Chaos Mate ~Revenge In This Chaotic Academy~ - Chapter 49: Cold and Merciless

Chapter 49: Cold and Merciless

Ice Queen. That’s my codename in the Sakurada family.

I’m proud of it, yet it stirs complex feelings.

It’s like my abnormal side is laid bare, and every time those who despise me call me by it, I’m gripped by an urge to kill them.

Even when I was a soldier in America, they called me “One-Eyed Red Snow Princess” without my consent.

Even after dying once, I carry this name.

Seeing myself with the eyepatch and my left eye turned crimson, I realized I can’t escape being the Ice Queen.

No matter how much I run, the “power” inside me won’t vanish, and I don’t expect people to accept me.

I might live a life of being hated forever.

Still, I have things I have to do.

Revenge against those who killed Suzuka-neesan.

And the new purpose I found just now.

I can’t die until I achieve them.

So, I keep living.

I walk the path of life Nee-san paved for me.

For that… I can cast aside any hesitation to become the Ice Queen again.

※

After getting the Ice Blade Byakka and defeating Utsumi Kagetora, my regular smartphone pings with an email.

The sender is “Shadow.” A name I’ve never seen or heard. Someone’s codename?

“Head to the courtyard. Sumeragi Reine is there. Settle your own score.”

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find it suspicious. It could be a trap.

But with no clue where to go, I move forward, trap or not.

If there’s a trap, I’ll crush it and keep going.

Leaving the chemistry prep room for the courtyard, I see a crowd of brainwashed students—not from E-Class—spread across the second-floor hallway.

Reine likely stationed E-Class to protect her, while others she brainwashed from her connections were sent to hunt us.

Sighing, I switch Byakka to my right hand and charge into the brainwashed mob.

I strike their right arms with the ice blade, and they scream, clutching their arms with their left hands, writhing on the floor.

No time to care, I hit their arms, legs, torsos, backs, necks, and heads with Byakka, and they collapse, clutching the struck areas.

“Geez, dealing with all these’ll take till dawn. Fine then.”

Scattering them with Byakka, I head to a window and see Mogami fighting outside, surrounded and overwhelmed.

I fling open the window and leap from the second floor to the courtyard.

※

Standing in front of Mogami, I point Byakka’s blade at Reine through the crowd of classmates.

Five guys, ignoring the mood, charge at us from behind.

“Mogami, I’ll clear a path. Get out.”

“B-But…!!”

“I’m used to fighting alone. I don’t want you getting hurt as collateral. …I want to protect you, Mogami.”

“!? W-What does that…!?”

Before answering her flushed question, I strike the five guys—right arm, left arm, neck, torso, back—knocking them back, then point to the cleared path and look at her.

“A tired guy’s just a burden. Get out and protect yourself at least.”

“!! I knew that’s what you meant!”

Mogami escapes the crowd, and I sweep aside anyone chasing her with Byakka’s blade.

A shockwave bursts from the blade, blowing back the surrounding students.

“Tsubaki-Style Swordsmanship… Ripple!!”

Counting E-Class numbers, I’ve incapacitated half.

Huh? Wait… the numbers seem a bit low… Not the time to worry about that.

Reine glares at me, and I meet her fury with cold eyes.

“Numbers won’t beat me. You just give orders? A useless queen can’t draw out her pawns’ potential. You’re a failure.”

“Shut up!! You and that girl, mocking me, enjoying it!! You’re so annoying!!”

“I’m utterly disappointed in you. I’ll end this quick…”

Charging at Reine, the brainwashed students naturally block my path.

Kawanami, taller than the rest, emerges, lunging at my right leg, clinging and pinning my arms.

“Break his leg!! That’ll stop him!!”

Following him, Irie and Sakaki cling to my left arm and leg.

They’re fast. Pissing them off was a mistake.

I try to swing Byakka, but they dodge the moment I move.

My body doesn’t move as I want, but I’m not panicking.

“I see, I see. Stopping my movement… Good call. But you don’t get it.”

I put strength into my right leg, still pinned by Kawanami, and a crack sounds as the bone below my knee snaps.

His grip weakens, and I lift my broken leg, kicking his jaw.

I do the same with my left arm and leg, using Byakka as a cane. Ten seconds later, I stand on both feet, check my left arm, and strike the three’s torsos, incapacitating them.

Reine’s eyes widen in disbelief.

“Breaking your own bones…!? And why… your bones should be broken!!”

“I can freeze my body. I control temperature. When my left eye’s crimson, I feel no pain. Plus, my regeneration’s unreal, so bones heal instantly.”

My freezing ability and regeneration let me pull off such reckless feats.

Facing my superhuman powers, Reine bites her lip and glares.

“You… monster!!”

Monster, huh.

Heard that one too many times.

“It’s over…”

“Not… yet!!”

Reine tries to make the remaining crowd attack, but their movements grow clumsy.

Like tin toys, their limbs move awkwardly.

Humans are breathing creatures.

In cold air, their breath turns white.

That white breath spreads thinly around, and Reine hugs herself, shivering.

“W-Why… it’s July… summer… why’s it so… cold…!?”

While she trembles, I sweep the remaining slaves with Byakka, unable to stand.

“Who said my ability only freezes my body?”

“!!”

The frost from my body spreads through the air, freezing others, slowing their movements.

Touching them directly would freeze and immobilize them instantly.

No “friends” remain to protect Reine. She’s alone.

She looks up at me, eyes wide.

“Madoka-kun… are you really that Madoka-kun? The usual you wouldn’t hurt classmates you cared about!!”

“That’s because I didn’t see you as enemies.”

“Why… do this!? Weren’t we friends!? Wasn’t it fun with everyone!? If you thought that, hurting them is too cruel!!”

Tears in her eyes, she pleads, making me sound like the villain.

Who caused this?

Talk about deflecting blame.

“Acting to stir guilt or doubt is pointless.”

“It’s not acting!! I’m serious…”

“Did you forget what I said earlier? And what I said after school the day Kikuchi was killed?”

“W-What are you talking about…!?”

Her face twitches.

My eyes must be ice-cold.

“I said I’d become the predator, even if it meant devouring my classmates. And earlier, I said I’m cold and merciless now. I’ll crush anyone, even classmates, who interfere. If they hinder Nee-san’s revenge, I’m ready to cut down anyone…!!”

Swinging Byakka at her neck, Reine squeals, “Eek!!” in fear, thrusting her weapon forward and stepping back, knocking the stun gun from her left hand.

I pick it up with my left hand, freeze it, and crush it with pressure.

“Checkmate, Sumeragi Reine.”

With a sharp glare, she collapses, sitting on the ground.

“Forgive me… please, Madoka-kun!! We’re friends, right? You’re the only one I trust!! So, trust me too!!”

Trying to appeal to emotions now?

Pointless.

“I was threatened by Kikuchi!! She was the Scarlet Phantom’s agent!! So… I’m not bad… please, don’t kill me!!”

Sobbing, begging, making excuses, I look down at her without emotion.

Mogami, grasping the situation, arrives and aims her railgun at Reine.

Sighing, I grab her hand and lower the weapon.

“Madoka…?”

“It’s fine, Mogami. You don’t need to shoot her. It’s… done.”

Reading my eyes, she steps back silently.

I stand before Reine, holding out my left hand.

“I can’t forgive everything. …But I think you had your reasons, and I don’t know what Kikuchi did to you. So… just this once, I’ll forgive you.”

“Madoka-kun!!”

Reine smiles with relief and joy.

“Reine… let’s be real friends, for real.”

Smiling faintly, she reaches for my hand.

The moment our hands nearly touch—

I swing Byakka sideways, striking her neck.

“Why…!?”

Her eyes widen, and she collapses, unconscious.

Looking at her pathetic state, I flash a dark smile.

“Just kidding, idiot.”

Sheathing Byakka, my red eye returns to purple, and I remove the eyepatch.

A single tear falls from my right eye.

Mogami looks at me with concern.

“Madoka… you okay?”

“…I’m fine. I’m… okay.”

Biting her lower lip, she wraps her arms around my neck, pressing my head to her chest.

The sudden move catches me off guard, and I feel her softness.

“M-Mogami…!?”

“Just for now… no one’s watching.”

“…H-Huh…?”

“So, I’m not watching either. Cry now, while you can. It was hard, right? Painful, right? You wanted to trust her…”

“…I’m not…”

“You can show weakness in front of me. I’ll never betray you.”

Saying she won’t betray me is meaningless in this moment.

My life’s been full of betrayals.

An indescribable anger wells up.

Yet, her words bring a strange calm. Why?

Tears flow, and despite trying to suppress my anger, my heart’s words spill out.

“What… is that…!? Like I can believe that!!”

The sadness I’d locked away surges.

I held it back while fighting, but now… I can’t.

Oh… I see. I wanted to trust Sumeragi Reine.

And in the end, I was just hoping again.

Betrayed again.

I’m starting to resist trusting anyone.

As if sensing my heart, Mogami says quietly,

“You’re right, it might be impossible now. But I believe in you, Madoka. I’d be happy if you could believe in me someday… So, for now, practice showing your weak side to others… okay?”

My emotional walls collapse, and I wrap my arms around her waist, crying for the first time in two years.

“Ugh… waaah!! …Ah…!!”

Honestly, I didn’t think my body could still cry.

I thought the tears I shed when I heard Nee-san died were my last.

Mogami holds my head, stroking it the whole time.

It was the first time I cried in front of a woman other than Nee-san.