Dominion of the hollow king

The silence after the choice was the loudest thing Kael had ever heard.

Lyra-7's diamond heart pulsed black in rhythm with his own breath, its corrupted facets reflecting not just his face—but the hollows beneath his skin, the way his shadow now moved half a second too slow. The System's error messages flickered like dying fireflies across his vision, their usual gold text rusted brown at the edges.

[Kingbreaker Active]

— [Effect: Dominion Immunity] —

— [Side Effect: ???] —

The Maw exhaled a sound that wasn't quite a laugh. "You should be dead. The System kills those who refuse its paths."

Kael flexed his fingers. The bones ached as if something had been carved out of them. "It tried."

Act I: The Saints' Descent

The remaining Saints came at dawn.

Not in formation. Not with hymns.

They came broken.

Kael watched from the cathedral's skeletal rafters as their perfect ranks shattered against the new rules of his Sovereign Field:

• Saint Veles (the Whisperer) clutched his ears as his own halo cracked, liquid starlight leaking like cerebral fluid.

• Saint Caine (the Empty) simply stood swaying, his armor full of black sand that hadn't been there before.

• The Choir (three voices meant to harmonize) screamed in discord as their shared heartbeat stuttered.

Only one approached the altar where Lyra-7 lay breathing. Saint Ilya, her mask split down the middle, revealing one human eye and one that was pure white diamond.

"You stole her death," Ilya said, her voice raw. "That wasn't yours to take."

Kael dropped from the rafters, his landing unnaturally silent. "I didn't steal it." He stepped closer, watching the way Ilya's sword hand trembled. "I postponed it."

The System notification between them warped violently:

[Sanctified Retribution Protocol: Failed]

— [Reason: Target Exists Outside Designated Fate Threads] —

Ilya's diamond eye fractured.

Act II: The First Secret

Kael let her stab him.

Not out of mercy. Not even strategy.

To test a theory.

The blade entered just below his ribs—sanctified steel that had slain a hundred heretics. It should have burned. It should have unraveled his very cells.

Instead, the metal rusted mid-thrust, flaking away before it reached his heart.

Ilya gasped as black veins spiderwebbed up her arm.

"You're learning," Kael observed. "The hard way." He placed a hand over hers, where she still gripped the disintegrating hilt. "The System doesn't protect you from me anymore."

Her human eye dilated. "What are you?"

Behind them, Lyra-7 sat up with a gasp, her blackened diamond heart screaming in a frequency that shattered every stained glass window.

The answer came not from Kael, but from the new message burning across all their visions:

[Sovereign Designation Updated]

— [Kael: Designation Changed from "Anomaly" to "Harbinger"] —

— [Associated Term: Eclipse Protocol] —

— [Warning: Do Not Perceive Directly] —

Act III: The Second Breach

The ground opened.

Not beneath the cathedral.

Beneath the Saints.

Kael watched as Caine was the first to fall into the sudden void—not screaming, but laughing, his empty armor filling with something that wore his voice like a puppet. Veles followed, his whisper-choked last words echoing back:

"She's awake—"

Only Ilya remained, her legs locked in combat stance even as the void licked at her boots.

Kael grabbed her wrist. "Last chance. Whose side are you on?"

Her diamond eye showed him the truth before she spoke:

Reflected in its facets was the Sleeper—and it was smiling.

"The losing one," Ilya whispered.

Then she let go.