Pov 3 person
The bull faunus at that moment slowed down his attacks. However , contrary to expectation , it did not help Kurumi's situation at all . If anything , it made the situation even worse . And that's because in exchange for the speed of his attack , the bull faunus began also to swing his fists or his hammer , which he had already recovered from the ruins after his last throw with it . Thus changing the rhythm of the fight .
From simply avoiding straightforward easily readable charges , to avoiding normal blows and strikes . Such attacks allowed the man to control the rhythm of the fight much more . Of which he took advantage very well , frequently changing the rhythm . And this frequent , unpredictable change of rhythm and patterns of attacks , made it event more difficult for Kurumi to predict them .
Faunus sometimes even made misleading attacks , whose speed , power or even trajectory he changed during the attack . Making it so that Kurumi sometimes had even less time to react . To make matters worse Kurumi was now operating under even more stress , as she was aware that she could no longer allow herself to be hit even once . Because the previous blow from the man's fist made her realize that she was not as safe as she wanted to believe she was .
His one attack with his fist alone , almost destroyed her aura , besides it pierced through her defense hitting her right in the ribs . And her ribs were certainly broken after that one hit , which caused Kurumi to panic slightly and shattered her confidence . Fortunately the panic passed immediately . Even so , the injury remained and hurt more and more over time .
With this psychological shadow and pain , Kurumi continued to fight in full concentration . In the midst of the attacks , which Kurumi dodged without rest and between which Kurumi , from time to time , tried to penetrate with measured accurate shots through the points on his body that look weak , the faunus managed to sneak a sudden hammer strik to the ground , which caused a small shockwave .
But Kurumi being a good distance away managed to stand on her feet , which were held to the ground by pale hands protruding from the shadows beneath her . Her dress and hair rippled in the wild gust of wind that carry with it dust and debris , int this her squinted gaze stared at the bull in front of her . But her figure did not twitch .
" Aren't you tired already old man ? "
Asked Kurumi , with flustration and mockery in her voice and written on her face , hoping to provoke the men . However , it was actually her breathing that was already hitched and slightly wheezing . Testifying of her fatigue . Kurumi was really tired at this point , besides she was really in pain . Every breath as well as motion , was painful .
But nevertheless she was smiling widely , not wanting to let it be apparent to anybody else . But it was obvious . Despite her strange biology , Kurumi would still get tired and injured like a normal living being . Although the effort she could exert and the damage she could take was much greater .
Unlike her , the bull faunus continued to stand strong . The sweat on his body had turned to steam , which mixed with the steam coming out of the phantom bull . His intesiveness did not diminish , he did not look tired . You could even say that the longer the fight went on the more menacing he looked .
The fury in his eyes grew stronger with every dodge made by Kurumi . Despite this, he made no mistakes , no slip , pure focus . Improving his grip on the hammer, the man without responding to Kurumi's taunts moved straight at her, without charging, and Kurumi seeing this prepared to react accordingly.
Surprisingly, however , the man suddenly stopped and swung his hammer at the empty space next to him . The space where he hit , shattered like glass and the black shadowy clone with a knife in hand , which was in this illusion , turned into a shadow paste and flew away crashing into the wall of the demolished building .
However, this was not the end of the attack . At this moment two Neo appearing out of nowhere and attacked from two sides . Meanwhile, several clones jumped out on both sides of the street . Most of them are illusions . But it was not known which of them was real and even whether there were more enemis hiding under the invisibility , as the first one was . Uncertainty and paranoia , this is what any person could feel when fighting an illusion user like Neo .
Unfortunately , it could only be that way for an ordinary person or a novice . Someone as experienced as the this man recognized the illusion without problems . Whether by hearing footsteps , or other physical aspects impossible to reproduce by illusions . So the bull faunus was able to handle the situation .
Completely ignore the illusions , he allowed one of the " Neo " to hit him . And to noone surprise , on contact " Neo " shattered like glass disappearing from the world . It was the same with several clones as well as the other " Neo " . All illusions disappeared unable to make physical contact with him . And those true entities hidden under invisibility or between illusions , were destroyed with one accurate strike .
Once clone managed to dodge the hammer and attack , they either disappeared under the kick or punch , which followed right behind the attack of the hammer . Or their blows delivered with their weapons bounced or broke on the bull phantom that surrounded the bull faunus .
Of course Kurumi did not just stand and watch it happen . There were not many clones , only five and so there was not much time . Kurumi knew this because she sensed her clones from the beginning . So she knew where they were and what they were doing .
But she did not know that the bull faunus would react like that . Up to now it seemed that he didn't care about the attacks, he just charged and attacked . He literally ran through waves of clones and gunfire . But now something has changed . Perhaps he is playing around ? Or is it a trap ? Or he really is weak enough to actually start defending himself ?
Whatever it was . Kurumi did not lose her caution but it also did not let pessimism take over her . Think of the best prepare for the worst . This could have been a harbinger of opportunity and the end of this fight .
So at the moment the bull faunus swung at another invisible clone . Kurumi took just one breath to calm down after which she unleashed a new wave of clones and began to fire several shots from her weapon at the same point on the body of the phaunalus with the hope of piercing the surrounding bull phantom .
Kurumi, however, did not use her zefekiel for fear that the faunus might once again fully focus on her instead of standing there and lashing in . And Kurumi was fully right because he fought without taking his eyes off Kurumi , being ready to atack her at any time if she tried something .
But surprisingly the bull faunus did not charge at Kurumi, who was shooting at him. He simply sent real physical clones into the air with his hammer and fists, while blocking Kurumi's shots and completely ignoring the illusions and random clone attacks.
" This leads to nothing ... "
Said to herself Kurumi , seeing as the last of her clones fall from her own shot , when the bullish fanus grabbed the clone by the head using it as a shield . The illusions had also already stopped , leaving the two of them alone again on a street surrounded by ruins and small fires .
This peace , was suddenly interrupted by the sound of breaking glass . On the back of the bull faunus Neo appeared " soundlessly " , with a blade in her hand already aimed at the bull's back . And as if sensing her presence , he was about to turn . But at that moment , Kurumi sensed an opportunity and was already in front of him with her gun already pressed against his abdomen , which was defended only by the bull phantom .
At the same moment there was a shot and a cut . The phantom of a Bull surrounding his body dissipated . The first blood was shed , much to the surprise of both girls . At the moment of their strike , the phantom bull surrounding the man dissipated after absorbing part of the impact . However, it did not absorb all of it . A thin cut wound appeared on the man's back and a piece of skin on his stomach disappeared , exposing the muscles underneath .
This was not enough to kill him . It was rather obvious . But the fact that he was finally wounded , compensated for the lack of serious injury . There was an instant flash in Kurumi's eyes , as she retreated to a safe distance , avoiding being hit by the back of the man's hand . Seeing this Neo did the same , dodging the hammer she step away . Then she moved to Kurumi's side .
Despite the wound on his body , the man didn't even flinch . He only rubbed the skinless point on his abdomen . His entire fist would have been needed to cover that point . Looking at his wound , the man sighed . Next he looked at Kurumi and Neo . The anger in his eyes disappeared , only resignation left . This expression on his face caught Kurumi by surprise .
" A win is a win . This one is yours . "
Said the bull faunus surprising Kurumi , with his words and the implications associated with them .
" I'm burned out , my body can't take it anymore . I can no longer squeeze anything out of my semblance . "
Said man sincerely , as a drop of blood ran down his nose . His whole body turned pale and his muscles lost their volume . This could not be faked . Kurumi saw it and felt it , the man's vitality dropped rapidly . His " time " suddenly began to diminish .
" Now I understand . You no longer have aura protection ? You didn't have it all the time . "
Said Kurumi with amusement , a gleam appeared in her crazy eyes as she looked at the calm bull faun in front of her .
" You fought on fumes all the time right ? Your aura shattered because of the explosion . What left you , you used to activate the semblance . It probably needs aura only for activation , then it runs on other fuel . Maybe on emotions ? Quite rare, but not impossible. "
" Unless, of course, you just gave up your body to revive your soul. I have heard of this technique. Very rare. You need to have your body very much in tune with your soul to do it. Of course it is suicidal ."
Said Kurumi , as her smile distorted her face even more . Tapping her gun on her chin she walked around the bull faunis . Measuring him with her eyes . Neo much more composed with cold eyes looked at the man . Who simply stood looking with calm eyes into her pink-brown . Despite the seemingly calm demeanor of Kurumi and Neo , neither of them let their guard down .
" A three-phase explosion of this caliber right beside you is no joke . If it wasn't for you , I would have gotten out of it . "
Said the bull faunus taking a deep breath . He neither denied nor confirmed any of Kurumi's claims.
" Then you should pretend to be dead . "
Said Kurumi , after which standing behind him she aimed her gun at his back and fired into his side , tearing a hole in his now unprotected body . This send the man to his knees with a growl of pain.
" Instead , like a fool you were bluffing all the time , using a semblance as the last line of atack and defence . Haha haha "
Said Kurumi laughing at the very end . At that time the kneeling faunus spat blood on the asphalt , touching the missing part of his torso through which his internal organs could be seen .
" You killed my friends my family . I couldn't just lie there like that . Would you in my situation just lie down when your friend died at the hands of the person that stand in front of you ? A person you may never find again . "
Asked the man and Kurumi's smile froze at that moment .
" You're right . I would fight because my life would no longer matter . "
Said Kurumi aiming again at the man .
" So if you understand what it means to lose someone . Then you must know why I killed your friends . "
Said Kurumi firing another shot . The bullets hit the man's hand , with which the man was still holding his weapon . A huge hole appeared in his arm , leaving the rest of the hand hanging only on a piece of muscle and skin . At that moment hammer fell to the ground with a loud thud .