The blade became a nail and tore through infinite worlds.
It happened in less than an instant. My accelerating, rotating sword missed, and the shadow’s blow reached before my eyes, close enough for the chill of metal to touch my skin.
The anomaly occurred then.
My blade traced a graceful path like a fish swimming through the sea. My upper body leaned as far backward as possible, yet his neck remained along the path of my fully extended sword.
A difference of a single inch.
It was also an unreal situation. Though I moved farther away, the distance my weapon could reach grew longer. To resolve that contradiction, my lower body penetrated the gap between us.
It was a strange sensation. Once a body began rotating, almost no means existed to stop it. ‘Reversal Severance’ was a blade intended to kill in one strike, a sword embodying the principle of moving second yet striking first.
There was no possibility it began with any strength held in reserve. Moreover, because it required waiting until the final possible instant, it left no opening to correct one’s stance.
Then what was this trajectory I now traced?
No. Should I even call it that?
It was natural. As though ordained…