[Damn it -- just what Kratos didn't want. Lloyd's startled by the sudden shift but blocks the jab with his second sword nevertheless, ill-advised weapons or not. Right now, Kratos is just thankful he put so much effort into learning the unconventional style.

[The swallow-blade is coming back to parry, but Kratos meets it with his shield, blocking it upward and striding in. The slipperiness of the sand is a boon; he can't use magic but his mana-sense still registers the earth as ally, second to the lightning he can't trust against Yuan.

[He slides beneath Yuan's back-slash, shield scraping on the swallow-blade's underside, no longer where Yuan is aiming and now inside his guard, striking at Yuan's mid-section with a backhanded slash. A human wouldn't be able to block in time.

[Yuan would -- but it might be enough to give Lloyd space, in the meantime.]