Free Web NovelChapter 262: Li Sushang: Why is your Eminence so ridiculously mastered?!
"So this... is Fu Hua’s actual Persona?"
Kiana’s eyes widened slightly as she watched the spectacle unfold.
Previously, Fu Hua had openly admitted she didn’t possess a genuine Persona. She had merely used her ancient MANTIS sensory abilities and the power of Fenghuang Down to simulate the illusion of one.
But now, having laid her soul bare to the Phantom Thieves, there was no longer any need for her to waste energy maintaining a fake construct.
Which meant...
"An actual Persona, awakened entirely through your own strength," Ren said, staring at the majestic, gold-and-crimson divine bird hovering behind her.
He took in her new thief attire—a stunning, gold-and-crimson cheongsam that looked like a literal phoenix reborn from the ashes.
A satisfied smile played on his lips, and he gave her an appreciative nod. "Not bad, Fu Hua."
Although the physical appearance of Garuda looked identical to the phantom she had previously simulated, Ren could feel a fundamental, tectonic shift in its nature.
The presence of the actual Persona in this cognitive space exuded an incomparably real, unstoppable, and domineering aura.
"Remarkable. As expected of the legendary Celestial Jingwei, to think you could achieve something of this caliber," Hare murmured, momentarily pausing her barrage of javelins against the crater. She couldn’t help but marvel at Fu Hua’s sudden awakening.
As a natural-born Stigmata entity, no one on this battlefield understood the mechanics of Stigmata better than Hare—not even Seele’s dark half. Thanks to her unique ability to read structural information, Hare was the only one who truly understood what Fu Hua had just done.
Just as Kevin Kaslana’s MANTIS awakening had birthed the Kaslana Stigmata Space...
Fu Hua, possessing the Garuda genes, naturally had her own private Stigmata Space carved into a hidden corner of the Imaginary Space.
Typically, a Stigmata’s conceptual resonance provided almost zero tangible benefits to a MANTIS’s physical body.
But Ren’s philosophy of rebellion had inspired Fu Hua to take a wildly different approach.
Using the consciousness of Fenghuang Down as a bridge, she had successfully pulled her own Stigmata’s core concept directly into the cognitive plane, manifesting it as the Persona Garuda to fight alongside her.
Instead of forcibly channeling the Stigma’s volatile energy into her own physical body, she had outsourced the taxing manipulation of Fenghuang Down to her Persona.
With this shift, Fu Hua’s combat efficiency in the Metaverse hadn’t just increased—it had effectively doubled.
"I have severed my inner shackles and conquered my own shadow," Fu Hua declared, her voice ringing with absolute clarity. "Next... is purifying this shadow born of my past within Li Sushang’s heart!"
The mental branding of the SWARA operated differently depending on the host’s psychological state. Now that Fu Hua’s heart was no longer shackled by her ancient guilt, the grip of the SWARA had completely withered.
With her mind fully clear and her Blade Mantra restored, Fu Hua had conquered the shadow of the SWARA in her own soul, becoming a true Persona User.
She would never again fall into that manic, unhinged state of slaying all who deviate.
SWOOSH!
Fu Hua vanished.
A streak of gold-and-crimson light flashed across the ruined estate like lightning.
Mei only felt a sharp gust of wind whip past her cheek before Fu Hua materialized directly in front of the crimson-eyed Cognitive Fu Hua.
Dropping into a flawless martial stance, she threw a punch that carried the weight of a collapsing mountain!
BOOM!
Mirage-like, distorting flames coiled around Fu Hua’s right fist. Though they looked like mere illusions, they carried a terrifying, bone-crushing kinetic force.
The heavy blow collided squarely with Cognitive Fu Hua’s blocking arm—and generated a result that was the exact opposite of their previous clash.
With a sickening CRACK, Cognitive Fu Hua’s slender elbow joint buckled and shattered under the sheer, monstrous pressure.
Like a cannonball fired from a mortar, the cognitive construct was blasted backward, her gray-and-cyan robes fluttering as she crashed brutally into the deepest, most chaotic pile of rubble in the Memory Sword Villa.
"...She summoned one of those ’Purse-owner’ demon beasts too, but Grandmaster isn’t even using it to fight!" Sushang stammered, her jaw practically on the floor. "She’s still just obliterating her opponent with her bare fists!"
Even with all the explanations, Sushang’s simple, archaic brain still couldn’t grasp the underlying science.
She only understood that after Grandmaster Jingwei got a fancy new outfit and summoned her flaming bird beast, she had suddenly gained the power to completely dominate the battlefield.
"Must be nice... Must be really, really nice. Just shouting ’Purse-owner’ and summoning a giant flaming bird doubles your physical strength? As Grandmaster’s grand-disciple, maybe I have the talent to summon a giant demon bird to help me fight too!"
Deep within her subconscious, Sushang began aggressively fantasizing about summoning her own giant phoenix beast to go on a chivalrous, bandit-clearing rampage across the land.
"Is the true Persona Garuda also a perception and support type?" Ren asked, stepping up to Fu Hua as she calmly retracted her fist.
Just standing beside her, he could feel a phantom, undulating wave of heat. It wasn’t a physical temperature rise, but a cognitive oscillation between reality and illusion. This new, versatile application of sensory disruption was clearly one of her Persona’s awakened traits.
Personas were born of the heart. Since Ren had previously mentioned the Phantom Thieves were sorely lacking a pure support and sensory specialist—and had explicitly offered her that very role—it made perfect sense that her Persona would manifest to fill that exact void.
Furthermore, the fact that Fu Hua hadn’t ordered Garuda to launch a direct elemental attack, choosing instead to handle the physical offense herself, practically confirmed his theory.
"Yes," Fu Hua nodded, her crimson eyes meeting Ren’s before she subtly looked away, focusing on the rubble where her counterpart was buried.
"While I have awakened my Persona, my own physical capabilities still far surpass its direct offensive output. Garuda does not possess high-lethal offensive skills. At most, it can manipulate an enemy’s consciousness or temporarily erase specific thought patterns."
"Rather than destroying the enemy, my Persona is vastly more suited to supporting and empowering the team."
At her command, the Persona Garuda spread its gold-and-crimson wings. A dense shower of glowing, flame-like red feathers drifted down from the sky, gently merging into the bodies of Ren, Mei, and the other Phantom Thieves.
"Incredible... These feathers feel like they’re instantly burning away all the chaotic noise in my head," Seele gasped, her hand tightening around the grip of her scythe. Her lovely face flushed with excitement. "My focus has never been this sharp. I feel like my body is overflowing with power!"
It wasn’t that Seele was deliberately slacking off or letting her mind wander in battle. Her gentle, naturally insecure personality simply made her prone to constant, anxious thoughts about making a mistake and dragging Ren down.
But under the baptism of Garuda’s Cleansing Flame Feathers, her fragile, easily shaken psyche was instantly stabilized. All her anxiety and hesitation evaporated, leaving her mind as tranquil and focused as a mirror, perfectly attuned to the flow of battle.
"It does far more than just cleanse the mind and boost our physical output," Rita murmured, gently closing her eyes.
Even with her physical sight shut off, the entire battlefield remained rendered in perfect, high-definition detail within her mind, exposing every hidden corner and blind spot.
"Miss Fu Hua’s Persona has seamlessly linked our minds, projecting her sensory radar directly into our consciousness."
This wide-area, multi-dimensional perspective provided by Garuda undoubtedly elevated the coordination between Rita, Ren, and the rest of the Phantom Thieves to a terrifying level of synchronicity.
"Outstanding work, Fu Hua. Now, let’s put an end to this fake version of you," Ren praised, not holding back his approval.
Having bypassed his standard Jizo Mitama enhancements for this fight, he could clearly feel the massive physical multiplier Garuda’s support buff provided.
Ren raised his hand. Using the Void Archives, he simulated the black-and-gold tachi, Jizo Mitama, instantly activating the Honkai beast’s corruption authority. freewёbnoνel.com
A dense, golden haze of toxic miasma cloaked his body, instantly skyrocketing his stats to an entirely different dimension.
However, Ren felt a slight pang of disappointment. Garuda’s stat-boosting effect was vastly inferior to the absolute authority of the divine Key of Corruption.
The moment the simulated Jizo Mitama was activated, its overwhelming aura completely overrode and replaced Garuda’s buff, failing to stack.
But Ren had anticipated this limitation, so he didn’t dwell on it. The fact that Fu Hua had awakened a genuine, top-tier support and perception Persona was already an absolute jackpot for the Phantom Thieves.
"Persona... Come, Raoul!"
Under Sushang’s completely bewildered gaze, the towering, chain-draped minotaur Asterius dissolved into a burst of blue flames. In its place emerged Raoul, clad in a sharp red coat, wearing a white-trimmed top hat, and spreading his massive, golden-black mechanical bat wings.
Calling forth his personal ultimate Persona, Ren was clearly preparing to wrap up this battle cleanly and efficiently.
RUMBLE!
A violent shockwave of kinetic energy blasted the collapsed building debris into the sky.
The gray-and-cyan-robed Cognitive Fu Hua rose unsteadily from the dust. Her shattered, twisted elbow joint had already snapped back into its correct position through her terrifying, inhuman regeneration, and the severe wounds covering her body were rapidly knitting shut.
A chaotic, distorted stream of ancient, garbled syllables spilled from her lips.
Sensing a massive, black-hole-like convergence of Honkai energy rapidly swirling toward her, Ren and Fu Hua’s eyes narrowed in unison.
"Oh no! That fake Grandmaster is going to cast the Eminence! We have to stop her, fast!!"
Sushang, who had been standing on the sidelines looking completely lost, finally panicked. She frantically raised the Xuanyuan Sword with both hands, desperately trying to disrupt Cognitive Fu Hua’s casting process.
In her eyes, the Eminence was an absolute, world-ending strike. If that attack was successfully unleashed, the sheer, formless sword qi would vaporize everything in its path.
The warm-hearted Sushang absolutely refused to let her new friends die before her eyes.
Against the formless, conceptual sword qi of the Eminence, the only viable counter was to cast an identical Eminence to neutralize it.
Otherwise, one could only brace for the impact, take the hit raw, and pray to whatever gods were listening that they survived with a pulse.
"No, she’s too fast!"
Sushang formed a frantic sword seal, cold sweat drenching her forehead. Although she was desperately trying to manifest her own Eminence, Cognitive Fu Hua had evidently begun channeling the strike while she was still buried under the rubble.
Sushang’s mastery over the technique was still immature. Having lost the initiative, her attempt to condense the sword qi was agonizingly slow.
A pitch-black, razor-sharp divine bird of sword qi materialized, its formless wings slicing through the air. Cognitive Fu Hua’s Eminence had fully formed.
Kurikara’s torrent of red lightning and the silver-blue crescent ice slashes from Silver Moon crashed directly into the black sword-bird, only to pass through it as if striking a reflection in the water. The physical and elemental attacks failed to hinder or delay the sword qi’s manifestation in the slightest.
Veliona and Hare rushed Cognitive Fu Hua’s physical body, their scythes and javelins piercing her flesh almost simultaneously. Yet, even as her body was impaled, the cognitive construct didn’t falter for a single millisecond.
"Dammit! The fake Grandmaster’s Eminence is fully cast!!"
Sushang’s face went completely pale.
The reason Cognitive Fu Hua could cast the Eminence was because Sushang—the Ruler of this Palace—possessed the skill herself.
But Cognitive Fu Hua was a mindless, conceptual construct. Her absolute lack of distractions or human doubt allowed her to achieve a level of mental focus that far eclipsed Sushang’s, who was currently suffering from massive culture shock.
The cognitive shadow’s strike was faster, and therefore infinitely stronger.
The ink-black divine bird spread its wings, unleashing a metallic, sword-like shriek that shattered the heavens. Enveloped in an unstoppable, crushing momentum, Cognitive Fu Hua’s ultimate attack roared down toward the Phantom Thieves.
"Don’t panic," Ren’s calm voice echoed over the roaring wind. "Panicking won’t change the outcome."
He looked at the oncoming apocalypse.
"The Eminence is indeed a terrifying, peerless strike... but on this battlefield, she isn’t the only one who knows how to cast it."
Compared to the frantic Sushang, Bronya, Mei, and the rest of the Phantom Thieves looked completely unfazed. They merely stood back, calmly watching the black, formless sword-bird descend.
"EMINENCE of Taixu!!!"
Ren and Fu Hua’s voices rang out in perfect, synchronized unison.
The Persona Raoul swept his arm forward. A massive, obsidian-and-crimson falcon spread its mechanical wings, rising from the earth like a colossal divine sword.
Beside it, a majestic, flowing bird of pure crimson fire soared into the sky.
No longer relying on Fenghuang Down to burn away her memories to simulate the strike, Fu Hua had cast the Eminence purely through the strength of her own, awakened heart.
The sheer, liberating rush of the execution made her soul soar.
The twin birds of crimson and black soared upward, their identical, formless energies fusing together under the combined wills of their masters.
The resulting fused sword qi erupted into a catastrophic, reality-warping tempest of absolute destruction.
Faced with this dual-cast, fully synchronized ultimate attack, Cognitive Fu Hua’s ink-black sword-bird didn’t stand a ghost of a chance. It was instantly, effortlessly torn to shreds, dissolving into harmless black mist.
The twin sword-birds of the Phantom Thieves swept across the sky, completely dominating the horizon.
With an absolute, crushing finality, the fused energy descended upon the crater, effortlessly erasing the frozen, helpless figure of Cognitive Fu Hua from existence.
CLATTER.
The golden Xuanyuan Sword slipped from Sushang’s fingers, clattering uselessly onto the dirt.
Sushang’s jaw hung wide open, her face frozen in a look of absolute, soul-crushing shock.
Staring at the pristine, cloudless blue sky that had just been cleared of all enemies, her brain completely locked up, entering a state of total system failure.
Grandmaster Jingwei was the creator of the Edge of Taixu. Her possessing a peerless, god-like mastery over the Eminence was a basic law of physics.
But Young Master Zhou Ke? He looked barely a year or two older than her—or, at least, the version of her before she went to sleep five hundred years ago.
Yet his mastery over the Eminence was so incredibly flawless, so utterly polished, that it didn’t just leave her in the dust... it was practically on par with her own legendary, once-in-a-millennium genius of a Master, Cheng Lingshuang!
If Ren’s attack hadn’t been heavily styled with his own signature crimson-and-black aesthetic, Sushang would have honestly assumed her Master had secretly possessed him to cast the spell.
