The act of summoning Kurumi's Astral dress was enough to envelope this vicinity in a dark aura. The others are aware that she is very serious about fighting. They are also aware of their chances.
With arms spread wide like she wants to hug someone, her left eye which is actually a golden clock started spinning and just like that it's like she took control of this area.
"Zaphkiel!"
Kurumi floated up and she reached out to grab something that only she can see. Kotori, Yoshino, and Tohka knew what she is trying to do since they are all spirits. She's going to draw out her angel. She is going to be much more dangerous with her angel at her beck and call than without. The difference in ability is quite staggering before and after summoning an angel.
A bolt of black lightning struck the spot behind Kurumi and a giant clock appeared out of nowhere. Kurumi also had her flintlock and musket in her hands.
"Hehehe…"
Kurumi chuckled much to everyone's discomfort. She brandished her guns and she pointed one of the guns at the 1st digit of the clock.
"First bullet, Aleph!"
When the flintlock aligned with the first digit, a black and red stream of power flowed into the gun. The golden clock in her left eyes also started turning quickly.
Yatsuki gnashed his teeth. He had a clear target on Kurumi but he wasn't sure if he should pull the trigger. One wrong move and he would be incapacitated or worse.
Sure, he's stronger than the average person but the true fighter here is Mana with her body modification and modern equipment. His role here is to support her with timely attacks.
Thus, Yatsuki decided to wait for the perfect moment to shoot like a hunter lying in ambush for a rabbit to fall into his trap.
Kurumi fired the first shot.
She shot the bullet at herself. She disappeared from Mana and Yatsuki's vision.
Before the two can react, Mana is already in Kurumi's striking distance. She fired a gun at point black range but Mana's protective field diminished most of the impact. Despite that, Mana still felt like someone slammed her with a sledgehammer. She flew away from the impact.
This isn't the end, Kurumi disappeared one more time and she appeared behind Mana to give her a kick that sent her flying another direction.
"Seventh bullet, Zaiyin"
She pointed her flintlock at the seventh digit on the clock and just like before, a stream of black and red light entered the gun.
Mana couldn't stop herself in time and she got hit with the seventh bullet. The protective field did its job to stop the bullet from doing harm but it failed to stop the effect of the bullet from materializing as evidenced by Mana's figure which stayed frozen in midair.
She's practically a sitting duck in the air like that. Kurumi took aim.
"Mana!"
Tohka cried out in an exasperated manner. Yoshino closed her eyes because she couldn't bear to look on anymore. Kotori is the only one who remained calm enough to observe the situation.
Bang
It wasn't Kurumi who fired this time. Much to everyone's surprise, The bullet hit Kurumi's gun and her subsequent shot missed Mana by a lot. The bullet flew towards the sky and it won't be missed.
The bullet that hit Kurumi's gun ricocheted to hit Kurumi in the chest after hitting the gun.
Pain entered Kurumi's mind and she couldn't believe this shot actually got through her defense. The expanding bloodstain on her clothes indicated this was all real.
Putting pressure on the wound, she looked at the direction where the shot came from and she spotted Yatsuki. He loaded another bullet, telling her that the culprit behind the attack just now is none other than him.
Yatsuki didn't waste time explaining to Kurumi how he pulled off that shot. He fired another bullet like a trained soldier, without hesitation and all the prejudice to kill.
Kurumi clicked her tongue and she jumped back just in time to dodge the bullet. Yatsuki probably anticipated this and he decided that making her back off was enough support on its own.
Kurumi narrowed her eyes and just when she wanted to rush Yatsuki and cut him down, Yatsuki revealed a grin as if he read her mind. Kurumi subconsciously stopped.
She turned her attention abruptly towards Mana who was frozen in time by her seventh bullet. Kurumi immediately knew why Yatsuki grinned.
The dark film caused by Kurumi's power dissipated and Mana regained control of her body. She immediately charged towards Kurumi with her thrusters at full output.
Kurumi knew she screwed up but it's too late, Mana had already swung her sword down. Blood splattered in the air.