Persona: Devil Summoner

“Here, this is…”

Kitagawa Yusuke looked at the portraits decorated with gold frames in the art gallery in shock. Every face looked familiar to him.

"That's how Madarame thinks of you. He just treats you as his work, as a tool to make money."

Ryuji introduced Yusuke coldly, but Yusuke said nothing and just bit his lips.

For him, the person he trusts the most is his teacher. Madarame not only raised him, but also gave him a chance to grow up. This is what is often called the fan filter, just like the fanatical fans of stars can even forcefully say that the stars' drug use and prostitution are to promote the growth of the national GDP. People wearing this filter cannot correctly evaluate their idols.

And now, the almost [god-like] filter that Kitagawa Yusuke had for Madarame was gradually disappearing.

"Don't talk about them, you have it too. Do you want me to take you to see it?"

Ryuji asked with a hint of mockery, and Kitagawa Yusuke shook his head: "No need."

Jiang Tianwei looked at Kitagawa Yusuke's pale face and trembling body, and felt sympathy for him. His spiritual support had collapsed... Jiang Tianwei understood this feeling best. Losing his father and his mother remarrying, the combination of the two directly caused the boy's already weak heart to collapse. This kind of daily life that was originally thought to be natural, suddenly broke, and all the fragments became very sharp, which made people feel very distressed.

(I wonder how he would feel when he saw the painting “Endless Inspiration” at the door.)

Perhaps some people have forgotten that this "Endless Inspiration" is the statue placed at the entrance of the Madarame Art Museum. A golden fountain spirals upward, drowning countless students in it.

He treats students' inspiration, aesthetics and life as his own money-making tool and sucks the life out of others. This is the true face of Madarame.

Just as Jiang Tianwei worried, Kitagawa Yusuke's pupils trembled violently when he saw this work.

This was no longer just pure surprise. It was anger, disgust, sadness, disdain... and even sympathy hidden in the corner.

"What the hell is this?!"

Kitagawa Yusuke punched the sculpture hard, and the pain spread from his skin to his bones, and finally rushed into his heart. The stimulation made his chest rise and fall violently.

"Well, this is certainly reality."

Suddenly, a familiar voice was heard from the door. It was undoubtedly Madarame.

Like Kamoshida, their impressions of themselves in the cognitive space are also different from those of the outside world. Kamoshida is a naked man wearing a crown and a cloak, and Madarame's image is...

Does anyone know what the Japanese daimyo (Japanese feudal monarch) looked like?

If not, you can take a look at the clever Ikkyu, in which the general's appearance has this flavor.

Madarame was wearing a golden haori with a golden kimono underneath. Judging from the overall luster, it was probably not just gold... it was probably woven with gold threads. His face was covered with white makeup like a Japanese Kabuki performance, and his lips were outlined in an exaggerated red color. On his pure white face, there was a red lip, which looked particularly... weird. The weirdest thing was the Japanese-style samurai bun on his head.

His whole outfit resembles that of an ancient great figure.

"Who are you?! Teacher?! You, what are you dressed like!?!"

Kitagawa immediately recognized the voice he had heard for more than ten years, but his lifeless eyes were fixed in the direction of Madarame, his eyes were bloodshot.

"That shabby dress is just a show. Why do you have to live in a tin house when you are famous? Of course I have my own villa, but it is registered in the name of my mistress."

Madarame said this and glanced at Yusuke, who looked particularly disheveled because of the long journey and his clothes were covered with dust.

"Humph, if you hang out with these dirty guys, you'll become like a rat, and your value will decrease."

"value?".

"Yes, it's value, Yusuke. You are different from them, you are different, you - you are a high-level livestock that can give money to teachers and students! You are the legendary goose that lays golden eggs! If you apologize now and come back to me, I can forgive you. Otherwise, do you think you can continue on the road of art after disobeying me? Look at those stupid disciples who ran away! None of them can continue to paint!"

As Madarame said this, a dozen shadow guards were already around him, holding weapons and blocking the door. He knew very well that there was only one exit from his iron house. With this understanding, the most reasonable thing to do was, of course, to guard the only exit and wait for the enemy to attack.

"You, what have you done! You actually raised me!"

"Tsk, why do you think I've kept you for so long? Gathering talented students and taking their creativity for my own use, I can also eliminate hidden competitors at the same time. This is really killing two birds with one stone. And, when it comes to plundering creativity, of course it's most convenient to start with children who don't dare to resist! I'll advise you one last time, Yusuke, come back. Honestly dedicate all your life's creativity to me..."

"...I refuse! If this is a reflection of your inner self, such vulgar things are not worthy of being called art!"

Kitagawa didn't care about anything else. He was dominated by impulse and anger at this moment. He didn't care whether he had the ability to fight or not. He stepped forward resolutely, raised his arms, and indignantly rejected Madarame's offer of amnesty.

"Tsk, how come you still don't understand at all. Art? What's the value of that thing! Can it be used to make a living? Yusuke, let me tell you! The so-called art - that's money!"

In contrast to Kitagawa's angry arm-raising, Madarame raised his hands in high spirits. He looked like a master, showing the ease of a winner, and mocked Kitagawa Yusuke: "Without money, art is nothing! The only standard for measuring art is money! Whether it's Van Gogh or Picasso, whether it's Cézanne or Renoir, whether it's Leonardo da Vinci or Raphael, what everyone likes are works that can be exchanged for high prices! Van Gogh was poor and destitute during his lifetime, which shows that his artistic attainments did not bring him any benefits at all! Instead, his works sold well after his death. The same is true for Picasso. How many people can appreciate Picasso's "Cubist paintings"? But everyone is still willing to spend a lot of money to buy his works. So! Art is something that can be sold! As long as it can be sold at a high price, nothing else matters!"

"No! You are just quibbling!"

"Quibbling? Ha ha ha, Yusuke, why do you think I copied Sayuri's paintings? Sayuri was stolen? That didn't happen. That was simply fake news I spread myself! I first claimed that Sayuri was stolen, and then I made a bunch of fakes myself, and then I just had to go find those stupid and rich guys privately. Although I found Sayuri's authentic works, they cannot be made public for various reasons, and can only be transferred at a low price... Ha ha, this sense of uniqueness, this unique self-satisfaction, this is the true meaning of art! Money is the only truth in this world!".

Kitagawa was left speechless by Madarame's sophistry. He lost all his strength and fell to his knees on the ground.

Just as Long Si was about to go over and help him, he saw the security guard Shadow rushing over and beating everyone with the rubber baton in his hand.

Madarame will not kill Yusuke because he still hopes that Yusuke can make money for him.

As for the other thieves? Just beat them to death with sticks.

"hehe……".

Yusuke, who had completely lost his spiritual support, lay on the ground alone, making helpless sounds...

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 105-Awakening

The human spiritual power is very strong.

When Jiang Tianwei was a child, he read the Chinese textbook, which mentioned the five heroes of Langya Mountain and the following detail: the heroes angrily picked up stones as big as millstones and threw them at the enemy.

When Jiang Tianwei was a child, he asked innocently, "How could such a huge stone be lifted?" The teacher's answer was: anger made them use their extraordinary strength.

The best representation of this is probably persona.

Whether it is Amamiya Ren or Sakamoto Ryuji, whether it is Takamaki Ann or Jiang Tianwei, all of them were pushed to the extreme mentally, and finally could not suppress it, and transformed their inner impulse into a special spiritual power, that is, persona. To borrow the concept of a Japanese national hot-blooded fighting manga, it is "the embodiment of spiritual energy."

Seeing the surrounding shadows rushing up, Jiang Tianwei quickly summoned the devil to fight, and everyone in the Phantom Thieves also raised their weapons. Although Kitagawa Yusuke is not a partner of the others, from the perspective of the justice of the Phantom Thieves, it is impossible to let an ordinary person be captured.

Yusuke's life creed completely collapsed, and he curled up helplessly.

Madarame looked at him like this and said with a sigh of regret: "Tsk, I thought you were a little different, but it turns out you are no different from those 'livestock'... you can only crawl on the ground and let people slaughter you and take your skin and meat."

"Unforgivable... unforgivable... I will never forgive you..."

Kitagawa Yusuke said this and stood up staggeringly.

"You're actually going to resist me? You're such an ungrateful bastard! Are you actually going to attack me who raised you?"

Madarame snorted coldly and waved his hand, and the security team behind him rushed forward.

Kitagawa Yusuke seemed to have seen nothing at all, his eyes were dull, and he was talking to himself...

"The world is full of wonders and is better than books. I hate myself for not knowing what is in front of me... I can't even tell the truth from the falsehood of people, their good and evil. The so-called "eyes without pearls" refers to my eyes."

He covered his face with his hands, as if he wanted to pop his eyes out.

"For so many years I always told myself that this was impossible, and I kept blinding myself, unwilling to see the truth..."

"Oh... are you finally willing to face everything? You who are unwilling to face the truth are the worst fakes! - But you will soon say goodbye to it."

Someone's voice echoed in the space.

Everyone is familiar with this situation. This was the situation when An Gaojuan awakened her persona.

When one's inner self is pushed to the limit and has to choose between resistance or destruction, the other self that has been suppressed in one's heart will cry out to oneself like this.

Kitagawa Yusuke seemed to be in great pain, his body was shaking uncontrollably. He had just stood up, but was immediately knocked to the ground by the severe pain again.

"I am you, and you are me - how do we distinguish between beauty and ugliness in the world? This time, you will tell the world the answer!"

A blue-green flame burned on Kitagawa's face, covering it like a mask. His right hand grabbed the ground, and his five fingers gripped the floor so hard that blood was drawn.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!"

No matter how much pain the body was in, it could not ease the suffering in his heart. Kitagawa Yusuke roared like a wild beast, stretched out his hands to grab the mask on his face, and then pulled it hard... blood splattered, and the mask seemed to be glued to his face. Under the torn mask was Kitagawa Yusuke's bloody face.

Madarame had never seen such a scene before, and instinctively felt that something was wrong, so he took a few steps back. The security personnel around him were very professional and took the initiative to step forward to protect their employer.

"Although the imitations are not as good as the originals, they are still magnificent. Even if the sinful flowers bloom all over the grass, the vulgar and ugly ones will die!"

Kitagawa Yusuke recited the elegant lines as if in a drama, took graceful steps like a dance, and slowly extended his right hand to Madarame.

"Thank you, Madarame... You made me understand that as an artist, sometimes you just need to observe everything calmly to judge the quality."

As the mental mask was torn off, the rebelliousness in Kitagawa Yusuke's heart turned into a black leather jacket that wrapped around his body, with a katana on his waist and a fox tail decorated on his belt. A very stylish fox mask obscured his expression, and only a pair of calm eyes could be seen.

Behind him, a huge persona with a physique comparable to Morgana's Zorro stood behind him, wearing ancient Japanese clothing, with oil paint on his face, holding a pipe in one hand and an umbrella in the other. This look was familiar to even Jiang Tianwei!

Ishikawa Gouemon, a famous Japanese thief.

"Goyouemon!".

Kitagawa Yusuke shouted, and he felt the air suddenly cooled down a lot, as persona Goyouemon raised his pipe and waved his hand, many tiny ice crystals flickered in the air, and the security guards who rushed over plunged into the icy air. The tiny ice crystals covered their clothes and flesh, and the dense snowflakes formed a thin ice armor, which was superimposed on each other to form a thick ice cluster!

The security guard who was struggling to move forward was frozen into an ice sculpture by Kitagawa Yusuke's persona!

This ferocious look is indeed very artistic!

"Madarame!!! It's your turn next!".

Kitagawa Yusuke roared at Madarame in anger and drew out his sword from his waist! Madarame was so scared that he quickly stepped back. How could the lord of the art museum have such grace? !

Kitagawa was about to go forward, but Jiang Tianwei stopped him and said, "Wait a minute, Yusuke. Don't get entangled with him."

As if to strengthen his persuasiveness, he reached out and grabbed Kitagawa's shoulders. It was just a simple move, but Kitagawa felt as if all the strength in his body had been drained away, and he fell to the ground!

"how do I……"

"You are just showing off your ability now. Awakening a persona is not as easy as you think. Madarame can deal with it at any time."

Jiang Tianwei said, without saying anything, he lifted up one of his arms and carried him away. Madarame was originally panicked, but when he saw Kitagawa Yusuke fall, he was relieved. He shouted shamelessly: "Stupid! Yusuke! Do you think you can have a good ending if you go against me?! I will use all my strength to make you unable to get a place in the art world! You will regret going against me for the rest of your life!"

Jiang Tianwei snorted, bent down to pick up a piece of broken stone, aimed at Banmu's head and threw it over!

He threw the stone with all his strength, and heard the sharp sound of the stone breaking through the wind, tearing through the air with ease! Jiang Tianwei had never practiced throwing, so his aim was really not very good, and he didn't hit Madarame. Madarame was afraid that he would be hit, so he squatted down with his head in his hands, looking very embarrassed.

"Don't bother talking. We will definitely not let you go."

Jiang Tianwei said something harsh on behalf of the half-conscious Yusuke and quickly took him away from this devil's den.

When Kitagawa Yusuke woke up, he was already at the station. On the rubber seats in the waiting room, Amamiya Ren and Jiang Tianwei sat on Yusuke's left and right. Ryuji and An went to buy everyone's tickets.

Kitagawa Yusuke immediately realized that he was saved by these people. They saved him from the clutches of Madarame... Yes! Where is Madarame? !

When Yusuke thought of Madarame, he stood up in anger, but before his thighs could fully support his body, he felt like a steel needle was drilling into his head, and the pain made him sit back down.

"Don't use too much force. You just woke up, so it's normal to have no strength. Anyway, just treat it as a way to relax, and accompany us to Shibuya first."

Jiang Tianwei tried hard to put on a kind expression. Kitagawa Yusuke thought about it, nodded silently, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes to rest.

He was very anxious and wanted to punish the great sinner Banme immediately.

At the same time, there is also an unexpected sense of security...

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 106 New Members

"I see, you are the Phantom Thieves... have you changed your hearts... Since that gym teacher can repent, then Madarame can too... This is the most appropriate thing to do, right?"

Kitagawa Yusuke sighed truthfully.

The group was currently at a popular dessert shop in Shibuya. Jiang Tianwei chose a quiet private room and sat around a table. Amamiya Ren lowered her voice and explained the current situation to Kitagawa Yusuke.

After all, Kitagawa Yusuke became a phantom thief in a hurry, and he was confused about everything now, so he naturally needed a place for everyone to rest. Jiang Tianwei originally wanted to choose his own home as the resting place, but to be honest, he was too lazy to bother. With so many people together in his own home, what would they eat? What would they drink? There was no place to sit, and they couldn't sit at the head of the bed together, right?

So, after the compromise, we decided to find a hotel and book a room.

Normally, students wouldn't have so much pocket money to squander. Fortunately, Jiang Tianwei still had the meal coupon his stepfather had given him. For some reason, when he took out the meal coupon, the clerk's attitude suddenly changed! His originally lazy attitude suddenly became lively.

Jiang Tianwei's mind was not here and he didn't pay much attention... After the waiter sent a few people away, the waiter next to him came over and asked: "What's wrong, senior? Why are you so respectful?"

"Tsk, you're new here, you don't know... this coupon is not something you can get easily..."

The waiter who received Jiang Tianwei was sweating coldly at this moment. The air conditioner was blowing and it was chilly. She shook the ticket in her hand, and the waiter noticed that this meal ticket seemed a little different from other meal tickets issued by his restaurant?

"This is what we gave to Kawahara Bank when our unit took out a loan... This is considered 'protection money'... Anyone who can come here with this meal voucher... must be someone from Kawahara Group... You better be careful and don't cause any trouble! They are not something that a small person like us can afford to offend..."

Upon hearing this, the waiter shuddered and secretly thanked himself for not saying anything more...

Jiang Tianwei had heard the idiom story of the fox borrowing the power of the tiger since he was a child, and he never thought that he would become a fox one day...

In this way, Jiang Tianwei easily booked the highest-standard box. Although it seemed a bit too exquisite when he entered, Jiang Tianwei had rarely been to this kind of box and thought that all boxes were like this.

"I have to apologize. Sorry everyone, actually when you came to me before and mentioned plagiarism, I already realized the truth in my heart. That's why I couldn't accept it. I was the one who kept avoiding it. I'm really sorry."

Kitagawa Yusuke seriously reflected on his situation to everyone, and Amamiya Ren patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry about such trivial matters."