The OP Lich is a Returnee, Book 15 Prologue (Patreon)

Prologue – Trade Chat

(Magical World Disharmony Server, General Chat)

UsualSuspect, manoutoftime, muon, MewTwo, Avariel, Chummer, Golddigger, CrazyCelt, Blaze, DoYouEvenLyft?, MarcoPolo, MightMakesRight, MacD, Inquisitor, OrangeQueen, Lizard, RedFox, SemiSolidSnake, BabyShark, Lichwatcher, Not_the_Face!, TheLichQueen, Scholar, Salty, Anonymous3, Anonymous4, Anonymous7, Anonymous9, WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot, DigDug, Backlog, DarkAvariel, Knocker, GrimDark, BloodForTheBloodGod, BackDat@55Up and DarkAngel are in the chat.

BabyShark: Well, Japan dominated in their first game in the Magic Soccer World Cup. 12-0 shutout.

MacD: Seriously, that was the most one-sided beatdown I’ve seen since LQ walked a dragon to the CIA.

CrazyCelt: But it is definitely proving the value of the Warrior’s Way, and what a gamechanger that can be. I’m already hearing some people worrying that the US and Russia are basically going to be left in the dust by the next tournament, if they don’t make nice with our favorite Lich.

Anonymous9: A friend in the US Olympic organization told me they’re trying to push to ban Warrior’s Way practitioners from participating. Saying it is the same as doping.

Avariel: Sure, but the other countries are already pushing for a ‘Magical Olympics’ or something like that. Basically, shut the door on the old-style, or relegate it into the same category as the Special Olympics: something everyone knows still exists, but no one really pays attention to.

Inquisitor: It isn’t just in the Olympics, either. There’s a big fight going on in Hockey, with the NHL threatening to split. Canadian teams are already putting the Warrior’s Way to use, since the current rules only disallow active magic use. Passive enhancement, on the other hand, is not against the rules.

Not_the_Face!: And I’m sure that the American teams are simply thrilled about all of that.

Inquisitor: The League is fracturing. And it isn’t just in the NHL. You see the same in every sport where teams from outside the US are playing US teams. And recruitment numbers for US teams are falling. People want to play with the best, and the US can’t recruit the best, because their government pissed off the most powerful magic-user in the world.

TheLichQueen: Not my fault that superpowers needed an awakening to the fact that things were different now. Though I have had to spank a few naughty children from one of the US’s black agencies recently.

DarkAngel: Does this have anything to do with the reported packages you sent to half the agencies in Washington, and to the Intelligence Oversight Committees in both halves of Congress?

TheLichQueen: Oh, yes. They thought that they could force me to bargain with them. Very stupid, I know, but the souls I captured were ‘true believers’ in American Exceptionalism.

muon: Which is?

TheLichQueen: Basically, the idea that America is always good and right, so anything they do for the good of the country is always good and right.

GrimDark: That kind of thinking leads to some scary places.

TheLichQueen: Yes, especially when the organization is an off the books intelligence agency that is more like a collection of terrorist cells than an organization, and doesn’t officially report even to the President.

SemiSolidSnake: Did you just fall into a Cold War spy thriller?

TheLichQueen: Well, the organization in question apparently started after World War II, as a way to ensure US supremacy in the world. So… maybe?

DarkAngel: So, what did this spy try to get out of you?

TheLichQueen: The little fool tried to take my apprentices hostage with a bomb threat in order to bargain with me and try to get one of their people to be the one receiving the benefit of the Prime Seal. So, I took his soul, along with the souls of his team, and questioned them at length, before sending the recording along to different parties, along with a warning that they should crack down on these off the books agencies before something unfortunate happened, like when I had to educate the Russians on where they stood in the world.

GrimDark: Well, I’m sure that went over well. Especially after your visit to Langley.

TheLichQueen: I can’t help it if I make an impression on people.

Inquisitor: To keep me from drinking this early in the morning, what about Egypt? They say you’re building a temple there?

TheLichQueen: Oh, yes. In return for Murena’s aid with sorting out the fused souls of the Seraphim, I was bid to build a temple for her in the land where the Seal of Death lies, before unleashing that seal.

Scholar: She was the goddess you formed a pact with in the other world, right? So now she has a temple in this world?

TheLichQueen: Well, there’s still the final consecration to be done, but yes, her temple will be complete before I get to work on the Seal of Death.

Blaze: So, how does this affect all the religions here on Earth?

TheLichQueen: Unless they get their panties in a twist about it, then it won’t. The existence of Murena does not disprove or conflict with the existence of other gods. Even the monotheistic religions don’t conflict with the existence of other gods, if you go back to the original texts.

WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot: How you figure? I thought the Bible was real clear on that point.

TheLichQueen: The Ten Commandments say ‘thou shalt have no other gods before me’, not ‘there are no other gods’. It was only later, after Rome took Christianity as its state religion, that people started saying that all other gods were false, as an excuse to conquer and/or enslave people.

Scholar: Getting off that minefield, what about the Seal of Death? Do you have volunteers yet?

TheLichQueen: Not yet. Unfortunately, the requirements for taking on the power of the Seal of Death are stricter than the others.

Scholar: How so?

TheLichQueen: So far, every successfully unleashed seal has changed the vessels into representations of the elements. For Death, that would mean that they would turn into Undead. But there would be a moment, as they change from living to undead, where they are just dead, and would be unable to control the power of the seal.

Scholar: And then you have the Azores all over again, but in Cairo.

TheLichQueen: Exactly. Which means that the volunteers need to be raised to Undeath before the ritual begins, as well as having the Death element. Naturally, that curtails the number of possible candidates.

Scholar: So, if there are no volunteers, what then?

TheLichQueen: Then, either I ‘leak’ the seal, which will likely cause undead monsters to rise up in the area, or I use it to increase my own powers.

MewTwo: So… you would be even MORE powerful?

Inquisitor: Fuck it. Day drinking it is.