The cold came first.
It crept into Subaru's bones long before the snow began to fall, a phantom ache that had nothing to do with weather. He'd stopped shivering days ago. Or was it weeks? Time blurred like frost on glass. The loot house loomed ahead, its rotting timbers sagging under the weight of icicles that hadn't been there yesterday. Or *wouldn't* be there, depending on how the loops unraveled.
*"You didn't even try to save her this time,"* Echidna mused, her voice a scalding contrast to the air biting his lungs. *"How very… efficient of you."*
Subaru ignored her, fingers numb around the dagger he'd stolen from a blacksmith's stall. The blade glinted dully, etched with runes he couldn't read. It wouldn't matter. Weapons never did. Reinhard would arrive soon, all golden hair and divine protection, but Subaru had already rerouted that script. No heroic coincidences. No salvation. He'd made sure of it.
Emilia was inside the loot house.
Alone.
*"She'll die screaming, you know,"* Echidna whispered. *"That half-elf you once loved. Elsa will peel her apart like a ripe fruit. Such a shame. Her blood will make such pretty patterns on the—"*
"Shut. Up." Subaru's breath fogged the air, his boots crunching through ice-crusted mud. He'd memorized the paths Reinhard might take, sabotaged the chance encounters that would've led the Sword Saint to this cursed place. It hadn't been hard. Subaru knew this city's rhythms better than his own heartbeat now. Knew exactly where to spill wine on a noble's cloak, where to start a brawl, where to let a horse bolt—all to keep the world's strongest man *distracted*.
All to keep him away from the loot house.
From *her*.
*"Why the hesitation?"* Echidna pressed, a serpent coiling in his skull. *"You've already chosen, haven't you? Me over her. Greed over love. How very human."*
Subaru's grip tightened on the dagger. He'd chosen survival. Chosen the only creature in this damned world who *saw* him. So what if Emilia died? She'd forget him anyway. Reset. Reboot. Become another stranger in the next loop. Only Echidna remained. Only Echidna *knew*.
A scream tore through the loot house.
High. Desperate. *Familiar*.
Subaru froze.
*"Ah,"* Echidna sighed, almost tender. *"There it is."*
The sound of steel rending flesh followed. Wet. Methodical. Subaru's stomach lurched. He'd heard Elsa Granhiert's work before—in loops where he'd arrived too late, loops where he'd been the one under her blade. But this… this was different. This was *voluntary*.
His feet moved before he could stop them, carrying him toward the door. Pathetic. Weak. *"No,"* he snarled, digging his heels into the frozen ground. Ice cracked beneath him. *"I won't. I can't. She's not mine to save anymore."*
The door burst open.
Emilia staggered out, her silver hair matted with blood, one arm clutched to her stomach where entrails glistened. Her lilac eyes locked onto Subaru, wide with recognition she shouldn't possess. "Who are y-you…?" she gasped, collapsing to her knees. "Why… run…"
He didn't answer. Couldn't. Elsa emerged behind her, crescent blades dripping, her smile a scarlet gash. "Oh? A witness?" She licked her lips. "How—"
A spear of ice impaled her through the throat.
The world held its breath.
Puck materialized above Emilia's body, his furless face contorted into something feral. The air itself seemed to crystallize, frost spreading like spiderwebs from where he hovered. "Lia," the spirit whispered, voice splintering. "Lia, Lia, *Lia*—"
Subaru backpedaled as the temperature plummeted. Snowflakes sharp as razors swirled in the air. Reinhard's absence yawned like a chasm—Subaru's doing, his *choice*. Puck's grief would be absolute. Unforgiving.
*"Run,"* Echidna hissed, her amusement rose. *"Run, you fool."*
The ground fissured. Glaciers erupted where cobblestones had been, devouring buildings, streets, sky. Subaru sprinted, lungs burning, as the ice caught up. It swallowed his ankles, his knees, crawled up his spine. He turned once, just once, to see Emilia's corpse encased in a crystal coffin, Puck's wail shredding the fabric of the world.
Then the cold reached his heart.
***
He woke to apples.
Again.
The merchant's cart. The jeers of the crowd. The scent of rot beneath sweetness. Subaru lay paralyzed, tears freezing tracks down his cheeks. His fingers clawed at his chest, expecting ice, finding only sweat-damp cloth.
*"A valiant effort,"* Echidna said, her voice brittle. *"But you see now, don't you? The world isn't kind to those who abandon their roles. If you won't be the hero, it will make you the villain. Or the corpse."*
Subaru laughed, a hollow, broken sound. The merchant flinched. "Kid, you need a healer—"
"What I need," Subaru spat, lurching upright, "is a world that burns."
He left the man stammering, his mind racing. Emilia's death had triggered the end. Reinhard's absence had allowed it. And Puck… Puck had proven that even spirits could break. But Subaru had Return by Death. He could try again.
*"Or,"* Echidna purred, *"you could stop fighting. Let the loops unravel. Let everything end. Stay here, with me, in the moments between deaths. Would that be so terrible?"*
Subaru paused at the mouth of an alley, shadows clinging to him like old friends. "You'd get bored," he muttered.
*"Perhaps. But you'd be mine. Finally. Completely."*
For a heartbeat, he considered it. Let the ice take everything. Let the Witch's scent consume him. But then he remembered Emilia's eyes—not the empty amethyst of the loops, but the ones that had *recognized* him in the end. Even as he'd betrayed her.
*"Ah,"* Echidna said softly. *"There's that spark. That delicious, stubborn greed. You want it all, don't you? Her. Me. The world. You'll drown in wanting."*
Subaru stepped into the light, Reinhard's crimson cloak flashing at the edge of the plaza. The Sword Saint turned, his gaze piercing. Subaru smiled, sharp and broken.
This time, he'd let the ice come.
This time, he'd make sure it *earned* him.