"Don't get distracted."
Tomoe's voice reached Sylas at the same time as her blade, the Executioner's Sword stretching through the air in a flowing arc that seemed to drag an entire river of Sword Will behind it.
Sylas shifted one step backward, and the edge passed close enough to split the ground beneath his feet without touching him, his movement so clean that it looked less like a reaction and more like something decided before Tomoe ever swung.
She didn't seem to care about the Beast Emperor Sanctum in the slightest, which suited Sylas well enough, but his own priorities had already changed. He had spent far too long preparing for this moment to let himself be dragged into an endless battle simply because Tomoe happened to be entertaining, and whatever excitement she had awakened in him didn't outweigh the importance of what was happening at the center of this world.
