The wind had grown sharper since they reached the Spiral Ruins. It no longer carried just cold — it carried memory. Not whispers, not voices, but residue. Like the echo of lives that had once stood here, long before this group, long before Kazakare, long before even Velmorith.
They had saved Jack. For now.
He sat quietly beside the extinguished memory circle, his head resting on Lucy's shoulder, breathing slow and steady. The glyph on his arm no longer pulsed. But it hadn't vanished. It had merely… stopped growing.
Frank stood at the edge of the summit, scanning the distant forests and mountains, hand resting on his blade. He hadn't spoken since the ritual. He didn't need to. The others could feel his thoughts — sharpened, quiet, focused on the war that hadn't yet begun.
Susan was the only one who hadn't sat down.
She stood inside one of the smaller spirals of stone, fingers running along the broken glyph trails that wound like roots through the ruins. She had been whispering to herself for almost twenty minutes, flipping through her journal, muttering half-words no one could understand.
Kitty finally stepped toward her. "Susan? What are you seeing?"
Susan didn't look up.
"I thought these glyphs were Palecto," she said.
Peter walked up beside them. "Aren't they?"
Susan shook her head. "No. They're older. The Palecto energy was used to revive them. But these… these were carved long before Palecto was ever discovered."
Lucy rose from Jack's side. "How is that possible?"
Susan turned.
Her eyes were wide. Not with fear — with realization.
"These glyphs are not Velmorith's."
Frank turned from the cliff edge. "What?"
Susan walked into the center of the ruin. "They're older than him. Older than the Monster Trio. Older than even the demon glyphs we've studied. This entire site… it's not a trap. It's a signature."
Kitty tilted her head. "Signature?"
Susan pointed to a central glyph, one that had been buried beneath moss until now. She cleared the stone gently, revealing a strange looped symbol that shimmered in a pale violet hue.
Lucy squinted. "I've never seen that symbol before."
Tom stepped closer. "What does it mean?"
Susan whispered, "It's not a word."
Peter frowned. "Then what is it?"
Susan looked up at them all.
"It's a name."
Frank stepped closer. "Whose?"
Susan took a breath.
Then said it aloud.
"Alexa."
Silence.
Lucy's breath caught. "You're sure?"
Susan nodded slowly. "This symbol appears in over seven ruins across the Southern Range. All buried, all predating demon glyphs. I thought it was an unknown anchor or a creator's mark. But now… it makes sense."
Frank stepped into the center. "Velmorith didn't create these glyphs. He learned them. From her."
Tom looked down at his hand. "Then… Velmorith isn't the writer."
Peter said it plainly. "He's the reader."
Kitty turned. "And Alexa… is the author."
Susan nodded. "Every glyph corruption we've seen so far — the fracturing, the memory traps, even the mark Jack received — they all follow the same structure. But there's one rule in all glyph logic: no corruption can be designed without a core."
Lucy finished the thought. "So if Velmorith is using them… he's drawing from a core that isn't his."
Frank clenched his fists. "She's been with us since the beginning."
Jack sat up, his voice low. "Even Infinity has shadows."
Susan sat slowly, eyes still locked on the ancient mark. "We thought Velmorith was the mind behind it all. But he's just the first disciple."
Peter looked at Frank. "What does this change?"
Frank's eyes didn't move from the horizon. "Everything."
Kitty whispered, "If Alexa's glyphs predate even Palecto, then she's not just another villain."
Lucy nodded slowly. "She's part of the foundation."
Tom stepped away from the group. His voice was quiet. "What if we've been walking toward the wrong threat all along?"
Frank replied, "Then we better start walking faster."
The wind picked up.
And from beneath the ruins, a faint hum began to echo — not loud, not urgent. Just… present.
Susan stood again. "That wasn't me."
Peter drew his blade. "Something's moving."
Kitty turned toward the center. "The mark. It's glowing."
The ancient glyph began to vibrate — slowly, rhythmically, like it was syncing with something.
Lucy stepped forward. "She knows we've found it."
Susan backed away. "This isn't a signal. It's an answer."
The air shimmered — once.
Then again.
And then…
It spoke.
Not in words.
In understanding.
Each of them heard something different.
Tom felt the burn of fire return to his veins.
Lucy heard the sound of waves against metal.
Jack smelled the garden from his dream.
Peter saw a shattered battlefield from a war that hadn't happened yet.
Kitty heard a voice say her name — not gently, not cruelly, but intimately.
Frank felt a cold wind pass through him that smelled like memory.
And Susan…
Susan saw a sentence appear in her journal.
One she hadn't written.
"Do not follow me. I am already within you."
The glow vanished.
The glyph went dark.
The Spiral Ruins returned to stillness.
But none of them did.
Because now they knew the truth.
Alexa was not coming.
She had already arrived.