The strike never arrived.
A sword came from Jolthar's left with a sound like consequence being delivered, clean and absolute and without any of the elaborate technique that Jolthar's engagement had required because the person swinging it didn't need technique to close the gap between intention and result at Tier 10.
Caelum's blade took Yan through the chest in a single committed thrust that carried enough aura behind it to make the entry point irrelevant — the aura delivered through the contact did the work, the sword providing the interface, and what the aura did to Yan's already-compromised layered energy structure when introduced at that intensity through a direct channel was total and immediate.
Yan's amber eyes held their focus for one more second.
Then they didn't.
