I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Since there is already a 'Navi' in the team, Amamiya has no intention of continuing to guest star as Navi.

"So the current objective has been temporarily changed—explore the surrounding area, avoid the shadows, and find a safe house."

The "Private Divine Kingdom" temple of Huaye is very large, extremely large.

It's very similar to the feeling I had before with Junya Kaneshiro's 'bank' which could almost encompass the entire Shibuya area.

However, the fact that the temple has a large 'coverage' does not mean that the 'core area' of the temple is large.

At Yuriko's suggestion, Amamiya led the team to explore the direction of the clock tower.

As 'Navi', Fubuki gradually formed a complete and clear pattern from the subtle clues she grasped, and finally obtained a meticulous, surveying-style planar map.

Unlike other Navi systems... Fubuki's map exploration, while not immediately available, marks many 'points of interest' worth exploring, locations that may contain treasure, and even accurately marks all enemies.

'Although there is some lag, the level of detail is almost unmatched by the Navi of the same stage...'

After arriving at the clock tower, Fubuki finally managed to draw her first complete Navi map—but it was still not a topographical map of the palace.

The clock tower itself is nothing special.

The key lies with the person who rang the bell.

Upon entering the hall, the 'bell ringing' that Amamiya heard proclaimed its sacredness.

The one who strikes the bell, Ying Ling, is neither an angel nor a demon; he is something ambiguous.

He wielded a huge, bloodstained scythe, and every now and then he would strike the bell with the handle of the scythe, making the bell ring.

It's like... a fanatical apostle praying for the 'Apocalypse' to arrive as soon as possible.

In Amamiya's "Third Eye," its name is as follows—

[Cognitive Existence: The First Apostle]

[Initial Level: 71]

Arcana: Justice

[Introduction: The first of the twelve apostles, chosen by the heavens. Driven by greed, believing 'I will follow the Lord and become the beginning of a new era,' it chose to become the 'devil who betrays the Lord.']

The girls behind Amamiya are exchanging opinions using their unique 'Navi' abilities.

Fubuki's method of timely information exchange was through the exchange of papers.

'These... must be the people who have been 'contaminated' by Hua Ye, right?'

'Hmm...it looks like it has a...particularly scary feel to it.'

'Jok, should we defeat it and try to get information from it?'

'Rose, you should be a little careful... This shadow looks very strong. Even if we can handle it, it will definitely cause a lot of chaos...'

A sheet of paper, ready to display immediate opinions, appeared before Amamiya. Amamiya turned to look at Aruru, who had suggested defeating the Shadow, and Kirino, who had immediately raised objections. Often, directly taking the Shadow hostage and extracting information from it is a simple and effective option.

But... after being 'baptized', wouldn't the apostles be willing to "give their lives so as not to betray the Lord"?

In the real world, this means that Huaye has leverage over the students of the Federation Student Council who correspond to these shadows, ensuring that they would never dare to speak recklessly.

Let's leave first and look around somewhere else.

Chapter Thirty: The First Appearance of Students with Colored Skin...?

The exploration of the Huaye Temple is ongoing.

Because the scope of the "Private Divine Kingdom" is far too outrageous, and the exploration method is different from Abydos's "City of Sin" (Impression Space) and "Tower of Babel" (Hall); Holy Trinity's "Under the World Tree" (Space) and "Garden of Eden" (Hall); and Trinity's "Fortress City" (Space) and "Demon King's Castle"...

The true core area of ​​the Kagaya Palace was indeed very difficult to find before Amamiya himself used his mysterious power of 'revealing the entire map'.

After retreating from the clock tower where the First Apostle was located, guided by Fubuki as 'Navi', Amamiya led the girls through several more places before finally arriving at a place with an openwork exterior and several large, carved stone pillars.

This building, while not entirely unrelated to the surrounding buildings that lavishly use white, has a completely different architectural style.

The surrounding buildings at least look like they're in a medieval style...

Judging from its appearance alone, it gives the impression of being 'primitive', yet it carries an ancient mystery and even divinity.

Looking up at the drafty 'temple', the girls marveled at its architectural style and couldn't help but sigh.

Kirino exclaimed in amazement, "What a unique building... I've never seen anything like it in Kiwatos..."

Yuriko offered a very apt assessment: "It feels like a building that would appear in a storybook or a mythological tale."

Kayoko sighed slightly, and then somehow recalled the life of Convenience Store 68 before moving into the new office.

She looked around: "Moss, seaweed, coral, unrestored, standing here so different from the surrounding buildings, it feels like it has a story to tell..."

As for Aru, she was now fully utilizing the characteristics of the awakened "Robin III" persona and began to observe her surroundings.

She frowned slightly: "Such a strange place should be guarded by a powerful enemy, just like the captain's cabin last time..."

A formidable foe means you can get all sorts of rare loot, which could potentially lead to a dress that matches your style!

'If I ever fall into the trap of wearing a dress that doesn't suit my style, I'll definitely give it my all...'

Furthermore... on the map provided by Navi, there is a special reaction in this place that strongly suggests it is a treasure!

"I didn't see any shadows..."

Aruru's mutterings were also the main reason why Amamiya didn't rashly lead the girls into the area.

He looked at Fubuki, who was holding a stack of 'novel manuscripts'... or rather, battle pages and function pages: "Fubuki, the special reaction of the 'suspected treasure' hidden in the temple hasn't changed at all?"

Fubuki didn't answer, but instead licked her index finger to moisten it and skillfully pulled out a page from a book.

"Use the functional pages of 'Elementary Deduction' to help me break through the illusion before me."

"This is the most basic reasoning... My Dear."

The pages of the book fluttered out and then disappeared into thin air.

[Elementary Deduction]

[Type: Temporary Item/Function Page]

[Introduction: By eliminating all the impossible, what remains, however improbable, is the truth.]

[Use: Consumes a portion of collected intelligence to deduce and reveal 'secrets' (unexplored areas, enemy weaknesses, resistances, and tolerances, enemy immunity to negative status effects, and weakness status effects, etc.).]

[The book pages will disappear upon use or departure from the other world.]

Watching Fubuki use the pages she had collected to drive the powerful effect of her Persona, the girls present all felt a sense of wonder at how each of them could "show off their unique abilities."

Although its direct combat effectiveness is not strong, and it requires visits and investigations, back and forth, and repeated transfers... requiring all sorts of thankless and laborious actions to 'warm up', once 'started up,' it truly brings unparalleled and enviable convenience.

After snapping her fingers, Fubuki returned to her usual lazy state, with a donut in her mouth and a stack of manuscripts in her other hand.

Although she seems lazy... Fubuki isn't completely 'out of sorts'.

At least... Amamiya could sense that she was being looked at very frequently.

After removing his Persona and giving Fubuki an encouraging smile, Amamiya looked at the 'Parthenon', which had briefly become like a frame model under Fubuki's influence.

Although it may appear to be drafty and completely exposed... in reality, due to the characteristics of otherworldly architecture, it is unlikely to see inside the building without the use of special powers.

Under the 'game engine gray model view' with parameters such as collision box and skybox enabled, Amamiya and his party could clearly see that inside the seemingly drafty temple, there was indeed something that looked like a humanoid creature in terms of its outline.

The 'humanoid creature' remained kneeling in prayer, without taking any action.

'...Shall we go in and take a look?'

The current chaotic state of the Impression Space and the Palace is somewhat incomprehensible to Amamiya.

What was initially thought to be a conflict between Athens and Atlantis has now even involved the gods and their twelve apostles, and the ascension ceremony of Faye reveals in every aspect that the god she has become is the 'sea god'—that is, Poseidon.

But her name, Yi Leng Yi Wu IX, also contains the key element of 'Judas'...

After observing the surroundings from Fubuki's perspective and confirming that there were no patrolling shadows, Amamiya decided to go in and take a look.

Led by Amamiya, with Fubuki, who possesses basic self-defense capabilities but outstanding support abilities, protecting them, the group followed the half-broken stone steps, pushing aside seaweed and coral, and forging their way into the temple.

As soon as he entered, Amamiya vaguely sensed a mysterious aura.

Submerged by seawater, the dimly lit temple was still illuminated by sunlight streaming from the dome. The spacious hall had no obvious decorations other than the stone pillars.

The most conspicuous place in the empty hall should be the altar in the center of the front of the temple; but in front of that dilapidated altar, a girl with her back to Amamiya and her party was kneeling, looking particularly 'peculiar'.

How can one describe the feeling a young girl evokes?

Amamiya had no idea what the girls behind him, who were holding their breath and acting as if facing a formidable enemy, were thinking at that very moment.

At least in his eyes... the girl in front of him was quite special.

She didn't look like a typical 'shadow,' as no dark aura emanated from her.

He wore a marine-style high priest's robe made of shimmering, light blue fish scales and other brightly colored fabrics. The shoulders, elbows, neck, thighs, and calves were covered with delicate and exquisite fish scales.

They possess a halo, a fundamental identifier symbolizing the students of Kivotos.

However, that halo was dark and broken.

The girl knelt before the altar with devout faith, motionless, and did not even react when Amamiya and his group approached.

If it weren't for the fact that she was still softly reciting eulogies that didn't sound like ordinary language, it would probably be no different from a 'scene sculpture'.

Amamiya did not interrupt, and strictly forbade the accompanying students from approaching. He chose to stand aside and wait for the other party to finish his 'prayer'.

His attention remained fixed on the damaged and dark halo above the other person's head, which was quite different from that of ordinary students.

Just as the "Dawn Star" falling from the sky transforms from the pure wings of an angel into the wings of a demon... this is a fundamental, qualitative distortion.

The shape of this halo...

Amamiya quickly compared the shape of the girl's halo with the shapes of the halos of the students she knew in her mind.

The only one that seems somewhat similar is...

How did she appear in the Huaye Palace space?

While Amamiya was carefully considering her words, the girl seemed to have finished her prayer and slowly stood up from in front of the altar.

Then, after glancing indifferently at the other students who were standing not far away, she turned her gaze to Amamiya.

"Sensei..."

She spoke, her voice filled with a deep sense of nostalgia for a long-awaited reunion.

"First Meeting = Yi Yi San Si Leng (Part Two) Er Si Ba Passed Away..."

"……haven't seen you for a long time."

Chapter Thirty-One: The Most Chaotic Episode

“Sensei… Nice to meet you, it’s been a long time.”

The girl, as beautiful as a mermaid, spoke calmly. Her tone lacked the melodramatic, childish style characteristic of Shadow, and it was neither deep nor reverberant, nor did it sound like countless ramblings intertwined, giving the listener a subconscious sense of unease.

Amamiya looked at the other person, carefully sensing the emotions flowing in their eyes.

What kind of emotion was that?

A reunion with an old friend? The relief of surviving a drowning person grasping at a straw? Or perhaps... a future person's repentance for past mistakes?

The girl's emerald green eyes were calm, without any classic color palette combination like "three parts indifference, three parts contempt, one part arrogance, and one part repentance".

But Amamiya sensed the emotions conveyed by her calm, sustained gaze.

Among the turbulent and complex emotions, the most prevalent one is probably a sense of regret, like "If only I hadn't done that."

After the standoff, Amamiya sighed and replied, "A very unique way of greeting."

With a wave signaling to the girls behind him to relax their guard, Amamiya approached again.

"What do you call it?"

As she asked the question, Amamiya's eyes were covered with a crimson hue as she opened her [third eye].

[Assisted by: Shiranui Hanaya*Terrifying]

Arcana: The Hanged Man (X. The Hanged Man)

[Relationship of assistance: ???]

"Ah... familiar, the 'thief's sharp eye' that can see through everything."