"You and Sakura have already met, and she has become your strength? What does that mean... Forget it."
Hearing Ren Amamiya claim that he had already obtained Sakura's power, a look of bewilderment flashed in Kosma's eyes. He hesitated for a moment.
If Ren Amamiya had truly met Sakura and gained her approval, then he should be a harmless visitor to the Elysian Realm and Griseo.
Based on his observations just now, Kosma could roughly deduce that what Ren Amamiya held in his hand was the Key of Erosion, Jizo Mitama, which had not been completed in the Previous Era. Ren Amamiya was the user of the Key of Erosion.
However, the consciousness of the Herrscher of Erosion clearly still existed within Jizo Mitama, possessing the dangerous potential to, in its Divine Key form, conversely control the user's body.
The threat posed by the Herrscher of Erosion's authority to the Elysian Realm was simply too high. Kosma dared not gamble on Ren Amamiya's one-sided statement and trust this stranger he had just met for the first time.
If he were to interpret the earlier words with malicious intent, Kosma could completely understand it as Ren Amamiya colluding with the Herrscher of Erosion to completely devour Sakura's memory data, turning it into nourishment and strength to empower themselves.
Kosma was not good at thinking, just as he was not good with words.
But it didn't matter. The Elysian Realm was not lacking in quick-witted and intelligent geniuses.
Kosma didn't need to think. He only needed to pass on the information and let those Flame-Chasers who were sages do the thinking.
There was only one thing Kosma needed to do.
That was to fight!
Kosma was not good at socializing. Therefore, when he faced successors entering the Elysian Realm, he could only choose fighting as a way to communicate with them.
And now, facing Ren Amamiya, who might be a visitor or an invader, Kosma naturally only had fighting as an option!
"Looks like negotiation is useless. We'll have to fight first and talk later."
Ren Amamiya clearly witnessed the change in Kosma's eyes in the distance, from hesitation to determination.
Feeling the scorching battle intent beneath Kosma's cold exterior, like molten lava, Ren Amamiya let out a soft sigh. Jack Frost, floating in mid-air behind him, also began to jump excitedly due to this tense, on-the-verge-of-battle situation, letting out a low, mischievous laugh.
Words alone could not convince anyone. Only by fighting and displaying one's strength could one connect with others' hearts. Ren Amamiya had long understood this profound truth.
Therefore, when the situation escalated to a battle, Ren Amamiya didn't feel surprised or disappointed.
The green-haired, green-clothed figure swept past like a gust of viridescent wind, rushing towards Ren Amamiya at a dazzling speed. In an instant, he traversed the distance and arrived in front of Ren Amamiya, throwing a tightly clenched fist at him.
A crimson sword light flashed across the sky in an instant.
Facing Kosma's close-range punch, Ren Amamiya reacted in time, his Jizo Mitama tachi, glowing with a crimson-black radiance, met Kosma's heavy punch with the force to split the air.
Clang----!!
Ren Amamiya held a sharp tachi, while Kosma only had a pair of flesh-and-blood fists.
However, when Ren Amamiya slashed Jizo Mitama towards Kosma's swinging fist, he felt as if he had struck a thick fortress forged from steel and iron. A crisp sound of metal clashing against metal came from the point of contact between the blade and the iron fist.
Although Kosma had the appearance of a human youth, he was ultimately not truly human.
Ren Amamiya only felt an irresistible force coming from the point where Jizo Mitama and Kosma's iron fist collided. He tapped his toes lightly on the ground, his figure, like an agile black falcon, using this immense force to pull away and create distance between himself and Kosma.
The moment Ren Amamiya left his original position, Jack Frost's childlike, petite figure descended from the sky. Its snow-white fist, wreathed in extreme frosty energy, slammed towards Kosma's head, only to be blocked by Kosma's quickly raised palm.
However, the close-range ice spike barrage that followed the frost punch all slammed into Kosma's body. The continuously shooting sharp ice spikes pierced Kosma's body, sending him flying backward at high speed, his chest resembling a pincushion.
"...That move just now, I feel like I've seen it somewhere?"
After Ren Amamiya steadied himself in the distance, his brows furrowed slightly in surprise.
The move Kosma used just now—appearing in front of him and punching—Ren Amamiya felt like he had seen it somewhere before, and very recently too.
However, before Ren Amamiya could carefully recall, Kosma had already launched his next wave of attacks.
Kosma abruptly swung his arm, shattering and wiping away all the ice spikes frozen in front of his chest. He then took out a harmonica from his jacket pocket.
As Kosma played the harmonica, one Shadow after another surged from all directions, their targets clearly Ren Amamiya and Jack Frost as they attacked.
The overwhelmingly large group of Shadows, like dark clouds obscuring the sky, forced Ren Amamiya to temporarily interrupt his recollection and thoughts, and instead focus on dealing with these approaching Shadows.
"You can actually command these Shadows? Don't tell me this space is the scenery of your Palace?"
Being able to command the Shadows in this space to attack Ren Amamiya one after another, Kosma clearly held a very special status among these Shadows.
After commanding Jack Frost to spray out freezing beams in all directions, freezing and shattering all the Shadows涌来 [surging] from every corner of this space into a sky full of ice shards, Ren Amamiya asked Kosma, who was slowly lowering his harmonica in the distance, with some curiosity.
If this space, resembling the inside of an oil painting, was Kosma's Palace, then it meant there were also Will Seeds and Treasures here to be stolen and collected. Besides subduing new Personas, Ren Amamiya could also gain other unexpected harvests.
"...They are the monsters in my heart. It's natural for them to obey my command."
Kosma allowed Jack Frost to freeze and shatter all the Shadow monsters he had summoned.
Although he didn't quite understand what Ren Amamiya was saying, Kosma didn't have the nerve to ask. After a slight pause, he responded to Ren Amamiya in a cold tone.
In this special space, Griseo's studio, various monsters abounded.
These monsters were not naturally existing in the Elysian Realm but were unique creations born from Griseo's hand.
The Elysian Realm was a special space constructed from cognition. In the environment of the Elysian Realm, Griseo's paintings could reflect the scenery in the heart of the person being painted, and materialize their desires and emotions into tangible forms, becoming the powerful monsters that roamed the studio.
As Griseo's guardian, Kosma was the model Griseo painted most often. Almost all the monsters in this space were monsters from Kosma's heart.
After continuous probing and exploration, Kosma had already mastered the method of manipulating these painted monsters.
However, as things stood, relying solely on these monsters in the studio was not enough to defeat Ren Amamiya, the wielder of the Key of Erosion.
Through the brief probing just now, Kosma realized that if he didn't go all out, he absolutely couldn't defeat Ren Amamiya before him.
To protect Griseo, no matter how unwilling he was to transform into that form, Kosma was now prepared to become a demon.
Azure spectral flames suddenly erupted from Kosma's body.
When the surging azure flames dissipated, Kosma, who originally resembled a handsome human youth, had now completely lost his human appearance, transforming into the image of a狰狞 [ferocious] demon crawled out from hell.
"Is this... a second-stage transformation? Or has he reverted to his true form as a Shadow?"
Gazing at the terrifying demon, as enormous as a small mountain, that had transformed from the green-haired youth, Ren Amamiya wasn't overly surprised.
He merely tightened his grip on the Jizo Mitama tachi in his hand, once again raising his alert level towards Kosma.
In his human form, Kosma's strength was already comparable to that of an ordinary Palace Ruler.
Now that he had unleashed his demon form, the increase in his power would naturally be terrifyingly beyond ordinary imagination.
When Kosma let out a deafening roar and abruptly charged towards Ren Amamiya, even Ren Amamiya felt his vision blur for an instant, unable to completely track the movement trajectory of the demon-form Kosma.
It was too late to create distance from the rapidly approaching demon-form Kosma. Ren Amamiya quickly activated the full power contained within the Jizo Mitama tachi in his hand.
Under the amplifying effect of the Great Thunder Spiral Ring, the long tachi, transformed into Jizo Mitama: Etched, possessed even greater power than before.
Crimson-black miasma suddenly enveloped Ren Amamiya's body. After receiving the enhancement of Jizo Mitama: Etched, Ren Amamiya finally saw clearly the movement trajectory of the demon-form Kosma.
Jack Frost, enveloped in crimson-black light and letting out a sharp, strange cry, blocked the path of the demon-form Kosma, unleashing a torrential rain of ice spikes at him.
However, after transforming into his demon form, Kosma completely ignored Jack Frost's attacks.
The demon-form Kosma merely swung his arm abruptly. His blade-like arm completely shattered the attacking frost ice spikes. Even Persona Jack Frost was sent flying with a scream, unable to resist, and completely shattered into a sky full of snow-white light particles, disappearing without a trace.
However, with the time bought by Jack Frost's sacrifice, Ren Amamiya had already gained the leeway to contend with the demon-form Kosma.
Sword Ki of Taixu - Opening Sword Form - Chaotic Thunder!
An exquisitely profound Taixu sword form move was executed with ease. Under the dual enhancement of the Great Thunder Spiral Ring and Jizo Mitama: Etched, Ren Amamiya's move, as swift and fierce as a thunderclap, simultaneously struck the arm-blade that the demon-form Kosma swung at him. The tachi, enveloped in crimson-black energy flames, clashed violently with the hard, grayish-blue arm-blade.
The outcome of the clash between a Persona user and an elite Palace Ruler-level Shadow was predictable.
Although he successfully left a conspicuous gash on the demon-form Kosma's extremely hard, grayish-blue arm-blade.
Ren Amamiya's wrists were also instantly numbed by the demon-form Kosma's terrifyingly immense strength, almost making him lose his grip on Jizo Mitama: Etched.
Fortunately, his fighting style of using the demon-form Kosma's attack to create distance worked again.
Following the direction he was sent flying by Kosma's arm-blade, Ren Amamiya manipulated the electromagnetic ability provided by the Great Thunder Spiral Ring, nimbly and gracefully retreating to a distance, landing steadily on the ground in a crouching position with both knees.
"As expected of the place Philemon recommended. The Shadows here are definitely the strongest batch in Mementos. I'll have to go all out too----Come forth, my Persona! Arsene!!"
Ren Amamiya stood up from the ground. Watching the demon-form Kosma, whose gaze was once again fixed on him, his body slightly leaning forward, wanting to charge at him again, Ren Amamiya's eyes instantly narrowed. He decisively chose to summon his most familiar and proficient Persona.
When facing Siegfried himself, Ren Amamiya had once summoned Persona Siegfried to counter the enemy.
But when facing the demon-form Kosma... Although Yae Sakura and Kosma knew each other, Yae Sakura's power was far too weak compared to Kosma's. She really didn't have the weight to compete on the same stage.
The only Personas that could clash head-on with the demon-form Kosma were Arsene and Siegfried.
The demon-form Kosma's movement speed was extremely fast. A somewhat cumbersome, firepower-type Persona like Siegfried was clearly not suitable for confronting Kosma.
Therefore, Ren Amamiya's best option was only one: his primary Persona, Arsene!
Accompanied by surging spectral flames intertwined with blue and red, a Persona figure with enormous black wings sprouting from its back, wearing a black top hat, and clad in formal attire as if stained with blood, suddenly materialized behind Ren Amamiya.
Persona Arsene's body was wreathed in crimson-black miasmic light flames, with faint blue-purple electric arcs flashing intermittently. The dual amplification boosted its power to an unprecedented level.
The moment it responded to Ren Amamiya's summons and appeared, Persona Arsene vibrated its wings, twisted its body, and kicked its sharp-heeled shoe, like a blade, towards the demon-form Kosma, who was rapidly approaching Ren Amamiya.
The demon-form Kosma, who had disappeared from his original position, seemed to have actively crashed into the blade-like heel kicked out by Persona Arsene, appearing in front of Ren Amamiya and accurately ramming his head against Arsene's sole.
Only at the last moment did the demon-form Kosma narrowly tilt his head, avoiding the situation of having his eyes poked out by Arsene's kick.
But Kosma was thus kicked in the forehead by Persona Arsene. His entire enormous demonic body crashed down with a loud thud, flattening a swathe of golden picture frames floating in mid-air behind him.
"Kosma, are you alright?! You're bullying Kosma, you're bad guys! Mr. Knight, quickly go help Kosma!!"