Finally, he heard it, but by then, it was too late: Kratos turned just in time to watch a jet black, Sora-shaped mass speed by him and throw itself at Tsurugi with claws outstretched. There was no time to wonder how Sora had managed to get past both of them undetected, though; he had to act before the monster could do more damage.

Normally, this would be a simple, two-step affair: the first step would bring him close enough for a swift, vertical cut to sever the arms, and then the second one would provide stability for the following, neck-level horizontal cut to decapitate while the target was presumably still reeling from the initial attack. Obviously, though, none of that could be used here.

In the end, he just improvised. Kratos reached out with his free hand and tried to shove the monster back to put some distance between it and Tsurugi. At the same time, he swung his sword down so that the hilt would collide with the side of Sora's head. Hopefully, this would take care of things shortly.