A brilliant and bright, massive beam of light suddenly shot forth from the darkness ahead, appearing even more dazzling due to the surrounding dim environment.
Precisely because of this, the curvaceous figure standing with great interest directly in front of the enormous spotlight possessed an even more commanding presence, like a supreme magician standing proudly on stage.
"S-So bright!! Is this an enemy attack?!"
Caught off guard by the bright beam, Seele frantically raised her hand to cover her tightly shut eyes. Her entire body tensed to the extreme, believing she was under a surprise enemy attack.
The moment the spotlight beam shot out, even Ren Amamiya subconsciously clenched his fists, the same thought as Seele's flashing through his mind.
After all, this was a prison, a cage used by the evil god Yaldabaoth to incarcerate the minds of all humanity.
It wouldn't be unbelievable to encounter a few stray Shadow jailers here.
Moreover, according to Ren Amamiya's previous deductions, some sort of mishap had likely occurred outside the prison controlled by the evil god. It wasn't surprising that Shadows had infiltrated the deepest parts of the prison.
Furthermore, the current situation bore a striking resemblance to scenes in movies and TV shows where police surround suspects with car headlights.
As a Phantom Thief, Ren Amamiya instinctively felt a strong sense of vigilance. He forced his eyes into a squint under the intense light, carefully scrutinizing the female figure who had suddenly appeared.
"Welcome, welcome—Welcome to the performance of Vill-V, the greatest magician of the century's end!!"
Under Ren Amamiya's blurred vision, the female figure calling herself Vill-V, with her back to the colossal spotlight that was as dazzling as the sun, removed the hat from her head. With an elegant and exaggerated posture, she gave Ren Amamiya a slight bow, her tone filled with joy and elation.
"A magician? Aren't you a guard of this prison?"
Seele blinked her somewhat reddened blue eyes, tiny, glittering teardrops appearing at the corners due to the strong light. Still, she tried her best to keep her eyes wide open, looking intently at the figure who had suddenly appeared in front of them, questioning Vill-V with a puzzled tone.
"Guard? It's not wrong to call me a guard, but to be more precise, I should be the designer and builder of this prison. Its master, and at the same time, its prisoner!"
Vill-V placed the black hat back onto her smooth, brownish-yellow and dark green hair, responding to Seele's question in a lighthearted tone.
The Deep End, as a place where the Fire Moth of the Previous Era imprisoned the most heinous criminals, was designed to be an absolute prison from which even Vill-V, the most outstanding master machinist and the most skilled escape artist, could not escape.
And this Deep End, from which even its creator couldn't escape without resorting to backdoors, had successfully locked away the evils that the Fire Moth of the Previous Era couldn't handle.
"This little Phantom Thief gentleman with the white bird mask has already toured the prison I created once, hasn't he? Last time, because of that 'Lord God,' I couldn't come out immediately to exchange impressions with you. But this time, I've openly broken free from that one's restrictions and have come openly to welcome you, my exceptionally rare guests!"
Vill-V clapped her black leather-gloved hands together forcefully. A fanatical emotion flickered in her pinkish-white gradient pupils as she gazed with great interest at Ren Amamiya's distant figure, clad in his black Phantom Thief attire and wearing a white spirit-bird mask.
Ever since Ren Amamiya first entered the Elysian Realm, Vill-V had noticed his presence.
However, because Aponia believed Ren Amamiya, who possessed the Key of Erosion, Jizo Mitama, was too dangerous and needed to be observed before deciding whether to make contact, she had even gone so far as to impose a [Discipline] on Vill-V, her comrade.
This was how she had forcibly restrained the then-eager great magician.
And during the time Ren Amamiya was away from the Elysian Realm, Vill-V had already cleared the influence of the [Discipline] on herself and had prepared countermeasures against Aponia.
She successfully stood before Ren Amamiya, this successor in whom she had long been interested, despite Aponia's repeated obstructions.
"To actually claim to be the creator of this prison…"
Ren Amamiya slightly clenched his fists. The Mjolnir Ring he wore on his finger flickered, transforming into an arc of purplish-red light. Lightning shaped itself into a firearm, and as Ren Amamiya raised his hand, the cold muzzle pointed directly at Vill-V, who was enthusiastically performing in the distance.
Bang—!!
The almost imperceptible sound of a bullet leaving the chamber quietly echoed. The high-speed rotating projectile dragged a terrifying crimson lightning shadow behind it, flying towards Vill-V at extreme speed.
Yet Vill-V seemed completely unaware of the approaching lightning bullet. She merely kept her pinkish-white gradient pupils firmly fixed on the Mjolnir pistol in Ren Amamiya's hand, a satisfied expression appearing on her delicate, pretty face.
The bullet, wreathed in crimson lightning, flew past Vill-V's cheek and slammed into the absurdly large spotlight, plunging the prison environment, which had been illuminated in minute detail by the strong light, back into a state of excessive, quiet darkness.
"Nicely done! It seems you've mastered the Lightning Ring I crafted quite well. How was it? When you discovered the Lightning Ring had other modes, did you feel an incredibly strong sense of surprise?"
Feeling the intense electromagnetic radiation blasting directly onto her face, Vill-V, now back in the dark environment, showed no trace of gloom. Instead, a genuinely joyful smile blossomed on her face.
"That being said, I originally thought the propeller form was the final surprise. I never expected you to activate that form's power the very first time you used the Lightning Ring. But it's precisely because of this that I got to appreciate the weapon user's heartfelt joy and surprise. All in all, it wasn't a bad deal."
This mysterious and beautiful woman not only claimed that the prison environment Ren Amamiya was in was built by her, but even said that the Lightning Ring Ren Amamiya was currently using was also personally crafted by her.
Recalling Vill-V's earlier description of Ren Amamiya's first entry into the Velvet Room, which sounded as if she had witnessed it herself, Ren Amamiya, though still wary of this mysterious woman whose allegiances were unclear, felt a slight increase in trust.
"Don't be nervous, Joker, Vanny. Miss Vill-V here isn't our enemy. Just as she said, the Lightning Ring in your hand, Joker, was crafted by Miss Vill-V after I entrusted the Treasure to her."
Sensing Ren Amamiya's guarded attitude towards Vill-V, Hare, who was not meeting Vill-V for the first time, spoke up, defusing the slightly tense atmosphere caused by Vill-V's unconventional magical entrance.
"Because you had already visited the Velvet Room alone, Joker, and brought back the Lightning Ring, I thought you had already met Miss Vill-V. I didn't expect this to be your first meeting with Miss Vill-V."
Although it wasn't her first meeting with Vill-V, considering Ren Amamiya's and Seele's feelings, Hare didn't directly call out their names in front of Vill-V, instead referring to Ren Amamiya and Seele by their Phantom Thief codenames.
"I see. Although I didn't meet anyone when I last visited the Velvet Room, I did feel like I was being watched. Looking back now, the one spying on me at that time, besides that 'Lord God,' was also you, right?"
The Lightning pistol dissipated its purplish-red lightning, reverting to its ring form on Ren Amamiya's finger. After retracting his weapon, he spoke thoughtfully to Vill-V, who then nodded enthusiastically in affirmation.
"That's right! If it weren't for your 'Lord God' constantly obstructing me, I would have appeared before you the very first time… I was watched so closely that I only managed to slip away to meet you, little Phantom Thief, and didn't even have time to prepare a grander magical feast as a welcoming ceremony."
Speaking of this, a look of regret appeared on Vill-V's face, but Ren Amamiya felt a slight sense of relief.
This beautiful woman calling herself Vill-V clearly had some unusual, dark humor, especially enjoying startling people. Even when Philemon was watching her closely and she had little time to prepare, she still managed to bring a large spotlight to give him an unconventional, startling magic trick.
If she had been given ample time to prepare, Ren Amamiya didn't even know how Vill-V would have tormented him.
Although with Ren Amamiya's current strength, he basically didn't fear a direct confrontation with any enemy below the pseudo-god level, Miss Vill-V before him was, at the very least, at the level of a Velvet Room attendant, and most likely existed as a creation of the unconscious god Philemon, similar to the long-nosed old man, Igor.
It wasn't just a matter of strength. Vill-V's identity as one of the Velvet Room residents assisting with rehabilitation, coupled with her unabashedly mischievous personality since her appearance… Ren Amamiya seemed to understand why Philemon had stopped Vill-V from appearing before him last time.
Talent is talent, personality is personality.
Ren Amamiya felt that if Vill-V were his assistant for rehabilitation, his path would definitely be much more arduous than originally planned. At the very least, the fluctuations in his blood pressure would certainly be more intense and stimulating than normal.
Like the Lightning propeller last time, if it weren't for Ren Amamiya having the "Myriad Truths" filter from Izanagi-no-Okami, any normal person receiving a propeller as their important long-term weapon would absolutely not have ended up ecstatic.
They would most likely have blacked out, providing Vill-V, hiding in the background, with plenty of amusement.
"Then, Miss Vill-V, besides getting to know us, is there anything else you need to do this time?"
After learning that Vill-V wasn't an enemy but one of the Velvet Room's residents, Ren Amamiya slowly relaxed his body. Although he was conversing with Vill-V, his gaze had already bypassed her, looking into the seemingly endless, dark abyss of the prison behind her.
"Don't be so cold, little Phantom Thief. I know you're eager to use the Velvet Room's torture devices to strengthen the Persona power dwelling in your heart. But those execution tools are, after all, the inventions of this genius great magician. Compared to you slowly figuring out how to use them, having me, the great inventor, personally assist you will yield the best results, you know~~~"
Vill-V noticed Ren Amamiya's gaze peering into the darkness behind her. She raised her hand and waved it, successfully recapturing Ren Amamiya's attention. She then proudly puffed out her impressive chest and proactively offered her services to Ren Amamiya.
"…Then I'll have to trouble you, Miss Vill-V."
Although he somewhat wanted to complain about why everything he encountered was made by Vill-V, considering Vill-V didn't have the white hair, golden eyes, and blue uniform characteristic of Velvet Room attendants, she was highly likely a creation of an unconscious god on par with Igor.
Persona fusion guided by Vill-V would definitely be more efficient than him fumbling around on his own.
Therefore, Ren Amamiya silently suppressed the urge to complain that welled up in his heart and instead nodded slightly at Vill-V.
Even if Vill-V's personality would likely bring some troublesome mischief, if the Persona fusion process guided by Vill-V was exceptionally efficient, Ren Amamiya wouldn't mind "eating his words" on the spot.
"Ta-da~~~! Welcome to the Persona Guillotine and Electric Chair, specially made by the great inventor Vill-V!! So, little Phantom Thief, which tool do you want to use, and which Persona do you want to execute?!"
After her proposal to personally demonstrate the use of the execution tools to Ren Amamiya was accepted, the curve of Vill-V's lips deepened further.
She proudly puffed out her chest and clapped her hands. As the rhythmic, crisp clapping sound echoed, a heavy guillotine, glinting with a cold sharpness, and a blue electric chair, as if by magic, crashed down from the sky, landing with two dull thuds in front of Ren Amamiya and the others.
"Is this… the guillotine Big Brother Joker mentioned before? Just by putting a Persona on the guillotine for execution, you can fuse a Persona stronger than the original?"
Looking at the two surprisingly appearing execution tools, Seele covered her slightly agape mouth with her hand, speaking in an astonished tone.
Because Veliona had been anxiously muttering in her mind about whether Ren Amamiya would put her on the guillotine to gain power, and would get angry and embarrassed if Seele overheard and joined the conversation, Seele had been curious about this so-called Persona guillotine for a long time.
Now that she finally saw the real thing, Seele immediately began to carefully examine this terrifying-looking execution tool.
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you for a moment. Before performing Persona fusion, I plan to visit Griseo first to record the skills mastered by a certain Persona… Before recording that Persona's abilities, I don't plan to execute it directly."
Facing Vill-V's incredibly enthusiastic gaze, Ren Amamiya calmly refused her suggestion to perform Persona execution now. He intended to continue with his predetermined plan: first find Griseo to record Persona Norn's time-flow manipulation skill, and then finally execute Persona Norn.
"It's okay, no need to be in such a hurry. It's the grand opening special! This service is completely free. Next time you come, little Phantom Thief, if you want my personal service again, you'll need to complete the trials I set and collect enough [currency] to make an equal exchange with me."
Hearing that Ren Amamiya wanted to bypass her, the great magician, and find Griseo first, Vill-V's eyebrows twitched slightly. Then, she raised a finger and explained to Ren Amamiya in a lighthearted tone.
"The [Persona Compendium]… that's what you call this function, right? For this time only, I can re-summon Personas you've already executed for free. So, little Phantom Thief, you don't need to rush to find Griseo first. After completing Persona fusion here with me, it's perfectly fine to take the Persona I re-summoned from the Persona Compendium to find Griseo."
"Limited-time free access to the Persona Compendium, huh… Sounds pretty good."
Hearing Vill-V's offer, Ren Amamiya's eyes lit up slightly.
Although it seemed like he couldn't use yen for transactions here with Vill-V, and needed to collect specific currency, like collecting Desire Flowers for Jose, to make exchanges with Vill-V, it wasn't a big problem. No matter how mischievous Vill-V was, she couldn't possibly set an unbeatable trial.
Even if the trials Vill-V set were too difficult and the cost-effectiveness wasn't worth Ren Amamiya running back and forth in Mementos, he could choose not to be assisted by Vill-V and just use the execution tools himself to complete Persona fusion.
As the only Trickster capable of stealing humanity's future back from the evil god, Ren Amamiya didn't believe Vill-V would be so stingy as to not let him use the execution tools himself for Persona fusion.
Even if Vill-V's mischief truly reached that extent, Philemon, the unconscious god behind her, would definitely help suppress Vill-V's terrible nature.
"Besides the Personas I currently possess or have possessed in the past, are there other Personas registered in the Persona Compendium at this time? For example… records of Personas left behind by seniors who visited the Velvet Room in the past?"
Ren Amamiya had found nothing on the attic shelves of Leblanc, not receiving any bonus DLC content like in the game. But perhaps the Velvet Room itself came with records of past visitors' Personas, maybe even an Izanagi-no-Okami waiting for him to claim.
"Records of Personas from seniors who visited this place in the past? Of course, there are. But if you want to subdue them as Personas, you'll have to defeat them personally and gain their recognition."
Vill-V blinked. The "seniors" Ren Amamiya referred to were clearly the Previous Era Flame-Chasers who had continuously updated their memory data after the construction of the Elysian Realm.
She had all the data of the entire Elysian Realm in her grasp, so she naturally had backup data for the Thirteen Flame-Chasers. However, she certainly couldn't sell out her comrades' data. At most, she could mark her own memory data with an astronomical price to make Ren Amamiya covet it and strive for it.
Huh? I have to fight the P4 and P3 protagonists? [Yu Narukami and Makoto Yuki]
Although Ren Amamiya knew the Velvet Room allowed challenging phantom records of previous protagonists, he hadn't expected the real Velvet Room to require him to defeat the corresponding phantom before he could obtain the respective Persona.
Wait, if I could beat Izanagi-no-Okami Picaro, would I even need to beat Izanagi-no-Okami Picaro?
With only Hare and Seele as his current teammates, and Ren Amamiya himself having just gone through a major battle, he was temporarily not in the mood to challenge a high-difficulty, hell-mode battle.
He planned to continue to build up his strength and come back to complete the Velvet Room challenges after his team was fully formed in the future.
"If that's the case, then first re-summon the Personas Orthrus and Baphomet that I've executed before. Let me see what kind of Persona can be fused through an execution ceremony led by you."
Having made up his mind, Ren Amamiya looked up and stated his decision to Vill-V.
"No problem! Keep your eyes wide open and don't miss a single moment of this magic show—"
As Vill-V confidently raised her hand, dazzling and brilliant fireworks suddenly shot up from behind her, blooming with colorful splendor against the dark dome of the prison.
And with the explosion of the fireworks, the imposing figure of a fierce tiger burning with raging flames, and the elegant image of a divine wolf emanating a serene blue glow, prominently appeared before Ren Amamiya.
The long-unseen Personas Orthrus and Baphomet, responding to Ren Amamiya's summons, manifested once more from the Persona Compendium!
"It's Big Brother Joker's previous two Personas… Eek, you just revived them, and now you're going to execute them again…?"
Seeing Orthrus and Baphomet again, Seele's eyes lit up slightly. However, remembering that Ren Amamiya had Vill-V revive them just to execute them again, the expression on Seele's face became quite peculiar.
A grayish-brown curtain with a spiral insignia descended from the sky, obscuring the figures of Persona Orthrus and Persona Baphomet, who were locked in the cold guillotine's slot.
Although Seele couldn't see the bloody scene beneath the curtain, looking at the two bulges under the curtain struggling and writhing frantically, her scalp still tingled. She tightly closed her eyes, shrinking her head and hiding behind Ren Amamiya.
A crisp snap of fingers suddenly sounded. Under Vill-V's enthusiastic manipulation, the high-hanging, sharp blade of the guillotine roared as it fell.
Along with the loud thud that signified the end, two vibrant orbs of light, one red and one blue, suddenly rose from beneath the guillotine into the high sky of the dark prison. Under Ren Amamiya's expectant gaze, they intertwined like milk and water, forming a brand-new Persona figure.