Needless to say, Claude anticipated his intial strike to be dodged. What made assassins so cumbersome was not their brute strength, like with a mercenary or axe fighter, but their speed.
He was faster than most, Claude would give him that. However, the mercenary was more reckless and crazy than most too.
The incoming knife to his throat would've been nigh impossible to dodge, but that wasn't the plan since the start.
Claude's fighting style, as it should have been obvious to his squad, was one handed. He lunged forward his sword using only his right hand, while his left hand was left hanging by the side, in case something like this happened.
He put his hand right in front of the incoming knife, it piercing through his flesh and perhaps even breaking a bone or two. Still, the mercenary gulped it all down and took the man's hand, knife and all.
"Yo, got nothing better than that?" His grip was cruel and relentless. Despite his injury, the man's strength had all but faded away.
"Because if it is, I'll sob for poor king Alexandro, yo!" The man shouted, grinning again. The thrill of battle and of getting injured. It was one of the best feeling for the mercenary, and many looked at him the wrong way for this.
He took his right arm back, spun his sword around and them aimed to jam it in the assassin's foot, to stop him. Afterwards, he would take his sword back, take a step forward and would plant his foot firmly on the floor. With the Assassin now in his grasp, he could most certainly not escape from his next attack.
He would swing his arm, along with the assassin, overhead and then slam him against the floor right in front of himself.
After hitting the floor, Claude would go on to hit the man's face with the hilt of his sword to knock him out.
If the assassin got out of his grasp by any kind of miracle, Claude would step back and see what his next move would be. These Royal Guard folks couldn't possibly be pushovers if they were tasked with protecting the oh-so-all-mighty-king.