"...So, do you think I'm worthy enough? Or do you need more convincing?" When Mikhail heard her question, he immediately shook his head. Seeing his submission, Emma put down her spear in satisfaction.
"Good, so get out of here, head west; my team's there, stay with them until I kill the queen," She said, fully expecting him to comply. But contrary to her expectations and shock, Mikhail didn't move. No, instead, he kneeled and begged her with all his might:
"Please! She means a lot to me! I need to make sure she's not in any—!"
Mikhail kept on kneeling, hoping his sincerity would allow him to tag along, but she was merciless and her next words clearly showed it.
"I said no," Shaking her head, Emma shot him down before he could even finish his words, starting to walk away after that. But Mikhail was anything but persistent. And after getting up, he followed Emma like a puppy dog, infuriating her to no end.
At first, Emma brushed him off, thinking he would give up sooner or later...but that was not what happened; As she travelled deeper and deeper into the complex system of caves, Mikhail kept following, even when she tried intentionally putting him through danger, he silently followed.
'Hmm, he really is determined to save that girl, could it be...?' Emma thought to herself, before asking him:
"hum... Are you going to keep following me?" She asked, partly astonished and partly annoyed.
"Mn" Mikhail nodded firmly before going back to silently following her.
"...Fine, you can come along with me," Finally, Emma gave in to his pleading and allowed him to follow her.
"Really?!" Mikhail was absolutely ecstatic that she agreed, so much so he immediately began bowing at her feet in gratitude.
"I'm not done speaking yet," Before he could celebrate any further though, Emma continued.
"First things first, that flimsy knife of yours isn't going to help; here!" Emma said before passing him a ruby-red dagger. Its vibrant red colour glowed similarly to the golden spear Emma wielded.
Examining the knife further, Mikhail could see tiny, speck-like runes inscribed on the dagger's blade. So delicately made, Mikhail could have sworn this wasn't an actual weapon but a ceremonial one instead.
"Impressive, but is this thing even usable?"
"Hmph, do you really think you're holding an ordinary weapon?" In response to Mikhail's scepticism, she just snorted derisively and continued.
"That 'thing' is a Rubirum dagger," She proudly declared, "Furthermore, It's been enchanted by the best runesmiths of the Irglith Institute!"
"Woah! What enchantments!? I heard they only consider other runesmiths' enchantments to be ordinary" When Mikhail heard her, he was absolutely thrilled about the whole thing and quickly asked her.
"Let's talk while we walk," Seeing his child-like excitement, she just smiled and beckoned him to follow.
"Sure!" Mikhail quickly replied.
***
A few minutes later,
"...Understood?"
"Mn," Mikhail carelessly nodded as he fiddled around endlessly with his weapon.
"Now repeat it back to me,"
"Ehh... Do I really have to do this?" Mikhail whined.
"Don't worry, just repeat the parts about the dagger,"
"...Fine: This knife is made from Rubirum, which is second to none in heat conductivity, making it a great for fire enchantments,"
"And how do you use these enchantments?" Mikhail rolled his eyes before talking:
"You can activate them by intent, meaning as long as you intend to activate them, the enchantments will know and comply,"
Smiling in satisfaction, Emma patted his head in approval. To which Mikhail could only go back to playing with the dagger. But just as they went back to relative peace, Emma signalled for him to stop.
"Wh–"
"Shh... We're almost there, so be quiet," Mikhail obeyed and stayed quiet while slowly following the already mute Emma.
'Wow, she really is impressive,' Mikhail thought to himself while he observed Emma as she was sneaking through the underbrush, cautious of the queen's guard...
***
Somewhere deep underground, a giant throne was erected in the massive rectangular space that was the entirety of the chamber, its dimensions were about 2 cedars in length and width; covering about 1/10 of the total area. Sitting on that throne was a slow-moving mass of flesh, its skin was an anaemic green and was oozing out a sickly yellow pus, but don't let this façade fool you, as under its skin was power so great not even the the past empire's army could stand up to it. Indeed, this was the Morkoda Queen.
And standing right next to her throne were giant figures similar to the one Mikhail saw when he had first encountered Emma. But instead of the apparent insanity of the monster before, these ones were clearly intelligent.
To the left of that throne was a small grotto, and inside it was a gazebo; its colour an entrancing white so perfect anyone could tell it was the work of a great architect. Inside this gazebo was a table and two chairs, And sitting on one of them was an unconscious girl, she was also dressed in white. with frills and floral designs matching that of a traditional wedding gown. These clothes were so lovely that if it weren't for the rope tying her to the chair, everyone would have mistaken her for a bride!
Apart from those three things, there was nothing else of note in the 'throne room', a few bushes here and there, some smaller guard posts on the outskirts of the colossal Chamber. But contrary to the their expectations, crouched right behind one of these inconspicuous places was Emma and Mikhail. Who were currently discussing their plan of attack:
"This is where we have to split up, you look for the girl while I distract the queen. We meet when the sun is at its highest," She whispered; her tone grave and serious.
"What if one of us don't arrive in time?" Mikhail already knew the answer but had to ask anyway.
"..." In response to his question, Emma declined to answer, knowing he already knew.
"Got it," Mikhail did indeed know, which made the stakes all the more higher.
"Then I'll be going first," After a few minutes of observation, Mikhail finally spoke, before rushing out of the bushes, startling the wayward morkodas that were relatively close to them.
<
-Shrrmm!!-
<
The morkodas were in a mess as they tried to alert their comrades, but just as they attempted to call out, they were instantly burnt to a crisp. The culprit was of course Mikhail, and not far behind him was Emma. After a few seconds, they both made quick work of the morkodas.
"Haha! Take this!"
"Good job! I'll be taking my leave... Now go save that 'Friend' of yours," Mikhail clearly knew she was mocking him. But he just nodded, ignoring the teasing's of Emma.
"Mn," With that swift farewell, the two split ways.