Playboy Cultivator in the Apocalypse

"My name…." A brunette wearing a white robe began nervously, "Is Martha. I'm here… to be your… 'sparring partner.'"

Veronica, Jake, and Kylie cringed, watching the brunette explain her forced position. While they had no mercy for the cultivators, it was still extremely uncomfortable.

Moreover, they still hadn't recovered from seeing the redhead lying next to them. She looked more mentally unstable than the cultivator.

"Um…. Veronica….."

"... Jake."

"Kylie."

"..."

CLAP!

Everyone turned their eyes to the pink-haired teen leading them, standing in Evalyn and Crux's battlegrounds. Her mocking eyes lacked mercy, matching the devastated forest background.

"While I'd love to sugarcoat this until you had diabetes so severe you'd be drinking each other's blood trying to get insulin, I have shit to do." Kiera said mockingly, "So let me break this down.

Sky Susan is here to chop your limbs off, and your job today is to kill her. That's how this works."

The cabinet members' eyes widened in shock as Martha turned away with trembling eyes, confirming the statement.

"Let's talk qualifications!" Kiera chirped merrily, "On the north side—a natural-born training puppet!

She's an OG Sky Cultist sent to spy on us. Her hobbies include long flys on the beach, chopping off Rein's limbs, and killing a bunch of our peeps after calling them ants. Give it up for Matilda!"

A chilling breeze passed through the area, wrapping around everyone's bones. The cabinet members' compassion for the brunette disappeared, leaving only a frigid breeze.

"Whoaaaaa, tough crowd." The slang riddler smiled, "Let's move on to the challengers.

On the south side, we have the oppressed ants! They're completely inferior to Dusty Cunt in every way—except for the part where they have a breathing technique far surpassing hers."

Now it was Martha's turn to be shocked, looking at the teens through minor vision and noticing the absurd vortexes raging out of control from lacking skill.

"They have the best leader in existence… can fuck her up after less than two months of cultivating… and hmmm…." Kiera hummed, "They'll fuck up her thousand-year fam."

Martha's eyes flashed with murder, then she dropped to the ground, clutching her chest and screaming. Everyone watched the scene in shock.

"Oh~yeah!" The slang riddler cried cheerily, "They also don't have a Soul Contract preventing them from killing their enemies. That's because they're still undefeated—even after fighting her Cultivation 'Baron,' or whatever."

The cultivator wheezed in shock, disbelieving that they faced a Cultivation Lord and survived.

"Bad blood established." Kiera smiled, looking back and forth between the sides, "Let's discuss the format—no one is forced to be here.

If you are, it means you don't want to get steamrolled by literally every other person in Immortal Skye who's catching up in strength.

So while this training is voluntary, it's not voluntary. The world sucks, times are hard, and shit's trying to murder us—leadership requires power. Get over it."

Sage's desire to scoff got snuffed out by a blunt address of her [argument], which was just common sense rebranded as an excuse.

Everyone else gulped nervously, realizing their genuine goal was to kill the woman before them.

"Training today is simple." Kiera continued, "You will use every weapon in your arsenal to try killing this wench without mercy—to take vengeance for your fallen comrades.

She's gonna try to survive by injuring you and breaking your will.

If she dies, you win and we get revenge. If she wins, she'll continue playing tutor under our protection.

I'm not sure what Kazey's conditions for survival or imprisonment are, but if you look around, you'll notice something profound—"

Veronica, Jake, and Kylie turned from Martha to Sage, gritting her teeth and wheezing on the ground.

"—Kazey's not a simp."

Veronica smiled in forced amusement, turning away to avoid showing her expression to anyone.

"One~last~thing." Kiera chimed, "We're training for real warfare against the murderous Sky Cultists. It's not a game.

So I suggest you hobble away like a crippled stooge if you refuse to heal. Other~wise, Sky Susan's gonna do what she does best cut off your limbs while you're not looking."

Sage growled like a feral animal, triggering glances from every cabinet member. She got up and turned around to hobble away but winced, eyes closed, and returned. "Get on with it."

"Do you think this is an overcome-your-insecurities support group?" The pink-haired teen scoffed, "If you think I'm itching to heal you, you're dead wrong.

I'd rather you died or just withered in a corner until you weren't capable of causing trouble for Kazey. So stop acting like you're sacrificing yourself for me to heal you or leave.

Since it's impossible for you to be normal, I suggest you start acting."

"Hah… haha." Sage chuckled murderously, "This isn't enough for you? Even though you know and understand."

She pulled her hand back faster than her body could suggest. However, before she finished—

SMACK! THUD! Thud. CRAaaaCCKkkKkkk! BOOM!

—Kylie slapped the redhead so hard that she hit the ground twice before smashing through a tree.

Shocked silence and disbelief followed, especially from Martha, gulping at the power of the mortals near her!

Kylie looked at her hand in disbelief and then looked through the dust cloud with trembling eyes. "SAGE!"

Contrary to the intervention she had planned, she panicked in regret and remorse as she flew across the battle to her friend.

A minute later, everyone gathered around the redhead.

"Wheeeeeeeeeeew! Wowza." Kiera whistled with a smirk, "In a stunning twist of fate, your friend smacked an ultimatum right into you."

Kylie heated up with anger, but she didn't interfere, knowing she gave her an excuse to end it.

The slang riddler dropped to her haunches, looking at the redhead with a malicious grin.

"Here's the ultimatum." Kiera chimed, looking at the twitching redhead suffering from a broken neck, "One, graciously ask for healing like a sensible person, ooooooooooor…."

Sage glared into the woman's eyes with bloodlust and an unshakable will to crush her.

"Be forever as remembered as the floozy who died from getting sense slapped into her from her friend but refusing it on her death bed." The teen giggled merrily, "You… will… be… legendary! A true darwin's classic."

Everyone fell silent, watching the redhead writhing on the ground with a terror-filled expression, pained and conflicted.

"Heal me…." Sage whined, thinking about her reputation getting destroyed forever, "P-Pl… P-P-P… Plea… se."

"You got it, Psycho Sally." Keira chimed cheerily, closing her eyes and illuminating the woman with a golden light.

Threads of light wisped from the woman's body, starting at her stomach and moving through acupuncture points throughout her entire body.

Her entire neck lit up with a radiant glow, and an intricate pattern took place.

Everyone was silent, watching in horror. After all, the redhead was only one move away from death.

CRACKkkkKkkKk!

The cabinet members shuddered when Sage's head snapped forward at blinding speed and adjusted, healing in real time.

Sage's eyes were frozen, feeling the effects in horror.

Only Martha was stunned beyond reason, watching the thread around her neck disappear and the internal bruising around her acupuncture points healing one after the other. "A true specialist…."

"Not on your life, Bad Bun." Kiera smirked derisively, noting the woman's tight-wound hair, "I learned this technique a couple of weeks ago.

We mortal ants are much more talented than you guys. Obviously."

A fire lit up in the woman's heart, hearing that she was inferior, but her heart pulsed, and she dropped to the ground again.

"See?" The slang riddler giggled, "Listen up, everyone!

You have five minutes to get ready! After that time, Sky Cultist is gonna unleash hell on all of you.

I will heal her once for every time that she immobilizes all four of you.

The match will end when she dies, after three hours pass, or when you all give up.

Anyone who sticks through the entirety of training will get access to a technique class of their choice."

Everyone's eyes lit up with excitement, hearing that they'd learn another technique, shocking the cultivator further. How many techniques did they have!?

"Prove to this Dusty Cunt that Kazey and Evalyn aren't the only talented mortals!" Kiera yelled, "You may begin!"

═─┈─═─┈─═

"What the fuck is wrong with this place!" Martha cried, shooting toward the earth like a shooting star as multiple arrows followed her, "Don't tell me [she] wasn't an elite!"

An image of Rein flashed into the woman's eyes as two arrows snaked through the air, chasing her like twin dragons.

They had the same merciless accuracy, but their power was on another level.

That was only natural, as Veronica and Jake were at Rein's level regarding control. However, they had heaven-grade techniques, whereas the brunette fought with an earth technique when she met the cultivator.

BOOOM! BOOOM!

Thud! Thud, thud… CRACK!

Two dirt and wood shrapnel explosions detonated after the arrows hit the forest floor. While they didn't hit her, the blast sent her flying into a tree.

"What…. Cough! Cough!" Martha wheezed as dirt entered her lungs, "What is this!? Cough! This plant shouldn't hurt me!"

She remembered steel buildings on earth being as brittle as gram crackers. However, the tree she just crashed into was no less sturdy than the ones on the Sky Plane.

"She's this way!" Jake yelled, "Form a pincer attack! Wait! Sage, what are you doing!?"

The cultivator's fight-or-flight response triggered, and she jumped from the tree. A moment later—

BOOOOM!

—it exploded.

Martha caught sight of Sage aiming another arrow five times the size of any other with a vicious expression. The redhead planned to murder the cultivator without mercy to prevent Kiera from healing her again. It was now or never.