentle breeze all around him. Another couple of steps and he'd be through.

  His momentum stopped with an abrupt yank. Luke almost dropped the gem, but placed it in his inventory before it slipped past the reach of his fingers. A terrible pressure mounted across his back and chest, and an even stronger, crushing pain spread through his left thigh. Tentacles. Luke was caught.

  "Let me go!" he shouted.

  Abraham and several other dead and broken Integrated appeared before him, all of them pierced through with tentacles.

  "The artifact," they all hissed in unison, their lips not moving.

  "This?" Luke asked, taking the large gem back out. Bile rose in his throat as the shadowed limb around his chest added even more pressure, crushing him.

  Another tentacle reached for the gem. "Hand it to me now, and I'll grant you a quick end."

  "Nope!" Luke shouted, throwing it toward the portal.

  The Deep Dweller reached for it, its limbs even faster than Luke thought possible. Still, they were not quick enough. Using a Thread of Mana, Luke struck the gem with all his might, pushing it out of the monster's reach. Rather than scream at him or have its flesh puppets whisper curses in his ears, the Deep Dweller remained silent in its defeat.

  Pressure mounted in Luke's chest, but that was nothing compared to the blazing pain of having his leg squeezed and tugged. White, blinding pain wracked him, and a wet, ripping sound reached through the impossible agony as the monster ripped Luke's leg off. He wanted to scream, but it was impossible. Like being squeezed to death by a huge snake, his chest couldn't rise. There was no breath to be had. Blood poured out of his mouth, and his consciousness fuzzed.

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  Still, through some miracle, Luke held enough focus to keep the Thread of Mana he'd used to push the gem out of the Deep Dweller’s reach. That was his lifeline, his way out.

  Using Weavestep, Luke shifted through the weave and out of the Deep Dweller's crushing grasp. He fell and struck the ground, beautiful motes of light dancing in front of his face. They drifted toward the portal now. It was closing. Even when he had freed himself, something inside was broken. He couldn't breathe. Standing was no option, not with just one leg. Instead, gritting his teeth against the pain, Luke rolled.

  His consciousness was slipping through his fingers, but he held on. If not for the physical attributes he'd added when leveling up, this would have all been over already. Just a little longer. Almost there. It was slow, but he was close. So close. The Deep Dweller reached for him, but this time, it was too slow.

  With his vision swimming, Luke rolled through the portal.

  Having his face pressed against the sun-warmed asphalt of a mall parking lot had never felt so good. People crowded in. Several cried out as the portal closed behind Luke, but he ignored them all. Unless he received healing, he would be dead within moments.

  "Is he still alive?"

  "Little brother!"

  "Gruesome shit."

  Luke ignored them all. He was dying. Focus. Had to focus.

  He pulled from the mana gem and pulled ribs out of his punctured lungs and even his heart with Threads of Mana, adding stitches afterward, even as he massaged his own heart to keep it going. Once he managed a single, rasping breath, Luke diverted enough focus and attention to summon two threads and bring them to the torn flesh and bone that remained of his leg.

  "Move back, he's healing himself!"

  Circling the area to tell the skill what to do, Luke activated Weaver's Renewal. Even with the mana gems, it wasn't enough. Restoring the leg would take tremendous amounts, far more than what he'd used earlier to fix his arm.

  Desperate, he removed the limiter he'd placed on Weaver's Eye. Information flooded into him, and he located what he needed. A caster Integrated with her mana almost at maximum. A Thread of Mana was all he needed to make that mana his own. She cried out, but he ignored her, using some of her mana to extend the thread through her and over to another Integrated. In this way, he jumped from person to person, threading them together into one long mana battery. Satisfied he had enough, Luke used Weaver's Renewal again.

  "Whoa," a young male voice Luke didn't recognize said. "That's OP as fuck."

  Then Milla was there, right next to him on the ground. "You made it, little brother."

  Luke rolled over and glanced down at his leg. Just like his arm, the new skin was a little lighter. That didn't matter in the least. Regrowing limbs was within his ability. If he kept this up, he'd become a force to be reckoned with.

  "I'm OK, I'm fine," Luke said, turning to Milla. She sat right where the portal had been a moment earlier, but now it was just an empty parking lot. "The Deep Dweller almost got me."

  "It sure did," she said.

  "You still look like shit," Curtis said.

  Luke sat up and gave him a big grin. "Thanks."

  "You've been buzzing," Penny said, gesturing to Luke's pocket.

  "Oh, right," Luke said, grabbing for his phone.

  "When I saw you were not with us, I wanted to return, my friend," Mateo said, tears streaming down his face. "They held me back!"

  "Huh?" Luke said, tearing his eyes from the screen to look into Mateo's. "Don't worry about it. It would probably have ended with both of us dead. Lost some others there at the end."

  Mateo gave a solemn nod.

  "Where's the gem?" Luke asked.

  Milla's expression turned annoyed and serious. "Nymh took it. She's already halfway to our office with it."

  "Your boss is an asshole," Luke muttered.

  "She's not my boss. More like group leader," Milla said. "But yeah, she's an asshole."

  A lot of the Integrated who'd remained in the dungeon until the last moment were still around the empty parking lot. They were sitting around with blank expressions on their faces. Luke figured quite a few of them wouldn't return to a dungeon in a good long while. If he had anything to say about it, he'd stay out of them too, for a little while, at least. He needed to breathe, to regroup with himself, and perhaps even relax a little. Or stay out of mortal danger while training, at least.

  There were more people around, of course. Onlookers were crowding outside the parking lot, which had been sectioned off with yellow tape. Several cop cars were idling in the vicinity, and men in suits and black sunglasses stood around with their hands behind their backs. DIA. Had to be.

  "Need a ride?" Milla asked, directing the question to the closest group of people. "If we can get past the crowd, that is."

  "The love of my life is coming to pick me up," Mateo said. "She's just picking up mi hijo first."

  Penny pointed at Mateo with her thumb. "This lovely doofus already promised me a ride."

  "I'll take a seat," Curtis said.

  Luke's phone vibrated again, and he couldn't help but pick it up while answering his sister. "What? Uh, yeah. Sure. Let's go. Are Hannah and Liza around?"

  "They left before we got out here," Penny said.

  Luke nodded to himself. "I'll talk to them later, then. Let's go."

  "You can breathe for a moment first, if you need it," Milla said. "You almost died."

  "It's fine," Luke said. His mana was still low, but regeneration was kicking in, so the headache would be gone soon enough. Other than that, he was pain and injury-free. In perfect condition, you could say, except for elevated cortisol, he sensed with Weaver's Eye. Nothing strange about that, considering the stress-inducing situation they'd just escaped.

  All was well. Until Luke checked his phone notifications, that was.