Ryu had been completely caught off guard earlier and his eyes were also sealed. His ability to read and react to the situation was severely limited, so how could he possibly ready himself for something he didn't even know would come?
Ryu had never heard a concept of limited Daos before, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. There were only so many powerful titles to claim, only so many paths to follow, and only so much energy to claim.
In Sacrum, the world could be considered quite large, but just how much of it was nothing more than empty space? There were vast swaths of blackness, and large gaps between stars, plants and worlds, and even some of the most powerful organizations had territories Ryu could easily cross in a few hours.
But then compare that to the True Martial World.