Tokyo Psychic

Page 262

Who are you?!

The crowd shouted in unison to answer the shadow's question.

"Persona!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the boys and girls of the Mind Thieves exchanged surprised glances.

They saw the remembrance in each other's eyes.

Even though they reappear in the world only in the form of "shadows," they still maintain that tacit understanding of sharing life and death.

It was as if everything had returned to the way it was before.

Behind Sakura Futaba, a Persona mask holding a guitar is floating.

His name is Dioscuri.

236. Memories Reawakened (Three-in-One)

(The issue of missing chapters is explained at the end of this chapter. The resolution will require waiting until the review process ends after the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.)

"JOKER! Think of something quick!!"

Morgana's shouts were drowned out by the tsunami-like onslaught of shadows.

Metis commanded Morana, the Slavic goddess who controls winter, to freeze the bat-like shadows that approached.

In an instant, they were smashed into powder by the boulder pushed by An and Subaru's Persona "Sisyphus".

Toyokawa Shoko maintains "Ninglu" to refresh the buffs for her companions around her, while also keeping an eye out for potential dangers from afar.

Behind Akira Kurusu, "Arsen" flapped its dark wings and swung its claws, tearing several approaching hunters to shreds.

Hearing Morgana's shout, the phantom thief looked up at the infinitely deep dome.

They had been ascending the elevator for almost ten minutes since they started riding it, and the quartz floor had shrunk to almost the size of a bathroom floor in their field of vision.

Radiating bands of light spread across the sky, the shadows seemed endless, and the path to the sky appeared to have no end, as the shadows blindly drained our spirit and energy.

It seems like this is an openly concealed trap.

But Akira Kurusu's intuition told him that only by taking this elevator could he reach the location of Futaba Sakura.

It is therefore obvious that such a large number of people, exceeding the collective subconscious's malice towards the Mind Thieves, must be a deliberate act of hostility by an enemy behind the scenes to delay them and wear them down.

After a brief moment of thought, Akira Kurusu realized that the Phantom Thieves couldn't waste any more time here.

He looked up at the steel cables above the elevator that were being pulled constantly; those shadows were trying to destroy them... Thinking of this, he felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his gut.

Since this elevator is the only facility the Phantom Thieves have to reach Futaba Sakura's location, why don't the enemy destroy it immediately?

Akira Kurusu noticed the ground below growing smaller and smaller.

He finally realized—the enemy was lurking in the shadows.

"Mortis, stop holding back and attack the surrounding shadows with all your might."

“Oblivionis, change the trajectory of those shadows. We must clear as much of the sky as possible to create a clear area with good visibility.”

"Mona, you will take Oblivionis' place and keep watch on our surroundings. Use the Persona's abilities to shoot down any approaching flying objects."

Akira Kurusu took out the Persona Summoner, ready to summon "Satanyel" and unleash the [Sin Armor-Piercing Bullet] the moment the enemy revealed their true form.

But things clearly took an unexpected turn.

Just as Mortis was gathering his strength, preparing to freeze the entire area of ​​shadow around him with his Persona—

In a more distant place, a rainbow-colored halo suddenly appeared spreading.

That was a powerful beam of light, like a shockwave, that swept across most of the sky in an instant, and it was released three times in a row!

Countless shadows were crushed into powder by this powerful, all-purpose attack, unable to even dodge.

As if by convention, in the exact opposite direction of this rainbow halo, one can see orange-red flames suddenly rise, expand, and form a magnificent cloud of flames.

The endless shadows that had once covered the sky finally dissipated.

You can see a huge pyramid floating beneath the dome.

Rather than calling it a pyramid, it's more accurate to describe it as a floating fortress designed to resemble one.

Finally, we can see clearly that there are actually three elevators connecting to the bottom of the pyramid.

Because of the great distance, even with the shared vision of the Persona's senses, it was difficult to see the passengers in the other two elevators.

However, it's not necessary to see clearly; it's easy to tell that the two previous Velvet Room Contractors, Shiomi Kotone and Narukami Yu, are in the elevator.

......

A massive fortress stands tall above the sea of ​​clouds.

Bathed in sunlight, it displays a dazzling golden hue.

A pale white shadow could be vaguely seen sinking from the top of the pyramid, then sweeping across the massive structure at an incredible speed toward the elevator where Narukami Yu was.

......

The elevator continued to ascend, getting closer and closer to the pyramid.

The bricks that were originally a brilliant gold color can now be seen clearly.

They are dark steel, exuding a chilling coldness in the false sunlight.

The shadow that had darted past the Mind Thieves suddenly turned around...

I originally thought the other party was "Judas".

But... his equally dark golden pupils churned with an inextinguishable rage, and suddenly a tall shadow appeared behind him.

Akira Kurusu once used the privilege of the Fool's Eye to read His information.

His name is "Izanagi-no-Okami".

The Persona possesses the power of the [World], capable of unleashing a technique called [Tens of Thousands of Maxims]—

Just as Akira Kurusu was about to pull the trigger of his Persona summoner to call out "Satanyel", "Yu Narukami" in the air seemed to have thought of something. His originally resolute fighting spirit wavered, and in the end, he continued to run towards the elevator where Yu Narukami was, still wearing his Persona.

Each previous contractor appeared as our enemy in the form of shadow?

During this extremely brief encounter, Akira Kurusu thought of many things.

The members of the Phantom Thieves beside him all breathed a sigh of relief after witnessing "Yu Narukami's" appearance and departure.

In their minds, these special "shadows" were practically synonymous with the true form of evil gods.

The elevator's ascent was still slow, but at least it allowed people to vaguely discern the exact time it would take to reach the pyramid, preventing them from waiting blindly.

However, it is clear that the enemy who orchestrated all of this did not want the third-generation contractors to arrive at the pyramid along with their companions.

Therefore, the elevator where Shiomi Kotone and some of the Shadow Patrol members were located, which was a little further away, was also attacked.

Those were white doves chasing each other up from the ground.

The familiar aura made it clear that this was "Judas," who had once confronted the contractors.

Sunlight streamed slowly down the steel fortress, pouring into the elevator and gradually filling the bottom like water.

......

at the same time.

Deep inside the pyramids.

In the theater surrounded by television screens, Futaba Sakura slowly opened her eyes, which were burning with jet-black flames.

The surrounding screens immediately began to flicker with countless gray-white static.

Then, a boy wearing a black trench coat and a gray turtleneck suit shirt appeared on the first screen.

He was wearing a white lark mask, had his bright red gloves pulled tight, and was slowly approaching while holding a pistol.

The second screen showed a boy dressed similarly to the protagonist of Ghost Rider, with a cowboy-style red scarf, a black leather jacket, and pants with knee pads.

He wore riding boots, yellow gloves, and a skull-style mask.

Holding a steel pipe, a weapon commonly associated with biker gangs in the last century, he approached the television screen with unsteady steps.

In the third screen, a katana is seen being drawn first.

The boy with the knife wore a fox half-face mask. He was dressed in a white turtleneck jacket and black overalls, paired with white boots, blue gloves, and a blue and white striped belt, which was decorated with a red and white fox tail.

The boy, gripping a katana, seemed eager to leap off the screen.

The fourth screen features a hot woman wearing a red tight leather outfit, a red mask with cat ears, pink gloves, and dark red thigh-high boots.

A long, thin cat tail was attached to the end of her leather jacket. She held a submachine gun in her hand and looked at "Sakura Futaba" off-screen with a cold smile.

If the boy in the second screen is similar to a "bike gangster," he actually fits the outfit of the "Ghost Rider" in Marvel movies.

So, the girl riding a motorcycle in this fifth screen is a complete bosozoku (motorcycle gang) character from Japanese manga—

A leather bodysuit in a dark blue color, paired with a long black scarf, white gloves and metal knuckle dusters, a steel mask, and decorative studs all over the body.

She twisted the throttle of her motorcycle, staring angrily at "Sakura Futaba" off-screen.

The sixth screen features a young woman with an elegant and gentle demeanor.

A light pink shirt paired with a white bow tie and a black corset vest, and loose purple shorts with clips, along with plain black tights and leather shoes.

She wore a light purple knight's hat with feathers, clearly a young lady of extraordinary bearing, yet she seemed ready to leap off the screen at any moment and chop "Sakura Futaba" to the ground with her battle axe.

The seventh screen features a girl dressed in a gymnastics outfit and a black jacket, whose style is very similar to that of the girl codenamed "Joker".

Holding a rapier, she bloomed like a rose in the dark theater.

The last image on the screen is of a pitch-black cat.

It stood up and used its claws to tear the TV screen apart little by little.

And so, under the horrified gaze of "Sakura Futaba".

A group of "mind thieves" that was beyond her comprehension had assembled.

......

After the members of the "Mind Thieves" left the television screen, their initial anger seemed to have subsided considerably.

They exchanged a smile and immediately realized that they were nothing more than a phantom remaining in Sakura Futaba's Persona record.

But "Navi," who always provides support to the Phantom Thieves but doesn't directly participate in the battles, can't face such a powerful enemy alone.

“Navi, you should remember everything now, right?” Violet crouched down and reached out her hand to Futaba Sakura.

She gently pulled up the girl, who was close to her age.

"From the moment the Joker handed you his Persona, you possessed all of his memories."

Sakura Futaba slowly and unsteadily stood up from the ground. This girl, who had secluded herself in her bedroom for a long time, seemed to have grown up a lot in an instant.

Those magnificent scenes began to flash through Akira Kurusu's mind as her persona "Dioscuri" began to reappear.

She hugged "Fang Zexia" tightly in front of her, her voice filled with deep reluctance, "What should I do now?"

Joker approached from behind.

He bent down and stroked Sakura Futaba's hair. "The 'me' in this timeline should be able to feel the power of 'Dioscuri' being split in two within the Sea of ​​the Heart. 'I' will soon sense your location and rush to your side."

"The Phantom Thieves... they've become different." Sakura Futaba, her eyes blurry with tears, turned to look at Kurusu Akatsuki. "Is this time reversal?"

"This is one link in a chain of countless time rewinds, and our experience is only a part of this long experience."

"Kurasu Akatsuki" bent down and kissed her forehead. "Everyone will remember all of this, maybe now, maybe in the next moment, but before that... you should take advantage of the fact that these powers have not yet been returned to their respective masters by the Sea of ​​Hearts and use them to defeat the enemies in front of you as soon as possible."

The voice just fell.

The phantoms of the Phantom Thieves members surrounding Futaba Sakura disappeared one after another.

The mind thief "Navi," who had acquired all of Akira Kurusu's memories from that reincarnation, watched their disappearance with tears streaming down his face.

She finally understood what kind of powerful feeling the "unrestrained power" that Akira Kurusu had always mentioned was.

Those powerful personas switched and manifested as if controlled by an extension of their own limbs.

The seemingly omnipotent "Sakura Futaba" who had been dominating the entire theater immediately began to retreat.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing.