Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

He strode through the front ramp shirtless. Then he jerked his arm and activated the extra music effect to the main music. The man with rifles fired at the house while the machine guns destroyed the woods.

All of this was for Hitori, the star of the night, but he was standing around the corner with his eyes wide. The bright shine was assuring, almost guaranteeing to protect from any kind of danger.

Tengoku approached from the side, and he knew the shield would be activated. No way they were going to show themselves without any pre-planned protection. He raised his katana and slashed the shield, but nothing happened.

Hitori lowered his eyes to Tengoku, who was stepping back, then looked at Akira. "We still need to get going and find some other way—"

"Fuck the shield, shall we?!" Tengoku\'s shout interrupted him. He stepped back, then rested it on his shoulder. He raised his chin and said again, "Fuck this shield. Why do you have this between us, Hitori? Fuck this, we can solve—"

"Oh, shut up!" Akira shouted. "You are not getting over this side. Know your fucking place. Like we will believe you and let you come over here. Oh, of course, it will be a fair fight." Akira emphasized \'fair.\'

Tengoku lowered his chin and glared at Akira, which said, \'I am not talking to you, chipmunk, so stay out of this.\' The glare was enough to convey the message.

Hitori had no intentions of opening the shield and letting Tengoku come to that side, but then he realized that even right now, he was not doing much apart from running away from the problem.

He had to face Tengoku, and this was the time. He got away last time because he was not alone. He could have planned an assassination for Hitori, but he did not and came to the house.

If Hitori lets go of this chance, he would never get a chance like this ever again. History will repeat itself with a slight change– this time, Hitori will die in an assassination.

To get the best of the situation, someone had to take some action. Powerful enough to kill Tengoku and clever enough to take the other ten men and ten robots.

There should be a way. He started thinking about the various possibilities of what would happen if Tengoku comes inside the area. He would pull his gun first or draw his katana. Or worse– he would let his robots towards them.

But wait. What if he lets Tengoku in and then tells Eya to close the shield as soon as possible, in a flash?

Although Hitori had never done this before, this was worth the chance. Hitori went to the kitchen to bring Reon back to support him. It could work.

"You are right," Hitori said, "why should we let a piece of shining magic interrupt our fight?" His heart was beating, and he hoped his voice did not sound as scared as he thought it was sounding.

To that reply, Tengoku grinned, thinking he was winning. "Oh, so someone punched some sense into your dummy brain. What happened to not believing in me?"

"Why would I care about believing you when you are attacking us in our territory? If you dare and believe we will not play dirty, step in through the shield." Hitori was now feeling a little confident. His wand felt warm from his tight grip and sweat, and his legs felt immobile, but it was alright.

Tengoku\'s grin faded and he lowered his katana. "I take my words back. You still are senseless. But at least, you took a step towards resolving this conflict."

Akira grunted ta Hitori. "This might not be the best choice. What are you planning exactly?"

Hitori glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. "Tell her to open the shield, just a door enough for Tengoku to pass through. We will deal with the rest."

"No. Tell me what you are planning, first."

"You know what, Hitori? You should have a conversation with your friends first. Decide if you want to do it or not and stop wasting my time."

Hitori wanted no discussion over his decision. So he shook his head and said, "No changes. We are facing you just in a minute. Does not matter if you play dirty or not."

"Oh believe me," he said, the grin coming back to his face, enlarging his eyes, "I will kill you without playing dirty."

"No, god damn, what are you even saying?"

Hitori ignored Akira and glanced at the kitchen door. Reon was peeping at them from the side of the door. Only a strand of her purple hair was visible in one of her black eyes.

"Reon," he said, "come out." And she did. Akira was glancing between the three of them, getting annoyed and frustrated with the passing of time.

When Reon joined them, Akira asked, "Now, can we hear your plan?"

"Come on, kids!" Tengoku shouted. "I do not have the whole day!"

Hitori was getting good at ignoring the people around him– he always has been good at that, but this was exceptionally good. "When she opens the shield, that will be our only chance to at least have a lead, if not kill him totally."

"And what do you want us to do?" Reon asked, without considering the consequences or dangers of Hitori\'s plan.

But Akira was different. He stayed quiet and considered what could go wrong, the same way Hitori had.

"Take cover, be prepared, and open fire when he steps in. He would do the same, but we should have the advantage in the end. Are we understood?"

Akira sighed. "This was going to happen sooner or later."

"It is not about when it was happening. It is about whether you are ready. Are you ready?"

Reon stepped away, moving towards her position near the kitchen door. She drew her gun and cocked it, glaring at Tengoku. He smiled at her.

"I am ready," Akira said firmly. "Even if I am not, I want to believe I am."

"Belief is what we need. None of us are ready, but we make ourselves believe we are. So take your wand, and get cover behind that tree."