SSS-Rank Extra: I Got a Chaos System-Chapter 17: The Ice Queen’s Fury

The festival's warmth had long faded, replaced by the crisp bite of night air and the quiet press of urgency in Lillian's chest. Her boots made barely a sound against the cobblestone as she slipped through the narrow streets, eyes sharp and searching.

The symbol on the alley wall had sent a jolt through her spine, a ghost of old memories resurfacing like a cold whisper. She knew that mark. The Black Crescent—a faction of mercenaries, smugglers, and, most concerningly, professional abductors. They didn't make mistakes. They didn't pick random targets.

Which meant they had taken Kazuki for a reason.

She turned a corner, nearly colliding with a drunken festival-goer. The man stumbled, blinking up at her in hazy confusion. Lillian grabbed his collar, dragging him upright.

"The alley," she snapped. "Did you see anyone?"

The man squinted. "Huh?"

Lillian's patience thinned. "The alley behind the festival. Just now. Who went through?"

"Oh, uh..." He rubbed his chin, vaguely gesturing. "Couple guys in dark cloaks? Looked real shady. They were draggin' someone... short guy, black hair, didn't even struggle."

Her grip tightened. "Which way did they go?"

"D-down the south path, I think. Toward the old mill—"

Lillian was already moving before he finished, disappearing into the shadows with the precision of a hunting predator.

The trail wasn't fresh, but it was there—the faint drag marks on the dirt road, the slight scuff of hurried footsteps, the remnants of disturbed dust near a wooden cart. They weren't being careful. Good. That meant she could catch up.

And when she did—

Her eyes narrowed.

They would regret ever touching him.

Kazuki sat on the cold floor of an abandoned warehouse, bound at the wrists but otherwise unharmed. His captors—three men cloaked in the unmistakable insignia of The Black Crescent—were currently hunched over a wooden crate, writing something on a worn-out parchment.

He tilted his head. "You're sending a ransom?"

One of the bandits—the leader, judging by his confident stance—glanced at him before returning to the letter. "Of course we are."

Kazuki blinked. "To who?"

The leader smirked. "That village would pay well for their so-called Holy One."

Kazuki exhaled, relieved. That was fine. The village had money. A simple exchange—

Then the bandit crossed something out and rewrote a different word.

Kazuki frowned. "Wait. What did you just write?"

The second bandit snickered. "Oh, we changed our request. We're demanding something much more valuable."

Something cold slithered down Kazuki's spine. "...What?"

The leader smirked, holding up the paper.

"Hand over the Hydra in exchange for the Holy One."

Kazuki's blood ran cold.

"No," he said immediately. "No, don't do that."

The bandits exchanged looks, clearly misinterpreting his genuine panic as fear for his own life.

"Heh." The second bandit grinned. "What's wrong? Afraid they'll refuse?"

Kazuki internally screamed.

"No. I'm afraid they'll agree."

The bandits laughed, mistaking his horror for desperation.

"Don't worry, Holy One," the leader said, voice laced with amusement. "We're sure the village will do whatever it takes to get you back."

Kazuki didn't bother responding.

His entire soul was focused on one thing.

If they send the Hydra here—

This entire warehouse will be rubble in minutes.

He needed to get out. Now.

His wrists were still bound, but his brain was already cycling through possible solutions.

Think, think—

"Alright," he said suddenly, forcing calm into his voice. "New plan."

The bandits looked up.

Kazuki cleared his throat. "Forget the ransom. Just—just let me go, okay?"

The leader snorted. "Nice try."

Kazuki leaned forward, eyes serious. "No, listen. You don't want the Hydra."

Bandit #2 crossed his arms. "Why not?"

"Because it will kill all of you." Kazuki's voice was flat.

A beat of silence.

Bandit #3 shifted uneasily. "Tch. You're just bluffing."

Kazuki stared him dead in the eye. "Am I?"

The bandits exchanged glances. Doubt crept in.

The leader frowned. "Even if the beast is dangerous, they wouldn't actually send it, right?"

Kazuki exhaled sharply. "You don't know them. They will send it."

The bandits hesitated.

And for one beautiful second—Kazuki thought he might have won.

Then, outside the warehouse, a muffled BOOM echoed in the distance.

The bandits froze.

Kazuki paled. Oh no.

The door slammed open with a blast of freezing wind.

Frost crept along the wooden walls as mist curled at Lillian's feet. Her violet eyes burned like embers in the dim torchlight.

The temperature plunged.

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The bandits tensed.

Kazuki, still bound and sitting on the floor, let out a long, exhausted sigh.

"Ah." He muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

"She's here."

Lillian strode forward, voice commanding, unwavering, and utterly theatrical.

"I have come to save you, Kazuki!"

Silence.

Kazuki's face shadowed.

The bandits exchanged glances, confused but wary.

The leader, regaining his composure, yanked Kazuki upright and pressed a knife against his throat. "Not another step, or he dies."

The atmosphere crackled with tension.

The air turned sharp, cutting like glass.

Lillian's expression darkened.

Kazuki sighed.

Then, with the most deadpan, defeated voice, he turned his head toward the bandit holding him and pleaded.

"...Please save me from her."

Silence.

The room collectively short-circuited.

The bandit holding him stiffened. "Wait. What?"

Lillian's eye twitched.

Something inside her snapped.

The room froze over in seconds.

Ice spiked through the floor, surging forward in jagged formations.

The bandits barely had time to react before a storm of frost erupted from Lillian's hands.

The leader gasped as his feet froze to the floor, his grip on Kazuki loosening.

The second bandit screamed as ice crawled up his arms, trapping him in place.

The third tried to run—only for a spear of frozen magic to impale the ground in front of him, stopping him cold.

A howling blizzard consumed the room.

When the frost finally settled, the bandits were frozen in place, trapped beneath layers of thick, unrelenting ice.

Kazuki, still perfectly unharmed, stared.

Lillian exhaled, shaking the frost from her fingertips. She turned, gripping Kazuki's wrist far rougher than necessary, and dragged him toward the exit.

"We're leaving."

Kazuki, being forcibly hauled out, waved politely at the frozen bandits.

"Bye! Sorry about all this."

The door slammed shut behind them.

A long silence settled in the warehouse.

As they walked through the empty streets, Lillian's grip on Kazuki's wrist did not loosen. If anything, it tightened.

Kazuki sighed, trying for patience. "Look, I get it, you're mad, but—"

Lillian yanked him forward.

Kazuki stumbled, barely catching himself before he faceplanted onto the cobblestone. "—Okay, ow."

He shot her a sidelong glance. "Is this really necessary?"

Lillian didn't answer. Her violet eyes burned, her jaw tight, her pace relentless.

Kazuki sighed, rubbing his wrist. "Alright, let's be reasonable. You saved me—very dramatic, by the way, full points for the frost entrance—but maybe it's time we both just... cool down?"

No response.

Kazuki narrowed his eyes. "...You're ignoring me."

Still nothing.

Kazuki grinned. Dangerous move.

"Okay, fine. New plan." He abruptly dug his heels into the ground.

Lillian, who was very much still dragging him, barely slowed.

Kazuki leaned back with all his weight. "I REFUSE to be kidnapped a second time tonight!"

Lillian jerked him forward so hard his feet left the ground.

Kazuki let out a small, undignified noise.

"Stop struggling," Lillian muttered.

"I am NOT struggling," Kazuki gasped, dangling slightly. "I am simply asserting my basic human right to WALK ON MY OWN."

She finally stopped. Just long enough to turn and fling him over her shoulder.

Kazuki froze.

"...Wait."

Before he could react, she adjusted him like a sack of grain and kept walking.

Kazuki's brain short-circuited.

"—WAIT, HOLD ON—" He squirmed. "Put me down, I can walk! I HAVE LEGS."

Lillian ignored him.

Kazuki, now flailing upside down, tried a new tactic. "You know, if I were one of those delicate noble heirs, this would be an unspeakable scandal—"

"Good thing you're not."

Kazuki groaned. "This is unfair. You're using brute force because you know I won't fight back."

"Correct."

"Lillian, I swear, if you—"

"Stop talking."

Kazuki crossed his arms (as best as one could while slung over someone's shoulder). "I will NOT be silenced."

Lillian deliberately bounced him.

Kazuki let out another undignified noise.

"...I take it back, I will now be silenced."

Satisfied, Lillian continued striding through the dark streets, her frost-covered boots crunching softly against the cobblestone.

Kazuki let out a long sigh, accepting his fate.

"...At least tell me we're going to get food after this."

Lillian didn't answer.

Kazuki poked her arm. "Lillian."

Silence.

"...Lillian?"

She stopped walking.

Kazuki immediately sensed danger.

Then—a sudden cold breeze.

"...Wait," he muttered, suddenly very aware of the way her grip on him tightened. "You wouldn't."

"I would."

The temperature plummeted.

Kazuki's eyes widened. "LILLIAN, NO—"

With all the force of an unstoppable force of nature, she launched him into a conveniently soft snowbank.

Thud.

A long silence.

Kazuki, now lying half-buried in snow, closed his eyes.

"...I deserved that."

Lillian dusted off her hands, exhaling.

Then, at last—

She smirked.

Kazuki blinked up at her, horrified. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

She turned on her heel and kept walking.

Kazuki groaned. "I hate this."

He pulled himself out of the snow, brushed off the frost, and resigned himself to his fate.

Then he jogged after her.

"...Still getting food, though, right?"

Lillian sighed.

She did not say no.