"Retreat now, and there's still time… But I suppose you wouldn't do that, would you?"
Raoul, who had appeared in Ren Amamiya's form, slowly curved his lips into a sinister smile. Although he wanted to advise Ren Amamiya to leave the Palace and stay away from the Treasure, as Ren Amamiya's other half, Persona Raoul actually already knew what kind of answer Ren Amamiya would give.
"My purpose is to take the Treasure from my own Palace. As long as you hand over the hidden Treasure to me, I can take everyone and leave the Palace right now."
Sure enough, facing Persona Raoul's warning, Ren Amamiya still chose to insist on his desires.
"If you want to obtain the Treasure, you must first defeat the related Palace ruler. You already know this rule, don't you?"
Sensing Ren Amamiya's unbreakable determination and will, the smile on Raoul's face widened. The light shining in its golden eyes grew even brighter and more dazzling. A crimson-black wave, like a congealed curse and malice, surged from behind Raoul, then completely engulfed its body!
Crack, crackle—!!
The space rapidly developed conspicuous cracks, like shattering glass. Along with the crisp sound of breaking glass, the hidden truth of this museum Palace was prominently revealed before Ren Amamiya and the others.
"This form is… Arsene?"
When the crimson-black tide receded, what appeared before Ren Amamiya wasn't the second-awakened Persona Raoul, but Arsene, his initial Persona.
"I see. So even a Persona that has completed its second awakening can freely switch back to its initial stage before awakening."
Looking at Persona Arsene, floating ethereally in the opposite position, exuding a powerful, profound, and ghostly aura, its pair of black falcon wings fully spread, its crimson demonic face displaying a soul-stirring, eerie glow, Ren Amamiya, examining his own Persona from an adversarial perspective for the first time, suddenly showed a look of realization.
Following the usual flow, Persona Raoul, as the second stage, would undoubtedly be waiting behind to challenge him.
Ren Amamiya, who had finally upgraded Persona Arsene to Persona Raoul after countless hardships and trials, was the one who knew Raoul's strength best.
He had carried a great deal of pressure on his way here. However, now, when facing Persona Arsene and about to engage in battle, the string in his heart, which had been stretched to its limit, relaxed slightly.
If you ask why, it was naturally because Arsene still maintained the appearance of a Persona, rather than degenerating into a more distorted and chaotic Shadow form.
Since Arsene was still Ren Amamiya's Persona, merely firmly adhering to its own will in preventing him from accessing the Palace Treasure, and would even allow Ren Amamiya to safely withdraw from the Palace without touching the Treasure, this proved Hare's conjecture correct.
Persona Arsene, Ren Amamiya's other half, hadn't betrayed him. It simply wanted to diligently protect Ren Amamiya's safety, even preventing Ren Amamiya himself from accessing the Palace Treasure, which it deemed extremely dangerous.
What Ren Amamiya was about to face wasn't a life-or-death [struggle], but a [challenge] to achieve a deeper understanding of himself!
"The music in the Palace has changed. Is it because we've entered a battle state?" Bronya's small, fair ears twitched slightly. She keenly sensed the change in the background music that had been quietly playing in the museum space.
The moment Persona Arsene revealed its true form, the leisurely and tranquil rainy-day melody abruptly stopped.
Then, oppressive music, like a throbbing heartbeat, resounded from all directions, as if a heavy and magnificent, solemn epic was unfolding a new chapter. Beneath the suppressed torrent, a surging sense of power frantically accumulated, awaiting the moment of complete eruption and release.
Just by listening to this battle theme, titled "Blooming Villain," Bronya felt herself filled with power, even her blood boiling to the point where she wanted to immediately summon Project Bunny and mercilessly bombard the enemy's face with shells.
However, recalling the strength difference between herself and Ren Amamiya, and considering that this was Ren Amamiya's own Palace, perhaps Persona Arsene, as the Palace ruler, would truly receive a power boost from the BGM.
So, Bronya, whose head had briefly heated up, quickly calmed down. The figure of Project Bunny 19C, with its silver-white armor outlined with pale blue energy lines, materialized from virtual to real behind her. As Bronya silently raised her arm, Project Bunny's synchronously raised cannon muzzle also began to slowly accumulate a large amount of energy.
"What kind of change has happened to my Treasure? Or will the Palace undergo some even more unfavorable change than collapse after the Persona user's Treasure is taken? Arsene, I can feel it. Although you're outwardly preventing me from accessing the Treasure, you're actually trying to remind me and test whether I'm truly qualified to touch the Treasure, right?"
Azure flames ignited on Ren Amamiya's body. Ren Amamiya, now in his black Phantom Thief attire due to the flames, fully entered a battle stance. He raised his hand and pressed the white spirit-bird mask on his face, preparing his Persona, and then threw a series of questions from his heart towards Persona Arsene opposite him.
"That's right, this is indeed a trial! So-called growth is about constantly overcoming and surpassing your past self—Can you overcome your past self? As the Trickster who bears the responsibility of saving the world, you won't make it without that kind of resolve!!"
After transforming into its Persona form, Arsene's voice became noticeably deeper. Like a riddler, it avoided the topic of the Treasure, merely frankly admitting the truth that this battle was its trial to see if Ren Amamiya was qualified to access the Treasure.
After saying this last sentence, Persona Arsene clearly had no intention of further conversation. The massive falcon wings on Arsene's back suddenly flapped, and a violent gust of wind, like a hurricane, pressed down on Ren Amamiya and the others. Although it didn't blow them away, it firmly pinned everyone in place.
"Trickster…"
Facing the onslaught of the wind, Vill-V was one of the few who seemed at ease. She raised her hand to hold down her top hat with gears, which was almost blown away by the storm. Her pinkish-white gradient pupils couldn't help but gaze towards Ren Amamiya again, her pink lips murmuring the word she had heard from Persona Arsene, a word that particularly intrigued her.
From the very beginning, Vill-V had felt that Ren Amamiya possessed a certain quality extremely similar to her own.
And now, this quality had been clearly pointed out by Persona Arsene!
""Persona!!!""
Ren Amamiya and Raiden Mei, having changed into their Phantom Thief attire, simultaneously threw the masks they wore. The spinning white spirit-bird mask and black demon mask crossed paths in an instant. Soaring azure flames and crashing crimson lightning completely shattered the violent aura stirred up by Persona Arsene.
Along with the synchronized calls of Ren Amamiya and Raiden Mei, the two Persona users, an azure dragon with deer antlers, eagle talons, fish scales, and a serpentine body, and a crimson dragon with unfurled, massive dragon wings, prominently appeared high in the sky, their four dragon eyes looking down from above at Persona Arsene in the lower air.
"Seiryu, use Mabufudyne!!"
"Roar, Kurikara!!"
Obeying the commands from their Persona users, the azure dragon exhaled an extreme frost breath, while the crimson dragon opened its massive jaws wide. After the purplish-red lightning thoroughly baptized the ground, the roaring thunder finally, belatedly, resounded.
[If we wait until that guy gets completely serious, it'll be too late. While it's not that serious right now… Hey, Seele, just for Ren's sake, give me complete control of your body!!] Persona Arsene casually shattered the ice formed by the frost breath and effortlessly tore apart the crimson lightning falling from the sky. The high-speed shuttles thrown by Armored Hare, like a meteor shower, were easily shot down by black feather arrows launched by Persona Arsene flapping its falcon wings.
As for Bronya's Project Bunny's collapsed cannon, which she finally fired after a long charge… Although Bronya chose her moment to enter the battlefield with veteran cunning, perfectly exploiting the gap between her teammates' attacks to form a highly suppressive combination offense, no damage meant no damage.
Even though Project Bunny 19C had been somewhat enhanced and amplified by the Herrscher of Reason Core fragments, this level of attack power, not even reaching the output of a complete Herrscher, couldn't even budge Persona Arsene. It merely shielded itself with one black wing to completely defend against Project Bunny's cannon fire.
And as Persona Arsene abruptly flapped its black falcon wing, the orange-yellow collapsed cannon could only regrettably dissipate into a shower of fine light specks, serving only a slight ornamental purpose.
[Although it's not as strong as during the second awakening, even if that guy reverts to its initial form, its strength is still much greater than before yesterday… Seele, you can't do anything on your own. Even if I lend you more power, it won't help. In this situation, only by letting me take control of your body can we exert maximum power!!]
Seele wasn't skilled in long-range attacks. Therefore, facing the extremely intense battlefield ahead, Seele could only tightly grip the nursery rhyme scythe in her hand, anxiously waiting for her turn to strike.
However, just by watching Persona Arsene's effortless demeanor while dealing with her teammates' attacks, Seele naturally understood that she wouldn't be of much use.
Even though Seele's strength had long surpassed her Big Sister Bronya's due to the X-10 experiment and Stigmata awakening, and the strength gap between them only began to shrink again after Bronya started to access the Herrscher of Reason Core fragments, in the face of Persona Arsene's overwhelming strength, both Seele and Bronya felt a profound sense of powerlessness, like looking up at an insurmountable mountain.
To Persona Arsene, the strength difference between Seele and Bronya was negligible, because neither posed any threat to it.
While Seele observed the battlefield, Veliona's voice, clearly tinged with anxiety, quietly echoed in her mind.
Also being a Stigmata Archetype, Hare was willing to believe that Arsene hadn't betrayed them, but Veliona only trusted what her own eyes saw.
What Veliona saw now was Persona Arsene playing riddles with Ren Amamiya and very clearly initiating an attack against him.
Regardless of whether Persona Arsene's betrayal was real or fake, the mere fact that it attacked Ren Amamiya was enough reason for Veliona to find it disagreeable and want to come out and teach it a lesson.
"I understand… Your feeling of wanting to help Big Brother Ren is the same as mine. I can't help Big Brother Ren by myself right now, so I'll leave it to you next, my other self!!" Seele gently touched her chest, her delicate white fingers brushing over the crimson Stigmata, as if she could feel Veliona's constantly beating heart.
Then, Seele gently closed her eyes, allowing her consciousness to sink, as if falling into the embrace of a dark and profound ocean, and thus into a sweet dream.
Ripples spread across Seele's Sea of Heart, and then the boundary between inner and outer completely reversed.
The rattling sound of chains echoed continuously. A blackish-red mist, as deep as death, enveloped Seele's slender and delicate body. Her short, bluish-black hair instantly transformed into waist-length, reddish-black hair.
Crimson eyes snapped open. A confident smile appeared on Veliona's delicate face. Her figure shot towards Persona Arsene like a cannonball, and the massive crimson claws connected by chains beside her abruptly launched out during the charge.
Although Veliona knew Persona Arsene's strength, she felt that she hadn't been completely stagnant during this time either.
There was no special barrier against Honkai energy here; Veliona could fully exert her own strength.
Even if she couldn't truly match Arsene, if it was just to hold it off for a bit, she could totally, easily do it!
"…Shadow Seele? Good chance!" Since Seele joined the team, this was the first time Veliona had proactively engaged in battle without being summoned by Ren Amamiya.
Therefore, when Ren Amamiya saw Veliona launch a surprise attack on Persona Arsene, he instinctively widened his eyes slightly.
However, almost in an instant, Ren Amamiya reacted, keenly seizing the opportunity presented by Veliona's attack on Persona Arsene.
The crimson-black Jizo Mitama katana fell into Ren Amamiya's hand. He raised his left hand and pressed the Void Archives bracelet on his right wrist. The activated Void Archives transformed into golden fluid, flowing into Ren Amamiya's left palm, finally solidifying into a golden, mimicked Jizo Mitama.
Ren Amamiya dual-wielded the Jizo Mitama and the mimicked Jizo Mitama, their structures identical, their crimson-black and golden blades crossing in an X-shape.
He decisively activated Jizo Mitama's enhancement ability. A crimson-black miasma, symbolizing the power of Erosion, enveloped Ren Amamiya's body, bringing him a significant power boost.
The power of the Jizo Mitama mimicked by the Void Archives was clearly weaker than the real Jizo Mitama, but thanks to the combined effect, Ren Amamiya still received at least a 1.5 times enhancement.
Clang, clang, clang—!!!
Persona Seiryu's eyes suddenly lit up with golden light. The crisp sound of bells flowed from the void, and visible golden ripples spread outwards at a speed that seemed slow but was actually fast.
Affected by the ripples of time, Persona Arsene seemed to be trapped in an invisible quagmire of air, its movements noticeably sluggish.
Even though Persona Arsene quickly broke through the seal of time with its demonic power, Veliona's offensive had already reached it.
Along with the rattling sound of chains, Persona Arsene's body was tightly bound by heavy chains. After the cold chains finished coiling around it like a python, two crimson claws firmly gripped its body, continuously exerting a violent force capable of easily crushing fine steel into pieces.
"Veliona, throw Arsene towards me!!" The grip and claw strikes of the crimson claws on Persona Arsene were enough to cause it some damage, but that level of damage wasn't enough to affect Arsene's state.
Even though Veliona's level had increased considerably since their first encounter, as Arsene's Persona user, Ren Amamiya clearly knew how easy it was for Arsene to break free from Veliona's chain restraints.
In fact, even as Ren Amamiya was giving commands to Veliona, Veliona was already showing a strained expression due to the difficulty of maintaining the chains binding Persona Arsene.
Before Veliona, instinctively obeying Ren Amamiya's command and swinging the chains, could throw Arsene to its highest point, Persona Arsene had already abruptly extended its arms, completely breaking free from the chains, and regained its freedom.
However, with the time Veliona had bought, Ren Amamiya had enough time to prepare his next attack.
"Come on, Black Frost!! Use Miracle Punch on Arsene!!"
Azure flames suddenly surged. As Persona Seiryu, circling in the sky, disappeared, a colossal shadow, like a mountain, quietly emerged.
The giant, entirely black Black Frost revealed a mischievous smile. It let out a muffled "Heh!" like a child whose prank had succeeded. Its massive right fist, clenched tightly, descended upon Persona Arsene, who could no longer dodge, with irresistible force, instantly smashing Arsene from high in the sky to the ground, creating a huge crater in the museum Palace floor.
For a moment, the entire Palace was thrown into an earthquake-like tremor!!