Hayate fell.
Not like a man dropped into a hole.
No-he descended like a star returning to the void that birthed it.
The abyss didn't swallow him.
It opened for him, parting its darkness as though bowing to a returning monarch.
Flare clung to his hair, screaming the whole way down.
"WE'RE FALLING-WE'RE FALLING-WE'RE DEFINITELY FALLING-!!"
But even her panicked shrieks were muted by the suffocating darkness rising around them. A darkness that didn't feel empty.
It felt alive.
And worse-
It felt aware.
The walls of the spiraling chasm shivered as Hayate fell past them. Murals-ancient, eroded, inked in cosmic colors-came alive for only a split second as the glow of his Devouring Star flickered.
Figures kneeling.
Armored titans bowing.
A throne surrounded by worlds shattered like glass.
Flare screamed louder:
"H-HAYATE!? WHY ARE THE WALL PAINTINGS MOVING!? AM I HALLUCINATING!?"
Hayate didn't answer.
Because he wasn't looking at the walls.
He was listening.
The abyss whispered.
Not words.
Not sentences.
Memories.
Fragments.
Echoes of power, drifting like feathers in cosmic wind.
-my king… -the cycle must continue… -your fall broke the heavens… -come home…
Flare's voice cracked.
"E-EXCUSE ME!? WHO EXACTLY IS CALLING YOU KING DOWN HERE!?"
But Hayate's eyes sharpened.
"The dungeon."
"What!?"
"The dungeon is… speaking."
Flare froze mid-panic.
"The WHOLE DUNGEON is talking to you!? Okay, that's definitely a main-villain skill, Hayate!"
He didn't correct her.
Because another whisper rose-Clear.
Loud.
Direct.
-Sovereign Floor 5 awakens for you -
The abyss abruptly ended.
Not gently.
Not gradually.
In an instant-
BOOM-!!!
They were expelled from the chasm like a cannon shot, hurled into a vast chamber.
Hayate landed silently, feet barely touching the ground as shadows rippled beneath him.
Flare slammed into his shoulder with a squeak.
"I HATE DESCENDING! I HATE IT SO MUCH -!"
She choked on her next word.
Because Floor 5 -
It was not a dungeon.
Not in the Normal sense.
It was a city.
An ancient, inverted metropolis carved into the underside of the world, suspended upside-down as if gravity itself bowed to its existence.
Buildings hung from the ceiling like obsidian stalactites.
Bridges of light connected floating platforms.
Spires of crystal rose from the depths below as if reaching toward a forgotten sky.
And everywhere-
Statues.
Thousands.
Rows upon rows of kneeling armored beings, frozen in eternal reverence, facing a colossal monument at the center:
A massive black monolith shaped like a throne turned vertically, sealed in layers of glowing chains.
Flare whisper-shouted:
"…Hayate… this isn't Floor 5… this is a KINGDOM."
Hayate stepped forward.
"No. It is a tomb."
The air trembled in response.
And then-
KRSHHHH-!!!
A seismic crack split across the distant city walls as ancient runes awakened, lighting up one by one like stars, Being Revived.
A deep, rumbling voice rose from the monolith:
"…Sovereign… you returned sooner than expected…"
Flare grabbed Hayate's face.
"I swear on all that is holy, if that monolith starts walking-"
It did.
The chains shattered.
The monolith unfurled like a giant opening its arms.
Flare screamed:
"NOOOO WHY IS EVERYTHING DOWN HERE ALIVE-!?"
From the breaking stone emerged a colossal entity, a knight of impossible scale, clad in black-iron armor carved with star-engraved patterns.
But its torso was hollow. Empty. As if something had once lived inside but had long departed.
A guardian without a soul.
A shell awaiting its ruler.
It knelt.
"Your fall broke the cycle, Sovereign. Your return restores it."
Hayate stared at the kneeling titan.
Flare pointed at it, shaking violently.
"You… YOU have a fifty-meter-tall giant KNIGHT kneeling to you! Hayate, my sweet child, you were not human in your past life. You were a PROBLEM."
But Hayate didn't move.
His chest felt tight.
As if something terrifyingly familiar was trying to awaken.
"Why was I sealed?"
The knight's hollow chest glowed.
"Because your power inverted the heavens. You consumed the stars meant for the gods. And they feared a world ruled by the Devouring Star."
Flare's jaw dropped.
"YOU ATE THE STARS!? HAYATE WHAT KIND OF DIET DID YOU-!?"
Hayate stared coldly.
"And why… was I reborn?"
The knight bowed deeper.
"Because the gods failed to kill you. Your core shattered and fell through the worlds… But your Sovereign Soul endured."
Flare whispered:
"S-Sovereign… soul…?"
The knight's hollow body trembled.
"The Devouring Star cannot be Destroyed." Only delayed.
Hayate stepped forward.
"Then where is my core?"
The entire city answered.
A thousand statues cracked open.
A thousand runes exploded into light.
A thousand voices whispered:
-Below… deeper… beneath the world… where the gods buried your heart…
The knight pointed downward to the chasm beneath the city.
"Floor 6: The Heart of Oblivion. Your core sleeps there."
Flare fainted again.
Hayate looked into the abyss beneath the inverted city.
His pulse synced with the darkness.
thum…thum…thum…
The same heartbeat from Floor 4.
Only now-
It felt like his own heart.
"We descend," Hayate said quietly.
The knight bowed.
"All of Floor 5 bows to your command, Sovereign. The path to your core is open."
Hayate turned.
A stairway of floating black steps materialized, spiraling into the bottomless chasm.
Flare woke up, saw what was happening, and nearly fainted again.
"Oh GREAT-ANOTHER ENDLESS DEATH DROP-!! Hayate, can we PLEASE take a normal staircase for once!?"
Hayate began walking.
"Sovereigns do not use common stairs."
Flare wailed in horror.
"THAT IS NOT A GOOD REASON -!!!"
The inverted city watched in complete silence as Hayate approached the final step.
The abyss whispered.
The darkness stirred.
Floor 6 awaited its king.
And as Hayate stepped into the void -
The entire dungeon bowed.
The Sovereign was coming home.