"Hare? That's right, Showtime indeed has no effect on you. But what can you, alone, still accomplish?"
Looking at Armored Hare, who, despite having taken his ultimate skill Showtime head-on, showed no signs of falling asleep, Persona Raoul's voice couldn't help but reveal a hint of surprise.
Only after Armored Hare spoke did Persona Raoul recall that Armored Hare possessed the trait of being immune to sleep status effects.
Armored Hare herself was a dream projection released by Hare actively entering a dream state. Armored Hare, already in a dream state, naturally wouldn't fall asleep again due to Showtime's power.
However, even if Armored Hare could ignore Showtime's sleep effect, being alone, she no longer had the power to turn the tide of battle. Therefore, Persona Raoul's voice quickly became calm again.
"It's not just one person left."
Beneath the ornate purple and white mask, a pleased smile gradually formed on Hare's delicate, flawless lower face.
Seeing Armored Hare's confident smile, expressed from the heart even in the face of adversity, a sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in Persona Raoul's heart.
"Raoul, your Showtime activates very quickly. Even I couldn't stop its casting… However, there was still enough time to make some small moves before Showtime fully deployed."
Under Persona Raoul's gaze, Armored Hare slowly raised a finger. A dreamlike, pale purple thread was wrapped around her slender, fair index finger.
And if one were to follow the incredibly fine, pale purple thread downwards from Armored Hare's fingertip, they would find… that the thread's final connection point was Ren Amamiya, who had plunged his twin swords into the ground and fallen into a deep sleep!
"—Could it be?!"
Persona Raoul, as if suddenly realizing something, its crimson demonic eyes beneath its gentleman's hat began to flicker rapidly with red light.
"Precisely. Mei and Seele have indeed fallen asleep due to Showtime's effect. However, it wasn't you, Raoul, who put Ren to sleep… but me, using this skill called Dream Needle!"
Seeing Raoul finally understand what she had done, Armored Hare chuckled and flicked her finger. The small Dream Needle, connected by the pale purple thread and shot into Ren Amamiya's body, was instantly pulled out.
With the removal of the pale purple Dream Needle, Ren Amamiya, who had been in a chaotic slumber, suddenly opened his eyes and woke up, the flame of battle still burning brightly and undiminished in his black pupils.
Persona Thanatos, whose height had slightly decreased because its Persona user had fallen asleep, raised its head again, wielding its black longsword and letting out a deafening roar.
"A unit that has already fallen asleep will not be affected by sleep skills again. Using this rule, you used Hare's Dream Needle to preemptively cover my Showtime… As expected of the fated Trickster. Even when facing your past self, you can overcome everything through the bonds and trust with your teammates."
Facing Thanatos, which was staring at him intently, ready to resume battle at any moment, Persona Raoul suddenly relaxed its body. Its fighting spirit dissipated, and it raised its hand, clapping towards Ren Amamiya in celebration.
Compared to falling asleep due to an enemy's Showtime, it was naturally better to fall asleep by accepting a teammate's Dream Needle.
As long as Hare removed the Dream Needle after Showtime finished casting, Ren Amamiya could naturally wake up and rejoin the battle.
Showtime, this final trump card, had also been overcome by Hare and Ren Amamiya's seamless cooperation. Persona Raoul, who only wanted to prevent Ren Amamiya from accessing the Treasure, not to fight him and his companions to the death, finally chose to end this trial.
"I have witnessed the miracle you and your teammates created. You have now surpassed your yesterday's self and are qualified to touch the Palace Treasure… But it's best to be careful, Trickster. That Treasure, existing because of you, has not yet fully stabilized. What shape it will ultimately take is a puzzle no one can predict."
The moment Persona Raoul acknowledged him, Ren Amamiya felt that he had regained complete control over Persona Raoul. The Showtime skill cast on Raiden Mei and Veliona was also directly dispelled by Raoul.
The sense of completion brought by Persona Raoul's return made Ren Amamiya feel much more at ease. He knew he had passed Raoul's trial and gained the qualification to access the Palace Treasure.
However, according to what Persona Raoul had just said, the Treasure in this Palace hadn't completely materialized yet?
As expected, sending myself a calling card is simply not enough to stimulate the sense of crisis and vigilance needed to materialize the Treasure…
"Ugh…"
"Damn you! Using such a despicable trick to ambush me!!"
Just as Ren Amamiya dispelled the enhancement effect of the two Jizo Mitama, allowing his mind to think more calmly, Raiden Mei and Veliona, who had been forced into a deep sleep by Showtime, finally reawakened.
Unlike Raiden Mei, who stood in place, warily surveying her surroundings, Veliona, as soon as she woke up, menacingly wanted to launch another fierce attack on Persona Raoul.
"The battle is over. That Trickster has reaccepted his other side."
Although she had thought of helping, Vill-V, who had been idling for the entire round because Ren Amamiya and the others could handle the situation themselves, slowly walked out. She stopped Veliona, who still had a resentful expression and looked very displeased, from attacking Persona Raoul.
"Tch! Starting and stopping whenever you want, you're really something else. I'm not playing this childish game with you anymore!!"
Judging from Ren Amamiya's disengaged state—having dispelled the Jizo Mitama enhancement and even recalled Persona Thanatos—Vill-V clearly hadn't lied.
Being stopped after Raoul had won a round, Veliona, with her vengeful personality, immediately showed an expression as ugly as if she had been edged.
However, out of consideration for Ren Amamiya, Veliona couldn't possibly attack Persona Raoul, which had returned to Ren Amamiya's control.
Therefore, after glaring at Raoul, she could only dive back into the deepest part of her Sea of Heart with a stomach full of displeasure, reawakening the dormant Seele to take control of the body.
"Raoul, where did you hide the Treasure? Although it hasn't materialized yet, I still want to see my Treasure."
After praising and comforting Veliona, who had returned to his heart, and receiving her bashful reply, knowing she had been appeased, Ren Amamiya turned his head and asked Persona Raoul, who was floating beside him.
Persona Raoul didn't respond. It just silently waved its arm. Along with the sound of mechanical whirring, a platform slowly rose from the center of the museum plaza. And on the platform, a huge orb of light was suspended.
Just as Persona Raoul had said earlier, the Treasure of this Palace had not only failed to materialize but also seemed very unstable.
The massive spherical orb of light would distort and change color and shape from time to time, sometimes transforming into purplish lightning, sometimes into crimson-black miasma, or sometimes condensing into deathly scarlet chains…
In just the short time Raoul had released it from its hidden mechanism, the Palace Treasure light orb had already caused the surrounding area to become riddled with holes.
Even though the Palace Treasure was an inanimate object, the spherical orb of light, constantly distorting its shape as it floated on the platform, still gave Raiden Mei and the others an indescribably strong sense of danger.
"Is that Ren's Treasure? It's actually so aggressive…" Bronya swallowed lightly. This was the first time she had seen such an aggressive Palace Treasure… although, besides this, she had only seen the Treasure fragments from the Herrscher of Reason's Palace.
"Raoul is right. This Palace Treasure is still in an unstable state. Perhaps we should wait until this Treasure has completely stabilized and taken form before we retrieve it." Hare slowly walked to Ren Amamiya's side. Her delicate brows furrowed slightly as she gazed at the distorted orb of light, constantly changing shape and color, and softly suggested to Ren Amamiya.
There was no need to use her information-reading ability to specifically investigate the Treasure light orb. Just by observing it with her naked eye, Hare, as a Stigmata Archetype, could perfectly understand what this Palace Treasure truly was.
This was the manifestation of Ren Amamiya's Path of Origin, a crystal formed by the fusion and refinement of multiple Stigmata powers. Its very existence was proof of Ren Amamiya gaining the wholehearted recognition of numerous Personas.
However, the Path of Origin wasn't a smooth and easy road, but a thorny and arduous path.
Even though Ren Amamiya had used the power of Herrschers and Stigmata to evolve his Persona Raoul, this assembled power had not yet been perfectly unified. The pure powers that formed the foundation of the Path of Origin were still constantly fighting amongst themselves, trying to seize dominance over the unified power.
But this was also very normal. After all, it had only been a little over twelve hours since Ren Amamiya unified the powers of Stigmata and Herrschers to make Persona Arsene undergo its second awakening into Persona Raoul.
About half a day was not enough for these crystals of Herrscher power and Stigmata power to completely stabilize.
If Ren Amamiya personally touched this Palace Treasure, unique to him, and interfered as the Palace ruler, the Treasure could indeed stabilize faster.
However, just like Persona Raoul, Hare didn't want Ren Amamiya to risk being harmed by the unstable crystal to access this Treasure.
Rather than risking accelerating the crystal's stabilization, it would be better to wait patiently for a while, until the crystal matured naturally, and then pick this sweet fruit.
"I refuse. After upgrading Arsene to Raoul, it will be very difficult to further enhance Raoul's power. A shortcut like strengthening a Persona through one's own Palace Treasure won't come around a second time in the short term… Raoul, since you agreed to let me access the Treasure, you should also have a way for me to receive the power of this unformed Treasure, right?"
Ren Amamiya rejected Hare's suggestion to wait without a second thought. He turned and asked Persona Raoul beside him.
An unformed Treasure wasn't completely unusable. Hare had once used an unformed Treasure and Will Seed crystals to forge Jizo Mitama, a powerful weapon that had never fallen behind the curve.
Although Hare didn't seem to want him to touch this unformed Treasure, it was, after all, the Treasure in his own Palace. Perhaps his Persona Raoul would know another way to use an unformed Treasure.
"I couldn't help much in the battle just now. Leave the follow-up support work to me. After all… I'm somewhat of an expert in this area."
Before Persona Raoul could respond, Original Vill-V gracefully walked over to Ren Amamiya's side and volunteered.
Although she had segmented out the personalities of the Expert and the Great Magician and endowed them with corresponding genius talents, as the original Vill-V, if she, the Great Trickster, willed it, she could actually transform into a genius in any specific field in an instant.
And now, with only her Original personality present, Original Vill-V could only choose to personally step up and add some brilliance to Ren Amamiya, this dazzling, rising star of a successor.
The authority of the Herrscher of Thunder, the authority of the Herrscher of the Void, the authority of the Herrscher of Erosion, the Stigmata power of Death, and various other Stigmata powers…
Vill-V looked at Ren Amamiya's Palace Treasure light orb. In a short while, she had identified all the components of this constantly distorting Treasure light orb.
To gain the recognition of so many Herrschers and Stigmata Archetypes, this successor, known as the Trickster, was truly outstanding to an unbelievable degree.
As the creator of all the Divine Keys of the Previous Era, Vill-V was intimately familiar with how to utilize Herrscher power. And her experience participating in the Stigmata gene compilation project with Dr. MEI and Mobius also made her feel adept at regulating Stigmata power.
"To interfere with this unstable Treasure, you first need a strong and firm will. Undoubtedly, you possess such conviction and will… However, just as Miss Hare said, rashly approaching the still unstable Treasure is too dangerous. Therefore, it is enough to simply infuse your will's resonance, that is, the Will Seed crystal you previously obtained in the Palace, into the Treasure light orb for harmonization."
After hearing Vill-V's proposal, Ren Amamiya took out his Pride Will Seed crystal from his pocket. The cold, three-headed skull's eye sockets faintly shimmered with three different colors of eerie light, as if echoing the changes in the Treasure light orb.
"Leave the work of fusing the Will Seed crystal and the Treasure light orb to me. However, before that, I need to remind you… After infusing your own will as a unifying agent to forcibly harmonize the Treasure light orb's stability, the Treasure's final inclination will be more biased towards the will anchored in this Will Seed crystal. If you choose to let it mature naturally, perhaps even greater power could be born. Even so, do you still want to solidify the Treasure now?"
Her slender, fair fingers gently rested on the Pride Will Seed crystal held in Ren Amamiya's palm. Vill-V slowly and deliberately made her final confirmation with Ren Amamiya.
"You also said it was only 'perhaps.' Compared to randomly getting a Treasure that could be strong or weak, it's better to directly inscribe the will engraved in the Will Seed crystal onto it. The Treasure born this way will be more aligned with my own heart than a completely random one."
Ren Amamiya understood Vill-V's underlying meaning. His attitude didn't waver in the slightest; he still firmly believed in his own choice.
"Very good eyes, Trickster. You've made the most correct choice."
Original Vill-V nodded gently, a look of appreciation and satisfaction in her pinkish-white gradient pupils.
Although she was the most introverted and socially anxious Original personality, Vill-V's Trickster nature still made her want to play small pranks.
Of course, Original Vill-V only wanted to play a small prank, not to use words to mislead Ren Amamiya from the optimal path. If Ren Amamiya truly chose to retreat and let the Treasure develop naturally, Vill-V would also explain all the probabilities clearly to Ren Amamiya.
After taking the Pride Will Seed crystal from Ren Amamiya, Vill-V stepped towards the distorting Treasure light orb and, at an appropriate distance, threw the Pride Will Seed crystal into its interior.
The red, green, and blue radiance of the Will Seed entered the ethereal Treasure light orb.
The Treasure light orb, constantly changing its form of power, instantly stopped its indiscriminate outward attacks and returned to a stable spherical state, with only various colors still surging within.
Click…
A sound like gears meshing quietly echoed from the void. Under the unifying effect of the three-colored radiance represented by the Pride Will Seed, the Herrscher power and Stigmata power contained within the Treasure light orb perfectly harmonized in a spiral shape.
The Treasure light orb continuously collapsed inwards like a tidal vortex, until it solidified into a tangible form, landing lightly in the outstretched palm of Ren Amamiya, the Palace ruler.
The spiraling light orb completely dissipated, revealing a small card within. Against a crimson background, a girl, like a black silhouette, danced amidst a wreath of laurel flowers, surrounded by a lion, an eagle, an angel, and a divine bull.
"This is… a Tarot card? And it's the last card of the Major Arcana, The World?"
Vill-V leaned closer to Ren Amamiya, examining the work they had created together with great interest, and quickly identified the true nature of this Treasure card.
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Translator note:
At the time I translated this, it was the latest chapter on Ciweimao. A new one dropped a few days later—typical of the author, who doesn't write daily. You just have to hope he gets inspired after some LARPing and mental gymnastics to gaslight us again with his persona and Honkai lore glue.
Also, one of my Patre@on members suggested I upload this translation there with a 5–10 chapter delay. Since the Bad Woman fanfic is almost wrapped up and I need content to fill the gap, I'm going for it. I've got two chapters ready to post. If you want to support me, I'm [R_Arven] over there.