Arfrotian stood still, deep in thought, his mind working at an unparalleled speed. His icy blue eyes gleamed with a calculating sharpness as he pieced together every clue, every fragmented detail, every possible meaning behind Glacialix’s words.
"Huh? Could she truly be in a graveyard?" he mused. "From what I know, a graveyard does fit the theme of 'eternal slumber.' After all, what else would symbolize eternal rest more than a place meant for the dead?"
His mind ran over the information once more, recalling what Glacialix had told him about the words spoken by the temple priest:
"The essence will keep coming from the center to the divine spear, which will let the one wielding the spear, from within the inhabitants of this Icy Omniverse, become the King of this Icy Omniverse."
Arfrotian narrowed his eyes. The Eternal Frostheart was undeniably linked to Eterna; her essence was locked within it. If essence was flowing to the divine spear from the center, then that meant that wherever she was sealed had to be this so-called "center."
"But 'center'—what could that actually mean?" Arfrotian muttered to himself, his fingers tapping lightly against his arm.
Did it refer to the literal center of the Icy Omniverse? But if that were the case, wouldn’t that have been the most crowded place before the catastrophe? It didn’t add up. The center of an Omniverse—before it became an Icy Omniverse—would have been a thriving, populated hub, a place where people gathered. There was no logic in hiding something as important as Eterna’s sealed form in the middle of a well-populated area where she could be discovered easily.
"If they wanted her hidden, they would have placed her somewhere uncharted, somewhere no one would normally go... a place that signifies death and eternal slumber—"
His eyes widened slightly.
"A graveyard."
That had to be it, a place where normally dead are buried and are mourned over, that place can’t be exactly at a crowded center of the Icy Omniverse, only a graveyard but……..
But this still left one more question—what did center mean? He rubbed his forehead, feeling the chill against his fingers. Was it truly the Omniversal center? Or was it something more precise?
"If it was simply the Omniversal center, then it wouldn’t make sense to place a graveyard there. But what if... center meant something else? The center of something specific?"
He shut his eyes briefly, going through all the possible meanings. Center of the Omniverse? Center of a region? Center of a location? He needed to pinpoint the right context.
From all of this thinking and all, he pinched the bridge of his nose, and then touched the tip of his nose which is a little cold and then run his hand on his chilly forehead and then,
Then something clicked in his mind.
"Wait—center of two deep icy places?"
His thoughts accelerated, processing everything rapidly. The Ice Temple in Dementia and the Ice Palace in Rodentia—these were two prominent locations deeply associated with the Icy Omniverse. If the "center" wasn’t the Omniversal center itself, then could it mean the midpoint between these two places?
"Could that 'center' actually mean the center between two icy locations?"
His expression darkened slightly as he considered it. If Ice Temple and Ice Palace were prime locations, then hiding Eterna in either of them would have been foolish—it would have been the first place anyone searched. No one would take such a risk.
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But what about the space between them?
Arfrotian tapped his chin, piecing together his previous deductions as well as current deductions.
The Luminia Megaverse and the Caisilia Megaverse were ruled by angels and shadow elves, respectively, meaning the people basically humans would have never sealed Eterna there, afterall it would literally create complications
That left Rodentia or Dementia—the vast, frozen wastelands of the Icy Omniverse.
The Ice Temple and the Ice Palace were both crucial places, yet no one would be reckless enough to hide Eterna directly within them, because after much thought, anyone would primarily deduce these two places, so they would become prime targets.
A graveyard would be a suitable place, but it would have to be in a location where no one would think to look.
And now, the final realization—if the "center" was between two key places, then the space between the Ice Temple and Ice Palace could be the answer.
Arfrotian slowly exhaled, feeling his deduction solidify.
"An area between two powerful, frigid places... a graveyard-like location... a place forgotten by time, where no one would normally venture...
Could this be where Eterna is?"
For a brief moment, he hesitated. If his theory was correct, then why hadn’t Eterna herself hinted at this?
When Arfrotian had met her in the dream world, forged by Eternal Frostheart and his Pandora, then perhaps, she was the divine consciousness of this Omniverse—surely she would have some awareness of where she had been sealed, and should have told so……
His eyes flickered with amusement.
"That means two possibilities—either she isn’t sure of her exact location... or she does know, but there’s an obstacle, which could be troubling enough, or could’ve endangered me, that’s why keeping her from telling me."
His smirk deepened.
"An obstacle, huh? Now that’s interesting."
Arfrotian chuckled to himself. He had no doubt, Eterna knew that the place she was sealed someone or something was there that could possibly be dangerous.
If she, despite her divine status, couldn’t fully pinpoint or reveal her location, then something or someone was preventing her from doing so.
This wasn’t just a matter of finding her anymore—this was about who or what was stopping him from claiming what was his.
He flicked his wrist, summoning a small crystalline shard of Permafrost in his palm. The ice shimmered with a deep blue glow, its surface exuding an intense cold.
"If there’s an obstacle in my way, then I’ll simply crush it."
He turned his gaze toward the distant, endless expanse of ice that stretched far beyond the horizon. The space between the Ice Temple and the Ice Palace—the hidden, frozen graveyard that no one had dared to search.
"It’s time to test my deduction."
Arfrotian took a step forward, his movement smooth and effortless, as if the very ice beneath his feet acknowledged his presence. He had no intention of rushing—he was confident in his conclusion, and now he simply had to confirm it.
As he walked, his thoughts briefly drifted to Glacialix.
"Not that I should call Glacialix again to confirm my suspicion. She might—no, she won’t—say anything to me. After all, I did tease her a little… or maybe more than a little…"
A light chuckle escaped him as he shook his head.
"Still, this theory makes the most sense."
A graveyard—a desolate, abandoned place, forgotten by time.
A center—the midpoint between two frozen domains, a place where there should have been no remnants of settlements since that area before icy catastrophe was already uninhabitable.
A hidden prison—a place where Eterna had been sealed away long before the catastrophe engulfed this Omniverse.
His smirk widened.
"Let’s see what awaits me there."
His steps slowed as he glanced up at the dark, frozen sky and the vast icy spacetime.
"If Eterna knows where she is but hasn’t said anything, that means there’s something dangerous there."
His breath came out as a mist in the freezing air.
"An obstacle? A guardian? Or something even worse?"
He exhaled slowly, his expression turning cold and ruthless.
"Whatever it is… I want to see it with my own eyes."
His smirk sharpened as he uttered the final words:
"I want to see what obstacle could possibly be stopping me from claiming what is mine."
Arfrotian, when he was touching his cold forehead, and then the nose and then pinched the bridge of his nose......
It was then when that idea clicked in him perhaps it could be center of two icy places!?
INTERESTING RIGHT!?
