They left the demonic moles behind, it was mandatory. Gustav was under the impression that the moles could handle almost everything, even Terruga wasn't an extreme opposition.
That monster wasn't going to return anytime soon, hopefully. Either way, an enemy that was already sliced up, shouldn't be a major problem.
"Them rascals would chew Terruga up, and they're getting fatter than I am." Gustav joked, as they carefully walked through yet another tunnel.
Fattened up demons were more than dependable. They should be able to guard the eggs regardless of circumstances, but that wasn't the only reason why he left all of them behind.
Paranoia led to a rash decision. Although the demonic moles worked very well together, he questioned their ability to work separately.
Things could go for the worst, as they might depend on each other a bit too much in the face of any threat. Stressed out moles might not be as effective.
Gustav didn't want his own children to get hurt, or worse, to get killed. It wasn't worth it to take risks, especially now when he felt more confident.
There shouldn't be a threat which he couldn't take on. He did man-handle a terrifying monster earlier on, after all, while being heavily pregnant too!
That aside, he thought of using a very special tool this time around. "Let's try the blasters if anything tries to kill us. If we get buried alive, my kids can find us so don't worry."
"Oh I am not worrying," Arila said.
Although that sounded reassuring, she had not been so direct through those couple of seconds.
She focused on the path ahead instead, and noticed that their torches would end up useless, after about thirty more meters. This could be a bad thing, or they may be close to what they came here for to begin with!
Excessive light always gestured towards something significant, but she didn't entirely know what to expect.
Arila pointed it out nonetheless, and even bashed her own torch against the wall. "Won't be needing that anymore, because... are you seeing that?"
Gustav was taller, and that wasn't necessarily a good thing in a tunnel that went straight downwards. His head scratched the ceiling, so he could mostly see lots and lots of dirt because of that, through every step.
For that matter, he had to crouch down just to peek at the end of the tunnel. It looked like the end of it at least.
"Light... that's a lot of light, but it could be Terruga cornering us." He rightfully suspected.
The blood-red features made him paranoid. This was the exact same color of light which he saw, while battling that monster.
Arila was eager nonetheless, she reminded. "You fought it before, so what's stopping you now? I'll chop it up with you this time, don't worry."
Although that was logical, Gustav still felt anxious. The birth he just gave surely took a toll on him, so he wasn't as ready to fight as before.
Yet there was no point in turning back now, so he recalled an advantage and then said. "Grab a blaster, we're not getting our hands dirty this time."
In a battlefield where its odds were crude and outdated, it was reasonable to depend on advanced tech instead. It could provide a quick way through battle, if used right.
"Works for me, and where not here to make friends, remember? Let's shoot everything that moves, or screams…" Arila added.
They had access to more than enough blasters, because they took all those alien utility belts along. It was smart to rustle through them now.
The belts were almost always in close proximity. Since the demonic moles couldn't carry them around all the time, Gustav and Arila decided to take the belts instead.
The aliens they've battled were quite small-bodied, likewise, everything they carried was small. Gustav strapped a couple of belts on his hairy bicep, while Arila strapped the two other belts on her tough thighs.
"Feels snug," She thought.
The belts didn't take much space, and those aliens were apparently good at making weapons, that were mostly safe to carry. No matter how much the couple of friends were tossed around, the blasters which were attached to these utility belts, didn't accidentally go off.
Gustav was glad about that, as their limbs were still intact. There was no point in preserving the enemy, however, so he popped one of those blasters out of the alien stash and crouched a bit, as they walked towards the end of the tunnel.
"Try to keep your head," He said, and finally got a glimpse of why the cave in front of them was lit up, to begin with.
They weren't jumped by a monster, thankfully. On the contrary, Gustav got a feeling that this crystal-hunt might finally find an end.
They didn't see much through the first few steps they took across this cave, but soon after, they were attracted by the eye-sore on their left.
The dirt-coated wall was sprinkled with crystals, and it wasn't easy to mistake them with anything else. Gustav saw gems or crystals before, as traders used them sometimes, back in his home-island. It was the closest they got to a solid currency.
"Wow…" Arila expressed, as they walked towards the treasure.
If it wasn't for the radiant glow, one would mistake them as rubies. Even their shapes were almost similar, except that these crystals were smaller in comparison, to where one would find rubies naturally.
"Sure looks like a demon crystal to me," Gustav said.
He acknowledged its shape almost instantly, even though he didn't have a mental picture of it before. The computerized brain-cells worked in weird ways, but at least they were helpful at times.
"Didn't think it would be that easy," Arila said, and then asked. "So… do we just take one now, or do we have to smash it down?"
"No idea," Gustav admitted.
This could've been another barricade to their quest, as his brain wasn't yet showered with information regarding crystal removal. He decided otherwise however, and just reached out for the loot.
It took little to no man-handling to pop one of them off, and it didn't burn his hand down either which was a big plus.
Gustav held the crystal near his face, to get a better look. The clarity within it was astonishing, and he could partially understand why it was valuable to begin with.
"I wonder why they're called demon crystals," He muttered afterwards, and guessed that it couldn't be just because of the blood-like color.
Only a second later, they felt how the cave around them suddenly shook! It was all too familiar, the patterns of this quake were not random whatsoever.
"Terruga…" Gustav grunted.