Axel woke up feeling particularly energetic that morning or was it night, he didn't care at this point.

"As long as I had a good rest…" He trailed off, stretching, "its morning for all I care."

He groggily went towards the pool, washed his eyes, the snake still on his head, the little lazy bastard appeared to be stretching as well, probably waking up as well.

In the past two days, the bastard had done nothing but lay on his head, occasionally looking at things with curiosity but otherwise not moving.

Axel stretched again and then dropped into a couple of push ups, yes he had started a routine of exercising, something to keep him sane, or at least try and take his mind off the dragon.

At this point he could hit a thousand push ups before his body started aching, but that would take a while, so after a hundred he stood up.

He actually had mixed feelings about the dragon now, perhaps due to the experience with Imu being a while with everything he had gone through, it didn't seem quite scary, so a part of him was hoping she showed up before the dragon, while another was hoping the dragon showed first, a certain excitement at the showdown.

"Definitely insane," he muttered as he walked towards the entrance, to find something to eat.

But Axel stopped in the outer compartment of the cave, there were no leaves this time, a wry smile appearing on his lips.

"Seems I'd be getting that epic showdown first."

The forest had crawled back into hiding, the stage was set.

He smiled, and he was ready, prepared even, now all that was left was the players.

Axel stood at the mouth of the cave, just one more step and it will begin.

He took a deep breath and studied himself one more time, the Gishiki strapped to his back, the thread of continuity around his neck, the little bastard on top, still refusing to leave, perhaps if he stepped out it would run, or maybe not.

Axel looked down, his hands slightly trembling, two blue crystals tightly gripped within them.

He took another deep breath, his face tightened, gaze set straight and he stepped out, into the open, a sudden gust of wind blowing his hair to the side.

He slowly walked away from the entrance, eyes scanning around warily, heart rate pulsing rapidly with each step taking him further from the cave, the shelter.

Then he felt it, subtly, but it was there, something passed through him, a wave, the crystal in his hands suddenly vibrating.

"It's here."

His head snapping back as the wind howled behind him, a big silhouette approaching.

Here we go, Axel broke into a sprint, dashing forward without stop, his speed above normal human speed, perhaps peak human.

But the dragon was still catching up, rapidly even, of course he wasn't hoping to outrun the dragon, no far from it, he couldn't even if he wanted and he knew that, and the situation was making it painfully clear.

He was ready for it, but it was still annoying how fast it was closing the distance.

Rather, he was drawing it away, after all, this wasn't where they were supposed to face off, no he had prepared for that.

As a dark shadow was cast over him, coming down swiftly, the wind whistling behind him, Axel glanced over his shoulder to see an open maw, leading into a dark tunnel, sharp gigantic teeth lining it , about to swallow him whole.

But his finger curled, as the dragon's jaw snapped shut where he was a second ago.

Axel appeared about three hundred meters away, heart pounding within his chest, that was close.

But he had no time to waste, as soon as his feet made contact with the ground he continued sprinting, glancing over his shoulder at the dragon, two crystals next to its jaw glowing blue.

C'mon you big lizard, he muttered internally as he continued dashing forward, pretty soon he felt the wave again, and the dragon was already coming in hot behind him again.

As it drew closer, a repeat of a few moments ago, Axel teleported again, appearing about four hundred or so meters away, but this time he didn't run, he skidded against rock and sharply turned around.

He watched as the dragon snapped its jaw in the distance, its head jerking around, gigantic tail swinging, roaring, clearly annoyed.

"Sorry I had to make th location so far," he shouted as if calling the dragon, and it worked, the giants gigantic head raised up, its hulking figure turned towards him, crystals glowing.

Then he smirked, "but we're here," he added, his gaze fixed on the dragon, which stood still as well, then that feeling came again, a wave passing through him, but this time he wasn't running, no quite the contrary, he was going to hide.

He was definitely going contrary to that famous saying, what was it again, he wondered, you can run but can't hide.

Axel gaze was focused on the dragon which still hadn't moved, but in his peripheral vision, he glanced at the multiple rock rock formations around, randomly spaced, forming almost a cage, but these were not ordinary rocks, this location was chosen specifically by him.

And that gave him a certain reassuring feeling, although, he couldn't be sure, not yet.

"Come" he whispered.

As if responding, the dragon's gigantic wings flapped as it shot upwards, upward, higher, then for a moment it paused in the air, its wings spread open.

Axel gulped hard, the sight reminding him of Dracula or perhaps Batman, except a lot bigger and trying to kill him of course.

Then the dragon dived, gliding through the air, towards Axel who grinned and unsheathed the Gishiki, knees bending slightly, the katana held in front of him, the dragon roaring as it approached.

The wind whipped against Axel but he didn't budge, his gaze focused on the empty round holes on the dragons face, where its eyes should have been, ignoring its massive body rapidly drawing closer with each heartbeat.

When the dragon was a few meters away, Axel disappeared, golden threads appearing behind him and he was gone.

In a split second he appeared above the dragon, in front of its empty sockets, Axel gritted his teeth and spun his body midair, spinning the Katana like a drill as the socket came close, the momentum of the dragon too much for it to stop.

Axel clenched his jaw, grip tightening around the katana as the socket rammed into it, sparks flying off as the two made impact, in that split second he felt like his hands were trying to stop a full speeding truck, the shock from the impact rattling his hands, he could feel it up to his bones, it was like they'd snap at any moment.

But unlike expected, the katana didn't pierce, rather it kept creating sparks and then it lost out to the momentum as he got flung back, definitely not soft tissue, Axel thought as he flew back spinning through the air, all happen in less than a second.

But as he spun, his finger twitched and golden threads appeared behind him, as he disappeared.

Axel appeared behind one of the rocks, sliding for a bit before smashing into it, the ground trembling as the dragon landed a few meters away.

"What a monster," He murmured as he looked at his trembling hands, even with the spin and the momentum, the gishiki had been unable to do anything, even with its sharpness, it was like diamonds were lodged in those sockets.

It seems that strategy wouldn't work this time, but that wasn't the main dish, that was just a test, now he was sure he couldn't pierce its flesh the normal way.

He peeked over the rock, watching as the dragon stood up, looking around in confusion, growling as the crystals next to its jaw glowed, Axel quickly ducked behind the rock.

Now for the moment of truth, he gritted his teeth, it was the time to see if his hard work had paid off, the whole mission was resting on the success of this, his preparation.

Now in the three days that he had, Axel had discovered this location as he was searching for a way to use the crystal in the fight, and he came up with an idea as he saw the location.

The area had rock formations all around, jagged rocks from the ground, some not natural but it was perfect, perfect as a cage and for ambush.

So he brought the crystals here, and using sap from some of the trees after testing for hours to find which had properties of glue, he attached the crystals to surface of some of the rocks, not all, just enough to be able to jump between and confuse the dragon.

Now he was banking on the crystals reflecting or at least sending back the waves, effectively rendering the echolocation null, or in other words make the creature blind.

And this was the moment of truth, he clenched his jaw, gripping the Gishiki tightly as he waited either to abort or continue.

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