Punishing Lightning

[The final wave is about to begin. Good luck, mutated Kai.]

Then the world was plunged into madness, and the thunder boomed.

The force of the sound was so great, it sent a shockwave all throughout the funneling cloud. Not only that but the three mutated were sent flying back, only to then be assaulted by a never ending rain of debris.

The further the mutated made it, the crazier the tornado became. The final wave was a result of that.

Now that they had braved all the challenges up until now, the storm was gonna throw everything it had at them. There was no more room for error. Mistakes meant death, just as always, so the three mutated just had to keep doing what they had been… But they had to do it even better, be even smarter.

So, activating her affinity that she had been letting energize itself, Loni sent a gale of wind outward from herself, and her two companions. 

It wasn't so powerful to the point where it would destroy the rubble surrounding them, but it was enough to send it back a few dozen meters to let the group get into position. 

Then Loni's voice echoed:

"This is the last stand. Try not to die!"

With that, more wreckage was already upon the three, eager to flatten them.

With a huge tree stump barreling towards her, Loni used the constant jet streams of wind to move herself out the way. It was easier to manipulate wind than create it after all. Unfortunately, this placed her right in the way of a descending hail ball. Thankfully, Karma was not too preoccupied with his own grapple because he was able to send a loosely condensed fire ball toward the precipitation.

Before the crimson-black flame could even reach its target, the piece of hail was already melting, and when the fiery conjuration finally did make contact with the icy sphere, it exploded into boiling drops of water and vapor.

Some of the blazing drops of liquid ended up falling on Loni, though, causing her to wince with pain.

"Be careful with those fireballs!"

With a playful smile on his lips, and his spiky teeth, Karma gave a belly laugh.

"Whoops, sorry bout that!"

In the previous waves, the three mutated made it a point not to use their affinities too much. This was mostly due to them not being able to properly wield them yet, and only being dormant mutated. Them being dormant also meant that their affinities were easily exhausted as well. But the biggest factor for this strategic move they put in place, was to be able to go all out during the last wave.

That was why now, they looked to be using them much more freely. That is, except for Kai.

You see, Kai's affinity was sort of different compared to his companions, because he wielded lighting. Lightning was a turbulent element, making it a daunting task to actually control it, and eventually master. That was why even now, Kai was stifled in what he could do with his affinity.

Thankfully, he had really been paying attention to the way of the storm, learning it… reveling in it.

He wasn't sure why, but ever since he was little he loved to immerse himself into things. Whether it be just a hobby, a job, or even a game. He lived for the feeling of learning something new, and eventually mastering it. It was his way of life.

Now, that didn't mean Kai could become the greatest of all time in anything he did, but it did mean he had a knack for catching onto things quickly. The more he was absorbed into something the easier and faster he could understand it, and right now that was exactly what Kai was doing with the tornado's assault.

Of course, learning a storm's attack pattern was pretty much impossible, but there were only so many ways it could actually do damage. The first one being, swarming debris, and the second being the lightning. Of course the lightning had not come yet, but where there was thunder, lighting was always bound to follow.

But for now Kai and his companions didn't have to worry about it. Not until it actually struck, that is.

But at the moment Kai just had to peer into the essence of the storm's malicious onslaught. Though, it was almost impossible to see, the storm did have one, a specific battle style that is. It was crazy to think he was actually doing it, but Kai was really delving into the raging tornados battle art.

It felt strange at first, almost like trying to predict someone else's thoughts. But soon the daunting task seemed easier. It should've been impossible- it was impossible, yet somehow Kai was managing to pull it off. He was starting to understand the intent of the storm.

With a sparking fist Kai punched through a large rock, making it split into a bunch of little pieces. Then catching a speeding branch in his right hand, and using it like a baseball bat to hit a piece of rubble that had just come from the rock he shattered, Kai knocked it at a giant ball of ice barreling towards Loni.

But he wasn't finished yet…

Doing a 180 degree spin, Kai gave a nasty horizontal kick to an accumulation of dirt and rock, splitting it in half. Then, using the lavender spark jumping around his hand, he sent his fist flying at a descending hail ball. 

The purple electricity seemed to travel along the surface of the gigantic ball of ice, then shattered it into a thousand little bits.

Kai let a devious smirk play on his lips, then continued analyzing the frenzied storm.

The more he stayed in the deadly mix of debris, the more insights he gained into the ominous battle art of the tornado. It was funny though, how could a non-living thing have a battle art?

That's when it hit him. 

Maybe the 'storm' wasn't really a storm at all but instead a powerful titan. The thought alone was enough to make Kai shudder. Ultimately, the storm posed an even bigger threat than Kai had assumed. That was because this storm had to be an especially strong titan, something closer to a demi-god than anything else.

'How monstrous…'

It would make sense, after all titans could come in all shapes and sizes. Why not a storm? Kai didn't have any evidence for his prediction, but there were somethings that were starting to make sense that didn't before.

Like how the storm had conjured itself out of thin air, or how no matter how much they persisted, the storm always seemed eager to catch its prey.

'Now it all makes sense…'

It also explained why, even though a natural disaster was not a living being with a soul, Kai could peer into its battle strategy. Though, it also meant they were in much, MUCH more danger than they had originally thought.

The storm- or rather the titan pretending to be a storm must've noticed Kai peering into its battle art though, because in that moment, and in all its terrifying glory lightning had struck. It didn't just strike anywhere though… no.

Kai's visibility was again obscured due to all the flying rubble, but out in the distance he could see where the lightning had struck… and the person it punished.