"...Hmm? Although I feel Bronya's realism is very high, could it be she was actually human to begin with?"
From Hare and Seele's reactions, Ren Amamiya sensed something was amiss. He silently retracted his raised thumb, frowning as he questioned Hare.
"At least the last time I checked on her living situation, Bronya was still a healthy human girl... I didn't expect that just by not appearing in the real world for a while, Bronya would be subjected to such cruel torment."
Hare's exquisite and gentle face was now filled with remorse and sorrow. She lowered her eyelids, her voice soft and full of guilt as she spoke.
Bronya ended up in Cocolia's orphanage largely due to Hare's suggestion, with Gray Serpent facilitating it.
Even if Hare's initial intentions were good...
In Hare's own eyes, Bronya's transformation into a robot girl due to Cocolia's human experiments was entirely her, the elder's, grave mistake. It was her failure to take care of Alexandra's child.
"Bronya-oneechan was turned into a robot... How could this happen? How could something so outrageous happen..."
Seele's face turned incredibly pale. A layer of mist formed in her azure eyes, and teardrops streamed uncontrollably down her flawless, fair cheeks. Her sobbing sounds echoed heavily in the empty, silent, dark corridor.
Unlike Hare, who could only watch over Bronya silently from the shadows...
In the days before falling into the Sea of Quanta, Seele had always been with Bronya. Therefore, she understood Bronya's situation best.
After her body became quantized, Seele had met Bronya once more and given her the power of Project Bunny as a parting gift before Bronya returned to the real world.
And Bronya being able to find Seele in the quantum world naturally meant Bronya ultimately chose to undergo the X-10 experiment, the very experiment Seele had volunteered for to take Bronya's place.
Backed by Anti-Entropy, Seele was well aware of her identity as a Stigma Awakener.
In terms of precise Honkai energy control, perhaps she wasn't as good as Bronya-oneechan.
But if judged by Honkai energy adaptability and Honkai resistance, Bronya, an ordinary person, could never reach the level of a Stigma Awakener like Seele.
If Seele were a perfect Stigma Awakener, she should have been able to withstand the torment of the X-10 experiment.
But she was only a natural Stigma Awakener who hadn't yet perfectly developed her Stigma's power, possessing great potential but not yet having converted it into actual strength.
Even though a natural Stigma Awakener's Honkai resistance was also exceptionally outstanding...
Faced with experimental results exceeding expectations, Cocolia, fanatically craving more experimental data, madly increased the dosage step by step.
Ultimately, Seele still couldn't bear the burden. Her body was destroyed down to the microscopic quantum level, completely vanishing from the real world and falling into the Sea of Quanta, this boundless ocean containing endless horrors.
Bronya being able to find Seele once in the quantum world indicated that the X-10 experiment she underwent had long exceeded the theoretically set safety limits. It was an equally terrifying experimental dosage capable of completely destroying a human body, disintegrating it to the quantum level.
Even if Bronya, at Seele's persuasion, promised to see Seele again and eventually returned from the quantum level to the real world, her body, already scarred from falling down the stairs, would likely suffer even more unimaginable deterioration due to the Honkai energy erosion caused by the X-10 experiment.
With Bronya's Honkai resistance far inferior to Seele's, even if she narrowly avoided complete bodily collapse to the quantum level, it was entirely unavoidable that her body would be ravaged by the consequences of the X-10 experiment.
In a life-threatening condition due to the X-10 experiment, it wasn't entirely unimaginable for Bronya to be modified into a robot by Cocolia.
To prolong Bronya's life, to fulfill the promise of saving Seele—based on Seele's understanding of Cocolia and Bronya, they were truly capable of such desperate measures.
"...You two don't need to be so upset. Even if Cocolia transformed Bronya from a human into a robot, there are still ways to change her back into a healthy human."
Looking at the dejected Hare beside him and the blue-haired girl Seele in front, whose shoulders were shaking with sobs, exuding a pitifully fragile aura, Ren felt a bit overwhelmed.
After some thought, he surprisingly quickly came up with a way to completely restore Bronya to her true human form.
Ren's words had an outstanding effect. Seele's sobs, as she wiped her tears, abruptly ceased. The light in Hare's downcast blue eyes suddenly rekindled. Both of them sharply raised their heads, their gazes towards Ren filled with intense hope and expectation.
"The Evil God's authority can interfere with and change the world. As long as we can defeat the Evil God and seize its authority, making Bronya human again will be an effortless matter."
After Takuto Maruki inherited the authority of the Evil God Yaldabaoth, he gained the ability to create his ideal world.
Never mind healing Ryuji's old knee injury; he could even make deceased individuals win their resurrection matches without issue.
With the Evil God's authority, reverting Bronya, who had been transformed into a robot, back to her original human state would be more than sufficient.
Defeating the Evil God was Ren's ultimate goal anyway. To prevent Takuto Maruki from taking advantage and causing trouble, seizing the Evil God's authority for himself was also a necessary step.
In other words, the method to turn Bronya back into a human didn't conflict with Ren's original objectives.
Hare was already on the right path to saving Bronya.
And if Seele was moved by this, perhaps Ren could even recruit a new member into his phantom thief team to resist the Evil God.
Hearing Ren's words, a light of hope gradually appeared in Hare's beautiful blue eyes.
Indeed, if it was Kevin, the leader of the Previous Era, master of science and technology far exceeding the current civilization, and also fused with numerous Honkai Beast factors, possessing various special abilities...
Perhaps Kevin truly had a way to turn Bronya from a robot back into a human.
As for Seele, although she had stopped crying, her azure eyes, still misty, were now filled with utter bewilderment.
"Evil God... What's that? Is it the God Mama Cocolia always talks about?"
As an orphan adopted by Cocolia, Seele often heard Cocolia mention the word "God."
And according to Cocolia herself, her goal was to defeat that lofty God who sought to exterminate humanity, giving the children of the orphanage a beautiful and safe future.
"Mama Cocolia once said she had already dabbled in divine authority, taking the power of God's apostles for her own use. But Seele doesn't quite understand what Mama Cocolia means."
Cocolia performed the X-10 experiment on Bronya, leading to Bronya becoming a robot. And before Seele's body completely disintegrated into a quantum state, Cocolia dispatched Titan mechs to prevent her from seeing Bronya one last time.
At this point, Seele was utterly disappointed in Cocolia. The only reason she still called her "Mama Cocolia" was out of polite habit due to her personality.
Ren knew Bronya and had a way to save Bronya-oneechan. Seele was naturally prepared to tell Ren everything she knew, quickly revealing the snippets Cocolia had inadvertently mentioned.
"Oh? Cocolia said she has dabbled in divine authority and obtained the power of God's apostles?"
Obtaining surprising information from Seele, Ren narrowed his eyes slightly and began to think deeply.
Yaldabaoth wasn't the only god in this world. As far as Ren knew, there was another god, possibly appearing due to the fusion with the Devil Survivor series, manipulating Herrschers from behind the scenes to attack modern society.
Cocolia dabbling in divine authority and taking the power of God's apostles for her own use might refer to her creating the clone of the so-called Herrscher of Reason for combat, with "God" referring to the entity behind that Herrscher.
There was another possibility...
Ren's gaze shifted back to Seele Vollerei before him, lingering on her blue dress for a moment, while his mind recalled the blue butterfly shadows that appeared when Seele emerged from the chest.
If Seele's blue attire and the manifested blue butterfly light were deliberately caused by Cocolia through human experimentation...
Perhaps the "God" Cocolia referred to was the master of the Velvet Room, Philemon, the god of humanity's collective unconscious.
As residents of the Velvet Room, the attendant assistants chosen by Igor were undoubtedly, in a sense, apostles of God. They possessed terrifying strength far surpassing ordinary Persona users, each capable of being a hidden boss on their own.
"Seele, did you gain extremely powerful abilities due to Cocolia's experiments? The blue butterfly light that appeared when you showed up earlier, that probably also started appearing after you underwent the experiments, right?"
After finishing his contemplation, Ren slowly raised his head. He looked at Seele's eyes, somewhat red from crying, and asked her seriously.
"Ah... yes, Phantom Thief-san is right. Seele did gain new powers because of the X-10 experiment. Those blue butterflies also only appear when Seele uses her new powers. With Seele's original strength, it would have been very difficult to survive like this after falling into the sea..."
Faced with Ren's question, Seele paused for a moment, sniffled her delicate little nose, then nodded obediently like a small animal, completely affirming Ren's speculation.
If the experiment Seele underwent at Cocolia's facility was indeed an attempt to artificially create special life forms like the Velvet Room residents...
Then, judging from Seele's current condition, Cocolia's experimental plan was undoubtedly half successful.
Although Seele hadn't transformed into the Velvet Room attendants' trademark white hair and golden eyes, she already possessed the blue butterflies, Philemon's signature mark.
And Seele falling into the Sea of Quanta due to human experimentation might not necessarily indicate the experiment failed; it might just mean Cocolia failed to keep Seele in the real world.
After all, special life forms like the Velvet Room attendants were all born in the Sea of Souls and naturally needed to return to realms like Mementos or other mental otherworlds.
Even if they could appear in the real world, the Velvet Room attendants wouldn't... or couldn't, stay in reality for too long.
Viewed this way, it was perfectly reasonable for Seele to fall into the Sea of Quanta due to the X-10 experiment. Even if she hadn't fallen into the Sea of Quanta, she might have tumbled into a TV or gotten lost in a Mementos subway station.
Realizing this, besides silently raising his guard against Cocolia, this mastermind, Ren also breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Even if Seele had drifted into the otherworld of the Sea of Quanta, Ren could still reach the Palace within Seele's heart through the guidance of the MetaNav app... Perhaps because the experiment wasn't entirely successful, Seele's heart still contained a Palace, like a human's.
However, theoretically, as long as a being possessed a mind, they could awaken a Persona, and by the same token, a Palace and Shadow could also be born.
Although Ren hadn't seen any Velvet Room attendant manifest a Shadow or Palace, it didn't mean they couldn't.
Whatever the truth, Seele possessed a Palace in her heart, yet Cocolia could never find or contact Seele by infiltrating her Palace. This proved one thing to Ren:
Cocolia did not possess the power of the MetaNav app.
She might have extensive research in Cognitive Psience, but ultimately, she couldn't truly infiltrate the cognitive mental space.
Even if Cocolia could enter Mementos, her methods would likely be very primitive and outdated, making it difficult to pinpoint Seele's location, and possibly costing immense resources.
Indeed, Mementos is a safe zone beyond Cocolia's reach.
Obtaining this piece of information from Seele, Ren felt a surge of excitement.
"One more question. I couldn't find Cocolia's Palace. Is she a Persona user, or did she use some secret technique to hide or temporarily make her Palace disappear?"
Just as Ren was about to question Seele in detail about Cocolia's Palace...
Clank, clank clank...
A sound of chains dragging on the ground, so familiar it felt etched into his DNA, quietly began to echo.
From behind Seele's slender and petite figure...
A silhouette, enveloped in an ominous deep red glow, silently and rapidly approached Ren!
"Holy crap, it's the Reaper! Run!!"
Seeing the eerie shadow enveloped in crimson light, incredibly conspicuous even in the dark corridor, Ren's pupils instantly dilated to their maximum.
Staying on the same Mementos floor for too long easily attracted this powerful and terrifying mysterious pursuer.
Especially on dark, vision-obscuring Mementos floors, the probability of attracting the Reaper increased exponentially.
However, the area Ren was currently in should be Seele Vollerei's mental Palace, right? It just looked structurally similar to Mementos...
So why is the Reaper appearing in Seele's Palace?!
Even after receiving the official cheat, Izanagi-no-Okami, from the Velvet Room, the invincible Myriad Truths couldn't eliminate the Reaper in the early game.
The Reaper was an extremely strong Shadow that could only be confronted and defeated in the late game.
It wasn't impossible to defeat it in the mid to late game, but it required a well-coordinated team and item-based tactics to barely manage.
Ren currently lacked sufficient items, his team wasn't complete, and Persona Arsene hadn't even undergone its first evolution.
He had absolutely no intention of foolishly going head-to-head with the Reaper right now.
Bending down to scoop up Seele's soft, slender waist, hoisting the exclaiming Seele onto his shoulder, Ren turned and fled without hesitation, rapidly increasing the distance from the Reaper along the path they came.
"Huh? We're not fighting?... Forget it, I'll follow your lead, Joker!"
Faced with the eerie shadow emerging from the darkness with an ominous red glow, dragging heavy chains as it approached...
Mei had already gripped her Raikiri katana, preparing to summon her Persona and engage the attacking Shadow in fierce combat.
However, Ren's immediate decision to retreat made Mei's eyes widen in astonishment.
Although she couldn't understand Ren's reasons for disengaging...
Out of her trust in Ren, Mei immediately lowered her tightly gripped Raikiri, following closely behind Ren, continuously increasing the distance from the chained, red shadow.
The Reaper, its form obscured by the swirling, ominous red light, only vaguely revealing sharp claws and heavy chains, was already approaching rapidly.
And after Ren's action—like an abduction, forcibly hoisting Seele onto his shoulder and unceremoniously fleeing with her...
Gazing at Seele, her fair, slender legs firmly held by Ren, her eyes red-rimmed, tear stains still on her delicate cheeks, looking utterly pitiful as if she had been thoroughly bullied...
The Reaper, cloaked in deep red light, paused momentarily. Then, as if enraged, it pursued Ren even more frantically, relentlessly.
The scraping sound of chains and claws grew increasingly sharp and shrill.