Playboy Cultivator in the Apocalypse

"Move, now!" Agent Ryker ordered his pilot when Kaze fell to the ground on the bridge.

"S-Sir... weren't we directed by General Michaels not to get involved before and after our last call?" The pilot asked nervously.

"We're not hurting Kaze Lexicon, we're extracting him from the site!" Agent Ryker snapped.

"If we don't move him, soldiers could attack him, or that beast... thing... whatever she is could destroy the bridge.

We're protecting that asshole and risking our lives to do it, so shut up and move!"

The pilot felt sweat moving down his shoulder blades as he glided the skycruiser toward the bridge.

As they approached, the woman, who was confirmed to be the shadow cat, glared at them with crazed amethyst eyes.

Her green frog hoodie lost all of its cuteness and was now the outfit ghost children in horror movies wore. The cuter she was, the more horrifying her image was because they knew she could and would kill everyone present.

Crux's visible self-restraint to kill them sent icy shivers crawling down their spines.

Indeed, every second required more self-restraint.

The shadow cat wasn't overprotective of the man she had just met; it was just—

She kneeled down and quickly nicked the emperor's skin with her human fingernail.

Contrary to expectations, her nail didn't touch his skin. Instead, it hit a golden barrier that spewed a thin purple miasma on contact that felt magnetic and began dragging her soul out.

"W-What type of witchcraft is this!?" Crux coughed with panicked eyes, moving away from his body while playing it off as strategic posturing to the military members.

"I knew that he did something insane, but I didn't something to this degree was possible!" She cried in disbelief, "I can't let any of these fools hurt him, or we'll all... wait, I can't even speak to them!"

Cold sweat moved down her back, and her breath became labored as she watched three additional skycruisers move to the area where Agent Ryker's ship was hovering.

The soldiers behind the barrier talked with supervisors about the situation on com devices. She didn't know what they were saying but knew she didn't like it.

Her ears twitched whenever she heard a tense soldier grip their rifle, preparing to aim.

"Now I know how this idiot felt." Crux scoffed, severely stressed, "Risking his life because he wouldn't abandon me.

I wish he would have. Now I'm actively risking my life because I won't abandon him. What a joke on two fronts."

She looked at Kaze, whose shirt was developing wrinkles from small miasma veins from the soul corruption. "He's so close. I can stabilize him if I just had time, but...."

The divine beast looked up into the sky, staring at the four skycruisers and line of ground vehicles moving in both directions.

"Couldn't he have just put a normal fucking barrier on his body!?" Crux cursed uncharacteristically, extremely stressed. The problem was that—

"In my current body, I'll die if this idiot gets hit with an attack, and I'm next to him!"

—Kaze turned himself into a Soul Qi trip grenade that a single machine gun bullet could trigger.

Crux swallowed nervously and turned to look at the skycruisers again.

Her eyes flashed with killing intent, convinced that killing everyone at ghostly speed was the best way to avoid a projectile from touching Kaze. However—

"If I do that, staying with him is off the table." She whispered pensively, looking around herself with a beating heart, "I don't know what I want, but... I don't want to cut my options."

Her eyes glided to the left, and she thought rationally.

"If they attack, I can dodge and then counterattack. It's self-defense, free range." Crux whispered, "If they attack their partner, I can murder everyone, and they can't complain.

And hoh... will I murder everyone. These ants better hope that man kills me, or I'll wipe this sandcastle city off the map."

Her eyes flashed with killing intent as she picked up his body with raw Qi and moved it into her arms.

Agent Ryker watched the scene with a beating heart. He knew that they were one wrong move away from dying—everyone.

Yet the government wouldn't prepare to shoot missiles at the bridge, so they needed to let her go.

However... what about Kaze? He was their partner who was sent to deal with the woman carrying him. What if they allowed her to get away?

The agent's mind still hadn't fully processed that he, a man who controlled overwhelming might a month ago, was now helpless.

That meant that Kaze didn't want his help and accepted his death.

Humans didn't think like that yet. So he went through simulation after simulation, trying to find something usable.

When Crux began walking with her arm cocked to the side, ready to wave and slaughter everything, his mind panicked.

Agent Ryker grabbed the pilot com set and put it on speaker mode. "Here to Help. Peace. Peace."

He swallowed nervously, hoping his benign tone would convey his message to the woman or she'd understand English.

Unfortunately, she didn't understand English. However—

Crux looked up at the skycruiser Agent Ryker was in with narrowed eyes. The man could feel her gaze burrowing into her soul, but it didn't feel murderous. It felt gauging.

"Do not strike!" The shadow cat yelled back in a firm but non-hostile voice.

Agent Ryker dry-swallowed nervously. While he felt there was progress, he didn't know what the woman was saying.

Understanding the problem, she flicked her finger twice—

CRaaaACK! CRaaaaaACK!

—and two windows on shuttles blew out.

The raw power behind her finger flicks was so terrifying that people seized.

However, Agent Ryker snapped back into focus when she continued her motions.

Crux pointed at the broken windows, then Kaze, and then shook her head.

She flicked her finger—

CRaaaACK!

—then waved her hand.

BOOOOOM! BOOM, Boom, boom!

Agent Ryker trembled with fear when she backhanded a shuttle—from 50 feet away—and sent it flying, crashing into multiple cars.

Once again, he snapped back to Crux, who continued her motioning.

She flicked her finger at Kaze, making him panic, but there wasn't an attack.

Instead, she expanded her hand, indicating an explosion.

"If we shoot Kaze Lexicon, he'll... explode?" Agent Ryker asked in perplexion over the loudspeaker.

Crux took a deep breath. While it sounded like the man got her message and addressed Kaze by name, she didn't know what he was saying!

For all she knew, the man asked, [If we don't shoot Kaze Lexicon, the world will explode?]

Understanding her frustration, Agent Ryker tried again. "We will not shoot Kaze Lexicon."

Crux looked at the ship and took another frustrated breath. She was confident that she had gotten her message across, but now she didn't know what they wanted.

The shadow cat nodded and pointed at Kaze, herself, and then into the distance.

"Shit, she's saying that she's taking him." Agent Ryker dry-swallowed with a beating heart.

The entire situation was a volatile disaster.

No matter how he approached things, something bad would happen.

He couldn't let their enemy steal Kaze from their grasp and lead him to god-knows-where. However, he couldn't attack her, the bridge, or lead her to Immortal Skye.

Worst of all, it would turn deadly no matter where the emperor woke up.

"No..." Agent Ryker whispered, "He was extremely civil to that woman. If we take him away, he'll rampage, but if she's with us...."

He correctly ascertained that Kaze valued her far more than them and wouldn't rampage if she was there when he woke up.

However, his eyes glazed over when he had to complete the statement.

Kaze valued her because of how civil she was. Crux had the power to kill everyone present, but she was negotiating with weak humans with shared hand signals alone!

In fact, he got the feeling that she was saving everyone's life.

When the emperor told him that she was civilized—unlike them—he was offended and bitter. Now, he had to admit that he was alive because it was true.

"Travel with us." Agent Ryker offered, "Come with us. With Kaze."

Crux's eyes filled with confusion. There wasn't any hostile intent, but when his skycruiser inched closer so he could open the door, her eyes flashed with murder.

All four skycruisers pointed their weapons at her instantly.

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" Agent Ryker cried, "All of you, lower your weapons now!"

The shadow cat heard the aggressive tone and went to strike. However, watching the world in slow motion, she saw that all the skycruisers lowered their weapons.

Her heart pounded, and the Spirit Qi in her mind went wild.

"One mistake and everyone could die." Crux swallowed nervously, looking at Kaze with a complex expression, "I may need to leave you behind.

These fools don't look like they'll harm you...."

She sighed in exasperation. "Why on a bridge?"

She was convinced he'd survive a missile strike and kill all his enemies if they were on dry land. However, he'd likely drown if he ended up in the water.

"I can't play these games." Crux growled, lifting her hand slowly, "I won't risk my life for these lowly mortals.

I need only run; god knows I have enough Spirit Qi to see everything."

Spirit Qi develops when Elemental Qi links to someone's mind. Unlike other forms of cultivation, it's not stored. Instead, it's released through emotions.

The stronger one's emotions, the stronger the spirit techniques became.

It was the reason that cultivators saw in slow motion during battles but not during normal conversations.

The shadow cat crouched down, preparing to make a break for it.

"Immortal Skye!" Agent Ryker proclaimed in a flash of inspiration. He thought the faction's name could be a form of code. Not mortal; Sky Plane.

Crux's eyes lit up when she heard the word [Skye] alongside Immortal. She knew what both of the words meant, so she knew he wasn't talking about the Sky Plane.

Instead, he was talking about Evalyn Skye.

Kaze had already mentioned she was with him, so everything clicked into place. Agent Ryker offered to take her to Evalyn and also let her stay with Kaze.

The shadow cat brushed straight black hair out of amethyst eyes and then pointed at Agent Ryker with murderous eyes. "Come down!"

Her index landed on the ground in front of her.

[You, Agent Ryker. You're coming here, so you'll die if anyone fires, and I'll murder you if something shady happens.]

That was the message the agent got from the woman's mannerisms.

"Touch down." Agent Ryker ordered nervously.

The pilot dry-swallowed nervously and moved toward the bridge.

As they approached, the soldiers behind the barricade and the other skycruisers narrowed their eyes and pointed their machine guns at Crux, who immediately began to move.

"This is Agent Kane Ryker, representing General Michaels!" The agent yelled over the intercom, "Everyone lower your weapons! I repeat, lower your weapons!"

All the soldiers and skycruiser pilots lowered their weapons.

Everyone's hearts pounded violently.

Agent Ryker knew they'd all die if one person foolishly attacked her.

Crux knew that if someone hit Kaze, [everyone] could die, even her.

The degree of seriousness didn't change the situation.

She was holding a Soul Qi trip grenade while walking atop a bridge, and everyone near him was in the blast radius.

Even in his sleep, the emperor was the absolute equalizer, bringing arbitration into people's lives from fear of death alone.

...

Kaze opened his eyes and found himself in his bedroom. "What happened?"

He turned to his side and found Crux lying beside him, sleeping peacefully on his red silk sheets.

She hadn't changed from her frog hoodie or added any other clothing, indicating that she hadn't left.

"How bothersome." He laugh-scoffed bitterly, "The last thing I need is one more group to know my location."

"I wouldn't be complaining about that woman, Mr. Lexicon." A gruff voice said from his right.

"Don't worry, I was getting to you next." Kaze scoffed in annoyance, "Can you tell me why you're foolishly in my room while I sleep, general?"

"I'm overseeing your recovery, as I have questions for you and expect answers." General Michaels said, sitting on the emperor's desk chair, his leathery face on proud display.

"You court death with that manner of speaking." The emperor said dryly.

"If we wanted to kill you and this faction, we would have struck while you were unconscious." The general replied gruffly.

"Do you think that I'd weaken my body far enough for you to kill me while doing you a favor?" Kaze asked mockingly, creating a barrier around Crux, materializing an ice dagger, and slicing his skin.

As he did, a golden barrier of soul Qi blocked the attack and released purple miasma into the air. When it hit the atmosphere—

"W-What the hell is... this...." General Michaels cried weakly. His soul was getting sucked out of his body as if the miasma was a vortex.

Kaze snapped his fingers, a golden light washed over the room, and the general's soul snapped back in place. The man looked at him with shocked eyes.

"You should be thankful for this foolish woman." The emperor said with murderous eyes, "If someone had hit me with a 50-caliber, all of your soldiers would have died.

Considering that you didn't even understand this was happening, it meant that this woman saved all of your men's lives.

Not only are you implying that you considered hurting me, but you're also implying that the woman that saved your men's lives would have let you."

General Michael's eyes trembled in fear, and his breaths became sharp when Kaze's vibrant green eyes stared murderously into his soul.

"I'll repeat, General Michaels." Kaze said chillingly, "You court death with that manner of speaking."