And a few more minutes he would have. Though Caim's head was clearing and he knew he'd landed a few hits, and the pain of being dragged by his hair had only helped clear his mind, he didn't see the second punch coming and fell back with it.

When his ankles suddenly flared up in pain, Caim managed to get a look at what was happening. Although he was still too incoherent to get a proper hit off, his fists still swung out in a desperate attempt to force Farfarello, who was moving back toward his head, away from him. He heard cracks, heard those sickening crunches of bone ...

... but it brought him no joy.