Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

In order to defeat a wendigo, they had set half of the forest on fire. In the flames, they both saw Wendigo’s silhouette collapsing down in the center of the explosion.

A smile had started to unfold on both of their faces. They both glanced at each other with a smile.

They both kept staring at the wendigo’s silhouette, they did not realize that the fire was taking over the whole forest.

But after a few minutes of staring at the burning wendigo… something bugged both of them at the same time. Their smiles faded, they glanced at each other with the same expressions.

“We… killed it, right, Ryu-san?” she spoke hesitantly.

Hitori closed his eyes, “no notification, Reon-san,” he shook his head, “the fight’s still on.” he replied with a serious expression.

They heard a crackling sound from the fire burning in front of them. When they turned their eyes to the fire… a tall, skinny figure was rising in the center of the explosion.

The fire had almost spread across the forest, the fire should have killed the wendigo if it was vulnerable to fire.

“No effect at all?” Reon took a step back when the monster had risen from the ground and was staring at them with its red-brown eyes.

“No,” Hitori spoke, “it is burned and its burns are not healing as quickly as before,” he reported.

“But that does not help if we can not kill it even with an explosion!” Reon raised her voice in frustration.

Hitori stood motionless beside her. He focused his attention on the wendigo who had taken its first step forward.

The flames from the spot where the explosion had erupted from were slowly going down. Although it had set everything around it on fire, it was now extinguishing.

The wendigo’s tall antennas came out of the flames. It took another step forward and its rotten feet came out from the flames, with another step, its whole body.

Hitori turned his katana in his hands, “Reon-san,” he whispered to Reon, “get the silver stakes,”

She stopped panicking on the fact that her peroxide failed to kill the monster whose weakness was fire, “w- why?” she looked up at Hitori.

“To defeat the wendigo,” he frowned.

The wendigo had stepped completely out of the fire. It was standing straight with a few burning marks on him and a few burns marks that were healing.

Hitori made eye contact with those vicious eyes. They both had stopped moving. Hitori stared at wendigo, it started back at him but no one made a move for it.

“B- but are not the silver stakes for the boss?” Reon asked.

Hitori did not break his eye contact with wendigo. The moment he breaks eye contact, the moment when wendigo leaves Hitori’s vision will the moment when he falls dead and fails to complete the quest.

“If we do not use the stakes now,” Hitori replied, “we would not even meet the lair boss,” Although Hitori was not looking at her, she got a feeling as if Hitori was piercing her soul by staring at her eyes.

Finally, she dropped her head down, “hm,” and nodded her head, “buy me some time,”

The katana Hitori held in his arms went on fire, he took a step forward and the wendigo disappeared. His blade’s flames were all that was left behind when he disappeared too.

Reon pulled out the silver stakes bundle. She arranged the five silver stakes on a wooden log that was standing in the corner of the middle of the forest.

“I wish I had an encyclopedia about these creatures,” she equipped her gun and held it in front of her, “transformation, stake launcher.”

The gun glowed in a bright silver color. The slide of her handgun locked back, the disassembly liver slid up, unlocking the gun’s inner mechanisms.

Then gun’s slide was released on its own and it came right off. The barrel that came of started changing into a wooden heat shield.

The trigger of the normal handgun turned upside down and transformed into the trigger of a rocket launcher. The gun’s grip maximized in size, big enough to fit perfectly in Reon’s hands.

The hammer opened up and transformed into the back of the launcher, and finally, the rear sight of the gun transformed to an optical laser sight, the front sight transformed into the metal sight.

And her stake launcher was ready. Reon did not waste another second, she pulled one of the stakes out of the bundle and loaded it into the launcher.

Next, she went for two more stakes, held them high in her hand, “Ryu-san, take these!” she brought her hand down and threw the stakes in the air by lifting her hand in the air.

A hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the two stakes that were about to fall down on the burned grass.

Since the whole one side of the forest was on fire right now, the wendigo’s choices to run away were limited. Its range had been contracted to a circle of radius seven to eight meters.

The blazing fire disappeared along with Hitori. Reon pulled on the launcher on her shoulder and aimed at the air, she was waiting for the right time to strike.

Suddenly, in the midair, she saw two silver stakes set on fire. The wendigo appeared, it dropped to the ground. Hitori raised another stake and pierced it into its ribs. One stake had fallen down and the other was stabbed into wendigo’s ribs.

“The head!” he shouted without looking at Reon, “shoot its brains out!” Hitori deliberately shouted, in case she does not get it.

Reon pulled the trigger, the recoil almost dropped her to the ground but thankfully she managed her balance.

The silver stake was headed towards wendigo’s head. Although it was not on fire, the silver stakes were one of the wendigo’s weaknesses.

Hitori applied even more force and pinned wendigo down on the ground.

The silver stake came closer but before it could pierce wendigo’s brains out, a thin, shabby hand had grabbed the stake.

Hitori’s eyes went wide in shock, the wendigo raised the stake and aimed it at Hitori’s neck. Reon quickly turned around to load her launcher but in that time, Hitori had jumped off the wendigo. The wendigo quickly got off and started running away.

Although the wendigo had disappeared once again, the bloodstains it left behind would help track him down easily.

But for now, Hitori decided to retreat, “I am sorry,” Reon looked down when Hitori came near her.

“So am I,” Hitori was still alert. He had his focus on the surrounding. The wendigo was still on a move, it had not run away but it was looking for the best way to attack.

Since it had been stabbed by Hitori and attacked by Reon, Hitori could tell, from the bloodstains, that it had gone quite more aggressive and faster.

Hitori’s eyes followed the stains will a point came where the stains were no more. Hitori quickly pulled out his katana and swung it in the air.

His katana clashed with sharp, long nails of Wendigo who had appeared behind them.

Reon quickly took a few steps back and aimed her launcher at Wendigo. But when Hitori dropped his katana and bent down to lift the last remaining stake, her target’s position changed.

Hitori covered the stake with fire and charged it at wendigo’s chest, “fire!” he ordered before wendigo would scratch his face into shreds.

Shot!

From behind, like an arrow released from a bow, the stake pierced the wendigo’s brain at a speed much higher than before.

​ As soon as the stake made an impact with the wendigo’s head, Reon fell down due to the recoil, Hitori landed on the ground, and the wendigo fell back.

On seeing what Reon had just done, Hitori quickly turned around, “you used it now?”

“Glad you noticed,” she smiled, “yes,” with that, she laid down on the ground.

“Do not you think you should have saved the limit breaker for the boss?” Hitori dropped himself down on the ground.

He heard Reon scoff behind him, “If I had not used my limit breaker now,” Reon replied, “we would not even meet the lair boss,”

Hitori smiled, “fair enough,” he looked up at the rising sky and the forest fire that was growing rapidly.

..

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Will Be Continued…!