At that moment, all of Jonathan's senses screamed that he had only two options while the vigilante stared at him like a predator: fight or flee.
Fighting was, at least for now, essentially out of the question. After all, he was completely unarmed, Raven had just pulled out a combat knife, and as he could see, that wasn't the only item in the vigilante's arsenal. In addition, as he had also noticed earlier, Raven possessed great physical strength and agility, which could also translate into other physical attributes, so Jonathan also needed to take that into account.
His best option then was to flee, but just as this was his best option, it was also a double-edged sword, because, as he well knew, there was a possibility that Raven was not acting alone and that there were more people in that house to keep him cornered, and although this might be more unlikely given the circumstances, Jonathan admits that he did not know the stories related to the vigilante Raven well enough to make an accurate assumption.
However, as he himself described, if he remained there, he would certainly die, so his decision was already made. But running away did not mean escaping from the house; after all, running away, or at least trying to run away from the house, did not mean survival, considering how little he knew about the possible extent of the situation he was in. Therefore, what he really needed was time to rearm himself, because only then could he fight, and only by fighting would he have a chance of surviving.
Unfortunately, his home defense pistol was already unusable at this point, and there were no other firearms available in his home for him to use, so in this case, Jonathan had only one option. It wasn't as powerful as a firearm, but it could work, so once again, his decision was already made.
Jonathan then made a quick move. While Raven stared at him to—the judge assumed—instill fear in him, he took his cell phone out of his pocket and threw it at her. His plan? To cause enough of a distraction for the security guard so that he could buy himself some time. And what good would that do? Inside the second floor, in the space between him and the intruder, there was a staircase leading down to the first floor, and with the right distraction, he would have the time he needed to jump over the staircase railing and escape to the first floor.
No sooner said than done. In a few moments, the judge would have managed to set foot on the staircase, but it didn't take long for Raven to recover from the distraction, and without wasting any time, according to Jonathan, when he was very close to reaching the first floor, the security guard threw the combat knife in his direction, which he narrowly managed to avoid, but which still grazed his shoulder. Fortunately for him, the adrenaline of the moment was doing its job, so the judge reported that the pain was suppressed.
Then he would have continued running, as his destination was the kitchen. There, there would be more than enough knives and blades for him to counterattack. In fact, Jonathan was determined to confront her directly, even if he had to fight using kitchen knives. For an ordinary citizen in such a situation, even with the obvious uncertainty of the situation, he would still have a better chance of survival if he tried to escape from the house, but Jonathan Kolm was no ordinary citizen.
Years before entering his career in law, he had distinguished himself as a soldier in the Special Air Service—a special force of the Eadengardian army—which gave him enough combat experience and exposure to risky situations to be able to deal with an opponent like this.
As he crossed the main hallway of the house and reached the kitchen, he knew that the intruder was right behind him, so he wasted no time before pulling a knife from a block and throwing it at the guard the moment he saw her shadow entering the kitchen, but something surprising happened. The moment Raven saw the knife coming toward her, she didn't hesitate to grab the blade that was in the other holster on her waist, this time a considerably large black kukri blade, which she used to deliver a horizontal cut that would have cut the knife in midair, generating sparks on impact.
In addition, as Jonathan could see at that moment, the intruder had recovered the combat knife she had thrown earlier, and now, along with the kukri, she held two blades, looking ready to cut the judge to pieces at any moment.
Considering all this, the judge knew he was at a clear disadvantage, as all of Raven's equipment, from her weapons to her armor, was obviously superior to his, but, as Jonathan himself described, even though the situation seemed hopeless, he had no intention of giving up, so he quickly removed two more kitchen knives from the block, preparing for the combat that was to come.
When asked what motivated him to keep his head up even in a situation like this, he replied that having the skills of a former elite soldier certainly helped, but that the main thing was his faith in the holy Goddess, who illuminated his path and did not allow him to be overcome by fear and despair. He also recalls the situation that had occurred moments before, when the weapon had failed in the hands of the guard, as evidence that the holy Goddess was by his side and that nothing bad would happen to him as long as he did not lose his faith.
And it was this faith that would have motivated him, with the two knives in his hands, to lunge at the guard, using the kitchen counter as a support to jump into the air, and then deliver a double downward cut.
His goal was to hit the security guard in the eyes, as they were the only part of her face that was exposed, but Raven skillfully dodged, throwing herself backward and distancing herself from the judge. This movement would have taken them out of the kitchen and into the main hallway of the house.
What followed, as the judge described, was a dance of sparks and a symphony of steel colliding with steel. He didn't even bother to describe it in detail, as the cuts on his body were enough to tell the story. Fortunately for the judge, none of his cuts were seriously deep and none of his bruises were severe.
But in that case, how did Jonathan manage to escape this situation? That's where the surprising part comes in, because while the judge and the security guard were locked in their duel of blades in the main hallway, the sound of someone knocking on the front door—which was also in the main hallway—rang out.
It was one of Jonathan's neighbors, but he was not alone.
What was happening was essentially the following:
As analyzed by the authorities through the statements of Jonathan's neighbors, the community of that condominium was widely described as peaceful and quiet, especially at night, as was the case on that occasion, and the judge himself is considered a well-known and respected figure within that community, and under these circumstances, it was no surprise when the neighborhood was frightened by the sounds of gunshots and loud noises that indicated a serious fight was taking place inside Judge Jonathan Kolm's residence.
As a result, it didn't take long for the authorities to be notified of the noises and the situation and to begin to take action. At the same time, some neighbors in particular, concerned about the judge's safety, decided to knock on his door to try to understand this worrying situation, some even bringing their own home defense weapons.
Seeing an opportunity to save himself right before his eyes, the judge wasted no time in shouting at the top of his lungs: "Help! She has knives and is trying to kill me!"
From then on, chaos ensued. Several curious neighbors decided to leave their homes to witness what was happening, some even deciding to record the situation with their cell phones. Those neighbors who were at Jonathan's door wasted no time in trying to help their colleague, whose life seemed to be in danger, and began kicking and pushing the door with the intention of breaking it down. Meanwhile, a crowd formed around the judge's residence.
According to Jonathan's testimony, at that moment, he and Raven had stopped fighting and were just staring at each other cautiously. It seemed, in his view, that the security guard had begun to feel cornered as she tried to plot an escape route.
The judge reported that, at that moment, if the fight had not been interrupted, he would eventually have been killed, as the kitchen knives would not have lasted long, and the vigilante's tactical suit made it significantly difficult for him to cause her any injury in those circumstances, and therefore, his breath would eventually give out, and that would be the end of him.
Fortunately, what he considered a true miracle arising from his faith happened, and all he had to do was wait until the door was eventually broken down by the neighbors.
The moment the door finally opened, which was captured on the cell phones of onlookers, the security guard Raven immediately jumped out of the house with surprising speed, to the point that many of the neighbors who were at the front door were so startled by the figure of the intruder that they fell on their backsides.
Then, what everyone saw was Raven escaping into the shadows of that condominium, quickly disappearing from everyone's sight.
Shortly thereafter, the authorities arrived at the scene.