Stanley saw a future of the spear striking him on his arm from the right and he slowed down time.
He didn't attack back or try and dodge the strike. Instead, he took the time to try and think of the perfect counter to this attack.
Given the past week of intense training as well as the years long training he had received back in the Town of Last Hope, he saw two options here.
His first option was that he could move back and get out of the way of the attack. However that gave his opponent the time to adjust to his next attack as well.
Instead, the proper response to this attack was to step in and swing at his opponent from the bottom.
Stepping in not only allowed him to attack, but it also lowered the intensity of the incoming attack by a lot. Not to mention he would be out of the spear's edge by doing so.
Time flowed back to normal and Stanley dashed in and swung his sword from the bottom.
