Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

Soon after they left, Eya received a message from Atama. He was panting, exhausted, and clinging to life somehow. "I did it, Eya. Tamashi is dead."

They got home. Akira was still sleeping, they did not wake him up. They spent the rest of the day sleeping – without any care in the world of being ambushed. No one could attack them, and those who would were already dead.

One Week Later.

He was standing in front of Akemi and she was staring at him with an anxious and uncertain expression on her face.

"So what happened to him?" she asked.

Hitori smiled, then circled around the room. "We killed his father."

"You killed Onogi Kamino just like that? And what happened to Onogi Masao?"

Hitori stopped and stared at her. \'He is with me."

"With you? Where? What are you doing? Why are you keeping him alive?"

"Because he will not die till you kill him."

She opened her mouth but froze. After thinking for a minute, she asked, "What will he do till then?"

"He will suffer. Reon and I will take turns torturing him. But he would not die unless you kill him."

She gasped. "Why would you do something like that? It is not like you. Just kill him!"

"You will. Till then, he will suffer for his sins. And when you can walk again, it will end like it started – with him and you."

She frowned. "W-Walking? What are you…"

Hitori smiled. "I will take you to the scientists. They will finally tend to your injuries and with the high-tech machines and operations Reon has told me about, you will walk."

She stared in shock for a moment, then tears formed in her eyes, dripping down her cheeks. "And where the hell will you get the money from?"

Hitori shook his head at that question. "I can not tell you."

"Are you turning to something illegal?"

"No," he laughed, "I am not. I am just turning back to something I once used to love."

***

The Vr-cade had fewer people than before, but at least they dared to come back. Many people tried taking advantage of the recent attacks on the Vr-cade by setting their Vr-cades.

Fortunately, when Eya announced the reopening of her Vr-cade, people rushed back to her. Maybe they were not satisfied by the service at other Vr-cades. The business was not exactly booming, but at least they were back to business.

Eya was at the counter, and she had just finished serving a customer. Hitori smiled as he walked up to the counter, and she smiled back.

Eya looked in his direction, then as politely as she could, she said, "For how many hours, Hitori-san?"

Hitori handed her the gaming card. "For two—"

"Oh," she said, "looks like you already have some hours in the account."

He pulled back his card. "So be it."

He went back to the third gaming alley, it was as dark as always, then spotted the empty console station at the end of the alley.

Hitori took a seat, then pulled out a gaming card – Onogi\'s gaming card.

"Uh, can I join you?" said a voice from the other end of the alley. Hitori looked around, it was Reon. She was holding her card in front of her.

"Of course. You are welcome."

***

Kyo was walking down the dark staircase that led to Kamiya\'s tomb. During the last seven days, he had spent most of his time underground, completing the last step of Kamiya\'s resurrection – and today was the day he would know whether Kamiya lives or not.

Atama was talking to Eya on the call. "Yes, I will keep you updated. I am going – yeah, I am catching up with him in a minute. Yeah, sure. Oh… damn… he is playing? Shit!"

He rubbed his forehead. His eyes were wide in surprise, and he was trying not to laugh too hard from the excitement.

"No, I do not think it will be a good idea to tell Hitori about it yet. Yeah, we will consider if Kamiya survives. I wonder if Kamiya will live. Alright, I will hang up. Yep, see you." He pulled down the wand. Then he went inside the cave.

Kyo had already gone, so he had to follow the dark staircase alone with a tiny flame flickering on the tip of his finger.

Kyo was leaning over Kamiya\'s body, and Akira joined him from behind. Kamiya\'s body was not twisted and burned like it was a few weeks back. It is more human-like, despite the scar marks over his body.

Kyo had kept Kamiya covered with a white cloth. He left his body and went to the corner of the small room, which would have been barely enough for Kakashi to stand straight.

Akira took a good look at Kamiya\'s recovering face. Burn marks around the cheeks and forehead, but his eyes, mouth, and nose were alright.

Kyo came back with a flask filled with white liquid. "Now this liquid will define whether Kamiya will live or not. Just take a step back and I suggest you prepare yourself for the worst."

Akira stepped back and did prepare himself for the worst – Kamiya rises as a zombie. Kyo uncocked the cap, then forced the liquid down Kamiya\'s throat. He pushed the flask deep into his throat without even lifting him a little.

"Hey, should you not lift him at least? He might choke—" Then he realized Kamiya was not alive to choke on anything.

To his surprise, Kyo said, "That is the point."

Exactly at that point, Kamiya jerked off the table with a gagging sound. He threw the flask away and his magic pushed Kyo away without even trying.

Kyo stepped back to Akira, grinning and laughing in between. "W-we did it. Call her. Tell her that Kamiya lives."

Akira looked at him, then gulped, turned, and ran upstairs. He grabbed his wand to his mouth when he was out of the cave. "Eya-nee!" he shouted, panting, still catching his breath.

"Why are you out of breath?" Then she gasped. "Are you crying? What happened?" He did not answer. "What happened, Akira?!"

Akira took a deep breath, then said, "Kamiya lives."

THE END