With his new power, Ritsuka prepares himself to fight against the guards at the Castle to protect Mash and Tachibana.


"Slice them Artoria!" -

The figure with the golden sword attacked the guards and disposed of three of them with little to no issue, freeing Tachibana and Mash.

"Another one!? How many of these intruders can use one of those powers!?" - Kamoshida said with a very angry voice - "Captain, handle him!" -

A guard with a golden armor stepped up and dissolved in some sort of black goo and from that, a knight mounted in a red horse emerged.

"As your Persona, I'll do the fighting for you Master, you're free to command me" - the figure known as Artoria said.

"Command you? I'll try" -

The lance of the knight and the golden sword of Artoria crashed and created shockwaves that threw Tachibana and Mash to the ground.

"Come on Artoria!" -

From the sword, beams of light were launched and crashed against the knight. After that, he fired a burst of flames against Ritsuka, with the figure blocking the attack.

"Both of you, run away! I can hold this thing back!" - Ritsuka yelled to his sister and kouhai.

Obeying Fujimaru, Tachibana and Mash turned around and started to run, but before they could abandon the castle, they were intercepted by more guards.

"Dammit!" - Tachibana yelled as she tried to punch one of them, but her fist was stopped with no effort.

Ritsuka tried to help but the knight that he was fighting blocked him with fire, preventing him from aiding them.

The guard that stopped Tachibana's attack dissolved and transformed into a horse with two horns, using them to crash into the girl, launching her into a wall.

Tachi tried to get up, but the horse stomped on her stomach.

"Sorry... I'm not into... Animals" - even when hurt, Tachi couldn't keep her bad jokes to herself.

Another one of the guards got close to her and raised his lance, preparing to stab her.

"Tachibana senpai!" - Mash screamed while trying to free herself from the guards that had her.

"Gah, let me go!" -

While watching her senpai struggle to free herself, Mash felt useless for not being able to help her. In a moment of despair, someone started to speak to her.

"After all this time, you'll allow it to end like this? You've protected them from far worse, get up and fight!" -

Whoever that voice was, Mash felt it strangely familiar, even while not knowing who talked to her.

"Let them see the spirit that helped save humanity. Call upon me and release my power!" -

"I... Please, help me save them" -

"Very well then. I am thou, thou art I, thou shall become a shield to protect those thou loves. Your will shall become an invencible wall!" -

A mask that seemed made of iron appeared on the face of the girl. After that, Mash held it with both of her hands while she whispered.

"Come... Galahad!" -

She ripped the mask with all of her strength, blood falling from her head as blue fire covered her entirely. After the fire went off, the figure of a tall black knight with a giant shield stood behind her, proudly. The girl's clothes also changed, now being similar to a white knight's armor.

Without saying anything, Mash charged at one of the guards trapping Tachibana and with a kick, threw it against a wall, surprising herself with her own strength.

"Mash! Is that...?" -

"Yes senpai, it's me. Get up, we'll get out" -

After helping Tachibana get up, Mash took her attention to Ritsuka, who was still fighting against the knight on horseback.

"Galahad, help Ritsuka senpai!" -

The black knight jumped against Ritsuka's enemy and together with Artoria, pinned down their enemy against the ground.

"Finish him Artoria!" - Ritsuka screamed.

Once more, beams of light were shot from the sword of Artoria, but even that wasn't enough to defeat their enemy.

"Ravage them, Arsene!" -

Another voice was heard before a red blast exploded from beneath the knight and was finally able to put it down for good.

"Who the hell?" - Tachibana said while looking at the entrance. There, 3 persons were standing alongside a very small figure.

"Come with us, let's get the hell out of here" - the figure dressed in a black cloak spoke to all of them.

Feeling it to be somewhat familiar, they followed them and ran away from the Palace, ending in the outside of the school.

"Are we safe? The castle seems to be gone" - Mash said as she tried to process what had happened.

Ritsuka, Tachibana and Mash looked around them, finding Ren, Ryuji, Ann and Morgana, all 4 of them seemed angry.

"How the hell did you enter Kamoshida's Palace!?" - Ann yelled at the three.

"That was dangerous, you could've died" - Ren said.

"Sorry, it's just that we found a phone on the roof that had a weird app and after saying some words, we ended up in a castle. After finding Kamoshida there, Mash and I ended up summoning some weird creatures to fight" - Ritsuka explained - "Wait, so you were the ones that showed up at the end?" -

"Yes. Mona, I think we should give them the full explanation" - Ryuji suggested.

"I agree. Let's go to LeBlanc, we'll explain there" - the black cat said.

All of them went to the cafe and into Ren's room and there, Morgana gave them the full course about the Palaces and information about Kamoshida, but he cut the parts about Shiho for Ann.

"So... Sexual and physical assault, and now you're trying to change his heart" - Ritsuka started.

"Because of what he did, he has a Palace, and you're infiltrating it to complete your mission" - Tachibana followed.

"And that's where we ended because of the app in the phone called 'Navi'? And those things we summoned are called 'Persona' and are a representation of our rebellious spirits? - Mash ended.

"Yes, that's pretty much it. I'm surprised you caught onto it so fast" - Mona said, agreeing with them.

"Well, that's very weird" - Ritsuka commented while scratching his head.

"It'll take some time to understand everything, but still..." -

"We want to help you!" - Mash, Ritsuka and Tachibana yelled at the same time.

"Eh!?" - Ren said, almost falling off his chair.

"If that man is so twisted, we want to help you change his heart" - Mash said while nearly jumping from her seat.

"We'll join you, and we won't take a no for an answer!" - Ritsuka followed.

The Phantom Thieves looked at each other before agreeing. While they made plans, sitting on the table, Tachibana was thinking.

"Why wasn't I capable of using one?" -