The Invincible Young Master

Chapter 266 - 266 - Frozen World

The last traces of glimmer drifted quietly through the void before fading into nothingness.

Azeroth was gone.

No explosion followed his disappearance, no final roar, or collapse of power. The many fractures spreading across the void slowly steadied, and the ruined space, battered by forces far beyond its limits, gradually fell into silence once more.

Spark stood where Azeroth had vanished, his gaze resting upon the place where the boundary of the world had once split open.

The cracks had mostly sealed now, leaving behind only faint scars across the white void, yet his expression carried none of the ease he had shown earlier.

"It is too soon…" he muttered softly.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"I need more time."

The playful tone from before had completely disappeared. For the first time since arriving here, there was a faint trace of weariness in his voice, subtle enough that most would never notice it.

Behind him, Yuna remained silent. Her gaze lingered briefly on the restored void before shifting toward Spark.

"An outsider found this place," Spark continued after a pause. "This is going to become troublesome."

Yuna lowered her head slightly. "What is Young Master's command for me?"

Spark seemed to think for a moment before answering.

"Find its true body and erase its memory of this place."

His tone remained calm, but the meaning behind those words was anything but simple.

Yet Spark spoke of it as though assigning an ordinary task.

Then his gaze shifted toward her, carrying a rare seriousness.

"You may have to sacrifice one of your incarnations," he said. "The moment you act outside… that thing will notice you."

Yuna did not show surprise. Nor hesitation.

"It will be done," she replied quietly.

Spark nodded once, as though that settled the matter entirely.

"Now that everything here is handled…" He stretched lazily before glancing upward into the dim abyss. "I should go find my sister's soul."

That answer finally caused a slight change in Yuna's expression.

"Young Master is going personally?"

"Mm."

Spark rubbed the back of his neck lightly, sounding troubled by the inconvenience. "It might take me a while to come back."

Then, after a brief pause, he added casually, "Take care of everyone here."

Before Yuna could respond, the surrounding space rippled faintly around him.

And then, he was gone.

One moment he stood there, the next the space he occupied was empty, as though reality itself had quietly skipped over his departure.

The void returned to silence once more.

…

Far away, beyond countless worlds and star systems unknown to ordinary existence, there existed a frozen world drifting through the endless cosmos.

Ice covered everything.

Mountains, oceans, forests, entire cities, every corner of the world had long since been buried beneath an eternal layer of frost.

Rivers remained suspended in crystalline stillness, and the sky itself carried a pale, lifeless glow. It looked less like a living planet and more like a forgotten corpse drifting through the stars.

And yet, life still remained.

At the highest point of this frozen world floated an enormous castle, vast enough to overshadow mountains beneath it. Ancient and silent, it hovered above the ice like a watcher observing the passage of ages.

Deep within that castle sat a giant figure upon a massive throne.

Its body was covered in thick white fur, immense enough that even seated, it resembled a small mountain. Its eyes remained closed, and its breathing was so faint that the entire throne hall felt frozen in time around it.

Below the throne, countless smaller white-furred beings knelt in absolute reverence, their bodies pressed against the icy floor in complete silence.

Then, the giant opened its eyes.

At that exact instant, the frozen world awakened.

The endless ice covering the land began to recede rapidly, like winter withdrawing before an unseen sun.

Rivers burst free from their frozen prisons and resumed their flow. Forests shook as snow collapsed from their branches. Animals emerged from stillness and continued wandering as though no interruption had occurred.

Across the world, people resumed their lives naturally, unaware that their entire existence had been suspended only moments earlier.

The giant upon the throne remained silent.

Its enormous pupils reflected something distant.

Something far away.

Then, slowly, a deep voice echoed through the frozen hall.

"…Primordial Light."

The kneeling subjects slowly raised their heads one after another, their movements cautious and reverent, as though even the smallest disturbance before the throne would be unforgivable.

The giant's eyes were pitch black.

Not dark like shadow, but dark in a deeper sense, as though countless years had settled within them and erased all ordinary emotion.

Looking into those eyes felt like staring into an ancient sky where entire civilizations had long since turned to dust.

"My lord… you have awakened."

The voices of the kneeling subjects echoed together in absolute unison.

"Long live the Immortal Lord."

The giant remained still for a moment before his gaze slowly descended toward them. Even that simple movement caused frost to spread faintly across the floor beneath the throne.

"How long," he asked slowly, his voice deep enough to make the hall tremble, "have I been slumbering?"

One of the taller figures kneeling nearest to the throne immediately lowered his head further before replying respectfully.

"By mortal standards, two thousand one hundred years have passed since your lordship entered slumber."

The giant's expression showed little reaction.

"It seems… not much time has passed."

To beings such as them, a few thousand years truly meant little. A single meditation could surpass the rise and fall of entire world.

The tall subject hesitated briefly before speaking again.

"Did your esteemed self encounter something worthy of awakening, my lord?"

The giant's gaze shifted slightly, as though recalling something distant.

"A hundred years ago," he said, "one of my incarnations encountered someone powerful."

A faint pause followed. "My incarnation appears to have lost."

The entire hall fell silent.

Every kneeling figure stiffened visibly, their eyes widening in disbelief beneath lowered heads.