Snow fell as the world chose to betray me.
But this wasn't ordinary snow.
It was—the remnants of her power.
Cracks of ice from her final spell, still trying to protect this place… the place we fought so hard for. She sacrificed everything for this empire.
An empire that repaid her with death.
Her body lay in my arms.
Cold. Still. No longer breathing.
There was no gentle smile to calm me.
No worried gaze watching over me from afar.
Only silence… and fragments of ice magic drifting down like stardust.
A few steps away from me, he lay sprawled on the ground—the last person from Earth still holding on. But now, even he was barely alive.
His body was covered in magic burns. His breath was shallow and ragged.
He protected me.
He… tried to save me and this world.
And this… this is how the world repays him.
They came to this world, not by choice.
They were summoned. Promised a place, a purpose, a hope.
But the truth?
They were forced to fight.
Treated not as people but as weapons.
Wounded. Dying. Betrayed.
Just like me.
Just like the one now soaked in blood beside me.
Just like the one… frozen in my arms.
In front of me, two figures stood stiffly.
They once called me a friend.
Now, they could only whisper excuses that burned more than any wound
"I… had no choice… it was for the empire…"
An empire built on hollow loyalty.
An empire that never cared who had to be sacrificed as long as its throne remained intact.
An empire I defended. One I wanted to protect.
The same empire… that took everything from me.
I looked at them, tearless.
My grief had run dry.
All that remained was pain—pain frozen into this snow.
I clenched my fists, holding onto the cold fingers that would never hold mine again.
This world has made its choice.
Now… it's my turn.