And that ruler was most likely her.
The thought of Ren casually peering into her memories made Wendy feel like ants were crawling all over her skin. She felt uncomfortable from head to toe, and her long-numb toes tried desperately to curl and grip the floor.
But in the end, there was nothing she could do.
Wendy could only sit and watch from her wheelchair as Ren, guided by Hare's senses, collected the remaining two Will Seeds in the Herrscher of Wind's Palace and fused all three into a single, pure Will Seed Crystal.
"So this is the Will Seed Crystal of Greed."
Examining the Greed Will Seed Crystal in his hand, which looked as if it were coalesced from teal wind, a satisfied smile curved Ren's lips as he slipped it into his pocket.
Wrath, Sloth, Envy, Melancholy, Pride, and now, the newly acquired Greed.
Of the Seven Deadly Sins, Ren had now collected six.
Perhaps he could even collect some of the sins that had been removed from the official list throughout history to maximize the power of his ultimate skill.
But if he could just collect one more sin, even if he hadn't awakened his ultimate Persona, Satanael, he might be able to try using that final skill—Sinful Shell.
"Wh-what are you talking about?! The Sin of Greed? I'm a Schicksal Valkyrie! I've never committed any wrongdoing out of greed!!"
Wendy was already feeling embarrassed and uneasy knowing Ren had peeked into her memories. But when she heard him name her Will Seed Crystal the "Will Seed of Greed," she instantly became flustered and indignant.
Her honor as a Schicksal Valkyrie was on the line. Despite her fear of Ren and these mysterious Phantom Thieves, Wendy finally mustered the courage to voice her rebuttal.
"Isn't it true? I've already seen the memories buried within these three Will Seeds. You weren't satisfied after becoming a Schicksal Valkyrie, so you climbed your way to the position of an A-rank Valkyrie. If you had stopped there, the drive from your greed would have only brought you benefits."
Ren fixed his gaze on Wendy in her wheelchair. Wendy's eyes immediately darted away, subconsciously avoiding his. She stared intently at the ground by her feet, her hands clasped tightly in her lap, her whole body hunched over slightly.
Facing Ren, who had peered into the memories of her Will Seeds, Wendy felt as if his gaze could see through all her disguises, piercing straight to every thought that flashed through her mind.
Bathed in Ren's line of sight, Wendy felt an intense sense of shame and fear, as if she were standing completely naked.
"However, you weren't satisfied with that. Even though you could have become one of Schicksal's top S-rank Valkyries just by following the original path, you chose to take a shortcut. You had the Treasure, the Gem of Desire, implanted into your body. But the result was far from ideal. Not only did you fail to gain a leap in power, but you also lost your original strength and even your basic ability to move."
"Stop it..."
Under Bronya's worried gaze from behind, Wendy bent forward, lowering her small head, and pleaded with Ren in a weak, powerless voice to stop.
Wendy was a Schicksal Valkyrie.
She had chosen to undergo the surgery to implant the Gem of Desire to uphold her belief in fighting for all that is good in the world... That being said, this didn't conflict with the faint hope in her heart that she could grasp the Gem of Desire's power and ascend to greatness in a single leap.
"After losing your original power and status, you became nothing more than a container for the Treasure. Schicksal stopped treating you like a human. Forget about a luxurious exoskeleton like Bronya's; the wheelchair they gave you is the most basic model, without even an automatic movement function. They showed no respect for your dignity as a human being."
Ren extended a hand toward the increasingly pale Wendy, his tone not softening in the slightest, but becoming even more aggressive.
"Even so, you have no intention of removing the Gem of Desire from your body. You still greedily covet the Herrscher power within the gem, dreaming of soaring to the heavens... It's not too late. Hand over the Treasure, and you will surely be able to stand on your own two feet again. Trust in our methods. Even if the Gem goes out of control, we can handle it without telling your superiors everything. You just need to sit back and reap the benefits."
"Joker, don't you think you're being a little too harsh on Wendy..."
Even after only a short time, Bronya could sense the softness and gentleness in Wendy's heart. Even if she did harbor greedy thoughts, it was only natural for a human.
Bronya wanted to plead for Wendy, to ask Ren to soften his words, but before she could finish, Seele gently tugged on the corner of her clothes and gave her a slight shake of the head.
Bronya pursed her cherry lips. Her expression was a bit lost, but in the end, she decided to trust Ren and Seele, keeping her mouth shut and remaining silent.
"No, I can't give you the Gem of Desire. It belongs to Schicksal. I'm just holding it for safekeeping. Unless you get permission from Schicksal and find a better way to contain it..."
Wendy shook her lowered head forcefully, her voice hoarse. Even with no ability to fight and with the Palace's Valkyrie Shadows completely helpless against Ren's team, she refused to hand over the Gem of Desire in her body.
"You're just being defensive. You still dream of mastering the Gem's power. You don't want to lose its power, but you also want to be able to stand again. Isn't that your Sin of Greed?"
Wendy hugged her thin, frail body, looking pitiable, as if she would break at any moment. But Ren showed no sign of letting up, continuing his cold, mercilessly sharp words.
"No, that's not right, I don't think that... The person you're talking about, that's not me at all!!!"
With a final, hysterical roar, the string of her sanity finally snapped. Wendy lifted her hands to clutch her head, her voice cracking as she screamed her denial.
As Wendy roared, a violent, teal wind erupted around her. The raging gale forced Bronya, who was standing behind the wheelchair, to retreat.
Under Bronya's terrified gaze, Wendy's dark-and-light green hair whipped wildly in the storm. As her pale, ferocious face slowly lifted, her teal eyes, once filled with fear and timidity, were replaced by golden pupils brimming with arrogance and madness.
"This is... Wendy's Shadow?!"
The golden-eyed Wendy, a twisted smile on her face, rose from her wheelchair into the air, carried by the teal wind. Bronya's pupils trembled.
She immediately put a safe distance between herself and Wendy, finally understanding why Ren had been uncharacteristically aggressive.
"So Wendy's real consciousness and her Shadow consciousness share the same body... I never would have thought. No wonder you were deliberately provoking her, Joker. You were trying to force out the Shadow consciousness hidden inside her."
Bronya had once heard from Seele the story of her first encounter with Ren. In Seele's Palace, Seele and Shadow Seele were two separate individuals.
Because of this, Bronya had subconsciously applied that experience to the current situation, mistakenly believing that besides Wendy herself, there was another Shadow Wendy, the true Palace Ruler, hiding somewhere.
She never imagined that Wendy's situation was completely different, and that Shadow Wendy's consciousness had awakened directly within Wendy's own body.
"Hmph, we've finally reached the familiar and easy part. Everyone, get ready to fight again!"
Having baited Wendy into uttering the forbidden phrase, Ren looked at Shadow Wendy with her now-golden eyes and let out a sigh of relief. The situation had finally developed into a domain he was familiar with. The rest would be much easier.
He wasn't afraid of Shadow Wendy being powerful; he was afraid of her staying hidden and refusing to show herself.
"Insignificant human, don't think you can get away unscathed after spouting all that nonsense at me!!"
Enveloped in the teal wind, Shadow Wendy revealed her true form. She had a white scarf around her neck and wore a white dress with a black sash and a green pinwheel decoration at her waist. Large, teal wings of wind spread out behind her.
Her slender, pale feet stood upon the storm itself, with only her thin thighs wrapped in white bandages.
A wild, arrogant smirk graced Shadow Wendy's lips. She stood in the eye of the teal storm, looking down on Ren from above, already contemplating what cruel method she would use to kill him.
"She has mastered the power of the Herrscher of Wind. A direct confrontation isn't ideal. In times like these, we should use the power of Schariac... Call my name, Joker! Grant me greater power!"
The teal tornadoes, like a natural disaster, churned and spun, tearing the base's blast doors and walls to shreds. Rocks and steel mixed into the teal storms, adding another layer of destructive power to the terrifying gales.
The howling wind affected the breathing and movements of Raiden Mei and Bronya.
Even with their Personas summoned, Kurikara and Veliona would have a hard time reaching Shadow Wendy, who was manipulating the wind, her soul intermingled with the storm in the sky.
Faced with this predicament, Hare remained calm and composed. She didn't summon her Persona to attack Shadow Wendy. Instead, she returned to the sky above Ren's head, spread her arms wide, and called out to him.
"Then I'm counting on you! Persona—Hare!!"
Ren ripped the white crow mask from his face as a red World Arcana card floated down from above.
Hare's body, floating in the sky, was instantly engulfed in azure flames. With the infusion of Ren's power, the flames turned a deep, spectral red, and her white and purple battlesuit was completely dyed in Ren's signature crimson.
"Take this, Wendy! Have a taste of the Schariac Holy Blood!!"
Since reversing the poison in her body into Holy Blood, this was the first time Hare had used its power against an enemy. The previous foes were just small fry, not worthy of such a powerful weapon.
Only a Herrscher like Shadow Wendy was worthy of experiencing the taste of the Schariac Holy Blood, renowned as the 'Herrscher Killer'.
A fingertip gently brushed across a pure white wrist. Drops of eerie, bright red blood welled up, shimmering like rubies. Wisps of blood coalesced into red lines, then, under Hare's will, formed the shape of an arrow.
A slender, pale finger waved forward, pointing at Shadow Wendy in the teal storm. The arrow formed from the Schariac Holy Blood shot out at incredible speed, as swift and powerful as if it could cross space itself.
"Hmph, a mere arrow. You think you can keep up with the speed of the divine wind?!"
Looking at the unassuming, crimson blood arrow rocketing toward her, a scornful smile appeared on Shadow Wendy's face.
With a beat of her teal wings, she deftly weaved through the storms, sending the tornadoes she had created to converge and sweep down upon Ren and his team.
"————What?!"
Shadow Wendy dodged the blood arrow's path. The crimson light shot into the teal tornadoes she had summoned.
The Honkai energy that constructed and sustained the swirling storms was instantly disintegrated and erased by the Schariac Holy Blood.
The terrifying tornado collapsed in the next second, dissolving into harmless currents of air. The debris and steel caught within it clattered to the ground.
The Schariac Holy Blood arrow, fired by Hare and Ren together, had not lost its target. After passing through the now-dissipated storm, the blood arrow carved a nimble and strange arc through the air, striking the wide-eyed and incredulous Shadow Wendy directly in the chest.