Fang Zhen was unarmed, with no time to even draw his saber.
Besides, he had just used the butt of his spear to kill a goblin grunt, leaving his center of gravity unstable and making it difficult to dodge.
The descending Wolf Fang Club was powerful and heavy. It was covered in spikes, and his anti-riot suit wasn't guaranteed to block it. What's more, the blunt-force trauma alone could shatter his bones on a solid hit.
Faced with a blow aimed straight for his head, Fang Zhen reacted quickly.
His balance was off, so he decided to abandon it entirely.
Fang Zhen dove to the ground, executing a sideways roll to dodge the club's smash. After rolling, he quickly got to his feet and immediately pinched the buckles on the straps across his body, releasing them.
The Explosive-Proof Shield he had been carrying on his back fell with a thud.
When Fang Zhen bought the anti-riot suit, he had also purchased an Anti-Riot Shield. The Shield came with a carrying rig: a few straps with clips like you'd find on a student's backpack. This allowed him to wear the Anti-Riot Shield on his back. To release it, all he had to do was pinch both sides of the buckle.
Fang Zhen scooped up the Anti-Riot Shield and secured it to his left arm as quickly as possible.
The inside of the Explosive-Proof Shield had an arm strap and a grip for his hand.
Fang Zhen slid his left forearm upward into the strap. After grabbing the handle, the Shield was fixed firmly to his left hand.
Fang Zhen drew his weapon with his right hand, pulling out the Nepalese Curved Saber. With the shield in his left hand and the saber in his right, he crouched slightly, assuming a defensive stance.
His saber no longer gave him an advantage in reach, which made Fang Zhen more cautious. He decided to play it safe for now, looking for any weaknesses or openings in the Iron Armor Goblin before making a move.
The Iron-Armored Goblin was as ferocious as ever. It roared, swinging its Wolf Fang Club as it charged toward Fang Zhen.
The Wolf Fang Club swung up into the air and came crashing down vertically on Fang Zhen.
Fang Zhen raised his left arm, adjusted the shield's angle, and took half a step back to block the incoming Wolf Fang Club.
THUD!
A dull thud echoed.
Fang Zhen felt his left arm go numb, as if he'd been hit by a speeding motorcycle. He stumbled back a step.
The Iron-Armored Goblin swung its Wolf Fang Club again, this time horizontally.
Fang Zhen gritted his teeth, lowered his center of gravity again, and planted his feet in a lunge, holding the Shield in his left hand before him.
THUD!
The Wolf Fang Club smashed down. Fang Zhen angled his shield-bearing left hand to deflect some of the force, but his arm still went numb, shaken to the point of near-paralysis.
Thankfully, the quality of the Anti-Riot Shield was excellent; it was made of solid materials. After two blows from the Iron-Armored Goblin, Fang Zhen's arm was numb, but the Anti-Riot Shield itself was undamaged. It seemed it could take more.
The goblin roared and once again swung the Wolf Fang Club head-on, the spiked head coming straight for him.
This time, Fang Zhen took another half-step back and adjusted the angle of the Anti-Riot Shield. As the Wolf Fang Club came down, he could not only defend but also let it slide to deflect some of the force.
THUD!
With another dull thud, Fang Zhen's arm trembled. His entire left arm felt numb, filled with a sore, swollen sensation as he lost feeling in it.
'This thing is too damn strong!'
'I can't just keep taking hits like this.'
He gritted his teeth. The Iron Armor Goblin Leader was far stronger than he had anticipated, and he had no idea how to take the creature down.
Just then, the Iron Armor Goblin Leader swung its club again.
Fang Zhen braced himself, fully prepared to lose all feeling in his left arm as he put all his strength into defending against this strike.
BANG!
The Wolf Fang Club smashed against his Explosive-Proof Shield.
But this time, the sound of the impact seemed a little different.
'Huh?'
Fang Zhen's sharp senses picked up on it. Although this attack still had some power, it felt completely different from the previous few blows.
The force was much weaker—maybe half of the first three hits, or even less.
His expectation of his left arm going completely numb didn't come to pass. Instead, he blocked the attack with relative ease.
He was extremely sharp in battle and immediately noticed the discrepancy.
'What kind of tactic is this Goblin Leader using?'
'No, I'm overthinking it. What the hell does a goblin know about tactics?'
'It's just out of steam!'
Fang Zhen realized it in an instant.
He took a step back to create distance, then lowered the Explosive-Proof Shield and looked at the Iron Armor Goblin Leader.
The Iron Armor Goblin Leader's face was still twisted in anger, but it was obvious that its strength was failing. Its footing was unsteady, and it swung the Wolf Fang Club with noticeable effort, lacking its previous ferocity.
'I knew it!'
Fang Zhen's Spirit surged.
He'd thought the Iron Armor Goblin Leader was truly that powerful, a completely different class of being from the goblin grunts.
But now it seemed he had overestimated it.
A goblin is a goblin. The Iron Armor Goblin Leader's earlier burst of strength was probably due to it being full of rage, or maybe it had used some kind of skill.
'This thing was a beast for all of ten seconds, and now it's completely spent.'
It made sense. This was, after all, just an easy-difficulty dungeon in the Nameless World. Even for a boss, how high could its stats really be?
"And here I thought you were so tough. Turns out you've only got a few tricks up your sleeve!"
Fang Zhen's mood relaxed slightly.
But just to be safe, Fang Zhen didn't counter-attack immediately.
The Iron Armor Goblin Leader swung its Wolf Fang Club again. Fang Zhen blocked it with the Anti-Riot Shield and found that the Goblin Leader's strength was now just so-so. It was much stronger than an ordinary goblin, but a bit weaker than Fang Zhen in his normal state.
Fang Zhen now had a good grasp of the situation.
The Iron Armor Goblin Leader had gone all-out from the very beginning, but it was just a three-hit combo. After using it, the creature was spent.
Fang Zhen's confidence returned.
His gaze sharpened, fixed on the Goblin Leader's movements.
The Goblin Leader raised its Wolf Fang Club once more.
'An opportunity!'
Seizing the opening as his opponent began to wind up its attack, Fang Zhen exploded forward. With a great roar, he raised the Explosive-Proof Shield on his left arm and charged, slamming his entire body into the Iron Armor Goblin Leader!
His saber was shorter than the Wolf Fang Club. As the saying goes, "an inch shorter is an inch more dangerous"—a direct exchange of blows wasn't worth the risk.
So he didn't clash head-on. Instead, he saw his chance and slammed into it with his body and shield.
The Iron Armor Goblin Leader's reaction was slow. Caught in an opening by Fang Zhen's charge, it didn't have time to react before the Anti-Riot Shield crashed into it.
Fang Zhen didn't just use the Shield; he put his entire body weight into the impact. The collision sent a shock through the Iron Armor Goblin Leader, knocking it staggering back several steps.
He didn't stop. He pressed the Anti-Riot Shield against the Iron Armor Goblin Leader's body and charged forward.
His explosive power was immense. The Iron Armor Goblin Leader weighed less and was shorter than Fang Zhen. Staggering backward, it lost its balance, missed a step, and fell to the ground. Its Wolf Fang Club had no room to swing; though still clutched in its hand, it was no longer an effective threat.
He roared, pressing down with his body. His left hand used the Anti-Riot Shield to pin the Iron-Armored Goblin to the floor. Then he threw his entire body onto the Anti-Riot Shield, using all his weight and strength to hold the Iron Armor Goblin Leader down.
"GARU!"
A trace of terror appeared on the Iron Armor Goblin Leader's face. It shrieked, trying to throw off the Anti-Riot Shield and Fang Zhen on top of it, but it lacked the strength.
Fang Zhen could feel the Iron Armor Goblin Leader's strength. It wasn't as ferocious as before, but it was still considerable—not much different from trying to pin down a struggling person. If he wasn't careful, he could still be thrown off.
He grew ruthless. He pressed down hard on the Anti-Riot Shield with his left hand, pinning the Iron Armor Goblin Leader to the ground. With his right, he plunged his saber deep into the Goblin Leader's unprotected neck!