I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Standing in the back row, Celery's tone was filled with surprise and disbelief.

Following the direction Serika pointed, Hoshino saw... all the members of the countermeasures committee, including herself, sculpted with lifeless faces, transformed into half-robots, like doll sculptures enslaved by Caesar.

A huge mechanical hand extends from the dome, and five threads extending from its five fingers reach out to the 'sculptures' corresponding to Nomiya, Serika, Shirako, Hoshino, and Ayane, drawing 'nutrients' from them.

Although the creatures that have had their 'nutrients' extracted have lifelike sculpted features, they have no will to resist. Their eyes are lifeless and their heads are lowered, as if they have resigned themselves to their fate and accept being extracted and manipulated.

"Oh dear...aren't these the 'reserve exhibits' that will soon become Lord Caesar's 'exhibition subjects'...What, you escaped here? Hahahaha..."

The shadows' voices were laced with undisguised mockery and malice: "I advise you to hurry up and submit to Lord Caesar like us. Stop resisting; it's just self-inflicted suffering!"

"Is it really worth it for such a distant and unattainable dream? Hahahaha..."

'……Shut up.'

"Hey~ What's wrong with this pink-haired little dwarf who was all set to receive guidance from a master of arcane arts? Is she angry?"

"Haha, what's the use of getting angry? If getting angry were useful, would Abydos have ended up in such a state?"

"To be honest... she really doesn't understand anything. That Xia Lai's Sensei clearly has a lot of potential, but she just won't believe it and insists on trying to negotiate with the tiger using secret arts. Isn't that just throwing her away?"

"Hey, we're just following in the footsteps of our predecessors, that's how it is."

"……Shut up!"

Hoshino, who had been silent, suddenly raised his head, a glint of brilliant gold flashing in his eyes.

She took a heavy step forward, which caused a large crack in the ground in front of her with a loud thud.

"Oh, so you're really angry... In that case, I'll use this to deal with you..."

"Hehe... Letting a 'accept the status quo' doll fight the real person, using a fake to defeat the real one, isn't that a wonderful pastime?"

The shadowy figure, who looked like a minor boss, chuckled and took out a remote control, pressing a button lightly.

'Beep beep—'

The roller shutter door closed automatically, and then the mechanical arm hanging from the dome began to glow with increasingly thick and heavy 'threads'.

As the mechanical arm began to move, the 'sculptures' made 'clicking' sounds as their joints moved, and in a very short time, they became increasingly lifelike.

Walking with the mechanical, frame-shifting movements of Silent Hill nurses, their bodies gradually enveloped, covered, and rewritten in blackish-red mud, until finally…

It transformed into a monster, almost identical to its original form except for its red and black color scheme.

"This……"

Hifumi instinctively wanted to remove her mask and summon her Persona to aid in the battle.

Amamiya, who was standing next to her, stopped her and gently shook her head.

Hifumi paused for a moment, then recalled the surging emotions she felt when she awakened her Persona.

She stopped what she was doing and looked warily at the shadows that didn't currently intend to attack, and...

The Committee on Countermeasures for the Shadows consists of five people.

"Heh... I never expected that my first 'battle' in the hall would be against a 'copy of myself'..."

Celery glared angrily at 'another version of herself,' her inexplicable displeasure reaching its peak at that moment.

She recalled how she felt when she was kidnapped, her struggles, and the things she longed for.

'We cannot stop... otherwise everything will come to a standstill.'

'I can't back down... otherwise I'll be letting down the warmth and light he gave me.'

Think back to how you felt then, recall the resentment you felt at that time…

'Om—'

The buzzing and tremors in her brain, along with the simultaneous headache, caused the girl, who was carrying a gun and preparing to join the battle, to experience double vision.

My vision began to spin, but the memory of that moment was gradually becoming clearer.

[BGM: Qian Xing-Meguro Shoji]

'Finally, finally...'

'Is it time to say goodbye to that inflexible "princess" of the past...?'

'That's right...that's exactly how it should be!'

'You are not a lamb to the slaughter... Even without the magic lamp, you have the potential to fulfill your wishes!'

Be brave...do what you want to do.

'I am you, you are me...'

'How about it? If you need power... then let's sign a contract.'

The buzzing in her brain and the intense pain throughout her body gave Celery a feeling that... it was as if all the suffering she had endured before was being inflicted upon her at this very moment.

The pain in this body is beyond compare.

She fiercely grabbed the mask that had appeared on her cheek, using all her strength and enduring the pain to pull it down hard!

"I am you, and you are me!"

'Very good...very high.'

I can feel your determination.

Become a princess, dancing gracefully on stage, by the side of your beloved—don't let yourself be buried in this yellow sand any longer!

An explosive aura emanated from Celery, draping her in a magnificent and unique outfit reminiscent of a theatrical idol.

"PSONA—Princess Jasmine!"

The eerie blue flames roared, surged, and gathered behind Qinxiang, eventually coalescing into the figure of a girl accompanied by a tiger and a monkey.

【Princess Jasmine (Arcana: The Hermit)】

[Introduction: A story from the Arabian folktale collection *One Thousand and One Nights*, featuring the princess from *Aladdin's Lamp*.]

She is the Sultan's daughter, a beautiful, intelligent, independent, and courageous princess. She is unwilling to follow the royal family's arranged marriage and has her own unique pursuit of love.

After rejecting one suitor after another, Princess Jasmine meets the tramp Aladdin and falls deeply in love with him. Interestingly, Aladdin, in order to win Princess Jasmine's heart, once disguises himself as a prince to get close to her.

[Only when he finally revealed his true nature did Princess Jasmine finally find the one she truly loved. She didn't love the Aladdin who was pretending to be a prince, but rather the vagrant Aladdin.]

'...Truly worthy of the title of princess, even her first awakened personality is that of a princess.'

'I wonder who will be the mask worn when they undergo their second awakening, giving birth to the mythical trickster, and gaining divinity.'

[Personality Base Resistance (-- for Normal)]

[Physical/Shooting/Fire/Freeze/Lightning/Gale/Telekinesis/Nuclear Heat/Blessing/Judgment]

【----/Patience/----/----/----/----/Ineffective/----/Weakness/----

'Finally... another Persona has awakened.'

Looking at the [Shadow Countermeasures Committee] and the girls of the [Countermeasures Committee] fighting against the shadows, Amamiya had a vague premonition.

This... is just the beginning.

Come on... girls of the Countermeasures Committee, let me see just how far you can go!

Chapter 50 Hoshino's Persona, Osiris

【BGM：Last Surprise scramble】

"He actually chose his own shadow as his opponent..."

"As expected, I know myself best... My tactics and little habits are all crystal clear..."

"Oh, Sister Qinxiang...?!"

With a whoosh, the explosive aura dissipated, pausing the battle between the others and their own shadows.

The other girls on the countermeasures committee turned around and saw Serika, who was dressed in an idol outfit and became the focus of the entire room, making everyone a little surprised and envious.

"PSONA! Princess Jasmine!"

'As expected... it's the power of Persona again...'

'Sister Qinxiang... has also cleared away her confusion and made her decision...'

'We can't lose either...'

A distorted purple ball of light appeared as Princess Jasmine extended her index finger, flew out, and landed on the gun in the hand of the shadowy Serika.

The metal was torn apart by an immense force, and a twisting, ferocious sound instantly emerged.

The next second, the gun in Shadow Serika's hand was twisted, torn, and twisted into a steel braid by that huge telekinetic force.

'The basic telekinetic magic—'P'. The twenty-third letter of the Greek alphabet, the first letter of the ancient Greek word for "spirit" or "soul," and also a symbol of psychology...'

'boom! ’

The gun, twisted into a pretzel, exploded instantly. Shadow Serika, whose arm was injured by the blast, had no choice but to drop the gun and prepare for close-quarters combat.

"I won't let you succeed—Princess Jasmine!"

Princess Jasmine, standing behind Celery, patted the tigers circling around her. These were her pets, a tiger named Leya.

'Roar--'

Upon receiving the command, the tiger pounced forward, using its superior weight to instantly knock the approaching shadow, Celery, to the ground.

'This is a physical attack skill... Tiger's Bite? If the effect is correct, it should deal physical damage and have a certain probability of inflicting fear on the target.'

Amamiya, watching from the sidelines, could see clearly that this seemingly ordinary biting attack was obviously a type of physical magic.

The shadow that had been tackled seemed to have seen something enormous, a natural enemy that terrified it. It began to struggle incessantly, unable to even stand up, thrashing about and shouting in sounds that it couldn't understand.

Without her "unrestrained negotiation" skills, Serika wouldn't understand these "shadow languages," but not understanding them doesn't stop her from decisively dealing with this "cowardly self."

"From now on... I will say goodbye to that cowardly, closed-off self!"

Carrying her rifle, Serika stepped forward with a gloomy face, approached the ridiculous, struggling shadow version of herself, pressed the rifle against the other's forehead, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

'boom. ’

The gun muzzle emitted a faint plume of gunpowder smoke. The struggling shadowy celery stopped moving and finally turned into a pool of dark red mud, melting and disappearing.

Celery breathed a sigh of relief, thinking of using her newly awakened power to support her companions, but the next second she felt an indescribable fatigue, as if she had been working overtime for several days in a row.

Although it wasn't enough to make her collapse on the spot, it did give her a feeling of... helplessness that made it difficult for her to move.

"Ugh...so tired..."

Only then did Amamiya and Hifumi step forward, supporting Serika and leading her out of the battlefield.

"This is the negative effect of the first awakening... Everyone is experiencing this. Serika, don't think about helping others for now, take a break."

Qinxiang tried to get up, but failed several times. Finally, she reluctantly hummed in agreement and obediently sat back down on the steps.

The battle between the [Shadow Countermeasures Committee] and the remaining members of the [Countermeasures Committee] continues.

As Ayane and Nomiya previously stated, the 'Shadow Countermeasures Committee' is actually an enemy modeled one-to-one based on their fighting style, individual strength, and other basic abilities.

Therefore, these shadows understand the 'self' corresponding to the countermeasures committee, all combat strengths, combat styles, strengths, and weaknesses.

This battle is evenly matched, and breaking the deadlock is extremely difficult.

'We need the power to break this deadlock...'

Hoshino anxiously searched for a breakthrough during the battle, and inadvertently saw Amamiya and the other two resting outside the battle group.

She didn't feel disappointed or have any other negative emotions because of the three Amamiya's 'cold indifference' - because she also knew very well that this was 'her own battle'.

'Accept your own heart...'

Recalling the conversation between those shadows not long ago, Hoshino, who was resisting the attacks of his shadow version of himself, gradually felt a giant net enveloping him.

...always thinking that 'no one understands my pain,' but never telling anyone about my pain.

...always 'thinking of the younger generation,' but in reality, they mostly neglect these younger generations themselves.

...Dominated by a nameless 'hatred,' unable to calm down and think, and distrusting everyone.