Rhyssa's actions since the tournament started had been more eventful than those of the rest of the Synapse Circle members.
She had run into the Wyndhams. Although they hadn't posed much of a threat, they had given her far more trouble than she had expected.
Then she had been dragged into the fight against the Anakim, where she was forced to go all out just to make it out alive.
However, her troubles hadn't ended there.
Right after that battle, she had fought against the Raikovar Clan, a powerful clan with four strong participants.
All four had come after her.
Yet, somehow, she had survived once again, forcing her opponents to retreat from the battle.
Because of those events, the face of Rhyssa, one of the Synapse Circle members, was no longer unfamiliar to Prayzen.
The moment he recognized her, he quickly stepped back.
"You... How... We left you back there..." he stammered, pointing his hammer at Rhyssa as he took another step backward.
"How were you able to catch up so fast?!" he shouted.
The fear in his voice didn't go unnoticed by the others. It was clear enough for everyone nearby to hear.
Meanwhile, Alex wasn't paying much attention to Prayzen.
His eyes stayed fixed on Rhyssa's face.
He could still remember everything Eric had told him.
'Now that I'm looking at her up close... I can't deny it. She's kind of hot,' Alex thought.
Just then, another notification flashed before his eyes.
[Warning: You are in the presence of a Synapse Circle member. You are advised to keep your distance.]
The sudden system message instantly snapped Alex out of his daze, pulling his attention back to the situation in front of him.
'This message again?'
His eyes narrowed slightly.
'It didn't appear when I met the others... Unless it's because of her.'
Alex looked at Rhyssa again.
'What's different about her compared to the other Synapse Circle members?' he wondered.
Deep down, another question surfaced in his mind.
'And what would happen... if I ignored the warning and didn't stay away from Rhyssa?'
Meanwhile, Rhyssa turned toward Prayzen with a faint smirk.
"I guess you guys aren't the only ones with tricks after all," she said.
She took a slow, confident step forward, her smirk never leaving her face.
"You called others weak, yet you and your entire clan couldn't even defeat a single weakened girl. Isn't that far more shameful than this?" she asked.
She didn't stop there.
"You even ran away just to pick on weaker targets. If you ask me, your clan is the one that doesn't deserve a seat at the high table."
Her words dripped with mockery.
For someone like Prayzen, they struck exactly where they hurt.
Every sentence chipped away at his pride, and it was already starting to work.
--2
His grip tightened on the large sledgehammer held horizontally in front of him. Lightning began crawling over the metal head and snaking down to his hand.
"Arhh...!"
Prayzen shouted and rushed forward. Trails of lightning were left behind in his path, and he was fast despite the hammer's size.
Bang!
The blow landed, but all it struck was Rhyssa's hand. Her hand had transformed into a shield, and it stopped the hammer right there.
"Haven't you tried that move enough times already and seen that it won't work?" Rhyssa said.
Then, with her other free hand, she swung her fist out. It was an uppercut straight at Prayzen's jaw.
The next moment, Prayzen was lifted off the ground and disappeared into the sky above. He broke through the little roof left on the warehouse and flew out.
After she sent Prayzen flying away, Rhyssa looked at her arm.
The metallic casing around it had disappeared, leaving her hand bare again.
She sighed.
"That should be able to keep him down for a while," she muttered out loud.
Then she turned to the Wyndhams. Not just Alex alone this time, but the rest of them too.
--3
Zephyr, Isla, and Lennox had already recovered by this point. They could clearly see who was standing before them.
Without hesitation, they quickly regrouped beside the others.
"You people should calm down," Rhyssa said.
"The time for clans hunting down other clans has long passed."
She looked across the group, her expression calm and relaxed.
"I have no reason to fight all of you. That is... unless you're the ones looking for a fight," Rhyssa said.
The Wyndhams were stunned.
So was Alex.
"It doesn't make sense," Lennox said, frowning.
"You wanted to kill us so badly before, but now you don't even want to fight?"
"Yeah. Maybe she's scared because she's outnumbered," Jimmy added with a grin. "Maybe she's afraid we'll whoop her ass."
The moment those words left his mouth, silence fell over the warehouse.
The Wyndhams instinctively turned to stare at Jimmy.
It wasn't an ordinary glance.
It was the kind that silently screamed, 'Will you shut up already?'
Zephyr, Isla, and Lennox were especially tense.
Unlike the others, they knew exactly what it was like to fight Rhyssa.
They had experienced it firsthand.
They knew how terrifying she really was.
They also knew she was strong.
Strong enough that she might even defeat all of them if a fight broke out.
Meanwhile, Rhyssa simply giggled at Jimmy's remark.
"If I wanted you people dead... or eliminated, I could have done it back then," Rhyssa said, her eyes settling on Zephyr in particular.
The meaning behind those words wasn't lost on him.
He knew exactly what she was referring to.
A brief silence followed.
"Fine," Zephyr said at last.
"We'll leave."
The Wyndhams didn't bother asking any questions.
If Rhyssa was willing to let them go, they had no reason to stay.
One by one, they turned to leave.
Alex also took a step forward, intending to follow them.
"I don't mean you," Rhyssa said.
Alex stopped in his tracks.
The rest of the Wyndhams paused as well, immediately turning back toward her.
"The rest of you can leave," Rhyssa declared calmly.
"I want him to stay."