Tokyo Psychic

Unlike the overall dilapidated state of the castle, the treasury was a magnificent sight, with jewels and gold ornaments filling every space, and crystal chandeliers and stained-glass windows visible in every room.

It stands out starkly against the backdrop of the outside world's antiquity and decay.

However, they still did not encounter any traps. It was just that the shadow's strength suddenly increased by a large margin. It even began to emerge from various parts of the building in various abstract and bizarre forms, such as hands or freely moving blades connected to bones.

Even Akira Kurusu had to concentrate on dealing with these ubiquitous attacks.

Finally, they arrived at the central area of ​​the treasure vault, a circular architectural space resembling a plaza, which was also the room where Xinma Xiaolian's subconscious and conscious minds were intertwined—

As you step through the narrow archway, you immediately hear a familiar voice screaming in agony.

Even the mind thief was stunned by what he saw.

Xinma Xiaolian, the master of the palace, was wearing the king's robes, but he was crawling on the ground in an extremely humiliating posture, with a crown studded with jewels lying to one side.

Behind Xinma Xiaolian, a man in a suit and tie repeatedly stabbed him in the back with a spear, each time accompanied by splattering blood and Xinma Xiaolian's heart-wrenching cries.

Noticing the uninvited guest's arrival, the man immediately looked up, a somewhat amused smile appearing on his handsome face.

"You're the contractor for this generation of the Velvet Room, aren't you?"

The phantom thief shielded An and Subaru behind him, then stepped forward. "Who are you?"

"I don't know if your secretary told you... The Velvet Room, up to you, has had five generations of contractors." The man in the suit forcefully plunged the spear into Shinma Hideaki's waist. This time, only a low sob could be heard. Then he stepped over the dying palace owner and walked towards Kurusu Akira.

A silver earring swayed with his movements.

"I am the original contractor of the Velvet Room."

“You may call me… Naoya Kamitori.”

The man shrugged. "Of course, if you think the surname 'Kamitori' sounds bad, you can call me 'Toudou' instead."

Naoya Todo stared at the Phantom Thief in front of him with his dark gold eyes, his smile growing brighter. "I was going to say, 'We've met once before'... but you're not Ren Amamiya."

As Todo Naoya approached and spoke as he walked, Kurusu Akira suddenly sprang to attention—"Arsène Lupin!"

The blood-red demon suddenly waved his hand, drew two smoothbore guns, aimed them at the man in front of him, and pulled the trigger.

Naoya Todo was torn to shreds by the enormous bullet without any resistance.

Lai Xixiao showed no sign of letting up. He even pushed An and Subaru outside the door, and then retreated himself, taking out a dagger to protect himself.

Sure enough, at a certain moment during their retreat, they suddenly heard a long, drawn-out hissing sound like thunder in the silent brilliance.

The pure white door embedded in the wall at the deepest part of the treasure vault swung open heavily amidst the thunder. A mesmerizing rainbow of light swept over, followed by a colossal shadow blocking the stained-glass windows adorned with religious symbols. It wielded endless bolts of lightning, holding a dark yellow staff that appeared to be composed of brass and bone.

A tall, golden figure rapidly approached.

An and Subaru's rapidly dilating pupils reflected a burly man with a dark blue body and a full moon-like face. He was draped in a yellow silk robe with metallic patterns, and a dazzling light flowed from the thick, holy wreath. His imposing physique resembled the support structure used to stabilize a wheeled crane. His legs were as thick as an adult's forearm, with sharp, long claws covered in lotus-like patterns.

He used his bird feet, covered in lotus patterns, to dig at the ground, and the hard metal floor was torn open with a shocking wound amidst the sound of electricity crackling.

Warm light streamed down from above the palace, and mesmerizing rainbows shone through the stained-glass windows beside Him, making His yellow silk robes appear as if shrouded in a sacred, hazy neon glow. His single arm held a dim bronze rod, its surface gleaming with a gnarled, bloodstained sheen. His head was sculpted with an infantile face, yet short, serpentine hisses accompanied by two wisps of white air shooting from his mouth and nose as swift as lightning.

Akira Kurusu identified the Hindu god Vishnu through these features... but for some reason, he appeared in such a damaged form.

The phantom thief stared at the other person with a solemn expression.

There were no words spoken.

No announcement was made.

There is no warcry.

In the dead silence, the incomplete god suddenly began to run wildly. In his open mouth, an eyeball could be seen on the tip of his tongue. He arrived at the archway amidst a magnificent golden light, intending to smash the phantom thief with the bronze rod wrapped in lightning.

Akira Kurusu quickly picked up An and Subaru and retreated, causing the entire wall to collapse instantly.

The two continued to flee, pursued swiftly by Vishnu. Along the way, all the walls and load-bearing pillars crumbled in an instant, and the entire treasure vault began to teeter on the brink of collapse.

The speed was so fast that even "Arsène" was left far behind, and they had to use gunfire from a distance to delay him in order to help Akira Kurusu and Subaru escape further.

They finally returned to the location of the door that couldn't be opened, leaving the two with nowhere to retreat.

Wherever Vishnu passed, the treasure vaults collapsed completely, causing violent shaking like an earthquake.

Vishnu, wielding his lightning-wrapped bronze staff, closed in with incredible speed.

At the critical moment, the phantom thief pushed An and Subaru aside, then drew the dagger from his waist and stood firmly in front of her, facing the massive blow that came crashing down from above by the giant god.

His unwavering belief in victory and invincibility enabled him to withstand the attack with his human body!

The ground beneath their feet cracked instantly, and the sound of bones breaking was masked by the sharp crackling of electricity, but An and Subaru, who were very close by, could hear it clearly.

Without uttering a sound, Lai Xixiao brandished his dagger and used all his strength to deflect the copper rod above his head.

Such an exaggerated act would have shocked even Vishnu, who would have stared wide-eyed in astonishment.

The next moment, Arsène, who had just returned to his side, drew the smoothbore gun woven from shadows and gripped the stock, thrusting its slender barrel like a longsword at Vishnu in front of him!

Lightning bolts raged through the air like wild pythons.

A sharp, metallic clang, like a needle striking his ear, made An and Subaru, who had just escaped, cover their ears in pain and crouch in the ruins of the treasure vault.

All the stained glass around them shattered in the next instant.

......

The firelight inside the treasure vault flickered, and outside, rain began to fall. Rainwater rushed in through the broken windows, splashing and swirling on the ground, reaching the soles of shoes, ankles, and calves... The water swept over the dust, broken bricks, and tiles, making the area murky and muddy.

Outside the collapsed walls, hundreds of guards who had surrounded the castle from all sides were instantly stabbed to death—by liquid thorns that sprang from the rain, their fine forms seemingly pulsating and breathing as if alive, before gathering together to form a massive, sturdy sword.

If An and Subaru hadn't hidden in a high enough position that they hadn't been covered by rain, they probably would have ended up like the guards!

......

Akira Kurusu threw out his grappling hook, aimed at the only remaining support pillar nearby, and swung up to it with lightning speed.

The giant sword formed from rainwater struck the "Gate of the Heart," which even the phantom thief could hardly open, and then exploded instantly, piercing it with countless holes.

The phantom thief reached the top of the supporting pillar, and at that moment, the pain from his fractured foot when he landed was excruciating.

But he had no time to think about these things; he was only focused on why this sanctuary of the soul was so fragile.

At this moment, Vishnu spread his huge wings, flapped them and leaped high, reaching out to lift the bronze staff, intending to pierce through the head of the madman.

The phantom thief quickly flipped over and jumped off the supporting pillar, rolling on the ground to dissipate the force.

Vishnu also landed with a thud, his bronze staff thrusting out repeatedly, enveloping him in the torrential rain that had enveloped the world beyond.

But at that very moment—"Arsen" appeared from behind Akira, grabbed Akira, and then folded his wings like a sphere, allowing the copper rod to strike him.

As a battle-hardened Persona, Akira Kurusu has seen many enemies with such high speed and destructive power.

There are naturally countless ways to deal with this...

Just as Vishnu was trying to break through Arsen's defenses.

The jet-black feathers suddenly stood upright, and Vishnu hurriedly retreated, but it was too late—

A dagger wreathed in flames of cursed intent was thrown through the gap in the wings, instantly piercing Vishnu's chest.

In His incredulous scream, the form of the giant god gradually faded away, until finally "Toudou Naoya" collapsed to the ground, rolling around in flames all over his body.

Akira lowered his body and lunged forward quickly. Because his right hand was broken, he could only use his elbow to strike the "first contractor" and hold him in place. At the same time, he raised his left hand, grabbed the dagger stuck in the man's chest, pulled it out, and stabbed it towards the man's throat with an extremely sharp movement.

“Got you…” Even though his face was contorted with pain, “Toudou Naoya” revealed a sinister smile of triumph.

Outside the broken window, the rain suddenly intensified.

The water was instantly manipulated and flew into the room, like countless sharp needles piercing Lai Xixiao's back.

The phantom thief quickly rolled over to dodge, while simultaneously calling out "Arsène" to flap its wings and disperse the long, shuttle-like raindrops.

Unexpectedly, at that very moment, "Toudou Naoya" reached into his burning wound and pulled out a tongue from his chest... The eyeball on the tongue rotated in a strange way, and then the entire tongue became as hard as a dagger. "Toudou Naoya" gripped it tightly and stabbed it towards Kurusu Akira's face.

But the phantom thief's intuition was terrifying; almost as if preordaining, he shouted, "Arsène Lupin, the Gun of Reversal!" before Lupin could even touch the wound.

"Satanyal, [Supreme Magic Bullet]!"

Unexpectedly, "Toudou Naoya" was completely unafraid, and stretched his entire body almost touching the giant spear in the hand of the Persona summoned by Kurusu Akira.

"It's time to give you back what you've been missing."

"Toudou Naoya" chuckled as Kurusu Akira pulled the trigger, unleashing the "Supreme Demon Bullet" that annihilated his entire body into ashes.

The tongue connected to the eyeball suddenly exploded into a wisp of extremely thin smoke, instantly rushing towards Akira Kurusu's face.

This was a special attack that only worked on Akira Kurusu... because of his lack of "community," these original sins, disguised as "community" and extracted from humanity, almost instantly filled the entire velvet room.

You can faintly hear Ravenda's anxious shouts in the velvet room.

In that instant, countless twisted desires filled Akira Kurusu's heart—he almost instinctively summoned his third personality, "Dioscuri."

After activating these abilities—[Memory Archive] and [Memory Retrieval]—at the conditional launch site, Akira Kurusu shouted towards An and Subaru in the distance.

"Turn back time!"

An and Subaru, who were just ordinary girls before, suddenly found courage from who-knows-where, raised the pistol that Akira Kurusu had given them, pointed it at their foreheads, and pulled the trigger.

boom!

A thunderous sound.

The girl slowly fell to the side.

The phantom thief's thoughts seemed to freeze instantly.

A tremendous bell rang out from the void.

The hands kept turning back, and time in the whole world began to rewind.

When Lai Qixiao opened her eyes again, she was already lying on the simple little bed in the LeBlanc attic.

He looked at Dioscuri standing beside him and asked it a question.

"How many times have we started over?"

Dioscuri simply shook his head.

......

December 10, 2022.

[0 days remaining until the first monthly test.]

"Tengmuju".

Outside the window, rain began to fall again. The light rain fell silently on the eaves, forming a gentle curtain of rain. Gradually, it grew heavier, with a fierce downpour accompanied by lightning and thunder.

An and Subaru were awakened by a loud clap of thunder.

She sat up in bed in a daze, subconsciously looking down at her right hand. The feeling of gripping the pistol was so clear that she ignored the stinging pain on the back of her hand.

*

*

*

------------

(I wrote an extra chapter combining two stories, which has been added to "The Past of Moonlight Pavilion"... I stayed up all night writing this, despite having a class schedule, and it seems I've done my best, achieving the feat of 11 updates in 24 hours.)

If it were last month, I would have already finished thirteen chapters. However, I stayed up too late and was constantly sleepy, making my writing efficiency frighteningly low. I dared not continue to stay up late, so I'll take advantage of the New Year's Day holiday to adjust my schedule...

(It's a new year, everyone please cast some of your newly refreshed monthly votes.)

099. It's the rainy season for love again.

When you raise a gun and point it at yourself, what supports your finger as you pull the trigger—courage or fear?

Is this the confidence derived from "time reversal"? A sense of responsibility as members of the Phantom Thieves? Or perhaps...?

But in any case, to transcend death, one must have thoughts and emotions that are heavier than death itself.

Deep within the shattered palace of his heart, An and Subaru pulled the trigger, aiming at their own foreheads.

The recoil from the bullet pushing the hand away, the metal bullet tearing through skin and muscle, penetrating bone, and exiting from the other side of the skull—

All thoughts are twisted into a rope the moment the pain occurs, and then broken in the next instant. The twisted pain is like a loose thread, falling listlessly, hanging in the heart, making it hard to breathe. I really want to shout something, as if that would make me feel better.

The meandering water flowed across the window like a group of snakes, intertwining in the blink of an eye before falling heavily and crashing against the windowsill, shattering into pale flowers.

An and Subaru sat on the bed, staring blankly at their right hand.