Saya was in hell.
She had to be after Alex, the man she had decided on, introduced himself in such a way to her parents.
Why?
Why?!
WHY!?!
Why would he literally walk up to her father, and introduce himself as 'the man who's fucking your daughter'? And in front of EVERYONE she grew up around as well!
Of course, if Alex's wives in Asora weren't currently frozen in time, then they'd have been able to warn her in advance about Alex's tendency to butt heads with their fathers.
Thankfully though, Saya's father hadn't taken the news too bad. His only real reaction was to look at the two of them for a moment, before uttering a simple 'I see'.
I SEE!?!
Saya didn't know if she should relieved or infuriated that that was all her father had to say regarding her relationship with Alex. Relieved because the man chosen hadn't been outright rejected, not that Saya thought that would happen, and infuriated since her father's response made it seem as if he was indifferent to her choice.
Weren't fathers supposed to be opposed to their 'little girl' being taken away?
But of course, that was all put on the back burner as Alex led them to one of the buildings he'd created, a literal stone castle that he'd placed right beside the Takagi manor, dwarfing it in size.
"Humph..." Souichiro snorted when Alex led them within, not amused with the newest addition to his estate.
Within their group was Alex, Yami, Yuna, Souichiro, Yuriko, Saya, Rei, a few of Souichiro's most trusted men, and the group organizing the dissenting faction. Following them were the women who had accompanied Alex on the way there, who had Alice with them, and the group of shrine maidens.
As they all entered the castle though, Alex immediately took a sharp right turn into a side door, leading the group with him inside while the women all went to explore the castle, and the shrine maidens settled themselves in the entrance hall outside the door, waiting for their god's command. The only one to accompany Alex's group was Yua, who was considered by her sister shrine maidens to be something akin to a High Priestess since she had been the first one to be blessed.
Inside the room was a long table with numerous chairs sitting around it, and with a wave of Alex's hand, the table lit up to show a 3D projection of the Takagi estate from above.
"Is this...?"
"A live showing of the estate and the surrounding areas from above? Yes it is." Alex said as he took a seat at the head of the table, pulling Yami into his lap as he did so.
And while the petite assassin glowered at him for doing so, she didn't get up as everyone else took their seats, Yuna to Alex's left with Rei on the other side of her, while Saya sat to his right with her parents sitting on the other side of her. Yua took the seat on the other side of Rei, with Souichiro's men filling the rest of the seats, except for the far ones opposite Alex that were taken by the group leading the dissenters, who had an air of importance about them as they sat down.
"Now then..." Souichiro began the moment everyone was seated. "I take it that, based off this eyesore you built right next to my home, you plan to stick around?"
Alex readily nodded before saying, "let me start from the beginning regarding my involvement. A little over a week ago, I obtained an ability that put me into contact with a person on this world, Takagi Saya." Saya's parents look to her in shock, but their daughter avoided their gaze due to her continuing embarrassment as Alex continued,
"Originally I already knew of the fate in store for this world, but had no intention to come here personally for numerous reasons. After accidentally getting into contact with Saya though, I became involved.
"I warned her of what was in store for this world, and she began making plans in anticipation of it. I also began making plans to travel here myself in order to help protect her when the apocalypse started, but unfortunately I wasn't aware of the exact date it would start. Originally if it hadn't started before then, I would've gotten here roughly a month after Saya and I began talking, in your time of course. If it had started before then though, then I would've traveled here ahead of time.
"Unfortunately that wasn't the case, and I was sent here automatically when the apocalypse started alongside two of my wives, Yami and Yuna. Now the three of us are here for a month, and when we leave I'll be taking those who want to go, and who I approve of, back with us to my home world, a land called Asora. Until then I plan to stay here, which is why I fortified the estate and its surroundings, and I'll be taking over command. Any questions?"
When Alex finally finished speaking there was no immediate response as everyone took in the things he'd said. Eventually it was Yuriko who spoke up first as she asked,
"When you say you're going to take people you approve of back with you, what do you mean? What is it you have to approve?"
"It's simple, I'll accept those who are flexible and able to adapt to the world as it has become. Asora is full of what you lot would consider to be supernatural and fantasy beings like gods, Devils, Angels, Youkai, dragons, and much more that an inflexible person would regard as 'monsters'. And if a person is unable to adapt to this world, then I won't have them come to Asora to cause trouble and be a burden on us."
As he said that, Alex turned to look pointedly at the group representing the dissenting faction, making them blink as the woman who seemed to be their leader asked incredulously, "you mean us!?!"
Alex nodded as he told them in a solemn but serious tone, "exactly you. Even as your world is both figuratively and literally burning down around you, you and those you're convincing to follow you are merely burying your heads in the sand to ignore reality. The world as you knew it no longer exists, and those THINGS out there are no longer human. Either adapt and learn to live with these two truths, or die due to your own ignorance and arrogance."
When he finished speaking Alex reclined back in his seat to relax his body, as he had been unconsciously shifting forward with every word until his chin was practically resting on top of Yami's head. The woman however appeared as if she were on the verge of bursting as she glared at Alex angrily.
"Just because I won't go out there and kill innocent people who merely have a CONDITION, doesn't mean YOU get to determine if I live or die as well! You may have fooled everyone else with your 'holier than thou' attitude, but I see you and HIM for what the two of you truly are, MURDERERS who want nothing more than to spill as much innocent blood as possible!"
Looking between Alex and Souichiro as she ranted, the woman then turned and stormed from the room with the rest of her people following her, though Alex was sure a few of them were looking between him and her as they did so.
"If you really want to take over here, then good luck." Souichiro stated to Alex as they watched the group leave.
"Oh? I thought you'd be resistant to the idea of me taking control." Alex said curiously, to which Souichiro shrugged as he replied,
"Yeah, I am hesitant. But this means you'll have to be the one to deal with those loons, and I want to see how capable the man my daughter chose is."
As he said that Souichiro looked to Saya directly, making her blush yet again from embarrassment as she tried sinking into her chair. Alex however shrugged since he didn't mind if Souichiro approved of him or not, though it would make things a bit smoother in the future if he did.
With the annoyances out of the way though, Alex quickly leapt into explaining the changes he'd made to the surrounding areas. He told the group what each building he'd built was for, and outlined areas that he wanted to use for agriculture since he planned to use time-based magic on the fields to accelerate the growth rate of the crops.
Altogether Alex had built ten dorm halls, each capable of housing up to a thousand people comfortably, and were separated by gender to prevent any kind of 'incidents'. Along with them he'd built a barracks, library, mess hall, gym, school, and a couple lounges for relaxation.
Even though he was leaving in a month, Alex intended to ensure the place would last for any of those who were left behind, or elected to stay.
He also drew up a draft of the schedule he intended for the people they were sheltering to follow, which dictated that everyone they were housing would go through a rotation every day of various chores to keep the place running, daily combat and physical training for those over the age of fourteen, and finally plenty of time for them to relax aside from the work. Meanwhile those that were already trained and combat ready would go on regular trips outside the walls to search for survivors, which they would then bring back to the estate.
Alex also informed Souichiro and his men about the two groups that were currently making their way to estate as they spoke. Rika's group, which should arrive in the next day or two, and Saeko's group, which had just departed from the Busujima clan estate earlier that day after officially burying their former lord. As a student of the former lord Busujima, Souichiro respectfully bowed his head for a moment as he uttered his respects to his former teacher.
And for their first assignment, Alex ordered Souichiro and his men to make their way to the nearby mall, police station, and elementary school where Takashi's mother worked, along with his and Rei's homes. The brunette lit up with anticipation of seeing her own mother and father again soon, whom Alex had already confirmed were still alive.
After ironing out a few more details the group stood to leave in order to implement the changes Alex intended to make, but as they were leaving Yuriko stopped her daughter and asked once everyone else had left,
"By the way Saya, should I have the cooks prepare red rice tonight?"
"MOM!!!!!!!" Saya screamed in embarrassment as she stormed out, leaving her giggling mother behind.
Hurriedly exiting the castle Alex had built, Saya suddenly found herself facing a large crowd of people with the woman from earlier at their lead.
"WE REFUSE TO BOW DOWN TO A BEING THAT TREATS THE LIVES OF OTHERS WITH SUCH INDIFFERENCE! WE WILL NOT BE SLAVES TO THIS PRETEND GOD!!!"
As the woman riled the crowd up with her slander and declarations, Alex merely watched them with a bemused smile on his face even as the group of shrine maidens bristled with fury.
"How dare she....."
"To insult our god!"
"Such treacherous lies!"
The only thing keeping them from attacking the woman and her cohorts was the will of their divine lord, who watched the spectacle with amusement until he decided the chanting they had started was giving him a headache.
"If you don't like my decisions, then you're free to leave at any time." Alex said as he flew up where everyone could see him.
The women however just snorted as she demanded, "and why should WE be the ones to leave!? If anyone needs to get out, it's all you murderers that readily kill when you don't need to!"
Several people cried out their agreement with her as the woman spoke, to which she adopted a smug look as she sneered at Alex. However he just shook his head at their behavior before looking at Yuriko, and saying,
"See why I won't let just ANYONE come to Asora with me?"
The words were barely out of Alex's mouth when he suddenly appeared right in front of the woman, making her jump in surprise. But before she could say or do anything, Alex plunged his hand into her chest and wrapped his fingers around her heart, before ripping it out.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
Screams tore through the evening air as the group watched someone being killed right in front of them, and every single person who had gather tried to flee only to find their bodies would not move according to their will. Alex however was completely calm despite the bloody heart clutched in his hand as he ran his gaze out over the crowd, before declaring,
"SILENCE!"
With divine power fueling his voice, everyone became silent instantly as they all looked to him in fear.
Alex then knelt down to the corpse of the woman he'd just killed, and tapped her with a finger in his other hand.
"Haaaaaaaaaa!" She gasped while taking in as much air as she could, before looking around in confusion until her gaze settled on the heart in Alex's hand.
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeee!" She cried while trying to back away in fear, every single second of her death and what came after burned into her consciousness, and that was before Alex proceeded to toss her own heart to her.
Ignoring the hysterical woman, who hadn't even noticed the hole remaining in her shirt that was revealing one of her breasts to all of them, Alex then stated to the crowd before him,
"I have said before, and I'm getting tired of repeating myself. This is NOT the world you all once knew.
"If so inclined I could kill you all here and now, and none of you would even be able to fight back while whatever remains of your government wouldn't give a single shit. However I don't wish to do that.
"Anyone that cannot bear to follow my lead and learn how to survive in this new world will be exiled, allowing you to see what it is like outside those walls for yourself!" Alex then pointed to the woman before him, and continued,
"She has already earned her banishment! Whoever wishes to follow her make yourselves known!"
Alex wasn't sure if he should've been surprised or not when no one immediately raised their hands to join the woman in exile, though after a minute a few did, followed by a few others.
Altogether there were about forty people out of the several hundred present that decided to go into exile, a number that did surprise Alex before he nodded in acknowledgement.
"Very well. You all are hereby banished, to live or die as you see fit out there!"
He then snapped his fingers, and the entire group found themselves outside the walls, where they could truly see the damage done to their city for the first time.
"Come on! We need to find some kind of shelter!" One man yelled to the others as he tried leading them along, jogging down the road a block or so to try and get their bearings, only to turn the corner and find himself face-to-face with a dozen or so infected.
"OH MY GOD!" The man yelled in horror as he actually saw the infected for the first time, their rotting grey skin, dull unliving eyes, and the horrendous injuries they all possessed that didn't belong to anyone living.
And as he yelled in horror of seeing them up close for the first time, every single one of them turned towards before lunging at him as quickly as their rotting appendages allowed. The man froze, never once having experienced the flight or fight response in his entire life, and though he desperately wanted to flee, he was unable to do so as the first set of rotting hands grabbed on to him.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" One of the women in the group shrieked as she watched him being torn to pieces, drawing the attention of that group to her along with every single one of the infected in the area.
"WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Another man in the group shouted as he tried leading them in a different direction, only for another group of infected to appear from a side alley, blocking their path after being drawn in by the noise.
For a moment it seemed as if they would all perish as the infected closed in on them from both sides, before someone cried out, "IN HERE!"
The group quickly fled to one of the buildings lining the road, even as the infected nipped at their heels.
"Damn it!" One of the men swore as the jaws of death snapped shit mere inches from his flesh.
His body then moved on instinct as he reached out to the woman in front of him, grabbing her by the collar of her shirt, and yanked her back into the clutches of the undead.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! HELP ME!!!"
She cried out in anguish, even as the infected began to bite into her flesh. And though several people looked back at her, none of them so much as slowed down as they rushed into the building, and slammed the door shut behind them.
"Y-you killed her!"
"Shut up! I saved our lives! You all should be thanking me!"
*crash!*
The infected immediately smashed through the window at the front of the shop, surging into it and swarming them without giving any of them a chance to fight back.
All the while the same woman who Alex had killed to make his point was watching in horror from behind the counter, until she noticed a single infected coming towards her.
The woman focused on a little girl, no older than five or six, slowly shuffling towards her in what remained of her school uniform. But what was most chilling about her was the fact that her stomach had been torn open, and her guts were dragging in the floor around her feet.
"N-now little girl, you don't need to do this! I can get you help! You don't have to kill people! Let's show them all!"
Her words however fell on deaf ears as the girl honed in on her location through the sound of her voice, and bared her teeth as she prepared to enjoy her meal. And as she was almost upon her, the woman frantically grabbed a knife that was nearby and sank into the girl's chest, right where her heart was.
The little girl didn't even flinch though as she lunged at the woman, her hands clutching empty air greedily as her teeth repeatedly snapped ravenously.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" The woman cried it as she freed the life from the girl's chest, before lunging at her as she sank it right into her eye.
"DIE! DIE! DIE!" She screamed hysterically while repeatedly stabbing her in the face.
"I TRIED TO HELP YOU! YOU DID THIS! THIS ISN'T MY FAULT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THATS RIGHT! IT'S ONLY SELF DEFENSE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-"
The woman began to laugh hysterically with an insane look in her eyes, her mental state completely shattered as more undead hands clutched at her body. She didn't even register them though as she continued laughing insanely, even as the first set of teeth sank into her still exposed tit.
...
Back at the Takagi estate, those who had remained behind watched the projection in the sky with horror as the people who had been beside them mere moments ago were mercilessly slaughtered, before eventually rising to join the ranks of the undead.
Alex had created the projection so that the people could see what it was truly like outside these walls. Men, women, even children were all forced to watch the scene with horror and revulsion, as numerous people even threw up from the graphic gore that was being shown to them, while the children screamed and cowered into their mother's bosom.
Alex genuinely felt bad showing the scene to them as well, but the fact was that EVERYONE present need to realize just how different their world was. Though the children should be sheltered from experiencing it firsthand, unfortunately they too needed to see what the new reality was like.
"Y-you killed them!" One man declared as he looked up at Alex in horror, a thought many shared even as Alex said to them,
"No I didn't. THEY decided to leave on their own, and did everything they could to get themselves killed like the idiots they were."
With a wave of his hand Alex conjured up a second projection that showed the same scene from above, while the first one rewound itself to the beginning, making people turn green as they realized they were going to have to watch it again.
Alex then went through exactly what happened with all of the people present, explaining how the group had been responsible for their own deaths.
First he showed them how many of Them there were in area when he teleported them there, a number that the people couldn't believe after watching the footage the first time. He then explained how the group then proceeded to doom themselves by shouting and speaking loudly, which then drew the attention of every single one of Them in the surrounding blocks, when they'd have even been able to easily avoid being noticed by being quiet. Saya even chimed in to state that They were blind, so even if the group had walked right in front of Them they wouldn't have been noticed.
Alex then pointed out how their first response after announcing their presence was to run, when in actuality they had been trapped the moment they started shouting to each other. According to him they obviously should've fought against one of the smaller groups with any of the items around them that could've been used as a weapon, and used the opening to escape the encirclement forming around them.
One by one Alex discredited every single accusation and claim made by the group before him, until they couldn't think of a single thing to accuse him of.
Literally the only thing Alex did 'wrong' was sending them out away from the safety of the walls, but then again they had been the ones who decided to leave to begin with.
When no one else could think of something to use against him, Alex stated to the group,
"I am not trying to be cruel, or malicious to anyone here. I am just trying to help you all realize the reality of what your world has become. I have no intention to control or rule over you all, unless you decide to follow me when I return to my own home in one month, but help you prepare for this new world you live in."
As he spoke Alex's eyes shimmered slightly with magic, but no one noticed it as he then explained to them the same things he'd told Souichiro and the others a few minutes prior.
***
"Haaaaaaa... That was annoying..." Alex uttered even as he sighed in contentment from the nice hot bath water he was currently soaking in.
With him were all of the women that had joined them on their journey, as well as the shrine maidens as they devotedly washed their God's body and hair while pouring him sake, and even servicing him as Yua slowly moved up and down in his lap. Something Alex gave in to since he knew it was an eventuality.
"Still, I'm surprised you managed to get them to listen to you." Saya said as she washed her long hair at one of the wash stations nearby, making Rei nod in agreement as she added,
"True. I thought it be a while before anyone trusted Alex, especially after he banished those people to die."
Alex just chuckled before taking a nice long drink from the bowl of sake, and answered, "that's the beauty of the Devil's Charm. In times like this it works like....well like a charm!"
Chuckling at his own joke, Alex took another drink after his bowl was refilled as Saya asked him incredulously, "you can Charm people!? Is that why you're so popular with the women!?!"
Her words caused a bit of a stir amongst the group of women that Alex had 'picked up' as he traveled through this world, though both Yami and Yuna directed dirty looks at her for the implication. "Hey hey, don't slander me like that! The devil's Charm is powerful if used and trained properly but it's not THAT strong!"
Turning to look at Saya directly, Alex explained, "what you're referring to is a typical Charm ability, or the Succubus Charm, which makes those of the opposite gender their slave. The Devil's Charm is much more subtle, and nowhere near as powerful.
"It's used when they make deals to make what they have to say to potential clients seem more appealing. If the person being charmed was against what the charmer was saying completely, then they'd be able to resist it altogether. But if they were merely wavering slightly, and needed a little 'push', then the Devil's Charm would give them just that. You can't use it to 'control' people."
His piece said, Alex turned back to his original position as he admittedly enjoyed being pampered by his dedicated shrine maidens, when Yami asked curiously, "Didn't you use the Devil's Charm to turn an entire world against their God?"
EVERYBODY looked at Alex in alarm at that, while he smiled warmly at the memory as he said, "Yeah....we did. Good times those were."
Though everyone was burning to ask more about it, Alex cut them off as he suddenly said in a serious tone,
"By the way, all of you who haven't officially joined my harem." The women in question flinched when Alex referred to them, all knowing EXACTLY who he was talking about, since those who were officially a part of his harem were a part of the Chatroom.
"It's ok for tonight, but tomorrow I want you all to make your decision on if you're going to officially join, or leave. It was one thing while we were traveling, but now that were settled for the next month, I'm not going to let all of you hang around for benefits without committing. Understand?"
The group of women, which mostly consisted of the mothers and sisters of the students that had fled the school with them, nodded slowly in understanding as they started thinking on if they wanted to stay or not. Alex meanwhile decided to leave them alone with their thoughts as he took another swig of sake, making him thankful he enchanted the bottle so it'd never run out.
The reason he was making them choose was mostly because of how Grayfia, Rias and Ravel regarded his harem back home. They had long since learned that the number of women around Alex wasn't going to stop growing any time soon, but they had decided, and ingrained into him, that each and every one of them needed to contribute in some way, no matter how small.
Even if Alex brought back hundreds of women with him from this little trip, while they'd definitely be annoyed, their biggest concern would be if the women were merely freeloaders who thought spreading their legs for Alex brought them the easy life. And if that was the case, then they'd quickly get a reality check from his official wives.
So Alex decided to clean house before then to make their jobs easier. And all of those who decided to stick around would start their official training in the morning, alongside the rest of the people living on the estate.
But Alex just kept that to himself for the time being, allowing them to somewhat enjoy the night before then.