Time froze in that moment, as though you could no longer feel its passing the same time that had destroyed the natural innocence upon which the world was created, when humanity forgot the value of its hours and clothed its lower selves in garments of selfishness, crying only: me... me, at the expense of others.
The cold edge of the sword still rested against Abdul Karim's neck, while the steady breath of the female soldier brushed against his ear. Across the hall, the Ice Queen remained seated upon her throne, watching with eyes whose secrets could never be read.
But something else was moving.
Something no one felt... except the golden sword.
The blade began to tremble in Abdul Karim's hand—lightly at first, then harder, until it released a deep hum, like a muffled roar rising from the bowels of the earth.
The soldier tightened her grip.
"Do not move."
She said it sharply, though her voice lacked the certainty she wished it carried.
Abdul Karim did not answer.
He stared at the sword in disbelief, as though hearing whispers no one else could hear.
Then suddenly Light exploded from the blade.
A massive golden wave burst across the hall, shattering ice from the walls and forcing the soldier back as she raised an arm to shield her face.
But the Queen... did not move.
She only smiled.
Then she began to clap slowly, wickedly, her gaze piercing Abdul Karim's heart as though she wished to possess him.
From the center of the light came an ancient, hoarse voice, as if rising from a thousand graves.
"You have taken far too long."
Silence swallowed the hall.
Then a black shadow formed at its center.
It began as thick smoke, then took the shape of a tall man with broad shoulders, clad in cracked armor as though wars themselves had devoured it. His eyes burned red like twin coals from Hell.
Abdul Karim felt his heart stop for a moment.
The soldier stepped back half a pace without realizing it.
For the first time, the Queen rose from her throne.
In a low voice, she said:
"Jacquard Smarda..."
The creature smiled coldly.
"I have returned, you wretched woman... Did you miss me?"
The entire hall began to shake.
The frozen pillars cracked.
The air grew too heavy to breathe.
Abdul Karim tightened his grip on the sword.
"You..."
Jacquard turned toward him slowly, as though no one else in the room mattered.
Then he said:
"Yes... I am the one who killed you."
Abdul Karim froze.
"What?"
Jacquard said:
"And I am the one who brought you back."
The Queen looked sharply at Abdul Karim, then at Jacquard, as if she had just realized something terrible.
The soldier shouted:
"My Queen! We must kill him now before he kills us all!"
But the Queen raised one hand.
"Silence."
Then she stepped toward Jacquard.
"I paid what was demanded of me. Why have you come to my kingdom?"
He slowly scanned the hall.
"To take what belongs to me."
the queen said:
"And what belongs to you here?"
He looked directly at Abdul Karim.
"Him."
The word struck like thunder.
Abdul Karim staggered back a step as the golden sword blazed brighter in his hand, nearly burning his skin.
Then voices began inside his mind.
Images he did not know.
Ancient wars And A burning sky.
Kings falling.
A colossal gate opening in fire.
Then the cry of a weeping woman.
He clutched his head.
"What is happening to me?!"
Jacquard moved closer.
"It is time for you to remember."
The Queen screamed:
"No!"
But it was too late.
Jacquard extended his hand toward Abdul Karim's chest, and black energy burst forth, piercing his body.
Abdul Karim fell to his knees, screaming.
One eye turned gold.
The other became crimson red.
The golden sword rose into the air by itself.
The soldier whispered in terror:
"Impossible..."
For the first time, the Queen's face turned pale.
"He has returned..."
Then the gates of the hall burst open on their own, and a raging blizzard swept in from outside.
Abdul Karim slowly rose.
But his features were no longer the same.
He lifted his head... and smiled a smile that did not belong to him.
Then he spoke in two voices at once:
"Where were you... all this time?"
The walls of the hall trembled, and the ice withdrew from the edges of the pillars, as though even the frost itself feared drawing near him.
As for the blizzard that had stormed into the chamber, it was no longer mere wind. It had become a massive vortex spinning around Abdul Karim, lifting his hair and clothes into the air, while the golden sword remained suspended above his head, pulsing like a living heart.
The female soldier dropped to one knee, unable to stand before that overwhelming presence.
The Ice Queen, however, remained standing despite the paleness that had overtaken her face. She stared at him as though she were seeing a ghost torn from the pages of an age buried by centuries—or a disaster that had arrived without warning, destroying every calculation they had ever made.
Jacquard Smarda smiled the smile of a victor.
"At last... you have awakened."
Abdul Karim slowly raised his head.
One eye burned with golden majesty.
The other dripped with buried crimson rage.
Yet he did not look at the Queen.
Nor at the soldier.
Nor even at Jacquard.
Instead, he looked only at the sword floating above him Then he raised his hand.
The sword descended into his palm, as though returning to its true master.
And the instant his fingers touched the hilt, a memory burst through his mind—not his own... or perhaps a vision of what was yet to come.
Cities collapsing.
Armies kneeling.
Kings torn from their thrones.
The sky splitting apart.
Black gates opening from fire.
And one name echoing through every vision:
The Heir.
His body convulsed violently, then fell still.
He lifted his gaze to Jacquard.
And for the first time...Jacquard stepped back.
Abdul Karim spoke in a calm voice more terrifying than any scream.
"You made a mistake."
Jacquard's features tightened.
"What did you say?"
Abdul Karim stepped forward.
The ice cracked beneath his feet.
"You did not awaken your servant..."
He slowly raised the sword.
"...you awakened the one who will kill you."
A crushing silence filled the hall.
Even the wind stopped.
Even the snow froze in midair.
The Ice Queen's eyes widened.
The soldier gasped.
And for the first time, Jacquard's smile vanished.
Then a thunderous pounding echoed across the horizon—like war drums descending from the heavens.
The ground of the entire kingdom split apart.
From the depths of the ice, thousands of black hands began to emerge.
Abdul Karim smiled a cold, merciless smile and said:
"It seems the time has come... to open the next chapter—and seize the worlds."