The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 111

Chapter 111 – Aftermath

“Mistress, you’re alive!”

I chuckled as Naya and Ya rushed up to me. The rest of the contingent was somewhat more reserved in getting off the plane, but they were also heading my way. Patting my disciples on the head, I said, “I’m fairly certain I haven’t been alive for forty years, Naya. But I said before that it would take more than a mere blast to destroy me. However, as you can see, I am not in the best shape.”

That much was true. The ritual array shielded me, and my Magelords, from the worst of the blast. Meaning that we weren’t instantly annihilated by the untamed energies of the seal. However, we were all battered and broken by the shockwaves that came after. Oh, my minions and I all survived, but there was a great deal of difference between ‘survived’ and ‘unharmed’.

My Magelords were crushed, most of their bones splintered and broken. Not enough to destroy them, but enough that they would be ineffective in combat. Thankfully, their gear could repair itself from the ambient mana, and I knew the spells to ‘heal’ undead. They were already recovered, physically, and resting within my pocket dimension as their mana levels and equipment recovered.

As for myself? I’d taken the brunt of the blast, being the closest, and using my magic to reinforce the circle’s shield. My armor was caved in upon itself, though the metal could be seen to slowly bend back into its proper shape as it absorbed the ambient mana. Despite my reinforcement and augmentation, my bones were blackened, and many were broken. If my skeleton had been in a human frame, then the damage to my bones alone would mean I’d likely never walk again. Fortunately, I was built of sterner stuff.

True, I actually could not walk, at the moment, which is why I was sitting in a wheelchair that originally belonged to a demoness who had survived their first encounter with my army by sacrificing her legs. The second time my army caught her, she did not escape, and I kept the chair, since it was foolish to waste good craftsmanship. While I hadn’t had cause to use it between that day and this, it only served to vindicate my practice of hoarding things that may prove useful for the future.

Koyama was the next to reach me, with Chihomi and Macedo behind him. The ‘refugee’ rebels were still by the plane, under watch by the spectres in their midst. Koyama nodded as he stepped up next to Naya. “With respect, your Majesty, you look like you’ve seen better days.”

“Hah!” I laughed, bitterly. “Indeed, I have. But also worse, Koyama. This may be the worst wounds I’ve suffered in over thirty years, but it is not the first time I’ve been laid low by forces beyond my control. Do not worry. As a lich, my body will repair itself, over time.”

Macedo cleared his throat. “What happened, your Majesty? Your disciples said that the ritual failed?”

I glanced at Ya, and she nodded. “We could sense the flows of magic, like you taught us, even as we flew away. That’s how we recognized the danger, and were able to shield the plane in time.”

“Well done, the both of you. For students who did not even know how to draw in mana at the start, you have already come far. You used a ritual barrier, I assume? How was the backlash?”

“It took a lot out of us, Mistress,” Naya said. “But the spectres helped us power the barrier, so it held, and the plane was undamaged, though everyone was shaken up.”

“Very good. Naya, when we’re done with this, please contact Lilah, and see if her contacts have anyone local that might sign on to be copilot for the duration of this mess. Our pilot cannot go on being the sole person flying, and I’m afraid we will not be able to wait until I can either find a suitable teacher to teach me how to operate a plane, or find a team willing to embrace undeath to fly for me permanently.”

“Of course, Mistress.”

I sighed, and then looked back to Macedo. “Unfortunately, it is as they said. The ritual failed. The volunteers were brave, but sometimes courage is not enough. They were willing to give their all, but there are times when even that does not suffice.

“A momentary spike in pain caused their concentration to falter. Young Moniz felt fear in that moment. Nagai attempted to help her, but he was too forceful, and she recoiled. By then, there was no stopping the blast.

“When the light of annihilation faded, my minions and I were all that was left, falling through the air as we descended through the mushroom cloud kicked up by the blast. We drew in what energy we could, beginning the process of repairing our bodies and halting our fall, but there was nothing we could do beyond that. At last, we were able to get clear of the clouds, and see the devastation below.”

“How bad was it?”

“The central islands of the chain are gone. Quite literally, they no longer rise above the waves. You will not find any survivors from those islands, unless they have the luck of the gods. The other islands will have suffered terrible devastation, but they were not wiped from the map, as the central islands were. Your government will need to send aid immediately if there are to be any survivors.”

Macedo nodded his head. “I already spoke with command. Aid is already being prepared. Though I will confer with them, so they know where to focus their efforts.”

“And Macedo?” He raised an eyebrow at my tone, which was a bit harsher than I normally used with officials who hadn’t done anything to me. “I will brook no disparagement, official or otherwise, of Miss Moniz. She failed the trial, one that she was ill prepared for, but I will not have her sacrifice and courage be lessened by anyone speaking ill of her. So says the Lich Queen.”

Macedo nodded. “Message received loud and clear. I will ensure that is passed along.”

“What now, Akagawa-sama?” Chihomi asked, looking me in the eye.

I sighed, and said, “My initial plan was to go from here, to settle the Seal of Earth, since, of the remaining four seals, that is the one I am most worried of having the guardian escape. But that seal is located by a city in Chile. I think it best to give the government there more time to find a suitable candidate.

“Death is closest, and the seal I am least worried about, but suffers the same problem, if not worse. There’s not only the issue of the seal being located under one of the most universally recognized cultural landmarks in the world, but it is also in a position where a blast would destroy most of Egypt’s agricultural base, causing untold devastation beyond even the initial blast. If needs be, I can absorb that seal myself, but otherwise, a volunteer that is either undead, or willing to become undead, will need to be found.”

Koyama frowned. “Why undead, your Majesty?”

“I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that the power of the seal changes those who are touched by it into some creature representative of the element. For Death, this means that they would turn into some kind of undead creature, if they were not already. However, when you become an undead, it is not a seamless process. Even when done purposefully, as with the transformation into a lich, such things are not instantaneous. There is a moment where you are simply dead, before becoming undead.”

Naya looked at me. “And that moment would cause the ritual to fail. Right, Mistress?”

“Correct. Therefore, the sacrifice must either be undead already, or be willing to be killed and raised into undeath. An undead with Death as their element could then undergo the ritual with the minimum of risk.”

“And that kind of volunteer is going to be even harder to find than before,” Koyama nodded. “Especially after what we just witnessed. But you could complete the ritual yourself?”

“Oh, yes. I am an Archmage for a reason, after all. With Death, at least, I can say with certainty that there is less than a one percent chance of failure in the ritual, though I understand why some people may not enjoy the thought of my powers being multiplied as they likely would be.”

“So, Mistress, where will we head next?”

“The Seal of Light, in the Kerguelen Islands. It is a French territory, so we’ll need to apprise them of our itinerary. Thankfully, the area is barely habited, so, even if the ritual fails, there’s no worry of mass casualties.”

Macedo motioned for my attention. When I turned to look at him, he asked, “Speaking of casualties, is there anything that you could do for those who were lost?”

Sighing deeply, I said, “Capitão, if it were but one or two, or even a few dozen souls who had perished, and their bodies were still intact? There may well be something that I could do for them, much like how there is a span when medical science can return life to someone who is clinically dead. But with this many? And many with their bodies destroyed beyond recovery?”

I shook my head slowly. “As we remarked before, there are things that are even beyond my power. With this many souls struck dead, in such a large radius, and with so few still having bodies to return to? There are only two things I could do. Neither of which would help the remaining people of the Azores.”

Macedo nodded grimly. “I thought as much, but my superiors would not understand if I had not asked. For their education, then, what are the two things that you could do, in a situation like this one?”

“First, I could try and collect the souls, and use them to fuel a ritual of some sort. They could also be used in more powerful enchantments, or in the creation of some self-aware constructs. There are also some forms of undead that feed on souls, using them to power their abilities. Naturally, this would anger a great many people, for no true gain for me, since it is not like I have a great deal of people who are capable of challenging my power.”

Macedo grimaced. “Yes, I can say with some certainty that would make you very unpopular with the Portuguese people.”

“Indeed. The second thing I could do, is work on aspecting the mana of the area. While the Wellspring of Wind mana will obviously give the area more of a wind aspect, over time, so much death, so close together, would leave a stain, for want of a better word, upon the local mana. I could cause that stain to set, which would see a rise in naturally occurring undead in the area, or I could cause it to disperse, to make certain that you do not have vengeful spirits and the like arising from the waters. That, however, is not something that can be done overnight.”

“So, something like cleaning up after an oil tanker that hits a rock and releases its cargo upon the sea?”

“Yes, essentially. Fortunately, this is something that does not need my personal attention. Even with all this death, it will still be months, if not years, before the first undead start to naturally rise, though young mages will find it far easier to practice with Death mana there, until it is cleaned up. At any rate, when I return to Japan, I can work with Phantomline to create siphons that can be mass produced, which will allow your government to prevent the mana from being unnaturally aspected by Death.”

“Would these siphons only work on Death mana, your Majesty?”

I chuckled as Koyama interjected there. “These ones will, but the basic design can be used to clean up any manner of effects. Even toxic spills can be cleansed from ground water. I have not tested them against something like radiation leaks, or the fallout of a nuclear weapon, but it is likely the technology could be used there, as well.”

“That’s incredible!”

“And dangerous,” I added. “Part of what kept the nuclear powers from lighting off a full-blown war, back during the Cold War, was the threat of the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust, where the radiation and environmental damage would kill off what life remained. Make dealing with the fallout too easy, and that makes using those weapons easier. And while my army and I would survive a nuclear war quite well, I’m fond of some of you mortals, and would rather you didn’t kill yourselves off.”