503 Invasion of the Dead

In the days following Alex's somewhat hostile takeover of the Takagi estate there had been many changes to the way things were going, and surprisingly the people there adapted fairly well. Much better than they initially thought when they first learned that Alex was taking command.

The first order of business was to have everyone within the estate register themselves to Souichiro's people, who were being led by Saya. There they were required to input every bit of work experience they had to determine their share of responsibilities on the estate, as well as any combat skills they had learned before now.

As far as combat went only a few people in the group had learned a form of martial arts or 'combat' through clubs when they were in High school, but for many of them that had been years ago, decades for some. That was where Alex's first act of 'divine benevolence' came into play, according to Yua and the other shrine maidens.

In order to help the people become combat ready as soon as possible, Alex used Regeneration Magic, not to reverse their age, but to return their bodies to their most fit state they had ever been in. For numerous people this meant going to bed with the same aches and pains they'd been living with for years, and waking up to a rejuvenated body and muscles they had long since forgotten they had.

Alex didn't stop there though.

Similarly to when he had gone to planet Sadala and rejuvenated the Saiyan people that were crippled and unable to fight, Alex repeated his past feats as he healed all the people suffering from debilitating injuries or illnesses through Regeneration and Alteration magics. This resulted in a massive uptick in approval for Alex in the eyes of the people, which was also helped by how humble and causal he acted around them.

As he was used to regularly interacting with his people back on Asora, Alex would readily get to know the people staying on the estate at a personal level, helping them if they needed it, and providing what he could to make their jobs easier. This didn't at all fit how one would see a person who claimed to be an emperor, let alone who also happened to be a god.

The one thing Alex did have a problem with after they arrived at the Takagi estate, was how much the belief in him soared once more people joined them.

With Rika and her group arriving the day after Alex, Saeko and her clan another day after them, and Souichiro returning with people from the locations Alex gave him in the beginning, the population of survivors on the Takagi estate quickly shot upwards before they reached the thousands.

Now that society had effectively collapsed, Alex began marking all the locations he'd found survivors to give to Souichiro to rescue. And when there was no more reason(loot) for him to continue searching Japan, Alex began sending groups of people from mainland Asia back as he began looting that too.

As he continued moving westward Alex would continue finding more groups of survivors, which he'd send back with artifacts to eliminate the language barrier between the different groups. And surprisingly they all adapted to his rules and requirements fairly well.

Soon Alex even had to expand the walls surrounding them to allow more room for the survivors, as well as all the livestock he'd been finding so that there was a steady supply of animal products.

The biggest problem for him though was how Yua and the rest of the shrine maidens actively sought to increase the number of followers he had, as per the condition he had unintentionally given them in his trance-like state during their blessings. And with the number of survivors they were housing soaring upwards, the number of believers Alex had was also shooting up as more and more people turned to him in this time of crisis.

When the world ended and all the other gods they had believed in all their lives ignored their prayers, Alex had answered.

When their gods had seemingly left them for dead in what many considered to be the end of times depicted in almost every religion, Alex had saved them.

While many of them had been born with conditions or left crippled after an event in their life that would've proved fatal in this new world, Alex had cured them to give them a fighting chance.

Though he never thought any of the things he was doing were anything special, more and more people flocked to the church the shrine maidens had built with every 'miracle' he had performed.

It eventually got to the point where Alex could rarely be found at the estate as they entered his final week on that world, as he instead spent all his time looting and sending survivors back. Of course, this only served to increase the amount of followers he was accumulating even more.

***

"Haaa..." I sighed in boredom while reaching for a bottle of water to quench my thirst.

"Stop that shit already! You're giving me a headache!" The man sitting next to me snarled in irritation.

"I'm sorry, but it's just so boring sitting up here. Especially in this heat!" As I said that I tried fanning my face to cool myself down, even as the merciless sun continued to beat down onto us. But then again, what else would you expect from Los Angeles in late spring?

The guy next to me groaned in irritation once more, but didn't say anything else as he went back to quietly brooding while ignoring me.

The two of us were part of the survivor group that had fortified themselves in one of the tall buildings that dotted the city, though unfortunately we were given lookout duty.

Altogether we numbered about a hundred people that were just barely on the edge of losing it as we waited for help to come.

"Man.... I wish something would happen already..." I grumbled while glancing down at the city streets below us. Which were completely crowded by the walkers.

*WHOOSH*

Suddenly, at that moment, I watched in both awe and fear as a massive swirling vortex opened up near the Hollywood sign.

And as it did so, a sickening wave of decay and death spread out from it that killed all vegetation, presumably all animals, and caused rapid deterioration in everything it touched as it quickly made its way to us.

*crash*

Both my partner and I, who had stood up suddenly in alarm, then crashed to the floor as the strength left our bodies, leaving us feeling increasingly drained as the seconds slowly ticked by. It was only with a great feat of will that I managed to pull myself up enough to peer over the edge of the building, and what I saw chilled me to the bone.

What seemed like legions of soldiers were marching out of the vortex, legions that, when I looked through my binoculars, didn't appear to be living. Their armor was warped and covered in rust spots that resembled blood, weapons in no better condition as they were chipped and broken from abuse.

What I could see of their actual bodies left in me a combined state of both revulsion and confusion, as the people wearing the armor all appeared to be walking corpses in various stages of decomposition, yet were marching in formation. What truly confused me though, was that the vast majority of people marching didn't even appear human.

Among them I saw people with all kinds of differing skin tones and body shapes, some with elongated ears, warped features with rotting green skin, and even elongated tusks protruding from their mouths. Amongst them were also people that were significantly shorter than the rest, many being only roughly four feet tall, while others were even shorter while varying between green and regular skin tones.

The strangest thing yet though were those who were completely covered in fur and other animalistic features, some possessing notable wolfish features, others looking like bulls that were walking upright, and were even complete with horns, while there were even dragon-like people and PANDAS that were standing upright and wearing armor.

Burying my amazement at what appeared to be real life fantasy races, something about them was bugging me immensely...

They all appeared to be races of people from a game I liked to play before the world ended, an online game that involved two sides locked in a perpetual war against one another.

My suspicions were quickly confirmed when a large number of creatures I recognized from said game suddenly appeared from the vortex as well, undead monsters and animals that could be fought, tamed, and even used as mounts in the game I used to play. They were followed by something any fantasy nut would jizz their pants to see, dragons.

Though they weren't living breathing dragons, there was still a number of the famous fantasy creatures that appeared from the vortex in various stages of decomp, including several that were completely skeletal even as they too flew through the air.

The entire time I was ogling the undead fantasy people and creatures my body continuously grew weaker with each passing second, however I stubbornly refused to let myself fall as I watched the mixture of Horde and Alliance pass through the vortex.

Eventually I noticed a smaller group of individuals that were scattered throughout the marching army, people of the various different races that were dressed in better maintained armor and were armed with better weapons, riding on what appeared to be demonic horses as they directed the undead army.

Soon however a group of them splintered away from the rest as they galloped in our direction, making my weakening heart hammer in my chest as I watched them approach. In the lead was the largest of the group, a bull-like person that was so large that I felt sorry for his horse.

"A Tauren..." I uttered in awe, before the group came to a halt right in front of the building we had been taking shelter in.

The rest of the group made to draw their weapons, but the Tauren stopped them before he dismounted his poor horse.

*crunch*

The asphalt cracked from the apparent weight of Tauren as he landed on it, while I also felt as if the building beneath me shuddered a bit.

Trepidation built up within me as I watched the Tauren stamp its hoof while lowering its head, before it released a powerful bellow that made the air itself vibrate from its intensity. And then it charged directly at the building.

I could feel the earth shudder with each powerful step the Tauren took in its charge, a storm of gunfire barking as the other survivors tried to kill it before it could reach, only to be answered by the clang of metal as they ricocheted off of its armor.

*CRASH!*

I could hear the destruction being wrought down below as the Tauren tore through our defenses as if they were made of paper mache, making the entire building groan and shake. For a brief moment I could hear the continued gunfire as the other survivors tried to bring the Tauren down, even as he seemingly tried to bring the entire building down around him, but none seem to meet their mark.

*kaboom!*

I then heard the concussion of a RPG going off, only to be answered by an angry, or perhaps annoyed, bellow.

That however seemed to be the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back, as the entire building started to pitch treacherously.

As the entire building began to pitch to the side from the strain on its ground floors, I tried to scream but was unable to let out more than a hoarse utterance as we began gaining momentum on our rapid and deadly trip to the ground.

I closed my eyes while bracing for the impact, but surprisingly felt very little if anything. Perhaps because of how drained and weak my body was when I died.

But the next thing I knew I was ascending 'upwards', a sensation that filled my heart with elation even before I was able to behold the sight of the Pearly Gates.

I felt as if my eyes were filling with spectral tears as I beheld Heaven, and just on the other side of the gates was my family, waiting for me despite me having to bash their heads in after they became infected. I reached my hand out towards the gates, anxious to pass them and enter Heaven, but before I could I felt a sudden pain in my spectral heel.

Looking down, I saw a spectral hook piercing my flesh, attached to a rope that was in the hands of twisted spectral women who pulled me and several dozen others back towards her like a school of fish.

"Nooooo!!!" I screamed in horror as I desperately tried to claw my way to the pearly gates, to what I perceived as safety. But what happened next was even more terrifying.

I watched as the Gates of St. Peter were torn away from their place, leaving Heaven open as thousands of spectral figures rose up from below to invade it. I heard a series of majestic and beautiful horns echo as hundreds of angelic beings rose up to do battle with the invading wraiths, shades, and Val'kyr.

But even as they fought several of Val'kyr used their spectral hooks to capture hundreds, and then thousands of souls that had been secure behind the Pearly Gates, dragging all of us away from the battle and to another spectral figure that dwarfed all the others.

"Submit!" The figure declared in a commanding tone. "Submit yourselves to the glory, of the Lich King!"

I then felt a presence invading my mind, twisting and corrupting it with perverse and sinister thoughts as it shattered my very being.

I have no idea how much time had passed, but when the pain vanished I felt....complete.

I felt whole in the presence of HIM.

Power filled my spectral body, power that I would use in HIS name! To destroy HIS enemies!

"For the glory of the Lich King!" I wailed along with my fellow newly reborn brethren, before we turned and joined the battle against the forces of Heaven, the filthy mongrels that dared to defy HIM.

...

Meanwhile, back at the still lingering vortex, a certain figure sat at the throne of his castle, perched atop the floating fortress of Acherus, otherwise known as the Ebon Hold.

The figure was attired in cold and biting metal armor, while the Helm of Domination covered his head.

He was none other than the Lich King, ruler of the Scourge and commander of all the dead. Even now, mere moments after entering this world, his forces were already doing battle with the forces of Heaven and Hell to add the souls within to his own ranks. And power.

Meanwhile his remaining forces were converting all of the mindless bags of meat outside to his side. They may be the weakest of undead, due to how weak this world was in general and no longer possessing any part of their soul to draw on for intelligence, but they made for good materials to build stronger undead and abominations.

And with literally billions of bodies on this planet for them to work on, the Lich King was looking forward to seeing what his butchers came up with.

And with each body and spirit that joined their ranks, his power only grew even further by leaps and bounds. That was before one considered his ability to draw in all of the energy from his environment, which constantly drained the life out of those who were within a thousand miles of him, regardless of if they were plants, animals, or people.

Under his helm the Lich King smirked as his army slowly advanced at his command, while above them a storm was forming that had already grown to cover nearly a quarter of North America, and was only rapidly increasing as it covered the land in a layer of freezing snow.

Soon he would turn this world into a freezing wasteland, devoid of any life as they were all conscripted into his ever growing army, before moving onto the next.

***

"Keep your guard up! It doesn't matter good you are, a momentary lapse in concentration is deadly!" Souichiro cried out in a stern tone.

After they had located just about all of the survivors on Japan, Alex had placed Souichiro and the others who were in charge of rescuing survivors on the task of clearing Japan of all the undead. At the same time, they were also giving their fellow survivors real combat training once they reached a passable level in their skill.

Accompanying Souichiro and the thirty men and women he was looking after was a small team of his own men, and someone who he had ended up befriending due to the shared connection between their daughters, Miyamoto Tadashi, Rei's father.

Currently he was directing the trainees as they fought a group of Them for the first time, while his men and Tadashi were staying on lookout to ensure they didn't get surrounded.

After several weeks of slaughtering every one of Them they could find, Souichiro and his team had to take the team several hours north to find a suitable population of undead to kill. The lengthy travel times aside, this was a good thing since it meant that they were making headway in making the entirety of Japan safe again.

But then that begged the question, should they stay in Japan, or go with Alex when he returned home?

Souichiro and his wife had that very discussion numerous times in the past days, since they both knew their daughter intended to follow Alex when he returned to Asora.

It happened right then.

*whoosh!*

A massive swirling vortex formed out of nowhere right in front of Souichiro and the others, alarming every one of them as they hurriedly tried to regroup.

"What is tha-!"

"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

A bloodcurdling howl echoed in the air as dozens of large things rushed out of the vortex faster than Souichiro, Tadashi, or their men could follow.

"AHHHHHHH!!!" One man screamed as he was attacked by one of the things, and all Souichiro could see was blood spraying as his limbs went flying.

"I've got to help him!" Exclaimed one of the men that was with their group, someone Alex granted the White Mage dressphere to.

"No!" Souichiro declared as he grabbed the young man by the arm, holding him back from rushing forward.

"Take the others and return to the estate! Let them know what's going on here!" He commanded before shoving the man back in the other direction.

"W-what about you?" The man exclaimed worriedly.

"I'll hold them, buy you some time to get away. NOW GO!"

As he said that Souichiro took a stance with his katana at the ready, the rest of trainee group rushing past him as they returned to the military vehicle they used to drive there. Staying however were the men he had fought alongside before time and again.

"No matter what, we're with you sir!" One of them said as they stood to his back, while Tadashi similarly didn't move from his station on the roof from a nearby building. Instead, he began shooting at whatever it was that had come through the vortex and began attacking them.

Souichiro and his men stood back-to-back as they prepared to face whatever new monster this was, which growled threateningly while they circled around them.

"They're toying with us..." One man uttered grimly.

"Well, then we should teach them not to play with their food!" Another guy exclaimed as he hefted his grenade launcher and fired a few rounds into their surroundings.

*boom!*

*boom!*

*boom!*

*boom!*

The final blast was followed by a pained whine that drew everyone's gaze in that direction.

"..."

"!!!"

*crack!*

As everyone turned one rushed out and grabbed one of the men by the throat, killing him and dragging his body away before anyone noticed, only for Tadashi to fire off a shot at it before it got away. Another whine answered the shot as Souichiro demanded, "Talk to me Tadashi! What are they!?!"

For a second the man with the rifle above them didn't say anything, before hesitantly saying, "I think...these are werewolves....."

"..."

No one immediately said anything to Tadashi's observation, until Souichiro declared, "Very well. This is nothing surprising for men who've been fighting walking corpses for the last several weeks!"

As he said that, Souichiro's body suddenly lit up as his pristine military clothes disappeared, and was replaced with a full suit of traditional Samurai armor while his katana became longer and thicker.

Swinging the heavier blade with minimal effort though, Souichiro ready cast several of the abilities unique to the Samurai dressphere.

"Hayate! No Fear! Nonpereil!"

With the activation of his abilities Souichiro felt the limits of his physical body being pushed to their limits as he increased his strength, sight, reflexes, and speed, while two illusionary spheres formed around him to protect him from physical and magical attacks.

"Call them out Tadashi!" He ordered.

"Nine o'clock." Tadashi replied a second later, making Souichiro pivot on his heel while slashing his katana in a wide arc, slicing the werewolf in half before it could attack him.

"Four o'clock"

"Eleven o'clock"

"Six o'clock"

As if they were machines Souichiro and Tadashi worked in unison to kill the werewolves from beyond the vortex, slaughtering the supernatural creatures with strength and focus that no ordinary human could hope to match.

The more they killed though, the more that traveled through the vortex in endless waves until it wasn't just werewolves that they saw.

"I-is that a bear!?!"

"lions!"

"Boars!?!"

"Alligators???"

As more time passed more and more creatures exited the vortex, until something appeared that stole the breath away from everyone present, including Souichiro and Tadashi.

"ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!" Bellowed a dragon that was as black as night and so large its blotted out the sun, it's body covered in jagged spikes and hooked claws.

Most curiously though was that there was a person riding atop the dragon as it circled them, along with a number of severed heads that were tied to its various spikes.

Instead of being able to admire the dragon in awe though, a symphony of roars tore through the skies as over a hundred dragons filled it, all flying lower than the one that had first appeared as its rider directed an appraising look at Souichiro and the others.

"Zun Haal Viik!" One of the dragons suddenly roared at them, in a way that almost seemed like a shout, as the weapons were automatically torn from Souichiro and his men's hands. Most shocking though was that the Samurai dressphere was also dispelled from Souichiro at the same time, as the sphere was sent skittering across the asphalt beneath them.

"GAH!" Tadashi cried out suddenly, drawing their gaze to him just in time to watch as one of the werewolves tore out his heart, and proceeded to eat it before them.

Souichiro clenched his fists as he watched the light leave his friend's eyes, but before he could say or do anything, the black dragon that dwarfed all others present landed in front of them with a great earth-shaking crash, leveling every building that had the misfortune to be beneath it as the rider stared down at them.

He was a fair looking man with long bright red hair tied into a Nordic braid, and a crown decorated with numerous claws or sharp teeth sat upon his brow. His body however was attired in scale-like armor that appeared eerily similar to the scales of several of the dragons around them, while he wielded a black blade that glowed with sinister red runes, and a shield made of the same scale-like material as his armor hung from his saddle.

The man looked down at the group with an appraising eye before he said in a dismissive tone, "kill them. I have no need of people from this world."

The words were barely out of his mouth when one of the dragons turned its maw at Souichiro and his men.

"You Toor Shul!" The dragon roared as a great inferno poured out of its gullet, the last thing Souichiro saw before his body was instantly turned into ash as the fire from the dragon vaporized anything in its path.

The man riding the black dragon turned away from them as he directed his gaze south, where his system told him a group of them were escaping.

Should I give chase?

A message appeared before him suddenly, from one of his MANY subordinated 'party' members.

"No Aela, follow them for a time to see where they're going." The man then turned his attention to the sphere that had been dropped by one of the men he'd just given the order to kill, and picked it up with Telekinesis magic.

"Something tells me that there is an interesting 'game' to play here, and as a 'Gamer' I would be remiss to not enjoy it to its fullest." The she-wolf that had been beside the black dragon as he were speaking nodded in affirmation, before taking off along with a group of her pack-mates to follow the vehicle back to its home.

The man smirked as he watched them leave, before blinking in surprise as a notification suddenly popped up in front of him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOTICE! TWO QUESTS ADDED!

...

THE LICH KING:

DIFFICULTY: EX RANK

OBJECTIVE: kill the Lich King and eliminate or subjugate his undead army!

REWARDS: ??????

...

THE ONE TRUE DRAGON EMPEROR

DIFFICULTY: EX RANK

OBJECTIVE: eliminate the Dragon Emperor, Alexander Morningstar, and either subjugate or destroy his forces!

REWARDS: ???????????

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even as he looked over the EX ranked quests, which was the highest difficulty quest he could receive that surpassed even SSS ranks, the man smiled in anticipation.

As he was reading the description of the quests he had received, an army had begun appearing through the portal behind the man, as people of all races marched in the name of the emperor.

Altmer, Bosmer, Orismer, Dunmer, Khajiit, Argonian, the various races of humans, and even the races considered by many to merely be 'monster', such as Falmer, Goblins, Giants with their mammoths, and Reiklings. Along with them marched numerous creatures and animal that COULD be considered monsters, giant frostbite spiders, Draugr, Chaurus, Dwarven Automations, armored Trolls, bears, wolves, sabre cats, and dogs.

Aside from them were beings that were considered to be literal demons, the Daedra.

Dremora, Lurkers, Atronachs, Seekers, and even the godlike and powerful Daedric Princes.

"This world seems so....distasteful..." Sneered one Daedric Prince as she stepped through the portal, a beautiful woman dressed in flowing robes with angelic wings sprouting from her back.

"Don't say that Merida, I can already tell there's lots of glorious cheeses for me to sample here!" Exclaimed another arrival, a well-dressed man with neatly trimmed hair and beard that was nearly white in color.

"There....is......also great...wells of knowledge.......to be found......here." Drawled what appeared to be a disembodied mass of eyes and tentacles.

One by one the sixteen widely known Daedric Princes appeared through the portal before they collectively approached the man riding the dragon. They then reluctantly kneeled before the man, as his 'voice' had long since grown so powerful that he could even bend their wills to his whims.

The man didn't even look at them as he stated,

"The undead of this world belong to my army to kill so they can level up. Anyone still living though is to be split between each of you, but there are two people we need to watch out for, someone calling themselves the Lich King, and another by the name of Alexander Morningstar. They belong to me, but once they're out of the way you're all free to do as you wish. Do you understand?"

Though they wished to curse and condemn him for ordering them about like his dogs, none of the sixteen gave voice to such desires. Instead they all chanted as one,

"""Understood, great and mighty Dragon Emperor!"""

***

Alex was feeling fairly accomplished as he exited his latest looting target, the vaults of the Vatican.

They had been completely filled with items and texts from throughout history that had been squirreled away by the church for 'protection', while other artifacts were hidden down there to further their agenda. Well, they certainly had no more need for any of them.

Alex had even found it fairly funny that the undead pope had been standing in his way when he tried to enter the vault, and couldn't help but to comment out loud that if this were any other world, he'd be a boss level enemy.

Alex chuckled as he recalled what remained of the pope, before stopping suddenly as he sensed two things appearing nearly simultaneously. One was to the west, presumably in America from what Alex could feel, while the other felt as if it was back east, more than likely in Japan.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaa..." Alex sighed deeply as he contemplated what to do.

While the natural decision would be to return to Japan to deal with the threat there before traveling to America, Alex could feel the entity in America growing significantly stronger with each passing second. Not to mention that that one felt significantly more 'sinister' compared to the one in Japan, meaning that it wouldn't be wise to let them grow any stronger than they already were, which facing the one in Japan would only take up more time.

Quickly making his decision, Alex turned westward while deciding to trust in Yami and Yuna to keep things from falling apart until he returned. But as he did he uttered,

"One of these days I'm gonna find Fate-Chan, and fuck her up the ass to see how she likes it for once..."