Despite the assassination attempt in the real world, the daily routine of exploring Mementos had to continue.
Or perhaps, it was because he'd been targeted by a mysterious organization in reality that Ren Amamiya felt the need to double down on exploring Mementos and strengthening himself.
Even if the enemy had Persona users capable of summoning in the real world, it didn't necessarily mean they could freely enter Mementos whenever they pleased.
In the current situation, Ren actually felt safer staying within Mementos.
"First things first, let's find Kallen's Palace and crash there for a while. If it's really too far, then we'll have to pick another target."
Ren had already spent a full day and night racing through Mementos searching for Kallen's Palace.
Although Raiden Mei's Palace was a backup option, Ren was reluctant to give up easily due to the sunken cost fallacy—he'd already invested so much time. He decided to push on a little longer.
After all, Kallen's Palace was special; even Hare's portals couldn't open near it. If he gave up now, he'd have to start the search all over again next time.
Besides, Ren currently had no way to talk directly to Shadow Mei alone. To communicate with her, he had to speak to the real-world Raiden Mei as well.
Asking a young high school girl if he could stay over at her place (her Palace, no less)... just thinking about it made Ren cringe so hard he wished the ground would swallow him whole. It was incredibly awkward.
Shadow Mei would probably understand his meaning, but to Raiden Mei herself, it would sound dangerously close to asking to be a freeloader, practically begging to be kept.
Ren figured it would be better to find Mei's Palace himself later. It had to be somewhere within Nagazora City's Mementos section; a few more sweeps around should uncover it eventually.
"...The reaction from the Violet mask is getting stronger! Hare, get ready, we might be close to Kallen's Palace!"
The North Wind wolf, Boreas, surged forward, surrounded by fierce gales, carrying Ren and Hare on its broad back at incredible speed through Mementos.
The black bird-beak mask Ren held as a beacon began to pulse with a faint, ghostly light. As Boreas accelerated, the mask's glow intensified.
Finally, the black-and-purple mask tore itself free from Ren's grasp, darting forward like a freed kite with a soul of its own, landing on the flat stone ground ahead of the azure wolf.
Like a stone dropped into a lake, Phantom Thief Violet's mask swiftly sank into the hard stone surface. Immediately, the entire area beneath Boreas began to ripple violently.
The solid, cold stone ground dissolved into nothingness in an instant. The azure wolf's legs suddenly found empty air. A powerful suction force erupted from the gaping abyss below, dragging Persona Boreas, along with Ren and Hare on its back, plummeting like a falling star towards the bottom of the chasm.
A violent, swirling emerald storm erupted as Persona Boreas desperately fought against the terrifying, almost cataclysmic pull.
However, Boreas's resistance proved futile. In the end, the azure wolf crashed heavily onto the abyss floor, letting out a mournful howl as it sustained heavy injuries. Ren quickly recalled it back into his heart.
"Are you alright, Joker?"
Above the spot where Boreas had crashed, Hare's gentle, pleasant voice sounded.
As a Stigma crystallization, Hare possessed an instinctive mastery of flight; falls from any height couldn't harm her.
And with Hare as his teammate, Ren naturally wasn't going to suffer the same fate as Boreas, crashing onto the ground below.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking... But Hare, maybe we should land quickly."
Ren's eyebrow twitched. While Hare had caught him mid-air, the way she was holding him was... rather embarrassing.
Hare had caught him in a full princess carry, her slender white arms wrapped securely around his back and under his knees.
Ren was suddenly very grateful for his mask, hiding the faint blush creeping up his face from Hare's sight.
"Please be careful. We've officially entered Kallen's Palace now, but this place is even more unusual than I expected... To put it simply, this palace is huge. Too huge to belong to just one person."
Hare gracefully descended, gently setting Ren back on his feet. Her voice held a trace of worry as she cautioned him.
"Too huge for just one person? What does that mean?"
Ren frowned slightly. Now that he was actually standing at the bottom of the abyss, the violent pulling force he'd felt higher up was completely gone. Everything seemed unnervingly calm.
But according to Hare, they were already inside Kallen's Palace. Such tranquility felt unnatural, like the calm before a terrifying storm.
Ren glanced around. They were in a vast, seemingly endless desert. Soft, flowing sand shifted beneath his feet. The sky above was a deep crimson, casting an oppressive atmosphere over everything.
There were no openings in the red sky connecting back to where they came from; the entrance they'd used to enter the palace had already closed and vanished without a trace.
As Ren silently observed his surroundings, his peripheral vision caught a familiar flash of black.
Turning his head, he saw the black bird-beak mask, half-buried in the yellow sand.
The kite mask left by Phantom Thief Violet not only opened the palace gate but should also help him find Kallen herself.
So, upon spotting the mask in the nearby sand, Ren started walking towards it, intending to retrieve it.
But just as Ren took his first step forward...
A figure, obscured by blowing sand, revealing only a vague silhouette with white hair, appeared abruptly in the wasteland like a mirage. It bent down and picked up the kite mask buried in the sand.
The white figure gently placed the black bird-beak mask it had retrieved from the sand onto its own face. The swirling sandstorm swept past completely, revealing the figure clearly.
The strange, mirage-like feeling Ren had sensed from it vanished the moment the sand cleared.
"Sensing your own presence approaching, were you? You came to greet us at the entrance pretty quickly, didn't you, Kallen."