[Celestial Academy — Administration Wing Corridor — 11:05 AM]
The first creature didn't fight.
That was the first thing Alex processed as he dodged the third sweep — it didn't fight the way Davan fought, the way Matthias fought, the way anything Alex had faced so far fought.
It didn't calculate. Didn't evaluate. Didn't seek openings or anticipate movements.
It just moved toward the most intense presence in the corridor with the absolute certainty of something that had spent decades in containment and finally had room to do the only thing it knew how to do.
The problem was, the only thing it knew how to do was enough to kill Alex three times over.
[Shadow Step — left flank]
Alex materialized four meters to the creature's left flank.
The creature was already turning before Alex materialized — not because it had anticipated the Shadow Step, but because its method of orientation didn't depend on seeing the movement's origin, but on sensing the destination.
