CRACKLE—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—!!!
Golden lightning, like a torrential downpour, surged relentlessly, completely crushing the violet-red ethereal lightning, and then crashed down with tremendous force onto Shadow Mei on the classroom rooftop.
Dense and ferocious golden lightning rained down, the force of the wind it generated ruffling the tips of Ren Amamiya's bangs. A smile played on his lips as he quietly watched the slender figure gradually emerge from within the brilliant golden radiance.
"Hmph... hmph... To think you, like me, also wield an authority belonging to a god. I was careless and got tricked by you. But even with these cunning schemes, your lightning strikes still can't defeat me."
The vast golden torrent of lightning slowly dissipated, and Shadow Mei's figure reappeared.
Her pristine black and white under-suit now bore numerous tears, and the crimson demonic armor she wore was visibly cracked.
She looked quite battered and exhausted but forced herself to stand straight, trying her best to suppress the tremor in her cold voice as she spoke to Ren.
Shadow Mei indeed possessed the powers of both the Herrscher of Thunder and a lightning Stigma. However, the Ren Amamiya she faced now had an identical setup, perhaps even superior.
Fully awakened Stigma power, plus the Authority of Corruption [Erosion] aided by a Herrscher's consciousness...
Just from that clash of authorities, Shadow Mei's heart sank, and beads of sweat gradually appeared on her forehead.
She realized she no longer needed to consider whether to go easy on Ren.
Because whether she held back or not, there was a high probability she wouldn't be his match.
"Lightning resistance, huh? A pity I haven't learned any skills to nullify lightning resistance yet... But the skills I do possess aren't limited to just the Zio series!"
Shadow Mei was clearly a wielder of lightning. Ren hadn't expected to defeat her in a single, heavily boosted Ziodine.
Shadow Mei having lightning resistance didn't surprise Ren. He merely flicked his arm slightly, and Persona Arsene, hovering above, ignited its sharp black claws with raging dark red cursed flames.
Under the enhancement of Jizo Mitama's power, the damage of Persona Arsene's Curse-attribute skills was tremendously increased.
Due to power compatibility, Eigaon received a far greater boost than Ziodine had.
Ren didn't pay too much mind to Shadow Mei's earlier mention of "divine authority." Palaces came in various types, and Palace Rulers had diverse perceptions of themselves.
Shadow Mei's perception of herself was evidently that of a god or some kind of divine agent.
The "divine authority" Shadow Mei claimed Ren also possessed clearly referred to the power of Jizo Mitama.
Jizo Mitama was a special weapon forged by Hare, combining the Desire Stone and Treasure from Yae Sakura's Palace with part of Shadow Higokumaru's power. It was natural for Raiden Mei, being a Shadow herself, to consider it an authority of similar standing.
Due to the suddenness of events, Ren hadn't yet collected the Desire Stone and Treasure from Mei's Palace... He wasn't even sure if this unformed Palace contained them.
The Desire Stone was one thing, but once Mei truly transformed Shadow Mei into her Persona, Ren couldn't confirm if the Palace's Treasure would still exist.
After all, in the story of Persona 5 Royal, when Futaba Sakura awakened her Persona, the spot where her Palace's Treasure should have been was empty. Morgana explained that Futaba herself was the Treasure of her Palace.
If Ren could gather Mei's Palace's Desire Stone, Treasure, and Shadow together, and have Hare replicate her actions from Yae Sakura's Palace, he might obtain a weapon capable of freely manipulating lightning and significantly boosting lightning-attribute skill power.
But alas, it couldn't be replicated.
Compared to Ren gaining another replaceable lightning weapon with a minor overall power boost, adding a new Persona user to the team was clearly more beneficial and would provide far greater combat capability.
Thoughts flashed through Ren's mind. He quickly made his decision and commanded Persona Arsene to attack Shadow Mei.
Facing the corrosive cursed flames, an attack beyond her authority's ability to counter, Shadow Mei could only grit her teeth and leap away, dodging Arsene's barrage of crimson-black ethereal fireballs. She allowed the curse-infused projectiles, falling like a meteor shower, to crash onto the spots where she had just stood.
As Shadow Mei counterattacked with lightning-infused slashes from her katana, Persona Arsene's continuously fired curse bullets exploded in mid-air like fireworks.
On the classroom rooftop, the intertwining flashes of violet-red lightning and crimson-black cursed flames created an incredibly intense and violent spectacle.
However, even from Raiden Mei's perspective on the ground, surrounded by layers of Archetype Seed warrior protection, she could easily see that Ren held the upper hand in the battle. The momentum of Shadow Mei's vast lightning was gradually weakening, visibly declining.
As the intensity of the battle escalated, a colossal sphere of profound, deep cursed flames, like a black sun, hurled with full force by Persona Arsene, violently collided with Shadow Mei's lightning-infused iaido slash, executed with her crimson demonic armored arms.
The clash of two ultimate-level attacks completely overwhelmed the already burdened classroom building, causing it to collapse entirely.
Under Mei's astonished gaze from the ground, the tall, massive building instantly disintegrated into a sky full of huge rock fragments, cascading down towards the ground like a devastating landslide.
Raiden Mei's position on the battlefield happened to be right where the collapsing building was falling.
Staring at the building fragments raining down on her like a natural disaster, Mei, who felt as if all her strength had been drained after denying Shadow Mei's existence, was now completely immobilized.
She could only watch, her face pale, as the massive chunks of debris drew closer and closer, their huge shadows completely engulfing her.
A brilliant, ethereal purple light, like a meteor, flashed across the sky.
Dream Projection Hare hurled her lance. The inconspicuous purple lance erupted with unimaginable, transcendent power, effortlessly pulverizing the collapsing building—which seemed like a cataclysm to Mei—into fine dust that filled the air.
The massive falling rocks, capable of easily taking anyone's life...
Hare, a Persona user, dispelled them as easily as eating or drinking. Her overwhelming power and effortless composure filled Mei—who felt deeply her own weakness, believing she could do nothing—with intense aspiration and admiration.
"Ren-kun was forced into battle because of my failure... Hare is fighting the Shadow and protecting me... Only I... only I can do nothing, just sit here weakly, waiting for others to protect me... I want... I want to have the power to fight too!"
Recalling all the mistakes she had made since entering the Palace, Mei clenched her fists in regret. She slammed her fist onto the ground, but her body, completely drained of energy by Shadow Mei, made even that gesture seem weak and powerless.
Shadow Mei's mocking words seemed to echo in her ears again.
Mei realized with sorrow that even now, she was still, as Shadow Mei had said, a helpless parasite relying on Ren, unsure of what she could do once separated from him.
"You can do it. If Miss Mei is willing, even now, you can fight the Shadow in your own way and help Joker defeat Miss Shadow Mei more smoothly."
Dream Projection Hare, clad in blue armor, stood before Mei. She gently reached out, helping the fallen Mei to her feet, then comforted her with a soft voice.
"...What? Is there still something I can do? If it can help Ren-kun, I'm willing to do anything! Please, Miss Hare, tell me what I should do!"
Hearing the words from Hare, also a Persona user, Mei's dull purple eyes instantly lit up with an excited glow.
She tightly gripped Hare's blue-armored hand, her voice earnest and desperate as she asked.
"Miss Mei's battle with her own Shadow isn't over yet. As long as Miss Mei can face her own dark side and accept it, even if Miss Shadow Mei currently holds most of the power, Miss Mei can still gradually usurp that power from her, strengthening herself while reducing the Shadow's control over that power."
Hare, in her blue sci-fi style armor, tilted her head up slightly.
She gazed towards Ren and Shadow Mei, still engaged in high-intensity combat amidst the falling debris, and explained softly to Mei.
Ren, as a Persona user, couldn't fly himself. He could only hold onto Persona Arsene's ankles, using Arsene's black falcon wings to soar and dodge in the sky.
Shadow Mei, however, inherently possessed the ability to fly agilely.
With this advantage, Shadow Mei appeared much more composed against Persona Arsene, who had to consider Ren's safety, compared to their precarious battle on the rooftop.
"The more power Miss Mei reclaims, the weaker Miss Shadow Mei will become. And Joker, who is fighting Miss Shadow Mei, will become safer and have a greater chance of victory."
Through her special ability to read information, Hare, as a Stigma crystallization, had already fully grasped the situation within this Palace... this Stigma space.
Raiden Mei originally possessed the aptitude of a natural Stigma Awakener. However, during her Stigma awakening process, the Gem of Conquest was implanted, and the Herrscher Core interrupted and suppressed the awakening process to its limit.
Due to the convergent nature of Stigma Awakeners and Herrschers, Mei's body developed more and more towards becoming a perfect vessel for the Herrscher of Thunder.
And the will that should have belonged to Mei's Stigma was integrated into the Herrscher Core's will, becoming the personality of the not-yet-fully-awakened Herrscher of Thunder.
Tasked with destroying the world, the Herrscher personality naturally absorbed all the negative emotions generated within Mei's heart, becoming a Cthulhu of all her inner shadows, an incarnation of her most world-weary side.
Mei's Stigma power had already deeply fused with the Gem of Conquest.
"Raiden Mei" was destined to become the "Herrscher of Thunder."
But whether it was Shadow Mei or Mei's true personality, they were both "Raiden Mei."
Mei and Shadow Mei had completely equal control authority over the Herrscher Core. Mei was fully qualified to fight Shadow Mei for control of the Gem of Conquest, supplanting her Herrscher personality and, through her own will, becoming a "Herrscher of Thunder" belonging to humanity.
And the method to seize control of the Herrscher Core was exactly as Ren had said earlier: Mei needed to acknowledge Shadow Mei, to fully accept her own dark side.
Only by admitting the fact that Shadow Mei was also herself could Mei grasp the rope in their tug-of-war and contend with Shadow Mei for the Herrscher Core's authority.
"...I understand. It's difficult, it's painful, but if it's for Ren-kun, I'm willing to accept that dirty, ugly, and immature self!"
After hearing Hare's explanation, Mei bit her lip hard, her fair teeth digging into the tender pink flesh. The intense mental anguish filled her with determination.
As Mei made her resolve, her body, previously weak like a dried-up riverbed, felt a trickle of sweet, clear spring water infusing it, gradually giving rise to new strength.
Mei could sense the source of that spring water.
This Palace was like a vast ocean formed by immense power. She and her Shadow were two bottomless riverbeds, vying from different directions for the influx of this sea of power. The more spring water she obtained, the stronger she would become, eventually even gaining complete mastery over this Palace.
"This time, I absolutely won't run away anymore! I will fight my own weakness, and I will overcome her!"
Mei took a heavy step forward.
The authority seized from the sea of power caused an ethereal purple light to ignite around her body. Her Chiba Academy sailor uniform merged with an incomplete, manifested black-purple armor.
A black mask with sharp horns, like that of a demon, quietly materialized on Mei's fair face.
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