"Hmph, trying to escape?"
Thanatos Picaro was resisting the beam cannon from the high-altitude airship. Choosing to escape while Ren Amamiya was temporarily tied up, and even hiding among the fleeing mechs like a tree in a forest, was indeed an excellent tactic.
However, Ren Amamiya had never been fighting alone.
He had teammates.
Ren Amamiya glanced slightly to his side. Hare, meeting his gaze, nodded in understanding. She raised the purple and white banner in her hand high, and the banner waved in the air like a swimming fish.
Like a valiant female general commanding an unparalleled army, when Hare pointed the tip of her banner-spear towards the Knight Moonbeam formations scattering in the sky, a dense array of purple weapons—swords, spears, halberds, and more—materialized from the void. The weapons, glinting with a faint幽mura, obeyed Hare's command, shooting towards their respective targets with unstoppable momentum.
Immediately after, a ceaseless series of violent explosions echoed across the heavens.
The armaments borrowed from the Archetype Seed warriors pierced the armor of the fleeing Knight Moonbeams. One after another, the Paladin-class mechs blossomed in the sky like expensive fireworks. Overheated mech wreckage rained down from the sky like a torrential downpour.
In but a moment, the Knight Moonbeam army, which had scattered in all directions attempting to escape the battlefield in a chaotic manner, met its doom. Only two red Knight Moonbeams remained, barely clinging to life.
But even these two surviving mechs were hit by the endless barrage of purple weaponry, and could only fall from the sky towards the ground, spewing black smoke.
With Hare's detection capabilities, distinguishing between unmanned mechs and manned units was an incredibly easy task.
"Ren, detonating the airship at this altitude is too dangerous. It's better to move it to an altitude completely isolated from the city before destroying it."
After the Knight Moonbeams carrying Rita and Kiana were shot down from the sky, Hare looked up at the terrifying hellish flames in the heavens, which had already completely engulfed and ignited the purple beam cannon, seemingly dyeing the entire sky black. She suggested to Ren Amamiya in a cautious tone.
The EOS airship was only a mere three thousand meters from the ground. If it were detonated at this distance, the high-power Honkai energy engine it carried would undoubtedly cause a catastrophic spread of Honkai energy in Nagazora City, resulting in many innocent and completely unnecessary casualties.
"I understand."
Knowing that Hare must have sensed something amiss, Ren Amamiya didn't choose to investigate the reason but nodded directly. He then drove Thanatos Picaro, wreathed in the black flames of calamitous hell, to continue its upward charge.
The brilliance of the Honkai energy beam cannon was already as faint as a candle in the wind under the suppression of Thanatos Picaro's power, and was finally broken through in one go.
The pillar of explosive flames, transformed from Thanatos Picaro, shot straight up into the sky. The massive EOS airship was like a small boat in a storm, easily manipulated.
It was helplessly rammed and pushed straight up by Thanatos Picaro to an altitude of over ten thousand meters, until the enormous airship completely transformed into an almost invisible black dot in Ren Amamiya's eyes. Only then did Ren Amamiya issue the command to Thanatos Picaro to completely destroy it.
The pitch-black dark flames completely engulfed the EOS airship, which had lost its ability to resist. Thanatos Picaro, wielding its longsword, cleaved the massive airship in two, causing it to be utterly damaged and explode.
The out-of-control Honkai energy engine completely erupted and overflowed. The leaking purple Honkai energy, like meteors trailing fiery tails, fell from the zenith, then vanished during their descent, not causing any Honkai erosion impact on Nagazora City on the ground.
"So it's an airship driven by Honkai energy. As expected of Hare. If I had detonated it directly at low altitude, the damage from the airship's explosion would probably have endangered this city."
Watching the horrifying explosion occurring tens of thousands of meters in the sky, Ren Amamiya fully understood the meaning of Hare's earlier proposal. He chose not to recall Thanatos Picaro, which was still in the middle layer of the atmosphere, but directly dispelled the Persona summons, returning it to the sea of his heart.
Then, Ren Amamiya turned his gaze to the two red Knight Moonbeams that had crashed to the ground.
Under Hare's deliberate control, although these two red mechs had fallen from a high altitude, they hadn't sustained too much damage. The people in the cockpits would at most feel a little dizzy, but given Rita's strength and the characteristic resilience of the Kaslana family, both individuals inside would likely recover quickly.
Two red mechs in total. One contained an enemy. The other... might also be considered an enemy.
Rita was a confirmed enemy. And Kiana, this girl who liked Raiden Mei, might have already unilaterally considered him a love rival, an enemy, or something similar.
Because his objective was to obtain intelligence and rescue, Ren Amamiya couldn't directly attack the two red Knight Moonbeams on the ground that had lost their ability to resist.
In short, it was now time for the blind box opening segment.
"Come on, I choose you, Kallen—"
A black plague doctor mask adorned with purple irises materialized in Ren Amamiya's palm. If he wanted to imprison and restrain an enemy, there was naturally no more suitable option than the Oath of Judah chains from Persona Kallen.
"Wait, Rita, I surrender!!"
However, the azure flames on the purple iris mask held in Ren Amamiya's palm had only just halfway ignited when Rita's crisp and clear voice of surrender came from within the red Knight Moonbeam on the left.
"[Huh?]"
In Ren Amamiya's sea of hearts, Kallen, who had been so excited she was clenching her fists and thinking about what cool pose to strike for her grand entrance, suddenly widened her eyes, her joyful mood coming to an abrupt halt.
Rita's sudden declaration of surrender caused the purple iris mask in Ren Amamiya's palm to twist abruptly, maintaining an awkward, half-ignited, semi-real, semi-illusory state.
"What did you say?"
Ren Amamiya's expression was quite subtle. He cast his gaze towards the left mech from which Rita's voice had come. However, after a slight pause, he brought the right mech back into his field of vision.
After all, these mechs were all brought by Rita. If she were feigning surrender, it wouldn't be difficult for Rita to transmit her voice through the other mech.
Moreover, as one of Otto Apocalypse's capable subordinates, Ren Amamiya didn't quite believe she would choose to surrender so easily. Therefore, maintaining vigilance was still necessary.
"Rita means to surrender. With Rita's strength, she cannot defeat Mr. Ren no matter what. Rather than continuing to resist stubbornly, it's better to stop before sustaining irreversible injuries... I will no longer fight Mr. Ren."
The downed red Knight Moonbeam raised its arms upwards like a baby, striking a pose symbolizing its harmlessness. Then, the Baldr mech's power core shut down, and the blue energy pathways outlining the red mech's frame slowly dimmed, eventually ceasing operation completely, finishing the shutdown procedure.
The cockpit of the red Knight Moonbeam silently opened, revealing Rita's figure lying supine inside the mech. The gray-gold strands of hair on her forehead were now completely soaked with cold sweat. A helpless and resigned, forced smile appeared on her delicate and charming pretty face.
"If you want to surrender, then prove your sincerity first. Deactivate your Phantom Thief attire."
Ren Amamiya looked at Rita, who maintained a supine position before him, her chest still heaving dramatically. He issued a command to this cunning female assassin.
Judging from Rita's act of changing into Phantom Thief attire, she was clearly a Persona user of the same type as himself.
Generally speaking, without wearing Phantom Thief attire, Phantom Thief-type Persona users like Ren Amamiya couldn't directly summon their Personas.
Ren Amamiya's command for Rita to remove her Phantom Thief attire could be completely interpreted as an order to disarm, for a Persona user.
"...Rita understands."
Rita blinked. She once again issued a quantum transmission command. The silver-blue Godsbane Battlesuit she wore instantly disappeared, returning to the laboratory at Schicksal HQ.
And after removing the Argent Knight: Excelsis armor, the armor Rita was now wearing was no longer the previous Argent Knight: Artemis, but the familiar maid outfit Ren Amamiya recognized.
"Rita, quickly release Kiana... Kiana, are you okay?!"
Seeing Rita obediently disarm following Ren Amamiya's command, Raiden Mei, who had rushed over from the other side, let out a small sigh of relief. She quickly made her demand to Rita.
With a crisp click, the cockpit of the second Baldr mech, which had crash-landed face down, also opened automatically. Raiden Mei forcefully tossed the red mech's frame aside, revealing Kiana's figure sliding out from the cockpit.
While Ren Amamiya was on guard against any covert actions from Rita, he also cast a somewhat casual glance towards Raiden Mei and Kiana.
The slender and well-proportioned girl, wearing a Chiba Academy sailor uniform, was lying prone on the ground without any semblance of grace, like a caterpillar. She would even twist and squirm on the ground like a pupa from time to time. Her normally smooth and radiant white long hair was now messily draped over her back, making this Kiana look even more like a large caterpillar at first glance.
Raiden Mei carefully tried to help Kiana up from the ground.
However, she had only just helped Kiana halfway up when Kiana, still suffering from the neurotoxin and having been repeatedly jolted around in the mech cockpit, finally couldn't hold back the intense dizziness and nausea in her head. With a "Blargh!" she tightly bowed her small head and began to vomit violently.
The moment Kiana made the prelude sounds of vomiting, Ren Amamiya quickly turned his head away as if he had seen something disgusting, leaving only Raiden Mei to stiffly pat Kiana's back, helping her vomit more comfortably.
It couldn't be helped. After all, Kiana being successfully captured by Rita was partly due to her own carelessness. It was just Kiana's vomit; she, Raiden Mei, could only endure it.
"Ren, I can't stay in the real world for too long. Why don't we take Miss Rita back to Mementos for interrogation?"
Just as Ren Amamiya was about to ask the harmless-looking Rita something else, Hare suddenly made this suggestion to him. The brilliant and dreamlike purple star gate opened once again on this street.
"Hmm... Alright then. Let's return directly to the Kaslana Palace."
Ren Amamiya had initially thought of separating Rita and Fu Hua, but after a little thought, he felt it was unnecessary. After all, the information revealed by Ren Amamiya's sudden return from Mementos to the real world, and then his safe return to the Kaslana Palace, couldn't be hidden from Rita and Fu Hua.
With Shadow Mei as a Persona, Ren Amamiya could understand Raiden Mei's situation at any time. Therefore, he wasn't worried that Raiden Mei would be attacked again by Rita's successors. After bidding farewell to Raiden Mei and Bronya, he and Hare took Rita through the purple star gate, returning to the space of the Kaslana Palace.
Only after Ren Amamiya and Hare had completely left did Kiana, who had been vomiting her guts out, slowly calm down and gradually regain some strength.
"Kiana, are, are you okay?"
Using a tissue she carried with her to wipe Kiana's mouth, Raiden Mei looked at the white-haired girl whose blue eyes held a hint of tears and who looked even more dazed than usual. She couldn't help but ask Kiana again with concern.
"Are you hungry again? After we rest at my place for a while, how about I personally cook some of your favorite food for you?"
Kiana had just feasted in the snack street, and the food in her stomach hadn't even begun to digest before she was kidnapped by Rita. Raiden Mei was very worried about Kiana's current mental state.
"Mei... Mei..."
"Yes, I'm here."
Facing Kiana's weak call, Raiden Mei proactively took Kiana's slender and cold little hand, responding to her in a very gentle voice.
Witnessing a battle between Persona users for the first time, Kiana was deeply moved by this wondrous and powerful special ability.
She began to question the correctness of the worldview Siegfried had instilled in her... Before today, she had never even heard of Persona users and the Persona power system!!
If possible, Kiana also wanted to become a Persona user like Raiden Mei, both powerful and stylishly cool.
Countless complex thoughts surged through Kiana's mind like a tide. After a long while, only the purest thought remained in her mind.
"Mei, that guy named Ren is really good-looking..."
Crack.
In the distance, Bronya's bones twitched twice.
The faint sound of a finger bone breaking seemed to drift over...
They'll Never See It Coming.