Chapter 151 : When the World Froze

One name.

It was only one name, spoken with terrifying calmness from a television screen, yet its impact felt like a nuclear explosion in the common room of Alliance Heights. Esdeath.

To my friends, it was the name of a new tyrant, a villain with overwhelming power who had appeared out of nowhere. To the heroes around the world, it was the name of an apocalyptic-level threat they could not comprehend.

But for me… for me, that name was a key that unlocked a door to hell within my soul.

The moment I heard the name, the world around me vanished. I was no longer in the warm dorm. I was on an endless plain of ice, under a gray sky. A freezing wind whipped at me, and I could feel a chill that pierced to the bone, a cold far worse than any of Todoroki's ice. Before me, on a throne made of pure ice, sat her. Esdeath. She smiled at me, the same smile I had seen in my dreams—the smile of a predator who had found its favorite toy, a smile that promised pain, obsession, and a frozen world.

I felt a wave of emotions that were not my own flood over me. Pure terror, the memory of being tortured and toyed with. A deep hatred for her cruelty. A forced admiration for her absolute power. And most terrifyingly, beneath it all, there was a small, painful echo of loyalty and… a twisted affection. The emotions of the original Tatsumi, who had once been a part of her army, who had once been the object of her obsession.

All those conflicting emotions tore my mind apart. "NO!" I screamed, clutching my head as an immense psychic pain hit me.

"Tatsumi-kun!"

I heard Momo's panicked voice, feeling very distant. I fell to my knees, my body convulsing. The dragon's heartbeat in my chest pounded wildly and erratically, no longer as a war drum, but as the terrified shriek of a beast meeting its eternal winter.

Momo and Uraraka immediately knelt by my side, trying to calm me down. "Tatsumi-kun, what's wrong?!" Uraraka exclaimed, tears already welling up in her eyes.

Nejire, who happened to be visiting, floated above me, her hands glowing with a soft blue energy, creating a calming aura. "His mind... it's in chaos! I can feel it! It's like there's a storm inside his head!"

Aizawa-sensei burst into the common room a few moments later, drawn by the commotion. He saw my condition and understood immediately. "This isn't a physical attack," he said firmly. "It's his Quirk... or whatever it is... it's attacking itself. Get him to the infirmary, now!"

While my friends struggled to help me, the world outside was on fire... or rather, freezing.

At the headquarters of the Hero Public Safety Commission, the atmosphere was one of total panic. "Have we managed to contact Sapporo?!" the President of the Commission yelled, her usually calm face now covered in a cold sweat.

"Negative, Madam President!" a technician replied. "All communication channels are dead. Thermal satellites show the entire city is at minus sixty degrees Celsius and still dropping. The ice dome surrounding it... is over a hundred meters thick and still growing. There is no Quirk in our database that can do this."

"Send a hero team!"

"We've tried! The first team that approached—including heroes with powerful fire Quirks—reported that the air around the dome itself was cold enough to cause severe frostbite in seconds. Their equipment froze and shattered. We can't get close."

The President fell back into her chair, staring at the satellite image of that perfect ice storm in horror. She had faced All For One. She had faced the war against the MLA. But this... this was something else. This was the power of a god.

At the Paranormal Liberation Front's headquarters, Shigaraki laughed his head off in front of his monitor. "Hahaha! Look at that! Look at the faces of those stupid heroes! They don't know what to do!"

"An interesting power," Dabi said, his blue eyes looking at the screen with cold interest. "I'd like to see if my blue flames can melt that palace of hers."

All For One, speaking through Shigaraki, was calmer. 'Esdeath,' he thought. 'The strongest General from the other world, whose data was provided by Yozakura. She's finally made her move. This is outside my calculations, but it is also an opportunity. Let her and the heroes destroy each other. Let the old world freeze and burn. From its ashes, I will build my empire.'

On a dark rooftop in Kyoto, Akame dropped the phone she was holding. Her usually expressionless face was now deathly pale. She recognized her. General Esdeath. The symbol of everything she hated about the Empire. The monster in human form who had tortured and killed her friends. And she... she was here too. In this same world.

Her instincts as an assassin told her that this was the greatest threat of all. Greater than Yozakura, greater than Humarise, maybe even greater than All For One. She knew Esdeath's power. And she knew Esdeath's obsession. Her obsession with strength. Her obsession with... Tatsumi.

Instantly, her mission changed. Her hunt for Yozakura now felt insignificant. She gripped the hilt of Murasame, a cold, deadly determination burning in her red eyes. She had to find Tatsumi. She had to train him. She had to prepare him. Because she knew that sooner or later, Esdeath would sense the presence of Incursio. And when that day came, the entire world would become the battlefield for their terrifying reunion.

I finally came to in the U.A. infirmary, panting for breath. The pain in my head had subsided into a dull throb. Nezu, Aizawa, and Ryukyu (on a monitor screen) were already there, waiting for me.

"What... what happened to you?" Ryukyu asked, her voice filled with concern.

I told them everything. About Esdeath from my 'story'. About her fraudulent Quirk, the Teigu Demon's Extract, which gave her absolute power over ice. And most importantly, about her relationship with the original Tatsumi. About how she captured him, tortured him, but also 'loved' him in her own twisted way for his strength.

"My reaction earlier..." I explained with a trembling voice. "It wasn't mine. It was an echo of the fear, trauma, and complex connection that the soul inside my armor has with her. She is his worst nightmare come true."

The heroes in the room were silent, digesting the information they had just heard. Their world was being threatened not by one, but by two, god-level villains from another world. And I, their most valuable asset, was psychologically bound to one of them.

"This changes everything," Nezu said finally, his voice incredibly serious. "Our strategy against the PLF must be put on hold. This threat from the Apex Front... is more immediate and more predictable in its goal: total conquest."

He looked at me. "Tatsumi-kun," he said. "Your training is no longer just about control or power. From today, your training goal is only one thing."

He paused, letting the weight of his words be felt.

"Learn how to kill a god."

As I was processing that impossible command, my secret communicator vibrated. A message came in. From a number I now recognized. Hawks.

I opened it. The contents made my blood run cold again. It wasn't a warning or an intelligence report. It was a question, and a horrifying statement.

"Tyrant, I was in Hokkaido when the storm hit. I managed to get out. But I heard something before all communications were cut. That Ice Woman, she isn't just sitting on her throne. She's looking for something. Or rather, someone. The last report from the captured heroes I managed to intercept mentioned she was constantly asking for one name."

I held my breath as I read the last line.

"She's looking for you, Tatsumi."