Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-71.82.164.213-20150409225706/@comment-6697950-20150411064139

I thought that you were going to explain about the post-motion rigidity that left Kirito open for a counter attack, since I don't think the anime mentions that.

Oh, and the scratch thing is only in the anime. In the novel, Kirito just panicked because Heathcliff was blocking all his regular slashes and he figured that Heathcliff had some way to deal a critical hit at any moment, so he decided to change tactics and use a Sword Skill.