As Tokyo Bay's morning mist lingered, the Reverse Scale Squad's hovercar landed beneath the Glyph Tree. Lanye stepped on seven-color petals toward the trunk; his fingertips touched the rough bark, sensing a faint vibration—the Glyph Tree "speaking".
"What's it saying?" Xiaotao knelt, her star meteorite bracelet glowing deep blue to catch the trunk's waves.
"Not words." Sakura's Cherry Glyph bloomed in her palm, pink light spreading from petals to the trunk. "Memories... ancient ones, older than three hundred years."
The bark cracked, oozing not sap but translucent crystals. They shattered into stardust, forming a scene:
—Three hundred years ago, the berserk guardian stood under this very tree, holding a "Glyph Controller" identical to the future lab's. Yue Kui knelt at his feet, her Glyph Core pierced by chains, tears dripping onto the Controller to corrode mottled cracks.
"So that's why..." Su Li's Time Glyph expanded, enlarging the scene. "Yue Kui wasn't sealed—she was stopping him from activating the Controller."
"But it activated anyway." Ming Yuan's phantom appeared on Lanye's shoulder, rainbow light dimming on his ornament. "The contamination three hundred years ago wasn't an accident—the berserk guardian intentionally unleashed glyphs to see if humanity could awaken love in despair."
"He succeeded." A Jiu's shadow crows circled the tree, dewdrops on their feathers freezing into black ice crystals. "But he didn't expect love to become the sharpest weapon."
Lanye's pupils shrank. In the scene, when Yue Kui's tears hit the Controller, a faint golden light flashed—the color of the Reverse Scale Core.
"Yue Kui's Glyph Core..." he murmured. "It was resisting contamination from the start."
"Not just hers." The berserk guardian's phantom appeared, his core warm 而非 (not) frenzied. "All Glyph Cores of those who believe in love. Three hundred years ago, your ancestors wove a net with Reverse Scale, star meteorite, Cherry Glyphs... trapping contamination in time rifts."
"Then the current contamination..."
"Is a hole in the net." The berserk guardian traced his temple. "Three hundred years—weaknesses form. For example..." He pointed behind the hovercar. "Someone secretly repaired the Controller."
They turned.
On the clearing stood a black-cloaked machine, mist oozing from its edge—identical to the three-century contamination. Its surface bore blood words: "Glyphs are weapons; obedience is survival"—matching the future projection.
"Who?" Xiaotao gripped her bracelet, energy pulsing.
"Me."
A hoarse voice came from behind the machine. An old man with white hair leaned on a cane, wearing a silver bracelet like the scientist's on his left hand, a star meteorite chain like Yue Kui's on his right—it was the chief scientist purified three hundred years ago.
"You weren't..." Sakura's Glyph glowed, confused.
"I healed, but relapsed." The old man wept. "Three days ago, sorting lab records, I found this diary." He pulled out a yellowed notebook: "Glyph Enhancement Plan · Final Chapter".
Lanye took it. A blood sentence stung his eyes:
"Yue Kui's Reverse Scale Core is key. Extracting her glyph energy will free the Controller from time limits. Humanity will submit to power, and I shall become the new god."
"He never gave up." Su Li's Time Glyph projected the diary's contents. "He waited for someone to awaken the Reverse Scale Core's power—and that someone is you." She looked at Lanye, eyes complex.
Lanye's palms sweated. He remembered Yue Kui blocking a fatal blow, his core swirling like a galaxy; her phantom saying "Love isn't weakness" last night.
"I can't," he whispered. "I won't use her power to hurt others."
"No." The old man laughed through tears. "You misunderstand. I came to say—Yue Kui's Core resists contamination because it stores three hundred years of love. And this love belongs not to me, but to all who believe."
He pointed to the Glyph Tree: "In the scene you saw, Yue Kui's final words were: 'If contamination returns, give my power to all who believe in love'."
The tree rustled. A silver leaf fell into the old man's palm, transforming into Yue Kui's phantom, her smile overlapping with memories: "This is my last gift."
Before vanishing, her Core burst with seven-color light, flowing into the squad's Cores—Xiaotao's star meteorite turned galactic, A Jiu's crows grew golden tails, Sakura's Glyphs sunlit...
"This is..." Su Li's Time Glyph showed images: a mother's hug at a baby's first laugh, a teen shielding a friend, an elder surrounded by family. "Love is a collection of 'moments'."
"Thus," Yue Kui's phantom whispered in the light, "contamination isn't fearsome. What's fearsome is forgetting that every ordinary moment holds power to fight darkness."
The old man's body faded, his Core's black Reverse Glyphs consumed by seven colors: "I must go. Remember—next time, don't 'destroy' contamination. 'Awaken' it."
"Awaken what?" Xiaotao asked.
"Awaken love." His voice faded. "Awaken every forgotten, tiny, unquenchable love."
Morning light pierced the clouds. Black spots on Glyph Tree petals faded, replaced by stardust. Tokyo Bay's breeze carried flower scent across Glyph Masters' faces.
"So the future is truly in our hands." Su Li watched the Time Glyph's star tracks brighten.
"And we," Lanye smiled at his Core's flowing colors, "will be the light connecting past and future."
As the hovercar started, its glyph trail stretched long. The squad's glyphs shone together—star meteorite blue, cherry pink, crow gold, time silver—weaving a star track to the future.
This time, no contamination, no control—just love, an eternal flame in every believing heart.