Chapter XXX

The Ethereal War Ends; Moving Forward (空気の戦争は終わる; 前進する)

xxxxx

?-?

A long figure monitored the proceedings with the Phantom Thieves, the Vein Remnants, and the Secret World Organization. The figure then observed the groups enter each pocket dimension within Legendary King Ghidorah's body.

The figure quietly monitored Sion, Sophia, Ayase, and company's battle against the Yami King and Mana. Upon viewing Shu's mental breakdown, the figure had an irritated glare across her face.

"What a farce. I knew picking him as the Yami King was a mistake. No matter, this mistake can easily be corrected and removed," the figure approached the monitor and calmly chortled. "Congratulations on making it this far, Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Vein Remnants, and especially you, Togo Hifumi. Don't worry. Shu is merely just our puppet. You'll be facing me, the true manipulator behind this conflict!" As the figure turned away, a beam of light exposed a pair of red ribbons in her hair and a beauty mark on her side chin. "Despair awaits you all." She lifted her head as the same creepy whispers communicated with her. However, her lips seemed to move on their own, matching whatever the voice was relaying to her as if she were the one talking. She nodded knowingly. "Yes, it's time for us to depart and end this Ethereal War."

With that, the Yami Matter entered her secret quarters. She willingly allowed herself to be absorbed and transported to Sion, Sophia, and company's location.

xxxxx

Pocket Dimensions

Meanwhile, the Phantom Thieves, the Revenants, and their SWO allies were each dropped into five separate dimensions. As Sion, Tennyo, Ayase, and their compatriots fought the Yami King and Yami Matter Avatar Mana, the other groups fought other Yami Matter/The First Evil Avatars.

In one pocket dimension, Seiten Taisei ΩX, Engineer, Stinger, Hound, Goku, and Saitama landed in the Royal Palace of East Gorteau seen during Hunter x Hunter's Chimera Ant Arc. Greeting the group was none other than the Chimera Ant King Meruem. Although Goku and Saitama individually can easily destroy him in one shot, the Yami Matter/The First Evil Avatar showed plenty of prowess and regenerated himself from their blows.

During the exchange, Seiten Taisei ΩX, Engineer, and Saitama were tripped out when they heard the Chimera Ant King talk as if they heard a deeper variation of their voices. The ascended Phantom Thief and the Revenants were initially overtaken by Meruem's fast and deadly attacks. At one point, Engineer, Stinger, and Hound used their Blood Veils to distract the Chimera Ant King. When he hit Ultra Instinct, Goku pummeled Meruem with body crushing blows. Saitama then delivered one punch, splitting Meruem in two.

In the end, Seiten Taisei ΩX combined his Electric Kamehameha with Goku's Supreme Kamehameha to finish off Meruem and seal up the pocket dimension. When two portals opened, one led back into Tokyo and the other to Mana's realm. Opting to help Sion and the others, Seiten Taisei ΩX and the Revenants took the portal to Mana's realm. Goku and Saitama returned to Shibuya to help mitigate the Yami Matter infection spread in the real world.

After selecting their pocket dimension route, Anat ΩX, Astarte ΩX, Kamu Susano-o ΩX, and Saber fell into the Temple of Uruk. The group was then greeted by Gilgamesh, who like the overbearingly pompous ruler he disparaged them like the 'mongrels' as he saw them. Readying her Noble Phantasm, Saber rushed and attacked Gilgamesh. Not taking kindly to King Arthur's attack, the King of Uruk summoned hundreds of portals, in which a heavy barrage of swords rained down on the Phantom Thieves.

Evading Gilgamesh's sword, the Thieves performed their attacks. Anat ΩX cleared an entire field full of swords with her Ω Atomic Flare. Astarte ΩX used Psychic Burst to dispel and blow away numerous swords. Kamu Susano-o ΩX briefly clashed with Gilgamesh, striking the Uruk King with Divine Glaive. Striking Gilgamesh with her Excalibur, Saber brought Gilgamesh down. After the Uruk King was slain, Saber went out to fight to stop the Yami matter spread while the Phantom Thieves entered the portal to Mana's realm.

Arriving in Scala ad Caelum, Satanael ΩX, Hecate ΩX, Loki ΩX, Sora, Luigi, and Yoshi confronted Master Xehanort. As Sora questioned why Xehanort was here, the Thieves recognized this wasn't the real man, but another Yami Matter Avatar/The First Evil taking his form.

Armed with the χ-blade, Master Xehanort conjured pillars of light, pushing them toward the group. The Thieves, Sora, Luigi, and Yoshi quickly evaded the pillars, but Xehanort teleported through keyhole-shaped doors and tossed beams from his χ-blade. Sora countered Xehanort's attacks with his Ultimate Weapon. As Yoshi transformed into his Super Dragon form, Sora rode his green dinosaur friend as they dodged Xehanort's attacks. With Sora summoning and throwing swords at Xehanort, Luigi unleashed his Emerald Zettaflare. Loki ΩX attacked Xehanort with Loptr Tornado, but Xehanort quickly countered with his χ-blade. As Satanael ΩX and Hecate ΩX rushed to save Loki ΩX, Xehanort vanished. Then, beams rained down from the sky, causing the group to spread out.

As the battle drew to a close, Satanael ΩX fired his Ω Sinful Shells, taking out Xehanort's projectiles and bladed attacks. Casting her Agni Bullets, Hecate ΩX then shot fiery crossbow arrows and neutralized Xehanort. As he jumped off Yoshi, Sora then delivered the final blow and finished Xehanort. As Xehanort dissolved into black mist, the dimension started to crumble. In a similar fashion, two portals opened. The Thieves hopped into the portal, which took them straight into Mana's realm. As Luigi and Yoshi headed the other way, Sora opted to follow the Phantom Thieves and told his friends they'll meet again.

Upon stumbling in a dark and desolate realm, Mercurius ΩX, Omegamon Merciful Mode, Dukemon Crimson Mode, Sailor Pluto, the Tenth Doctor, and the Godzilla group (Legendary, Shin, Earth, Shōwa, Heisei, and Final Wars) were confronted by the Yami Matter Avatar/The First Evil, taking the form of ZeedMillenniummon. The chosen location for their battle is ZeedMillenniummon's Future World. Then, in a surprise twist, ZeedMillenniummon summoned an evil copy of Sailor Pluto, who while their appearance isn't any different from Pluto's. The clone wore an evil smirk and her eyes glowed dark purple. The First Evil used its ability to assume any person who had died, and in Pluto's case she's died before, giving the Yami Matter Avatar the power to replicate Pluto's form.

During the heated battle, the Digimon and the Godzillas took on ZeedMillenniummon while Mercurius ΩX, Pluto, and the Tenth Doctor engaged the evil Pluto copy. At some point, a portal opened up and from it came Godzilla (1954), who joined the other Godzillas. Firing two atomic rays from its mouths, ZeedMillenniummon cast Chrono Paradox, attempting to take out his enemies. Then the Godzillas combined their atomic breaths, amassing a giant stomach ball that collided with ZeedMillenniummon's attack. Omegamon MM slashed ZeedMillenniumm's red head with his Grey Sword. Dukemon CM stabbed the blue head with his Invincible Sword.

As the Pluto copy blasted her adversaries with her Dead Scream, Mercurius ΩX flew at the Pluto copy and blasted her with ΩX Panta Rhei. After the ascended Thief immobilized her, the Tenth Doctor used his Sonic Screwdriver to neutralize the Pluto copy's Garnet Staff. Then, Pluto ran in and smashed her copy with her staff. Then, the Pluto copy rebounded and knocked them away with Chronos Typhoon. Using her Garnet Orb, Pluto conjured a barrier with her Garnet Ball, protecting her, the Tenth Doctor, and Mercurius ΩX. As Mercurius ΩX quickly slashed the Pluto copy with Lightspeed Drive, Pluto finished her off with her Chronos Typhoon.

Meanwhile, ZeedMillenniummon fired a beam that wiped out half of the Godzillas (Shin, Earth, and Heisei) from the battlefield. The other Godzillas pressed on and continued their attack on the Dark Time God. Omegamon MM and Dukemon CM crossed their swords, conjuring a powerful wave that cut through ZeedMillenniummon's body. Then, when ZeedMillenniummon's body began to burst, it prepared to take everyone out with its Dimension Destroyer. However, Pluto then used Time Stop to halt ZeedMillenniummon's attack. When two portals opened, Pluto and the Doctor instructed the group to take either portal. When the Digidestined tried talking Pluto out of sacrificing herself, she and the Doctor ordered them away. Omegamon MM, Dukemon CM, and the Godzillas took the portal, transporting them to the real world. Mercurius ΩX chose the portal, taking him to Mana's realm. As Pluto dropped her time stop spell, she and the Doctor were seemingly wiped out by ZeedMillenniummon's self destruction blast.

Arriving in their chosen pocket dimension, Prometheus ΩX, Eternal Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Yugi & the Three Legendary Gods, and Seto & his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon faced Sailor Galaxia, who stood from her throne and conjured her sword. The location for this battle is the Outside of the Galaxy Cauldron in outer space.

Moon and Mars were greatly taken aback by Sailor Galaxia's appearance, but Prometheus ΩX's scanners confirmed the Golden Queen was just another Yami Matter Avatar/The First Evil. Sailor Galaxia quickly met them with fierce and reckless abandon, overpowering them with her attacks. Eternal Sailor Moon quickly clashed with Galaxia as their clash caused time and space around them to shake. Yugi's Three Legendary Gods, the Sky Dragon of Osiris, the Giant God-Soldier of Obelisk, and the Winged God-Dragon of Ra, attacked Sailor Galaxia, but she nullified their blasts with an aura.

After combining the Three Legendary Gods, Yugi summoned Horakhty to attack Galaxia. As Horakhty's power collided with Galaxia, the Golden Queen resisted with force. The Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon fired its Ultimate Burst, which Galaxia nullified with her aura. When Galaxia produced long, string-like projectiles, she attacked the group. Evading her Galactica Super String, the group fought back. Rushing to meet them head-on, Sailor Galaxia neutralized Eternal Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Yugi, and Kaiba with a field of black energy. In response to Galaxia delivering her Galactica Inflation, Prometheus ΩX used Omni Boost to increase everyone's stats to full power.

As the cosmic battle raged on, Beerus and Whis arrived and monitored the heroes' progress. Then, in a shocking turn of events, a bright flame bird arrived. It was the Phoenix Force along with Jean Grey. Offering assistance, Jean helped the group fight against Sailor Galaxia. As the Phoenix entered the fray, Beerus observed and wished he would've fought Galaxia and the Phoenix Force. When Sailor Galaxia targeted Prometheus ΩX, Sailor Mars threw herself in front of the hacker and took the brunt of Galaxia's cosmic beam. On the verge of death, Mars collapsed, but Jean intervened and willingly transferred half of her Phoenix Force's power to an ailing Mars. Once the Phoenix Force half consumed her, Sailor Mars became revitalized and received a fiery cloak skin to Jean's. Returning the favor, Mars blasted Sailor Galaxia with an incredible force. Firing her Mars Flame Sniper, Mars launched a fiery arrow with the Phoenix's visage, which collided with Galaxia.

As Galaxia was neutralized, Horakhty blasted Galaxia away with a powerful light beam. Jean then amassed a fiery wave and blasted the Golden Queen. When Galaxia crossed her arms to take everyone's Star Seeds, Prometheus ΩX cast Techno Force, nullifying Galaxia's beams. Then, the hacker targeted Galaxia's bracelets and fired her DJ Laser Storm. Picking up on Prometheus ΩX's strategy, Galaxia jumped away. Then, Eternal Sailor Moon finished off the Golden Queen with her Silver Moon Crystal Eternal Power.

With the Golden Queen removed, the pocket dimension began collapsing. Two portals opened, leading to two paths. Everyone but Prometheus ΩX exited out of the Yami Matter Avatar's body. After being wished luck by Sailor Moon and the others, Prometheus ΩX hopped through the other portal, transporting her to Mana's realm.

Before taking their leave, Beerus and Whis commented that the Ethereal War is near its end.

xxxxx

Pocket Dimension: Mana's Apocalyptic World/Crystallized Ward 24

As the battles against the Yami King and Mana pressed on, a turning point had reached. While Sion kept Shu occupied, Jack, Eva, Gai, and Altair stormed over and aided Shu, Kirito, and Asuna against the Yami King, who had mentally broken down and attacked with reckless abandon.

Elsewhere, Mana fought off Sophia, Ayase, Buffy, Ultimate Madoka, Devil Homura, and Lacia. Quickly regaining control of the skirmish, the Yami Matter Avatar unleashed a crystal barrage, causing the group to evade. Once separating Sophia and Ayase from the rest, Mana blasted Sophia into a wall and ensnared Ayase with a crystallized tendril. Upon tightening her hold on Ayase, Mana intently glared through her adversary's eyes.

"Yes. Yes. Yes. YES!" Gleefully cackled Mana, whose eyes gleamed blood red. "I can see her through you! I see you're the one who's been containing her spirit!" Staring painstakingly through Ayase's eyes, she saw a white mindscape with a lone figure sitting in a garden of crystallized purple and pink flowers. "Yuzuriha Inori, you're looking well for a spirit!"

A ray of light shone through the garden, revealing a woman with long, shoulder-length pink hair, red eyes, and a red dress. She is seen looking helpless as Mana gleefully stared over her. She then saw Inori's ethereal form appear over Ayase's body, showing that Inori's spirit fully merged with Ayase.

"Yes, once I've incorporated you, I'll have your essence in me so Shu won't feel all alone and we recreate our new Eden as Adam and Eve! Now come forth, Inori!" Mana maniacally laughed as she put her hand through Ayase's face.

"No, I don't think so! Hands off!" Ayase angrily protested as she headbutted Mana's face and pushed the Yami Matter Avatar's hands away. She then jumped up and landed a spinning kick to Mana's face, nearly snapping her neck around. Then, as she quickly put her hand in front of Mana's face, Ayase repelled the entity away.

As she crashed into the bed of crystals, Mana stood up and furiously screamed. After noticing blood on her lips, Mana's face contorted with anger. To further illustrate her unbridled fury coming out, her pupils turned into sharp crystals.

"You… you… YOU DARE MAKE ME BLEED?! FOR THAT, I'M GOING TO PURGE YOUR EXISTENCE!" Mana incandescently screamed as she flew up and attacked Ayase relentlessly. "You must be removed so I can take Inori's spirit!"

"I won't let you take Inori without a fight, you fucking thing!" Ayase angrily retorted while exchanging hard-hitting punches and kicks with Mana.

As Mana conjured a crystal spear, a quick slash from Sophia's ko-naginata cut the crystallized construct. Taken aback, Mana was then blasted down by Sophia's Lightning Thorn. Upon being struck down by Sophia, Ayase ran up and punched Mana's face, sending her flying across the crystallized domain.

"BITCH!" Mana screamed as she recovered and flew headlong toward Ayase, who evaded her Mana's strike and swerved behind her. When Mana turned, she was met with a glancing blow from Ayase, who elbowed her in the face. After getting kicked across the area, Ayase flew over and gave Mana a painful backbreaker, almost breaking Mana in two.

"I'll break your ballerina ass like a Kit Kat bar!" Ayase roared, planting an ax handle blow into Mana's face, sending her crashing into the ground again.

Meanwhile, Gai, Jack, Eva, and Altair arrived to assist Sion, Kirito, and Asuna. As the Yami King faced Gai, he was met with shock and dismay.

"ガイ、彼らは何をしましたか？あなたは私を裏切って、私の新しいエデンへの無料エントリーを断りますか？！ (GAI, WHAT DID THEY DO YOU?! YOU'D DARE TO BETRAY ME AND TURN DOWN A FREE ENTRY INTO MY NEW EDEN?!)"

"Better to fight you than join a whiny bitch who refuses to move forward with his life," Gai scoffed. "You sorely disappoint me, Ouma Shu."

As Sion joined Gai, the two greeted one another and formed mutual respect.

"I'm glad you've seen the light thanks to my friends," Sion said.

"Yes, thank you. Now that I can clearly see, you can count on me to humble this wannabe king and shatter his childish hopes for a new Eden," Gai added.

"Now, let's teach this bitch boy a lesson!" Sion declared as he and Gai led Jack, Eva, Kirito, Asuna, and Altair to engage the Yami King, who desperately went on the defense and fought the group off.

"Sion is leading his team like the captain of a rugby team! They're taking it to Shu!" Tsugumi energetically commented on the fight.

"We sound like play by play commentators for a sport's game," Shibungi remarked.

"You say that like it's a bad thing! This is pretty fun! I could get used to this!" Tsugumi added.

"Well, it's not for me…" Argo scoffed. "But, it does feel good seeing Shu getting his butt kicked. I won't lie, I got a kick out of Sion putting down Shu."

"Ah, so you're rooting against your former friend, huh?" Yuu coolly chimed in.

"Only because I want to see him get kicked off his high horse and drop this whole Yami King crap."

"Though, I think that whole 'Heil Shu' thing went too far," Tsugumi remarked.

"Sion pushed Shu so far now that Shu's screaming in full Japanese. What's that all about?" Shibungi wondered.

Yuu then chuckled and assessed the situation. "Then, you'd better hope they beat Mana, too. If they can beat her, perhaps there's a chance they can set Shu, but make no mistake. Your former friend wasn't brainwashed against his will. He willfully joined and let himself be seduced by the Yami Matter's influence."

"Speaking of, Ayase's giving that fake Mana a fight! C'mon, Ayase! We're pulling for you, Hifumi, and the others!" Tsugumi cheered her best friend on.

"For her sake, she better keep Inori safe. Quite interesting to find out Ayase is a container for Inori just like how Hifumi is Io's container," Yuu stated. "Well, Mana's attempting a comeback. Ayase better be on her guard."

As Mana frantically scrambled to her feet, Sophia charged toward her and swung her ko-naginata for a decapitation. Mana narrowly dodged Sophia's strike and tossed a barrage of crystals. Slamming her ko-naginata down, Sophia conjured spikes from the ground, using her Ivy-Type Blood Veil to stop Mana's crystal projectiles. After tearing through Sophia's spiked barrier, Mana lunged for an attack, but Sophia blasted her Tengoku Lightning Thorn. As Mana was struck by multiple divine bolts, Ultimate Madoka, Devil Homura, Buffy, and Lacia attacked Mana. After fighting them off, Mana tossed crystallized shards at the group.

When Mana flew high into the air, Ayase dove into the Yami Matter Avatar and kicked her forehead. Not only did Ayase kick Mana, but shattered her crystallized crown into pieces. After kicking Mana into a wall, Ayase dove toward her. Mana quickly rolled away and gripped the pieces of the crown that used to sit on her head.

"Hehehe, what's wrong? Did you need to come back just so you could fuck Shu?" Ayase chuckled as she taunted Mana, whose face contorted with irritation.

"Shut up!" Mana hissed, lobbing a barrage of crystallized shards at Ayase, who shattered them with a powerful kick. As more shards flew her way, Ayase flew up and landed on a crystallized platform.

"But, you can't fuck him, can't you? No, because you're not really Ouma Mana. You're just a thing. You're just the Yami Matter's avatar!" Ayase berated the Yami Matter Avatar, who screamed and tossed crystallized shards at her.

"I said shut up!" After throwing more shards, Mana watched Ayase evade and run across the platform. As Ayase vanished out of sight, Mana frantically searched for her, but she heard and followed the direction of Ayase's laughter. "Come on out, you annoying bitch!"

"If you were the real Ouma Mana, I'd tell you that I'm the one skewing Shu's brains out and would proudly rub that in your face, you ballerina dancing whore!" Ayase continued taunting her as she came into view and dove toward Mana. As she unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks on Mana, the Yami Matter Avatar parried her attacks.

"I said shut up!"

"You wish you could have Shu all to yourself. So much so you chose Mana as one of your avatars and set him up to be your Yami King! So, what is it you want? Do you really want Shu or do you just want him to be your Yami King for superficial reasons?!" Ayase openly chastised her.

"What the hell do you care what I want?! We intend to see the formation of a new Eden!"

"That's something Mana would say, but you're not Mana! You're just a pretender! A thing! You will never have Ouma Shu, or…" Ayase quickly patted her own chest. "...the spirit of Yuzuriha Inori!" As she dodged Mana's kick, Ayase ducked and grabbed Mana's leg. After swinging Mana around, Ayase slammed Mana into another wall and body slammed her through four crystallized pillars. After dropping and leaving her in a heap, Ayase stood waiting for Mana to sit up.

As she slowly rose, Mana grunted. "You think I'm a joke to you?! DON'T YOU DARE MOCK ME!"

"Yeah, but only because as a Yami Matter avatar, I think you're pretty pathetic," laughed Ayase, causing Mana to frantically turn around and get smashed with a glancing blow. After laying Mana out, Ayase jumped up and prepared to unleash another attack. "So pathetic you need Mana's form to entice Shu to you, but that just shows how gullible he is! No wonder you made him your Yami King! Two idiots like you two are made from the same cloth!"

As Mana rushed over to slice her in two with a crystallized sword, Ayase vanished out of her reach.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" Mana screamed like a child throwing a temper tantrum.

"No way, because you know why?!" Ayase quickly phased behind Mana and locked her in a headlock. "Because I'm about to check you off my shit list! And I'm Ouma Shu's bitch." She snickered in Mana's ear, causing Mana to erupt with volatile energies.

"SHU'T' THE FUCK UP ABOUT HIM!"

After unleashing an intense purple aura, Mana repelled Ayase. Then, a volatile aura made of crystals formed spikes and shot out of the ground, heading straight for Ayase. After Ayase shattered the spikes with kicks and punches, Mana dove into her and drove her crystallized blade through Ayase's right shoulder. After maiming Ayase, Mana seized her throat and ferociously choked the life out of Ayase.

Struggling to break loose from Mana's tight grip, Ayase's eyes widened with horror as she looked into the eyes of the maniacally crazed psycho girl. Mana's eyes and face contorted with insanity as she gritted her teeth hard.

"HOW ABOUT I FUCKING BREAK YOUR NECK AND INVISCERATE THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU, YOU CHATTY BITCH?! C'MON! BEG ME TO SPARE YOU!" Mana angrily screamed in Ayase's face while incessantly cursing her.

Upon seeing Mana choking Ayase, Sophia headed straight over to save her. The other SWO members followed behind her. However, Sion, Gai, and the others briefly ceased their duel with Shu.

"AYASE!" Sion called out to the SWO figurehead.

"Go on and save her, Sion! I'll handle Shu from here!" Gai insisted while he and Shu clashed swords.

"We'll take care of things here, Sion!" Jack called out.

"Thank you!" Sion nodded as he stormed off to save Ayase from Mana's wrath.

Shu screamed furiously. "ここに戻って、あなたは雌犬の息子です！ (GET BACK HERE YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!)" Before he could stop Sion, Gai backhanded the Yami King and scoffed irritably.

"You've fallen so hard you've become so pathetic, Shu," Gai sighed with disappointment. "Is this the same man who fought and defeated me to the very end?"

"私はあなたを殺します、ガイ！ (I'LL KILL YOU, GAI!)" Shu screamed as he madly swung his Singer's Sword at Gai, who countered his former friend's strikes with his sword. Gai was immediately backed up by Jack, Eva, Kirito, Asuna, and Altair.

"Feh, you're welcome to try, but this is your fight to lose!" Gai roared, swinging his sword into Shu and delivering a gashing wound into his right shoulder. After wounding the Yami King, Gai continued swinging his sword at his former rival and friend.

As Gai drove Shu back, Jack swiftly slashed the Yami King, which then was followed by Eva turning into her Successor form and blasting Shu with a whirlwind attack. Conjuring a barrage of swords, Altair bombarded the Yami King with them. As Shu tried deflecting the swords, Kirito and Asuna double teamed on the Yami King.

"Yeah, they've got him on the ropes! Stay on him!" Tsugumi encouraged them.

"Shu isn't looking so hot out there, I must say," remarked Yuu.

As Mana drove her crystallized sword through Ayase, she ripped and pulled it out, causing blood to profusely shoot out of Ayase's wound. Following loud blood-curdling screams, Mana tightened her chokehold and angrily glared into Ayase's eyes.

"AFTER I GRIND YOU DOWN, I'M TAKING INORI OUT OF YOU!" Mana madly roared in Ayase's face, ignoring the blood spilling all over her face and dress.

"LET HER GO!" Sion hollered as he jumped up and slashed Mana with his Regicide Blade. After pushing Mana back, Sion swiftly swooped in and grabbed the wounded Ayase.

Before Mana could retaliate, Sophia flew head-on into the Yami Matter Avatar's back and slashed her backside with her ko-naginata. After maiming Mana, Sophia fired another Tengoku Lightning Thorn and swiftly brought her down.

Upon seeing Mana being systematically taken down, Shu turned to save her, but Gai quickly stood in his way. Raising his sword, Gai pointed at the Yami King.

"Where do you think you're going, Shu?! If you think I'm going to talk sense into you and give you a much needed pep talk, then you can think again! Not after selling yourself out to the Yami Matter and letting some Mana cognition manipulate you like her own personal puppet. It's goddamned pathetic!"

"あなたは誰を哀れに思っていますか？！あなたはこれらの愚か者にあなたに光といくつかのがらくたを見せさせる人です！あなたは私たちを裏切ったので、私たちのユートピアに住む価値はありません！ (WHO ARE YOU CALLING PATHETIC?! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO LET THESE FOOLS MAKE YOU SEE THE LIGHT AND SOME CRAP! YOU'VE BETRAYED US AND DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE IN OUR UTOPIA!)" Shu screamed, getting riled up as he charged at Gai. As he went for a swing, Gai parried Shu's strikes and knocked away his Singer's Sword. He then seized Shu's collar, although he grabbed mostly Shu's black scarf. "私を行かせてください、あなたは裏切り者です！あなたはあなたがあなたの王にあなたの手を置いた日を迎えます！ (LET ME GO, YOU TRAITOR! YOU'LL RUE THE DAY YOU PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR KING!)"

Clenching his own right hand, Gai balled it up into a fist and punched Shu with it. After dazing Shu with a right hand, Gai unleashed a barrage of punches, delivering vicious body blows. After gut punching Shu, Gai picked up Shu and punched him down.

"Look at how far you've fallen, Shu! You're not the man I once respected! All I see is a hollow shell of a hero who sacrificed everything to ensure your lover lives through your memories, but you threw it all away when the Yami Matter offered to restore your sight. You just couldn't live with the fact Inori was physically gone. By selling yourself out to the Yami Matter, the Yami Matter infected you, forcing out Inori's spirit. Realizing you were too corrupted, Inori's spirit sought refuge inside Ayase, who rose to become twice the leader you ever hoped to be!"

Standing up, Shu angrily scowled and picked up his Singer's Sword.

"You call yourself the Yami King, but all I see is a wannabe tyrant. All I see is a broken man who lost his will to move on with his life. Don't expect me to show you any empathy and to roll out the pity party. It's too late for any of that!" Gai angrily berated Shu without any shred of remorse. "You aspired to be like me, but you failed to do so. You needed me. You needed Inori. You needed Ayase. You needed all of us to save your sorry ass! Admit you're a failure for a leader, a failure of a tyrant, and now you will become a failure of a king! You were never born to lead, but to follow!" As he saw Shu standing and brandishing his Singer's Sword, a cruel smirk adorned Gai's demeanor. "And you want to know something else? It felt good cutting off your arm and hearing you scream like the bitch you are. Because you are and will forever be a whiny ass BITCH!"

As Gai's disparaging remarks struck him, a black aura materialized over Shu, who trembled with anger. Growling with intent, Shu's face lifted up as his eyes and mouth widened. He then let out another furious scream, causing the entire pocket dimension to tremble.

"裏切り者、あなたから十分聞いたよ！今、私はあなた方全員を存在から追い出し、この現実を破壊し、楪いのりを救い、そして私のエデンを生き返らせるつもりです！ヤミマターの助けを借りて、私たちはすべてをとてもイノリで再開し、私はアダムとイブとして支配することができます！ (I'VE HEARD ENOUGH FROM YOU, TRAITOR! NOW, I INTEND TO PURGE ALL OF YOU FROM EXISTENCE, DESTROY THIS REALITY, SAVE INORI, AND MAKE MY EDEN COME TO LIFE! WITH THE YAMI MATTER'S HELP, WE WILL RESTART EVERYTHING SO INORI AND I CAN RULE AS ADAM AND EVE!)" Shu screamed, his high-pitched whiny voice resounded and damaged the dimensional fabrics. "私は、自分のエデンを支配する運命を脅かす架空のメディアのすべての痕跡を破壊します。これには、手に負えないコードギアスとルルーシュが含まれます。しかし、私は彼の期限を悪魔に与えます！彼はあなたがこれまでにないほど優れたリーダーです！ (I'LL DESTROY EVERY TRACE OF FICTIONAL MEDIUMS THAT THREATEN MY DESTINY TO RULE IN MY EDEN, INCLUDING THAT INSUFFERABLE CODE GEASS AND LELOUCH, WHO DARES THINK HE CAN BE A BETTER LEADER THAN I! BUT, I'll GIVE THAT DEVIL HIS DUE! HE'S A FAR BETTER LEADER THAN YOU'LL EVER BE, GAI!)"

Gai angrily growled, exhibiting such emotions he's rarely shown in front of other people. However, Shu had tested his patience long enough.

"そして、私たちの世界、の創造に影響を与えたシリーズであるコードギアスのクソについて話しましょう！誰が私たちがそのシリーズの精神的な後継者と見なされるだろうと思いましたが、それでもそのシリーズは私たちの世界がそうではないような癒しを手に入れます！コードギアスを超えて、他の人気シリーズが私たちを覆い隠しました！ソードアート・オンラインとまどか マギカ！ああ、そして試してみたが、ドラゴンボールやキングダムハーツのような真のクラシックを忘れないようにしましょう。そして、マーベルシネマティックユニバースを始めないでください！ (AND LET'S TALK ABOUT FUCKING CODE GEASS, THE SERIES THAT INFLUENCED THE CREATION OF OUR WORLD, GAI! WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT WE'D BE CONSIDERED THE SPIRITUAL SUCCESSOR OF THAT SERIES, BUT YET THAT SERIES GETS THE ADULATION THAT OUR WORLD DOESN'T! BEYOND CODE GEASS, OTHER POPULAR SERIES HAVE ARISEN TO OVERSHADOW US! SWORD ART ONLINE AND MADOKA MAGICA! OH, AND LET'S NOT FORGET THE TRIED BUT TRUE CLASSICS LIKE DRAGON BALL AND KINGDOM HEARTS. AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE!)"

Everyone paused to overhear Shu's vitriol and heated rant against the other fictitious worlds that have overshadowed and left Shu's world in the dust. When hearing their series mentioned, Kirito, Asuna, Ultimate Madoka, and Devil Homura turned toward Shu. Without the exception of Madoka, the other three expressed little remorse for Shu. Ultimate Madoka showed Shu pity.

As Shu's face contorted with anger, he went off and vented against reality again. "そして、キングダムハーツのスピーチ、私はキングダムハーツが嫌いで、その友情のテーマは私たちよりも優れています！そのシリーズはプロスペクターですが、私のものは風に残されていますか？！ (AND SPEAKING OF KINGDOM HEARTS, I HATE KINGDOM HEARTS AND THAT ITS FRIENDSHIP THEMES ARE BETTER THAN OURS! THAT SERIES PROSPERS BUT MINE GETS LEFT IN THE WIND?!)"

"Don't be absurd, you damn fool," Gai scoffed, unfazed by Shu's scathing and vitriolic ranting.

"私はあなたと楪いのりを一緒に捕まえたことを覚えているので、あなたはまだ に賭けます！本当？！まだ楪いのりが欲しい！ (I BET YOU STILL WANNA FUCK INORI SINCE I REMEMBER CATCHING YOU AND INORI TOGETHER! IS THAT TRUE?! YOU STILL WANT INORI?!)"

"Again, that's absurd! I only ever loved Mana! Inori's just a friend and what you saw is me needing Inori's blood through a blood transfusion to suppress my infection. By taking in her blood, I was able to see through Voids," Gai growled as he balled up his right fist and brandished his sword. "I think I've just about heard enough of your incessant whining, you little whiny bitch!"

Letting out another dimension shaking scream, Shu flew toward Gai with an intent to kill his former friend. As he swung his Singer's Sword, Gai quickly sidestepped and swerved behind him. Gai quickly kicked the Yami King from behind and sent him flying away.

Meanwhile, Sophia and the SWO group headed over where Sion put a wounded Ayase down. When the SWO members gathered, they saw their leader covering her wounded shoulder and trying to stop the bleeding.

"Oh my gosh," Ultimate Madoka gasped.

"That's not looking good, Ayase. We've got to treat you!" Buffy added.

As Sion crouched next to Ayase, he beckoned Sophia over to heal the SWO leader.

"It's ok. Sophia can take care of that wound."

Before Sophia could use her power to close Ayase's wound, Ayase nodded and beckoned her off from healing her.

"But, Ayase, you're still bleeding out!" Sophia cried out. "Please, let me heal you!"

"No, it's fine," Ayase smirked, tearing a piece of her own suit and tying it over her wounded shoulder. As Sion helped her up, Ayase stood and nearly stumbled over. "As long as Inori's spirit dwells in me, I still have fight left in me." She glanced over to Sophia, seeing Io's presence materialize over her.

Likewise, Sophia saw Inori's ethereal form shrouding Ayase in a similar fashion.

"We are alike in some ways. We both have spiritual essences of our friends in us," Sophia said, watching Io and Inori making contact with their hands.

"I'm still able to go. We have a mission to finish, everyone!" Ayase called out as she once again stumbled over. "Ugh, damn it!"

"Easy! Maybe you should let me help Gai with Shu?" Sion offered as he handed Ayase over to Sophia. "This won't take long."

"Wait!" Ayase called out.

"Be careful, Sion!" Sophia shouted.

As he raced across, he witnessed Shu about to drive his Singer's Sword through Gai's back. He tossed his Regicide Blade toward the Yami King's direction. As Shu caught the Regicide Blade, this provided a distraction for Jack to strike Shu with a sword slash to the back. Shu quickly blasted Jack away, leaving himself open for Gai to slash him. Sion conjured his Ogre-Type Blood Veil and struck Shu with it, bringing him down.

"いいえ、失うことはできません！私はヤミキングです！私のエデンは手の届くところにいます！ (NO, I CANNOT LOSE! I AM THE YAMI KING! MY EDEN IS WITHIN REACH!)" Shu screamed as he mounted a comeback against Sion and Gai.

Just when it appeared the Yami King would dominate his opponents, a portal opened up above everyone. The Phantom Thieves, the other Vein Remnants, and Sora came out of this portal.

"Joker! Thank goodness you made it!" Sophia called out, relieved to see her friends.

"That means they've beaten the other Yami Matter Avatars," Devil Homura stated, sensing the dissipation of the entities in the other pocket dimensions.

"That's good. All that's left is Mana," Ayase muttered.

As the Phantom Thieves, the Vein Remnants, and Sora landed in front of Sion, Gai, Jack, and the others, they cornered Shu, who backed off and brandished his Singer's Sword. Gnashing his teeth, Shu scornfully glared at his opposition.

"I'm so glad you guys made it," Sion said, relieved to see his three Revenant friends and the Phantom Thieves.

"We'll take it from here, Sion!" Engineer said.

"Your campaign ends here, Yami King!" Satanael ΩX shouted as he pointed his dagger toward Shu.

Laughing arrogantly, Shu shot back. "ファントムシーブス、私たちに参加するのはとても良いです！はい、今私はあなたを殺し、あなたを存在から消し去ります！したがって、あなたの人気を保証することは決して私のものを超えません！ファントム泥棒のない世界はより良いものになります！ (SO GOOD FOR YOU TO JOIN US, PHANTOM THIEVES! YES, NOW I GET TO KILL YOU AND SNUFF YOU OUT OF EXISTENCE! THUS ENSURING YOUR POPULARITY NEVER SURPASSES MINE! A WORLD WITHOUT THE PHANTOM THIEVES WILL BE A BETTER ONE!)"

"Yeah, in your dreams, you psychopath!" Seitei Taisen ΩX retorted.

"You're never going to get your way!" Hecate ΩX rebuked toward the Yami King.

"A world without us? I cannot even begin to imagine that," Astarte ΩX said.

"You're plain crazy if you think a world without Phantom Thieves will be better. Your tyranny ends here, Yami King!" Anat ΩX declared.

"A world without us is simply not what my friends and I ever want to happen," Kamu Susanoo ΩX said.

"Yeah, I don't even want to imagine a world without us while some maligned main protagonist of a mediocre anime takes over reality. Yep, I don't want to imagine that," Prometheus ΩX remarked.

"And I thought I had my issues, but you certainly take the cake, Yami King," Loki ΩX stated.

"Surrender now, Yami King! We can sense your power is diminishing!" Mercurius ΩX said.

"Right! Let's bring him down, guys!" Stinger and Yakumo shouted together.

"次に、最悪の事態をもたらします！ (THEN, BRING YOUR WORST!)" Shu screamed as he flew head-on, delivering multiple slashes with his Singer's Sword. His array of slashes sent the Thieves, the Revenants, and Sora flying.

Once the Thieves, Revenants, and Sora recovered, they each took turns beating up the Yami King. While Shu tried defending himself with his Void, his opponents delivered punishing blows and a barrage of attacks that overwhelmed him. At one point, Sora launched himself into Shu and cracked his Keyblade across Shu's Singer's Sword.

Angrily looking dead into Sora's eyes, Shu roared. "あなたの友情のテーマは私を絶対に吐き気を催させます！あなたのヒーローが をどのように挑戦しますか？ (YOUR FRIENDSHIP THEMES MAKE ME ABSOLUTELY RETCH! HOW DARE YOUR HEROISMS ECLIPSE MINE!)"

"Well, maybe if you didn't sell yourself out to the Yami Matter, you'd probably have some dignity left!" Sora retorted, clubbing the Yami King with repeated blows with his Keyblade. After relentlessly clubbing Shu, Sora clubbed him with his Keyblade.

Having seen enough of Shu being relentlessly beaten down, Mana recovered and attempted an attack. Just then, a round of bullets tore through Mana and knocked her back. Satanael ΩX quickly put Mana down and turned his attention toward Shu. The ascended Phantom Thief flew toward Shu, who overpowered the Thieves and the other Revenants. Channeling power into his hands, Satanael ΩX conjured and blasted the Yami King with Megidolaon Ω. After neutralizing Shu, Satanael ΩX relentlessly fired his Ω Sinful Bullets, which brought Shu down into near submission.

"STOP! YOU WILL NOT TAKE MY YAMI KING!" Mana screamed as she conjured and tossed crystals toward Satanael ΩX, but Sophia quickly cast Lightning Thorn and erased the crystals.

The ascended Phantom Thieves then swiftly took down Mana with their attacks. Quickly turning their attention toward Shu, they nodded toward Satanael ΩX.

"Now, Phantom Thieves! All-out Attack!" Satanael ΩX called out as he and the Thieves delivered a divine beat down on the Yami King, perhaps the biggest and deserved beatdown he could ever ask for.

The last thing Shu saw were flashes of red and black swiftly attacking him from all sides. After being quickly felled by the Thieves' Ω All-out Attack, Engineer, Yakumo, and Stinger each landed their attacks. Engineer slashed him with his Blade of Athos. Yakumo crushed Shu with his Jaws of Porthos. Stinger fired rounds of her Bullets of Aramis into the Yami King.

After being overwhelmed by his adversaries, Shu fell to his knees and shoved his Singer's Sword into the ground. Using his sword to prop himself up, Shu stumbled forward and grunted.

"私はまだビーテンではありません！私は…できません…ここで負けます！私がとても近くにいるときではありません！ (I'M NOT BEATEN YET! I… CANNOT… LOSE HERE! NOT WHEN I'M SO CLOSE!)"

"It's now or never! We can purge the Yami Matter's influence out of him!" Gai called out as he and Sion drove their swords through Shu's chest. As both channeled energies through their blades, they drove the Yami Matter's power out of Shu, causing the Yami King to let out a blood-curdling scream. Shu's loud, high-pitched whining quickly turned back to its deeper tone.

With the Yami Matter's power leaving him, Shu succumbed to the purification and fell to his knees. Upon seeing her Yami King defeated, Mana screamed furiously.

Having been decisively beaten, Shu, now freed of the Yami Matter's influence, looked up and faced the opposition that defeated him. Satanael ΩX, Sion, and Sophia blocked off Shu's path. Then, Gai immediately cut him off and pushed Shu away.

"It's over, Ouma Shu. You've been released from the Yami Matter's hold," Sion informed him.

"Don't think you can run now," Satanael ΩX frowned, readying and pointing his pistol at Shu.

"It's over, Shu. We're both free from the Yami Matter's influence. However, that doesn't excuse your actions as of late. No, you shouldn't be given a pass for threatening to erase other worlds and restarting everything just so you can conceive your ill-fated utopia. It's unrealistic and quite frankly it's pathetic. You're pathetic, Shu!" Gai scornfully chastised the ex-Yami King, who recoiled from every scathing insult from Gai, who spoke from the heart and expressing zero remorse for Shu. "Why should anyone for that matter forgive you for all you've done?! So many lives needlessly sacrificed just so the Yami Matter can grant your utopian wish?!"

"Gai! Shu!" Ayase called out as she walked up to them.

"Don't try and stop me, Ayase," Gai scoffed.

"Who said I was going to? I don't care what you do."

Frowning, Gai turned away and faced Shu with contempt. He noticed Shu backing off and grabbing his head, trembling violently.

"You'd all cast me aside for all I've done?! For what I've done… yes, for what I've done!" Shu screamed as he stood up ready to confront Gai. "What have I done?! I've committed these horrible acts all because I became the Yami Matter's plaything and allowed it to feed off my insecurities! Gai, I'm sorry! Ayase, I'm sorry. Everyone, I'm so so-!" When he walked up to grab Gai, he was met with the most painful and hard hitting slap he'd received.

The sound of Gai's hand smacking Shu's cheek left resounded and made a disgusting sound. Recoiling from Gai's violent slap, the bruised impact drew blood from Shu's cheek.

Curling his lips, Gai openly scowled and berated his former friend. "Save it, Shu! You've caused us and these people enough grief! And as far as I'm concerned… WE DON'T NEED YOUR FUCKING APOLOGY! YOU'VE SQUANDERED ALL CHANCES OF ANY OF US FORGIVING YOU!"

Hearing his former friend scornfully berate him, Shu's eyes filled with tears as he gripped his face, crying his eyes out over this divorce. As he looked up toward Ayase, she didn't even bother paying him any mind. He saw her shoulder wound and realized this was indirectly his doing.

"While you have been manipulated by the Yami Matter, you not only revived me, but you messed up my mind! You made me your underling against my will and turned me loose against these people, who were dragged into our conflict! You brought the Ethereal War to this side of reality! It's a good thing these people saved me because then I could help them stop you!"

"Please… I'm sorry… Gai… Ayase… Inori…"

"Spare me your pitiful attempts of forgiveness. As far as I'm concerned, it's fucking over between us," Gai muttered, turning his back toward his former friend, who cried and pleaded to him. As he started walking away, Shu quickly grabbed his left leg. Turning around, Shu pulled himself up but was quickly grabbed by the collar by Gai, who gave him an intense glare that put Shu at unease.

"Gai…!"

"I SAID, IT'S OVER BETWEEN US, YOU BASTARD!" Gai punched Shu down.

As Shu collapsed on the ground, no one came to his side to console him.

"You're one to fucking talk, Gai! You call me a bastard for all I've done?! What about when you came back and joined GHQ?! You showed me no mercy cutting off my arm. You spared no expense aligning yourself with the ones who wanted to bring chaos and destruction to our world! Do you remember that, Gai?! WELL, DO YOU?! DO YOU REMEMBER THAT?! BECAUSE I DO!"

Just as Gai walked up to pick up Shu for another punch, Ultimate Madoka quickly interjected and stood in Gai's way.

"What are you doing?!" Gai questioned the goddess.

With tears in her eyes, Ultimate Madoka tearfully pleaded. "That's enough! You two were friends! I don't like seeing friends fighting each other!"

"But, he put us through so much hell, Madoka! He wanted to purge us all to create his bullshit utopia!"

Nodding, Ultimate Madoka pitifully smiled. "Yes, I know. I also know what he's done was wrong, but I can't hate Shu for his actions. All he ever wanted was to live in harmony and peace with Inori, right? I agree with his method of getting his wish was absolutely wrong. Him starting the Ethereal War and bringing together these villains to fight us was going too far. And I get if the rest of you want to hate him for his actions…" She looked over her shoulder and saw Shu on the floor crying.

"How can you not hate him for all he's done?" Gai questioned her.

Placing a hand over her chest, Ultimate Madoka calmly answered. "Because that's not the kind of person I am. I was raised to find the good in people and give them a chance. It worked with Homura over here."

Devil Homura scoffed while flipping her long hair. "Don't compare me to that boy, Madoka."

"You all don't have to show him pity. I'll be the one who does," Ultimate Madoka said, kneeling beside Shu as she offered him a hand.

"Ugh, do what you want with him, Madoka," Ayase scoffed as she almost collapsed again, prompting Sophia to catch her.

"So, it's done," Sion muttered.

"No, look!" Mercurius ΩX quickly pointed to a glowing aura of dark purple energies coalescing over Mana, whose eyes turned pitch black as her red pupils burned brilliantly.

As a billowing power resonated with her, the Yami Matter Avatar stood and threw her head back, letting out a high-pitched scream that shattered away most of the crystallized domain. An unbridled power surged from Mana, who shot a terrifying glare with her Yami Matter influenced eyes.

"Heheheh…. HEHEHEHEHEHE!" Mana's psychotic laughter was then replaced with a horrid scream. "YOU DARE TAKE AWAY MY YAMI KING! NO YAMI KING MEANS NO EDEN! SO BE IT! THEN, LET OBLITERATION SEAL YOUR FATES!" With that, Mana raised her hands as a giant portal opened up and a giant crystal wyvern, covered nearly entirely in purple crystals, emerged. It has devil-like horns on its head, quill-like feathers that looked more like a mane around its neck, and yellow eyes.

As the giant crystal wyvern descended from the portal, it looked roughly the size of Mount Everest, casting a massive shadow over its adversaries. Setting its sights on its targets, the crystallized wyvern let out a high-pitched bellow, which was followed by clicking sounds. However, rather than dive down and attack, it slowly descended toward them, intending to crash into everyone like a meteor construct. The Yami Matter Avatar became hellbent on simply wiping everyone out inside the pocket dimension.

Upon seeing the wyvern meteor, Shu, Gai, and Ayase were instantly reminded of the Apocalypse Virus Meteorite that triggered the events of their world.

"No, the Yami Matter is going for broke and looking to finish us now!" Engineer exclaimed.

"Not if we can help it!" Sion cried out.

"Yes, we're not letting the Yami Matter beat us now!" Sophia firmly held her ground.

"Let's take it down!" Satanael ΩX concurred, readying his gun and dagger.

"No, that thing is equivalent to the Apocalypse Meteor! But, this will have the power to wipe us out!" Ayase shouted.

"If only mine and Madoka's divine powers weren't subdued by the Yami Matter, we'd easily stop it!" Devil Homura said.

Laughing maniacally, Mana taunted them. "HEHEHEHEHE! LET'S SEE YOU TRY AND COUNTER THIS! JUST KNOW DEATH AND DARKNESS AWAITS YOU ALL!"

"Not if we stop you!" Sion called out as he, Sophia, and Satanael ΩX prepared to lead the other Thieves and Revenants against Mana and her wyvern meteor.

However, Ayase stepped in with her SWO members backing her up. Gai, too, stood poised to stop the meteor.

"Wait! I'll stop them!" Shu called out, picking up his Singer's Sword. "I was the one who caused this mess! I'm going to correct it!"

"My god, that meteor looks like one of those Leukocyte satellites Shu destroyed back when he used to be our friend!" Argo exclaimed through Ayase's communicator.

"Yes, but this one has been amplified into the form of a wyvern! And its destructive power will be magnitudes greater if it collides with the dimension!" Shibungi added.

"Oho, I'm not liking their chances. If that collides, everyone in that pocket dimension will be obliterated," Yuu neutrally stated.

"Ayase! You and the others need to get out of there now!" Tsugumi cried out.

"Easier said than done!" Ayase shouted, landing a punch that shattered Mana's face.

"Are we reflecting on our past transgressions, Ouma Shu?" Yuu's voice was heard from Ayase's communicator.

Overhearing the voice of his old enemy, Shu turned toward Ayase. "Yuu?"

"Good ear, Shu. So, are you going to sacrifice yourself?"

"Do what you think is best. We're not going to stop you," Argo was heard from the communicator, his tone not sounding enthused.

"I'm sorry, everyone. Sorry for betraying you all."

"We've already heard your apologies, Shu," flatly added Tsugumi.

"You better act fast! That meteor is encroaching near you and the others!" Shibungi warned them.

"Ayase…? It's coming closer!" Tsugumi called out to her friend, who continued fighting hard against Mana.

"Shit! We have to stop it!" Ayase shouted, forging a rope-like extension from Inori's essence and ensnaring Mana's right arm with it. She then whirled around, tossing and slamming the Yami Matter Avatar into numerous crystallized pillars.

"I have to correct my wrongs here! And I'll stake my life to do it!" Shu declared.

"Please, don't do it, Shu!" Ultimate Madoka cried out, hugging Shu from behind. "It's not worth throwing your life away. There must be another way."

"This is the only way to make up for all the crimes I've committed against all reality," the ex-Yami King sighed sadly, turning around as he genuinely smiled and patted Madoka's hands. "Let me do this, Madoka."

"Shu…" Ultimate Madoka whimpered.

"Thanks for still having faith in me, Madoka. Since I became the Yami King, I haven't made any more new friends and lost many friends, but I honestly don't blame them. But, it's refreshing to see someone who believes in me," Shu smiled over to Ultimate Madoka. "I also apologize for disparaging your world for being more popular than mine, Madoka."

Shaking her head, Ultimate Madoka responded kindly. "It's ok. I always believe in giving second chances. Though, I can't speak for everyone." As she said this, Devil Homura pivoted from facing Shu's presence.

Smiling again, Shu turned away from Ultimate Madoka. "Everything will be ok now, Madoka. Leave this to me." Brandishing his Singer's Sword, he headed off back into the battle.

As Gai dove toward Mana to decapitate her, Mana tossed crystal shards at him, which he blocked with his sword. Then, Mana grabbed the rope Ayase tied her with and pulled Ayase forward. After yanking Ayase forward, she tossed Ayase into Gai. Preparing to throw a large crystal shard at the duo, Shu swiftly dove in and cut Mana's hand off, diverting the crystallized shard's direction as it crashed into the ground.

"Shu!" Ayase cried out.

"You damned fool… it's too late for redemptions…" Gai remarked.

"I don't care what you think about me. I'm doing this to make up for all the atrocities I've caused!" Shu declared. He hatefully looked up at Mana. "And I won't even feel bad about killing you since you're not my sister! You're just a cognition that used me to spread your poison!"

"So good for you to realize that, but it's too late for you, Shu!" Mana cackled gleefully, diving toward Shu, but then Ayase and Gai quickly cut her off from reaching Shu.

"Your fight is with me!" Gai called out the Yami Matter Avatar.

"More like us!" Ayase added as she flew up and punched Mana back. Channeling Inori's power through her, Ayase fought Mana with reckless abandon. Ultimately, Gai joined in and assisted Ayase with Mana.

While fighting off Ayase and Gai, Shu dove into Mana and tried to cut off her other hand. Mana swiftly evaded Shu's attack and conjured a barrage of crystallized shards. The trio was caught in the shard storm. A few shards pierced through Ayase, including a few puncturing her shoulder wound. Both Shu and Gai were quickly felled by Mana's crystals.

"Move out!" Satanael ΩX shouted as he and the Thieves assembled against Mana.

"Let's take her down!" Sion called out as he and Sophia led the Vein Remnants into the fray.

Meanwhile, the SWO members stayed behind and took out the shards. A few shards bypassed them and pierced Buffy, knocking down the Slayer. Lacia quickly tended to the wounded Buffy.

As Mana prepared to unleash another crystal shard barrage, the Thieves swiftly delivered countless strikes and battered the Yami Matter Avatar. As Satanael ΩX blasted Mana with Ω Cosmic Flare, Hecate ΩX cast Ω Blazing Hell and burned Mana with it. Quickly zipping right in front of the Yami Matter Avatar, Seiten Taisei ΩX blasted Mana head-on with his Electric Kamehameha. Mercurius ΩX rapidly struck and battered Mana with his Lightspeed Drive. Summoning multi-colored laser beams, Prometheus ΩX bombarded Mana with her DJ Laser Storm.

Loki ΩX delivered quick sword strikes and blasted Mana away with his Ω Negative Pile. Charging through Mana, Kamu Susanoo ΩX unleashed countless strikes and struck her down with his Divine Glaive. Anat ΩX and Astarte ΩX combined their powers, unleashing dark blue and pink waves on Mana as they overwhelmed Mana with their Daiyamondo & Pāru Flash combo.

As if that wasn't enough, the Vein Remnants and Sophia added to Mana's unrelenting beatdown.

"As much as I still hate that pussy Shu, I hate you even more, Yami Matter! Die, you bitch!" Sion roared as he imbued his Regicide Blade with white light and slashed Mana consecutively with his Will of d'Artagnan.

"Watch this, Ayase!" Sophia shouted, swinging her ko-naginata overhead as she delivered a massive Tengoku Lightning Thorn, which collided with Mana and sent her crashing into a crystallized pillar.

"Now, take down the meteor!" Ayase called out, directing everyone's attention toward the wyvern meteor descending closer.

As Mana stirred and recovered, she saw the group about to take out the meteor. Not one to let her end game get foiled, Mana quickly shot up and conjured more crystals, but Shu and Gai launched themselves straight into Mana while driving their swords through her torso. Screaming with unbridled fury, Mana fought off Shu and Gai, who despite not being on good terms knew their greater threat must be eliminated.

"Heck yeah! Now that's what I want to see! Let her have it, you two!" Tsugumi cheered the duo through Ayase's communicator.

"I hope they can finally finish that fake Mana," Argo added.

"Who would've thought those two would put their differences aside even for a brief moment, but I suppose the enemy of my enemy is my friend still applies here," Yuu remarked.

"Ayase's going straight for the meteor! Do it, Ayase!" Tsugumi loudly cheered on her friend.

Seeing Ayase heading straight for the meteor, Mana tossed more crystal shards toward her. Ayase quickly evaded the shards and instead launched herself straight into Mana. As Shu and Gai sliced upward through Mana's body, Ayase punched Mana's face, breaking her nose in the process. As Mana's face contorted with pain, Ayase bashed her knee into Mana's jaw, breaking it in two.

As she gazed upon Ayase, Mana saw Inori's spiritual presence, further infuriating her. For a moment, Shu and Gai were left in awe seeing their old friend.

"Inori…" Both young men muttered.

"YOU'RE WHY THAT PONYTAILED BITCH IS SO POWERFUL! WHY SHE'S ABLE TO HURT ME! YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Mana roared with fury as she reached for Ayase's neck, but Ayase elbowed her in the face. "I WILL NOT BE BEATEN BY YOU OR INORI! NONE OF YOU WILL MAKE OUT OF HERE ALIVE!" As Ayase went for another punch, Mana conjured another crystal and drove it through Ayase's torso.

"AYASE!" Shu and Gai shouted in horror.

"NO! AYASE!" Sion and Sophia cried out, witnessing Mana pushing her crystallized blade through Ayase's body.

"AYASE!" Tsugumi screamed through her friend's communicator.

"You and Inori are both finished!" Mana laughed maniacally as Ayase started bleeding out.

However, Ayase quickly folded her arms and legs around Mana, tightening her hold to prevent Mana from escaping.

"Hey, what are you doing?! Let me go!"

"If I'm going down, you're coming with me!" Ayase cried out as she utilized Inori's spiritual energies to restrain Mana. As Mana tried shooting crystals into Ayase's body, Inori's energies dissolved the crystals. "Shu, Gai! I can only hold her for so long! Take her out!"

Heeding Ayase's plea, Shu and Gai hastily flew toward Ayase and Mana. As Ayase spun Mana around, the duo drove their swords through Mana's torso. Mana then repelled Ayase, Shu, and Gai away with an aura. However, Shu and Gai exhausted their remaining life energies through their swords to dismember Mana.

"SHU! GAI!" Ayase cried out as she saw her two friends sacrifice themselves to weaken Mana.

"SHU!" Ultimate Madoka shouted.

As Shu and Gai's bodies dissolved into dust, their respective swords flew down toward Ultimate Madoka and Devil Homura. Shu's Singer Sword fell into Ultimate Madoka's hands. Devil Homura received Gai's sword as a keep's sake.

"Shu," Ultimate Madoka embraced the ex-Yami King's weapon while shedding tears for him.

"Their sacrifice ended up weakening Mana! She's now vulnerable! Take her down!" Devil Homura encouraged them.

Gravely wounded, Mana floated away and observed the Thieves and Remnants pushing the meteor back with their powers.

"NO! YOU WILL NOT DENY ME THE DESTRUCTION OF YOUR REALITY!"

Seeing Mana heading their way, the Thieves and Vein Remnants prepared to attack her. However, Satanael ΩX, Sion, and Sophia placed their hands together, combining their powers and conjuring a larger version of Joker's Tyrant Pistol. Taking the upgraded gun, Satanael ΩX pulled the trigger. The gun fired a powerful beam that collided with Mana.

"NOOOO! THIS CANNOT BE!" Mana screamed with excruciating pain as the energies consumed her and burned the flesh from her body.

"YOU'RE THROUGH, YAMI MATTER AVATAR! GOODBYE FOREVER!" Sion berated her.

"I CANNOT DIE LIKE THIS! NOT LIKE THIS! AUGH!"

As the beam continued to consume her, Mana continued screaming incessantly. After her skin was burned away, her muscle layers were then exposed and quickly melted away, revealing bones. Grabbing her head, Mana let out a distorted scream, her girl's voice becoming akin to a monster's roars. As she was reduced to a screaming skeleton, even her bones began to dissolve. The beam then collided with the wyvern meteor but wasn't enough to destroy it.

"That meteor is still heading our way! How the hell are we going to stop it now?!" Hecate ΩX exclaimed.

"Shit, we're screwed!" Seiten Taisei ΩX cried out.

"No, leave this to us. After all, it was Shu who along with the Yami Matter brought the Ethereal War to your reality," Ayase said as she turned toward Sion and Sophia. "On our behalf, we're sorry, everyone. Skyler and Hifumi, you two were so wonderful… even if Skyler acted like a dick."

"You're not thinking of…" Before Sion could finish, Ayase turned and faced the wyvern meteor.

"Ayase, wait!" Sophia called out to her.

"Our story here is over, but you two have a life ahead of you. Congrats on your marriage, Skyler Jones and Togo Hifumi," Ayase smiled at the couple as Inori's spiritual presence appeared and overlapped Ayase's body. She then spoke in Inori's soft spoken voice. "And it was an honor to fight alongside you and Io."

In response to Inori's presence, Io's spiritual presence appeared in front of Sophia.

"Likewise, Yuzuriha Inori," Io acknowledged Ayase's spiritual partner.

As Sophia tried to stop Ayase, Sion pulled her back. The couple and the others watched Ayase fly headlong toward the wyvern meteor to sacrifice herself for the greater good.

"Please, don't do this, Ayase! There has to be another way!" Tsugumi pleaded with her friend to cease her self-sacrificing move.

"I cannot believe it has to come down to this," added Shibungi.

"Shu, then Gai, and now Ayase…" Argo sadly muttered.

"Don't forget Inori's spirit. With Inori guiding and giving her strength, Ayase should have enough to destroy that meteor, but that remains to be seen," Yuu keenly observed.

Closing her eyes, Ayase reflected on her interactions with Funeral Parlor, meeting Shu, defeating GHQ & Da'ath, being betrayed by Shu, becoming merged with Inori's spirit, regaining her ability to walk, forming the SWO, meeting Skyler & Hifumi, teaming with the Phantom Thieves & the Vein Remnants, and ultimately her final battle against Shu & Mana.

Thank you, everyone. Ayase opened her eyes as briefly her eyes turned red like Inori's and her hair turned bright pink like the songstress. Clenching her right hand, she let out a warrior's cry and collided with the wyvern meteor, causing it to explode into shatter and explode in a blinding flash of light.

"Ayase. No, thank you," Sion muttered as he and Sophia held hands together.

Having witnessed their leader's self sacrifice, the SWO members bowed their heads and expressed their respect for her.

"No, Ayase… you really did it," Tsugumi was heard sobbing from Sion's communicator.

"I hope you're happy, Yuu," Shibungi muttered with contempt for the former Da'ath member.

"Shu, Gai, and Ayase are gone! They were your enemies! I bet you've gotten a kick out of seeing them die!" Argo angrily berated Yuu, who stayed silent momentarily.

"It doesn't matter. We're just cognitions. Eventually, we're all going to vanish once this war is over. We should just enjoy these final moments while it lasts," Yuu plainly stated. "Well done, Phantom Thieves, Vein Remnants, and Secret World Organization, this victory is yours. Most of all, I tip my hat to you Skyler Jones, Togo Hifumi, and Io."

Placing his hand on his earpiece communicator, Sion gave a neutral expression.

"So, is it over?" Wondered Prometheus ΩX.

"I would hope so," Engineer said.

"Sion?" Sophia queried as she approached Sion.

"Yeah… wait, something's not right," Sion furrowed his brows.

"What do you mean?" Satanael ΩX turned toward the Revenant.

Shortly after Shu, Ayase, and Gai passed on, the Thieves, the Revenants, and the SWO allies noticed the entire dimension shaking to its core. Alarmed, the group looked for a way out but came to find no escape route.

"Since we beat the Yami Matter Avatar, this dimension is about to collapse!" Anat ΩX warned them.

"Yes, this happened after we beat those other avatars, too!" Astarte ΩX cried out.

"But, there should be a portal opening by now!" Kamu Susano-o ΩX reminded them.

"I don't like this," Hound analyzed the precarious situation they were placed in.

"We're going to be trapped in here if we don't get out of here!" Stinger shouted.

As Sion turned, he noticed Sophia walking forward and facing the collapsing space. As the crystallized landscape dissolved, a dark, macabre atmosphere filled the entire space with unnerving dread. Then, they heard loud whispering emanating around them.

"Uh, are you guys hearing this?! Please tell me it ain't just me!" Seiten Taisei ΩX carried out, finding himself put off by the unearthly whispers.

"No, I can hear them, too!" Engineer frantically looked around. He and the other Revenants' eyes quickly flashed red in response to the obscured presence watching them.

"Hifumi? Io? Can you make anything of it?" Sion asked Sophia.

"It sounds like whispers. Wait, whispers. Could these be the voices the bad guys have been hearing, including that bastard Mido?!" Hecate ΩX deduced.

"That's a good guess, Panther," Satanael ΩX frowned as he and the others heard the whispers seemingly fade, only to be replaced with devilish, feminine laughter.

Suddenly, a portal opened up behind the SWO allies and pulled them in.

"Hey, where did that come from?!" Prometheus ΩX shouted.

"Behind you!" Sion warned the SWO allies.

"Where is this taking us?!" Ultimate Madoka cried out, holding a wounded Buffy.

"I don't even want to know!" Sora yelled.

"We can't get pulled away now! We gotta stay and fight!" Kirito shouted.

Before any of them could do anything to stop the portal, it was too late. The portal relocated them, leaving Sion, Sophia, the Thieves, and the other Vein Remnants behind.

"They're gone!" Hecate ΩX cried out fearfully.

"Where did they go?!" Astarte ΩX wondered, looking around their surroundings.

"They're not here anymore," Engineer added.

"That laughter just now? Could it be the Yami Matter?" Hound wondered as he and the others picked up on the insidious feminine laughter.

"Does it sound like anyone we know?" Satanael ΩX listened.

"No, I'm not getting anything," Kamu Susano-o ΩX said.

Just then, Prometheus ΩX's scanner went off without warning. "What it is, it's huge and it's coming near us!"

"Get ready for whatever it is!" Satanael ΩX said as he and the others primed themselves for their next opponent.

"Hopefully, it's not another Yami King. I'm in no mood for another disappointment," Sion muttered.

"Heheh, don't worry. This time we're returning to the roots of our universe, Persona users," a creepy unidentified voice chimed in, accompanied by the silent, ghastly whispers that the Yami Matter uses to communicate with its pawns and devotees.

"Returning to the roots of our universe?" Sophia repeated what the disembodied voice hinted at. Then, she heard Io's voice warning her inside her mind.

"All of you must be careful, Hifumi! The true manipulator behind the Yami Matter's activities is coming to you now!"

"What?! The true manipulator?!" Sophia exclaimed, confusing everyone else.

"What true manipulator, Hifumi?" Sion asked her.

"I think she might be referring to that!" Jack pointed toward a black veil of the Yami Matter appearing in front of them and forming into a humanoid shape.

Appearing before them is a human figure resembling a young woman with dark brown hair tied in a red ribbon. A notable beauty mark is seen near her mouth. She has on what looks like a gray high school girl uniform coupled with a black tie, shin-length white socks, and black dress shoes. Her other notable feature is something the Thieves are already familiar with: bright yellow eyes.

The woman smirked, speaking in a distorted voice. "Welcome, Phantom Thieves of Hearts and Vein Remnants. You are now in my domain now."

"Who are you?!" Sion yelled out at the Shadow entity.

"A Shadow, but no one I'm familiar with," Mercurius ΩX analyzed the woman.

Quickly whipping out his pistol, Satanael ΩX aimed at the Shadow entity. "Tell us whoever or whatever you are!"

The woman responded with a devilish grin, exposing sharp teeth. "You could say I'm the original Shadow. This form you see is that of a young woman named Sonomura Maki, one of the very first Persona users."

"One of the first Persona users?" Anat ΩX was taken aback.

"Wait, I think I've seen that woman's face before on TV interviews! She was a therapist and she talked about previous experiences with cognitive dissonances!" Hecate ΩX recalled.

"Yes, and I was born from her nihilism," the entity revealed the nature of her existence.

"That explains why you have that woman's form, but why trap us here?" Kamu Susano-o ΩX queried.

With the blink of an eye, she phased behind the group and walked past them.

"To thank you. Now that you've gotten rid of my Yami King… no, more like my failed experiment," the entity turned around and faced the group with arms folded behind her. "I can initiate the final phase of the Yami Matter's desire… no, more like humanity's darkest desires to consume your universe." With a finger snap, the entire pocket dimension shook to its core and changed its appearance to better reflect Pandora's domain: an endless black void shrouding the pocket dimension. "You may call me Pandora, and I am the one behind manipulating the Yami Matter."

"You mean, those whispers those bad guys have been hearing and all the crap the Yami Matter put us through?! It was you?!" Sion snapped at the malevolent entity.

Giggling evilly, Pandora cracked a big smile as her yellow eyes glowed. "Hehehe, yes! However, I never counted on the fact it took Saklas and Sophia's powers to revive the darkest remnants of me!" She veered toward Sophia's direction, prompting Sion to stand in Sophia's way. "How fitting. Thanks to a goddess, I've been revived. Heheh, to think this particular human possessing this goddess power is someone with a valiant spirit akin to Maki's. I have you to thank, Togo Hifumi."

Sophia was wholly speechless. "So, Saklas and I were responsible for reviving…"

"The darkness and the light of Yaldabaoth ensured my revival. With the Angel of Control's light passing over to you, Togo Hifumi, the darkness manifested itself into the Yami Matter. As such, the Yami Matter spread through your world and it restored my form independently from Maki. Having realized a new generation of Persona users have arisen, I thought long and hard to engage you, Phantom Thieves of Hearts. However, I bided my time. You see, I couldn't just fight you yet until I was sure my power grew. So, I experimented with the Yami Matter. I infiltrated the other side of your reality and discovered the popular fictional series you indulged on exists on that other side. So, I spread the Yami Matter there and began consuming their worlds. Then, disguising myself as a voice behind a veil of darkness, I manipulated those with the blackest of hearts and villainous ambitions to join together. Which of course led me to that pitiful Ouma Shu. Ah, the Yami King turned out to be just a puppet king. The poor deluded boy thought he was the one in control of the operations? Little did he know, those voices and the Yami Matter Avatars were all me toying with his fractured mind."

"Like I care about that whiny bitch, but what I do care about is that you're the one who manipulated time in our world and initiated those Yami Matter Events?!" Sion exclaimed, raising his angry tone.

"Then, you're the one who told Mido to almost destroy Ren and I's relationship! You fucking bitch!" Hecate ΩX shouted angrily.

Giggling, Pandora made light of Hecate ΩX's dilemma. "It was quite entertaining to see you two having a lover's spat and who would forget that tempestuous argument? It was like straight out of a TV drama. And who could forget, when you, Takamaki Ann, tried to throw yourself off the roof?"

"FUCK YOU!" Hecate ΩX screamed, throwing a fiery blast at Pandora, who effortlessly dissipated it with a barrier.

"Ann, relax!" Satanael ΩX grabbed Hecate ΩX's hand. "Don't play into her head games!"

"Good thing you reminded me of that Revenant mad scientist. Mido was quite an ambitious scientific mind. Wouldn't you agree, my vampire friends?" Pandora turned over toward the Vein Remnants. "The only reason you're all here is due to Sophia resetting reality and rewriting it so you could exist as humans here. Then, when the Persona Vein appeared, she restored your Revenant abilities."

"Then, you revived Mido!" Jack growled vehemently toward Pandora.

"The Yami Matter did most of the work. All I did was manipulate the Yami Matter to carry out my bidding. Without me controlling it, the Yami Matter is just a force of nature without someone guiding it along. As the Yami Matter and I traversed through other realities, we discovered dimension PV-CV-19, the other reality where the other Sion and his colleagues live. We discovered an ambitious individual who sought the evolution of superhuman beings, who could replace humanity. How could we refuse to gain such a scientific genius? So, the Yami Matter revived him. Little did he know the whispering voices only he could hear was my own. I told him of another world where Sion and his friends existed. And so we brought him to your world, Phantom Thieves of Hearts."

"I understand you manipulated Kriemhild?" Prometheus ΩX asked the malevolent entity.

"Correct, and we granted her the ability to see the future of her world, Wulf-Edda. She was given the ability of foresight and we pushed her to carry out her machinations. Though, credit to her, she put in nearly all of the work. All we did was give her advice and enhanced her magical abilities. And of course, we all know what happened to that godforsaken dimension, didn't we? Ragnarök came and the shit hit the fan. The Yami Matter did manage to save Kriemhild and those Valkyries, allowing her to convert them into Vamkyrie vessels to use to fight against you, my friends. Of course, how could we forget Mido and Kriemhild's unholy alliance? The Yami Matter and I made it all possible."

"And then you're going to tell us you manipulated Shu to bring the Yami Matter and all those villains into our world!" Satanael ΩX stated, gritting his teeth out of anger.

"You're catching on, Amamiya Ren," Pandora evilly smirked. "Yes, I brought them here. Every villain you've encountered have been Yami Matter cognitions, all designed to wear you down until the Yami King brought you to me. The Yami Matter Avatar then disguised itself as that fool's sister, which helped further our goals," She glanced toward the Yami King's chair and eye beamed it into pieces. Chortling, Pandora continued on. "Now with that Yami nuisance removed, the true finale can begin!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it! We're putting an end to your gambit!" Sophia exclaimed as her body glowed with white light.

In response, a black cloak enveloped over Pandora. "I've monitored the progression of your goddess powers, Togo Hifumi. You were considered Mido's prime candidate for body possession. Perhaps you'd like to entertain the notion if your goddess powers are any match for me? The Yami Matter and I will gladly purge you so nothing stands in our way! You have opened Pandora's Box!"

Having undergone her transformation, she became a 25-foot high deformed light gray cocoon with an amalgamation of human body parts, including legs, a pair of breasts, an eyeless demonic creature, and Maki's expressionless face on it. The face then morphed into Hifumi's. The Hifumi visage's eyes widened as a sadistic grin adorned the face's features.

"Yes, now I can cast away the face of my previous persona and take on the one I now desire. You, Togo Hifumi," the entity addressed Sophia, giggling evilly. "Give in to despair, Togo Hifumi, and give me the Persona Vein's power!"

"Never!" Sophia protested vehemently as the Io side of her conveyed intense fury toward the Shadow entity.

"You're not getting Io's or Hifumi's power! Not when we're all here!" Sion stepped in, defending Sophia's honor.

"We're going to purge you like every other Shadow we've come against!" Satanael ΩX declared, readying and aiming his pistol toward Pandora.

"You're all more than welcome to try, but your reality is on the verge of emptiness and despair!"

Suddenly, a bright beam of green light cut through the sac, opening up and pouring black light out. Pandora emerged with a new form: a dark green-bodied female naked humanoid with long, back-length dark brown hair like Hifumi's, dark purple horns shaped like antennae, black & white butterfly wings, and no noticeable nipples.

Sprouting from Pandora's back is a long, metal tail, similar to the Stinger-Type Blood Veil. In her right hand, Pandora carried a weapon akin to Io's halberd. A Revenant's mask with a gruesome Glasgow's smile design covered her face. Shrouding her is the Yami Matter's darkness cloak, which permeated throughout the pocket dimension.

"Now, give in to despair and empower the Yami Matter!" Pandora openly declared, her own voice echoed into loud creepy whispers. With a sadistic grin smeared over her face, her yellow eyes gleamed brightly. "Embrace the everlasting despair waiting to devour your world! There won't be anything waiting for you on the other side!" With that, she hastily flew at the group, causing them to scatter and evade Pandora's initial assault.

However, as Pandora took to the air above them, she flapped her wings, raining a barrage of ice projectiles. Her Mabufudyne quickly spread over the space and converted most of the ground into solid ice. Recognizing this technique as one of his ice attacks, Kamu Susano-o ΩX drew his katana and attacked her with his Divine Glaive.

Much to the artist's dismay, Pandora effortlessly parried his katanas, twisting and turning her body around. At a hair's breadth, he drove his katana for Pandora's face, who unleashed a barrage of fast and powerful punches. Unable to predict and follow her speed, Kamu Susano-o ΩX was swiftly brought down with a kick.

"Fox!" Prometheus ΩX cried out, hurrying over to restore his energy. As she treated him, Seiten Taisei ΩX and Mercurius ΩX double teamed on Pandora. For a moment, she tried getting a reading on Pandora. "She's not even giving off any readings for me to measure her strength! We're really fighting up shit creek here!"

As Mercurius ΩX dove and attacked Pandora with his scimitar, Pandora countered his blow with her halberd. Seiten Taisen ΩX quickly got behind Pandora and used Electric Kaio-Ken to speed blitz toward her. Without even paying him any mind, Pandora merely waited and pushed her right arm out, landing a shot to Seiten Taisei ΩX's face.

"Oh no, Skull! Why you…!" Mercurius ΩX growled as he went for his Lightspeed Drive attack, but was struck down by Pandora's long metal tail.

"Mona!" Hecate ΩX and Stinger cried out together as both raced to catch him. It was Stinger who sprang up and grabbed Mercurius ΩX, holding him in her cradling arms.

"I've got you, Mona," Stinger said, looking up and giving Pandora a miffed expression. In retaliation, she activated her Stinger-Type Blood Veil and shot it toward the entity, who pushed it back with her metal tail. "You damn copycat!" Suddenly, she noticed her Blood Veil cracked and shattered into pieces.

"Copy? No, mine are just modified to be superior to yours, Revenant," Pandora chortled, rising his halberd. Just then, an immense wave of yellow light brimming with electricity headed her way. When she turned, Seiten Taisei ΩX quickly fired his Super Electric Kamehameha.

Then, not the least bit intimidated, Pandora dove headfirst through Seiten Taisei ΩX's electrical beam. Baffled by what he's seen, he was left bewildered and open for Pandora to kick him back. Then, she flew into Seiten Taisei ΩX and punched him hard in the gut, knocking the wind of the ascended Phantom Thief. Lifting her left hand, Pandora conjured a barrage of energy arrows, which shot toward Seiten Taisei ΩX as a few pierced into his body. After neutralizing him with her Hephaestus Arrows, she turned and was met with a punch to her face. She saw Anat ΩX driving her fist into the entity's face.

"You're strong, but can you defeat the fists of justice?!" Anat ΩX snarled, channeling atomic power in her clenched fist. After blasting her head-on with Atomic Fist, Astarte ΩX and Engineer joined in the fray and attacked Pandora.

Upon activating his Ogre-Type Blood Veil, Engineer flew through the smoke screen surrounding Pandora and drove his demonic hand through the entity. Astarte ΩX plunged her ax through Pandora. However, to their shock, Pandora unleashed an aura, repelling both the Revenant and the ascended Beauty Thief away.

"Haru-chan, Louis!" Anat ΩX cried out. Before she could save them, Pandora phased in front of her and slashed the ascended Phantom Thief with her halberd. Then, Pandora unleashed another barrage of quick punches. After pummeling her with Athena's Fist, Pandora flapped her wings and repelled her with Wing Flap.

"Perhaps you'd like a duel with me?!" Loki ΩX roared, swinging and slashing his serrated sword at Pandora, who beckoned him to attack. As he swung to strike, Pandora easily parried his serrated sword. Then, she phased behind Loki ΩX.

As Loki ΩX turned to attack her, he blasted the entity with his Loptr Tornado. Pandora powered through Loki ΩX's gust of wind and struck down him with her Hephaestus Arrows. She then unleashed a barrage of fists and slammed him into the ground.

With her back turned, Prometheus ΩX seized an opportunity and jumped high over Pandora, swinging down her laser sword to cut the entity in two. Just as her laser sword seemingly cut through Pandora, the entity phased behind Prometheus ΩX. Before Prometheus ΩX could attack with her DJ Laser Storm, Pandora pummeled the hacker with multiple halberd strikes. She then polished off and pushed Prometheus ΩX away with a shockwave.

Suddenly, two pairs of hound heads popped behind Pandora. When she turned, she was met by Hound's Hound-Type Blood Veil. With a swing of her halberd, she effortlessly knocked away Hound's Blood Veils. She then dove into Hound and kicked him far back. Diving toward Pandora from opposite sides, Jack and Eva collided with her. Pandora caught Jack's sword, halting his slash attempt. As she invoked her Successor of the Throat form, Eva went for her whirlwind attack, which Pandora swiftly halted with her other free hand.

"Yes, you Revenants are nothing but a blight on this world! You'll be the first to be purged from reality!" Pandora sneakily grinned, repelling Jack and Eva with her aura. After taking down the two Revenants, a pillar of flames erupted beneath her.

"You're mine, bitch!" Hecate ΩX angrily cried out, closing her left fist as the flames engulfed Pandora and set her ablaze. Having trapped the entity with her Ω Blazing Hell, Hecate ΩX seemingly incinerated Pandora. "AND THIS IS FOR ALL THE SHIT YOU AND YOUR FUCKING CRONIES PUT ME THROUGH!" She blasted her with a second shot with her Ω Blazing Hell.

After incinerating Pandora again, Hecate ΩX saw the entity was gone. Before she could even process her first word in her mental sentence, she felt a cold presence next to her.

"Who were you aiming with that, sweet Annie?" Pandora whispered in Hecate ΩX's ear. Lifting her halberd to cut Hecate ΩX, Satanael ΩX quickly dove in and stopped Pandora's attack.

"Joker!" Hecate ΩX cried out in relief as the Phantom Thief leader pushed Pandora back.

"Amamiya Ren, so nice to meet your acquaintance at last. Please, don't take me trying to kill your wife personally," Pandora smirked, licking her halberd.

"When it comes to you harming my friends, I take it very personal!" Satanael ΩX quickly responded and blasted her with rounds with his Tyrant Pistol.

Deflecting every one of his shots with her halberd, Pandora rushed up to Satanael ΩX. As she went for a frontal strike with her halberd, Satanael ΩX jumped up and flew into the air. He then blasted Pandora with his Ω Riot Gun. Quickly swinging her halberd, she knocked away Satanael ΩX's attack.

Then, just at the right moment, Sion and Sophia struck Pandora from behind. After hitting her with his Will of d'Artagnan, Sion withdrew his Regicide Blade. Sophia then quickly phased in front of Pandora and drove her ko-naginata into Pandora. After striking Pandora with her Tengoku Star, Sophia blasted her away.

"Yes, show me the full extent of Sophia's power, Togo Hifumi! Convince me your power exceeds my own!" Pandora cackled maniacally. She and Sophia dashed forward, trading quick exchanges with the clattering of their weapons.

As Sophia and Pandora collided head-on, Sion, Satanael ΩX, and Hecate ΩX amassed behind to attack the latter. Without flinching, Pandora opened her wings and released a powerful energy wave, pushing the trio away.

"Sion, Joker, Panther!" Sophia cried out.

"Eyes on me, Persona Vein! Yes, I see through you, Io! You won't be resetting the world of nothingness that awaits you all!" Pandora roared with fierce determination. Attempting to throw Sophia's mental focus off, Pandora's face contorted, morphing into a twisted and demonic visage of Hifumi's face. "Do it! Give in and surrender to eternal despair that the Yami Matter will bring forth, Togo Hifumi!"

Shaking her head, Sophia screamed with valor, rebelling against the figurehead manipulating humanity's darkness. "NO! I… WE WON'T FALL IN LINE AND LET YOU OR THE YAMI MATTER TAKE ALL WE CHERISH!" She roared in her and Io's conjoined voices. Accumulating enough power through her ko-naginata, Sophia knocked Pandora away with her Tengoku Lightning Thorn.

Having absorbed most of Sophia's attack, Pandora was left slightly disoriented. Sion then transformed into his Successor of Julius Deino form. As the dinosaur charged into Pandora, it knocked her back with its Vasto Quake. Satanael ΩX then flew up and shot her point blank with his Ω Riot Gun.

"Alright, way to go, Joker!" Hecate ΩX cheered as she whipped up a fiery wave, which engulfed Pandora.

As she put up her guard against Hecate ΩX's furious inferno, Pandora cast Mabufudyne, protecting herself from Hecate ΩX's attack. Engineer produced a glowing sword, slashing Pandora with his Blade of Athos. Hound conjured a jaw-shaped projectile from his Blood Veils, which formed into his Jaws of Porthos and collided with Pandora. Stinger quickly sniped Pandora with several rounds of her Bullets of Aramis.

"Now, converge and attack!" Engineer called out, transforming into his Successor of Babylon Leo.

Following up on Engineer's command, Hound turned into his Successor of Persian Ursine form. Stinger transformed into her Successor of Alexandra Pantera form. Invoking his necklace gem's power, Jack used his Drake-Type Blood Veil to transform into his dragon state. Coming to Sion's aid, the other Successors and the dragon counterattacked Pandora. Engineer unleashed his Vapula's Roar. Stinger struck and slashed Pandora with her Ose's Vespula Strike. Hound ravaged Pandora with his Savagery of Marchosias. Targeting Pandora, Jack unleashed Fafnir's Breath, burning her with blue flames. Sion then rushed in, headbutted and tail swiped Pandora far back.

"Hold her off! Don't stop attacking!" Satanael ΩX called out, quickly transforming into his Devil Hydra mode. He flew high above Pandora. When all three heads charged up energies, Satanael ΩX simultaneously fired his Sinful Neutron Blast at Pandora.

After being pummeled by the beast's attack barrage, Pandora quickly flew high into the air. As the group prepared for another counterattack, she raised her right hand and invoked the powers within her pocket dimension. Suddenly, a giant orb of glowing dark light, roughly half the size of the pocket dimension, opened up and unleashed a torrent of butterflies that rained on the group. With her Butterfly Storm, she quickly struck down the Successor Revenants and the Devil Hydra first, neutralizing and turning them back to their normal states. The other Thieves and Sophia were quickly taken down by the torrent of butterflies.

However, Pandora didn't stop there. Amassing a giant thunderbolt with her halberd, she tossed a giant lightning bolt similar to Tennyo's Lightning Thorn and Sophia's Tengoku Lightning Thorn. Unleashing her Zeus's Wrath, Pandora attempted to crush and finish off her opponents in one attack.

Suddenly, Sophia rose and bravely stood her ground. Throwing herself in front of everyone, she raised her ko-naginata and conjured a clear barrier, which absorbed and halted Pandora's attack. Witnessing Sophia neutralize her attack, the entity scowled furiously. With a determined glare on her face, Sophia nullified Pandora's attack and began tapping into her reality warping abilities.

"Hifumi, stop… you don't need to go that far…!" Sion pleaded, quickly picking himself up.

"This has to be the way to remove her existence!" Sophia shouted, attempting to distort and destroy Pandora's pocket dimension.

"Heheh, trying to reset my dominion the same way you did to dimension P5-Crimson? Nice try, but your power isn't enough to erase my dimension! I, too, can bend and shift reality to my will!" Pandora smirked, utilizing her own reality warp to stabilize her pocket dimension. She and Sophia were at a standstill.

That is until Sophia seemingly gave in and fell to one knee.

"HIFUMI! IO!" Sion called out to them in fear.

Hearing Sion's pleas gave Sophia a second wind, allowing her to stand on her feet again. Flying up, Sophia pushed her way toward Pandora, who was bewildered by Hifumi and Io's collective resolve. With a swing with her ko-naginata, she cut through Pandora's lightning beam and horizontally cut Pandora in two. After being halved, Pandora was quickly taken out.

"It's done," Sophia frowned.

"...or, is it…?" Pandora evilly smirked as two massive red beams came shooting from the pitch dark subspace.

"LOOK OUT!" Sion called out to Sophia, who barely turned at the last moment as the beams targeted her.

It was too late. One beam collided with Sophia and shattered her ko-naginata. The other beam went for a killing blow, but at the last second, Sophia defused. Having split herself from Tennyo, Ivy threw herself in front of the beam and took a beam through her torso.

"IO!" Sion and Tennyo screamed together.

"So, the Persona Vein wishes to sacrifice herself? No matter, now you can both despair as she dies," Pandora smirked as her halved body parts floated away toward the black background.

Jumping up high, Sion caught Tennyo and Ivy. As he set them down, they checked over the wounded Persona Vein, who's gaping torso wound was worse than they thought. Red blood seeped from her wound.

"Io, please stay with us!" Tennyo pleaded, holding Ivy's hand.

"Don't worry, we can heal you!" Sion cried out.

"No, if we lose Io, then Sophia can't be formed again!" Engineer exclaimed.

"She intended to take Sophia out, our strongest hand…" Hound realized Pandora's strategy.

"Pandora! Face us now!" Satanael ΩX demanded, eliciting evil laughter from the dark pocket dimension.

Suddenly, a giant pair of blue eyes gleamed from the pitch darkness. Everyone veered and faced the direction where the eyes and laughter emanated. The group was able to make out a gargantuan standing 100 feet high and looming its shadow over them.

"As you wish!" The entity revealed herself to her adversaries.

Rays of light beamed from the endless space, exposing Pandora sitting atop of a large stone face resembling Hifumi. Long black tentacles with white hollow masks and misshapen faces resembling Nyarlathotep are seen folded over sections of the giant head. Four large black wings are seen poking on the sides of the giant head. Another white mask, resembling the Nyx Avatar's face, with hollow black eyes and a mouth is centered on the entity's forehead, widening its blank, vacant glare into a frightening smile. Situated on the crown of the giant head is a blood red entity resembling Izanami with wild black hair, garbed in remnants of a white priestess garb, and multiple black-and-blood red stained skeletal limbs. The golden wings and head of Yaldabaoth are seen adorning the center and topmost crown of the entity.

Giggling evilly, Pandora landed on top of the Yaldabaoth crown. "Behold, the amalgamation of the terrors that nearly plunged your world into darkness and despair! Thanks to the Yami Matter, I've replicated and incorporated their powers into this construct, Anesidora. Give in and wallow in fear of the unknown that awaits you! Tremble and surrender your wills as the Yami Matter consumes all!"

Anesidora's eyes glowed as its mouth morphed into a jagged and misshapen mouth full of sharp teeth. Anesidora's eyes glowed dark blue as it scanned the Thieves and Revenants.

Glancing over behind him, Satanael ΩX saw Sion and Tennyo treating the critically injured Ivy, who continued to bleed out from Pandora's attack. Clenching his fists tight, the Phantom Thief leader growled and intensely stared down Pandora and her amalgamated construct.

"We'll never surrender you! Our rebellious hearts will never waver to your despair and darkness! Everyone's hopes and pleas will lend us the strength to beat you!" Satanael ΩX declared, giving an encouraging speech for himself and his friends. As everyone else nodded in unison, Satanael ΩX flew up along with the other Thieves and Revenants.

"Then, prepare to meet your eternal demise as the Yami Matter devours your hopes!" Pandora berated them. Anesidora's black tentacles with the white masks attacked first and cast Chaos Element, taking out half of the group, but a few, including Satanael ΩX, Hecate ΩX, Anat ΩX, Mercurius ΩX, and the Vein Remnants pressed forward, blasting the giant head.

Beckoning all comers to attack her, Pandora tossed her Hephaestus Arrows at the remaining group members. Leading the charge, Satanael ΩX unloaded and blasted away the arrows with his Ω Riot Gun. As the others cleared out the arrows, the forehead mask cast Agidyne and Bufudyne, which Hecate ΩX neutralized with her Ω Blazing Hell. The mask then launched Magarudyne, which Mercurius ΩX nullified with his own wind magic. The mask then quickly cast Matarunda, neutralizing the group's attack powers.

"You can't keep this up!" Pandora cackled, repelling the group with her Butterfly Storm. "Such rebellious hearts! You would continue to defy the fate that awaits you? Resign to your eternal fates!"

As Mercurius ΩX cast Ω Salvation, he restored his and his colleagues' power stats. Satanael ΩX was the first to rebound and summoned two Personas: Satan and Lucifer. As the two fallen angels attacked her, Pandora fought back and unleashed Zeus's Wrath. Satan and Lucifer quickly nullified Pandora's offensive attack. Satan countered and blasted Pandora with Diamond Dust. Casting Blazing Hell, Lucifer launched a fiery wave, which wiped out the Nyx mask's fire magic.

As Lucifer cast Heat Riser, Satanael ΩX gained a substantial boost. At the same time, Hecate ΩX used Habanera Riser, increasing all of her stats. Targeting Pandora, Hecate ΩX conjured Agni Bolts, fiery crossbow-like arrows out of thin air, on the entity and the Nyx-like mask. Attempting to deflect Hecate ΩX's attacks, Anat ΩX air dashed toward Pandora and clobbered her with Nuclear Fists. Following a barrage of explosive punches, Hecate ΩX's attacks collided with Pandora and the mask.

"Let's keep this up! Don't stop now!" Satanael ΩX called out, changing into his Devil Hydra form again. The Vein Remnants and the other Thieves joined in, unleashing attacks on Pandora and her amalgamated construct.

Meanwhile, Tennyo saved Ivy, healing her wound with Panacea Essence. Upon recovery, Ivy awoke and faced the ongoing battle.

"Thank goodness, I thought we were going to lose you, Io," Tennyo smiled with relief as she hugged the Persona Vein.

"It's strange. I'm healed, but I'm still kind of weak," Ivy said, rubbing her head.

"Why? What's wrong?" Sion asked her.

Ivy remained silent and stood on her own power. "Just as I was on the verge of dying… I heard the Weeping Tree…"

"What? You did? What did it say?" Tennyo asked her.

"That the end is near… for me," Ivy revealed, putting Tennyo and Sion's minds at unease. They weren't sure how to even respond to this, but Tennyo just smiled and grabbed Ivy's hand.

"Io, don't say something scary like that. You're fine. We just need to defeat Pandora and the Yami Matter. You can't mean to leave us now?!" Tennyo cried out.

"No, we still have work to do," Ivy replied, turning around with a genuinely loving smile on her face. She grasped Tennyo's hands. "Let us end this conflict here and now one last time. I shall lend everyone my power."

"All of us?" Sion asked as Ivy grabbed his hand as well.

"As the Persona Vein, it was my power that gave you your Revenant abilities and Successor forms. And it was my power that gave the Phantom Thieves their Persona's Ascendancy powers. My last wish is to give you the strength to purge the Yami Matter and its puppet master. However, in doing so…" Ivy's smile faded from her soft, pale features.

"At the expense of your life," Sion muttered.

"No," Tennyo gasped.

"Please, do not mourn for me yet. We must see this conflict to its conclusion," the Persona Vein suggested, channeling white light energies into Sion and Tennyo.

As they gained a substantial boost from the Persona Vein, white auras formed over Tennyo and Sion. They turned to Ivy, who nearly collapsed.

"Io, stop! You're only doing more harm to yourself!" Sion chided her while helping Ivy stand.

"It's ok. I've resigned knowing my fate would possibly come to this," Ivy firmly stated. "We are indeed at the end of our journey together, my friends." She held Tennyo and Sion's hands. "And I thank you. This is my thanks to all of you."

Exchanging glances, Tennyo and Sion had saddened looks, which was the opposite of Ivy's bright and optimistic outlook.

Suddenly, the Thieves and the Vein Remnants were blasted away by the Yaldabaoth head's Rays of Control. The trio quickly turned and watched their fallen allies laying in a heap. They turned up and overheard Pandora's laughter. In her final act, Pandora used the Yami Matter's power to infect the Thieves and Vein Remnants, causing them to choke on and puke black ooze, which was the same method used to kill Cruz Silva.

"No!" Tennyo cried out in horror as their friends were being killed before their eyes.

"It's time," Ivy resigned and transferred her life energies toward the fallen Thieves and Revenants. Her life energies nullified the Yami Matter infection spread. "Each of you will briefly possess Sophia's divine powers, granting you the ability to rebel against the fate the Yami Matter has determined for us."

As the Persona Vein's energies revived them, the Phantom Thieves and the Vein Remnants were fully healed and matching white auras.

Upon witnessing this turn of events, Pandora scoffed. "Now, what? So, the Persona Vein wants to play difference maker at this juncture?! I think it's too late to turn back the hand fate has decided for you, humans!"

"No, as long as we're all still able, we will end your attempt to drown us in despair!" Tennyo boldly called out in defiance against the entity.

"This elaborate gambit you plotted against us from the start ends here, Pandora!" Sion shouted with determination.

"I hope you're ready for the biggest beatdown you've ever received!" Satanael ΩX firmly said, fixing his gloves and clenching his hands into fists.

Laughing, Pandora openly beckoned her adversaries. "Come and bring your worst, Phantom Thieves of Hearts and Vein Remnants!" She quickly lobbed a combination of her Hephaestus Arrows, Zeus's Wrath, and Butterfly Storm on her opponents.

Suddenly, without even flinching or letting despair fill their minds, the Phantom Thieves and the Vein Remnants flew up, gliding past and obliterating Pandora's long-ranged projectiles with their white auras. Leading the charge, Satanael ΩX, Sion, Tennyo, and Ivy pummeled Anesidora, shattering its sections. When the Nyx-like mask unleashed Almighty Attack, Seiten Taisei ΩX, Kamu Susano-o ΩX, Engineer, and Hound nullified its attack. After Kamu Susano-o ΩX and Engineer delivered sword slashes to break the Nyx mask, Seiten Taisei ΩX blasted a giant hole through the construct with his Super Electric Kamehameha.

"Get wrecked, bitch!" Seiten Taisen ΩX bellowed.

"And this is for trying to kill me the way your Yami Matter killed Cruz!" Engineer shouted, delivering quick sword slashes to Pandora, who tried but failed to parry his attacks.

Astarte ΩX quickly phased in front of Pandora and prepared to blast her with Ω Triple Down. Pandora conjured the Izanami-like construct in front of her, which cast Hell's Judgement. As her white aura formed a barrier over Astarte ΩX, it protected her from the Izanami construct's darkness. The ascended Beauty Thief blasted through the Izanami, wiping it out in one shot.

"Going somewhere?!" Anat ΩX hollered, drawing Pandora's attention and delivering an earth-shattering punch that cold clocked and knocked the entity away. "That was my fists of justice! And this…!" She air dashed toward Pandora and blasted her with Ω Atomic Flare. "...is for me, Haru-chan, and Louis."

Meanwhile, Hecate ΩX, Stinger, Mercurius ΩX, Prometheus ΩX, and Loki ΩX swiftly outmaneuvered the Yaldabaoth construct's sword. While Hecate ΩX and Mercurius ΩX distracted the entity with fire and wind magic, Prometheus ΩX chopped off its sword arm with her laser sword. Stinger aimed and shot its face with her Bullets of Aramis. Slicing into its body with quick sword strikes, Loki ΩX collided with the Yaldabaoth-like entity and shattered its body with his ΩX Negative Pile.

"And I hope that's the last we see of that guy, real or fake!" Hecate ΩX cried out.

"Tell me about it, Lady Ann," Mercurius ΩX concurred with her.

Elsewhere, Jack and Eva took on the tentacled limbs with the white masks. When the entity attacked with its Crawling Chaos, the Revenant duo's auras nullified its effects. Then, Eva, in her Successor of Throat form, disemboweled the tentacles with her whirlwind attacks. Jack cut through the remaining tentacles and dissolved their remains with his white aura.

Upon recovering, Pandora found herself surrounded by Satanael ΩX, Sion, Tennyo, and Ivy. As they rushed to attack her, Pandora fended them off with her Butterfly Swarm. Without the use of her ko-naginata, Tennyo used the swing of her right hand and blasted Pandora with her Lightning Thorn. Ivy then used her Ivy-Type Blood Veil, summoning spikes from the Hifumi head to ensnare Pandora. Sion then slashed her repeatedly with his Will of d'Artagnan. After kicking her off the spikes, Sion sent her sailing into the air.

Flying high toward Pandora, Satanael ΩX aimed his pistol and fired rounds of his Ω Sinful Shells straight into her. Each bullet, imbued with Io's light, tore holes into Pandora's body like wet paper. Screaming with fury, Pandora's skin healed from his bullets and flew toward Satanael ΩX. Attempting to tear Satanael ΩX head from his body, Tennyo and Ivy intercepted Pandora. Both unleashed powerful shockwaves, pushing Pandora away.

"Thanks, you two!" Satanael ΩX said.

"It's not over yet," Ivy said, watching Pandora recollect herself and conjure a dark cloud above her. The group witnessed a golden and silver-plated box "She cannot be allowed to open that! Hifumi, let us merge for the last time."

"You don't even need to ask!" Tennyo willingly complied, grabbing Ivy's hand as they merged into Sophia again.

"With this, the Yami Matter shall consume everything in this pitiful world!" Pandora prepared to open up Pandora's Box. Just then, bullets pierced into her. Then, Sion dove in and kicked the box out of Pandora's hands.

As Pandora dove in and attempted to tear Sion's heart out, Sophia dove headfirst into the entity. Pandora rushed and attacked Sophia with Athena's Fist. However, Sophia easily dodged and parried her blows without even looking. After blocking all of Pandora's blows, Sophia blasted her with Tengoku Lightning Thorn. After blasting her far back, Satanael ΩX cast Ω Cosmic Flare, bombarding the entity with an explosive blast.

Having disoriented Pandora, Satanael ΩX beckoned his allies as they amassed around them. "Ravage her! All-out Attack!"

The ascended Phantom Thieves, the Revenants, and Sophia jumped into the air. Then, the pocket dimension's backdrop quickly turned into the Solar System, rotating the spatial view of Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; before rotating back to Earth. The group then unleashed and pummeled Pandora with the most divine and epic Ω All-out Attack, pummeling her with unrestrained and countless strikes that Pandora couldn't stop. This attack, coupled with the Persona Vein's power, would be enough to destroy Mido, Kriemhild, and the Yami King, but was merely able to injure Pandora.

Rising and screaming with fury, Pandora's calm exterior broke as she turned into a formless black cloud with red eyes. She quickly merged herself with Anesidora. In a last act of desperation, Pandora possessed the entity as it moved on its own.

"THE END FOR YOU ALL IS NIGH! THE YAMI MATTER'S AVATAR IS SET TO TAKE ITS TRUE FORM!" Pandora's voice bellowed throughout the pocket dimension. "BUT, YOU WILL NOT MAKE IT OUT OF HERE ALIVE! YOUR VALIANT EFFORTS WILL BE FOR NAUGHT!"

Opening her mouth, Pandora expelled a powerful black beam toward the ascended Thieves and the Vein Remnants. As Sophia floated in front of the group, she cast a divine white beam, coupled with telekinetic power, to push against Pandora's darkness ray.

"We told Saklas before and we're going to tell you now, but when we humans work together, we can overcome the impossible!" Satanael ΩX shouted as his friends behind him put their hands on his back.

Sion floated beside Sophia, channeling his portion of Ivy's power into their beam.

"Hope is what will let us defeat your despair, Pandora! You're finished!" Satanael ΩX passionately cried out as Prometheus ΩX took out Pandora's Box and used it to absorb Pandora's power.

"SO, YOU INTEND TO SEAL ME AWAY INTO MY OWN BOX! HEHEHEH, WELL PLAYED. TO THINK HUMAN INGENUITY COULD DEFEAT A BEING SUCH AS I." Her presence began to fade as Pandora's essence was absorbed into the box. "HOWEVER, WITHOUT ME CONTROLLING IT, THE YAMI MATTER WILL DESTROY YOUR UNIVERSE UNFETTERED."

"Don't worry, we'll take care of that force of nature."

"SO, I GREATLY UNDERESTIMATED YOUR ABILITY TO DRIVE BACK DESPAIR. YOU HAVE EARNED MY RESPECT, PHANTOM THIEVES OF HEARTS AND VEIN REMNANTS."

"Goodbye," Satanael ΩX smirked as the last of Pandora's essence was sealed in the box.

"Ok, I think that's all of her!" Prometheus ΩX said.

"Throw it, Futaba!" Kamu Susano-o ΩX called out.

"Don't have to tell me twice, Inari!" She tossed the box, which Satanael ΩX obliterated with his pistol.

With Pandora removed, her pocket dimension shook to its core and started collapsing. Frantic, the group scoured for a way out. Not wasting any time, Sophia conjured a portal for them to escape.

"Let's hurry, everyone! We're goners if we stay here!" Sion rallied his Vein Remnants.

"Thieves, let's move!" Satanael ΩX gathered his friends.

As the group rushed out of the pocket dimension, Sophia collapsed, almost out of breath. Sion quickly turned and collected her.

"Hey, we're almost at the home stretch. We just need to stop the Yami Matter now!"

"Sorry, but that fight took a lot out of me. And... I doubt I'll be able to maintain this form. Io's power is diminishing," Sophia said, noticing her body almost on the verge of being split into two. Utilizing as much power to maintain her goddess form, Sophia stood and with eyes full of resolve. "There, I should be good to go. I'm ready."

Nodding, Sion grabbed her hand. "Let's put an end to the Yami Matter nightmare and restore our world."

xxxxx

Shinjuku, Tokyo (新宿, 東京)/(JST)

As soon as the Phantom Thieves and Vein Remnants escaped the pocket dimension, they were ejected out of King Ghidorah (Legendary)'s body. The Yami Matter Avatar's pocket dimensions closed up, which stabilized the world's dimensional fabrics. The world was starting to heal from the Yami Matter's influence.

However, there remained one obstacle: the Yami Matter Avatar/The First Evil.

With Pandora removed, the Yami matter Avatar became unfettered and began spreading its dark power like an infection. As its body shook uncontrollably, the Yami Matter Avatar's form switched between the First Evil and King Ghidorah (Legendary). Finally, as black light enveloped King Ghidorah (Legendary)'s body, it mutated and took on a new appearance. Using King Ghidorah (Legendary)'s body as its base form, the beast gained black bodily scales, a sign of the First Evil's influence. A thick black aura materialized over its giant three-headed frame.

As all three heads let out high-pitched and deep bellows, this 'Yami' Ghidorah took hold of the vicinity and spread its darkness, dissolving everything in its path. Upon sensing its opposition heading its way, Yami Ghidorah saw a large assembly of SWO members charging its way.

Among these SWO members: Ultimate Madoka, Devil Homura, Superman, Batman in his Batjet, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Goku, Vegeta, Eternal Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars (w/the Phoenix Force), Sora, Saitama, Omegamon Merciful Mode, Dukemon Crimson Mode, Godzilla (Legendary), Yugi & Horakhty, and many others attacked Yami Ghidorah. After a brief battle, Yami Ghidorah overwhelmed them with its dark force.

With the SWO members quickly taken down, the Phantom Thieves and Vein Remnants confronted the frenzied force of nature. Before implementing their attack, the Urban Legends noticed Buffy Summers, standing up despite her wounds. She was the last SWO member left standing, fearlessly facing down an incarnation of the First Evil. Despite being outmatched, Buffy wasn't willing to let the First Evil take over another world.

Then, the Thieves and the Revenants concocted their next move. They convinced the SWO members to send their energies over to Buffy. Using her hacking skills, Prometheus ΩX contacted everyone through their smartphones, computers, televisions, and other digitized devices to convince them to help defeat the Yami Matter Avatar. After witnessing Yami Ghidorah dissolving sections of Tokyo, everyone across the city and the world sent their energies toward Buffy in a moment reminiscent of the Spirit Bomb. Finally, the Thieves and Vein Remnants transferred their energies toward the Slayer as well.

Even those within the Thieves and Vein Remnant's inner circle, their friends, families, and confidants came together and transferred their energies to Buffy. Among them are Sojiro, Sae, Kawakami, Takemi, Iwa, Ohya, Chihaya, Yoshida, Mishima, Shiho, Karen, Aurora, Emily, Rin, Coco, Davis, Hifumi's parents, Hojo, Shinya, Nicola, Reiko, Li-Ming, and Miyako.

Also appearing in a big assembly are Yumeko, Mary, Ryōta, Mina, Kyosuke, and Maria. Joining them are the other former Hyakkaou Academy, including Terano, Itsuki, Yuriko, Midari, Yumemi, Rei, and many others. As Yumeko rallied everyone together, they raised their hands and sent their energies toward Buffy.

Once receiving everyone's energies, Buffy felt their hopes and dreams filling her with indescribable power. Her wounds were instantaneously healed. She also started growing until she matched the size of Yami Ghidorah. A bright white ethereal aura outlined her body. Her eyes turned bright silver. She gained an appearance similar to Goku's Ultra Instinct, minus the spiked hair and silverish white hair color. The bright ethereal aura surrounding her brimmed like a burning bright star, cutting through the thick darkness shrouding the city.

Standing out as a glorious beacon of hope, Buffy Summer transformed into Ethereal Buffy, the last warrior with the power to rival the Yami Matter Avatar.

In an epic moment, the Phantom Thieves and the Vein Remnants landed on Ethereal Buffy's shoulders. At that moment, Ethereal Buffy became their Persona in this final moment to decide the fate of reality.

As Satanael ΩX pointed toward Yami Ghidorah, Ethereal Buffy rushed Yami Ghidorah. Attempting to ensnare her with its mouths, Ethereal Buffy quickly dodged, twisting around Yami Ghidorah's heads. Instinctively reading through Yami Ghidorah's moves, she perceived all of its attacks before it could conceive them.

As Yami Ghidorah expelled black flames toward her, Ethereal Buffy cupped her hands to one side and fired a massive white beam, mimicking the signature Kamehameha attack while at the same time launching an atomic-like blast like Godzilla's Atomic Breath. As the dual energy waves nullified Yami Ghidorah's reality distorting flames, Ethereal Buffy charged at Yami Ghidorah.

While the final battle occurred, everyone utilized their minds and imaginations to assist and cheer the Phantom Thieves, the Vein Remnants, and Ethereal Buffy.

As Yami Ghidorah flew high into the air, it frantically spread its darkness to wipe out reality in one attack. Wasting no time and letting the Yami Matter Avatar get its way, Ethereal Buffy jumped high into the air and unleashed a flurry of punches, landing over a thousand punches into the Yami Matter Avatar. Then, Ethereal Buffy landed an uppercut straight into Yami Ghidorah's torso, sending the three-headed abomination flying into the air. As she rocketed toward Yami Ghidorah, it unleashed a powerful shockwave by flapping its wings. Ethereal Buffy forged a shield, stopping its shockwave. Then, she conjured feathered wings from her back, which combined traits of Ultimate Madoka and Eternal Sailor Moon. After slamming into Yami Ghidorah, Ethereal Buffy raised her right hand as if calling for something to use.

Answering Buffy's call, Satanael ΩX, Sion, Tennyo, and Io hovered on top of Ethereal Buffy's head. The trio intently stared down Yami Ghidorah, whose body contorted as it frantically altered between King Ghidorah (Legendary) and the First Evil.

Finally, in a moment reminiscent of Yaldabaoth's defeat, Satanael ΩX whipped out his Tyrant Pistol and aimed it for Yami Ghidorah. With a Joker-like smile, Satanael ΩX shot a single bullet, which then grew and transformed into a giant wooden stake, which Ethereal Buffy gladly took and shoved it into Yami Ghidorah's chest.

After staking the abomination, the Yami Matter Avatar let out deep bellows. As it started dissolving, darkness energies poured out of its body. During its final moments, the unstable entity switched between its King Ghidorah (Legendary) and the First Evil forms until it became a formless mass of black smoke. With everyone's energies ripping and tearing through it, the Yami Matter Avatar's cognitive form was cleansed and wiped out from existence.

The Ethereal War is finally over.

xxxxx

After the Yami Matter was purged from existence, Ethereal Buffy powered down and shrank back into Buffy Summers.

Sophia used her remaining powers to mitigate the damage caused by the Yami Matter and restored Tokyo, and by extension the world, back to normal. Having expended all of her reality warping powers, Sophia's form diminished, splitting back into Tennyo and Io.

The Phantom Thieves and the Vein Remnants floated over on a rooftop, observing their reality being restored to normal. Then, streams of light floated through the air. As this occurred, the cognitive Urban Myths and characters started vanishing.

"Hey, look!" Prometheus ΩX pointed toward numerous SWO members fading away.

"Since we defeated the Yami Matter, these cognitions have fulfilled their roles and can disappear back into our memories," Kamu Susanoo ΩX eloquently stated.

"That's one way of looking at it. Yes, and soon we can return to our normal lives," Loki ΩX added.

"Joker, check the time!" Mercurius ΩX insisted as everyone took out their smartphones and saw the year on their phones changing from 2020 to 2022.

"Everything's returning to normal," Satanael ΩX deeply sighed with relief.

"Thank god," Hecate ΩX became relieved, feeling all the stress leaving her.

"Hey, check it out! Skyler, Hifumi, Io!" Engineer pointed toward a few familiar faces.

Facing the other way, Sion, Tennyo, and Io saw all members of Funeral Parlor, including Shu who was most distant from the other members. Yuu was also seen floating far from them. Ayase quickly floated over meeting with Sion, Tennyo, and Io.

"Ayase, I…" Sion muttered as she put a finger to his lips.

"Don't. It's ok. I did what was necessary to ensure we survived that collision," Ayase reassured him. "If not for my sacrifice, all of you wouldn't be here."

"Thank you, Ayase, but I wish you hadn't died for our sake," Tennyo shook her head, prompting Ayase to pat her left cheek.

"I have no regrets. I did what any selfless hero did and I wanted to make up for any mistakes I made in the past," Ayase said.

"And we all pitched in," Gai addressed the group as he, Inori, and the other members of Funeral Parlor (Tsugumi, Argo, Shibungi, and Fyu-Neru) floated toward the Thieves and Vein Remnants. Gai hovered over Sion and Jack. "It was great fighting alongside real men like you. Thank you for bringing me back to the light."

"At least we can agree we can move on and not cling to the past like certain individuals," Sion said without referring to the ex-Yami King by name, giving an irked glare at Shu, who remained distant from the group.

As Fyu-Neru floated next to Inori, she hugged her old robot friend. "It's good to see you again, Fyu-Neru."

"Inori, it's good to see you in person," Io approached Inori.

"Same with you. I thank you, Hifumi, and Sion for helping us stop the Yami Matter Avatar and bringing Shu back to his senses," Inori genuinely smiled at Io.

"You're welcome. It's amazing how alike we are," Io said, touching Inori's face.

Inori's facial features softened. "Yes, you're quite right."

"Hey, it's been fun, but we've gotta go, Futaba," Tsugumi said, shaking Prometheus ΩX's hand.

"I wish we were able to hang out a little longer," Prometheus ΩX grinned. "Thanks for those new hacking tips. They'll come in handy."

"It was truly an honor to fight alongside the SWO and its members," Yakumo stated, speaking for his friends.

"So, you're able to walk again?" Sion asked Ayase.

"Yeah, I'm dead now. My heroic actions have been greatly rewarded. And I can a Void, too. I'm so happy," Ayase answered, lifting her legs without restraint.

"So, that means Shu's eyesight has been restored, too, right?" Asked Tennyo.

"Yeah," Ayase said, pivoting toward Shu, who was already on the verge of tears again and whimpering.

"I also no longer inhabit his mind and body as a spirit since he's dead now," Inori informed them.

As the group watched Shu crying, no tears were shed for the young man. However, Ultimate Madoka was seen floating over to Shu. For a moment, Ayase, Tsugumi, Argo, and Shibungi showed remorse and guilt for cutting ties from Shu. Shu not only cried, but he was seen almost snorting and blubbering like a manchild. Not a single person said anything disparaging and left Shu to cry incessantly.

Inori hovered over to Shu and knelt in front of him. As he looked up at his old love, Shu's eyes became full of tears. She smiled and splayed her arms open for an embrace. Shu immediately hugged Inori and soothed her.

"It's ok, Shu. The others may never forgive you, but I do," Inori smiled, folding an arm around her and caressing his face with her other hand.

Watching Inori openly embrace and forgive Shu, Gai scowled and turned away with a look of utter contempt. Seeing Shu openly forgiven by his lover didn't sit well with him. As he was about to step in and castigate Shu, Ayase stopped him.

"Let him be, Gai. Practice what you preach and move on. It's over," Ayase openly chided her former Funeral Parlor leader.

"Yeah, man. The war is over, Gai. You need to lay off Shu and just move on with your life. I hate all Shu's done to us, but he's been beaten and the Yami Matter is gone. It's kind of pointless to hold grudges when you're dead in the afterlife," Argo reprimanded Gai, who jerked his arm away from Ayase. "Just enjoy eternal peace. We've seen character growth since you died and Shu sacrificed his sight! Ayase has shown us greater leadership than you ever demonstrated, Gai!"

"You'd willingly defend Shu after all the crap he's put us through?!"

"Who said anything about me defending Shu? I'm just telling you to lay off!" Argo chastised Gai, who backed off and turned his back on the group.

"He's right. It's done. Holding grudges is not worth it anymore since we're all going to fade away anytime now," Tsugumi reminded him.

Gritting his teeth, Gai begrudgingly gave Shu the cold shoulder and stormed off.

Suddenly, Yuu appeared in front of Funeral Parlor and addressed them.

"It's time to take our leave now, friends," Yuu informed Ayase and her entourage. "And it's farewell for all of us. Phantom Thieves and Vein Remnants, you have our regards." With that, he started to vanish.

"I do wish our world could be rebooted. Like a fresh new start for us," Tsugumi wondered such a possibility as she and the other Funeral Parlor members started disappearing.

"A fresh new start for us? That sounds comforting," Argo muttered.

"Best be careful what you wish for," Shibungi remarked, cleaning his glasses.

Suddenly, many SWO members appeared, including Sora, the MCU characters, the Justice League, Dragon Ball cast, Sailor Senshi including a Phoenix bonded Sailor Mars, Buffy and her friends, and a host of other crossover characters. Most cheered in unison for the Phantom Thieves, the Vein Remnants, and Ayase. Ayase found herself basking in the glory of leading her SWO to victory.

Hecate ΩX smiled at the Vampire Slayer. "Thanks for helping us out there with the Yami Matter's last form, Buffy. I'll never forget that."

"Anytime. You're all cool in my book and it was fun beating on a three-headed dragon," Buffy addressed the Thieves and the Vein Remnants.

"Great job taking down the true mastermind behind the Yami Matter!" Sora praised the Thieves and the Remnants.

"Yeah, that was a spectacular battle. Good job getting rid of Pandora," Iron Man said.

"You proved yourselves worthy to be heroes," Superman acknowledged the Thieves and Vein Remnants' latest and most important victory.

"We'll always keep you in our memories," Captain America saluted them.

"It was an honor fighting alongside you, Phantom Thieves!" Sailor Moon added happily.

"Pandora seemed like a tough opponent, but y'all come out on top like champs!" Goku raised a thumbs up to the real heroes during the conflict.

"And with the Yami Matter, it's time for us to leave," Ayase announced.

"Time to take our leave, Lord Beerus," Whis said.

"Already? Guess our screentime has now expired," Beerus remarked.

As Ultimate Madoka helped Inori tend to Shu, the cognitive characters started fading away one by one until Funeral Parlor were the last ones left.

"Ayase, it was fun while it lasted, huh?" Sion said as Ayase floated over to him, Tennyo, and Io.

"It was, but you have a marriage to look forward to now. I'm rooting for you two!" Ayase said as she hugged Sion and Tennyo. "Make sure he stays on his best behavior, Hifumi."

Tennyo nodded. "I will. You can count on that."

"And Io, you do the same," Ayase turned to the Persona Vein.

"Of course, I will," Io replied.

Pivoting over to Sion, Ayase lightly jabbed his right shoulder and winked. "See ya, tough guy." With that, she floated off as the other Funeral Parlor members vanished. Then, as Inori, Shu, and Ultimate Madoka were the last ones to vanish, Ayase waved them off and faded away, leaving them memories of their latest adventure.

"And now it's time for me to go," Io announced as she turned and faced her friends. A saddened smile formed on her face.

"No, I wish I didn't have to be this way," Tennyo said, holding Io's hands. "I thought we'd be inseparable. I know it's been over a year, but we've been becoming like a family."

"Yes, and I'll cherish all the memories of the times I've spent with you, Skyler, and all of your friends. But, with your world's time restored and the Yami Matter now ceases to exist, that means my presence here is about to expire.," Io regretfully formed them as tears fell from her eyes. She embraced both Sion and Tennyo. "I've enjoyed all of our times together through the good and roughest of times."

"I'm going to miss you, Io," Sion hugged her.

"I wish there was another way to keep you with us."

"Me, too, but that battle with the Yami Matter Avatar, Pandora, and restoring your world to normal has worn me out. But, in the end, it was the mortal wound Pandora gave me that sealed my fate. My remaining essence will return to the Weeping Tree in the PV-CV-19 dimension, which is my indigenous world."

"Io, we're never going to forget all you've done for us," Satanael ΩX said, acknowledging their bond with the Persona Vein.

"As soon as she goes, so do our Persona's Ascendancy powers," Mercurius ΩX informed the group.

"And so will our Envoys of Vein forms," Engineer stated.

"Guess it was fun while it lasted," Stinger added, shaking her head.

Just then, Io's body started to fade away. Realizing she only had a few moments left, Io faced Sion again and smiled.

"Sion, may I have one last kiss? If that is ok with you, Hifumi?"

"Of course," Tennyo nodded, giving Io room to bid goodbye to him.

"I'll miss you, Io," Sion said, holding Io's hands.

"And I as well, Skyler Jones," Io smiled affectionately as she leaned over and kissed Sion's lips. As their lips locked, she put her arms around his neck as he folded his arms around her waist. As they passionately kissed, Io pulled away and smiled for the last time. "I love you, Skyler."

"Take care, Io," Sion said as Io then kissed Tennyo's lips.

"Take care of our Skyler, Hifumi," the Persona Vein said as her body mostly faded out. "May all of you cherish our memories together. I will never forget you all, Phantom Thieves and Vein Remnants. May your Urban Legends live on with those who believe in you." As her face vanished, tears fell.

Once Io ceased to be, the Phantom Thieves and Vein Remnants' bodies glowed with light. In a blinding flash, the Thieves' not only lost their Persona's Ascendancy forms but were returned to their civilian forms. Likewise, the Revenants were not only returned to their civilian forms, but they became fully human again.

As the group turned the other way, they saw the sun rising far away. Louis got close between Makoto and Haru. Ren and Ann stood side by side, looking forward to seeing their child awaiting them. Looking at the proposal ring on her finger, Hifumi faced Skyler and kissed his lips. The couple then passionately kissed as the sun's light beamed over them.

"So, are you ready for our big day, Togo-Jones Hifumi?" The young man, once a Revenant, asked his soon to be wife.

"I am and let us wed in Io's memory," she lovingly replied as she and Skyler kissed again.

xxxxx

Kanda Church (神田教会)/Chiyoda, Tokyo (千代田区, 東京)/March 12, 2022 (2022年3月12日)/8:32 PM (JST)

This momentum day marked the official wedding of Skyler Jones and Togo Hifumi. Choosing this church through connections with the priest, Hifumi found it the perfect venue for their wedding ceremony. This church was also the same place where Ren first met Hifumi when they were teenagers.

What had happened since the fall of the Yami Matter? The Phantom Thieves and Vein Remnants returned to the Velvet Room to receive congratulations from Igor, Lavenza, and the Japanese spirits. With the Yami Matter removed and Io returning to the Weeping Tree, the Thieves and Vein Remnants' powers ceased to be. They can finally resume normal lives. Ren and Ann can now care for their newborn child without outside threats to worry about.

What did this mean for the Spiritual Gamblers? Although their powers weren't tied to the Metaverse or Io, Yumeko, Mary, Ryōta, Midari, Itsuki, and their friends were called to meet at Meiji Shrine. Nekomata, William, Hide, and the other Japanese spirits summoned them. After receiving praise from Willian and the spirits, the Spiritual Gamblers and their colleagues returned their Guardian Spirits to the spiritual realm. Out of all the Spiritual Gamblers, Yumeko took it the hardest after Nine Tails left her. Mina and Kyosuke returned their Guardian Spirits to the spirit realm. Maria returned to the time stream where she came.

Once all the Guardian Spirits returned, Nekomata, William, and the other honored Japanese spirits bid everyone farewell as they returned to the spirit realm.

As expected, Skyler and Hifumi's wedding was packed with family, friends, and associates. Among those present were Ren, Ann, Makoto, Morgana, Ryuji, Haru, Yusuke, Futaba, Louis, Mia, Yakumo, Jack, Eva, Sojiro, Sae, Kawakami, Takemi, Iwai, Ohya, Chihaya, Yoshida, Mishima, Shiho, Karen, Aurora, Emily, Rin, Coco, Davis, Hifumi's parents, Hojo, Shinya, Nicola, Reiko, Li-Ming, Miyako, Yumeko, Mary, Ryōta, Midari, Itsuki, Terano, the other Hyakkaou students, Mina, and Kyosuke.

In the audience, Ren & Ann and Jack & Eva are with their children respectively. Louis, Makoto, and Haru are also seen together. Ryuji & Miyako, Sae & Hojo, Futaba & Yusuke, Mia & Shiho, Yakumo & Emily, Shinya & Reiko, and Nicola & Li-Ming are seen sitting next to each other. Watching Shinya and Reiko leaning against each other, Nicola and Li-Ming held hands.

As he opened her wedding veil, Skyler faced the woman set to be his wedded wife. After putting on their marriage rings, they leaned forward and locked lips, officially tying the knot and eliciting cheers from their loved ones.

xxxxx

Standing outside of the church, Skyler and Hifumi walked out with everyone cheering them on. As Hifumi turned and tossed her flower bouquet, several of the women reached for it. Ultimately, it fell into Futaba's clutches, much to the shock of the other single women. When Futaba turned and showed Yusuke the flowers, he wasn't sure what to think.

Before taking their leave, Ren & Ann and Louis, Makoto & Haru wished Skyler and Hifumi a safe wedding trip.

Before stepping into a limousine, Skyler and Hifumi exchanged affectionate smiles.

"Do you think Io watched our wedding, Skyler?"

Smiling, Skyler replied resolutely. "I have no doubt she did. Io will always look out for us." With that, he grasped the hand of his wedded wife and kissed her.

xxxxx

"Kanius had a profound influence on my life and on a lot of lives I know. But I have a feeling that he considers a great part of his own life misspent. Rumor had it he was always working on this debut novel of his. And this was going to make him famous, rich, probably both. But Kanius isn't rich and he isn't famous, at least not outside of our little town. So it might be easy for him to think himself a failure. But he would be wrong, because I think that he's achieved a success far beyond riches and fame. Look around you. There is not a life in this room that you have not touched, and each of us is a better person because of you. We are your story Kanius. We are the characters and the experiences of your opus. We are the tales of your life."

-Based on the quote from Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)

xxxxx

Chapter Soundtrack

Thomas Bergersen - One Million Voices - vs. the Yami Matter's Avatar (The First Evil)'s forms (Meruem, Master Xehanort, ZeedMillenniummon, Gilgamesh, Sailor Galaxia, and Ouma Mana). vs. the Yami King: Ouma Shu. Shu, Gai, and Ayase's sacrifices to destroy Mana's wyvern meteor and help defeat Mana/YM Avatar.
Final Fantasy IV The After Years - Mysterious Girl Theme HD iOS/Android Version - The most shocking reveal of the Yami Matter's true mastermind: Pandora.
Final Fantasy IV The After Years IOS OST - True Moon- Another song of Pandora's revelations of her involvement in the story.
Final Fantasy IV The After Years IOS OST - The Depths - Another song of Pandora's revelations of her involvement in the story.
Persona OST - Transitory Butterfly - vs. Pandora.
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years - Mysterious Girl Battle Theme HD iOS- Another song of vs. Pandora.
Persona OST (PSP) OST - Pandora (Last Battle) - Final moments leading to the Urban Legends defeating Pandora and sealing her in her own Pandora's Box.
The Final Fight [Long Version] by Robert Duncan (Buffy Score 7x22 Chosen) - Buffy becomes Ethereal Buffy bestowed from the powers of hope. Ethereal Buffy vs. Yami Ghidorah in the final phase, the final symbolic battle of the idealistic and classic good vs. evil. The Yami Matters are wiped out of existence. The aftermath of the final battle.
Hiroyuki Sawano - All in All - The farewells and reflections of the crossover characters. The Guilty Crown cast's discussion of imagining a retelling universe in giving better treatment, alongside Shu showing guilt of his controversial actions from his anime to being the Yami King in making him hated.
Hiroyuki Sawano - From Sunset to Sunrise (Taiyou no Uta OST) - The last song of the story.

xxxxx

A/N: And that's a wrap of the Persona Vein/Urban Legends saga. Two days before my birthday, too!

After helping co-write some parts of PV with Allfather-Ford, I've completed the sequel for his initial work. It was a good and interesting two and a half year run with this 'rough draft' project.

Now with Urban Legends behind me, I can revise this whole story while it gets incorporated into Akane no Mai, the final version of PV/UL. If you're still interested to read a better version of PV/UL, then hop on over and give Akane no Mai a look. As of this post, nearly all of Persona Vein has been adapted and revised with new content, including Persona 5 Royal characters and story. Code Vein and Nioh lore are also largely expanded on.

Now, let's get to the content of this chapter. Now, I've been aware of the concerns with Guilty Crown sudden inclusion in this final arc (even to the point of shoehorning over the main P5 and CV cast), that it seems their inclusion is unearned. I've elaborated this with someone and told him GC's inclusion is based on Allfather-Ford's changing outline. They were originally intended to be minor characters just like the other crossover characters (namely only Shu and Gai getting battles against Sion and Jack), but a fanmade GC mobile game changed things and inspired Ford to include the GC characters in the Final Yami Matter Event. And I know some were not thrilled with Shu revealed as the 'final boss' of the UL. I can safely say, I don't disagree with you. As I was writing Shu/The Yami King and GC, their scenes became a chore to write. Shu as the Yami King is not a bad idea for an antagonist, but I learned firsthand he's not final villain material.

Thankfully, there's the Yami Matter Avatars to fall back on, but I also realized avatars weren't going to be enough. I decided on a mastermind behind the Yami Matter's activities. Not just that, but I went back to the roots of Persona, getting away from the Code Vein, Nioh, Kakegurui, and the latest crossover madness. I delved far back to the original Persona and incorporated the first ever Persona final boss.

Yes, I've pulled an Apocalymon (or a Capcom with their final bosses) and revealed the mastermind behind pulling the Yami Matter strings: Pandora of Persona 1… or at least an aspect of that final boss since the bulk of her returned to Persona 1's lead girl, Sonomura Maki. This ensures the Yami Matter is still a force of nature but has someone manipulating Shu, Mido, Kriemhild, etc. with Pandora's 'voice'. This is my response to some who are disappointed with 'Shu' revealed as the Final Boss and returns the story to its Persona roots before GC took over.

This Pandora has a slightly modified new form from her Persona 1 look and gains the physical features of our heroes (Hifumi's likeness and the Revenant mask/Blood Veils to tribute the Persona x Code Vein crossover). Her construct, Anesidora, takes on the composite traits and abilities of the previous Persona final bosses, building the ultimate Persona boss. Anesidora is even the alternate name for Pandora. I certainly hope she makes up for Shu/the Yami King.

Originally, this chapter was going to be longer with the other Thieves and Revenants fighting the other Yami Matter Avatars and Yami Ghidorah/The First Evil. The wedding scene was even supposed to be full of character dialogue and interactions. Instead, due to time and hardships juggling this & Akane no Mai (and personal reasons), these sections were summarized. While the focus of the conflicts would be Mana, the Yami King, and Pandora.

Through the writing process, this chapter proved more difficult than Chapter 29, which was largely affected due to health issues that caused a week delay. My normal writing production for an average UL chapter is a week, but these last few chapters took much longer to finish due to their epics lengths. However, the entire writing cross for UL has given me time to reflect on my developments, growth, and experiences as a writer while treating this story as an early draft for a novel. It has allowed me develop practical official writing skills. Now that I'm 36 it's getting to the point I'll have to make more practical use of my writing than sticking with long term fanfic projects. Which is why I've scaled back on any plans I might've had for stories and applying those concepts for original novel writing. As of this writing, I'm well past halfway through my first novel draft. With UL done, I can resume the production of my debut novel.

Yeah, after UL, I've decided and already told my collaborator, Allfather-Ford, I'm done writing epic long chapters of this magnitude for a long time. I stopped sharing enthusiasm for these few chapters once the health issues took effect, a gradual burnout from writing more long chapters, and including the shoehorned Guilty Crown characters into the narrative. That said, it wasn't entirely a production hell. I was able to get these done and I got to experiment with adding Pandora to the narrative.

With Urban Legends done, I can announce the next pseudo-novel/fanfic project. Coming Fall 2021: Akane no Guilty Crown. A reboot of Guilty Crown collaboration between Allfather-Ford and myself for its 10th anniversary. It will have no continuity with UL and Akane no Mai. Though, there may be some Persona 5 elements in there. At the least, GC will be self-contained here and not shoehorned into another universe (whether real or as cognitions). For those interested, that'll be something to look forward to and gives me time to focus on my first novel draft. If everything goes right, it'll be what'll be what replaces Shin-YuYuGiDigiMoon after that one finishes. Things could change though depending on my mood and how far into development my novel goes.

Speaking of experimenting, I went through a slight depression after test screening a segment of the Wulf-Edda story to one of Allfather-Ford's friends. Let's see this person gave a fair but harsh criticism of the piece, reminding me of the 'show don't tell' narrative, which I use but not as often as I should. Whatever I can get away with in fanfics, I can't do when I'm writing an actual novel. I'll need to keep this in mind as I delve into professional novel writing. I've had another colleague, a long time friend and former fanfic beta-writer named LazerWulf, view bits of the Wulf-Edda backstory. Sadly, he didn't read much of it, because he cited being burned out on writing and reading fanfics, which had nothing to do with my content. I can now relate to how tiring writing fanfics can be. He has for a while taking a hiatus from fanfic-related activities, which I see myself doing once my novel writing route takes off. I'm willing to let go of my fanfic pride if I want to become fully invested as a novel writer. That said, LazerWulf has wished me luck in my endeavors.

I've also had another test screener with the Crimson one-shot crossover (UL Ch. 12). Let's say I incurred the ire of one reviewer who checked out the crossover and viewed Crimson as the 'ideal better perfect AU Persona story' than the actual Persona 5 story, including Royal. Even though the general audiences including myself consider Persona 5/Royal to have a great story (but not perfect) and gameplay, this individual doesn't think so. Now, I didn't even know about this review until months later, since it technically wasn't posted for Urban Legends in either FFdotNet and AO3. I had to look up the review through the Crimson fanfic on AO3. But, that's neither here nor there. I was a little miffed Allfather-Ford didn't tell me about it sooner, but he told me he didn't want negative remarks to kill my motivation to write. Needless to say, the reviewer left unsavory things about how the one-shot was presented and how I characterized Crimson!Ann. Despite one critical review and a negative one, the majority of my reviews have been wholly positive and that's just for this rough draft version of Akane no Mai. Certain aspects will be layered and improved on in Akane no Mai.

I know it's natural to let a handful of overly critical/scathing/angry reviews to bring down one's spirits. That's what it did to me when I learned of that recent Crimson one-shot crossover reviewer. At that time, I was working on Akane no Mai and it put me off writing for a few days. But, I managed to bounce back after getting over my funk. I think the lesson is no matter how good one's story is coupled with great character developments/interactions, you can't please everyone. You'll have your critical and harsh reviewers (who aren't wholly bad), but you'll get your trolls and jerks who have maligned intentions. I'm not calling these two critics of mine malignant individuals.

I've had writing experiences outside fanfics and my recent novel progress. I have taken creative writing classes during and after college life. I still have a few of my creative writing projects. I've gotten mixed feedback. Some have enjoyed what I've written. Others were pretty 'critical' with my works, citing being 'anime-like', too long, and at one point my creative writing instructor often cited giving my characters more 'unique voices' (i.e. dialogue, accents and word choices) so they can stand out more. Somehow, I let my fanfic side take over and run wild, so I've had to adjust and revise my creative writing papers. Now, several years since then, I'm having to let go of my fanfic writing tendencies while I'm writing my first novel draft. I plan to take these criticisms to heart and apply them to my novel.

Creatively, before Urban Legends was conceptualized, I had no chance of exploring new things outside of YuYuGiDigiMoon and Digimon Fusion Kai. That's when the bug of writing a professional novel struck me in 2017. Before, I had considered writing a book, but personal hurdles got in the way and creative differences involving the production of my previous fanfics dampened my enthusiasm for writing a novel. It finally took Allfather-Ford to convince me to try an official work. That's when I decided enough was enough and it was time to step out of my comfort zone. It was time for a creative change. And as of this writing, I'm halfway through my first novel draft.

I feel like I need to remove myself from this underground fandom so I'm not stuck in the same rut. After 15+ years of fanfic writing, with some breaks in between, and it's time for some kind of change. I've seen many fic writers come and go, and occasionally a few have returned. I'd be ok with occasional returns, but not long term tenures. That change is my transition to professional novel writing. I'd like to see some kind of acceptance after writing stories that people can enjoy. Somehow this could relate to Shu feeling ostracized from the other heroes (except the whole bits of him whining like a bitch and becoming a Darth-styled edgelord, because I'm not that low). Other people in my life have seen their lives and careers grow (forming families and working at jobs they enjoy), though not everyone in my life has been that fortunate (one person who will go unnamed threw everything away including a college scholarship in favor of drugs and now he's gone off the deep end these days). I fall somewhere between the middle where I'm fortunate to live with a family who can support me, but I just need that extra push to find my dream career & role in society. Sadly, I've had some regrets (including missing out on my high school reunion but I'll be honest when I say I was never too invested in those events), but I hope to make up for the lost time.

Shu's crying also symbolizes a character Allfather-Ford created in my Cross Generations fanfic (specifically Chapter 29) about letting out anguish of wanting to be accepted. As much as I'd developed friendships through my fanfics (and many of those friendships are still with me today), but I also don't get enough appreciation from others who have reached out and given me ideas to use for my stories. I felt like I was writing for someone else's vision and not my own, which has put me off accepting ideas to utilize in my fics. I also hate to say this, but Allfather-Ford does go overboard with his outlines and having me write so many epic-length stories that it has gotten tiring now. Which is why after this chapter, there's going to be less limit breaking chapters. Out of anyone who's pushed my writing limits, it's been Allfather-Ford and at one point LazerWulf. For better and for worse, I've seen what works and what doesn't while further honing my practical writing skills. I cannot for the life of me continue writing lengthy fics like this for the rest of my time.

That said, I feel like I'm evolving as a person. Fortunately, I'm not like those people who refuse to change their ways for the better or fall into obscurity. I want to believe me transitioning from full-time fanfic writing will do me good and open a door to a new path. I have all the experiences in creative and fanfic writing to take the chance to write the stories I want with my own characters. I've crafted many OCs in my writing life, and out of those, I'm revamping and utilizing the ones I've been most fond of. Here is what I said to Allfather-Ford about crafting my own world: ('...there are times I'd like to take the many OCs I have and place them in their own unique universe separated from fanfic verses like YYGDM (YuYuGiDigiMoon and DFK (Digimon Fusion Kai). That way I can build upon those characters; while retaining and altering any personalities/backgrounds as I see fit. Ex. the West Coasters would probably be the first ones to build upon since they're the closest to original characters not related to anything from the canon representatives in YYGDM. Likewise for the Chimeras and Valkyries. The Kuipers would have to be changed to their own type of magical girl instead of (remaining Sailor) Senshi. I think my fanfics have at least given the characters exposure. Now I wonder how they'd fare in their own world.)

My long term wish is to continue creating without suffering horrible ailments that have affected people close to me. I've had to deal with a family member (my mother) having dealt with breast cancer and another (my stepfather) surviving a heart attack. There was a fanfic/content creator I knew of but never had the chance to talk to. In regards to this person, I said this in my Cross Generations Chapter 29 A/N: "I wished I had gotten to know DMajorBoss before his untimely passing in 2013. Cancer is a disease I wish never existed. I've had to personally witness my mother overcome breast cancer. Now, I learn a couple of weeks ago a friend (who is also) a fitness trainer I know was diagnosed with an advanced form of breast cancer. I'm no stranger to people who've endured, faced, and survived certain diseases. In regards to DMajorBoss, I regret never taking time out of my busy schedule to talk with him. One day, maybe I'll get that chance when my time comes."

In regards to continuing Allfather-Ford's story after Persona Vein, I was happy to continue to further hone my practical writing skills. Here's my response paraphrased from UL Chapter 18: "I've already scanned over your Ch. 18 UL review and sense the sincerity from your words. I got the sense you don't want to feel ostracized after writing PV. With UL halfway over, you realize it was time to revamp everything to present a professional novelization based on what we've written for PV and UL. The writing, editing, and revising process will help prep me while I'm writing my first professional novel. I feel good things will come with starting over refreshed for AnM. We have another chance to revise a 'draft' that we never would've done with any YYGDM story. I'll have a second go with these characters and create personal stories for them I didn't get a chance to with UL. While I didn't cry, I feel for you. I can tell you're ready to move on from YYGDM and other fanfic related things. I can understand being done with writing for the same story for a long time. UL has been a refreshing course for me. AnM will now be twice that."

If I had never taken the opportunity to write this story with Allfather-Ford, I often wondered where I'd be now. I wonder where I'd be if I was stuck writing stories like YuYuGIDigiMoon without any new directions. Here's an excerpt I've reflected on: "I can only imagine this 'what-if' scenario. A lot of things would be different. CG (Cross Generations) would not exist as it is in its current form. No Cornerverse means no chance to explore other fandoms and characters outside YYGDM (YuYuGiDigiMoon) and DFK (Digimon Fusion Kai). DFK would end a lot sooner with CG possibly being some kind of (Dragon Ball)GT/Super hybrid with no dimension crossing arcs. With DFK done sooner, I'd still be stuck writing YYGDM like it was some long running shonen story. And possibly no chance to expand and take a risk like writing an official novel.)" If not for some changes in my writing life, I'd be writing the same fanfic stories without any chance of expanding my horizons and not getting my foot into the door of professional writing.

Allfather-Ford even asked me this question: 'Are you lucky to have me involved in helping our future in the long run?' Well, I have two answers for that: Yes, because you've helped divert me staying in my comfort zone and take chances in writing stories for other franchises and given me a platform to improve my practical and creative writing skills. You've also become a friend and a collaborator who I can depend on as a source. However, at the same time, writing epic length chapters for every story we've worked on can be tiresome, and incorporating last minute elements like Guilty Crown in a story (UL) with no prior ties to it can be problematic. That said, for the last 10 years we've known each other, I'm glad to have you in my circle of friends and collaborators. 10 years. How quickly time has gone by for us, Allfather-Ford.

As I'm writing this, we're still in the middle of a pandemic that has fallen out of control in parts of the world (don't get me started with the United States) and protests have ramped up to the tenth degree. And as of this writing, the US Election is coming in a week. 2020 has been a shit year in the world. We've sadly lost inspiring artists and good people. Yet another life has been claimed by cancer (Chadwick Boseman). One of my good friends' mother's friend was lost to cancer. One of my biggest hopes is a miracle cure that gets rid of malignant diseases like cancer and heart disease. That is why we must look out for one another and each other. With how I've written the Yami Matter, it represents the negative side of life, which is the real big bad. As we get older, we will be faced with greater hardships and that's made me reconsider anymore long term fanfic writing outside Akane no Mai, Akane no Guilty Crown, and Shin-YuYuGiDigiMoon, but the latter two are OVA-style stories that will be half summarized and AnM is a pseudo-novel to further my practical writing skills and exploring newer concepts that may influence my novels. My hope is when my first novel gets published, it'll bring joy and comfort to those looking to escape from whatever woes life throws at you. The more we can do is stay positive (which is near impossible, I know), but don't give up.

As someone who's lived through the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, I've experienced things in my life and watched media that have shaped me into the kind of person I am. Entering the 2020s, I'm ready for a much cleaner slate creativity wise. I still intend to create because I am a content creator. I don't intend to sugarcoat my statements starting with this long A/N. I already made no problems with how stressing and tiring these past few UL chapters have been (which again was largely due to some health issues and my lack of motivation to write more epic long chapters and inserting the GC characters in the narrative).

These next few months will give me some time to reflect on how I'm going to save up to hire an artist to do the cover art for my first novel and the marketing (and avoiding scammers who might try to profit off my official work). But, the important thing to do first is complete that damned first draft. With UL done, I can relieve myself from fanfic writing for the rest of 2020.

Bottom line, my days of long term fanfic writing are winding down. I'll even quote what I said in another fic of mine: "I don't want to be burdened with YYGDM forever. I also don't want this to run too long like The Simpsons, One Piece, Naruto/Boruto, and the ilk already have."

And that my friends is it. Consider this the last long-running fanfic I've written that's not a pseudo-novel project (AnM, AnGC, and Shin-YYGDM are meant to help my practical writing skills for my first novel and others going forward) for a long while. Will I return to do another long term fanfic? Maybe, but only to finish the stories I've yet completed.

With that all said, that's all for this ride my friends. If you want to see the improved version of this story and Persona Vein, have a look at Akane no Mai. Book I, which adapts Persona Vein, is almost done and AnM will adapt Urban Legends into Books II and III. AnM Book II will be out in 2021. Trust me when I say AnM Post-Book I will be largely different (and retaining many aspects and developments UL offered and incorporating Royal & Scramble characters) from what you've read in Urban Legends.

Until we meet again, take my, my readers.