There was no warning.
No delay.
No buildup of energy.
Prayzen lowered the massive sledgehammer from his shoulder and pointed it at Alex.
Instantly, lightning burst out.
It flew like a sphere of pure electricity, but strands of crackling lightning still connected it back to the hammer.
Boom!
The lightning slammed straight into Alex's stomach.
His eyes widened.
Then his body was blasted backward.
He flew across the warehouse before crashing hard into the wall.
Bang!
Dust scattered around him.
Not even bothering to look at Alex, Prayzen immediately turned his attention to the others.
This time, he didn't point the hammer.
He swung it.
As the giant weapon moved, a trail of lightning followed behind it.
The air crackled violently.
Lennox and Isla were the next closest to him.
The two reacted immediately.
They jumped back.
Or at least, they tried to.
Suddenly, their legs froze.
Their bodies refused to obey.
Their muscles locked up.
To make things worse, they felt a strange pulling force coming from the hammer itself.
A force dragging them forward.
Their expressions changed.
'What is this?' Isla thought.
Lennox gritted his teeth.
They couldn't stop themselves.
Their bodies were drawn toward the path of the hammer.
And before they knew it, both of them had landed directly in its path.
It first slammed into Lennox's side, carrying him straight into Isla.
The two of them were swept away by the force.
They tumbled across the ground, unable to stop themselves as dust and broken debris scattered around them.
"None of you are making it out alive here!" Prayzen shouted, holding the massive hammer effortlessly on one shoulder.
Isla and Lennox rolled several times before finally crashing into the floor.
Prayzen didn't stop there.
He pointed his left hand at them.
Crack!
From his five fingers, streams of lightning shot out.
They struck the two on the ground and continuously zapped them.
Blue sparks danced across their bodies while the floor beneath them cracked under the pressure.
"I have a feeling that won't be enough to stop you," Prayzen said in a deep voice.
However, while he was busy electrocuting Lennox and Isla, Clifford had already made his move.
Invisible energy-draining threads had reached Prayzen and attached themselves to his body.
Prayzen immediately noticed the change.
His eyes shifted toward Clifford.
"Oh... nice trick," he said.
There was no anger in his voice.
Only amusement.
Instead of firing lightning at Clifford, Prayzen threw his hammer.
Boom!
The giant hammer flew through the air, wrapped in crackling lightning.
It crossed the distance in an instant and slammed straight into Clifford.
The impact exploded with force.
Clifford was blasted off his feet and sent flying backward.
Prayzen's hand sparked with electricity.
Crackle!
The hammer reacted immediately.
Its solid form dissolved into pure lightning and shot back toward him like a streak of blue light.
In the blink of an eye, it landed in his hand and reformed into its hammer shape once more.
Prayzen grabbed it firmly.
The runes across its surface glowed brighter as arcs of lightning crackled around the weapon.
He casually rested it back on his shoulder, as if throwing it hard enough to send a person flying was nothing more than a simple toss.
Without wasting time, Prayzen turned toward those who had been lying on the ground.
However, he quickly noticed that he could only find two people there.
'Something is wrong,' he thought.
Right on cue, a hand suddenly grabbed his head.
It was a clawed hand, one that looked more like a beast's than a human's.
Prayzen instantly jerked his head free and threw the hand away.
Only then did he see it clearly.
A werewolf stood behind him, ready to crush his skull with its claws.
However, before the werewolf could clench its hand, Prayzen's entire body lit up with sparks of electricity.
Crack!
Visible lightning spread all over his body.
The werewolf froze the moment it touched him.
Its body trembled violently as electricity coursed through it.
Prayzen stepped out of its grip and spun around.
At the same time, he swung his hammer.
Bang!
The frozen werewolf was struck squarely.
Its body shot away instantly, flying through the air.
Still, Prayzen didn't get a chance to breathe.
The next second, another werewolf was already above him.
Its mouth was wide open.
Its fangs were aimed straight at his head.
However, Prayzen moved.
His body burst into sparks.
Crackle!
He vanished from where he stood and slipped out of the attack.
The werewolf bit down on empty air.
Its body crashed into the ground instead.
Before it could even recover, Prayzen had already appeared beside it.
Lightning danced around his arm and hammer.
He looked down at the beast with cold eyes.
The sparks around his body crackled loudly as more werewolves began moving again around him.
The werewolf clamped its jaws shut, but it bit into nothing.
'How is that possible?' Zephyr wondered in shock.
He and Gavalich had already transformed into werewolves.
After being zapped earlier, both of them had found it difficult to move their bodies.
It was at that point they had decided to transform.
They had turned into regular werewolves, and the boost in strength and changes in their bodies had helped them overcome the numbness. Their limbs had started responding again.
Gavalich had tried to launch a sneak attack from behind.
But he was dealt with almost instantly.
That left Zephyr.
He had gone straight for Prayzen's head, aiming to bite it off in one go.
"You are too slow," a voice said from behind him.
Zephyr's eyes widened.
Before he could react, a bolt of lightning struck him from the back.
Crack!
His body froze.
Electricity ran through him as his muscles locked up.
He shook uncontrollably in the middle of the air.
"We who use lightning have an extra trait of speed, so don't feel too bad about your loss," Prayzen said.
His voice was calm.
Almost casual.
As the electricity faded, Zephyr dropped to the ground with a thud.
He passed out immediately.
"Haha ha...!"
Prayzen let out a loud laugh that echoed throughout the warehouse.
The sound rolled across the ruined building.
Even the remaining werewolves hesitated for a moment.
Still laughing, Prayzen slowly turned back toward those lying on the ground.
The hammer rested on his shoulder once more.
Sparks of electricity crackled around it as his smile widened.
It was Henry and Jimmy.
They had somewhat overcome the numbness, but they still weren't too mobile.
Prayzen gathered lightning in his hand and pointed it at the two of them.
"Die!" he yelled.
However, just as he was about to release the attack, he suddenly sensed something coming his way.
Without thinking, he canceled the lightning.
He turned around and brought his hammer up.
Bang!
He barely managed to block the incoming fist with the handle.
Even then, Prayzen felt the strength behind it.
His entire body shook from the impact.
'How is that possible?' he thought as he looked at the attacker.
It was Alex.
And he was already throwing another punch.
Prayzen reacted quickly.
He ducked low.
Alex's fist swept over his head and missed.
Meanwhile, the others who were still conscious, Henry and Jimmy, stared in disbelief.
"How is he doing it?" Henry muttered aloud.
"How is he not being affected by the lightning?"
What they didn't know was that Prayzen was wondering the exact same thing.
Then, just when Zephyr thought he had seen it all, something even worse happened.
Alex suddenly grabbed the handle of Prayzen's hammer with both hands.
His fingers tightened around it.
Then his hands started vibrating.
'I have to break this,' Alex thought.
Prayzen felt it immediately.
The hammer started shaking violently.
His own hands trembled with it.
The vibration became stronger.
Painful.
The shaking became so intense that he quickly let go and stepped back.
Crack!
Lightning burst out of the hammer uncontrollably.
"Ahrmmm!" Alex screamed.
Prayzen watched in shock.
'No... he wants to destroy the hammer!' he shouted inwardly.
Without hesitation, sparks exploded from his hand.
The hammer transformed into a single bolt of lightning.
It passed harmlessly through Alex and shot back into Prayzen's hand.
The moment it returned, it took the shape of a hammer again.
"You all are weak! Every single one of you! Can't you people tell?!" Prayzen shouted as he continued zapping Zephyr's back with lightning.
"There is no room for any other clan at the top!"
"The high clans will remain where they are, and no other clan can step into those ranks!" he shouted in frustration.
"But my clan will definitely take over," a calm, gentle voice said.
Alex and Prayzen both turned toward the side.
There, they saw a female dressed in metallic clothes.
Her white hair flowed gently despite the chaos around her.
"Hello, Alex," Rhyssa said with a smile.