The escape—she wasn't sure she could win this fight. She felt her limits at their peak, but above all, the sun would soon rise. The hunter was in the same state. But Yumiel didn't know what tricks he still had up his sleeve. She continued manipulating her blades, preventing the hunter from getting close.
« I'm offering you a truce. We each go our separate ways. »
« As if I would ever let a filthy monster like you roam free. »
Yumiel recalled her swords close to her. The hunter, barely standing, pulled out a syringe, yet he didn't inject it, waiting to see what Yumiel would do.
Yumiel turned her swords into blood, then gathered the blood into a huge sphere. Concentrating it to the maximum, then releasing it, she created an immense cloud of blood covering the area.
The hunter couldn't see anything, even though he could usually see through the fog. This blood cloud was different—extremely thick. And above all, Yumiel controlled it.
« Ok, let's get out of here. »
« Wait, you don't want to fight him? He's weakened. »
« I don't know if you noticed, but he still has those weird syringes, and I'm exhausted. And, most importantly, the sun's about to rise. »
Jack didn't say more… for once. Yumiel left as fast as possible, rushing in the first direction she saw. Jack guided her toward the farthest and safest exit he knew.
« How long will your blood cloud hold him back? »
« 1 to 2 minutes—3 if we're lucky. »
« What a parasite. We're getting close to one of the exits. Well… exit. You just have to jump over the wall. »
Yumiel saw a wall about two and a half meters tall.
« Finally, I've had enough of this endless maze. »
Jumping over the wall, Yumiel finally saw freedom after this long and horrible night—before a metal chain wrapped around her neck, pulling her back to the ground. Yumiel broke the chain around her neck, then looked up.
« None escape me. This night will be your last. »
Getting back up, still firmly holding Jack's head in her hands—
« Fucking bastard, can't you leave us alone? »The hunter suddenly started bleeding from the mouth.
At the same time, screams and gunshots echoed nearby, outside the cemetery.
« Well then, mister justice, what will you do? »
The hunter drew his pair of pistols, firing at Yumiel. Opening her senses, Yumiel dodged each bullet with the smallest possible motions. The hunter approached and swung his fist at her, which she dodged by jumping backward, landing on the wall leading outside the cemetery.
The screams grew louder and the gunshots more frequent. « I'll leave you, my dear — it seems someone is calling for you. »
Yumiel slipped away, jumping to the other side of the wall, running as fast as possible toward her house. The hunter rushed into the wall, smashing through it, then began chasing Yumiel while shooting at her.
« LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE! »
« Maybe he just wants your number? »
Some bullets hit her, but she didn't care, even though the pain was real. Jumping onto the roof of a house, Yumiel continued running across rooftops, with the hunter following. Yumiel drew her Magnum while running, reloading it.
« Why didn't you reload it earlier? »
Yumiel couldn't reload it with one hand — she was still holding Jack firmly with the other. A bullet pierced Yumiel's leg, making her almost stumble despite the pain and loss of mobility. Still, she kept running.
« Ok, I have an idea — bite me. And suck the blood, but keep it in your mouth, otherwise you might die. »
« Wait, what? »
« We don't have time. When I bleed, the blood goes instantly back into my body, preventing me from manipulating it. That's why when I get hit or shoot or whatever, I have no trace of blood. »
Jack hesitated, but when a bullet grazed his head, he hesitated no more. He sank his teeth into Yumiel's hand, sucking as much blood as he could without swallowing it. Yumiel focused, creating a bullet with the blood stored in Jack's mouth. For him, it was like mouthwash—but with blood.
« Ok, you can open your mouth. »
Yumiel controlled the blood bullet, trying to load it into the Magnum's chamber. The problem was the size — the bullet was way too big. She focused, opening her senses to the maximum, shrinking the bullet as much as possible.
For a few moments, as she pushed her senses to their limit, nausea hit her, followed by the urge to vomit. But she held on, shrinking the bullet enough to fit into the chamber. Still keeping her senses wide open, she turned around, aiming as precisely as she could with her right hand, still holding Jack's head firmly with her left.
Yumiel cocked her Magnum, then pulled the trigger, aiming at the hunter's torso — the easiest part to hit.
When Yumiel pressed the trigger, the primer struck the crystallized bullet. Then… nothing. A blood bullet contains no gunpowder, so the result was null.
« Yumiel, fuck, he's right in front of us, do something! »
Yumiel had no time to think — she was face-to-face with the hunter. Instinctively, under the pressure, she detached some blood from the bullet, compressing it while spinning it faster and faster. Until she created what is called a super-compressed state — an unstable state capable of releasing energy.
Yumiel continued, alternating between blood and crystal, creating a metastable state. From that moment on, when Yumiel shattered one of the crystals, she would create an explosion powerful enough to replace gunpowder.
Re-aiming her sights toward the hunter, aiming as precisely as possible. But the hunter didn't let her, firing at her and making her stagger. Yumiel was on the verge of losing consciousness because her senses were opened to their maximum. Yet she needed them to maintain control over the metastable element.
The hunter approached for close combat, but Yumiel jumped several meters into the air. Aiming at the hunter and breaking one of the crystals she was spinning inside the over-compressed (or metastable) element.