Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

Eya saw several men marching towards the Vr-cade. She could not see them clearly from a distance of over two hundred meters, but she could imagine the anger on their faces.

Snow was falling, not heavily, not enough to cover the grounds in one inch of snow. Still, the men marched through the snow on the empty lands of the Vr-cade that stood near the City's border.

Guards' barracks were on the northside border below which was the Vr-cade and Mages' Tokyo Tower. Since the area was near the border, the property in the area of one acre was not for the residentials.

"How many are they?" Eya asked.

Kakashi stepped forward and closed his eyes. "No more than twenty men, but all of them are armed."

Eya clenched her fist, she was afraid she might end up sick tomorrow. "Details, Kakashi."

"Blades, wands, and three archers."

Eya groaned, "Great. Now we got to deal with this."

At the distance of fifty meters away from the Vr-cade, the men stopped their march. The three archers, who were standing at the back, got to their knees and pulled their archers.

The second unit of ten men stretched their wands and got into their stance. And the remaining five men were wielding katanas, the samurais who would advance.

A man from the front lines raised his spear and shouted, "Advance!"

While the archers released their bows and the wizards released fireballs, ice spikes, electric shocks, and beams; the five men bolted at Kakashi and Eya.

"I have got it." Eya raised her hand and brought them down, in front of her and Kakashi.

The fireball released by a wizard hit an invisible barrier and disappeared, followed by other elements.

Kakashi brought his hand close to his chest, he manifested a small orange color ball made from flames, then raised his arm.

"Delayed fireball," Kakashi chanted.

He pulled down the ball to his left side, shifted to the right, and jerked both of his arms forward.

The fireball stopped right in front of the five men, who were covered by the archers and wizards, and the fireball's delayed effect came into play.

An explosion bigger than an explosion of a normal fireball blew the five men back to their mates, burning half of their faces to crisp, heating their katanas, and melting the snow beneath them.

The five men sunk into the hot-cold water before one used levitation to pull them up. "Quickly, heal them!" he shouted.

A man stepped forward and chanted a healing spell. Watching this, Kakashi smiled. He exchanged glances with Eya, that is what they wanted.

"After you reveal your healer, you are left with two options: Protect the healer or die with the healer," Eya muttered, then shouted, "Get him, Kakashi!" She removed the shield.

Eya stepped back, Kakashi walked past her with an ice spear forming in between his hands. "On my count, Eya-nee, three!"

Kakashi threw an icicle spear that broke through their defense and vanished. Eya threw a fireball at them.

Two men covered the mage, they swung their wands and the fireball turned into snow.

The archers released their arrows, and Eya jumped forward to summon another defense wall.

Kakashi again raised his hand but this time, instead of flames, light sparkled. A few wizards decided to advance after their five men were injured.

Kakashi clenched his jaw and muttered, "Kaminari no Mahou," he chanted, "lightning bolt."

Kakashi dropped his head when the sparks erupted in his hand. His hand turned into a tornado's eye, and long sparking bolts reached the dark sky.

The people on the other side saw the night sky lighting up with sparks of lightning spreading across the sky, touching the stars.

Eya bit her lip. "Kakashi!" she shouted, "it is going out of control again!"

Kakashi lifted his head. "Oh no, it is not this time."

The wizards stopped and stared at the sky, they recognized the spell at once. The archers got to their feet and lowered their bows, the other wizards lowered their wands, staring at the sky with open mouths and wide eyes.

A man wowed, staring at the sky, "Whoa, that is amazing..."

"Is that coming from the north?"

"It must be the ministry!" people cheered. "This must be a new firework, the ministry has never done anything like that ever!"

The people stopped their celebrations to stare at the golden bolts spreading across the sky, Hitori was one of them, although he was not celebrating.

He stopped in the middle of the bridge and threw a glance up. "The ministry, so they can do something like that." he nodded and looked down at the frozen river before walking down the bridge.

An archer bit his lip. "Fuck, what is that spell?"

"Hey, man, is not that... the... Lightning magic?" a wizard said to his friend.

He shook his head in disbelief. "You must be kidding. Someone could still use that spell?"

While the citizens of Mage prefecture were fooled to believe that it was a firework spell, only Eya, Kakashi, the scared men, and the people from the ministry knew the reality.

In the main Ministry office near the west borders, a man was standing on his balcony enjoying the night, his drink, and his cigarette when he saw Kakashi's spell.

He frowned. "I did not ask for that firework, what is it?" Then his cigarette dropped from his mouth. "Kaminaro no Mahou..." his hands trembled. "Who is that person?"

Eya was worried Kakashi might end up with a burnt arm again but Kakashi did not fear the consequences this time. He was only twenty when he used that spell, now he is twenty-five.

"Do it, Himbo, do it now!" Eya shouted, she dropped her shield and stored away from Kakashi.

"Lighting bolts..." a wizard muttered.

"B-bolts? Fucking run for your life!" an archer turned, and his two other friends followed him.

Kakashi grunted. "You should not be alive to tell this tale."

Kakashi threw his arm down, Eya covered Kakashi in a shield to protect his arm, but the spell did not backfire this time.

Numerous bolts of lighting fell over the northeast area of mage prefecture. The crowd broke in a loud cheer, yelling how beautiful the show was. No one wondered why a firework struck down when it should have bolted to the sky.

Hitori lifted his head when he heard the snapping sounds. He watched as bolts of lightning struck the ground, it seemed to be near, but it was not. "Beautiful indeed." Hitori nodded again and continued walking.

Eya removed the shield and attacked the wizards who were still alive. Most of them were dead when the lightning struck them.

Kakashi's arm jerked when the bolts struck the snow, but he managed to rise again, and kill the remaining wizards with normal lighting magic.

The wizards fought back too, they threw a few sparks, spikes, balls, and beams, and snow bounced when they missed and fell to the ground. Soon the show came to an end.

Eya pulled her wand and chanted, "Fireblast!" she burned the last wizard to crisp.

They both were breathing unevenly, their chests heaving with every breath. Kakashi and Eya exchanged glances.

They both were out of stamina, Eya was especially exhausted due to the cold, and Kakashi had lost most of his mana when he cast the lightning bolt spell.

Yet, Kakashi said, "You go inside, Eya-nee, and lock the Vr-cade." He inhaled and exhaled. "I will clean this up. Our plan is still on."

Eya clasped her hands together and nodded frantically. Without saying anything, she ran inside the Vr-cade.

After crossing the bridge, it was only a matter of time till Hitori reached the Vr-cade. He saw the backside of the city mall right next to the river. As he continued his walk, there were a few shops on his way.

When he entered the prohibited area of one acre, Hitori saw two large parks built on each side and a path leading straight to the Vr-cade.

Hitori's heart was beating, obviously, he was about to unravel the truth behind the counter lady and counterman. The sparks that just came, were they from the Vr-cade? Hitori wondered.

He pulled his hands out of the long coat's pockets, lifted his shoulders, spread his forearms away from his hips, and popped out his chest as he walked with pride-- as if he owned this street.

The Vr-cade was in Hitori's view, he could see that the lights were still on. Hitori gulped and continued walking through the snow.

When he reached the fifty meters area, the lights sparking, Hitori noticed the snow around that area was weird.

Hitori lifted his boat and noticed the puddle he had stepped into. He threw a glance at the snow falling from the sky, then glanced around him.

There were holes made in the snowfield as if someone dug a hole, narrow enough for a snake to pass through it.

While Hitori was distracted and busy studying the snow, Eya locked the Vr-cade and walked to Kakashi who was starting out of the Vr-cade's window.

"What is it?" she asked.

"That boy," Kakashi replied, "he is here for playing games probably."

"Hitori-san?" she frowned.

"Ah, I have done the reservations though... it will spoil our plan for nothing. What shall we do?"

Hitori sighed. "God knows." he lifted his head. He checked the Vr-cade's lights were still on, sparkling outside the Vr-cade. "Hm."

Hitori patted his side pocket to make sure his wand was still there. He did not know when a time would come for him to use the curses-- not the forbidden Shinigami curses, but curses that cursed someone, not with an instant death but with damage over time.

Hitori had done his research, fully prepared for anything. During his research, he found some strange curses like "How to turn your rude and sassy sister into your slave, how to shut your annoying fat cousin forever?" And a few curses like "Curse someone with a lifetime of bad luck, curse your bully's family, curse your hater to never be able to ejaculate."

But Hitori did not find a single word about the God of Death curses, Shinigami no Noroi.

Eya smiled. "Do not worry," she said, pointing at a sticker on the front, "We have the 'closed' banner already, yet I have written a personal message to Hitori-san, it is on the front. He will read it."

Kakashi saw Hitori coming closer. "Would you like to greet him---"

"Oh, Himbo, we are getting late!"

"Alright!" they held hands. "Do not call me that!" and disappeared to appear near the parks.

Eya glanced behind, then they both took off to Snow ride station (previously Wagon station), a fun ride to the main city, a journey of a few miles.

Hitori had not noticed anyone standing and staring at him from inside the Vr-cade, but he was disappointed rather than scared to see the lightings were nothing but bugs glowing in different colors-- an enchantment.

Hitori read the 'closed' sign. "This can not be a coincidence. Someone must have told them---" Hitori's eyes fell on a paper stuck to the Vr-cade's door.

He leaned closer and plucked it out.

I knew you would come here tonight, Hitori-san, so I wrote this message, especially for you. If you are not Hitori-san, then drop this right now or it will explode!

I am sorry for interrupting your argument last time, but I think it was necessary. I know you fought with your friend and now you two are not gaming together. It is fine, time will handle everything. I believe that was the reason you did not show up for two days.

Anyway, Happy New Year, do come tomorrow!

Signed: Kogara Eya, the counter lady.

Hitori lowered the letter. "Kogara..." Hitori sighed and folded the letter into his pocket. "They knew I was coming."

Hitori turned and left the Vr-cade.

"It was not a misunderstanding, it could not be a misunderstanding." Hitori clenched his fist. "They already knew I was coming!"