CHAPTER 149: LET’S TALK

A faint breeze stirred the dust across the broken battlefield. Rubble shifted. Blood dried slowly under fractured moonlight above. The air hung thick with the scent of scorched stone, charred lightning, and the metallic tang of spilled blood. In the silence that followed Keith’s defiant words, Elius stood still, gazing at the four people before him—not as enemies, not as threats, but as... disappointments.

He sighed. Deeply. Not in frustration, not even in pain. It was more like a father watching four children play with knives and wondering where it all went wrong.

And then, he said it.

"Let’s talk."

The voice was calm, cold, but not cruel. It echoed through the ruins like the whisper of a judge about to read the final verdict.

Zhark tensed. Lightning danced faintly in his hair. Fraven tilted his head slightly, skeptical. Shania narrowed her eyes, fingers still twitching with illusion-weaving instincts. Keith stood his ground, the sword still lodged in his side, but the fire in his eyes never dimmed.

"What?" Keith spat, voice hoarse from the blood caught in his throat.

Elius stepped forward, and the swords that had been circling him like orbiting moons retreated slightly, now floating behind his back in a crescent halo.

"I’m serious," Elius said. "What’s the point of all this?"

His eyes moved from one to another.

"You’re fighting to trap me. To defeat me. To prove something, maybe. But have any of you stopped to ask—why?"

The silence deepened.

"You could’ve been more," he continued. "You still can. All four of you. You’re powerful. Gifted. Unique. There’s still a place for you on the side of heroes."

Zhark scoffed. "Tch. Heroes? Don’t give me that holier-than-thou garbage."

"I’m not joking," Elius said. "I mean it. You still have a chance. Join me. Reform. Use your power to protect, not to destroy."

Fraven’s eyes flickered, uncertain. "Is this a trick?"

"I don’t need tricks," Elius replied. "If I wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead. I’m giving you an out."

Shania laughed bitterly. "An out? After everything we’ve done? You think the world would ever accept us again?"

"It doesn’t matter if they accept you. It matters if you try," Elius said. "Repent. Take the hard road. Become better. Be heroes."

Zhark growled. "You think we haven’t tried? I applied to the Hero Association four times! You know what they told me? They said I was too unstable. They said thunder abilities were prone to emotional spikes. They said no. Every time. No training, no mentors, nothing. Just rejection. So I made my own path."

Elius’s gaze softened a little. "And that path led here?"

Zhark clenched his fists, thunder crackling at his knuckles. "Damn right it did."

Fraven spoke next. "I tried too. When I was younger. My powers scared people. I moved things without touching them. Bent metal. Crushed cars. I was a freak. My parents locked me in a psychic null-field chamber for years. I wanted to be a hero, Elius. But they made me into something else."

"You can change," Elius insisted. "It’s not too late."

Fraven looked away. "Too late was the day I crushed that building. The one full of people. No one called me a hero then."

Elius turned to Shania. "What about you?"

Her eyes burned. "My illusions saved my family," she said. "When those gangsters came for us, they wanted to carve my mother’s eyes out because she didn’t pay protection money. I made her disappear with illusion. But the city’s heroes didn’t care. They called it illegal. They said I altered perception. They told me I should’ve let her die and waited for them to show up. But they never do. They’re always late."

"I’m not them," Elius said. "I don’t think like them. I see the potential in you."

Shania turned her head. "You used to. Before you became this."

Then Keith stepped forward. His breathing was ragged. His wounds wept. But his voice was steady.

"You want to talk?" he said. "Let’s talk. You asked why I’m doing this. Why we’re doing this. Why we’re trying to ’trap’ you."

He took a step forward.

"It’s because you don’t understand what it’s like to grow up under you."

Elius blinked, surprised.

Keith’s fists trembled.

"Go on—" Elius began.

"Alright," Keith snapped. "You asked. I’ll answer."

His voice grew louder with every word.

"You want to know what happened? Fine. Radiant Man left our mother. He know that. He watched her waste away in silence while everyone praised him for saving cities. And him to us? Hid did nothing. He trained. He became stronger. He rose higher. And we—me, Shania, the others—we were left to pick up the pieces. Now, talk about redemption like it’s easy."

Shania’s eyes shimmered. "If it weren’t for my illusions, Keith’s mother would’ve snapped. She couldn’t even look at herself in the mirror anymore."

Fraven nodded slowly. "We’re not villains because we want to be. We became this because this world made us this."

Elius looked at them all—really looked. And for a moment, something broke behind his stoic expression.

Then he closed his eyes.

"Even if the world wronged you," he said softly, "you don’t fix it by becoming the very monsters it fears."

He opened his eyes again. They gleamed.

"You fix it by standing up anyway. By doing good despite the pain. By fighting harder. You want justice? Be justice. Not vengeance."

Zhark clicked his tongue. "We don’t need sermons. We need a world that listens."

Elius frowned. "And that’s why I want you to join me. Together, we could—"

"No," Keith cut in.

Elius blinked. "What?"

"No," Keith repeated. "I know what comes after this. You bring us in. You put a good word in. Maybe we get some pity jobs. Maybe we get to call ourselves ’heroes.’ But the world won’t forget. And we won’t forget what it took to survive all this."

Elius stared at him. "You’re serious."

Keith nodded.

Fraven whispered, "We’ve already crossed the line."

Shania’s voice was softer, but firm. "There’s no coming back. Not for us."

Zhark grinned. "You talk a lot for someone who still thinks he’s right."

A pause.

And then, the wind shifted.

The smile left Elius’s face.

"I see," he said coldly. "You four are adamant on becoming villains."

He raised his hands. Crackled his knuckles. The sound echoed like dry bones snapping in a graveyard.

"Then I’ve decided," Elius whispered, his tone like thunder before a storm.

"I will teach you all a lesson—for real."