Time seemed to slow down, the bolf's jaws coming down, his legs within its mouth, if the jaws closed he would loose both legs, and that was the best case scenario.

And worst of all, there was nothing he could do, he couldn't teleport rapidly in succession, not yet, and he was mid air, even if he wasn't.

I was arrogant, too arrogant, and now I won't even live to pay for it, his face twisted as he felt the jaws snapping down, he could feel teeths already digging into his thighs.

Snap, the jaw snapped in a heartbeat, the stench wafting out, blowing his hair.

But the burst of pain never came, rather he was passing through the bolf's snort, rather the jaws snapped but he had turned ethereal at the last second.

Axel smirked as he fell back, I forgot it could do that, he looked at the Gishiki, the red glow again, signifying ethereal power.

Axel fell to the ground, safe, but the glow didn't last, he had survived the first attack but the bolf wasn't done.

As if mad it didn't feel anything in it's mouth, it started thrashing around, as if searching for something, it's leg smashed into Axel, a heavy hit, flinging him away.

Axel clenched his jaw as the world tilted, wind blowing past him as he snapped through trees, bouncing off the forest floor, till he spun mid air and stabbed the Gishiki into the ground, sliding back through the dirt.

Axel finally stopped skidding back, a trail of blood leading from the bolf to him, he looked up and smirked, but the next second blood spurted out of his mouth.

Blood flowed out, not just from his mouth, his legs, he had escaped detachment but the teeth had done damage, sinking in a bit, not to mention his right hand was torn, due to the impact, the wood or something had torn through it, creating a deep gash, blood flowing out like water.

He was terribly hurt, but somehow, he was still able to stand, albeit wobling.

After coughing like someone about to die, he looked up, just in time to see a wind projectile approaching.

No way, Axel's eyes widened, there was no way he could survive that, and it was too close to dodge, he needed at least a second or two to teleport and the projectile gave him less than one.

Instinct took over, and he swung the Gishiki not expecting it to work.

But unexpectedly, the Gishiki sliced the wind ball in half, the two half's flying away, safely around Axel.

No not safely, stray wind scythes cut across his face, tearing his hoodie, biting into muscle below, the wind blew his hair back, trying to fling him away, but he stood still, clenching his teeth.

As the half's flew away, the worst of it passed, the bolf was already rushing towards, darting through the forest on three legs, leaping towards him.

Axel clenched his teeth, golden threads materializing behind him, he disappeared the next second.

Axel appeared in the air, the spiky fur of the bolf beneath him, still in motion, unable to come to an abrupt stop.

Axel roared as he fell, Gishiki raised, he stabbed into the back of the bolf, burying more than half the katana in.

Due to momentum of the bolf and how sharp the Gishiki was, combined with Axels strength, as he landed, he held on to the Gishiki, the momentum of the bolf pulling forward, resulting in the katana dragging back, tearing through its back.

The bolf landed, breaking into a roar, it started jumping up and down, trashing around, trying to get him off.

It couldn't use it's limbs, first it was on three legs now and second, Axel was far towards its hind legs, too far for the forelimbs to reach, the sword stuck into its spine.

But Axel wasn't done yet, holding on to one of its spiky hair, he raised his fist, roared and punched the Gishiki, pushing it further in, the bolf roaring in pain, still thrashing, unable to do anything.

But Axel wouldn't have it, he didn't let go, he kept pounding the katana, deeper and deeper with each punch, blood spraying on his face, his hair completely soaked, he looked like a maniac.

Eventually the katana was buried completely in the bolf, the creature already slowing down, perhaps due to blood loss or something else, but it was still moving even it it was really slow now, staggering even, but to Axel that wasn't enough.

He jammed his hand into the cut, gripping the Gishiki's handle within the bolf and pulled, dragging the sword out, completely covered in blood, even the white and blue handle.

He left the hair and disappeared, appearing over the bolf's head, sword already poised like a drill.

And ptui, it drove into the bolf's skull, the creature roaring weakly, but it wasn't deep enough for him, he stood up, and stepped on the sword, over and over pushing it into the skull.

Till eventually the bolf squealed weakly, falling onto the ground, the forest floor trembling, the creature unable to take it anymore, the life leaving it, it's eyes turning blank.

Axel finally stopped, kneeling on the skull, blood dripping down his face and hair.

"What was that," he muttered, eyes blank.

For a minute, he didn't move, just kneeling on the bolfs head, holding the katana, blood flowing from his wounds.

Then he moved, he pulled out the katana, the blade coating with white brain matter.

He looked at it for a second, then he rubbed the sword on the hair, cleaning off the matter.

He dropped down, looking at the hulking frame of the bolf, he slowly went towards its huge paw, he held it and pulled heading towards the cave, blood pouring out of his wounds.

Axel left the bolf in front of the cave and went in, his steps slow and lifeless, his body battered, wounded, a huge contrast to when he left.

The Katana clanged against rock, he kneeled in front of the glowing water, his reflection, blood all over his body, he could barely make out his features, he looked like a butcher.

Then splash, he fell in, the red blood dissolving, spreading across the surface of the blue water, his wounds stinging as out made contact with water, yet he didn't react, his mind lost in thoughts.

That was nothing like him, he was rational, a bit crazy, but not that brutal, it was like something had taken over, like he was in the back seat, after slicing the wind projectile till now.

His body slowly coming back into his control, but he still couldn't believe he did that, that was too brutal, too abnormal even for him who considered himself morally grey.

But worst of all, he hated that feeling, of not being in control, was it due to the environment, was it doing something to him, was it this water, he looked at the blue water, shimmering around him.

And just like that lost in thoughts Axel soaked for about two hours, yet he still didn't come to an answer.

Axel broke into a maniacal laughter, there was no use bothering himself, not if he couldn't figure out what was wrong, his future self would deal with that.

For now, he looked at his legs, the wounds had sealed, the leg shimmering under clear blue water, he frowned, the water was clear.

No sign of blood, of the redness that had polluted it, almost like it was vacuumed out, and the water refilled.

Axel slowly stepped out of the pound, his wounds totally healed at this point, a bit sore but healed.

"So not just drinking it, can heal" Axel concluded, observing his body.

But then his clothes were well, wet and torn, he took off the hoodie and trouser, drying them to the side, he was naked at this point.

He looked towards his pillow, the women jeans he wrapped, nope, he shook his head, even though he was shivering, although not as bad as before, he was still shivering.

But Axel refused to wear those jeans, choosing to wait for his own trouser, although torn, he would manage it.

Axel headed out of the cave, shameless, it wasn't about shame, it was about his dignity, he'd rather die.

Even with the risk of that annoying Imu coming back or any other human sighting him, he wouldn't change his mind.

Axel stood buck naked in front of the bolf's dead body, something was bugging him.

"why had other creatures not come to take it's carcass, shouldn't the smell of blood had attracted them," he muttered in a contemplative tone.

He shrugged and headed towards its tusk, since the rabbit and deer all left horns as crystals, he was guessing, the bolf too would do same, so he was here to detach it's horns.

And so Axel got to work, a naked man butchering a gigantic wolf-boar hybrid, taking out it's horns.

And fortunately, the left tusk indeed started glowing green as he detached it, the right not giving the same reaction.

But Axel was satisfied though, the crystal was a lot similar to that from the rabbit aside from the color of course.

He looked at the carcass of the bolf.

"That's a lot of meat," He sighed, "and I sure as heck can't finish this, I could smoke it, make jerky, but definitely not all."

"Speaking of which," he left the caves entrance, heading towards the fang, a deep stench hit him as he approached.

The top half of the bolf had completely melted, turning to a weird blob, the other half rotting.

There was no chance of recovering the crystal, and most importantly, he had to do something about that carcass, he couldn't afford something like this at the mouth of the cave, he might as well sleep outside.

He sighed as he headed back to the cave, the experience had humbled him quite well, he had grown stronger but strength wasn't enough, not with arrogance.

But the fight wasn't all waste, he now knew, he needed to learn more about the Gishiki, and the thread of continuity, he needed to get more efficient with it.

That's if he wanted to make that sushi.

"Atleast half a day must have passed huh," Axel muttered, I need to find a way to effectively measure time.

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