I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Then... the whole earth began to rumble.

The body of Huaye's shadow swelled dozens of times in an instant under these 'blessings,' transforming into a giant marine creature tens of meters tall.

"From this day forward, I will become the sea god who leads you all forward..."

"Standing before you, I will resist the impending destruction for you..."

"Volcanic eruptions, glacial floods... whatever lies ahead, you shall remain undaunted!"

"Rejoice! The sea god who will protect you has been born!"

The Flower Goddess, transformed into the form of the temple's master, floated into the sky and brandished her trident.

Immediately afterwards... a deafening roar like a tsunami.

Yuriko could clearly feel the tremors coming from the ground beneath her feet, as well as the sense of danger of the earth shaking.

She paid no attention, focusing intently on observing the shipwreck wreckage that, under Huaye's "command," rapidly floated up, assembled, and then became intact.

The "big ship" carried by the ocean currents was brought together and pieced together and reshaped in a way that common sense could not understand... ultimately forming a magnificent-looking voyage ship.

"Gentlemen... let's board!"

"This fallen city is no longer your home..."

Yuriko frowned as she listened to the seductive words of the shadowy figure above her.

It sounds nice... but in reality it's 'escapism'?

Understanding it through the mutual reflection between reality and the alternate world...

Hua Ye, is she trying to... start her own business?

To establish a new 'Federal Student Council'?

...In any case, it's a very naive idea.

The moment the thought crossed my mind, a sudden burning sensation came from my chest.

Yuriko gathered her thoughts for a moment and took out the "High Priestess" tarot card that she had previously obtained and kept in her identity card deck.

To her surprise, she discovered that the tarot card... was emitting an increasingly bright glow in response to her dissatisfaction, annoyance, anger, and other emotions.

It seemed as if an invisible hand was constantly drawing on the originally blank card surface.

'This feeling is...'

"A sailor who never knows where he's going... Ha, how foolish."

"If you have wisdom but don't use it, it will wither away."

'Woo...'

The buzzing sound from deep within her brain made Yuriko momentarily disoriented, before she felt a pain that felt like mutual erosion.

The pain is very short-lived, but what follows is a broadening of one's horizons.

For a fleeting moment, Yuriko 'saw' a messy dining table and heard the voice saying, "One of you is going to betray me."

"Sublime and base, beautiful and ugly, good and evil..."

"The traitor will eventually participate in her own 'last supper'."

She thought no one knew anything about her, but little did she know...

"A cunning traitor can be recognized at a glance, even if he is in a crowd."

Tick, tick.

Something blurry dripped from before my eyes, landing on the tarot cards and splattering.

Yuriko reached out and touched it, only to realize with a start that it was blood.

Blood seeped from the goggles that I had put on my face without even realizing it.

"A promise should not be broken..."

"Betrayal should never happen..."

Yuriko stared blankly, reaching out to touch the thing that seemed to have turned into a 'living thing' and was stuck to her goggles.

This is...my own persona?

Because she was used to enduring pain, Yuriko still had room for thought.

The thought crossed Yuriko's mind as she tried to tear off the goggles that had grown out of her cheeks.

"I am you, and you are me."

"If you... feel anger at that traitor's betrayal... why suppress it?"

"Release it... You now have the power, and you should do so."

As the pain gradually subsided, Yuriko took a deep breath, gripped the 'goggles' on her cheeks, and forcefully tore them off.

"I am you, and you are me..."

After softly repeating the symbolic contract words, Yuriko felt as if a part of herself had been torn off.

But what she felt was not 'pain' or 'disability'.

Rather, it's a refreshing feeling that comes from removing all negative impurities.

"To see the most radiant thing in the darkness..."

"My name is Leonardo, and this is what I have been searching for all my life."

“Psona…”

The blood-stained mask in her hand shattered with a whoosh at Yuriko's call, coalescing into the shape of a philosopher surrounded by azure flames.

Leonardo!

【Psona - Leonardo (Arcana: The Pope)】

[Introduction: Leonardo da Vinci, a renowned painter, scientist, and engineer of the Renaissance period. A rare polymath in history, he made important ideas and discoveries in military, water conservancy, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering.]

Due to his profound influence and outstanding contributions in many fields, he is known as the "all-rounder."

As a painter, Leonardo da Vinci created many works that have been celebrated by posterity. Among these, the most colorful is the Mona Lisa.

The other painting is "The Last Supper".

This masterpiece vividly depicts the traitor Judas's outward strength masking his inner weakness after his true nature has been exposed.

'It's...this philosopher.'

Having witnessed Yuriko's self-awakening process from the very beginning, Amamiya glanced up at the shadowy Hanaya, who had returned to her normal size and was standing triumphantly at the bow of the ship.

In the annotations of "The Third Eye," Shadow Flower's name is listed as: "[Traitor, Future Sea God, Judas, Poseidon]".

And the introduction... is as follows:

[Prototype Introduction: Judas, one of the twelve disciples of the saint. He betrayed the saint for a small, immediate gain. After the saint's death, he was filled with remorse, and because of this remorse…]

He decided to use the saint's legacy to usurp the saint's authority, replace the saint, and become the saint himself, the future sea god who would rule this sea.

"...You say regret? Yes, I do regret it. I regret not selling the saint for a higher price back then."

It seems that coincidences are everywhere.

Having witnessed the ugliness of Kayo, Yuriko awakens her initial personality mask, which turns out to be Leonardo da Vinci, the painter of "The Last Supper"...

Unexpectedly, it makes sense.

'Now that Yuriko has awakened...'

'Let's observe until the palace is completed, and then take Yuriko to complete the other world's 'beginner combat tutorial.'

Chapter 96: How high is the destructive potential of Persona?

The "ascension" ceremony of the Shadow Flower God lasted for about two or three hours in total.

By timing it precisely, it accurately covers the entire process from the beginning to the end of a medium-sized emergency meeting.

The main content of the ascension ceremony... actually, the real value lies almost entirely in the shadowy scene where, amidst prayers, cheers, and applause, Huaye picks up the temple's secret treasure—the trident—symbolizing "authority."

After that, the "Ascension to Godhood" ceremony consisted only of Huaye sailing his large ship back and forth in the underwater world, choosing the location of his temple.

Amamiya and Yuriko followed closely behind until they reached the edge of the familiar territory, the end of the "sea within a sea," where the shadowy Hanaya seemed to have finally found a satisfactory landing spot and lowered her "big ship."

After the large ship landed, unimaginable changes occurred—

The city gate, composed of two enormous seashells, rises abruptly from the ground, instantly creating a magnificent and ancient sense of history.

The seawater is parted to the sides, and a suspension bridge with sea crystal streetlights rises from the sea, stretching all the way from the land to the entrance of the sea city.

If I hadn't witnessed the construction process of this city with my own eyes...

Who could have imagined that such a temple-style architectural complex, large enough to be called a "city," could be built in such a short time...

Is it actually composed of distorted pure desires?

Standing at the bridgehead, Amamiya stopped moving forward and gazed at the distant, silhouette-like city cluster.

Yuriko stepped forward and knocked on the huge seashell door, then put her ear close to it, trying to catch the echo as she knocked.

After some rather sloppy basic testing and deduction, Yuriko concluded that... the ancient gate in front of her, constructed from a massive, heavy seashell, had a texture similar to a large city wall.

While it has some shell-like texture when held in the hand, it possesses a terrifying force and resistance that makes it 'indestructible' and 'impassable'.

However, since it only formed a ring of defense at the bridgehead, Yuriko immediately noticed the undefended suspension bridge itself behind the gate.

"Can I go around it?"

Amamiya shook his head decisively without even observing.

It's not very feasible.

Otherworldly realms have always adhered to the concept that 'seeing is not necessarily believing'.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the large "city gate" at the bridgehead only blocks the entrance and exit, and that you can easily bypass it with a running jump... In reality, it's not that simple at all.

It's very possible that you'll be blocked by the invisible wall as soon as you jump over it, bounced back, or fall directly into the sea.

"From a psychological perspective, a door symbolizes 'protection,' while a bridge... especially such a long and narrow suspension bridge, implies that Huaye finds it difficult to trust others. In Huaye's mind, very few people can cross this long and narrow suspension bridge."

After hearing Amamiya's explanation, Yuriko understood it after just a moment's thought.

Doors in the real world are not necessarily sturdy...

However, the defense in another world is almost at the conceptual level.

Until the attack reaches a conceptual level, no amount of violence is likely to physically breach the door.

Masked beings can summon Personas in other worlds, and with the enhanced physical abilities and magic used by the Personas, they can perform all sorts of incredible feats... But so what?

If you have to honestly ask the authorities to open the door, then you still have to ask the authorities to open the door.

An insurmountable wall... it's just impossible to get past.

All of this is related to the temple's owner, or the collective unconscious.

The collective unconscious believes that 'the phantom thief can appear and disappear without a trace,' which is why the phantom thief can scale walls and do anything.

The master of the hall believed that his inner world could be invaded by a phantom thief, so that the phantom thief could enter his inner world as an uninvited guest.

If the master of the temple is determined enough, even the phantom thief will be helpless... then he'll have to do something in the real world.

That is...

'Check the accounts...'

Thinking about this, Yuriko understood why the "auditing" in the real world had to be done simultaneously with the "conquest of the palace" in the other world.

As the audit progresses, Hua Ye is prone to making mistakes in the midst of the busyness, and her inner defenses become further relaxed.

This is the opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.

"Sensei, are there any further exploration plans?"

“Yes. Yuriko, you've only just awakened your 'Persona,' and the abilities of Persona… need to be expressed and tested.”

Amamiya 'looked' at Yuriko—or more precisely, at her newly acquired 'persona'.

According to the assessment of the Third Eye, Leonardo's initial level in the Book of Demons is 47.