The pitch-black muzzle hidden in the center of the rapier spat out dazzling flame.
If Izanagi-no-Okami and Messiah were the ultimate Personas of his predecessors, then Samael was the highest peak Bai Qian could reach.
You could preach all the grand truths you wanted—she wouldn't listen anyway.
So, fine.
Eat my Sin-Piercing Armor-Pen Round first!
The bullet's insane kinetic force whipped up a gale. Just the shockwave alone tore loose every chunk of rubble on the surrounding ruins.
"BOOOOM—!"
The already half-collapsed kendo grounds caved in completely. The dark-violet lightning barrier shattered like brittle glass—cleanly punched through by that black projectile.
Dust and smoke exploded outward.
The Herrscher of Thunder, who'd been floating in the air a second ago, got swatted down like a fly—smashed straight into the ground by the sheer impact.
"Cough—You—!"
She crawled out of the rubble, battered and filthy, one of the oni horns on her head snapped clean off.
She didn't even have time to finish the insult—
"Even if I don't understand why beating up the dark side makes someone turn good," a white blur roared through the smoke, "if beating YOU works, then that's all that matters!"
Kiana didn't care about coordination. Didn't care about tactics.
All she saw was "a Mei-looking villain" getting knocked down by Bai Qian—and her brain reduced itself to one powerful truth:
Beat the fallen enemy!
This was a rare chance to show off in front of Mei!
Kiana launched herself into the air, fists raised, and slammed down toward the Herrscher's face—
"You've got to be kidding me. Him, I can almost accept—BUT WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"
Lightning flashed in the Herrscher's palm. She slapped Kiana away with a single swing like she was swatting a bug.
Kiana spun through the air, soul leaving her body in real time.
"How could my spectacular performance—!"
Mid-flight, she caught sight of Raiden Mei watching her without blinking.
"Wah—Mei! Don't look! Don't look at me!!"
Behind Bai Qian's right shoulder, Rin's lips curled upward. Her eyes glittered with dangerous excitement.
"If this is a visualization of the inner world," she murmured, "then as long as I have enough mana… I can materialize as many gems as I want."
That "no inventory anxiety, unlimited spending" feeling was bliss.
"Um… technically you're still spending your own—"
"I DON'T CARE!"
Rin didn't hear a word of it. She snapped straight into battle mode.
"Take this! This one is an A-rank gemstone worth 500,000 yen!"
"Erdtree Prayer!"
"BURN!"
"Jewelcraft Sorcery!!"
"And if one isn't enough—THEN EAT ANOTHER SIN-PIERCING ARMOR-PEN ROUND!"
"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!"
Explosions chained together one after another.
The Herrscher of Thunder screamed in rage.
A storm of violent electricity burst outward from her body, barely forcing the attackers back. She hovered in midair, panting hard.
The refined, cold beauty from earlier was gone—replaced by raw disbelief.
Her clothing was torn in multiple places, pale skin revealed beneath, sizzling as black smoke curled off it.
She was done.
She had nothing left.
"YOU—! What the hell are you people?!"
Her shaking finger pointed at Bai Qian.
Her gaze swept past Samael, past the woman throwing fire, past the woman throwing jewel artillery—
and finally landed on the white-haired idiot she'd slapped away.
At least that one made me look dignified, comparatively.
"Who fights like this?! You just jump someone right away?!" she shrieked, voice cracking with outrage.
She was the dark side. The embodiment of negativity.
But that didn't mean she had no dignity!
Wasn't the usual script supposed to be: the protagonist enters, struggles, suffers, then "saves" her with love?
What was this?
Violent demolition?
"You alone are already ridiculous with that huge monster behind you!" she bellowed at Bai Qian. "And you still brought ALL of them?!"
The pressure Samael radiated was so overwhelming she genuinely felt like she'd wandered into the wrong genre.
Bai Qian stood on higher ground with both hands in his pockets, looking down at the battered Herrscher like she was a pest he'd been meaning to deal with for a while.
Samael hadn't even "seriously" moved. It just flapped a wing like it was shooing flies—and that alone created hurricane winds.
"Hah."
Bai Qian let out a derisive laugh.
He watched her look simultaneously furious and wronged, and instead of guilt, he felt… delight.
"Get one thing straight, 'Miss Raiden Mei.'"
He spoke slowly, lazily—every syllable packed with arrogant righteousness.
"I'm a Phantom Thief."
"And Phantom Thieves don't care about chivalry, or bushido, or any of that nonsense."
"We start with an all-out attack."
"We care about efficiency."
"If we can jump you, why duel you? If we can shoot you, why fence you?"
He spread his hands like he was explaining an obvious life lesson.
"And besides."
"This is called righteous group beating."
"When you're a bad woman trying to hijack someone else's body, we don't need rules."
"We pile in together—that's the greatest respect we can give you."
The Herrscher of Thunder choked on her own fury.
She turned her head—desperate—to the two people who still hadn't attacked.
One was a girl in a purple-and-black dress.
The other looked like a normal high school girl who'd wandered into the wrong film set.
"You—You two!"
The Herrscher stared at them like they were her last hope.
"You're not going to fight, right? Or at least… you have some shame left compared to him?"
Saki was trembling behind a broken pillar. At the Herrscher's words, she shook her head violently, twin tails whipping like rattles.
"I-I'm just a JK! A normal high school girl!"
She shouted at the top of her lungs.
"I can't shoot beams, I can't transform, I don't have some thirty-meter Stand!"
"What am I supposed to do, run in and donate my life?!"
She looked at the battlefield where the ground itself was being turned over like farmland and felt her soul exit her body.
What kind of gods were these people?!
She'd come to awaken a Persona, not to die on her first day of "team-building."
"And my hourly wage is only 1,000 yen!" Saki cried. "A fight where even Kamen Riders would charge an appearance fee is NOT included in my service package!"
The Herrscher's mouth twitched.
Fine.
She turned to Herta.
This one… had to be strong. That gaze, that aura—no way she was normal.
Herta stood on a relatively clean slab of stone. When she noticed the Herrscher looking at her, she didn't even bother giving her a proper glance.
She just flicked her eyes over her like she was examining a paramecium under a microscope.
"Me? Fight you? Are you serious?"
Herta lifted a finger, pointing at the Herrscher, then at herself.
"Just because I got my body back doesn't mean I'm interested in getting my hands dirty for trash of your level."
She sighed, like she was disappointed by the enemy's ignorance.
"You?"
"You're not even qualified to be a charging battery for one of my puppets."
"Have a little self-awareness."
The Herrscher fell silent.
She looked at Kiana glaring from afar.
Looked at Rin chanting spells like she was shopping in a luxury mall.
Looked at Bai Qian acting like this was a casual weekend hobby.
Then she looked at the "spectators" who couldn't be bothered to take her seriously.
For a terrifying moment, she realized:
She might be the least respected Herrscher in history.
"Um… maybe you should just surrender?" the real Raiden Mei finally spoke from the back.
She looked at the "other her" who shared her face yet had been beaten into a miserable, smoky wreck, then at the so-called saviors who were currently dismantling the inside of her heart like a construction crew.
All the fear and tension she'd felt about confronting herself had already flown off into the stratosphere.
Hearing even Mei tell her to give up…
The Herrscher of Thunder shut her eyes.
A kind of wordless, bottomless despair rose in her chest.
"…Guh. Fine."
"Just kill me already."
-------
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