Bruce's armored car screeched to a halt on the outskirts of Dunger City.In the back seat, the Faceless Masked Man squirmed against the restraining cuffs, his neck bound with metallic bands that shimmered under the blood-red sunset.
"You've gotta be real idiots to attack Foster City," Bruce growled, adjusting his holster.
The prisoner chuckled, his mask fogged with sweat."Even a trash-level Kill Count 844 can arrest me? Pathetic…"
Bruce ignored the insult, but a question gnawed at his thoughts:"Will I become that someday? A monster bound to a Persona?"
BOOM!
A body crashed into the asphalt ten meters from the car, carving a crater into the street.Bruce swallowed hard. Even after years, it never felt normal.He didn't need to see the number on the forehead (70,021) to know:
"The party's started."
The Conference Room
The room was already filled with corpses before Adrian walked in.
A man in a crow mask stammered,"He... he killed Graves with one strike! Didn't even use the sword!"
Another, with stitched lips, backed away:"That's a Kill Monster... a real one!"
Adrian stepped on the crushed skull of one of the assassins.His gaze locked onto the leader — Alex.
"You're all Degenerates. Phase 4."His voice cut like wind through a battlefield."Broken minds. Voices in your heads. Pain unless you kill...Alex, I warned you."
The leader (90,002 kills) stumbled backward, and in a blink, his right arm morphed into a black blade.
"Forgive my insolence, Adrian Foster!"His movement was too fast for the others to see.
SLASH!
The head of the woman who had ordered the attack rolled across the floor.Her number (45,670) faded like a dying candle.
"90,003," Alex muttered as the blade retracted.
The other members froze.Adrian didn't even blink.
"Killing is easy.What's hard is remembering why you should stop.Killing her changed nothing.You're still vultures."
Then—
Adrian's sword moved on its own.
The first assassin (crow-mask man) screamed,"Skill: Fog of—"
CLANG!
His mouth still open when the blade cleaved him from groin to shoulder.His organs spilled out before his brain could register death.
The second (stitched lips) jumped out the window.
Adrian didn't even glance.The sword vibrated in the air, and the fleeing man exploded mid-fall, like crushed by an invisible force.
The third (a giant with 60,000+ kills) charged with bone claws.
"I'm gonna—"
CRACK!
Adrian clenched his fist.The air shattered like glass — and the giant collapsed from the inside.His own claws pierced his heart.
In 15 seconds, only two remained:
Adrian.Alex.And the stench of blood dripping down the walls.
Alex trembled.His number blinked: 90,003 → 90,002 → 90,003 — like a panicked heartbeat.
"Adrian... this society is just one branch.There's a larger one. Others.They want every city in the East.Including Foster."
[☠️ SYSTEM ALERT: TRUTH DETECTED]
Adrian smiled — a terrifying, empty grin.
The ground trembled.Not like an earthquake—like something breathing beneath the earth.
"Foster is the last trace of human sanity...You think it's a gift for your little game?"
The sword floated back to his hand, spinning like a bloodstained top.
"I'll let you live.To take me to them.I seek redemption…But it seems hell came after me, hungry."