Playboy Cultivator in the Apocalypse

A hush washed over the special forces soldiers.

Unlike most soldiers, they could understand an opponent's strength. They used that information to strategize and prepare for operations ahead of time.

Therefore, a segment of the soldiers bowed out, and the remaining hundred soldiers began strategizing.

Kaze watched in interest, listening to their battle strategies unfold.

They were great strategies that would demonstrate their combat experience and training—

—if they were fighting mortals.

Once individuals broke into the Heaven Realm, they ceased to be mortal and could live for over five hundred years.

Evalyn reached that stage a few days back, as she had a divine breathing technique and physique that ate through Qi with minimal skill.

Now, her Spirit Qi intake slowed time without heavy adrenaline, and her movements left after-images.

Not only could she see projectiles moving at her, but she could also move a dozen feet away from them in the same stride.

To ordinary humans, her movements looked like teleportation.

"Team Alpha, do us proud." A brunette soldier said with a salute, triggering the rest to follow suit, "We will ensure you get your blows in."

A team of thirty saluted back.

"Interesting." Kaze murmured, looking at the woman in interest, "Intentional sacrifices with casualty prevention.

She knows they can't win, so they devise a strategy to win but also has a means of testing weaknesses. Well done. Pointless, but well done."

The team moved in a single-file line through the portal and took their positions behind the wall.

"Keep in motion, team one." A fierce, bearded man ordered, "Make it hail.

If she can dodge bullets, there is no point in aiming, so make it chaotic for an undodgeable spray.

Remember, we're just distracting her."

Since there wasn't cover in the training grounds, their strategy was to make a wall of bullets high and low to prevent her from dodging, ducking, or jumping over.

That way, she'd create ice structures, and their big guns could push through.

"Team two, get the drone and rovers ready." He continued, "We need intel only.

Team three, we will give you the signal when to use your techniques."

-

"This is ridiculous." Rein muttered, anxiety pulsing through her veins, "No matter how strong she is, she hasn't practiced against professionals, right?"

"Yeah, it's ridiculous." Whitney giggled, "Perfect word to describe it."

The short-haired brunette turned to her with an unenthusiastic expression. "Why are you laughing?"

"It's just…." The blonde tennis player giggled, "Kaze is surprisingly overprotective, so he won't let Evalyn die no matter what.

So maybe… this is practice for her?"

Rein's jaw dropped, and her eyes deadened. "If this is [training], I'm practicing immediately. I want to be strong enough that [this] is training."

"Me—They're moving!" Whiney cried in excitement, "Let's watch!"

-

Evalyn observed the starting point with a sharp gaze. With her vision technique, she could see Qi fluctuating behind the wall, indicating everyone's movements.

The blonde could also "see" the drones and rovers as twisting Qi bounced off them.

"Should I end it quickly?" She muttered to herself, "Or… should I showcase invincibility as Kaze did?

No… that's what I need to do; these are my future soldiers. I first need to showcase tactics and absolute defense."

The Ice General listened with her total concentration.

-

"Team one ready."

"Team two ready."

"Team there ready."

"Move out!"

Three soldiers moved out of the left and right of the starting wall.

"New world order." Evalyn whispered with an ominous smile.

Ratatatat!

"AGhHhhhHHHhhHHHhhhH!" An elite screamed, hitting the ground in excruciating pain.

A moment before, he aimed his APC9K submachine gun to fire at Evalyn haphazardly, but the second before he fired, a solid wall of ice developed in front of him.

As a result, when he pulled the trigger, the bullets ricocheted off the unnaturally-fortified ice and hit him.

He took multiple slugs to his arms, one punctured his shoulder, and three landed on his bulletproof vest, cracking a rib.

While he wouldn't die quickly, he'd die without immediate first aid, and the soldiers quickly realized that Kaze wasn't coming to help.

So they began tying up his wounds and moving him behind the wall again. Still, it was easier said than done, and the emergency first aid was haphazard at best.

Kane and his soldiers were horrified by the scene. Their worlds slowed to a crawl, allowing each to process more information.

As two soldiers bandaged up their comrade behind the ice wall, the other three ran into the open without firing.

Each was confused about their comrade getting shot, wondering if that was permissible and whether the match would end.

They hadn't stopped their operation—it was just a small lapse. However, that was all it took to change everything in the real world, and their enemy wouldn't let anyone forget that.

"You can't debate the rules if you're dead." Evalyn scoff-laughed in vexation, waving her hand.

Boom! CraaACK! Thud!

"GahhhhHHHH!" A woman screamed when a ball of ice smashed into her bulletproof vest and sent her flying 50 feet into the distance.

"Now!" Another soldier yelled, bringing everyone's mind to focus.

Vrrrrooooom! Thud! Vrrrrooooom! Vrrrrooooom!

Two rovers shot from behind the wall at lightning speed, weaving in an erratic pattern.

The remote control vehicles had half-sized sentries on them. Their priority was to bypass getting destroyed while they set up their aim.

"Too slow." Evalyn laugh-scoffed breathlessly, "I can't believe this was Malta's overwhelming ground weaponry."

The blonde waved her hand across the battlefield, ending it on the two remaining soldiers running for the wall, looking to regroup and strategize.

CRaaaccCK!

"GAH!" A male soldier screamed, falling to the ground when his shin exploded, "What are you waiting for!?"

"On it!" Another soldier yelled, looking at a screen and pressing a button.

Cheik. BOOM! Boom!

BOOM! Boom!

The sentry on both of the rovers exploded simultaneously.

Only once the barrel shot out of the way did they notice that she clogged the barrels with ultra-strong ice.

As a result, when the bullet shot forward, it hit the ice, and a 50-caliber shell exploded inside the barrel.

It had been twenty seconds, and three people had severe injuries and two broken rovers. Worse, everyone knew she was going easy on them.

If they could call what they were witnessing [going easy on them], that is.

-

"What a bad bitch." Rein grinned, snapping everyone out of their daze.

The brunette had so much anxiety and critical things to say over the last half hour that hearing her say something positive shattered their mental prisons.

Whitney turned to her with a blank expression. "Bad… bitch?

Like, actually bad? For wounding those people mercilessly? Or, like, hardcore and inspirational?"

"Hardcore and inspirational." Rein replied firmly, turning to her with a slight smile, "Think.

If the Malta military showed up to kill us—they'd be under the reaper's scythe."

She turned to everyone else in the room.

"I don't know about you all, but I'm uncomfortable having thousands of military soldiers around." The short-haired woman said, "So this is awesome.

With this display, no one will fuck with the women here, and the military won't go up against us.

Kaze is traumatizing the military, and Evalyn's killing the role. I don't know about you all, but I think she's a bad bitch."

After a flurry of excited whispers and laughs, Rein's mansion became the first to explode in festive fervor.

A moment later, the far side mansion heard a battle cry, and it detonated in wild cheering.

Once again, it spread through the mansions, easing everyone's anxiety.

Kaze smiled in satisfaction. He was giving his soldiers courage, security, and strength.

At the same time, he was systematically traumatizing the soldiers into following Evalyn's orders and not fighting back.

As an emperor, he was the top general, the last voice in all matters. However, someone had to be the general while he presided over political matters and enjoyed life.

That person was Evalyn. She was the best general, the strongest human, and the most trustworthy individual.

"How will you respond?" Kaze mused curiously, "Give up knowing you have no chance?

Go out in a blaze of glory? Make your sacrifices count?"

General Michaels walked up to him with a serious expression. "Mr. Lexicon, should we allow the soldiers to bleed out on the field?

I don't think anyone expected to get riddled with bullets or lose a leg."

The emperor turned to him with a slight smile. "Your soldiers are fine.

If one is in danger of dying at any point, I will heal them immediately.

Beyond that, Evalyn has broken no rules, so I won't heal anyone until your effort concludes.

So far as I can tell, the soldiers tried forcing her into creating an ice wall to limit their vision. They got what they wished for.

The only thing that they forgot was that they were firing lethal rounds at her.

Or did you all forget that the fifty-caliber armor-piercing shells you tried shooting at her killed people?"

General Michaels, Kane, and the soldiers near them winced. They didn't know when they forgot that their exercise was lethal—or why they'd forget that.

"General." Kaze said coolly, "As soon as your soldiers attack another, they must be prepared to face the consequences.

We offered to let over six hundred people fight her simultaneously. If your soldiers run out with a silly decoy-sacrifice strategy, they deserve to feel pain."

Kane shivered alongside the general. Both of them understood the situation.

"What's your goal, Mr. Lexicon?" Kane asked bluntly.

The emperor turned to him with a slight smile. "I recall Jacob Hays telling everyone that they shouldn't underestimate cultivators, yes?"

"Everyone understands that message." The agent replied dryly.

"Hoh? Do they now?" Kaze mused sarcastically, "Pray tell, [Coronel] Ryker.

If they understand that, why are they developing offensive countermeasure strategies when Evalyn can end this fight at any point of her choosing?"

Kane and General Michaels felt icy chills crawl down their spines.

Only three soldiers were down. The rest were hiding behind a massive steel wall. Yet Kaze declared that she could end the fight at any point.

"You mean in a few movements?" Kane asked discerningly, "Or do you mean right now?"

"Right now." Kaze replied with a brisk smile, "Would you like to see?"

"So long as you heal our soldiers, I'd like to see." General Michaels said straightly, stunning Kane, "So far, she has used raw power.

That hasn't taught us anything about potential."

"Smart man." The emperor smiled, "PAUSE MATCH!"

Everyone in the area froze, including Evalyn. They turned to him, giving him their full attention.

"For the sake of time and learning experiences, the safe zone will no longer be safe." Kaze announced, "You may leave now.

Otherwise, be prepared to face attacks behind the cover, just like in the real world. You have a minute."

Most soldiers shuddered, but people set into motion.

The three injured soldiers got carried to the main area. At the same time, another fifty soldiers walked through the rift to join the attack.

Since the strategy was pointless in their environment, they determined they'd overwhelm her with hundreds of attacks moving from every direction. They had a plan and coordinators.

General Michaels watched the soldiers go in and then checked the emperor's expression. To his horror, the latter's smile turned into a grin.

Kaze clapped his hands. "Remember what you experience here today. You may begin!"

Before Kane and General Michaels could process his ominous statement, their eyes trembled with horror.

Their worlds slowed down from primal fear, but their minds still struggled to process the scene.

Hundreds.

Hundreds of ice balls the size of softballs materialized out of thin air.

Not around her.

No, the ice balls didn't materialize within three hundred feet of her.

Every soldier behind the wall looked up and from side to side and found themselves surrounded by a frozen dome of death.

Evalyn held her open hand to Kane and General Michaels as if their heart was in it. Once she made eye contact—

"GahhhHHhhHHhhhhHHHHhhHHH!"

—she clenched her fist, letting all the ice balls crash into the soldiers simultaneously.

Each ball broke a bone in a person's body.

However, none of the balls hit people's heads. Despite the blunt, brutal nature of what they were watching, it was well-refined.

Evalyn watched the world in hyper-slow motion, modifying the trajectories of the attacks to avoid vital spots.

She ensured no one would get killed while simultaneously ensuring that everyone earned a shattered limb for their stupidity—especially the newcomers.

Kaze smiled and turned to Kane and General Michaels. "I'll make rounds to heal all your foolish soldiers. After I finish, we're concluding our training.

I expect everyone to show up tomorrow ready to learn and to show their teachers respect."

The two men shuddered, remembering how their soldiers treated Jake. It was a reminder that the emperor never accepted disrespect.