After Ren Amamiya bid farewell to Siegfried, he entrusted Rita and Fu Hua to Welt and Dr. Tesla in the main hall for interrogation.
Unlike Ren, who was dedicated to combat and saving the world, the higher-ups of Anti-Entropy, as enemies of Schicksal, were professionals who knew exactly what important information to extract from spies.
Although Ren had privately probed Rita and Fu Hua for information, and Rita was cooperative, she would only answer the questions Ren asked and wouldn't proactively reveal any important intelligence beyond what he knew to ask.
Fu Hua was even more extreme; she only responded with nods and silence.
Ren knew that his understanding of Schicksal was ultimately inferior to Welt's and the others. Therefore, he didn't bother wasting any more time and directly handed the problem over to Welt and Tesla. He just needed to focus on getting stronger.
Raising his wrist, Ren fired a blank from the standard-issue pistol that Welt had replicated on the spot using his Herrscher of Reason authority. The plastic bullet, ejected with a flash of sparks, directly hit the bullet Siegfried had fired from the other side, and both shattered into dust and dissipated.
And just as the dust from the blank had yet to completely scatter with the wind, Ren's figure suddenly shot through like a gust of wind.
Holding a gun in each hand, he chose to raise his elbows, and an elbow strike, as swift and powerful as a flame, slammed fiercely into the chest of the unprepared Siegfried, sending him flying heavily into the wall behind him.
The entire wall shook violently from the impact.
"Hiss... that elbow strike really hurts. It's been less than a week, how did your strength improve so fast?"
Siegfried clutched his aching chest, sucking in a breath of cold air as he stood up from the ground. He looked at Ren, who casually lowered his wrists, with the astonished gaze one would reserve for a monster. He felt that the speed at which Ren was getting stronger was simply not of the same species as himself.
One must remember, Ren Amamiya was a Persona user. All his strengths were focused on his Personas. His own physical combat prowess, as the Persona user himself, should have been a weak point, a vulnerability.
Yet now, even with just his physical combat prowess, his supposed weak point, Ren had unleashed a force that made even Siegfried take notice.
Although part of it was because Siegfried was still judging him by old standards and had underestimated Ren's own combat abilities in a training match, Ren's current physical strength was absolutely not to be underestimated.
Even tearing a Titan mech apart with his bare hands would be a trivial matter.
"If you soak in Mementos every day and grind Shadows at high intensity, you can get stronger this fast too."
As Ren spoke, he raised both wrists again, assuming the starting stance of Kaslana Gun Kata.
However, before Ren could fire the first shot to resume the fight, Siegfried hurriedly waved his hands at him in protest.
"That's enough, that's enough. Your fundamentals are solid, and you're picking up Kaslana Gun Kata very well. From here on, you just need to practice and integrate it in real combat. If you keep training with me like this, it will actually hinder your normal performance in real battles."
Siegfried's advice was genuine.
The fact that he didn't want to get elbowed again was also genuine.
Ren already had a foundation in Kaslana Gun Kata. When learning it, the effect was more than doubled. Coupled with his extraordinary comprehension, Siegfried felt that he had been completely drained of his knowledge by Ren in just a short while.
"There's something I want to ask you,"
Ren was, of course, aware of his own mastery of Kaslana Gun Kata. After Siegfried declared the lesson over, he followed suit and lowered his guns. Then, with a slight clenching of his hands, he crushed the two standard-issue pistols, constructed with the Herrscher of Reason's authority, into scattered gray-blue particles.
"What do you want to ask?"
Siegfried scratched his head in surprise. He didn't know what question Ren would have for him in this private setting.
"Kiana Kaslana is your daughter's name, right? Why did you give Kiana's clone the same name, and even let her think she's the real Kiana?"
Ren didn't know if Siegfried was aware that the real Kiana was still alive, but his action of giving the original's name to a clone was indeed highly questionable.
"Of course, it's because I hold the exact same feelings for her as I do for my eldest daughter. Kiana is also my daughter. To create a new, beautiful life for her, who has no memories, and to commemorate the existence and will of the Kiana who sacrificed herself, I don't think there's anything wrong with giving her Kiana's name."
Facing this topic related to Kiana, Siegfried's expression couldn't help but turn serious as he spoke to Ren in an earnest tone.
Speaking of which, Westerners do seem to have this tradition of naming descendants after their elders...
Ren had posed this question to Siegfried to probe his attitude towards the real Kiana.
And from the looks of it now, Siegfried didn't disregard the real Kiana; he just mistakenly believed the original Kiana had already been sacrificed, and thus passed his eldest daughter's name to his second daughter to inherit.
"The real Kiana isn't dead. She just lost her past memories and was given a new identity under Otto's deliberate manipulation..."
Before Ren could finish his sentence, Siegfried, who had been calm, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot. He rushed in front of Ren, reaching out to grab his shoulders, but Ren caught his wrists, stopping Siegfried's overly emotional behavior.
"The real Kiana, my eldest daughter, where is she now? What's her name now?!"
"Her current name is Durandal. When I tried to change a heart using the name Kiana Kaslana as a coordinate here, the first place I infiltrated was the location of Durandal's Shadow. I guarantee the truth of this information on my honor as a Phantom Thief."
Ren could sense the turbulent emotions crashing like waves in Siegfried's heart. He could understand the shock this information brought to an old father.
Thus, after gently shaking off Siegfried's arm, Ren straightforwardly shared the information he knew with him.
Based on the current situation, even if Ren didn't go looking for Otto Apocalypse, Otto would choose to come looking for Ren.
To be able to defeat the Schicksal led by Otto, Ren's best method was to cooperate with Anti-Entropy.
And Siegfried was a pillar of strength in Anti-Entropy. Ren had to eliminate the hidden danger of Siegfried being tricked by Otto on the battlefield, learning that Durandal was his daughter, and then revealing a fatal flaw because of it.
Detonating the landmine under Siegfried's feet in advance would not only gain Siegfried's deeper friendship but also possibly use Siegfried's paternal love for his eldest daughter to awaken Durandal's memories, bringing Durandal, a powerful combatant on par with Siegfried, to their side. This was a win-win move for Ren.
"It's Durandal? Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie is actually my daughter, Kiana... That's right. Inheriting my blood and Cecilia's, if Kiana hadn't died, she would surely have become the new generation's strongest Valkyrie. And aside from the change in hair color, Durandal's features are indeed very similar to Cecilia's..."
Siegfried clenched his fists, his expression agitated. He had, of course, heard of Durandal, Schicksal's new generation's strongest Valkyrie.
However, under the mistaken belief that the real Kiana was dead, Siegfried had only regarded Durandal's strikingly familiar features as a coincidence, perhaps someone with mixed Schariac blood.
"I've told you what I know. The rest, you can investigate yourself."
Ren waved his hand at Siegfried, who was still immersed in the ecstasy of finding his long-lost eldest daughter, then turned and left, returning to his own bedroom.
Although he had been... with Hare for a full day and night, Ren's body had long since surpassed human limits. He felt he could still grind for a while longer.
However, he didn't plan to enter Mementos alone, but was preparing to return to the Velvet Room.
"Ai said she upgraded the Metaverse Navigator app, and now even the Velvet Room can be accessed directly. Let me test it out."
Ren opened the Metaverse Navigator app on his phone. As expected, an option to go to the Velvet Room had been added to the navigation interface.
Without bothering Hare to open a back door to the "Base of Believers, for Believers, by Believers", and skipping all the cumbersome operations, with just a light tap on the phone screen, when Ren opened his eyes again, he was once again in the familiar, reassuringly dim prison environment.
The first moment he re-entered the Velvet Room, Ren felt a sudden emptiness deep within his body, as if something had left.
"Welcome, welcome! Welcome our great Trickster back to the Velvet Room~~~~"
In the dark and quiet prison, a muffled thump-thump-thump sound slowly echoed. Vill-V, riding on a giant mechanical sphere, approached Ren like a circus performer, driving the mechanical ball forward. At the same time, she took off her mechanical-style hat and welcomed Ren's return with a booming voice.
"You want me to modify this phone that uses SELENE technology, right? I never thought people outside still possessed this technology. What a pleasant surprise!"
Vill-V leaped off, landing gracefully like a nimble bird in front of Ren. Then, she leaned in, her leather-gloved hands unceremoniously patting Ren down, finally pulling out the silver phone equipped with the SELENE system from his waist.
The consciousness of the real Vill-V, having returned to the Elysian Realm, had immediately reclaimed her body and shared the memories of this period with all the other Vill-Vs.
Therefore, the Vill-V who appeared before Ren now naturally knew his purpose.
"How long will it take to modify this phone?"
Allowing Vill-V to pull the SELENE phone from his waist, Ren looked at her as she continuously played with it. He interrupted her wandering thoughts and asked.
"It won't take long. I've specifically developed a new laboratory for myself. By the time you next come to the Velvet Room, this SELENE phone should be modified."
Vill-V kicked the mechanical sphere next to her as if to demonstrate. She had specially partitioned the space inside the mechanical sphere from the rest of the Elysian Realm, allowing her to freely accelerate the flow of time within the spherical laboratory.
It was all too easy to whip up some small inventions in a hurry.
"Oh, right! The Treasure weapon you commissioned me to make last time is complete. I've named it the 'Key of the Void'."
As if suddenly remembering something, Vill-V clapped her hands. A small mechanical cart rolled over. On the rack carried by the cart, the Treasure weapon forged by Vill-V from the Herrscher of the Void core Treasure, the U-Do Stone Crystal, and the Jealousy Demon Stone Crystal, was displayed.
"Another gun-type weapon?... What does this Key of the Void do?"
Ren picked up this Key of the Void Treasure weapon. The azure gun body flickered with a faint light, as if breathing. The gun, which looked heavy to the eye, felt as light as a feather in his hand, very comfortable to hold.
Ren examined this new Treasure weapon from all angles, while asking its developer, Vill-V, about the special effects of the Key of the Void.
"It can fire small, bullet-shaped spaces that ignore all defenses and penetrate all obstacles... and, it enhances the power of the Personas you summon!!"
A blush appeared on Vill-V's delicate and pretty face. She spread her arms wide, a grin of irrepressible joy on her lips, already eager to share her genius inspiration with Ren, her only listener.
"And to increase the power of a Persona, you just need to point the Key of the Void at your own temple, and gently pull the trigger like this!!"
Looking at Vill-V, who made a gun gesture with her fingers, held it to her own temple, 'fired' a shot, and then looked overjoyed, Ren couldn't help but lean back slightly...
...What kind of madwoman is this?!
Ren had previously only thought Vill-V had many whimsical ideas, but this time, her whimsical idea was a bit too whimsical!
"I don't want the weapon I worked so hard to develop to be easily used by just anyone who picks it up. So if anyone else shoots themselves in the head, their forehead will really be pierced by a spatial bullet."
Although Ren didn't comment, Vill-V still saw what he was thinking. She raised her index finger with a self-satisfied look and explained to Ren, who hadn't yet fully understood the function of the Key of the Void.
"In other words, the only ones who can truly use this Key of the Void to summon and strengthen Personas are you, Ren Amamiya, and the original owners of the materials used to make the Key of the Void."