I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

"Let Him rest here for a while."

"Let's go back to Nagilfa first, make some preparations, and get ready to face the final 'enemy'."

Chapter Twenty-Five: Saintia Also Stood Tough

So far, two of the three main regions (Asgard, the depths of Midgard, and Niflheim) have been visited.

Next, Amamiya and his group will head to the last area, Niflheim.

After defeating Thor and releasing the dying World Serpent, Amamiya and his companions walked along the World Serpent's mountain-like body for a while before finding Nagilfa, who was parked nearby.

As soon as Amamiya and her party arrived, the Fiery Demon Sword descended from the sky, scorching the heavens and boiling the sea; it cleaved through the waves to create an absolutely safe zone for Amamiya and her party to board the ship.

"Hehe... It seems your trip was very successful."

The cunning god, wielding the flaming demon sword Levadin, chuckled softly: "I can sense... the Mortal Serpent has been released; it will soon emerge from this fog of lies..."

At this point, Loki fell silent, a rare occurrence, his gaze sweeping over Haru, who had recently awakened her Persona.

"Oh...not bad, not bad."

He seemed somewhat surprised, yet also seemed to be praising: "You... truly are people with potential."

Loki's gaze finally fell on Hanako, whose Persona had not yet awakened. His words carried a complex tone, neither quite mocking nor comforting: "Those who have not yet awakened... you need not be discouraged."

"I can sense... your potential. However, you have not yet found the opportunity to unleash that potential."

After welcoming Amamiya and his party aboard, Loki went into the captain's cabin and began to steer the ship.

"Further words are useless... Since you share the same aspirations as me... then let me give you one last ride... Where to?"

Amamiya was currently comforting "Goddess Noren"... no, it should be said that she was Saintia, who was pretending to be Goddess Noren and had come to play a role-playing game and experience life.

The blonde, fox-eared girl, whose head he was gently patting, slightly raised her eyes: "Isn't it obvious where we're going?"

"Oh……"

Loki chuckled, seemingly having no intention of exposing Saintia's disguise: "Niflheim, right?"

"Then... let's set sail."

Loki stopped talking and silently activated the [Nagil Law].

The large ship changed direction on the endless sea and cut through the waves—heading straight for the core of the fog, the most "dense" area.

As for "Goddess Norren," seeing the girls from the tutoring department all beaming with joy, she sighed softly.

She conjured a white fur coat for herself and put it on. Then she conjured another coat, almost identical in style but pure black, and handed it to Amamiya.

"Are you all... prepared for the extremely harsh environment that awaits?"

The profound reminder from "Goddess Norren" jolted the girls in the cram school back from their elation at the end of their battle with a powerful enemy—

Extreme weather...?

Hifumi fiddled with the ends of her long golden hair, repeating the words "Goddess Norren" in confusion, before her expression suddenly changed.

"Oh right...I remember..."

Hanako slowly suppressed the smile on her lips, a hint of worry flashing in her emerald eyes.

At this moment, Jing rubbed her slightly trembling cat ears on the top of her head, feeling so cold that she was starting to feel restless.

“I remember that in the records, Niflheim was the ‘Land of Mist’… one of the two original worlds. In addition… legend has it that it is the location of the ‘Nibelungen’… a cold region that is shrouded in mist all year round.”

As soon as Jing finished speaking, the large ship [Najirfa] sailed into the thick fog—and everyone involuntarily shivered.

The air temperature drops instantly to the point that any exhaled water vapor can freeze into ice crystals.

The ship's speed also decreased significantly, and everyone seemed to hear the cracking sound of ice breaking as the ship broke through the ice on the frozen sea.

"Achoo~ Ugh, it suddenly got so cold...!"

Before she could adjust to the sudden temperature change, Jing couldn't help but sneeze.

The pink-haired 'cat girl' was already feeling a bit uncomfortable from the cold, due to her feline features.

Even with the temperature protection features of the Phantom Thief suit, she was still extremely unhappy.

"Yes, indeed..."

Hifumi also began to tremble slightly...

The Phantom Thief's outfit does indeed provide Persona users with exceptional cold resistance, much like the best thermal clothing... but this cold resistance is not without its flaws.

After all, most of the girls' phantom thief outfits are dresses... so there will inevitably be some areas that are not protected.

Still shivering from the sudden chill, Hifumi looked at the other three members of the cram school and asked, "Everyone, how are you all...?"

Azusa tightly bound her long white hair, appearing completely unaffected. When Hifumi looked over, the girl returned a questioning look with her light purple eyes.

Hifumi:…

Azusa's Persona is "Gelda, the Snow Maiden," and her offensive magic is also ice-based... It's only natural that she has extremely high resistance to cold...

She then looked at Haru, who was standing next to Amamiya, and was considering what to say to Amamiya.

Xiaochun wasn't greatly affected—however, both of her small wings on her head and behind her were tucked in.

Finally, Hifumi looked at Hanako, who was not protected by her Persona mask.

Hanako's expression was clearly not good... or rather, she was almost frozen by Nagilfa's act of plunging headfirst into the waters of the Land of Mist.

"Th-that...Hanako-san..."

Hifumi, whose speech was a little slurred from the cold, carefully asked, "...Hanako-san, do you need... to warm up...?"

Just as Hanako was about to answer, Loki, who had finished steering the ship and returned to the deck from the captain's cabin, came out carrying his flaming demon sword.

"Here..." He looked around at the relentlessly freezing weather, his tone tinged with nostalgia, "it's still the same as always."

Immediately, He casually thrust the Flaming Demon Sword vertically upwards into Nagilfa's deck.

The "warm flames" that could burn the World Tree rose up, and the gentle warmth immediately eased the shivering faces of the girls who were not used to the environment.

"This will be the most severe challenge you have ever faced—"

After saying just that, Loki waved to Amamiya and his group and returned to the captain's cabin.

Amamiya remained largely still throughout, observing Loki's every move with great interest.

So... Beatrice's self-perception could be considered a 'gentleman' who was somewhat considerate of women?

That's a bit... hard to judge.

Amamiya really didn't know whether Beatrice's judgment was accurate or not.

After watching Beatrice's inner 'self' leave, Amamiya took out various unisex clothing of different styles and distributed them to everyone.

"These are the 'special protective gear' prepared for you, put them on..."

For the sake of the "Land of Fog," Amamiya made special preparations to protect herself from the cold.

It's important to know that among the highest-level ice magic that Persona can control, there is a massive area-of-effect spell called "Niflheim," which is named after Niflheim.

Knowing this information beforehand, it would have been impossible for Amamiya not to make preparations.

Most of the clothes that Amamiya prepared were similar in style to long trench coats—these were easy to wear and you could just throw them on without any particular rules, and you didn't need to be careful when changing clothes.

He and Sophia changed into fur coats prepared by the "Goddess Noren".

"Very well... Now that you have arrived here, then... let me begin to instruct you on your future destiny."

Although she wasn't freezing, the blonde fox-eared girl, feeling a bit sleepy from the chill, yawned softly, her voice languid: "You... will next face Nidhogg's nemesis—the Eagle, Vidfulnir."

The prophecy of "Goddess Norren" is entirely within everyone's comprehension.

After all—it was already known that their purpose in coming here was to save Nidhogg, so the scope of the enemy was almost obvious.

This "Land of Fog" is perpetually covered in snow and enormous layers of ice—and the misty fog makes it look like a "fairyland on earth."

However, besides the cold... everyone also felt... the psychological threat posed by the "fog of lies".

After resting around Loki's 'Flaming Demon Sword' for a while and getting used to the climate, the girls breathed out white steam, rubbing their hands together, their bright eyes looking curiously at this misty land that was almost entirely made of frost and snow.

Once off the boat and onto the ice, the girls felt an even stronger, biting chill.

Hifumi looked at the "Goddess Norn" walking beside Amamiya and asked cautiously, "Goddess Norn... how should we find 'Nidhogg'?"

The "Goddess Norren" did not reply immediately, but instead leisurely looked up at the sky.

Hifumi was a little confused, then looked at Amamiya: "JOK...?"

Amamiya smiled and offered an explanation for "Noren"... Saintia's actions.

Why should we go to Him?

"Wouldn't it be easier for us if He came to us?"

Hifumi was taken aback.

But... based on previous experience, shouldn't Nidhogg either be critically injured and dying, or sealed away?

Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly felt a fierce hurricane coming from above.

"Ugh..."

She instinctively tried to hold down her skirt, but then suddenly realized that she was wearing a long trench coat and didn't have to worry about her skirt being lifted up.

Hifumi, who felt a little embarrassed, breathed a sigh of relief after noticing that her friends were all behaving similarly. She casually stopped pressing down on her skirt, raised her forearm to shield herself, and looked towards the source of the hurricane.

Beneath the dark sky, she saw...

A huge eagle was flapping its wings toward them.

"It's [Videfornil], it's attacking us—everyone be careful!"

Chapter Twenty-Six "Jealousy" - Beatrice

"It's [Videfornil], it's attacking us—everyone be careful!"

As Hifumi shouted a warning, the hurricane suddenly became more ferocious.

The frost in the air condensed into beautiful ice crystals, which then transformed into tiny, bird-feather-shaped blades.

"Psona—Juliet!"

The figure of the brightly colored 'art girl' appeared amidst the dark blue flames, and the streaks of crimson on her skirt dissolved and transformed into a dancing ball of fire.

"Yakidane!"

"Agidyne: Deals massive fire damage to one enemy, with a chance to inflict fire damage."

The surrounding pillars of fire rose up, instantly dissolving the spreading frost feathers.

Crystal, who reacted the fastest, maintained the pose of summoning the Persona, one hand supporting her cheek, her light red eyes reflecting the firelight.

"If we don't even give each other a heads-up, wouldn't this battle be a little too 'boring'?"

The eagle in the sky cried out and flapped its wings, trying its best to avoid the towering pillar of fire, but it was still entangled by the tongues of fire that clung to it like small snakes.

With a loud crash, the runaway eagle plummeted from the sky, crashing into the thick ice and kicking up dust.

"Be careful, there's more than one enemy."

Amamiya sighed softly, issuing a warning in advance: "Besides [Videfornil]... there's another formidable enemy here... it should be [Ratatosk].

As if to echo Amamiya's detection results, the moment he finished speaking, a low, sharp voice, seemingly constructed entirely of cunning and malice, rang in everyone's ears at the same time.

"hehe……"

"Truly worthy of the title 'Trickster'... those eyes are even sharper than I imagined..."

stomping on...

High heels stomped on the ice, the crisp sound of them breaking the ice beneath their feet growing louder as they walked.

Amamiya and his group stood back to back, temporarily forming a relatively compact formation.

"...Heh. Should I say 'nice to meet you'?"

Someone broke through the fog and came gracefully.

A pristine white, floor-length, form-fitting dress; exposed red skin; long black hair cascading down to her ankles; atop her head a white mask that resembled countless "eyes," with a touch of Cthulhu style...