After a long delay by Chidori's interrogation , the members of SEES were finally back in Tartarus . The twins had received news that further progression into higher floors of Tartarus was unlocked and now they could advance into higher floors of Tartarus . It should have been intimidating , but they had mostly figured out the tricks of the shadows at that time , and they mastered the method to dealing with the F.O.Es as well as every other contrived mechanic in Tartarus .
As they were mowing down another group of shadows , a hand shaped shadow crawled its way onto the switch in an attempt to trap them , but Shinjiro threw his axe at it and killed it instantly .
" Adios , asshole ! " he said victoriously
" Aragaki senpai !!! " Minako suddenly interrupted with an angry frown on her face " mind your language ! "
" wh—what ? What does that mean ?! " he glared back , but found himself unable to refuse her command with how surprisingly intense and intimidating her anger seemed
" you're probably the oldest member in SEES , so you need to set a good example for others ! How am I supposed to tell Ken here to watch his tongue when you're cussing with every victory or casualty ! "
" Minako-san " Fuuka interfered " I'm sorry to interrupt , but Minato-san and his team are at the stairs to the final floor of this block "
" oh , we'll catch up ! " Minako nodded happily , before turning to both Shinjiro and Ken and sternly saying " and no swearing !"
The two teams entered the last floor of that block . It was vast , and filled to the brim with F.O.Es , the teams estimated roughly around 17 statues of F.O.Es were there , and the stairs were on the other side of the room far away .
" STOP !!! " Fuuka suddenly screamed " IT'S DANGEROUS ! PLEASE RETREAT !!! "
From above , seemingly out of nowhere , a shadow fell before them . It almost fell on the twins , but Aigis and Shinjiro pulled them out of the way in time . The shadow was shaped like a table , with its legs wriggling as if they were made if paper , and its bright white texture . Above it , there was a sword , a shield , a hammer and a staff all floating randomly. The members of SEES were not immediately on edge as they had encountered similar shadows in lower floors , but when the shadow jumped back away from them , the twins immediately noticed how agile it was .
" Fuuka ! " Minako called " what's going on ? What's that shadow ? "
" please , run ! You can't defeat it ! "
The shadow's staff waved in the air , and then the ground below them began crumbling , before the path ahead and back were both blocked . It seemed the shadow managed to trigger the switch that locks them without being there , and that alone made the twins feel anxious about the situation .
" Fuuka , the shadow trapped us in here ! " Minato called " I don't know why you think we can't defeat it , but I don't think we have a choice right now , so can you scan him for us ? "
" well , I was sensing an enormous power from it , a power that was only surpassed by the Reaper ! It's can easily dodge your physical attacks , but it also nullifies any and all magical attacks ! It's also capable of casting many powerful spells , some of which I had no idea were even possible ! "
The shadow's wand waved in the air again , and just then all the F.O.Es in the room awakened . The team was no surrounded , and in the worst situation possible . Not only were they pitted against a shadow that seemingly is comparable to the Reaper in strength , but they also had a threateningly large amount of F.O.Es . It was death no matter where you look .
" gotta be kidding me ! " Junpei yelled
" we're trapped ?! " Yukari cried
" the threat level is extremely high " Aigis brandished her weapons " our chances of survival are in the red zone "
" Minato ... " Minako whispered in a trembling voice , it took everything she had to keep her composure " this is ... this is the part where you come up with a plan ... please tell me ... that you have a plan ... "
" we're used to fighting F.O.Es from how many traps we've triggered so far " Minato was quick to come up with a plan on the spot " our concern is the new shadow . Since it's only affected by physical attacks , Aigis , Shinjiro , Minako , Junpei and me would focus our attacks on him , the rest of the team would hold off the F.O.Es . When your done , fight alongside us ! "
That plan was far from reassuring , and did little to drive away the sense of dread that had taken over them . However , they all knew that was what it meant to be fighting in the Dark Hour , as they had been in similar situations before . It was literally a do or die situation , and losing was not an option . And so Ken and Koromaru set out to defeat the F.O.Es with the support of Mitsuru's status effects , Yukari's healing and Akihiko weakening the F.O.Es . Meanwhile , Minato led the rest to fight the new shadow .
" Cu Chulain ! " Minato called his best physical persona
" Kingu ! " Minako followed
" Castor ! "
" Hermes ! "
" initiating summoning sequence ! "
However , to their shock , the shadow nimble dodged each and every single one of their attacks . The recoil of their attacks left them wide open for the shadow to attack next , the wand waved around in the air , before a huge ball of energy slammed to the ground , erupting in a huge explosion that threw them all away .
" it ... it can cast Magidoloan ?! " Junpei was shaken to see that
" Titania ! " Minako called a Persona to heal her team
" Samael ! " Minato followed by reducing the shadow's speed " let's attack it again ! "
However , the shadow managed to dodge them yet again , the drop in speed was nowhere near enough for them to actually strike it . Minako called Titania again to raise their accuracy a little . Then Aigis followed by calling Paladion and charging at the shadow , as it nimbly dodged the attack , Shinjiro followed with his Persona . This time , he finally managed to strike the shadow . For a second they thought they were taking the upper hand , but they were shocked to see the shadow had blocked it with the shield . Minato gave the shadow little time to recover , and called Cu Chulain to finish it off . To their shock , the shadow forged a a reflexive barrier that bounced the attack back at Minato .
" Minato ! " Minako rushed to her brother's side
" I'm fine ... so this what Fuuka meant by spells she had never seen before ... "
Minato struggled to stand , but then his eyes opened wide with anxiety . He hastily pushed Minako away , and when she looked back up again , she saw her brother was struck by an upward slash from an F.O.E
" MINATO !!! " Minako screamed as tears began gushing from her eyes with despair
" pull it together ! " Shinijiro pulled her to his side and blocked another F.O.E with his axe " what's happening on the F.O.E's side ?! "
" They're overwhelming us ! " Yukari screamed from her end
" okay ... " Minako called " Lao ! "
The arena was engulfed in darkness , and most of the F.O.Es were defeated . However , just as she did , the shadow casted Hamaon on her , instantly knocking her out . Yukari hurriedly rushed to her side to heal her , while Ken went to heal their leader .
" what're you doing ?! " Minato yelled at Ken as soon as he recovered " finish the other F.O.Es ! I can wait , they won't ! "
" r—right , let me just ... aah ! " Ken suddenly exclaimed as he looked back at the F.O.Es , they were coming out of the floor as if it was some kind of platform elevator that was bringing them all to this one room " their coming back ?! "
" it's the main shadow ! " Fuuka gasped " I don't know how , but he seemed to have figured out how to manipulate the block to his advantage ! If you don't defeat it , they'd be no end to the F.O.Es ! "
" damn ! " Minato cursed " how's Minako ?! "
" I just healed her " Yukari said , and besides her was an exhausted and scared Minako
" good , Yukari should go back to supporting the fight against the F.O.Es ! Minako , follow me , if this plan works , and it has to work , we'll defeat this shadow in one shot . First , heal the team ! "
" r—right " Minako nervously nodded " Titania ! "
However , to Minako's shock and disbelief , nothing happened . Titania didn't appear to heal the team , and Minako found herself looking at her evoker with confusion , then at the whole situation around her with fear .
" what's wrong , hurry up ! " Minato interrupted her chain of though , apparently he didn't notice her failing to call Titania
" I'm ... I'm working on it ! Titania " Minako tried again , this time , she managed to call a Persona and healed the team
" good , now follow me " Minato instructed the team " if we coordinate our attacks , we should find an opening ! When we do , me and Minako will attack with all our might ! "
" okay ! "
First , Minato reduced the enemy's speed , following by Minako increasing her team's accuracy . Then Aigis attacked the shadow with Paladion , which he dodged again . Shinjiro followed with Castor , and was blocked by a shield just like last time . As Minato pointed the evoker at his head , the shadow's staff waved in the air , casting a reflexive barrier . However , Minato deliberately missed with his attack , before yelling at Aigis " the weakest physical attack you can deal , now ! "
" I comprehend " Aigis attacked the shadow , and her bullet was reflected back at her
" now , Minako ! "
" Y—yes ! Scarlet Havoc ! " Minako called both Siegfried and Ares , as saw blades slashed at the shadow from all directions
" Shadow Hound ! " Minato called Cu Chulain and Scathach , dealing massive strike damages to the shadow .
Just when they thought they had the shadow , the staff waved before them , and the shadow was engulfed in light . Fuuka screamed that the shadow fully healed itself . They were back at square one . Even worse , it took everything within Minako and Minato just to deal that attack , and it was the best attack they could deal to it , and it still wasn't enough . The situation was made worse by the fact that the entire team was at its wits end , they had been fighting F.O.Es for much longer than they were used to , and the whole battle was taking its toll on them very quickly . It seemed they were really powerless against this enemy , and that their end was drawing nearer by the second .
The shadow casted another Magidoloan at the Persona users . The twins tried to call Personas to protect the team , and each of them calling Odin and Valkyrie . However , that was only enough to nullify the blast off of one person , so only the twins survived the attack unscathed while everyone else was knocked down .
Driven solely by desperation and fear , the twins pointed the evoker at their heads and fired . They called two extremely powerful Personas , which the members of SEES had only seen once and that was when they were hypnotized . It was Helel and Lucifer .
" ARMAGEDDON !!! " both of them screamed as if in pain
The blast was so massive it wiped every shadow in the room , and even left a huge hole in the middle of it . It seemed that attack was too powerful , even for the twins who casted it , as they both collapsed on the ground . The other members rushed to their side to check up on them , and in response the twins said they were fine and struggled to stand up . Nevertheless , that attack was so powerful , that the other members were not convinced the twins were in shape to continue anymore . However , Fuuka told them the gate to the next block lied ahead . In the end , they agreed to go there and see if they could find any clue , and then go back to the dorm .At the gate to the upcoming block , they found a VHC tape on the floor .
" whatever's in here better be worth it ! " Junpei groaned
Later that night , the members of SEES returned to the dorm and decided to watch the tape on the TV in the lounge . Minato placed the VHC in the recorder and they began watching . In the screen , a woman appeared dressed in a white coat , and judging by the appearance she seemed to be a scientist . Behind her , the twins recognized the many F.O.E statues . It was the same room they fought the shadow in .
" my name is Yuno Nishimiya , I am a scientist in the project known as Sanctuary.017 . We are currently studying the behavior of shadows under the lead of our head researcher ... " the video glitched and statics appeared for a second , before the woman appeared again " this video is to be sent to our head researcher , as a warning of the potential of shadows . Sir , we are concerned that the shadows are growing rapidly in strength and intelligence . We keep building barriers for our research project , the Persona users , to reduce casualties as much as possible during our research . However , the shadows keep outsmarting us and finding ways to break or bypass the locks we're placing . For the time being , the research team decided to organize an unprecedented number of F.O.Es in this room , as the rooms ahead are notorious for powerful shadows escaping their prison to attack unprepared Persona users . This is the last safe place known . The trap in this place is impossible to trigger , so it's only meant to intimidate Persona users from progressing . However , this solution will not be effective for long , and urge you to find a solution . I only pray that you were right about Eichiro Takeba being delusional and that we're not falling into the trap he tried to warn us of . Not matter what , we'll always do our best toward a new future filled with peace and serenity ... salvation shall be ours "
The woman noticed something off camera as she reached out to stop the video , then the video glitched out . When the display was back again , the members of SEES were horrified , as before the the video displayed bloodied corpses of scientists lying before the screen . One of them stood up and crawled toward the screen . It was the same scientist who was speaking a second ago , she was bleeding excessively and there was blood coming out of her mouth . She clutched the camera and wept in front of it . The video glitched one last time , before ending .
" what ... what was that ... ? " Ken stuttered as tears began streaming from his eyes
" horrible ... " Minako , Fuuka and Yukari wept " that was ... inhuman ! "
The SEES remained speechless as they stared at the static image . It seemed that everything they encountered so far was still nothing comparing to what was ahead , and that powerful shadow that almost killed all of them was only a glimpse of what was ahead .
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A question : how many of you felt a shiver run down your spine as you read the title of this part ? Sleeping table , I'm sure many of us had an experience with it . Game-wise , if you have Titania , or a powerful Saki Mitama along with a party member that can cast a powerful heal spell for the party ( Mediarama ) then you should be fine against his most devastating attack , a Magidola.
Of course , it's not that easy here ... when was it ever easier here than in the game ? This is all to make this as exciting as a wall of texts can be , so did you enjoy it ? Were you on the edge of your seats ? I hope so , because there will be more insanely difficult battles ahead .
If you enjoyed this part , please consider voting for it . Also remember comment who you want Minato to fall in love with , and I'll see you all in the next part . Stay safe .
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Hey ..... I don't know if Wattpad uploaded this or not .... It has comments on it , but it shows in my list as offline . These situations make me so confused and frustrated , and I hope I'm not causing an confusion on your end . I just ... I don't know ... Are you reading this ? If so , that's good , if it suddenly disappeared or maybe wasn't there in the first place , then please excuse the ... Uh ... Technical glitches .... Sigh ... Please tell me you're reading this ...
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The debate is closed , read the part about the results to find out who won