The Goddess herself did not lead the expedition to seize Tahoe. Such matters were, after all, beneath a divine figure like herself. No, she had sent her one of her generals to conquer the wretched city in her stead. Like all of those who gained such a powerful position among the Cult of Elysium, this general was a fanatic of the highest order.
The man had even renamed himself in Latin, as was common among those who lived within the Fields of Elysium. Now, going by the name of Carolus, he was clad in white armor with a gilded trimming. In one hand, he carried a large tower shield of a similar aesthetic, and in the other, he wielded a flanged mace of considerable size and presence.
The man himself had blonde hair, blue eyes, and skin as white as snow. When he gazed upon the ruins of Tahoe, which had been lit aflame in the conflict between Gravestone and Darren's horde, he saw what appeared to be 2,500 men opposing him.
Gravestone's forces were so far away, that Carolus could not see the concealed Ghoulish features beneath the armor of Zane's horde, and naturally mistook this as a force made up entirely of awakened survivors.
Normally, in a battle against a Tier I Horde King, the living would muster a group of six level 25 awakened, all of which were equipped with armor and weapons of a similar quality. And this alone would be enough to defeat a Tier I Horde King.
After all, a level 25 awakened, while weaker on an individual basis than the Tier I Horde King it would be fighting, was significantly more powerful than any undead between the Tiers of I – V. And thus even a horde of 50,000 Undead like the one in Tahoe would pose only minor difficulties if the party was not filled with incompetent fools.
But with 500 awakened, all of which were significantly more powerful than the majority of undead in Darren's Horde, along with the 2,000 Tier III Undead Ghouls, which Zane employed. The battle was nothing short of a one sided massacre. If anything, Zane may have lost a half a dozen of his forces at most.
And those were members of his horde, rather than the awakened who served him. Sure a few awakened were wounded in the conflict, but with Angelica nearby so long as they still had a heartbeat, they could be quickly cured of any injury sustained in battle.
Because of this, despite just fighting a battle, Zane's army was roughly half the size of the one which Elysium sent to seize Tahoe. This was naturally shocking to Carolus, who did not expect such a petty and minor settlement to be able to field such extensive numbers.
Even then, the Crusaders of Elysium were twice as many as Zane's forces, and were of equal to, if not superior, quality. Thus, he had great confidence in obtaining victory, even if there would be significant casualties.
In an organized battle, decapitating the enemy general was a good way to cause confusion and disorder among his army. And Zane's goal was exactly this. After all, his horde could very well maintain a front line against the enemy on their own.
Zane also had the means to silently issue commands among his horde via his horde management system. Thus, Zane silently nodded towards the girls, who were left by his side with a grave expression on his face, as he gave them the order to move out.
"Alright... Let's do this!"
With that said, Zane and the girls ran off, hugging the tree line along with the Guerillas, while searching for the location of the Enemy general, who hid among the ranks of his own soldiers.
Though they had just won the battle to claim Tahoe from the undead, a second battle was about to begin, one that was far more bloody for the forces of humanity, both of which opposed one another for the sake of power and influence.
---
While the battle between the Forces of Gravestone and the Crusaders of Elysium was about to begin, Maya sat alone on the porch of the Governor's mansion for which the bunker she resided in was built beneath. There was an exasperated expression on her adorable little face while she reflected on what was happening only a few dozen miles away.
Even while having been driven to the point of near extinction by an enemy which saw to tear the flesh from their bones. Humanity simply could not band together, and instead chose to fight and kill one another for the most asinine of reasons.
With this in mind, Maya looked over towards mountains, where beyond their peaks Lake Tahoe lie, and simply sighed before taking a sip from her sippy cup full of milk. All while expressing her exhaustion aloud in a voice that was filled with wisdom beyond her years.
"Humans are such petty and stupid creatures...."