Smooth white hair styled in braids, a delicate and beautiful face, a slender and well-proportioned figure.
The white-haired figure who appeared at the palace entrance, picking up the black bird-beak mask and putting it on under Ren Amamiya's watchful eye...
Was none other than Kallen Kaslana herself, dressed in a black nun's habit.
"...Kallen, do you still remember who I am?"
Ren had initially thought Kallen came out specifically to greet them because she sensed the presence of the Violet mask.
However, after the nun-clad Kallen put on the black mask, her blue eyes looked at him as if staring at a stranger, or even an enemy—ice-cold.
Realizing something was wrong with the Palace Ruler Kallen's attitude towards him, Ren cautiously halted his steps towards her and called out the question.
"Your name is Ren Amamiya. You are a Stigma Awakened from this era, and the successor who made a promise with Phantom Thief Violet, come to inherit her power. After putting on this mask, I have become fully aware of this information."
Kallen, wearing the black bird-beak mask, replied expressionlessly.
Although Kallen stated she possessed the memory concerning Ren, he didn't let his guard down. Her attitude was simply too off; it didn't seem like she was preparing to welcome a fellow traveler with whom she'd made a pact.
It was natural for a Palace Ruler's heart and desires to be distorted. Ren hadn't expected to gain Kallen's Persona recognition easily or smoothly anyway.
Sure enough, Ren, waiting for Kallen's full answer, soon heard the inevitable "but."
"But... you are ultimately outsiders. You are not qualified for the power of Kaslana. Although the part of me that is Phantom Thief Violet has acknowledged you, whether you truly possess the qualification to bear this power... allow me to verify it myself."
Kallen Kaslana, the Palace Ruler, spoke with immense gravity, her tone so serious that it bore absolutely no resemblance in personality to the "Phantom Thief Violet" Ren knew.
"...Sakura, is Kallen usually like this?"
Ren frowned slightly, silently asking Yae Sakura, who resided within his heart.
Ren had only met Kallen Kaslana once.
But even based on that single encounter, Ren didn't think Kallen should be such a dull, rigid, and uninteresting woman.
{No, I've never seen Kallen look so... burdened and resentful? The Kallen I knew was always bright and optimistic, warm like the sun shining into my heart.}
Yae Sakura's hesitant reply echoed in Ren's mind. Clearly, this incredibly unfamiliar Kallen Kaslana was unsettling even to the Yae Sakura residing in his heart.
"Looks like, unlike your situation back then, Kallen's Shadow is just displaying her heart's distortion right out in the open."
When Yae Sakura was a Palace Ruler, she appeared perfectly normal on the surface. But beneath that gentle, peaceful facade, her heart was already twisted, constantly churning with anger and a desire for revenge and release.
Kallen Kaslana's situation was different. She was openly displaying the distortion in her heart, just like the Palace Rulers Ren had encountered in the game.
"In that case, I know this routine very well... In the name of Joker, the Phantom Thief of Hearts, Kallen Kaslana, I will steal your heart!"
Ren raised his hand and snapped his fingers crisply. The fingertip of his red glove pointed towards the distant, expressionless Kallen as he delivered the phantom thief's declaration to steal her Treasure.
{...While it doesn't seem wrong, somehow it also feels wrong. This feeling is kind of subtle...}
Before Kallen could even react to Ren's declaration, Yae Sakura's slightly troubled voice sounded within his heart.
"Don't even think about running away! I've had enough of these tedious routines where the Palace Ruler is right there, but I still have to run back and forth through the entire labyrinth, defeat every guard Shadow blocking the way, only to finally face the Palace Ruler's true form in the deepest part for the final showdown!"
Every Palace Ruler appears at the beginning, but they only reveal their true Shadow form—the result of their distorted heart—and fight the Phantom Thieves when the Treasure is about to be stolen.
Ren, utterly tormented by various labyrinths, was thoroughly sick of this process.
Hare had mentioned earlier that Kallen's Palace was special, too large to have been created from just one person's heart.
A palace this massive was bound to have ridiculously complex and unique labyrinth mechanics. Maybe there were gimmicks even worse than turning into mice or dealing with spectral lights waiting for him. He had no intention of playing by the rules this time.
In the game, Kamoshida's Shadow didn't even fight back when locked in a cell.
To ignite the fighting spirit of these Palace Ruler Shadows, it seemed there were only two ways: steal their Treasure, or attack them directly.
Ren had only just set foot in Kallen's Palace and hadn't located the Treasure yet.
Therefore, the only option available to Ren right now was to immediately initiate combat with Kallen, the Palace Ruler!
"Though you are but an outsider, having set foot in this space, as a human, you should rightly undergo the trial. But if you insist, I permit you to face your first defeat here."
Seeing Ren act so familiar with the trial process of the Kaslana Stigma Space [Misunderstanding Mementos mechanics for Stigma trials], even the typically ice-cold Kallen Kaslana couldn't help but show a hint of surprise.
Sensing Ren's palpable fighting intent, his clear refusal to let her retreat to the core of the Kaslana Stigma Space, Kallen reached out to her side. Golden specks of light gathered in her pale palm, coalescing into the golden cross-shaped weapon known as the Oath of Judah.
"To deal with you... I suppose this Persona is the most fitting choice."
An ethereal blue flame ignited in Ren's palm. Amidst the deep flames, a white fox mask, adorned with three sakura-pink magatama symbols in the center of its forehead, materialized in his hand.
"—I choose you, Yae Sakura!"