Playboy Cultivator in the Apocalypse

"What is that!?"

"I don't know!"

"S-Shoot it!"

"Are you insane, it's pitch black outside!"

"I don't care, move! We need to get out of here!"

Ratatat! Ratatatatatatatatatatatatatatat! Ratatatatat!

"AgGhhHHHhhHHhhHHHhhHhhHhhhHhh!"

A soldier fired their SMG at the panther on the warehouse rooftop, lighting the area like a strobe light. Dozens of flashes lit up panicked people's faces, flashing in slow motion.

The moment the gun went off in the pitch-black darkness, the soldiers panicked, trying to flee the shooter.

However, those looking at the warehouse rooftop didn't move; they felt a very different variety of anxiety.

The massive panther that everyone had seen moments before was gone. Their fears materialized a split second later when--

"W-What's that!?"

Ratatat! Ratatatatatatat! Rata... tat.

GrrrRRrrrRrrrRrrrr!

"AGHhhHHHhhhH! MONSTER!" A male soldier yelled when they bumped into something furry and shot at it, only to find a 25-foot-tall panther growling before it.

"SILENCE!"

A booming voice called out, stunning everyone.

The neon purple eyes returned, illuminating the area and the people.

A strange white miasma cut through the darkness around the shadow cat, making it barely visible in the blackout.

Everyone froze when they heard the voice, saw the cat standing before them, and felt crushing pressure that dropped them to the ground.

"We are not here to reap your souls." Crux growled, "Emperor Lexicon has use for ants, so you shall live if you're not foolish.

However, should you raise your toys to me, you shall die before you can fire. Do you understand?"

The soldiers groaned, hearing her words but unable to speak, suffocating under the weight of her cultivation base.

Crux watched them struggle to breathe coldly. She didn't want an answer from them; the divine beast was stripping oxygen from their mind, making them hazy and unable to panic or run.

***

"Let me explain to you what is about to happen." A cool female voice echoed in a chilly warehouse, standing in the center of nearly 5,000 people.

The sound of roaring trucks moving to the building made people's heart pulse, staring at the massive hole in the wall. They listened with anxiety in their hearts.

"Fourteen transport trucks will arrive to pick up our wounded people in less than a minute." Evalyn announced coolly, "When they arrive, I want the dying loaded carefully.

If you cannot move a person safely, let us know, and we'll heal them on the spot."

Gasps of disbelief rang out in the room after she claimed they would heal the wounded on the spot.

"Before we start, where is William Hall?" She asked.

Rena's heart pulsed when her wheezing husband got called out by his name. She felt deeply anxious about getting called out directly by the terrifying woman. "William is here, Ms. Skye...."

Evalyn walked to the woman's position. As she moved, hundreds of people moved out of the way, one after the other, making her a clear path.

When she stood before the wheezing man, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He was in and out of consciousness, unaware of her presence.

He would have died within the next day if she hadn't arrived.

The Ice General waved her hand silently, and the man's body exploded in a red light, warming the area.

Rena Hall watched her husband's sickly white complexion regain color in real-time, leaving her slack-jawed in disbelief.

While she couldn't see his wound, she could tell it healed because the bandages stuck to it popped off, and the sickly veins around them disappeared.

Less than three seconds later--

"GuaaahhhhHh!"

--Will gasped, opening his eyes and filling his lungs with fresh air.

The soldiers and civilians were so shocked they didn't see the Immortals run in after backing their trucks to the southside wall. It wasn't until she spoke the world sped up again.

"William Hall's son, Bradley Hall, is a valuable asset to Immortal Skye." Evalyn declared, "That's why I prioritized his care.

For everyone else, we will load you onto trucks where soldiers will heal you and give you first aid."

Many civilians cried tears of joy, hearing their children and other loved ones would survive.

"Everyone else, stand up and move to the side; you're moving out on foot under our protection." She ordered, "As for the soldiers...."

Evalyn slowly walked to the corner of the room on the northwest corner, connected to the loading docks, keeping everyone waiting anxiously for her words.

The blonde touched the corner of the walk, creating a spider web of ice shooting up her fingers like ivy, mesmerizing everyone.

She pivoted to the north side and began walking.

CrrreeeeeaACkKkkccckkccccckkkckkkckkkc!

Ice vines shot from her fingertips as she traced her fingers against the walls, spreading the ice from the center to the floor and ceiling.

All the docking doors froze shut as she walked, chilling the atmosphere and hypnotizing people, watching in terror and amazement.

"Don't move." Evalyn said hypnotically, an icy wonderland following her every move, "No soldiers will get into this room; you cannot get out. If you try to leave...."

She stopped moving 3/4ths of the way down the wall, letting her ice spread and finish the job as she turned to them with her index in the air. "Look up."

On her orders, the soldiers looked up and saw a chandelier of ice blades forming above them in real time.

Everyone gulped, realizing they were in an iron maiden.

"You will die a brutal death before you can raise a weapon or scream." Evalyn smiled sinisterly, sending icy chills crawling down everyone's spines.

***

"This is Juliet." A male said over a headset channel, "We are ready to move."

"Request received; stand by." Sandra said, "Romeo, what is the status of the soldiers."

"This is Romeo." A female said over the receiver, "The soldiers are panicked but immobilized by fear. However, that will dissipate once Lady Panthera returns to the roof, so we must prepare.

We can handle any amount of people in the short term."

"Good work, soldier." Sandra replied, "Move out, Juliet, Romeo's protecting you."

"Yes, mam." The man replied, "Consider demoting me to prevent further emasculation."

A dozen soldiers on the link chuckled when they heard his words, making the commander smile.

"You'd rather enter the hot zone then be called a woman's name?" Sandra chuckled, "Classic men. Move out soldiers; let's get moving."

"Yes, mam!" Multiple soldiers replied in unison.

Trucks with wounded people moved through the blinding darkness. Sandra couldn't see the lights, but she watched the world through an x-ray-type lens, watching flowing Qi on the ground warp around the vehicles.

Sandra took a deep breath. "Let's hope that that the--"

WhooooOOhhhHhhhHhhSssSShhHH!

The brunette heard a sound far in the distance, making her heart beat out of control. "You have to be--"

Her world slowed to a crawl as she heard the sound of a ballistic missile moving toward them. She looked around quickly, trying to find the location of the strike.

A sharp white object entered her field of vision, close enough to get inside the Qi layer Crux set up for their Minor Vision technique.

As soon as Sandra saw the missile, she waved her hand to create an arrow. Unfortunately, she was racing a warhead, and her body and cultivation level were insufficient to handle it.

So she watched in horror, praying things would work out as planned.

As the missile approached, a large black object shot onto the roof. A split second later, a large white streak cut across the air at a speed she couldn't comprehend and--

BOOOOOOOOOM!

--the warhead exploded.

While it detonated a thousand feet in the air, it wasn't a normal missile. It was a strategic missile large enough to take out the warehouse and beyond, destined to kill nearly 8,000 people.

When the Qi slash triggered the warhead, an orange light temporarily lit up the entire base before it got eaten by the black miasma.

The flames spread downward, raining from the sky until they hit a thin golden barrier that the Shadow Cat erected around them when she fell from the sky.

It created a biblical display as the flames licked the world around them like a blowtorch over a gold drinking glass.

While it ended only a moment later, perfectly contained, the damage was already done. Panic immediately exploded in the area, with soldiers and civilians rioting to escape the hellish area.