The stairway of light dissolved behind them.
Jinryu, Maeryn, and the cat emerged into a ruined shrine — a weatherworn structure half-swallowed by vines and stone. It lay deep within the Twilight Range, a land untouched since the collapse.
But the sky above them was no longer still.
Clouds were parting in spirals.
Stars shifted.
The Ninth Glyph shimmered across Jinryu's back, bleeding faint trails of crimson light into the air.
— Across the World, Resonance Echoes —
[Scene: Black Sands of Tianzhou]
A monk in red robes meditated before a cracked statue of the Heavenly Emperor. His breath hitched. His Core flared violently.
He opened his eyes — both glowing silver.
"The Ninth… was never meant to awaken again."
[Scene: Sky-Mountain of Oryon Sect]
Dozens of disciples collapsed mid-training as the mountain trembled. Their Master stood unmoved, but his eyes locked on the horizon.
"Jinryu lives."
He turned to a hidden vault behind him.
Inside it, sealed in gold:Glyph Seven.
[Scene: The War-Tombs Below the Blood Wastes]
A sealed coffin cracked.A single hand reached through.Its palm bore a glyph that glowed black.
The dead… stirred.
Back at the shrine, Maeryn watched the sky.
"We woke more than memory."
Jinryu nodded, gripping Haeryun.
"We woke the war."
— Meanwhile, in the Capital —
The Council of Nine gathered for the first time in decades.
Seated in a circle of obsidian, masked and expressionless — except for one.
The man who looked like Jinryu — the Broken Mirror — stood in the center, Core humming faintly.
"You said they would forget," one councilor hissed.
"They remembered each other," he replied bitterly. "And the Root let them see."
"Then destroy them before they reach the other glyphs."
"It's too late," he said.
He turned away, whispering to himself.
"He chose pain. Again."
— Present: Shrine Clearing —
A soft rumble vibrated through the stones. The cat arched its back.
A rift shimmered in the air — a portal made of glyph strands.
Someone was trying to reach them.
Not to attack.To warn.
"It's her," Maeryn whispered."The Tenth. She's still alive."
"Where?" Jinryu asked.
"The Scarlands. Where the Core first broke."
The cat narrowed its eyes.
"That place hasn't seen life in a hundred years."
"Then it's time it did."
Jinryu and Maeryn stepped through the rift.
Beyond it lay fire, memory, and battle.
The War of Glyphs had begun.
And only one truth remained certain:
Whoever reunites the Twelve Glyphs first… rewrites the world.