"Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind, specializing in Ice and Wind... That makes four Personas I've recruited."
The battlefield was a mess, strewn with the remains of various Imaginary Construct Shadows and marked everywhere by the aftermath of ice spikes and shards.
Within Mementos, Ren Amamiya stood clad in his black-winged phantom thief attire, with Persona Arsene in its striking red suit floating behind him.
Opposite Ren was a large, azure wolf with lush, deep blue fur and a slender yet sturdy pale blue body, moving with the swiftness and agility of a divine wind.
However, this azure wolf, which had previously swept across the battlefield like a raging blizzard, had now been thoroughly pierced by the Dream Needle attack Arsene unleashed in a full-coverage spread. Its body lay limply on the ground, powerless, plunged into a deep slumber.
This azure wolf, named after the god of the north wind, was incredibly agile and even completely immune to Ice element attacks, making it quite tricky to handle—luckily, Ren didn't possess any Ice-element Personas, so he wasn't countered by its immunity.
Even if Boreas reflected Ice instead of nullifying it, Ren wouldn't have minded; in fact, he would have been delighted.
Following Hare's instructions, Ren used Arsene's Dream Needle skill to lull the Shadow Boreas into sleep, then began attempting to persuade it within the dream woven for it. The specially crafted dream quickly took effect.
As Ren placed his hand on Boreas's soft, deep blue mane, flecked with tiny ice crystals, the azure wolf's body instantly dissolved into countless icy blue particles, converging into Ren's outstretched palm and reforming into the familiar shape of a white bird mask.
"Adding Boreas, a dual Wind and Ice-affinity Persona, I now have access to attack skills covering Fire, Curse, Wind, Lightning, Ice, Physical, and Gun attributes. Although I'm still missing skills for a few affinities, this should be enough to handle most situations."
Ren hadn't yet encountered Shadows possessing Psy, Nuke, or Bless skills, so he couldn't acquire those corresponding abilities for now. However, his current Persona roster was already sufficient to confront enemies of any affinity and deliver a decisive blow.
Besides, the skills Kallen Kaslana unleashed using Judah likely belonged to the Bless affinity. After all, Kallen was a proper nun who wore the habit; she surely possessed a Bless-affinity Persona.
"I wonder how long it'll take to reach Kallen's Palace. If only we could just teleport straight there like before."
After dealing with all the Shadow enemies encountered along the path, Ren let out a soft sigh, retrieving the black raven mask from his pocket. The black bird-beak mask, adorned with purple irises, spontaneously lifted from Ren's red-gloved fingertips. Like a free bird, the mask soared into the air, circling slowly around Ren, guiding him through the seemingly infinite expanse of Mementos towards Kallen's Palace.
"I apologize, Joker. Kallen's Palace is very special. With my current power, I cannot forcibly intrude as I did with Miss Yae Sakura's Palace, nor can I teleport you directly inside Miss Kallen's Palace."
Standing behind Ren, Hare lowered her small head apologetically upon hearing his almost complaining words, softly apologizing to him. Let alone opening a portal directly inside the Palace, Hare couldn't even open one near the Palace; any attempt was met with an inexplicable surge of intense cold that instantly froze and shattered the portal.
At this point, the only way to enter that Palace was the most primitive method: traveling there on foot.
"It's not your fault, Hare. You've already helped me more than enough. Since we have a proper 'ticket' this time, we'll just follow the normal procedure and pay a formal visit. It's just a bit more walking, that's all."
Sensing Hare's self-reproach and guilt, Ren reached out and gently patted her slender shoulder, comforting her in a calm and earnest tone.
"Besides, the fact that even your power can't forcibly penetrate it means the real Kallen, the Palace Ruler, is incredibly strong. The higher the challenge, the richer the rewards we'll ultimately obtain. The effort will definitely be worth it."
Reassured by Ren's words, Hare quickly regained her spirits. She nodded firmly at Ren, feeling re-energized, ready to do everything in her power to help him successfully reach Kallen's Palace and recruit Kallen as his Persona.
"Lunch break is almost here. Let's wrap up the exploration for this morning. I need to head back to Chiba Academy first. We can return to Mementos this afternoon and continue our journey."
Ren pulled out his phone to check the time. Having skipped class using the excuse of feeling unwell and going to the nurse's office, he saw it was now lunchtime, a period for students to relax.
Ren snatched the black raven mask circling around him. Ignoring its struggles to break free, he forcefully tucked Kallen's mask back into the inner pocket of his Phantom Suit coat.
The scenery in Mementos was unchanging, lacking reference points like the sun or moon. Time seemed to stand still here, easily leading to a distorted sense of its passage. Although he had gone through a series of battles while traveling, Ren's stamina remained high; he didn't feel tired and could continue fighting without rest.
However, Ren's reason for returning to Chiba Academy wasn't simply to rest. He wanted to seize the opportunity to spend more time with Hokushin Mei, who would also be free during lunch break, aiming to boost her affinity and increase their Confidant rank.
"Understood. I will send you back to Chiba Academy in the real world immediately, Joker."
Assuming Ren simply needed to rest and recover stamina, Hare nodded crisply and began locking onto the coordinates of the real world, preparing to open a portal connected to Chiba Academy.
"If you have time, Hare, could you please scout around for high-purity crystal fragments? The concentration of energy in the fragments I collected this time is on a completely different level compared to the previous ones."
Ren stood before the glowing portal Hare opened, giving her one last instruction before leaving. Although Hare would be alone after Ren left, she was exceptionally skilled and possessed the ability to teleport away instantly. As long as she didn't get caught up in fighting and focused solely on reconnaissance, even numerous Shadows couldn't trap her. Thus, Ren could entrust this task to her with peace of mind.
To complete the deal with Raven and settle Hare's debt as soon as possible, Ren needed to collect more of those purple crystal fragments. He initially thought they were common everywhere in Mementos, just needing to be picked up casually.
But after carefully searching and sorting this time, Ren realized most purple fragments didn't contain much energy; their advantage lay only in quantity. Only the fragments scattered near the ruins of Yae Sakura's Palace contained immense energy individually.
Perhaps only fragments near Palaces held the most abundant energy reserves. Ren suspected this might be the case and figured he'd likely only be able to collect a large quantity of high-energy fragments when they reached Kallen's Palace. Still, Mementos was full of surprises; maybe Hare would stumble upon a rich vein of fragments somewhere, like finding a treasure trove.
After Hare gave an affirmative reply, Ren waved goodbye to her and stepped through the glowing portal. The scene before his eyes distorted wildly like ripples in water. When his vision cleared, he was back in the depths of an alleyway within Chiba Academy in the real world.
"Speaking of which, if the real Kallen is so powerful in her Palace that even Hare can't forcibly invade, she must be quite famous in the real world, right? I should try searching for information on Kallen first."
Ren took a few steps down the alley. Just as he was about to look for Hokushin Mei, his steps suddenly halted. An idea flashed through his mind. Taking out his phone, he opened the search interface and paused thoughtfully.
"Search keywords... Kallen Kaslana, Yae Sakura, five hundred years ago, nun, Phantom Thief Violet, and... Higokumaru, Jizo Mitama!"
After a brief pause, Ren entered all the known keywords into the search engine at once, attempting to find information that could connect all these separate clues. Ren had little interest in real-world historical data; his knowledge of historical figures came mostly from their counterparts in games.
Before playing P5R, he didn't even know who Pope Joan or Zorro were. The name Kallen meant nothing to him either, but since she became a Palace Ruler after death, she must have been famous while alive.
"Found it! Kallen Kaslana, the Holy Maiden of Schicksal from five hundred years ago, protagonist of 'Kallen Fantasy'... Huh? Why did the search result turn up a game? The Kallen I'm looking for isn't some game character!"
Ren frowned deeply. Searching for Kallen, Yae Sakura, and the fox spirit Higokumaru's names unexpectedly yielded results related to a game called "Kallen Fantasy."
"It's probably a derivative story and game based on Kallen and Yae Sakura. If there's a fan-made game, I should be able to find information on the original figures if I search carefully."
"Worst case, I'll find some time to play this 'Kallen Fantasy' game, or just find a veteran player to summarize the plot for me. Besides, hardcore fans must have researched the lore behind the game, right?"
While Ren was busy searching online for information related to Kallen and Yae Sakura...
A petite girl with light gray hair styled in spiral twin tails and delicate, cute features had already skillfully picked the lock of Ren's apartment door using a hairpin.
Bronya Zaychik's expressionless face seemed devoid of emotion. She gently closed the door behind her, moving stealthily and cautiously, infiltrating the territory that should belong solely to Ren Amamiya without making a sound.
"This is... ultra-high-purity Honkai energy crystal fragments?! He's supposed to be an ordinary person with no contact with Honkai, yet his home casually contains such a massive amount of Honkai fragments? Mother Cocolia was right, there really is something wrong with this Ren Amamiya!"
Noticing the silver suitcase placed in the corner by the living room sofa, Bronya, relying on experience and instinct, approached it and carefully opened it.
Upon discovering the heavy suitcase contained enough ultra-high-purity Honkai crystal fragments to potentially plunge nearly a third of Nagazora City into a Honkai disaster, Bronya Zaychik's cold, light gray eyes instantly widened in shock.
Recovering from her shock, Bronya perfectly restored the suitcase to its original, untouched appearance. Gripping a handgun capable of taking any life in her small hand, she surveyed Ren's apartment, finally selecting a hidden corner to conceal herself.
Bronya crouched on the windowsill behind the dark curtains, her small, slender figure completely hidden in the narrow space, her breathing steady and almost imperceptibly quiet.
The cute, petite, gray-haired twin-tailed girl reawakened her instincts as the famed assassin, the Urals Silver Wolf. She lay in wait silently, patiently awaiting Ren Amamiya's return from school, preparing to deliver a lethal, wolf-like assassination strike the moment he let his guard down upon returning home.