Urban Legends

by Kanius

"It's coming. It's here." Said the female Revenant. A man with no memories and a Shogi woman meet again. Thieves and Revenants cross paths. Fates intertwine when dark entities manipulate and tweak the timeline. Mysteries of the dark entities will be unraveled. [A Persona 5 and Code Vein crossover with Kakegurui and Nioh elements. A sequel to Ford1114's Persona Vein.]

26. Soaring Vamkyries, Protect Weeping Tree

Chapter XXVI

The Soaring Vamkyries; Protect the Weeping Tree (舞い上がるヴァンキリー; しだれ木を守る)

xxxxx

Dimension: PV-CV-19/Provisional Government Outskirts

Upon recovering from the raw power of Mido's transformation, the Thieves, the Vein Remnants, the Elven Princesses, and the Revenants (PV-CV-19) postured into battle stances. They pivoted toward the veil of smoke revealing the Revenant scientist's Vein of Evolution. Facing their nemesis, the Vein Remnants and the Revenants (PV-CV-19)'s eyes glowed bright red.

"Heheh, does my new form send dread down your little spines? And is that apprehension I see etched on your faces?" Mido openly taunted his main adversaries.

"You'd sure like to think that!" retorted Engineer.

"Pfft, like we'd be afraid of you? You don't impress us with that stupid new look," Yakumo (PV-CV-19) dismissively put him down.

"Hey, I wouldn't be smack talking him like that," Mona remarked, brandishing his sword.

"Not to mention we got Kriemhild, the Vamkyries, and Joker's clone to deal with," warned Queen, turning toward Joker, who faced down Akireplica. "Joker, are you sure you want to handle him?"

Nodding, Joker quickly readied his pistol and dagger, not once taking his eyes off Akireplica. Growling under his breath, Akireplica snarled and ran a thumb across his throat, as if to signal Joker's throat getting slit. Kriemhild kept the Vamkyries at bay, waiting for the right moment to strike. For a moment, Jinyo's gaze met Tennyo and Io's, the former giving a creepy smile that tried to deter them. However, both ladies kept their guard against Mido's clone daughter.

However, Mido merely lifted a finger and pointed to the group. Then, in a blink and barely noticed moment, an explosion erupted behind the group, causing everyone to spread apart, leading to the villains to divide and pick which group members to pick off.

"Holy shit! Did y'all see him even shoot a blast behind us?!" Skull shouted.

"I didn't even see him fire anything!" Noir exclaimed.

"Some of us saw what happened, but none of us were quick to deflect it!" Jack called out.

"Crap, that form isn't all just show then!" Mia (PV-CV-19) cried.

"Don't let your guards down everyone!" Sion warned everyone.

"Yes, what he said and not for a moment!" Louis (PV-CV-19) added, warning his own colleagues.

Offering a helping hand to Anastasia, Nadia helped her colleague up. "Stay sharp, ok?"

Nodding, Anastasia fearfully muttered. "Sorry, but I wasn't prepared for that."

"Don't worry. None of us were," Tennyo reassured the Elven Princess.

Scanning the villains surrounding, Io's golden eyes glowed. "No matter what, we can't let them near the Weeping Tree. Swinging her halberd, the pale Revenant fiercely faced down Tennyo's corrupted clone. "I'll stop her if I must!"

Tennyo nodded. "You won't fight her alone, Io."

Deeply chortling, the Revenant researcher dropped his hand and flexed his entire right arm. "Yes, the power of the Envoy of Evolution is exactly what I bargained for. Perhaps we shall see if it'll be potent to vanquish you all." He chuckled again as his red eye menacingly glowed. "But, next time I won't miss." He deepened his voice, sounding less formal and more depraved. With a head turn, he shot up and grabbed Engineer, removing him from his colleagues. "Come, why don't we have ourselves a talk, dear boy?!"

"LOUIS!" The Vein Remnants called out, but before they headed off to save him, the Vamkyries cut them off from aiding their colleague.

"Get out of our way!" Hound roared, instinctively summoning the two hounds from his back. He then turned his Hound-Type Blood Veil on the Vamkyries, who quickly scattered from getting mauled.

"We need to get to Louis!" Noir called out, turning toward Queen.

"C'mon!" Queen beckoned her girlfriend as they headed off, but two of the Vamkyries, Göndul and Skögul, prevented them from pursuing Engineer. As Göndul launched and kicked an earth sphere at Queen, the Phantom Thief shattered it with a fist of justice. "We don't have time to mess with you!"

Kriemhild chortled, taunting the Phantom Thieves and their allies. "Oh, but we have plenty of time. Phantom Thieves, Revenants, and Elven, I know you've learned of my backstory. You've seen it was I and the Yami Matter that destroyed that dreary Wulf-Edda realm. You'll see we're capable of doing the same to your own universe."

Growling, Panther snapped at her. "We aren't letting you and the Yami Matter get away with erasing our world!"

Fox added. "Indeed! Unlike that other world, our bonds are stronger than those arrogant, petty Asgardians showed. That's what essentially weakened the system of that world and allowed you to destroy their dimension!"

Oracle grinned. "What he said, we learn from others' mistakes. We ain't letting you get into our heads."

Kriemhild smirked coyly. "Perhaps not, but that's fine. The Vamkyries and I shall entertain ourselves by eviscerating you all. Vamkyries, shall we?!"

As the Vamkyries prepared to attack, Sion (PV-CV-19), Louis (CV-PV-19), Jack (PV-CV-19), and Eva (PV-CV-19) sprinted toward Engineer and Mido's direction.

"Don't worry about your Louis. We're going to get him!" Louis (CV-PV-19) called out to the Thieves, the Vein Remnants, and the Elven Princesses.

"Thank you and be careful!" Stinger shouted toward them.

"Please, bring him back safe," Noir prayed for the most positive outcome.

Clenching her fists, Queen faced Kriemhild and the Vamkyries. "Fine. I can settle beating all of you until you're all pulp on my fists." Lifting her right fist to her face level, she snarled like a beast, gritting her teeth. "That's how much confidence I have of our Louis coming back to us."

Kriemhild deeply chuckled. "So, you say, but he's going to need a miracle to survive Mido."

As Jinyo veered toward the government provisional building, she prepared to make true on finding the Weeping Tree. However, Tennyo and Ivy intercepted the clone. Swinging her ko-naginata, Tennyo attacked from the left. With her halberd, Ivy attacked from the right, Jinyo narrowly dodged getting torn up, evading their weapons' strikes.

"You two don't let her inside the government building!" Sion called to them.

As they nodded, Tennyo and Ivy promptly engaged Jinyo in a heated two on one duel, keeping the clone as far away from the Weeping Tree as possible. While this happened, Akireplica rushed at Joker and attacked him with a dagger. Joker countered with his Tyrant Dagger, stopping the Akira clone's attack. Akireplica growled intensely into Joker's face.

"Joker!" Panther called out, running over to save him, but a fiery arrow stopped her. She gazed up toward Ölrún, who unleashed a flurry of arrows. As Panther tried dodging the Vamkyrie's Agilaz's Volley, a frozen mist nullified the fire arrows. "Thanks, Fox!"

Fox gave a gentlemanly gesture. "My pleasure, Panther. Let us defeat that Vamkyrie!"

As Panther and Skull settled on Ölrún, Queen and Haru naturally went for Göndul and Skögul. Skull and Oracle. Hound and Yakumo (PV-CV-19) confronted Geirdriful. Mona, Stinger, Mia, and Akechi (PV-CV-19) faced off against Mist.

Finding himself between two Mias, Mona found himself in cloud heaven, but he suppressed his quick impulses to settle on the matter at hand.

"Listen up, everyone! You know the deal!" Mona declared. "These Vamkyries are in a whole different league than the fodder we just beat!"

Skull scoffed. "Tell us something we don't know!"

Oracle nodded. "Right!"

Meanwhile, Sion, Jack, Eva, and the Elven Princesses confronted Kriemhild, Brynhildr, Sigrún, and Eir.

"Oh, did you think my Vamkyries didn't come without some reinforcements? Bear witness the Flight of the Vamkyries!" Kriemhild openly decreed, raising her hand as the Andvaranaut ring on her ring finger glowed with life. In conjunction with the glowing ring's power, the manifesting Yami Matter opened another large portal above everyone.

As the group caught wind of the portal, the dark red skies became bathed with bright crimson, resembling a sea of blood. When the distortion expanded, the loud, unearthly screeches came out startling the group members. Raising their heads, the Vamkyries sensed the approach of these beasts.

Finally, the group quickly identified a group of ten large white swans with feathered wings and back legs. Their tails are feathered like a swan's. Lupine ears, seen on a wolf, adorned their heads. The beasts' scaly front legs resembled those of a griffin. As the beasts landed, they stood over 15-feet weight and had 30-foot long wingspans. This group of swan-like beasts screeched loudly, beckoning to the Vamkyries.

"The Vargr Swans shall aid you in your battle, Vamkyries. Use them well," Kriemhild commanded the Vamkyries, who each nodded and flew over to their respective steed.

Upon mounting their Vargr Swans, the Vamkyries raised their hands and hollered in unison, rallying themselves against their adversaries.

"Vamkyries, let us finish these fools once and for all!" Brynhildr rallied her troops as they and their steeds headed off to attack their opposition. She and the Vamkyries' Vargr Swans launched the first attack, fiercely flapping their wings and unleashing waves of blue wildfire. Their Frostburn Wildland quickly washed over and burned away most of the terrain, save for the areas near the government building.

"Look out!" Jack called out as he, the other Vein Remnants, the Thieves, the Elven Princesses, and the Revenants (PV-CV-19) evaded the rain of blue flames heading their way, which scorched most of the land away.

"Is everyone ok?!" Sion asked, quickly scanning over his friends and allies.

"Shit! That was too close!" Skull exclaimed.

"Those are some big ass monster swans!" Oracle exclaimed.

"They're like dragons, but not quite like them. Still, we need to be vigilant of their fire!" Akechi observed.

"So, what?! They're just more obstacles for us to overcome!" Hound growled. "Besides, Sion, you, me, and Louis have our Envoy forms!"

Hearing this, Stinger nodded. "That's right!"

"And we have our Persona's Ascendancy! We're not so low on options!" Queen reminded the other Thieves. "So, let's give them an all-out fight!"

With that, the Thieves summoned their Ultimate Personas and merged with them, triggering their Persona's Ascendancy forms. Mona became Mercurius ΩX. Queen became Anat ΩX. Skull turned into Seiten Taisei ΩX. Panther turned into Hecate ΩX. Oracle became Prometheus ΩX. Fox turned into Kamu Susano-o ΩX. Noir turned into Astarte ΩX. Akechi became Loki ΩX.

The Revenants then witnessed the Vein Remnants unveiling their Envoy forms. Sion unveiled his Envoy of Matthew form. Hound became the Envoy of Luke. Stinger invoked her Envoy of John form.

"Wow, amazing. I never would've imagined us with these forms," Yakumo (PV-CV-19) observed.

"Me either," a mesmerized Mia (PV-CV-19) concurred with her Revenant compatriot.

"It's all thanks to Hifumi and Io's powers," Sion revealed, maintaining his focus on Kriemhild.

As she mockingly clapped, Kriemhild giggled. "Wow, what a spectacular fashion show! But just because you have a new set of powers to match your new attires, that won't change your situation." She motioned toward Brynhildr. "I believe I'll be joining this fight with you."

Brynhildr nodded. "No arguments with me."

With that, Kriemhild convened with the Vamkyries and went straight after their opposition. Tennyo and Ivy engaged Jinyo while keeping her away from the government facility. As Akireplica bolted off, Joker pursued Akira's clone.

xxxxx

Once again coming into blows with the Shroud Vamkyrie, Mercurius ΩX attacked her with his scimitar. While fending off the cat's strikes, Mist turned the other way as two long metal tails flew toward her direction. She nimbly moved, avoiding getting skewered by Stinger and Mia (PV-CV-19)'s Blood Veils.

"Hahah, nice try, but I am already familiar with thy techniques!" Mist taunted the Mia duo.

"Yes, but you haven't dueled me yet," whispered a voice belonging to Loki ΩX.

Turning around to face him, a pair of serrated blades slashed the Shroud Vamkyrie, dealing a great deal of damage to her. As Loki ΩX finally came into view, he rushed the Shroud Vamkyrie while laughing maniacally.

"What the fukka?! Get back, fiend!" Mist shouted, expelling a jade mist that surrounded them. Using Njörðr's Tempest as a means to escape and recover, the Shroud Vamkyrie left them speculating about her next move.

"Have at them, my Vargr Swan! Incinerate them!" Mist's disembodied voice announced, masking her own whereabouts.

Just then, Mist's Vargr Swan dove toward Mercurius ΩX, Stinger, Mia (PV-CV-19), and Loki ΩX, unleashing blue flames from its flapping wings. With blue fire raining on them, the group scattered. Mercurius ΩX led the assault, firing guided shots from his slingshot. Coupled with Stinger and Mia (PV-CV-19) firing shots from their bayonets, they bombarded the swan with precise shots.

"Nice work, Lady! Keep it up!" Mercurius ΩX called out.

As she continued firing at the swan, Mia (PV-CV-19) asked Stinger. "He calls you that?"

"He says it so endearingly. I'm already used to it," casually replied Stinger.

"I wonder if he'd call me that?"

"Your guard is down!" Mist called out as she dropped down behind Stinger with a seax in hand. Looking to slit Stinger's throat, Mia (PV-CV-19) stunned the Vamkyrie with her bayonet.

"And I'll take it from here!" Mercurius ΩX declared, shooting a bomb from his slingshot, which exploded in the Shroud Vamkyrie's face.

Before she can rebound, Loki ΩX shot her point blank in the back of Mist's back with a silencer gun. Blood seeped from her head wound. However, this did little but aggravate the Shroud Vamkyrie as she turned and menacingly growled at Loki ΩX.

"You're not going to kill her that way!" Stinger chastised the ex-ace detective.

"Yes, and now thou hast incurred my anger! Be prepared to face thy end!" Mist declared as she flew up and grabbed her Vargr Swan's face. "Lend me thy power, loyal steed!' With that, just like the other Vamkyries, she extracted her swan's energy and absorbed it into her being.

As the swan dissipated into spiritual energy for Mist to feed on, the Shroud Vamkyrie's form changed. Her lower body, from the waist down, morphed into the shape of a green and scaly snake. New green wings sprouted from the small of her back. She also gained a purple porcupine stinger-like tail, a feature found on the Manticore. Having gained Campe and Manticore features, the Shroud Vamkyrie descended near her adversaries.

Giggling fiendishly, Über-Mist wore a deranged smile. "Thou art prepared to meet thy end, friends?!" She rushed at the group, swinging her Manticore tail at them.

Stinger and Mia both invoked her Stinger-Type Blood Veils, countering Mist's Manticore tail attack. Then, Stinger channeled white light through her bayonet, unloading a barrage of white beams at Über-Mist, but the beastly Über-Vamkyrie countered Stinger's Bullets of Aramis with purple beams from her tail. After taking out Stinger's attack, the Shroud Vamkyrie produced a purple slime from her tail, which conjured a ghastly creature with a skeleton-like visage. Then, the single Draugr creature split into two and then four.

Utilizing her Einherjar of Hades, the Über-Vamkyrie beckoned her Draugar-like tokens to attack her adversaries.

"Augh, gross! Take them out, guys!" Mercurius ΩX yelped, shooting a bomb at an Einherjar, blowing it up into bits.

Loki ΩX quickly chopped up another Einjerjar into pieces. Stinger and Mia (PV-CV-19) took turns blowing away undead tokens with their bayonets. In response to her Draugar-like tokens being wiped out, Über-Mist invoked her passive ability, Hestia's Landscaping, to melt the terrain with acidic sludge seeping from her tail. The group quickly jumped on a platform, avoiding the deadly sludge.

"Run all thou want, but thou will not escape your fates!" Über-Mist shouted, throwing several seax at the group. As the Stinger and Mia (PV-CV-19) batted the seax with their Blood Veils, Über-Mist flew into the air and sprayed purple beams from her Manticore tail.

"Damn it, she's more trouble than she's worth!" Mia (PV-CV-19) shouted.

"No, we can beat her!" Stinger rallied them on.

"I suggest we go for the tail," Mercurius ΩX eyed the Über-Vamkyrie's tail. "But, getting to it will be a task."

"Then, it's a job for me then," Loki ΩX eyed the tail and jumped up to meet the Shroud Vamkyrie.

"Thou want this, Midgardian?!" Über-Mist readied her tail, which Loki ΩX cut off by throwing one of his swords at it. Then, he unleashed an immense gust of wind power that devastated the Über-Vamkyrie.

After damaging her with Loptr Tornado, he prepared to slice off her limbs.

"Dost not get carried away!" Screamed Über-Mist, using the stub of her tail to fire purple beams from it.

"What?!" Loki ΩX exclaimed, swiftly dodging the beams. He landed back where the others were.

"Heheh, thou think cutting off my tail will solve anything? I dost not think so!" The Shroud Vamkyrie unleashed more beams from her tail stub, forcing the group to take cover.

"That does it! Now you've made me mad!" Stinger growled as she transformed into her large scorpion-tailed snow leopard form: the Successor of Alexandra Panthera. Snarling with ferocity, the beast lunged into Über-Mist and slammed her into the ground. She started clawing away and biting on Über-Mist.

Upon seeing her counterpart's transformation, Mia (PV-CV-19) was flabbergasted. "Wh-What just happened?! It's almost like the other me is a Successor of some kind!"

After using Ω Salvation to heal him and his group, Mercurius ΩX answered her. "Not quite. She got her power from Hifumi and Io. In this form, she's known as the Successor of Alexandra Panthera."

"You don't say," she muttered, keenly admiring Stinger's beastly clash with the Shroud Vamkyrie.

xxxxx

Rushing head to head with Göndul, Anat ΩX landed a body shot into the Masculine Vamkyrie's gut. Doubling over from the ab-crunching blow, Göndul rebounded with a swift kick to the Phantom Thief's face. After being booted back, Göndul charged toward her with reckless abandon. Charging immense power in her right hand, Anat ΩX shoved her glowing fist through the earth, firing off a nuclear-charged blast.

"Thou think thy power can overcome my fists?!" Göndul roared, sidestepping her adversary's devastating blast. When she prepared to amass rocks to build a giant boulder, Anat ΩX flew down from above and delivered a two-punch Nuclear Fist combo, dealing bone crunching blows to the Vamkyrie.

"How do you like that?!" Anat ΩX spat out, punching Göndul again so hard she sent the Masculine Vamkyrie crashing through some infrastructure.

Recovering from her fall, Göndul punched her way through the debris burying her. She then amassed the debris, utilizing her earthbending technique to create a giant boulder over her head. She then kicked the giant rock toward Anat ΩX. The Phantom Thief ran head-on and punched the giant rock, shattering it into pieces with a single blow. Suddenly, she felt the earth under her shaking. She assessed the earth rumbling and recalled this earthquake technique. She saw Göndul trying to throw her balance off with Jörð's Earthshaker, an ability passed down to her by a previous Valkyrie.

"I hast not fallen yet!" Göndul declared, beckoning her Vargr Swan to unleash blue fire at Anat ΩX.

Evading the incoming blue fire blasts, Anat ΩX acrobatically moved around, using backflips and somersaults. This aggravated the Masculine Vamkyrie to no end. She ran at Anat ΩX with quick speed. As she unloaded with a flurry of fast punches, Anat ΩX recalled being in this situation before. When Göndul went for her Rocky Beat Rush, Anat ΩX crossed her arms, blocking her punches.

"Your moves... " Anat ΩX fired back with a flurry of devastating punches at the muscular Vamkyrie. "...ARE PREDICTABLE!" She then landed a powerful gut punch followed by a spinning back kick and ending the three-hit combo with an uppercut to the Masculine Vamkyrie's jaw. Hearing the crunch of her own jaw almost being broken, Göndul was sent flying into the air.

As Göndul was knocked into her Vargr Swan, she quickly grabbed her steed's face and absorbed its entire essence. Upon incorporating her swan's energy into her body, the Vamkyrie transformed in a hurry. From the waist down, her entire lower body resembled a worm-like serpent. A gaping hole formed in the center of her stomach, specifically the abdominal area. This gaping hole was really a mouth full of teeth. Gaining the features of a Charybdis, the Masculine Vamkyrie's strength was renewed.

"Great, I can't imagine she's that much stronger," sardonically remarked Anat ΩX, readying a battle stance. She watched as Über-Göndul invoked her passive ability, Aphrodite's Amour-propre, to enhance and heal herself. "Love thyself. That is what I hast been taught from my lover."

"Well, your lover is wrong."

"I care for no one else but her."

"Well, I love Haru. I Love Louis. Most of all, I care for my friends. Unlike you, I don't treat them as possessions. I will protect them from someone like you!" Anat ΩX roared, running ahead to meet Über-Göndul for another physical brawl. When she went for another body shot, bronze armor called the Armor of Hephaestus formed over the Über-Vamkyrie's body, absorbing Anat ΩX's powerful blow.

"Thou thought thy fist couldst shatter my armor?!" Über-Göndul bellowed as she reached to grab the Phantom thief, but Anat ΩX nimbly sidestepped the beast woman's reach. "Art thou going to flee like a coward?!"

Scowling and gritting, Anat ΩX retorted. "Not even!" She then fired back with a kick that knocked Über-Göndul back. Clenching her right hand, she growled. "I'm finishing this!" Just then, she leered toward the far opposite direction, observing Astarte ΩX defending herself from Skögul's water attacks.

Göndul's lover conjured a globe of water and launched it directly at Astarte ΩX. Quickly deflecting the water blast with her ax, Astarte ΩX fired her psychic attack, Ω Psycho Force, which dissipated the Feminine Vamkyrie's water attack.

Uncurling her upper lip, Skögul growled irritably. "The nerve of thou… thou will not defeat me! My beauty will live on for eternity!" She ran toward Astarte ΩX, launching another water globe toward the ascended Phantom Thief's way.

Dodging Skögul's Waves of Rán, Astarte ΩX summoned two artillery cannons and fired her Ω Triple Down, which devastated the Feminine Vamkyrie's blast. Growing more irritated with Astarte ΩX somehow countering her attacks, the Feminine Vamkyrie beckoned her Vargr Swan.

As the swan flew down and fired blue flames toward Astarte ΩX, the ascended Phantom Thief dodged the flaming projectiles. She then fired her artillery cannons, blasting and knocking the swan right out of the sky.

"NO!" Skögul shouted as she headed off to extract the swan's powers.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Astarte ΩX fired another more cannon shots, but Feminine Vamkyrie conjured her Aqua Protection while reinforcing her barrier with more water, which absorbed Astarte ΩX's immense attack.

"That shouldst do!" Skögul then jumped up to shove her hand through her Vargr Swan's head, extracting its energies to harvest for herself. "Ohohoho! I shalt use thy energy to make myself more beautiful!" With that, she siphoned off her steed enough where it triggered her transformation.

As the swan vanished, Skögul's body physically changed. From the waist down, her lower body morphed into six tendril heads of a Scylla. However, instead of these faces appearing reptilian or canine-like, the six heads' faces gained the Vamkyrie's grisly visage complete with sharp teeth. The inner beauty she sought for revealed her true inner ugliness. The horrific visages revealed her despicable hatred in physical form.

After tearing down her water barrier, Astarte ΩX arrived too late to prevent her adversary's horrific transformation.

"So, what dost think? Hast I achieved the pinnacle of my unmatched beauty?! Ohohoho!" Über-Skögul taunted the ascended Phantom Thief, laughing in a contemptuous manner.

"Hardly," remarked Astarte ΩX. "This is not true beauty! No one knows beauty better than I. This form you call beauty is twisted and reflects your true character. I've seen your character from those flashbacks! The real you! Not Kriemhild!"

Scoffing, Über-Skögul rebuked. "Yes, yes, so thou know about my past? So, what? It makes no difference if I am just an extension of Kriemhild or the real me, I am the most beautiful creature in all of the realms!"

"There's no point talking sense into you then," Astarte X resolved to finish where they started. As she headed off to engage the Feminine Vamkyrie, Über-Skögul invoked her passive ability, Aphrodite's Amour-propre, and enhanced her power. "I shalt fight for Göndul!"

"I doubt your love for your lover is as genuine as my love for Mako-chan and Louis!" Astarte ΩX cried out, madly swinging and chopping at the six head tendrils. Every head hungrily snapped their jaws looking to tear Astarte ΩX apart and devour her piece by piece.

"Wrong! No love is greater than mine for my Göndul!" Über-Skögul amassed a giant tidal wave behind her. Unleashing her Waves of Poseidon, the Feminine Vamkyrie repelled the Beauty Thief away.

Overwhelmed by her enemy's tidal wave, Astarte ΩX crashed to the ground. Once recovering, she stood ready to fight.

Über-Skögul blew a freezing breath, turning most of the terrain into solid ice.

Astarte ΩX distanced herself from getting caught in Über-Skögul's Breath of the Sea. She fired more blasts from her artillery cannons. Über-Skögul stopped them with her Aqua Protection.

The Über-Vamkyrie growled. "Thou art persistent, I shalt give thee that!" She and Astarte ΩX pressed on with their battle.

xxxxx

As she came diving with her Vargr Swan, Thrúd swung down Mjölnir, casting a powerful lightning bolt at Seiten Taisei ΩX and Prometheus ΩX. The two Thieves split up, barely evading the Storm Vamkyrie's direct attack.

"Yo, check her battle stats, Oracle!" Seiten Taisei ΩX called out.

Nodding, Prometheus ΩX's visor scanned over the Storm Vamkyrie's overall power stats.

"Since she uses electricity-based powers, you can easily absorb her attacks to make yourself stronger or you can nullify her attacks."

"Right, I knew that! What else?"

"Based on her battle stats, she's much stronger with her swan and her hammer. Take those two elements away, while she's tough, either one of us can take her out individually."

"Right, let's separate her then!" Seiten Taisei roared.

The Vamkyrie and her steed went for another dive bomb attack. Charging electricity in his hands, the Phantom Thief jumped up charging and firing Ziodyne.

In response, Thrúd cracked an enthused grin and summoned her secondary weapon: the Umbra Stormbreaker. As she crossed both her hammer and ax, the Storm Vamkyrie unleashed her Ber-serkr Ball at him. Having seen the attack coming, after dodging the lightning ball, Seiten Taisei ΩX outwitted the warrior, swerving his electric attack as it moved around following Seiten Taisei's hand movements. The blast then came behind and blasted Thrúd's back.

With her guard down, Seiten Taisei ΩX punched and knocked her off the swan's back. As the Vamkyrie hit the ground, she quickly sprang up with no physical injuries. Then, she heard the sound of something sounding like a lightsaber being drawn. She whirled around as Prometheus ΩX slashed her with her laser sword. Barely seeing her sneak attack, the Storm Vamkyrie dodged Prometheus ΩX's swings, which the Vamkyrie could tell were mostly unpolished.

"Heheh, not bad, but thy form is off, young one! Allow me to show thee how to wield a weapon!" Thrúd then recalled Mjölnir to her hand and flung a lightning bolt at her. Prometheus ΩX prepared to stop the Vamkyrie's Mjölnir's Strike, but having assessed the immense power heading her direction, she immediately sidestepped it. As Thrúd went to smash Prometheus ΩX's head like pulp, Seiten Taisei ΩX intercepted the Vamkyrie with her own weapon.

"Heh, I think ya dropped this!" Seiten Taisei ΩX countered Thrúd's hammer with her own Umbra Stormbreaker.

Upon seeing her own weapon in a mortal's hands, the Storm Vamkyrie balked. "Thou dare wield my weapon, Midgardian?!" Taking her eyes off Prometheus ΩX, Thrúd fiercely attacked Seiten Taisei ΩX with reckless abandon. Each swing bashed against the hammer and pushed Seiten Taisei ΩX back.

Gripping her laser sword, Prometheus ΩX made a quick dash toward Thrúd, who turned and blasted her with a lightning bolt. Then, in a surprise turn that dismayed the Vamkyrie, Prometheus X caught her lightning bolt with her laser sword and flung it back at her.

"How didst thou…?!" Before the Storm Vamkyrie could register this, she absorbed the bolt with her hammer, but this left her wide open for Seiten Taisei ΩX to blast her with an Electric Kamehameha.

"Yeah, get wrecked!" Seiten Taisei ΩX boasted.

Then, the Vargr Swan flew down, unleashing blue flames from its flapping wings. The two Thieves quickly moved away from the deadly flames.

"Come to me, my loyal steed! Let us combine our strength and finish them!" Thrúd roared, hefting her father's hammer overhead as mystic lightning poured out to engulf her and the Vargr Swan. When the mystic power of Mjölnir combined them, the Storm Vamkyrie transformed into a Minotaur-like humanoid.

Popping out from the sides of her head, Thrúd gained horns. Feathered wings of the Vargr swan protruded from her shoulder blade areas. The soles and front area of her footwear broke off, revealing her newly transformed hooved feet. Her entire upper body frame gained muscle growth, including larger biceps, triceps, and shoulders. Still firmly holding onto her hammer, the newly transformed Über-Thrúd snorted loudly and stomped her right foot down.

"I shalt crush you with my new power!" Roared Über-Thrúd, charging head-on with Seiten Taisei ΩX and Prometheus ΩX. During her charge, her horns extended outward, intending to stab the Thieves. As the Thieves dodged, Über-Thrúd's hammer and horns amassed three lightning bolts, which converged into a single thunderbolt and shot toward the duo.

"Holy shit!" Seiten Taisei ΩX quickly prepared to stop Über-Thrúd's thunderbolt.

"Don't let up!" Prometheus ΩX joined in and used her laser sword to push back the Storm Vamkyrie's attack.

Driving them back with Zeus's Thunderstrike, the Über-Vamkyrie invoked her passive ability, Hestia's Landscaping, which allowed her to pulverize the ground with bolts of electricity, which spread out and vaporized the ground they were all standing on. All three then watched as the lightning purged their entire surroundings in a flash of light.

xxxxx

Engaging the Huntress Vamkyrie, Hecate ΩX and Kamu Susano-o ΩX unleashed fire and ice attacks toward the Vargr Swan. As the swan swerved passed the Thieves' attacks, Ölrún fired a flurry of arrows at the two Thieves. Then, the archer's arrows exploded into fiery flames as they rained over Hecate ΩX and Kamu Susano-o ΩX.

Quickly evading Ölrún's Agilaz's Volley, the Thieves took turns taking out her fiery arrows. Hecate ΩX used her whip to nullify them with a firewall barrier. Kamu Susano-o ΩX easily extinguished the archer's fiery arrows with his ice power. The artist then blasted the Huntress Vamkyrie with Mabufula, using the ice advantage to weaken Ölrún.

"Yes, I've dealt a critical blow to her!" Kamu Susano-o ΩX declared.

Throwing her whip down, Hecate ΩX danced in a whirlwind of fire. "Then, I'll gladly step in!" She then jumped up to meet Ölrún and her Vargr Swan.

As the swan flapped its wings and unleashed blue fire, Hecate ΩX took out the swan's flamed attacks with her whip.

"Nothing's going to stand between me and that bastard Mido!" Hecate ΩX screamed, throwing her whip at Ölrún, disarming her of her bow. Throwing herself at Ölrún, Hecate ΩX used Tarunda to diminish Ölrún's power. This gave Hecate ΩX enough time to conjure and blast her with Maragion. "You see the situation you're in now? Wrong place, wrong time." She muttered in a calm and taunting manner. She walked up to a burnt Ölrún, who looked up at Hecate ΩX's intense look. The Thieve's eyes were cold and lifeless. Her lip quivered as she resisted the urge to unleash the floodgates of fiery hell burning inside her. "Compared to Mido, you mean nothing to me. Just another piece of shit minion sent to sacrifice themself for that bastard and that witch. I'll send them both a message. BY KILLING YOU!" Screaming furiously, she raised her whip, preparing to finish the Huntress Vamkyrie in one-shot.

Just then, Kamu Susano-o ΩX reached the top of the Vargr Swan, catching Hecate ΩX standing over Ölrún.

"Panther!" Kamu Susano-o ΩX called out, quickly snapping her out of her intense state of mind.

Realizing Hecate ΩX dropped her guard, Ölrún pushed her down and placed a hand on her steed's back. Much like the other Vamkyries, she harvested the Vargr Swan's power, combining herself with her trusted steed.

"Damn it! I almost had her!" Hecate ΩX growled.

"No, she's absorbing her own steed!" Kamu Susano-o ΩX exclaimed as Ölrún's form changed into something resembling a Centauress. Her entire lower body changed into a horse's. Wings emerged from her back.

"Panther, this swan is about to vanish!" Kamu Susano-o ΩX yelled as he and Hecate ΩX jumped off while the Vargr Swan vanished into spirit particles, which then merged with Ölrún to enhance her abilities.

Upon finding the two Thieves, Über-Ölrún amassed a large fireball, which she then manipulated into the shape of a giant arrow. Following an increment of ten seconds, the arrow exploded into a barrage of thousands of fiery arrows.

Once the Huntress Vamkyrie cast Artemis's Arrowstorm, Hecate ΩX and Kamu Susano-o ΩX countered with their attacks. Between Hecate ΩX's Fire Boost and Kamu Susano-o ΩX's Evade Fire, the duo nullified and dodged Über-Ölrún's flurry of fiery arrows.

Then, as she utilized her passive ability, Über-Ölrún used Apollo's Foresight to predict their next moves. When Hecate ΩX unleashed Ω Blazing Hell, Über-Ölrún saw her attack long coming and ran around the attack, unleashing more fiery arrows at them.

While she and her teammate evaded her attacks, Hecate ΩX cursed with frustration. "Ugh, damn!"

"Stay focused, Panther! Your mind is still on Mido! Your obsession with him will make you lose sight of the fact we're in this together!"

Hearing this, Hecate ΩX growled, biting her bottom lip. "I know that!" She then relaxed her mind, suppressing her urges as she intently focused on their Vamkyrie opponent. "Mido's time will come."

xxxxx

Hound and Yakumo (PV-CV-19) seamlessly worked well avoiding Geirdriful's deadly threads. The Thread Vamkyrie wove her flail around, sending more threads to trap the Revenants.

Slashing through the threads with his greatsword, Yakumo (PV-CV-19) gave Hound an opening to unleash his Hound-Type Blood Veil. The hounds quickly went straight for the Thread Vamkyrie, who twirled her threads around the heads. She managed to ensnare one hound with her threads. Once binding it, she tried to cut the hound's head clean off, but the other hound tore off the threads to save its partner.

"Curse thee! Get back, foul mongrels!" Geirdriful rebuked, flying back from the hounds. While fending off Hound's Blood Veil, Yakumo (PV-CV-19) climbed a wall and jumped off, swinging his greatsword across the Thread Vamkyrie's back. "Thou best get back!" She sent threads to ensnare the greatsword from Yakumo (PV-CV-19)'s grasp, but the Revenant cut through her threads with ease.

"Those threads won't save you!" Yakumo (PV-CV-19) shouted, striking Geirdriful down with his greatsword. After felling her, Hound ran his blade through her chest. But, at the last possible second, the Thread Vamkyrie sprung a trap beneath Hound, pulling on a thread that caused a piece of infrastructure to fall on Hound.

"Yakumo!" Yakumo (PV-CV-19) called out to his counterpart.

Barely able to roll away, Hound avoided the falling infrastructure. Taking advantage of her grave situation, the Vamkyrie flew into the air and beckoned her Vargr Swan. Hissing aggressively, the large swan flapped its wings, unleashing a wave of blue flames. As they evaded getting swept up and burned alive by the Frostburn Wildland, the Revenants took cover behind debris, watching Geirdriful merge with her Vargr Swan.

"What the hell is she doing now?" whispered Yakumo (PV-CV-19), observing the Thread Vamkyrie and Vargr Swan's bodies combining into one.

"No, this isn't good!" Hound exclaimed.

Before long, the Thread Vamkyrie fully merged with her steed, gaining beast-like characteristics. Geirdriful transformed outright into a Satyress-like creature; while retaining her humanoid form, her lower body became covered with light blue fur from the waist down. Her feet turned into hooves, breaking off the sandals she had on. A pair of goat horns protruded from the crown or her head. Feathered wings came out of her back.

Über-Geirdriful walked forward, channeling her new powers through her threads, which she quickly unleashed on the Revenants. With her Threads of Hermes, she split a large broken piece of infrastructure, demonstrating how deadly her enhanced threads have become.

"Crap, she's going all out now. As if those threads were bad enough before!" Hound exclaimed.

"Don't worry, I might have a way to get around them," Yakumo (PV-CV-19) whispered to his counterpart.

However, Über-Geirdriful used her passive ability, Apollo's Foresight, to discern their next move. When Hound and Yakumo (PV-CV-19) split up and attacked from different sides, the Über-Vamkyrie forged a network of web-like threads that covered the entire vicinity they were in. Not only did she outwit them, but she trapped them in her thread lair.

"I have thee now, lowly Draugr," Über-Geirdriful calmly taunted them, watching the two Revenants struggling to break loose from her threads.

"Ugh, I hate being called that!" Hound protested against being compared to the lowly zombified creatures from Wulf-Edda's past. Delving into his reserves, he transformed into his hybrid Doberman Pinscher, dire bear form: the Successor of Persian Urine.

Having witnessed his other self transform, Yakumo (PV-CV-19) was speechless.

"Don't tell me you're a Successor!" He called out to the giant bear-dog.

Breaking loose from the threads, the Successor beast's dense fur protected him from being cut by the threads. It quickly ran through the network of threads and invoked the aura of a bear over its body. Preparing to defend herself with threads, Über-Geirdriful acted on pure desperation, which wasn't enough to stop the Successor beast from knocking her back with Savagery of Marchosias.

"Hell yeah! That's the way!" Yakumo (PV-CV-19) cheered on as the Successor beast ripped the threads binding the Revenant, freeing him.

Their celebration was short-lived as the Thread Vamkyrie stood ready to fight again.

xxxxx

Quickly drawing out Attila the Hun's whip, Kriemhild hastily flew at Sion and tried hitting him with the deadly whip. Quickly evading Kriemhild's whip, Sion slashed her with his Regicide Blade. Kriemhild quickly turned into mist, letting the blade cut through her as she slipped behind the Revenant.

"Almost had me, vampire, but here's a lesson to be learned!" Kriemhild belittled him, conjuring waves of green and purple flames from her hands, as they coalesced into a massive surge of fire.

Having seen Kriemhild's Seiðkona Flames being utilized in battle, Sion countered by imbuing white light through his Regicide Blade. He then made a quick dash toward Kriemhild's deadly flamed attack and slashed it in two with his glowing white blade. With a single, decisive stroke, Sion's Will of d'Artagnan wiped out the witch's flames.

Having witnessed Sion's power firsthand, Kriemhild scoffed. "This is not going to be easy, isn't it?"

Wasting no time, Sion ran at Kriemhild and swung his glowing white blade at her. She then conjured her defense spell, Völva Cylindrus, and summoned a giant mollusk shell construct that protected her from Sion's attacks.

"But, I'm not going to be so easily slain by a lowly vampire like you!" Kriemhild retorted, channeling more magic to augment her defensive spell.

"One way or another, your life ends here, Kriemhild!" Sion shouted, madly slashing through her shell construct, which he started chipping away at much to Kriemhild's irritation.

While Sion fiercely slashed at the barrier, Kriemhild conjured green and black light orbs around them. With a hand wave, she sent the orbs forward as they converged and combined into a single destructive beam.

In response to the witch's devastating Unmorapocalypse, the Revenant grew into his 11-foot tall allosaurid form: the Successor of Julius Deinos. The allosaurid instinctively batted the witch's attack with his tail, sending it flying back to Kriemhild. Kriemhild took to the air, letting the beam soar far into the air.

"Heheh, nice try…!" As she turned, the allosaurid Successor headbutted her far back and charged toward her. "A lucky shot, but not enough!" She prepared to conjure a spell, but the Successor dinosaur stomped its hind legs, sending a powerful seismic attack from the earth as a barrage of debris collided with Kriemhild.

With her whip, Kriemhild quickly wiped out the debris, but the force from the allosaurid's Vasto Quake knocked her away. As the witch crashed into a nearby rock face, the allosaurid rushed over, snatching her left arm as he crunched it with his powerful jaws. Grimacing at the sight of the theropod crushing her arm, she forged a barrage of green flames and burned the allosaurid's face.

Bellowing in pain, Sion released the witch, who continued burning him with Heiðr Esclachier. She then summoned a massive sword from a mix of green and purple flames. With her Gullveig Squall, she quickly cut through Sion's chest, inflicting a great deal of grievous damage.

Meanwhile, Brynhildr, Sigrún, and Eir, each riding their Vargr Swans, launched attacks on Jack, Eva, and the Elven Princesses. Having evaded the rain of blue fire, Jack jumped up to attack Brynhildr. Before tackling Sigrún, Eva transformed into her Successor of the Throat form. The Elven Princesses engaged Eir.

"What dost thou think thou shalt dost?!" Brynhildr cried out, swinging Blood Gram at the Revenant, who stopped her swing with his sword. When the two crossed blades, they fiercely glared into each other. Jack's blue eyes briefly blinded the Vamkyrie, allowing him to punch the Blood Vamkyrie off her steed.

"Now, you're mine!" Jack roared as he plunged toward Brynhildr with his sword ready to pierce her, but the Blood Vamkyrie's Vargr Swan headbutted Jack away and snatched Brynhildr.

Throwing Brynhildr into the air, the swan flew up to catch her fall. Finding herself back on her steed's back, Brynhildr's will invoked her Rage of the Valkyrie, granting her a power boost full of bloodlust, allowing her to fiercely turn the tide against Jack with deadly sword strikes.

While trying to keep up with the Blood Vamkyrie's intense ferocity, the blue-eyed Revenant rebounded with a quick activation of his Blood Veil: Hound-Type. Two hounds popped from his back shoulders as they collided with Brynhildr's swan. As the hounds wrestled with the swan, Jack lunged into Brynhildr.

"Get thy hands off me, fukka Draugr!" Brynhildr shouted, landing body shots into Jack, dealing grievous blows to his body as a few bones audibly cracked. She quickly seized his throat and prepared to shove her Blood Gram through his head, but one of the hound heads slipped by the swan and bit Brynhildr's right shoulder. "Augh, fukka beast!" She cursed, rapidly punching the hound's face to force it to let go.

When it did, Brynhildr backed off and snarled.

"Thou hast done it now, Draugr! Thou art gonna witness thy death faster!" The Blood Vamkyrie openly declared, shoving her Blood Gram through her swan's back. "Bestow me with thy power, loyal steed!" With that, the sword drained the swan of its essence, transferring the beast's energy into herself.

As Jack noticed the Vargr Swan vanishing under his feet, his only method of a standing platform in mid-air went with it. He hopped off and dropped down 25-feet, making a near perfect landing. He looked up and witnessed the Vargr Swan's essence accumulating around Brynhildr.

The Blood Vamkyrie's outward appearance changed drastically. Combining traits of a humanoid Vamkyrie and a beast, Brynhildr's arms morphed into feathered wings and gained talons like a Harpy. Her body armor gained the colors of her Vargr Swan. Her helmet gained the shape of an avian's face. Her body armor is mostly the same, covering the exact areas her human-like form had.

Examining her new form, the Blood Vamkyrie admired everything about it. She sharpened her new talons and looked down at Jack, who readied a battle stance.

"Shalt we play a game of hunter and prey? Run while thou still can, Draugr!" The newly transformed 'Über'-Brynhildr dove at faster speeds that baffled Jack.

As he tried to defend with his sword, Über-Brynhildr slashed him with Blood Gram. She then harvested the blood drawn from Jack on her claws. She then used that blood and unleashed a projectile of red blade-like sickles. Unleashing her Blades of Ares, she forced Jack to outrun the incoming projectiles. When he dropped to the ground, Jack narrowly dodged the sickles and looked up as Über-Brynhildr descended near him.

"Thou understand? Thou art outmatched by the combined power of myself and the Vargr Swan!" The Blood Vamkyrie cruelly smiled, taking another swing at Jack with her Blood Gram. When Jack created a distance between them, she invoked her innate ability, Leda's Mortality, augmenting her bloodlust nature. She flew at Jack and shoved her sword through his right shoulder.

As Brynhildr shoved her sword into him, Jack grabbed the blade and ripped it out. In an act of desperation, he tossed a handful of his own blood at the Vamkyrie's eyes, blinding her. After blinding her, Jack landed on the ground and grasped his necklace orb, invoking his Drake-Type Blood Veil, transforming him into his three-headed dragon form.

Wiping away the blood from her eyes, Brynhildr got a better view of Jack's Successor of the Drake appearance. The Blood Vamkyrie instantly recalled her and her colleagues witnessing Jack's Successor transformation.

Looking over her Blood Gram, a sadistic grin formed on her face. "That is right. Sigurd used this sword to slay Fáfnir. How fitting I'd use it to kill a Dreki." Grasping her former lover's sword, she swiftly flew down and engaged the dragon.

Greeting her with bone-chilling screams, the dragon's three heads inflicted a triple bite force, hitting Brynhildr with its Slavic Fangs. However, using Blood Gram, Brynhildr guarded herself against the dragon's devastating attack. She flew around, unleashing quick slashes on the two metal hound heads before turning her attack on the center dragon head.

Laughing maniacally, Brynhildr slashed the dragon's face, drawing blood from it. "Yes, how exciting I get to slay a Dreki! I shalt kill thee!" As she dove for another aerial attack, the dragon's two metal hound heads turned into metal wings.

Then, the dragon expelled blue fire toward Brynhildr, who anticipated the attack. With Blood Gram, Brynhildr clashed with the dragon's Fafnir's Breath. When she cut through the blue flames with her sword, the Blood Vamkyrie readied a flurry of vicious blows. Anticipating her attack, the dragon went on the defense, activating Otr's Concealment Wall, which forged an encompassing barrier. This protected the dragon from the Vamkyrie's frenzied attacks. The dragon's tail almost knocked away Brynhildr, who narrowly dodged at the last second.

Brynhildr swung her Blood Gram, unleashing a flurry of red projectiles that collided with the dragon's barrier. "Heheheh, thou cannot keep this up for much longer! I shalt spill thy Dreki blood all over!"

"Jack!" Eva called out, watching Jack being madly slashed by the Blood Vamkyrie.

"Where art thou looking at, Draugr?! I am thy opponent!" Sigrún yelled, blasting Eva with a flash of radiant light. Having blinded her with Sváfa's Radiance, the Radiance Vamkyrie ran her spear through Eva's chest.

Just when she thought she sealed Eva's fate, the Successor of the Throat spun her body around, knocking the Vamkyrie and Vargr Swan away with a tornado. After knocking them back, Eva tore the spear from her body and discarded it.

"Thou will be a pain to slay, Draugr!" Sigrún angrily hissed, countering Eva's incoming whirlwind attack by briefly enhancing her and her steed's speeds. By dodging Eva's attack, the Vamkyrie used her Will of Hundingsbane innate ability.

"Time to finish thou quickly! Vargr Swan, lend me thy power!" Sigrún placed her hand on the swan's back. Upon amassing the swan's energy, the shieldmaiden started transforming in a similar fashion while gaining beast-like physical traits.

As the swan vanished, its entire essence became condensed in a spirit ball, which merged with the Radiance Vamkyrie. Tufts of fur, similar to a lion's mane' covered her head and face. A lion's tail popped out from her buttocks. A pair of feathered wings formed on her back. Like Brynhildr, Sigrún's armor color variations matched the color schemes of her Vargr Swan. Her naturally athletic frame gained some musculature to match her inner lion's strength, but not to the point of being overly built. She changed into a humanoid Nemean Lion.

Roaring like the fierce beast she's become, Über-Sigrún dropped her shield and spear. She then immediately lunged at Eva and slammed her to the ground. As Eva blasted her off, she recovered to her feet, but Über-Sigrún gathered raw energy in her mouth and launched a destructive beam at Eva's path. The Revenant quickly dodged Über-Sigrún's Athena's Light. Then, the Über-Vamkyrie activated hers and her steed's shared passive ability. With Hera's Grace, she outpaced the Successor of the Throat's whirlwind attacks and jump kicked Eva hard, knocking her through a debris pile.

"Hadst enough, Draugr?" Über-Sigrún snarled, watching Eva getting to her feet.

As Eir raised her staff, she fired white bolts toward Anastasia and Nadia. The Elven Princesses flew around, dodging the ethereal beams of light. Anastasia launched a quick barrage of arrows at the Healing Vamkyrie and her Vargr Swan. However, with a flap of its wings, the swan burned away Anastasia's arrows in a blaze of fiery blue. Nadia tossed her whip, ensnaring the swan's left leg. Upon seizing the giant swan's leg, the swan reared back, pulling Nadia forward.

"Yes, come meet thy end!" Eir howled as she conjured rays of white light. While Nadia continued pulling herself forward, she swiftly moved around, evading Eir's beams. When she finally came into contact with the Healing Vamkyrie, Nadia clocked her with a kick to the face. Knocking Eir down, Nadia went for a killing blow, but Eir blocked Nadia's strike with her staff and fired her with a white beam.

"Nadia!" Anastasia cried out, firing more arrows into the swan's torso.

After blasting her away again, Eir knocked her off the swan. Nadia grabbed a handful of feathers, saving her from a fall. Eir then waltzed over and smashed her staff across Nadia's fingers.

"Unhand my steed, thy lowly elven!" Eir snarled, blasting Nadia's face, finally sending her off.

In response to her friend's plight, Anastasia conjured a magical construct resembling a giant cushion, providing Nadia a soft landing.

"Are you ok, Nadia?!"

"I am now," Nadia genuinely answered her.

Wasting no time, Eir placed a hand on her Vargr Swan's head. As soon as she gathered her steed's power, the Healing Vamkyrie shared and combined their powers, initiating their merger.

"Let our combined strength destroy them!" Eir openly declared. Once her Vargr Swan vanished, the steed's remnants fully merged with Eir, transforming her and giving her Gorgon-like traits. Her normal white hair morphed into white tendril-like heads shaped like Venus flytraps, which all opened their tiny mouths revealing sharp teeth. Descending with her newly formed wings, Eir landed near the Elven Princesses.

As Nadia picked up her whip, she tossed it at Über-Eir, who batted it away with her staff. As Anastasia fired arrows, Über-Eir nullified her arrows with a white aura, which encapsulated like a dome around her. With Demeter's Shields, she completely neutralized Anastasia's attack barrage.

"No, this can't be!" Anastasia cried out in disbelief.

Utilizing her passive ability, the Healing Vamkyrie's ravenous plants slithered from her hair and quickly launched at the Elven Princesses. While they fought back, more ravenous mouths emerged. With Hera's Grace, Über-Eir manipulated her ravenous flesh-eating plants to ensnare and devour the Elven Princesses.

"You ain't gonna eat me you little fucks!" Nadia sliced up a few with her whip.

"Back off!" Anastasia fired arrows, which vaporized a few plants.

"Try all thou want, but as long as I am in control, they will keep coming!" Über-Eir declared, willfully sending more ravenous mouths to attack them.

xxxxx

Having run a good distance around the government building, Joker stumbled upon the slain bodies of Revenant guards. When he walked over to investigate, the bodies immediately combusted and dissolved into embers.

Then, he heard the familiar sound of a dagger being drawn. Having been accustomed to this same sound, he quickly whirled around with his dagger colliding with Akireplica's. Both then had the same idea and shoved pistols in each other's faces.

"Well, well, what do you know? We aren't all that different," Akireplica remarked, calmly whispering into Joker's ear.

"Except I have more experience under my weight, you cheap imitation of Kurusu Akira," Joker snarled, gritting his teeth as he and Akireplica split away, opening rounds on each other. He took cover behind some rocks, waiting for Akireplica to cease firing. When Akireplica finally did, Joker cautiously walked forward with a gun in hand.

"Now, show me your Personas, Amamiya Ren."

Joker rebuked. "Show me yours."

"As you wish," the clone replied as he summoned a Persona Joker knew too well: Arsène, Joker's very first Persona. "This was Akira's first Persona just like you."

"Don't even try playing head games with me."

With a fiendish grin spreading across his face, Akireplica chuckled. "Who says I am? I'm just being Joker."

"You're not Joker. You're not him."

"And I'm not you?"

Joker scowled in response.

Lifting his pistol and dagger, Akireplica gave a sinister chortle. "Then, I suppose I can take your place."

"You won't!" Joker defied the clone, invoking blue fire from his mask. These flames conjured and brought Satanael into the world.

"Let's see which of our Personas is superior?" The clone devilishly grinned as he summoned more Personas: Attis, Cybele, Belial, Barong, and Mada.

In response to this Persona challenge, Joker summoned Sraosha, Vishnu, Metatron, Ishtar, and Rangda to his side.

As Satanael and Arsène collided together, the other Personas joined in the fight. Sraosha engaged Mada. Cybele expelled bless attacks toward Ishtar, as the latter defended with wind and lightning attacks. Rangda fought Barong. Vishnu engaged Attis. Belial and Metatron collided with force.

Meanwhile, Satanael overwhelmed Arsène with an immense aura. Knocking away the smaller Persona, Satanael prepared to finish it. However, Arsène retaliated by hitting Satanael with Cleave. Unfazed by Arsène's attack, Satanael brushed it back with a wave.

Joker and Akireplica matched each other's exact movements, right down to them running parallel to each other and unloading bullets. They quickly ran up a wall and fired more bullets. Akireplica threw his dagger at Joker's hand, knocking away his pistol. However, Joker disarmed Akireplica, taking away his gun. Akireplica grabbed Joker's pistol and pointed it to his head. Joker quickly put Akireplica's dagger to his stomach.

Both fiendishly smiled.

As they eyed their actual weapons laying on the ground, they quickly sprinted over to grab them. Taking back his gun, Akireplica had two guns in his hands. Joker now had two daggers. Joker cut Akireplica, disarming him and taking back his own pistol. Having regained his pistol, he pointed to Akireplica's head, but the clone firmly put Joker's pistol into his chest.

Akireplica sadistically grinned. "You're out of bullets."

Joker coolly responded, his grin widened. "And so are you."

Realizing their guns were fresh out of ammo, they tossed away their guns and engaged in a dagger duel. As they swiftly attacked one another, their daggers met. At one point, Akireplica went for a swift stabbing blow into Joker's chest, but Joker sidestepped and elbowed his back, knocking him down. Joker then quickly seized and disarmed Akireplica's dagger. Akireplica shot several elbow shots into Joker's solar plexus, and judo flipped him over.

Akireplica reached for his dagger, but Joker tackled him from the rear. As Joker mounted the clone, he covered his mouth.

"It's over, you've lost!" Joker growled. "Now, you're going to take me where Mido is!"

However, Akireplica's mask glowed as he willfully beckoned Arsène to save him. Heeding his wielder's plea, Arsène fired Eiha at Joker's direction. Recognizing this attack, Joker hopped off Akireplica and narrowly dodged Arsène's attack.

Then, with a hand over his mask, Joker invoked his Persona's Ascendancy with Satanael, merging together. In their place, Satanael ΩX materialized ready to finish the battle.

Akireplica sent Arsène to attack him, but the ascended Phantom Thief easily evaded Arsène's attacks. Satanael ΩX immediately blasted Arsène and put it down with Ω Riot Gun. Although it didn't die from the single shot, the attack critically wounded Arsène to the point where Akireplica pleaded with his other Persona to send their energies to heal Arsène's wounds. Once fully healed from the other Personas, Arsène recovered to face the ascended Phantom Thief.

Then, Satanael ΩX sighed regrettably. "Looks like you leave me no choice, Akira." With that, he transformed into his three-headed dragon form, which upon first glance put Akireplica's mind in a state of disarray.

Suddenly, the clone's mind became muddled with the horrific imagery Kurusu Akira witnessed in his P5-Crimson dimension. Images of the same Satanael ΩX, in full dragon form, blasting away not just Myrk Hedoro, but immediately after losing control laying waste to Shibuya and accidentally killing its innocent civilians. He remembered everything Akira experienced. He remembered the Hedoro's slime melting civilians and the sea of flames burning victims alive.

Then, as the horrific images of Makoto being incinerated played out, Akireplica lost it. He shouted a blood-curdling scream. Grabbing and punching his own face, he ripped off his mask, tearing off his own skin as blood seeped out from his forehead. A pillar of blue flames erupted and surrounded Akireplica.

Before Satanael ΩX can attempt to stop Akireplica's maddening power, Arsène's appearance begins mutating, reflecting Akireplica's volatile state of mind.

"You... " Akireplica gnashed his teeth hard and bit his bottom lip so hard blood seeped out. "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" He vehemently roared with destructive intent.

xxxxx

Elsewhere, Jinyo fought with all she had against Tennyo and Ivy's inseparable teamwork. Between Tennyo's ko-naginata strikes and Ivy's halberd swings, the dark clone struggled to hold her own.

Then, at some point, Jinyo utilized her black variation of Tennyo's Lightning Thorn, enabling her to regain her footing against the duo. Twirling her entire body around, Jinyo struck them with her ko-naginata, knocking them both away. Jinyo then tossed a Nega Lightning Thorn intending to strike Tennyo, but Ivy flung herself in front of Tennyo and took the blast.

"IO!" Screamed Tennyo, diving down to catch Ivy, but Jinyo intercepted her. As the dark clone engaged Tennyo, she matched Tennyo blow per blow. Then, with a roundhouse kick, she kicked Tennyo into the front walls of the government building.

Whirling her ko-naginata, Jinyo dove in to stab Tennyo. As she closed in, Tennyo bounced up. Jinyo went crashing headfirst through the wall, but swinging her ko-naginata cut through the wall. Upon breaking entry, Jinyo sensed a rich source of divine power resonating inside the government building.

"Yes, I can feel it! Father, I'm close!" Jinyo cried out, diving inside the facility.

Recovering and standing on her feet, Ivy hurried over to tend to Tennyo. Tennyo utilized Panacea Essence to treat herself and Ivy.

"We must hurry, Hifumi! She's gaining closer to the Weeping Tree!"

"This way!" Tennyo dashed through the makeshift entrance Jinyo's attack made. She and Ivy stormed in, following the trail of slain Revenant guards, all quickly struck down by Jinyo's relentless attacks.

"I fear the worst if she manages to extract the other Io's power!" Ivy exclaimed.

Suddenly, a bolt of black lightning struck an interior, causing a section of the roof to cave in. Grasping one another's hands, Tennyo and Ivy combined their abilities to take out their obstacle. Using her Ivy-Type Blood Veil, Ivy summoned a row of rows, which were imbued with Tennyo's own Lightning Thorn power. The electrical-powered spikes pulverized through the debris, forging a clear path for the two. They pressed on and continued their pursuit through the facility.

xxxxx

Taking him far away from the rest of the others, Engineer was tossed on the rooftop of the provisional government building. After being slammed, Engineer quickly got up and was met with a quick backhand from Mido. Mido unleashed a flurry of punches, delivering painful body shots to Engineer.

"Have you had enough, my esteemed friend?!" Mido openly taunted Engineer, delivering a punch to his gut. After laying him out with a punch, Mido clubbed him in the back.

Snarling intensely, Engineer quickly converted his hand into his Blood Veil. Engineer blindly attacked Mido with his Ogre-Type Blood Veil. Reading him like an open book, Mido parried his attacks and knocked him down with a gut punch. As Engineer collapsed, Mido pounced back and readied his next attack.

"You won't learn to stay down, will you, my dear Louis?" Mido chortled as he forged four black spheres from his hands. Then, he telekinetically moved these black spheres, making them fly and spin around Engineer randomly. "One way or another, you will share that woman's fate."

"That woman? You don't mean Cruz?!" Engineer asked with anger in his tone. Gnashing his teeth, his face contorted with fury.

"And so what if I did?! The Yami Matter and I did her a favor and ended her suffering!" Mido rebuked, making the black spheres stop. With a finger flick, the black spheres acted like time bombs and fired a barrage of red beams. Converging on their singular target, the 'death beams' bombarded Engineer.

Finding himself on the receiving end of Mido's Collapsar Ray, Engineer was greatly overwhelmed. One beam struck his back, sending him flying forward. When he defended himself with his Blood Veil, more beams blasted his unguarded spots, dealing more pain to the Revenant.

"Now, for the finishing blow!" Mido declared, summoning an assortment of floating red energy blades, firing them straight at Engineer.

Unable to defend and move on his own, Engineer prepared to be on the receiving end of Mido's Blades of Richelieu.

Just then, a large demonic hand pulled Engineer away, saving him from being struck down by Mido's blades. Engineer turned over as Louis (PV-CV-19) revealed to be his savior.

"You…?" Engineer gasped in shock.

"Hey, I can't stand to see myself getting killed," Louis (PV-CV-19) added with a smirk.

Then, Sion (PV-CV-19), Jack (PV-CV-19), and Eva (PV-CV-19) appeared and attacked Mido. As Jack (PV-CV-19) rushed the villainous Revenant, he summoned his Hound-Type Blood Veil against Mido, who blasted them with his red blades. Readying two swords, Sion (PV-CV-19) used his Hanemukuro and Queenslayer Blade to knock away some, but not all of these red blades. A few managed to get through Sion's swords and blasted him down. When Eva (PV-CV-19) charged the villainous Revenant from the rear, Mido anticipated her and jumped up.

"You'll have to do better if you want to catch me!" Mido boasted of his improved powers. He launched more black spheres, which swerved and twisted around the group.

"Guys, look out! They're like ticking bombs!" Engineer called out to warn them. However, it was too late.

Once the black spheres exploded, a barrage of beams struck them.

Summoning a Stinger-Type Blood Veil, Sion (PV-CV-19) knocked away most of these beams, but a few struck down the Revenant.

"Ugh! You bastard!" Jack (PV-CV-19) collapsed following Mido's death beams pierced holes through his body.

"What's wrong, Jack? Can the Hunter not keep up? Because you are looking at the new apex predator standing on top of the food chain!" The Revenant scientist mocked Jack (PV-CV-19), referring to him by his former title. Peering over his shoulder, he saw the wounded Eva (PV-CV-19) on the ground.

Propping himself on his feet, Sion (PV-CV-19) blasted Mido with a flaming attack. Mido quickly raced head-on through Sion (PV-CV-19)'s Frenzied Fire and knocked him down with a running knee strike to his face, knocking him down.

"None of you are even worth my time."

"What the hell did you say?!" Louis (PV-CV-19) roared as he rushed to attack Mido, but Engineer stopped him. "What are you doing?!"

"Being the smart one. After all, he learned from the best in his time," Mido vaguely referenced his teacher and student relationship with Engineer while under the guise as one of a university researcher. "Isn't that right, my Louis?"

Growling, Louis heatedly rebuked. " You don't get to call me that! Only my loved ones can!"

"Even those who have since long departed like that woman?"

"HER NAME IS CRUZ!" Engineer roared, invoking his Successor of Babylon Leo transformation. Fueled with the desire to avenge Cruz, the dark golden feathered-winged Barbary lion charged into Mido and unleashed its fierce Vapula's Roar.

Evading the lion's frontal attack, Mido chortled. "Yes, that's right. You and your three colleagues received Successor forms thanks to Hifumi and the Persona Vein! I wasn't prepared for it then, but I now know what to expect!" He ran at and punched the lion's face, stunning the giant lion before kicking it back.

Upon witnessing his counterpart's Successor transformation, Louis (PV-CV-19) was bewildered. He mentally mulled over the fact he never imagined becoming a Successor of any kind. Watching Engineer fighting for Cruz's honor gave Louis (PV-CV-19) the second wind he looked for. He propped up to his feet and joined Engineer on the assault. Sion (PV-CV-19), Jack (PV-CV-19), and Eva (PV-CV-19), too, also entered the fight.

As Engineer and Louis (PV-CV-19) double teamed against Mido, their combined resolve was enough to drive Mido back. Once Sion (PV-CV-19), Jack (PV-CV-19), and Eva (PV-CV-19) attacked Mido, the Revenant scientist paralyzed his five adversaries with magic and lifted them in mid-air with telekinesis.

"How do you like that? One of my newly acquired abilities! And here's another!" Mido leaped upward above his four enemies. He then projected afterimages and meteors behind him. Together, Mido and his after images, coupled with the meteors' powerful impact blows, delivered kicks that delivered an explosive impact. With his Nibiru Finisher, Mido quickly made short work of his adversaries, leaving them lying in a heap.

Even Engineer was beaten so badly. After being beaten down, he dropped out of his Successor form. As he slowly raised his upper body, Engineer looked up in horror as Mido floated above them.

"Still hungry for more? Truth be told, I thought you'd keeled over a long time ago, but that's fine. I have more goods to deliver," Mido said, forming two larger variations of his Collapsar Ray in his hands. Flinging them forward, the spheres converged, forming a bigger one. Smaller orbs orbited over the large black sphere as it headed straight for Engineer and the others.

Preparing to collect Louis (PV-CV-19) first, Engineer hadn't anticipated the large sphere to fire death beams, operating much in the same way as the Collapsar Ray. Mido's Collapsar Sphere quickly put down and neutralized his foes.

"Yes, and this is a perfect example of why inferior Revenants like yourselves will fall short. And my Louis, it appears you've failed to avenge Cruz Silva. I promise to reunite you two. Perhaps you'd like those two beautiful maidens of yours to join you as well."

"Don't you touch Makoto and Haru… you bastard!"

Unfazed by Engineer's hostile response, Mido chuckled as he descended near his fallen foes. With arms folded, he faced Engineer dead in the eyes. "Perhaps you need another lesson in humility, my former student?"

xxxxx

Driven with unbridled anger, Akireplica channeled his raw power through Arsène, which changed his outward appearance. As the blue flames burned the Persona, its face was the first area to melt away, taking on a berserk demonic visage. Sharp teeth filled out Arsène's entire mouth as it widened its mouth open. The thief's shoes broke apart as clawed toes poked out. Arsène's entire body filled out, gaining musculature.

Now sporting a maniacal grin matching Arsène, Akireplica raised his head and pointed to Satanael ΩX. "GO, PARANOIA ARSèNE! BURN THEM UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING LEFT! MAKE THEM SUFFER THE SAME WAY THOSE PEOPLE DID! MAKE HIM SHARE THEIR PAIN!" He let out a demented laugh as the corrupted Persona, best representing Akira's despair rushed head-on with Satanael ΩX.

Paranoia Arsène unloaded with a barrage of blows on Satanael ΩX. The ascended Phantom Thief raised his guard, conjuring blue flames to hold the berserker Persona at bay. As Paranoia Arsène relentlessly attacked, Akireplica laughed to his heart's content, relishing Ren's plight.

"Yes. YES. YES! MAKE HIM SUFFER! BURN HIM ALIVE!' Akireplica cackled maniacally, observing his corrupted Persona shooting blue flames at Satanael ΩX, who responded with a blue flamed construct that absorbed the corrupted Persona's attack.

Repelling Paranoia Arsène's unrelenting attacks, Satanael ΩX's three mouths charged up and amassed dark energy beams. Upon firing his Sinful Neuron Blast, the corrupted Persona opened his mouth. From its gaping mouth, a round of crimson bullets fired and collided with Satanael ΩX's attack. The corrupted Persona's Akaki Shell, fueled by Akireplica's need for vengeance.

Suddenly, the three-headed dragon slowly walked forward, pushing his gigantic beam toward Paranoia Arsène. During the beam struggle, all of Akireplica's were wiped out in the crossfire. Seeing his Persona destroyed quickly broke his mental state. Akireplica screamed furiously as he tried channeling his rage to empower his Persona.

However, reality set in. As Akireplica watched in dreaded horror, Satanael ΩX pushed his beams forward to break the beam struggle. The corrupted Persona fired more rounds of Akaki Shell blasts, but Satanael ΩX pressed forward and unleashed more power, pushing his beam toward Paranoia Arsène.

Quickly being overtaken, Paranoia Arsène roared as the beam obliterated him down in sinew. At the same time, Akireplica felt the immense force created by Satanael ΩX's finishing attack. When his Persona was destroyed, his life force went with it.

Dropping to a knee, Akireplica grasped his chest and panted.

After finishing the corrupted Persona, Satanael ΩX turned back to his humanoid form. He landed near Akireplica and watched him shoot a scornful glare. Out of desperation, Akireplica attacked him with weak rights and lefts. Satanael ΩX easily parried his pitiful punches and sidestepped him, letting Akireplica weakly collapse on his own weight.

"...I lost… is this how it ends?"

Picking up his pistol, Satanael ΩX pointed and aimed for the back of Akireplica's head.

His maniacal demeanor left his face, replaced with a solemn one.

"...it's because I let hatred and revenge blind me… it gave my Persona that twisted form," Akireplica stared at his now fading now. Shaking his head, he resigned to his fate. "Your hope and resolve won this battle, Amamiya Ren." He looked past his shoulder and faced Satanael ΩX with a defeated smile. "Heh, look… I'm fading away because I'm not real? Because I'm just a clone of that world's Kurusu Akira." Sinking his head, he felt his life diminish as his body quickly faded away.

"You existed purely for Mido and Kriemhild to use to demoralize me. It didn't work, but you accomplished one thing."

Upon hearing this, Akireplica raised his head, meeting Satanael ΩX's gaze.

"You gave me a good duel. I won't forget this, Akira."

With that, a complacent smile formed on the clone's face. "Indeed… you did…" He then vanished into thin air, resigning to his accepted fate.

After healing himself with ΩX Victory Cry, Satanael ΩX glanced toward the government building and observed a couple of intense battles taking place. He sensed Sion in peril and headed over while reflecting on Akireplica's last words.

xxxxx

As the allosaurid rushed to attack Kriemhild, the witch evaded him with a teleport spell. Then, she reappeared next to him. Conjuring a dark spell, she blasted the allosaurid with a black wave. Not only did the black wave knock it away, but neutralized it. As the darkness attack overwhelmed the Successor of Julius Deinos, the allosaurid not only fell but turned back to normal.

Having been bested by Kriemhild, Sion picked up his Regicide Blade and rushed head on to attack her. She fought back with her sword, countering Sion's attacks.

"You've very tenacious, vampire! I must commend you for lasting this long with me!" Kriemhild openly accoladed the Revenant. As they both swung their blades, they met face to face. "I know you learned a great deal about my past, but seeing me in battle and physically engaging me are two different matters altogether! I believe this is my battle to win!" She invoked Andvaranaut's power and blasted Sion back with its immense power.

As Kriemhild overwhelmed Sion in their duel, she sauntered toward the Revenant.

"Don't feel letdown, vampire. Even the gods from that decaying Norse dimension couldn't stop the Yami Matter and me from erasing their wretched world. It's only natural you fall beneath me," Kriemhild triumphantly stood over Sion. "I'll make this quick and painless, worthy adversary."

Shapeshifting her right hand into a giant claw, she prepared to pierce through his chest.

Suddenly, a gunshot was heard and before Kriemhild even realized it, her ring shattered into pieces. Her eyes widened with shock as the ring's shattered remains hit the ground. Quickly turning around, the witch was met with a kick to her face by Satanael ΩX.

"Thanks, Joker!" Sion yelled out with relief. As he picked himself up, the Revenant hurried over to meet with the Phantom Thief. "Good thing you took out that ring of hers."

Joker nodded. "That should weaken her control over those Valkyries."

Upon realizing this truth, Kriemhild scowled. "My Vamkyries. Without the ring, I've lost control over them!" She fiercely glared toward Joker and Sion with ire. "This is not what I anticipated!"

Joker frowned. "Not sorry to dash your hopes then." He and Sion ran head-on to engage the witch, who defended from their attacks with her sword and dark spells.

Meanwhile, as Brynhildr prepared her next attack on the Successor of the Drake, she felt a stinging sensation in her head. Grabbing the sides of her face, the Blood Vamkyrie felt a dark force being purged from her mind. Her eyes then turned to normal as she scoured her surroundings and back at the dragon.

"Where the fukka am I?" Brynhildr then realized Kriemhild's dark spell lifted.

One by one, each of the other Vamkyries felt Kriemhild's power over them cease. Like Brynhildr, they had similar confused looks and scanned their unfamiliar surroundings.

"I hast control of my body? I am back in my body?" Eir realized, her soul no longer confined inside the ring.

As she came to, Sigrún was flabbergasted by her own actions. "Yes, I hast my body again, but that witch used me like a puppet for her own personal gain!"

Mist cried out. "I am me again!"

Having regained her own malignant will, Skögul's fury knew no bounds. "That bikkje shalt pay for this! I shalt kill her AND Brynhildr! Brynhildr, I hast not forgotten! Thou insulted my unsurpassed beauty! Come, Göndul! Let us kill them all!"

As her unbridled anger boiled to the surface, Brynhildr roared furiously with vengeance on her mind. "KRIEMHILD! I AM COMING FOR THEE FUKKA HEAD, BIKKJE!"

With their minds free from Kriemhild's control, the Valkyries flew off leaving the Thieves and the others behind. The Valkyries headed off to confront the witch. As for the Thieves, the Vein Remnants, the Elven Princesses, and the remaining Revenants (PV-CV-19), they congregated outside the government building and stormed in following Tennyo and Io's trail.

xxxxx

As Kriemhild lunged at Satanael ΩX and Sion, the duo repelled her with a combined attack. Satanael ΩX gunned her to her knees with his Tyrant Pistol. As he disarmed her with his Regicide Blade, Sion quickly slashed her.

"It's over, Kriemhild," Sion remarked.

"Hey, Sion! The others are heading inside the building!" Satanael ΩX brought this to his colleague's attention.

Upon seeing his friends storming into the government building, Sion nodded. "Right, let's go."

"Heh, you think I'm going to let you two go that easily?" Kriemhild chortled, healing her injuries with her dark magic. As she prepared to retaliate, she paused and turned away, not even paying Satanael ΩX and Sion any attention.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to stop us?" Sion asked until he sensed the Valkyries' impending presence. A composed smirk formed on the Revenant's face. "Looks like you've got your own problems to deal with, Kriemhild. I say, good luck to you. You're going to need it." With that, he turned and followed Satanael ΩX.

"Ready?" Satanael ΩX asked the Revenant.

"Let's hurry. I'm worried about Hifumi and Io."

The Phantom Thief and the Revenant headed straight for the government building entrance.

Sensing the Valkyries' wills returning, Kriemhild scowled. "So, the time has come. Time to put down some rabid dogs."

xxxxx

Provisional Government Building/Gaol of the Stagnant Blood

As they entered an empty throne room, the first standout object Tennyo and Ivy saw was a 20-foot high pale tree brimming with freshly produced red beads, which resembled fruits.

"The Weeping Tree," Tennyo gasped. Suddenly, she noticed Ivy grabbing her face and kneeling down.

Grimacing with pain, Ivy felt pressure being near the Weeping Tree.

"Io! What's wrong?'

"I sense the other Io's power coursing through the Weeping Tree. So, this is what her sacrifice created," Ivy verified. Just then, flashbacks of the other Io's interactions with the other Sion, Louis, Yakumo, and Mia played out. "I...I understand…" Raising her head, Ivy's golden eyes glowed as she approached the Weeping Tree. As she placed her hand on the Weeping Tree, she bonded with the remnants of the other Io's essence.

Watching this play out, Tennyo unknowingly lowered her guard as Jinyo phased behind her.

"Ripe for the taking," evilly giggled Jinyo, shoving her ko-naginata into Tennyo's back, but Tennyo quickly countered with her ko-naginata.

Having seen Jinyo attack Tennyo, Ivy disengaged with the Weeping Tree and headed off to save Tennyo. Tennyo and Ivy immediately engaged the dark clone, vigorously defending the Weeping Tree from her clutches. As Tennyo dove into Jinyo, she kicked her into a wall and threw her ko-naginata at the dark clone. Jinyo quickly rolled away, letting the spear-like weapon pass by her and strike the wall.

Heading straight for the Weeping Tree, Ivy immediately blocked her path. Summoning spikes from the ground, Ivy repelled Jinyo with her Ivy-Type Blood Veil. Jinyo moved away, avoiding getting caught in the spikes. The dark clone blasted away the spikes with another Nega Lightning Thorn. After clearing the path, Jinyo threw her ko-naginata at Ivy, who stopped her with her halberd. The Persona Vein unleashed a flurry of quick slashes, forcing Jinyo to go on the defense. As she went for Jinyo's head, Ivy horizontally swung her halberd, but Jinyo tucked her head and kicked Ivy's abdomen. After kicking Ivy back, Jinyo went straight for Ivy's throat and grabbed it.

While strangling Ivy, the Weeping Tree began glowing, A brilliant white aura covered the living tree. Suddenly, Io's eyes shot open as her golden eyes glowed in conjunction with the tree coming to life. Jinyo intently stared at the glowing tree, her lips cursing outward into a sadistic grin as she sensed the other Io's essence.

The clone salivated at the rich power emanating from the Weeping Tree. Ivy threw herself into Jinyo, stabbing her through her right shoulder. Wincing with pain, Jinyo quickly stabbed Ivy's torso with her ko-naginata.

"NO!" Tennyo fearfully screamed as she ran toward Ivy.

Throwing Ivy's bloodied form at Tennyo, Jinyo bounced up and reached for the Weeping Tree.

"Yes! Yes! YES! FATHER, THE WEEPING TREE'S POWER IS OURS FOR THE TAKING!" Jinyo maniacally laughed, grabbing a hold of the Weeping Tree. Then, using her nails, she shoved them through the bark of the tree and began assimilating the Weeping Tree's divine power into herself.

After ripping Jinyo's ko-naginata out of Ivy, Tennyo dreadfully looked on as the white light pouring into Jinyo turned dark violet. The corrupted clone's presence began tainting the tree, causing Ivy to hear the other Io's pained cries.

"...the other Io is in pain, Hifumi…" Ivy muttered as Tennyo used Regenerator to treat her wound.

"FATHER, GO ON AND TAKE THE WEEPING TREE'S POWER! I GIVE IT TO YOU!" Jinyo cackled as she transferred a bulk of the tree's power to Mido.

xxxxx

In the middle of his fierce battle with Engineer, Louis (PV-CV-19), Sion (PV-CV-19), Jack (PV-CV-19), and Eva (PV-CV-19), Mido briefly paused and received Jinyo's gift.

Feeling a powerful surge of the Weeping Tree's power entering him, Mido's body became enveloped in a thick dark violet aura with red sparks pulsating off his body frame.

"No, it can't be!" Louis (PV-CV-19) exclaimed.

"That's the power from the Weeping Tree!" Sion (PV-CV-19) cried out. As his eyes turned red, he gritted. "No, Io!"

"It's too late! My daughter managed to beat those two interlopers and extracted the Weeping Tree! Its power is resonating with me and my Jinyo!" The Revenant madman boasted as the tree's power augmented him. "And in a few moments, my daughter will become a goddess and together we will snuff you excuses of failed evolutions out of existence! And then Gregorio will meet his end!"

Fearing for Tennyo and Ivy, Engineer almost collapsed. "No…!"

Suddenly, Sion (PV-CV-19) blasted a hole through the roof of the government building. Falling through, he followed the trail of the Weeping Tree's power leak. As he entered the familiar throne room, he watched in horror as Jinyo absorbed the dark power sent by Mido.

"IO!" Sion (PV-CV-19) called out, quickly getting Ivy's attention. But, she realized he wasn't calling to her, but the presence inside the Weeping Tree.

"Sion," Tennyo gasped until she sensed it wasn't her Sion.

During this commotion, Jinyo's body pulsated violently. Her body quickly began mutating. It wasn't long until Satanael ΩX, Sion, Anat ΩX, Mercurius ΩX, Loki ΩX, Jack, Eva, Anastasia, Nadia entered the chamber.

"No, we're too late?!" Jack exclaimed.

"HIFUMI! IO!" Sion called out to the two as they watched in horror at Jinyo's transformation.

On the rooftop, Mido was met with more resistance as Hecate ΩX, Seiten Taisei ΩX, Astarte ΩX, Prometheus ΩX, Kamu Susano-o ΩX, Engineer, Hound, Stinger, Mia (PV-CV-19), and Yakumo (PV-CV-19) joined up with with the group.

"Mido, where hell are you?!" Hecate ΩX yelled out, imbuing her whip with fire that matched her passionate fury.

"You're too late, my friends. Judging by your presence, you've all bested Kriemhild, the Vamkyries, and Akira's clone, but you're all too late! Now behold the inversion of the goddess Sophia! Come forth Yliaster Sophia!" Mido beckoned as Jinyo opened her eyes, which has black filling out her irises. Her pupils turned dark blue and brimmed with newfound divine power.

As a malignant smile crossed her face, the dark goddess giggled.

xxxxx

Chapter Soundtrack

Mai Otome OST 2 - 24 Holy Otome's Prayer - vs. Mist, Skögul, and Göndul.
Yousei Teikoku - Mai-Otome Butou Shi - Valkyrja- vs. Thrúd, Ölrún, and Geirdriful.
Kingdom Hearts III OST - Oscurità di Xehanort - vs. Kriemhild, Brynhildr, Sigrún, and Eir.
Black tar - Xenoblade Chronicles X OST - vs. Akireplica. Ren and Akireplica are getting ready for round two. Tennyo and Ivy vs. Jinyo.
Kingdom Hearts III OST - Key To All - vs. Mido/Envoy of Vein.
Melancholia - Xenoblade Chronicles X - Satanael ΩX vs. Akireplica (who lets out his paranoia, PTSD, and especially going against his opponent's dragon form). Satanael ΩX defeats Akireplica.
Your Voice - Xenoblade Chronicles X - Tennyo and Ivy vs. Jinyo.

xxxxx

A/N: Whew, I'm back to writing mid-length chapters, but that's to be expected with the bulk of this being battles. I mean, we have our heroes fighting Mido, Jinyo, Kriemhild, Akireplica, and the Vamkyries at the same time.

This chapter highlighted just how deadly the enemies are. Mido is a proven team wrecker. The Vamkyries individually are strong enough to handle a small group. Jinyo showed she could handle Hifumi and Io simultaneously. Kriemhild could've easily killed Sion if not for Joker's intervention. Akireplica might be the weak link since he's based off an Akira who hasn't fully developed his Metaverse powers the way Ren in this story already achieved. Now put this into perspective: If Akireplica was cloned from a peak power Akira, it would've taken the whole Phantom Thieves and possibly the Vein Remnants to defeat him.

That said, Joker destroying the ring was the deciding factor. If not for that, the Vamkyries and Kriemhild would've won. With the ring gone, yep, the Valkyries are preparing to go to war against Kriemhild.

So, what do you think of the Vamkyries' Vargr Swans? It makes sense since swans are often associated with Valkyries. And how about their Über forms? Yes, it's quite interesting for Norse characters to use attacks named after Greek/Roman deities and monsters.

Mido demonstrates his Envoy of Evolution powers and makes short work of his foes. Then, Jinyo commits to what her father wants: extracting the Weeping Tree's source to empower him and herself.

And next time, our heroes have their hands full with a dark goddess and a madman hell bent on producing a superior human race. We'll see how this goes with four chapters left to tell.

Until then, send a review and see you soon.