Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

Hitori felt the texture of the curtain he was holding, it was rough from the outside and smooth from the other side. He put his finger in one of the holes as he moved to the door frame.

With the fire burning inside, it reflected a little outside. Through the darkness, Hitori could see the silhouette of men standing as close to the shield as they can without melting their bodies, firing with everything they got.

When someone had fired every bullet, he would move back to reload while another would step forward to continue.

Now he had an understanding of the situation outside. From watching them, he knew two things for sure– their coordination was amazing, and the Guardian Spirit was not coming to his aid.

"Heck with it. I told him I will get him Tengoku, so I will get him Tengoku." Hitori expected the Spirit to attack Tengoku, but Hitori figured it wanted Tengoku to be alone.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw Kakashi grunting in pain, then he saw someone move.

Akira got off his spot, he was ready to leave his comfort spot and face the force. "Yes, we are out-gunned, we are outnumbered, and we stand a little chance against them– but we stand a chance."

Hitori tightened his grip on the hole in the curtain, then he stepped away from the door frame. With a tug, he pulled his hand near his thigh.

The gunshots covered the sound of the curtain tearing apart. But they could not cover the sound of the rod colliding on the floor. It smashed on the pieces of glass, and on contact, the pieces jumped.

Kyoryu's mouth dropped open, then he giggled with his smile gone. "Little bastard…" he muttered.

Hitori pulled his finger out of the hole and jerked the curtain sheet on the floor. A warm breeze greeted his face, then his chest and abdomen. He raised his eyes and saw the men with guns in front of him.

The trees were still doing their thing and torturing the men at the back while the men at the front lines came to a halt. The men in the middle were busy cutting the trees.

Hitori was standing in the open with the shield as his only hope. He ignored the men at the front and started searching for that one man. He did not have to search long.

He heard that man say, "So you decided to show yourself at last. I was worried about my men– your plants are torturing them, bastard."

Hitori's eyes searched for the man and spotted him cutting through the corner lines. His Katana gleamed under the moonlight as he swung it and cut down a vine. Nothing happened to his blade.

"I was prepared to face these annoying trees," he said. Hitori could see the frown on Tengoku's face as he closed in, "but I never imagined you would do this. Go to such limits."

Tengoku pulled down his katana, then gave it a swing across his chest to cut down a branch. Hitori thought he looked badass in a suit, it gave him the mafia vibe.

Hitori took a step forward, then felt a hand over his shoulder. He did not have to turn to know who it was. "If the shield breaks, no one will save us. But that is exactly what makes it so thrilling, right?" Akira said as he put his arm over Hitori's shoulder and walked with him.

"It is not particularly exciting…" then Hitori paused. He never considered such things to be thrilling or exciting– his life was at stake, after all. But for some reason, he said, "it is thrilling too."

Akira removed his hand from Hitori's shoulder with a chuckle. Hitori glanced at him as he reached the veranda's broken wooden railing.

Tengoku crossed the path and stood right under Hitori. He pulled his katana over his shoulder and shifted his balance to one leg. His bare chest represented the tattoo of DNA spirals.

Now that Hitori got a good view, he could see the gun barrel crossing the DNA spiral. Suddenly, Tengoku shouted, "Halt!"

The men firing at the trees stopped but continued cutting the vines and branches to keep themselves alive. Now that they had silenced, the courtyard was pretty calm.

,m Hitori wondered if the people in the town heard the bullets– he hoped they did not.

Akira reached for his wand and chuckled again. "I like this thrill," he said as he drew his wand and lowered it. The thin end was pointing at the veranda floor filled with bullets.

Hitori clenched his wand to make sure it was in there. Then he touched the side of his hips to make sure Kamiya's wand was on standby.

Now that Tengoku's men had gone silent, Hitori's side started making noise. He turned his head to the side when he heard a hard thud on the door. Tengoku lifted his katana when he heard another thud.

Hitori and Akira exchanged glances. As far as he knew, although the shield was transparent, it did not let any spells pass through it. "Akira," he said, "can we attack from this side of the shield?"

Tengoku raised his eyebrow, he was curious to know the answer. The men standing by Tengoku's side were focused on the thud on the door.

Akira thought for a moment, then looked at Hitori who was staring down at him. "Normally, we can not," he said, "but this shield, it is special. Created by Eya-nee, it has special and different attributes from the normal shield."

Another thud on the door made the men alert. They cocked their guns and held them in front of them. This sounded like the last-second thud required to break down the door.

Hitori was amazed by how powerful the glue Kakashi had used was. But why was Kyoryu banging on the door when he could just take the door frame?

"But what?" Hitori asked.

Akira grinned. "But with this shield…" he raised his wand, "we can harm them from this side, but they can not harm us from their side."

A frown climbed back on Tengoku's face. He pulled down his katana in panic and prepared for his defense. He was troubled by that fact, and so were his men.

"Fire!" he shouted without any delay.

The men stepped forward and opened fire on Hitori and Akira as Tengoku slipped back into the crowd of the remaining eighty people.