I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

"Yuzu-senpai's demeanor is just like... Navi-senpai's."

After making that comment, Sophia finally turned her gaze to Alice, who was staring intently at her as if she had found a 'close friend'.

"Finally... Hello, Alice-senpai."

Chapter 54 What is Bai Zi's "Persona"...?

Looking at this spectacular scene of 'AI versus AI'... Amamiya felt extremely worried.

The scene that made him very uneasy finally happened...

After a slight moment of nervousness, Amamiya began to observe Alice's reaction.

However... to his surprise, Alice's reaction to Sophia calling her "senior" seemed unusually strange.

She was momentarily stunned... then hesitated for several seconds before replying with an unusual 'dazed' expression.

"Hello...Sofia."

Is this a special reaction resulting from the interaction between the 'AI girls'?

"Alright, the introduction is basically over... Next, we should prepare to find our target."

Amamiya looked at Sofia expectantly.

"The 'navigation' will be handled by Sophie."

Sofia enthusiastically stood on tiptoe and waved to Amamiya.

"Leave it to me, Jok."

After putting on the 'LCD screen' mask, she led Amamiya and her group out of the city and directly into the wilderness.

Along the way, Amamiya also took the opportunity to explain to Hoshino and Shirako, who had no prior knowledge of the 'Phantom Thief Codename,' the necessity of the Phantom Thief Codename in the other world.

"So... Hoshino, as a Persona manipulator, you should also be given a code name when operating in another world... What are your thoughts on this?"

Hoshino did not answer immediately, but instead checked the information he had heard again.

"Is any format acceptable?"

"Well, as long as you feel there's no problem with it, any code name is fine."

"And then... Hifumi's code name is 'Copain'?"

"Well……"

After removing the mask from his face, Hoshino pondered for a short while.

"Then I'll call myself 'Falcon'."

'Falcon, huh...'

Amamiya pondered the code name Hoshino had given himself and found it quite interesting.

Hifumi's code name means "friend," which is quite dramatic.

Hoshino's code name... means "falcon"; "falcon"... which is a symbol of birds of prey in the traditional sense.

Besides symbolizing his own brave and warlike style... the [Falcon], or rather the [Horse], is actually associated with the god Horus.

According to the oldest Egyptian mythology, the legendary god Horus was a god with the head of a falcon and the body of a human.

"Then my code name..."

"Sister, stop fooling around... We're not really 'phantom thieves' in the true sense, so we don't need code names."

Xiao Lü quickly stopped her older sister from coming up with a code name for herself.

Code names do sound pretty cool... but with my sister's limited vocabulary, what 'cool code names' could she possibly come up with? Little Green didn't believe it at all.

"Okay... Then, when carrying out 'phantom thief activities' in another world, try to use code names as much as possible."

As Amamiya spoke, she turned to the four members of the game club and waved her hand: "The intensity of this battle may be quite high, so you don't need to join the battle. You can just be spectators."

Led by Sofia, Amamiya and her group quickly crossed the wilderness outside the city and passed through a dense forest.

Gradually, the surrounding environment seemed to become increasingly gloomy.

The forest echoed with the howls of wolves, the flapping of wings of unknown birds, and the mournful, drawn-out cries of birds that sounded like the cawing of crows.

"Target detected ahead... Everyone be careful."

After Sofia's warning, everyone subconsciously perked up.

The seemingly endless forest suddenly appeared to come to an end, and the view gradually opened up.

Amamiya raised her hand, signaling to stop.

In a clearing surrounded by woods, the shadow of a student with a halo above his head and black mist emanating from his body was looming over.

It was a shadow of a student with long, grey-gold hair, dressed in a maid outfit.

'Huh... a maid outfit?'

That student... he looks strangely familiar... like I've seen him somewhere before...

Hiding in the bushes, Momoi quietly observed the student's shadow, whose aura was exceptionally strong. For some reason, she felt a strange sense of familiarity while looking at him.

No matter how hard Momoi tried, she couldn't remember where she had seen him before.

"Falcon, Sophie, prepare for battle..."

Amamiya slightly lowered his body, and his entire being instantly transformed into a swift and explosive beauty, like a nimble cheetah.

With the blessing of "Raging Snow Moon Flower" (Wakazama's bond skill), Amamiya seemed to have gained a bit of 'destructive beauty' at this moment.

"Don't worry... Jok, I'll be ready as soon as possible."

After giving Shirako a tactical hand signal, Hoshino also pressed her cheek, and clusters of eerie blue flames began to escape from between her fingers.

"Show me your true colors!"

Taking a running start, leaping, and before the opponent can react, extending his right hand to launch a 'surprise attack' with the grappling hook of his right hand—for Amamiya, this was nothing more than a routine sneak attack.

However, to his slight surprise, the patrolling 'maid' seemed to have foreseen Amamiya's attack with her terrifying intuition and reacted instinctively, trying to dodge immediately—

Amamiya was slightly surprised, but she immediately changed her tactics.

Using the grappling hook to swing to the 'maid's' side, she delivered a side kick, striking the girl's shinbone and knocking her down. At the same time, she placed her hand on the girl's black mask.

"too naive!"

'laugh----'

To the astonishment of the four members of the game club, Amamiya ripped off the other's mask with a 'whoosh' in an extremely gorgeous and elegant manner, leaving it bloodied, while simultaneously rolling backward in a series of tumbles.

Excessive amounts of thick, dark red blood gushed out from the other person's face, which had been ripped open, quickly forming a small, dark red stream.

Immediately afterwards, as the dark red 'mud' slowly fell, it began to reorganize itself.

[BGM: Take Ov]

"A great opportunity to strike first! You're amazing, Jok!"

Sofia jumped out of the bushes where she was hiding immediately, and a pair of unique white yo-yos appeared in her hands.

"Psona—Pandora!~~"

Hoshino and Shirako burst out from behind the big tree at their hiding place at a speed that was just as impressive.

“psona… Horus.”

Hoshino, who had originally intended to summon [Ra-Harahuti] directly, just as he had done when fighting the god "Ra," involuntarily called out 'another name' after a brief pause.

After all... [Ra-Harahuti] is equivalent to the ultimate level Personas like [Messiah], [Izanagi], and [Satanyel] in terms of scale—and can only be summoned under extremely special circumstances.

This power can certainly be 'permanent'... however, it requires a relatively long period of 'personality training', like Amamiya did.

The blazing, dark blue flames linked together, forming a unique and beautiful line of fire.

The flames linked together, tightly trapping the figure of the "female warrior" that was gradually taking shape within the "encirclement".

"That damned guy... he actually attacked us from behind...!"

The phantom of the Goddess of War roared angrily, but Amamiya, the only one present who understood the language of the shadows, simply calmly took out the weapon combination of [God of Destruction] and [Paradise Lost].

"Let everyone experience the true 'senior's demeanor'..."

Bai Zi, who had just picked up his gun and was about to respond, suddenly stopped.

The image quality of the world before my eyes seemed to have been suddenly adjusted to a bizarre and surreal world shrouded in color inversion or a negative filter.

'Ugh...!'

A buzzing in her brain, accompanied by a tidal wave of headache, suddenly assaulted her, crushing her and binding her tightly in an instant.

[BGM: Qian Xing-Meguro Shoji]

"Heh... Still haven't cleared up your confusion?"

Why are you so confused?

"Why... do you insist on expressing your innermost feelings?"

"Afraid of being abandoned, of the despair of being alone? Or afraid of a lonely future where you're left behind?"

Or perhaps... you're afraid that the figure you long for will eventually drift away from you?

You hear its sound before you see its form.

A twisted voice, filled with mockery, resentment, and a sense of superiority, welled up from the depths of her heart, then spread rapidly like ripples into a 'panoramic surround sound,' lingering in the girl's ears.

"This feeling……"

"You...desire it in your heart, don't you?"

"Yearning for...expressed emotions."

"Yearning for... the power to be truly recognized."

"Yearning...to follow closely in the footsteps of the person I admire..."

"So... rebel! Awaken! Accept the contract!"

With his hands covering his head, Bai Zi knelt on the ground, his pupils trembling violently from the intense pain of the sudden, excessive injection of 'personality awakening'.

At that moment... she seemed to see the back of a more mature, yet solitary... 'herself'.

For some reason... the moment she saw that blurry figure, she had a sense of déjà vu that this was definitely her future, and a feeling of resentment that she absolutely did not want such a future to happen.

"I am you...you are me."

"Well... since you desire it... then pursue that desire and make a pact! What do you say!"

His voice suddenly turned cold and stern, carrying the majesty of a supreme ruler.

"……it is good."

Bai Zi shakily stood up, gripping the rifle in one hand. With his other hand, he slowly put on a mask that had appeared on his cheek at some point. The mask had a blue pattern and a white base, and it seemed to be made based on a jackal or wolf.

"I am you...you are me."

"Hehe...very good, very good."

"Not too stupid..."

"In that case, I will become your strength... to help you."

"Remember my name..."

"My name is..."

As she softly repeated this seemingly magical 'incantation,' the girl's heterochromatic black and white pupils were simultaneously illuminated by a layer of golden fire, turning them into a dazzling bright gold.

She exerted all her strength and, in an instant, tore off the half-face mask, skin and blood.

"...psona".

"Ramses II!"

Chapter 55 Rion's Sharp Commentary on the Maid Club

"Psona—Ramses II!"