The rumbling they were hearing got louder. The ground shook with great vibrations. So much so it was hard for the two boys to keep footing.
"The Queen can't be that big, can she?" Ryuma asked.
"We might be in quiet a bit of trouble!" Kosha yelled. It was hard to hear him over the rumbling.
"How much trouble are we talking about!?" Ryuma said.
The ground exploded and out popped the Queen of the karaku. Unlike all the other karaku, the queen was shaped like an actual crab. At least a crab thirty meters tall. This thing was a monster incarnate. It faced their direction keeping its beady eyes on them.
"Well… we just murdered all her kids and killed her mate. I'd say we're royally fucked," Kosha said once all the rumbling and shaking came to a halt.
"SCRREEEEEEEEEEE!"
The monstrous crab swung its humongous pincers. Despite how lit the area was and how well they could see it, it happened even faster than the karaku's that came out of the cover of darkness. Kosha flipped over it, while Ryuma ducked under it. The thing barely scraped his forehead enough to leave a bleeding cut above his eyebrow.
"You gotta be shitting me!" Ryuma cursed.
He dodged a few more swings. This thing was far faster than its size would appear.
So much so, that even as Kosha dodged, He had no choice but to block one of its hits with the katana he was carrying.
Boom!
He went flying to the side of the mine and crashed into the wall with a loud booming sound. Dust and dirt covered his landing spot.
The Queen karaku raised its claw and slammed it down on Ryuma. He dodged backwards, putting some distance with one jump. He quickly got into pose and swung his arms back behind himself. He crouched in a dash position.
"Sword technique: Wild dance!"
Ryuma dashed forward at supersonic speed. He swung wildly at the queen's claw, slicing every part of its armor before finishing the combo behind it. To the ordinary, this only happened in an instant. The queen turned its entire body around, unfazed by the move in the slightest.
{I barely put a dent in that thing!}
He was sure he hit the joints just like he normally did. Alas, even that things weakness was too tough for him. This field beast was something else entirely.
Too conflicted with his lack of effectiveness, Ryuma didn't see the thing swing its claw and was knocked into the opposite direction Kosha flew towards.
Boom!
Another loud crashing sound. The wall cracked behind them. If they didn't find a way to take this thing out, they were done for.
The queen began walking sideways to where Kosha crashed. It raised its claw and slammed down on his landing spot. It was halted by the katana he wielded. Kosha had gotten up and blocked the attack, feeling the full weight of the claw bearing down on him.
Ryuma took the opportunity to get up. He dashed over while queen karaku was busy. "Sword technique: Wild dance!"
Ryuma hit it again in all its joints. Arm joints, leg joints. Still, to no effect, none of the joints were effected. How was it that even the joints were so hard, he couldn't penetrate it?
Upon further inspection, he noticed that they at least had scratches on them however shallow the cut. He was knocked again and flew to the other side of the mine, hitting the wall and creating cracks in it.
"Its shell is too hard for your blades!" Kosha said. He continued to struggle against the giant claw.
"I know that! What else do we do!" Ryuma said. {I'll just have to keep slicing those weak points until it caves.}
With the queen's claw holding him in place, she tried to use the other claw to grab Kosha. Ryuma immediately recovered, dashed there a third time, and knocked it off course using both blades.
Having been knocked off balance, it freed the weight off Kosha with enough time for him to spin under the claw and slice within the joint, clean off.
{How did he do that? Was it that blade?"}
Crab blood sprayed everywhere. It began thrashing everywhere with the pain of having been amputated "Kosha! How did you do that?" Ryuma asked.
"Actual steel can match this things defenses. It's just that…" The blade he was using cracked itself into two pieces. "That's what happens when I slice something I'm not normally supposed to cut.
The only thing that was left was the hilt and what was left of the blade, no more than a mere knife. He sheathed the broken blade and brought out a spare.
"This is my last one left. Let's make it count.
If he was going to be traveling with Kosha, it might be a good idea to horde weaponry in that ring of his. Right now, they only had one blade left.
"If I use it to chop off its other arm, then maybe we can escape,"
Ryuma held him back with the flat side of his katana. "Instead of sacrificing your weapon. How about we do this…"
Queen karaku began to calm her nerves and attacked once more. Instead of trading blows, they only had an arm to worry about. Dodging became difficult to do since both boys were already knocked. Their movement was impaired and now their maneuverability was damaged.
It swung and swiped its claw hoping to catch the two small targets. Ryuma and Kosha dodged every one of them.
"Hey you stupid lobster! Over here!" Kosha yelled.
Already having been in a rage. The monster swung aiming to crush Kosha against the wall of the mine. He blocked with the katana he held and kept it in place.
{Now's my chance.}
"Sword technique: Wild Dance!"
Ryuma dashed again, slicing every joint from claws, and wrist, to kneecaps. "Think you can aim on that?" Ryuma asked.
"Haa! Childs play!" Kosha smirked. As he was still parrying the claw, he slipped under it. He dashed just like Ryuma did and started slicing at the joints Ryuma did.
Each one of his strikes sliced the exact same spot Ryuma's slashes made. Although Ryuma's katanas couldn't cut them down, it's durability was higher than a physical weapon. Even though it couldn't cut, it weakened the spots it did cut.
Kosha used those spots and sliced all of them, forcing the cuts to now carry a deep gash, further weakening it.
They just needed to push it a bit more.
The boys were both standing directly under the queen karaku. "Sword Technique: Wild Parade," Both of them yelled.
They started spinning around each other making wild slashes everywhere. Each of the hits hitting the gashes perfectly and completely severing the limbs from the queen. It's blood splattering everywhere. Like a puppet who strings were cut, the queen simply fell to pieces, unable to move.
Ryuma and Kosha fell on their rears when the realized that the last of the karaku had no more fight left in her. Kosha lifted his blade, and it broke to pieces.
"Damn. Thanks for lasting there partner," He laid on his back. Ryuma could only wish he could show the same carelessness his partner was showing. Everything in his body ached from crashing into the wall. No doubt, Kosha was feeling the same thing.
Regardless Ryuma stood up and offered his hand. "C'mon. we still got to get to Naru, right?"
Kosha looked at his hand perplexed. He then smirked and grabbed on to it. "To Naru it is," He pulled himself into a standing position. "Ow… that hurt worse than I thought it would,"
"That pain. It means you're still alive. That's what's important," Ryuma said smiling back.
"Tch…" Kosha looked back at the corpse of the giant crab monster. "Hey Ryuma. You wonder what this thing would taste like if we boiled it or something?"
"Sure, be my guess. You got a pot big enough to put that thing in right now?" He asked.
"Point taken,"
The two began their travels further into the mine, hoping beyond hope that this was all that was in here. Any more surprises and they were spent.
"Argh!" Kosha yelled.
"What now?" Ryuma asked.
"I just realized; we don't have any money!" Kosha said.
"Yeah. So what?" Ryuma asked.
"Ryuma! I just blew through two steel swords. Those damn things aren't cheap you know. How are we going to pay for it?" Kosha asked.
"We?"
"Don't joke like that brother. We just risked our lives for each other. You're going to abandon me now?"
"My blades are self-made! Why should I pay for yours?" Ryuma asked.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME! WHAT USE WOULD THOSE THINGS HAVE BEEN IF I HAVEN'T SACRIFICED MY WEAPONS!?"
"Pshh… I would have just kept hitting the same spot until the damn thing caved. You just made it more convenient for me," Ryuma said.
"WHY ARE YOU SO DAMN HEARTLESS!"
The two continued their bickering all throughout the Hige mines. Eventually, they managed to see a light at the end of the tunnel.