"Choose. Will you submit to me, or die here?!"
Ren Amamiya raised his fully charged Mosin-Nagant Sun pistol, delivering his verdict to Shadow Seele, who knelt before him.
Even the Shadow within another's heart could potentially be subdued and transformed into one's own Persona.
Ren had realized this yesterday in Raiden Mei's Palace.
Therefore, after encountering and defeating the Shadow in Seele's heart today, Ren attempted to convert Shadow Seele into his Persona, to verify if his conjecture from yesterday was correct.
If it really didn't work, then Ren could only consult Kaslana later, or even seek answers from the Evil God.
Facing Ren, who stood over her like a conqueror, Shadow Seele's face contorted with extreme unwillingness. She gritted her teeth, wanting to retaliate.
However, just as the two crimson chain-claws lying beside Shadow Seele lifted into the air, before she could launch them towards Ren...
A javelin glowing with a deep purple light and a dazzling bolt of lightning, thundering from the sky, whistled towards her almost simultaneously. From left and right, they pinned Shadow Seele's freshly raised crimson chain-claws firmly to the ground.
Shadow Seele's eye twitched twice. She stiffly turned her head.
Hare, clad in blue sci-fi armor, held a purple javelin in each hand.
Raiden Mei, gripping her mechanical katana Raikiri, wore crimson samurai armor, with the colossal crimson demonic dragon coiled in the air behind her.
They now held their weapons aloft, forming a pincer formation with Ren, surrounding Shadow Seele from three directions, completely cutting off any possible escape routes.
"...Grr."
Realizing she had absolutely no chance of winning, a twisted expression mixing anger and unwillingness appeared on Shadow Seele's face. She slammed her fist on the ground, a sound like a small animal threatening an enemy escaping her throat.
Within a short period, this was the second time.
This was the second time Shadow Seele had felt such a heavy sense of powerlessness, a deep understanding that she could do nothing.
This time, she was utterly defenseless, defeated by Ren who had invaded Seele's Stigma space.
And the last time, it was in the Sea of Quanta, when she was effortlessly defeated by that man who called himself "Serpent."
The two incidents were not far apart in time, and the experiences were remarkably similar. This made Shadow Seele, while gritting her teeth, begin to doubt her own strength.
That "Serpent" fellow in the Sea of Quanta had been acting all mysterious, refusing to reveal his true face.
Ren Amamiya before her, too, had never removed the white mask from his face, claiming to be a phantom thief without revealing his true identity.
And the lines they both uttered after defeating her were frustratingly, extremely similar.
What did Serpent say to her before? "Friend or foe, choose one?"
And Ren Amamiya, standing before Shadow Seele now, offered an undoubtedly more direct choice: "Choose. Will you submit to me, or die here?"
These two exceedingly similar, painful experiences caused the simmering frustration that had been accumulating in Shadow Seele's heart to finally erupt all at once.
"If you have the guts, then just kill me! If you can't kill me, then stop dreaming about making me submit to you!"
Shadow Seele knelt on the ground, her body heavy and powerless. She defiantly raised her pretty face to Ren, her crimson eyes filled with indignation.
Stigma personas wouldn't truly die. Even if killed, they would be reborn in the Stigma space.
Therefore, Shadow Seele didn't care at all if she would be killed. Even in defeat, she was completely defiant towards Ren.
"Looks like she's not willing to communicate properly with me... Hare, I'll leave it to you to persuade her."
Ren raised an eyebrow slightly. Realizing Shadow Seele refused to communicate with him, his gaze swept over Hare and Mei, finally settling on Hare.
When his own eloquence failed to subdue a Persona, it was time to rely on a companion's persuasive support.
Mei clearly had nothing that could move Shadow Seele.
But Hare, her existence seemed very similar to a Shadow's. She should be able to find some common ground with Shadow Seele, an opportunity to persuade her.
Therefore, Ren unhesitatingly sought Hare's help, hoping to subdue Shadow Seele as his Persona with her assistance.
"I will do my best... Miss Seele, you wouldn't want the Shadow in your heart to die, would you? Could you please try to persuade her?"
Hare nodded lightly. After a moment's thought, she surprisingly turned to the real Seele, who had been standing outside the battlefield the whole time, looking bewildered and stunned, and made her request.
"Hah? What a joke! You think I care about that crybaby's opinion?! Actually asking that crybaby to persuade me to submit to you all, that's the funniest joke I've ever heard!!"
Hearing Hare actually want Seele to persuade her to submit to Ren, Shadow Seele's reaction was instantly incredibly intense.
Shadow Seele's expression became extremely animated. After a disdainful sneer, as if feeling humiliated, she glared viciously at Hare, who was standing behind her.
A subtle expression appeared in Mei's eyes. She felt that Shadows seemed to enjoy giving their original selves nicknames.
Shadow Mei liked to call her "Pathetic Wretch," and the nickname Shadow Seele gave the real Seele was clearly "Crybaby."
"I-I understand... My other self, I-I don't want you to be killed. Could... could we try to get along with Phantom Thief-san and the others?"
Seele clasped her fair, slender hands before her chest, giving off an impression of insecurity and fragility. A pleading look appeared on her exquisite face as she hesitantly and stammeringly tried to persuade Shadow Seele.
"—You idiot! You're actually helping outsiders persuade me!!"
Seeing Seele, looking timid and actually wanting her to submit to those strange outsiders, Shadow Seele was instantly infuriated. She snapped harshly at Seele.
However, although Shadow Seele's tone was fierce, Hare, who was constantly observing her expression, still keenly caught the subtle hesitation that flashed in Shadow Seele's eyes.
Confirming things were indeed as she thought, Hare's heart finally settled, and she became more confident in persuading Shadow Seele to become Ren's Persona.
"Miss Shadow Seele, you wouldn't want to see Miss Seele being deceived by Joker, would you? As long as you become Joker's Persona, then you will have the right to supervise him and prevent him from tricking Miss Seele."