Chapter 17: Trouble
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."