Before the Herrscher of the Void's Palace completely collapsed, Ren Amamiya and his group successfully returned to the entrance in front of the Babel tower. Using the MetaNav App, they promptly escaped the perilous space.
However, Ren Amamiya didn't return directly to the real world. Instead, he set the navigation point to the Kaslana Palace.
The crimson desert and flowing sands filled Ren Amamiya's vision. This familiar sight instantly brought him a sense of security and relaxation.
"It seems you've successfully stolen the Treasure from the Herrscher of the Void's Palace. Not only that, but you also took care of another uninvited intruder…"
Kevin's voice came from behind. Ren Amamiya turned around to see the usual white-haired, blue-eyed young man standing there, expressionless as ever.
As the one with the highest authority in the Kaslana Stigmata Space, Kevin had long since detected the anomaly occurring in the Herrscher of the Void's Palace as it neared collapse.
The Herrscher of the Void's Palace had completely crumbled. It was unknown how long it would take to reconstruct.
Even if the intruder he had personally exiled to the Herrscher of the Void's Palace hadn't died, he was now lost amidst the chaotic and disordered remnants of the palace. Barring a miracle, he would never be able to leave that peculiar space.
However, Kevin couldn't care less about the intruder's life or death.
What Kevin cared about were only two people: Ren Amamiya, the savior of the Current Era in whom he had placed great hope, and Fu Hua, his former comrade.
Since Ren Amamiya and Fu Hua had left the Herrscher of the Void's Palace unharmed, Kevin had nothing else to worry about.
"Yeah, it was a close call this time. Though I couldn't subdue the Herrscher of the Void's Shadow as a Persona, at least my Persona underwent its second awakening. My strength has increased quite a bit compared to before."
A somewhat regretful expression appeared on Ren Amamiya's face.
Even though Persona Arsene had evolved into Persona Raoul, failing to subdue the Herrscher of the Void as one of his Personas was still a matter of great regret to him.
"..."
Hearing that Ren Amamiya's Persona had undergone a second awakening, Kevin was slightly startled. He then subtly glanced towards Fu Hua.
After receiving Fu Hua's silent, affirmative gaze, an unusual glint flickered in Kevin's cold blue eyes.
Although Kevin wasn't a research-type talent, because the salvation method he was responsible for was precisely the Stigma Project, and possessing the knowledge heritage of the Previous Era, he could be said to be the world's foremost expert on Stigmata theory and knowledge.
According to conventional theory, the end of the path for a Stigmata wielder was the complete awakening of their Stigma.
And Ren Amamiya had become a fully awakened Stigmata wielder early on.
On this path that had seemingly reached its end, Ren Amamiya chose to subdue more Stigmata Archetypes, fuse other Stigmata powers, and pioneer a unique "Path of Origion" for himself, forcibly carving out a new, broad avenue to continue advancing beyond the supposed limit.
The Path of Origion that Ren Amamiya walked was very similar to the Chimera Project Kevin had undergone, except one wielded the power of Stigmata, while the other used the power of Honkai Beasts.
Compared to his own Chimera Project—which merely required betting his life, with a significant power boost upon success and a natural mastery of various Active Honkai Reaction forms—Ren Amamiya's Path of Origion, in the eyes of Kevin, who had long since frozen his heart, was safer but correspondingly much more difficult. Ren Amamiya had to gain the recognition of one Stigmata Archetype after another to enhance his strength.
Stigmata Archetypes were not human; they lacked human moral concepts and societal thinking. Although there were gentle Stigmata Archetypes like Hare, Hare was an exception among exceptions.
Compared to Hare, Veliona's violent and ferocious temperament was more typical of a normal Stigmata Archetype.
And natural Archetypes like Veliona were few and far between in the world, which was why Ren Amamiya had even set his sights on Herrscher consciousnesses.
Kevin didn't even need to think hard to know how troublesome the consciousnesses of those chosen by the Honkai Will as Herrscher vessels could be.
Not forcibly overpowering Stigmata Archetypes with strength, but capturing their hearts with his own charisma, making them willingly offer their true power…
In Kevin's view, Ren Amamiya, who chose this method of "battle," possessed a heart and resolve that surpassed his own—someone who only knew how to use brute force to suppress enemies—by countless times.
And Ren Amamiya's current success in evolving his Persona's power further demonstrated the correctness and potential of the Path of Origion he was treading.
"Let me see it—your Persona after its second awakening."
Kevin slowly crossed his arms. While he felt admiration for this successor, Ren Amamiya, in his heart, he didn't reveal a hint of his thoughts on the surface, speaking to Ren Amamiya in his usual icy tone.
Ren Amamiya was the only person in the world who had pushed a Stigma to the stage of a second awakening on the Path of Origion.
Although his experiences were basically impossible for others to replicate, a second-awakened Stigmata Archetype undoubtedly held extremely important reference and research value.
If some crucial key element could be discovered from a second-awakened Stigmata Archetype, perhaps the entire harsh and cruel Stigma Project policy could be modified to be gentler.
"No need for a battle. You just need to let me observe the evolved Persona with my own eyes."
Seeing Ren Amamiya's slightly hesitant expression, Kevin quickly understood his concern and spoke reassuringly.
"I see. Then there's no problem…"
After a Persona's second awakening, although it wasn't as painful and draining as the initial awakening that required tearing a bloody mask from one's face, it did leave Ren Amamiya feeling fatigued.
He hadn't felt tired while his spirits were high on the battlefield, but upon returning to the Kaslana Palace, which served as a rest area, Ren Amamiya's mood suddenly relaxed, and he had no intention of fighting anyone else for a short while.
Even before Persona Arsene's second awakening, Ren Amamiya could already defeat Siegfried, the strongest presence in the Kaslana Palace.
If Kevin truly wanted to test Ren Amamiya's current strength through combat, he would probably choose to fight himself…
As an unconscious collective of the Kaslana lineage, Kevin's strength undoubtedly far surpassed that of ordinary Shadows, reaching the realm of a pseudo-god.
Even though Ren Amamiya had upgraded Persona Arsene to its second stage, Raoul, he didn't have much confidence in defeating Kevin single-handedly in actual combat… Fortunately, Kevin didn't seem to intend to take advantage of his fatigue and merely wanted to observe the state of the second-awakened Persona.
"Come forth, Persona!! Raoul!!!"
The white spirit-bird mask on Ren Amamiya's face instantly dissolved into blue-green flames and vanished.
In its place, responding to his summons, Persona Raoul materialized from the void, unfurling its massive mechanical bat wings behind Ren Amamiya.
"So this is your Persona after its second awakening. Judging by its aura, its strength has indeed increased considerably."
Kevin looked at Persona Raoul behind Ren Amamiya—clad in a crimson coat, exuding an air of mysterious elegance, like a gentleman and a magician rolled into one. He nodded slightly, a hint of interest appearing in his blue eyes.
A profound, ethereal blue icicle suddenly condensed in the void. Like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, it transformed into a stream of blue-green light, seemingly traversing the barriers of time and space, and shot towards Persona Raoul behind Ren Amamiya in an instant.
Faced with Kevin's sudden attack, Ren Amamiya didn't seem outmatched.
Persona Raoul's wrist seemed to vanish abruptly. At a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye, it effortlessly intercepted the deep blue icicle Kevin had launched.
With a slight exertion of its black, sharp claws, the deep blue icicle held in Persona Raoul's palm instantly shattered into a shower of ice crystals, which it casually scattered across the crimson desert.
"...This is?"
Ren Amamiya paid no mind to Kevin's sudden probing attack.
Instead, under the puzzled gazes of Raiden Mei and the other girls, he removed the red gloves from his hands, slowly raised his right hand to eye level, and carefully observed his palm, from which a subtle coolness emanated.
A faint coolness lingered in the palm of his right hand.
However, when he touched it lightly with the fingertips of his left hand, Ren Amamiya felt no cold sensation at all.
"Evidently, after the Persona's second awakening, the connection between Raoul and you has become closer and more synchronized. However, while the synchronization rate has skyrocketed, you will also empathize with everything Raoul experiences in battle."
Kevin revealed this to Ren Amamiya with an impassive face.
Although he possessed a vast amount of knowledge regarding Stigmata, the Path of Origion Ren Amamiya walked had never been recorded before.
The fact that Kevin could spot the sensory synchronization between Ren Amamiya and Raoul at first glance was entirely due to his special combat intuition, honed through countless life-or-death battles.
"My senses and Raoul's… have become completely synchronized?"
Before returning to the Kaslana Palace, Ren Amamiya hadn't noticed this at all.
After all, cognitive Pancake-man had died too quickly and cleanly. Akechi Goro had been utterly powerless before the second-awakened Persona Raoul, let alone capable of making Ren Amamiya feel the same pain as Raoul in battle.
Therefore, it was only after Kevin's prompting that Ren Amamiya belatedly realized this.
Previously, no matter what kind of attacks or damage Persona Arsene sustained, Ren Amamiya, the Persona-user, wouldn't feel the slightest pain.
"If this is the price of becoming stronger, then I can fully accept it."
Ren Amamiya slowly clenched his fist. He quickly accepted the reality of sharing pain with Persona Raoul, a resolute determination appearing on his face.
With the power of the second-awakened Persona Raoul, hostile entities capable of threatening it, let alone harming Raoul, were basically limited to god-tier bosses.
Facing terrifying evil gods like Yaldabaoth, whether Ren Amamiya's senses were linked with Persona Raoul's was completely irrelevant.
Even if pain wasn't shared, Yaldabaoth could completely bypass the Persona and directly attack Ren Amamiya, the Persona-user.
"To gain something is to lose something at the same time. In other words, while paying a 'price,' you have also received a corresponding 'gift.'"
Kevin's heavy and calm voice slowly sounded. He extended his hand towards Ren Amamiya. In his upturned palm, an ornate feather, shimmering with a golden radiance, floated.
Seeing the Simulacrum: Fenghuang Down feather Kevin suddenly produced, Fu Hua's jade-green pupils abruptly dilated. Then, she somewhat unnaturally retracted her arm, clutching the other Fenghuang Down feather hidden in her palm even tighter.
"This is… the feather that evil god gave me back then?"
Ren Amamiya recognized the origin of the golden feather in Kevin's palm at a glance. He couldn't help but look at Kevin with some confusion, silently awaiting his explanation.
"Since your senses are already shared with Raoul, there's no need for you to personally listen to the [Blade Mantra of Taixuan] within this feather. Raoul can do it for you. This will also allow your proficiency in [Taixuan Sword Qi] to improve significantly."
Kevin handed the floating golden feather in his hand to the empty space in front of Persona Raoul. As ripples spread out, strange and abstruse sonic wavelengths instantly resonated, continuously baptizing Persona Raoul's body.
"However, during this period, it's best if you leave Raoul directly within the confines of this Kaslana Palace, with me observing and guarding it… If you need Raoul for battle, you can naturally summon it directly from the Kaslana Palace. It's just that the learning process for Taixuan Sword Qi will be interrupted as a result."
Listening to the sounds of the Blade Mantra continuously spreading from the Simulacrum: Fenghuang Down, Fu Hua's fist, clutching the other Fenghuang Down feather, couldn't help but tighten.
Although she didn't really mind promoting Taixuan Sword Qi and creating more powerful warriors capable of fighting back against the Honkai, Otto should have at least informed her about giving her Taixuan Sword Qi cultivation method to Ren Amamiya!
After all, the mission Fu Hua had received from Otto was to lurk by Ren Amamiya's side.
If Fu Hua, unaware that Ren Amamiya had already learned Taixuan Sword Qi, used Taixuan Sword Qi techniques in a battle against a Shadow, she could easily arouse Ren Amamiya's suspicion!!
Otto you bastard, I shouldn't have trusted you anymore!! (◣皿◢)_凸
(End of Volume V: Devil, Death, and the World Reversed)