Ai Li has always been decisive in doing things. Early the next morning, she called Xue Cai directly and asked her to bring a large box to the 12th artificial island.
"Senior, do I need to stay?"
At this moment, Xue Cai also learned about the "Shadow Time" from Ai Li. She was quite surprised that such a strange thing would appear, and naturally wanted to stay and investigate.
"Of course, no problem. You can try it. It would be better if you can move during the shadow time."
Of course, Ai Li didn't mind Setsuna staying. In fact, if Setsuna could stay, it would certainly be a help for them in exploring the tower. It's just that that strange shadow time is really picky, and Ai Li is not sure whether Setsuna can successfully carry out activities in the shadow time.
So it all depends on the situation.
"Miss Ellie, what is this?"
At this time, Kirijo Mitsuru also came over and looked at the metal box next to Setsuna, which was only a head shorter than her. She couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. This box looked no different from an ordinary suitcase, except that it was much larger, and the appearance looked full of a sense of technology...
"Oh, this is the weapon I'm going to use... I prepared it last night, and it should look good now."
As she spoke, Ellie stretched out her finger and lightly pressed a place on the top of the box that looked like a fingerprint reader. Then there was a light "pop" sound, and the metal box that originally seemed to be a whole suddenly split apart layer by layer, and then the contents inside were displayed in front of everyone.
Including shotguns, grenades, sniper rifles, grenade launchers...
"This is……"
Looking at the box in front of her that looked like a small arsenal, Kirijo Mitsuru was stunned, and Setsuna next to her was also dizzy. She didn't expect that the things she dragged all the way here were such dangerous things!
"Sometimes, I still believe in firepower advantage."
Ellie reached out and stuffed a handful of weapons into her cloak. It looked like a magician performing a magic trick, but in fact, for her who could now freely manipulate time and space, it was just the result of putting Flanda's "space transfer" ability to practical use.
Even though supernatural powers and magic cannot directly affect those shadow monsters, they can still be used as auxiliary.
After traveling through so many worlds, Ellie had long since learned to find ways to fight in any situation.
If ordinary machines were not unable to operate in shadow time, Ellie would have brought a few hundred Templar Guardians here to wipe out that Tartarus.
But since physical attacks are effective, then let's strengthen your physical attacks to the limit.
Insufficient firepower? Is this a problem?
After packing all the weapons in the box, Ellie reached out, took out a cane from the box, weighed it, and nodded with satisfaction.
When fighting with the third True Ancestor, Ellie discovered that even if the transformed elves used wolf swordsmanship to attack, height was still a flaw - the wolf swordsmanship's requirements for height and strength were not just for showing off, but were actually necessary.
Currently, Ai Li’s height is only slightly taller than the little girls around Fang Zheng, barely reaching the passing line. It is still too strenuous for her to wield the greatsword.
However, Fang Zheng had traveled through several worlds after all, so he quickly thought of a solution to the problem.
If the Undead Squad can't hold out, then isn't it the same to use the Yharnam Hunters to fight?
Compared to wolf swordsmanship, the Yharnam hunter's fighting style does not require such high height and strength, and is a little more flexible, and is more suitable for petite characters like Ellie.
So Ellie had the robots in the Glory of Shigla start working overnight and produced a large number of weapons. In addition to guns, there was also the freely retractable cane sword that Fang Zheng had obtained in the Yharnam world.
Looking at the fully armed Ai Li, Kirijo Mitsuru was also stunned. It's not like she had never seen a magician before, but for Kirijo Mitsuru, this kind of magician seemed a little different from the others.
In any case, this at least makes Kirijo Mitsuru feel more secure. You know, their SEES branch does not have such good treatment and authority. Now seeing so many powerful weapons, she feels a lot more at ease.
Soon, a day passed, and late at night on the second day, Ai Li and others, led by Mitsuru Kirijo and Akihiko Sanada, arrived at the place where Tartarus appeared.
"Is this the place? Isn't this a school?"
Looking at the Gekkoukan Academy in front of her, Shiomi Kotone asked curiously. Because she also had the qualifications to use Persona, she was persuaded by Ikatsuki Shuji and Kirijo Mitsuru to join the SEES team. In addition, Yue Yu Yukari, who had met Ai Li and others yesterday, also followed by her, as well as Ai Li's little follower Himeragi Setsuna.
Everyone was fully armed at the moment. Kirijo Mitsuru was holding a rapier. For some reason, young ladies seemed to like to use rapiers as weapons. This reminded Airy of Asuna...
Akihiko Sanada was wearing a pair of iron fist gloves - I heard that he was a member of the boxing club in school and had his own unique skills in fighting.
Yue Yujiali was holding a bow and arrow. She was a member of the Archery Club and had some strength in this area. In fact, Ai Li originally asked her to use a gun, but Yue Yujiali hesitated for a while and refused. This was also normal. Unlike Ai Li who could summon Persona directly, Yue Yujiali needed the gun as a summoner to summon. What if she was too nervous and took the wrong gun and pointed the real gun at her head... Tsk tsk tsk, I really couldn't imagine that scene.
As for Shiomi Kotone, she was holding a long sword, which looked like a simplified version of Guan Gong's sword. This made Ai Li look at it curiously. You know, she rarely saw people using this kind of weapon. She didn't expect that this seemingly ordinary girl in front of her had experience in this area.
"You'll know when you see it."
In response to Shiomi Kotone's question, Kirijo Mitsuru did not answer immediately, she just glanced at her watch.
"Time is up."
As Kirijo Mitsuru finished her words, the clock on her watch struck twelve o'clock.
Then at the same time, the surrounding environment suddenly changed.
A bleak green hue covered everything. The bright and huge moon reappeared, shining its cold light on the artificial island in front of it. The surroundings once again became like a haunted house, with bloodstains scattered on the ground, and...
"Are you sure this is okay?"
Ai Li reached out and knocked on the coffin next to her - it was Xue Cai. It seemed that she didn't have the same good luck as others.
"no problem."
Kirijo Mitsuru nodded.
"The shadows won't attack these coffins. They will only attack those who wander in the shadow time. But that's not the problem now. You see..."
As she spoke, Kirijo Mitsuru raised her head, and at the same time, in front of everyone, the building of Gekkoukan Academy began to gradually twist and change.
It was a kind of change that was like being compressed and stretched like plasticine. The twisting high-rise building seemed to have transformed into some kind of living giant insect, raising its body to face the night sky. Then, in full view of everyone, it turned into a twisted spire that soared into the sky.
Seeing this scene, Ai Li couldn't help but raise her eyebrows, while Yue Yujiali and Xi Jian Qinyin both showed surprised expressions.
“It’s right here.”
Only after the transformation was completed did Kirijo Mitsuru reach out and push open the school gate.
"Be careful."
Pushing open the door, everyone slowly walked into the tower.
The tower in front of me was completely empty, with only a long staircase in the middle leading to the door on the second floor. Apart from that, there was nothing here - huh? Not right?
As Ellie was looking around, she saw a blue door standing not far to the left of the hall. Ellie seemed to have some impression of this door. If she remembered correctly, she had seen a similar door in the space called "Velvet Room" when she summoned Persona last night.
However, no one else seemed to notice this, except for one person.
Ai Li saw Shiomi Kotone walking to the door. She looked around curiously, then pushed the door open. Then, Shiomi Kotone froze there, without any reaction.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Seeing Xi Jian Qin Yin still in a daze, Yue Yu Youjiali walked over curiously and patted her on the shoulder, which made the latter come back to her senses as if awakened from a dream. However, she seemed to realize that other people seemed unable to see the door, so she just made up a few words and put the matter aside.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Miss Ellie."
At this time, Kirijo Mitsuru also came over and stuffed a pair of headphones into Ai Li's hand.
"I will be in charge of monitoring here, you can take the others to check the situation up there. Mingyan knows the way, he will tell you how to get there."
"OK."
After taking the headphones, Ai Li nodded, then looked at the others.
"let's go."
What Kirijo Mitsuru said was true. In this tower they called "Tartarus", the number and threat of those shadows were indeed not on the same level as outside.
In the city outside, the shadows were basically just a few small cats, and as long as there were enough people, it was easy to deal with them. But after entering the tower, the shadow monsters here were so numerous that they were like guards, with a sentry every three steps and a sentry every five steps. If this were an RPG that was like stepping on a landmine, the frequency of encountering monsters alone would be enough to annoy the players.
“Gah——!!!”
Along with screams, several shadow monsters jumped out from both sides of the corridor again. They looked extremely strange, as if they were monsters from myths and legends. Not only were their appearances distorted, but unlike the shadow monsters encountered last night that could only pounce on them for physical attacks, these monsters could also use some magic-like abilities to attack.
At first, the two rookies, Kotone Shiomi and Yukari Takeuchi, who had never been on the battlefield, were flustered, but after several consecutive battles, they gradually adapted to the battle. Facing the shadow in front of them, Kotone Shiomi raised her naginata and rushed forward with Akihiko Sanada, while behind them, Yukari Takeuchi bent her bow and shot an arrow, which quickly hit the forehead of a shadow monster and destroyed it.
The three of them were fighting the shadow monsters in the front, while Ai Li was responsible for guarding the back. These monsters were not as moral as the monsters in RPGs, and besides Ai Li herself who had rich combat experience, only Sanada Akihiko had dealt with shadows before, while Yue Yukari and Shiomi Kotone were still rookies and had no such awareness.
If Ellie hadn't been concerned about the rear, they would have been ambushed several times.
“Drink it!!”
Looking at the shadow monster flying in the air and rushing towards her, Ellie shouted softly, and the cane sword in her hand suddenly split and stretched out, turning into a chain sword and knocking it to the ground. At the same time, the other two monsters that looked like they were wearing crowns and masks, with only their heads flying in the air, rushed towards Ellie from the left and right.
Facing the enemy in front of her, Ellie raised the revolver in her left hand without hesitation and pointed it into the air. As she moved, a tarot card appeared out of thin air and fell down in a rotation.
"Persona!!"
As she called out, Ai Li pulled the trigger, and the tarot card that fell on the muzzle of the gun shattered. Then Shidunai appeared again with the white bear, and the whistling cold air turned into a tornado-like torrent that swept across the entire corridor, tearing all the shadow monsters that rushed over into pieces.
For Ai Li, these shadow monsters were not a problem. If there were only one or two of them, she would use her gun and cane sword to kill them directly. If there were too many enemies, she would summon Shidune to use a large AOE to wipe them all out. In this way, under Ai Li's escort, everyone soon arrived at the depths of the courtyard on the second floor.
“It’s right here.”
When he led everyone to the intersection, Akihiko Sanada couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Then he looked at Ai Li and nodded to her gratefully.
"Thank you for your help, Miss Ellie, and the two of you as well. It's true that more people means more work. When I came here alone before, I was exhausted..."
“That’s understandable.”
Ai Li nodded in response to what Sanada Akihiko said. Judging from the number of shadow monsters they had just encountered, even if four people went out to fight at the same time it would be difficult. It was indeed quite dangerous for Sanada Akihiko to run over alone.
But now...
"Is this what you are talking about?"
Walking forward, Ellie squinted her eyes and looked at the passage in front of her - from the outside, it seemed to be just a very ordinary passage. But under the dim light inside the passage, she could vaguely see the rolling fog.
"That's right."
Sanada Akihiko nodded.
"It was like this when we came here before. Then when it rains at night, the fog will dissipate and be replaced by a big door."
"Door...?"
Facing Sanada Akihiko's answer, Airi frowned and stared at the fog in front of her, thinking.
It seems that the situation is still very complicated.