Slur looked at everyone there.
It wasn't an aggressive gaze, nor one filled with hatred. Even so, it was enough.
Rikiya felt his body stiffen instantly, as if an invisible weight had been placed on his shoulders. His muscles reacted before his mind, and for a brief moment he even had trouble swallowing.
Behind him, the others felt the same.
Curious lost her smile for the first time, the air inside her lungs seeming to grow heavier. Trumpet frowned, his chest rising and falling far too quickly, as if his own conviction were being pressed into the ground. Skeptic clenched his teeth, cold sweat running down the back of his neck as he tried to rationalize it as "psychological pressure"—but he knew it wasn't just that.
It was presence.
Everyone's breathing became irregular, heavy, hard to maintain. The silence that followed wasn't awkwardness—it was instinctive submission.
Then, Slur moved his hand.
Slowly.
Each movement seemed to drag the air along with it as his fingers touched the mask. He held it there for a moment, as if weighing the symbolic burden of the object… and then removed it, slowly.
The face beneath was revealed.
Young, calm, and confident. Far too confident for everyone's liking.
"You did exactly what I wanted… Rikiya Yotsubashi."
The voice was not the one of the revolutionary broadcast across all of Japan.
It was younger. Clearer.
"What?"
Confusion crossed Rikiya's face in an instant. It wasn't just the difference in tone—it was the meaning behind those words. That didn't sound like gratitude. It sounded like a statement of fact.
Rin smiled.
A restrained, calculated smile—almost polite. He lifted a hand to his white-dyed hair, adjusting it casually, as if he were bringing a performance to a close.
"I apologize in advance," he said calmly, "but just as I did with All Might when I met him… I did the same to you."
He took a few steps forward, the sound of his footsteps echoing through the silent hall.
"I needed you to gather people. To build structure. To amplify my name. To turn me into a symbol."
A chill ran down Rikiya's spine.
Rin calmly removed his coat and placed it over a nearby armchair, a gesture far too casual for someone who had just flipped the entire board. His posture was relaxed, comfortable—as if this place had always belonged to him.
"Don't misunderstand me," he continued, opening his arms slightly. "I truly do have a goal of revolution. That was never a lie." He tilted his head slightly, the smile returning. "But every revolution needs preparation. And I needed to move a few pieces… so that everything would fall more in my favor."
The words fell like blades.
Realization began to form, slowly.
In that moment, the truth became clear.
Even the very first meeting between Rin and Rikiya—that encounter that had seemed like a matter of chance, a convergence of interests—had been planned. Calculated down to the smallest detail.
And behind it…
The use of Toga's Quirk had been necessary.
Essential to him.
Rin watched the expressions in front of him change one by one—confusion, disbelief, fear, forced admiration.
He didn't need to state anything.
That base, those people, that organization…
All of it was already part of his board.
And in that moment, everyone there understood a simple and terrifying truth.
"You… you used us?!"
Skeptic's voice echoed through the room, filled with indignation and barely contained rage. He took a step forward, fists clenched, wounded pride speaking louder than caution.
But he didn't have time to say anything else.
Zoom!
A wave of domination erupted from Rin, spreading through the room like an invisible shock. The air grew heavy instantly—crushing. The floor beneath everyone's feet cracked, thin fractures racing across the concrete, while the walls groaned as if on the verge of collapse.
It wasn't an attack.
It was a warning.
Skeptic felt his knees nearly give way. His body reacted before his mind, his heart racing as his breathing turned shallow, difficult to maintain. It was as if something vast was pressing down on his very existence, silently telling him: know your place.
"Do not raise your voice to me, Mr. Skeptic."
Rin's voice was low, controlled—and infinitely more threatening than any shout. His eyes glowed an intense red, not with fury, but with pure authority.
"And yes," he continued without changing his tone, "I used you."
The silence that followed was absolute.
"But there was a reason for it."
Rin pulled a nearby armchair closer and sat down with unsettling calm, crossing one leg over the other. The contrast between the violent pressure from moments before and his relaxed posture now was disturbing. It was as if that domination were as natural to him as breathing.
"Tell me," Rin said, tilting his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over every face present, "who would trust a young man with no history? No deeds. No symbols. No solid foundations?"
No one answered.
"Words alone do not move the world," he continued. "Isolated ideals do not spark revolutions."
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"But a villain… a villain turns the absurd into action."
He made a vague gesture with his hand.
"And that is exactly what I did. Just look at the recent news."
Rin extended his arm toward one of the base's screens, without even turning it on. He knew. They knew. The chaos, the collapse of public opinion, the loss of trust in heroes—everything was already etched into the minds of everyone there.
"Don't take it personally," he said, with an almost polite calm. "I need numbers for what is to come."
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs, his eyes gleaming with genuine interest.
"But quantity is not always better than quality."
Curious swallowed hard. Trumpet frowned. Rikiya remained motionless, feeling the truth fall into place like the final pieces of a cruel puzzle.
"So I selected a few," Rin continued, "to overcome quantity with a very specific plan."
He opened his arms slightly.
"You."
The weight of that word fell upon everyone.
"I used you to gather numbers," he said bluntly, "and at the same time, to bring myself together with you."
That calm smile appeared once more.
"Exactly as I planned, up to this point."
Everyone there was left completely helpless.
There was no longer any room for doubt, denial, or alternative interpretations. The young man standing before them was Slur. Every detail confirmed it: the coldly calculated methods, the tone of voice that shifted between calm and absolute threat, the way he dominated the environment without even needing to move… and, above all, that Meta-Ability that made their very existence feel smaller.
Everything matched perfectly with the information they had gathered over time.
Rikiya swallowed hard.
The pressure crushing his lungs did not come solely from Rin's Quirk—it came from the brutal realization that he had never been in control. His eyes locked onto Rin's, glowing a deep, almost regal red, radiating something that went beyond hostility or raw power.
'This pressure we're feeling… that color in his eyes…'
The thought came heavy, unavoidable.
'The Color of the Supreme King…'
Rikiya's heart skipped a beat.
His knees trembled. For a moment, he tried to resist—forcing his body to remain standing, struggling to preserve the dignity of someone who had always seen himself as a leader. But his will… simply gave way. There was no pain, no impact—only the silent surrender of someone who, deep down, recognized that he was standing before something greater.
The dry sound of his knees hitting the floor echoed through the room.
That made Curious, Trumpet, and Skeptic move immediately, alarmed. Their leader had fallen. Not wounded, not attacked—subjugated. Rin's mere presence had broken something they hadn't even known could be broken.
But Rin showed no surprise.
No concern.
No interest in helping him back to his feet.
To him, it was simply the natural course of things.
'Your will has ceased, Rikiya Yotsubashi…'
The thought arose calmly, almost satisfied.
'You have completely lost to me.'
Rin smiled.
Not a cruel smile—but an animated, genuine one, like someone who had just confirmed something they had always known. The final piece had fallen perfectly into place.