Persona Huodou being insta-killed by the Reaper was an outcome Ren had anticipated.
The only thing that slightly surprised him was the Reaper managing to kill Persona Huodou before its Unyielding Spirit skill could activate.
Faced with the terrifyingly strong and mysterious Reaper, Ren chose to summon his most powerful Persona.
As the white spirit bird mask fluttered, ethereal azure flames ignited from the heavens.
Persona Arsene, clad in deep red formal wear, a black pointed top hat on his head, and a pair of massive black falcon wings on his back, materialized from the cerulean flames!
"Me too... Roar, Kurikara!"
Mei quickly followed Ren's lead. She fiercely threw the black demonic mask in her hand. Accompanied by a dense flash of lightning that tore through the sky, the colossal crimson demonic dragon descended with a deafening roar.
Persona Arsene and Kurikara, responding to their summons, appeared simultaneously on this dim battlefield, their presence far more powerful than Persona Huodou's.
The almost tangible, immense pressure made even the enraged Reaper pause cautiously, carefully observing Ren and the others for openings and weaknesses.
"—Wait, Phantom Thief-san, she's not an enemy!"
As the situation temporarily reached a tense standoff, Ren handed Seele, whom he had been carrying on his shoulder, to Hare beside him, preparing to fully focus on battling the Reaper.
Only after Ren placed her back on the ground did Seele, who had been in a daze the entire time, finally snap back to her senses. She quickly raised her slender white hand, tugging at Ren's sleeve, her voice full of anxiety as she tried to stop the fight between Ren and her other self.
"Even if you say so, Seele, this Reaper doesn't seem to think so!"
The moment Seele tugged at Ren's sleeve, the Reaper, its form concealed by crimson light, decisively attacked.
With a clang of chains, the Reaper transformed into a streak of crimson light, moving with swift and agile speed, its target clearly Ren.
Facing the rapidly approaching Reaper, Ren reacted extremely quickly, pulling Seele's soft body into his embrace. With his other hand, he abruptly raised a Mosin-Nagant Sun pistol. His index finger frantically squeezed the trigger, emptying the entire clip towards the advancing Reaper.
BANG BANG BANG BANG—!!!
While firing at the Reaper, Ren, holding the suddenly stiffened Seele, didn't just stand there like a turret.
He fully utilized his agility as a phantom thief. The black, bird-wing-like coattails of his phantom thief attire billowed as Ren, holding Seele with one arm, spun and flew away from his original position.
Like a black falcon swooping through the night sky, Ren instantly created distance between himself, Seele, and the Reaper.
After emptying the Mosin-Nagant Sun pistol, Ren didn't expect this ordinary firearm to inflict any significant damage on the Reaper.
He would be satisfied if it could merely wear down the Reaper a little.
However, unexpectedly, after Ren landed back on the ground with Seele...
The Mosin-Nagant Sun's fire bullets, which Ren hadn't pinned much hope on, actually managed to stun the Reaper.
The Reaper faced Ren, its body standing rigidly in place, even beginning to tremble violently.
"Please don't fight anymore! Phantom Thief-san, they are not enemies!"
Seele pressed her hands against Ren's chest. After gently pushing herself out of his embrace, her azure eyes, filled with panic, turned to her other self hidden within the deep red, eerie light, trying to explain and clarify.
"...Crybaby, just obediently step aside and keep crying. Whether these suspicious characters, who are acting all mysterious and don't even dare show their faces, and who invaded this space that belongs only to you and me, are enemies or not, I can certainly tell for myself!"
After Seele's attempt to persuade the "Reaper"...
Though silent for a long moment, Shadow Seele, hidden within the eerie red light, finally gritted her teeth and squeezed out these words to the overly naive and pure Seele.
This was Seele's Stigma space. Theoretically, besides Seele herself, no one else should be able to intrude.
Even that terrifying existence encountered in the Sea of Quanta hadn't been able to invade this sanctuary that belonged solely to Seele.
Being able to preserve this safe area for respite, unobserved by others, was undoubtedly the only solace left in Shadow Seele's heart.
Yet, this very Stigma space, which should have been impenetrable, had been infiltrated by Ren and the others today, completely unnoticed.
If Shadow Seele hadn't been constantly watching over Seele, even she, the persona of this Stigma space, wouldn't have detected the intruders' forced entry in time.
"You yourself already know they are phantom thieves! Do you still think these guys are good people?!"
A cold, mocking sneer tugged at Shadow Seele's lips. Her voice laced with bitterness, she retorted to Seele, her hostile gaze firmly locked onto Ren's figure, completely ignoring Hare and Mei on the other side.
The supposedly mindless Reaper was actually capable of speech, and its voice was identical to Seele's, only the tone and cadence had undergone a drastic change.
"...I see. I think I understand now."
After a brief moment of stun, Ren quickly showed an expression of dawning realization.
"That's right. This isn't the real Mementos, but a special Palace within Seele's heart that looks very similar to Mementos. So, naturally, there wouldn't be a real Reaper in this Palace. Even if something that looks like a Reaper appears, it definitely wouldn't be the real deal."
"The Reaper's appearance is just a disguise. Your true identity... is the Shadow lurking within Seele Vollerei's heart!"
After deducing the "Reaper's" true identity, Ren felt considerably calmer.
He slowly raised his red-gloved finger, pointing towards Shadow Seele, whose form was concealed by the eerie red light, and stated with conviction.
"...Huh? The Shadow lurking in my heart? What does that mean?"
Hearing Ren's judgment of Shadow Seele's identity, Seele's fair, delicate face once again showed a look of utter bewilderment.
Ever since Ren, the self-proclaimed phantom thief of hearts, appeared, Seele had been in a constant state of confusion. She felt as if she were receiving information from another world, passively and incompletely understanding the intelligence Ren provided.
Terms like "Cognitive Psience" and "Palace" that Ren mentioned were all unfamiliar concepts Seele had never encountered.
Seele was naive, but not foolish.
However, after a brief interaction, Seele felt Ren wasn't trying to deceive her. Moreover, Ren seemed to have completely discerned what changes had occurred to her after the X-10 experiment.
Ren claimed to know Bronya, and Hare even claimed to be Bronya's biological mother's friend...
After falling from the real world into the Sea of Quanta, the only person Seele could communicate with was her other self within her heart.
If not for her other self supporting her, alleviating the loneliness and desolation she faced in the void-like and dangerous Sea of Quanta, Seele believed her sanity would have eventually snapped.
Although Seele later encountered a terrifying fellow traveler in the Sea of Quanta who called itself "Serpent"...
That companion's personality was far too cold, almost like an iceberg, barely speaking to Seele at all.
Besides her other self, Ren was the only person Seele could communicate with normally after being imprisoned in the Sea of Quanta for so long.
And Ren had brought news of Bronya's current condition and offered hope of taking Seele out of the Sea of Quanta to reunite with Bronya-oneechan in the real world.
Even if, in her other self's eyes, Ren and the others seemed overly suspicious...
Seele decided to trust Ren. She believed that even if Ren called himself a phantom thief, he definitely wouldn't be a bad person who committed evil deeds!
However, even if Seele chose to believe Ren, what she didn't understand, she still didn't understand. She couldn't comprehend what Ren meant by "Shadow."
"Simply put, it's the part of you lurking in your heart, completely different from the personality you usually display, another you that has always been ignored and subconsciously suppressed. It's the true self formed by the thoughts you're unwilling to acknowledge within yourself... Cocolia didn't even explain such basic common sense to you?"
Ren slowly explained to the bewildered Seele, a hint of doubt and pity in his eyes as he looked at her.
Cocolia hadn't even taught Seele such basic common sense from Cognitive Psience.
In the eyes of this mastermind Cocolia, Seele's status as an easily disposable tool was glaringly obvious.
"S-Sorry, Seele hasn't heard Mama Cocolia talk about such things..."
Meeting Ren's gaze, which held a hint of pity and regret, Seele's fair, flawless cheeks slowly flushed red.
She slowly lowered her small head, her delicate fingertips fiddling with the hem of her blue dress, her voice incredibly timid and weak as she responded to Ren.
Prompted by Ren's matter-of-fact tone, and with her favorable impression of Cocolia continuously declining due to the incident of Bronya being turned into a robot, Seele now truly began to suspect Cocolia had hidden such research on "Cognitive Psience" technology from her.
After all, Cocolia had hidden more than just one or two things from the children in the orphanage.
Even the X-10 experiment that caused Seele to fall into the Sea of Quanta—if her other self hadn't proactively sought revenge on Sin Mal and obtained the list of test subjects from her, Seele would have been completely unaware of this experiment's existence.
Seele's involvement in the X-10 experiment was purely coincidental. In areas Seele couldn't access, the experiments Cocolia conducted while hiding them from the orphanage children were surely countless.
That so-called Cognitive Psience technology was probably also one of the experimental results Cocolia had concealed.
"B-But! My other self, although she's another me, she's not really—Mmmphh?!"
Seele lowered her head guiltily. After fidgeting with the hem of her blue dress for a while, she mustered her courage, looked up, and somewhat stubbornly began to speak to Ren.
"That's a forbidden phrase! You can't say such things that deny your Shadow in front of her! Seele, you must remember this!"
Just as Seele was about to utter words denying Shadow Seele was her true self...
Mei promptly arrived by Seele's side. With a swift and decisive movement, she raised her hand, firmly covering Seele's pink lips with her soft palm, forcibly stopping the half-sentence Seele was about to speak.
The memory of yesterday, when she herself had her defenses completely broken by Shadow Mei's manipulative words and had spoken words of denial to Shadow Mei, resulting in Shadow Mei's power doubling, was still vivid in her mind.
After the setback with Shadow Mei, Mei's sensitivity to the act of denying one's own Shadow had reached its peak.
The moment Seele showed the intention of denying Shadow Seele wasn't her true self, Mei decisively clamped her mouth shut and repeatedly warned her.
While covering Seele's lips, who had nearly uttered the forbidden words, Mei cautiously glanced at Shadow Seele standing quietly on the other side.
Although the eerie crimson glow obscured Shadow Seele's figure and expression, preventing Mei from seeing clearly...
Mei could vaguely sense a feeling of irritation emanating from Shadow Seele.
Since she feels irritated, and her strength and appearance haven't changed due to Seele's unfinished words, it means I successfully severed the connection between Shadow Seele and Seele herself.
Realizing this, Mei slowly let out a sigh of relief, gradually releasing her tight grip on Seele's pink lips.
"If you deny your Shadow in front of her, she will completely go berserk, and might even turn around and hurt you, trying to become the real Seele herself!"
Facing Seele, who looked bewildered and still unaware of the dangerous thing she had almost done, Mei explained earnestly.
"—What a joke! That's hilarious! Whether that crybaby denies me or not is a trivial matter of no consequence! It couldn't possibly affect my mood in the slightest!!!"