Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

Hitori saw the frown on Tengoku's face and knew he did not like whatever Kyoryu had told Eya to do. He looked like: 'Why the hell do you have to ruin my chance, old man?'

Koyryu moved away from the veranda with his smile back. Hitori glanced between Tengoku and Kyoryu, he did not know what to do.

"Kyo-san," Hitori called. Kyo glanced at him from over his shoulders, said nothing, and walked to the empty door frame.

Hitori heard Tengoku click his tongue. Tengoku turned to his men. "That bastard is not giving me a break," he muttered as he disappeared into the crowd.

Hitori clenched his fist. No one was telling him what was going on, no one was listening to him, and he felt he was being disrespected.

Akira put a hand over Hitori's shoulder and told him to follow Kyoryu inside the house, but Hitori stood still like a rock. "I am not going…" he muttered, "this is unbelievable."

"Kyo-san is not unbelievable, just do what he says and everything will be alright."

"He asked her to do something, but not me."

"But he told Eya-nee, right? And you trust her. So put some trust in Kyo-san and—"

Hitori opened his fists, he felt the blood settle back into his veins. "It is not about trust," he said, "I am involved– heck– this is happening because of me, why are they not telling me—"

He was cut off by Kakashi, "Because this is happening because of you. So shut up and follow me."

Hitori stared at Kakashi. He clenched his fists again, controlling his anger somehow. Then he went inside.

Kyoryu was standing near the sliding door. He had arranged the sofa and the table in the door frame. Then came a levitating dining table.

Hitori ducked the table and lifted his head to see Kyoryu arranging the table in front of the sofa and coffee table. What was he even creating? Would those pieces of wood hold against the bullets?

And why bring them while they have the shield? Kyoryu placed the long, thick, and durable dining table in front of the first defense layer (the sofa and coffee table). He pushed the table's legs past the first layer, leaving a little space between the two layers for two men to fit.

Hitori was about to ask what the preparation was about, but he knew he was not getting an answer to that either. So he kept quiet and walked across the hall.

Kakashi settled himself beside Kyoryu. He slid behind the coffee table on the floor and held out his wand. Hitori's eyes widened when Kyoryu took cover behind the dining table.

He turned and looked at Akira. "Would you join me?" he said.

Hitori glanced at Akira, hoping he does not accept the insane offer. But Akira nodded and jumped over the first layer. He drew his wand before sitting on the table's right side.

Kakashi coughed, then rubbed his arm. Kyoryu glanced at the front yard, then came back to stare at his wand.

Hitori was still standing away from them, staring at them in disbelief as Tengoku's men formed a formation triangle to open fire or maybe think for once before firing.

Then all the stares fell on Hitori. "What are you waiting for? Sit by Kakashi," Kyoryu shrugged.

Eh? Just like that? Sit by Kakashi? I need an explanation! Hitori thought. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then he asked, "What are we doing? What kind of formation is this?"

Kakashi looked up at Hitori, then rolled his eyes. "Read the atmosphere sometime, or do you want everything spoon-fed to you? Seriously, you lost your sharp senses since you stopped playing."

"I do not know about the sense, but I think you should get back to gaming," Akira joined.

"Only if stays alive, that is," Kyoryu interrupted, "so get down, son."

Hitori gulped. He could hear the murmurs and chants of Tengoku's men. He wondered if they had a bomb or something– because that will blow the shield in an instant. They could nto have come with a bomb though, it is hard and delicate to carry through a portal.

"I am not joining you until you tell me why are we doing this," Hitori said, still standing his ground and protesting.

He had already got a pretty good idea of what was happening. Kyoryu had told Eya to prepare for something, and Hitori thought he knew what that 'something' was, but not the reason.

"See," Kyoryu said, "those beasts would not stop firing. They have unlimited ammo, it looks like. And we can not just hide in the house and continue playing along with them. At some point, we will have to strike back."

Hitori sighed inside his mind. "And that was plain from the start– only that I failed to execute it– but that 'point' came early for me."

Kyoryu ignored Hitori's mumbling and continued, "He has men and ammo, so the firing will never stop unless we call someone– which we do not want to. And listen, son, I do not know what you think Eya is, but she can not hold this shield for days. She can barely hold it for an hour or two an opponent force of this level."

Now Hitori confirmed what they were planning. They were going to do it. They were doing it without asking him– but no, that is not a problem– what would happen after they do it is the problem.

Hitori held his breath and Kyoryu said, "And at some point, even Kakashi will be exhausted."

He looked pretty exhausted as he was right now. How exhausted could he get?

"We can not attack from standing inside the shield, but we need to attack them. That left us with two options– use the backdoor to cast a high-level, mass-area spell; or second, go with Eya's trump card."

So they call it a trump card, huh? Good. He asked, "Trump card?"

"Just take your spot, son. She can not play her trump card if you stand in her way. So save your head and take your spot. We are opening the shield."