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.

49. The Soaring Vamkyries

Chapter XXVII: The Soaring Vamkyries

---

Shinjuku, Tokyo (新宿区, 東京)/9:00 PM (JST)

A shrouded and quiet figure solitarily stood atop a tall platform and faced the distance ahead. She felt a massive surge of powers being contested in a life-or-death conflict. When opening her eyes, she took a deep breath.

"It's ok, Miki. You've got this," the young woman whispered, revealing herself as light beamed over her. However, Miki emerged wearing not her usual garb. She's seen garbed in an embroidered velvet blue short dress with a black leather waist belt, black high-heel boots, and a black long flowing cape. "I know you're out there, Togo Hifumi and Skyler Jones. Don't worry, I, Shinchū, am on my way." With that, she placed a dark blue butterfly mask over her eyes and vanished into the night, heading her way to get a closer view of the violent proceedings.

---

Meiji Shrine (明治神宮)/Shibuya, Tokyo (渋谷区, 東京)/9:10 PM (JST)

The tide against the Lost near Meiji Shrine came fast when Mina, Kyosuke, and Maria arrived. The Spiritual Gamblers were given a big break as the trio systematically wiped out the Lost, slaying them as if they were mere Yokai.

Imbued with Saoirse's power, Mina took out Shamed Thralls and Snouted Wanderers. Kyosuke and his Guardian Spirit, Makami, helped Yumeko/Tamamo, Ryōta/Presto, Mary/Brave, and Midari/Azure take down two Argent Wolf Soldiers. Imbued her sword with Amrita power, Maria effortlessly carved up all Lost that tried to attack her. Maria arrived to assist Kirari/Mayura, Terano/Tanuki-Ō, and Rei/Karasu, helping them slay an Argent Wolf Berserker.

"Thanks, you three! We couldn't have beaten those things without you!" Tamamo gleefully said.

"Yeah, but half of us look worse for wear. I got hurt during the battle," Presto said as he had taken a claw slash to his right leg, exposing the torn skin inflicted by one of the Lost's brutal attacks.

"Ugh, nasty! We need to take your ass to a hospital!" Brave said.

"No need," Mina said, beckoning Maria to check on Presto.

"Allow me," Maria said as she used her Amrita to heal Presto's wound. The Amrita's gold light closed up the wound and removed the impurities that would've infected his wound.

Tamamo's face beamed with joy. "Wow, you healed Ryōta's leg! Thank you so much!"

"I sense there's a greater evil power within the downtown center," Kyosuke's keen senses detected the Kyōchō and the Vamkyries.

"Perhaps some of you would like to see this through?" Mina asked the Spiritual Gamblers.

"We'd be glad to," Brave nodded.

"Hey, are you going to be ok, Ryōta?" Tamamo queried to her friend.

"I'll manage with some rest, but you be careful out there, Yumeko. You have better control of the fox this time right?"

"Yep! Thanks to Mina's training!" Tamamo happily nodded.

"To think a mortal has been able to domesticate the legendary Nine-Tailed Fox," Maria said. "Not even Lady Chacha could control its power."

"Ah, but I'm not Lady Chacha," Tamamo smiled with a cool, unnerving look. Her mood quickly changed to one of pure ecstasy when she turned to her friends. "Well? Mary? Midari? Will you come with me?"

Brave and Azure both nodded.

"And you three will be coming, too?" Tamamo asked Mayura, Tanuki-Ō, and Karasu. "It just wouldn't be fun if you didn't come."

"You have my gratitude since you let me settle my score with Kirari," Tanuki-Ō said.

"I shall fight alongside you, Yumeko," Karasu added.

Mayura shrugged. "Well, I suppose. Let's see which one of us finds and defeats the next evil spirit next, Jabami Yumeko."

"Right! Let's see who these evil spirits belong to so I can exorcise them!" Tamamo gleefully declared as she and the Spiritual Gamblers headed toward the X-Pack and the Kyōchō locations.

---

Sitting on a tree branch, Mido's exotic hoatzin, Eon, keenly observed the ongoings. It monitored the entire Lost battle, the Spiritual Gamblers' life-or-death battle with the creatures, and the unexpected arrival of Mina, Kyosuke, and Maria, who helped turn the tide and finish off the remaining Lost.

Eon watched Yumeko, Mary, Midari, Rei, Terano (her wheelchair pushed by Rei), and Kirari leave the shrine. It monitored the Spiritual Gamblers going into Shibuya's prefecture, approximately near the X-Pack's pursuit of the Thieves and Revenant's friends.

The hoatzin then vanished into red particles as its remains scattered and floated away somewhere not too far off.

---

Outside the Tokyo City Opera Tower (東京シティオペラタワー)/Shinjuku, Tokyo (新宿区, 東京)/9:15 PM (JST)

A fierce skirmish swiftly broke out and spread through the various sections near the Opera Tower. The Phantom Thieves, the Vein Remnants, the Elven Princesses, and the Advent Eight split up and lured away the Vamkyries. In an attempt to divide and conquer, the heroes prevented the Vamkyries from uniting and making their teamwork ineffective.

Joker, Sion, and Valkyria lured Brynhildr toward an open space without bystanders in the way. Readying his pistol and dagger, Joker rushed forward and attacked the Blood Vamkyrie. Brynhildr instinctively dodged Joker's dagger slash and glided into the air. Joker fired shots from his pistol that Brynhildr dodged. Joker quickly summoned one of his Personas, Surt. Giving itself a Fire Amp, Surt's fiery attacks affected Brynhildr's defenses, causing her to resort to evasive moves. When Surt attacked with its Brave Blade, Brynhildr blocked the demon's sword strike with her Blood Gram. She then cut Surt down and bisected the demon, sapping away its power and augmenting Blood Gram with it.

The distraction gave Sion time to strike Bynhildr from the rear. He slashed Brynhildr's back with his Queenslayer Blade and attempted to slash her stomach with his Hanemukuro. Brynhildr quickly turned and blocked Sion's attack with her Blood Gram. Gathering fiery power from his blades, Sion's Frenzied Fire produced explosive flames that repelled Brynhildr, causing her to withdraw and furiously hiss.

"Come near me again and see what happens!" Sion goaded the Blood Vamkyrie, whose ghastly face contorted with unbridled fury.

"And don't take your eyes off me, freak!" Valkyria called out as she swooped down and hit Brynhildr with a flying sidekick. After kicking her down, Valkyria charged and swung her sword at Brynhildr. The two female warriors engaged in a quick sword duel. Brynhildr saw an opening and kicked Valkyria's left leg, making her fall to one knee. As Brynhildr went to behead her opponent, Valkyria tossed dirt in Brynhildr's eyes, briefly blinding the Blood Vamkyrie. Valkyria conjured a spear and tossed it toward Brynhildr.

"Come to me, loyal steed!" Brynhildr beckoned as her Vargr Swan quickly dove down and snatched Valkyria's spear in its clawed clutches. As the swan crushed the spear, it dove toward Valkyria, who flew out of its reach.

"Hang on!" Joker called out as he summoned Thor. The thunder god summon gave itself an Elec Amp, augmenting his and Mjolnir's powers. The Norse god then unleashed Wild Thunder, directing electrical damage toward both targets.

While the swan narrowly dodged Thor's attack, the blinded Vamkyrie was blasted away. Seizing this advantage, Valkyria flew toward Brynhildr and imbued aquamarine light through her sword, which she then swung and unleashed a clear x-shaped projectile that hit the Blood Vamkyrie head-on. After taking the Blood Vamkyrie down with her Exalt X-Slash, Valkyria prepared another attack, but the swan flew down and guarded Brynhildr.

Slowly getting up and gripping her wounded left arm, Brynhildr deviously laughed and ripped open her flesh wound. She then harvested her blood, and using that same blood, she flung red sickles toward Valkyria, Joker, and Sion. As the trio evaded Brynhildr's Blades of Ares, the Blood Vamkyrie placed a hand on her Vargr Swan's side.

"Come, my steed. Let us vanquish these fools once and for all. Lend me your power and let us combine!" Brynhilde declared as her eyes turned blood red while sporting a malevolent grin. He quickly shoved her right hand through her swan's back, causing it to screech loudly. They both started to glow and become filled with raw dark energies. As the swan's body dissolved into red energy particles, the Blood Vamkyrie feasted on her steed's energies and augmented herself. Then, Brynhildr's form began changing.

Combining the traits of a humanoid Valkyrie and a swan beast, Brynhildr's arms morphed into feathered wings and gained harpy talons. Her body armor gained the colors of her Vargr Swan but maintained its shape as before. Her helmet altered into the shape of an avian's features.

Examining her new form, Brynhildr admired what she saw and clenched her clawed fingers. Sharpening her claws, she gazed at her opponents, who readied battle stances. "Now, shalt we play a game of hunter and prey? Run while thou still can!" She laughed maniacally as the newly transformed 'Über'-Brynhildr dove toward them.

"Thor! Defend us!" Joker called out as the thunder god charged head-on and swung his hammer, which Über-Brynhildr narrowly dodged the Persona's attack. She kicked the back of Thor and knocked him down. Then, she singled out Valkyria and flew down faster than the Valkyrie can anticipate

Now faster than before, Über-Brynhildr overwhelmed Valkyria. As she wildly swung her sword, Über-Brynhildr parried her opponent's strikes and kicked the sword out of Valkyria's hand.

"Thou art pitifully slow now. I can see everything thou can throw," Über-Brynhildr chortled as she kicked Valkyria away. When she dove toward Valkyria again, Sion swiftly invoked his Ogre-hand Blood Veil and snatched the Blood Vamkyrie with his demonic hand. However, Über-Brynhildr unleashed her Blade of Ares, which broke apart Sion's Blood Veil.

Responding to the stronger threat, Joker quickly upped the stakes and summoned three Persona, Odin, Valkyrie, and Fafnir. The Norse king blasted Über-Brynhildr with Thunder Reign. After getting electrocuted by the Norse god, Fafnir fired Cosmic Flare, which quickly put Über-Brynhildr down. However, as Über-Brynhildr started to recover, Valkyrie cast Matarukaja, granting Joker and his team attack boosts.

Receiving an attack boost from Valkyria, Valkyrie stood ready to fight again. She, Joker, and Sion moved in and converged onto Über-Brynhildr. They unleashed simultaneous attacks, forcing Über-Brynhildr to defend herself. In response, Über-Brynhildr invoked her innate ability, Leda's Mortality, which augmented her bloodlusted nature. She instinctively flew into Sion and shoved her Blood Gram through his right shoulder. After wounding Sion, she smeared the Revenant's blood on her Blood Gram.

"How appropriate that thou blood shalt empower my sword!" With that, she swung her Blood Gram and unleashed a barrage of red projectiles toward Joker and Valkyria.

Snatching her sword off the ground, Valkyria stopped a few bloody projectiles with her blade. She witnessed Joker summoning his Norn Persona. Norn then cast Diarahan over Sion, healing his wound and restoring his power.

"Heheh, oh no. Thou shalt not heal any comrades on my bloody battlefield!" Über-Brynhildr shouted as she swung her sword, unleashing more bloody projectiles.

"Not so fast!" Valkyria intervened and unleashed Exalt X-Slash to cancel out Über-Brynhildr's Blades of Ares. "I'm still not down yet, you fanged whore!"

"Thou art just an eyesore to me now. This time thou shalt be put in a grave! Thy grave!" Über-Brynhildr hissed, throwing more bloody projectiles toward Valkyria.

Joker summoned another Persona, Siegfried, and sent him to defend Valkyria. Siegfried countered Über-Brynhildr's attacks and struck the Vamkyrie with Vorpal Blade. After slightly dazing the Blood Vamkyrie, Siegfried briefly engaged Über-Brynhildr in battle, giving Joker time to send Valkyrie to heal Valkyria.

"Thanks, Joker," Valkyria said, getting rejuvenated from Norn's Diarahan.

"Now, we're raring to go. She might have more power over us, but we've got more versatility than she does," Sion said.

"Right, but we can't let our guard down around her," Joker said, witnessing Über-Brynhildr quickly taking down Siegfried.

"Is that all?! Will thou keep sending more bodies for me to skewer?!" Über-Brynhildr bellowed. "Thou art not satisfying me enough! Not until I hast harvested thy blood into my blade!" She then focused on the dark golden ring nestled on her index finger. "Grant me more power, Yami Andvaranaut! I want to finish them off now!" With that, the ring glowed and augmented her with immense mystic energies.

"You got any more plans, you two? I'd like to hear them now," Valkyria said, cautiously eyeing Über-Brynhildr.

"That ring. She used it before when we first fought her in Akihabara," Sion said. "That's something we have to target."

Brandishing his dagger, Joker set his sights on Über-Brynhildr's ring. "Then, let's take it off her." With that, he beckoned his remaining Personas to keep Über-Brynhildr distracted. "Follow my lead, you two."

"Ok!" Sion and Valkyria responded as they and Joker headed off to sneak attack Über-Brynhildr.

---

On the northeastern sector of the Opera Tower, Tennyo, Moonlight/Io, Violet, and Hōō/Cammy found Eir and her Vargr Swan descending toward them. Jumping off her swan's back, the Healing Vamkyrie raised her staff and fired a barrage of white bolts at her adversaries.

Tennyo and Moonlight both conjured their defensive walls. Moonlight's Elemental Wall Gift nullified Eir's bolts. Summoning a giant Shogi piece, Tennyo's Shogi Shield cast a lightning barrier that neutralized some bolts. Then, in retaliation, Tennyo flung a powerful lightning bolt from her ko-naginata toward Eir, who evaded the lightning projectile.

"Thou shalt dost better than that," Eir scoffed as she dove toward the group. As she waved her staff, she hurled a larger white bolt in hopes to cleanse the group of their sins.

However, Violet and Hōō intervened as the latter conjured a pillar of fire amped by purifying power. With her Hōō Helix, Hōō neutralized Eir's white bolt.

"Don't think we haven't been sitting and doing nothing with our time. We've been honing our new abilities and preparing for moments such as these!" Hōō cried out.

"You chose the wrong time to fight us again!" Violet shouted, summoning Ella as she utilized her Persona's Sword Dance and struck Eir with quick rapier strikes.

Then, following up Violet's attacks, Tennyo amassed a lightning bolt from her ko-naginata and blasted Eir with her Lightning Thorn. Moonlight jumped up, swinging her Dammerung polearm and battering the Vamkyrie's body with it. The force behind Moonlight's attack sent Eir falling to the floor.

"Let's hurry and finish her!" Tennyo declared as she and the group headed off to seal the Healing Vamkyrie's fate.

As Eir steadily rose from her fall, her Vargr Swan quickly dove in and caught her. The swan briefly flew over the heroes and swept them back with the powerful gusts of its flapping wings.

Wasting no time, Eir healed herself and put a hand over her Vargr Swan's forehead. As she gathered her steed's energies, the Healing Vamkyries shared and combined their powers, initiating a merger.

"Let our combined strength destroy them!" Eir yelled while her swan vanished into white energy particles. The steed's remnants then fully merged with its Vamkyrie rider, transforming her and granting her Gorgon traits. Her normal white hair converted into white tendril-like heads shaped like Venus flytraps, which all opened their tiny mouths collectively and revealed their tiny sharp teeth. Descending with her newly formed wings, Eir landed near her adversaries.

Swinging her ko-naginata, Tennyo flung another lightning blast, which Über-Eir nullified with her staff's power. When Hōō conjured and attacked the Vamkyrie with her Hōō Blade, Über-Eir nullified her attacks with a white energy dome, which encapsulated her. Using her Demeter's Shields, she could neutralize any attack from her opponents as long as the shield stays up.

"We'll need a new gameplan if we want to get through her shields," Moonlight advised while scanning Über-Eir's barrier.

"Any suggestions?" Tennyo asked Moonlight.

"Thou will not be able to break my barrier," Über-Eir calmly chortled. With Hera's Grace, she passively manipulated her carnivorous plants as they slithered from her hair and launched themselves at the four women.

Swiftly evading Über-Eir's Venus flytraps, Tennyo, Moonlight, Violet, and Hōō sliced off and burned them. As they dwindled the Venus flytraps' numbers, more ravenous mouths regenerated and emerged.

"Just great, they keep coming!" Hōō cried out, repelling some and burning others with her Hōō Helix.

"Don't let them grab you!" Violet called out, blasting several with her rifle. When a Venus flytrap tried to bite her, she somersaulted back and shot it into pieces. Her Persona, Ella, performed Vorpal Blade to take out several of the flesh-eating plants.

Swinging her Kunitokotachi ko-naginata, Tennyo performed her Divine Thorn and cleansed the area of the carnivorous plants.

"Try all thou want, but as long as I'm in control, they will keep coming!" Über-Eir declared, willfully sending more of her ravenous plants after them.

"Then, we shall keep fighting until you wear yourself out," Moonlight readied her polearm.

---

Queen, Noir, Nephilim/Samantha, and Sudsakorn/Huey arrived on the northwestern section of the tower, awaiting Göndul and Skögul's arrival. Carried by their Vargr Swans, the Vamkyrie duo jumped off and landed in front of their adversaries.

"Thou art ready to meet thy graves?" Göndul snorted, popping her neck and spitting on the ground.

"You have no idea. I'm ready to throw down," Queen said, clenching so tight she audibly made her knuckles pop.

"Hmph, and yet one of thou girls still art not as beautiful as me. Then again, why am I not surprised?" Skögul dismissed them in a haughty tone.

"Well, I'm a guy, so you don't have to worry about me," Sudsakorn replied.

"Any of you hurt him, you answer to me!" Nephilim warned the Vamkyrie duo.

"You're still full of yourself, aren't you?" Noir rebuked Skögul as she readied her axe.

"And what if am? No woman on this side can ever hope to surpass my beauty!" The Feminine Vamkyrie boasted as she then pointed to her partner. "And my lover here has an unrivaled body that no woman can ever compete with. Show them, my love, your perfect work of art."

With that, Göndul nodded and flexed her entire body, showing off her muscular biceps and shredded back.

"That's nice and all, but those muscles are just for show. Real power comes from within your heart and will," Queen said.

"Let's show them how strong our partnership is, Mako-chan!" Noir declared.

With that, Queen and Sudsakorn split off from their lovers to take down the Masculine Vamkyrie. Likewise, Noir and Nephilim briefly allied against the Feminine Vamkyrie.

As Sudsakorn attacked the Masculine Vamkyrie head-on, he parried her powerful punches with his Krabi-krabong weapons. While striking her with polished attacks with his sword and staff, he predicted Göndul's moves. Taken aback by Sudsakorn's calculated techniques, Göndul grew irritated and used terrakinesis to amass earth from her surroundings. She amassed enough earth to create a boulder, which she then tossed toward Sudsakorn. Before the boulder could crush him, Queen jumped up and punched the boulder, shattering it with her Nuclear Fist.

"Thanks, Queen," Sudsakorn said, letting out a relieved sigh.

"You're welcome. Don't try and attack her head-on like that," Queen said as Göndul charged toward her. Going against her own advice, Queen charged and collided with the Masculine Vamkyrie. Using her strength to try to match Göndul's power proved fruitless as the Masculine Vamkyrie effortlessly lifted the Phantom Thief.

"Thou ready to go for a ride?!" Göndul laughed haughtily as she pressed Queen overhead as if she were lighter than a feather. After bench-pressing Queen over her face a few times, Queen poked Göndul's eyes, causing her to drop the Phantom Thief.

Queen landed on her feet behind the disoriented Vamkyrie and summoned Agnes. Mounting her Persona, Queen drove and rammed the vehicle's golden front rim, sending Göndul flying back. As the Masculine Vamkyrie started to recover, Queen blasted her enemy with Freidyne. Then, Queen jumped off and landed a two-punch Nuclear Fist combo, overwhelming Göndul with her nuclear-charged blows.

"How is that for power?! I don't need big muscles to beat you!" Queen yelled out as Göndul crashed into the pavement.

However, Queen and Sudsakorn's victory was cut short when Göndul's Vargr Swan caught the Masculine Vamkyrie.

"Lend me your power, my steed!" Göndul called out, placing her hand over the swan's head and absorbing its entire essence. Upon incorporating her swan's energy into her body, the Vamkyrie hastily transformed. From the waist down, her entire lower body resembled a worm-like serpent. A gaping hole then formed in her stomach's center, specifically in the abdominal region. This hole became full of sharp teeth and doubled as a second mouth. Gaining the features of a Charybdis, Göndul's power was renewed good as new.

"Oh this isn't good," Sudsakorn sardonically remarked.

"No, it isn't. Now all of her prior injuries have healed and she's gotten a hell of a lot stronger," Queen assessed Über-Göndul.

The Masculine Vamkyrie deeply chortled in a low and masculine tone. "Heheh, thou art in trouble now. Now I shalt devour thee with my second mouth!" She quickly used her passive ability, Aphrodite's Amour-propre, to finish healing herself. "Love thyself. That is what I hast been taught by my lover."

Queen scoffed. "Could she not be any more wrong? How do you put up with her arrogance?"

"Because she is the perfect beauty and I care for no one else but my Skögul! And for disparaging my love, thou both shalt be devoured!" Über-Göndul bellowed as Queen and Sudsakorn attacked her.

"Your love could never hope to match mine for Haru-chan and Louis!" Queen called out as she went for another Nuclear Fist, but bronze armor quickly formed all over Über-Göndul, which protected her from Queen's powerful punch. The Masculine Vamkyrie's Armor of Hephaestus proved strong enough to nullify Queen's strongest punches.

"Thou think thy fist couldst shatter my armor?!" Über-Göndul laughed as she tried grabbing Queen, but she and Sudsakorn evaded her reach and kept their distance from her. "Why art thou fleeing from me, cowards?!"

"We're going to have to come up with something to break her armor," Queen said, catching her breath.

"What then?"

"I'm figuring that out myself," Queen said, assessing their situation and analyzing the Vamkyrie's armor. While figuring out how she and the Advent Eight member can neutralize the creature, Queen briefly observed her lover, Noir, swinging her axe at Skögul.

While swinging her axe at the Feminine Vamkyrie, Skögul chortled haughtily. "Ohohoho, thou art too slow to hit me with that axe! Be careful not to cut thy own arm off!"

"I'm not that careless!" Noir yelled as she took out her grenade launcher and fired a shot at the Vamkyrie, who quickly launched a water globe from her hands and stopped the grenade.

The Waves of Rán exploded along with the grenade, causing water to pour down all over the vicinity where Noir and Skögul became drenched. Taking advantage of the surrounding water raining down, Skögul amassed a giant wave of water behind her, which she prepared to send toward the Beauty Thief.

"Prepare to get swept by my tidal wave! Now die!" Skögul cried out, preparing to crush Noir with her Waves of Poseidon.

Just then, Nephilim's snowy owl partner, Cassiel, flew down and clawed at the Vamkyrie's face, causing her to throw her flail around and throw her aimlessly throw her tidal wave into the air. Cassiel kept pecking and scratching at Skögul, keeping her occupied long enough for Nephilim to appear. Nephilim shot Skögul's back with her Asteroid Rays. After getting blasted away by golden rays, Skögul was blasted by Noir and Lucy's Triple Down. Then, after applying Psy Boost, Noir struck Skögul with Psiodyne. Finding herself overwhelmed y her enemies' attacks, Skögul fell in a heap and gazed at her reflection in a puddle of water. She noticed a cut on her left cheek where Cassiel scratched her.

Gnashing her teeth and clenching her fist, Skögul fumed and punched the water puddle. "My… my face! That feathered cretin scratched… MY FACE! MY BEAUTIFUL FACE! THOU ART GONNA BE GROUND UP INTO MEAT!" She furious roared, dropping her beautiful facade, which became replaced with a hideous beast's visage.

Upon heeding its rider's beckoning, Skögul's Vargr Swan flew down to snatch Cassiel in its clutches.

"Cassiel, get away!" Nephilim worryingly called out to her snowy owl.

As Cassiel narrowly evaded the swan, he flew down and safely landed on Nephilim's shoulder.

"Sorry to worry you. I did scratch her face as you suggested.

"No, I said to distract her. I think that made our situation worse."

Noir nodded. "You might be right. Something's happening." As she said this, the Vargr Swan landed beside Skögul, who placed her hand on her steed.

"Thou will pay for ruining my beautiful face!" Skögul evilly smirked as she then let out a haughty laugh. "Ohohoho, but that is fine. As long as I can take my steed's power, my injuries will heal, including this horrible blemish on my beautiful cheek. Now I shalt use thy energy to make myself more beautiful!" With that, she siphoned off her swan steed, which triggered her transformation.

As the swan faded away, its spiritual essence merged with the Feminine Vamkyrie. Her body then physically altered. From the waist down, her lower body morphed into six tendril heads of a Scylla. However, rather than their faces appearing reptilian or canine-like, the six heads' faces gained the features of the Vamkyrie's grisly visage complete with sharp teeth. The inner beauty she has long sought revealed her true inner ugliness. These horrible visages revealed her despicable hatred in physical form.

"So, what dost think? Hast I achieved the pinnacle of my true beauty?! Ohohoho!" Über-Skögul taunted the Beauty Thief and the Advent Eight member, laughing contemptuously

"Hardly, you're even uglier than before," Nephilim remarked truthfully.

"Yes, she's right. This is not true beauty! No one knows beauty better than I do! This form you call beauty is twisted and reflects the real you!" Noir harshly berated Über-Skögul.

Über-Skögul merely shrugged. "Everyone is a critic, but thou shalt not live long to tell about my peak beauty." With that, she rushed toward Noir and Nephilim while passively invoking her passive ability, Aphrodite's Amour-prope, and enhanced her power. "And I shalt kill you in the name of my only love Göndul.

"I doubt your love for your lover is as genuine as mine is for Mako-chan and Louis!" Noir cried out, swinging and chopping at the six-headed tendrils with her axe.

"And the same applies to my love for Huey!" Nephilim declared as even far away Sudsakorn could hear her love for him.

Smiling, Queen clenched her fist. "You got that right, Haru-chan. These hags have nothing on us." Watching from afar, Queen saw Noir evading Über-Skögul's freezing breath.

Likewise, Sudsakorn witnessed Nephilim surviving her encounter with Über-Skögul and avoiding getting frozen by the Vamkyrie's Breath of the Sea.

"Where thou art looking?!" Über-Göndul yelled as she beelined toward Queen and Sudsakorn.

"Nothing you need to be concerned about!" Queen hollered as she and Sudsakorn fought off Über-Göndul.

---

Mircalla/Mia, Mona, Crow, and Shadow Sae fought Mist in the southeastern sector of the Opera Tower. With her Vargr Swan watching from afar, Mist drew out her seax and conjured jade mist that shrouded the area and blinded her foes.

"Be careful, she's going to hide behind the mist!" Mona warned them as Mist's Njörðr's Tempest blinded them.

"Yeah, tell me something we haven't endured before," Mircalla said, producing her stinger-Type Blood Veil, which poked out of her back like a scorpion's tail. "But, she won't be able to escape my sights." Her eyes then turned red and she used her keen Revenants sights to follow Mist's movements. "Damn, she's quick." The Revenant tried her best to keep up with the Shroud Vamkyrie.

"Allow me," Crow insisted, summoning his Persona, Hereward, which used Debilitate to decrease Mist's quick movements, causing her to be spotted by Mircalla's sights.

"I found her!" Mircalla called out, swinging her long metal tail toward Mist and attempting to skewer her with it.

"Curse thee!" Mist cried out as she jumped out of harm's way.

"Alright, let's take care of this mist issue," Mona said, summoning Diego and utilizing Me Patra to undo the group's dizzying states caused by the mist.

When the Vamkyrie finally exposed herself, Shadow Sae quickly transformed into her Leviathan form and attacked Mist from behind. "What creature art thee?!"

As Shadow Sae went for a Severing Slash, Mist jumped high into the air and forged a wind-like mist that repelled Shadow Sae. Mist's Celadon Wind bought her enough time to create another smoke veil. However, Mircalla wasted no time and fired purple beams from her bayonet. As Mircalla's Fusillade Rondo struck Mist, Crow drew out his jagged sword and slashed Mist with Laevateinn.

Having been critically damaged by Crow, Mist desperately called for her Vargr Swan. The swan flapped its wings and unleashed blue flames from the flapping of its wings. These flames swiftly repelled the group, giving Mist time to recover.

"Take this!" Mona fired a bomb from his slingshot toward Mist, which exploded near her and knocked her away.

Before the Shroud Vamkyrie could recover, Crow shot her point blank in Mist's back with his silencer. Blood seeped from the back of her head wound. However, this did little more than aggravate the Shroud Vamkyrie as she twisted her head around and scowled at Crow.

"Idiot! You're not going to kill her with conventional means!" Mircalla chided him.

"Yes, and now thou hast incurred my anger! Now prepare to face thy end!" Mist hissed as she cut Crow's hand with her seax and ran away toward her Vargr Swan. She then grabbed her swan's face. "Lend me thy power, my loyal steed!" With that, she extracted her swan's energy and absorbed its whole essence into her being.

While the swan dissolved into spiritual energy for Mist to feed on, the Shroud Vamkyrie's appearance changed. Her lower body, from the waist down, turned into the shape of a green, scaly snake. New green wings popped out from her back. She also gained a purple porcupine stinger-like tail, a feature found on the legendary Manticore. Having gained Campe and Manticore features, Über-Mist advanced toward her enemies.

Giggling devilishly, Über-Mist put on a deranged grin. "Thou art prepared to meet thy end, friends?!" She charged at the group, wildly swinging her Manticore tail at them.

Instinctively swinging her Stinger-Type Blood Veil, Mircalla's metal tail collided with the Shroud Vamkyrie's tail. Attempting to attack with her Blood Veil tail, Über-Mist countered and shot a purple beam from her Manticore tail. After the beams nullified each other, the Shroud Vamkyrie produced a purple slime from her tail, which created a ghastly creature with a skeleton-like visage. When Mircalla sliced it in two with her tail, the creature became split into two and then divided itself into four.

"How dost like my Draugar? Now I can send them to kill a fukka Draugr like thee!" Über-Mist berated Mircalla.

"I already know what Draugr is now thanks to Jack. And I don't appreciate being discriminated against!" Mircalla rebuked as she fired Fusillade Rondotoward the four Draugar.

"Be careful, Lady Mia! If you do any serious damage, they'll just split into more!" Mona advised against her tactic.

"So, what do we do?" Mircalla queried.

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

"Such unsightly creatures! Take them out!" Shadow Sae bellowed, firing her Gatling Gun at the tokens. "Die! Die! Die!"

Crow chopped up another Einherjar into pieces. Mircalla and Mona took turns blowing away the undead tokens with bayonet shots and slingshot bombs. Witnessing her tokens being blown apart and wiped out, Über-Mist invoked her passive ability, Hestia's Landscaping, to melt some of the ground with acidic sludge from her tail.

The group immediately hopped onto higher ground, avoiding getting caught by Über-Mist's acidic swamp.

"Run all thou want but thou will not escape thy fates!" Über-Mist taunted the group, tossing several seaux at them.

In response, Mircalla batted them away with her metal tail. Swinging his sword, Crow managed to stop one from hitting him.

"This is going to be troublesome," Crow remarked.

"We won't let this hold us back," Mona added, readying another bomb in his slingshot.

"I'm taking you down!" Mircalla called out toward Über-Mist, who hissed back at her.

---

On the southwestern side of the Opera Tower, Sekiken/Sion, Hunter/Jack, Norse-knight/Hiroshi, and Anastasia engaged Radiance Vamkyrie. Sekiken and Hunter attacked from the front and took turns clashing against Sigrún's shield. The shieldmaiden quickly pushed back, sending both warriors back.

"I hast killed many Draugar in my day. Thou shalt be no different!" Sigrún declared, charging toward Sekiken and Hunter first. Then, Norse-knight and Anastasia launched an attack from the Vamkyrie's blindspot.

Taking out his sword, Norse-knight slashed Sigrún's shield, which did little to faze the shieldmaiden. However, he gathered light energy in his right hand and blasted her shield away with a golden beam. Once his Gaea's Blast disarmed her, Norse-knight thrust his sword into Sigrún, who countered his blade with her spear. She kicked Norse-knight back and briefly engaged Anastasia.

"Why wouldst an elf side with these Draugar?" Sigrún questioned Anastasia.

"Because they're my friends, and I happen to love one of these 'Draugr' as you discriminately call them!" Anastasia refuted while tossing a barrage of light arrows at the Radiance Vamkyrie.

Scoffing, Sigrún blasted Anastasia with a flash of radiant light. Blinding the Elven princess with Sváfa's Radiance, Sigrún tried to stab Anastasia with her spear.

However, Sekiken intervened and grabbed Sigrún's spear with his Ogre-Type Blood Veil. Clenching the spear with his demonic hand, Sekiken quickly generated his Fire Storm Gift and blasted her away. Then, Hunter dashed from the Vamkyrie's right side and attempted to cut through Sigrún with his Executioner sword.

"Thou art the one who can turn into a Dreki!" Sigrún recalled as she recovered from Sekiken's blast, utilizing her innate ability, Will of Hundingsbane, to narrowly dodge Hunter's deadly attack at a hair's breadth. "My steed! Come to me!"

With that, the Vargr Swan heeded its rider's beckoning and flew down. The shieldmaiden jumped up and placed a hand on the swan.

"Let's finish them quickly! Lend thy power to me!" Sigrún declared, amassing and harvesting the swan's energies into her, the shieldmaiden transformed similarly while gaining beast-like physical traits.

As the swan vanished, its entire essence became a condensed spiritual orb and merged with the Radiance Vamkyrie. Tufts of fur, similar to a lion's mane covered her head and face. A lion's tail popped out from her rear. A pair of feathered wings sprouted from her back. Her armor-colored variations matched the color schemes of her Varger Swan. Her naturally athletic figure gained some musculature to match her inner lion's strength. She ultimately turned into a humanoid Nemean lion.

Bellowing like the beast she's become, Über-Sigrún immediately lunged at Hunter and slammed him to the ground. Hunter kicked her off, but she landed on all fours and roared. Über-Sigrún expelled raw energy from her mouth and fired a destructive beam toward Hunter. The Revenant dodged Über-Sigrún's Athena's Light. Then, using her passive ability Hera's Grace, Über-Sigrún outpaced Hunter's senses and attacked him again. Sekiken quickly intervened and tried skewering her with his demonic hand, but Über-Sigrún evaded Sekiken's reach. She outpaced the two Revenants, leaving them bedazzled by her newfound speed.

"Louis, Jack!" Anastasia cried out, readying more arrows and trying to follow Über-Sigrún's movements.

"I can't even match her movements now," Norse-knight added, attempting to blast her with Gaea's Blast.

"None shalt match my speed!" Über-Sigrún taunted them.

---

On the eastern sector from the Opera Tower, Panther, Songstress/Eva, Psyclone/Andrea, and Nadia tried finding the Huntress Vamkyrie. Just when they were in her tracks, a barrage of fiery arrows fired toward them. Songstress/Eva instinctively forged her Volatile Storm Gift and stopped the arrows with her blades of sand.

"Come out now!" Songstress yelled out.

Not a moment's delay, Ölrún landed in front of the group and threw open her ranger cloak, firing another barrage of her Agilaz's Volley. As the group dodged her flamed arrows again, they spread out and surrounded her.

"Give up, we've got you cornered!" Panther cried out, readying her whip and summoning Celestine.

"Don't even try anything funny," Nadia frowned.

With a snap of her fingers, Ölrún beckoned her Vargr Swan, which arrived promptly and landed beside her. She put a hand on her steed's back. Like the other Vamkyries before her, she harvested her swan's spiritual energies, combining herself with her trusted steed. The Huntress Vamkyrie's form then changed into something resembling a Centauress. Her entire lower body became a horse's and wings emerged from her back. The swan vanished into energy particles and filled Ölrún's body, enhancing her abilities and turning her into Über-Ölrún.

"This is just great. She could fuse with her big bird?!" Psyclone exclaimed. "Fine, that's not going to do her any good!" As she said this, she split three copies from herself and used her clones to throw off Über-Ölrún.

For a moment, the Huntress Vamkyrie was taken aback by Psyclone's strategy. Then, she easily discerned the real Psyclone by her scent and amassed a large fireball, which she then manipulated into the shape of a giant arrow. Following an increment of ten seconds, the arrow exploded into a barrage of thousands of fiery arrows. As a result, all of Psyclone's clones were burned into dust.

"Oh shit!" Nadia screamed as she swung her whip and conjured a magical barrier, protecting her and the others from the fiery arrows. "I got you covered!"

Creating a blade from pressurized sand, Songstress nullified most of the fiery arrows with her Sand Edge.

"Thanks, Nadia! Now to fight fire with fire!" Panther shouted, using Fire Amp to empower her firepower. Then, she cast Fire Break, granting her teammates fire resistance from Über-Ölrún's flaming attacks. "Alright, let's clear the fire!" She used Agilao to absorb Über-Ölrún's remaining fire arrows.

"Kickass showing, Panther! I think we got her!" Nadia said.

Unbeknownst to them, Über-Ölrún used her passive ability, Apollo's Foresight, to predict their next moves. When they finally attacked again, Über-Ölrún saw their strategy and dodged their moves, launching more fiery arrows at them.

---

On the western sector, Fox, Oracle, and Horus/Lance confronted Geirdriful, who readily wove her flail around and unleashed threads toward the trio. Horus intervened and fired Neith's Arrows to burn away her threads.

"Argh, curse thee! I shalt have thy heads after I cut them off!" Geirdriful scowled, jumping into the air and sending more threads, but Fox and Oracle were ready for her.

"Now, Oracle!" Fox called out as she nodded and took out her laser sword. Fox then summoned ten shadow clones and used them to get ensnared by Geirdriful's threads. After casting his Fox Shadow, he conjured his Persona, Gorokichi, and used Bufudyne to freeze the remaining threads.

"And here I go!" Oracle called out, summoning Al Azif to keep Geirdriful's Vargr Swan busy. Then, as Geirdriful tossed more threads, Oracle sliced them with her laser sword and slashed the Thread Vamkyrie with it.

With the flapping of its wings, the Vargr Swan unleashed a wave of blue flames at Oracle's Persona. After dodging the Vargr Swan's Frostburn Wildland, Al Azif blasted the swan down. As the swan landed beside Geirdriful, the Thread Vamkyrie desperately reached out and put her hand on her steed's body.

"Oh, this isn't good, Inari!" Oracle cried out, witnessing Geirdriful merging with her swan.

"No, they're combining! And we're too late to stop them!" Fox exclaimed, realizing their futility to stop the process at hand.

"Maybe not!" Oracle beckoned Alf Azif to blast the Vamkyrie and the swan.

At the same time, Horus fired more Neith Arrows to stop the process.

Even when they attacked, Oracle and Horus failed to finish them off. Now standing in their place is a renewed Geirdriful fully merged, gaining beast-like characteristics. She outright transformed into a Satyress-like creature. While mostly retaining her humanoid form, her lower body became covered with light blue fur from the waist down. Her feet became hooves, which broke apart the sandals she had on before. A pair of goat horns adorned the crown of her head and feathered wings formed on her back.

Über-Geirdriful walked forward, channeling her renewed powers through her threads, and used them to attack the Phantom Thieves and the Advent Eight member. Using her Threads of Hermes, she demonstrated her power but running her threads through nearby infrastructure and cleanly slicing them apart, showing how deadlier her enhanced threads have become.

"This isn't good," Horus remarked.

"We can figure something out. No one person is truly invincible," Fox said.

However, Über-Geirdriful used her passive ability, Apollo's Foresight, to discern their next move. As Fox, Oracle, and Horus moved in to attack her, the Vamkyrie forged a network of web-like threads that covered the vicinity they were in. She not only outwitted them but trapped them in her thread lair.

"Now, I have thee, lowly peasants!" Über-Geirdriful declared.

"Did you forget about our Persona?!" Oracle chimed.

Leaving them trapped in their thread lair, Über-Geirdriful contended with Gorokichi and Alf Azif.

"I'll get us out," Oracle used her laser sword to start cutting through the threads.

"No, we'll get us out," Fox corrected her while he and Horus helped her get rid of the threads.

---

On the farthest side from the Opera Tower, Skull, Omusubi/Yakumo, and Stronghold/Marty were caught in a brutal fight with Thrúd. The Storm Vamkyrie amassed a lightning ball from her dark battle axe and throw her Ber-serkr Ball at the trio. When they dodged, Skull summoned William and used Elec Boost to strengthen his electrical power.

"Hey, how about we play a little rough?! It will be more fun that way! And I love thyself a good and honorable fight!" Thrúd laughed loudly and proudly. As she saw Skull's Persona, Thrúd grinned. "Say, I remember him! Why dost I test my strength against him again?!" She summoned Mjölnir and brandished it along with her battle axe.

"Gimmie your best shot!" Skull goaded the demigod.

"I'm ready to go," Omusubi said as he invoked his two-headed Hound-Type Blood Veil.

"Be careful what thy wish for! Here I go!" Thrúd declared as she tossed another Ber-serkr Ball toward Skull and William.

"Let her have it, William!" Skull declared, invoking William's God's Hand to push back against Thrúd's attack, knocking the powerful lighting ball into the air. His powerful force also managed to push Thrúd back.

As Thrúd dropped her ground, Omusubi slashed her left side with his Oni Bane greatsword. She failed to block his attack with her black Mjölnir. When the two hounds tried to ensnare her in their jaws, Thrúd blasted them with lightning bolts from Mjölnir. As she warded off the hound heads, her Vargr Swan swooped down and unleashed blue flames from its wings. These flames neutralized Omusubi's hound heads, giving Thrúd time to narrowly escape her predicament.

When Stronghold stood in Thrúd's way, she swung her hammer at him. Stronghold put a barrier that neutralized Thrúd's mystic lightning.

"How art doing this?"

"I have this weird ability that negates other people's abilities, especially if they're mystic-based. That's by my friends are far away from me," Stronghold said.

"But, can thou negate physical attacks?" The Storm Vamkyrie asked, preparing to kick Stronghold back.

"Hey, don't take your eyes off me!" Skull called out as a yellow electrical charge coursed over his body.

"I am in the middle of something here!" Thrúd retorted.

"Too late for that!" Skull grinned as he invoked his Electric Kaio-ken and zipped over like a lightning bolt in front of Thrúd, catching her by surprise. Then, he punched her before she could react and sent her flying far back. "Hey, I'm not done yet!" As he zipped forward ready to unleash a combo of consecutive blows, the Vargr Swan snatched Thrúd. "Whoa!" He quickly paused and witnessed Thrúd putting a hand on her steed's body.

"Let us combine our strengths and finish them!" Thrúd roared, hefting her father's hammer overhead as mystic lightning poured to engulf her and her swan. When the mystic power of Mjölnir combined them, the Storm Vamkyrie transformed into a Minotaur-like humanoid.

Horns protruded the sides of the Vamkyrie's head. The Vargr swan's feathered wings popped out from the back of her shoulder areas. The soles and front parts of her footwear broke apart, revealing newly transformed hooved feet. Her whole upper body frame gained muscle growth, including bigger biceps, triceps, and shoulders. Firmly gripping her black Mjölnir, Über-Thrúd snorted and stomped her right foot down.

"Yes, I shalt crush thee all with my newfound power!" Über-Thrúd declared, charging toward Skull, Omusubi, and Stronghold. During her charge, her horns extended forward, intending to stab them.

When the group dodged, Über-Thrúd's hammer and horns forged three lightning bolts, which converged into a single bigger thunderbolt. She then fired it with reckless abandon at the trio.

"Holy shit! William!" Skull beckoned his Third-Tier Persona to stop Über-Thrúd's Zeus's Thunderstrike with Maziodyne.

After the massive electrical forces canceled one another out, Über-Thrúd invoked her passive ability, Hestia's Landscaping, allowing her to generate electrical currents into the ground that vaporized the earth the trio was standing on.

"Move!" Omusubi yelled out as they narrowly escaped getting caught inside the electrical flash of light.

---

Meanwhile, Über-Brynhildr harvested more power from her Yami Andvaranaut, nullifying Joker's Thor Persona. Odin tried to attack with his spear, but the ring's power completely neutralized the Norse king.

"My ring's power cannot be matched! Now perish!" The Blood Vamkyrie fired a dark golden beam from the ring, which obliterated Odin.

Aided by the Valkyrie Persona, Valkyria struck Über-Brynhildr's left side with her sword.

"Foolish, Valkyrie pretender! Thou think these hit-and-run tactics will keep thy going?!" Über-Brynhildr yelled as she dove toward Valkyria. As the Valkyrie Persona threw herself forward, Über-Brynhildr slashed her down.

"I'm not running!" Valkyria screamed as she dove forward and kicked Über-Brynhildr's face. When Über-Brynhildr recovered, she charged beams from her dark ring and repelled Valkyria.

With his eyes set on Über-Brynhildr's ring, Joker readied his dagger. He beckoned Sion to attack Über-Brynhildr again. The Revenant lunged at the Blood Vamkyrie and grabbed her with his repaired Ogre-Type Blood Veil.

"What art thee doing?! This is a pointless endeavor on thy foolish part!" Über-Brynhildr shouted at Sion.

Sion shoved his Queenslayer Blade through Über-Brunhildr's chest. Unfazed, the Blood Vamkyrie grasped the dagger.

"This will not kill me! A pitiful attempt, fukka Draugr!" With a sadistic smile, Über-Brynhildr ripped the dagger out of her. "This is no holy weapon! Thou will need a holy instrument to weaken me!"

"I wasn't trying to kill you, dumbass."

"What?"

"Joker, whatever you have in mind, do it!" Sion yelled as he pushed Brynhildr off.

After pushing her away, Über-Brynhildr turned around as Joker's dagger poked the ring. As the dagger impacted Yami Andvaranaut, the ring's top area cracked.

"No… no… NO! FUKKA NO!" Über-Brynhildr cursed loudly as black mist leaked out of the ring. "Thou fool! That ring's supposed to contain…!" She stopped. "FUKKA!"

"Hey, don't forget me, whore!" Valkyria called out as she flew over Über-Brynhildr and swung her sword, unleashing and hitting the Blood Vamkyrie with Exalt Asgardian Wave.

As the aquamarine-colored energy wave overwhelmed Über-Brynhildr, it sent her crashing into the floor, leaving a big dent where the Vamkyrie fell in a heap.

"Nice job, Valkyria!" Sion called to her.

"Damn it! I shouldst has not used the ring if thou were going to target!" Über-Brynhildr cursed, slapping the ground hard.

"Yeah, I damaged your ring. That's no doubt the source of your power," Joker elaborated.

"Kinda short-sighted of you to forget, huh?" Valkyria scoffed.

"Let's finish her now," Sion suggested, preparing to behead her with his Queenslayer Blade.

"Yami Matter, take us out of here! Vamkyries, withdraw!" Über-Brynhildr called out as black matter materialized and pulled the Blood Vamkyrie in.

One by one, the dark matter came to collect the other Vamkyries. Even those who came close to killing a Phantom Thief, a Revenant, or an Advent Eight member withdrew into the black matter wormholes.

After Oracle healed nearly everyone with Prometheus, the Thieves, the Revenants, and the Advent Eight reconvened to meet about the difficult battles they endured.

"Man, what the hell was that all about?!" Skull exclaimed.

"Thank goodness everyone's ok," Mircalla added.

"They were so close to beating us!" Panther cried out.

"Man, you're telling me. They could've killed some of us!" Nadia whined.

"But, thankfully none of us did," Anastasia said with relief.

"Yeah, Inari, myself, and Lance over here barely cut through and escaped that thread mess," Oracle added.

"We nearly got cut into ribbons ourselves," Fox said.

"These Vamkyries sure surprised us with those new forms. They were much stronger than before," Omusubi said.

"That one shieldmaiden didn't even give me a chance to turn into a drake," Hunter stated.

"I'm just relieved you're all ok now," Moonlight said, deeply relieved her Revenant friends are alive and well.

"Same to all of you. Thank goodness you're ok," Valkyria said, seeing all of her Advent Eight members still intact.

"Nothing's going to keep us down. Right, guys?" Norse-knight asked the other Advent Eight members, who all nodded in unison.

"Ok, so those Vamkyries kept us from advancing. We have to get moving. We're so close that the Opera Tower is right in front of us," Queen said as everyone turned and faced their destination. "My sister is trapped in there."

"Yes, I can feel her presence. She's alive but as long as we're separated, how knows how much longer," Shadow Sae feared the worst.

"Then, we need to hurry," Sion said. "There's also the matter of saving Cruz."

"Yes, and that's why we need to hurry! That bastard has Cruz now!" Sekiken frantically yelled out.

"Yelling at us isn't going to solve anything, Louis," Noir said.

"She's right. You better keep your head clear. We need to be cautious about how we approach Mido now. He wants us to quarrel among ourselves and lose the will to fight," Queen firmly stated, closely eyeing Sekiken.

Nodding, Sekiken replied. "Yes, you're right. Sorry about that. We do need to hurry."

"Then, let's move forward. Joker?" Tennyo addressed the Phantom Thief.

Just then, the Advent Eight paused and turned around to face eight shadowed figures.

"You guys go on without us," Valkyria said, eyeing the eight figures.

"You have your personal battle ahead. We'll handle our enemies here," Stronghold insisted.

"Be careful then," Joker acknowledged, leading the Thieves, the Vein Remnants, the Elven Princesses, and Shadow Sae past the Opera Tower.

In the meantime, the Advent Eight stayed behind and faced their adversaries, who emerged from the shadows. It was Black Hōō, Set, Erinye, Neurobuzz, Cambion, and three unidentified new members. The eight enemies then confronted the Advent Eight to settle their scores.

---

Still hiding in his enclosed space, Mido witnessed the Thieves, Revenants, the Elven Princesses, and Shadow Sae barely escape the Vamkyrie gauntlet.

"So close. If Joker and Sion hadn't exploited Brynhildr's ring, they'd all be dead," Mido muttered. He heard the sound of wing flaps behind him. Instinctively putting his left arm out, Eon reappeared on his arm. "So, I assume that the other Lost army was wiped out." He placed a finger on the hoatzin's forehead, which showed him the result of the Meiji Shrine skirmish. "I see, so those three arrived to help those Guardian Spirit wielders. No matter, they're heading straight into the X-Pack's territory." He pivoted toward the direction the Thieves and Revenants went. "The Advent Eight are staying behind to handle the Black Heralds. Wait until they see the other surprises I have in store for them. Eon, shall we go, greet our friends, and set the final stage?"

Eon shrieked and telepathically responded. "Yes, I am ready to meet them!"

"Of course, you are," Mido stroked the hoatzin's head and neck feathers. With that, he and Eon vanished.

---

Shibuya, Tokyo (渋谷区, 東京)/9:45 PM (JST)

As they fiercely defended their weapons shop, the Yaksha Revenants engaged Hamada, Kimiko, and their Kyōchō. Adel/Emily kept the two Kyōchō back, slashing them with her claws, but the raptor-like creatures evaded her flesh-tearing strikes. As the raptors stayed on their attack on Adel, Hamada, and Kimiko kept Tyrone/Davis and the others occupied.

Roaring ferociously, Tyrone swung his Argent Wolf Warhammer toward Kimiko, who dodged and responded with a fast-moving melee attack. She quickly threw a red scythe-shaped projectile at the group. Barely evading Kimiko's Crimson Scythe-like move, the group continued running.

"She has impressive moves on her!" Tyrone called out.

"Nothing that I can't handle!" Merchant/Coco yelled, shooting Kimiko with her Riot Breaker bayonet. Relying on her newfound speed, Kimiko deflected Merchant's shots with her Crimson Scythe much to the Revenant's annoyance.

Targeting Yaksha/Rin, Hamada hopped on a side infrastructure and launched a barrage of blades from his hands. Yaksha responded by utilizing her Vanishing Hallow Gift, enabling her to turn into mist and dodge his attacks.

"Where did you go?!" Hamada snarled, quickly scanning the vicinity. Utilizing his newfound keen senses, he then spotted Yaksha hiding in a veil of mist toward his far left. Grinning, he launched his Shadow Blades at Yaksha, who jumped out of harm's way. "I've got you!" As he ran toward Yaksha, she swung her Nagimukuro great sword toward him.

Hamada quickly threw more Shadow Blades, prompting Yaksha to use her Countermeasure Gift to dodge his attack and create projectiles that briefly neutralized him.

"Don't get too full of yourself! I've got more where that came from!" Yaksha warned. Much to her dismay, she saw Hamada recovering from her attacks. "What?! But, you should be stunned!"

"If I wasn't already enhanced by Mido before we met," Hamada chortled as he attacked her with projectile blades.

"Rin! Hang on!" Tyrone called out, creating a ball of light that formed in front of him, which he shot toward Hamada.

After catching Tyrone's Floating Light Gift, the X-Pack member was sent crashing into the pavement.

"Hamada!" Kimiko cried out. Before she could save him, Merchant stunned her with a shot from behind.

"Looks like we got them!" Merchant called to her colleagues.

"Not quite yet! These birdbrains just won't quit!" Adel shouted while fighting off the two Kyōchō.

Just then, the Kyōchō quickly bypassed Adel as they snatched up Hamada and Kimiko.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?!" Adel hissed as she pursued them.

"Wait, Emily! What's up with that? A retreat tactic?" Yaksha wondered.

"Follow them. Maybe they'll take us to where Karen, Aurora, and those kids are," Tyrone suggested.

"I heard a commotion behind our shop. They shouldn't be too far," Merchant added.

With that, the Yaksha Revenants and Adel pursued the two X-Pack members and their Kyōchō.

---

Having defended themselves from Minami, Tomoyuki, and their Kyōchō, Gunslinger/Shinya & his friends, Medic/Karen, and Leto/Aurora managed to keep their enemies at bay. Their brawl led them toward the Shibuya Crossing. The remaining bystanders were already barricaded by local police and Consortium security. The usually crowded vicinity was less so due to the Lost presence and the purple sky phenomenon, prompting an emergency evacuation.

When the group scanned the less congested area, Gunslinger, Protector/Nicola, Shikama/Reiko, and Li-Ming/Tamer continued their assault on the two X-Pack members and the Kyōchō. Gunslinger fired laser rounds at Minami. By now, Tomoyuki started evading the laser blasts and conjured tusk-like protrusions from his head, which he used to absorb the lasers. Then, using his Fatal Tusks, he headbutted Protector and knocked him over.

"Don't take us lightly anymore, kids! It's time to learn some humility!" Tomoyuki shouted as his eyes quickly turned reptilian.

"Hey, cuties! Over here!" Minami sadistically grinned as her eyes turned into a snake's and stuck out a forked snake-like tongue. As she freaked the girls out, Minami formed an electrical fire from her fingers. Quickly waving her hands, she threw electrical fire blasts at Shikama and Tamer, who narrowly evaded getting caught in her attack. Minami tossed another Electro-Cute blast.

However, Shikama readily tossed seal papers that neutralized some of Minami's blasts. Tamer summoned two of her Shēngxiào: Storm Hebi and Lightspeed Yagi.

"Go for it, Hebi and Yagi!" Tamer beckoned her two animal spirits to attack Minami.

Storm Hebi quickly swallowed some of Minami's electrical fire, flabbergasting the X-Pack member. Then, Lightspeed Yagi used its quick speed to throw off Minami. When Minami's Kyōchō intervened, Lightspeed Yagi ran around the raptor's head, causing its head to spin around. Then, Storm Hebi expelled a lightning bolt and blasted the feathered creature back.

Having arrived at the crosswalk, Medic and Leto assisted the teens. Leto sprung forward and pushed away Tomoyuki's Kyōchō. This gave Protector time to recover and punch Tomoyuki back with his giant fist.

"Are you kids ok?!" Medic called out worryingly.

"We're fine now. Thanks!" Gunslinger reassured her.

"Tomoyuki! Minami! We need to regroup!" Hamada was heard calling out to them.

As the teens, Medic, and Leto turned, they saw Hamada, Kimiko, and the other Kyōchō arriving on the scene. Not far behind them were Adel and the Yaksha Revenants.

"Looks like you handled them well!" Leto called Adel and the Yaksha Revenants.

"Nothing we couldn't handle!" Adel replied.

"Hey, we can't let them regroup!" Tyrone yelled out as the X-Pack and the Kyōchō came together.

Hamada beckoned his teammates and their Persona raptors toward him. "Alright, now it's time we go all out and finish them off!"

"Yes, but that wouldn't be good for us, now would it?" A familiar voice, one belonging to Jabami Yumeko chimed as the groups faced the opposite way and saw Yumeko walking toward them. "You four are not so friendly, so why don't my friends and I rough you up?"

"Who the hell are you?!" Minami snapped at Yumeko.

"Just a friend, but not of yours," the Compulsive Gambler smirked, pausing as she faced the four teens, Medic, Leto, Adel, and the Yaksha Revenants. "But, I am a friend of theirs. And friends assist each other in times of need, do they not?" She then clapped her hands. "So, why don't I bring my friends out?"

With that, Mary, Midari, Kirari, Terano, and Rei appeared next to Yumeko. The six Spiritual Gamblers then marched toward the crosswalk area and confronted the X-Pack.

"You guys are in deep trouble now," Mary smirked.

"You're a great example of why humans are such irrational creatures. So, why don't we gamble on who wins this battle royale?" Kirari chortled.

"Momobami Kirari?! You've betrayed the Consortium and joined them?!" Hamada called her out.

"My, how could you make such foolish accusations when I was never invested in the Consortium's long-term goals? I was only in it so myself, my sister, and Sayaka could cash out and leave. We have our money and don't need you anymore."

"You're not getting away with this," Kimiko disproved Kirari's methods.

"Just for betraying us, I'm gonna enjoy burning you!" Minami vehemently snarled.

"Heh, fine. We'll just kill you along with your new friends," Tomoyuki chuckled sadistically.

"You're welcome to try!" Yumeko winked as she and the Spiritual Gamblers summoned their Guardian Spirits.

Upon seeing the Guardian Spirits, Tamer's Shēngxiào emerged and became enamored by the Spiritual Gambler's spirits.

"So, are we ready to stake our lives in this?" Yumeko smirked as she merged with her Nine Tails and got on all fours. As the fox's coal formed over her, the Compulsive Gambler gave a devilish grin. "Cause I'm ready to gamble on life on this!"

Rei shook her head. "You never cease to amaze me, Jabami Yumeko."

Midari chuckled, grinning sadistically. "I'm ready to fuck some shit up!"

Mary put on a determined look. "Let's get this over with."

With that, Tamamo/Yumeko, Brave/Mary, Azure/Midari, Mayura/Kirari, Tanuki-Ō/Terano, and Karasu/Rei joined the skirmish to assist the four teens and the Revenants.

The X-Pack members amassed with their Kyōchō partners. The Kyōchō let out high-pitched screeches and hisses, setting their gazes on the X-Pack.

"You wish to combine with us?" Kimiko asked the Kyōchō as if the bird-like raptors were speaking with them.

"That's not a bad idea. Combine with us Kyōchō so we can kill these fools and pursue those Phantom Thieves!" Hamada snickered, his eyes turning lizard-like.

"Let's get this over with," Kimiko nodded, her eyes as well became lizard-like.

Placing their hands on the back of the Kyōchō, the X-Pack members invoked a spell with the raptors. Dark green light formed over the four X-Pack and Kyōchō. The Kyōchō converted into orbs of light and flew inside the X-Pack. As the Kyōchō's essences possessed them, the X-Pack members roared. Reptilian skin appeared and replaced their human flesh. Their terrifying reptilian gazes glowed intensely.

"What the hell is happening to them?!" Adel cried out as she and the others witnessed the X-Pack's bodies contorting and physically changing before them.

"Oh great, why didn't see this coming?!" Yaksha exclaimed.

"Stand your ground, guys!" Gunslinger beckoned his friends to keep their guards up.

"Heh, this should be interesting," Tamamo chortled.

"Behold, the brute ferocity of my abomination form: Varanus Yemeni!" Hamada shouted, his voice tinged with lizard's hissing.

Hamada's face and body extended. His face contorted as it became monitor lizard-like. Pale gray scales covered his body, replacing his human skin. A single black stripe with spectacled white spots appeared over his back. His nails became sharp black claws. He grew up to 25 feet tall. Varanus Yemeni's crackling growls and roars shook the vicinity, causing bystanders to scurry away in fear.

"Witness the venomous bite of my abomination form: Agni Wadjet!" Minami laughed hysterically, her voice distorted with snake hisses.

Minami's body elongated into a serpent's form. Her human complexion turned dark red with a white underbelly. Her face contorted and widened as the bones in her face and neck crackled as if growing and stretching out with her snake-like body. Raising her entire upper body, the extra neck flaps stretched into a fiery hood, giving her the appearance of a cobra. Her body length reached 25 feet long. Agni Wadjet's hisses filled the air with dread.

"Let's see if you can withstand the brutality of my abomination form: Maltese Volans!" Kimiko cried out, her usually calm tone became boisterous and tinged with lizard hissing.

Kimiko's face and body expanded. Her facial features gained lizard-like features. Dark tan scales with black flecks covered the base of her body. Extra lateral skin flaps that are meant for gliding formed from the rib cage areas. She grew up to 25 feet tall and in length. Maltese Volans let out hiss-like roars and bellows.

"Now to crush you with the power of Snapping Zaratan!" Tomoyuki roared, his voice changed into a crackling bellow.

Tomoyuki's entire body contorted and grew until a hard shell covering encased him. The shell grew up to 25 feet long. The thickness of the shell was as thick as a tank. Tree-like stems grew throughout its shell, giving it the appearance of a walking island. A long neck poked out of the front shell, revealing a pale-scaled lizard-like face with thick orange accents around its eyes. A sharp beak like a snapping turtle's appeared in place of a snout. Tree-shaped legs popped out of the shell. Snapping Zaratan roared low alligator-like bellows and hisses.

The four X-Pack members had achieved their pinnacle powers and became the Abomivolved Reptilia.

Upon seeing the four reptilian goliaths, the group was aghast at their sight. The X-Pack turned and set their sights on ravaging the Shibuya prefecture.

"Fucking hell, no one said we'd be dealing with giant lizards!" Tyrone exclaimed.

"So, what? Some of us have Guardian Spirits. We were meant to fight battles like this," Mayura added.

"A few of us are already in our already big Successor forms, so I like our chances," Leto nodded

"If we put out powers together, I'm sure we can take them," Protector concurred.

"Alright, let's give them hell!" Merchant yelled out.

"I propose we divide and conquer," Tyrone issued.

"Good idea. Let's split up and take them down!" Yaksha said.

The four teens, the Revenants, and the Spiritual Gamblers split up into four groups and headed toward their ensuing battles. Before the battle, Tamer divided the Shēngxiào into groups of three.

Invisible Nezumi, Storm Hebi, and Healing Usagi went with Leto the Successor of the Ribcage and Tamer. They joined Azure, who already summoned Blue Dragon and Nurarihyon, in the skirmish with the Maltese Volans. The giant lizard saw the four-armed, giant wolf collide head-on with her. Leto landed two electrically-charged blows in rapid succession against Maltese Volans. Maltese Volans retaliated by spitting out red scythe-like projectiles, which Azure's Blue Dragon and Nurarihyon stopped with their wind and water blasts. Tamer sent Invisible Nezumi, Storm Hebi, and Healing Usagi to neutralize the giant lizard, enabling the Successor of the Ribcage to blast it with a fire blast.

Adel the Successor of the Claw, Shikama, Brave, Shinrin Saru, Blazing Basan, and Telepathic Uma engaged Agni Wadjet. Rearing her giant cobra's hood, Agni Wadjet sprayed venom at the group. The Successor of the Claw jumped up and landed a two-hit claw strike to the serpent's left eye. Having been blinded on one side, Agni Wadjet desperately attacked and shot Adel. Shikama formed a white barrier, which stopped the serpent from coming forward. Brave sent Janomecho and Enku launched wind and fire attacks all over the serpent. At one point, Janomecho and Enku combined their wind and fire elements, creating a fiery tornado-like attack that burned Agni Wadjet. Shinrin Saru, Blazing Basan, and Telepathic Uma used their divine powers to subdue Agni Wadjet. Adel brandished her claws and pierced them through the serpent's head.

Gunslinger, Æther Tatsu, Aurora Tora, and Lightspeed Yagi joined Tamamo and Mayura in the battle against Varanus Yemeni. The monitor lizard rushed toward the group. In response, Tamamo got down on all fours and invoked her transformation into the Nine-Tailed Fox, which hasn't been seen since the battle against Edward Kelly, John Dee, and the Yokai. Having witnessed her rival turn into the legendary beast, Mayura was at a loss for words. Mayura sent her Tengen Kujaku to assist the Nine-Tailed Fox. The fox lunged at Varanus Yemeni and bit the back of its neck. The monitor lizard rolled on its back and twisted around, slamming the fox down. Gunslinger fired laser blasts into the lizard's face, which did little more than annoy the giant reptile. However, Gunslinger's attack provided the distraction, necessitating Æther Tatsu, Aurora Tora, and Lightspeed Yagi's intervention.

Protector the Successor of the Breath, Virtus Ushi, Quake Inu, and Gluttonous Buta aided Tanuki-Ō and Karasu against Snapping Zaratan. The giant turtle's shell initially provided enough defense against their attacks, but Protector helped to expose the turtle's weak points on its head. The Successor of the Breath grappled with and clobbered Snapping Zaratan's head. The turtle forged two tusks in its mouth and attempted to gore Protector, but Protector seized its tusks and pushed it back. Tanuki-Ō's Narikama Tanuki and Karasu's Yatagarasu attacked Snapping Zaratan's head. Snapping Zaratan snapped his jaws, forcing Protector to withdraw. Virtus Ushi, Quake Inu, and Gluttonous Buta neutralized the turtle with their divine powers, allowing Protector to deliver a crushing blow to its head.

"Alright, guys!" Yaksha cheered them on.

"Yes, I knew you could do it!" Medic added, clapping for them.

"Way to take it to them!" Merchant hollered.

"Hold on something's happening!" Tyrone noticed something odd happening to the four reptilian titans.

Suddenly, the Abomivolved Reptilia's bodies profusely glowed bright green and were forcibly pulled together and coalesced. The four were then combined into a singular entity. Now standing roughly 30 feet tall, the combined reptilian beast has a tuatara's body structure, its body has golden armor-like scales of a giant girdled lizard, and regal horns akin to a Shringasaurus. Its head, facial, and body structure have the combined traits of the tuatara and Shringasaurus, especially the bony nostrils and round-tipped lips.

As its scanned its adversaries, the Gilded Tuatara opened its mouth and let out a fierce, monstrous bellow. Despite the Gilded Tuatara's intimidating presence, the Spiritual Gamblers, the Yaksha Revenants, the Successors, and the teens readily fought the giant reptilian beast. As the Gilded Tuatara swung its tail, most of the group evaded getting swept away. The Successors, Protector and Leto, seized the reptile's tail. Protector jumped up and landed, hitting the giant reptile's head with his shield. Then, Protector smashed his head to the ground, summoning a giant ice spike and sending it toward the Gilded Tuatara's left side. When Protector attempted another ice spike summon, the reptile dodged the attack. Limping as it evaded Protector's attack, Leto manifested a blade of blood, swinging it into an arc that slashed into the Gilded Tuatara's body.

Following Leto's Dusk Edge, Protector forged an ice blade, swinging it into an arc-like swing that inflicted damage to the beast. After Protector's Aurora Flash slowed it down, Adel jumped over the Giant Tuatara and unleashed fiery projectiles that pulverized and burned the beast. Having dealt damage to the reptilian beast with her Sly Vengeance, Adel beckoned the Yaksha Revenants and the four teens to attack.

Merchant blasted the Gilded Tuatara with her bayonet. At the same time, Yaksha slashed the beast's left eye with her Nagimukuro sword. Tyrone smashed his warhammer over the beast's right front limb. Gunslinger blasted the beast's face with his laser gun. Shikama used paper seals, forming barriers that protected her party from the Gilded Tuatara's spiky projectiles shooting from its back. Tamer sent her Shēngxiào to surround and neutralize the Gilded Tuatara.

After the Shēngxiào restrained the Gilded Tuatara, the Spiritual Gamblers made their next move. While Mayura, Brave, Azure, Tanuki-Ō, and Karasu attacked the beast with their Guardian Spirits, the Nine-Tailed Fox collided with the Gilded Tuatara and swung her nine tails, knocking the Gilded Tuatara down facefirst on the pavement. The nine-tailed beast then launched fiery blasts into the Gilded Tuatara, damaging the reptilian enough to split it into the four Abomivolved Reptilia.

With the Gilded Tuatara defeated, several of the party members approached the fallen Abomivolved Reptilia. Shikama placed paper seals on them to restrain them.

"A few of us have healing abilities. Karen, do you want to do it?" Leto asked Medic.

"Yes, I can try to reverse what Mido did to them," Medic nodded.

"Allow me to help, too," Tamer insisted, gathering her Shēngxiào to treat Mido's mutated experiments.

"I'll help, too," Shikama volunteered.

Between Medic's white mage staff and the Shēngxiào's mystic powers, they were able to exorcise the raptor's spiritual essences out of the Pack members. The first Kyōchō spirit exorcised is the Maltese Volans. This dealt the finishing blow to Maltese Volans, which not only exorcised the Kyōchō but reversed its control over Kimiko. The giant lizard regressed into Kimiko, who fell to her knees and collapsed in a heap.

Shikama then cast a white beam that collided with and purified the serpent, exorcising the Kyōchō's corruption and freeing Minami. Having been defeated, the giant snake collapsed and regressed to Minami, who lay on her right side.

The Shēngxiào used their divine powers to subdue the giant lizard, allowing the Nine-Tailed Fox to remove and purge the Kyōchō from the lizard. With the Kyōchō's presence gone, the monitor lizard shrunk and turned back into Hamada. The divine energies from the Shēngxiào exorcised the Kyōchō out of the turtle. With the Kyōchō removed, the large turtle turned back into Tomoyuki.

Following the battles, the teens, the Yahska Revenants, the Successors, and the Spiritual Gamblers confronted the Pack. Having tamed the Nine-Tailed Fox's power, Tamamo turned back to her normal self without any negative side effects. The Successors turned back into their regular selves.

"Hold still everyone. Leukocyte Spring." Medic waved her white mage staff, casting a healing spell that restored the participant's health and status ailments.

As the Pack awoke, Tyrone, Yaksha, and Merchant pointed their weapons at them.

"Hold it. How do we know you aren't still possessed by those creatures?" Tyrone sternly queried them.

"It's ok, Davis. We've removed those things that controlled them," Leto reassured Tyrone.

"That's right. They're normal jerks again," Protector replied.

"Wh-What have we done?" Hamada realized as he scanned the collateral damage that he and his three colleagues caused.

"You're lucky there weren't any casualties," Medic informed them.

"Yeah, but you nearly killed us! So, that doesn't leave y'all off the hook!" Yaksha openly reprimanded them.

"We…" Hamada muttered as he and his three colleagues collapsed, having exhausted themselves from the battles.

"Oh my god!" Shikama gasped. "Are they going to be ok?"

Medic checked their pulses. "Yes, they'll be fine. They'll need to be taken to a medical facility, but enough rest should be all they need."

Tamer sighed. "A part of me feels bad for them. They were being controlled by those freaky bird-looking raptors."

Gunslinger scoffed. "They were jerks to begin with, but even I don't think it's right to kill them."

Protector nodded. "Maybe after this, they can reflect on what they've done."

Tamamo yawned. "Oh boy, that last fight kinda tired me out." As she leaned over, Brave caught her from falling like a dead weight.

"Yikes, don't fall like that, Yumeko!" Brave barked at her.

"Geez, what a fucking long night it's been. Earlier, I'm at Untouchable, then I'm fighting some monsters at Meiji, and now I'm helping take down giant lizards. Ugh, I need a drink," Azure muttered.

Mayura smiled to Tamamo. "I think our work here is done, Yumeko. Should we head back to Meiji to check with the others?"

"Thank you all for helping us," Tyrone acknowledged the Spiritual Gamblers.

"I guess it's a matter of time before we catch things up with Skyler and the others. I'm especially worried about my brother Louis," Merchant affirmed.

"Hey, don't we go and see if they need help!" Adel said.

"My sister will certainly need it if she and the others are going to fight Mido. Let's go!" Protector shared Adel's enthusiasm.

"Then, why don't we head on over to Roppongi Mori Hills Tower? That's where they'll be, right?" Leto gave them their friends' location.

"Alright, are we ready for this?" Medic asked as the Yaksha Revenants, the Successors, and the teens nodded in unison.

Just then, the Yaksha Revenants and the Successors felt a distressing presence toward the Roppongi direction.

"Guys, you feel that dreadful vibe?" Protector asked everyone.

"This is bad," Leto frowned.

"Louis and Joker's groups are no doubt about to fight Mido soon. I can feel it," Adel gritted.

"Hey, Nicola. I'm going with. Is that ok?" Gunslinger asked him.

'Me, too!" Shikama insisted.

Tamer sighed. "I'll stay out of this. I need to look after my Zodiac friends since they're not feeling up to it."

"It's fine. Stay and take care of your little friends," Gunslinger nodded.

"Yeah, make sure they get plenty of rest, Li-Ming," Shikama said, hugging Li-Ming.

Medic nodded. "I think Shinya, Nicola, myself, Reiko, Emily, and Aurora will be enough."

"We're going with, but we'll tag behind and let you go on ahead," Tyrone said.

"Thanks, Davis!" Adel said.

"Let's be careful, Aurora," Medic said as she and Leto kissed. They smiled and held hands lovingly.

"Thanks. Just make sure you're close enough for me to protect you," Leto reassured her lover with a kiss.

"Ready? Roppongi, here we come!" Gunslinger set his sights on the malevolent source emanating within Roppongi prefecture.

---

Outside of Roppongi Hills Mori Tower (六本木ヒルズ森タワー)Roppongi (六本木)/Minato, Tokyo (港区, /9:55 PM (JST)

Thanks to their Third-Tier Personas, the Thieves, the Vein Remnants, the Elven Princesses, and Shadow Sae arrived at their destination faster than they would've by foot. The group cautiously approached the grandiose 54-foot-high skyscraper. Before they could get through the gates, a figure landed in front of them donning a blue butterfly mask.

The Thieves and the Vein Remnants instinctively put up their guards and prepared to attack. The butterfly-masked individual lifted her head and faced them.

"Hey, get out of the way! We need to get in there!" Omusubi demanded from the newcomer.

"She's not attacking us though," Songstress observed.

"Yeah, who is she?" Oracle wondered.

"Ok, who are you and why are you blocking our path?" Joker queried the masked newcomer.

Just then, Sion and Tennyo narrowed their eyes while trying to discern her identity. Moonlight quickly pointed her polearm toward the masked newcomer.

"They asked you a question. Who are you?" Moonlight frowned.

"Can it be?" Tennyo walked up to the butterfly-masked individual. "Nakamura Miki?"

"So, it is her," Sion muttered as the young woman took off her mask and smiled.

"Togo Hifumi and Skyler Jones, I'm glad I found you," Miki acknowledged her Shogi rival and the Revenant.

"Yeah, she and Hifumi often play Shogi together, and we just ran into her earlier today. So, tell me, what you warned us… what's that about?" Sion asked Miki.

"Wait, we saw you at the ballroom event in this same building," Queen recalled. "You're with the Consortium."

Miki nodded dismissively. "Correction. I was. My bodyguards and I were only there to help Gregorio and Cruz. We did our own investigating and learned Mido would end up betraying us. He's the one who's responsible for this whole mess. I'm here to help. Though, I can't find my bodyguards, Jocelyn and Sister Carolyn. I hope they're ok. I hope… Mido didn't get them." She worried for their safety wherever they were.

Crow chuckled at Miki's sudden proposal. "I was once a usual snake in the grass myself, but hear me out. Why should we trust you?"

Skull scoffed. "I hate to agree with pancake boy, but he's got a point. Why should we trust ya?" This rib shot got him an annoyed glare from Crow.

"Because I believe her," Tennyo said as she intently looked into Miki's eyes and nodded. "Are you sure you want to put yourself at risk? We're about to face my boyfriend and his friends' worst enemy ever. You may be out of your league here."

Putting her butterfly mask on again, Miki genuinely smiled. "I'll manage on my own just fine. I, too, have abilities. I've awakened special abilities that aren't too different from you and your friends, Hifumi."

"Do you have a Persona?" Violet asked her.

"No, but I have powerful artillery and I am pretty agile. Oh, and since the Phantom Thieves and their allies enjoy using codenames, you can call me Shinchū!" Miki revealed her hero's name. "I'll warn you, I may be a liability since I'm nowhere near as mighty as some of you are."

Sighing deeply, Sekiken shook his head. "Ok, ok, you're in. Listen, we're in a hurry. I have a friend in there who desperately needs our help! Queen has a sister who's being held captive in there!"

Noir put a hand on Sekiken's shoulder. "Easy now. Don't yell at our new companion."

Queen shrugged. "Well, we don't have time to argue. Mido is in there waiting for us and I don't want to further delay our progress."

"Queen is right. If I'm not reunited with Sae's body, Niijima Sae will not survive. Who knows how much longer she has left to live," Shadow Sae reminded them of the precious time they're working with.

"Just stick with Hifumi, Io, and I, ok, Miki?" Sion suggested.

"Don't worry about being a liability. We will protect you if need be," Moonlight reassured Shinchū.

"Thank you, friends. I only hope I can find Jocelyn and Sister Carolyn there," Shinchū smiled, sticking close to Sion, Tennyo, and Moonlight.

"Then, we're all set. Be your guards, everyone. Mido is already several steps ahead of us," Mona advised everyone.

"It's been settled. So, no further delays. Let's go and greet Mido," Joker said, leading the group into the skyscraper.

---

Chapter Soundtrack
Yakuza 0 OST - 42 Archnemesis - The X-Pack transforms into their reptilian abomination forms and the protagonists face them.
-Shin Megami Tensei V OST - Jouin High School - Different World - : Inside The School Building - An alternative song of the X-Pack transforms into their reptilian abomination forms and the protagonists facing them.
Yakuza 0 OST - 43 Two Dragons - Fighting the X-Pack (and their combined form) and freeing them from the Kyōchō and the Yami Matter's control.
-Shin Megami Tensei V OST - Battle - Magatsuka -- An alternative song of fighting the X-Pack (and their combined form) and freeing them from the Kyōchō and the Yami Matter's control.
God Of War Ragnarök - Hrist & Mist Theme- vs. Vamkyries riding Vargr Swans and vs. Über-Vamkyries.
-God of War Ragnarok - Gna The Valkyrie Queen Theme Soundtrack OST - An alternative song of vs. Vamkyries riding Vargr Swans and vs. Über-Vamkyries.
Code Vein OST - Towards the Eternal Glory - The Phantom Thieves, Vein Remnants, and allies are heading to confront Mido after defeating the Vamkyries and the Pack.
-Shin Megami Tensei V OST - A Rain Of Light And Shadow - An alternative song of the Phantom Thieves, Vein Remnants, and allies are heading to confront Mido after defeating the Vamkyries and the Pack.

---

A/N: Those were tough Vamkyrie battles. Yeah, it's likely if Joker and Sion didn't notice Brynhildr's ring weakness, they would've been SOL. After combining with their Vargr Swans, those Über Vamkyrie forms are no joke. Btw, did you notice the pattern with the Über Vamkyries' attack names? All of them (Norse goddesses and demi-goddesses) are named after Greek Gods and Goddesses. And their monstrous forms are based on Greek Mythological monsters.

Next chapter, the Advent Eight face the Black Heralds and three new members who've yet to appear.

The X-Pack and Kyōchō battles were meant to be quick since they're lesser enemies for the supporting cast to deal with. Although, they did get a chance to form the Gilded Tuatara before they went down in defeat. So, about the Gilded Tuatara and the Abomivolved Reptilia. Here's a minor detail: their origins will be revealed in the next chapter during the Mido showdown.

And who shows up at the last minute to help Skyler, Hifumi, the Phantom Thieves, and the Revenants? Why it's now former Consortium member Nakamura Miki. She dons the Shinchū gimmick and her butterfly mask is based on the Persona franchise's blue butterfly theme. But, Shinchū is in no way linked to any prior character who has the blue butterfly (i.e. Philemon and Lavenza). Btw, this isn't the first time I've had this Miki OC appear. She has appeared in Akane no Guilty Crown and also dons the Shinchū persona. Her name is a nod to Sonomura Maki from the original Persona, but she's not related to that character. And if you want to get further meta, there is a real-life person who has the same name as Nakamura Miki, and she just happens to be an archer just like Sonomura Maki.

And this chapter ends with our gang, now joined by Miki/Shinchū, as they confront the real mastermind behind the Consortium. It's going to be a chapter full of some revelations.