The moment Valentine heard Azaron's words, he immediately entered his combat mode, his body primed and ready to react to anything and everything. His perception stretched and expanded unnaturally as the world around him slowed to a crawl, colors dulling and sounds fading into near silence as his senses peaked to their absolute limit.
But before he could even blink, Azaron was already gone from his position. The world that had slowed to a crawl within Valentine's perception seemed utterly incapable of keeping up. His mind screamed in warning, his reaction instantaneous. He raised his short blades to block, expecting the familiar sound of metal clashing against metal, but that sound never came. Instead, there was the sickening, thunderous impact of flesh meeting metal.
