[Catalyst Mutation Detected]
Catalyst Path: Unstable – No Longer Trackable
Global Alert: Watchers Mobilized
Sable Ryn: Permission to Hunt – Granted.
The moment I stood up, the sky changed color.
Not red. Not black.
Silver.
Everything shimmered in a metallic haze, like the system didn't know how to render me anymore.
"Your eyes," Orion whispered.
Trinity looked shaken. "Trey… they're glowing."
"What color?"
"Not purple," she said.
"Worse."
Great.
I felt it.
The soul-threads around me used to shimmer, flicker, move like wind.
Now?
They bowed.
Bent toward me like they recognized something.
Not fear.
Not respect.
Submission.
This power isn't mine.
It's the Architect's leak… and it's choosing to stay.
Trinity grabbed my arm. "This isn't safe."
"I know."
"Then give it up."
"I can't."
She stepped back, torn.
"Then we need to run."
We didn't get the chance.
Because the sky shattered again—
And Sable Ryn descended.
She wasn't alone.
Five Watchers in full combat state flanked her—hoods down, Marks active, weapons glowing like ancient curses.
But Sable?
She didn't need weapons.
She floated above the battlefield like she'd already won.
Eyes dark silver.
Aura crackling with code.
A black crown of obsidian shards hovered above her head.
"You broke it," she said, staring at me. "I should thank you."
I stepped forward.
"You're not surprised."
"Why would I be?" she said. "I've been waiting for the Game to fail. Now that it has, it's ours for the taking."
Trinity raised a flame ward.
Orion summoned bone spears.
I summoned threads—dozens, wrapped around my fists like electric veins.
"Step aside," Sable said. "Or burn with him."
"No," Trinity said.
"He's not yours," Orion added.
Sable smiled.
"Then I'll take him by force."
Combat Initiated
[Trey – Soul Echo Lv. 3]
[Trinity – Gatekeeper: Lockbrand Lv. 2]
[Orion – Bone Sage: Ritualist Lv. 3]
vs.
[Sable Ryn – Watcher Prime: Black Crown Lv. ???]
[5x Watcher Enforcers: Lv. 3–4]
The field erupted.
Fire. Bone. Thread. Shadow.
We fought like hell.
But Sable didn't fight us.
She watched.
Calculating.
And then, mid-battle, she vanished.
Reappeared behind me.
And whispered:
"You don't even know what you are yet."
Before I could react, she touched my Mark—
And I saw everything.
Flashes of the future.
Reapers bowing.
Olympians resurrected.
A throne of void, with my name carved into it.
Black Crown Catalyst.
Then she released me.
Let me fall.
And vanished into silver flame.
The Game reset the battlefield around us.
All enemies gone.
And the sky… went dark.
A message burned across our vision:
[System Breach Deepening]
Sable Ryn has claimed the title: Black Crown Watcher.
Trey's role is no longer Catalyst.
New Role: SYSTEM KEY – ALPHA
Trinity stared at me in silence.
"You're not just a player anymore…"
Orion fell to their knees.
And above us—
The Game screamed again.