The monster had lurched so suddenly out of a jagged gap between two slightly disjointed chunks of the city that Devero barely had time to process his imminent disembowelment, much less do more than attempt to backpedal away from the attacking beast.

It takes him a moment after the thing has crumpled to be able to put together what just happened. Only then, a little shellshocked, does he turn to see Koumyou's son standing there. He looks between him and the dead monster and then laughs, a little unsteadily. "Thanks," he says--

--before his eyes go wide, and he lunges for Genjo Sanzo, grabbing for an arm--

--and if he can, yanking the priest to his side as the street they're both standing on splits raggedly down the middle, both edges of the gap crumbling away into big 3D pixels of illusion-stuff.