The crimson and blue orbs of light intertwined like a double helix DNA, giving birth to a new Persona power from within Persona Orthrus and Persona Baphomet.
Within the dazzling brilliance, a vague human figure gradually took shape, bringing an intuitive sense of coldness to Ren Amamiya and the others on the ground.
'Is it Jack Frost again, like last time… No, wait, this coldness isn't the chill from manipulating ice and snow like Jack Frost's. It's more like a bone-chilling cold that seeps into the soul, a fundamentally different kind of cold.'
Feeling the chilling coldness accompanying the Persona's appearance, Ren Amamiya looked up with expectant eyes, intently observing the humanoid Persona figure slowly emerging from the light.
The most striking feature of this newly born Persona was the half-man-height, grayish-blue, heart-shaped harp carried on its back.
Ren Amamiya carefully examined this humanoid Persona carrying a heart-shaped harp, his gaze sweeping from its brown hair and crimson eyes, the red scarf wrapped around its neck, its brass-colored torso, and the distinctly artificial, robot-doll-like structures at its limb joints.
Then, Ren Amamiya's eyes widened slightly, and he inadvertently sucked in a breath of cold air.
Holy crap, Makoto Yuki manifested!!
"Persona… Orpheus!"
Orpheus.PNG
Ren Amamiya slowly uttered the name of this Persona, which floated ethereally in the sky. It was precisely the initial Persona awakened by the third-generation protagonist, Makoto Yuki.
Until just a moment ago, Ren Amamiya's mind had been preoccupied with the records of fully cultivated Personas left by his predecessors.
He never expected Vill-V to produce a "gold rarity" for him on the spot in the next second, directly summoning Makoto Yuki's initial Persona, Orpheus… This coincidence was so striking that Ren Amamiya secretly wondered if Vill-V had intentionally adjusted the "gacha pool" probabilities and quietly opened a backdoor for him.
Although the fused Persona wasn't the Izanagi-no-Okami he dreamed of most, even a fool would know that relying on two weak Personas like Orthrus and Baphomet to fuse a super-top-tier, fully evolved Persona like Izanagi-no-Okami had a probability infinitely close to zero.
For Vill-V to use the combination of Orthrus and Baphomet to fuse Orpheus, the initial Persona of the third-generation protagonist, for Ren Amamiya, was already an exceptionally excellent result.
"How about it, little Phantom Thief? Does this gift suit your fancy?"
Even with the white spirit-bird mask obscuring his face, Vill-V still contentedly appreciated the surprised and joyful expression on Ren Amamiya's face. As if savoring a supreme delicacy, she revealed a thoroughly pleased smile.
Relying on her trans-era genius talent, Vill-V had already enthusiastically completed the environmental adaptation and modification project for the Deep End long before Ren Amamiya's second visit to the Elysian Realm.
After fusing with Aponia, the Elysian Realm, influenced by the power of [Discipline], showed a specialized trend towards the mental aspect. And the Deep End environment, where Aponia had sealed herself, was a place most heavily affected by this influence.
After Vill-V's modification project, this Deep End abyss had transformed into a Hall of the Subconscious. Even if Ren Amamiya didn't personally use the guillotine and electric chair, but had Vill-V take the lead, she could still create those excellent Personas that Ren Amamiya envisioned.
However, Vill-V, the magician, would certainly not deconstruct her own little tricks and secrets for Ren Amamiya, an audience member who could bring her endless amusement.
"A very good Persona, Miss Vill-V. I acknowledge your excellent talent in rehabilitation."
Ren Amamiya nodded affirmatively. He raised his hand, transforming Persona Orpheus back into the white bird mask and reabsorbing it into his heart. Then, he praised Vill-V sincerely.
Using Orthrus and Baphomet as fusion materials, Ren Amamiya, relying on himself and the execution tools, could only fuse a Persona of Jack Frost's level. Yet Vill-V could indeed fuse Orpheus, a protagonist-level initial Persona.
Although in terms of popularity, Jack Frost, as Atlus's mascot, absolutely demolished the perpetually persecuted and presence-lacking Persona Orpheus, in terms of combat power, Persona Orpheus was clearly much superior to Jack Frost.
Solely in terms of the ability to use execution tools, Vill-V, the developer of these tools, clearly surpassed Ren Amamiya by an unknown number of magnitudes.
Vill-V had successfully demonstrated her outstanding Persona fusion ability to Ren Amamiya. Therefore, Ren Amamiya decided to accept Vill-V's proposed suggestions and trials.
"Is Big Brother Joker going to continue executing Personas? Which Personas will be executed next?"
As soon as Persona Orpheus manifested, Seele, who had been shrinking behind Ren Amamiya, opened her eyes. For some reason, her gaze was completely captivated by Orpheus's figure.
Although there was no reason or cause, just an insignificant intuition and instinct, Seele distinctly felt that Persona Orpheus was very similar to her. And in the deepest part of Orpheus's body, there seemed to be something sealed away that was the complete opposite of its essence, like a power of death similar to Veliona.
Because of this overwhelming sense of déjà vu, it wasn't until Ren Amamiya retracted Persona Orpheus that Seele finally came back to her senses. Prompted by Veliona in her heart, she asked Ren Amamiya about the next Persona he planned to execute.
"The next Persona I want to execute, huh…"
Facing Seele's question, Ren Amamiya pondered slightly, beginning to sift through the Personas in his mind that would undergo the execution ceremony next.
Ren Amamiya wanted to avoid executing the beautiful girl Personas who could communicate with him in his mind as much as possible.
Although Vill-V provided a safety net, allowing Ren Amamiya to re-summon the beautiful girl Personas from the Persona Compendium back into his heart, and Yae Sakura and Veliona had both expressed their willingness to undergo execution for Ren Amamiya, Ren Amamiya was ultimately not an unfeeling, cold being.
Beast-type Personas like Orthrus and Baphomet, which only possessed basic beastly instincts and lacked even pet-level sentience, were fine. Ren Amamiya could unhesitatingly use them for execution, turning them into nourishment for his own growth.
But beautiful girl Personas like Yae Sakura and Veliona were not only Ren Amamiya's strength but also his companions in saving the world.
Even if he could become stronger by executing and reviving them, Ren Amamiya didn't want to sacrifice these girl Personas who trusted him from the bottom of their hearts.
The mere thought of gaining power through such means brought a strong sense of discomfort to Ren Amamiya's mind.
"Now is a once-in-a-lifetime free service period! Although each Persona can only be revived once, if you don't seize this opportunity, you'll suffer a huge loss. Like those high-level Personas dwelling in your heart, if you don't take them out for execution now, it will cost you several times, even tens of times more effort to collect enough currency to execute them later, you know~~~"
Vill-V clapped her hands, interrupting Ren Amamiya's thoughts, and spoke to him in a highly tempting manner.
Under normal circumstances, Vill-V wouldn't be so generous.
But this was clearly not a normal situation. Considering Aponia might once again obstruct her meeting with Ren Amamiya, coupled with Vill-V's own strong curiosity about what kind of Personas Ren Amamiya could fuse, she was showing such a generous side.
Recreating the original appearance of Honkai Beasts based on their residual factors was a piece of cake for Vill-V, who controlled the backup data of the Elysian Realm.
However, reawakening the will of Stigmata Archetypes whose consciousness had faded to near nothingness was considerably more difficult.
Only a special expert like Vill-V, who had meticulously studied the mental domain and could segment her own mental consciousness, could make such a guarantee to reawaken the Stigmata Archetype wills dwelling in Ren Amamiya's heart. Anyone else in the world would probably be unable to perform such a delicate task.
"A very tempting offer, but I refuse. The Personas I'm going to execute next are these two."
Ren Amamiya looked up at the smiling Vill-V and decisively rejected her proposal.
With a surge of blazing, pale blue spectral flames, a roaring, silver-blue giant dragon and a small, snowman-like figure wearing a blue, court jester-style hat, like a child, prominently appeared within this deep, dark prison.
"Persona Benares, and Jack Frost."
Ren Amamiya slowly uttered the names of the two Personas he had summoned.
[Lord Ren, you don't need to worry about Sakura's feelings. According to what Miss Vill-V said, she is fully capable of reawakening Sakura's consciousness within your heart, Lord Ren. Just by Sakura enduring a moment's pain, Lord Ren's strength can be enhanced, clearing more obstacles on Lord Ren's path to saving the world. This is Sakura's purpose for existing, and also Sakura's happiness.]
[Sakura is right. We are no longer human; we will no longer suffer the troubles and limitations of death. If temporary pain can enhance your strength, Ren, it's simply too good a deal.]
[If Big Sis is willing, then I… I also… But it's best if the blade falls quickly, I'm afraid of pain, wuwuwu~~~]
[...]
[No, this guy already said he doesn't want to execute us. Why are you all still rushing to get him to execute you? Is your neck too itchy? And you, the one above, say something, give your opinion! Suddenly appearing and then staying silent, are you trying to act cool?]
[I… forget it.]
The Personas dwelling in Ren Amamiya's heart could see the world through his eyes. Even Kosma, who usually couldn't do this, had successfully stabilized this visual connection because Ren Amamiya was in the Elysian Realm environment.
Aware of their role as Ren Amamiya's power to save the world, the Personas had long been resolved to face the guillotine.
However, only after Ren Amamiya truly gave Vill-V his choice did Yae Sakura, Kallen, and the others realize that Ren Amamiya, who often talked about guillotines and Persona execution, had absolutely no intention of putting them on the guillotine to complete the execution ceremony.
Even Veliona was surprised by this. While feeling relieved and unburdened, a genuine sense of elation seemed to well up from the depths of her heart due to Ren Amamiya's cherishing. To conceal this embarrassing elation, she loudly berated Yae Sakura and Kallen for actively wanting to offer themselves for Ren Amamiya.
"Alright, alright. Since little Phantom Thief has already decided, I can only play along and help you execute these two Personas as well."
Seeing that Ren Amamiya hadn't taken the bait, causing her intended little magic trick surprise to fall flat, Vill-V shrugged helplessly. However, she still, with great professionalism, raised the grayish-brown spiral curtain in her hand, firmly enveloping the bodies of Persona Benares and Jack Frost under the lockdown of the guillotine.
"Next is the moment for a miracle to reappear! Ladies and gentlemen, please keep your eyes wide open and don't get distracted—"
The huge blade of the guillotine crashed down from above, once again severing the two bulges fixed on the guillotine beneath the grayish-brown curtain. Two more orbs of light flew out from under the guillotine, spiraling and intertwining to fuse into a new, giant Persona figure.
Looking at the newly born Persona figure, Seele inadvertently opened her mouth wide. And Hare, who had always maintained a tranquil and quiet demeanor, now also widened her eyes in surprise.
The Persona still had that round, snowman-like child's body. However, that human-child-sized body had now grown to the giant stature equivalent to the previous Benares. Its pure white, snow-like body seemed to have been stained by darkness, transforming into pure purplish-black. Its crimson eyes and sharp fangs starkly proclaimed its terrifying nature to the world.
Persona—Black Frost!!
Although evolved from the weak Jack Frost, Black Frost possessed a strength that could look down upon all other Personas, belonging to the top tier of powerful Personas!!!
Black Frost.PNG