The two immediately stopped fighting. Yanira jumped back, creating as much distance between her and Mira as possible before she unleashed a forbidden technique to wipe this entire mountain off the face of the earth.
"Thanks for the spar," Mira said with a smirk, further pissing Yanira off. The latter just kept quiet, afraid that whatever she said would be used against her.
Now wasn't the time to be fighting amongst themselves anyway. Something was coming.
Mira summoned her scythe and waited for her injuries to heal.
A few moments later, something burst out of the floor, causing the two to jump back.
"Ugh! What the fuck is that?!" Yanira nearly gagged, seeing the disgusting creature that had just appeared. Even Mira couldn't help but frown.
'Close your eyes.' Mira told Hana, who became curious and peeked over her shoulder. She immediately turned around and wretched.
'Haaa… I told you.' Mira sighed but readied herself to fight.
A worm-like creature was hissing and working its way into the cave. It had thick, white skin with disgustingly sticky folds. The thing only had a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth at the front with another mouth that extended out inside it. Other than that, the thing was massive, filling up the cave almost entirely.
'It looks like a cross between a maggot and an alien.' Mira thought, wondering what it was doing here.
'No matter.' She shook her head and leaped toward the beast, which was still entering the cavern. Bringing down her scythe on its face, she struck its loose skin, assuming she'd rip through it, but instead, her weapon just sunk into its folds. Like she just tried to cut a super elastic rubber.
'The hell?' Bewildered, she struck again, but the same thing happened. It remained unscathed.
Suddenly, she sensed danger and disappeared to the side, watching as a glob of spit shot past her and dissolved the ice wall behind them.
'Damn! So strong?!'
"Oi! Little Torchy! Come kill this thing!" She backed off and called out.
"Don't! Fucking! Call me! That!" Yanira's hands trembled as she stared hatefully at Mira, but using all her willpower, she managed to push aside her killing intent.
Putting all her attention on the worm, she examined it. She searched through her memory, wondering if she'd seen or heard of anything like this before, but nothing came up.
'A new species? And a strong one, at that.' Although she hated Mira, Yanira understood her strength fairly well. Ordinary Rank 9 beasts would have trouble defeating her, much less remaining unscathed.
'Rank 10? Maybe higher? It's hard to tell.' The thing didn't release any spiritual fluctuations.
'That acidic spit is pretty powerful, too.' If her speculation was correct, its teeth should be plenty sharp as well.
'Immune to weapons, highly acidic spit, sharp teeth, two mouths, but average intelligence(?). Also, likely highly resistant to the cold. Then, what about blunt attacks?'
Like Mira, she lunged forward and punched the beast in the 'face'. It recoiled from the impact, but most of the force just rippled across its folds, preventing any real damage.
Yanira felt a stinging pain on her fist. 'So, resistant to all physical attacks, and even its skin is coated in poison! What the fuck is this thing?' She clenched her fist and burned whatever poison was trying to seep into her body, but her guard skyrocketed.
'Alright, what about-' She suddenly rolled across the ground as its mouth extended, attempting to take a bite out of her.
The thing hissed, drooling poison everywhere. It squirmed a bit more, allowing its entire body inside the cavern.
"Over here, Torchy!" Mira called out, realizing if they didn't move now, they'd be trapped. There were several caverns branching off of the original one. They needed an escape route.
As much as Yanira hated it, she understood that too and dashed over to Mira before the beast could charge forward. However, Mira stopped her from going any further.
"Wait. This tunnel is a dead end. So, let it creep forward a bit."
Yanira reluctantly nodded.
They remained in the main cavern, a little away from the branching route.
As the grotesque creature slithered further into the cavern, Mira and Yanira stood side by side. The air was thick with the foul stench emanating from the worm.
"Any bright ideas, or are we just going to dance around until it decides to gobble us up?" Yanira hissed, her eyes never leaving the monstrous thing before them.
Mira replied without hesitation, "We need to understand it better. Attack patterns, weaknesses... there has to be something."
The creature paused as if sensing their hesitation, its inner mouth darting out in a swift, probing attack toward the pair. They leaped in opposite directions, narrowly avoiding the strike. The creature's spit followed, which hissed violently upon contact with the icy cave floor.
"Great, so it's fast and spits death. Wonderful," Yanira muttered, launching a series of fireballs at the worm. The flames engulfed its head, but to their dismay, the creature seemed unfazed, the fire sizzling out against its slimy folds.
However, that was within Yanira's expectations. Just to produce those flames, she had to use a considerable amount of Qi, only for most of it to fizzle out once it left her body.
'At least I can catch its attention this way.' She thought.
Mira, analyzing the situation, noticed a slight delay in the creature's reactions when it shifted its focus between them. "It's slow to change targets. We can use that. Distract it, then hit it where it's not expecting."
Yanira caught on, nodding grudgingly. "Fine. You're the bait, though."
"Was planning on it," Mira smirked, drawing the creature's attention with a flurry of icy spears. As predicted, the worm turned towards her, allowing Yanira a clear shot at its side. Yanira charged, her fists enveloped in blazing flames, aiming for a spot just behind the creature's head.
The impact sent ripples through the worm's body, but again, it proved ineffective. The beast hissed, angrier now, its movements becoming more erratic and dangerous.
"Damn it!" Yanira cursed, retreating back to Mira's side. "It's like hitting water."
Mira's eyes narrowed. "Not exactly. Look." She pointed at a tiny cut that had appeared where Yanira had struck, a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. "It's not immune, just highly resistant. We need more force."
"Or more cunning," Yanira countered, an idea forming in her mind. "Lead it further into the cave. I have a plan."
Mira nodded and dashed in.
Working in tandem, they baited the creature, dodging and weaving through its assaults with practiced ease. Mira's scythe was all over the place, cutting and slicing in an attempt to chop up whatever was in its way, drawing the worm's ire and leading it toward the side cave.
Once the creature was far enough in, they sprinted, slipping past it into the side cavern. The worm, now confined by the narrow space, struggled to turn its massive body around.
"Now!" Yanira shouted, and both unleashed their full power. Mira's scythe twirled as fast as she could make it, channeling her destructive Qi into the blade and ripping off its skin little by little. Yanira, concentrating her flames into a single, focused point, assisted in the assault.
The combined force of their attacks widened the cut, a small but significant wound that finally seemed to hurt the creature. It writhed in pain, its movements becoming sluggish.
One burned the slimy poison around its body, while the other used the dryer surface to create countless tiny cuts.
"Again!" Mira commanded, and they attacked in unison, deepening the wound. The creature's howls echoed through the cavern, a sound of pain and rage. However, neither of them showed any mercy.
It attempted to back up and enter the cave, but Mira tossed Yanira her scythe and grabbed hold of its folds, straining her muscles to keep it in place. "Hurry and cut the damn thing open!"
Yanira was shocked that Mira tossed away her weapon but understood why. They had it right where they wanted it. Unless they wanted to be swallowed, they didn't have a choice but to work together to defeat.
Nodding, Yanira punched with a fiery fist in one hand and sliced with the other, slowly ripping its skin apart.
It wasn't long before a decently sized cut form, to which Mira shouted. "Switch place!"
Yanira didn't understand but followed through. Now wasn't the time to argue.
She grabbed the worm firmly. Mira snatched her scythe back and put it away. She grabbed either side of the cut with both hands, feeling the sizzle of acid on her skin, but paid it no mind. With brute force, she ripped the cut open, bigger and bigger, until it was large enough for her to walk in. The worm hissed, thrashed, and screeched in pain, but its physical strength couldn't compare to Yanira's.
However, that's when Mira came to a realization. She looked at Yanira, who was straining to keep it in place, and asked, "...How are we supposed to kill it?"
Yanira opened her mouth, ready to scold and mock her, but paused. 'Wait. How ARE we supposed to kill it?'
Even if they cut it in half, what would that do? It was a worm! It might very well turn into two!
"Just keep cutting it up! It has to die at some point, right?"
"...As expected of a boorish granny…"
"WHAT'D YOU SAY!"
Mira shrugged and chuckled. She wrapped Hana with all her tails, even encasing her in ice, and walked through the giant cut into the worm's insides. "I'll be right back."
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