Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

They stopped a few meters away from the stair.s Hitori and Akira exchanged glances and waited for an attack. They had their wands ready by the side, for the moment when anyone shows up.

But after waiting for a minute, they were not sure if Tengoku was hiding somewhere with his army or not. Now they were waiting for Eya to tell them their next step.

Eya and Kakashi, after considering the facts he had stated, concluded: Tengoku was here, then he left. So right now, they were the only ones in the area.

Hitori glanced at Akira and he knew at once what Hitori meant. He raised his wand to his lips and said, "Any idea of the enemy?"

Eya received the call immediately and replied, "He is not in the woods, and not in the house either. We believe he has left."

Akira looked at Hitori. He said, "Tell her to regroup."

He nodded. "Let us regroup. We need to check the house to make sure."

"Okay. Stay right where you are, and if something happens, which I am sure won't, just use the curse. Don't hesitate," she said. "We are following behind you."

They waited for another minute before Eya and Kakashi caught up with them. They scanned the area, but as expected, it was just them.

"Why would he leave?" Hitori turned and looked at Kakashi. "I don't see him as one of those 'runs while he can,' kind of a hitman."

Kakashi's chest rose as he inhaled. "He would not. He will fight you even if you have an army with you. And now," he glanced at Eya, "he has a greater reason to stick around."

"Maybe he went back to get his army. He came to check on the house and while I was gone, he checked for the defenses."

"That can happen," Eya said, acknowledging Akira. "He checked the defenses and now went back to get the army required to destroy this level of defense– oh no." She covered her head and turned around.

Kakashi gave her a pale glance. "An army required to destroy this level of defense—" He gulped in between and tried to gather his words.

"Yeah, yeah, I know… I… damn, does he even has that many people?" Eya rubbed her cheeks and looked at Kakashi.

"He is a hitman, he works alone or with a partner. I hope he does his work that way," Kakashi said.

"What, wait, how many men are we talking about?" Akira asked, his voice was full of fear as if he knew the answer.

Kakashi sighed. "Around a hundred man. One can only destroy the woods if he around a hundred strong men to accompany him. Or if he knows the counter spell, as your friend did." He looked at Hitori.

He was thinking of the other possibilities when the thought hit him. "We should check the house." He turned and walked up the stairs. "Look out for landmines and string bombs… or whatveer they are called."

"Hey wait! Let us do that." Kakashi teleported in front of Hitori.

But he protested. "Move out of the way. It is my house, it is my responsibility. And that bastard was here for me, so let me do it."

"Do you even know how to—"

Hitori pointed his wand at the door, Kakashi jumped out of the way, and he used the spell to unlock the door, but nothing happened.

Eya and Kakashi exchanged worried glances. "Hitori-san, you need to—"

He lifted his wand and she shut her mouth. Akira watched as Hitori lowered the wand and fired the explosion spell.

Kakashi covered his head and Akira, who was the closest one to Hitori after Kakashi, turned and walked back.

The spell hit the door, metal pieces jumped from the lock, and the loud banging of wood echoed through the woods. Dust and wood powder, along with the smoke created by the explosion covered the air.

Hitori covered his nose and walked through the smoke. Kakashi glanced at Eya, she nodded, so he followed Hitori.

Akira turned and took a step when Kakashi raised his hand to stop him as he covered his mouth. Akira remained where he stood, with Eya.

Hitori stepped on the blasted door. It had a big hole in the middle, somewhere near the upper corner. He shook his hand to clear the smoke.

Eya, from behind, raised her wand and sucked the smoke, then raised it and blew it from her wand.

Still, some dust remained, but not enough for anyone to choke on. Hitori removed his hand, and Kakashi did, too.

"You are even stupider than me," Kakashi said, catching up with Hitori.

"Oh, yeah? What would have you done, himbo?"

"Kill you, the first thing, if you say that again."

Hitori stopped near the sofa and bent to take a look under it. "Sorry," he muttered.

"You did not have to break the goddamn door," he said, "Tengoku would never reach the door with the woods activated." He remembered the haunter behind. "As long as the Guardian Angle lives."

Hitori rose from the floor and walked to the kitchen. "Guess I wanted some action. I hate this, Kakashi, I do. Till when are we going to have to deal with these threats?"

Kakashi opened the storeroom's door and checked inside. "Till we end him, I guess, unless he does not has a brother or someone who will want to avenge him."

Hitori came out of the kitchen. "It is clear, cross-check for once, I will check upstairs. "

He went upstairs and checked the floor, everything was as it was since Reon left. Kakashi reached the floor and cross-checked it while Hitori went downstairs.

Kakashi glanced at Hiro's working place in the corner of the room before climbing down the stairs. "I hope the secrets remain secrets," he said to himself.

By the time Hitori reached downstairs, he saw that Eya and repaired the door with the help of Akira. Now, all that was left was fixing the door.

"I am not cleaning the mess you created," she said, "you don't live here anyway, so let me just fix the door and get the hell out of here."

So she did. Akira held the door for her as she fixed it in the blocks. Kakashi went to the middle and glanced around, trying to solve Tengoku's mystery.

They came down when they were done. "We should get out of here as soon as possible before he comes back if he is coming back," she said.

"What when he comes back?" Hitori asked. "Don't tell me you will let them take the house."

Kakashi turned to him. "Let us leave that to time and head back to the Vr-cade first."

Hitori was upset, he knew the outcome, and he knew he could do nothing to change it. On the way, Kakashi whispered in Eya's ears:

"Inform Kyo-san, and ask him if we can borrow Draco, he still has him, right?" She gave him a wide stare, then nodded.