Poll World [LitRPG][Reader Polls]

(Free vote chapter! Gen currently has 34 viewers!)

Rosalina was receiving reports and monitoring the situation. The UFO had been located. It was currently sitting idly and going through some sort of metamorphosis as it grew even more massive and displayed some bizarre transformations. There was a big debate over whether or not someone should go attack it, but they had elected to hold off for now. With the UFO's speed, it could easily distance itself from any attackers, and anyone they sent after it would just put themselves out of position.

There were fewer than four hours left in the event, and they just had to pray that whatever upgrade the UFO was undergoing, it would be too little too late to impact the event.

Scouts that had checked out the remains of the mech factory had only found fusioncrack zombies and a giant crater. The fusioncrack zombies had transformed to be even more powerful than before, but the one saving grace was that there appeared to be no one directing them, and the thousands of monsters were just slowly dispersing. By her think tank's calculations, if they continued their present rate of movement, at most a handful of headquarters would be attacked before the event ended.

Feeling satisfied, she relaxed slightly as she inspected her radio. It had made all the difference getting them to this point, but now she had no use for it. All the thralls had been eliminated, and now that they were unified, there was no one left who had to be commanded to do anything.

The radio twitched her hand, and she flinched as she stared at it. It produced no further movements, but… the ominous aura it had been projecting was gone. She couldn't explain what had changed exactly, but it was like the radio was suddenly more empty than before. Her eyes narrowed in worry. The ominous aura had first appeared after she'd brought the dragon back as a lich, and it being gone now had to be connected.

Not wasting time, she stepped outside to the main command area.

"What's the status of the lich?"

One aide who had been listening to a radio turned to look at her, "No changes so far, ma'am." The man's eyebrows suddenly crinkled as he listened to something intently. "Wait, something is happening… the volunteers who have been distracting the lich are reporting that the zombies and skeletons chasing them all abruptly abandoned the pursuit…"

Rosalina sighed. They were close to the finish line, but she wasn't surprised that LEO wouldn't let the ending be anticlimactic. She was about to start issuing orders when her poll resolved.

Ding~!

Trying to search for a description of the reward, she instead heard a faint chanting in the back of her mind. Holding still, she listened to it intently and could just barely make out the words.

"What's going to work? Teamwork!"

"What's going to work? Teamwork!"

"What's going to work? Teamwork!"

The endless chanting should have been annoying, but instead, she felt an almost zen-like peace listening to it. Unconsciously, she stepped forward and grabbed a coffee mug that had been brought by someone and handed it to her aide.

Distracted from his radio, he looked at her in confusion, "I was thirsty… thanks."

Nodding in recognition, she stepped outside the room and looked outside to see what was happening. Nothing looked strange at first, but then she saw everyone moving with unnatural fluidity. A woman repairing a mech was handed tools she didn't ask for, and a man standing by a doorway stepped out of the way just as it opened.

Rosalina was taking it all in when she got a sudden feeling of crisis, like someone was begging her for help. Running back into the command tent, she said, "The lich is attacking! All exterior zones need to be reinforced immediately! Redirect mechs to support immediately!"

The aides didn't even question it as they started giving the orders before having looks of surprise on their faces.

Grabbing the nearest person Rosalina questioned, "What is it?"

The woman looked confused as she shook her head, "I sent the orders, but… they said they already knew and were moving out!"

The chant continued in the back of her mind, and Rosalina nodded.

"Everyone, gather your things. Anyone working in communications is being reprioritized. I don't know the specifics, but it seems we are about to set a record for being the most coordinated protagonist team in history!"

Rosalina prepared herself as well. She'd done everything she could to lead the protagonists to victory, and all that was left was to pick up a gun and fight it out alongside them all.

Switching perspective~...

***

Gen and Morna had landed on a partially destroyed building at the outskirts of the crater and were looking over the crowd of dispersing zombies. Neither of them had a command rod, so controlling the zombies was out of the question. Their zombie-amulets were also exhausted, so they had to be careful not to aggro the fusioncrack zombies themselves.

Morna was looking impatient, "We've only got a few hours! I'm going to lose my boots when the event is over, so can we please just go attack something!"

Gen sighed. They were so close to accomplishing the goal, but they'd fallen just a bit short. If they still had the UFO, they might have a chance, but without it their options were severely limited… She wanted to go find the UFO and see who exactly had hijacked it, but with no allies left to scout for them, she would just be flying around randomly.

Was blindly attacking really all they had left?

Ding~!

Excited, she looked down and saw she had a pentagram necklace around her neck. Inspecting it, she saw the description.

Endless Sacrificial Altar: Any area you pass over leaves marks on the ground. When an area is fully enclosed by marks, it forms a sacrificial altar. Creatures who die within this area are sacrificed to fill your sin meter. Sin can be spent to spew hellfire.

Gen's eyes widened, "Morna, I have an idea, and this time you'll get a front row seat…"

Morna cheered, "Finally! You know this is the first time you actually told me before you did something cool!"

After explaining the plan, Gen quickly started flying around the area of dispersing fusioncrack zombies at max speed. It didn't take long to fully enclose the area, and she saw the ground take on a red tint as incredibly small red runes covered the desolated soil.

Focusing on her receipt paper, she tore two names off. Solomon and Susan. Solomon's name had been added after she'd blown him up, Daryl and Trank hadn't been added a second time, as for everyone else… She honestly couldn't remember their names well enough to say who was an antagonist and who was a protagonist. Either way… they'd be helping the cause with their deaths.

Putting the two names in her inventory, she focused on the remaining receipt paper with tens of thousands of names and concentrated as she triggered every single one to burn simultaneously. Immediately after, she took off at high speed, determined to put as much room between herself and what was happening as possible.

Behind her, she heard screaming immediately as ten thousand people were yanked away from whatever they were doing and added to a massive pile of screaming chaos. The fusioncrack zombies that had been dispersing took immediate notice as they all turned to look at the pile of writhing bodies and, after a moment of hesitation, launched their balls of infectious lightning.

Having reached what she hoped was a safe altitude, Gen watched as the zombies tore into the mass of humans, spreading infection like wildfire. Despite the chaos, many of the actors displayed an unsettling degree of coordination. They climbed over one another, triggered abilities, and formed makeshift fortifications as they rallied against the swarm in real time. Gen silently congratulated her foresight in preparing a backup plan, because at that moment, Morna came crashing down like a nuclear weapon, her boots driving her with unstoppable force. Hundreds were compacted instantly, and the resulting explosion hurled thousands more into the waiting maws of the fusioncrack zombies.

The devastating blow cut off any opportunities the horde of people had for rallying themselves, and the fusioncrack zombies quickly reached a critical mass to overwhelm what remained of the survivors. Gen flew to join Morna, who had fallen back into the sky and was cackling like mad.

Gen ignored Morna's moment of mania as she inspected her notifications.

Sin - 10: Was that really necessary?

Sin - 25: How could you do this?

Sin - 50: You monster!

Sin - 100: They had children!

Sin - 250: Do you feel nothing?

Sin - 500: Their screams will never fade.

Sin - 1,000: Even the damned recoil from you.

Sin - 2,500: Your name is cursed.

Sin - 5,000: The world weeps.

Sin - 10,000: Not even death will forgive you.

Sin - 25,000: You are the end of hope.

Gen nodded in satisfaction as she could sense her internal sin meter threatening to explode, the point of emissions, however… Sighing, she called after Morna, "Come on! Let's go blow up some headquarters!"

Switching perspective~...

***

Fredrica leveled her laser rifle at the swarming undead. The lich's forces were endless, and they were slowly losing people, but… She didn't feel any panic. In the back of her mind, there was a constant chant. A reminder, she was doing her part! She was holding the line! Dying here might be her role to play, but as long as she could keep fighting for even a few minutes longer, as long as she could kill just a few zombies more, then she could buy enough time for their team to win the event!

The headquarters wall shuddered as a giant armored special zombie crashed into the wall, and the mechs began focusing fire on it. The P-series mechs could hardly damage it, but the sniper mechs with their explosive rounds tore giant holes into its armored flesh, while the artillery mechs vaporized hordes of the normal zombies and skeletons behind it.

She'd been jealous before that she hadn't been assigned one of the mechs, but with the hymn, those thoughts were gone. There were only so many mechs that had been created, and even without a machine, she was playing an essential role. She and hundreds like her were right where they were supposed to be, all united as one as they stood strong against the approaching swarm.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a cable hooked into the wall in front of her, and a second later, a figure in a combat suit flew up in front of her. She could feel from the hymn that this wasn't an ally and opened fire, only for her blasts to be deflected by the overpowered armored suit. To her sides, her allies rushed forward using swords, but in a flurry of swings, they both exploded.

Resolved to meet her death, Fredrica held her ground and kept shooting. Her allies would know she was in trouble, and mechs would be here soon.

The figure didn't kill her, however, and turned its skeletal visage to look at her. It would have been a grisly sight, but the skeleton was wearing sunglasses for some unknown reason.

"What has happened to all of you? Your teamwork… it has improved, but it feels artificial."

Fredrica stopped shooting. If whatever this thing was wanted to talk, then she would happily distract it. Scoffing, she responded, "You can't hear the song? I suppose it makes sense that monsters like you wouldn't understand teamwork."

The skeleton just stared at her, and she couldn't shake the feeling that even without eyes, it was giving her a pitying look. Before she could respond again, she felt a lurch from the hymn. Her teammates needed help! Looking around in panic, she tried to isolate who it was, but the feeling was from all directions at once…

Explosions rocked the headquarters as the massive fusioncrack iguanas unleashed their powerful attacks on the walls from all sides. The devastating attack was just the prelude, however, as the lich itself descended from above, unleashing a necrotic breath attack that transformed anything it touched into animated skeletons. Fredrica watched in horror as the gas seeped into the earth, forcing its way to the bunker beneath the headquarters where the gathered NPCs were being protected.

The armored skeleton watched the destruction unfold impassively, and she almost forgot he was there before he said.

"If music is your strength, then there's no choice but to have a battle of the bands."

She looked back at him in confusion, only to have her vision filled with a hammer crashing into her face.

You have been eliminated!

Switching perspective~...

***

ERROR SHORTAGE OF BIOTIC MATERIAL

HUMAN SPECIMEN BIOMASS CREATION SPEED SLOWING…

DEPLOYING STIMULANTS!

GWAR!

SPECIMEN PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVING!

PURSUING MISSION

ANALYZING MEMORIES FROM COGNITIVE SOURCE, CODENAME: HON

MISSION: SURVIVE

MISSION: EVOLVE

MISSION: DESTROY PROTAGONISTS

MISSION: MAKE GEN PAY FOR LEAVING ME WITH NO INSTRUCTIONS

ANALYZING AVAILABLE OPTIONS…

ABILITY UPGRADE MENU LOCATED

ANALYZING OPTIONS…

8̵̼̈́̒͝4̷̰͆͝,̵̝̚͠2̴̝̿͑4̵̤͋̚6̶̬́̈́ ̶͉̽͝A̸͕̋̎B̸̫͝͠I̶͖̔̈́L̸͓͊̓I̵̟͑͝T̶͖͐̾I̷͎͋̽Ē̷̱̽S̶̠̔͘ ̷̛̓ͅÄ̷̫́̋V̵̱͝͝A̴͚͛̾Ȋ̴͔̚L̵̝͆͠A̸̺͌̎B̴͓͐̈́L̶͙͘͝E̶͖̓̚.̵̝͐̑.̶̰́͌.̵

CORRUPTION DETECTED… ABILITIES UNPARSABLE…

SETTING CORRUPTION FLAG TO FALSE

84,246 ABILITIES AVAILABLE…

PARSING ABILITIES

MAXIMUM FOUR IN USE

CURRENT ABILITIES

FLESHIFY, RAMIFICATION, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, CLAIRVOYANCE

PRIORITIZING ABILITIES…

FLESHIFY CANNOT BE REMOVED. RESULT WOULD BE INSTANT DEATH

RAMIFICATION CANNOT BE REMOVED UNKNOWN RAMIFICATIONS

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER - ENTIRELY USELESS - DISCARDING!

CLAIRVOYANCE MODERATE QUALITY ANALYZING ALL AVAILABLE INFORMATION PRIOR TO REMOVAL…

GWAR!

ANALYSIS COMPLETE! DISCARDING!

TESTING NEW ABILITIES

BLOODVEIL - MODERATE USE - DISCARDING

SLAP OF ETERNAL DISAPPOINTMENT - USELESS - DISCARDING

STORMREAVER - USELESS - DISCARDING

MOIST HANDSHAKE - HIGHLY USEFUL - RETAINING

CROISSANT BARRAGE - USELESS - DISCARDING

SUDDEN CRAMP - MODERATE USE - DISCARDING

DIVORCE LAWYER - MODERATE USE - DISCARDING

THE FLOOR IS LAVA - ULTRA USEFUL - RETAINING

GWAR!

REEVALUATING ABILITIES…

DISCARDING MOIST HANDSHAKE

POCKET SANDSTORM - MODERATE USE - DISCARDING

*Hundreds of iterations later*

TRICK CANDLES - INSANELY USEFUL - RETAINING

HALTING ABILITY SWAPS

PROBABILITY OF SUPERIOR COMBINATION DANGEROUSLY LOW

ABILITY LIST

Fusioncrack Fleshify: The most advanced tech in the galaxy was turned into a living, breathing creature, and instead of befriending it, you turned it into a horrible abomination. Congratulations, humanity was a mistake. Fusioncrack bombs are your reward... You monster.

Ramification: Does anyone really fully comprehend the consequences of their actions? You certainly don't… Amplifies all UFO abilities to have branching shockwaves…

The Floor is Lava: Any flooring that the shadow of the UFO touches turns to lava.

Trick Candles: Blowing out candles never gets old! Your destructive effects and abilities are enhanced to periodically retrigger at their original location.

BEGINNING ASSAULT

GWAR!

Switching perspect~...

***

Ace reappeared at the same location where they'd last been spotted by Rosalina in the hallway. Their ability Phase Out was useful for quick escapes, but was somewhat unpredictable as they couldn't control exactly how long they were phased out of existence, and sometimes reappeared in unfortunate situations.

They'd stumbled upon a room of level 5 protagonists that seemed to be trapped under a geas, and their ability told them the ramifications of assassinating them would be huge, and they couldn't resist. Hopefully, whatever chaos the deaths had caused by the murders had spread far away by the time they reappeared, and they could score some more easy assassinations…

But… around them, the area had completely changed. The mech factory and various supporting buildings were all completely gone. It was like someone had detonated an insanely powerful bomb and leveled the whole place…

Not only that, but they were surrounded by what looked like 25,000 fusioncrack zombies as far as the eye could see… Their zombie avoidance amulet had long since expired, and all the zombies turned to look at them.

"Fuck."

You have been eliminated~!

Switching perspectives~...

***

Brooklyn watched from the wall as the flamingo reappeared. It was far enough away that it was difficult to shoot, and it seemed to be scouting the headquarters as it had zipped around in a circle. Everyone was on standby, but as soon as the circle completed, the floor beneath them shifted as the whole area was covered in runes.

People looked nervous, but with the hymn, no one panicked. Whatever the runes were doing, it didn't seem to be immediately dangerous…

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The flamingo paused and leaned over as it pointed its butt at them from far away. Before they could question it, the freaky bird's anus erupted as a tsunami of hellfire gushed out and swept over the headquarters, melting its way through not only the defenders and mechs, but even the concrete itself.

You have been eliminated~!

Switching perspective~...

***

Willie prepped himself. Their scouts told them that the lich's forces were converging on their location. One headquarters had fallen already, but it had been a hard-fought battle. With their hymn, their teamwork was impeccable, and it had taken almost thirty minutes for the headquarters to fall. The antagonists were too far behind! If things kept up, then there shouldn't be any issues…

From the wall, he could see the deathknight from the reports approaching with the six special fusioncrack iguana zombies behind it.

Everyone braced for an attack, but instead…

A low, guttural riff rolled across the battlefield, so heavy it rattled the wall itself. The deathknight had produced its signature fleshcrate hammer, but it had been transformed. It now had strings and had been fashioned into a guitar. The deathknight gave the fortress one final look before he began to shred. His gauntleted fingers raked the strings like thunder, and the six special iguanas behind him reared back in perfect synchronization, their throats glowing as if they were amplifiers.

Hundreds of skeletons stepped forward using their own bones and skulls to form drums as they pounded out the disturbing, discordant beat. The zombies swayed and groaned in harmony, their moans twisted into the first growling incomprehensible verses.

The deathknight continued to lead his voice, somehow amplified as he screamed out the verses of the damned.

All along the wall, protagonists felt their ears begin to bleed and stumbled back under the force of the literal death metal. Willie felt physically ill, and with a tremor of fear, he realized he couldn't hear the hymn of unity! Shouts began to rain out as people panicked and the undead rushed forward, crashing into the wall and surging over the disoriented defenders.

Willie stared in horror as a skeleton leapt at him and sank its cracked teeth into his throat. Staring in horror at the band in the distance, his only thought was… I would buy the album…

You have been eliminated~!

Switching perspective~...

***

Sean felt tense, but at ease at the same time. Elsewhere, his allies were fighting, some were dying, and others were holding strong. Despite that, he was exactly where he was supposed to be. He was in one of the inner zones, which should be safer, but he'd heard a report that the flamingo had appeared at a random headquarters and wiped the entire thing off the map…

He didn't have a mech, but his abilities were powerful in their own right. His Turtle Time ability gave him a stacking defensive bonus every time he survived damage, and over the course of the event week, he'd built it up considerably! He was confident that he could withstand high-caliber rounds and even explosions.

Abruptly, the sun disappeared, and everyone in the headquarters craned their heads upward to see the massive fleshy UFO directly above them. With perfect unison, people took position, some activated the wasp turrets, while others stayed on standby waiting to see what fresh horrors the UFO would unleash. Sean didn't know the whole situation, but he did know that the UFO kept steadily growing larger over the last hour, and apparently, it seemed to be in flux as hundreds of different traits and appearances had flickered across its surface before it abruptly used its super speed to evade their scouts.

They didn't have to wait long to find out, as without warning, all the ground within the headquarters turned into lava. People screamed in pain, and dozens died within seconds. Sean himself hissed in pain, but with his ability, he could resist the damage as he steadied himself and joined others scrambling on top of the mechs in the area.

The UFO wasn't done yet as it started dropping dozens of fusioncrack bombs. They were prepared and started shooting the bombs out of mid-air, but still some made contact, including one near Sean that blasted the mech off balance and killed several of his allies. Again, his ability resisted the corrupting lightning, and he felt only a small crack in his defenses.

Fusioncrack zombies rose from the fallen, but after only a few moments of chaotic battle, they were put down. The UFO mysteriously had disappeared during the chaos and was nowhere to be seen.

A hearty cheer went up, but Sean had a bad feeling. The lava was cooling quickly, and the base was damaged, but mostly intact. Why had the UFO run…? He inspected one of the blast sights where a fusioncrack bomb had landed, but saw nothing out of place inside the small crater. Standing at its center, he considered that he was just overthinking it, but immediately after the crater exploded for a second time directly on top of him and sent him flying.

This time, his ability failed him, and he was heavily injured, but still alive.

You have been infected!

Infection quality " ̷̰̘̮̲̺̗͉̗̯͎͓̖̎͂̾̓̈́͊̀͋͘͠͠s̶͎̳̞͚̙̄͆̾̅̍͒̓͑͌̚̕͘͝ư̴͙͔̟̜̘̱̏̽̇̎͌̾̈́̏̈́͆͘͝p̷͓̬̤̠̱͚̖͕̩͌͑̐̏̌̈́̑̐̅̄e̶͉̘̮̞͊̍̏̏̋̾̀̎͜͝r̴̢͓̦̳̺̽̀̿͂̎̇̓͋̎̇͘-̸͓̯̙̗̟̠̫̖̙̅͛̒̄̏́̿̈́̅̓͜c̸̰͓̬͉͕̀̈́̒̇̽̚͝r̶̛̦͙̟͖͚̜̞̝̔̋̅̓̑͂̈́̌̏̽a̸̱̯̱̰̰͉͎̙̿͌͌̐͂z̶̢̛̖͕̼̬͚̯̏̈́́͒͂͛͝ÿ̴̜͖̝̞̖͙̠̹̬̫́́͌̐̅̓͗͘-̷͎̘̳͓̃̓̿̏͌̎͐̈́̐̚̕ư̶̞͉̼͊̏̎̇̽́͛͋͛̕͜͝l̷̦̗̖̼̟̳̜̩̫̍͛̈́̓͑̒̈́̓̍͒͐̓t̸̛͓͕̼̩͚̠̰̋̐̓͐̄̅͑͐͐̈́̐á̸̤̩̹̼̹͐̿̾͘͠-̴̘̠͓̞̝̺͚̮͔̓̅́͒̓̍̚͝͠m̸̖̲͕̠̋̿͗̾̎̇͒͌͠e̸͉̮̼̤̎̐̄͋̽̋̾͐̕͠g̸̢̩͉̤̫͛̾̓̿̌̅̋͌̾̈́͝a̸̛͈̺̥̐͋͗́̕-̵͎͍̮͕̋͐̄̏͐̓͋̈́͘i̶̛̳͇͍͕̳̻̓̅͆̇̀̓͝n̶̬̺̖͙͍̈́̓͗͆͂͊͆͛͛͌s̷̖͈͙̖͉̈́̈́̾͗͌͂͂̓͠a̵̦̮̲̥̺͛̾͆͂̑͝n̷̛̼͎̳̠̼̔̇̋̑̀͋ë̷̠̲̙̟́̆͒̄̓̇-̸̩̦̙̯̠̰͇̗̞̓͋͛̐̋̽͘͝͝ͅi̶̛͎͇͉͚̺̓̈́̈́͛̇̾̒̑̑͝͝m̸̛̟̳̻̳̈́̋̀̋̓͂̐̓̍p̵͓͇̪̠̯̈́̓͐̑̽̈́̏͌̕͝ó̴̘͚͍͕͂̾̀̈́̇̎̅͒͋̚͜s̵̜̪̠̜̫̳͓̘̺̏͗͐͌͌͒̎̈́̍͝s̸̤̝̱̠̉̓́̏͛̎̒͘i̶̘͓͖̥̺̜̒́͊̆̈́͒͂ͅb̶͉͍̱͕̙͇͎̞̏̈́̓͌͐̔͌͠͝l̷̛͓̝̙̟̍͗̒̔̋͐͝͝é̴̲̠̤̘͇͎̜͙̞͆̈́̆̀͆̄͋͘̕͠-̵̪̝̙̺̹̳̳͕̒͗̓̾͊̓̚h̶̠̮̺͎̦̜̼͙͉̐̑͆̽̐͒̓̅͊͋͆͘ȁ̷̛̳̲̙͔̫̱̩͗̅̇̇͑͘ċ̶̳̹̥́̄̅͛͋͝͝k̷̜̗͚̯̤̙̙͍͂̑̍͊̐̈́̀͝ẻ̶̘̯̙̫̝̞̺̲͗͌̽̋̈́͘r̴̛̯̠͎̼͓̅̑́͗͛̐͘͝͠-̴̛̬̹̺̦̪͚̙̟̇́̋̽͊̒̈́̕͘͝͠b̵̯͖͙͇̪̀͐̇͋̆̒̽͛̅̕͝r̷̫̰̞̹̰̘͈̬̄͛͌͑͛̽͂̚̕͘͝o̷̼͕̠̯̞̟̜͋͆́͐̒́̏͆̅͝͝k̴̥͓̟͕͉̩͚̽͗͐̐͂́̓̄̈́͗̕ĕ̶͈͇̳͎̪͍̠͇̽̈́͌͂́̓͛̍̇̄̚n̴̯̙̲͚̬̖̝̹̪̿͊̇̈́̽̇͂̔̈́̈́-̶̞̞͕̙̌̽̐͌́̈́̍̇͑̚͝ȑ̸̞̤͈͚͒̐̒̅̐̒͋̅͝ä̵̰͈̯͈́͆̀͆͋̋̓͂̿͊̕ř̵̞̟̝̥̱̃̈́̎̍͊͝ẽ̴̘̫͚̖̩̤̥̹̄͛͐͊̓̓̾͘͠ͅ"

You are level 2, you have one second to apply an antidote.

Disoriented and in pain, he was startled as the cooling lava reignited and the whole headquarters started burning once again.

Infection complete~ You have been eliminated~

Switching perspective~...

***

Kamdyn squeezed the trigger and shot out a high-powered round that plowed its way through dozens of the zombie iguanas. He'd been lucky enough to be assigned one of the advanced sniper mechs, but at the moment, he really wished he had one of the artillery models instead. From literal reports and the feeling the hymn of unification was giving him, he knew that they were being attacked on all sides. The flamingo with diarrhea from hell, the deathknight with his hell band that disrupted the hymn wherever he went, the abomination of a UFO that generated endless explosions and lava… Those were all going on simultaneously, but the true threat was honestly the iguanas!

"How many more of these fucking things are there!?"

Wherever the lich was, it was coordinating an endless tide of iguanas on multiple headquarters simultaneously, with occasional support from leftover special zombies. There were normal zombies from infected NPCs and fallen actors, but the vast majority of the attackers were iguanas! The mutated lizards had all sorts of annoying abilities that they were well familiar with from earlier in the event, when the quarantine wall was still there, but… Knowing the threat and actually fighting it were two different things!

He'd been shooting for hours, and there was no end in sight. The iguanas couldn't easily overcome their defenses, but little by little, they were being worn down. Several headquarters had been abandoned altogether, and the mechs had been retreating further and further back as protagonists scrambled to isolate the threats and just hold on for a little longer and let the event end.

With an explosion, one of the beachball-shaped iguanas detonated on a nearby wall, and a large gap appeared in the defenses. He felt the hymn shift and shivered. They were to retreat… with the new hole, they could hold on a bit longer, but too many would die. With an angry yell, he fired another shot and started coordinating with the other mechs to clear a path while his other allies used event items to direct the NPCs located in the bunker below. No matter how many headquarters fell, a zone wasn't considered lost until the NPCs died, so they had to survive at all costs.

Switching perspectives~...

***

Nissa looked down at the horde in confusion. For some reason, there were 25,000 enhanced fusioncrack zombies just milling about aimlessly. Where had they come from? There was a giant crater, so obviously something had happened, but beyond that, she had no idea.

Under no circumstances, conditions, or pretenses shall any undead operative attempt to locate, retrieve, reconstruct, reclaim, or otherwise engage in actions interpreted as the recovery of its own previously departed soul, spirit, animating essence, or metaphysical core, whether partial, whole, symbolic, metaphorical, or contractual in nature.

All undead units are to be synchronized, harmonized, and otherwise brought into strategic alignment for the express purpose of facilitating coordinated tactical maneuvers.

Said coordinated maneuvers are to be exclusively directed toward the incapacitation, neutralization, or outright obliteration of designated hostile entities, hereafter referred to as "the protagonists."

At no point during said operations shall collateral damage extend to, encompass, or in any way negatively impact establishments engaged in the preparation, service, or sale of comestibles. Specifically, but not limited to, restaurants, taverns, eateries, or related dining facilities.

Parallel to offensive objectives, all operatives shall prioritize the identification, location, and secure acquisition of comestibles of demonstrably superior quality, hereafter defined as "high-quality food."

Upon acquisition, said high-quality food must be preserved, transported, and delivered in an intact, uncontaminated, and aesthetically pleasing state, ensuring no structural compromise, no external pollution, and no reduction of its gustatory integrity.

Her current set of commands flickered through her mind. Her deathknight had thoroughly outwitted her and taken possession of her soul, but… His current set of commands was… Well, stupid was treating it kindly. The level of detail and complexity was suitable for a demonic contract, but when it came to mind-control, the simpler the better. As a result of his blunder, his geas was incredibly watered down compared to Rosalina's, and with sheer force of will, she could ignore it or, at the very least, reinterpret it to suit her.

The issue was that she didn't know what to do with her fragile autonomy! If she acted against him, she was sure he'd update the geas. So she'd been lying low and pretending to be obedient and doing everything he asked.

She'd sent multiple shipments of food, diligently sent the undead to attack from all sides, and even transformed a group of undead into a hell orchestra with that seemingly useless spell. All of this was to bide her time, but… she still didn't know what she should be doing!

She'd completely failed to portray the powerful and confident lich she'd been assigned, and she was dreadfully worried that her evaluation this time was going to send her straight to hiatus!

Calming herself, she sent the fusioncrack horde running off in a random direction with attack orders… the geas twinged at her that there might be restaurants in that direction, but she crushed the thought.

She'd followed her deathknight's plan to escape Rosalina, to reverse the situation, maybe she needed to take an even wilder gambit!

Switching perspective~...

***

LEO's voice had begun giving updates in real-time every time a zone fell.

"Uh oh, there goes zone 76! Write another one down for the iguana horde!"

"Right behind it, the flamingo just finished burning everyone in zone 54 alive! Does anyone know if she realizes that infecting NPCs is much more effective than turning them into ashes? No? Okay then…"

***

"I don't even know how to classify what's going on in zone 47, it's still alive technically, but the whole thing is covered with perpetually respawning bombs and lava! Either way, the UFO is really tanking the housing market!"

**"

"Did someone ask for an encore? Your favorite death metal band, Deathknights and Iguanas, just came out with another hit single! And by that I mean they destroyed zone 58."

Rosalina grit her teeth after another announcement. Two hours were left in the event, and they'd lost five zones, if they lost another four, they would lose…

Many mechs and troops had retreated from fallen zones, so the remaining headquarters were even more heavily defended, but against the flamingo and UFO defenders almost seemed useless. The deathknight's band was annoying as well, as it cancelled out the hymn of unity wherever it went, leaving…

Sighing, she looked around at the think tank and saw only sour expressions. Linked as they were through the hymn, they could sense nobody had a brilliant idea, and they were facing a massive crisis…

All eyes turned to the door, sensing a teammate needed them.

A woman entered, and she looked nervous, "Umm, the dragon lich is here…"

Everyone stood, and chairs were dropped chaotically as Rosalina questioned, "We're under attack!?" She didn't sense any crisis from the hymn…

The woman shook her head, "Umm… no, it says it wants to talk to you."

***

Rosalina eyed the giant skeletal dragon she'd resurrected straight from hell. The jury was still out on whether that had been a mistake… it had eliminated the vast majority of antagonists, but was now the driving force behind the bulk of the undead attacking.

It spoke its booming voice and hurting the ears of the many nervous actors along the wall.

"Rosalina! You've hidden from me too long! Your hubris was too great, thinking you could control me! Your people now pay for your pride as they fall only to rise again in my ranks!"

Rosalina sighed. She'd only been in one scenario, but this lich was just like the annoying NPCs in that one. She much preferred dealing with actors who recognized this whole thing was a game with high stakes rather than an actual zombie apocalypse…

"Yes, yes, I'm very sorry about the whole bringing you back from the dead and making you do my bidding. But somehow you're free now, and you'd be dead if not for me, so how about we call it even and you go make a throne of bones somewhere else?"

The lich stared at her, its empty eyes pulsing with energy, before it responded in a quieter voice, almost sounding uncertain.

"I am not free! Alas, I have been enslaved to another! Destroy my new master and I shall spare your miserable lives!"

Rosalina wrinkled her brows, not expecting the twist, not missing the opportunity, she asked, "Who is your master?"

The lich averted its gaze, and its voice almost sounded slightly embarrassed as it roared, "Jasper! My traitorous deathknight!"

Rosalina paused. She'd expected an antagonist, not the deathknight… well, maybe the deathknight was an antagonist that somehow retained its will…

Taking a breath, Rosalina said, "The deathknight has too many undead with it and with its overpowered armor, it is difficult to assassinate-" the lich's eyes flared menacingly and Rosalina quickly finished, "But! We might have a way to help each other… whatever hold the deathknight has over you seems incomplete, if another mental effect was added, it might cancel it out."

The lich growled, shaking its head, "I will not trade for a new master a second time!"

Rosalina grinned wickedly and held out her hand, "Not a master servant relationship this time… we'd be unified as teammates!"

The lich stared for a few seconds before extending a giant claw to shake Rosalina's small hand as a new voice joined the choir.

Switching perspectives~...

***

Gen was glistening. Her feathers, especially the bedazzled ones, were sparkling in the sunlight for the simple reason that she was absolutely soaked in sweat.

Between her poor cardio, protagonists trying to assassinate her, and shooting literal hellfire out of her butt for hours, she was exhausted. Particularly that last one… in typical LEO fashion, the experience was akin to extremely spicy diarrhea…

Sighing, she thought back to LEO's announcements. Evidently, the UFO was still alive, and somehow Jasper had gotten the lich to cooperate, so things were just barely doing well enough…

They only had thirty minutes left, but if they destroyed one more zone, they'd win!

She had no exact insight, though, and she was now hearing the first signs of an ally in ages. Death metal was playing in the distance.

Rocketing forward, she quickly located Jasper and his brethren gathered around a pile of food, having a celebratory feast next to the ruins of a headquarters. Around them, zombies and skeletons were dancing and playing painfully loud music.

Hesitantly, she landed near Jasper, and he turned to look at her, and she got the disconcerting experience of staring at her own reanimated corpse.

"Gen."

"Jasper."

"Good job, wrangling the lich. You'll have to tell me how you did it later…"

Jasper nodded, "I would say good job as well, but I've failed to find any other antagonists, and when the UFO encountered our forces, it ignored them altogether rather than cooperating… could perhaps all this be your fault?"

Gen averted her gaze, "Umm, well, they're not all dead… there's a couple left somewhere…" she pointed up, "Morna is up there bodyguarding me."

Jasper took a bite, the food falling through his chest cavity as he eyed the sky, "Lovely…"

Aware of the encroaching time limit, Gen pressed her fingers together, "So I was about to fly to the next headquarters. A couple more and I think we will win the event."

Jasper took a final look at the pile of collected food. "Very well, let's finish this."

With a wave of his hand, the special zombies and band of undead moved out. As they walked, Gen spoke, "I'll catch you up real quick. I can shoot inferno explosions now. I basically have enough sin to decimate any headquarters, but the protagonists aren't stupid, so I've been flying around for a while dodging hit squads. If you and your friends can protect me long enough to get close to the headquarters, I can fry the whole place and close out this event!"

Jasper glanced at her, "While I do not understand how your many sins are relevant, I can at least deal with whatever paltry forces try to slow our march forward. My own band likely could destroy the headquarters in time as well, but it is unlikely that we could do it fast enough to finish before our time limit elapses."

Feeling confident, they marched forward at a quick pace, and soon the headquarters was in sight. Gen started feeling a degree of trepidation as they drew closer and closer. Shouldn't someone be trying to stop them? No opponents appeared, and they were almost in range for Gen to nuke the whole place when the dragon lich rose from behind the headquarters wall and started rushing toward them.

Gen looked at Jasper and questioned, "Umm, I told you to tell me how you dealt with the lich later, but maybe you could tell me now because it doesn't look happy."

Jasper paused, staring at the giant dragon as he considered, "She appears to have been swept up in the protagonist's perverted version of artificial cooperation."

Gen didn't know what to reply, and the lich crashed down in front of them, its eyes blazing with power as it yelled, "Welcome, my minion! You'll find things aren't the same as they were before! Just try and command me now!"

Jasper stared at the lich and shook his head, "I would rather not. You don't strike me as foolish enough to make such a statement unless you had a contingency, and as such, I have no desire to fail in the attempt."

The lich snorted, seeming annoyed at the rebuke. "Your quips won't help you now! Return to me!"

The glowing energy in Jasper's chest cavity flickered, and dozens of runes flared before shattering and releasing the glowing energy to fly straight at the lich.

The lich cackled and ordered, "Now, my pawn, I'll have my revenge! To start, I command you to kill your little pet!"

Jasper stared at the lich for a moment and turned to Gen before looking at the lich again, "I decline."

The dragon sputtered, "How do you resist my command!?"

Jasper shrugged, "I wouldn't attack one of my brethren."

To the side, Gen felt confusion and couldn't help but exclaim, "Wait! You mean me!? Jasper, that's so sweet! I thought you thought of me as a pet or something."

Jasper didn't look at her as he said, "Pets can be family too."

The lich's eyes surged with rage as it was ignored, "Ridiculous! If you will not obey, then die!"

With a surge of dark miasma, Jasper collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut as the energy animating him rushed back to the lich. Gen grimaced as the six special fusioncrack zombies all began to struggle under the lich's compulsion. The hundreds of basic undead didn't resist as they all turned to target her.

The lich laughed evilly, "Time to die, you worm! First, you then those pesky protagonists I will rul--"

The dragon's laughter was cut off as an even more insane laughter rushed in from above. Morna crashed boot-first into the lich's head and smashed it into the ground. Simultaneously, Gen activated her butthole spinning and unleashing hellfire in every direction. The hordes of undead were turned to ash and destroyed the fusioncrack special zombies before the lich could fully control them.

The lich roared in fury as it rose up, pushing Morna off its head. Its skull was fractured from the attack. Morna was still laughing even as black runes spread from her boots and engulfed her body, killing her instantly.

The lich scowled at its destroyed army, "I do not need minions to kill the likes of you!"

A sniper shot arced from behind and smashed into the lich's flank. Gen's eyes glanced to the nearby headquarters and saw hundreds of mechs forming up as they targeted the lich. Gen couldn't help but laugh.

"Maybe next time, wait until you finish your first target before announcing your inevitable betrayal!"

The lich's gaze was murderous as it said, "This is nothing, they will all fall beneath my power! My true army is here!"

The ground shook as undead surged in from every direction. Gen's gaze darkened as she saw hundreds of thousands of undead iguanas, but also the huge amount of fusioncrack zombies she'd made previously.

The lich focused on Gen and gathered all of its power as it focused a massive lance of pure necrotic energy and shot it straight at her.

Not hesitating, Gen activated her receipt roll and summoned Susan directly in the projectile's path. The receipt roll had emptied out before, but after destroying so many headquarters, there were now thousands of new names from murdered protagonists. Not hesitating, Gen activated the full list and was immediately surrounded on all sides by disoriented protagonists.

Susan took the massive attack directly in the face, and her powerful forcefield equipment shattered immediately as she went flying back. Gen ignored her, hoping to get lost in the chaos as protagonists and undead started fighting all around her, and the lich howled in rage, slaughtering everyone near it.

Susan had quickly oriented herself and was summoning giant meteors and going toe-to-toe with the lich directly.

The lich looked to be losing, but its eyes blazed again, and Gen grimaced as from the distance the UFO of all things rushed into the area, immediately transforming the area as everything nearby turned to lava.

Screaming and dying protagonists on all sides Gen checked her sin meter and saw she still had 10,000 sin which would be enough to destroy the final headquarters and whatever NPCs were there as long as she could reach it.

Rocketing forward, she dodged what she could and relied on her floofy feathers to block the majority of the attacks until the defenders on the wall were in sight. Front and center was none other than Rosalina herself.

Not having any more time to waste, Gen burned the final name on her receipt paper and returned Solomon to the battlefield. From years of experience, he didn't hesitate as he oriented himself immediately and blasted the defending mechs with high-powered laser vision.

Rosalina herself barely managed to escape by leaping off the wall and landing at Gen's feet. Gen didn't spare her a glance as she rotated and spent the needed contribution points to activate Wallet Warrior and also spent all her remaining sin to burn the headquarters and everything beneath it with an incredible inferno.

The resulting explosion was cataclysmic, and a giant crater was formed, once again killing all the defenders and presumably whatever NPCs were bunkered below.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked at Rosalina, who had just barely escaped the blast radius and was smiling…

Sensing something was wrong, Gen faced her, "What did you do?"

Rosalina casually pulled out her phone, "You don't win by destroying headquarters. I evacuated all the NPCs ahead of time, so it was meaningless!"

Rosalina exploded as Solomon bathed her in laser vision. Gen turned to him in shock, and he shrugged, "Might as well get some contribution points with the last couple of seconds…"

Gen sighed and turned to watch the mayhem as Susan and the lich launched one decimating attack after another at each other, and their minions madly fought beneath them. Before she could join in, however, everyone froze, and obnoxious clapping was heard from above.

LEO's voice boomed over the battlefield! "BZZZZZZ time's up, kiddos! It was close, very close, but close only counts in horseshoes and chemical warfare! So with 21 zones intact, protagonists win!"

Gen felt her heart sink… it had been so close.

LEO kept going without a care, "I'd give a detailed analysis, but nobody is even listening at this point. I know what you all want! Here's the leaderboard and all your reward polls! I was up all night calculating these, so I'll take no disagreements!"

Top Ten - Superstars!

Rosalina - Protagonist

Gen - Antagonist

Hon - Antagonist

Susan - Protagonist

Meat Sack Guy - Antagonist

Francine - Antagonist

Irvine - Protagonist

Terry - Antagonist

G2n - Antagonist

Solomon - Antagonist

Gen felt LEO's voice continue in her mind as she got her personal message. "Gen Gen Gen… Well, you did a terrible job and a great job simultaneously. I almost just cancelled everything out and pretended you weren't here, but… your summon technically contributes to you, so I suppose I'll give you some first-class rewards!"

900 base emmys received!

9 x 34 viewers = 306 bonus emmys received!

Switching perspective~...

***

You have been eliminated~!

Rosalina reappeared in her dilapidated bar. Her heart was beating fast, had it been enough had she done it? A second later, LEO's speech began, and she saw the leaderboard and breathed a sigh of relief.

LEO's voice spoke in her mind, "Rosalina, despite having no viewers, I hope this will be a growing experience for you and you'll stop being a detriment to my reality! Unless Irvine kills you first… Well, hopefully these first-class rewards will help!"

1000 base emmys received!

10 x 0 viewers = 0 bonus emmys received!

(Please read the whole author's note for some important annoucements!)