"Hmph, that useless trash Cocolia. If it weren't for Lord Welt covering for her, this capture mission would have been a complete failure."
On the battlefield where frost and fire danced, one deep-blue robot after another crashed to the ground, reduced to worthless scrap metal.
Seeing Kallen about to single-handedly destroy all the Titan robots deployed for this mission...
A blue-haired figure, who had been standing aloofly behind the Titan legion with an air of leisurely indifference, finally stepped forward unhurriedly, his voice dripping with arrogance.
As the blue-haired young man walked forward, the remaining Titan robots on the battlefield retreated to either side, clearing a wide path for him.
This exaggerated and obvious movement naturally caught the attention of Kallen, who was currently decimating the battlefield.
"Cocolia... that's the name of the mastermind trying to kidnap Miss Mei, right? Your words show no respect for Cocolia whatsoever. Who exactly are you?"
Watching the blue-haired youth stride confidently towards her, Kallen held the Mosin-Nagant Sunwheel pistols before her, a flicker of hesitation in the blue eyes visible beneath her purple iris mask.
Against lifeless, cold objects like the Titan robots, Kallen could unleash her full power without any psychological burden, destroying them all.
But against a living human being, Kallen couldn't fight without reservation.
Even if the opponent was a villain steeped in evil, Kallen, as a true Saint of Schicksal, would only choose to subdue the enemy and hand them over to justice for judgment, never delivering the final verdict herself.
"Hmph, clean out your ears and listen up! I am the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, the Herrscher of Reason, Lord Welt! Kneel before me and surrender obediently, and I might grant you a quick death!"
Hearing Kallen's question about his identity, the blue-haired youth's face twisted into a smug grin, as if his ego had been stroked. He introduced himself to Kallen with immense arrogance.
"What Anti-Entropy Sovereign, Herrscher of Reason... In short, you're Ren's enemy, right? In that case, I'll just knock you down first and let Ren decide what to do with you!"
Kallen holstered the twin Mosin-Nagants into the black straps fastened around her shapely white thighs beneath her purple skirt.
Her slender hand, clad in a purple silk glove, reached out into the empty air beside her. Brilliant golden particles converged in her palm, coalescing into the shape of a massive golden cross.
Kallen switched from the Mosin-Nagant pistols, summoning the Key of Binding, the Oath of Judah, which she wielded with far greater proficiency.
"Insignificant tricks! Watch me crush your body into paste with hundredfold gravity!"
Seeing Kallen holding the Oath of Judah, the Welt clone sneered dismissively. Eerie blue patterns lit up on his forehead. As he channeled his power, a pitch-black sphere of gravity materialized in his palm.
"After I kill you, your companion dressed just as ridiculously will be next!"
An abnormal gravitational field instantly pressed down. The ground of Chiba Academy began to crumble and disintegrate. The reversed gravity caused by the black hole sent massive chunks of rock soaring into the sky, dense and awe-inspiring like stars.
"So heavy... but—I can still take it!!"
Hundredfold gravity bore down completely on Kallen's slender, seemingly fragile body, forcing her upright back to hunch over.
But Kallen, leaning on the Oath of Judah, never knelt as the Welt clone wished. Instead, she fought back against the immense gravity field, slowly but surely straightening her body.
The Welt clone, eerie blue patterns glowing on his forehead, stared with wide-eyed disbelief.
Under the crushing pressure of the abruptly increased hundredfold gravity, Kallen not only didn't cough up blood or sustain injury, but quickly adapted to the load. She opened the inner compartment of the Oath of Judah held in her hand and suddenly shot eight glittering golden Soulium chains towards the distant Welt clone.
The Soulium chains radiating golden light seemed to ignore the gravitational field's power, flying towards the Welt clone at incredible speed.
This unbelievable situation was completely outside the Welt clone's expectations.
His previously infallible killing technique failed to produce immediate results. Watching Kallen launch a counterattack, the Welt clone even felt a surge of panic and fear.
"What kind of monster... are you?! Stay away from me!!!"
Stimulated by the intense terror rising within him, the Welt clone abruptly hurled the small black hole in his hand towards Kallen.
The small, pitch-black wormhole radiated an attraction force of extreme intensity. Space itself seemed to collapse as everything within sight—whether the rocks floating high above or the Soulium chains shooting from the Oath of Judah—was violently pulled towards the center of the inconspicuous black hole, like debris caught in a whirlpool.
The eight Soulium chains ejected from the Oath of Judah were sucked into the black hole and torn apart. Kallen's white braids whipped wildly in the airflow. She stood her ground, planting the golden cross firmly, continuously resisting the unreasonable, ferocious pull.
But in the next instant, the ground beneath Kallen's feet cracked under the black hole's intense attraction.
Fortunately, Kallen was agile enough. She quickly leaped onto a floating piece of shattered rock, moving away from the black hole's center.
"What a troublesome attack... Ren, are you okay?"
The Welt clone's attack couldn't harm Persona Kallen, but it was still troublesome enough to prevent her from immediately finishing him off. She could only temporarily wait for the small black hole's attack to subside.
The black hole, like a world-devouring maw, emitted a terrifying suction. Not only the wreckage of the Titans Kallen had already reduced to scrap metal, but even the remaining deep-blue robot stragglers still capable of fighting—their massive, heavy mechanical bodies—were lifted into the air by the gravity and pulled towards the black hole's center.
The purple iris mask on Kallen's face was torn off by the intense suction, wind, and airflow, fully exposing her beautiful, flawless features.
Before the mask could be sucked into the black hole, Kallen hastily reached out her slender hand, snatching the nearly lost mask and putting it back on, though this time just hooked casually over her ear.
While waiting for the small black hole to collapse on its own, Kallen turned her head back, checking on Ren and Raiden Mei's condition.
"I'm fine over here, but it's better not to drag out a fight against an enemy like this... Time for a switch, Kallen! Come back!"
Within the intense gravitational field created by the small black hole, Ren stood firm and unmoving in his phantom thief attire. Raiden Mei clung tightly to his waist with both arms, her fair, delicate face buried firmly in his broad chest.
Her small feet had left the ground, her long purple hair whipping wildly. If she hadn't grabbed onto Ren in time, Mei, being an ordinary person, would have been helplessly sucked into the small black hole long ago.
Luckily, the Welt clone's target was Kallen; the hundredfold gravity field's pressure hadn't affected Ren's area. Moreover, his mission objective was to capture Mei alive. Otherwise, with Mei's fragile physique, she definitely couldn't have withstood the direct physical pressure of the gravity field.
The Welt clone's offensive was ineffective against Kallen and Ren, but Ren still had to protect Mei, an ordinary person, during the fight. To be safe, a quick resolution was naturally preferable.
Having decided to end the battle as quickly as possible, Ren reached out towards the distant Kallen.
Responding to the call of her Persona user, Kallen's form, clad in the purple suit, suddenly dissolved into shimmering blue flames. Only the purple iris mask remained, defying the black hole's gravity and flying rapidly into Ren's red-gloved palm.
"It's up to you now! Annihilate all enemies in one go—Siegfried!!"
Even through the red glove, Ren could clearly feel the intense vibrations from the purple iris mask in his hand, along with a scorching heat, like lava, that felt like it could burn right through his palm.
Standing tall within the black hole's violent gravitational field, Ren shouted his call, simultaneously throwing the black bird-beak mask—now emanating crimson flames—from his hand, launching it directly towards the center point between the small black hole and the Welt clone.
Hearing a familiar name abruptly shouted by Ren, Raiden Mei, who had kept her head buried in Ren's chest, finally looked up subconsciously, turning her gaze towards the direction Ren was looking.
Siegfried... Although she had never met him personally, the name was very familiar to Mei.
It was the name of the father her only female friend at Chiba Academy, Kiana, was desperately searching for in Nagazora City.
Kiana constantly asked around Nagazora City for news of her father, Siegfried. As Kiana's close friend, Mei naturally knew the name Siegfried and had even heard detailed descriptions of his appearance from Kiana.
Under Mei's beautiful, amethyst gaze, the black bird-beak mask thrown by Ren erupted into surging, crimson flames that seemed to engulf the sky.
And from within that curtain of fire that blotted out the heavens...
A figure slowly materialized. White hair tied back, blue eyes identical to her friend Kiana's, wearing a deep blue coat over a blue shirt, blue trousers, and black knee-high boots. A black pistol held in each hand, stubble dusting his chin, radiating an overall devil-may-care aura—a middle-aged man.
Mei's lovely eyes slowly widened, an expression of utter disbelief and shock spreading across her delicate features.
It matched! Everything matched!
Every feature of this white-haired middle-aged man summoned by Ren perfectly matched the information Kiana had given her!
If there was one difference between the "Siegfried" currently before Mei and Kiana's description...
It would be that his left arm was perfectly intact and healthy, not the empty sleeve Kiana had described.
But that left arm could be some kind of highly realistic, advanced prosthetic.
After all, Kiana hadn't seen her father in years. It was understandable she wouldn't know if Mr. Siegfried had gotten a prosthetic left arm.
It was a pity Kiana had skipped school today, chasing after a rumored sighting of Siegfried in Nagazora City.
If Kiana were still at the academy, perhaps father and daughter could have been reunited today.
Thinking this, Mei felt a pang of genuine regret for her friend Kiana.
"Might of An-Utu, RELEASE!!!"
Siegfried landed firmly on the ground. He expertly slammed the two black pistols in his hands together. The pistols transformed into a hilt, and from it extended a crimson blade wreathed in roaring flames, forming a magnificent, imposing greatsword.
Siegfried aimed the fiery greatsword, the Might of An-Utu, directly at the dumbfounded Welt clone and the Titan robot army being pulled into the air by the black hole before him.
His wrist suddenly snapped upwards, swinging the Might of An-Utu in a powerful upward arc.
The Sword of flames, radiating an apocalyptic aura of terrifying power, erupted skyward like a vortex of crimson fire, dyeing the entire firmament deep red. The clouds hovering over Nagazora City instantly evaporated completely.
And the Welt clone, along with the floating Titan robot army and the small black hole emitting its endless suction—all caught directly in the path of Siegfried's 'Might of An-Utu: Release' slash—vanished utterly without a trace, leaving not even the slightest remnant of their existence behind.
Persona Siegfried slowly lowered the Might of An-Utu greatsword. Before him, a massive trench filled with molten crimson lava scarred the ground. A teaching building further in the distance had been completely obliterated by the power of Siegfried's attack, leaving only its foundation.
Fortunately, school had already ended at Chiba Academy; the students had long since left the buildings.
Otherwise, Ren wouldn't have dared unleash such a devastatingly powerful finishing move within the academy grounds.
(Siegfried: Stella!!)