Akane no Mai

by Kanius

A man from the world of Vein drops into a world of Thieves. He meets a pragmatic woman. She greets him with a calm smile. "My name is Togo Hifumi." Following the fateful encounter, a host of monsters arrive, disrupting the peace. The Thieves return to confront these entities outside their realm and ultimately cross paths with the Revenant man.

32. Cryptid Incursion

Chapter X: Cryptid Incursion

---

AKB48 Café (AKB48カフェ)/Akihabara (秋葉原)/Chiyoda, Tokyo (千代田区, 東京)/8:55 PM (JST)

Fearful screams filled the nightly scene and some lights were quickly taken out. The crowds erupted into a chaotic hysteria when they saw something resembling a giant snake slither its way through the obscured darkness. The yellow hooded individual ignored the screams as he and his cohorts walked up to Shiho, Emily, Itsuki, Shinya, Nicola, Reiko, Runa, Kaede, and Miyako.

"Why am I seeing a shadow shaped like a snake?!" Shiho cried out in terror.

"Oh god, so I'm not the only one?!" Miyako exclaimed.

"Is that some kind of Persona or Spirit Guardian?" Nicola wondered as he and Shinya stood in front of Reiko.

"I don't know, but I don't care! Reiko, stay behind us!" Shinya yelled out, not giving the hooded individuals any ideas.

"Since you apparently can see this shadow, we can't let any of you live," the man smiled cruelly beneath his yellow hood. He quickly disrobed his hood, revealing his grotesque facial features.

Most of the group averted their eyes, but some were brave enough to see the man's entire left half of his face covered with gray reptilian scales. Both his eyes are yellow and the black irises in them thinned out, indicating his mood shifted into an aggressor state.

"We'll make humanity pay for casting judgment with those disdainful glares! And we'll make humanity as a whole pay for casting us out when we need them most!" The man's yells morphed into the loud hisses of a serpent.

His other three colleagues came forward. These three took off their hoodies and revealed themselves. The one with the white hoodie looked like a boy with feminized features, especially the face. One could identify this individual as androgynous at first glance. Ze has short, ear-length platinum blonde hair and has pale blue eyes. Zir's body was thin and modestly framed, making zir the smallest of these four individuals.

The one removing the black hoodie was a masculine man with a large muscular upper body frame. This man was the tallest of the four individuals. He has short brown hair covering just the topmost layer of his head. He has facial features resembling an ape. There were tufts of reddish-brown hair covering his arms and chest.

After removing his green hood, the fourth one is revealed to have the features of a wolf, especially on the face, eyes, and teeth. He has orange eyes and thick black irises. Cream-colored fur visibly covered some areas of his face and upper body. He had the average body build comparable to the snake man.

"You're in the way in our revenge against humanity for abandoning us and letting them turn us into these monstrosities!" The androgynous one ranted, implying they had been tampered with by an unknown source.

"We see those judging glares you're giving us. You're no different from the rest of humanity that've shunned us!" The wolfman snarled, expressing his disdain for even the group who've done no wrong to them.

Emily snapped back. "We did nothing to you! Who are you?!"

Reiko stayed hidden behind her two friends. "What happened to make them this way?"

Furrowing his brow, Nicola glared at the four mutants. "I don't know, but their hostility is rubbing me the wrong way."

Shinya shouted back at the four. "Hey, we did nothing wrong to you! Don't take it out on us!"

"Stay back! We've got this!" Itsuki declared as she, Runa, and Kaede stood in front of the group.

Emily reached for her pistol. "The rest of you get behind me!" She beckoned Shinya & his friends, Shiho, and Miyako. "They look like they've escaped test experiments. Rumor has it, some organization has been helping fund the research and development of human soldiers. And it's said animals were also involved. Could it be?" She placed two and two together.

"Human and animal experiments?" Shiho overheard, whispering. "How awful."

"So be it, you'll be the first victims of this second Akihabara Massacre!" The snake man declared as the shadow snake enveloped him. A dark red aura intensely radiated off his body. His yellow snake eyes glowed vehemently at the three Spirit Gamblers and their entourage. "Let's make them all pay, my friends! Let's make an example of these humans and send them a message that we're not their tools!"

The androgynous individual's eyes glowed dark purple as black matter formed over zir. The Yami Matter resurfaced and began mutating zir. The Yami Matter fed off zir hatred for humans and used those intense emotions to distort zir humanoid form. Zir complexion became paler until ze became snow white. Zir legs became longer. The back half of zir body gained the tail of a beluga whale. Zir head and face slightly resembled a beluga. Ze became something like a pale mermaid but closely resembled a human-sized Ningen cryptid.

As the Yami Matter engulfed him, the ape man's eyes glowed red. The dark energies influenced the mutation that already changed him and distorted his appearance into something resembling a Hibagon cryptid. As he hunched forward, he grew into a 10-feet tall frame. The reddish body hair he had already quickly spread and covered his body, completing his wild ape look. He looked like a Hibagon, a Japanese variation of the cryptid Bigfoot.

With the Yami Matter influencing him, the wolfman went from bipedal to full-on quadruple Japanese wolf. His cream-colored hair spread over his body and became a full-on wolf's fur. However, his transformation was not complete. A second wolf's head poked out on the right side, giving him a two-headed wolf appearance. The wolf heads snarled and howled in unison.

"I don't even remember my actual name, but they named me Beluga Ningyo," the Ningen-like cryptid revealed zir name.

"I've been classified as Giga Nihonzaru," the Hibagon man said.

"Zwei Ōkami is what I've been called," the two-headed Japanese wolf referred to himself by his given subject name.

"Look, it's the Yami Matter! from before when we fought those Yokai!" Emily identified the dark and formless entity.

"Yeah, just like what happened when we fought those Yokai at Meiji Shrine," Itsuki noted the dark manifestations.

"It's just as creepy as I remember it," Emily maintained her glare on the four cryptids.

"Well, we're not going to let them pass us," Kaede vowed as he nodded to Runa and Itsuki.

With that, the three Spiritual Gamblers summoned their Guardian Spirits. Suzaku appeared next to Itsuki.

"Firebird is ready to go!" Itsuki announced her codename with Suzaku beside her.

"Since we're giving out codenames, mine is Bunny!" Runa, now sporting a white rabbit mask and a purple & white flowered kimono, announced as Gyokuto reappeared next to her.

"And I'm Bishamon," Kaede, now sporting a red centipede-shaped mask and a black kimono, calmly said as Bisha's Centipede materialized on his right-hand side.

"Guys! Wait!" Ryuji was heard calling out to the group. "Miyako, you and the others get away from there!"

"Ryuji?!" Miyako turned as she and the group saw most of the Thieves and the Remnants helping get some bystanders away from the now dangerous vicinity.

"C'mon, this way!" Makoto called out, utilizing safety measures learned as a police officer to get her friends out.

"Let us help with the bystanders!" Nicola volunteered on his and his three friends' behalf.

"Good idea. We'll get them far away from here!" Shinya nodded.

"Ok, we'll handle the crowds!" Reiko added as she, Shinya, Nicola, and Li-Ming headed toward the crowds and started leading them away.

"Thanks, my friends!" Ren called out as he joined Firebird, Bunny, and Bishamon. Already in full Joker gear, he pulled out his Tyrant Pistol. "We'll take it from here."

As Joker readied for battle, Tamamo and Brave swiftly landed next to the Phantom Thief leader. Sekiken, Noir, and Azure then appeared next to Joker's three-person team. Oracle also joined Firebird, Bunny, and Bishamon. Finally, Omusubi, Fox, and Yumemi entered the fray.

Beluga, Giga, and Zwei prepared to attack, but their leader stopped them.

"Wait, these are the Phantom Thieves," the snake man muttered, identifying several of the aforementioned group members.

"We'll take it from here, Mako-chan!" Noir called to her partner as the policewoman gathered Shiho and Miyako. She saw Shinya, Nicola, Reiko, and Li-Ming escorting crowds full of bystanders from the vicinity.

"Rin, let's go and help them. Eugene, please come with us," Sumire instructed, quickly seizing Eugene's hand as she led him away.

"Wait, but what about your friends?!" Eugene worryingly asked.

"They'll be fine. Let's worry about getting these people to safety," Sumire replied.

"Yeah, our friends will catch up with us Trust me!" Rin reassured Eugene with a big grin on her face.

As Sumire left with Eugene and Rin, Akechi spotted and followed them. However, Makoto interceded Akechi's path and fiercely glared at him.

"Come help me take these people away and make sure no one gets hurt," Makoto firmly instructed him.

"As you wish," Akechi openly complied with the policewoman's wishes and escorted another crowd of civilians away from the vicinity. Observing him closely, and honoring his sister and Zenkichi's requests, Makoto stayed cautious of Akechi's activities.

Just then, Makoto noticed Tori and Hiroshi helping with crowd control.

"Hey, Tori! Hiroshi! Make sure every one of these civilians is taken to safety!" Makoto called out to her fellow officers.

"No problem, Makoto! We've got this!" Tori responded to their superior's wishes.

"We won't let you down!" Hiroshi replied.

"Shiho, over here!" Ann called out to her friend.

"Ann!" Shiho hurried over to convene with her. "Where's Ren? Where's Mia?"

"Don't worry. They're helping Makoto get these people out. C'mon, let's get going!" The blonde woman almost jerked on her friend's arm and raced forward.

Shiho yelped in pain from Ann's grip. "Ow! Alright, then!"

As Emily stayed behind to fight with Joker and the others, she saw Karen and Aurora.

"Hey, over here! Are you going to fight with us?" Emily asked the two.

"If there's room for more?" Karen asked.

"The more, the better."

Aurora resolved. "Let's do this." With that, the Revenant ladies, Adel, Medic, and Leto, joined their friends in the skirmish that's about to break out. With the crowds cleared from the vicinity, the Phantom Thief, Vein Remnant, and Spiritual Gamblers that were left confronted the four cryptids.

"Phantom Thieves, we've heard of your reputations," the snake man acknowledged them. "We might consider you heroes since you've rebelled against the corruption of humanity, but sadly you couldn't prevent the people that turned us into the monsters you see before you."

"Who did this to you?" Joker grimly asked.

"Doesn't matter now since we'll make examples out of you on our mission to punish humanity for judging and shunning us out!" Beluga rebuked the Phantom Thief leader.

"We were outcasts before we became part of their revolting experiments," Giga conveyed disgust for the humans who've subjected them to the torturous experimentations behind the scenes of this unnamed organization.

"My, god, you four were experimented on?" Oracle gasped, feeling sorry for the cryptids.

"Please, let us help you! I can help!" Medic pleaded.

"We don't need any pity from you humans," Zwei's left head snarled. Both wolf heads bared their sharp canines and growled loudly.

"But, you were once people, too! You can't blame us for what those monsters did to you!" Brave berated the four cryptids.

"We'll send a message to humanity. We'll start by killing you, Phantom Thieves, for not being there when we needed you the most!" The snake man smirked sadistically. His snake eyes widened as Yami Matter shrouded him.

Upon noticing the Yami Matter, several members of the group glanced over to Joker.

Fox asked his group's leader. "Do you see that?"

"Yeah, their hearts are filled with hatred for humanity. The Yami Matter's fed on their insecurities and overtaken them," Joker focused intently on the Yami Matter-influenced cryptids. "But, these people aren't revived demons or enemies we've faced before."

"No, we'll be battling living people," Sekiken stated.

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, they're freaks now!" Azure snapped. "Their humanity is dead to me!"

Yumemi sneaked in between Bunny and Bishamon. She quickly summoned her Guardian Spirits, the Paired Raiken.

"Sorry we're late, but I, Singer, am ready to fight!" Yumemi, now wearing a pink feathered mask and a white & rose-scheme dress, announced.

"Good to have you with us," Joker nodded.

"So, who are you?" Bishamon asked Joker. He looked at him up close. "Wait, you're Ren…"

"Yeah, but I trust you and your friend here can keep a secret? Yumemi already knows about me and my friends," Joker said, referring to him, Yusuke, Futaba, and Haru having just revealed their identities to Yumemi, hoping to gain her and her colleagues' trust.

"Sure, no problem," nodded Bishamon.

Just then, the snake man pointed to the Phantom Thieves, the Vein Remnants, and the Spiritual Gamblers.

"I am Yaban Mamushi! If the Phantom Thieves cannot save us, then no one can!"

As warfare was haphazardly declared, the four cryptids spread out and lured the group toward them. The Thieves, Remnants, and Gamblers immediately divided into four subgroups to take on each of the four cryptids.

Joker, Tamamo, Brave, Wani, Taka, and Arachne went after Yaban Mamushi. Sekiken, Noir, Azure, Medic, Melusine, and Koumori confronted Beluga Ningyo. Firebird, Bishamon, Oracle, and Bunny surrounded Giga Nihonzaru. Omusubi, Fox, Singer, Leto, Adel, and Shika faced off against Zwei Ōkami.

As the crowds were mostly cleared from the vicinity, only a few witnesses stayed behind. Among them are Marty, Andrea, Tori, Hiroshi, Lance, and Cammy. Tori and Hiroshi, while following Makoto's instructions, escorted the few remaining civilians. With the two officers occupied, Marty and Andrea quietly exchanged nods.

"Those two officers are preoccupied, Marty."

"Good, let's get closer so we can get a piece of the action. Are you ready to show what we can do, Andrea?"

Nodding, Andrea muttered. "Let's do this." With that, she and Marty split up, picking and choosing their battles.

"Cammy, are you seeing all of this?" Lance asked his girlfriend while hiding behind a vehicle. He took out his smartphone and recorded the flashes of light where the battles commenced.

With her eyes closed, Cammy grasped a pair of prayer beads in her hands. "I can barely tell what's going on, but I'm sensing massive spiritual energies resonating. I advise that we don't get too close, Lance."

"Thanks for the heads up. That makes me feel better," he sardonically replied.

"You want us to get caught in the crossfire?"

"No, I don't, but…"

Suddenly, a powerful shockwave erupted from one of the battles, nearly rocking Lance and Cammy. Lance quickly fell into Cammy's arms and groaned while rubbing his forehead.

"See? I told you," Cammy deeply sighed as she stood up and grabbed Lance's hand.

"Wait, but I thought you didn't want us to get too close."

"I'm about to regret this," Cammy muttered as she raced forward with Lance into impending battles.

---

When Yaban Mamushi got on all fours, he swiftly crawled around in snake-like motions. His entire body twisted and turned like a snake. Joker, Tamamo, and Brave dodged Yaban's rush attack. Keeping their distance, Wani, Taka, and Arachne managed to evade Yaban's frontal assault.

Joker conjured his Persona: Jack Frost. Jack appeared as a snow elf wearing a dark blue Fool's garb, including a three-pointed Fool's hat, a neckpiece with three bells, and shoes. Jack's black beady eyes blinked and his mouth twisted into a mischievous grin. Joker's Jack blasted Yaban with Mabufu. Some ice expelled from Jack and froze the ground Yaban crawled on. Yaban started slipping on the icy floor and shivered from the cold air freezing him.

"Hey, back me up, Mary!" Tamamo got on all fours and lunged at Yaban. She then attempted to go into Nine-Tailed Fox form, but the raw fox's power didn't surface. Realizing this, Tamamo moved out of Yaban's way and cursed. "Oh shit, I can't become the fox now?"

"Probably because the fox needs rest after that alchemist guy took it out of you!" Brave yelled, swinging her spear and unleashing a wind attack at Yaban.

Upon realizing this, Tamamo sighed. "Fine, I can improvise. Nine-Tails come forth!" With that, she summoned her Guardian Spirit: the Nine-Tails. She then ran forward with the Nine-Tails following her lead.

"Hey, bro! Let's show them both of our Guardian Spirits!" Taka declared as he and Wani summoned their initial Guardian Spirits. As he conjured his green-feathered hawk, Daiba-washi, Taka summoned his second Guardian Spirit: a yellow eagle enveloped in golden lightning. "Here's my Ame-no-Mitori." In that instant, Taka's clothing was enveloped in green and yellow light, changing his casual wear into a green and golden feathered robe and gaining a silver feathered mask.

"Kagewani, come forth!" Wani summoned two shark-like spirits enveloped in ocean blue light. He then conjured his three Isonade again. His casual attire changed in conjunction with his two Guardian Spirits' presences. His attire became a white and blue robe with a dark blue shark-finned mask.

"I summon you, Itokuri," Arachne quietly muttered as her spider spirit returned. Her casual wear was then replaced with a solid black dress with several red spots on her back and abdomen, giving her a black widow's appearance.

Amid Joker and Brave's attack on Yaban, Arachne, Wani, and Taka's Guardian Spirits attacked the cryptid. The Kagewani collided with Yaban's body while the Isonade sprayed water into the serpent. Diving head-on with Yaban, Daiba-washi unleashed a wind attack. Flying over Yaban, Ame-no-Mito dealt the snake with electricity blasts. When Yaban fired poisonous spray from his mouth, Itokuri stopped it with its spider's web. As Itokuri tried trapping Yaban with its webs, a shadow snake aura formed and protected him from getting ensnared by the spider's webs

Tamamo and Nine-Tails both hit the snake man with a double body attack. Tamamo slammed Yaban back and Nine-Tails shot fire blasts at the cryptid. As soon as he recovered from their varied attacks, Yaban opened his mouth and expelled poisonous orbs that flew at the Phantom Thief and the Spiritual Gamblers.

As Joker took cover behind some speakers, he ordered Jack to freeze Yaban's poisonous balls. After his Persona did so, Joker jumped out and capped Yaban with a headshot. However, the shadow snake surrounding Yaban whipped forward and swatted the bullet down. Seeing this, Joker cursed through his gritted teeth.

"You're going to have to shoot faster and when I'm not even looking," Yaban chuckled, throwing the bullet back, which punched a hole through the speaker sitting behind Joker.

Brave summoned Janomecho to assist Tamamo's Nine-Tails. The two Guardian Spirits double teamed and attacked Yaban, who guarded with his shadow snake aura.

---

Beluga used zir nimble body to swiftly move around Sekiken, Noir, and Azure's attacks. The pale cryptid unleashed a water blast from zir mouth. Sekiken cut through the water blast with his sword. Noir threw her Fleurs du Mal axe at the cryptid, only for the beluga-like Ningen to dodge the incoming weapon. Noir recalled her axe back to her hand and tried keeping up with Beluga's quick movements.

Upon assisting her brother Sekiken and the others, Medic invoked her Gift ability, Prismatic Veil, using it to defend herself and the others from Beluga's water pump blasts. As Beluga quickly turned to attack Medic, Sekiken swiftly intervened and swung his Enduring Crimson sword at the cryptid. Narrowly dodging Sekiken's attack, Beluga swerved zir body around him.

Assisting Sekiken, Melusine and Koumori invoked their Guardian Spirits: Mizuchi and Aya-komori. Melusine summoned her second Guardian Spirit to better their odds: Amabie, a ghostly pale spirit with long pale blue hair and a body covered with fish-like scales.

"Go forth, Mizuchi and Amabie!" Melusine beckoned her Guardian Spirits. At the same time, Melusine received spirit Ki from her guardians, granting her a light blue robe and an aqua blue dragon mask.

"You as well, Aya-komori!" Koumori shouted, sending her spirit with her sister's. Just like her sister, Koumori received new clothing to reflect her spirit boost. She is garbed in a black dress and a bat-faced mask with tiny wings adorning the mask's sides.

As Beluga turned its water pump blast toward Melusine's spirits, Mizuchi halted the cryptid's blast with its water beam. Amabie and Aya-komori fiercely attacked Beluga. However, Beluga's water offense and speed allowed zir to overcome the Gamblers' Guardian Spirits.

"Hold freakin' still!" Azure snarled as she fired gunshots at the cryptid.

"Allow me!" Sekiken invoked his Ogre-Type Blood Veil. He then used his Revenant hand to reach up and grab Beluga's back tail. He then jerked on zir tail and started spinning around. He tossed zir into a pickup truck. With the gleam in his eyes turning red, Sekiken meticulously eyed the cryptid.

As Beluga rose, Sekiken rushed over and slashed zir. Screeching in pain, Beluga punched Sekiken back with force. Sekiken used his Revenant arm that absorbed the blow and protected his body from taking damage.

"I've got this! Come!" Noir declared as she summoned Lucy. She commanded Lucy, which fired Beluga with a One-shot Kill. The cryptid narrowly dodged being critically damaged by Noir's Persona.

Channeling energy into her axe, Noir transformed it into her Buster Axe technique, which exploded in front of Beluga. Following the explosive impact, smoke billowed out and obscured Noir from Beluga's sights.

As Beluga frantically scanned the area, Noir came dashing forward and quickly axed Beluga's side. As an axe crazy glare smeared over her face, Noir went off and slashed zir. Beluga immediately withdrew from getting into close quarters with the axe wielder.

Then, Azure cut Beluga off and summoned Blue Dragon. The Guardian Spirit brushed Beluga away with a wind attack. Azure then charged at the cryptid and delivered quick successive slashes with her dual katanas.

"Not so fast now when we can slow your ass down!" Azure snapped as Sekiken rushed by her and grabbed Beluga, slamming zir into a wall.

"You can't escape!" Sekiken growled as his red eyes gleamed intently at the cryptid, who looked deathly afraid at the Revenant. At that moment, Sekiken felt a sharp pulsating sensation in his body. Before he could discern what was happening to him, a white veil of light enveloped him.

Upon witnessing the white light forming over Sekiken, Noir immediately recognized the white inversion of his Revenant battle attire that also has crimson. Sekiken had unknowingly unlocked his Envoy of Vein form: the Envoy of Mark.

Before he could question this turnabout, Sekiken recalled his cognitive counterpart activating this power during the fight against Datenshi. Setting his sights on Beluga, Sekiken hastily launched forward and attacked the cryptid with his new power.

The cryptid suddenly had flashes of horrific scenes in zir mind. Ze saw fleeting images of zirself captured by men in black suits. Ze then saw zirself locked in a cage with others imprisoned in similar cells. Ze saw a blackened shadow with the light of the figure's glasses gleaming. The identity of his individual was unknown, but ze knew who this cruel individual was. The next image ze saw was being injected with a purple serum. Then, the most horrific image was zirself being mutated and as a result, losing most of the hair ze once had.

With a quick slash with his Enduring Crimson, Sekiken struck Beluga down with his Blade of Athos.

After falling and receiving a horrific wound, the cryptid opened zir eyes and found zirself at Sekiken's mercy.

"Say your prayers," Sekiken snarled, preparing to crush Beluga's head.

Beluga closed zir eyes. "...do it then. Kill me."

Hearing the tone of defeat in zir voice, Sekiken was taken aback. "What did you say?!"

---

Bishamon beckoned Bisha's Centipede to excrete poison from its mouth pinchers. Giga narrowly avoided getting caught by the centipede's poison spray and pounded the earth with tremendous force.

"Now, come forth, Isanagami!" Bishamon invoked another Guardian Spirit to assist his Bisha's Centipede. A large blue whale with a white underbelly and a palace on its back materialized out of a watery mist. Setting its sights on Giga, Isanagami rose into the air and dove down, ramming its massive body into the giant cryptid's body.

After the whale put Giga down, the cryptid slowly stood and wobbly-legged. Suddenly, the ground shook under the Phantom Thief and the three Spiritual Gamblers' feet.

"Hey, Sasquatch! Allons-y!" Oracle called Giga, who charged at her. As Giga went for a straight punch, Oracle summoned her Persona.

As Al Azif guarded Oracle against Giga's punch, the Phantom Thief whipped out her laser sword. She used her laser sword to draw psionic energies from her Persona. Upon augmenting her laser sword, Oracle slashed through the air with her empowered weapon. A mischievous grin spread over the otaku's face as she tilted her laser sword's hilt.

After fighting off Al Azif, Giga charged in Oracle's way. He went for a devastating right hand, but Oracle's laser sword produced a barrier. Oracle's Psionic Barrier provided enough defense power to withstand Giga's blow.

"Wow, I'm getting the hang of being an offensive fighter! Now to crank it up, Bigfoot!" Oracle openly irked the ape-man with insults. She knew she struck a nerve when Giga pounded against the barrier. "Yeah, now keep your eye on my lightsaber!" She waved her laser sword and shoved said weapon through the barrier.

However, Giga punched Oracle's barrier with his other fist. Looking to bring down Oracle's barrier, his fist collided with another barrier.

Much to his surprise, this barrier wasn't produced by Oracle. Everyone noticed somebody standing in front of his clear barrier with one hand out. The figure, dressed in a steel blue and white shirt, gray pants, and yellow shoes, raised his head, revealing himself. Donning his head is a clear gray mask shaped like an oblique 'D' covering the top area of his face.

"Hey, don't mind me. I just wanted to make a hero entrance for once," the figure revealed himself as Marty, who looked up at Giga with a confident look.

"Huh?! Who the heck are you?!" Oracle exclaimed. "It's dangerous here!"

"You're going to get yourself hurt, you idiot!" Firebird chastised the newcomer.

"Yeah, I know, but do you see what I'm doing?! The barrier you see?!" Marty bluntly answered, showing off his clear barrier, which seemed as strong as Oracle's barrier.

"So, all you can create are barriers?"

"Not just barriers. I'm able to neutralize energies and nullify someone's power. Hell right now, I've just neutralized his strength," Marty watched Giga being neutralized by his white aura wave. "I'd advise you and your friends to keep your distance or you'll get caught in my power nullifier wave. Oh, and where are my manners? I'm Marty, but you can also call me Stronghold."

"Stronghold?" Oracle blinked in confusion.

"Because my ability allows me to gain a stronghold on another individual's powers."

"Huh, ok! Well, hold him steady, Stronghold!"

Nodding, Stronghold slowly turned his power nullifier wave, allowing Oracle to dive in and slash Giga with her laser sword.

As the laser sword pierced through Oracle's barrier, it exploded into a barrage of green beams that crashed into Giga. Oracle's Psionic Storm bombarded Giga and knocked him back.

"I guess I'll have to give the new guy his due! Not bad! Alright, Suzaku, burn this big freak with your flames!" Firebird called on her Guardian Spirit.

Diving toward Giga, Suzaku unleashed a wave of flames that swept across and engulfed Giga. Giga quickly danced through the scorching flames. Bellowing like mad, the humanoid ape burst through the wall of flames and tossed a piece of debris at the phoenix. Suzaku flew up and avoided the debris being thrown Firebird's way.

Just then, a lightning bolt struck Giga head-on and neutralized him. The ape-man quickly spotted the perpetrators: Bunny and her Guardian Spirit Gyokuto. Gyokuto conjured another lightning and blasted Giga with it.

Taking another lightning bolt to the chest, Giga dropped to a knee. As Gyokuto conjured another lightning bolt and hit the cryptid ape with it, Giga had similar flashes to his capture and was subjected to similar experimentation like Beluga. Blurred visions of him mutating into an anthropomorphic ape. The same insidious figure with the glasses haunted his mind.

Oracle went up to Giga and pointed her laser sword at his head.

"Give up, Caesar? So, are you and your Animal Crossing buddies gonna up and leave yet?" Oracle asked, waiting for a response.

"End me. Put me out of my misery," Giga muttered in self-pity.

"Um, what?" Oracle blinked as she couldn't believe what she heard from the ape-man.

---

Zwei rushed at Fox and attempted to tackle him. In response, Fox performed a few katas and produced nine clones of himself from his Fox Shadow magic. Zwei didn't hesitate to attack each clone until he destroyed the last one. Fox quickly came out from the rear and cut him with his Usumidori katana. Zwei wailed and flipped away, landing on the hood of a car.

With her Guardian Spirit joining her, Shika, now gaining a coffee brown deer mask, targeted Zwei and sent Shin-roku to attack the wolf cryptid.

"Take him down, Shin-roku!" Shika witnessed her deer spirit tossing lightning bolts from its antlers as several narrowly missed Zwei, who evaded. One bolt managed to collide with and knock Zwei back. "Ok, Okuri-Inu, you're up next!"

With that, a dog with a furred body half-black and half-white. Most of its furred body is shrouded with golden yellow light. Its eyes are multi-colored: fiery red and icy blue. A light gray rope with a hanging lantern is seen tied around its neck. The Guardian Spirit dog launched fireballs that stunned Zwei.

Upon activating her Plasma Roar Gift, Leto generated electrical surges, which Zwei evaded. Then, Leto tossed three lighting bolts toward Zwei's feet, electrocuting the cryptid. After Leto electrocuted Zwei with Indra's Coil, Adel invoked her Ember Reversal, hitting Zwei with a flaming projectile. However, this tactic proved effective and gave Adel time to transform into her Successor of the Claw state. Adel swiftly flew at Zwei and tackled the wolf cryptid. As Zwei tried biting her shoulder, Adel slashed him with fiery claws. Then, as she manifested flames, she forged a blazing sword. Swinging the fiery blade in an arch, Adel's Crimson Moon swept through Zwei.

Opening their mouths, Zwei's two heads expelled purple beams, intending to hit Fox, Adel, Leto, and Shika with them. The group quickly sidestepped the cryptid's attack. Responding quickly, Fox conjured his Persona: Gorokichi. As Zwei mounted a quick frontal attack on Fox, Gorokichi defended with a Vicious Strike. The two-headed wolf cryptid barely dodged Gorokichi's attack, but Fox managed to blast him with his Heaven's Gate gun. Shot in the side, Zwei yelped and rolled away on the ground. Adel then teleported behind Zwei and delivered a quick slash with her flaming sword.

As Zwei picked himself up, Omusubi charged and swung his greatsword at the cryptid. Zwei pounced away and fired purple mouth blasts at Omusubi. Omusubi defended by madly swinging his sword to cancel out Zwei's attacks.

"You've got two heads, pup? Well, so do I," Omusubi said, conjuring his Hound-Type Blood Veil as the two hound heads materialized on him. The hound's heads snarled and howled, ready for a feeding frenzy.

Zwei cautiously paced around Omusubi and launched himself at the Revenant from the rear. The hound heads responded quickly to Zwei's sneak attack and knocked him back. Then, with his Oni bane, Omusubi delivered a double slash, taking Zwei down with his Tormenting Blast.

When Zwei hit the ground, Omusubi rushed for another attack, but the wolf cryptid's two heads stunned him with mouth beams. As the cryptid charged for a frontal assault, someone quickly got in his way.

"What are you…?!" Before Zwei can finish, he saw the newcomer summon mirror replicas attacking him.

Taken aback by the newcomer's intervention, Omusubi called her out. "Hey, who are you?! It's dangerous to be attacking that thing!"

"Thanks for your concern, but I just saved your ass," the newcomer revealed herself. It was Andrea, whose civilian clothing was replaced with a form-fitting purple and white bodysuit coupled with purple shoulder guards. She also has white gloves and boots with purple trim. Donning the top half of her face is a purple and black mask. "Or, you can call me Psyclone."

"Omusubi, who is that?!" Fox called out, befuddled by Psyclone's appearance.

"I don't know. She just dropped in and saved me from an attack though," the Revenant replied, keenly eyeing Psyclone, who spawned two more clones from her main body and sent them to attack Zwei.

"She bears a mask, but she couldn't have possibly received this power from any Metaverse or Guardian Spirit," Fox discerned Psyclone.

"Let's observe her and see if she's really on our side," Omusubi said. "But, I have a good feeling we might have an ally."

"I'm curious where she received her abilities from," Fox noted.

Having taken enough of a beating, Zwei's two heads blasted the four clones, each one fading away.

"Damn it, not even my psychic clones could take him down?!" Psyclone scoffed. "Fine." When Zwei charged toward her, she used telekinesis to lift a crate from the performing stage and tossed it into Zwei, knocking him away.

"I see, she's a psychic," Fox muttered.

As Zwei tore through the crate, he fiercely set his sights on Psyclone. However, Singer emerged with her Guardian Spirits.

"Umm, stay down, you bad wolf!" Singer chided Zwei, who turned to face her and saw the Paired Raiken.

Having been reduced to a wounded animal, Zwei snarled as if he was being pinned to a corner. He snarled and prepared to lunge at her, but Singer beckoned her thunder hounds.

"Sic him, Paired Raiken!" Singer cried as the Paired Raiken raced at Zwei and vanished into flashing bolts of lightning.

Zwei was electrocuted by the lightning fast hounds. While being stunned by the Paired Raiken's attacks, Zwei's mind flashed to blurred scenes of being locked in a solitary cage. He remembered being subjected to horrific experimentations and mutated into an anthropomorphic wolf. He distinctly remembered his genetic make-up being tampered with and mixed with the DNA sampling of the presumably extinct Japanese wolf.

Snapping back to the present, Zwei was on the receiving end of Gorokichi's Myriad Slashes. Then, Omusubi used his hound heads to deliver a double bite to Zwei. After his hounds delivered nasty bites, Omusubi slashed him with his Oni Bane. Utilizing his Flashing Fang Gift, the Revenant increased the strength of his next attack. After a few more double-handed sword strikes, Omusubi added a shockwave effect and swept Zwei back with his Impact Wave, which dealt additional damage to Zwei.

After being struck down by Fox and Omusubi, Zwei fell, laying on the ground bleeding. Fox and Omusubi approached the wounded cryptid. Singer looked away, not one to partake in the sight of blood as the stench almost made her vomit. Shika arrived and comforted Singer.

"You two might want to finish it. That girl there doesn't look like she's cut it for fighting," Psyclone suggested, referring to the sobbing Singer.

"Hey!" Adel called out as she confronted Psyclone. "Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"Yes, I'm rather curious myself," Leto added, eyeing Psyclone with suspicion.

"That can wait. My friend Stronghold and I will give you proper introductions later," Psyclone informed them. "Just know, we're allies."

"Make this easy on yourself. Surrender," Fox lowered his Heaven's Gate gun to Zwei's two heads.

"Go on then… shoot," Zwei's left head coerced the fox-masked Phantom Thief. "You and your gang have beaten us."

Singer gasped. "Please, you don't have to…"

Fox prepared to pull the trigger.

"Stop! Please, don't kill him!" Singer pleaded, to which Fox did and lowered his gun.

Whimpering, Zwei watched Yaban from afar about to go all-out against his adversaries.

"Sorry, Yaban. Looks like it's the end of the road for us," the wolf's right head muttered weakly.

---

When Yaban's snake shadow whipped out a long tail, he knocked Tamamo back with it. After taking Tamamo out of the fight, he primarily focused on Joker, Brave, Wani, Taka, and Arachne. The snake man unleashed another massive tail whip, sweeping Wani, Taka, and Arachne away. After taking out the four Spiritual Gamblers, the cryptid attempted to neutralize Joker and Brave similarly, but the duo dodged Yaban's reach.

Joker called forth a large blue-green moth with beady red eyes and green & yellow antennae. It has wings made up of black, yellow, red, and green. As it further opened its wings, two ghoulish-looking eye markings were shown off.

"Take him, Mothman!" Joker beckoned as the large red-eyed insect glided over Yaban and cast Skull Cracker, which not only stunned but confused Yaban.

Upon receiving spiritual protection from her Guardian Spirit, Brave gambled on Janomecho's wind attacks. The wind blasts were enough to knock Yaban back. However, Yaban quickly recovered from Mothman's attack and turned to his opposition.

Brave checked on Tamamo. "Damn, he really knocked Yumeko out of this battle!"

"Then, don't mind if I step in and take her place!" Azure interjected herself into the Yaban battle. She ran over beside Brave.

"Aren't you supposed to be helping your team?!" Brave chided her.

"We pretty much beat our freak. Now, we can bring down their leader," Azure turned and confronted Yaban. She summoned Blue Dragon and readied her dual katanas.

"God, you're such a show-off," Brave rolled her eyes and withdrew Janomecho.

"Hey! The wolfman is bleeding! He's bleeding and needs treatment!" Singer called out as she reached Joker's group. Her presence was enough to garner Yaban's attention as the shadow snake surrounding him sent another tail whip to seize the idol singer.

Upon seeing this, Brave and Azure shouted to her. "LOOK OUT!"

Azure scowled. "That airheaded dipshit!" She quickly sent Blue Dragon to save Singer.

However, Singer's Paired Raiken and Shika's Okuri-Inu materialized just in time to stop the shadow snake's tail whip. Another tail emerged from Yaban's shadow snake and attempted to grab Singer by her feet. As Yaban was within reach of nabbing her, Joker rushed in and pulled Singer away. He blasted the shadow tail away with his Tyrant Pistol. Fox recovered Shika, who was nearly caught in the same predicament.

"Ugh, what the hell were you thinking?!" Brave harshly berated Singer, who cried with tears.

"These are still people we're hurting, aren't they?!" Singer asked them

"Pfft, what about the people you've hurt while putting on that bullshit 'sweet and kind' routine?" Azure called Singer out on her past transgressions.

"That's not a fair comparison. This is different! We're causing them horrible physical pain!" Singer turned to Joker. "Is this what we're supposed to do?"

"She's not wrong. Are we really fighting real people now?" Shika questioned them.

Joker gave them the silent treatment as he intently watched the shadow snake's aura radiating off Yaban. Singer bit her bottom lip, trying to decipher Joker's moral compass. As Joker raised his pistol toward Yaban, his actions answered Singer's question.

"It's either them or us. We let them go and there's no telling the untold damage the Yami Matter controlling them will do here," the Phantom Thief clarified his intentions to stop the Yami Matter no matter what. "If your heart's not in this, it's best you do not get involved with us. We know what we've signed up for. Someone like you may just not be cut out for this."

Joker's words stabbed at Singer's soft heart. Singer stepped away mulling over all the Phantom Thief blatantly told her without a second thought. Joker, Brave, and Azure stepped up to face Yaban.

"A fine speech, Phantom Thief," Yaban smirked darkly as the Yami Matter energies coursed through him. "You're right, our conflict is no place for the weak-hearted. And those who have any insecurities are easy pickings for the shadows." He said this as the shadow snake's tail whipped around, smacking the floor hard and dented the concrete, which frightened Singer. "Liabilities tend to slow you down."

Joker frowned and readied his pistol. "We're not here to listen to you run your mouth. Let's cut to the chase."

"Oooooh, as you wish!" Yaban hollered gleefully as the shadow serpent's aura darkened around him. "Come and try stealing my heart!"

"Guys, we're still not in the clear!" Oracle announced as she picked up three beacons on her scanner.

"What? Is it more cryptids?" Fox queried her.

"The energy readings are way different and on higher levels. And there's three of them!"

Upon hearing this, the Phantom Thieves and their allies dropped into battle stances. Sekiken spotted something flying through the air at high speeds. The others heard quick wisps in the air and feverishly scanned their surroundings.

Lifting his head, Yaban hissed loudly. "They're here."

"They?" Joker muttered confusedly.

"Hey, Marty!" Psyclone called out as she hurried over to Stronghold.

"I'm glad you're ok, Andrea, but something's happening," Stronghold replied.

"I'm hearing whispers from three sources. They're coming to kill us," Psyclone used telepathy to probe their new enemies' minds. "But, I can't delve into their minds any further!" She quickly collapsed and gripped her forehead. "They're blocking me out of their minds!"

Upon arriving at the battle vicinity, Sion, Tennyo, Moonlight, and Hunter helped clear the crowds away. They paused and sensed the three dark presences near them. He then spotted a shadowed figure with wings and red glowing eyes facing them. The Revenant quickly conjured his Ogre-Type Blood Veil and reached for the enemy. The winged figure quickly flew from Sion's reach and flew into the air. Joker readied his Tyrant Pistol and opened fire on the attackers.

Incessant giggling and dreadful laughter resonated with the cool February air. The group discerned three figures, including the one that nearly attacked Tennyo and Moonlight.

With his pistol out, Joker fiercely demanded. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Please excuse us. When we get excited about a fight, we cannot help it," the voice belonging to Tennyo and Moonlight's attacker responded in a crude tone.

Joker, Sion, Tennyo, and Moonlight discerned the crude figure, revealing it to be a Valkyrie.

"Hey, you didn't answer my friend's question! Who are you?!" Sion demanded, his eyes started burning bright red.

"Judging on her armor, she looks like one of those Valkyrie maidens in Norse mythology," Hunter assessed the crude woman's armor.

"Thou know about Valkyries in this world? Interesting. Yes, me and my colleagues are Valkyries, but we art also creatures of the night!" The crude woman addressed in a rugged and old English dialect. Her face twisted with a demonic visage as a roar akin to a lion's came out of her fanged mouth.

"Holy shit! Did you see her face?!" Azure exclaimed.

"And those fangs!" Noir pointed out the woman's vampiric fangs.

"So, she's a Valkyrie and a vampire," Fox muttered.

"Correct, or thou can call us Vamkyries. Thou can call me Brynhildr the Blood Vamkyrie. I shalt spill thy crimson all over." The Vamkyrie woman evilly chortled. With a snap of her fingers, the two other Vamkyries emerged.

"It's the other two Oracle's scanners picked up," Sekiken noted. "These things reek of death on them."

The other two Vamkyries quickly assembled opposite Brynhildr. A blonde-haired one with a small ponytail appeared on her left side and an argent-haired one on her right.

"I am Sigrún the Radiance Vamkyrie. I shalt defeat thee!" The ponytailed blonde Vamkyrie introduced herself.

"Thou may call me Eir the Healing Vamkyrie. Who wishes to challenge my power?" The white-haired Vamkyrie greeted them.

"At one time, we fought in the name of Asgard. Now, we art fighting on behalf of the Yami Matter!" Brynhildr declared. A sword with a red blade materialized in her right hand. "My Blood Gram will strike all of thee down!"

"The Yami Matter's brought more vampires to fight us? Great, more vamp assholes to give us a bad name." Sion snidely remarked.

"This is going to be a long night," remarked Joker, readying his Tyrant Pistol.

---

Not far from the battle location, Tori and Hiroshi returned to find any more bystanders to move away. However, the officers immediately stepped into dangerous territory as they passed through a veil of dark energy. As they breached the Yami Matter territory, they saw the Phantom Thieves, Vein Remnants, the Spiritual Gamblers, and Stronghold & Psyclone.

"What the hell is going on? Hey, it's the Phantom Thieves!" Hiroshi pointed out. He and Tori then pivoted toward the Vamkyries and Yaban.

"Looks like we just entered a fight."

"Yeah, and we're out of our element here, Tori. C'mon, let's get out of here."

As Hiroshi turned to leave, Tori grabbed his shoulder. "Hold on. This might be interesting."

"Are you kidding me, Tori?! We shouldn't be here! Let the Phantom Thieves handle this! Let's go back and meet with Makoto!"

"You go then. I'm sticking around to see this."

"You've got to be kidding me. C'mon, I'm serious!" Hiroshi tried jerking Tori away, but the female officer brushed him off. "Tori?!"

"As I said, go without me. I've got to see this. Maybe, just maybe I could help them."

"With what powers? We don't have anything like that!"

Tori scoffed. "They're being the heroes we can never be. What have we been doing with ourselves? Just imagine if we had cool abilities and costumes like them."

Hiroshi sighed. "I don't know, Tori. This is far too dangerous for us normal people."

"Normal is overrated!"

"That's beside my point…" Hiroshi then noticed one of the Vamkyries noticed them. It was Brynhildr, who raised Blood Gram and swung forward unleashing a quick attack at them. "Oh shit! Move!"

As the officers prepared to get out of harm's way, Joker's Mothman intercepted the Blood Vamkyrie's attack. Sion readily stopped another projectile from Brynhildr with his Ogre-Type Blood Veil.

"You two get out of here! This is no place for even police officers now!" Sion chided Tori and Hiroshi.

As Hiroshi pulled Tori up, he carried her away, but the female officer relented and turned around.

"Don't sell me short just because I don't have powers as you do!" Tori called out.

"C'mon, we're leaving, Tori! You heard them! This is no place for us!" Hiroshi chastised her.

Clenching her fists, Tori fiercely glared toward Brynhildr. "That crazy bitch nearly killed us! Don't think I'm letting what she did go unpunished!" She raised her clenched fist and punched a wall nearby. "I hate being limited to being a bystander. Becoming an officer, I thought I'd be able to save people and fight injustice, but we've gotten minimal work like traffic control and pushing paper on our desks. We barely get security work. Is that how the department views us? Just excess?! We don't even get to do the stuff that Makoto does."

"Tori…" Hiroshi sadly muttered, listening to her vent over her wasted potential.

"When I said I wanted to be like a Sailor Senshi or a Valkyrie, I meant it. I want to be a hero like them. Or, like the Phantom Thieves. I want to make a difference and help people just like my father did. He died on duty saving a person. I'd like to be able to try saving someone… anyone," Tori stated with determination. "And the first act I want to do as a hero is beat that Valkyrie bitch over there!"

Having heard her speak out from the heart, Hiroshi nodded. "I get ya. We haven't been used to the best of our abilities. If anything, I thought I could be like those Tokusatsu heroes I grew up watching. I thought I could be like one of them and fight injustice, but we're just being held down by the system. Maybe we should've had Makoto vouch for us often." He, too, vehemently glared toward Brynhildr. "And don't worry, you're not the only one who wants to get their hands on that Valkyrie."

"I just want, if nothing else, the power to make a difference!" Tori roared for a miracle to come and grant her wish.

"Thou talk too much! I shalt cut out thy tongue!" Brynhildr hissed as she flew so fast that Joker and Sion had difficulty discerning her high speeds. As she reached Tori, Hiroshi lunged forward to stop the Blood Vamkyrie.

Upon reaching out for Tori's throat, a quick flash of cyan light blinded Brynhildr, causing her to hiss and withdraw from Tori. For whatever reason, the cyan light was seen radiating over Tori from head to feet. Joker, Sion, Tennyo, and the others became transfixed on Tori's glowing form.

"W-What is this?" Tori asked.

"Tori, you're glowing!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm not blind, Hiroshi, but holy shit… how did this happen?" Tori wondered.

Suddenly, Hiroshi noticed a golden yellow aura similarly enveloped him.

"Care to explain this, Joker? Are these derived from the Metaverse?" Sion asked the Phantom Thief.

"No, this feels different," Joker replied.

Watching from afar, Stronghold and Psyclone witnessed Tori and Hiroshi shrouded in colored auras.

"This happened to us," muttered Psyclone.

"Yes, but we faced different circumstances," Stronghold alluded to an event that led to them receiving their special abilities.

"What is this?!" Brynhildr snarled, her demonic face contorting with anger while baring her vampire fangs. When she tried attacking Tori and Hiroshi, Joker and Sion interceded her.

"Whatever this power is, you better make good use of it now!" Sion yelled out, fiercely swinging his Queenslayer Blade at the Blood Vamkyrie.

As the officers exchanged looks, they nodded in unison.

"Ready partner?" Tori asked Hiroshi.

"I am!"

With that, the cyan aura surrounding Tori expanded and radiated brightly. Folding her arms over her chest, Tori threw her head back as the mysterious source's power coursed through her body.

"This power feels so liberating. It's making me strong! Yeah, strong enough to make me want to kick this vampire-looking bitch's ass!" Tori shouted as her eyes shot wide and glowed with cyan light. Then, she heard a disembodied voice in her mind that sounded eerily like her own, calling her by a codename. Tori repeated the voice's command. "Awaken from thy slumber, Valkyria!"

Extending her arms out, the cyan light enveloping Tori burned away her casual clothing. In place of her civilian garb are a solid black and shiny cyan robust body armor, shoulder guards, armored elbow-length gloves, and knee-length boots. The centermost of her armored bosom is a yellow gem coupled with dark blue petals, giving it the appearance of a beautiful flower.

Beneath the armor is an aquamarine bodysuit covering all but the leggings where the body armor's V-shaped bottom and boots are inches from convergence. Adorning her head is a black valkyrie helmet with six yellow feathers, three on each side. Two cyan spines are seen protruding through the helmet's crown. A silver blade is aligned with the top of the helmet. Adorning her neck is a shiny cyan necklace. A pair of aquamarine feathered wings trimmed with cyan protrude from her back.

Completing her transformation, Tori's natural black, neck-length hair extended down her shoulders and back. Her black hair glowed brightly and converted into full-on aquamarine.

Striking a battle posture, Tori pivoted and turned the other cheek. With her red eyes locked onto Brynhildr, the Valkyrie-like warrior pointed at her.

"Hey, freak! I hope you're ready for a beating courtesy of a true Valkyrie hero! I, Valkyria, have arisen!" The newly awakened hero declared as she flew straight into Brynhildr and quickly kicked her far away.

"Thou fukka bikkje!" Brynhildr screamed following Valkyria's surprise attack.

As Valkyria turned the other way, she saw Hiroshi fully enveloped in bright golden light.

"If this is a chance to become a hero like the ones I grew up on, then I fully accept this new power. Injustice must be dealt with!" Hiroshi yelled as his eyes turned golden and radiated brightly. Much like Tori, Hiroshi heard a powerful disembodied voice akin to his own, referring to him by a codename. He repeated what the voice told him. "Armor up and transform, Norse-knight!"

With that, Hiroshi's civilian armor became replaced with black and silver body armor with golden trim. Underneath the body armor is a black bodysuit, which covered his skin. Forming over his waist is a brilliant golden belt with a red gem fashioned in the center. Adorning his head is a silver helmet with wing-like protrusions fashioned on the sides. A mask with red eyes concealed his entire face. Draped on his shoulders and cascading his back is a long black cape. A sword holster carrying a broadsword appeared hanging on his left hip.

Striking a heroic pose, a golden light radiated behind him, which briefly blinded the Vamkyries. Quickly drawing out his broadsword, Hiroshi pointed it toward the Vamkyries' direction. "Prepare to be afflicted by my Balmung! I, Norse-knight, shall punish the wicked!"

As Norse-knight stood next to Valkyria, the newly awakened heroes exchanged nods.

"Ready to rumble with these vampire freaks, partner?" Valkyria asked.

"Yeah," Norse-knight nodded.

"Good, you two come with us while we take that Vamkyrie and that snake man," Sion addressed Valkyria and Norse-knight. "By the way, cool names and forms."

"Let's do this!" Joker called out as he, Sion, Valkyria, and Norse-knight headed into the fray.

Upon seeing Valkyria and Norse-knight, Oracle's eyes lit up at the sight of the latter. "Whoa, he totally looks like a Kamen Rider!"

"But, how did those two get powers? They can't be Metaverse-related," Noir noted.

"No, this has to be something else. Perhaps it's related to the Yami Matter's effect on our reality?" Fox speculated. "It's probably how these two received their abilities." He veered toward Stronghold and Psyclone's direction.

Elsewhere, and looking on from the sidelines in hiding, Lance and Cammy were mentally trying to grasp all that's been happening. Not even Cammy's spiritual senses could fully comprehend Tori and Hiroshi's transformed states. They also observed Stronghold and Psyclone's abilities.

"Could that be how they get their powers? Just by willing it to happen?" Lance wondered.

"I don't understand it completely, but I'm sure they got these powers because of these weird distortions and probably because of the high spiritual pressure I'm sensing in this area. We've entered dangerous territory, Lance," Cammy warned him.

"Yeah, weird things have been happening lately and your priestess senses have been working overtime lately. Are you feeling ok just being here?"

Whipping the sweat from her anxious brows, Cammy feigned calmness. "I'll manage, Lance. Let's just keep out of sight until this is all over."

While Brynhildr recovered to her feet, she and her Vamkyrie colleagues surrounded Yaban.

"It is time to stop toying with these Midgardians. The Yami Matter demands blood!" Brynhildr declared as she and the other two Vamkyries harvested the Yami Matter's dark power, causing a black aura to consume Yaban.

As the Yami Matter snake filled him to the core, the cryptid man's body released a giant snake construct. The snake construct formed over the man, extending the cryptid humanoid's body length into a 10-meters long frame. His snake body became rounder at the waist.

The group watched in horror as the snake man's scaly body instantaneously changed from gray to dark green. He also gained spectacled black stripes that ran down his elongated back. His snake's eyes twitched and adjusted with his size growth. The snake's head became more crocodilian-like. Gone were his hind legs, but his front arms became stocky lizard limbs. When he opened his mouth, he bared sharp teeth akin to a crocodile's. A long forked black tongue flicked outward to taste the air of the 'wretched' humans near him.

"Damn, they've turned him into a Tsuchinoko!" Brave cried out. "Geez, and you're still unconscious through all this, Yumeko?!"

"Looks like we've got a fight on our hands," Sekiken said, brandishing his Enduring Crismon.

Noticing Sekiken's white Envoy white, Sion's mind recalled the old Sion wearing similar clothing. In that instance, his mind and body remembered this power. A white light enveloped Sion, changing his wardrobe into a white & dark gray variation.

"Sion?" Tennyo gasped as she recognized the white Envoy outfit.

"He remembers the form the old Sion used and has accessed his Envoy of Matthew power," Moonlight noted.

"Sion?" Joker noticed the two Revenants in their Envoy forms.

"You remember, too, huh?" Sekiken asked Sion.

"Yeah, and these forms should be enough to beat this Tsuchinoko and these Vamkyries," Sion stated.

The Tsuchinoko roared as the serpent's feral nature had taken over. His human speech was quickly replaced with a low snake hissing, which grew into low bellows and saliva-drenched snarls.

Joker, Sion, Brave, Azure, Singer, Valkyria, and Norse-knight backed off from Yaban Mamushi's snake construct appearance. Even with her dual hounds protecting her, Singer was scared for her life, but Joker, Sion, Brave, Azure, Valkyria, and Norse-knight also helped to guard her. This helped lift Singer's apprehensive state.

"Don't show fear," Joker muttered without turning to Singer. "You do that and the Yami Matter will likely exploit your insecurities. You'll make it worse for yourself and us."

Hearing Joker's advice, Singer gulped and gripped her chest, feeling her heart rhythm pound at an accelerating pace. She watched as Joker, Brave, and Azure battled the snake construct. Joker sent Mothman to blast Yaban with Mazionga. While Mothman's electrical shock barely dazed the serpent, Brave's Janomecho and Azure's Blue Dragon devastated it with dual wind attacks.

Upon reflecting on everything Joker told her, Singer found herself internally arguing over what is right and wrong. It was a few years ago when she first got into the idol scene. To hide her real arrogant and calculating self, she created a sweet and happy-go-lucky facade personality to win over a fanbase, but in truth, she abhorred them for being 'filthy and sweaty as pigs'. She did this all to aspire to become like her favorite actress. Yumeko beating her in a duel and losing to Sumika/Kawaru made her realize her foolish errors. That stage loss exposed her true nature to her fans, but she was relieved and felt the weight of burden lifted off her shoulders when they still cheered her.

"My fans believed in me and they still do," Singer muttered as she looked at her Paired Raiken. "You two believe in me, right?" The thunder dogs barked in response. "You're right. Now, I have to believe in myself again. And maybe there is no saving some people, but I was saved." She eyed Yumeko, who was being carried on Nine-Tails's back. "Saved by you, Yumeko. Thank you. Ok, I won't let you down!"

As the three Vamkyries descended next to Yaban, Brynhildr pointed at the group.

"Thou shalt face us three along with this beast. I shalt pair up with the beast!" Brynhildr declared, standing beside Yaban.

"Oh, I see. Yes, some of thou art vampires like us," Brynhildr chortled as a smile formed on her demonic face. She snarled like a lion at Joker and Sion. She noted the Revenants' glowing red eyes. "I dost not know whether to be scared or unimpressed."

"Hn, they dost not scare me, Brynhildr," Sigrún snidely remarked. "We shalt put them in their place, yes?"

Brynhildr answered with a fiendish giggle. "Indeed, they art not true vampires anyway. They art just pretenders. They art Draugar!"

Upon hearing this, Omusubi growled. "What the hell did you call us?!"

Adel snarled. "I don't know what Draugar means, but it's rubbing me the wrong way!"

Eir then eyed Valkyria. "And let us not forget this Valkyrie pretender."

Brynhildr evilly smirked, setting her sights on Valkyria. "Dost not worry. The counterfeit Valkyrie shalt be slain for mocking our image."

"Who are you calling a pretender, you fang-faced freak?!" Valkyria shouted at the Blood Vamkyrie.

Fox turned to Oracle. "Well? What's the verdict? Can we take them individually?"

As she finished scanning them, Oracle responded. "Based on their individual readings, if any one of us fought them alone, we're royally screwed. We're going to have to kick their butts in pairs!"

Nodding, Joker turned to Sion. "Then, we can take their leader. Are you up for it?"

Sion frowned and turned to face Brynhildr. "Of course, I'm not letting any evil vampires run around while I'm here."

"Likewise, my friend," Sekiken firmly stated as he nodded to Noir, Medic, and Leto.

"I still advise caution, guys. Remember to work together," Stronghold advised everyone.

"Yeah, yeah, look as long as I get a piece of that Vamkyrie bitch over there!" Valkyria growled in Brynhilde's direction.

"Hey, make sure and share with the rest of the class," Norse-knight tried placating Valkyria's demands.

"So be it. Whether thou chose to fight alone or in pairs, it makes no difference to us. We shalt defeat thee either way! Art we ready for thy executions?!" Brynhildr called out scoffing, pointed her Blood Gram at Joker and Sion before raising her blade. "Once this sword hits the ground, the battle shalt commence!"

Hearing this, the Thieves and allies readied battle stances. The Vamkyries did the same and watched Brynhildr slash the ground with Blood Gram.

"NOW!" The Blood Vamkyrie announced as she flew at Joker and Sion. The other two Vamkyries quickly picked out their opponents. Swinging her Blood Gram at Joker first, Sion intercepted the Vamkyrie's direct attack with his Queenslayer Blade. He then swung at and missed Brynhildr, who flew out of his reach.

"Are you okay, Joker?" Sion asked the Phantom Thief.

"I am now," Joker growled as he aimed and fired with his Tyrant Pistol. Brynhildr dodged every shot fired and at one point even cut a projectile in half with her Blood Gram. "Damn, she's fast!"

"The others are going to have their work cut out for them," Sion said, observing Tennyo, Moonlight, Stronghold, Medic, and Leto luring Eir away from the vicinity.

"I'm worried about the others, too," Joker anxiously muttered. He took out his Paradise Lost Dagger and split from Sion.

"What art thou planning? No matter what thou hast in mind, it will not work!" Brynhildr boasted as she swooped down to attack Sion first. Swinging Blood Gram at the Revenant, she clashed with Sion and unleashed enough force to knock Sion back.

Having been knocked 30 feet back, Sion assessed the Blood Vamkyrie's strength, which greatly surpassed his. He turned to Joker, who ran up behind Brynhildr with his dagger. Joker went for a backstab, but Brynhildr swung her blade and knocked the dagger from the Phantom Thief's hand.

When Brynhildr swung her Blood Gram, Joker instinctively summoned one of his Personas. His choice summon, fittingly enough, was Siegfried, a Norse Mythological hero and tragic lover of Brynhildr. Siegfried has light brown skin, back-length blonde hair, and black and red battle armor.

However, based on Brynhildr's reaction, she scoffed at the Persona. "What is that supposed to be?"

"Siegfried, one of the Norse Mythology's heroes."

"No, I hast met Sigurd during my time and this imposter is no Siegfried. He looks nothing like him, but I will gladly kill him the same way!" Brynhildr cackled evilly as she swung at the Siegfried Persona.

In response, Siegfried drew his sword and clashed with the Blood Vamkyrie. While the Persona kept Brynhildr preoccupied, Joker hurried over to Sion.

"Do you have enough power to use any more Gifts?"

"Yeah, I have plenty," Sion said.

As the two men heard the pained roars of Siegfried, they turned as Brynhildr finished Siegfried off with a single stroke from her red blood sword.

"That Sigurd didst not stand a chance. The one I knew was stronger than him. Now, face thy fates!" Brynhildr raised Blood Gram overhead and summoned a portal. As the distortion opened, an assortment of swords and blades came out.

"Oh, this is going to hurt," Sion sardonically remarked.

Grinning evilly, Brynhildr swung down her Blood Gram and beckoned the barrage of blades to rain down on them. Joker and Sion evaded the incoming blades. Many pierced the ground and others tore through obstructions. Joker and Sion slipped behind a steel barricade.

Just then, Valkyria and Norse-knight stepped in and confronted Brynhildr. While Norse-knight charged forward, he and Brynhidlr briefly clashed swords. Norse-knight's broadsword collided hard with Brynhildr's Blood Gram. As the two warriors grimaced in each other's faces, Brynhildr's eyes turned red, which sent a powerful wave that repelled Norse-knight. When Brynhildr went to behead the armored warrior, Valkyria flung her spear toward Brynhildr. Having been pushed away by Valkyria's spear, Norse-knight seized the advantage and delivered rapid sword slashes, each one imbued and powered by the golden light, damaging the Blood Vamkyrie. Charging energy in his right hand, Norse-knight fired a golden beam. The armored warrior's Gaea's Blast proved effective enough to neutralize the Vamkyrie.

"Hey, leave me some of her!" Valkyria shouted as she picked up her spear and struck Brynhildr with it. After knocking back Brynhildr, Valkyria drew her sword and clashed with the Blood Vamkyrie.

"Heh, thou art not half-bad, false Valkyrie! Thou wear our armor but art not one of us!" The Blood Vamkyrie dismissed Valkyria's identity.

"You think I give a damn if I'm a real Valkyrie or not?! Well, you've fallen far from a hero's path! Looks like I have to remind you!" Valkyria called out as while imbuing her sword with aquamarine light, she swung and unleashed a clear blue X-shaped projectile.

As Valkyria's Exalt X-Slash headed her way, Brynhildr narrowly dodged Valkyria's powerful attack, realizing if she would've perished from Valkyria's attack. Launching herself into the air, Valkyria swung her sword, which Brynhildr stopped and knocked away with her Blood Gram. Drawing blood by cutting herself, Brynhildr tossed red blade-like sickles at Valkyria. Swiftly evading Brynhildr's Blades of Ares, Valkyria dove into and punched the Blood Vamkyrie's face.

"How do you like that? Who's a fake Valkyrie now?!" Valkyria berated the Blood Vamkyrie, who began seething at the Valkyrie warrior.

"This is our chance! I hope you've got another Persona to use, Joker!"

"I've got a few more," Joker waved a hand over his mask and summoned a 7-foot tall muscular man garbed in a white flowing cape, white armor, and a golden mask with horns and blue eyes. The Persona brandished a giant hammer in his right hand. "Go forth, Thor!"

As the Asgardian Persona flew into the air, the warrior waved his trusted hammer, Mjolnir, into the air and fired a lightning bolt at Brynhildr. Making room for the Persona, Valkyria quickly flew out of the way.

Evading the Persona's Maziodyne, the Blood Vamkyrie flew at and swung Blood Gram at him. Thor countered with Mjolnir and blasted Brynhildr away. Having been blown back 20 feet, Brynhildr stopped in mid-air. Thor unleashed a Megaton Raid, attempting to physically devastate the Vamkyrie.

"Nice try, but thou art not the Thor I knew! I dost not know how thou can willingly summon spirits of the gods, but it is not enough to defeat me!" Brynhildr boasted and attacked the Persona. She slashed at Thor with quick and deadly strikes. All the while, the Asgardian Persona guarded against all of her attacks.

"This should surprise her. Come forth, Valkyrie!" Joker quickly summoned a woman with long blonde hair, a light brown complexion, a brown and silver battle wardrobe, and a white cape. The Valkyrie wore a silver winged mask covering her eyes. The Valkyrie brandished two swords and rose on a red-brown horse with a yellow-red mane and tail.

The Valkyrie joined Thor as they engaged Brynhildr, who fought them off with Blood Gram.

"Humph, thou send another Valkyrie to fight me?! What kind of fukka mockery is this?! Thou rely on a forgery of myself and my maidens!" Brynhildr sneered while swinging at and countering the Valkyrie Persona's sword strikes. Then, her sneer turned into a twisted smile. "But, I shouldst not complain! I accept thy challenge! Between fighting that fake Valkyrie, that golden knight, and now thou two, I hast not been this excited in fukka ages!" She suddenly revealed a sadistic thrill engaging the Norse Personas. "COME AT ME, THOR AND FAKE VALKYRIE! FACE THY FUKKA DEMISE!"

Thor and the Valkyrie attacked Brynhildr. However, the more they attacked her, the more her Blood Gram was able to absorb their energies to replenish her health. Blood Gram doubled not only as a devastating weapon, but served as a device with vampiric traits, allowing the user to absorb the power of its attackers.

As the Valkyrie went for a Rising Slash, Brynhildr stopped her swords with Blood Gram.

"Now, how about I show thee the strength of a real death maiden?" The Blood Vamkyrie evilly grinned in the Valkyrie's face. When Thor launched another thunderbolt, she pushed the Valkyrie in front of the God of Thunder's attack.

Thor's attack obliterated the Valkyrie, allowing Brynhildr to slash the God of Thunder's right arm off.

"Not looking good, Joker," the Revenant muttered.

"I still have another up my sleeve," the Phantom Thief tried keeping his composure, but deep down he was deeply concerned.

"Then, I've got something up my sleeve!" Sion declared, channeling his Envoy power through his Hanemukuro. Brandishing his glowing white blade, he jumped high up to attack the Blood Vamkyrie

After dismembering Thor, Brynhildr turned the other cheek and was slashed by Sion's blade. After delivering his Will of d'Artagnan, Sion unleashed a barrage of strikes on her. Having absorbed every blow from the Revenant's blows, Brynhildr passively invoked her Rage of the Valkyrie, prompting her to resist Sion with ferocious attacks.

The Blood Vamkyrie swung down Blood Gram, unleashing a devastating force that pushed Sion away. "If thou art giving thee trouble, I feel sorry for thy friends fighting my fellow maidens! Their deaths are all but assured!"

Brynhildr prepared to finish off Sion with a fiendish grin, but Valkyria and Norse-knight intercepted her again. When the two heroes collided with Valkyria, they gave Sion room to recover.

"Thou two art becoming a nuisance!" Brynhildr hissed, swinging her Blood Gram with enough force, which easily repelled Valkyria and Norse-knight away.

With eyes glowing red, Sion shoved something into the ground. Joker headed off Brynhildr and fired his Tyrant Pistol at her. Casually swinging her Blood Gram, Brynhildr deflected Joker's shots. Then, Joker sidestepped and let Sion attack. The ground shook beneath Brynhildr, catching her off guard. Then, a metal tail came shooting out and tried to stab the Blood Vamkyrie. Seeing this coming, Brynhildr dodged Sion's Stinger-Type Blood Veil.

"Very impressive to catch me with my guard down! Well done, fukka Draugr!" Brynhildr openly praised and mocked Sion.

"That's not all! Come forth, Odin!" Sion declared as Joker summoned his next Persona: Odin, an 8-foot tall dark violet-skinned thin man with some musculature on his arms, chest, and abdominals. Although his outward appearance resembled little of the idealized Odin, he still wore a golden horned helmet, a giant white cape, and held Gungnir in his right hand.

"I am Odin. This might for which I traded mine own eye shall be a mask of thine soul and lead thee to battle!" The King of Asgard Persona declared, shooting a savage gaze at the Vamkyrie.

As the name Odin was brought to her mention, Brynhildr scowled. "Odin? Does this creature bear the name of that fukka old man? Feh, even if this thing is not the same Odin, I shalt strike it down as if it were him!" She hastily flew at Odin, who responded with a blast from Gungnir. The Persona's Thunder Reign immobilized the Blood Vamkyrie enough to slow her down.

"Keep it at, Odin!" Joker declared as he and Sion planned their next attack.

"This won't hold me!" Brynhildr hissed as she lashed out with pure venom at the Persona. "I SHALT NOT BE DEFEATED BY A COUNTERFEIT ODIN!" She grasped Blood Gram and prepared to fight back with another devastating force.

"You think I'm done? Think again," Joker furtively smiled while snapping his fingers. With that, the Phantom Thief summoned his last Norse-based Persona: A steel-skinned, long-bodied, and long-tailed draconic beast covered with cybernetics. It has a demonic steel visage with steel horns jutting above its head and steel wings on its back shoulders. "Take her down, Fafnir!"

With that, the steel draconic monster flew head-on against Brynhildr. Fending off Fafnir with her Blood Gram, Brynhildr fiercely fought off the Persona.

"Thou call this monstrosity Fafnir?! The Fafnir I know didst not look like this!" Brynhildr bellowed with ferocity. Diving forward to slay Fafnir, Brynhildr saw the beast's mouth gaping. Fafnir expelled its Cosmic Flare. Finding herself on the receiving end of Fafnir's blast, Brynhildr was sent crashing into the ground.

"Had enough?!" Sion growled, readying his Queenslayer Blade and Hanemukuro.

As she recovered, the Blood Vamkyrie focused on the dark golden ring on her index finger. "Yami Andvaranaut, give me the power to send these fools to oblivion." She harvested the ring's power.

"Hey, they're going to need help with that snake monster!" Sion reminded Joker about Yaban, who was fighting off Brave and Azure. "I'll stay behind and handle our Vamkyrie friend here."

"Thanks. My Personas should give you the help you need," Joker nodded as he headed off to help the Spiritual Gamblers against Yaban. Looking over his shoulders, he saw Valkyria and Norse-knight following him. "You two are pulling your weight. I'm impressed."

"Thanks. That means a lot hearing that from you, the leader of the Phantom Thieves," Norse-knight replied.

"Not bad for first-timers, huh? I hope we can do more of this," Valkyria smirked.

"We'll see," Joker nodded.

---

Landing atop of a light post, Eir conjured a 5-foot long white staff. With it, she fired ethereal beams at Tennyo and Moonlight. The women quickly dodged the Healing Vamkyrie's blasts. Eir fired another ethereal beam, aiming directly for Tennyo. Tennyo prepared to stop it with her Kunitokotachi ko-naginata, but it came too fast for her to react in time. Then, Moonlight stepped in with her Dammerung halberd and batted it away.

"Thou art not normal mortals, I must grant thee that. However, we, Vamkyries, cannot be defeated!" Eir declared as she flew off the light post and dove toward her two adversaries. Swinging her staff, she fired another ethereal beam, which Tennyo and Moonlight dodged. The beam hit the nearest tree, but rather than it getting vaporized, it grew. The tree grew big enough as its roots sprouted out of the ground and launched at the two women.

"Move!" Tennyo cried out as she and Moonlight evaded getting caught by the living tree's elongated roots.

"She has the power of life and healing," Moonlight assessed the nature of Eir's element.

"Indeed, I am the Healing Vamkyrie after all," Eir reminded them. She floated next to the living tree. "Surely thou art not cruel enough to destroy a living creature?"

"You're the one who made it this way!" Tennyo berated her.

"We will fight it as if our lives depended on it," Moonlight said.

"If we're going all out, then I'm happy to oblige!" Leto declared and transformed into her Successor of the Ribcage form. As she charged head-on with the living tree, Leto generated electricity from her glowing hands and blasted some of the roots with her Arc Beam.

"Be vigilant of the ground! Those roots will pop up from the ground!" Medic warned Stronghold.

"I'm already ahead of the curve, but thanks!" Stronghold called out, casting his nullification barrier to ward off the roots. Then, as a root sneakily popped out behind him, Stronghold stopped it with his nullification field.

Moonlight planted a hand into the ground as the tree came forward and summoned thorn-like spikes. These spikes sprouted from the earth and pierced through the tree. Having halted the tree with her Ivy-Type Blood Veil, the Vein Remnant set her sights on Eir.

"That should hold it in place," Tennyo said, readying her ko-naginata.

"No matter. I hast other ways to defeat thee," Eir smiled darkly. "Come!" She beckoned Tennyo and Moonlight.

The duo attacked her directly. Tennyo swung her ko-naginata at the exact time Moonlight readied her halberd. Eir then conjured a magical barrier with her staff. Much to their dismay, Tennyo and Moonlight's weapons bounced off Eir's shield. As they attacked again, Eir's shield repelled them. Tennyo didn't stop as she fired a Divine Thorn at Eir's shield. Eir augmented her shield against Tennyo's concentrated lightning blast.

"Thou art persistent!" The Healing Vamkyrie growled, her face morphing with a demonic visage. She let out a growl akin to a tiger's, but this did little to deter Tennyo.

Swiftly coming up behind Eir, Moonlight summoned ground spikes to backstab the Vamkyrie's blindspot. However, Eir saw through Moonlight's tactic and conjured a second barrier, stopping Moonlight's attack. Brandishing her Dammerung polearm, Moonlight smacked Eir's face with it.

Eir then amassed a wave of ethereal light, which she tossed at Tennyo and Moonlight. The duo dodged the devastating blast and split up. Eir quickly dove right into Moonlight. Then, smacking her with her staff, Eir knocked the Vein Remnant 30 feet away.

"IO!" Tennyo cried out as she ran toward her, but Eir dove right into her. Tennyo struck back with her Kunitokotachi ko-naginata. Eir stopped Tennyo's ko-naginata with her staff. Having locked eyes, the two clashed head-on. "Get out of my way!"

The Healing Vamkyrie evilly smiled directly in Tennyo's face. Healing herself with Regenerator, Moonlight stirred and recovered.

"Hifumi…" Moonlight muttered as she watched Tennyo and Eir deadlocked in an intense face-off. "Don't fight her alone."

As Tennyo went for another Divine Thorn, Eir nullified her blast with a magic shield and kicked Tennyo away.

"NO!" Moonlight shouted as she healed herself and ran at Eir. Swinging her Dammerung halberd, Moonlight nearly split the Vamkyrie in two. As Eir flew into the air, Moonlight stood in front of Tennyo.

"Thou two art going to be more troublesome than I thought," Eir scoffed.

"Are you ok, Hifumi?"

"Yes, I am now. I think we might be over our heads here, Io."

"Don't say that. We have to exploit their weakness, whatever it may be."

Eir readied her staff. "How about I make this quick and painless? I can end thy suffering now."

"Don't forget about me!" Leto howled as the giant multi-armed wolf cast fire around Eir. After seemingly trapping Eir in a ring of fire, the Healing Vamkyrie flew into the air and prepared to attack. Leto conjured ice in her hands and cast a barrage of ice shards at Eir.

Swinging her staff, Eir nullified Leto's Frost Bolts. The Healing Vamkyrie swept Leto back with an ethereal beam.

After healing each other, Tennyo and Moonlight held their ground in defiance.

Eir chortled. "Very well. Dost not blame me if I gave thee bloody deaths."

---

Finding themselves a wide space to duel on, Sekiken, Hunter, Omusubi, Adel, and Psyclone lured Sigrún to fight them. The four Revenants attacked the Radiance Vamkyrie head-on, hitting her with quick strikes. However, Sigrún parried and defended using her spear and shield. Sekiken's Enduring Crimson sword collided with Sigrún's shield. Hunter attempted to backstab the Vamkyrie with his Executioner sword. Sensing his approach, Sigrún sidestepped Hunter.

When Adel lunged forward with her fiery claws, Sigrún instinctively moved away and threw her shield, which collided with Adel's face and knocked her down. Omusubi swiftly slashed Sigrún's back with his Oni Blade. Preparing to behead her with his two-handed sword, he attempted his Tormenting Blast technique, but Sigrún countered his strikes with her spear. She then knocked him back with a spinning kick.

Just then, as Sigrún dropped her guard, Psyclone generated four psychic clones to attack the Vamkyrie. Sensing their approach, Sigrún discerned the clones and tossed her shield, which cut through and dissolved the four clones.

"How rude!" Psyclone forged a psychic beam from her forehead, narrowly hitting Sigrún with it. However, the Vamkyrie dodged and raced toward Psyclone, delivering an elbow strike into her solar plexus. After knocking Psyclone back, Sigrún scanned her beaten foes.

"Thou art fine warriors indeed! Though, none hast yet to strike me!" Sigrún hollered, brandishing her spear. "Shalt I go easy on thee all?"

Sekiken sardonically remarked. "Oh, you're willing to give us a handicap? How generous coming from a proud and beautiful warrior such as yourself."

Hunter scoffed. "Please tell me you aren't trying to use your charms to win her over? Don't you already have two ladies?"

"Guess you can't read sarcasm, Jack?"

"It almost sounded like you were genuine."

"Heheh, maybe I should tell Makoto and Haru that you're eyeing a vampire?"

Sekiken chuckled while not taking his eyes off Sigrún. "Beautiful as this woman is, she's still an enemy and she's one of the undead. No way, I'd trade Mako-chan and Haru-chan for this one."

The Radiance Vamkyrie stalked around the two. "I thank thee for complimenting my beauty, but I cannot allow either to walk away alive." Her face then transformed with a demonic visage. "Come forth and meet thy demise!"

Sekiken, Hunter, Omusubi, and Adel rushed to meet Radiance Vamkyrie. Expecting them to attack with a predictable frontal assault, Sigrún watched the two split up. Hunter dashed over to the right. Sekiken came from the left. Omusubi and Adel went for a frontal assault. Sekiken invoked his Ogre-Type Blood Veil, sending his demonic hand to grab Sigrún's shield. Hunter kicked the shield from her grasp, leaving herself unguarded. Omusubi and Adel double slashed Sigrún. The four Revenants went in and drove their weapons through her. Then, Psyclone amassed a psychic sphere in her right hand and slammed it into Sigrún's chest, causing the Vamyrie to double over.

"That should do it!" Adel cried out.

"No, that didn't do her in!" Psyclone gaped as she noticed something bright shimmering out of the Vamkyrie.

Then, the Radiance Vamkyrie unleashed a flash of radiant light, blinding both the four Revenants and Psyclone. Utilizing Sváfa's Radiance at the last minute, she quickly retrieved her shield. She ran over and tossed her shield, which struck Hunter in the face. She threw her shield, knocking down Omusubi, Adel, and Psyclone. She then threw her spear at Sekiken, aiming for his chest, but Hunter threw himself forward and took the spear through his abdomen.

"Jack!" Sekiken shouted.

The Radiance Vamkyrie was taken aback by Hunter's seemingly foolhardy move.

"You fool! Why did you do that?!" Sekiken exclaimed.

"I just needed the right time to do this," Hunter smirked, smearing some of his own blood over his necklace orb. "I learned using my own or someone else's blood can make my Successor of the Drake form stronger."

Hunter then turned and barked toward Sigrún as his eyes glowed blue. "You're about to face the beast within!" Lifting his orb high over his head, Hunter invoked the blood-stained orb, which shimmered and released a bright white flash of light.

Sekiken and every other Revenant felt their hearts beat as Hunter activated his Successor powers.

The other two Vamkyries witnessed Hunter transform into his Drake form. Sigrún, especially, became flabbergasted with Hunter's transformation. The 13-foot high dragon towered over the Radiance Vamkyrie and let out a terrifying bellow. The bellow then ceased and became deep growls. Unlike most of the Japanese-born Thieves and Revenants, the Vamkyries were slightly more familiarized with Hunter's dragon form based on medieval European dragon appearance. This wasn't the first they've seen and encountered dragons from their time.

"Thou can become a Dreki?! I hadst no idea there was anyone with that kind of magic here!" Sigrún exclaimed, backing off as the dragon advanced toward her with bone-chilling screeches in between the deep growls and bellows. "No matter what thou hast become, we hast slain Dreki! And I shalt slay thee!" She readied her spear.

The dragon's wings opened up and spread out. The two wings morphed into two metallic hound heads.

"As if becoming a dragon wasn't enough, now you go and activate your other Blood Veil!" Sekiken yelled out.

"Come at me!" Sigrún beckoned the now three-headed dragon. "One head or three, it dost not make a difference!"

The dragon used all three heads to deliver a triple force bite at Sigrún. However, the Radiance Vamkyrie used her shield to guard against the dragon's Slavic Fangs. Sigrún also fought off the heads with her spear, poking and stabbing the middle dragon's head. While evading the metal hound heads, she jumped up and kicked both with devastating force.

"Jack!" Sekiken yelled out as the three-headed dragon stumbled back from Sigrún's powerful blows.

"Who dost take me for?! I hast the experience slaying beasts like thee!" The Radiance Vamkyrie gritted as she flew up and dove in to stab the dragon's middle head.

Suddenly, Sekiken's demonic hand seized Sigrún's left ankle and pulled her back from the dragon.

"Thou hast nerve to intervene?!"

Sekiken smirked. "Yeah, sorry about that. Well, not really." He jerked Sigrún back and slammed her hard to the ground. "I hope that was enough to help you recover, Jack."

Rising on its feet, the dragon's two metalheads transformed back to wings. The dragon shifted over and breathed blue flames at Sigrún. The dragon's Fafnir's Breath enveloped sections of the vicinity, attempting to swallow up the Vamkyrie. Sigrún quickly evaded the flames and raised her shield to stop the dragon's blue flames. Sekiken withdrew as to not get caught within the flames. He witnessed the Revenant dragon and the Vamkyrie's back and forth struggle.

Just as the blue flames seemingly bypassed her shield, Sigrún invoked an innate ability of hers, allowing her to briefly boost her speed. When the flames prepared to envelop her, the Radiance Vamkyrie rolled away at the last possible second and flew out of the flame's path.

"Ugh, damn! So close!" Sekiken cursed. "Still, genius counter. Did she stop time or increase her speed?"

"The latter. To make up for lacking most elemental powers, I hast learned valuable techniques. I used my Will of Hundingsbane to escape that beast's flames," Sigrún explained the mechanics of her innate ability.

The dragon bellowed and flew into the air, attracting Sigrún's attention from Sekiken. The Radiance Vamkyrie threw her spear at the dragon, who caught it with his left front claw and tossed it away. Flying above the dragon, Sigrún zipped around the beast. The dragon swung its tail, narrowly hitting the Vamkyrie. Then, the beast used Otr's Concealment Wall, protecting itself from Sigrún's fast attacks.

"I don't know how much longer you can keep this up, Jack!" Sekiken observed Sigrún increasing her speeds until she vanished into a flash of golden light and repeatedly collided with the dragon's barrier, shattering it and delivering blows to its body. "Jack! Pull back!"

"Now thou will be another beast I hast slain!" The Radiance Vamkyrie's boastful cries rang out while delivering quick body shots to the dragon.

"No, Jack! Get off him!" Sekiken fiercely shouted as he generated his Fire Storm and blasted Sigrún with flaming projectiles. After repelling her with his flaming blasts, Sekiken dove forward and cast his Hasten Gift, increasing his combat reflexes. Delivering a powerful slash with his Enduring Crimson, Sekiken struck her down with Eternal Blade Dance.

"Louis!" Omusubi called out as he, Adel, and Psyclone witnessed Sekiken narrowly overcome the Radiance Vamkyrie.

Landing on her feet, Sigrún scoffed with irritation. "They art more resilient than I thought. Brynhildr and Eir, perhaps we shouldst retreat for now?" She relayed her message telepathically to the other Vamkyries.

---

As Singer and the Paired Raiken headed toward the battle, Joker already shot the snake construct's left eye, causing black blood to profusely pour out of the eye wound. The snake construct madly shook its whole body and snapped its jaws several times. As soon as it regained its bearings, the snake launched itself toward Joker, Brave, and Azure. Mothman, Janomecho, and Blue Dragon guarded their summoners and pushed back against the snake. Singer sent her Paired Raiken to attack and blast the snake's head with thunder blasts. As the snake opened its mouth, long fangs popped out from its gums.

"Come and get you some!" Valkyria declared, summoning a long steel spear with an aquamarine-colored wing insignia on it. As Yaban struck at Valkyria, the Valkyrie-like warrior swung and slashed Yaban's chest, drawing blood from the Tsuchinoko-like beast. Summoning a sword in her right hand, she slashed Yaban with it.

"Out of the way!" Norse-knight roared as he jumped high into the air. Channeling immense energies in his right foot, Norse-knight hastily dove head-on with Yaban and delivered a powerful and explosive kick into the monster's face.

"Whoo, awesome move, Hiroshi! That's a hell of a Rider Kick!" Valkyria enthusiastically cried out. As Yaban slowly rose, she channeled aquamarine light through her sword and unleashed a powerful energy wave. After striking Yaban with her Exalt Asgardian Wave, Yaban doubled over and screamed in anguish. The snake retaliated and sprayed venom at Valkyria.

Quickly evading Yaban's acidic venom, Valkyria regrouped with Norse-knight.

"Mothman, withdraw! Satan, come forth!" Joker called out as in place of Mothman was Satan.

The fallen angel bellowed and clashed with the snake construct. As the snake snapped its jaws, Satan grabbed the snake's mouth and pushed back.

"Foul abomination! Thou art not a match for me! Prepare for the final judgment!" Satan boasted as it started crushing the snake construct's head.

However, the snake did attempt to resist and sprayed venom at Satan, who fired back with Diamond Dust, which dealt critical damage to the snake construct.

After being blasted by Satan's devastating attacks, Yaban's mind flashed back to brief images of himself being captured and locked in a cage with others like him. He remembered being captured nearly four years ago when the Phantom Thieves were fresh on the public's minds. He remembered meeting the ones later named Beluga, Giga, and Zwei. He most certainly remembered the horrific experimentations done to his body, mutating him into a man with snake features.

However, his mutation came prematurely and he retained some human characteristics. He was subjected to the cruel pleasures of a man whose glasses gleamed through the darkness. Why? In the cruel man's own words, 'All in the name of science'.

Receiving a critical blow from his enemy, Yaban's mind snapped back to reality as Satan crushed his snake construct. The snake collapsed in a bloody heap as it hit the ground. The snake's bloodied body dissolved and in its place was Yaban, whose body was soaked in blood.

Joker, Brave, Azure, Valkyria, and Norse-knight hurried over as they surrounded Yaban, who was too exhausted to move. Sion, who just left his battle against Brynhildr, regrouped with them.

Just then, Brynhildr appeared in front of the group while not paying any mind to Yaban's condition. Not long after she appeared, Eir and Sigrún descended next to her.

"Consider thyselves lucky, but know this. There art nine of us Vamkyries. The other six look forward to testing thine strengths," Eir warned them.

"Thou hast proven to be worthy adversaries. Let us duel again," Sigrún stated.

"Let us go. The Yami Matter beckons us. Until we meet again, Phantom Thieves, Vein Remnants, and allies," Brynhildr evilly smirked, raising her Blood Gram overhead as she and her colleagues became engulfed by the Yami Matter's dark veil surrounding them, making them disappear.

Sekiken let out an exasperated sigh. "These Vamkyries are going to be trouble."

Fox added. "If just those three gave us this much hardship, then I dread what these other six are capable of."

Joker added with determination. "Well, let's be sure to stay vigilant and be ready whenever they show up again. Since they're connected with the Yami Matter, we must defeat them."

Sion turned over to Tennyo and Moonlight. "Are you two ok?"

Tennyo nodded. "Yes, we'll be fine, but we do need to keep our guards up with these Vamkyries."

Moonlight concurred. "Their strengths are beyond our measure for now, but they've shown they're not invulnerable."

"By the way, you four did great helping us out," Joker addressed Stronghold, Psyclone, Valkyria, and Norse-knight. "Although, I'm curious how you got these powers, especially you two." He pivoted over to Stronghold and Psyclone.

"Yeah, you saw us transform and gain these forms, but not these two. How did you get yours?" Valkyria asked Stronghold and Psyclone.

Suddenly, the snake man cryptid expended his energy to fight with all he had to give. The group immediately glanced the other way and watched Yaban laying on the ground a beaten man. Cautiously approaching Yaban, Joker took out his Tyrant Pistol.

"It's over. Your Vamkyrie colleagues have abandoned you. Give it up. Now, you can't commit your second Akihabara massacre, " Joker lowered his pistol at Yaban.

Yaban managed to choke out. "...yes, it's over. You've won. Kill me now."

"First, we need answers. Who did this to you? And how did the Yami Matter influence you? How are these Vamkyries connected with the Yami Matter?" The Phantom Thief demanded. He pivoted and noticed the other groups interrogating the other cryptids in the same manner.

"And you better spill all, and not just your guts," Azure threatened with her gun out.

"I'm surprised we worked so well tonight," Brave teased Azure, who scoffed.

"Don't push it. Besides, I don't want us looking bad in front of Joker and his crew."

Singer approached her group. "Is he ok…?" As she noticed the blood, she turned away and vomited after the rancid smell got to her.

Shika comforted Singer. "It's ok. Just don't look."

"Hey! Tough it out!" Brave cried out as she saw Shika comforting Singer. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell."

Singer nodded. "...it's ok. I just hate the sight of blood."

"Yeah, well this is pretty gory stuff. Can't say I blame you," Brave sighed.

Just then, Yaban was finally able to speak clearly.

"I don't know about this Yami Matter or those Vamkyries, but I remember… and I think my colleagues remember who made us this way," Yaban muttered weakly.

"Who turned you into like this?"

"It was…" Just then, Yaban's eyes glowed dark red as his whole body seemingly started to violently convulse. He looked like he was in the middle of an epileptic seizure-like episode. Then, black ooze seeped from his eyes and poured out his mouth.

Everyone else wore horrific expressions as the other cryptids went through similar intense seizures. Their eyes and mouth seeped with the same black ooze. The Phantom Thieves were reminded of this happening to Okumura Kunikazu.

Noir watched horrifically. Having witnessed Beluga die like her father, Noir clamped her mouth and backed away. She almost wanted to vomit herself, but she fell into Sekiken's comforting embrace.

"Oh my god! What the hell?!" Valkyria gaped.

"Holy shit… what the fuck was that?!" Azure exclaimed. "Like, was that blood coming out of their eyes and mouth?!" She turned to the four Phantom Thieves, all but Noir didn't seem as shaken as the others. "I take it that you guys have seen this happen before?"

Fox answered. "Yes, Haru's father."

"And you've all just witnessed a mental shutdown," Joker revealed to them.

"So, a mental shutdown and then they just died?" Omusubi asked in confusion.

"The body can't live without the mind," Sekiken wisely stated, comfortably holding Noir close to him.

"This is just horrible. Who could do this to these people?!" Psyclone exclaimed, expressing her confusion like the others were.

"I bet those Vamkyries did this to them!" Brave growled.

"Somehow, I doubt that's the case. This doesn't seem like their work. They appear to be experiments of some kind, but who would commit to turning humans into these tragic abominations?" Sekiken studied the cryptids.

"A monster, that's who," Adel gritted with anger in her tone.

"So, what now? The police are about to come," Firebird said.

"Yeah, we need to get out of here!" Runa cried out.

"Agreed or they're going to ask us a barrage of questions," Kaede nodded.

"Geez, and who would've thought Yumeko was out like a light during most of the fighting?" Brave said, poking Yumeko's sleeping face as the Nine-Tails carried her.

"But, our show…" Singer sadly muttered.

"Couldn't we move it to another location? Yumemi, you could probably post a message online to announce a new venue and time," Futaba suggested. "Though, honestly I don't see how any of us would be up for it after what you all just saw."

Shaking her head, Singer took out her cellphone. "I might be shaken by all this, but I'm making good on my promise to give my fans a show, but yeah a new location would be best. Sumika would agree it's a good idea."

"And what about them?" Firebird asked. "We can't just leave them?"

Before Joker could say anything, the sound of tires screeched and two black vans pulled up out of nowhere. Leto and Adel had already undone their Successor forms, turning themselves back to normal.

The group moved away as the van doors opened up. Three men covered in black riot gear stormed out and collected the cryptid bodies.

One of the armored guards beckoned the Thieves, Remnants, Gamblers, and the four heroes off.

"Hey, do you see that, Tori?" Norse-knight muttered to Valkyria.

"Yeah, but they're not from our precinct. They don't look like anyone we know," Valkyria whispered, keenly eyeing the riot-geared men.

"You didn't see anything here," the man in the riot gear told them.

"Didn't see anything my ass! What the fuck happened with these people?!" Azure demanded, getting up in the man's riot face shield. She couldn't make out what the man looked like.

"Nothing you should concern yourselves with. We were sent to retrieve these specimens."

"Who sent you to hunt them down?!" Sekiken yelled out.

"They're the property of The Consortium, but I highly doubt any of you will ever know who they are." As the riot gear-garbed individual said this, he walked away and instructed two of his men to carry Yaban's corpse into the first van. The vans rushed off carrying their load and headed off for their destination.

"The Consortium?" Joker was befuddled with this. "Futaba, does this name ring any bells?"

"No, and I've got my fingers all over the Japanese network," Oracle replied.

"Sounds like our new enemy to me," Omusubi said. "Great, as if the Yami Matter wasn't bad enough."

"I wonder if they've been influenced by the Yami Matter?" speculated Fox.

"Or, maybe they're influencing the Yami Matter," Noir wondered. "They could be a second coming of the Antisocial Force."

The mention of the former organization of corrupt individuals reminded the Phantom Thieves of their previous conflicts. Just the thought of another organization full of corrupted people was the last thing they needed while learning more about the Yami Matter and the Vamkyries' connection to the dark entity.

Just then, the group heard the sound of police sirens far off. This was a signal for them to depart and they did.

---

Chapter Soundtrack

Yakuza 0 OST - 06 Get Them - The arrival of the Yaban Mamushi and his cryptid minions.
Two Steps From Hell - Jump! - Battle theme.
Yakuza 0 OST - 17 One Eyed Slugger - Midari's battle theme.
Yakuza 0 OST - 10 Trouble Shooting Star - Battle theme.
Mai Otome OST 1 - 18. MATERIALISE - The protagonists first encounter the Vamkyries.
Bear McCreary - Valkyries - God of War OST - vs. Brynhildr, Eir and Sigrún.
01 Before my body is dry - Kill la Kill OST - Valkyria vs. Brynhildr.
Shin Megami Tensei IV OST - Battle C2 - (Challenge Quest Boss Battle)- Last stand against Yaban Mamushi.
Persona 5 OST - Mental Shutdown - Joker and company attempt to interrogate the cryptids. The Yami Matter intervene to mentally shut down and kill the cryptids.

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A/N: That's another Yami Matter Event in the feather cap and what an event this was. We have new heroes and villains to add to the ever-growing Akane no Mai cast!

By the way, the sole purpose of adding the OCs (Tori, Hiroshi, Marty, Andrea, Lance, and Cammy) into this story was for this moment. I got their introductions and cameos done before they revealed their abilities and gained their new powers. As of this chapter, they've become properly integrated with the narrative. With Lance and Cammy's inclusion in the story, and based on Cammy being able to sense Yami Matter-related presences, it likely won't be long until they awaken new powers and join our cast as another network of allies.

The concept of these six is derived from different versions of them from other fanfics I've written. Marty, Andrea, Lance, and Cammy's names are still the same, but Tori and Hiroshi were called Kotori and Himura in my other stories. All I did was tweak their names.

Inspirations for Marty, Andrea, Tori, and Hiroshi's hero forms:

-Marty and Andrea: X-Men, Big Hero 6, My Hero Academia
-Tori: Norse Mythology, Magical Girl (i.e. Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Precure)
-Hiroshi: Norse Mythology, Tokusatsu (i.e. Kamen Rider)

The second Yami Matter Event presented here wasn't overly crowded and long like the first YM/Hyakki Yagyō one that spread over nearly 3 chapters. These YM events will be spread across after every couple of chapters. The next couple of YM events will be small until the Fifth YM Event. Just a head's up there.

Well, turns out the cryptids weren't shadows, but some kind of experiments by The Consortium, who was revealed in Book II Chapter II's final scene (or, Chapter 24 overall). Like The Antisocial Force before them, they may be directly (or indirectly) manipulating the Yami Matter to play out to their advantages. Do the Vamkyries somehow work for them? This is building up to The Consortium's eventual meeting with the Phantom Thieves, the Vein Remnants, and company. As for the sadistic 'man in glasses' that appeared in the cryptids' memories, he's no mystery. He's a Consortium member. He'll show up again (yes, he's already appeared in this story).

I wasn't expecting to give Yumemi/Singer some character reflection/development, but it happened at the moment. It certainly wasn't planned out, but hey I can't complain. It's a major development for a non-Yumeko/Ryōta/Mary character.

FTR, 'zir' and 'zirself' are correct pronouns in regards to Beluga, who is gender-neutral.

Mary/Brave and Midari/Azure were lucky they worked well here, but we'll see if they're that lucky next time.

Speaking of cryptids, I just had to get the Mothman involved in this! Would've been a missed opportunity if I didn't. :D

This chapter also marked the proper introductions of the Vamkyries (outside of their brief appearances as a whole a few chapters ago): Brynhildr the Blood Vamkyrie, Sigrún the Radiance Vamkyrie, and Eir the Healing Vamkyrie. And so far, as shown in this chapter, they're the strongest AnM opponents our heroes have faced. Their connections with the Yami Matter will unravel at some point. You can expect the Vamkyries to pop in as one of Book II's primary antagonists.

And yes, even for a moment, I had to have Valkyria fight Brynhildr (a heroic Valkyrie fighting an evil, vampire inversion). And Brynhildr even had the honor (or displeasure) of fighting Joker's Norse Personas. As for her heated reaction toward Joker's Odin, let's say that there's heated history with her and the actual Odin. More on this later on.

And that's all for this commentary. This was long but a lot had to be said since this was a big turning point with new heroes and villains being introduced.

As always, leave a comment and review. See you next time!