We ran.
Not because we were scared.
Because we were being watched.
By Reapers.
By the Architect.
By something else.
The world around us was beginning to shift again—its edges bending in unnatural ways, like the Game's code was glitching under pressure.
We found a temporary shelter in a fractured temple on the graveyard's outer edge—once dedicated to Nyx, now cracked in half like a snapped rib cage.
Trinity knelt by the altar.
Her Mark was burning.
Veins of flame crawled up her arm and down her back like they were trying to escape her skin.
"Trin," I said, kneeling beside her. "Talk to me."
She looked up, eyes glowing white-hot.
"The Gate… it's opening. I can feel it."
[Flame-Bearer Status: Ascending]
Class: GATEKEEPER – STAGE I UNLOCKED
Ability Gained: LOCKBRAND
Effect: Temporarily seals a person, soul, or entity inside a defined boundary. Burn rate: High.
WARNING: Excessive use may fracture the soul.
The air inside the temple rippled.
And then it appeared.
A door.
Not just a wooden slab. A vertical, spinning seal of gold, fire, and chains. Hovering in midair.
It looked like it didn't belong in this world.
Trinity stood, staring at it.
"I didn't open that," she whispered.
"It opened to you," I said. "The Game's reacting to your existence."
She reached out a hand.
The moment her fingers touched it—visions flooded the room.
We weren't in the graveyard anymore.
We were inside the Gate.
Or… its memory.
We saw flashes:
A Reaper kneeling before a being wrapped in chains, whispering words it didn't understand.
A young woman with flame-marked eyes, holding a sword made of silence.
A temple on fire, buried beneath the weight of dead gods.
A child, face obscured, walking into the void—and locking it behind them.
Then it all snapped back.
We were in the temple again.
Trinity staggered.
Blood trickled from her nose.
"Trin!"
"I saw it," she gasped. "The first Gatekeeper. The one who sealed the Architect the last time he woke up."
The Architect had been active before…
And sealed away by someone like Trinity.
She clutched her chest.
"Whatever's inside that Gate—whatever's trying to claw its way into this world—it doesn't care about the Reapers."
"What does it want?"
Her eyes lifted to mine.
"It wants you."
Before I could respond, another Player sprinted into the temple.
Orion.
Their eyes were wide with panic, voice shaking.
"They found us. They're here."
"Who—?"
But I didn't need to ask.
Because the Reapers were already inside.
Five of them.
Led by the winged, bone-crowned Reaper—the Commander from before.
This wasn't a trial.
This was a hunt.
[UNSCHEDULED PHASE SHIFT IN PROGRESS]
Reaper Commander-Class has breached player zone.
Objective: Survive 3 minutes until spatial restoration stabilizes.
Trinity raised her hand.
"I can hold them."
I grabbed her wrist.
"No. You're still burning from the Gate."
"I can hold them, Trey," she repeated.
Orion raised a barrier of bone and ash between us and the entrance, but the Commander flicked a finger—
Shattered.
One Reaper lunged forward.
Trinity threw her hand out.
LOCKBRAND: INITIATE.
A golden ring of symbols formed midair—
And snapped shut around the Reaper, freezing it in place.
The others howled.
But they didn't approach.
They watched.
Studied.
One even knelt, as if respecting Trinity's power.
"Something's changed," Orion whispered. "They're not just hunting now."
"They're learning," I said. "And they see us as more than prey."
Orion looked at me. "They see you as a piece on their board."
"Wrong," I replied, my chest burning again as my Soul Echo activated on instinct.
Purple threads surged into the air around me.
I grabbed one.
Twisted.
A tether snapped—and another Reaper staggered back.
We were no longer outmatched.
We were finally—
Becoming threats.
The Mark flared.
A new message appeared:
[Catalyst & Gatekeeper Sync Achieved]
Phase Two Convergence Unlocked.
Game instability increasing… the rules will bend.
And somewhere far, far below us…
The Architect stirred.