"What? Akechi has already entered the Herrscher of the Void's Palace?!" If Fu Hua appearing in the Kaslana Palace merely gave Ren Amamiya a bad premonition, then Fu Hua's previous answer undoubtedly made that terrible feeling a reality.
The Pancake Man had broke into the Herrscher of the Void's Palace. Nothing could be worse than this. If it were any other Phantom Thief entering, at worst, the Treasure would just be snatched first.
But Goro Akechi possessed the special Wild Card power to make Shadows go berserk.
Ren now knew that the Herrscher of the Void's consciousness resided within Kiana Kaslana's body. If Akechi used his berserk ability on the Herrscher of the Void, Kiana in the real world would most likely be affected, perhaps being forcibly turned into a cripple, or driven into a deep abyss of madness.
Such an outcome was clearly not what Ren and Raiden Mei wanted to see.
"...By the way, why did you stay in the Kaslana Palace instead of diving into the Herrscher of the Void's Palace with Akechi?" Just as Ren was about to dive directly into the Herrscher's Palace to stop the Pancake Man's exploration as quickly as possible, a thought suddenly struck him. His fingers, operating the MetaNav App, paused slightly, and he turned to question Fu Hua, who stood beside Kaslana.
"This, I'm not too sure either... Perhaps Akechi has his own profound intentions." Fu Hua's gaze flickered away, and she responded softly to Ren.
She could only answer this way. After all, Otto hadn't actually entered the Herrscher of the Void's Palace of his own will; he had been tossed in like garbage by Kevin, who was beside her, directly into the space where the Herrscher resided, with absolutely no choice in the matter.
If Otto had a choice, he definitely wouldn't have idled outside the Palace but would have found ways to exploit her labor to the fullest.
"It seems the Pancake Man doesn't trust you very much. Right, the Herrscher of the Void is extremely strong. Relying solely on Robin Hood is almost impossible to win. Even he needs to fight with all his might, needing to... use the power of his strongest, second Persona." Ren gave Fu Hua a deep look, observing very obvious bewilderment in her emerald eyes.
Evidently, a guy with a nasty personality like Goro Akechi wouldn't trust anyone. Even after bringing Fu Hua into Mementos and revealing his identity as a Persona user, Akechi hadn't shown Fu Hua his true Persona, Loki. When facing a formidable enemy like the Herrscher of the Void, which required him to use Loki with all his strength, Akechi had no intention of bringing Fu Hua into that Palace with him.
Since he doesn't trust Fu Hua, yet he brought her to the Kaslana Palace near the Herrscher of the Void's Palace... Could it be that the Pancake Man wants Fu Hua to stop me from entering the Herrscher's Palace? This reasonable guess surfaced in Ren's mind.
However, Fu Hua just stood there motionless, showing no hostility, nor any intention of stopping him from diving into the Herrscher's Palace. Clearly, she hadn't received any related instructions from Akechi.
"...Fu Hua, you should dive into the Herrscher of the Void's Palace with us too." After some thought, Ren, under the surprised gazes of Raiden Mei and Hare beside him, actually extended a team invitation to this unfamiliar girl, Fu Hua.
Rather than letting Fu Hua stay alone in the Kaslana Palace, providing remote support to Akechi in some way, Ren thought it better to pull Fu Hua directly into his team. This way, it would be easier to monitor her actions and prevent her from pulling any tricks behind their backs.
"I have no objections." Faced with Ren's sudden invitation, Fu Hua was slightly taken aback. She subconsciously glanced at Kevin beside her. Seeing that Kevin remained an indifferent iceberg, she then slightly furrowed her delicate brows and nodded to Ren, accepting the invitation.
The mission Otto had given Fu Hua was precisely to infiltrate Ren's Phantom Thieves team, gain his trust, and then feed all acquired intelligence back to Otto. Since Ren had proactively invited her to join, Fu Hua naturally had no reason to refuse.
"Then, without further ado, let's set off." Time was pressing. After confirming Fu Hua's willingness to join, Ren only had time to nod a farewell to Kaslana beside him before using the power of the MetaNav App to transport all present Phantom Thieves members to the Herrscher of the Void's Palace area.
In an instant, with distorted spatial ripples spreading out, the crimson desert background was silently replaced by a vast snowy plain lashed by icy winds. A towering, dark, and cold Tower of Babel pierced the sky, looming before Ren and the others.
"There are traces of battle here. Someone has indeed arrived at this Herrscher of the Void's Palace before us." Hare looked around, keenly noticing the battle scars in the snow and the scattered body fragments of defeated Shadows on the ground.
"It seems Akechi has already entered the interior of the Tower of Babel. We need to hurry and stop him before he does something to the Herrscher of the Void." The first time Ren entered the Herrscher's Palace, he had randomly appeared somewhere in this snowy plain.
This time, however, he directly teleported the Phantom Thieves to the main entrance of the Tower of Babel.
The heavy doors of the Tower, which should have been tightly shut, were now wide open. Clearly, Goro Akechi had already crossed the snowy plain and entered the tower, though it was unknown which floor he had climbed to.
Ren took the lead, passing through the doorway and into the grand hall of the Tower of Babel's first floor, heading towards the top floor at high speed, following the route he had scouted during his previous exploration.
"Joker, who exactly is that Akechi? Is he also a Phantom Thief? Why do you call him the Pancake Man?" While rushing towards the top of the Tower of Babel, Raiden Mei couldn't hold back her curiosity. Maintaining her pace, she asked Ren her questions.
So far, among the current Phantom Thieves, only Bronya, who had been with Ren during the day, had seen "Goro Akechi" in person. Hare and Seele were slightly better off; although they hadn't met Akechi himself, they had at least heard his name from Fu Hua during their conversation in the Kaslana Palace.
But Raiden Mei was completely bewildered by this name "Akechi," which she was hearing for the first time.
From Ren's attitude, that Akechi was clearly not a friendly presence. And his strength should be formidable, at least capable of fighting the Herrscher of the Void one-on-one with a chance of victory.
"The Goro Akechi currently in the Herrscher of the Void's Palace is a cognitive existence created by the false god based on my cognition. However, he can appear in the real world and can also use Persona powers... To some extent, it's not wrong to say he's a real human." Ren didn't intend to hide anything from Raiden Mei and the others, sharing what he had seen and heard today with his teammates.
"Because he inadvertently said the word 'pancakes,' his disguise and conspiracy were exposed, and he himself came to hate pancakes. That's why I like to call him the Pancake Man."
"As for being a Phantom Thief... I can only say he's a Persona user, and one with abilities somewhat similar to mine, a wielder of the Wild Card power possessing two Personas. Akechi's true strength is significant, and he can also enrage and control Shadows."
"A cognitive existence created by the false god..." A serious look appeared in Hare's eyes as she floated at a low altitude. Just from that description, Hare could imagine how powerful that Goro Akechi would be.
The World Serpent's Sovereign, Kevin, was currently imprisoned in the Sea of Quanta. If he used the power of the Sea of Quanta to create some cognitive existence and send it to the real world as an agent, that agent's strength would surely be extremely formidable.
Moreover, Goro Akechi possessed terrifying abilities similar to the Herrscher of Erosion's authority. Even with the current strength of the Phantom Thieves, they had to be extremely cautious when fighting him.
"That Mr. Goro Akechi sounds very strong... Is he, is he a bad person? Big Brother Ren seems to dislike him very much..." Seele, at the rear of the team, hugged her blue scythe, shrank her head slightly, and asked Ren in a weak voice.
"That's right. If we're defining him as good or bad, Goro Akechi is undoubtedly a major villain... especially the Goro Akechi born from my cognition." Ren nodded without hesitation, giving Seele a straightforward answer.
Seele's personality was too gentle and shy. It was fine when dealing with Shadows as opponents, but when facing humans as enemies, Seele clearly harbored some unnecessary illusions.
What Ren needed to do was to shatter all these impossible illusions in Seele's heart, allowing her to face the Goro Akechi on the upper floors of the Tower of Babel with a mindset that wouldn't put her at a disadvantage.
If it were the cognitive Goro Akechi revived by Takuto Maruki in P5R, there might have been a possibility of him developing as a comrade. But Ren hadn't cultivated a Social Link with the real Goro Akechi, and his perception of Akechi had always been very negative.
A cognitive Goro Akechi created by the arrogant false god Yaldabaoth, who looked down on humanity, using pseudo-god authority from Ren's cognition... he was absolutely untrustworthy. Being collectively beaten down by the united Phantom Thieves was the only fitting end for this cognitive Akechi.
"I-Is that so? Seele, Seele will try her best!!" From Ren's answer, Seele understood his thoughts. She gripped her blue scythe tightly, striving to build up the resolve to view Akechi as an enemy.
"...." As a member who joined midway, Fu Hua remained silent, not participating in the conversation between Ren and the girls. She simply maintained a steady pace, following Ren as they ran through the Tower of Babel, carefully observing the lingering battle traces and Ren's movements at high speed, silently assessing his true power level.
There were signs of battle on every floor of the Tower of Babel. Otto was clearly very familiar with the tower's internal layout. Not only did he not take any detours, but he even utilized the tower's environment and equipment to inflict considerable damage on the Shadows lurking there.
Running straight from the entrance to the top floor of the Tower of Babel, even though the Persona users present were all like little superhumans, their breathing now inevitably became a bit ragged.
Ren had considered asking Hare to directly teleport everyone to the top floor. However, Hare regretfully stated that the space within this Herrscher of the Void's Palace had undergone abnormal changes and was still fluctuating and evolving.
If it were the Herrscher of the Void herself, she could naturally teleport within the Palace at will. But if Hare, an outsider, were to attempt it, she had no confidence in accurately pinpointing the teleportation coordinates and might even end up sending everyone from the Tower to an even more remote corner of the snowy plain.
Therefore, Ren and the others had no choice but to conventionally run from the entrance to the top floor.
As Ren approached the final room where the Herrscher of the Void resided, the Shadows lying on either side of the path were no longer just dissipated remains, but relatively intact corpses, currently in the process of slowly disintegrating.
Arriving once again before the Herrscher of the Void's final room, Ren forcefully pushed open the golden doors, which were not fully closed, and saw the Herrscher of the Void, kneeling on one knee, gritting her teeth... and Goro Akechi, standing before her with the air of a victor.