"Earth!?"
"Yes. It seems the undead disaster had gone out of hand, and earthlings can no longer sustain themselves." Otiga continued, "Moreover, since they are a lower civilisation, they can't even contract any mercenaries for help."
"So they resorted to broadcasting on open channels," Ashton completed the sentence, "I should have resolved the problem before stepping into space."
Ashton punched a hole through the gate in anger. The Giholos should be enough to handle the undead; that's what he thought before leaving Earth. But now his hasty decision had bitten him in the ass.
Handling the undead wasn't that big of a threat on a galactic scale since most advanced weapons were proficient in those tasks. But for the people of the Earth, an undead outbreak was nothing less than a catastrophe. Ashton had seen the carnage it could cause with his own eyes.
However, the undead wasn't Ashton's only concern.
'Asking for help on an open channel could lead to unforeseen troubles.' Ashton thought, 'Not everyone roaming in space will have good intentions.'
[Not to mention, asking for help to deal with the undead is like announcing, "Hey! We are pathetically weak. Come rule over us! Thanks!"]
Otiga was still on the line, waiting for Ashton to decide. Although, she already knew what he was going to say next.
"It will take us months to reach Earth." Ashton mumbled, "Damn it- wait a minute! Yes! This could work!"
Astaroth knew what had gotten Ashton so excited. Months? Hell no, it would take mere seconds for Ashton to arrive on Earth. However, it would be a one-way trip, as he won't be able to reach the ship by himself.
"Otiga, I'll send you the coordinates of my ship. Collect the beast corpses from here and sell them at a reasonable price."
"And what about Earth?" She asked.
"I'll take care of it," Ashton replied and rushed out of the room.
The portal to the Eastern Palace was his way of reaching Earth. As Ashton could summon the portal to Eastern Palace from anywhere. However, it was a one-way route, and he could not use the same trick to get back on the ship.
"That's why I'll meet you on Earth," Ashton explained to his lieutenants, "After delivering the corpses to Otiga, make your way to Earth."
"Dimensional travel sounds fun," Leon mumbled.
"Not to mention, we'll get to see our Captain's beloved homeworld." Vimur chimed in, "I wonder what the girls look like there."
"This horndog..." Liahud shook his head, "I assume you are leaving straight away?"
Ashton nodded, "It's already been a few weeks since they sent the signal for help. The longer I wait, the longer it will take to clean the mess."
"Don't worry; I'll take care of Aegis in your absence." Vulcan grumpily muttered, "Go, handle your business and then we can talk about more important stuff."
"That takes care of everything," Ashton got up, "Ricochet, gather half of your men; you'll leave with Anna and me."
It was obvious that most of them wanted to come with him, but Ashton decided against it.
Earthlings may have seen a lot of weird things, but exposing them to a plethora of weirdos would be a bit too much, even for them. That's why Ashton decided it was better to take the humans first.
The remaining Ghosts will eventually get the chance to see Earth when they come to pick up Ashton. That said, saving his people wasn't the only reason Ashton wanted to visit Earth.
An entire country filled with undead should be more than enough to create a lich. So, visiting Earth was like hitting two birds with a stone.
***
Everyone got ready and gathered in the hangar in around ten minutes. Once everyone had been accounted for, Ashton opened the portal and jumped inside.
The journey only took seconds, yet it felt like hours had passed. Anna and Ashton had experienced dimensional travel quite a few times and thus did not feel lasting effects. Ricochet and his men, on the other hand, were occupied puking their guts out.
It had been a little over a year since Ashton had left Earth in search of power. His search was far from over, but he was happy to be back. No matter how short he was visiting.
"Let's get going."
***
At the same time, in the independent state of Livan. A fight was raging on. Despite having the blessing of advanced technology on her side, Avalina barely managed to push back the undead horde.
Countless independent states had already fallen before the mighty undead. The undead now ruled over 65% of Lycania, and asking for help from the other werewolf empires proved useless.
It almost felt as if the other empires were in on the conspiracy from the beginning.
"How's it looking?" Avalina asked Virgil, who silently shook his head, "That bad, huh..."
"There's too many of those bastards." Virgil had never sounded so defeated, "We are outnumbered thousand to one, to paint a picture. We'd have lost long ago if it had not been for the walls the Giholo constructed. But it seems this is as far as we can go."
Avalina's expression changed. Being a vampire, she could not go head-to-head with the undead. Werewolves and Giholos were the only ones who could stand the effects of [Corpsification Gas] to some extent and were leading on the battlefield.
"In the end, I couldn't fulfil my promise to you, Ashton." Avalina mumbled, "Prepare everyone, even vampires. This will be our last stance. If we're going to die, let's take those bastards with us."
Avalina's words filled everyone with anger towards the undead. No one was delusional enough to think they'll make it out of there. However, a moment later came a roaring sound from the city hall, stopping Avalina in her tracks.
"Who is using the portal?" She asked, but Virgil was as clueless as she was.
Fearing the worst, all of them rushed towards the city hall. Avalina thought the undead had somehow gained access to their portal system and were about to invade.
One after another, people riding wraith wolves appeared out of the portal. Judging from their weapons and armour, these people were most likely not from Earth.
Avalina stared at Shin'uk, the leader of the Giholo. But she didn't know the strangers either.
"Who are you? Reveal your identity!" Avalina yelled while maintaining a safe distance from the 'intruders'.
"I can't believe this," The leader of the men spoke before revealing his face, "Seriously, you call yourself my mother?"
Avalina's lips trembled with happiness at the sight of her son. Virgil was beyond shocked, and so were the rest of them. Their lord was back! Ashton was home!