The night sky above Odessyus pulsed with scattered glyph fragments, swirling like restless spirits as the cold wind swept over the ruins of the last battlefield. The silence was deceptive, blanketing the scars of war like a veil—hiding what still lingered in the shadows. Beneath the surface, something had begun to stir.
Tom stood alone at the edge of the broken temple, his fingers gently tracing the glyph that had been carved into the shattered stone. It glowed faintly under his touch, responding not to his will, but to something deeper—something ancient. His heartbeat echoed in his ears, matching the rhythm of the glyph's hum.
"You're still hearing it, aren't you?" Kitty's voice cut softly through the air as she stepped beside him, the wind brushing her silver hair against her face. Her golden eyes were unreadable, her expression calm but distant. "The glyphs. They're not... quiet anymore."
Tom nodded. "No. They're not. And it's not just the glyphs." He paused, glancing at her. "I think... something else is calling."
They both turned to the horizon, where faint green flames still licked at the remains of Velmorith's last illusion, cast like a memory across the land. It was barely a day since their fight with one of the Monster Trio, and already the world felt... heavier. As if it knew the trio were not yet done.
Frank approached from the far side of the ruins, his jacket scorched, his eyes shadowed with exhaustion but still burning with that spark—the same one that had made him stand against Kazakare, even when the odds were impossible.
"The eastern city," he said, voice low. "Neolin said something's wrong. He's not telling us everything, but he mentioned an ancient seal has weakened. A vault that wasn't supposed to exist anymore."
Marcus looked up from where he had been tending to the wounded, wiping blood from his hands with a rag. "That vault... is it connected to the glyphs or to the trio?"
Frank hesitated, then nodded. "Maybe both. Neolin believes... the glyphs didn't originate here. Not fully. There's a source—one that's buried far deeper than we ever imagined. He called it the Edge of Echoes."
The group grew quiet. The name meant nothing to them. And yet... it sent a shiver through their spines.
Lucy, who had been silent until now, stepped forward. "Then we need to go there. If the trio is regaining strength, we can't let them rise again unchecked. We barely survived Velmorith. What happens if all three move at once?"
"They will," Peter said grimly. "They're watching. They're planning. Velmorith was only testing us."
A sharp crack split the sky as thunder rolled in the distance. The glyphs on Tom's arm flickered violently for a second. He gritted his teeth, clutching his wrist.
"It's not them," he whispered. "It's something else. Something older."
Kitty looked at him. "Older than the glyphs?"
"Yes," Tom said slowly. "Or maybe... underneath them. Like a shadow that's always been there."
Before anyone could respond, a glyph burst into flame on the ground near them, revealing a sigil none of them recognized. It was sharp, twisted, and pulsed with black-red energy.
Neolin's voice came through their communicators. "Children, listen closely. Do not move. What you're seeing is a flare from the forgotten seal. This confirms it: the vault under the Edge of Echoes is beginning to open. I need you to head east. Now. If it breaks open fully, not even the trio will be your greatest threat."
"Then what is?" Frank asked, already moving.
Neolin paused. Then he spoke words none of them expected to hear:
"Infinity. And its shadow."
The line went dead.
For a long moment, none of them moved. The wind howled through the ruins, lifting dust into the air like a whisper. Marcus stepped forward, placing a hand on Tom's shoulder.
"Whatever's coming," he said, his voice steady, "we face it together. We always have."
Tom looked out at the darkening horizon. He didn't speak, but inside him, something shifted. A glyph deep within his chest pulsed once—gold and violent.
And far, far away, behind walls of time and silence, Alexa smiled.
She had been waiting.
And the children were finally stepping into her game.