Cries, shouts, and screams for help sounded so harsh in her ears. Niken opened her eyes to see a black memory window floated toward her as if it approached her at its will.
Aqua decided to keep quiet while watching what Niken would do. This was the first time for her to have seen firsthand how a phantasm lord had entered someone else's memory.
At first, she thought, Niken must find the right memory window among these many memory windows. But who would have thought, Niken even called the window she wanted.
Niken walked to open the window and entered it with vast strides.
The scenery around her changed in an instant, and he felt like she was somewhere else.
Niken walked cautiously while examining her surroundings. Isn't this the north continent where the mermaids live?
Why is she here? And why is it so quiet? Where is everyone? Where is Flynn?
"Aqua, did I choose the wrong memory window?"
"…" Aqua couldn't answer her question because she didn't know whether they had entered the proper memory window or not. "We'd better find the daemon first."
Niken followed Aqua's suggestion and ran here and there to find Flynn's figure. But alas, she could not find the daemon because she was not a tracker. Niken didn't know the magic technique of tracing a person's whereabouts.
If she managed to get out of this place and bury Flynn's bad memory, she would make sure to ask Kazuto to teach her how to track someone down.
After running to find Flynn for no apparent target place, Niken felt short of breath on her last legs. Is it possible she feels tired in other people's astral dimensions?
"I didn't know that my physique could get tired easily like this," Niken remembered that her stamina was relatively high if only walking or running like this.
She used to run or walk for hours while she was waiting for her brother to practice. At least Niken could strengthen her stamina if she couldn't improve her water bending ability.
Could it be that she was being spoiled by Kazuto too much? Ever since they traveled far from the eastern continent, Kazuto always told her to sit on his back in the form of a wolf. So she got used to walking for a while and then sat on Kazuto's back for the rest of the trip.
"Not really. Your stamina will indeed be depleted twice as much in other people's astral dimensions than in the real world. It seems that your physical body is still not strong enough to enter other people's astral dimensions. Should we go back first?"
Niken shook her head and decided to sit and rest for a moment.
"But I remember entering Kazuto's astral dimension, yet I'm never this tired. How is that possible?"
But at this time, Niken entered Flynn's astral dimension without permission, so Niken had to use her own physical energy to walk in this place.
If Niken continues to be here, her stamina would be more and more depleted over time, and she would feel drowsy here. Once she is unconscious, Niken will not be able to wake up and will slowly die in this place.
Of course, Aqua couldn't let that happen and tried to persuade Niken to come out first.
This was what Kazuto was worried about earlier. He did not know how strong Niken's body would withstand the astral dimension's pressure that they were breaking through. That's why Kazuto didn't want Niken to push herself and told her to come back as soon as Niken felt tired.
Unfortunately, Niken was so stubborn and insisted on staying a few more minutes.
Niken decided to get up so she could continue her search. Just as her hand touched the tree, a flash of images appeared in her mind.
Flynn stood on the edge of the mermaid lake, staring the water blankly, then turned to look at the village settlement filled with Elementalists.
However, his gaze was no longer empty but filled with extreme hatred. An intense killing aura emitted from the daemon's body, and in an instant, Flynn's figure disappeared.
In the next second, Flynn arrived at the center of the settlement. He slaughtered one by one the Elementalists he hated.
Flynn did not even care if his attacks killed innocent ordinary humans and ate all the souls he defeated.
The Flynn she saw now was not the mischievous or flirtatious daemon she remembered. This Flynn was a complete demon that killed anyone he sees mercilessly.
Niken quickly pulled her hand from the tree, and suddenly the image in her mind disappeared. Her eyes glazen, and tears threatened to come out from her eye.
Niken's heart ached to see Flynn's condition so drastically changed.
"Niken? What did you see?"
"I think I found Flynn." Niken ran as fast as possible to the lake's edge regardless of the fatigue in her body. She ignored the dizziness in her head and kept running.
Niken stopped when she saw Flynn standing there looking blankly at the mermaid lake.
She knew right away, the images she saw were Flynn's memories when he ate souls for the first time. That was the beginning of how Flynn changed drastically.
Niken walked over, approached Flynn slowly, then called the daemon in a soft voice. "Flynn,"
Flynn turned and saw Niken with a flat expression as if Flynn was neither surprised nor concerned about her presence.
"Flynn, that's enough. Let me help you." Niken stretched her hand towards Flynn and waited patiently for him.
As a phantasm lord, Niken could have forced the daemon and immediately destroyed this place. But Niken didn't do it. It's not that she couldn't, but she doesn't want to.
She felt sure this memory window that she had entered was the primary source of why Flynn had turned into a heartless daemon. If she just destroyed it, then the dark memory window outside would be dimmer and locked tight for not allowing her to enter.
Hence, she tried another approach to stir the daemon's heart.