Their breathing was nothing if not heavy. Their legs labored, their heart racing and ready to burst outside their chest. The chill of the air was foreign to him in his mind as they raced across the mine that looked ever longer as their encounter with the crab creatures were still delayed by distance.
"How strong was that damn attack?" Kosha asked.
The boy blurted out something he was also thinking.
They both kept at the same pace so as not to separate from each other. The only indication that they were going forward were the walls of the mines being left behind them as they sped.
That indication was soon gone as the illuminated walls disappeared. What was left was just the diameter of light surrounding them. Shocked, the two looked each other in the eyes, both confirming the same thing.
They were now in a wide area. One where they now had to worry about their sides instead of what was ahead.
{How did we get here already?}
If the area were as wide as he thought, the pressure of the wind would have dispersed. There was no way they weren't surrounded by karaku's everywhere. There were now clacking sounds all around them. Ryuma placed the lantern on the ground and stood in front of it. He summoned his second katana and held them up defensively. Kosha stood behind him with his singular blade.
"Ok Ryuma. You've trusted me. Can I trust you now?" Kosha asked. He kept his eyes forward and his mind focused.
"You say that as if my trust in you isn't still pending," Ryuma said. He too kept focused forward. Just as how Kosha guarded him earlier, he was going to have to guard Kosha's rear and not let a single karaku pass.
To make matters worse, Kosha was still going to have to guard his rear as well. This time, they didn't have to trudge forward from one direction. They were surrounded on all sides and stuck stationary in one spot.
That means, to escape this nightmare, killing every karaku in the mine was the only answer. They weren't going to stop unless that was their goal.
Ryuma held his breath. His reaction speed wasn't on the same level as Kosha's was, but did it have to be? He just needed enough to react to the karaku's. Which meant that right here and now, if they were going to have a chance at surviving this, he was going to have to level up to meet the moment.
The clacking sounds were grating. The tension nauseating and the mystery of how many were in the darkness wracked his nerves. Still, he stood still waiting for the slightest claw to come into sight.
Still waiting…
It was like they were purposefully waiting for his mind to break down. These karaku's stalked around them. Ryuma could tell as though he didn't see them, he was able to see their outline. His eyes were beginning to adjust to the light beyond the lantern.
At that moment, a claw flew out towards him from the veil of darkness. Ryuma moved his head to the right. The left side of his cheek got grazed with a minor cut.
{Still… a cut is still a cut.}
He reversed the attack and sliced the karaku at the inside of its joint. He swiftly dodged more on coming attacks from other karaku's and kept slicing them where their weak points showed themselves. Its blood splattered across his clothes as it flailed and retreated. Ryuma had little time to think about the karaku's he attacked. More of them kept coming in floods. He kept slicing their exposed joints. Some flailed like the first one, others bled to death instantly depending on where he sliced.
How many has he felled? Ten? Twenty? At a certain point, he stopped counting. The horde seemed endless. He could only keep fighting endlessly. He hadn't time to turn around to see how Kosha was doing, or even where Kosha was. He had to still be there fighting right? Otherwise, he'd be swarmed from the back by now. If he was like this, then Kosha must be in the same boat wondering if he was still fighting.
This couldn't go on for much longer. Their stamina aside, there was starting to be bodies beginning to pile up in the spot they were in. It was starting to be cramped. Too cramped to keep fighting more of these man crabs.
"Kosha. I have something to say," Ryuma said in between swings. He felled even more karaku's.
"In as little words as possible please," Kosha responded.
It was difficult to talk and fight these things off at the same time. It must be that much more difficult to listen and fight these things off, but this was necessary.
"We're both going to have to move and fight at the same time!" Ryuma said.
"You're kidding right!? Who's going to hold the lantern!?" Kosha said.
"I will. I'll hold it with one of my blades and keep fighting," Ryuma said.
"DUDE YOU'RE INSANE!"
Ryuma smirked as he began to sweat. {Yeah… insane and desperate.} He didn't have it in him to argue. Kosha will just have to respond to his actions. If it gets them killed, at least they'll be too dead for him to complain about it.
With his last slice, he spun around and stuck his blade into the handle of the lantern. "NOW KOSHA!"
Kosha flipped over as Ryuma spun around swooping the lantern up with his blade. Kosha had to stay in the illumination of the light as much as he could.
Being on the move whilst fighting karaku's from all directions, even Kosha would have a tough time doing that. If not, the reaction that wasn't his only concern, even though he had an extra blade, he was no duel wielder and was not prepared for this.
Both boys kept slicing and flipping at whatever weak spot they came across. The light swinging around constantly made the fighting that much harder.
"THIS WAY!" Ryuma yelled. He ran with his blade now lighting the way. Which direction he was going, he didn't know. He was long lost at this point.
"What's your plan now!?" Kosha chased him. He just kept chasing the light.
With his other blade, he sliced whatever he came across. "If we run, the ones behind us can't keep up. We won't have to worry about our rear,"
"Oh… I get it," Kosha smirked. He sped his running up so fast, his body leaned forward in a dash. He zipped past Ryuma into the illumination of the lantern. With few movements, he swung his sword with even more precision whenever a karaku came into light.
Ryuma followed him. Any karaku that came from the side was dealt with the blade in his right hand. They had to do it like this for they knew not how many of the karaku were in here.
For a time, their strategy was working. They were making progress better than they were when they were stationary. More karaku's were slain and it looked like they were getting somewhere. The constant fighting, however, managed to distort their sense of location. Neither knew where they were going.
"RYUMA! WATCH OUT!" Kosha yelled. Just before crashing, he planted his foot on whatever was in front of him and launched himself high into the air.
Ryuma stopped just in time, but the lantern he held in front of him crashed into the object. The fire inside the lantern had caught on to whatever it crashed into, igniting the entire cauldron into a bonfire. The entire mine lit into a blue, fluorescent light as blue fire burned bright in the middle.
{Eden Wood. Of course.}
With the entire room lit, every karaku was now visible. There was a lot no doubt but it was a number that they could deal with given enough time. Especially now that it was easier to do so. With it being so dark, they couldn't fathom how close they were to killing them all.
Ryuma smiled at the remaining karaku's. "You alright Kosha!?" he asked.
"I'm fine. I made it over the bonfire before you roasted me. I'll deal with the karaku's on this side," Kosha said.
Ryuma grinned now. Both boys went to work dispatching the remaining karaku's. There was one that was noticeably bigger than the rest. Though he was slightly harder, he wasn't that much different. Ryuma took him out all the same.
After about thirty minutes of non-stop fighting. The two were finally done clearing the mine out. "Thank goodness. We can finally cross through this damn mine un-hindered," Ryuma said. He walked over towards Kosha who was pulling his blade out of a karaku.
"That's strange. I thought they karaku followed a hierarchal system," Kosha said.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I already saw the king on my side. He wasn't that much harder than the grunts he sent at us. Just slightly bigger," Ryuma stretched his arms as he said it.
"Oh… you killed the king already. That's impressive but, they don't follow the king. They follow the queen," Kosha said.
"The… what…" Ryuma was stunned.
Instead of the clatter of legs, they now felt a consistent rumble. Something was coming. Something huge.
Ryuma had a nauseating feeling in the pit of his stomach that he was going to fight something troublesome. Him and Kosha both.