Nobody likes it when responsibility of others is thrust upon you.
It was the same for Pranav.
....
The shadow, lurching down on the ground started moving again
"What!?, it should have disappeared by now!" Yukari said as she aimed at the shadow
"Take this!" A shot went off straight into the shadow's "Face"
It caught it, and snapped it into two
"What?!" Junpei spoke
"Persona!" Yuki acted, without wasting a moment he cast Agi.
It singed the shadow, but it healed just as fast.
The burned hands peeled away, blackened fingers crumbling into dust—only for new ones to push through, wet and writhing. The violet glow beneath its surface pulsed harder now, uneven, like a heart beating out of rhythm.
"…You've gotta be kidding me," Junpei muttered, tightening his grip on the bat.
The Shadow let out a sound.
Not a scream.
A grinding, like hundreds of palms rubbing together, echoing through the street. The air thickened, pressure bearing down on them as the creature leaned forward, its mass shifting unnaturally.
Yukari took a step back. "Makoto… this thing's not reacting right."
Makoto didn't answer immediately. His eyes were locked onto the Shadow, jaw set. He raised the Evoker again—
The Shadow slammed its hands into the ground.
The impact sent a shockwave rippling outward. Yukari lost her footing, skidding back hard. Junpei barely stayed upright, bracing himself against a streetlight.
Pranav felt it hit him last.
Not the force.
The weight.
His chest tightened sharply, breath hitching as something unseen pressed inward, like invisible hands grasping his heart.
"Ghh—!"
He stumbled, catching himself on a parked car, vision blurring. Images flashed unbidden behind his eyes—
Arguments left unresolved.Cruel words excused away.Violence blamed on circumstance.
None of it his.
"Hey—!" Junpei shouted. "Why's it going for him?!"
The Shadow turned fully now.
Every hand twisted toward Pranav.
Yukari fired again. The arrow struck its side, blowing apart a cluster of hands—but the Shadow didn't even flinch. The damage sealed over instantly, the violet glow flaring brighter in response.
"…It's ignoring us," Yukari whispered.
Makoto fired Agi again.
The flames hit harder this time, forcing the Shadow back a step—but the fire bled away unnaturally, siphoned into that pulsing glow. The Shadow straightened, larger now, heavier, as if each attack fed it something instead of taking it away.
Pranav dropped to one knee.
Time itself stopped.
"किं त्वं ते उपरगच्छितं उत्तरदायित्वं स्वीकरिष्यसि?"
(Will you accept the responsibility thrust unto you?)
"किं भवान् सत्यानर्थं संग्रामं करिष्यति?"
(Will you fight for the truth?)
"W-What!?"
"सहायं कुरु ते स्वीकर्तुं यत् तेषां विकल्पेषु परिणामाः भवन्ति"
(Help them accept, that their choices have consequences)
"ते उत्तरदायित्वं वहिष्यन्ति!"
(And they will be held accountable!)
Pranav's breath hitched.
The world around him was frozen—Yukari mid-draw, Junpei half-shouting, Makoto's fire suspended in the air like a dying star. The green moon loomed above, unmoving, its light stripped of warmth.
Only the voice remained.
Not thunderous.Not gentle.
Certain.
"I—I didn't ask for this!" Pranav snapped, the words tearing out of him. "Why me?! Why should I carry their weight?!"
For the first time, the presence shifted.
Not closer.
Clearer.
Fire—disciplined, bound—coiled into form before him. Six gazes regarded him, not judging, not comforting. Simply seeing.
"अयं भारः न तव दोषः," the voice said.(This burden is not your sin.)
"Then why does it hurt?!" Pranav shouted, clutching his chest as the weight pressed down harder. "Why does it feel like it's tearing me apart?!"
"यतः त्वं पश्यसि," came the answer.(Because you see.)
Images surged forward—people turning away from consequences, blaming fate, gods, devils, society. Shadows swelling not from emotion, but from denial.
The voice did not soften.
"सत्यम् ज्ञात्वा अपि, किं त्वं पृष्ठं दर्शयिष्यसि?"(Knowing the truth, will you turn away?)
Pranav trembled.
"No," he whispered.
The fire flared—not violently, but steadily.
"तर्हि न युद्धाय," the voice continued.(Then not for battle.)
The Shadow outside screamed.
Cracks tore through its form as the violet corruption convulsed violently, mist ripping free, spiraling upward like something being exorcised—not destroyed.
"न विनाशाय,"(Not for destruction.)
Pranav's hands clenched.
"Then what?!" he demanded.
"न्यायाय."(For Justice.)
The fire surged into Pranav's chest—not consuming him, but anchoring itself there.The weight didn't vanish.
It settled.
"PERSONA!"
The word tore itself out of him.
The air around Pranav ignited.
Not an explosion—a convergence.
"Skanda!"
The name rang out like a vow.
The fire behind Pranav surged forward, not exploding, not flaring wildly—but passing through the lunging Shadow like a controlled tide. The violet glow screamed as it was torn away, unraveling in streaks of sickly light that dissolved into the air.
The Shadow crashed to the ground.
For a moment—nothing moved.
Junpei let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Whoa, dude—!"
The Shadow roared.
It pushed itself upright again, hands slamming into the asphalt as if sheer force of will dragged it back together. Its form was smaller now, rougher, the glow gone—but its movements were more violent, more desperate.
It was no longer sustained.
It was lashing out.
"It's still moving?!" Yukari shouted, drawing another arrow. "What is this thing made of?!"
Makoto stepped forward, Evoker raised—but hesitated.
"Why isn't it gone?" Pranav muttered, panic creeping into his voice. "I—I took it away, didn't I?"
"Pranav, focus."Makoto's hand landed firmly on his shoulder, grounding. Solid. Real. "You did. That means it can be finished."
"Yeah, uhh—"
Pranav swallowed, steadying his breath. The weight in his chest shifted—not heavier, not lighter—aligned. The fire behind him responded, tightening, condensing, no longer a presence looming overhead but one flowing through him.
"Gry!"
The word left his mouth instinctively.
The air screamed.
Not with heat.With pressure.
A surge of force tore forward from Pranav's position, invisible at first—then reality itself warped as the blast struck. The Shadow didn't burn. It didn't freeze. It didn't resist.
It simply broke.
Its remaining hands shattered mid-motion, disintegrating into nothing as the Almighty force ripped through its core. There was no scream this time. No regeneration. No glow to fall back on.
Just erasure.
The Shadow collapsed inward, folding into itself like paper crushed by an unseen fist—and vanished.
Silence slammed down hard.
Junpei stared at the empty street, jaw hanging open. "…Okay. I officially hate today."