Chapter 52 - Elbawar: a Beast or a Beauty?
The meeting chamber of the Hero Association was quiet—too quiet for a room filled with the world’s most powerful protectors.
No windows, no press—just steel walls and one long table.
The air hung heavy with tension, dimly lit by overhead strips casting long shadows behind the seated heroes.
Each shadow stretched like a second self—jagged, warped, exaggerated—as if the power of those at the table could barely be contained in human form.
At the far end, a man sat still—back straight, face veiled behind strands of hair and half-darkness. No one addressed him directly. They didn’t need to.
The conversation moved without him, circling like vultures.
"Monster incidents are down. Drastically," said one suited man, thick glasses glinting with data reflected from his tablet. "Without disaster, there’s no help to offer. Our value slips each week, and now that press conference..."
"And donations. Media reach. Investor backing," another added, voice sharp—like he was calculating profit margins as he spoke. "The public was already bored; now they will show backlash, too."
"We need something to elevate our standing in society and regain former glory," one of them uttered in a lazy tone as if forced to participate in the meeting.
A figure—a young member and the only normal human—leaned forward, voice low. "Then maybe... we make our own disaster. What if we use every superhero to break those closed gates—aren’t you all supposed to be the strongest?"
That suggestion floated in the air just long enough for its weight to be felt.