Moving the branches of the bushes and the thick vegetation that grew untouched in that place, he began to walk in the opposite direction of the animals' escape. If they flee that way, it means that the sound is coming from the opposite side, he thought.

Unlike the fight against Kenji's latest evolution in that remote, arid desert, this time Yoichi wanted to face the danger. The young warrior was intent on obeying Ryutaro's orders, and he knew that the only way to cultivate his inner power was to face whatever enemy his mind had created in the Vision of the Tear.

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*whoosh* - when the roaring ceased, a strong gust of wind pushed the treetops around him, forcing him to bend his knees to keep from falling.

Yoichi protected his face from the small shrubs and rocks that fluttered swirling due to the wind with one arm in front of his eyes.

*whoosh*whoosh*

The blowing of the wind became intermittent and regular, like the beating of wings. It was so intense that Yoichi had to put one hand on the ground to keep from being thrown off balance.

Where is it coming from?! From above me?! What do I do now?! He thought frantically, knowing that he would have to face the being that was making the noise to complete his mission successfully.

Just when the sound seemed to have ceased, and the wind had lessened its force, a thunderous rumble broke the silence again. *boom* - as if something hefty had impacted the ground, that noise made the blood freeze in his veins.

A few meters away from him, somewhere in the trees of that forest, a hidden enemy was watching him. Being part of the vision and a figment of his mind, the unknown monster was looking for him among the trees.

*cough*cough* - whatever had swooped down from the sky began to noisily expel the air from its lungs, finally revealing its location.

Yoichi got up from the ground and stepped back until his back touched the trunk of a tree. *anf*anf* - as if in sync, the panting breaths of the young tamer and those of the unknown beast echoed in unison.

"Who's there?! Come on, bring it on!" he shouted, resting a hand on the hilt of the dagger behind his back. If the beast about to attack him was Kenji, his chances of survival were drastically reduced.

Having to face his Oracle, Yoichi would have to rely on his strength only. He recalled the last Vision in great detail, realizing that it ended when he summoned his demon, absorbing its powers and returning to the real world.

Wait, Yoichi. If you call Kenji back and don't confront him, your ability to handle the dragon's power will remain unchanged! He thought, speaking to himself as if his ego was split into two parts.

Takamori's dagger handle was gripped more and more tightly in his right hand, while his other hand was resting on the log behind his back. The deep, heavy breathing of the demon hidden in the forest came from right in front of him.

Fuck, fuck! It scares the hell out of me! He thought frantically, shaking his head and opening his eyes wide, trying to stay focused. It's not real, it's not real! Even if I were to get hit, I would wake up in the Dojo room, and the vision would be interrupted!

His thoughts were broken by another sound, even closer. Among the trees in front of his gaze, hundreds of bushes and shrubs intertwined harmoniously among the trunks, creating a kind of natural barrier.

The undergrowth, whose perpetual shadow was guaranteed by the thick foliage of the oaks and other large trees that were hundreds of years old, was the exact threshold after which the sunlight was interrupted, unable to filter through.

A dark layer of a few feet was suspended between the lower branches of the trees and the leafy ground. Some of those leaves, at one point, were blown away by a breath, fluttering in every direction.

"Oh, shit!" Yoichi quaked, unable to stay calm. The presence he had sensed just moments before was even closer, and he could feel its gaze on him.

Confirming his hypothesis, within the dark layer of the undergrowth, a dim, red light popped up: like the light of a lantern during the night, that red sphere became more intense and larger as it got closer to Yoichi.

The light approached, and the trees around it bent forward as if moved by something so large that it bent the enormous trunks of the oaks.

When the red glow passed the first layers of vegetation, it took shape under the gaze of the young tamer, whose throat was dry with fear. Like that of a reptile, a narrow, elongated pupil was pointed at him and traced every movement of his arms and legs. Within it, a red flame burned ardently like the flaming core of a star.

"Goddamn! Aargh!" - After moving away from the tree he was leaning against, Yoichi stumbled and fell to the ground, getting up soon after. The young tamer began backing away and breaking out into a cold sweat again, preparing for the colossal demon's attack.

The rest of the face shattered the trees near the demon eye, and a huge, scaled snout emerged from the darkness, dragging with it the foliage it had torn off.

Another red eye followed the face of the giant dragon, the most mammoth being Yoichi had ever seen or dreamed of. To crown its magnificence, four giant black horns, two larger on either side and two smaller in the middle, followed the movement of its head, cutting through the sky.

But... but this... this is not Kenji! It's ten times bigger! Yoichi thought, panting in fear and watching the sharp jaws glimpse out from the dragon's snout. The demon's chin crawled across the ground, dragging foliage and whole chunks of soil with it as if they were dust on a shelf.

The face of the dragon demon in front of him was definitely bigger than the last dragon in his vision. Yoichi's entire body was a little smaller than the diameter of its eye, and the air spewed from its nostrils was so strong that it reminded him of the typical wind of storms.