As a Palace close to the deepest part of the Mementos, the Elysian Realm was an excellent leveling ground for Ren, one of the few places where he could still feel himself growing.
Before he had finished exploring all the areas of the Elysian Realm Palace, and while it could still significantly contribute to his growth, Ren naturally did not want to use such a cheap shortcut to cause the Palace to collapse.
"Of course, no problem. After all, I live in this Palace too, and I don't want it to be destroyed so easily. As long as you follow my instructions, the operation to delete the data concept of 'Mobius' won't have much of an impact on the Elysian Realm."
Mobius lazily brushed back a strand of her emerald green hair that had fallen to her shoulder and responded to Ren in a nonchalant tone.
Upon hearing the conversation between Ren and Mobius, Fairy Ely, who had been hanging her head as if disconnected, instantly looked up at the two who were still talking.
"Now that we've discussed the cooperation, it's time to talk about the payment, right? What do you... or rather, what does Vill-V want you to get from me?"
Mobius propped up her chin with one hand, stood on her tiptoes, and steered the conversation to the most crucial part.
To hire a mysterious and powerful Phantom Thief like Ren, Mobius knew she would have to pay an extraordinary price.
And since Ren had come looking for her, it must be because she possessed something he desperately wanted, which was why Vill-V had told him about her existence when he had previously known nothing about her.
Considering Vill-V's twisted sense of humor, and recalling the inhuman level of harassment she had subjected Vill-V to in order to get information about Ren, Mobius's quick-witted mind instantly came to a conclusion that gave her a bad feeling.
"What I want is simple, Mobius... Give me the Will Seed of Sin born from the distortion of your heart."
Ren extended his hand towards Mobius and made his request without a hint of hesitation.
"...The Will Seed of Sin born from the distortion of my heart? Heh, that's a rather amusing way of putting it. If you want it, come and get it yourself. You should know how, right?"
Mobius did not know what a Will Seed of Sin was, but at the mention of her heart's distortion, a dangerous smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she spoke to Ren in an ambiguous manner.
Since she didn't even know what a Will Seed of Sin was, she naturally didn't know how to satisfy Ren's request, so she could only tell him to take the payment for the commission himself.
"There are three parts to the Will Seed. You just need to take out one of them as a deposit for the commission, and I will start carrying out my promise to you."
A single Will Seed, not yet fused into a complete crystal, was practically a meaningless stone. It was perfect for a deposit.
While making his request to Mobius, Ren was also trying to verify the accuracy of Vill-V's claim.
Although he could sense the scent of obsession born from a distorted heart on the girl in the Elysian Realm Palace, he still held a wait-and-see attitude about whether someone who was not a Palace Ruler could produce a proper Will Seed of Sin.
"Eh, my dear Mr. Phantom Thief, I've already told you to come and get it yourself if you want it... But I am a little curious. What kind of sin do you think the Will Seed born from my heart would be?"
Mobius seemed to have genuinely become curious about this strange object she had never seen before. What kind of wondrous effect did this mysterious Will Seed, whose existence she hadn't even been aware of, possess that it could attract a powerful Phantom Thief like Joker to hunt for it?
"Without a doubt, the sin you have committed is Gluttony."
Ren did not hesitate for a single moment and directly stated his judgment on the type of sin derived from Mobius's heart's distortion.
The sin of Gluttony, on the surface, was just about overeating, but it actually referred to an intense desire that consumed reason and moderation, a strong obsession that caused sensory desires to become uncontrollable and led to excessive indulgence and fixation.
Ren could feel that, although Mobius had not said it, deleting the concept of Mobius in the Elysian Realm Palace was only the first step in realizing her true desire.
She was already deeply trapped in the eternal vortex constructed by that true desire, and every second of the rest of her life would be spent working towards that goal.
It was just that, due to his short contact with Mobius, Ren had not yet been able to determine what her true desire was.
"To say that I've committed the sin of Gluttony, what an interesting way of putting it... But perhaps you're not wrong."
Mobius tapped her pink lips with her index finger. Although she was displeased with Ren's claim of her psychological distortion, she did not deny that she was a being who had committed sins and was stained by them.
"If you still insist on me taking the Will Seed myself, then I won't be polite... If I accidentally eliminate you completely, I'll just have to find another Mobius."
Mobius's stubborn insistence on him taking the Will Seed of Sin himself made Ren sense that something was wrong.
A few guesses formed in his mind. Perhaps it wasn't that Mobius didn't want to take out her Will Seed and give it to him as a deposit, but that she simply couldn't do it on her own.
In that case, there was only one thing Ren could do.
The pistol, gleaming with a faint cerulean light, was slowly raised. With a soft click, it was pointed precisely at his own temple.
"So in the end, we still can't escape a battle, can we? That Vill-V, I knew it would come to this..."
Mobius muttered under her breath, gritting her teeth. At the same time, a sense of futile helplessness washed over her.
She had long suspected that Vill-V wouldn't be so kind as to just hand over the Ren she was so eager to meet. It seemed that Vill-V's intention was to sic Ren on her for a good thrashing.
As a scientist, Mobius did not possess the same immense power as her comrades.
Although she was actually ranked tenth among the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, it was only because she liked the Roman numeral X, which represented the unknown. Her true strength, when fully unleashed, was greater than her rank suggested... But no matter how strong she was, she couldn't possibly be stronger than Kalpas, who had transformed himself into his current loli form from head to toe!
And Ren's last battle record in the Elysian Realm was a near-crushing victory over Kalpas, who was in his Active Honkai Reaction form and had been fighting with all his might!!
How was she supposed to fight that? There was no way she could win!!
"You don't necessarily have to take the Will Seed of Sin from me, you know? Do you know why that little one over there is so reluctant for the Elysian Realm to be destroyed? It's because her creator is the master of this Elysian Realm Palace, a ridiculously vain, stupid woman... Instead of dealing with me first, why don't we take down her master behind the scenes together?"
Mobius made a last-ditch effort. To avoid this unnecessary battle, she even tried to divert the trouble, pointing at the figure of Fairy Ely, who had been floating on the side and watching quietly, trying to change Ren's hunting target to Elysia.
According to Ren's analogy of the Elysian Realm as a Palace, and excluding the existence of administrator-type Flame-Chasers like Vill-V, Elysia was undoubtedly the true master of this magnificent Palace. She was the very meaning of the Elysian Realm's existence.
If she had committed the sin of Gluttony, then in Mobius's eyes, Elysia must have also committed the sin of Vanity, and could also be a target for the Phantom Thief Joker!
Elysia was like a social butterfly and the group's pet among the Flame-Chasers. If she succeeded in diverting the trouble to Elysia, then Vill-V would most likely come out and stop Ren. In that case, both she and Elysia could escape this ordeal and avoid a battle with this overly powerful visitor.
"I see. So the theme of this Elysian Realm Palace is Vanity? What a fitting desire."
Upon hearing Mobius's introduction, made to avoid a battle, Ren's eyes instantly lit up, and a sense of excitement and thrill welled up within him.
To complete the Sinful Shell, he had to collect seven different Will Seeds of Sin.
And so far, he had already collected Wrath, Sloth, Envy, Melancholy, Pride, and Greed. He only needed one more to complete the final piece of the Sinful Shell.
Ren had thought that the final piece would be the sin of Gluttony, provided by Mobius, as recommended by Vill-V.
However, just before the battle with Mobius, she had presented him with a new, very tempting option.
Not just the sin of Gluttony, but the sin of Vanity could also be the final cornerstone to complete the Sinful Shell.
"What are you talking about, Mobius? My creator is not a vain person! She is a cute girl who is beautiful and kind, pure and generous, inside and out!!"
Faced with Mobius's personally charged accusation, Fairy Ely puffed out her chest righteously and began to clarify and defend her creator.
And bathed in the gazes of both Fairy Ely and Mobius, Ren, who held the final say in the matter, licked his slightly dry lips, a joyful and excited smile on his face.
"It's fine. I'll just collect both sins. Let's start with you, Mobius!"
Faced with the choice between Gluttony and Vanity, Ren decided to take them all.
A Sinful Shell formed from eight original sins would naturally be more powerful than one formed from seven. Why should he discard one of them?
Once he had explored enough of the Elysian Realm Palace, and it could no longer contribute to his growth, he would go and face Fairy Ely's creator, steal the Palace Ruler's Will Seed of Vanity, and correct the existence of this Elysian Realm Palace.
"Come, Persona—Kaslana!!"
Ren pulled the trigger first. The bullet fired from the Key of the Void shattered space. As the dream-like, cerulean spatial fragments fell like snow, a bone-chilling wind that seemed to be able to cut through souls suddenly rushed forth.
A figure in a black-and-blue form-fitting combat suit appeared above Ren. The white-haired man slowly turned his head, his ice-blue eyes casting a calm and indifferent gaze.
"..."
Looking at the familiar figure summoned by Ren, the delicate and cute face of Mobius twisted into an expression of extreme sourness, as if she had just eaten a whole lemon.
Bro, what the hell did you just summon?!
Mobius's hands began to tremble uncontrollably. The Persona that had answered Ren's call was, no matter how she looked at it, the leader of their Thirteen Flame-Chasers, Kevin, whose combat power was on a completely different level!!
His appearance, his eyes, and the power fluctuations emanating from him were all 100% similar to Kevin's.
Although trapped in the Elysian Realm, Mobius was not completely ignorant of the events in the Current Era.
She knew, for example, that Kevin had once roamed the world under the name Kaslana.
Ah, me fighting Kevin? Are you serious...
Fairy Ely's eyes also went blank. She silently distanced herself from Mobius, retreating behind Raiden Mei and peeking out cautiously to watch the battle, which was now a foregone conclusion.
A look of tragic resolve appeared on Mobius's face. She took a deep breath, and a turbid, bile-like emerald light erupted.
Bathed in the tide of green lightning, Mobius's slender and small body began to twist and expand. In an instant, she transformed into a massive, emerald-black giant serpent shadow with a golden crown on its head.