With Bogart finally standing his ground, John's toothy grin widened as he welcomed the change of heart quite literally with open arms. With both men facing each other as bare and primal as could be, it was time to truly decide who would emerge as predator, or consumed as prey.

"Kchahahahah! Spoken like a true man!"

With the young hunter lurching forward to throw a full force haymaker at the demon's jawline, Johnson simply took the blow without so much as a budge or a flinch on his end, the fist seemingly impacting a form that was more akin to diamond than flesh, at least as far as Bogart would be able to tell. Without sacrificing a moment of downtime from the assault, John reared his head back, removing his face from the boy's hand and flung it forward to headbutt Bogart directly on the bridge of his nose. Reaching to grab the hunter's still extended arm, Johnson wasn't simply going to let the boy get away with a single strike to recoil away from and retaliate. This was a fight for survival, not honor or sport. There was no room for mercy or leniency any longer. If that meant tearing the child apart like a voracious beast rather than a man, so be it.

Looking to pull at Bogart's arm, Johnson aimed to yank the hunter back into range for a second headbutt, all while retaining his iron grip for as long as the hunter allowed. With bloodlust seeping out of his now fanged visage, John sought to dominate the Weiss child in not only body, but in mind and will. To deconstruct him down into a baser creature looking simply to survive, was the ultimate shame for any of those who would call themselves "hunter".

John Johnson [Prime]:

[Swells of Blood: 0]
[Ghoul Count: 0]

---

With every ounce of power that Bogart could muster in the moment, he threw his arm forward towards John's face. His heart, beating wildly with adrenaline, began to twinge with success as the fist grew ever closer to the man's face, but was abruptly wiped away when it managed to make contact. He'd successfully made contact, but wasn't met with simple flesh and was instead greeted with an inhumanly solid surface. The bones in his knuckles weren't yet broken, but he could feel the front of his fist numbing towards the pain.

Without so much as a grimace, John wheeled his head back and carted forward with a headbutt. In their close proximity, Bogie was doomed to take the impact of this blow, managing with little more than impulsive movements to tilt his head down in order to meet John's forehead with his own. The skin tore apart, letting a trickle of blood flow forth. Once again, John moved to headbutt, but the game of cat and mouse between them was much different now. Rather than trying to writhe free of the monster's grip, Bogart held form, taking the second headbutt once again with his forehead.

Twice in row Bogart had taken the headbutt with the second time causing his vision to instantly cut to black and just as quickly coming back. However, with the wounds beginning to rack up once again, the young hunter wasn't done just yet. Leaping as far up as his tether to John would allow, Bogie brought his forehead down with as much force as he could, offering up his own headbutt to the beastly man before him.

Panting in the midst of his pain, blood trickling down his face, Bogart did what he could in the moment to pull himself free of John's grip once more.

---

Item Name	Power	Speed	Durability
Hunter Manual	-	-	2
SLAYER SERIES: Beastslayer, Onmyonta	8	5	8

With the second headbutt making clean contact, Johnson saw the boy's consciousness flicker for just a moment, Bogart's eyes dulling before returning with a furious animosity from behind the blood that now covered his face. Content to clash with the hunter as many times as it took for him to learn his lesson, John's grip held tight as Bogart lept up to deliver his own strike.

The boy's head wheeling forward, the flow of blood whipped off Bogart's face and onto Johnson's, the man's open eyes taking the brunt of the scarlet surprise. Instinctively, John's grip loosened as he moved to wipe his eyes, just as Bogart's head made contact with his own. Sliding backwards from the force, it wasn't enough to cause the man any bodily harm, but his face was contorted with anger and disgust as he rubbed his forearm against his eyes, clearing the distraction.

"Ah, so you're playing tricks now?" the vampire seethed before quickly regaining his usual composure as lord of the house, "I'd say I'm disappointed, but now you're starting to act like a real hunter!"

His hands tensing up like claws, Johnson took a powerful step towards the hunter before breaking into a full sprint, winding his right arm back before flinging it forward at full force, looking to gouge out Bogart's neck and any other defenses put in it's way, his second hand swiveling upward to bisect the child from groin to crown. "Anything to survive!"

John Johnson [Prime]:

[Swells of Blood: 0]
[Ghoul Count: 0]

---

John's frame wasn't large, but he was solid. Their heads clashing was enough to send the young hunter reeling, so being able to wiggle free was fully contributed to acting instinctively and a stroke of luck. Taking a step back, Bogie clenched his fist and corrected his stance. His vision was still a little hazy, but he could hear John clear as day.

"Ehhh? Tricks?" He grunted, looking up through the blood streaming down his face. "I don't need any of that to beat a bastard like you!"

Even though Bogart was able to react to the man's words, it was John who would move again first. A few quick steps and his arms were within range to attack, swinging furiously with clawed tips. The young boy was being pushed further and further out of his comfort zone, relying less on the technique he'd spent years building up and more on luck and instinct. Reeling his head backwards and taking a step, Bogie managed to dodge the first strike, but on the second strike the tips of John's fingers barely grazed his forehead, cutting cleanly through the already mangled skin and releasing more blood.

If things continued this way, then Bogart would lose through vision loss far before he'd pass out of blood loss. Throwing an arm up to wipe away as much blood as he could in one stroke, the hunter backed out of his retreat, instead taking a step forward towards the already near John. "Let's see if you like the taste of your own medicine," he shouted, bringing an open mouth down near the left side of John's neck. He wished to tear out a chunk of flesh with his teeth, a sentence that the man deserved having been the creator of the ghouls that had terrorized the town.

As he did so, he also took the moment to try and wrap his arms around John in an attempt to pin them in a direction that greatly reduced their strength and made it that much easier to take the chunk of flesh he'd truly desired.

However, as things were, the difference between them was obvious. Bogart had been reacting with instinct, but it could be barely called that - he was simply running. John was faster, closing the few feet in a blur. He was stronger, breaking doors and launching the child when a hit was clean. But more than that, if what John was saying were indeed true and he had defeated Bogie's father, the difference in experience would dwarf any other aspect. Luck was the only remaining factor.

---

Item Name	Power	Speed	Durability
Hunter Manual	-	-	2
SLAYER SERIES: Beastslayer, Onmyonta	8	5	8