Whose personality mask's power comes from the heroic spirit?

“…Rejected?” Niijima Sae took a half step back as if unable to accept it, and her facial expression began to twist. “You actually rejected me for that idiot in the real world!”

Jealous! Jealous! Jealous! Jealous! Jealous! Jealous! Jealous! Jealous!

Purple-black negative emotions began to permeate the entire space.

Chapter 76: Niijima Sae: Who can't transform into a second stage?

"Is she going to go berserk?" After noticing that something was wrong with 'Niijima Sae', Ryuji Sakamoto asked while tightening his grip on the baseball bat.

"Is this what it's like when the hall master goes berserk?" Yukinoshita Yukino asked with some doubt as she looked at the melting walls around her.

"First time seeing this." Kitagawa Yusuke put his hands on his mask, "It may be an abnormality caused by the monster."

"Aren't we really going to fight monsters next?" Morgana drew his sword, not quite confident. "We can fight the hall master if we try, but monsters are not something we can handle."

"The time has come when we have to face it." Amamiya Lian took a deep breath and slowly raised the gun in her hand. "Now we can only keep going."

"Shit, it's coming! Joan--!"

"Ah, let's make a scene! Captain Kidd--!"

“There’s really nothing I can do about you. Ishikawa Goemon——!”

"Find the truth and avoid a disastrous ending! Zoro——!"

"Taichi-kun, I'll trouble you to protect Yukinoshita-san first. Arsen——!"

The five Phantom Thieves charged towards Niijima Sae in their respective combat postures.

Only Taichi and Yukinoshita Yukino were left there.

"Why can't I awaken my own personality mask?" Yukinoshita Yukino clenched her fists unwillingly, then looked at Taichi and asked.

"I don't know." Taiyi shook his head.

You can't say you're not from the same set.

The two of them only exchanged a few words when an overwhelming disadvantage appeared on the battlefield.

"It's terrible! This hall master is ridiculously strong!" Morgana panted and supported his body with the knife.

"It's so hard, I can't get it in at all!" Amamiya Ren looked at the gun in her hand and shook her head helplessly.

"I can't even take off the hat on her head!" Ryuji Sakamoto was defeated again and again.

"Everyone, no, my sister's reaction speed is too fast. The other party has seen through my attack trajectory." After the motorcycle stopped next to his companions, Shinjima shook his head and sighed helplessly.

"All kinds of attack methods from all directions were dismantled by the opponent. It was as if the whole body was covered with eyes, with no flaws at all." Kitagawa Yusuke also retreated with a frown.

"No, it's not wrong to say that my whole body is covered with eyes." Shinjima looked around and reminded, "Those shadows are most likely acting as my sister's eyes and ears."

At this time, the shadows in the casino had long stopped all activities, raised their heads, and stared straight in the direction of the Phantom Thieves.

"What? Is that all?" Holding a giant sword that was longer than a person's length, Niijima Sae shouted in a somewhat crazy tone, "You bastards, evil will eventually be punished by justice! Prepare to die!"

"Protect Yukino, leave this to me for now." Taichi carried Yukinoshita to the back seat of Shinjima's motorcycle, put his hand on his mask, and gently pulled it off, "Joan of Arc——!"

[“Eh? You’re going to use Jeanne d’Arc instead of me?” Himiya said with resentment.]

The giant sword and the spear collided, and then sparks flashed continuously.

"Oh? Are you the strongest among the bandits?" Niijima Sae was a little surprised that Taichi could keep up with his enhanced speed. "What about this!" He stepped back, took off his top hat and shot it towards Taichi while swinging the giant sword.

Although he didn't know the function of the top hat, Taiyi still chose to pick it up.

At the very least, we must not let that top hat get close to the Phantom Thieves behind us.

The moment the tip of the gun lifted up the top hat, Taiyi felt a small part of his physical strength being drained away.

Forced deduction of physical strength?

Not only that, but also your reaction speed.

When Taichi threw his top hat off and tried to pull back his spear to block the incoming giant sword, he realized that something was wrong with himself.

In addition to physical strength and reaction speed, strength and agility have also decreased.

Well, all attribute values are slightly reduced?

However, this degree of weakening is not a big deal for Taiyi.

After all, the hall master 'Niijima Sae' has not been strengthened to the point where he must go all out to defeat him.

"What a joke!" The attack was blocked once again, and the expression on Niijima Sae's face finally changed from interest to shock.

This person is several times stronger than the five people combined.

He even threw out his forced hat, but the opponent was still able to easily block his attack.

It's like a declaration that if the second paragraph is not released, he will quit.

However, the second paragraph cannot be used casually.

'Niijima Sae' reluctantly dropped the giant sword in his hand, then raised his hand slightly.

Dozens of shadows leaped up in an instant and jumped between her and Taiyi, dividing the battlefield.

At the same time, dozens of shadows appeared from the Phantom Thieves' side.

"Okay, I'll acknowledge your strength." Niijima Sae took the top hat handed back by the shadow subordinate and put it on his head. He gritted his teeth and said, "I'll be waiting for you at the top of the gambling game. Struggle as hard as you can!"

After saying that, Niijima Sae turned around and was about to leave the scene.

"Achilles—!"

But someone didn't want her to leave peacefully.

Almost in an instant, a chariot burning with a blue glow suddenly appeared, and like a flash of lightning, it knocked away all the thirty or so shadows surrounding Taichi and the Phantom Thieves.

Taichi changed the style of the spear in his hand and performed a gun flower, then looked at 'Niijima Sae' who turned his head.

"Expel that monster from the temple, and we can leave now."

"No one will get hurt."

"...Don't push your luck." Niijima Sae's voice became a little duller.

"Sister! Please don't accept the monster!" Niijima couldn't help but shout, "I, I don't want my sister to become... to become someone else!"

"Shin..." Niijima Sae stared at her sister blankly, then suddenly hugged her head, "Shin is calling me... No, I can't give up this power! In order to stand out, in order to move towards the top step by step! I will... do whatever it takes!"

A purple-black aura began to overflow from Niijima Sae's body and then enveloped him.

"Sister!" Shinjima Makoto shouted again.

Then, as if a switch was turned on, the miasma suddenly dissipated.

However, the figure that appeared after the miasma dissipated was no longer the familiar 'Niijima Sae'.

Instead, it was a palace monster with a humanoid body, a giant sword in one hand and a gun in the other.

"My legs... are shaking?" Morgana looked at his shaking legs in surprise, then raised his head to look at the hall master, "Everyone, the situation seems to be getting worse."

Chapter 77: Niijima Sae's Self-Imagination

"Achilles—!"

Facing the second-stage transformed Hall Master 'Niijima Sae', Jeanne's power alone might not be enough to fight him.

So Taichi replaced him with the stronger Achilles.

However, the strength of the second transformation, which was enhanced by negative energy, was beyond Taiyi's expectations.

That was a powerful enemy who could fight against Achilles at his full strength, and could even have the upper hand in some aspects.

"You must be kidding. This kind of battle is not something we can interfere with at all." Sakamoto Ryuji muttered as he looked at Taichi and the hall master Niijima Sae who were fighting fiercely on the battlefield in a daze.

"No, it's just us." Kitagawa Yusuke stood beside Sakamoto Ryuji and reminded, "Don't forget, JOKER can still change into other personality masks."

"But, he didn't go up either." Ryuji Sakamoto turned his head to look at Amamiya Ren not far away, and Morgana who was standing beside him.

"Maybe their reaction speed can't keep up." Shinjima rode his motorcycle with Yukinoshita Yukino to the two of them, "In fact, I'm having trouble even tracking their movements now."

"My sister..." Niijima's words suddenly stopped.

Maybe she didn't know what to say at this moment.

[“This guy is a little too outrageous.” Achilles complained in his inner meeting, “Is it the negative energy enhancement that caused it?”

"It could also be human nature." Himiko added, "Didn't I say it before? The power of this thing is a bit idealistic."

"In a sense, the personality mask can also be regarded as the power of the human heart." Minamoto no Raikou agreed, "However, it seems that the Master is in a fierce battle, so why not call me back?"

"Huh? Normally in this situation, shouldn't I be the one calling my name?" Mordred also jumped out to challenge.]

Taiyi didn't have time to pay attention to the chaos in his internal meeting.

This hall master really knows how to use both close combat and long-range shooting.

Taichi didn't even have a chance to stop and catch his breath.

The continuous attacks, coupled with the occasional twisting of the direction of the guns and a fake move to attack his teammates made Taiyi run back and forth.

After all, he couldn't bet on whether the hall master was teasing him or was really going to open fire.

As for asking teammates for support... looking at their dazed expressions you can tell that it's of no use for the time being.

Coming up is just giving away heads.

"We can't let Taiyi continue to fight alone." Yukinoshita Yukino reminded anxiously, "The hall master's physical strength is sometimes endless. We can't draw a conclusion yet, but Taiyi's physical strength has a limit. If this goes on, sooner or later Taiyi will be exhausted by the opponent to the point where his physical strength can't keep up, and then..."

"That makes sense. Should we retreat for the time being?" Kitagawa Yusuke asked, looking around. "After all, given the current situation, we don't even have the environment to plan a battle plan."

"For now, let's retreat." After taking a final look at the hall master 'Niijima Sae', Niijima Shin nodded and made up his mind.

……

"Phew - so cool." Taiyi stretched out his arms and sighed, "I haven't done such intense activities in a long time."

"Shh--" Shinjima Makoto put his index finger in front of his mouth, reminding Taichi not to speak too loudly.

Her sister was still taking a bath in the bathroom.

If she heard the noise and came to see... Oh my god, a strange boy was standing in her sister's bedroom in pajamas, and her sister was also wearing pajamas...

The next scene is simply unimaginable.

"Really?" Just then, Niijima Sae's voice came from outside.

"Cough cough cough!" Without time to think, Shinjima pushed Taichi into his closet, then coughed a few times, making the sound of just climbing out of bed.

"Sister? What's wrong?" Shinjima pretended to be half asleep.

"Oh, I saw the light in your room was on, so I came over to take a look." Niijima Sae's voice was already close to the door.

"Nothing, I just woke up thirsty, so I got up to get a glass of water." Shinjima opened the door and rubbed his eyes, looking at Sae with half-open eyes, "Sister? Did you just take a shower?"

Sae Niijima outside the door was only wearing a bath towel, with his large muscles exposed, and water droplets that had not been wiped off were refracting the light under the lamp.

"Wow." Shinjima couldn't help but say.

"Yeah, I just had a nightmare and was sweating." Niijima Sae smiled and rubbed his sister's head. "There's still half a bottle of barley tea in the refrigerator. Remember to restock it tomorrow."

"Yes..." Shinjima reached out and pushed away Sae Niijima's impolite hand.

After taking a glance at the situation inside Niijima Makoto's room, Niijima Sae turned around and left leisurely.

Shinjima perfected his settings, left the room and went to the living room to prepare a cup of barley tea.

As a result, as soon as Shinjima disappeared at the door, Sae Niijima returned to the scene again, stuck his head in through the open door, and looked around.

I didn’t find anything...Oh, no, there is still something unusual.

Sae Niijima stared at the piece of cloth stuck in the gap of the closet, his eyes narrowed slightly.

How could her sister, who always liked to be neat, overlook such a big hole?

As if possessed by some mysterious force, Sae Niijima walked into his sister's room and reached for the closet.

"Sister!?" When Shin Niijima returned to the bedroom with barley tea, he saw Sae Niijima with the closet door already opened and her eyes fixed on it.

Her heart stopped for a moment, and she even began to think about how to defend Taiyi, who only had one piece of pajamas in his closet.

"Ah? Oh, really." Niijima Sae came back to her senses with a complicated expression on her face, "Sorry, I just saw a strip of cloth sticking out of the closet, so I thought of putting it away for you."