Tokyo Psychic

189. "Yuki Osamu" and Kurusu Akira (4.8k)

"Is the Tatsumi Artificial Harbor Island not open to the public?"

Akira Kurusu searched for a while on the cruise company's official website and found that all the cruises to Tatsumi Artificial Harbor Island had actually ended at noon today.

Miku Miku chased after them from the observatory. The red light of the setting sun shone on her, making her look like she was covered in blood, a truly gruesome sight.

Those deep purple eyes, covered by dappled light and shadow, appeared even more filthy.

Is that all for today?

Her words concealed twisted and sordid emotions.

This made Akira Kurusu, who had been focused on her phone, notice the other person's unusual behavior.

...There is no indication of the birth of a mental palace.

Akira Kurusu relaxed a little. "Yes, I need to go back to the band practice while it's still early."

Band practice? Misaki Hatsune immediately recalled the band idea called "Ave Mujica" that Toyokawa Shoko had mentioned when she contacted her some time ago.

It felt as if an unseen beast had torn a large chunk of flesh from her heart, and the surge of pain made her clench her fists.

Akira Kurusu naturally noticed Misaki Misaki's current unusual behavior.

However, Mitsukasa Mitsu is no longer a threat. Having lost the power of the Toyokawa family and having been punished several times, Mitsukasa Mitsu, who is just an ordinary high school girl, is no longer capable of doing evil. All he needs to do as the Phantom Thief of Mind is to send out a notice and make Mitsukasa Mitsu repent.

Akira Kurusu walked onto the pedestrian overpass and headed towards the tram station.

He has mixed feelings right now.

She was eager to go to that artificial island to find the "Shadow Patrolmen," the companions that Shiomi Kotone had once led.

I'm also surprised that the island actually exists in this world, and there's a "Private Moonlight Academy," yet I can't find any related information about it online.

Even the famous "Kiritō Group" seems to have vanished into thin air; its existence cannot be found anywhere.

Searching again in the browser for "Tatsumi Artificial Harbor Island" yielded only a few concise booking links from shipping companies, with no descriptive information whatsoever.

When you search for the term "Private Moonlight Academy", all you get is the response "No results found".

Even with the help of Ms. Sakura Futaba, the network expert of the Phantom Thieves, after a thorough investigation, they only found a notice in a post on a high school forum from two years ago that seemed to have been deliberately hidden: "Private Gekkokan Academy is officially renamed Private Yuki Academy effective immediately."

More than a girl whose heart is about to be changed by the Phantom Thieves, Akira Kurusu is more concerned about the mysterious enemy lurking in the dark side of the world and constantly influencing reality...

As he boarded the tram and settled into an empty seat, he vaguely felt that his memory was slightly out of place.

Just now... I think I suddenly forgot something?

This is clearly a very important matter...

The moment that thought flashed through her mind, the Persona "Dioscuri" appeared behind Akira Kurusu.

The ability to [read memories] was activated immediately, and every moment from "now" until that afternoon when he walked into the observatory with Misaki Misaki flashed before Akira Kurusu's eyes.

The "memory" played faster and faster, like a surveillance video being played at 32x speed.

All my thoughts froze the moment Akira Kurusu said goodbye to Misaki Misaki.

An invisible, thin hand pierced the back of Akira Kurusu's neck, extracting the corresponding memories and knowledge...

Thanks to the power of "Dioscuri," Akira Kurusu's gaze was able to follow that hand and clearly see the true face of its owner—

It was the most powerful Persona he could remember, appearing in the Sea of ​​Hearts before the Judgment Day in the name of the Jewish Messiah... Its name was "Messiah." It was the "ultimate" Persona that Shiomi Kotone awakened at the end of her destiny.

The phantom thief sat in the tram car, feeling a chilling, frozen sensation.

During Tokyo's evening rush hour, the train car was packed with passengers, and before she knew it, Akira Kurusu was the only one left.

The carriage was empty. The deep red afterglow, like thick blood, continued to spread across the ground with a pungent, bloody smell, gradually reaching Lai Xixiao's ankles and seeping into his skin and flesh.

The setting sun outside the window quietly faded, and pale moonlight spilled into the carriage.

Looking out the window again, the bustling city view was gone.

It was a dark and deep universe, and the pale surface of the moon that covered the entire sky.

On the opposite bench, a drowsy boy suddenly opened his eyes.

That overwhelming sense of familiarity made Akira Kurusu subconsciously associate the other person with another version of himself—but soon, subtle differences combined with a soul-level throbbing made him subconsciously murmur the name he would never forget.

"Shiomi Koto..."

Hearing Akira Kurusu's murmur, the boy sitting opposite him stared at him with his dark golden eyes, filled with weariness and numbness. "It's Yuuki Osamu."

"You know her?"

“I don’t know who she is, but two months ago, she forcibly took away a portion of the power from my Persona... It’s obvious that she was mistaken for ‘Yuuki Ri’ by the Sea of ​​Hearts. Or rather, she is ‘Yuuki Ri’ from another world.”

"Is this what you mean by 'the same soul giving birth to two completely opposite people in different worlds'?"

Yuki Ryou remained silent, then slowly stood up.

At this moment, Akira could clearly see a very obvious dent on his neck, with cracks all over his neck and back, as if he had been forcefully grabbed and thrown out of a high-rise window and shattered into pieces.

"Yuki Ryou" extended her hand to Kurusu Akira. "In the history of humanity that can be recorded by the Sea of ​​Hearts, the Velvet Room has given birth to five saviors, the 'Contractors.' Coincidentally, we all made wrong decisions at the turning point of our fates... and those wrong decisions led to a tragic ending, and also gave birth to the distorted version of myself I am now."

He said to Akira Kurusu expressionlessly, "First of all, congratulations on defeating the first Persona user who used unbridled power in battle, Naoya Todo."

Akira Kurusu grasped the hand that "Rio Yuuki" had extended. "You're next... Aren't you going to introduce yourself properly?"

“Yuki Ryou,” the other party said, “is the third ‘Contractor’ in the Velvet Room, and the one who will kill you here.”

"That's a pity, you've missed your last chance." Akira Kurusu clenched Yuuki's hand, and azure flames began to burn around him, scorching his school uniform into a phantom thief's battle suit. "Thanks to Mr. Toudou's 'help,' my only weakness, which arose from my first encounter with the concept of 'partner,' has been completely erased."

"Invincible...?" Even Yuuki Risa, the "Shadow," was moved by the unwavering conviction emanating from the phantom thief before her.

The moment their hands separated, "Yuki Risa" retreated to the other end of the carriage and pulled out a "pistol"... It was a Persona summoner, and he was pointing it at his temple.

With a series of heavy footsteps, all the car windows shattered simultaneously, and a cold wind howled into the carriage.

Akira Kurusu held onto her mask, her black cloak trembling violently in the gale like bat wings.

It's like in "Western" movies where two cowboys fight to the death, walking back to back and counting down, then simultaneously drawing their guns.

The savior of the past and the savior of the present almost shouted in unison—

"Persona!"

Surprisingly, neither of them summoned the persona that symbolized "ultimate" in each other's perception.

Behind Akira Kurusu floats a blood-red demon, his original persona "Arsène," who possesses the power to control cursed spirits and the skill to operate powerful firearms.

Floating behind "Yuki Risa" is a poet carrying a harp, who is also his original persona "Orpheus." He can wield exceptionally powerful fire energy, and as a hero in Greek mythology who resists and celebrates death, he naturally possesses the technology to see through the power of curses.

The next instant, thunderous gunfire mingled with the roar of a waterfall of fire.

From a distance, countless flames suddenly erupted from the broken windows of the tram speeding along the tracks, with shattered metal and plastic burning and flying everywhere.

......

at the same time.

STARRY's recording studio.

Shoko Toyokawa, who was doing her homework while waiting, suddenly kicked her chair away and stood up.

Sitting opposite her, Jing Qinren was startled. "Xiangzi... what's wrong?"

Shoko Toyokawa braced herself against the table, cold sweat streaming down her face. "I suddenly have something important to attend to, so I might have to miss today's training."

"Huh?" While Izayoi was still in a daze, Toyokawa Shoko had already slammed the door and rushed out of the stairwell without any regard for her image.

Yamada Ryo and Ijichi Nijika, who had been taken in by Ijichi Seika to work as temporary laborers, watched their keyboardist run away with some confusion.

Toyokawa Shoko flagged down a taxi on the roadside, gave them the address of "Fujiki-ju," and then anxiously picked up her phone to find the temporary chat room of the Phantom Thieves that wouldn't be recorded by the server.

In this chat room, everyone uses their code names from the Phantom Thieves.

[Oblivionis (Toyokawa Shoko): Something terrible has happened.]

[Pleia (Anhe Subaru): That inexplicable sense of urgency and crisis... it must be that Ren encountered the enemy.]

[Mortis (Wakaba Mutsumi): I felt it too.]

[Mortis: What should we do now?]

[Oblivionis: Navi, do you have any relevant information?]

The person known as "Navi" is none other than Futaba Sakura, the Phantom Thieves' only cyber expert.

To reiterate, Akira Kurusu's codename is "Joker," taken from the "Joker" card in playing cards, and also meaning "hidden trump card."

[Navi (Sakura Futaba): The last communication record with the Joker was about a private, integrated school called "Gekokan Academy".]

[Oblivionis: Do you have any information about his location?]

[Navi: I can't find any location information for him.]

Pleia: Please wait a moment.

[Mortis: Does Pleia know what happened to the Joker?]

Pleia: You'll find out soon.

[Navi: Oh... she has "Return by Death"!]

[Pleia: I know about *Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-*, I've watched that anime... but it does exactly what you're trying to say.]

[Navi: Ah! Sorry! Thank you for your hard work!!!]

Pleia: It's okay, I'm used to it.

An and Subaru casually uttered words that shocked and impressed the girls behind the screen.

[Pleia: Oblivionis, Mortis, assemble at Aoyama-ichi-chome Station immediately. This is the Joker's order.]

[Pleia: The battle the Joker is currently facing must be avoided! If they continue fighting like this, the situation will inevitably deteriorate to an irreversible point—in reality, no organization is capable of cleaning up the mess caused by the fierce battle between two Personality Masks on the outermost layer of Impression Space.]

Toyokawa Shoko typed a brief response on the numeric keypad, then quickly instructed the driver in front to change the destination.

......

at the same time.

The battle in the Impression Space is escalating to its most ferocious stage.

The battleground between Akira Kurusu and "Ryo Yuki" has moved from inside the train car to the tram.

The personas behind them also changed from the initial "Arsène" and "Orpheus" to "Satan" and "Messiah," which signify the "ultimate."

The lunar surface near the orbit was affected by a powerful force, which tore out wave-like grooves.

Pale white dust particles continuously floated into the dark universe.

"Yuki Ryo" looked behind Kurusu Akira. Although there was nothing there, there was a tangled sense of presence that made him extremely wary.

"Your companions are surprisingly formidable. Concept reversal, time reversal, and an untamed power so exaggerated it needs to be sealed away..."

“You can retain your memories even during ‘time rewind’,” Akira Kurusu said.

"It's 'abnormal' that you can retain your memory," the other person replied coldly.

After all, the "time reversal" was created by their evil god "Judas". As a human who could never have come into contact with "Judas", it was beyond their expectations that Akira could maintain his memory perfectly in time reversal time ...

As soon as she finished speaking, cracks appeared behind Akira Kurusu, and three girls dressed in phantom thief uniforms burst in with their respective weapons.

Akira Kurusu looked at "Ryo Yuki" and said, "Next time we meet, I'll twist your head off, you imposter."

"A fake..." The once savior's indifferent face twisted into an expression that was hard to tell whether it was bitter or painful. He glanced one last time at the perfectly coordinated "Mind Thieves" before disappearing into the hazy moonlight.

The tram came to a stop at the terminal station.

As the doors opened, the passengers gradually disembarked.

In the completely empty carriage, the figures of boys and girls appeared out of nowhere.

Futaba Sakura was typing rapidly on her keyboard, hacking into the security system and altering all the related surveillance footage.

......

【PM. 5:34】

Stepping out of the tram station, Akira Kurusu hugged An and Subaru tightly without any hesitation.

An and Subaru, who had repeatedly used "death rewind" to convey and gather information, naturally hugged the boy in front of them tightly.

Toyokawa Shoko and Wakaba Mutsu exchanged a glance, and surprisingly, they couldn't muster even the slightest bit of aversion.