Playboy Cultivator in the Apocalypse

"Fifty people just watched you ask for us to attack you!" Mark yelled to Kiera, "So don't blame us later!"

Six people waved their hands, releasing toned-down versions of their mortal slash technique.

Kiera watched the Qi in slow motion and twisted her hand. "Bend."

Unlike Kaze's technique, her body allowed her to bend Qi in both directions, allowing her to brute force a directional shift.

She twisted her hand, switching the direction of the Qi downward. That way, it would hit the ground in a split second and send the entire group flying as the ground detonated.

The attack wouldn't cut anyone or cause serious physical harm. However, all the Qi disappeared before it hit, leaving everyone stunned.

Despite that--

"Ack!" One of the men in the back gasped, his eyes bulging viciously, becoming bloodshot. He instantly dropped to the earth and convulsed on the ground.

Golden light radiated on his body before impact, but he landed on his face regardless.

"Wh-Wh-What... was that... wh-what's wrong with me?" The man muttered, shaking on the ground.

"What's wrong, Mitch?" Cher cried in confusion.

"I-I don't know...." Mitch replied, twitching, "I felt the most excruciating pain of my life, and it disappeared instantly, but... but... my body. I-It won't move right.

Just moving feels uncomfortable. It's like breathing hurts!"

Kiera's eyes trembled in horror. She knew what that golden light was: Paradox of Healing.

That meant--

"That imbecile is left-handed, you fool!" Kaze snapped, striding over to her with vexation painted on his face.

--she reversed Qi in the opposite direction, and it exploded in Mitch's meridians.

Despite being healed instantly, Mitch couldn't move his body because the feeling gave his lung meridian points trauma, and his body was afraid to move.

"F-Faction Leader, let me explain." Cher dry-swallowed, "This woman--"

"It doesn't matter." Kaze replied bluntly, "No one is in trouble."

"Wait, no one's in trouble?" Mark asked in disbelief, "Cher's on the ground in pain and she did something horrifying to Mitch!"

The emperor turned to him with a gaze that made his life flash before his eyes.

p "Kiera opened Cher's meridians--that isn't an attack." The emperor scoffed, "As for counterattacking, how should I punish her for harming Mitch?"

"I-I don't know. He looks seriously hurt, so expulsion? Jail?" Mark dry-swallowed.

"Excellent. Kiera bent the trajectories of your [lethal] attacks downward to protect herself and the eleven people in the prep building." Kaze clapped, pointing at the prep building.

"You eight leveled lethal attacks on her and almost destroyed the building, killing those eleven people. So tell me, Mark.

Would you like expulsion or prison? Immortal Skye is an independent nation, and I lead it. So I can grant your wish."

Everyone shook in fear, unbelieving what they heard.

"That's what I thought, you insufferable imps." The emperor scolded, "You aren't receiving punishment because Kiera's partially to blame. It's an act of mercy.

Now make yourself scarce before I expel you for your recalcitrance.

Take Mitch to his bedroom. He's recovered fully, but his arms have trauma from his lethal attack exploding on himself.

He may never be able to cultivate again because his mind will remember using a technique and causing his arms to explode.

That's the price he paid for attacking someone with a military-grade weapon, nearly killing eleven people, over a petty squabble."

Everyone turned to Mitch with fear in their eyes.

"Mitch only has himself to blame. So if I hear [anyone] slandering Kiera Snow for protecting eleven people's lives in a non-lethal way, I'll expel every witness present, involved or otherwise.

So I recommend that no one talks about what happened here, even if it's to praise her."

Kaze grabbed Kiera, whose face showcased her perplexion, by the hand. "Let's go, you fool.

As my apprentice, you should know not to fight weak members with real attacks."

Everyone gasped, hearing their relationship, as he dragged her away.

The two strode into a mansion, where he opened a spatial rift and took her into his personal bunker.

It had a massive bed made from six king-sized mattresses stacked side-by-side. On the wall, there was a full speak-easy bar, ten booths for tables and seating, and a fireplace.

On the other side, there was a full kitchen, a private study, a bathroom with a huge bathtub that might as well be a hot tub, and entertainment technology.

It was the most absurd doomsday-prepping bunker ever.

"You now know the consequences of reversing Qi." Kaze declared viciously, "Can you tell me why you started a fight with those ants?"

She dry-swallowed and turned away in shame, sitting on his bed. "Amygdala hijack?"

"That's the most clever [and, or] rational excuse for irrational behavior imaginable." He chuckled with madness swirling in his eyes.

However, even if that's true, you can answer. What triggered the hijack?"

"I felt extreme impulsive rage when people complained about you not doing enough." Kiera replied quietly.

"I'm so grateful to be here right now, Kaze. I don't know if I feel more appreciation today than yesterday because I've maxed out the gratitude scale."

He studied her expressions carefully, trying to decipher her stability.

"But I've lived that kind of life, you know?" She chuckled bitterly, "The type that would make you appreciate a place to live, eat, and learn for free.

I get that not everyone can understand. So I can kinda get why people take the mansion sitch for granted, or whatever.

But hearing people claim you're not doing enough after our meeting today made me snap. Amygdala hijack genuinely is all I've got."

Kaze closed his eyes and took a deep breath, uncertain whether he wanted to look deeper into her psyche, but he felt there wasn't much choice.

He activated a vision technique to look at her Yin Qi to Yang Qi ratio.

The results made him cringe--70/30 in favor of Yin Qi.

Her attraction to males increased from 10% to 70% in a few days.

Kaze was certain--Kiera's non-sexual emotions were inextricably tied to him.

While he didn't mind if she was attached, the timing made the new connection profoundly inconvenient and dangerous.

"Kiera, what must I do to keep you calm and composed at this time?" He asked calmly, "You saw the consequences of reversing Qi. I don't want that to happen to you."

Kiera looked up at him in fear and trembled, averting her gaze. "If you want to help me, give me a reason to live.

I've spent my whole life fighting to survive. The only thing that kept me going was a dream to find a real home where I didn't have to scavenge and struggle.

Then I finally find my utopia and the fucking apocalypse hits. It's a sick joke."

Kaze gave her a genuinely sympathetic frown. For a complex set of reasons, her story genuinely pained him.

"That dream I had--my reason for fighting on--is gone now." Kiera chuckled bitterly, "Permanently.

It's a logical impossibility. So if you're asking what I need, it's a reason for fighting on."

The emperor closed his eyes slowly, considering his words carefully. After a few moments, he realized that there was only one--and it was counterintuitive.

"Giving you a [personal] reason to live is impossible." He asserted, making her eyes widen in false surprise, "However, there is a reason that's powerful and universally effective."

She turned to him in surprise. "You're serious?"

"I am." Kaze replied soberly, "If you need a reason to live, live for your ruler. Devote yourself to them, their visions, and their dreams."

Kiera stared at him blankly for a moment before her eyebrow twitched violently. "So wait, you're saying my purpose in life should be to worship you?"

"I've presented an arbitrary historical fact." He replied dryly, "The fact that [I'm] your leader is irrelevant."

"No, no, no-no-no. Hold up, Mac. Junior!" Kiera demanded, "It's totally relevant. I'm sitting on your bed right now, for fucks sake. If you can even call this... harem-den classic [a bed]."

She looked down at his luxurious super-harem bed and shuddered.

"You've asked for something to live for." Kaze smiled, still amused by her response, "I gave you an effective reason everyone can find in every world leader's biography. So you can't complain."

Kiera crossed her arms, studied his expressions with narrowed eyes, then turned away in annoyance.

"I get it; there's nothing better." She huffed, pouting bitterly, "I also don't doubt the power.

So if I desperately need something to cling onto, I'll begrudgingly try it."

The woman wasn't being cute. She genuinely needed a reason to go on, and living for Kaze was the only thing powerful enough to cling to. That fact made her bitter.

"But don't get it twisted." Kiera demanded, "I'm not going to be your floozy.

I also won't justify your obvious weak points, I.E. you being super manipulative, a legitimate psychopath, a despicable player, a narcissist, and a half-sadist in denial."

Only the last declaration made his eyebrow twitch, but he knew it was a joke about their training.

Kaze preferred people seeing him as the rest.

"The fact you're not trying to argue is also low-key objectionable." Kiera jabbed.

Kaze scoff-laughed breathlessly, wearing a smile to express his amusement. "I'm not requesting your allegiance, and I'd never declare any woman a [floozy]. So worry not.

We're training tomorrow. Is there something you want or need tonight?"

Kiera looked at his honest, gentle smile, blushed, turned away, looked back, blushed, turned away, and then stared at her knees. "Like... anything?"

"That's a rather ominous question." He chuckled breathlessly, making her blush, "However, you're humble enough not to ask for anything unreasonable.

So long as it's within my power and not an extended commitment, I shall provide it."

She swallowed nervously, glancing at him, back at the floor, and then back at him quickly.

"I... I really enjoyed that you hugged me during your important meeting." Kiera sighed.

"I know it's just to prevent me from turning into a psycho killdozer that needs to be put down like a rabid dog, but... I still liked it. Can...."

Kaze smiled, loving her keen intelligence and horrifying self-awareness. She wasn't joking and wasn't wrong--but she was arbitrary about it. That's what made her special.

Her eyes trembled, and she cringed, looking at him with a wry smile. "Can I stay with you tonight?"

Kiera's face heated up the second the words came out of her mouth. "Like, not have sex. I'm not clout chasin' or urge surfing or something. I just... don't want to be alone."

Kaze laughed breathlessly, looking up and shaking his head in disbelief.

Her heart pulsed, cringing and thinking that his disbelief was a rejection, and she opened her mouth to explain. "W-Wait, I--"

"Yes." He laughed breathlessly, "Bring your sleepwear to my mansion tonight.

Come around 8 pm. Now, let's go back so I can end the training session."