Back to the present,
'She really needs to learn the art of subtlety,' Mikhail shook his head, slightly annoyed at Emma's very 'animated' performance.
Regardless, he ignored her; and after a few more minutes of careful snooping, he'd finally found what he was looking for: a grotto.
'Yes! This should be where it's located! According to Emma's familiar...'
Mikhail was ecstatic! Finally, he had found where 'she' was trapped, and soon they would reunite! Letting out a relieved sigh, he walked forthright to the entrance fully ready to kill whatever stood before him and his Ana...
<
-Fwoosh!-
-Creak!-
In a flash, Mikhail jumped away from his previous position and landed just in time for him to see it explode into smithereens! Looking at the fist-sized crater, Mikhail's face instantly paled as he looked at the cause of the devastation.
<
"You!!"
Mikhail knew who it was just by the sound of their voice: the same gruff voice he heard as he was close to death, the same voice he constantly reminded himself of as he trained himself for this very day!
-Shing!-
Unsheathing his blood-red dagger, he readied it as he looked at the gorgod, the very reason he was here, the very reason he had to risk his life to enter into this hellhole and not making merry with Ana in the village he missed... the village she surely missed too...
'Ignis!'
With that single thought, his dagger crackled to life, its glow a reminder to all of its deadliness...
<
Sadly, the gorgod didn't seem as intimidated as Mikhail had hope; Merely showing a bit of shock at his weapon, but other than that, there was no reaction he could deem as 'fear'. But Mikhail wasn't deterred at the gorgod's bravado and crouched down low, as if ready to jump at his opponent.
<<...Hehe! No small talk, huh? Good! I always hated talking when you can just fight! Let's get this over with, kid!>>
The gorgod carefully shifted his body after speaking, allowing his weapon; a greatsword, to rest on his broad shoulders. Mikhail gulped at the size of the sword, but he forced himself to rush in nonetheless.
-Woosh!-
The gorgod swung its weapon, creating a light whooshing sound. Thanks to this, Mikhail knew when to duck in time.
-Crash!-
The sword missed him by a bit, barely grazing the top of his head, before crashing straight into the stone floor of the grotto.
Ignoring the deafening crash behind him, Mikhail slashed at the gorgod's legs, hoping to immobilize it. But It had already expected this and had long abandoned its sword, using its fist to uppercut him in the chest before he could get any serious hits in.
"Kuoh!!"
Right as Mikhail's blade brushed past the flesh of its target, he was sent flying by the gorgod, flying a few cedars into the air before landing on the ground a few moments later.
"*Cough!* Ach! *Cough!* Oooh..."
After 10 gruelling seconds of pure unadulterated pain in his chest, Mikhail finally recovered his bearings and looked to the gorgod: fortunately, it was busy pulling the sword out of the hard stone floor.
"*Cough!* Let's try this again," Mikhail whispered as he held his ribs in pain.
Mikhail did his best to observe for opening in the gorgod's form, desperately hoping to find something that could allow him to steal away its advantage...
<
The gorgod spoke as he pulled out his sword from the floor, impressed with Mikhail's instinct! But to Mikhail, he was being mocked and laughed at by the monster who took away his Ana!
'There!' Mikhail excitedly thought!
Mikhail dashed towards the gorgod, trying to go for its head this time. Of course, the gorgod had seen through his intentions and had already swung its sword down to prevent him from being in front of him. Contrary to its expectations, Mikhail was nowhere near his head!
"Kahh!!" Mikhail snarled viciously as he prepared to strike; like a venomous viper getting ready to bite!
Mikhail knew the gorgod was onto him, but by the time it realized, it was far too late...
<
The gorgod roared out in excruciating pain, but instead of the face or neck getting cut, it was both its wrists! In one second, blood started to seep out. In the next, it could find no strength to lift its sword anymore; and finally, the injured tissue started burning!
"Hehe!! That's right! The enchantment isn't just a flame enchantment; It combines with the poison coated blade to melt your tissues! Have a taste of that, you brute!"
<
After another fit of shouting, the gorgod started to growl in silence. Taking this godsent opportunity, Mikhail ran up to the gorgod, in preparation to finish him off with one final strike to the neck!
<
But it suddenly lashed out, arms wide and stance low, it managed to catch Mikhail off guard and launched him into the air again!
"Hup!"
Mikhail was once again launched into the air, but instead of going horizontally, he went straight up into the air, a whole five cedars tall!
'Shit!' Mikhail swore in his head, after all, as he travelled up, he could see from the corner of his eye: The gorgod had its sword again!
'No! I can't die like this!'
Mikhail twisted his body in desperation, looking for a solution, any solution, but just as he started falling back down, as the world started to drag him back down, as he felt his despair consume him, he could feel the world slow down... And just like that, time seemed to stop, looking around, he could see the gorgod, its previously twitching muscles were... frozen, the blood that flowed prodigiously down its wrist was... frozen and even the rocks that were flying in the midst of their battle was... frozen.
'There is one more feature of that dagger, but using it will almost certainly destroy it, and destroy you along with it,'
Suddenly, Mikhail could hear Emma speak, her voice was strict and firm, as if warning him of what lied ahead, thinking of this; he was instantly brought back to the scene where she was teaching him the dagger's uses:
'What is it?' He could hear himself ask; He didn't actually say it, but it was his voice, like he was in an out-of-body dream.
'It will unleash all the stored up energy, and to do that it will need to overpower the vessel that Traps it; in other words: that knife,'
'How do I activate it?' again, he didn't say anything, but he was compelled to, no, forced to.
'Simply say: Ignis Aurora'
At that moment, his eyes was opened wide, and as his eyes sluggishly moved around, he could see time slowly start back up. Everything was beginning to move again, and he could feel himself being dragged down by the hands of gravitas. But unlike the abject helplessness he felt before, it was now replaced with a burning will, the burning will to survive...
"...Ignis Aurora..." He whispered, and not a moment after, the world started to turn white.
***