The battle between Nahum and Beat raged on. CLAW! WHAM! SWISH! WHOOSH! Even though Nahum should have had the edge as a bruiser, Beat was slowly but surely gaining the upper hand.
Nahum started this fight with 10% HP ahead, yet their current standings no longer reflected that. Both of them were around 40% after the back-and-forth.
H-How could this be!? Nahum frowned. A bruiser has an indisputable advantage in this sort of scenario, this is a mathematical fact. And yet...
Math failed him this time. It couldn't account for all the complicated circumstances at play.
This is unacceptable, Nahum asserted, a slight difference in combat skill shouldn't be allowed to overwrite the hard rules of the game. I'm a bruiser, therefore I'm stronger in this matchup! Math backs that up, so there's nothing for me to hold back!
CLAW! SWISH! Nahum attacked twice in a row with confidence. There was no reason for him to delay his attacks, for the enemy's sly footwork won't be able to overcome math!
The first attack connected as expected. However...
"Agh!" Nahum grimaced as his claws sliced through the air on the second attack. It was a total whiff.
Just like that, Nahum missed some important damage. But that wasn't even the worst part of it. The enemy swiftly took advantage of this opportunity.
I've been waiting for this! Kai smirked. I've gotta admit, you've been playing pretty calmly until now, so I wasn't sure you'd fall for it, but you did, sucker.
Kai didn't retaliate right away. She had a golden opportunity to strike a whiffing opponent, but she went for a more tactical play instead.
Here we go. Kai rotated around the opponent. This is where things get interesting.
WHAM! She drove a fireball right into Professor's back! Naturally, this caused the enemy some panic.
"Wha-!?" Nahum exclaimed. W-Where is she!? Behind me!?
A sense of dread took hold of him as he frantically turned around. In a zoomed-in third-person game like this, attacks from behind were terrifying. Nahum could only tell that something hit his back, but he had no idea where the assailant was.
So, first things first, he had to get back on track by bringing the enemy into his field of view. Only then would he be able to continue his precise calculations.
However, it was odd. As Nahum turned around, he found himself staring at nothing.
"... eh?" Nahum blinked in confusion. Wasn't the enemy right here? Certainly, that's where the attack came from…
Yet, there was nobody there. The phantom attacker who struck his back was nowhere to be found. It was unscientific!
WHAM! Another fireball struck him before he had the chance to react! This time, the attack seemed to come from his right side.
Did she circle me in the opposite direction while I was turning!? Nahum couldn't believe what just happened. It seemed as if Beat precalculated his exact movements and outmaneuvered him. While Nahum was turning 180 degrees clockwise, Beat also moved clockwise to stay ever so slightly outside his field of vision.
Nahum found himself bewildered by such a bizarre combat tactic. In the meantime, the opponent carried on as if this was completely normal.
BAM! Another fireball struck Nahum's right flank. At this point, he was already below 30% HP. The situation was getting quite dire...!
In fact, things were getting so bad that Marim had to intervene. "I'm stepping in!"
"Please do!"
Alrighty, so this is the final showdown! Marim grinned in excitement, despite the terrible situation. Time to turn this around!
She donned a cloak of darkness and charged in! It was now or never...!