The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 41

Chapter 41 – Arrival

One month to the day after my lectures in Seattle, a pair of cars drove up to the gates of my mountain retreat. This was not unexpected, since it was the day that my new apprentices were due to arrive, but I kept watch over the cars as they approached nonetheless. I knew that there were some idiots who would like nothing better than to try and slip inside my compound’s defenses in an attempt to avenge some of the unfortunate fools who attacked me in the past.

Using my magic, I could see that the car in front was new, an unmarked black sedan. It was a car chosen to be stylish enough that it would not look out of place in any but the most (or the least) affluent areas, and would blend in perfectly in any urban environment. Eminently forgettable.

The second car, on the other hand, was clearly a personal vehicle. It was a dark red color, near a maroon, and it had the nicks and scratches that one would expect of a car that was used by a normal person. Several bumper stickers adorned the car, mostly for different bands or animes that weren’t around before the awakening, though I did see one that said, ‘I <3 Hentai’, which made me laugh. Not many people would have been willing to display a sticker like that so openly before the Awakening, so it was good to see that one of my apprentices was unafraid enough to do so.

As the cars approached the outer wall, I sent a mental command to the undead at the gate. I could have opened them with a spell, but I did not get to show off too often, and I wasn’t going to deprive myself of the chance to reinforce my power to my apprentices. Slowly, the two zombified trolls in plate armor enchanted to ward off fire and holy magic pushed open the gate, and stood on either side of it with their massive clubs.

Those trolls were one of my best finds during the war. I’d killed them personally, at the Battle of Ydarine Pass, which is why their bodies were so intact. I ripped the souls out of them, and then used death magic to kill and reanimate them as zombies. Then, I’d enchanted their armor and weapons personally, to ensure that they would stand up to any punishment.

On the battlefield, those two had been cornerstones of my offense. Anywhere there was a shield wall that needed to be broken, or a fortification that needed to be shattered, I would send in those two, and it would be done, especially since the method of raising them preserved a corrupted version of their regeneration, meaning that it was very difficult to bring them down. Not even the priests of the Demon Lord’s army had been able to stop them for long.

In this world? Their size and strength would allow them to batter down even armored vehicles, and their clubs, with their spellbreaking enchantments, would destroy any magical defenses in their way. Anything short of artillery rounds wouldn’t even slow them down. And they were the least of the defenses guarding my sanctum.

A Death Knight upon a skeletal horse met the two cars at the gate, and guided them to the garage in the first circle where they could park. As she suspected, Dai Ya, the Chinese operative, was in the black car, while Aeko Naya, the Japanese girl, was in the red car. Both were dressed in formal clothes, and they had bags with them. They were both clearly nervous, being in a castle with so many powerful undead around them. I decided to have my Death Knight greet them.

“Come. The Lich Queen awaits you in her throne room. Leave the bags. Servants shall take them to your rooms.”

With that, the Death Knight turned, and his skeletal steed began walking the path paved in stone leading up to the inner ring of the honmaru. The two girls glanced at each other, took a breath, and dropped their bags, before following after the knight. Fortunately, it was not a terribly far walk, despite the fact that the gate in the ninomaru faced to the West, so that the rising sun would be in the face of any invaders, while the gate of the honmaru faced to the South to further confound any intruders.

Skeletal soldiers wearing the armor and livery of Risen Athelia stood a ceaseless guard over that second gate, and archers could be seen on both sets of walls, and at the tops of the towers. All wearing the same uniform, enchanted to clean and mend itself over time whenever it was damaged. I would not have my host in rags, unless those rags held meaning, like the tattered clothes of my Magelords.

A zombified servant, preserved to the point where he did not smell of decay, met the pair there, and bowed slightly. “The Queen awaits. Please, follow this Galeren, Her servant.” The servant turned, and moved with a fluidity that was unexpected of a zombie into the keep itself, leading them to the throne room.

My palace was decorated in a fusion style. The traditional Japanese stylings and architecture were mixed with trophies and artwork taken from the other world, and among those trophies was the throne I sat on now, in my true form as the Lich Queen. It was, after all, the throne I had sat upon in the other world.

Some would assume that a necromancer would have a throne made from the bones of their fallen enemies. In truth, many necromancers, drunk on their own power, went that route early in their careers. Some even managed to survive long enough to grow out of that phase.

For myself, I was not going to waste quality materials that could be used to fuel my army on a throne. As a necromancer, I could shape bone and infuse it with greater purpose. Bones became weapons and armor for my weaker troops. Sometimes, those bones would bond with their new wielder, and they would grow in power as their wielder did. That was too powerful an ability for me to simply ignore, especially when the bones cut as well as steel, under most conditions.

No, my throne was made of blackstone, a form of granite that had been infused with magic to the point where it turned black on black, instead of the typical grey on black, making it far stronger than normal granite. I kept the (visible) carvings simple. Skulls upon each of the armrests, and the symbol of Risen Athelia in mithril on the high back of the throne, just over my head.

My Seneschal, Galeren led the way into the throne room, and bowed, formally. The taking on of apprentices was a major thing in the other world, and some formal ceremony was required, to honor that. “My Queen, I present to you Dai Ya and Aeko Naya. They wish to become apprentices under your tutelage, should you allow it.”

“Let them approach.”

Galeren turned to the two girls, and said, “Her Royal Majesty, Queen Akagawa Kaori, First of Her Name, World Traveler, the Deathless, the Heroine of Death, Conquerer of Haerth and its Minions, Mistress of the Dead and Ruler of the Damned, Archlich and High Contractor of Murena, Agent of the Goddess of Death, Chainbreaker, Archmage of the Three Circles of Death, High Magus of the Athelian Spire, Destroyer of Athelia-That-Was, Demon’s Bane, Legend-crafter, Weaponmistress, She Who Wields Both Spell and Blade, the Lost Sleeper Returned, and Lich Queen of Risen Athelia bids you approach, and kneel, so that you may offer the Oaths of the Apprentice to your new Mistress.”

The one downside of formalities, of course, was that it meant I needed to list off my titles, as that enhanced the magic of a formal ceremony. Unfortunately, I had a lot of titles. Even earned a new one since I came back with that ‘Lost Sleeper Returned’ bit. If I was capable of feeling shame, I might be embarrassed at hearing that list. Fortunately, I was not.

Both the women approached, and knelt before the two pieces of paper I had placed on the floor, an appropriate distance from the throne. While I doubted either of them had been in a situation like this before, they did, at least, have enough cultural knowledge to know the proper way to kneel, which was encouraging. While I did not usually use formal ceremonies, or require bowing or titles and the like, if they were to be my apprentices, then their behavior would reflect upon me. And that meant I needed to ensure that they would not embarrass me.

On the paper in front of each of their faces were the words of the Apprentice’s Oaths. I’d sent them a copy before, to ensure that they knew what would be expected of them before they made the journey to my castle, but I knew mortal minds did not always remember everything exactly, especially in high stress situations, and, as part of a ceremonial magic, the Oath had to be perfect.

“Speak your oaths, so that I might hear your intent before Magick itself.”

Together, the women spoke the words that were written upon the page. As they spoke, a pressure grew. Magick was being invoked, on a primal level, and so power gathered from both of them, and the air around, waiting to be unleashed.

“I, [Name], hearby swear upon my Magick and my Life that I will in the future be faithful to my Mistress, never cause her harm, to keep her secrets, and will observe my homage to her completely against all persons in good faith and without deceit, until Death takes me past all Undeath, or my Mistress releases me.”

The air was howling with wind heard, but not felt. The drapes did not even twitch with the slightest breeze, but to every creature present, living or undead, it felt as though they were at the center of a mighty windstorm, a tornado of power whipping and whirling around them. And then I began to speak, and my own Magick was added to the mix.

“I, Akagawa Kaori, High Magus of the Athelian Spire, do in turn swear to aid and protect you as I would mine own blood, to teach you the ways of Magick, and to prepare you for the Trials of Initiation, that you might pass through, and plumb what depths of Magick as you might reach, until the day I release you, or Death takes you, past all forms of Undeath.”

The magic broke over the three of us like a wave. I was ready for it, for I had felt such things before. The two women, my young apprentices, however, had not been ready for it. There was no way to prepare for something like that, save by experiencing it once before.

It was good that they were kneeling, for the magic crushed them against the floor when my power was added to the ritual. They were both left gasping as the air was knocked from their lungs. But the pressure soon dropped away, as the Magick stabilized, and the link between us formed.

That was important, for that link not only made it so they could withstand proximity to my full power uncloaked without ill effect, but it also provided them some measure of protection against the miasma that formed when undead gathered, which would be needed when they ventured in the areas of the castle that had not been cleansed just for this occasion. This was part of my half of the oath, protecting them from my own influence, to some degree. The oath between an Apprentice and their Master may be weighted in the Master’s favor, but it was not wholly one-sided.

I took a deep breath, and said, in a softer tone, “Rise, my Apprentices. Rise up, and take your place at my side. For we have much to do if you are to be taught the ways of Magick.”