While Elihim was meditating, Hresha slowly created a steel knife behind her back. This shows her talent and profound experience in making blades. Even a professional at least needs to look at what they were making to follow the general estimate of the process. It is akin to a painter. No matter how professional a painter is, they are unable to make a good painting if they have their eyes closed.
Yes, there are a lot of different factors to consider such as a fully-pledged Imagi only needs their imagination to create something out of thin air. However, imagination will always be imperfect. Yet, at the same time, it's not like Hresha has the intention to make a perfect blade. She just needs something that will do a job.
As long as she has the element of surprise, even the strongest Imagi is as vulnerable as an ordinary person.
Therefore, when she completed the knife, Hresha had an outburst of imaginative power, propelling her forward as she swung the knife overhead!
"Ha-!"
The knife was about to reach Elihim's head, just a little more and a child would have his head split open. However, of course, just a few millimeters away from her target, Hresha stopped mid-air. She did not intentionally stop herself from guilt but she was literally suspended in the air, unable to make further movements.
Her face paled when she realized what just happened.
"Nnn.."
She couldn't even mutter the word 'no' since she cannot move her jaw. The only good news was that she can blink and roll her eyes. Therefore, she saw how Elihim casually moved out of the blades way and stood up.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
He clicked his tongue while swaying his finger left and right. This simple gesture made Hresha perspire and profusely sweat.
Elihim stepped forward with a small smile and used his bare hand to swiped the beads of sweat from Hresha's forehead.
"You sweat a lot..." he removed his hands, "is it because you're aware of what you're about to do and is guilty about it?"
Right after he innocently said that, Hresha felt the restraint covering her jaw disappeared. But even so, she doesn't know what she should say. There was no existing excuse to cover her actions up.
"But don't worry. I already expected this."
"So... I'm just dancing on your palm?" Hresha laughed in self-derision with a wry expression.
She's not that stupid to not see the situation. With how much force Elihim was controlling her right now, she can easily determine that him resting is just a lie. She does not have the advantage of surprise from the start.
"I-it's my loss... do whatever you want."
"So you will shut up about the Death Dwellers already?"
Elihim raised his eyebrows and spoke in a childlike manner which sent chills up Hresha's spine.
"Y-yes... I'm ready to die. But please, answer my question first."
Sensing Hresha's calmness, Elihim wasn't worried, this just means that she truly gave up. Giving her false hope before overwhelmingly shattering it. Her will to resist has completely vanished, thus, she had accepted whatever fate she may have, thus, making her awfully calm.
"What is it?"
Elihim turned to his mature demeanor again.
"Why?"
"Hm, be specific."
"Why everything... why are bringing me to the Death Palace? Why are you doing this?"
"It's because of my mistake." Elihim chose to answer truthfully.
"Mistake?"
"You see, I didn't expect my killing intent to scare you to the point of traumatizing you. I didn't expect that an Emeralkan's Academy Elite has a frail mind. I didn't expect that someone can be so internally weak. Therefore, when I thought that I should kill you back then..."
Elihim released that slight killing intent, enough to make Hresha fully remember what he was talking about.
"That simple thought of mine made you mentally scarred, right?"
Elihim jumped to the point after seeing that Hresha made a realizing expression.
"Y-yes... that... was the first time I experienced something like that... I have fought beasts but mainly I'm placed at the backline where I provide support. I haven't faced dangerous people in general... when I approached, I thought... no, I didn't think much of it. I was too full of myself when I became an Academy Elite."
Hresha reminisced before muttering dumbfoundedly.
"... so that was killing intent...?"
How can it be so intense? Was what her face additionally says.
"I see... that's what we're going to fix that tonight."
Elihim's explanation placed Hresha into further confusion.
"W-what?"
"You still don't get it? What I want is to fix what I dealt with you. Tonight, you're going to face your worst nightmare and overcome it. Tomorrow, you're going to have a mentality of a warrior."
Without waiting for a reply, Elihim took off and into the sky, bringing Hresha with him. She can finally move her body but she no longer fought the force encasing her. And without saying it, she was still plenty confused.
"From what I heard... Death Dwellers use the dark side of our imagination - fear, anxiety, worries, sadness, and all those negative emotions, they will be the incarnation of it. As long as one had yet to fall into madness, they have something that they fear... so you're saying... you will expose me to them so that I will have the opportunity to battle my fears and trauma?"
"You're finally getting it."
"But... t-that is just all a theory. Using our own imagination, they will put us in a self-destructing state. Therefore, no matter how strong an Imagi is, they cannot escape the Death Dwellers."
"That's correct."
"Then... you're just pointlessly bringing me to my death......"
Since she had lost all hope, Hresha was not scared but sad instead.
"I'm here, I won't let you die."
Towards Elihim's consolation, Hresha finally showed an expression again since her hope was destroyed - doubt.
"That didn't take us long. I've seen one, there."
Elihim pointed down but Hresha could not see anything. But when Elihim brought them down, Hresha was stupefied to see somewhat normal people surrounding and staring at her silently.