Bliss remained where she was, her sword still raised, her posture tense as she stared at Damien on the ground.
Truthfully, she had been expecting something else.
When she had parried his pole aside and driven her kick toward his side, her mind had already been moving ahead.
The kick itself had never been meant to end the exchange. It was supposed to be a setup, to draw his attention low and create an opening she could exploit.
Her plan had been simple.
He would block the kick, after all, he had blocked all the kicks she threw so far.
Once his pole moved to intercept her leg, she would follow up immediately with a slash, cutting in at an angle meant to catch him off guard while his balance was split.
It was a familiar sequence, one she had executed countless times in real combat.
But it hadn't happened that way.
The kick had landed instead.
For the first time in the entire fight, she had managed to land a proper strike on Damien.
