Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

Kakashi and Akira arranged a soft, ten feet long, rectangle mess of soft material.

Eya reached Reon before she could reach the ground. She threw her arms around Reon and held her tight. Just when she passed the third floor, which was in an instant, she saw Kyoryu through the big-ass glass, standing near the end of the floor. Then suddenly, she felt her body become heavy, and the speed of her free fall decreased.

She tensed her neck and saw the white clouds in front of her. She thought it would hurt, but Kyoryu's levitation spell had decreased the spell.

She felt a punch in her stomach and on her thighs when she landed– not a strong punch. Her face sunk into the clouds without any pain. Reon rolled over her and jumped off the clouds.

Eya had to struggle to get out of the mess of sheets and cotton, it felt comfortable– like marshmallows– and she wanted to just lay in the clouds.

Reon prompted Eya to take off the ropes, tapes, and handcuffs. Eya did her best and deactivated the handcuffs. Reon turned and was about to rush inside the building.

Eya grabbed her and pulled her back. "Where? We are not going anywhere!" That upset her, so she tried to jerk out of Eya's grip. "We burned the staircase! The elevator is crushed at the bottom, how will you climb seven floors?"

Reon glared at her. "Hitori… he is alone."

"Kakashi and Akira are with him, so no. And of course, he has Onogi with him."

"We should do something!" Reon protested. "Eya-nee, can you levitate me to the roof?"

"You got to understand this. You are in danger, no way I am letting you up there."

"Danger? And so is Hitori and others!"

"They are three and Onogi is alone. Just calm down, Reon, take a sit, just calm down. We are halfway through our missing and the success rate is…"

She looked at Eya with hope in her eyes. "The rate is?"

"Eighty percent. It looks like Kyo-san has taken care of Onogi's father. All who remains is Onogi and a few guards."

Reon looked at the roof and Eya followed her gaze. "Please… end this tonight," Reon wished.

Hitori stood frozen till he got a thumbs-up from Kakashi. Hitori jumped away from Onogi and drew his wand as he walked to the roof's edge. Hitori glanced over his shoulder and saw Reon and Eya at the bottom, they were standing, and they were safe.

Akira sighed and collapsed on the ground. Kakashi turned around and aimed his wand at Onogi.

But he, without any fear, got up and checked the bullets in hsi gun. Then he cocked it and pulled it straight at Hitori.

Hitori was surprised by Onogi's courage. Was he not scared even when he was facing three skilled wizards? What was wrong with him? Why was he acting a s only he and Hitori existed?

Onogi moved his finger to the trigger, and Kakashi raised his wand. But Hitori stopped him and took the front.

"He needs me to fight him. You two, find cover for yourself," Hitori said as he walked to the helipad, staring into Onogi's eyes.

A smile crept on Onogi's face. Hitori pulled his wand and held it by the side. Then he raise dit at Onogi, and they both held their stances without moving.

Akira and Kakashi exchanged glances and decided it was time for them to step away. Kakashi agreed to let Hitori deal with Onogi himself. Meanwhile, he had to help Kyoryu.

"Move now," Hitori said. He kept his guard as he moved to the side and let Kakashi and Akira behind him.

Onogi followed Hitori's front and turned as he did. They took Hitori's cover and walked to the staircase. They were only a meter away from the staircase, and Onogi was staring at it.

"Jump. I have your back," Hitori said and gave them the green signal.

Kakashi glanced at Onogi, then grabbed Akira's hand. "We need to teleport," he said.

"Teleport?" Akira frowned. "I am tired. That portal—"

"Then jump!" Kakashi tensed his calves and jumped towards the staircase.

Hitori jumped to cover them, knowing that Onogi will open fire at the staircase, but to his surprise, Onogi stood idle. His target was not Kakashi or Akira, it was Hitori.

Akira glanced over his shoulder when he heard a bullet shot, but Kakashi tugged him and pulled him down the stairs. The staircase was alright, of course, it was just a lie Eya had to tell to keep Reon off the roof.

Hitori twisted his angle and jumped forward, dodging the bullet, but getting closer to Onogi. He rose with momentum. "Bakuhatsu!"

Onogi fired another bullet before jumping to the side and dodging the spell. Hitori got to his feet and shouted a fire spell, "Flamethrower!"

Before fire took over Onogi, Hitori saw him reach for his chest. He knew Onogi had activated the battlesuit, so he waited for the fire to clear, till then, he planned his final move.

"Curse. I will use the same curse Kamiya used on Kuzu. The same curse!" Hitori's shout rang through Onogi's ears.

Hitori ran to the other side of the roof and saw Onogi's gleaming eyes in the fire. He was doing something that was reducing the fire, but before Hitori could figure out what it was, Onogi stormed out of the fire.

The ends of his battlesuit had caught fire, only to be extinguished later. His pace suddenly increased, then came his butt-lit gun, and fired three bullets at Hitori.

He was taken by surprise, so when he tried to stop and dodge the bullets, his foot slipped and he went to the roof's edge. He bent and laid flat on the helipad.

"Using water will be a bad idea, I need something else."

Downstairs, Kyoryu was waiting for Akira and Kakashi to gather. When he saw them coming towards him from the distance, he turned and started climbing down the stairs. They caught up with him.

Akira was the first one to ask while trying to keep up with them. "Where is that man?"

"Where is that octopus thing?" Kakashi asked, glancing around the floor, down the staircase, and above him.

Nowhere. Kamino had disappeared, or gone, or was killed, or was hiding. He was nowhere to be found.

"He is gone, do not worry about him," Kyoryu said. They reached the second floor, then first, and finally climbed down to the ground floor.

Eya and Reon were waiting for them, Reon's eyes widened when she saw them come out of the porch– the staircase was supposed to be burned, right?

"Are you two okay?" Kyoryu asked.

"Just a little pain in my stomach and chest, but I am good," she said and then looked at Reon. "Are you okay?"

"H-How did they come down?" she asked, still surprised.

Kakashi frowned and was going to say the obvious when Eya interrupted him. "He, uh, they used levitation. Only the stairs at the top are burning, stairs from the third floor onwards– well, fire is yet to reach the third floor."

Reon was still staring at the porch, the staircase was not visible, and she did not try to find out. "If you say so… I really wish we could go to the rooftop somehow."

Akira and Kakashi glanced at Eya, she nodded, then showed them her puppy eyes. They melted. Whereas Kyoryu already had a grasp of the situation, he was busy watching the roof.

They could see the blasting of cement, bricks, metal, and plastic. Then gunshots, and then the glowing spells. They were seven floors below, yet they could hear the screams and shouts.

"That is right. Do it, man, do it, bitch!" Hitori took a jump off the cliff and went to the staircase. "Shoot every bullet till you create nine additional holes in my body." Hitori could neither believe nor understand what he was saying. He believed he had to continue irritating Onogi.

Annoy the shit out of Onogi till it pushes him to commit a mistake, grab that chance and play his card. But before he could do any of that, he had to run.

Hitori tried to fire a spell at Onogi, but the bullets were totally different from spells. And everything was SO different from the fights in the game.

Onogi kept his mouth shut the whole time. He even reloaded his gun in just seconds, then got back to firing at Hitori. Steadily, they changed sides and Onogi went to the staircase while Hitori slid to the other side.

Before Hitori could realize he was forced to the other side of the roof, Onogi planted a smoke grenade and turned to destroy the staircase. No one escapes tonight. The only way to leave the floor is to die. Either Onogi or Hitori.

Hitori thought he should stop it, but then his brain said, 'Why? Is it not better? He would not leave, you would not leave. This is the perfect opportunity.'

He listened to his brain. Fuck you, heart. He lowered his wand and decided to wait till Onogi was done wrecking the staircase.

Good opportunity. No one will interrupt them, no support, no reinforcements, and no disturbance. Just Onogi and Hitori into a full-blown battle. A battle of life and death.

Onogi shot down the right side of the staircase, he was about to shoot the other side when the staircase suddenly started bouncing.

Another moment, a metallic hand leaped from the bottom and grabbed the railing, then another, and another, soon, Kamino emerged on the stairs, staring down at Onogi.

Hitori's heart skipped a beat, and he stepped back on instinct, knowing he was standing on the edge. He saw Onogi petrify for a second, then fall on his butt. He crawled on the ground and moved away from his father.

Kamino lowered his body to the ground and glanced around the area. He stared at Hitori for a moment, then turned to Onogi who as trembling from fear.

Then he realized he was supposed to stay on his guard. It was Onogi's father, and the father is always better than his son. Hitori lifted his wand, but he noticed he was trembling, too.

"How is he here? I thought that man took care of…" Horror climbed on Hitori's face. "He killed that man." He gasped.

Kamino made his move. He used his real hand to touch his back and draw a handgun. Hitori gulped and tried to lift his wand to cast a curse, but he could not.

He thought he was done for, but then he turned and pointed his gun at this son lying on the ground.

Onogi stuttered, he could not find words, not like Hitori was any different. This man just had something about him.

Kamino glanced at the mess his son had did. Onogi somehow met his eyes with Kamino. "I-I thought you were not coming back—"

"I had to. After all this, I had to come back."

If Onogi was at his peak., he would have broke Kamino's arm, he could have done it away before. Kamino pushed some button on the side, perhaps the safety, vintage golo

"If you do not stop this ruckus right now, I will blow your brains." His voice was deep, like an old man, but he was no more than forty-eighteen.