"They're out! Joker and Knight made it!"
Just as Morgana froze, his mind racing to come up with an excuse for his obviously-enjoying expression, Ann suddenly pointed and shouted toward the Palace. Everyone instantly looked in that direction.
They saw a heavily armored person, with a woman on each shoulder, running quickly toward them. Trailing behind him was Ren in his Phantom Thief outfit.
"Wait, is that armored person Taichi-san after he transformed?" Yui Yuigahama asked, pointing at Taichi.
"Yep! Ah, by the way, don't use real names here. Please call us by our code names," Ryuji said with a nod.
"So cool! So awesome!" Yui Yuigahama's eyes sparkled as she looked at Taichi. "What is that?! That armor looks super cool!"
"Hmm, I have to agree, it does look pretty cool," Yukino Yukinoshita said, nodding in agreement, her hand on Morgana's head momentarily pausing.
While everyone's taste is different, most normal people in Asia share a common aesthetic. Mordred's armor really was very cool! Hearing the praise, Mordred proudly threw her head back and laughed in Taichi's mind.
"This is the proof," Taichi said, arriving in front of everyone. He carefully set the Shadow Yukinoshita sisters on the ground to avoid startling Yukino Yukinoshita.
"You intruders... Yukino?" Haruno Yukinoshita, who was just getting up and preparing to unleash a threat, saw her sister standing with the others and froze. Then she looked at the bewildered Shadow Yukino Yukinoshita next to her and her expression instantly changed. "Yuki-chan, you have to believe me! I mean... listen to me! It wasn't me! It was that Kamoshida guy inside!"
Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita frantically started explaining to Yukino Yukinoshita. She completely ignored the silent Shadow Yukino Yukinoshita behind her.
"...You're my sister's Shadow?" Yukino Yukinoshita asked, surprised, looking at the gesticulating Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita from a safe distance.
"Ah... er... yes, I am," Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita said, hesitating for a moment before giving a direct answer.
"How much do you know about what's happening in the real world?" Yukino Yukinoshita asked, taking a sharp breath and forcing herself to continue despite a tingling feeling at the back of her head.
"Everything," Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita said, pursing her lips. "I know everything about my real self, the good, the bad, all of it, completely, both what is accepted and what is not."
"Then what's with her?" Yukino Yukinoshita asked, pointing at the silent, doll-like Shadow Yukino Yukinoshita.
"...I didn't find Yuki-chan's Shadow, so I just grabbed a Shadow I thought looked the best and turned her into Yuki-chan's likeness," Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita said, poking her fingers together with a look of guilt.
"Then why are you here in someone else's... Palace?" Yukino Yukinoshita asked, massaging her temples.
"I... I want to take the desires of the Palace owner." After her expression changed multiple times, Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita's love for her sister prevented her from lying. "Only this way can I create a 'Prison' and become a 'King'!"
"Become a King?" Yukino Yukinoshita looked at Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita with a mix of shock and awe. She had never imagined her sister would have such an ambition.
"Yes," Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita said, deciding to just give up. She spoke the truth she had never revealed in the real world. "Because only by becoming a 'King' can I control everything and give Yuki-chan the 'freedom' you desire."
"But that was just before." Before Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes could well up with emotion, Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita suddenly added, "Now, I not only want to be the 'King' of a 'Prison,' I want to obtain the ultimate Holy Grail and become a 'God'!"
"Only by becoming a 'God' can I gain the power to fight against those giant monsters and protect you, Yuki-chan!"
"But you're just a Shadow," Morgana said, hopping out to face Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita. "Even though a Shadow's state can influence its real-world self, it can't sync its power to the real-world body."
"Also, 'King of a Prison'? Becoming a 'God'? Where did you get such a ridiculous... such an exaggerated idea? Did you confirm its authenticity?" Morgana didn't wait for Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita to respond, throwing out question after question. He had figured out that Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita was unusually devoted to her sister, and he might be able to get some useful information out of her.
"Do you think I'd tell you?" Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita said, looking at Morgana with glowing golden eyes. She didn't like cats. Because Yukino liked cats so much, she was jealous.
"That's what I want to know too... Sis," Yukino Yukinoshita said, her eyes filled with a complicated look as she stared at the sister in front of her who didn't match the person she knew. Her heart ached. She had always felt her sister was protecting her, but she had never imagined that the desire to do so had become so twisted deep in her sister's heart. It was as if she had completely tied her life to the single goal of "protecting her sister."
"Since Yuki-chan said so..." Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita hesitated for only a moment before deciding to reveal everything she knew.
"At first, I was just a regular Palace ruler," Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita said, spreading her hands. "But when that terrifying monster climbed from the sea to the land and caused so much destruction in Chiba, I felt like I broke through some kind of restraint."
"I think my real self must have felt the same way."
"So, the second time, my real self voluntarily made a 'request' to our mother."
"But inside the Palace, I heard... a voice, I don't know whose. It told me there was a path to a 'Prison' beyond a 'Palace' and how to go from being a 'Palace ruler' to a 'King of a Prison'."
"No, I should have guessed," Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita said, a twisted smile on her face. "It was the voice of the Holy Grail. I was chosen by the Holy Grail to be one of the 'candidates'."
"As long as I follow that method to become a 'King of a Prison,' I can compete with the other 'candidates'... for the ultimate chance to become a God!"
"As long as I can become a 'God,' I will be able to gain the power to change reality!"
"For that, even if you ask me, Yuki-chan, I will never stop."