However, seeing his current form also made her think that she was right in trying to get rid of him since she didn't dare to fathom what could have happened in the real world had he become like this.
Even if he previously wasn't like this, who could guarantee that he wouldn't turn into a killing machine later on that pretty much seems unstoppable?
But now Nyissa was starting to feel despair, seeing how her strongest spear attack did nothing to faze him.
She still didn't give up and decided to use her mystic arts even though she knew it was useless.
She waved her hands together as a large mystic raven bird with black flames blazing off his body manifested in thin air, and with a screech, it shot towards Viktor, who simply raised both his hands to form two ethereal swords made of the cursed flames on his body and cross slashed the raven just as it came near, dissipating it in the process.
His ethereal sword dissipated as well, as he kept moving forward.
"Not yet!" Nyissa gritted her teeth as she waved her hands again, and this time sturdy ethereal chains with cursed flames blazing over it shot out of her palms magically and towards Viktor, wounding over his body as if trying to trap him.
Viktor's arms and legs got pressed together as the chains suddenly bound him to his spot, making it look like he got trapped by the sturdy set of chains.
However, he merely jerked his shoulders, and the chains broke like glass, making Nyissa cough out some blood as well as she kneeled on the ground, feeling very exhausted and tired.
Her attacks weren't also as powerful as she expected because of the severe injuries she suffered before and how exhausted she was.
"Master!" Ayana felt her heart writhing in worry and tension, seeing her Master trying so bitterly to hold off Viktor but all in vain.
If Viktor was invulnerable to her mystic arts, no matter how much of a powerful attack she gives out, it would only be useless.
Viktor stood before Nyissa and clutched her neck as he began to lift her till her feet left the ground.
Nyissa grimaced as she clutched his hand frantically, though his cold-blooded expression made her feel as if a Demon God was slowly killing her with just his heavy yet invasive gaze.
"No, please don't!" Ayana couldn't just keep watching anymore and rushed towards Viktor to stand in between her Master and him while grabbing his hand.
"A-Ayana...no…." Nyissa's expression became pained seeing her disciple intervening in a situation where she might never come out alive from.
Ayana's hands were getting scorched because of the cursed flames on Viktor's hand. But she endured the pain as she continued to plead to him bitterly, "Viktor...please go back to how you were before! We are sorry that we tried to attack you…w-we should have listened to you...Remember, how you told us that you are not that scary person anymore...then why...why are you being like this now…"
Viktor's expression still didn't flicker, and his grip only continued to tighten, slowly strangling Nyissa till she was only moments away from her death.
"Ayana...it's f-fine…" Nyissa felt that she probably had this coming and was ready to accept death but seeing her disciple putting herself in danger like this made her try one last time though she wasn't confident whether it would work.
She quickly took out a small pouch of powder and threw it towards Viktor's face.
The white powder from inside the pouch sprinkled all over his face while some kind of white vapor spread out, which breezed past Viktor's face, making his expression falter for the first time as he grimaced.
Viktor suddenly let go of Nyissa's neck as he stumbled back with his hands on his head before kneeling on the ground.
His expression began to contort as if he was experiencing some mental distress and confusion.
"Master!" Ayana was elated to see Viktor letting her Master go and immediately supported her so that she wouldn't fall on the ground.
She then looked at the white vapor floating in the air and asked, "Are those crushed leaves of the Spirit Tree?"
Nyissa nodded as she wiped the blood away from her lips while looking at Viktor clutching his head, "Yes...I didn't expect it to work, but as I guessed, there is something going on with his soul. He is definitely not in his right mind."
Ayana was not fully familiar with the twig's effects and asked in a bit of worry as she saw him slowly collapsing on the ground, "It wouldn't kill or hurt him, right?"
"No, it wouldn't. But it's supposed to cleanse the soul or to make sure one's true self is back in control. That's how we usually get rid of the evil spirits that take control of the living ones before it is too late. It indeed seems like from the moment he attacked me, his consciousness wasn't in control," Nyissa said with knitted brows, wondering what was wrong with Viktor since she had never seen something like this.
If Viktor was being mind-controlled, she would have surely known, but this wasn't a case of that.
"Then why does it look like he is in pain?" Ayana asked with knitted brows.
"It's probably because he is subconsciously trying to get control over his mind and body again," Nyissa said while tending to her and Ayana's injuries, especially the parts of their skin that got scorched.
Ayana wanted to help out Viktor if he indeed was struggling mentally, but the cursed flames were still blazing wildly on his body, making her unable to do anything.
"Where am I...what happened…" Viktor suddenly felt as if he was waking up after a long time. However, his surroundings were still pitch black, and he couldn't see anything, making him feel confused.
"Didn't I die and get resurrected again? Then why is everything so dark" Viktor mumbled in confusion as he tried to look around but felt as if he was floating in nothingness, making him feel strange.
He couldn't even see his own body nor sense anything.
But suddenly, he felt as if his mind was slipping into something...something he found it hard to express.
.....
"Azu, Azu! Let's meet here tomorrow evening. I-I have something special to say to you," A girl's elegant yet melodious voice sounded beside Viktor's ears though he still couldn't see anything. However, if one noticed it, one could have sensed a hint of bashfulness in her voice.
But slowly, he began to see some traces of light till he was able to see a blurred image of a tall girl with long silver hair dancing behind her back and radiant crimson eyes though he was unable to see her face, which looked blurred just like everything else.
'Why does she look so taller than me? Wait a minute...why am I so short?' Viktor was feeling puzzled as he looked down to take a look at the blurry image of himself.
"Oh? Is it because tomorrow is my eighteenth birthday?" Azu asked with a bright smile.
"Hmm, well, yes, but not because of that, really. It's because….anyway….you will know it tomorrow, hehe. Bye!"
"Eli, wait! Don't run away like that….sigh...why is she always like this…" Azu shook his head with a helpless smile and scratched his head as he mumbled, "I should now get back before it's late. Mother will be upset otherwise."
"Huh, who is this girl....why does her voice make me feel strange…" Viktor mumbled to himself as he felt his eyes getting warm and was confused, wondering why what he saw seemed like a memory he experienced himself when he never recollected having a name like 'Azu' nor knowing a girl named 'Eli'.
.....
However, suddenly the whole scene disappeared and was replaced by the pitch-black darkness from before.
"Huh, what happened...why did everything become dark again? I want to know more…" Viktor couldn't help but feel an intense urge to know more about what he saw.
He felt that what he saw had definitely something to do with his forgotten past. He could feel it in his bones, and the girl he saw made his heart feel pain in a way he couldn't express.
He never felt so complicated in his life and wanted to know who this girl was.
But before he could think about anything else, he suddenly started to sense his surroundings, the hot rocky ground and the searing heat along with the wind brushing against his body, while also hearing the voices of two women not too far from him.
"He is waking up? He really is! Master, will he be alright or…?"
"Be prepared for anything...we can't run away even if we wanted to. Let's hope for the best…" Nyissa said in a defeated tone though she was feeling a bit hopeful since the cursed flames were no longer blazing on Viktor's body, and he no longer gave a heavy yet terrorizing aura.
Viktor knitted his brows, wondering if what he saw was just a dream after he died, and opened his eyes as he tried to slowly get up.
He saw that he was still in Naraka Bridge or Hell based on how he could still see the reddish lands and the black sun glowing brightly in the blood-red sky.
He then saw Nyissa looking quite pitiful with blood and injuries here and there and asked in a puzzled tone, "Oh... what happened to you? It seems like you all got in trouble while I was knocked out, eh?"
