The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 142 (Patreon)

Chapter 142 – Dying to Volunteer

We did not actually land in Cairo. While the model of seaplane we were using could land on runways, that did not mean it was always best to do so. Especially when dealing with sandy environments like someplace that is literally in the desert. Instead, we landed at nearby Alexandria, and docked at one of the piers at the Port of El Dekheila.

It was just after 6 PM, local time, when we landed, making it a bit late for the two-and-a-half-hour ride through the desert to Cairo. Fortunately, our volunteers had been informed of the change well beforehand, and so they were waiting for us at the hotel we would be spending the night at. This was important, because they were not only going to have to adjust to new, undead bodies, but work at synchronizing with their partner, so the earlier we got them started on that, the better.

First up was Ittō rikui Watanabe Yasuhi, a distinguished-looking man who was probably in his early forties, by the look of things. However, the impression he cut in his Ground Self-Defense Force uniform was ruined slightly by the involuntary twitching of his arms, even as he tried to stay at attention. He must be the one with Parkinson’s.

On the other hand, Kaisōchō Fukuyo Rai was a stern-looking woman, probably in her mid-to-late twenties. She wore the uniform of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. To have risen to such a senior non-commissioned officer rank so quickly? That was impressive. She probably would have gone on to even greater heights if she hadn’t gotten that cancer diagnosis.

When I looked at their mana, I was surprised to see that both were of the Warrior’s Way. Sure, Watanabe was a Deathsoul, while Fukuyo was a Deathblade. One focused their power within, and the other without, but they were still both of the Warrior’s Way.

“Fascinating,” I muttered.

“With respect, your Majesty,” Fukuyo asked, “what is so fascinating about us?”

I chuckled, and said, “You know how everyone who learns to cultivate their mana has an element, or sometimes elements, and a style that they are best at, yes? Well, it is an uncommonly known fact that certain elements trend one way or another.”

Watanabe frowned. “You mean that some elements tend to be Warriors, and others tend to be mages?”

“Exactly. And, within those classifications, you can break it down further, but that’s not important, now. I can tell from your mana that you are both Warrior’s Way practitioners. That was fascinating to me, because Death, as an element, heavily favors Mages of different types.”

Koyama cut in there, “Your Majesty, perhaps you could tell us about which elements favor which styles, and why?”

“Fire, Earth, Water, and Air, which some call the ‘natural’ elements, tend to be evenly split between Mages and Warriors. All the others, be they the ‘ephemeral’ elements or the ‘divine’ elements, are heavily aspected, one way or the other. No one had come to a clear consensus as to why, in the other world, but one line of thinking, which I happen to agree with, is that it comes down to visualization.”

“You mean, how easy it is to visualize effects with that element in one style or the other, Mistress?” Ya asked.

“Indeed. Take Fire, for instance. A Pyromancer and a Flameblade both have very obvious ways in which their element can be used, from a visualization standpoint. So, things don’t fall one way or another, as a rule.

“However, the other elements are not like that. Of the ephemeral elements, Light and Dark tend to be Warriors, while Life and Death tend to be mages. Light users tend to focus in their eyes, allowing them to see the unseen, or create blades of light that can cleave spells apart, but the mages have trouble finding uses for Light beyond illumination, unless they have enough scientific knowledge to understand lasers or the like. Actually, that was one way I helped improve my mages, teaching them how to combine the Light Beam spell, which normally was not very damaging, with the Focusing Iris spell, used for viewing things over long distances, to create the powerful cutting beam we used at the Seal of Water. As effective as it was on stone, it was even better against flesh.”

“And the ‘divine’ elements, your Highness?” Koyama asked.

“Well, divine elements fall into one of three styles. The Blade, the Priest, and the Avatar. The Blades are warriors, like the Warrior’s Way, the Priests are akin to Mages, and Avatars are a fusion of the two. Holy almost always tends to be a Blade, while Unholy is much more likely to be a Priest. Avatars of either are the rarest, but they can be incredibly powerful. And, of course, there is nothing keeping them from learning magic of other elements, as well.”

Watanabe nodded once, before trying to pull the conversation back on track. “So, our both being Warriors with the Death element is unusual, because people have more trouble visualizing ways to use Death in their body or through weapons, other than the most basic concepts?”

“Yes, that is right. For instance, a Deathsoul like yourself, once they have trained, has little trouble purging themselves of normal sickness and disease. The sickness ‘dies’ before it even touches them. Of course, that is for external things, not a disease that comes from within, like yours. Beyond that, though, how does a living being run Death through their body without harming themselves? Most Deathsouls either end up becoming undead, or find ways to channel their energies to better counter the undead. I saw one Deathsoul grab a wraith by the throat, and drain the unlife from it, something that should have been wholly impossible, but they made it happen.”

Looking over to Fukuya, I said, “And a Deathblade, like you, will learn how to make every cut potentially deadly, or even learn to kill with a touch. But, beyond that, it is hard to picture how you would use the power, no? Which is a wall that many Deathblades run into. However, they can make for very deadly assassins.”

I paused, and then said, “But enough of that. I know both of you are here for your own reasons, beyond just the health problems I’ve been told you have. Problems which magic can fix, to some degree, without becoming undead. However, if you are set on this, what manner of undead do you wish to become? I assume you don’t want to be wraiths or specters, right?”

The two glanced at each other, before Watanabe said, “We actually spent some time talking about that. If possible, we would both like to still have a physical body, and preferably something where we can still at least go out in public? Even if we need to have some kind of illusion over ourselves. So, preferably nothing that smells.”

“That is easily done. And Koyama raised the good point earlier that you turning into one of the more ‘fleshy’ types of undead may help keep you more closely grounded to your humanity. Becoming a Lich, like myself, will deaden that connection, so the best choices for you would be a ghoul, or a vampire. Which means the question for you is whether you wish to hunger for human flesh, or never see the sun again?”

The two nodded as one. Apparently, they had discussed this, and come to a conclusion before meeting me. Admirable, really. Fukuyo was the one who spoke, this time. “We understand that the diet for ghouls may be… unique, but if we are to be effective, then we cannot be limited by the time of day, or whether there are clouds out. We’re military, so we need to be able to respond whenever and wherever there are threats.”

“Very well. I will tell you this, so that you have all the facts beforehand. To turn you into a ghoul, I will first have to kill you, and then bring you back as an undead. Your skin will draw back around your nails and mouth, giving you a gaunt and feral appearance. You will need to feed on human flesh, or you will suffer hunger pains that will drive you mad, until you are little more than a beast tearing at the closest food they can find and gorging themselves until they are sated.

“These physical changes are not the only ones you will go through. You will start seeing people in a different way, just because of what you will become. It will start with cadavers, with them looking like a nice hamburger to you. Eventually, you will look upon living beings much as you might look upon pigs and cattle now.

“This does not mean, however, that you are doomed to see everyone around you as little more than an ambulatory steak, however. If you keep fed, and keep up your relations with normal humans, then you will remain attached to your humanity. Normally, a ghoul would need some form of glamour to interact normally with humans, since their very appearance sets off a fight or flight response, but I don’t know if that will be needed for you, after you take in the power of the seal.”

“Pardon, your Majesty,” Watanabe said. “But what is the fight or flight thing about?”

“There’s two parts to it. Well, three, if you include pop culture. You will still be human-like, but not human. It is close enough to trigger the uncanny valley effect in most humans. Meaning that you will be ‘other’, and that will put people on edge. Add to that those who’ve watched horror movies in the last century, and they will obviously see you as some kind of undead, even if you don’t go shambling around calling for ‘braaaaains’.” Fukuyo giggled at that, despite the serious tone, and I just nodded.

“The final part will be that, until you learn to suppress your mana, or get a tool to do it for you, your ‘aura’, for lack of a better word, will mark you as a predator and a threat to most people on a subconscious level. The more powerful you are, the harder it is to keep that power suppressed for long periods of time. Eventually, you will probably need items like my ring, here,” I held up my hand, showing off the ring that suppressed my aura. “Without this, it would take constant conscious effort to keep from idly terrifying everyone who sees me and has even the slightest awareness of mana, unless they have grown inured to it through constant exposure, much like how my disciples and Koyama-kun no longer flinch whenever I reveal my true power.”

Watanabe nodded. “And powering up from the seal will likely mean our power will ‘spill out’ more easily, right?”

“Precisely,” I nodded. Then, I reached into my storage to pull out a spear. I wanted to damage their bodies as little as possible, and leave their souls unharmed, after all. Unfortunately, my other weapons were too powerful for such restrained work, so the spear it was. “Now, you have done me no wrong, so the rules I set for myself demand that I get your permission for what comes next. So, do you consent to being killed, and raised as ghouls?”

“Um, your Majesty,” Koyama cut in. “Before you begin, I presume that, when Watanabe-san and Fuyuko-san ‘wake up’, they will be hungry? Shouldn’t we see about procuring them some suitable food, before that?”

“Come now, Koyama. Do you think that I would forget such a detail? I have some provender kept fresh from one of my journeys in the other world still in my storage. I think elven fare would be best. The higher mana concentrations will help with their recovery from the transformation. Afterwards, however, they’ll need to find their own food.”

“Ah, I don’t suppose you have any guides on feeding newly raised ghouls, do you? For instance, do they require just human meat, and how… recent does it need to be?”

“Well, beef and pork can keep them full, but it is like comparing fast food hamburgers to Kobe steak, and it doesn’t give them all the things they need. But with that you can stretch things to, say, a leg or two in a month? If they use a lot of magic, or have to heal from big wounds, they’ll need more, and not substitutes.”

“Mistress, what about cloned meat?”

“What do you mean, Naya?”

“Well, I was looking into what different types of undead ate, and how to source it without committing crimes, since I am a Death Mage after all, which means it might be necessary in the future. While I was researching, I came across reports from a Finnish company called Medixio. They’re working to try and clone human organs. You know, for transplants and such.”

I considered that. “So long as they don’t go playing around too much, it could work. If it does, it would certainly be more ethical than those countries in the other world where those heavily in debt could avoid slavery by becoming ‘organ farms’. They would be kept in a coma by magic, and their body harvested and healed repeatedly over a period of months, sometimes years, until their debts were cleared. I’ll need to speak with someone at that company, once the seals are dealt with.”

“I’ll set a reminder for you, Mistress.”

“Thank you, Naya,” I nodded, before looking back at the two volunteers. “So, do you consent to your death and being raised as an undead?”

Watanabe nodded once, though I could see the talk of his imminent ‘next meal’ had unsettled him a bit. “Yes.” I turned to look at Fuyuko, who similarly looked as though she’d sucked a lemon.

“Yes, just do it, before I lose my nerve.”

“Well said,” I nodded, before thrusting the spear between her ribs and into her heart. Before she could even give her final gasp, the spear was already buried in Watanabe’s chest, dealing a fatal wound to him, as well.