Within the restaurant, despite the time seemingly stagnating due to the standoff, the storm outside continued to rage wildly.
Each flash of lightning cast bright bluish-white light into the restaurant, bathing everyone's faces alternately in the violent brilliance and the profound darkness that followed.
Then, the roar of thunder, like an angry beast, echoed through the wide-open room, reverberating along with the fierce tremors of the restaurant's windows and doors.
The storm swept across the entire street, droplets hammering against the windows, like a thousand horde eager to storm into the restaurant. The rain slid down the windows, blurring the views outside, and the world was cut off, leaving only them within the restaurant.
Hyperion was completely taken by surprise, only instinctively feeling an intense sense of crisis.
Phoenix, seated by the corridor Hyperion just passed, moved with swift aggression.