"Sweet Mask?!" Sitch cried out in shock.
What on earth was he saying? Sitch immediately grew anxious.
But Sweet Mask simply raised a hand to stop him, as though he wouldn't allow anyone to question his judgment. His gaze remained fixed solely on Fang Li.
As for Fang Li, it was as if he hadn't heard a word. His expression remained perfectly calm. Only Sylvia frowned slightly.
In the heavy silence, Sweet Mask began to speak.
"People often ask me what it takes to become a Hero." Like someone giving an interview, Sweet Mask closed his eyes and spoke with composed confidence. "There are many possible answers to that question, and I've given many myself. A heart that longs for peace. The courage to face hardship. Strength great enough to overcome any disaster. There are countless answers, and no single one applies to every situation."
"But among all those answers, there is one thing that can be stated with absolute certainty." Sweet Mask opened his eyes and looked directly at Fang Li. "That is the unwavering justice to stand against all evil. 'That' is what makes a Hero."
As he spoke, a certain emotion burned within his eyes. It was obsession, and not just obsession, but an obsession bordering on extremism.
"Fang Li, you are not qualified to be a Hero," Sweet Mask spoke without the slightest restraint. "Because in your eyes, I don't see even a trace of commitment to justice or hatred toward evil. It's as if no matter how great the tragedy unfolding before you, you'd simply step over the corpses on the ground and walk away without a second glance. Heartless. Cold. That's what you are. And because of that, you cannot become a messenger of justice, much less a Hero who carries justice through to the end."
His decisive words made the atmosphere in the reception room turn incredibly tense. Sitch swallowed nervously, cold sweat running down his back. He didn't dare interrupt and could only worry in silence.
Sylvia's frown deepened, but she paid no attention to Sweet Mask's theories. Her gaze remained fixed on Fang Li.
Fang Li had become the center of everyone's attention, yet under all those eyes, his expression never changed. Because Sweet Mask wasn't entirely wrong.
"You're right. I can't really be called a Hero. Becoming a Hero isn't something that suits me. For someone like me, the word 'Hero' itself is absurd. I have no right to claim that title." Fang Li openly acknowledged Sweet Mask's assessment.
But he continued meeting Sweet Mask's gaze and suddenly smiled. "Still, Mr. Advisor, you don't actually think you're an executor of justice, do you?"
A flicker passed through Sweet Mask's eyes.
"Oh?" he said mockingly. "Are you trying to say that I'm not qualified to be a Hero either?"
"I never said that," Fang Li replied calmly. "If a Hero is simply someone who fights evil, then you're undoubtedly a Hero. But..." A faint smile appeared on his face. "If a Hero is someone who carries justice through to the end, then, Mr. Advisor, I have to tell you something. You're not an executor of justice."
Even without knowledge of the original story, Fang Li had already seen through the essence of the man before him. Just as Sweet Mask had seen into Fang Li's heart through his eyes, Fang Li had also seen something in Sweet Mask's eyes.
Hatred. A profound hatred for evil.
"Should I call it a hatred of evil? Or an inability to tolerate even the slightest darkness?" Fang Li glanced at him and said calmly, "I can see that you harbor immense hatred toward all the evil in this world. But that isn't justice. If an entire city were destroyed before your eyes, your first thought would be, 'Those damned villains succeeded again,' not, 'I need to save everyone here.' So your feelings are simply hatred toward the existence of evil, not a desire to save the world. You're not an executor of justice. You're just someone obsessed with hating evil."
The moment those words fell, the atmosphere turned icy. For the first time, the smile vanished from Sweet Mask's face. His eyes locked onto Fang Li's, sharper than ever before.
Beside them, Sitch was already drenched in sweat, frozen in place by the chilling tension.
Only Sylvia understood what Fang Li meant. She looked toward Sweet Mask.
'This person... must have suffered some kind of trauma in the past.'
Perhaps his family had been murdered before his eyes. Perhaps the place he called home had been destroyed by Mysterious Beings. Because of that, he hated evil.
But hatred alone wasn't justice. True justice wasn't merely fighting evil; it was also saving innocent people. True justice wasn't only hatred for wrongdoing; it also required the determination to restore what had been lost. That was why Sweet Mask was merely a Hero, and why he could only ever be a Hero.
After understanding this, Sylvia finally spoke as well.
"I disagree with your conclusion." Her voice carried a trace of a sigh. "Maybe you're right that Fang Li doesn't have any particular attachment to justice or hatred toward evil. Maybe even the greatest tragedy could unfold before him and he'd step over the corpses without showing any reaction. But that doesn't mean he's capable of ignoring tragedy."
At that moment, countless memories surfaced in Sylvia's mind.
For example, Index. That girl had been bound by the Anglican Church, forced to wear a collar, denied her freedom, endlessly fleeing with only one year of memories at a time, and accepting her role as the Index Librorum Prohibitorum as the sole meaning of her existence. Yet Fang Li had saved her.
Then there was Misaka Mikoto. Driven into a corner by the Level 6 Shift Project, she too had been pulled back into the light because Fang Li chose to interfere.
And Shokuhou Misaki. Without Fang Li's words, the Queen of Tokiwadai might have completely lost herself and even been killed by the Queen Divers.
And Sylvia herself? Hadn't Fang Li saved her as well, helping her reunite with the mentor she loved like a mother?
Thinking of all this, Sylvia looked at Fang Li. Her gaze was both gentle and filled with sympathy.
"He has simply seen too many tragedies. That's all."
Her words echoed through the room. Everyone fell silent.
After a long moment, Sweet Mask let out a sigh. "It seems we can never understand each other." As he spoke, he smiled at Fang Li, a provocative smile. "Fight me."
The challenge came without warning. Before Sitch could even process how things had escalated to this point, Fang Li calmly replied:
"Sure."
(End Of This Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 70 chapters on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/GGS6395