The dungeon trembled beneath Hayate's boots, as if reacting to the woman's vanished presence. Flare hovered inches from his cheek, still trembling like a frightened candle flame.
"Hayate… that echo woman… she said the core remembers you. A-And the abyss remembers you too.
"She swallowed hard."
That sounds like… reincarnation stuff. Crazy reincarnation stuff."
Hayate started forward without answering.
His pace was calm.
Measured.
But his eyes were darker than before.
"Flare."
"Y-Yeah?"
"Do not drift far from me."
Flare gulped and nodded vigorously. "I'll glue myself to your ear if I have to."
The fog thickened around them. Trees with blackened bark leaned overhead, branches twisting like knotted claws. The air felt heavier—charged with invisible static. Each breath carried faint metallic undertones.
The trail narrowed until it became a single winding path carved between colossal roots.
Floor 3's gate was close.
And something on the other side was awake.
The gate appeared like a massive stone screen engraved with spiraling sigils. Unlike the gate from Floor 1 to 2, this one was cracked—almost shattered—its runes flickering weakly.
Flare slowly floated forward. "Why… does this look like it barely survived something?"
Hayate touched the stone.
Instantly—
CRRRK—!!
The entire gate vibrated violently, cracks spreading outward like lightning. A strange whisper seeped from the cracks—dozens of overlapping voices murmuring in languages no mortal tongue knew.
Hayate stepped back.
Something on the other side was pressing against the door.
Flare's pupils shrank to pinpoints. "S-Something's trying to break through!"
And then—
BOOOOOM—!!!
The gate EXPLODED outward in a shockwave of blinding blue light.
Flare shrieked as she was blown back—Hayate grabbed her midair, sliding across the floor, boots carving a deep trail through the stone until they came to a stop.
When the light faded—
Silence.
Smoke.
Dust.
And then…
A single figure stepped through the ruins of the shattered gate.
A person.
A young man.
Dressed in torn academy uniform—one Hayate instantly recognized.
Flare's voice cracked into a whisper:
"He's… from your world."
Hayate didn't react outwardly.
But inside, a storm raged.
The boy staggered forward, clutching his chest, eyes wide with terror and confusion. His hair was soaked with sweat, his breathing ragged.
He whispered hoarsely, choking on fear:
"H-Hayate…?"
Flare covered her mouth.
"He knows your name!"
The boy dropped to his knees, trembling violently.
"I—I thought I was hallucinating when I saw the light… but you—you're actually here…"
Hayate's gaze sharpened.
"Speak."
The boy flinched but obeyed immediately—instinctively, as if Hayate still outranked him.
"It's me… Tatsuya. Tatsuya Ren. W-We were in the same hero-training class. I—"
Hayate's grip on his sword tightened.
Tatsuya Ren.
One of the classmates who abandoned him at the altar.
One of the ones who mocked him.
One of the ones who left him to die in another world.
Flare's flame crackled. "He's one of them…!"
Tatsuya crawled forward on all fours—broken, desperate.
"I-I'm sorry! We didn't know what would happen! We didn't know they would throw you into a different summoning circle! We didn't—"
Hayate kicked him lightly.
Not with anger. Not with cruelty.
But with precision—just enough to shut him up.
Tatsuya collapsed, coughing.
"Your excuses," Hayate said quietly, "mean nothing."
Flare whispered, "Are you gonna kill him…?"
Hayate did not answer.
Instead—
He observed.
Tatsuya's aura flickered like a dying candle—unstable, warped, corrupted.
Not normal.
Not human.
Hayate stepped forward.
"What are you doing on Floor 3?"
Tatsuya grabbed at Hayate's pants, desperation painting his face.
"I—I don't know! I woke up here three days ago! Then the monsters started screaming—like they were afraid—and something dragged me deeper—"
He convulsed violently mid-sentence.
Flare gasped. "His mana—! It's spiking!"
Hayate's eyes narrowed.
Tatsuya's veins bulged, glowing faintly blue. His back arched unnaturally as cracks spread beneath his skin, releasing tendrils of eerie light.
"H-Hayate—help—help me—!"
Then he stopped.
Breathing.
Moving.
Everything.
His head slowly lifted.
His eyes rolled white.
And a voice not his own whispered through his mouth:
"We found you."
Flare froze. "Th-That's not him… that's NOT him—!!"
Hayate's aura shifted instantly—calm, lethal, colder than the deepest dungeon chasm.
"The dungeon speaks through you," he said.
Tatsuya's body jerked forward in spasms, arms dangling lifelessly as the voice continued:
"Return… Devouring Star… Return to the depths… Return to what you left behind…"
Flare shook violently.
"I don't like this, I don't like this, I don't—!!"
Tatsuya's body levitated—limbs hanging
head tilted
mouth slack.
He extended one hand toward Hayate.
Not to attack.
But as if begging.
Or warning.
Then—
SNAP.
Every bone in Tatsuya's body twisted.
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK—!!
His body contorted into an unnatural posture, arms bending backward, legs folding like broken twigs.
Flare screamed."NO—NO—NO—!!!"
Hayate stepped forward calmly.
A dungeon corruption parasite.
Possession type.
Rare.
Usually only appears after Floor 70.
"I see," Hayate murmured. "So even this place breaks its own rules."
Tatsuya's head spun 180 degrees.
His mouth opened in an impossible, gaping, black void.
A second voice—ancient, booming, and hollow—ripped through the forest:
"RE…TURN."
Hayate unsheathed his sword.
Black lightning rippled along the blade, the Devouring Star pulsing in sync with his heartbeat.
One strike.
He vanished.
Reappeared behind the creature.
Tatsuya's body froze midair—
Then dissolved into a whirlwind of black dust, disintegrating like ash in a storm.
The forest fell silent.
Flare wiped her eyes—tiny, glowing droplets flickering away.
"H-He's gone…"
Hayate sheathed his sword.
He didn't speak.
He didn't mourn.
Revenge didn't matter.
Old classmates didn't matter.
Only the truth did.
And the abyss was pointing him toward it.
Flare choked out, "Hayate… that voice… not Tatsuya's but the one behind it… it knew you."
Hayate started walking again.
"It did."
"And it said… 'return.'"
Hayate nodded.
"It seems," he murmured, "something that was mine… is waiting."
Floor 3 stretched out ahead like the maw of a sleeping titan.
Roots pulsed faintly with blue light, dripping mana like blood.
Monsters skittered away into the shadows the moment Hayate stepped forward—fearing him.
Respecting him.
Recognizing him.
Flare whispered, "This place isn't reacting like it's meeting you for the first time…"
Hayate's expression didn't change.
"It's not."
"Then that means—"
Hayate stopped walking.
Flare crashed into his cheek with a squeak.
"Wh—Why did you stop—?"
He raised one finger.
Flare fell silent instantly.
A faint sound drifted from the trees:
footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Heavy.
Unlike Tatsuya's panicked staggering, this was measured—almost ceremonial.
Another figure emerged from the darkness.
But this time—
It wasn't a human.
It wasn't even a monster.
It was…
A suit of armor.
Tall.
Majestic.
Crafted from black obsidian plates engraved with runes glowing blue. A long tattered cape dragged behind it, whispering across the forest floor.
No body inside.No soul.Just armor.
A guardian.
Its hollow helmet turned toward Hayate.
Blue fire ignited inside its visor.
Flare choked.
"H-Hayate… that's…"
"I know."
This was no dungeon monster.
This was a sentinel.
A relic of something ancient.
The armor lifted its sword—a massive blade twice the height of a human—and pointed it at Hayate.
The voice that filled the forest was deeper than thunder, older than language:
"At last…the Devouring Star…returns."
Hayate's heartbeat slowed to a cold, deliberate rhythm.
"So you recognize me too."
The sentinel lowered its sword slightly—not in attack—but in acknowledgment.
"We have waited…since the day you fell."
Flare's jaw dropped so far her flame sputtered.
"HAYATE FELL HERE!? WHAT!?"
The sentinel stepped forward, sword dragging grooves into the ground.
"Enter, Devouring Star.
Floor 3 is merely a threshold.
Your throne lies below."
Hayate's eyes narrowed.
"Move."
The sentinel froze.
Then, incredibly—
It bowed.
Deeply.
To Hayate.
Flare screamed so loud her flame flickered violently:
"H-H-HAYATE WHY IS AN ANCIENT SENTINEL BOWING TO YOU!?"
Hayate didn't answer.
He stepped past the kneeling armor.
And as he did—
The sentinel whispered one final thing:
"The abyss remembers its king."
Hayate continued walking.
No fear.
No hesitation.
Only certainty.
Floor 4 waited ahead.
Deeper mysteries.
Deeper truths.
And the first piece of the past he had forgotten.