But his reaction time, measured in microseconds and refined through centuries of combat experience, was too slow. The gulf between Ren's speed and Boreas's capacity to respond was so vast that it might as well have been infinite.
The arc of the swing was perfect, calculated to the exact millimeter.
The blade struck at the precise point where Boreas's neck joined his shoulders, the point where the vertebral column was most vulnerable to lateral stress.
The angle of approach was such that the spine itself became the weak point that would determine the outcome.
Boreas's body went rigid.
For a single moment that stretched across what felt like an eternity to the assembled dragons watching, the legendary warrior remained suspended in the sky, his massive frame still perfectly aligned despite the fundamental violation that had just been inflicted upon it. His final breath, drawn but not yet expelled, hung frozen in his lungs.
Then his head separated from his body.
