The atmosphere within the chamber had long since frozen over—not merely in temperature but in sheer intensity. The air was thick, suffocating with tension. Ice Phoenix stood at a distance, clutching her chest, still trying to process everything, while Zenian, half-immobilized by the ice, could do nothing but glare at Arfrotian with a mix of frustration and hatred.
And at the center of it all stood Arfrotian.
The architect of chaos. The conductor of calamity.
But to him, this wasn't chaos. This was simply strategy.
Arfrotian had already known that Ice Phoenix would feel betrayed. It wasn't surprising in the least. The way he had said it, the way he had worded everything—it was only natural that she would question his intentions. But to him, that wasn't even the priority right now. No, his actual goal wasn't something as petty as claiming the Eternal Frostheart for himself.
No, Arfrotian wanted the backlash.
The raw, terrifying force that had once frozen more than half of the Omniverse. The very devastation that had earned this Omniverse its title as the Ice Omniverse. The event that had long since become legend.
And now?
Now, Arfrotian wanted to use it. To train himself against it.
He smirked at the mere thought.
"So, Eternal Frostheart's rudimentary test for Zenian was this deeply unsettling, huh?" Arfrotian mused internally, his gaze fixed on the pulsing, unstable spear in Zenian's frozen hands. "Eons ago, this thing actually froze more than half of this Omniverse… and now, that very same force is about to be unleashed again."
A grin crept onto his face, sharp and unreadable.
"Guess this backlash is the perfect training material for me to test against the sleeping monster within me… Pandora."
As the thought settled in, memories surged through Arfrotian's mind. Memories of when he first arrived in this icy Omniverse—a man seeking control over the uncontrollable.
That uncontrollable force? Pandora.
A force so volatile, so unnatural, that even he—the wielder—could barely contain it. Pandora wasn't just a power; it was a monstrosity.A paradoxical ice that existed beyond absolute zero. A force that, when first unleashed, had consumed an entire multiverse in an instant.
He could still recall it vividly. The moment he had let Pandora loose, just to see how terrifying it was. The ice had spread like a crimson plague. Swallowing everything in its wake. Erasing what little had remained of that barren multiverse.
"It was absurd," Arfrotian thought, his smirk growing. "Something like that should have never existed… yet it does. And it's inside me."
That was why he needed a measuring stick.
That was why, back then, he had sought out something equally terrifying—something that could match Pandora's might. He had even allowed himself to be captured by the Shadow Elves of Caisilia, hoping they would inflict upon him their ultimate punishment—the Black Ice Curse.
But they refused.
Or rather, Luvania had refused.
And so, he had continued searching.
Until now.
And now, right in front of him, stood the ultimate test.
The Eternal Frostheart's backlash.
The very force that had frozen half an Omniverse eons ago.
"So," Arfrotian mused, stepping forward, "let's verify it then."
His fingers twitched with anticipation as he slowly approached Zenian, who was still half-frozen, immobilized, and utterly helpless.
"Which one is more dangerous?"
He smirked.
"The Eternal Frostheart's backlash?"
His left eye flashed ominously.
"Or mine?"
The room trembled. The ice cracked. The very air seemed to freeze and shatter all at once.
Arfrotian reached forward.
He grasped the Eternal Frostheart.
The moment his fingers curled around the spear, a pulse of raw, unfiltered power surged through his body.
It was an overture of destruction.
The backlash—the very same backlash that had once devastated an entire Omniverse—was beginning to stir.
But Arfrotian?
He simply smiled.
"Well," he muttered, his tone dripping with amusement as he looked down at the frozen Zenian, "Excuse me, rat, but I have some urgent business to attend to now."
He lifted the Eternal Frostheart with ease, feeling its overwhelming, chilling energy trying to consume him. But rather than resist, he simply embraced it.
"So… be a good little statue and stay frozen, alright?"
His mocking words cut deep.
Zenian's fury was palpable. Even in his frozen state, even as ice wrapped around his body, he refused to accept this humiliation.
"You arrogant bastard," Zenian hissed through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse but dripping with venom. "You think yourself a mastermind, don't you? Let's see how long your arrogance lasts when you face the wrath of the Eternal Frostheart's backlash! Perhaps…" His lips curled into a wicked, defiant grin. "Perhaps I will have the last laugh then, won't I?"
Arfrotian didn't flinch. He didn't react.
He simply… smiled.
A deep, unreadable smile that sent chills through Zenian's very soul.
"Mastermind, you say?" Arfrotian whispered, amusement dancing in his eyes.
Then his smile widened.
Zenian froze—not from the ice, but from something else entirely. Something primal. Something terrifying.
And then Arfrotian spoke.
"Well… if you think I'm a mastermind, then do you really believe I'd take a risk without already knowing the outcome?"
The room fell silent.
Zenian's smirk vanished.
Something was wrong.
No—something was very, very wrong.
Arfrotian took a step forward, the Eternal Frostheart now glowing violently in his grasp, as if sensing the storm that was about to be unleashed.
"You know what, Zenian?" Arfrotian mused, his tone almost playful, yet carrying an undeniable edge.
"That's the reason you never have anyone close to you."
Zenian's eyes widened.
"Because you never understood…"
The temperature in the chamber plummeted.
The very walls of reality shuddered.
A single, ominous spark of red flickered at Arfrotian's feet.
"What it means…"
More sparks—tiny crimson shards of ice began to appear around him, like droplets of blood.
"To become the PLAYER of a game."
Zenian felt it now.
A pressure so overwhelming, so alien, so unnatural that it made the Eternal Frostheart's backlash feel like a mere breeze.
And then—
Arfrotian's left eye turned red.
The ground cracked.
The air itself fractured.
The backlash of the Eternal Frostheart surged forward—an avalanche of devastation that could consume entire cosmic systems.
But Arfrotian…
Arfrotian just smiled.
"Well," he whispered, his voice now carrying an unnatural resonance.
"If you want to defeat a monster…"
The air tore apart.
"You have to fight it against a monster, isn't that right?"
Zenian couldn't move.
He couldn't breathe.
And then—
The room exploded in red.
Arfrotian took a step forward—crimson ice blooming at his feet.
His voice echoed—raw, unfiltered, and godlike.
"It's time."
The very fabric of existence seemed to fracture.
And then—
"PANDORA!"
With those words, reality itself shattered.