"He actually interfered with his own Stigmata awakening process? Preventing the Manifestation's power from fully integrating into his body, instead using a mask as a vessel to summon the Stigmata Manifestation, which carries nearly the full power?!"
Hare, watching from a safe distance behind the battlefield, was utterly flabbergasted by the dizzying, unheard-of sequence of events Ren Amamiya had just performed.
Even with her typically calm and stable disposition, she couldn't help but wear an expression of disbelief, questioning what she was seeing.
Normally, Stigmata awakeners absorb the power of their Stigmata Manifestation to enhance themselves directly.
Ren Amamiya, however, had refused this self-enhancement.
Instead, he used the awakening power, leveraging the unique rules of the Imaginary Space itself, to connect across the vast distance to his own personal Stigmata Space and summon the Manifestation itself to fight for him.
Hare hadn't just never heard of such a thing; she'd never even conceived of such an extreme possibility!
This method of directly summoning the Stigmata Manifestation...
...allowed him to bypass the complex adaptation process entirely. He could summon a Manifestation capable of unleashing its power a thousandfold, possessing combat strength far exceeding what an awakener could achieve by merely integrating the Stigmata power into themselves.
But ultimately, this was just a clever trick, exploiting the environmental advantages of the Imaginary Space.
In Hare's view, Ren Amamiya's method of Stigmata awakening was completely unorthodox, a "crooked path" suited only for specific, extreme combat environments.
It wouldn't even be wrong to call him a "failed" Stigmata awakener.
After all, by channeling almost all the awakened Stigmata power into constructing and stabilizing the pathway between the Imaginary Space and his own Stigmata Space...
...Ren Amamiya, the awakener himself, hadn't received any significant power-up.
And the Stigmata Manifestation, capable of fighting at a thousand percent capacity like a fish in water, could only exist within special environments like the Imaginary Space. It couldn't follow Ren back into the real world [Eigenwelt].
A Stigmata Crystallization like Hare herself, capable of walking the real world, was a miracle among miracles, virtually impossible to replicate.
In other words, Ren's awakening method meant he could only display overwhelming strength in special environments like the Imaginary Space.
Once back in the real world, he wouldn't be able to summon his Stigmata Manifestation at will like he could here.
Having used most of his Stigmata power to build the Imaginary pathway, Ren himself only received minor enhancements.
While his physical abilities were now far beyond ordinary humans, surpassing mortal limits, and he possessed extremely high Honkai resistance and adaptability...
...his combat potential in the real world couldn't even compare to Schicksal's Valkyries!
Therefore, Hare felt Ren had completely wasted his potential as a Stigmata awakener.
Summoning a Manifestation capable of unleashing 1000% of the Stigmata's power also meant...
...that Ren had forfeited the right to gradually unearth the potential of his awakened Stigmata, progressively strengthening himself with the power he unlocked.
In essence, the power Ren himself could wield had already reached its peak during the initial awakening.
Barring a miracle, Ren Amamiya had no possibility of further growth in strength.
While Hare watched from afar, feeling a sense of pity for Ren's seemingly squandered potential...
...Ren himself, in the heart of the battlefield, was having a blast commanding Arsene, subjecting the seven black-and-gold Shadows to a brutal beatdown.
Under Arsene's overwhelming power, the previously dangerous Shadows were now completely toothless.
They were as weak and helpless as children, easily manipulated by Arsene, unable to even get close to Ren.
Sharp, black claws gleamed with an ominous light.
Strikes imbued with the force to shatter gold and jade slammed into the bizarre bodies of the black-and-gold Shadows.
In mere moments, one after another, the Shadows were disintegrated into broken fragments, scattered across the ground like scrap metal.
The mangled remains of the black-and-gold Shadows littered the area, utterly devoid of life.
Only the golden cores, marked with strange indentations, remained, rolling across the ground.
"What's this? Special materials dropped by the Shadows?"
Seeing the golden cores left behind after the Shadows were destroyed, Ren raised an eyebrow slightly. He instinctively took a step forward, wanting to collect them for inspection.
But after that first step, Ren remembered he had already awakened his Persona.
He stopped himself from going personally, instead directing Arsene to float over and retrieve the scattered golden cores.
Just as Arsene approached the cores, its sharp claws about to touch their surface...
...the shattered limbs of the black-and-gold Shadows, previously lying inert like scrap, suddenly flew towards the golden cores as if drawn by powerful magnets!
In the blink of an eye, the seven black-and-gold Shadows reformed, completely surrounding Arsene, which was now at their center.
"I see. So those golden spheres are their cores, their weak points. Looks like I have to destroy those cores to stop them for good."
The Shadows' sudden resurrection drew a surprised look from Ren.
Observing their behavior, Ren quickly deduced how to finish them off properly.
Even though they had reformed after being destroyed once by Arsene, their bodies were now visibly covered in cracks, like porcelain.
Even without specifically targeting the cores, just defeating them a few more times would likely render them unable to regenerate.
"Alright, let's finish this in one go! Arsene, use Maeiga!"
Ren swept his hand forward decisively, commanding Arsene to unleash its special skill, Maeiga.
Ominous, crimson-black flames erupted from Arsene's hands.
As Arsene hurled the flames—like solidified curses—forward, the seven black-and-gold Shadows were instantly engulfed in the inferno of Maeiga.
The Shadows struck by Maeiga thrashed and struggled wildly, but their efforts were futile.
In mere seconds, under Maeiga's potent power, the cracked husks of the seven Shadows completely melted away within the crimson-black flames.
Their golden cores, the source of their regeneration, lasted only a second longer before being irresistibly vaporized into ash by Maeiga's power.
"Nice work! I always believed you wouldn't just be a benchwarmer, Arsene!"
Seeing Arsene effortlessly annihilate all seven Shadows, a smile mixing delight and relief spread across Ren's face.
Arsene being relegated to benchwarmer status in the P5R game was purely a concession to the Persona fusion gameplay mechanic.
If Arsene had been too strong initially, quite a few players might have stuck with their starter Pokémon... starter Persona... all the way to the end, never bothering to fuse new ones.
But now that the game had become reality, the real Arsene was incredibly powerful.
Truly worthy of being the Persona awakened by the protagonist himself!
With Arsene's power at his side, even without support from the Velvet Room for now...
Ren felt he had nothing to fear!
"Okay, next step is finding a way back to the real world."
As the initial excitement of awakening his Persona and defeating the enemies faded slightly, Ren calmed down. He stroked his chin thoughtfully, his gaze shifting between the breaches the Shadows had smashed in the walls and the now clear path ahead.
Before Ren could decide which path to take to continue exploring Mementos, his pupils suddenly dilated. He felt an intense gaze rapidly approaching him, a sense of being watched.
"Alright, stop hiding! Whoever's spying on me from the shadows, show yourself!"
Ren lifted his red-gloved hand, examining it for a moment. Then, he abruptly spun around, his gloved finger pointing decisively towards a thick stone wall behind him.
Tap, tap, tap...
Clear, crisp footsteps echoed softly in the otherwise empty stone labyrinth.
From behind the wall Ren pointed at, a woman slowly walked out. She had long, white hair reaching her waist, strikingly beautiful features, and wore a form-fitting white and purple battlesuit.
Seeing the gorgeous, white-haired, blue-eyed woman obediently reveal herself, Ren paused for a second, his gaze sweeping over the stranger with surprise several times.
He'd assumed the hidden spy was a Shadow waiting for a chance to ambush him.
He hadn't expected such a beautiful woman to emerge from behind the wall.
'This feeling... Is she a Persona user? But there's something slightly off, a subtle dissonance.'
Ren sensed a peculiar aura from the woman who appeared – Hare. It felt similar to his own power, yet distinctly different.
"Forgive my intrusion. My name is Misteln. Misteln Schariac."
An elegant, apologetic smile graced Hare's flawless face as she gave Ren a slight bow.
"I mean you no harm. I was actually about to help you, but I didn't expect you to defeat those Imaginary Constructs by awakening your own Stigmata power."
'Imaginary Constructs... and Stigmata Power?'
Ren's eyebrow twitched slightly.
Clearly, what this stranger calling herself Misteln referred to as "Imaginary Constructs" were the black-and-gold Shadows he'd just destroyed.
And "Stigmata Power," naturally, must refer to Persona Arsene.
There was no Misteln character in P5R.
But then again, the Persona series is ongoing. Maybe she's a new character from P5QRSTUV...
Before Ren transmigrated, there were already two P5-related games in development.
Encountering a new character he didn't recognize within Mementos wasn't entirely unbelievable.
Humans can only awaken the Persona sleeping within their hearts when they are in another world.
In the Dark Hour [P3], you needed to overcome death. In the TV World [P4], you needed to face yourself.
Ren was certain he had summoned Arsene by igniting his soul of rebellion.
Therefore, this place had to be Mementos. No doubt about it.
If the location is correct, then the problem must lie with the stranger before him, this Misteln.
"Calling Personas 'Stigmata,' calling Shadows 'Imaginary Constructs'... You... you're not human, are you?"
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