However, to Shigaraki's surprise, after hearing those words, All Might showed no trace of pain or hesitation.
Instead, he merely stared at him in silence for a moment before speaking calmly.
"You're lying."
"Hah?"
Shigaraki immediately became interested.
How had All Might seen through it?
What exactly gave him away?
Or was he simply gambling?
Thinking that, Shigaraki decided to probe a little further.
"What are you talking about?"
Seeing Shigaraki continue pretending to be clueless, All Might frowned slightly.
"Enough with the act."
"Don't you think this kind of bluffing is pointless?"
At that point, Shigaraki naturally realized that All Might had never believed his story in the first place.
Although he still didn't know the exact reason, one thing was obvious.
His attempt to make All Might suspect his own allies had failed.
Thinking of that, Shigaraki clicked his tongue in disappointment.
He had genuinely been looking forward to watching All Might grow suspicious of this person and that person, only to eventually discover he had wasted enormous amounts of time and energy chasing a nonexistent traitor.
That there had never been a mole among the people attending the meeting at all.
He had wanted to see that painful expression.
Yet before the play even truly began, it had already ended.
What a disappointment.
Fortunately, Shigaraki had never seriously expected a few words alone to completely destroy All Might's trust in his allies.
So he quickly adjusted his mood and looked at All Might curiously.
"What gave me away?"
Hearing the question, All Might glanced at him calmly.
"I simply don't believe a villain like you would honestly reveal information about your own side."
"That's all."
Yes.
From the very beginning, All Might had never believed Shigaraki would casually hand over the truth.
So instead of blindly accepting his words, he selectively listened, then judged everything based on his own experience and his understanding of Shigaraki's personality.
Which parts were true.
Which parts were false.
At first, All Might had thought he might be overthinking things.
But now it seemed his instincts had been right.
Shigaraki had never intended to tell him the truth.
In fact, he had deliberately tried to feed him false information and lead him astray.
Fortunately, All Might hadn't fallen for it.
Otherwise, the consequences would have been severe.
If the Symbol of Peace started suspecting his own allies of betrayal—
the resulting scandal would shake hero society itself.
This boy...
really was vicious.
Thinking that, All Might found Shigaraki's masked face increasingly irritating.
Meanwhile, after learning the reason his bluff had failed, Shigaraki immediately looked disappointed.
"What? Just because of that?"
"Tch. What a letdown."
"Here I thought you had some special ability to tell when people were lying."
However, All Might ignored the complaint entirely.
Instead, his eyes continued observing Shigaraki's every movement carefully, as though preparing to capture him at any moment and force him to release everyone trapped in this strange space.
And honestly, that was exactly what All Might had been considering.
But in the end, he abandoned the idea.
Because Kurogiri was standing nearby the entire time, watching him without blinking.
The black-mist man clearly looked ready to activate his Quirk and teleport Shigaraki away the instant All Might made a move.
Seeing that, All Might could only suppress the thought of taking Shigaraki hostage.
After all, he understood Kurogiri's Quirk fairly well.
Once activated, stopping him would be nearly impossible.
And if Shigaraki escaped, then All Might's attempt to gather information while pinning down the enemy's strongest combatants here to reduce the pressure on the others would fail entirely.
That simply wasn't worth the risk.
Thinking that through, All Might chose to continue asking questions instead.
At the very least, he could stall for time and create opportunities for the others to escape.
At the same time, he could probe Shigaraki's objectives and search for clues about this dimensional prison.
"Tsuki Sengen."
"Your Quirk isn't actually illusion creation or sensory interference, is it?"
"It's barrier creation... correct?"
Although the question was directed at Tsuki Sengen, All Might's eyes never left Shigaraki.
Clearly, he already understood who the true leader of this group was.
Without Shigaraki's permission, Tsuki Sengen would never casually reveal information about his Quirk.
Hearing the question, Shigaraki tilted his head slightly and exchanged a glance with the Sludge Villain before sneering.
"And why exactly should I tell you what my subordinate's Quirk is?"
Honestly, he found the question absurd.
Why did All Might think he would casually reveal his side's secrets?
Did he seriously believe that just because they had exchanged a few words, Shigaraki had suddenly become the kind of idiot who explained everything to his enemies?
Please.
The fewer people who understood a Quirk, the better.
After all, the more information an enemy had, the easier it became to develop counters against it.
Besides—
did All Might really think Shigaraki hadn't realized he was stalling for time?
Trying to buy opportunities for the other heroes to escape?
No.
Shigaraki had understood that from the very beginning.
The reason he cooperated so patiently was because delaying things was also part of his own plan.
Otherwise, he would have attacked All Might long ago.
Thinking that, a mocking glint flashed through Shigaraki's eyes.
"I say, All Might..."
"Have you turned into some American comic-book character or something?"
"Did your brain get Americanized too?"
"You're actually asking your enemy to reveal his own secrets?"
"Are you stupid?"
The ridicule in Shigaraki's smile deepened further.
"Or do you think I'm one of those brain-dead villains from television dramas who captures the hero, then spends ten minutes explaining the entire plan, exposing all their goals, revealing the weaknesses of their abilities, and finally getting reverse-killed because they talked too much?"
"Come on."
"Do I really look that stupid to you?"
"There should still be limits to disrespect, you know?"
As he spoke, Shigaraki's expression gradually grew more twisted and malicious.
At this moment, he looked even more villainous than Muscular standing beside him.
"When you catch your enemy..."
"the correct thing to do is kill them immediately."
A wicked grin spread across his face.
"Happy endings?"
"There's no way I'd ever allow something like that to happen."
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