"A Persona I've never seen before… Is that a new Persona Joker subdued?!"
Seeing Persona Raoul materialize behind Ren Amamiya, Raiden Mei's eyes widened in astonishment, a surprised expression blooming on her pretty face.
As the Elysion Pedion Field was utterly shattered by the violent surge of power unleashed when Ren Amamiya summoned his Persona, the oppressive weight of the authority of Binding instantly vanished.
Raiden Mei and Veliona suddenly felt the immense pressure on their bodies lighten, finally able to stand upright properly.
The progressive translucency of Hare's body also halted instantly, her form becoming solid once more.
Although she had lost a significant amount of Honkai energy due to the suppression from the authority of Binding within the Elysion Pedion Field, she only needed a short period of rest to fully recover to her usual state.
Raiden Mei had never seen Persona Raoul before.
Therefore, when she saw Ren Amamiya summon a brand-new Persona, Raiden Mei subconsciously assumed this powerful Persona was a new one that Ren had subdued today while exploring Mementos with Bronya.
"No, that's not a new Persona. It's an old Persona that has evolved—Joker's own Persona, Arsene, has finally completed a monumental sublimation and transformation at this very moment!!"
Compared to Raiden Mei, a human, Hare, as a Stigmata Archetype (i change to Archetype as i like the meaning, "IDEAL"), could more directly perceive the powerful and familiar aura emanating from Persona Raoul.
Hare's bluish-purple eyes were locked onto the figure of Persona Raoul floating behind Ren Amamiya. Her tone was firm, yet laced with intense fervor.
Ren Amamiya's efforts up to this point had not been in vain. His so-called "nation-building endeavor" had finally yielded substantial returns and amplification, allowing his own Persona, Arsene, to achieve a miraculous, leap-like evolution.
The path of Origin, personally pioneered by Ren Amamiya, was fraught with all sorts of thorny obstacles. This path was shrouded in dangerous darkness, and even where it ultimately led was still unknown.
Hare had personally witnessed Ren Amamiya embark on his journey from one to ten, watching his strength grow continuously as he subdued more and more Personas.
However, Ren Amamiya's plan to create a Stigmata "nation" within himself by collecting the power of Stigmata, and the boost it provided to his strength, was clearly inferior to the World Serpent's Master's plan of fusing numerous Honkai Beast factors within his own body.
Although his strength had indeed increased, considering Ren Amamiya's previous rate of improvement and the extreme rarity of powerful Personas like Shadow Seele (Veliona) and Shadow Mei, Hare had initially thought that even if Ren executed his plan perfectly, he would likely struggle to gain an advantage against Kevin, the Master of World Serpent, when he was using his full power.
However, after gaining the true recognition of the Personas he had subdued so far, the power of the Stigmata residing in Ren Amamiya's heart finally awakened completely. This spurred Ren Amamiya's own Persona, Arsene, to undergo a miraculous transformation, at last revealing the true power and significance of his "nation-building endeavor"!!
If he could continue like this, even if complete Stigmata Paradigms were incredibly rare in the world, perhaps… no, it should be said that Ren Amamiya would definitely, in the end, acquire strength sufficient to battle Kevin, and even the ultimate power to defeat him completely!!
At this thought, Hare's gaze towards Ren Amamiya became even more fervent and excited.
"A-As expected of Joker! After obtaining my power, he's manifested such a formidable presence—Don't bother with any of that other messy stuff, just smash that bastard's face to pieces, Joker!!"
Looking at Ren Amamiya's second awakening, even Veliona herself, who had pushed the first domino, hadn't expected that her decision to fully entrust the awakened power of the Stigma of Death to this Persona-user, Ren Amamiya, would trigger such a jaw-dropping chain reaction.
However, Veliona quickly snapped back to reality, clenching her fists and cheering Ren Amamiya on.
Although she also really wanted to give that bastard named Akechi Goro a few good scythe slashes herself, Veliona had just been freed from the authority of Binding of the Elysion Pedion Field and was truly willing but lacked the strength. Thus, she could only pin her hopes of venting her anger on Ren Amamiya, their leader.
"Leave it to me! Raoul, use Maeigaon!!!"
Ren Amamiya responded to Veliona crisply. He abruptly swung his arm, commanding Persona Raoul, who was silently hovering in the void behind him.
Persona Raoul slowly brought his hands together before his chest. Black cursed flames, tinged with a faint crimson glow, suddenly erupted from Raoul's palms, surging like a sea of pitch-black fire towards Otto in the distance.
The torrent of boiling, surging black cursed flames blazed so intensely that it even caused the space it passed through to distort.
The Maeigaon's flood of cursed flames completely cut off Otto's escape routes. He had no room to dodge and could only stand his ground, forced to take Ren Amamiya's sea of cursed flames head-on—an attack that was now countless times stronger than when he wielded Persona Arsene.
Simulacrum: Abyss Flower - Heilige Lanze Welwitschia!!
Otto resorted to his old trick. He once again transformed the Void Archives into the form of Abyss Flower and shifted Abyss Flower into its Overdrive Mode, the Heilige Lanze Welwitschia.
As the golden spear tip touched the ground, verdant vines erupted from beneath Otto's feet like the beanstalk from a fairy tale, instantly carrying Otto's body skyward at a frantic pace.
However, no matter how fast the vines catalyzed by the Black Abyss White Flower grew, they ultimately couldn't outpace the speed of Persona Raoul unleashing his ultimate skill.
The torrent of black cursed flames converged by Maeigaon majestically engulfed the verdant vines Otto had catalyzed, trapping Otto himself within, as he hadn't managed to completely escape the deluge of the cursed sea.
"Loki—!!"
Immersed within the sea of black cursed flames, tinged with a crimson halo, Otto's Soulium body began to show signs of being overwhelmed.
As the world's finest material, Soulium should have been truly impervious to water and fire.
However, the black cursed flames unleashed by Persona Raoul had already surpassed the conventional definition of fire in civilization, comparable to the Fire Moth era Herrscher of Fire's authority of destruction.
Under the corrosion of the black cursed flames, golden ripples spread across the surface of Otto, disguised as Akechi Goro. He was clearly on the verge of completely melting under the excessive load, reverting to his true form—of course, this so-called true form didn't refer to Otto's own appearance, but rather that his Soulium body was about to be incinerated into a shapeless golden slime.
To prevent the situation from deteriorating into the worst-case scenario, Otto loudly called out the name of his Soulium automaton, Loki.
Persona Loki, also caught in the sea of black cursed flames, flew over and sent Otto's body flying far away, finally allowing him to escape the fiery torment of the cursed sea and fall towards the ground on the other side.
As for the Soulium automaton Loki, which took the full brunt of Persona Raoul's Maeigaon in Otto's stead, its black and white body began to melt at a visible rate, like ice cream under high heat. It soon turned into a puddle of writhing golden fluid, ultimately being completely vaporized by Maeigaon's cursed flames.
"Abyss Flower: Holy Lance Countercurrent—What?!"
Maintaining his falling posture from the sky, Otto raised the Simulacrum: Abyss Flower - Heilige Lanze Welwitschia in his hand.
Just as he was preparing to use Abyss Flower's first rated power to counterattack Ren Amamiya, the Simulacrum: Abyss Flower, which had been stable in its Heilige Lanze Welwitschia Overdrive Mode, suddenly reverted to its normal Abyss Flower form.
It was as if the moment the Elysion Pedion Field had shown a gap was replaying; the Herrscher of the Void's will once again resisted Otto from deep within the Herrscher Core.
Under the resistance of the Herrscher of the Void's consciousness, let alone maintaining the Overdrive Mode of the mimicked Divine Key, Otto couldn't even successfully unleash the Holy Lance Countercurrent attack of the mimicked Abyss Flower now.
"Persona Loki wasn't much after all. Next up is you, Akechi Goro—"
Although Ren knew that after his Persona's second awakening, his strength had undergone a heaven-and-earth-shattering change, Persona Loki's strength should also have been at the stage of a second-awakened Persona.
Yet, it was insta-killed by Persona Raoul with a single, effortless blow, as if cutting vegetables. This overly fragile display undoubtedly surprised Ren Amamiya somewhat. However, he could only assume that his own strength had increased so much that he had reached a level where he could insta-kill Persona Loki.
Persona Loki had already been killed once by Ren Amamiya. Akechi Goro would be unable to summon Loki again for a short time. Even with the golden power gifted by the evil god, it would be difficult for him to withstand Persona Raoul's next wave of attacks.
"—Raoul, use Phantom Show!!"
However, to be on the safe side, Ren Amamiya still chose a prudent tactic, issuing a command to Persona Raoul, his other half, to use Raoul's exclusive skill.
Persona Raoul slowly raised its hand, elegantly adjusting the red gentleman's hat on its head. As its pair of mechanical bat wings flapped, a ray of pure moonlight suddenly scattered forth. A white, ethereal disc of light, like a full moon, abruptly appeared in the sky above Otto.
"This is… a mental…"
Illuminated by the pure radiance cast from the white lunar disc, Otto, who had instinctively looked up, saw a pair of pristine white light wheels reflected in his eyes.
Otto stared blankly at the pure lunar disc suspended in the void. His spirit and consciousness seemed to detach from the constraints of his physical body, sinking into a state of languid and comfortable lethargy.
Even though Otto's will was as firm as steel, and his body was a precision machine constructed from Soulium, he still risked his spirit falling into a deep slumber under the power of Phantom Show.
Otto's eyelids completely escaped the control of his own will. Even if he issued commands to his Soulium body via his authority, the power of Phantom Show far surpassed the authoritative functions of the Soulium body.
At the very last moment, before his consciousness completely plunged into darkness, Otto forced himself to make the last move he possibly could. Then, with no power to resist, he closed his eyes, his spirit sinking into an eternal, deep sleep.
"Agidyne!!"
Before Otto's body could completely hit the ground, Ren Amamiya once again issued a command to Persona Raoul.
A wave of crimson fire, like a purgatory, majestically engulfed the sleeping body of cognitive Akechi Goro.
When the fiercely burning, sky-scorching curtain of fire slowly subsided, Akechi Goro's body had completely vanished, utterly annihilated by Persona Raoul's ultimate attack.
Only a peculiar, shimmering golden cube and a diamond-shaped gem emitting an orange-yellow light remained, falling to the spot where cognitive Akechi Goro had just been.
"What's that golden cube? Did cognitive Pancake-man drop a Treasure?"
The orange-yellow, diamond-shaped gem was clearly the Herrscher of the Void's Core, which Akechi Goro had once seized—the Treasure of this Herrscher of the Void's Palace.
But Ren Amamiya had never seen the other golden cube before.
Dropped from where the cognitive being, Akechi Goro, had been… Could it really be a Treasure dropped by Pancake-man?!
Rumble, rumble, rumble—
Just as Ren Amamiya bent down to pick up both the golden cube and the Herrscher of the Void's Core, the dilapidated Babel tower beneath him suddenly began to roar violently, trembling precariously, and even started to slowly tilt towards the snowy plains on one side.
"This Palace is about to collapse! We need to get out of here, quick!!"
After the Treasure of the Herrscher of the Void's Palace was stolen, the Palace had already entered a countdown to collapse.
The overly fierce battle between Ren Amamiya and Akechi Goro earlier had undoubtedly greatly accelerated the speed of the Babel tower's collapse, leaving the entire structure in a perilous state.
There was no time to linger. After casually putting the golden cube and the Herrscher of the Void's Core into his pocket, Ren Amamiya quickly called out to Raiden Mei, Veliona, and the other Phantom Thief girls to evacuate.
Fu Hua, having recovered some of her strength, followed behind Ren Amamiya and the others, retreating together.
However, when no one was paying attention to her, Fu Hua casually extended her hand as if by chance, gently probing the void.
She quietly clasped a feather, faintly glowing with a golden light, into her palm.