Strike a blow - Tradução em português

Gostaria de pedir sugestões para a expressão "strike a blow" no seguinte contexto:

"I opened the door to the entrance hall, and there the monster was, waiting to take the
offering and then jump me. Poor bastard; he never learned that the moment he took to smile before
he went for me gave me time enough to get out of range. BUT, there he was; malevolence with an
erection, waiting. I put the poison patty down, moved towards the stairs and watched. The poor
animal gobbled the food down as usual, smiled, which made me almost sick, and then, BAM. But, I
sprinted up the stairs, as usual, and the dog didn't get me, as usual. AND IT CAME TO PASS THAT
THE BEAST WAS DEATHLY ILL. I knew this because he no longer attended me, and because the
landlady sobered up. She stopped me in the hall the same evening of the attempted murder and
confided the information that God had struck her puppy dog a surely fatal blow."