"This Palace feels familiar, like the Herrscher of the Void's... It's not just because they're both Herrscher Palaces; the base design here is also similar to the Tower of Babel in her Palace."
Walking through the cold, pale corridors of the base, which emanated a chilling, bone-deep aura, Ren Amamiya felt a faint sense of déjà vu.
"It must be the work of Schicksal. The Bronya sees Schicksal's emblem in this base's design. Perhaps the still-unawakened Herrscher of Wind is receiving the same treatment as the Herrscher of the Void. Given Schicksal's usual methods, this wouldn't be surprising."
Bronya floated leisurely in mid-air, carefully observing her surroundings before giving Ren her confident assessment.
A world-shaking event like a Herrscher's awakening could never be hidden from the public eye.
Bronya was one hundred percent certain that the Herrscher of Wind had not yet fully awakened.
But if someone, like Cocolia, were to implant the Gem of Desire, which symbolized the Herrscher of Wind's authority, into a young girl as a vessel and then artificially inject a massive amount of Honkai energy as a catalyst, creating a Herrscher of Wind would be all too easy.
Based on Bronya's current understanding of Schicksal, they were more than capable of pulling something like that.
"I wonder if the ruler of this Herrscher of Wind's Palace is still alive. If she is, and we can save her from Schicksal's clutches in the real world, the Herrscher of Wind might become a powerful ally."
Through conversations with her father, Raiden Ryoma, Raiden Mei now understood the connection between the Gem of Conquest and the Herrscher of Thunder.
She knew she had almost become a Herrscher bent on destroying humanity. She also knew that now, with Ren's help, she had tamed part of that Herrscher power, becoming a half-baked Herrscher of Thunder as a Persona user.
Facing a Herrscher of Wind controlled by Schicksal, Raiden Mei naturally felt a sense of kinship and pity, wanting to do everything she could to save this poor, unknown kindred spirit.
"Joker, enemies approaching."
Having quantum leaped to Kiana's side, Hare, who had also been brought to the Herrscher of Wind's Palace, suddenly warned Ren.
Bronya's mouth had just opened halfway. Seeing that Hare had already alerted the team, she closed her mouth with a hint of sullenness.
"Everyone, prepare for battle."
Female Shadow soldiers in strange armor emerged from the depths of the corridor. A pale blue flame erupted around Ren's body as his dark, winged trench coat materialized and settled over him.
Deep red arcs of lightning crackled around Raiden Mei's body, her casual clothes replaced by crimson skirted armor.
As for Bronya, the corners of her mouth visibly curved into a smirk.
A surge of azure light enveloped her. Her slender frame was covered in a blue-and-white pleated skirt. Her silver-gray twin drills were undone, cascading down to her waist and growing into triple-drill, waist-length silver-gray hair.
Two pure, gem-like ornaments appeared as ear clips on her delicate earlobes.
"Big Sis Bronya, your Persona power... it's fully awakened?!"
Looking at the transformed Bronya, who radiated confidence and high spirits, Seele covered her mouth in surprise, her voice filled with heartfelt joy.
"That's amazing! As expected of Bronya-Oneechan! I knew you could do it if you put your mind to it!!"
"After Mr. Welt's guidance, for a genius like The Bronya, fully utilizing a Persona's abilities is a piece of cake... Also, Seele, you shouldn't call me Bronya-Oneechan now. You should call me 'Phantom Thief Silver Wolf,' right?"
Seeing Seele's excitement over her fully awakened Persona, Bronya lifted her chin proudly.
Welt's guidance had been thorough, and Bronya's own talent was extraordinary. This combination allowed her to fully utilize the power of the two hundred and thirty-four Herrscher of Reason core fragments she possessed.
After replying to Seele, Bronya eagerly turned her gaze toward Ren, her budding heart yearning for his praise.
The intense desire to prove herself to Ren had played no small part in her ability to master the Herrscher of Reason's authority within a single day.
"Well done, Silver Wolf. You've mastered your Persona's power even faster than I anticipated... As a reward, I'll give you this to use."
Noticing Bronya's expectant gaze, hungry for praise, Ren didn't disappoint her.
A slight smile graced his lips as he took out the Ring of Time, obtained from the electric chair execution of the Persona Norn, and placed the shimmering golden accessory into Bronya's hand.
"This is—a ring?!"
Taking the golden ring from Ren, Bronya's fair, clear face flushed crimson. She felt a bit flustered as she held the Ring of Time.
Especially when Raiden Mei, while touching the large Thunderl Ring she wore on her own hand, cast a silent, scrutinizing gaze their way, Bronya's silver-gray eyes immediately started darting about.
"Seele, I'm giving you this Key of the Void. Just pull the trigger against your head to summon your Persona. If you aim it at an enemy, you can fire a sub-space bullet to eliminate them... This is a Persona summoner that only you and I can use. Others can only use its weapon function."
Ren handed the Key of the Void to a bewildered Seele and explained its use.
"A Persona summoner that only me and Ren-Niichan can use?"
Just like her Bronya-Oneechan, a blush appeared on Seele's flawless, fair face. She carefully and preciously accepted the Key of the Void pistol, a delighted smile blooming on her pretty face.
"Seele will definitely make good use of this gift from Big Brother Ren!!"
Seele didn't seem to realize the danger of using a high-powered pistol as a Persona summoner. Or perhaps she simply trusted Ren wholeheartedly, believing he would never give her an item that could harm her.
But even if the current Seele were accidentally harmed by one of Vill-V's inventions, it wouldn't really matter.
After all, the Seele standing here was essentially a projection of her true self in the Sea of Quanta. Even if she suffered a fatal wound, she wouldn't truly die. She would simply return to wander the dim, silent Sea of Quanta.
This was why Ren could give the Key of the Void to Seele without any hesitation.
While the Ring of Time and the Key of the Void could provide some enhancement to Ren himself, the boosted damage was simply overkill.
Distributing this equipment to his teammates in the Phantom Thieves and raising the overall strength of the girls was the best way to conquer Herrscher Palaces more easily.
While Ren was distributing the equipment to Bronya and Seele, the Valkyrie Shadows that had emerged from the depths of the corridor finally reached the front of the Phantom Thieves' formation.
Seeing this, Ren and Raiden Mei exchanged a glance and placed their hands on the masks they wore.
Hare closed her eyes lightly, her hands clasped in a prayer-like gesture.
Bronya took a deep breath, clenching her fists in giddy excitement, while Seele, without a second thought, raised the Key of the Void pistol and unhesitatingly pointed the azure weapon at her own temple.
"Persona!!!!!!"
The Persona users called out in unison.
The white spirit bird mask and the black demon mask crisscrossed in mid-air, transforming into azure flames and crimson lightning. An orb of light forged from dreams exploded forth.
The trigger was pulled. Blue spirit butterflies danced and fluttered, circling the dome above.
The Persona Kurikara descended from the heavens with a deafening roar. Dreamy Hare, clad in purple-and-blue sci-fi armor, brandished her gun-lance and charged head-on toward the approaching Valkyrie Shadows.
Project Bunny 19C's mechanical body turned completely silver-blue, extending two large, deep-blue hands to protectively shield Bronya's small frame from behind.
And as Seele pulled the trigger of the Key of the Void, Shadow Seele, wearing a blood-red dress and wielding a chain scythe, materialized, floating in the void behind her.
"Go, Magatsu-Izanagi!!"
As his teammates summoned their respective Personas, Ren, with the power of the Wild Card, chose to summon his newest acquisition, Magatsu-Izanagi, to test the strength of this S-rank Persona.
Magatsu-Izanagi, clad in a black coat with blood-red patterns, materialized. It gripped its black naginata and charged ahead, reaching the Shadow soldiers in the Herrscher of Wind's Palace first.
The black naginata danced like a dark meteor streaking across the sky. In a flash of light, the Valkyrie Shadows surrounding Magatsu-Izanagi were easily sliced in half at the waist, failing to inflict even a scratch on it.
"Project Bunny, we can't fall behind! Let's show everyone our upgraded power!!"
Not to be outdone, Bronya waved her arm, issuing a command to the fully enhanced Project Bunny, now powered by the authority of the Herrscher of Reason.
Silver-blue funnels materialized around Project Bunny, continuously firing barrages of azure light beams at the Valkyrie Shadows in the Palace.
"As expected of the newest weapon from Joker! This Key of the Void is amazing!"
Seele continuously pulled the trigger of the azure pistol. Golden sub-space bullets shot toward the group of Shadows at high speed.
The bullets, which ignored defense, instantly annihilated their targets. Realizing the power of the Key of the Void in battle, Seele couldn't help but praise Ren again.
"Indeed. The effect of this pistol is quite good. Why didn't you bring out something this good sooner?"
Veliona was very satisfied with the mechanics of the Key of the Void summoner. For once, her usually tsundere personality didn't even show a hint of verbal disdain. She only grumbled about why Ren hadn't brought out such a useful summoner earlier.
Swinging her chain scythe to strike down the Valkyrie Shadow in front of her, an undisguised, excited smile appeared on Shadow Seele's face.
The Stigmata power, which originally required Seele's consciousness to fall completely dormant so she could take over her body to fully unleash, could now be accessed with a simple pull of the trigger thanks to the Key of the Void's mechanics.
How could Veliona not be excited about that?
"St-stop! Who are you people? Why are you invading a Schicksal base?!"
Just as Ren and the others, controlling their Personas, were cleaning up the last of the attacking Valkyrie Shadows, a trembling girl's voice suddenly rang out.
Magatsu-Izanagi plunged its black naginata into the chest of the last enemy. After eliminating all the Valkyrie Shadows, Ren finally stopped his attack and turned his gaze to where the voice had come from.
"...A Shadow in a wheelchair?"
Looking at the green-haired girl who had emerged from the depths of the corridor just like the Valkyrie Shadows before her, only this time struggling forward in a wheelchair, Ren's eyes widened in astonishment.
What kind of a place was this Herrscher of Wind's Palace that it even had a Shadow girl in a wheelchair?
This was just getting weirder and weirder.
The green-haired girl in the wheelchair was pale, her forehead covered in sweat. Even so, she didn't stop pushing the wheels, trying hard to get closer to Ren and his team.
She exuded an air of pitiful innocence. Watching her struggle to even turn the wheelchair, Ren didn't get the impression that she was any kind of powerful Shadow.
"Is she a cognitive existence in this Palace? But she doesn't feel like one. Compared to a cognitive being, the aura from this green-haired girl feels more like... the Palace Ruler?"
As the green-haired girl struggled closer, Ren gradually got a clearer sense of the peculiar feeling she was emitting.
As a veteran Phantom Thief who had conquered multiple Palaces, Ren's judgment had become exceptionally sharp. He could now accurately identify the specific roles of the beings within a Palace just by looking at them.
"It's not just the Palace Ruler. I can also sense the Treasure's aura... This green-haired girl, is she both the Palace Ruler and the Palace's Treasure itself?"