It was finally time for the final battle against Salmael and Jerri. The Phantom Thieves weren't going to back down against these figures. They were going to win and return home! That was the shared thought between all of them. They all rushed towards Salmael and Jerri at once. Salmael, however, was not impressed with their refusal to return to the path. "At the end of your path lies only ruin. Allow me to carry out your purification." Right after Salmael spoke, it nudged its head, releasing quick arrows of light towards the Phantom Thieves. Those arrows were extremely fast, and they could barely dodged them.
"You don't deserve the grace of My Lord. Whelps like you should know your place." Jerri shouted while she also released arrows to compound with Salmael's. It was a heavy bombardment that sought to completely pin them down. "We will erase you here and now, in the name of humanity!"
"You two really like to hear yourselves talk, don't you!?" Panther brought an arm up to try and block the beams of light. They were being pelted, but at the same time, it wasn't doing much to slow them down.
"We've made our decision clear! You will not best us!" Dragon said while standing in front of the others. With Bella in front of her, she used Aegis to block the incoming arrows of light. Even though she was absorbing the damage, it wasn't an onslaught the others would've allowed her to take on all alone.
"Okay everyone! We're going all in with Dragon's opening!" Oracle was going to put her brain into overdrive. With her full power, she cast Heat Riser on the entire team, boosting all of their combat capabilities as high as they could go. With her support, they were sure to win. "Go for it!"
"Let's get it!" Skull grinned while shooting past Dragon's shield, gunning straight for Jerri. "You gave my friends some hell, and now I'm about to pay it right back!" William appeared in front of him shooting off a powerful Ziodyne that struck Jerri directly. The creature growled in annoyance at Skull's attack, before flapping her wings. This created a powerful gust of wind that threw Skull off his feet. "Gaaaah!?" Wind was still his weakness, so this attack did hurt and he was flung backwards.
"You disgusting creature. You aren't worthy of touching me!" Jerri formed an arrow of light and shot it towards Skull to run him through. However, Noir's axe cleaved straight through it in the nick of time. Jerri was going to take aim at Noir, but she was topped by Bella appearing in front of her. "You again!?"
"That's right! Counter!" With all the damage she absorbed, Dragon swung her arm down, Bella mirroring her actions. Bella's sword cleaved across Jerri's face, much to the bird's discontent. "You can rise as many times as you desire, we'll be certain to put you down!"
Joker appeared in the sky, his mask burning off with Raoul beside him. Multiple scythes of darkness appearing around him and his Persona. "Scythes of Eternal Darkness!" These spinning scythes all launched towards Jerri, stabbing and impaling her in multiple locations. This ultimate attack of Joker's inflicted heavy damage and he knew it, based on Jerri's annoyed grunt of pain. Although he wasn't going to be able to relish it for long, because there was a large gear coming towards him. "What the-!?" The gear crashed into him, sending him towards the ground. It was going for a follow up, but Wolf stepped forward and cleaved right through it.
"You alright!?" Wolf asked Joker.
"That stung, but I'm good!" Joker replied.
Salmael flapped its heavenly wings, sending large gears towards the Phantom Thieves. "These gears are the manifestation of humanity's will. If you do not intend to peacefully submit, then you shall be crushed by humanity itself." It was wasting no effort in trying to crush the humans who dared to defy its will. The gears flew forward at high speeds, with no shortage of them to spare either.
Crow summoned Hereward by his side, taking aim at the incoming gears. Multiple arrows were fired, but not just of curse magic. They were sparing no effort either, making full use of the Sub Personas they could still use while in this world. Crow was also empowered by Mada, so he was releasing arrows of curse and fire magic at rapid speeds! Hereward shot down a number of gears, and for those he couldn't, Crow ran onto them. He leapt from gear to gear, Hereward following right beside him. He then jumped once more, and at the apex of his jump, charged almighty magic within his palm. As he did, he activated his power that made him go Berserk, to also further amplify the power of what he was about to do. "We don't intend to submit, as we've already said! You said my power will drive man to ruin? Then allow me to show what it can really do! IT'S GOING TO BRING ABOUT THIS WORLD'S END!" Crow lunged at Salmael, grabbing onto that ugly, angelic face with the hand charged with almighty magic. His charged hand exploded against Salmael's face, causing the heavenly being to grunt in pain. Crow was thrown back from the explosion he caused, but he didn't have time to recover, as Jerri was above him, flapping her wings. A brutal tempest of wind slammed into Crow, violently throwing him down towards the ground.
"Hup!" Noir managed to catch Crow in time before he hit the ground. It felt awkward for him and she knew it. "Don't thank me until later." She told him, before landing on the ground and setting him down.
"That's enough out of all of you!" Jerri's silver frame shone brightly, before a torrent of black paint exploded outward. She intended to flood the area with this paint, making it impossible for the Phantom Thieves to move.
"Black paint incoming!" Sophie warned.
"We'll take care of it!" Violet exclaimed as she and Fox held their swords up together. "Fox, after you!"
"But of course!" Fox said while sprinting forward, Gorokichi appearing by his side. The tidal wave of black paint was not going to stand against him and his blade! "Gorokichi go forth!" Fox slid to a halt and slashed his sword forward, a single, small wave line of ice shooting from he and Gorokichi's swords. At first, it looked like nothing happened as it was swallowed into the black abyss. However, that black paint rapidly began to freeze over from the inside. It completely froze over within seconds, and Fox sheathed his sword. "Crystal Bloom." Right when his sword clicked into the sheathe, the ice shattered into large chunks.
"How...!?" Jerri scowled. That would've worked in The Streets!
"You're clinging to the past too much!" Violet said while running and flipping along the chunks of ice. She flipped into the air, mask burning away as Ella charged towards Jerri. "You caught us by surprise once, but not again! We're stronger than that!" Ella aimed to crash into Jerri, but Jerri was able to avoid this by shifting her body to the side. That was, however, what Violet wanted. She charged her rapier with light and almighty magic, as the image of Satan appeared beside her. "Black Viper!" From her rapier, a beam of light shot forward, quickly turning into the form of of a black snake that chomped into Jerri's angelic wing.
"Agh!?" Jerri growled.
Wolf joined the action, his Fury active, and with the power of Yoshitune by his side, coupled with Valjean's own. "Time we clipped your wings!" He slashed his sword forward, cleaving across Jerri's other wing. Hassou Tobi came into play right after that, as several other slashes followed suit along Jerri's body. This was enough to make Jerri fall to the ground temporarily. "We've got this one under control!" Right as he said that, numerous gears attempted to sandwich him. Eyes wide, Wolf dove to the side, avoiding two gears, but getting hit by a third. "Aw, damn it...!" He grunted after the impact.
"One more for good measure!" Viper dove down with Nuwa, the two of them using momentum and gravity to their advantage. "Venom Strike!" Viper and Nuwa landed on Jerri's body for a violent impact. Viper bent her knees at the point of impact to really milk out the damage, before an explosion of lightning and Life Drain occurred in that moment. She landed on her feet
Queen punched at the gears that came her way. Salmael was getting much more violent in its approach to taking them down. She quickly drove on Anat, drifting and weaving past gears that attempted to crush her. A straightforward assault was foolish and she knew it, so instead she opted to take Salmael's attention. Two gears flew towards her, and at the right moment, she propelled herself off of Anat and lunged at Salmael's face, slamming her fist straight into it. Nuclear magic erupted from the point of impact with her fist, and while Salmael grunted, a wing swatted her away harshly. "Ngh...!" Queen was flying back far, however...
"Wheel of Life!" Mona summoned Diego, creating a fierce wheel of wind in the air. This wheel stopped Queen's momentum, while also carrying himself and Renegade along as well. Mona commanded the wind to fly forward, throwing the trio forward at high speeds!
"Let's do this one more time!" Queen said as her fist was charged with even more nuclear magic than normal.
"You're not going to defeat us!" Renegade exclaimed as his spear began to shine brightly.
"Atomic Hollow!" Queen's fist struck Salmael's arm this time, a heavy twister of nuclear magic erupting from the impact. Renegade's shining spear crashed into Salmael's opposing arm, while Mona used the wind from Wheel of Life to slam into Salmael's face. They dealt a lot of damage with their joint attack, but Salmael clearly wasn't going down easily. It spun its body around, swatting the three away like flies as they hit the ground harshly. Salmael then summoned more gears to throw at them, but they were stopped in mid air.
Sophie fired her gun after charging it. The result of Sophie's charge was a small, but very potent gravitational field. This stopped the incoming gears in their tracks. "Panther, it's your turn!"
"Leave it to me! I'll whip 'em into shape!" With a grin, Panther jumped forward, cracking her whip at all the gears Sophie managed to stop. Each gear flew back at the deity, crashing against it with violent intent. Panther made sure each and every single gear hurt too, and the damage was really starting to rack up on Salmael, much to everyone's joy. "How was that!"
"Looks like victory is swinging in our favor!" Mona grinned
"Mona, don't jinx yourself!" Oracle warned. They were doing great so far, but it was too early to claim victory.
"How could this body of mine be marred..." Salmael spoke in disbelief. "Marred at the hands of those it was intended to protect...to think you'd go so far. No...no...no...no!" Its tone started to get frantic.
"My Lord! You must compose yourself!" Jerri exclaimed. Never before had she seen her Lord become so flustered!
But Salmael wasn't listening. "Serenity. In all the world...let there be serenity..."
"Hey, uh...doesn't something seem kinda off...?" Panther whispered. If Jerri was panicking...After that, a brilliant flash of light blinded everyone. Salmael's body began to undergo some unseen transformation. But as the light died down...
"Foo...lish...foo...flish. Foolish, foolish, foolish!" Salmael's enraged voice echoed throughout the stronghold. Everyone was able to gaze upon its new face. Its wings grew sharper, tinted with black spots; the white, pure face was replaced with something repulsive, raw, and feral. Red eyes sneered into the Phantom Thieves for standing against it. "What revolution!? What reform!? How many tragedies do you think will be borne of your banal egotism!? Your annihilation is the wish of all humanity! Your extermination is my DUTY! In the name of eternal peace, begone. Begone with your despicable flames of conflict!"
"Oh, it's finally being real." Viper smirked slightly. "Even if it's ugly, at least it got rid of that thinly veiled mask it was wearing."
"When things don't go its way, it just turns into an angry child with a superiority complex. How amusing." Crow scoffed.
"So those are your true colors, eh? Guess you're just another 'might is right' moron, aren'tcha! Some god you are!" After all that grandstanding, Skull saw Salmael as nothing more than a bully.
"The mask belied a sinister face and wings of firearms. Your preaching of peace and tranquility is the height of folly!" Fox shouted.
"Be silent!" Jerri growled. "It was your grandstanding that pushed my Lord into this state! It's clear that people like you cannot understand what true peace is! You are the harbingers of destruction!"
"We won't deny change - or the will of the people. And if you intend to rob us of those things, then you can bet we'll put up a fight!" Renegade shouted at both Salmael and Jerri.
For a moment, Erina split from Toshiro, to talk to him directly. "Toshiro, if you take a stand for us all, then I'll be the bullet of change that guides you!" And then, she returned to him. Her will was just as firm as everyone else's.
"I will eradicate you all." Salmael said while lifting its hand up, summoning another plethora of gears to throw at the Phantom Thieves. These gears were rotating even more dangerously than the previous ones, forcing everyone on the defensive to avoid being ground between the gears. The moment the gears collided with each other, they broke apart due to how intensely they were spinning.
"Oh, I think it's really mad now." Violet said with a sweat drop. If anyone got caught between that, it wasn't going to end well!
"My Lord...your wish is my command." Jerri said, even though Salmael didn't give her an order. By his actions, she could determine that any and all methods were on the table. She flew high into the air, her body beginning to shine bright, before turning into a pitch black color. She flapped her wings once, sending waves of black paint towards the Phantom Thieves.
"Damn, that bird really doesn't know when to quit!" Wolf grunted. They all jumped to the side once again to avoid the violent splash of black paint that struck the ground. They had to deal with this, and Salmael's arrows of light, which only grew in violence due to how quickly it wanted to get rid of them. Wolf used his sword to swat away a few of these arrows, but some of them still grazed him, and they hurt. "Tch...!"
"Not good, they're really amping things up!" Oracle glanced up at Jerri, narrowly avoiding a glob of black paint that nearly landed on her. Another one almost hit her, but she picked up by Crow, who jumped back to avoid the splash of the paint. "Thanks...!"
"Don't thank me yet." Crow said while Hereward fired an arrow towards Jerri, but it was snuffed out by Jerri's wings. "We're not going to get very far if we can't take out the bird!" A gear was coming his way but Noir cleaved through it with her axe. It didn't help their position, but it wasn't making things worse.
"At this rate, the whole area will be covered in paint..." Fox glanced around. Jerri had no intention of stopping, and with Salmael's gear assault, they were going to run out of space to move!
"If only we could reach her..." Dragon grit her teeth. Just when it seemed like they were going to have an uphill battle, the familiar sound of a train blared through the area, catching everyone's attention. "What...is that?"
"Was that a train?" Renegade blinked. The only train he knew of around here was...
And just like that, the Velvet Train blasted through a lower floor of the stronghold. Due the sudden speed and intensity, there wasn't a thing anyone could do about it. The train was aimed straight at Jerri, crashing right into her before she had a chance to react to it. The Velvet Train hit Jerri head on. It almost caught Salmael in its wake, but the angry deity was able to move its entire body to avoid this. As a result, Jerri was crushed into a wall and black paint splattered against it.
"W-What the hell!?" Skull's jaw dropped. "Is that the...!?"
Ichinose stumbled out of the train with a smile. "Wow, that worked!"
"What do you mean THAT WORKED?!" Viper shouted. "Why are you here!?"
"I wasn't going to miss this...!" Ichinose said, while turning to Salmael. "Oh, that's an ugly god."
"Please return to the train." Lavenza said, pulling Ichinose back inside. As for Jerri, she reverted to her tiny bird form, knocked out from the force of the train crashing into her.
"I'm not sure what just happened, but it works out for us!" Skull wasn't going to complain. That just left Salmael, who turned its attention back to the Phantom Thieves. Though it was unpleased about Jerri's failure to uphold her word, it wouldn't matter once the Phantom Thieves were destroyed. That was the only thing that mattered at the end of the day.
"Ridiculous is will, ludicrous is spirit...unneeded! Unneeded!" Salamel said as a strange white glow shone over its body. "You wretched miscreates have no place in my world! Now, receive divine judgement and be annihilated!" A cog appeared in front of it, with the roman numeral I on it. Before the Phantom Thieves could comment, a gigantic beam of heavenly judgement blasted through the cog, aiming to smite the Phantom Thieves in one fell swoop!
"Incoming!" Sophie shouted.
Dragon stepped forward once again with Bella. Aegis appeared and the heavenly judgement smashed against her shield. "Agh...!" Dragon could really feel the impact of this one. She even slid backwards from the overwhelming power Salmael was throwing at her.
"Dragon...!" Panther's eyes were wide. The last time Dragon took a blast that huge for them...!
"I'm fine!" Dragon reassured Panther, and the others. In truth, it hurt like hell. She grit her teeth, had one eye clenched shut, but she refused to yield. "GO!"
"...Okay!" Panther trusted Dragon. If she said she'd be okay...then she would be! So she focused her attention on Salmael, who threw more gears at them. Each attempt was more violent than the last, and she dodged them as best she could. She pulled out her gun, shooting down the gears with her wild aim. Renegade was right next to her, using his spear to strike down gears coming their way.
"Ernesto!" Renegade's mask burned away, as Ernesto flew around, shooting down multiple gears that threatened to strike them. He was doing this to create an opening for Panther to strike, and she found it.
Panther slid to a halt, blue flames engulfing her mask as Celestine appeared in front of her. A gigantic fireball formed within the woman's hands. "Hellfire! And..." The imagine of Odin appeared behind Panther, making use of this powerful Sub-Persona. Lightning charged as well within Celestine's hands, and she released a gigantic torrent of fire and lightning that shot forward, colliding against Samael's face. The intensity was so great, Salmael had to turn his head away to avoid too much damage.
Of course, this gave Renegade the opening to attack with Ernesto. Ernesto flew around Salmael, firing bullet after bullet from her legs. Salmael attempted to swat her down, but he kept missing. There was a brief pause where Ernesto used her cape to reload her legs, and then fired off potent bullets to explode against Salmael's body. "Light of a Promise!" These bullets were a direct hit on the angry god, and its anger continued to rise! It reached up to grasp Ernesto, but by then...
Erina returned, slipping through Salmael's fingers with her spear in hand. She ran along Salmael's arm and leapt up as her spear grew in size. "CONVANENT OF THE SPEAR!" Erina drove her spear right into Salmael's face. There was a ton of resistance as she tried to run her spear straight through him! She may not had succeeded in doing that, but she did manage to deal a lot of damage in the process. However, she was quickly thrown off Salmael, and before she could recover, bolts of lightning struck her, Toshiro, and Panther all at once, causing them to seize up. "Ack...!"
"Can't move..." Toshiro grit his teeth.
Salmael used this opening to throw spinning gears at the three of them. They were never going to reach, because the gears were intercepted by Noir's axe, Queen's fist, and Skull's pipe. The gears were thrown to the side. Another gear came at Queen, but she stopped it with her fist. Skull and Noir hopped onto it, and Queen spun around, kicking it with her heel to send it, Noir, and Skull towards Salmael. "Hit him hard, Skull! Noir!"
"Say less!" Skull grinned while taking a runner's stance.
"We'll make sure to crush him!" Noir flashed a wink. Just as the two neared. Salmael's hands attempted to swat them down. Instead, it only struck the gear, as the two of them propelled upwards in the nick of time. Lucy appeared behind Noir, releasing a bombardment of heavy artillery onto the god, who tried to use his hands to defend. Noir gladly took this opportunity as psychic energy swirled around her axe. "Psycho Impact!"
As for Skull, lightning charged around his pipe. As he leapt into the air, William joined Lucy's aerial strikes with powerful shots of lightning to collide against the defending Salmael. "Take this! Almighty Judgement!" Skull roared as his pipe and Noir's axe struck Salmael at the same time. A mighty eruption of psychic and lightning magic bursts out violently from their joint attack. Salmael's entire body rocked as a result of this. In response. Salmael attempted to smite both Skull and Noir with lightning. Skull took the blow for the both of them, since he was immune to the element, and smirked. "Nice try, Sammy!
Displeased, Salmael formed another cog in front of it, this time reading the roman numeral II. Just like before a beam of heavenly judgement blasted towards the Phantom Thieves. Dragon was prepared to block it, but Sophie and Violet stepped forward. "We'll protect you this time!" Sophie said firmly. Dragon was always defending, so it only made sense they wanted to share the burden! The two stood side by side, with Pandora and Ella beside them. Pandroa's body spun around, before releasing a gigantic beam of light shooting forward.
"Judgement of the Heavens!" Violet spun around once, in tune with Ella. The two of them launched a similarly large beam of light, merging with Sophie's own. It clashed with Salmael's attack, forcing them into a fierce stalemate. Competing with the offensive power of a god was no easy feat, and it was a battle the two of them were slowly losing despite their best efforts. If they were alone, it would've been a problem. But they weren't. They forced all of Salmael's attention onto them! "Hang in there, Sophie...!"
"I'm not giving up!" Sophie proudly declared.
Because of this, Joker was able to move to Salmael's right, and pull his gun out. He took a deep breath as Raoul appeared behind him pointing is hand forward in a manner similar to Joker. He gathered almighty magic within his gun, and in turn, Raoul followed suit. "Sinful Shell." The image of Satanael appeared beside him and he fired. This massive bullet of almighty magic soared through the air. It wasn't nearly as strong as it was when he shot at Yaldabaoth, but it was still a threatening attack all the same, capable of damaging even the gods.
Viper was at Samael's left, Nuwa right by her side. Curse magic, courtesy of Alice, and Life Drain swirled together to create something truly malicious. "Toxic Fangs!" Nuwa slithered forward towards Salmael, her sharp claws creating a spiraling blast of Curse and Life drain. This attack struck in time with Joker's Sinful Shell, sandwiching Salmael between them. This completely broke its focus, allowing Sophie and Violet's joint attack to push through his, leading to all three attacks exploding against him at once. "That sure felt good!"
Salmael's hand reached out to try and squash those within reach; Viper and Joker. Instead of moving, they jumped forward with their weapons. Joker was joined by Fox and Crow, while Viper was joined by Queen and Mona. Their weapons clashed against Salmael's hands, leading to a fierce stalemate with no winners. All of them were forced back, but the Phantom Thieves were able to stick their landing. "You have no place in this world! I...I must destroy you!" Salmael exclaimed as bolts of lightning suddenly struck those it clashed with. It left them with a strong tingle. Salmael would not be able to capitalize on the opening, as Wolf planned to intercept it.
Wolf's blade was shining with energy, pouring all of his Fury into this attack. His great sword had an aura around it that easily more than twice its size. Wolf lifted his sword up and brought it down, slicing through the sky as it crashed down on Salmael. Salmael gave an effort to defend, but it was getting beaten and worn down by the Phantom Thieves teamwork and power. It was a losing fight as the sword crushed it into the ground, leaving it growling angrily. "Wolf's Fury."
Salmael pointed one hand into the air. Three cogs appearing in front of it this time. Each one released a potent blast towards the Phantom Thieves. Dragon ran ahead this time, a green barrier forming around her. "True Aegis!" This was the moment she was waiting for! She could only really make use of this once, and she wasn't going to waste it! The beams collided against her head on, but she completely nullified the attacks, instead using the damage she would've taken to empower her own strike. One expected it to be Bella's sword, but instead, Dragon formed an orb of almighty magic within her hand, took to the air, and pointed it down towards Salmael. "Take this! My DRAGON'S ROAR!" With a mighty cry, Dragon released a beam of almighty magic that took the shape of an elongated dragon. It was empowered by all the damage she absorbed from using Aegis, on top of the power the Persona Michael gave her. The dragon she released roared as it crashed down onto Salmael, creating a gigantic pillar in its destructive wake. Dragon landed on the ground, staring into the thick cloud of smoke as she and the others were panting heavily. "Was that enough...?"
The smoke cleared, and the wounded, desperate Salmael emerged from it. "Eternal tranquility is the secret desire of mankind!" As it spoke, larger gears started to float around it. "Purge...I will purge you!" The gears flew forward. There were a large ocean of gears, all to destroy the Phantom Thieves for all.
Erina was stunned at what they were looking at. "Look at them all..."
Joker just scoffed in response. Salmael's efforts weren't going to get it anywhere. "Hmph. Not a problem. LET'S GO!" Everyone started to dash forward. Erina fell behind a bit, if only because she was taken aback by their will to move forward. But she soon followed them.
The gears crashed into the ground and everyone jumped into the air. Panther drew her gun, back to back with Viper. "You're getting on my nerves!"
"Yeah, go down already!" Viper snarled. The two of them spun around, firing their guns shooting down the gears that threatened to strike them and the others down. Their aim, together, with such a high rate of fire, meant a number of gears were getting shot down.
"Go down already!" Skull pounced on a gear, violently knocking it down with his pipe. Salmael was stubborn, but so were they! They could keep this up long enough to win!
Joker noticed a gear flying nearby. He spun around and latched his grappling hook onto it. Just before it could carry him into the air, Violet took his extended hand and held onto his waist. Joker used this position to draw his gun and fire at some of the gears in the air, as did Violet. Sophia followed this idea, using her yoyos to attach herself to a gear, and shoot down a number of them as well.
"If you'll pardon me!" Noir pointed her rocket and fired. The rocket flew across the air and exploded powerfully against a gear. The explosive radius knocked several gears out of the sky as well. One was approaching her, but it was shot down by another rocket. When she looked down, she saw Ichinose on the top of the disheveled Velvet train, waving. Lavenza was using her book to swat away gears that threatened her or Ichinose.
Erina was running straight ahead, watching as the others stuck the gears down. She practically had a straight shot towards Salmael like this! "Everyone...! We need to pain for the body once last time! It's weak!" Her spear transformed in the Flag of Freedom, and she used that to swat away a few gears coming her way.
"She's right! This is it's final gambit!" Dragon planted her foot on the ground, and her staff extended a great deal. She wouldn't get a straight hit on Samael like this, but with her range, she made sure not a single gear was going to get close to anybody. She twirled it around several times, the loud clattering of gears hitting the ground and walls filling the air.
"Haaaaah!" Queen punched the air in front of her, striking a single gear. The shockwave that followed blew several more out of the way without question.
Mona was on a wild ride, flailing his arms around, and using his slingshot to shoot down some gears in the process. "Nyaaaah! Ha!"
Erina kept making a mad dash for Salmael himself. Crow, and Wolf appeared in front of her, all of them using their swords to slice through gears that threatened to cut her down. Thanks to the two of them, she had a straight shot and lunged straight for Salmael! Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy, as a few more gears appeared to try and crush her. She was able to respond by slicing through a few of them, but one nearly caught her by surprise and she blocked it. It threw her into the air, but Joker knocked it down with his knife. The two of them, while in middair, began to spin around, taking down anything that threatened to get close. One almost did get too close for comfort, but...
Fox cleaved it in half with ease, landing on the broken pieces. "Finish it!" Fox declared.
"Now, Erina!" Toshiro saw the opening, they all did.
Erina nodded and rushed ahead, slipping and sliding through the gears. She used them as footholds, leaping from one to another. She drew closer and closer to Salmael, prepared to land the final blow. However, a gear managed to blindside her and knock her back. Salmael saw this as a chance to finish off the cursed rebel spirit known as Erina, and the gears began to close in on her to crush her. Before they could, Dragon jumped into the middle of it, using Aegis to prevent this. Erina was knocked out from the impact, and with the force Salmael was applying, he intended to crush both Dragon and Erina at once. "Ngh...! I already swore...that nobody...would die...so long as I'M HERE!" Dragon grit her teeth, her green eyes releasing a fierce blue flame as she refused to concede. She was running on fumes, as were the others. But she swore that she would protect Toshiro's heart, Erina included! No matter what, she would keep that promise...! "NO MATTER WHAT...!"
"Hifumi...!" Panther and Viper cried out at the same time. This was insane...! The others started to shoot at the gears, but they were so tightly compact, they weren't budging.
"Is she going to make it...?" Ichinose wondered with a tense expression. She'd seen Dragon's reckless defense before with her own eyes, but this was...!
"Of course she will!" Panther, Viper, Noir, Violet and even Crow said. Although Crow was more calm than the others. Ichinose blinked once, and then smiled, feeling like the idiot for asking that question.
"Erina...!" Toshiro called out to Erina. "Can you hear me...!?"
Erina felt herself drifting into the sea of unconsciousness. The only thing keeping her alive was Dragon, but how long would that last? But she did hear Toshiro's voice. "Toshiro...?"
"It's because I'm so useless that I caused you so much pain. But even someone like me has their principles. I want to protect everyone that has taught me how to fight. I need to protect their spirit. I want to support those who need it, and be willing to fight their battles with them, just as I've done here. So please, lend me your strength! Stand with us one more time, ERINA!" On that call, the gears exploded as Renegade's Metaverse outfit flared to life around him once again. Ernesto awakened once more helped Dragon to the ground with a smile, before flying off, reloading her guns. Gears chased after her, but she propelled herself forward with bullets, shooting them down with precision. She flew high into the sky, returning to Erina as the Flag of Freedom shone brightly. It was a beacon of hope that Salmael had to extinguish.
"WE WON'T LET THE FIRE IN OUR HEARTS BE EXTINGUISHED!" Erina and Toshiro shouted with all their heart, at the same time.
Salmael began to reach out towards that light, prepared to take it down once and for all. Both hands lunged forward to grab Erina. A sick, twisted smile formed on the failing god's lips as it saw the chance to snuff that flame of revolution once and for all "Destroy...DESTROY...DESTROOOOOOY!"
"WE WON'T LET YOU!" Joker shouted as he threw his grappling hook forward, and the others lunged ahead.
As Salmael reached out with both hands, the Phantom Thieves collided into both of its open palms. The force of all of them was more than enough to completely knock down both of Salmael's hands, its arms violently whipping back as a result. As the others looked down at Salmael, Dragon wore a tired, but victorious smirk on her lips, as a single, definitive word passed through them. "Checkmate."
Joker grabbed onto Erina's flag, blue flames igniting from their eyes as they dove towards Salmael. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The two of them slammed straight into Salmael's forehead, the mighty Flag of Freedom's impact caused a powerful tremor to explode within Salmael's body. It jerked a single time, before its body completely fell limp. Joker and Erina were standing atop its face, looking down at that unchanging, unmoving smile.
"I...only wanted to...bring peace...to humanity...!" Samael said, with sadness in its tone. How could it be defeated by those it sought to protect?
"This is goodbye." Toshiro said calmly. "We choose to fight, and stand up for a better tomorrow."
"My Lord...I'm sorry..." Jerri whispered as she began to fade away a second time. She wanted nothing more than to aid Samael in its goals. To usher peace to humanity, no matter what. This was, however, the second time she failed to do so. Stopped short by the same group twice. "Curse you...Phantom Thieves..."
"ARRRRRGGGH!" Samael's screamed out as the damage it sustained was too much. Before log, it exploded violently, leaving nothing in its wake. Both it and Jerri were finally gone for good.
"Whew...did we get it...?" Mona asked, just to be sure. He really didn't want any third act surprises...
"They aren't showing up on my radar." Oracle reported. "Which means...!"
"It means...WE WIN!" Erina pumped a fist into the air. Everyone cheered as well.
"Finally! It's over!" Viper spun around, giving an elated smile. Aside from being with Hifumi, this was probably the most anyone in the group had ever seen her so happy.
"This is the most I've ever seen her smile." Violet pointed out, but she did so with a smile.
"Boy, I'm pooped...I don't think I can move another inch." Panther slumped against Dragon, who let out a content sigh.
"Yes...I don't feel like moving at all right now." Dragon said with an exhausted smile.
"Same here. I feel achy all over..." Queen rubbed her arm. She couldn't remember the last time they had to put up that much effort.
"Even I feel tired." Sophie crouched down. Ichinose approached and gave her a pat on the head.
"You were great out there." Ichinose said with a smile. She felt pride welling up within her chest as she watched Sophie fight.
"Praise accepted!" Sophie smiled up at Ichinose. "Thank you for your help. You too, Miss Lavenza!"
"I merely drove the train forward." Lavenza spoke with a smile. "Although, I had no idea I would collide directly into the enemy like that..." It was a happy accident.
"I told you it was likely." Ichinose smirked slightly. It was her idea to even try it. The fact it worked...
"Damn...I'm gonna feel this later." Wolf rubbed his back. That was the hardest he fought since becoming a Phantom Thief.
"Looks like Gramps is already feeling it." Oracle snickered. Wolf didn't have the energy to argue this time around.
"Haha, looks like everyone's run ragged, huh?" Noir smiled, feeling no different than everyone else. "Cheers on a job well done, though!"
"Hah...that felt cathartic." Crow admitted. Beating up a hypocritical god? Yeah, even he could smile to this.
"Let's get home." Fox said. "Some hot coffee and curry on the house sounds sublime right now."
"Geez man, you're already trying to mooch?" Skull slumped over. They both knew that Sojiro would likely allow it, however.
"..." Toshiro glanced to the side for a moment.
"Toshiro?" Erina called out to him.
"Salmael said it was born from people's hearts. Does that mean...we could be looking at the possibility of another being like it emerging again?" Toshiro asked a pretty solid question.
"It is likely." Lavenza answered that question. "Even if the people are unaware of it, their desires and wishes do gather together in the sea of unconsciousness. We have seen the birth of such beings in the past. Yaldabaoth and the Demiurge for example. There was even a man who obtained the power for a similar feat."
That was the answer he expected. "I see. Then I'll just have to prove it, won't I? That just like all of you, people can keep moving forward of their own will, even if it means getting hurt."
"Look at you, sounding all cool." Joker said with a smirk. "You've really come a long way."
"No kidding!" Erina beamed. "You've really become the kind of person others can look up to." She then gave a sad smile. With their parting...she knew that when they returned home, they'd never see each other again. "I'll be cheering for you...always."
"Wasn't he great out there?" Dragon looked to Viper.
"Huh? Why are you asking me!?" Viper shook her head. Clearly, this was some ruse to try and get a compliment out of her. Dragon jabbed her in the side with her elbow. Violet did, too. Clearly, she was outnumbered here. "UGH, FINE! He...wasn't the worst performer out there. Are you happy!?" She didn't plan to compliment Toshiro at all, but for the sake of a feel good moment, and pressure from Dragon and Violet, she conceded.
"Huh." That was barely even a compliment. Still, Toshiro adjusted his tie and decided to accept it. "I know that's the only bit of praise I'll ever get from you. So I'll accept it."
The moment didn't last long, because the entire area began to tremble violently. "Uhhhh, place is coming down!" Skull gasped.
"Salmael is defeated. Of course it'd start falling apart." Wolf said.
"Everyone, onto the train!" Toshiro exclaimed. "Also, if someone could lend me a shoulder, I can't move!"
"I'm taking the compliment back." Viper said flatly.
"Yes, yes. Let's stand on our own two feet now." Erina teased, but she did help Toshiro onto the train.
"Everyone, please board the train." Lavenza stepped to the side, as everyone funneled into the train as quickly as possible. Once they did, she entered the train. "This train will be departing momentarily. Please be sure to keep your hands, feet, and tails inside the windows at-"
"WE DON'T HAVE TIME, DIRVE!" Mika shouted.
"What a shame." Lavenza pouted. "I wanted to do that at least once. All right, I'll fly us out of here at super express speed. Please hold on tight." With a smile, she moved the train at extremely high speeds. Everyone screamed as the Velvet Train flew out of Salmael's stronghold. As they returned to the skies, the dark clouds overhead began to clear up, and a light began to shine down on them. "Oh..." Lavenza looked out the window, smiling as all the other Kingdoms were visible. "I bore witness to your battle, all the way through to the very end."
"Wow...!" Ann smiled as she and the others looked out the windows. Down below, they could see the Rebel Corps of all the Kingdoms celebrating.
"What we see here is most assuredly the product of not yielding in your convictions." As Lavenza said this, the Rebels noticed the train in the sky waving and shouting towards it.
"THANK YOOOOU!" All of the Rebel Corps explained.
There was Yuki, down below. She turned her head up to the sky, waving at it. Even if they couldn't see her, she wanted to thank them. "Thank you, everyone...from the bottom of my heart."
"This is our total victory!" Sumire grinned widely.
"Nice work, everyone!" Ichinose sat with a smile.
"Now that's a job well done." Zenkichi crossed his arms, simply watching the others wave to the Rebels down below. A smile crossed his lips as he did so.
"We did it!" Haru extended her hand to Akechi. She raised it up a bit, leaving him confused.
"What are you doing...?" Akechi tilted his head.
"Don't you know what a high five is?" Haru asked. She gestured to Ren and Ryuji in the background, who just did one themselves. Sophia got Mika to do another one as well.
"I know what it is! I'm asking why you're pointing it at me." Akechi said.
"Because I want to. Don't spoil the moment." Haru puffed her cheeks out. Akechi found it hard to argue with that, so he did high five Haru. It felt strange, but...it wasn't bad either. Haru got what she wanted out of this.
"As Sumire said...this was are complete victory." Hifumi smiled softly, leaning against Ann as her eyes closed. She did wave to the Rebels. "We won this war."
Ren took a step forward, looking towards Erina. She smiled at him and nodded. They knew what came next...their goodbyes.