"It has nothing to do with you. I stand on this battlefield by my own will... You're very weak right now. You should hide somewhere safe. Leave the fighting to me, Hare, and Violet."
While talking to Yae Sakura in his arms, Ren didn't relax his control over Persona Huodou, sending one command after another to it mentally.
Huodou let out a deafening roar. Its massive golden-red body erupted in fierce flames, doubling its offensive power output. After buffing itself, Huodou slashed its ferocious, sharp claws towards the giant white fox, Higokumaru.
With support from the armored Hare and Kallen, Persona Huodou's powerful claw attack struck Higokumaru's white fur without reservation.
However, Huodou's full-power strike, imbued with burning flames, merely knocked Higokumaru back a dozen meters or so, leaving only a shallow scratch. It didn't inflict significant damage and only enraged Higokumaru further.
Ignoring the damage from armored Hare and Kallen, Higokumaru relentlessly used its five thick fox tails like ropes to tightly bind Huodou's golden-red body, frantically pouring corrosive energy into it.
Bound tightly, Huodou struggled desperately, but its golden-red form was irresistibly stained by the dangerous dark red hue.
"Damn it! Come back quickly, Huodou!"
Sensing his control over Persona Huodou weakening, as if Higokumaru was seizing command through the encroaching dark red energy, Ren's eyes widened. He decisively recalled Huodou, still bound by Higokumaru's five giant tails, transforming it back into its mask form and summoning it back to his hand.
After obtaining Persona Huodou, Ren had discovered it possessed a passive skill called "Unyielding Will" [Endure]. In other words, it had the special ability to revive once at full health after its HP reached zero. That's why Ren had planned to use Huodou for a battle of attrition against Higokumaru. He hadn't expected Huodou to be completely defeated by Higokumaru before even getting a chance to use its Unyielding Will skill.
Holding the white bird mask symbolizing Huodou, Ren noticed half of it was now corroded dark red, becoming a starkly divided half-red, half-white mask. The malevolent corrosive energy pulsed violently from the mask, the force knocking both Ren and Yae Sakura, still in his arms, to the ground.
"Ordinary shikigami cannot stand against that creature... cannot stand against Higokumaru. I understood this after regaining my memories. Because Higokumaru... is my other half. It is the other me."
Yae Sakura lay across Ren's lap as he sat on the ground. She reached out a delicate hand, gently grasping Ren's hand as he reached towards his own face, intending to re-summon Arsene's white bird mask.
"This matter began because of Sakura. It was Sakura opening that box that led to this disaster, culminating in today's situation... Though we haven't known each other long, I can sense the determination in Mr. Joker's eyes, and the pioneering spirit within your heart, always striving towards the future."
Yae Sakura's slender white hand tightened slightly. Lying on Ren's lap, she slowly clasped his hand, her blue eyes filled with resolve.
"Sakura begs Mr. Joker to accept Sakura's power, to allow this sinful body to become Mr. Joker's blade. Only if Sakura becomes Mr. Joker's shikigami can Sakura resist Higokumaru's corrosive power and inflict sufficient, fatal damage upon her."
"Uh, well... I'd like to accept your power, but..."
Faced with Yae Sakura's earnest plea, Ren could only blink silently, unsure how to explain. Although he'd gone along with her assumption that he was an onmyoji earlier to manage the situation, he was fundamentally a Persona user, not a real onmyoji. Even if Yae Sakura wasn't alive, but a spirit dead for five hundred years, Ren had no idea how to turn a living person's soul into his own Persona.
"Since Mr. Joker has agreed, then Sakura can rest easy."
Hearing Ren's (implied) consent, a beautiful, fleeting smile, like a cherry blossom blooming and then scattering, appeared on Yae Sakura's weak but exquisite face.
In an instant, Yae Sakura's body, held in Ren's arms, suddenly became lighter. Her slender, well-proportioned form dissolved into countless swirling sakura-pink particles of light before him. Only the white fox mask hanging at her waist remained, floating gently in mid-air, supported by the sakura-pink light particles.
The sakura-colored light points that were once Yae Sakura's body converged into the white fox mask floating mid-air like homing birds returning to their nest, etching a sakura-colored triple tomoe pattern onto the center of the mask's forehead.
"...It works like that? She actually turned into a mask?!"
Ren's eyes widened in astonishment. Without him even doing anything, Yae Sakura had turned herself into a Persona mask and presented it to him.
"Fine, can't just sit around when things happen—Let's go, Yae Sakura!!"
Still in the midst of battle, Ren quickly pushed aside extraneous thoughts and reached out, grasping the white fox mask before him. Gently placing the white fox mask adorned with the sakura tomoe onto his face, Ren felt as if he could sense Yae Sakura's warmth, smell a fragrance like cherry blossoms, and a sense of fulfillment and reassurance filled his heart, knowing Sakura was with him.
With Ren's deep cry, the white fox mask containing Yae Sakura's soul flew rapidly from his hand, heading straight towards the giant white fox Higokumaru, currently locked in fierce battle with the armored Hare and Kallen.
A familiar, graceful figure—with long, sakura-pink fox ears atop her head, clad in a red-and-white miko outfit, her sakura hair flowing in the wind, tightly gripping a sakura-colored spirit blade—appeared vibrant and full of life right before the stunned Higokumaru!
Not even a moment to mourn Yae Sakura's death, arriving immediately on the battlefield is—
Persona Yae Sakura!!!
Author's Note:
Next chapter, The Death of Higokumaru!