Tohru could naturally sense the changes around her.
It was somewhat similar to cross-world teleportation magic, but seemed more subtle.
It wasn't a transfer from one world to another, but rather a reopening of the original world in a different way.
A few seconds later, she found herself in a depressing mental space.
At this point, she realized that her magic to hide her dragon horns and tail had failed.
But it didn't really matter.
Miyauchi Hikage, that scumbag, was so honest with Shiina Mashiro that he had long ago told her about Tohru's identity.
Anyway, she hadn't leaked these things herself, and she didn't care if others knew the truth about her being a dragon, as long as Miyauchi Hikage himself felt it was fine.
She even flaunted her healthy dragon tail in front of Shiina Mashiro with some anticipation, but unfortunately, Shiina Mashiro didn't notice these things at all.
Afterward, Tohru carefully sensed the situation in this world.
She could feel the ether permeating this world, which was not only richer than in reality but also had much fewer impurities. However, this power gave off a vague sense of gloom.
It didn't affect her much; in fact, she could replenish the ether in her body quite well here.
But, how did Miyauchi Hikage bring them to this place?
She had been into mental spaces before, but she had never been to one so exceptionally mixed, even "crowded" like a subway station.
She turned to Miyauchi Hikage, wanting an explanation.
"This is the Metaverse, likely the storage place for Tokyo's collective unconscious."
"Tokyo has a permanent population of over ten million, and if you count the floating population, the total is nearly thirty million. And here is the mental space collectively constructed by the subconsciousness of thirty million ordinary people, plus perhaps those of supernatural beings and anomalies. I call it the Metaverse."
"As for how we got here, it depends on this app on my phone. I accidentally found this app through my own power. You could say this app is the key to entering and leaving this world. I can install one on your phone later."
Miyauchi Hikage simply explained the origin of this place, then turned to see Shiina Mashiro staring blankly into the depths of the space.
This was a gathering place for subconsciousness and negative emotions, so the environment naturally had a subtle sense of distortion. He could feel it, so let alone Shiina Mashiro, who was exceptionally sensitive to these things.
He gently took her hand to ease her mind.
"I just brought you here to see this place. If you feel uncomfortable, I'll take you back in a bit."
Shiina Mashiro immediately shook her head. She looked at Miyauchi Hikage with her orange-red eyes: "Hikage will protect me."
"So I want to stay."
Although the atmosphere here felt very uncomfortable, from Miyauchi Hikage's description, she knew this place could fully display a person's inner self.
She wanted to observe those emotions. If she could understand the reason for this world's existence, perhaps she could move her stagnant drawing level forward again.
Hearing Shiina Mashiro's words, Miyauchi Hikage nodded, then spoke to Tohru about the situation here.
When she heard that by defeating the so-called "Shadows," one could change the cognition of humans whose hearts were distorted by desire, making them turn over a new leaf, or incite others' subconsciousness to let their desires swell and become slaves to them, Tohru's expression toward Miyauchi Hikage couldn't help but become dangerous.
Rewriting others' cognition at will was something ordinary gods couldn't do.
"Ah... currently, only the few of us should be able to enter this world. Since it formed, we might even be the first batch of tourists. But I'm not sure if anyone else will stumble into this world in the future."
Miyauchi Hikage had investigated; there was no clown like Akechi Goro in this world, nor any mental shutdown incidents. The world of P5 shouldn't have merged into this world.
Perhaps this world merged with other stories from the Persona series, but Miyauchi Hikage hadn't discovered anything yet.
And even if it had merged, since the Metaverse was an exclusive setting of P5, no one else should be able to obtain this app and enter here in the short term.
For now, there was no problem treating this place as Miyauchi Hikage's exclusive world.
However, Miyauchi Hikage was never the kind of middle-school boy who wanted to rewrite the world just because he obtained power, so he naturally had no interest in forming a phantom thief group to steal the desires of wicked people.
After getting bored with this place, or after figuring out if there were any villain bosses deep in the bottom layer wanting to destroy the world, handing this over to those famous detectives and letting them do the phantom thief business seemed quite interesting.
But that was a long way off.
Miyauchi Hikage's answer didn't satisfy Tohru.
She scanned this dark, oppressive world.
If all the "Shadows" in this world could be cleared, would the human world become a better place?
"Human desires can never be completely eliminated; your cleaning speed might not be as fast as the shadows' birth," Miyauchi Hikage said, seeing through Tohru's thoughts.
"Moreover, if humans had no desires, then the human race wouldn't have developed to this extent."
"Instead of researching that, why not see if we can find the 'Shadows' of those vengeful spirits in this world?"
As Miyauchi Hikage spoke, he opened his Eye of Destiny. Fortunately, this thing still worked, but the range visible in the Metaverse was reduced from ten kilometers to two.
It was indeed like the subway transportation network composed of countless tracks from the game, just much larger than the Metaverse in the game. With a two-kilometer view, the entrance to the next layer wasn't visible at all.
Miyauchi Hikage then tested his other abilities.
Projection magic worked, Hamon breathing also worked, and seemed even more powerful than in reality.
But the most obvious change was Yellow Temperance.
Due to the rules of Stands, Shiina Mashiro originally couldn't see Yellow Temperance, and Tohru could only feel its existence through perception.
But in this space composed of consciousness, mental-side powers were fully manifested, and Yellow Temperance's image was clearly displayed before several people.
"Did Yellow Temperance get treated as my Persona after entering the Metaverse?" Miyauchi Hikage pondered.
After all, Stands and Personas were both existences gathered from human mental energy, and could be considered true reflections of a person's inner self.
Although Yellow Temperance was a reward from the diary, after cultivating it for more than a month, especially after discovering it gained the function of devouring spirits in addition to organic matter, Miyauchi Hikage was indeed in sync with this Stand.
Tohru stared at the mass of yellow glue appearing behind Miyauchi Hikage, which was even taller than her. For some reason, she felt a vague sense of threat.
Could this thing have the power to threaten me in the future?
Tohru thought it was ridiculous.
She was the daughter of the Emperor of Demise, and even in another world, her strength was that of a first-tier powerhouse. How could Miyauchi Hikage's mysterious mental incarnation pose any threat to her?
Even if it was a threat, it should be the dragon-slaying holy sword in Miyauchi Hikage's hand that might pose some threat.
After all, that thing was indeed too effective against the dragon race.
From its inception, it was forged to kill dragons, and over the years, it had been stained with untold amounts of dragon blood and life.
Recently, it had even drunk her dragon blood. Perhaps even her father or Lucoa might be hurt by that holy sword if they faced it.
She had discussed this with Miyauchi Hikage on the first night after following him to this world.
She was well aware that the holy sword had now recognized Miyauchi Hikage as its master and was dwelling in his mind.
Although Miyauchi Hikage's own strength was only average, if that holy sword fully unleashed its power, it would pose a significant threat to her.
And for some reason, she always felt that when Miyauchi Hikage held the holy sword, he gave off the same feeling as the god who had pierced her body with it.
Perhaps that was why Miyauchi Hikage's mental power also carried a trace of the holy sword's aura.
This also meant that she, who didn't like Miyauchi Hikage to begin with, found it even harder to have a good attitude toward him.
Similarly, Miyauchi Hikage might also dislike her presence under the consciousness of the holy sword.
But Tohru didn't care; both she and Miyauchi Hikage were individuals with their own thoughts. They might not get along, but they wouldn't start a conflict over such things.
Afterward, Miyauchi Hikage tested the effect of Unlimited Blade Works in the Metaverse.
But this immediately caused a problem.
The moment he opened Unlimited Blade Works, the collision between worlds almost shattered a large area of the surrounding Metaverse.
Sensing the rumbling as the world in the Metaverse was being crushed by Unlimited Blade Works, Miyauchi Hikage decisively gave up the attempt.
This was the entrance to the Metaverse; better not try it here.
"Unlimited Blade Works has a higher priority than the Metaverse. I wonder if Reality Marbles are naturally like this, or if the one I obtained is not just a pure Reality Marble..."
Rewards from the diary were always optimized versions, especially since Unlimited Blade Works was a prize he drew through a directional lottery. Aside from the real world, probably none of those small worlds could overpower it.
Though he couldn't open the full Unlimited Blade Works, it shouldn't be a problem to use it as a Simple Domain in the Metaverse, turning it into an open mini-barrier centered on himself.
After only trying for a short while, Miyauchi Hikage created a simple version within ten meters of himself—an open mini Unlimited Blade Works that didn't put too much pressure on the Metaverse.
Tohru watched him test his abilities, and the confusion in her eyes grew stronger.
How did he master so many abilities?
Especially this move he was displaying now; it actually carried the aura of a "world," as if he had created a world entirely belonging to him out of thin air inside his body.
And this clearly wasn't his limit. The shaking of the Metaverse just now was probably caused by Miyauchi Hikage testing his power.
She originally wanted to ask why he hadn't used these many abilities when meeting her.
But then she thought, she was almost dead then, and Miyauchi Hikage hadn't planned to save her at first, intending to leave with Honma Meiko directly.
If Honma Meiko hadn't made the choice to save her but lacked the strength, Miyauchi Hikage probably wouldn't have stepped in.
Only after getting along for a few days and chatting for several nights, having barely become friends, did he show these powers in front of her.
"I knew it. Someone ignored by gods, who has no god in his heart, couldn't possibly be a normal person," Tohru muttered to herself.
Then she saw Miyauchi Hikage turn around and ask: "You ate so much tonight, you must be full. Want to spar with me here?"
Tohru's eyes narrowed. Is this guy provoking her?
She already found him annoying, but since he was her savior and had told her much about this world, she had been suppressing her emotions.
Now that he was actively asking for a beating, she wouldn't hold back.
She rolled up her sleeves immediately, a fire lighting in her eyes.
"Come then, let me see what gives you such confidence!"
...
Half an hour later, a bruised and battered Miyauchi Hikage returned to reality, supported by a high-spirited Tohru.
"That world can only handle about fifty percent of my strength, but I feel we were just wandering on the surface. If we explore deeper, the deeper areas should be able to handle my full power."
"Your Unlimited Blade Works isn't bad, but the weapons inside are all trash. Next time you get some better stuff, you might have a chance to touch the edge of my clothes."
Tohru whispered mockingly in Miyauchi Hikage's ear.
"Next time you want to get beaten, remember to call me. I can make time whenever."