Although it was unknown why Persona Thanatos, which should have required separate fusion, was now combined with Persona Orpheus, the current situation was undoubtedly favorable for Ren Amamiya.
With Persona Raoul, his other half, as his opponent, Ren Amamiya's only way to win was through surprise.
And as Ren Amamiya's original Persona, Raoul was incredibly familiar with Ren Amamiya's fighting style, knowing all the trump cards he had ever shown.
To defeat Persona Raoul, who knew him inside out, Ren Amamiya had to make full use of tools and powers that not only Raoul was unfamiliar with, but that he himself had only recently obtained.
For example, the Treasure Void Archives, imbued with divine power, or the high-level Personas fused last night with Vill-V's assistance.
Persona Thanatos was undoubtedly a powerful new trump card, especially Thanatos's curse-reflecting constitution.
Although Persona Raoul was immune to curse damage, meaning it wouldn't be harmed even if an attack was reflected, at least when facing Thanatos, Persona Raoul's most proficient and powerful curse-type skills were effectively banned by Ren Amamiya… though Thanatos's own curse damage was also banned by Raoul.
"ROOOOAR—!!!"
Ren Amamiya's thoughts raced like lightning. In reality, Persona Thanatos had just broken free and emerged, throwing its arms open to the sky, announcing its presence with a deep roar.
"Such strong death energy… Is this that guy's newly acquired Persona?"
The crimson claws, dragged by chains, tore three deep gashes into Persona Cinderella's crystal-like, shimmering body, launching her far into the distance.
Veliona, who had been fighting cognitive Yoshizawa with ease, turned her head as she sensed a power akin to her own—and felt a flicker of shock at the overwhelming death energy that Persona Thanatos was now unleashing without restraint.
"Thanatos, use Agidyne!!"
Raiden Mei, who had been fighting on par with cognitive Okumura, was slightly distracted by Persona Thanatos's appearance.
She had initially been concerned about Thanatos's appearance, fearing that this Persona, as terrifying as the God of Death and whose debut was a wild, rampant display, might disobey Ren Amamiya's commands, especially since Persona Raoul was a living example of such a case.
Fortunately, Persona Thanatos instantly executed the command from its Persona user. Surging crimson flames were compressed into a sphere, and this blazing projectile, as hot and dazzling as a miniature sun, was hurled by Thanatos towards Persona Raoul's position.
At the same moment Ren Amamiya commanded Thanatos, a small, sun-like crimson flame also formed in Persona Raoul's hand. He too unleashed the skill Agidyne.
The two identical flame attacks collided, triggering a searing storm of heat that surged through every corner of the Palace.
"It seems Ren is fine for now on his side, but I still need to defeat my enemy as soon as possible and then go help Ren!"
Seeing Ren Amamiya confronting his strongest Persona, Raoul, alone, and not seeming to be at a disadvantage for the time being, Raiden Mei, enduring the impact of the hot wind, let out a slight sigh of relief.
Then, her eyes sharpened again, and the purple-black katana Raikiri, wreathed in lightning, in her hand, suddenly slashed towards cognitive Okumura in front of her, clashing violently with the black battle-axe.
The Necronomicon UFO, circling high in the battlefield, happened to be hovering directly above cognitive Okumura. A multicolored strengthening beam suddenly descended from the UFO's light device, falling first upon cognitive Okumura's body.
Raiden Mei, currently engaged in a power struggle with cognitive Okumura using her katana Raikiri, could clearly feel cognitive Okumura's strength being enhanced. The black battle-axe began to gradually overpower the purple-black katana, steadily pressing its blade towards Raiden Mei.
And just as Raiden Mei gritted her teeth, persisting and quickly thinking of a countermeasure, a dazzling blue electromagnetic wave beam suddenly shot from afar, swiftly sweeping past Raiden Mei and cognitive Okumura, who were in close proximity.
The moment the electromagnetic wave beam swept over her body, Raiden Mei instinctively activated Raikiri's built-in strong electromagnetic shield.
When the dazzling blue light wave disappeared, she didn't notice anything unusual with her body. Instead, she felt that cognitive Okumura, who had just received a power boost, had been knocked back to its original state. The force pressing down from the black battle-axe suddenly weakened considerably.
"Nice job, Bronya!!"
Raiden Mei's eyes lit up. She praised Bronya, who was controlling Project Bunny to fire the electromagnetic wave, and then keenly seized the opening created by cognitive Okumura's brief imbalance due to the removal of its enhancement.
The bird-shaped, deep blue lightning swords surrounding Raiden Mei knocked the black battle-axe's blade aside. As the black battle-axe slashed down, grazing the edge of the strong electromagnetic shield, the blade of Raikiri, erupting with brilliant lightning, had already cut across cognitive Okumura's slender neck.
Considering the strength of Persona Goemon and Persona Milady, it would take a long time for the two, who had no elemental weaknesses against each other, to determine a winner.
However, in terms of the strength of the two Persona users, Raiden Mei, who had practiced kendo since childhood and had mastered the Hokushin Ittō-ryū to the Menkyo Kaiden level, was clearly stronger than Okumura Haru, who, in Ren Amamiya's cognition, was a delicate young lady who only knew how to tend to flowers… even if Okumura Haru was suspected of being a surprisingly strong young lady.
Cognitive Okumura fell to the ground with a thud. Her gaze remained unchanged from beginning to end. Thus, with a calm expression, she dissolved into a pool of crimson-black tide and disappeared before Raiden Mei's eyes.
"I didn't expect to be the first one to defeat my opponent. Although I want to go help Ren, it might be a bit difficult to intervene in the battle between Ren and Raoul…"
After Veliona took over Seele's account, Raiden Mei's strength automatically dropped to the second-to-last tier in the Phantom Thieves team, second only to the half-baked Bronya.
Even Raiden Mei herself didn't expect to be the first to defeat her opponent and get the chance to support Ren Amamiya in battle.
However, looking at the ever-intensifying battle between Persona Thanatos and Persona Raoul in the sky, Raiden Mei couldn't help but frown in difficulty for a moment.
Persona Thanatos's figure, ethereal and ghostly, approached Raoul. The black longsword in its hand suddenly thrust out, the golden tip grazing Raoul's crimson coat, leaving a gash.
At the same time, golden lightning crackled in Persona Raoul's hand, the sound of thunder like a thousand birds chirping. The dancing golden lightning propelled its black, sharp claws towards Persona Thanatos.
Raoul's lightning claw attack was fierce and swift. However, facing Raoul's lightning claw assault, the saintly coffins surrounding Persona Thanatos automatically rotated to its front to defend.
Even with the power of lightning, Raoul's black, sharp claws couldn't penetrate the protection of these saintly coffins, which were harder than steel, to harm Thanatos. They could only uselessly create a shower of sparks.
Taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the saintly coffins defending against Raoul's offensive, Persona Thanatos's attacks became even more frenzied and violent. Its cold, steel maw opened to its limit, revealing a golden human face within its steely mouth.
A deafening roar, as if possessing the power to lash the soul, made Persona Raoul, which was enduring the sonic roar at close range, slightly stiffen its agile figure, forced to receive a series of Thanatos's ferocious sword slashes.
"Roar, Kurikara!!"
After Persona Raoul flapped its mechanical bat wings to create distance from Thanatos, escaping Thanatos's frenzied, berserk-like sword attacks, a loud and powerful dragon roar suddenly resounded from behind Persona Raoul.
Finally seizing the opportunity to enter the battlefield, Raiden Mei decisively ordered Persona Kurikara. A pillar of crimson demonic lightning breath erupted from Kurikara's dragon maw.
The wide-area lightning bombardment attack sealed off Raoul's possibility of dodging, forcing it to endure Kurikara's fierce lightning breath onslaught.
When the vast storm of lightning subsided, Persona Raoul's crimson coat was in tatters. A scorching, smoky smell emanated from its body, and the sword slashes and lightning strike wounds on its surface became even more apparent.
Chilling cold air quietly permeated the area. A massive ice spear, like a meteor, crashed down from Persona Thanatos's direction. Raoul had to disperse the white light specks it had just conjured, preparing to heal itself, and abruptly flapped its mechanical bat wings to avoid the giant ice spear about to crush it.
Persona Raoul originally possessed extremely strong maneuverability in the air, its figure like a speeding crimson meteor.
However, before this crimson meteor could reach its maximum flight speed, Persona Raoul was forced to an emergency stop, flapping its black and gold mechanical bat wings to hover in the sky.
Boom—!!
Behind Raoul, the Necronomicon UFO, flashing a dangerous red light, trailed a long plume of smoke as it spiraled down from high above, eventually crashing into the ground and causing a violent explosion.
After stopping abruptly in mid-air, Persona Raoul focused its gaze on the airspace surrounding it. Countless slender javelins, surrounded by a faint purplish glow like stars, densely occupied the entire sky. Their cold, gleaming tips were all aimed at Raoul's position.
Several thousand javelins were harmonized and linked into a single entity by the dreamlike purple light bands entwined around them, forming a terrifying mechanism where touching one part would trigger the whole.
Once Raoul touched any node, the thousands of densely packed javelins, like stars, would instantly shoot towards Raoul, who triggered the mechanism.
"Is it Hare…? As expected, without command, the intelligence of cognitive existences is far inferior to that of real people."
Pressing a white light orb, radiating a dense life aura, into its body, Persona Raoul, its injuries healing at a visible rate, looked down at the ground. Sure enough, Hare and Veliona had already defeated the cognitive existences of the Phantom Thieves they were facing and had rejoined the ranks supporting Ren Amamiya.
Veliona ascended into the sky, joining Thanatos, Armored Hare, and Kurikara in surrounding Persona Raoul from four different directions. Bronya, on the ground outside the battlefield, was also controlling Project Bunny to charge its collapsed cannon once again.
"…Alright. If you can overcome this move, then I will allow you to access this Palace's Treasure."
The surrounded Persona Raoul let out a soft sigh. It slowly raised its right hand as if holding something. Along with Raoul's upward arm movement, the entire space darkened visibly, plunging into a silent and deep night environment in the blink of an eye.
"This move is—!!"
Raiden Mei's eyes widened abruptly. She recognized the move Raoul intended to use next and deeply understood that if Raoul successfully executed this move, it truly possessed the potential to turn the tide of battle once more.
"We have to stop that guy!!"
A look of anxiety also appeared on Veliona's face. She burst forth with all her speed, rushing towards Persona Raoul.
However, neither Kurikara nor Veliona could ultimately match Persona Raoul's speed in executing its skill.
"—Showtime!!"
A cold and gentle light orb, like the bright moon, emerged from Persona Raoul's palm, and was then instantly crushed by Raoul.
In the dark, moonless night environment, a highly inclusive full moon illusion, like a reflection of flowers in a mirror or the moon in water, rose up.
The clear image of the moon was reflected in Raiden Mei's amethyst eyes. Her consciousness suddenly plunged into a blank and empty state, and Persona Kurikara's movements instantly stopped.
Veliona was also hit. Her slender figure, in mid-charge, fell towards the ground like a kite with a broken string.
"This is the end."
Looking down at Ren Amamiya, who had plunged both Jizo Mitama: Etched into the ground, forcibly supporting his body from falling, but whose eyes were tightly closed, clearly already in a deep sleep, Persona Raoul leisurely retracted its arm.
The night environment created by Showtime slowly disappeared, and the entire museum Palace became bright again.
"No, it's not over yet."
In the museum Palace, which should have been silent, a gentle and graceful voice suddenly sounded, denying Persona Raoul's declaration of victory.