As the guillotine blade fell, the bodies of Persona Huodou and Persona Boreas abruptly transformed into dazzling particles of red and blue light. They converged towards the high sky directly in front of the guillotine, forming a blurry human figure.
When the bodies of Huodou and Boreas completely disappeared, under Ren Amamiya's expectant gaze, the blurry human figure in the high sky finally solidified completely, revealing its true image to Ren Amamiya.
A round, pale body like a snowman, wearing a blue pointed hat with two horns, its face like a hollowed-out snowman, revealing empty eyes and a mouth that occupied half its face.
What appeared before Ren Amamiya was clearly that Persona with a strong presence as Atlus's mascot----
"Is this... Jack Frost?"
Feeling the frosty aura emanating from Jack Frost's round, snowman-like body, Ren Amamiya raised an eyebrow slightly in surprise.
"Why does it feel like two mid-level Personas have been reverse-fused into a low-level Persona? Huodou and Boreas's levels should both be higher than Jack Frost's."
Jack Frost was just a mischievous frost fairy from English folklore.
But Huodou was a strange beast recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, serving as an assistant to the god of fire, and sometimes even taking over the god of fire's duties.
Boreas was even the god of the north wind in Greek mythology.
From their backgrounds and prestige, Huodou and Boreas's strength clearly surpassed Jack Frost's by many levels.
The only thing Jack Frost had was Atlus as its doting parent.
Ren Amamiya reached out. Jack Frost let out a mischievous, high-pitched cackle from its empty black mouth but transformed into a white spirit bird mask and fell into Ren Amamiya's palm without any struggle.
"Come out, Jack Frost! Use Bufu!"
Ren Amamiya waved his hand, re-summoning the successfully subdued Jack Frost. As a biting cold wind carrying white frost swept past, Jack Frost, resembling a small snowman, appeared in this dark prison space with a mischievous laugh.
Under the command of Ren Amamiya, the Persona user, Jack Frost created a huge blue ice spike in the blink of an eye, which crashed down towards the iron gate of a cell with immense force.
The giant ice spike, with irresistible force, tore the sturdy and heavy steel cell gate, along with the walls of this area, into fragments, plunging everything inside the cell into a thick layer of extremely cold ice.
"This power... is stronger than I expected. In terms of skill power, it's already stronger than Huodou and Boreas. It seems that although it was a reverse fusion, Huodou and Boreas's level bonuses were retained, pulling up the proficiency of this low-level Persona, Jack Frost."
Gazing at the back of Jack Frost, who was bouncing and swaying in mid-air, Ren Amamiya's eyes lit up slightly.
As a Persona user, Ren Amamiya could most intuitively feel how small a portion of its power Jack Frost had just used for that Bufu.
If it went all out, the strength this Jack Frost could exert would definitely not be inferior to Huodou and Boreas, and might even surpass them!
"I-Is the guillotine really used so normally?! Boss Joker, y-you wouldn't use this guillotine execution on me and Big Sis too, would you..."
Persona Huodou and Persona Boreas were personally executed by guillotine by Ren Amamiya right before her eyes. After their heads were severed by the guillotine's heavy blade, they fused into an unfamiliar, powerful, brand-new Persona.
Higokumaru, who had witnessed the entire execution process, trembled violently. She tightly clutched her own neck with both hands, as if Ren Amamiya would drag her to the guillotine and cut off her neck if she wasn't careful.
Higokumaru had thought the guillotine device Ren Amamiya sought had a more high-end and wondrous use. She never expected the guillotine to be used in such a simple manner—directly smashing the blade onto the Persona's head to create a new Persona, so cruel and brutal.
[...If Lord Ren wishes, Sakura is willing to accept this method of execution by beheading.]
After a slight pause, Higokumaru and Ren Amamiya, who were closely connected to Yae Sakura, simultaneously heard Yae Sakura's own words.
Yae Sakura's voice was as calm as ever, with only a faint hint of regret contained within.
After becoming Ren Amamiya's Stigmata, Yae Sakura no longer had the concept of death. Even if her head was cut off by the guillotine, she could revive again over time from Ren Amamiya's Stigmata space.
To repay Ren Amamiya's kindness, Yae Sakura didn't mind lending her head to Ren Amamiya for a while.
She only felt a little regretful that she couldn't spend time with Kallen during her resurrection period.
"B-Big Sis, are you serious?!"
Hearing Yae Sakura's thoughts on the matter, Higokumaru's five cherry-red fox tails tensed up tightly.
Although she wouldn't die from being executed by guillotine, it would still be very painful and terrifying!
"Rest assured, I have no intention of executing you, Sakura and Higokumaru, by guillotine... Nor do I have any intention of executing Kallen and Seele."
Ren Amamiya flicked Higokumaru's small head, which was floating in mid-air, with his finger, speaking to the worried Higokumaru and the girl Personas residing in his heart.
After his comforting words fell, Ren Amamiya clearly felt Kallen and Seele, who had been silent in his heart, let out a sigh of relief. Even Yae Sakura, who had already prepared for death, visibly relaxed.
"R-Really? Boss Joker, you really won't push me and Big Sis onto the guillotine?"
After receiving Ren Amamiya's promise, Higokumaru, who had been tightly clutching her neck, finally dared to release her small hands. But she still floated worriedly beside Ren Amamiya, asking repeatedly, fearing she would receive a negative answer.
"Of course. You are all very important Personas to me. I will only execute Personas like Huodou and Boreas whose strength has fallen far behind."
Ren Amamiya patiently comforted Higokumaru.
Even when playing games, aside from Pixie, Ren Amamiya would only fuse away good-looking female Personas like Succubus or Angel when the number of Personas he could carry was full.
Not to mention now that the game had become reality, and Ren Amamiya had developed deep exchanges and bonds with Yae Sakura and Kallen.
Even if he could re-summon them once they were executed using the Velvet Room's Persona Compendium, Ren Amamiya currently still didn't want to execute Yae Sakura and Kallen.
Even setting aside emotional issues for a moment.
Jizo Mitama, which was highly bound to Higokumaru and Yae Sakura, had already become Ren Amamiya's indispensable best weapon.
Kallen's Persona was connected to Kaslana's Palace. Although Kallen's strength was starting to lag a bit, Ren Amamiya could use her as a medium to summon Persona Siegfried for battle.
Even if he executed Veliona, Ren Amamiya wouldn't go so far as to push Yae Sakura and Kallen onto the guillotine for execution.
"The outer area of the Velvet Room is the deepest part of Mementos. The strongest batch of Shadows in the entire Mementos should be active here. If I can subdue the Shadows living here as Personas, my strength should also continue to grow stronger."
By fusing Huodou and Boreas into the displayed Persona Jack Frost, the number of Personas Ren Amamiya's body could accommodate was optimized.
The Velvet Room was sealed by the evil god in the deepest part of Mementos. The Shadows lingering here were all of the strongest tier.
Since he was already here, Ren Amamiya planned to subdue a few Shadows from the deepest part of Mementos before returning to the real world.
"Lord God, can I leave the Velvet Room and go to the outer area to fight other Shadows?"
But before that, Ren Amamiya had to seek the opinion of Philemon, the god of unconsciousness.
After all, Philemon had guided him here to avoid alerting the evil god. If his battles with Shadows in the deepest part of Mementos alerted the evil god, it would go against Philemon's intentions.
If he obtained Philemon's consent and support, with the protection of Philemon, a true god, it would be extremely simple to hide the traces of his battles with Shadows from Yaldabaoth, the false god.
Gazing at the image of Ren Amamiya on the virtual screen, looking up and asking her a question, Aponia fell into a deep silence. Her delicate brows seemed to be locked in a mournful frown. Her hands were tightly clasped in front of her, her mind constantly pondering the decision she was about to make.
Aponia was deeply troubled about whether to agree to Ren Amamiya's request.
However, Vill-V had no such worries. She once again straightened her back proudly and, with great enthusiasm, introduced her groundbreaking great invention to Aponia.
"Well, Aponia? The guillotine enhancement device created by the great magician Vill-V! It's clearly a guillotine, yet it possesses the special ability to decompose Honkai beasts or Stigmata forms into their most basic energy level states, reconstruct them according to the user's own thoughts and desires, and fuse them together to regenerate individuals with even stronger power!"
Vill-V completely ignored the slight twitching of Aponia's brow and spoke animatedly with a fervent expression.
"While executing Honkai beasts or Stigmata forms, the guillotine device will also automatically store the Honkai beast factors and Stigmata Honkai energy of the executed object and upload them to my exclusive database. With a little processing, another executed Honkai beast can be incubated again, or the recovery speed of the Stigmata form can be greatly increased, allowing the Stigmata form to revive quickly!"
"The idea of making the enhancement device into a guillotine and an electric chair is too genius, too stunning! So stunning that it makes me feel ashamed. Why didn't I think of such an inspiration first? There are actually ideas in the world that can make even me, Vill-V, feel amazed and moved. I have a hunch, I will definitely be able to get along very well with this visitor named Joker!!"
"Actually, I wanted to conduct fusion experiments between Honkai beasts back in the Previous Era, but unfortunately, the conditions didn't allow it. Kevin, as the first MANTIS, was too outstanding, so outstanding that it made the higher-ups crush all other plans to combat the Honkai."
"Compared to fusing and cultivating multiple Honkai beasts within the human body, it's better to try synthesizing Honkai beasts outside the human body and then controlling them. This way, even if the fusion plan between Honkai beasts fails, only the Honkai beasts will die, not the controller themselves... I didn't expect that after fifty thousand years, I could still fulfill this regret from the past!"
Vill-V's words, buzzing like a fly in her ear, undoubtedly made Aponia's slender white hands, clasped in front of her, tighten, severely disturbing her train of thought.
"...Vill-V, do you think I should let that visitor holding Jizo Mitama leave the deepest part and enter the true Elysian Realm? He seems to have a particular fondness for battle, eager to challenge the Flame-Chasers of the Elysian Realm."
Aponia let out a soft sigh, proactively interrupting the eloquent Vill-V.
If Aponia didn't speak up soon, Vill-V's topic would deviate from her Previous Era research in the Fire Moth to her days of traveling as a magician before joining the Fire Moth.
"Of course, I agree to let him leave the deepest part. The Flame-Chasers are not as fragile as you imagine. After knowing about Jizo Mitama, this hidden card, no Flame-Chaser will fall into a disadvantageous situation because of it... Besides, we two are watching the development of the situation from behind. Aponia, you should trust your companions more!"
Hearing the loosening in Aponia's tone, Vill-V's eyes lit up. She quickly struck while the iron was hot and tried to persuade Aponia.
"It's rare that Rin was brought to the domain of the Elysian Realm by this Joker, and she has even regained her sanity from her human period. Don't you want Sakura to have a heartfelt reunion with her sister whom she hasn't seen for tens of thousands of years? Don't you want Elysia to witness the existence of a Herrscher who has returned to the human side from being a pawn of the Honkai?"
"You're right, Vill-V... I should have more trust in the Flame-Chasers, more trust in Kevin out there."
Aponia finally made up her mind. She slowly reached out her hand, pointing distantly towards Ren Amamiya's figure on the virtual screen.
"I will open the exit of the deepest part. In the place closely connected to the deepest part, there happens to be the Flame-Chaser in the Elysian Realm with the most acute perception, the one most capable of seeing through and depicting the colors and scenery in this visitor's heart."