Honkai Impact 3rd, But I'm Ren Amamiya!

Thanks to the enhanced physical attributes granted within Mementos, Ren’s reaction speed was pushed to its peak.

After just a few test shots earlier, Ren, now wielding the Mosin-Nagant twin pistols in actual combat, was already performing on par with a trained soldier. He effortlessly unloaded all fourteen bullets into the massive frame of the Shadow Huodou.

The bullets, roaring from the Mosin-Nagant barrels, struck the Huodou before it could dodge, successfully tearing off tufts of its golden-red mane. The intense pain from the bullet wounds clearly sent the already ferocious Huodou into an even more berserk state.

With a terrifying roar that shook the clouds, the Huodou unleashed a crude blast of intense heat from its throat, followed by a violent, thick pillar of crimson flame aimed directly at Ren, who had provoked it.

"Too slow, way too slow!"

Ren easily read the Huodou’s attack trajectory. Clad in his black Phantom Suit, he moved like a nimble raven skimming the ground, calmly and elegantly evading the furious pillar of fire.

As he gracefully leaped aside to dodge the flame attack, Ren’s red-gloved hand had already subtly reached for the white bird-like mask on his face.

"—Persona!"

Ren ripped the white mask from his face and flung it towards the Huodou.

The white mask spun through the air like a boomerang before dissolving into deep blue ethereal flames. Instantly, the surging blue fire coalesced, reforming into the figure of Persona Arsene – clad in a blood-red suit, wearing a black top hat, and sporting massive black wings.

"Go, Arsene! Use Cleave on the Huodou!"

With a sharp, decisive swing of his arm, Ren issued the command to Arsene floating in the sky.

Following Ren’s order, Arsene streaked across the sky like a crimson meteor. Appearing unstoppably before the Huodou, Arsene slashed downwards with sharp, claw-like black fingertips, creating a long, gruesome wound on the beast’s body.

The Huodou’s pained cries grew even more piercing. As Arsene withdrew his claws from its flesh, irregular bursts of residual flame erupted from the wound, scattering embers that continued to burn with venomous heat even after hitting the ground.

"This Huodou is much weaker than I expected... Well, whatever. It’s the first Shadow I plan to capture myself, so being weaker actually makes it easier."

Arsene’s Cleave skill dealt significant damage to the Huodou. Comparing their strength, the Huodou was clearly no match for Ren’s Persona, Arsene.

Ren felt a brief moment of disappointment. But then he remembered that even powerful figures like Suzaku of the Four Symbols started at a relatively low level as Personas. Could this obscure little Huodou from the Classic of Mountains and Seas possibly start stronger than the Fire-elemental Suzaku?

The fact that Ren could overpower the Huodou actually made capturing it as his own Persona much easier. After all, this was his first time attempting to subdue a wild Shadow and make it his Persona in reality. He had no experience and needed to proceed cautiously, experimenting step by step. A weaker Huodou was perfect for Ren to freely experiment on, unable to offer effective resistance.

"Alright, let’s try this next—Arsene!"

Having gauged the Huodou’s power level, Ren relaxed slightly and eagerly prepared to test the skill he had only recently grasped but hadn’t officially used yet.

Following Ren’s command, Arsene brought his black-gloved hands together. Between his palms, a powerful, surging sphere of lightning erupted. Golden electricity condensed into a ball, pulsing violently in Arsene’s grasp, crackling with sharp snaps.

"Is that...?"

Watching the sphere of golden lightning steadily grow in power between Arsene’s focused hands, Hare, who was positioned on the other side of the battlefield to prevent the Huodou from escaping, widened her eyes slightly.

Converting Honkai energy into lightning...? Ren definitely couldn’t do that yesterday when exploring Mementos!

Hare had accompanied Ren through the stone forest labyrinth in Mementos yesterday. As his comrade-in-arms, she knew very well that Ren could only channel Honkai energy into those unique flames carrying properties of darkness and curse as his offensive means. This lightning attack currently charging up? Ren had never shown anything like it during yesterday’s battles with Shadows!

"This move is called Zio. I figured it out based on the skill embedded in Raikiri [his katana]. Being able to unlock Zio so quickly is all thanks to your help, Hare."

Seeing Arsene successfully conjure the electric-yellow sphere of lightning just as he’d intended, a look of excitement flashed across Ren’s face. A pleased smile touched his lips as he thanked the surprised Hare beside him.

Although Arsene himself came with few innate skills, he could continuously grow stronger by using Skill Cards or absorbing other Personas, mastering a wide array of abilities.

Ren was currently in reality, not a game constrained by rules and mechanics. The katana Raikiri contained the methods and techniques for using the element of lightning—essentially, it was a weapon version of a Skill Card.

Therefore, after experimentally using Raikiri’s inherent skill, Ren had the idea to reverse-engineer it and learn the Zio skill. Based on his current experiment, his idea was undoubtedly a success.

Apart from looking slightly unstable and flickering distortionally when first conjured, almost seeming like it would collapse, the golden lightning sphere had now completely stabilized under Arsene’s increasing control, perfectly responding to his will.

Zio, the Lightning-affinity skill – successfully learned!

"This should be powerful enough. Let it loose, Arsene!"

After letting Arsene gather energy in the golden lightning sphere for a moment, Ren quickly gave the command to fire. If they charged it any longer, Ren worried Zio might upgrade to the advanced version, Zionga, and accidentally one-shot the Huodou.