Kallen's palace turned out to be much farther away than Ren had anticipated.
Even riding Boreas, the literal embodiment of the divine wind, for an entire afternoon, Ren still hadn't reached the location indicated by the black kite mask.
Clearly, getting to Kallen's special palace wasn't going to be a quick trip. Ren steeled himself for the long haul.
Anyway, exploring Mementos was exploring Mementos, regardless of direction. Ren decided he might as well just keep heading towards Kallen's palace.
Journeying there wouldn't interfere with his training and grinding in Mementos, or hinder his collection of purple shards and Shadow remnants.
When school let out at Senba Academy, Ren bid farewell to Hare and returned to the real world. As usual, he headed straight for the kendo club to practice the North Star One-Blade Style [Hokushin Ittō-ryū] with Raiden Mei.
Thanks to his practical combat training in Mementos, Ren's proficiency in the North Star One-Blade Style had reached a level that stunned Mei, even making her feel a bit defeated.
Throughout their practice, Shadow Mei never once surfaced.
Only when it was time to part ways, as Ren said goodbye to both Raiden Mei and Shadow Mei, did Shadow Mei make a fleeting appearance. Her amethyst eyes flickered towards Ren for a split second before she vanished like lightning streaking across the sky, retreating back into Mei's heart.
...Well, if Shadow Mei was willing to acknowledge his farewell, things were looking up. There was hope for the future!
After a long day, Ren boarded the train home, eventually arriving downstairs from his apartment.
Ren had initially worried about how to get his katana, Raikiri, and his Mosin-Nagant Sunwheel pistols past the subway station security checks. Then he realized he'd been stressing over nothing.
Japanese subway stations simply don't have security checks.
Tap, tap, tap, tap...
Inside Ren's apartment, Bronya Zaychik, hidden behind the living room curtains, twitched her fair ears slightly. Her powerful senses, honed as an internationally renowned assassin, picked up the distinct sound of footsteps approaching the apartment door with clear intent.
From the faint sound of those steps, Bronya could even construct a mental model of the person's body.
Comparing the mental model to the data she had on Ren Amamiya, she concluded they were a near-perfect match. Calmly and firmly, Bronya raised the small pistol fitted with a silencer.
The crisp sound of a key turning in the lock echoed, followed by the door opening and closing from the inside.
Bronya silently extended the dark muzzle of the gun beyond the curtain's cover, one pale grey eye peering out through the gap.
Just as the black, curly-haired teenager matching the intel walked from the entrance towards the living room light switch, reaching out to banish the encroaching darkness of night...
Bronya, long accustomed to seeing in the dark, seized the moment while the boy named Ren Amamiya had his back to her. She decisively pulled the trigger, aiming for the fatal spot on the back of his head.
Thwip—!
The brass bullet, muffled by the silencer, made only the faintest sound as it instantly flew towards the seemingly oblivious Ren Amamiya's head.
Based on her experience as an assassin, Bronya was certain this bullet would enter the center of his skull from behind, completely destroy his brain tissue, exit through his forehead, and utterly extinguish Ren Amamiya's life.
'Got him...'
Just as the thought of mission completion flashed through Bronya's mind, before her slender white hand holding the pistol could even begin to lower...
Something utterly unexpected happened right before her eyes.
"What—?!"
Bronya's pupils dilated to their absolute limit as she stared at the figure who had suddenly appeared behind Ren Amamiya, like a skipped frame in a movie—a beautiful, sakura-pink shrine maiden.
Yae Sakura, acting as Ren's "Third Eye", detected Bronya's attack and immediately alerted Ren. She then used the power of Jizo Mitama to instantly project herself into the real world behind him.
Gripping the crimson-black Jizo Mitama katana in her slender white hand, her long fox ears twitching slightly atop her head, Yae Sakura sharply raised her arm. A flash of crimson-black light streaked through the air, and the assassination bullet Bronya fired was effortlessly sliced in two by Sakura's blade.
"Honestly. Sneaking into someone's home and taking potshots like that... I really don't appreciate people pointing guns at my head, you know."
The bisected bullet fragments ricocheted to opposite sides of the living room, leaving shallow dents in the sofa and wall.
Ren remained standing with his back to the window where Bronya hid, but his voice was chillingly cold.
Under Bronya's stunned gaze, Ren, still facing away, slowly raised his hand in front of him. A burst of ethereal blue flame erupted, and his empty palm was suddenly clad in a vibrant red glove.
It wasn't just a glove. As the azure flames faded, Ren, who had been wearing his Senba Academy uniform, was now dressed in a black, feathered trench coat. Turning his head slightly back towards Bronya, his face was now partially covered by a white, bird-like mask.
"Sakura, get her out of here. I don't want to fight anyone in my own home."
With a swift turn and a pointing finger, Ren, now in his Phantom Thief attire, commanded Yae Sakura as if directing a Stand.
The Pink-colored shrine maiden, who had stood silently beside Ren since slicing the bullet, responded instantly with action.
Bronya instinctively tried to move, to escape, but her speed was no match for Yae Sakura rushing forward at full tilt. The crimson-gold hilt of Jizo Mitama slammed viciously into Bronya's stomach.
A wave of searing pain exploded in her gut, and in the same instant, Bronya's small body crashed through the glass window behind her. Yae Sakura had forcefully ejected her from Ren's twelfth-floor apartment.
'So fast... This woman, is she a Schicksal Valkyrie? And Ren Amamiya's instant outfit change—is that a Schicksal Valkyrie Battlesuit utilizing quantum teleportation technology?!'