"Umm, excuse me...?"
Hresha pointed her ear towards Elihim as if she heard wrong.
"A Death Dweller. The mythical creatures that dwell in the Death Palace are based on the common folklore 'Hell is not Under but at the Center'"
"Umm, I know that they are called mythical creatures but... they are actually real. O-once you completed the four stages of an Imagi and become a fully-fledged one, they will tell you the true existence of Death Dwellers."
Hresha swallowed her fear of Elihim and explained in a desperate manner. Even though she was traumatized by him, it seemed like her fear towards the so-called Death Dwellers is much deeper.
"Yes, I know they are real, that's why we are going to find one."
Seeing that Elihim was serious, Hresha cried and fell on her knees, She held onto one of his legs and begged.
"P-please don't! If we encounter one, they will consume us, feeling us with fear until we die. That's why the folklore tells of hell!"
Hell is not Under but at the Center.
This lore is told to children so that they wouldn't wander outside at night, afraid that these Death Dwellers might reach them.
The story is short and simple... but can strike fear onto children's hearts. This folklore can vary from place to place and is used on many different things.
If you eat dirty things, the Death Dweller will enter your mouth...
Death Dwellers will take the appearance of an unknown person so don't talk to strangers...
They will take the appearance of bad children who tell lies, steals, and bullies others. If they finally took your appearance after all the bad things you've done, they will visit you at night...
Those were the types of warnings that parents tell their children to their convenience. Once the children grow up, they will realize that these stories 'aren't real' and were just used against them as a child. That is the common situation. However, the truth is that these Death Dwellers are walking the endless land of sand in the center of Reland, commonly called the Death Palace.
It should be incomprehensible and unreasonable for Elihim to search for one of them but Hresha was not in the state of mind where she can think carefully.
Elihim used Puppeteering to drag Hresha along with him. Feeling the invisible force, the victim tried to fight back, trying to nullify the force but her hope immediately vanished as she found that even after all her force, she could only shake Elihim's force a bit.
"N-no...."
While floating behind Elihim, Hresha stopped crying and pleaded as her last line of defense.
"W-what is your intention? Surely, you don't actually want to meet one of them, right? Even if you have the strength like the headmaster, that doesn't mean that you can escape them. We basically have no knowledge regarding them since dead man tells no tales, remember!?"
"Hm, then what about the folklore? Where did that come from?"
Elihim easily argued which made Hresha restless.
"Are you sure!? You will not be able to escape! Even if your intention is to feed me to them, they will be able to catch up to you! Just one glimpse of them, they can pierce your mind and enter your imagination, cursing you until you die!"
"Hm? I thought we don't have any knowledge regarding them?"
"AHH! Please! What do you want!? I will do anything, please!" when Hresha heard what she said, she gasped, "Are you threatening me to say that? Y-you're just scaring me so that I will pledge my servitude or something like that, right!?"
Hresha felt like she had discovered it all and revealed Elihim's plan. Even she hoped this was true. Because as long as she's alive, there's a chance that she will turn the situation around. Although one can pledge, it's just formality and no mysterious power will bind a master-servant relationship. It all depends on the submission of the servant and the power to control the master. However, if they instead met a Death Dweller, all hope is lost as well as their lives.
"Right! I will be your servant! It's better than being dead!"
Hresha gulped as she forced those words out of her mouth. However, she only received a giggle.
"You're funny. As if I gain anything from having you as a servant." Elihim said.
That was the truth if it's regarding his future 'goal'.
"S-so... you're serious? You really want to find a Death Dweller? No, you're bluffing! Although we are already stepping on the desert, the Death Palace is still hundreds of kilometers away!"
Hresha clung to that hope. In this area, there are still some barbaric people who live. Although they are considered to be separate from ordinary people as their lifestyles are basically a mystery, it still means that they are still in a place where people survive. In other words, they are far from the real Death Palace.
"Is that so... I didn't know that. So let's keep up the pace."
Right after saying that, Elihim's feet detached from the ground and began to fly forward while pulling the regretting Hresha with him.
"H-how are you so fast...?" Hresha whispered in disbelief. Realizing that at this rate, they will actually reach the Death Palace, she pleaded again, "Elihim! Please! Don't, don't go there! We will die! Mister El- no, Lord Elihim, why!?"
"Oh, you finally asked why. I'll tell you once we got there."
After half an hour of Hresha being noisy, Elihim dropped onto the ground and crossed his legs onto the sandy ground. Thankfully, it was night or else, that place would be too hot for them to even rest.
Hresha thought that her pleading finally took effect.
"I don't have infinite stamina so let me rest first."
But hearing that made her realize why they stopped. However, that made her learn something.
'True, we are so fast that we have covered fifty miles already. Does that mean he's exhausted? Does this mean...?'
Knowing that every second of hesitation will make Elihim regain energy, Hresha created a blade from her behind while staring at the child sitting in a lotus position in front of her.