499 Honor of the Dead

Though the buildup to this point may have made it obvious, Alex was still surprised to meet Saeko's mother face-to-face.

Saeko had never mentioned her family when everyone was discussing finding theirs, possibly because she believed whole-heartedly in their survival due to their training. The only thing she did mention was her father being out of the country, meaning he was unreachable unless Alex personally went to check on him.

"I am eternally grateful to see you in one piece Saeko, but what are you wearing?" Saeko's mother asked as she took in the apron that was the only thing Saeko was wearing, which the samurai readily lifted without any shame regarding what she revealing, and said,

"I am merely aiming to please the emperor to whom I have pledged my all to." She then gestured to Alex and said, "Mother. This is the Dragon Emperor, Alexander Morningstar!"

In an instant all eyes were on Alex as everyone analyzed the proclaimed emperor, the samurai from before appearing conflicted at the information, while Saeko's mother scrutinized Alex from top to bottom.

Though he wanted to sigh, Alex held it in as he sat across from Saeko's mother, and said politely, "it is an honor to meet you madam Busujima. I can see where Saeko got her beauty from."

There was a flicker of amusement within madam Busujima's eyes, before it was replaced by sadness as she said,

"You are too kind lord Dragon Emperor. While I do wish to discuss how my daughter has entered the service of your lordship, there are more pressing matters to attend to." Turning her attention back to Saeko, madam Busujima declared in a steady tone that was still laced with emotion,

"I regret to inform you daughter, that lord Busujima has passed. And as such, the mantle of clan head has passed to you."

In an instant the demeanor of Saeko, Alex, and Saya changed, as the samurai appeared nearly unsteady on her feet, leading to her slowly sinking to the floor as Alex used magic to change her clothes into something more proper.

"Are you certain mother?" Saeko demanded with a controlled voice, to which her mother readily produced a cellphone before playing the last message that it had received.

"To my darling Ichika, I am sorry to say that I won't be able to return home. One of those 'things' managed to bite me as I was trying to protect the people here.

"I have no delusions of what is to become of me, I have seen enough people turn to know that a single bite is fatal. While my first instinct is to commit Seppuku in order to becoming one of those monsters, I have a duty to help as many people as I can before my life expires.

"The only regret I have, is being unable to properly say goodbye to you or Saeko. Marrying you and fathering her are my life's greatest accomplishments.

"My last request to you Ichika, is to find Saeko and ensure the Busujima clan survives!

"I love you both dearly."

As the call ended Saeko's mother, Ichika, slowly put the phone away as tears threatened to flow on her face.

"When did you receive this message mom?" Saeko demanded with urgency, only for her mother to say,

"I received the call last night, while I slept... I've called nearly a hundred times today, but there hasn't been a single answer. Your father has undoubtedly already turned by this point." Saeko's expression was hard as she turned to Alex, and pressed her forehead to the ground in a koutou as she pleaded,

"My lord. Please bring my father here for us." Though Ichika and the rest of the Busujima clan looked at her in alarm, Alex said to her in a steady voice,

"Saeko, you know I can't bring him back. By this point he's already passed on."

Ignoring the incredulous looks they were receiving from their conversation, Saeko nodded as she replied,

"I understand. However as his daughter, and as head of the Busujima clan, I have a duty to ensure my father can rest peacefully. I refuse to allow him to continue existing as a monster." As she declared such, Saeko gripped Gōmon tightly at her side, showing her intent to use it.

For a moment Alex didn't say anything, before he slowly nodded as he said, "very well. Go outside, I will return momentarily with him."

After saying so, Alex pulled out the magic compass to get the location he needed, before disappearing before everyone's eyes with Spatial magic. Ichika looked to her daughter with alarm as she demanded,

"Saeko! Just who is this 'Dragon Emperor'? How did he do that?!" Rather than Saeko, it was Saya who answered as she stated proudly with her arms crossed in front of her,

"He is Alexander Morningstar! God-emperor of the world known as Asora, as well as numerous other worlds that he has come into contact with! And what you've seen is just the tip of a very large iceberg!"

Though everyone else was looking at Saya in confusion, Saeko's gaze was steady as she slowly stood and made her way outside, the members of her clan parting before her as she did so. Once she walked past everyone and had an empty stretch of space before her, Saeko stopped and knelt down until her knees were resting upon the hard and rough ground.

With Gōmon resting at the ready on her lap, Saeko waited as the minutes slowly passed, each one stretching into what seemed like an eternity, until finally the space before her began to warp.

Through it stepped a figure that made Saeko's heart tighten as she recognized her father, even through his disheveled and matted hair, his rotting gray flesh, torn clothes, and numerous grievous injuries.

Standing, Saeko looked to her father and declared as she pulled her sword from its sheathe,

"Lord Busujima, father, as head of the clan and as your daughter, I hereby relieve you of your pain and suffering, so that you may rest in peace!"

The former lord turned towards the source of the noise as Saeko spoke, and rushed her while baring his teeth and snarling ravenously. Saeko however remained resolute and steady as the man she respected more than anyone else approached her with the intent of killing her and consuming her flesh.

She waited until he was practically right in front of her, his gray hands inches from grabbing onto her, before Saeko suddenly moved as she swung Gōmon in a single deadly strike.

For a moment there was no movement as lord Busujima's movements became still, before his body slowly collapsed as his head fell from his shoulders. Saeko then swung her blade with enough force that she removed the blood from it, before sheathing it once again in the same movement.

Saeko then knelt before her father's corpse respectfully, before clasping her hands together as she said in a quiet voice, "I pray you will find peace now, father."

She was soon joined by her mother and the rest of her clan as they all paid respects to their fallen lord, each one having never thought they would be able to after receiving the message of his infection the night before.

As they were doing so, Alex stepped forward and also knelt down beside the fallen lord, but he wasn't paying his respects like the others as he reached out towards his body, and said in solemn voice,

"No one deserves to be remembered like this, least of all a man so noble and honorable, who devoted the very last moments of his life helping others survive while others of his station fled in cowardice." As he spoke, Alex reached out and touched a finger to lord Busujima's body, making the clan members tense as they wanted to tell him to get away from their lord.

Before anyone could say anything though, they watched in amazement as the severed head slowly reattached itself to its body, before the skin regained its color of life as the injuries and clothes repaired themselves.

Within seconds there was lord Busujima, appearing whole as if he were just sleeping, and not the ravenous monster that tried to kill his own daughter just moments ago.

"Thank you... My lord." Saeko said with gratitude at Alex's actions, to which he nodded silently before kissing the top of her head gently.

Another minutes passed before he then said, "Saya and I will return to Rika's house for the night. Stay here and properly mourn your father Saeko, and when you're ready, lead your clan members to the Takagi estate in order to rejoin us."

As he said that Alex passed Saeko two storage rings, one of which was empty for her to store anything they wanted to take from their estate with them, while the other held numerous sword related Dresspheres to divide up between her clan members. And though she wanted to stay with him, Saeko nodded slowly before she stood and bowed to him, while saying,

"Thank you my lord.... For everything."

Though she hadn't intended for them to do so, the rest of Saeko's clan stood and followed their new head's lead as they bowed to Alex, and proclaimed their loyalty to the Dragon Emperor.

...

"Haaaa."

Alex sighed as he stepped through the portal that took him and Saya back to Rika's house, mentally drained from the events of the day. However it appeared he wasn't finished dealing with stuff just yet, as everyone in the house started shuffling guiltily the second he appeared, moving and grouping together as if they were trying to hide something.

"W-welcome back!" Rei exclaimed nervously, making Alex suspicious as he asked them,

"What's going on?"

"N-nothing!" One of the older women exclaimed as they tightened their formation in order to hide whatever was behind them.

Rolling his eyes, Alex moved them all to the side with his telekinesis, revealing a small girl that appeared to be about seven years old with shoulder length pink hair, who was holding a small puppy in her arms with white fur, and black ears.

The girl started shaking as Alex looked at her with emotionless eyes, and started to slowly walk towards her even as Rei exclaimed,

"P-please Alex! She's just a little girl with nowhere to go!"

"""We can look after her!""" Several of the mothers chimed in as they pleaded with him desperately, terrified that the man who refused to actively help people would either throw the girl out, or make her fight alongside them.

When he stopped right in front of the girl, who he was towering over menacingly, Alex suddenly knelt down to her level and gently placed his hand on top of her head to ruffle her hair.

"You must've been very scared out there." He told her in a warm voice, surprising everyone present except for Yuna and Yami, both of which were covering their mouths to hide the humor they felt at watching the scene. The girl however, feeling the warmth and comfort coming from Alex, broke down into tears as she rushed him and grabbed fistfuls of his fur, clinging to him desperately as she began sobbing.

...

"Her name is Alice." Rei began after the girl eventually cried herself out, and was now eating some of the food Alex kept stored away for such occasions. "We went to check some of the surrounding stores for food and other supplies, and found her surrounded by Them along with the dog and her dead father. And we couldn't just leave her there..."

Trailing off slightly, Alex nodded slowly in affirmation before he surprised them by saying, "though we can't take in everyone we find, I would be severely disappointed if you left a child to die when you could've helped them. Well done."

The group of women blinked owlishly at his words, before one angrily stated, "aren't you the one who was saying they're not going to help anyone who can't help themselves!?! Now you're saying children are ok?!"

Alex looked at the woman weirdly from her declaration, before he retorted, "it's the duty of adults to look after and prepare children for the future. Except for my own children, I don't expect any child to be able to survive in the current world."

Once again everyone was blinking in surprise at Alex's words, as this was the first any of them heard of him having his own kids.

"You have children?" One of the female students asked incredulously, to which Alex readily produced a picture of him with all of his children, before he added,

"I've also got another one on the way, and these three I've more or less adopted." Pointing to Myuu, Videl, and Kale as he said that, for a moment no one quite knew what to say, until Rei asked,

"What do you intend to do with Alice then?"

Alex glanced over to the young girl as she ate and was chatting with Saya, and said after a moment of thought,

"If there's nowhere else for her to go then I'll take her in. But if I did then she'll never have a 'normal' life since all of my children are so extraordinary." Though the numerous mothers simply thought Alex was bragging and exaggerating like any parent did when it came to their kids, he was merely speaking the truth since every single one of his children were part Saiyan, while both Myuu and Videl had also become part Saiyan after the former's wish, and Kale was the LSS, meaning she was literally born a galaxy buster.

Taking into considering the rest of his children's capabilities from their mothers, along with their devil and draconic lineages, then the normal human Alice would most definitely feel out of place growing up beside them.

But that was a problem for the future, as this was only Alex's second day in this world, and he still had a month left to figure something out for her. So, for the time being, Alex decided to treat her like he would any of his own daughters.

The rest of the night passed relatively quietly, as the group ate and bathed for the night before retiring to bed with no sexy time due to Alice being with them. Though they'd never say it out loud, the same women who mentally swore that their mistake with Alex would not be repeated, they couldn't help the burning need they felt between their thighs as they tried going to sleep.

Alex meanwhile appeared to be sleeping peacefully with Alice snuggled up to him, who seemingly took comfort in his presence after losing her father that day, before his eyes shot open once the last person drifted into unconsciousness.

Alex lightly placed the tip of his finger against Alice's forehead as the little girl slept, casting a spell that would ensure she slept until morning, and without any dreams in case of nightmares. He then conjured a large stuffed animal, and slowly pried himself from her grasp while putting the animal in his place.

The entire time he was doing this the only who noticed Alex getting up was the puppy Alice had with her when she was rescued, a male named Zeke, who very wisely didn't make a single peep after Alex sent a single look his way. An animal's instincts could be very intuitive.

Once Alex was 'free' of Alice's clutches, he teleported himself outside before a pair of large draconic wings sprouted from his back as he took flight.

Though he could fly with energy, Alex enjoyed the feeling of the wind as it flowed over and under the membrane of his wings, keeping him aloft as he rose and dipped occasionally. A feeling that Ddraig greatly agreed with with, and missed.

The only dampener on Alex's flight was the chaos that was going on beneath him, as a mere day and a half into the apocalypse, and society was already crumbling.

Everywhere Alex flew there were crowds of people fighting back against Them even as they tried to flee, or they were stopped at barricades that created nothing more than slaughter grounds, as the military and police tried to stem the spread of the infection.

Away from the crowds though were also individuals who were desperately trying to survive on their own, like Takashi's original group had, while others were trying to take advantage of the chaos to loot and plunder what they could.

Alex shook his head at them when he saw this, even though he was on his way to do the same thing, as they only focused on things like electronics and jewelry, things that were useless to them in this new world. As for those trying to survive, Alex would deposit some of the supplies he had stockpiled from his looting the night before, as he'd also looted several military bases and such, giving them better odds of surviving the night.

This went on Alex lazily drifted on the wind, though he was still making great time, until he reached his next destination to plunder, Kyoto.

Kyoto was the former Capitol of Japan before Tokyo, and was considered to be the cultural Capitol of the entire country with centuries old shrines, temples, imperial palaces, gardens, and even traditional wooden houses.

As a devil setting out to plunder valuable and historical artifacts, the city was like a veritable treasure trove that would require an entire night to ensure he grabbed everything. So without further delay, Alex got to work as he used the magic compass to find every single item he could, while he also tried not to think of what Yasaka would say if she knew what he was doing right now.

At first everything was going smoothly, as Alex swiped numerous statues, scrolls, paintings, weapons, suits of armor, and other valuables even as numerous people here as well were trying to survive. But then he noticed a certain group that was being overrun by Them in one of the temples, and while Alex had ignored numerous other groups in the same circumstances, this particular group hit too close to home for him to ignore, reminding him of Akeno, Shuri, Yasaka, and Kunou.

***

"""KYAAAAAAA!"""

Numerous screams could be heard throughout the temple as women of all ages fled or tried to fight back as the hordes of undead tore through their barricades, only to be brought down one by one as they were torn to pieces.

Originally there had been about thirty of them, all dressed in the traditional red and white gowns of their stations, but within a couple scant minutes they were down to ten of the youngest as the older girls tried to hold the hordes back. Of the survivors was a single girl who was kneeling before a shrine as she prayed desperately to the gods for salvation.

"The gods aren't going to help us Yua! We have to fight!" Declared one of the oldest girls left, who appeared to be in her late teens, and was using a broom handle as a weapon as she tried to fend off Them.

The rest of the younger girls though gathered around Yua, desperately helping her pray since they couldn't do anything else, even as their friends and sisters lay dead or dying behind them.

"Please... Help us!" Yua declared as she prayed the gods heard her desperate voice, even as the other girl behind them fell to Them, leaving no other hope for her or the other young girls.

"Please!" Yua pleaded as she placed all her faith in the gods, despite the undead hands that were about to grab onto her to tear her to pieces as well.

*WHOOSH!*

Suddenly, right before she or the rest of the girls were grabbed, white flames flooded the temple that blinded her and instantly turned all of Them into ash.

For several seconds all any of them could see was white, but as the light slowly died down, Yua blinked her eyes until she could make out a figure standing in the middle of the temple, his body wreathed in white flames as a mane of flame flowed from his head, with a monkey-like tail that was also coated in flames.

Then however, she also noticed all of their sister shrine maidens that had fallen to Them standing, their wounds closing as color filled their cheeks once again.

And as thirty pairs of eyes focused on the figure standing in the middle of the room in awe, Yua fell to her knees before him, her eyes filled with reverence as she declared,

"The gods have answered our pleas!" She then pressed her head to the floor as everyone followed her lead, uttering their thanks and prayers to the 'god' before them, none of them noticing as he awkwardly scratched his cheek at the development.