Benares's existence within the Palace was quite unique. She was both a Shadow miniboss of this Palace and a cognitive existence formed from the Herrscher of the Void's memories.
Much like the Shadows in Masayoshi Shido's Palace, Shadows existing in this form were generally much stronger than ordinary ones.
If Benares were purely a cognitive existence, Ren could only have let her go with regret. Fortunately, besides being a cognitive entity, Benares also possessed the essence of a Shadow.
To Ren's surprise, after he proposed subduing Benares as his Persona, she didn't hesitate for long. She quickly chose to submit, becoming one of the Personas residing within Ren's heart.
After subduing Benares, Ren could even sense the information she was trying to convey—Benares was urging him to quickly subdue her master as a Persona too, wanting to be reunited with the Herrscher of the Void...
Ren was quite pleased that Benares had willingly become his Persona. However, the fact that she had so readily abandoned her former master, the Herrscher of the Void, and was now hoping Ren would capture the Herrscher to keep her company... it left Ren feeling a bit uneasy.
Although subduing the Herrscher of the Void was already one of Ren's goals, Benares's swift submission gave him a strange feeling, almost like he'd just recruited a notorious turncoat. An unsettling mental soundtrack started playing in his head [A reference to figures known for betrayal].
Fortunately, Personas couldn't betray their summoner. Only Ren had the option of executing Benares using the Guillotine; there was absolutely no possibility of Benares backstabbing Ren for someone else.
Having acquired Persona Benares, Ren, Raiden Mei, and the others formally entered the black tower to explore.
The lower and middle sections of the tower resembled areas from a sci-fi manga, mostly power supply zones with only a few Shadow soldiers patrolling the corners—nothing particularly noteworthy. Clearing the Shadow soldiers encountered along the way, Ren's group reached the upper levels of the black tower and learned its true name—the Tower of Babylon.
This facility, named after the mythical tower reaching towards the heavens, was clearly conducting cruel, hidden experiments behind the scenes. Room after room of white isolation cells, like prison cells, lined the upper levels of the Tower of Babylon. Ren collected the first Will Seed in one of these cells.
Through the memory fragment recorded within the Will Seed, Ren glimpsed the Herrscher's past when she was still human, living in this Tower of Babylon with her companions, treated as consumables for cruel human experiments by cold, ruthless researchers. Experimenting on kidnapped young children—the cruelty of the Tower of Babylon's researchers was laid bare. The Herrscher, having watched her companions die one by one, clearly had justifiable grounds for revenge against these researchers.
Upon collecting the second Will Seed, Ren saw a memory of the Herrscher shopping like family with Siegfried and a gentle, white-haired woman bearing a strong resemblance to Hare. The memory ended with the woman named Cecilia hugging the Herrscher, shielding her with her own body from exploding glass shards.
The contents of the third Will Seed were the complete opposite of the second. The Herrscher engaged in a tragic battle with Siegfried and Cecilia, ultimately dying in Cecilia's arms.
Thanks to the memories contained in these three Will Seeds, Ren gained a decent understanding of the Herrscher of the Void's experiences and personality, increasing his confidence in subduing her as his Persona.
Ren explored the entire Tower of Babylon, leaving only the topmost room unsearched. Without a doubt, the Palace's Treasure, and the Herrscher of the Void herself, were currently located in that final room.
Based on Ren's previous experience, as long as he showed the intent to steal the Treasure, the Treasure within the Palace would materialize—regardless of whether the target in the real world or the Palace ruler in the cognitive world received the message. Sending a calling card to the real-world target was merely a traditional, ceremonial approach. With sufficient strength, Ren could just act as a heart robber, barging into the deepest part of the Palace on his first visit, declaring his thievery right in front of the Palace ruler, and brazenly taking the materialized Treasure.
The Treasure in the Herrscher of the Void's Palace should have already met the conditions for materialization... Even if it hadn't, there wasn't much Ren could do. The real Herrscher of the Void was already dead; he couldn't exactly send a Phantom Thief calling card to a dead person in the real world.
However, even if the Treasure had materialized, the Herrscher herself was likely still in a state of hesitation, conflict, and avoidance—a self-imposed isolation. She definitely wouldn't want to face the intrusion of Ren, Hare, and the others. Based on observing her personality through the Will Seed memories, Ren decided it was best to give her some time alone to think. He would return later to steal the Treasure and, along with it, the Herrscher herself once she'd made her decision.
"Let's wrap up the Palace exploration for today. Time to withdraw." Ren stopped before the tightly shut door of the topmost room in the Tower of Babylon and addressed his companions behind him.
The Herrscher herself showed no desire to fight proactively. Neither Raiden Mei nor Seele felt a pressing need to invade the deepest part of the Palace immediately. They quickly nodded in agreement with Ren's suggestion.
"I understand the emotion filling the Will Seed memories, I realize what sin it represents... The Melancholic Tower of Babylon. That is this Palace's true name." Ren held the crystal formed from the three merged Will Seeds—shaped like a purple crystal ball—in his left hand.
He recognized the true nature of the sin the Herrscher of the Void represented.
The Seven Deadly Sins didn't always consist of just seven.
In the P5 game, there was no Palace for Sloth; instead, there was the painter Madarame, who committed the sin of Vanity.
Facing the deaths of her companions one after another, her own life ticking away, unable to fulfill her tragic wish to destroy the world, nor able to enjoy happiness with Cecilia—the Herrscher's heart had always been shrouded in a sense of powerlessness and melancholy.
And Ren Amamiya intended to end the Herrscher's melancholy, to steal away all the sin within her heart.
"I will visit this Palace again in twenty-four hours. I hope you'll have made your decision by then... Whatever you decide, after tomorrow, this melancholic Palace will exist no more." Ren delivered his final verdict to the tightly shut door of the final chamber.
Silence reigned within the topmost room of the Tower of Babylon, as if no one was inside.
"I plan to head to Mementos to complete a request received on the Phantom Thieves Channel. Acheron, Vanny, how are you guys holding up? Enough stamina and SP? If you're tired, it's okay to head back to the Kaslana Palace to rest."
Ren took out his phone, opened the MetaNav App interface, preparing to return from the Herrscher's Palace to Mementos to handle accepted requests, and checked in with Raiden Mei, Seele, and Hare after their series of battles.
Ren himself wasn't particularly tired and could definitely continue tackling side quests in Mementos, but he wasn't sure about the others' condition.
"It's okay, we can still fight!" Raiden Mei clenched her fist, responding firmly. "We could even settle things with the Herrscher of the Void right now if needed, let alone fighting Shadows in Mementos." Seele nodded in agreement behind Mei. They knew from experience that Shadows in Mementos were generally weaker than Palace rulers.
"Alright, let's continue clearing Mementos requests then. Let me see, the closest target to our current location is..." Ren consulted the app. "Hmm, 'A bastard boss who docks his poor subordinates' wages and embezzles public funds to splurge on HOMU figures and comics for entertainment'?"
The MetaNav App was remarkably intelligent. All target information from requests accepted on the Phantom Thieves Channel was automatically logged into the system. With a simple tap, the app could plot the optimal route for Ren to reach the target.
The Herrscher of the Void's Palace was attached to the space near the Kaslana Palace, located deep within Mementos. Surprisingly, the target boss for this request was indicated as being very close to their current position, almost as if they were also near the Kaslana Palace area.
"Appearing in such a deep area... looks like this target is a big fish," Ren warned his companions beside him. "Everyone, stay sharp. We might encounter a special Shadow comparable to a Palace ruler next." He then pressed the teleport button on the MetaNav App.
The figures of the Phantom Thieves vanished from the cold, melancholic Palace without a trace.