….
While peaceful sunlight warmed the quiet living room of the faculty dorms, the world outside was violently shifting on its axis.
The immediate battlefield clean-up in Kamino Ward moved under high priority directives.
Elite Pro Heroes were dispatched to secure the perimeter and handle transport logistics, with Ryuko Tatsuma, the Dragoon Hero: Ryukyu, taking the vanguard to oversee containment and ensure no secondary threats emerged from the subterranean ruins.
Class 1-A had been escorted straight to the medical tents for comprehensive triage and psychological evaluations.
Even those without a single scratch were subjected to strict diagnostic scans.
By the time Izuku, Shoto, Bakugo, Iida, and Kirishima regrouped with Momo and the rest of the class, the overwhelming adrenaline had worn off, replaced by bone deep exhaustion.
Under standard operating procedures, their reckless, unauthorized deployment into a catastrophic warzone should have resulted in immediate disciplinary hearings or the revocation of their provisional statuses.
Not a single official dared to file a reprimand.
Even Kenji Tsuragamae, the perpetually strict Chief of the Police Force, chose to turn a blind eye and process their reports with minimal friction.
Every high ranking official across the law enforcement and Hero departments had already received the urgent briefing about Dabi's visit to the Hero Public Safety Commission.
Nobody in the department was foolish enough to antagonize the students of a man who had casually strolled into the executive office, rewritten the commission's command chain in under five minutes, and threatened to level the agency if anyone crossed his line.
….
A few wards away, the atmosphere in the central hospital was suffocatingly bleak.
Enji Todoroki sat motionless on the edge of his private room's bed.
Bandaged and stripped of his towering flames, the Number Two Hero had not uttered a single syllable throughout the entire transit from Kamino.
When Fuyumi and Natsuo rushed to his side, their frantic questions and quiet concerns were met with total, hollow silence.
His gaze remained locked onto the floor, his mind entirely shattered by the realization that his discarded masterpiece had returned not as a vengeful phantom, but as the undisputed apex of the Hero world.
The attending physicians quietly pulled the siblings aside, advising them to step out and give him space.
The physical trauma was manageable, but the psychological shock ran too deep for immediate answers.
….
Across the nation, the public reaction was an unprecedented storm of conflicting emotions.
Unlike the fractured reality of the past where faith in Hero society collapsed into rampant anarchy, the absolute destruction of All For One in broad daylight had prevented total panic.
Yet, the foundational trust of the populace was deeply rattled.
The broadcast confirming Toya Todoroki's survival and Endeavor's domestic abuses had spread across every social network, sparking fierce debates.
While a handful of loyalists attempted to defend the flame hero's record, their voices were rapidly drowned out by public indignation.
The larger, more pressing debate gripping every street corner, café, and news network was the fate of the top ranking:
All Might's withered form had been broadcast to millions.
In his hospital room, heavily bandaged while speaking with Naomasa Tsukauchi and Gran Torino, Toshinori Yagi confirmed what everyone feared.
The last embers of his power were entirely spent, and his era as the active Symbol of Peace was permanently over.
With All Might retired and Endeavor disgraced, public consensus naturally turned toward the man who had obliterated the biggest villain in Hero society.
Blue Sun.
Yet, even the moniker itself felt obsolete.
"How can you even call him 'Blue Sun' anymore?" civilians argued in packed subway stations and internet forums. "Did you see the broadcast? He froze half a district in permafrost before unleashing a firestorm that swallowed the sky. He's an elemental catastrophe, and calling him a sun ignores half of what he just did."
The idea of Dabi becoming the new "Symbol of Peace" felt fundamentally contradictory.
Anyone who had watched the broadcast saw that Dabi was not a smiling savior who promised comfort.
He was a terrifying, pragmatic apex predator who openly mocked villains, fought on his own ruthless terms, and didn't bother offering comforting words to the cameras.
In public discourse, people began proposing new titles to capture his terrifying duality.
The "Absolute Horizon," the "Frostfire Sovereign," or simply the "Vigilant Dragon."
He wasn't a pillar people leaned on for hope, but a sleeping dragon perched atop a mountain, warning the darkness that stepping out of line meant instant obliteration.
While millions revered his overwhelming power, conservative factions and cautious civilians viewed his brutal methods, sharp tongue, and unpredictability with deep unease.
Inside the National Police Agency headquarters, high ranking commissioners gathered in urgent, smoke filled strategy meetings.
"We cannot make the same mistake twice." a senior superintendent rumbled, slamming a thick operational dossier onto the table–
"For thirty years, this entire nation leaned entirely on Toshinori Yagi's broad shoulders. When All Might smiled, society slept soundly, and the police force grew complacent, turning into a glorified cleanup crew.
"We cannot simply swap one all powerful pillar for another. Especially not one as volatile and untamable as Dabi. We must expand standard law enforcement authority, modernize our quirk suppression weaponry, and take an active operational stance so society never relies on a single man again."
The room murmured in solemn, resolute agreement.
They pledged to learn from their past, vow independence, and build a system that stood on its own two feet without leaning on a solitary savior.
Yet, they failed to recognize the bitter truth of human nature: the only thing humanity ever truly learns from history is that it never learns from history.
The instinct to look up at the sky, point toward an overwhelming force in the clouds, and let out a collective sigh of relief while abandoning personal responsibility was already taking root.
No matter how much paperwork the police drafted, the moment the ground shook again, the entire nation would inevitably turn their eyes back toward the dragon's perch.
….
At the National Police Agency headquarters, high-ranking commissioners and senior strategists gathered in emergency sessions.
The consensus was grim: relying on a single omnipotent "Symbol" had crippled systemic resilience.
The police force could no longer afford to remain mere background retrieval squads, prompting urgent structural reforms to expand standard law enforcement authority, modernize Quirk-suppression weaponry, and adopt a more active operational stance against the growing underground syndicates.
Beneath the visible surface of the Hero system, the true bedrock of Japan's authority was preparing for sweeping realignment.
The civilian government, holding absolute constitutional authority over the HPSC, the national budget, and the penal system, faced unprecedented leverage shifts.
With the Hero Commission effectively neutralized and restructured from within by Dabi's sudden coup, the bureaucratic monopoly on quirk governance was in complete disarray.
…and while the dragon slept soundly in his home with his family, there was still something that needed his focus.
For years, Dabi had been fully aware of their existence.
Unlike the bombastic, destructive street gangs like the Shie Hassaikai or the theatrical chaos of the League, this faction had chosen silence.
They had spent decades building an empire rooted in the very fabric of legitimate society.
Amassing wealth, corporate monopolies, media networks, and legislative seats.
Because they kept their heads down and caused no direct harm to his circle, Dabi had deliberately ignored them, treating them as irrelevant background noise while he handled immediate threats.
Now, with the Symbol of Peace extinguished and the Hero Public Safety Commission decapitated in broad daylight, the Meta Liberation Army decided it was finally time to step out of the shadows.
Deep within the high rise executive suite of the Detnerat Corporation, Rikiya Yotsubashi, known in the underworld as Re-Destro, the Grand Commander of the Meta Liberation Army and direct descendant of the original founder, Chikara Yotsubashi (Destro), stood before an array of secure, encrypted monitors alongside his core leadership circle.
Under Re-Destro's command, the MLA operated not like common street villains, but as an elite, multi-industry coalition:
The Supreme Command: Re-Destro led the movement as its Grand Commander, carrying the bloodline and sacred ideology of his ancestor Destro while serving publicly as the affluent, influential CEO of the Detnerat Corporation.
The Corporate Backbone: Detnerat quietly directed billions of yen in high-tech support gear, research, and covert black-market funding directly into their private military lines.
The Political Machine: Koku Hanabata (Trumpet), leader of the Hearts and Minds Party, utilized his immense political clout, public charisma, and legislative influence to mobilize a massive civilian voting base and draft legal reforms in the Diet.
The Media Apparatus: Chitose Kizuki (Curious), executive editor of Feel Good Inc., coordinated tailored narratives across mainstream publications, systematically normalizing Destro's autobiographical manifesto, The Meta Liberation War.
The Concealed Fortress: In Deika City, over a hundred thousand embedded citizens, municipal workers, and local officials operated as a fully integrated sleeper army, awaiting the final order to mobilize.
"The board is clear." Hanabata reported to Re-Destro, his voice smooth and laced with absolute confidence as data streams flickered across the screens–
"The Commission's leadership has collapsed, the police are scrambling in panic, and the public is drowning in skepticism. We do not need to shed blood in the streets.
"Instead, we will use the National Diet to introduce our deregulation bills, reassign sympathetic prefectural chiefs, and dismantle the Quirk Restriction Laws through the very democratic process they hold sacred."
Re-Destro steepled his fingers, a cold, triumphant smile spreading across his face.
Across the country, covert orders were transmitted.
Bank transfers cleared, legislative drafts were finalized, and hidden armories in Deika City were quietly primed.
Re-Destro, Hanabata, and their inner circle believed their path to supreme authority was completely unobstructed, viewing the chaos left in Kamino's wake as their golden era of ascension.
They had no idea that their entire empire had merely existed on borrowed time…
Allowed to stand solely because the apex predator currently dozing on a tatami mat hadn't found a reason to burn it down yet.
.
….
[To be continued…]
★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★
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