The boss monster lunged, and its left fist came flying straight for his face. Nox didn't bother dodging, didn't even flinch. He just took it. The punch connected squarely with his chin, and his head rocked back a little from the impact.
It definitely stung, yeah, but it wasn't anything like the heavy hit he'd taken from its right arm earlier, the one that had sent him flying.
He managed to stay on his feet, just a slight stumble that he quickly corrected.
'Yup, just like I figured,' he thought. 'That arm's basically useless.'
A grin stretched across his face then, wide and a little unhinged. The monster paused for a half-second, probably confused that he wasn't already on the floor. He didn't give it a chance to process.
He shot his own hand out, grabbed its incoming left arm, and locked his fingers around its wrist. With his other hand, he raised the pipe high.
"Guess you're not as tough as you make out, huh?" He said, his voice surprisingly level, but with a dangerous sort of calm to it.
Then he started swinging the pipe. Hard. It came down on the monster's shoulder, again and again, each impact making a solid, wet thud against flesh and bone. The creature snarled, a guttural sound, and tried to yank its arm free, but Nox's grip was like a vise; he wasn't letting go.
"Stay still," he muttered, almost like he was bored with the whole thing, as he continued to bring the pipe down. "This'll be over quick if you just cooperate."
The boss monster growled, its snout contorting. "You little pest! I'll rip your head off for this!"
"Yeah, yeah," he replied, not even glancing up from his task of systematically wrecking its arm. "Heard that one before, big guy."
He shifted his aim, bringing the pipe down repeatedly on the monster's elbow. After the third solid connection, the joint buckled at an angle that was clearly wrong, and the creature let out a high-pitched howl of sheer agony.
He just kept at it, his expression mostly blank except for that focused, almost manic grin that was still plastered on his face.
It was like everything else just faded into the background—the throb in his own jaw, the distant sounds of Kendra and Vasa dealing with that alpha gobdog, all of it. There was just him, this arm, and the job of taking it apart.
The monster finally wised up and swung its good right hand, claws extended, trying to tear his face off. He saw it coming and ducked, releasing the mangled arm just long enough to roll out of the way. He popped back up a few feet away, pipe still firmly in hand, and tilted his head at the creature.
"That the best you got?" he asked, his tone disarmingly casual, like they were just two guys discussing the weather.
"You're dead," the monster spat, cradling its now useless left arm against its chest. Its good eye burned with fury. "I'm going to tear you apart!"
He just shrugged. "Go for it. I'll wait."
It charged again, its right fist leading this time. He sidestepped with an ease that probably infuriated it, letting the punch whistle past him, and brought the pipe around in a vicious arc, connecting solidly with the monster's ribs. The thing grunted and staggered, but it didn't go down. It was a tough bastard, he'd give it that, even if he didn't show an ounce of respect.
'Still standing, huh?' he thought. 'Guess I'll just have to hit it harder.'
"Yo, Nox!" Kendra's voice cut through the noise from across the gym. "You good over there? This thing's a handful!"
He risked a quick glance. She had her arms up, tanking blows from the alpha gobdog, her rocky skin taking the hits, while Vasa sent shards of ice skittering across the floor, trying to trip it up or freeze its legs. They looked like they were managing, but just barely.
"Doing fine," he called back, his attention snapping back to the boss. "You two stop screwing around and kill that thing already. It's getting embarrassing."
"Working on it!" She shouted back, sounding seriously annoyed. "This fucker's slippery as hell!"
The boss monster actually smirked, a grotesque twisting of its features, clearly thinking it had an opening while he was distracted. It threw its right fist again, aiming for his chest.
He didn't dodge this time either—he just turned into the hit, letting it land squarely on his shoulder. A deep, jolting pain shot through him, probably bruising bone, but he didn't so much as wince.
"Nice try," he said, and before the monster could react, he grabbed its right wrist. That wild grin was back, even wider than before. "My turn."
He yanked the arm down hard, pulling the creature off balance, and started hammering the pipe into its side. One hit, two, three—each one aimed at the exact same spot, right where he figured its ribs would be. The monster roared, a sound full of pain and fury, thrashing violently to get free, but he held on like his life depended on it.
"Quit squirming," he said, his voice still eerily deadpan. "You're making this harder than it needs to be for yourself."
"Let go, you freak!" the creature yelled, a note of actual desperation creeping into its voice now.
"Nah," he replied, almost cheerfully. "I'm having way too much fun."
He switched his attack again, swinging the pipe at the monster's head this time. It managed to get its good arm up to block, but the force of the impact still rocked it back on its heels.
He didn't stop, didn't give it a moment to recover. He kept the pressure on, alternating his blows between its head and its body, forcing the thing to constantly try and guess where the next hit was coming from.
'This guy's tough,' he thought, dodging a clumsy swipe, 'but it's definitely starting to fade. Just gotta keep pushing.'
"Vasa!" Kendra's voice rang out again, sharper this time. "Freeze its damn head already! Aim for the eyes!"
"Trying!" Vasa shot back, her usual calm sounding a little frayed around the edges. "It keeps moving its stupid head!"
Nox didn't bother looking over. He trusted them to figure it out. His entire focus was on the boss, which was starting to look seriously rough—dark blood was dripping steadily from its mouth, its left arm hung completely limp and useless, and its breathing was shallow and ragged. Still, it wasn't quite done yet.
It gathered itself for one more lunge, claws out, going straight for his throat.
He started to go for his usual sidestep—he'd been dodging its attacks like that for most of the fight, and it had worked pretty well so far. But this time, the furry bastard wasn't falling for it.
The monster faked the claw attack, pulling its arm back at the last possible second, and then, with surprising speed, swung its leg in a vicious kick. His foot connected solidly with the side of his face, catching him completely off guard.
"Fuck!" He yelped, the word punched out of him as he stumbled back, his vision blurring.
Before he could even think about recovering or getting thrown across the room again, the monster's clawed hand shot out and grabbed a fistful of his hair, near the scalp. It yanked him in close, holding him tight, his neck bent at an awkward angle, and then started pounding his face with its good fist.
One heavy punch after another, relentless and brutal.
"Where's that smug attitude now, huh?" the monster growled, its voice rough and mocking, hot breath washing over his already battered face. "Thought you were hot shit, didn't you, little insect?"
Nox couldn't even get a word out. Each punch slammed into his jaw, his cheekbone, his nose—his head felt like it was rattling loose, and he could almost feel his HP dropping with each blow. He tried to squint at the little health bar he could visualize in his mind.
It was definitely dipping lower with every impact—80 became 70, then 65 almost instantly. One particularly nasty hit made the number jump down to 58.
'Shit, this thing's going to actually kill me if it keeps this up,' he thought, a cold spike of real panic, something he hadn't felt in a while, lancing through him.