The terrifyingly immense sword of scorching flames, capable of world destruction, swung down once more.
The Herrscher of the Void quickly regained her senses and repeated her previous tactic, taking the crimson dragon Benares with her into a subspace, dodging Persona Siegfried's surprise Judgment of Shamash - Unleashed attack.
Losing sight of the Herrscher, Ren quickly turned his head towards Armored Hare beside him.
"—There!"
Feeling Ren's trusting gaze, Armored Hare nodded in understanding. She drew another gleaming purple javelin from her back, instantly sensed the node where space was warping, and hurled the javelin with all her might towards the predicted exit point of the spatial gate.
Guided by Armored Hare's purple javelin, Ren and Raiden Mei immediately knew where to direct their attacks.
Persona Siegfried needed nearly ten seconds to cool down before unleashing the next Judgment of Shamash - Unleashed. Therefore, Ren didn't intend to use it again immediately. Instead, he commanded the beast-like Persona Siegfried to stomp the ground, creating a deep crater. Amidst flying debris, Persona Siegfried shot upwards like a rocket, surpassing Armored Hare's pre-thrown javelin in the blink of an eye.
"What—?!!"
A purplish-black spatial wormhole silently opened. The Herrscher of the Void had barely emerged halfway when her golden eyes widened to their absolute limit in shock.
A ferocious grin spread across the face of Persona Siegfried in his Active Honkai Reaction state. He raised Might of An-Utu high and swung the crimson greatsword down ruthlessly, crashing towards the Herrscher's body with unstoppable force.
Even though he couldn't use the Judgment of Shamash - Unleashed ultimate for the moment, Persona Siegfried poured all his remaining Honkai energy into Might of An-Utu, imbuing it with fiercely burning flames of destruction, drastically increasing the attack's destructive power.
The Herrscher of the Void had utterly failed to predict that her enemy would be waiting right at the exit of her wormhole, ready for her to walk into the trap. It was too late to use her spatial authority to teleport again; she could only hastily create an Imaginary barrier in front of herself to parry.
The makeshift barrier shattered instantly under the slash of Persona Siegfried's Might of An-Utu. Feeling the intense pain as the crimson greatsword struck her body, the Herrscher of the Void's golden eyes momentarily lost focus. Her entire body plummeted towards the ground like a cannonball, kicking up clouds of snow and smashing a deep, massive crater into the earth.
After knocking the Herrscher out of the sky, Persona Siegfried abruptly shifted position, revealing the purple javelin following close behind. Thrown by Armored Hare, the javelin struck the crimson dragon Benares squarely in the neck, plunging deep into a vulnerable gap unprotected by her white exoskeleton.
The unexpected attack made Benares rear her head back, letting out a piercing, mournful cry.
It wasn't just Armored Hare's swift javelin; Persona Kurikara, now almost fully healed, soared back into the sky, rejoining the battle. As Kurikara beat her deep crimson wings, dense barrages of crimson lightning, like a sudden downpour, rained down, striking Benares's draconic body relentlessly.
Empowered by the purple katana, Persona Kurikara's strength had doubled. The furious thunder, like the wrath of a thunder god, quickly sent the crimson dragon plummeting tragically towards the snowy ground, just like her master.
"Everyone, it's time for an All-Out Attack!!"
The Herrscher of the Void and Benares had both crashed to the ground, temporarily incapacitated. There was no better moment to press the advantage.
Ren gave a sharp tug on the red glove he wore, decisively seizing the golden opportunity and issuing the command for an All-Out Attack to his teammates.
Even as he gave the order, Ren himself shot forward like a black arrow, closing the distance to the Herrscher fallen in the deep crater.
"Ooh!!"
Raiden Mei and Seele responded simultaneously. After exchanging a glance, they chased after Ren's retreating figure at top speed.
Aided by the purple katana in her hand, Raiden Mei, clad in her red Knight Moonbeam-like attire, transformed into a streak of deep crimson lightning, instantly appearing right behind Ren.
Jizo Mitama: Etched Form, wreathed in ominous crimson-black miasma, and Seven Thunders of Retribution: Narukami, flashing with purplish-red lightning, simultaneously entered the golden pupils of the Herrscher of the Void, who, wracked with pain and trauma, could only barely sit up in the crater, unable to move properly.
"Wait, you... Don't come any closer!!"
Seeing Ren and Mei practically upon her, a look of terror flashed across the Herrscher's exquisite face, now smudged with icy mud, making her look quite wretched. She instinctively tried to create distance, but a searing pain shot from the spot where Might of An-Utu had struck her abdomen, causing her focused mind to falter, preventing her from opening a portal to escape.
It was too late to teleport. The Herrscher could only turn to attack her approaching enemies. Golden ribbon-like streams of light shot out from purplish-black portals, striking nimbly towards Ren and Mei.
To the Herrscher's despair, however, Ren and Mei didn't hesitate for a second at her counterattack. Instead, they coordinated seamlessly, using the dense Honkai energy coating their blades to forcefully shatter the golden ribbons she unleashed.
Ren had completely mastered the secrets of the North Star One-Blade style he learned from Mei; he knew her moves inside out. Although Ren was now using the more powerful Sword Ki techniques of Taixuan, he could still perfectly synergize with Mei.
As if they were intimate partners who had fought together for years, Mei felt an exhilarating rush as she slashed at the Herrscher. Through their perfect, unspoken coordination, it felt as though she and Ren had merged into one being.
Jizo Mitama: Etched Form and Seven Thunders of Retribution: Narukami crisscrossed. Sword light like crimson-black misty flames and slashes like deep red lightning simultaneously carved themselves onto the Herrscher's suddenly rigid body.
Just as Ren and Mei flashed past the Herrscher, taking positions behind her, blue butterflies filled the air. Seele's slender, well-proportioned figure arrived like a cannonball. Her beautiful eyes, blue as the ocean, subtly gained a crimson tint. With movements brimming with power, she swung her blue scythe, charged to its limit, at the Herrscher of the Void.
Struck by Seele's scythe, the Herrscher, already struggling to sit up, could no longer support herself. Her small purple head lolled back heavily towards the ground.
Before the Herrscher could fully collapse onto the ground, amidst the sky obscured by blue butterflies, a slender figure, cool and serene as moonlight, manifested. Armored Hare drew the reserve purple javelins from her back. She stretched her body gracefully, then threw all remaining javelins downwards towards the Herrscher on the ground in one smooth motion.
The purple javelins, imbued with Armored Hare's full power, slammed into the earth, piercing the Herrscher's limbs and shoulders, pinning her body firmly to the cold ground.
The crimson dragon Benares let out a furious, bellowing roar. She struggled to move, attempting to attack Ren and the others who had harmed the Herrscher. However, before the scorching fireball could fully form in her draconic jaws, Persona Siegfried descended from the sky, plunging Might of An-Utu deep into her body.
Even in her fire-element form, after taking the blow from Persona Siegfried's greatsword, Benares was left barely breathing, on the verge of death. She collapsed limply onto the ground, devoid of any remaining strength to resist.
"You people... Just who in the world are you?!"
Feeling the intense pain from the javelins piercing her body and pinning her down, the Herrscher of the Void coughed violently, flecks of blood spraying from her mouth. Her enemies possessed the ability to detect spatial fluctuations; even if she exerted all her effort to teleport elsewhere, it would only mean getting beaten up again in a different location.
After catching her breath for a moment, her golden eyes bloodshot, finally recognizing the strength of Ren and his group, finally taking these sneaky thieves invading her mental space seriously, the Herrscher of the Void parted her pale lips and asked weakly, her voice filled with hatred.
"We are thieves of hearts, you can also call us the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Our goal is the ultimate Treasure within this Palace, and the Will seed symbolizing the sins of your heart... Of course," Ren stated, one hand tucked into the pocket of his black phantom attire, the other gripping the Jizo Mitama: Etched Form katana still in its PRI-ARM mode, "now, my target includes you yourself, Herrscher of the Void."
After answering her, Ren focused entirely on suppressing her powers and movements using the corrosive power he had infused into her body during the fight, preventing any desperate last struggles. After the repeated beatings from Ren and his companions, the Herrscher of the Void was now extremely weak.
No matter how unwilling she was, no matter how much she struggled, Ren's corrosive power seeped into her body bit by bit, temporarily sealing her spatial authority.
"Mere thieving rats sneaking into the Queen of the Void's palace! How dare you covet the Queen's Treasure, and even set your sights on the Queen herself?! Hehehe, human, as a laughable clown, you're barely passable!!"
Even pinned to the ground, her Herrscher Core's authority temporarily sealed by the corrosive effect, the Herrscher of the Void remained incredibly stubborn, putting on an arrogant front and scoffing at Ren.
"How about obediently becoming my Persona? It would be too much of a waste for a powerful Palace ruler like you to die so pointlessly."
Ignoring the Herrscher's defiant taunts, Ren simply pressed Jizo Mitama: Etched Form against her neck, attempting to persuade her to surrender.
"You dare dream that the great Queen of the Void would submit to a lowly, insignificant human like you? Save your sleep talk for when you're dead... I will make you taste the torments of hell, and then kill you all, one by one!!" The Herrscher's expression twisted, and she snarled threats at Ren through gritted teeth.
"Well, can't be helped then..." Ren sighed softly. "Let's start by getting you under control." He silently increased the dosage of corrosive power flowing into the Herrscher's body.
The effect was immediate. The overwhelming power caused the Herrscher's pupils to involuntarily roll upwards, her fading golden eyes forcibly stained with a shade of crimson as her consciousness dimmed.
Ren wanted to collect the Will seeds and Treasure from the Herrscher's Palace. Ideally, it would be like Seele's Palace, where Dark Seele cooperated, allowed the collection of the sin-representing Will seeds, and then submitted to become a Persona. However, this enemy of civilization clearly had no intention of cooperating.
Whether he subdued her as a Persona or killed her here and now, the Palace would collapse either way. The Treasure and Will seeds would scatter into the vast Mementos, making finding them again like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Since the Herrscher refused to become his Persona, Ren's only remaining option was to use Jizo Mitama: Etched Form's power to induce a mental shutdown, controlling her like a mindless Shadow obeying his commands, similar to what happened with Akechi.
"Hold on for a moment, Joker..." Just as Ren was steadily increasing the corrosive power within the Herrscher, pushing her consciousness towards darkness, Hare emerged from her dream shield, letting out a soft sigh.
"How about letting me try to persuade the Herrscher of the Void?" she offered.