Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

Would you ever be able to take that image out of your head? The answer might be:' Yes, I will. A book can not scare me anymore.' The answer would have been different if you had seen what Hitori saw.

It would take him days if not months to get over the image of Hiroshi's mutilated body, and he knew it. He was just recovering from the bitter taste of vomit in his mouth when he heard the sirens wail.

Hitori raised his head, then he heard the announcement. They were caught– their time was up– and in the shock of what Onogi had done to Hiroshi's body, he forgot the time was ticking.

"Hitori-san! Come out."

Akira stepped into the room, not walking towards them though, and said, "Hitori, grab her and come out! They are talking about us."

Hitori's eyes were fixed on Reon. He could hear Akira and Eya, but his mind was waiting to see Reon's next action. And at the end, his mind ruled his body, not his ears.

They waited for another ten seconds before they heard the robots climbing the stairs. With the cameras above their heads, it was easy for the robots to spot them.

Kakashi turned to take a look outside. Then he turned to Kyoryo who was standing on the other side of the door. "Old man, be on the lookout."

He frowned. "Where are you going?"

Without saying anything, Kakashi turned to the room on his side. "You god damn kids!" he shouted, "Grab each other hands and run out of that room, Hitori and Reon!"

Hitori glared at Kakashi from the corner of his eyes. "Y-You!" he could only say that much before his muscles tightened.

Reon did not seem to worry about it– she had to leave anyway. She flipped the cover over her brother's body, then her muscles tightened and she turned to Hitori.

At that moment, Hitori stopped hesitating and let the spell control his body. He lifted his hand and grabbed Reon's, she responded by tightening her grip, then they turned towards the door.

Hitori dashed out of the room, Reon jumped out of the room, then looked at Eya. "Close the door," she said.

Kakashi raised his wand against the glass, then pushed it. The glass shattered into pieces, attracting the patients on that floor, but no one dared to look outside.

Kyoryu took the lead. "Eya, be on your guard!" he shouted as he led Hitori and Reon out of the Deceased Section.

Eya pulled the door, then joined Akira who was waiting for her. Kakashi waited till she was out of the hall before following them.

Although Hitori was out of Kakashi's spell now, he held Reon's hand and continued running. Reon kept up with him. Kyoryu, despite being old, was leading the way for them.

When they reached the corner, Kyoryu said, "Draw your wands, those bastards have assault rifles."

"Not again," Hitori muttered as he drew the legendary wand. But he noticed Reon was not moving.

Kyoryu slowed down as he climbed down the staircase, just when he reached the landing, he ducked back and held his wand in front of him.

"Reon!" Hitori shook her hand. "Take out your gun."

She snapped from her daze and gave him a confused glance. She closed her mouth as if saying: 'Oh, yes, right.' And pulled her gun from the side.

Hitori heard Eya and Akira stop behind him. He glanced and saw them standing a step away from the staircase. Eya had a wand in front of her mouth, he wondered whom she was talking to.

"I need it now," Kyoryu said, then lowered his wand, away from his lips.

Eya raised her hands and created a shield. The corner of her eyes narrowed as she raised the shield in front of Kyoryu. Hitori noticed the shine on the shield was the same as the shield back at home.

Hitori rolled over to the railing and dropped down a look. For a few seconds, he saw nothing but the stairs leading to the first floor, then the stairs leading to the ground floor, then to the exit.

"Alright, listen to all of you," Kyoryu said in a low voice, but loud enough for everyone to hear. "We do not need to blow every robot that comes at us. We just have to clear the ones who stand in our way and get to the storage room at the end of that hallway. Just have to get there, jump through the portal Kakashi will create." Then he turned and glared at everyone. "No one dies."

Hitori hesitated at first but then nodded. The rest followed. Kyoryu, pleased, turned and took a step forward.

Hitori looked down the railings and saw metal skeletons climbing the stairs with their thin, iron legs. Although Kyoryu had just said not to defeat every robot, Hitori dropped his hand over the railing and pointed the wand at the group of five to six robots.

"Hitori, no," Akira said, "do not destroy the stairs. We need the stairs."

Hitori glanced over his shoulder, at Akira. They stared at each other and would have continued like that if it was not for the firing.

A bullet went right past Hitori's eye, leaving a mark on his temple. Hitori looked down– a robot was holding its black assault rifle at Hitori. He saw the smoke coming from the rifle's front, and the deep, never-ending black hole.

Akira jumped down the stairs, grabbed Hitori by the scuff of his shirt, then pulled him. Another set of bullets, that were charged at him, went past him and struck the ceiling– not piercing through it, though.

The reeling sound increased as the robots sped to the staircase. "Thank you, Hitori," Kyoryu said as he raised his wand.

"Great, boy," Kakashi groaned, "what happened to your patience?"

Even Reon, who was not interested in what was going on a second ago, said, "You should really start playing games again, Hitori. You were better at executing plans back then than now."

Hitori was speechless. "I-I am sorry?" He did not know if they needed his apology.

"Forget about it and focus on dealing with the danger ahead, Hitori-san," Eya said with a frown on her face– ready for the upcoming shower of bullets.

Hitori gulped. "Right. Screw it." He raised his wand.

A robot climbed the last stair and started firing. Kyoryu's spell blocked the bullets, then a final blow of fire from Hitori created a hole in the middle– and the robot dropped.

Kyoryu hesitantly turned to Hitori. "What the hell, kid?"

Hitori shrugged. Then the robot behind Kyo caught his eyes. "Look out!"