Shadow Mei, resembling a demonic warrior, slightly lowered her center of gravity. The moment she leaned forward, a deep purple thunderbolt erupted violently before Ren's eyes.
Accompanied by a sky full of purple lightning, Shadow Mei moved with a speed that seemed like instantaneous teleportation, appearing before Ren in a flash and swinging her purple katana at him.
Clang, clang, clang—!!!
The crisp sound of metal striking metal rang out continuously. Ren raised his hand, bringing Jizo Mitama horizontally to block, engaging in a fierce sword fight with Shadow Mei, who attacked with extreme speed and divine swiftness.
After a long moment of clashing blades, sounding like a blacksmith's forge, the muffled thunder produced by Shadow Mei's fierce assault finally rumbled belatedly.
"So fast—!"
Ren continuously swung Jizo Mitama, intercepting the purple blade Shadow Mei aimed at his vital points.
However, the more Ren clashed with Shadow Mei, the more he felt her sword speed continuously escalating, surging forward into an even faster, more divinely swift realm.
For the first two seconds, Ren could still match Shadow Mei's sword momentum. But by the third second, after clashing with her four hundred and fifty times, Ren began to gradually fall behind in the sword fight.
'Her speed is getting faster and faster? No, it's not just that. Under the paralyzing effect of the lightning, my speed is also starting to slow down...'
Fine arcs of lightning coiled around Shadow Mei's purple katana, purple electricity dancing along the blade. Her exquisite and skillful swordplay left dazzlingly beautiful trails of lightning in the air.
And when the lightning-infused katana collided with Jizo Mitama in Ren's hand, the power of thunder spread along Jizo Mitama to Ren's body, causing his grip on the sword to loosen slightly, his movements becoming increasingly sluggish and stiff.
Through this brief exchange with Shadow Mei, Ren had roughly gauged her strength level.
She wasn't as outrageously powerful as the second-phase Siegfried in Kaslana's Palace. Shadow Mei's true strength was likely only slightly stronger than Higokumaru in Yae Sakura's Palace, and even then, the difference was very limited.
However, Shadow Mei's strengths differed from Shadow Higokumaru's. Her forte was her lightning-fast, ferocious speed that was difficult to react to, and her overwhelming, destructive power.
Combined with the Hokushin Ittō-ryū sword techniques Raiden Mei herself had learned, Shadow Mei's offensive sword strikes were methodical and precise. Her current strength and speed perfectly complemented the essence of Hokushin Ittō-ryū. Facing Ren, who also employed Hokushin Ittō-ryū techniques, she naturally managed to suppress him at every turn.
Ren and Shadow Mei had similar fighting styles, which ironically made their matchup extremely unfavorable for Ren.
"This can't go on—Higokumaru!!"
Ren was a Persona user; his greatest advantage was naturally his Personas. Being able to trade a few blows with Shadow Mei as a human was already impressive. He had no intention of stubbornly pitting his weaknesses against Shadow Mei's strengths.
After Jizo Mitama clashed with Shadow Mei's purple katana once more, Ren deliberately created distance between them. The tips of Persona Higokumaru's five tails ignited with roaring fireballs, launching a vast number of crimson fireballs towards Shadow Mei's position.
"Insignificant tricks! Your Hokushin Ittō-ryū isn't even properly mastered. Are you getting complacent just because you defeated that pathetic creature? Let me show you what true swordsmanship looks like!"
A faint golden glow emanated from Shadow Mei's eyes. A cold smirk touched her lips. Her entire body shot forward like a bolt of lightning, relentlessly pursuing Ren. She slightly raised her purple katana, its blade pointing directly at the rapidly retreating Ren.
Facing the barrage of scorching fireballs unleashed by Persona Higokumaru, Shadow Mei showed no intention of dodging, continuing her full-speed charge without a change in expression.
Just as Higokumaru's crimson fireballs were about to engulf her...
The massive armored arms floating on either side of Shadow Mei suddenly sprang into action. The crimson armored gauntlets tightly gripped the huge katanas they held, assuming a iaido drawing stance.
Power gathered in an instant.
Like lightning crisscrossing the sky, dense crimson lightning bolts erupted violently. The blinding flash of the sword strikes annihilated all of Persona Higokumaru's incoming fireballs, leaving only insignificant sparks to fall harmlessly on Shadow Mei's unfazed, exquisite face.
"Times have changed! Your opponent isn't me anymore, it's—Arsene!!"
Under Shadow Mei's relentless pursuit, Ren had already retreated to the edge of the rooftop.
The moment he stopped, Persona Arsene's figure shot up from below. The force of Arsene's ascent caused the hem of Ren's coat at the rooftop's edge to flutter. A triumphant smile appeared on his lips.
Beating its pair of ink-black falcon wings, Persona Arsene hovered above Ren. Its sharp, black claws shot forward menacingly. A vast, brilliant golden torrent of lightning descended from the heavens, a dense net of golden electricity rapidly falling from the sky onto the classroom rooftop.
"To actually try and counter me with lightning, me, a divine apostle wielding the authority of Conquering Thunder! How foolish and utterly laughable!"
Seeing Ren command Persona Arsene to use a lightning-attribute skill against her, Shadow Mei, who possessed both the powers of the Herrscher of Thunder and a lightning-attribute Stigma, smirked mockingly.
She confidently swung her purple katana. Streaks of eerie, deep violet-red lightning tore through the sky, ascending with terrifying momentum towards Persona Arsene.
When Ren explained Persona-related knowledge to Raiden Mei in the real world, Shadow Mei had been silently listening in the Palace, deeply agreeing with everything Ren said.
Although, in Shadow Mei's view, Ren's method of awakening Stigmata was somewhat unorthodox to the point of being extreme, when combined with the abilities of the Jizo Mitama katana in his hand, it was a perfect fit, allowing him to maximize the power of his own Stigma.
The will of a Stigma does not perish; Personas can naturally be reborn countless times.
Knowing this, Shadow Mei had no intention of holding back.
She was no longer going easy on Ren like when they were dueling with swords. Instead, she went all out, bombarding Persona Arsene in the sky with her strongest lightning, determined to shatter Ren's Persona to prove her own strength.
The descending golden divine lightning and the ascending violet-red ethereal lightning clashed violently. The two colors of lightning, one bright and one dark, mixed together, erupting with intense force and impact, creating a fierce lightning storm on the rooftop. Even the wire mesh fence at the edge of the rooftop began to sway precariously, threatening to collapse at any moment.
If Raiden Mei were still on the rooftop, she might have been blown against the wire fence by the powerful storm, either crashing a hole through it or falling to the ground along with the fence itself.
Fortunately, Ren had already taken advantage of Shadow Mei's relentless pursuit to have Persona Arsene move the physically weak Raiden Mei out of this high-intensity battlefield of rampant lightning and clashing swords, sending her to Hare's side. That's why Arsene had appeared from behind Ren, ascending from the ground.
While Hare couldn't completely eliminate the endlessly swarming, locust-like Shadow guards, she could easily hold them back, preventing them from interfering with the fight between Ren and Shadow Mei, and ensuring they couldn't harm Raiden Mei.
This is the advantage of being able to control two Personas simultaneously... though the burden is also doubled.
The mental energy required to control Persona Higokumaru was more than Ren had anticipated.
Rather than returning Jizo Mitama's power to Higokumaru to manifest her as a Persona, it seemed more effective to do the opposite: let Higokumaru's will drive Jizo Mitama's power to its limit.
Especially at a critical moment like this, with Arsene and Shadow Mei clashing with their ultimate moves, Ren needed to focus all his strength on Persona Arsene.
In the sky above, the golden divine lightning, which had initially been at a stalemate with the violet-red ethereal lightning, began to show signs of weakening. As Shadow Mei, initially confident and arrogant, frowned slightly with a displeased expression, the vast violet-red lightning began to push back the golden divine lightning, closing in on Persona Arsene.
"Come back, Higokumaru! Concentrate all your power into Jizo Mitama!"
Ren held Jizo Mitama horizontally before him, his left hand gently resting on the slightly coarse back of the blade, issuing a command to Persona Higokumaru, who lingered beside him.
The white spirit fox Higokumaru let out a clear cry. Her body, like a burning sakura-pink will-o'-the-wisp, surged into the Jizo Mitama katana held between Ren's palms, like a young swallow returning to its nest.
Jizo Mitama, like a parched, thirsty sponge, greedily and frantically absorbed Higokumaru's power.
In the blink of an eye, the originally dull color of Jizo Mitama's blade regained its brilliance. The blade's strength returned to its indestructible sharpness. Even the tiny nicks created from clashing with Shadow Mei's sword in its weakened state spontaneously repaired themselves, becoming perfect and flawless once more.
"Show me your limit, Jizo Mitama!"
Ren abruptly swung Jizo Mitama. An unsettling, crimson-black ominous miasma gradually enveloped his body. A crazed glint appeared in his obsidian-black eyes, and a wide, reckless grin spread across his lips.
As Ren swung Jizo Mitama through the empty air before him, the katana in his grip also underwent a strange transformation. The light feel of the blade became heavy. Its design became more flamboyant and sharp. Even the length of the blade extended by three finger-widths.
After absorbing Higokumaru's power and will into Jizo Mitama, awakening its true potential...
Ren immediately used Jizo Mitama's special skill, which greatly enhanced both his own power and that of his Persona.
The enhancement effect of Jizo Mitama after Higokumaru's possession was exceptionally outstanding. Ren could intuitively feel his physical abilities had increased by at least three levels.
However, as a trade-off for the massive boost in physical strength, he felt his current emotional state was a bit too high, almost manic. He had the urge to immediately transform into Akechi, cover his face, laugh maniacally a few times, and then shout, "I feel great right now!" to display his perfectly normal and healthy mental state.
"As the enhancement effect grows stronger, does Jizo Mitama's influence on the mind also increase?... But it's not a big deal, it won't affect combat at all!!"
Previously, when using Jizo Mitama's enhancement function, Ren could feel its power eroding and altering his mind, but he could consciously control his thoughts and suppress the negative effects to a minimum.
Now, although he couldn't completely suppress the influence, fortunately, Higokumaru was helping to control the power from within Jizo Mitama.
At most, Ren felt like he had a "battle fervor" buff; his sanity remained uncorroded and unchanged.
When the crimson-black miasma surged around Ren's body, Persona Arsene, perched in the sky above, also erupted with violent, boiling crimson-black spiritual flames. A soul-stirring, deep crimson ethereal glow radiated from Arsene's eye sockets.
Under the full-power, massive enhancement from Jizo Mitama, Persona Arsene's strength instantly soared to its limit.
The battle line, which Shadow Mei had been steadily pushing forward, was instantly and dramatically reversed. Persona Arsene's overwhelming golden lightning completely crushed the violet-red ethereal lightning unleashed by Shadow Mei.
"This power is... a Divine Authority, just like mine?! How is that possible?!!"
Staring at the external manifestation of the power of corruption surging from Persona Arsene's body, then turning to look at Ren wielding Jizo Mitama, his body enveloped in crimson-black miasma, Shadow Mei's face filled with utter disbelief and shock.
No matter how much Shadow Mei poured all her power into it, no matter how frantically she struggled...
The terrifying golden torrent of lightning that swept across the entire sky still crushed her vaunted authority of thunder with unstoppable force, completely engulfing Shadow Mei's slender figure beneath the overwhelming, majestic lightning.
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By the way, does anyone remember what Jizo Mitama's Zeroth rated power mode is called? I remember it appeared in an April Fool's event before, I think it was called Dark Erosion?