The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 25 (Patreon)

Chapter 25 – Threats

“One vehicle approaching the gate.”

The men reflected in my scrying mirror frowned at the radio message from the front gate, as they watched the approaching car. Clearly, they thought something was off, with someone coming to visit, unannounced, when it was almost four in the morning. Visitors at that time were never welcome, unless you were talking with vampires.

“Any sign, or signal?”

“None. Something seems strange, though. Blue lights, where the eyes should be. Some kind of night-vision goggles, maybe?”

“Exercise caution, Hara.”

“Understood, Niikura-dono.”

I chuckled. Once I finished my enchantments, I slipped the sword into my pocket dimension for safekeeping, and returned to my mountain stronghold. The scrying mirror I had there, was actually not of my design, but rather the one that had served in the palace of the Athelian kingdom for generations. In fact, it still bore the Athelian coat of arms at the top of its three meter by two meter frame.

Scrying, a subset of divination as it was, was something I was familiar with. The scrying mirror served as a focus, easing the connection, making it require less mana and concentration, as well as making it harder to block the connection with wards or spells, but any mirror or reflective surface could have served as well. Even something so mundane as a puddle of water on the ground could work, and I knew of at least one elven kingdom that had an enchanted basin that was the equal of this mirror whenever you poured water into it.

Now, to a certain extent, scrying was a bit like trying to find something on a satellite photo. If you didn’t have some sort of connection to home in on, then you were literally just scanning random areas, hoping to get lucky. Unless you narrowed it down, somehow, you were better off not wasting the energy trying. Scrying for ‘the leader of my enemies’ was worthless, but scrying for ‘the army attacking Southbridge’ was easy, and could then let you refine your spellwork until you found the general in charge of the army, assuming there were no protections in place.

Of course, having a connection to your target was even better. Whether it was a piece of stone that came from the area you wished to search, a belonging of the person you were searching for, or the blood of a creature you were hunting, that connection was basically like typing in an address in the GPS, rather than just trying to find the location by scrolling through the map. Since I had three undead bodies and a severed head I’d personally been responsible for animating, that was about as good a connection as you could ask for.

I focused on the mirror, and slid the scene back to the gate house. Two guards, dressed in tailored, well-made uniforms, sat in the gate house, watching the approaching sedan. Poor guys weren’t ready in the slightest for what was about to happen. The car slowed to a stop at the gate, and their eyes went wide.

“Are… are those?”

“Fuck! They are! Those are fucking skeletons driving that car! Hit the alarm!”

The alarm, naturally, brought many more people down to the gatehouse, including the man I’d been watching earlier. The car, idling as the two skeletons sat in the front seats, cerulean orbs glowing where their eyes once were, was the center of much discussion, and no little amount of fear. Finally, Niikura had seen enough.

“Open the gate. Any more, and we’ll start getting unwanted attention.”

The gate opened, and the car drove in. There was a gasp as the headless corpse sitting in the back seat was spotted, head in hands. Worse was when the body was recognized by one of the guards.

“That is Kita-san! He was taking some guys and the oni on a job tonight!”

“Enough!” Niikura shouted, taking back control from the muttering crowd. At his command, the gate was shut again. With a barked order, one of the guards opened the back door of the car, as if letting the headless corpse out.

At that moment, two things happened. First, I released the two skeletons from my control, dismissing the power that had temporarily bound them to undeath. Their bodies crumpled with a clatter of bones, as there was no flesh or magic holding them together anymore. And second, the body in the back seat turned, and got out of the car, holding its grim burden in hand.

The crowd shrank back, and the guard who first recognized the body emptied his stomach on the ground next to him. Others recognized the face held in the corpse’s hands. And then the head began speaking.

“Boss! Niikura-dono! Please, please let me die!”

The man froze. Well, that was understandable. It wasn’t every day that a severed head started talking to you, and begging to be killed.

“Kita-san, what is this? What happened to you? I thought you were supposed to just go and cause a disturbance at that crafter’s shop?”

“We were, boss, but there was someone there. A miko, maybe sixteen years old. She was standing outside the door to the shop when we arrived, waiting for us. Like she was expecting us.”

“A little girl did this to you? What of Regran?”

“She toyed with Regran, like a cat with a mouse! We didn’t know until it was too late. It wasn’t just some girl, it was that lich, the one they talked about on the news! Then, she finally drew her sword, like something from an anime, and said something, telling her blade to shine. There was a bright white light, and then Regran was gone, just GONE! All that was left was a skull and a pile of ash!”

“The little girl was the necromancer daughter of the Akagawas, then? That trained in the other world? What then?”

“She struck out with a spell. No words, no CAD. Just a wave of her hand, and both Shihi and Yukichi were dead, their souls floating visibly before me!”

“And what then?”

“She demanded I betray who sent me. I refused. But then she imprisoned my men’s souls in gemstones, and caused the flesh to fall from their bones, and become those skeleton things! Shihi held me down, and she turned Yukichi’s arm into a sword blade. I swore that we would be avenged, and the witch made Yukichi cut off my head. But she did not let me die!”

“And why not?”

The head, now almost manic, said, “She wanted me to be a message, an example. She made Shihi’s body drive us back, obeying all laws. She wanted me to be an example as to what would happen if she were interfered with again.”

Niikura breathed deeply, considering everything that was said. He pointed to one of the men, “You, get Kita-san’s head from that thing holding him. The oyabun must hear of this, and I won’t bring that corpse inside his home. Two of you, dispose of the bodies. You, go wake Sakaguchi-san. And the rest of you, back to work. Double coverage on all entrances. Call in more guys if you have to.”

As the other men started going about their tasks, the unlucky man selected to take the head edged forward, clearly frightened, and no small bit disgusted at what he was doing. Kita’s mad ramblings, which didn’t stop just because Niikura wasn’t paying attention any more, didn’t help any. Once the head was taken, I allowed the body to collapse in death, like I had with the skeletons, which only caused more murmuring, and nearly got Kita dropped to the ground.

Following Niikura into the mansion, the grim procession made their way to a very well-appointed office. Clearly, this was the oyabun’s domain. Two men were waiting in the chamber, both looking as though they’d just woken up. Niikura nodded respectfully to the one on the left, before looking at the man behind the desk.

“Sumiyoshi-dono, we have apparently had a response from the swordmaker Inagawa hired to make his granddaughter’s ascension gift.”

The oyabun sighed. “I see. I guessed that would be it, from Kita’s head there.”

“Apparently, the Akagawa girl was there herself, not the swordmaker, in that little girl illusion she wears sometimes. She took out Regran, and killed Kita’s men. Then, she had them drive back here.”

“And what was her message?”

Kita’s head stirred, and started screaming. The unfortunate man holding the head dropped it, backing away quickly. Frowning, the second man, standing by the desk, slid up the sleave of his suit to reveal a CAD on his wrist, and typed a set of instructions. The head screamed again, but this time in pain, rather than insanity, as it burst into flames. Unfortunately, the screams ended soon after, as the low-quality undead was consumed by the fire. Two more spells saw the remains deposited into a trash bin nearby, and the carpet cleaned from the soot that had dropped on it.

The oyabun dismissed the guards, so that it was only the three men remaining in the room. Turning to the mage, he sighed, “Was that really necessary, Sakaguchi?”

Sakaguchi, who must have been the oyabun’s chief mage, shook his head in disgust. “That… thing was an even worse abomination than the girl playing yakuza for the Inagawa-kai. The soul of a loyal kouhai was trapped in there, in agony. It would be a stain upon our honor to allow him to remain that way.”

The oyabun nodded. “That this necromancer girl would desecrate our fallen like this demands a response. To do otherwise would make us appear weak in the eyes of the other organizations. And it would make the juniors lose faith.”

Niikura took a breath to steady himself. “With respect, Boss, if this is the Akagawa girl’s doing, then we should be indirect in our response. She is too powerful for us to take on directly. That is why we tried to intervene by targeting her business building, rather than her or her people directly.”

Sakaguchi nodded slowly. “And attacking her at her home is out of the question. You’ve seen the pictures from our men who managed to get to the property, despite the magic trying to turn them away. There are undead constantly manning the walls, and they are far from mindless.”

The oyabun considered that, frowning as he did so. “Yes, I remember that. The three men who tried to infiltrate, and find out more about her, all ended up getting shot, each of them in the right knee. Somehow, a single arrow took off each man’s leg at the knee. You said that it was deliberate, right?”

“Yes. Once might be a fluke, and twice coincidence. But three times? All in the same instant? That was deliberate, and to send a message. It is why we haven’t tried interfering in that compound or going directly against the Akagawa girl since then. That, and what she’s shown of her abilities, means we cannot take her on directly.”

Niikura shook his head. “Perhaps, instead of dealing with the Akagawa girl, we try and deal with the Inagawas instead? We could tell the men that we are striking not at the blade, but the hand that wields it. A small fabrication, but it will satisfy them. And we know how to fight another clan, unlike this monster.”

“That is good, for the men and for the rival clans, but I would not see our loyal followers desecrated like this and not avenged in some way. What of the Akagawas as a whole? Could we target them?”

Oh, dear, that was most definitely not what I wanted to hear. It seemed that the oyabun was only getting part of the message I wished to convey to him. I would have to make things a bit clearer for him, so that the old man understood, in no uncertain terms, who he was playing with.

I used a sending spell to project my image, armed and armored as the Lich Queen, sitting upon the throne I’d taken from Risen Athelia, into that room, and magic ensured that everyone in the compound would hear my voice, as though I were right beside them. The reaction to the sending was just as I expected, with all three men jolting at my ‘sudden intrusion’. Too bad none of them were skilled enough in detecting divinations to know that I had been watching the whole time.

“Leaders of the Sumiyoshi-kai. Your insignificant threats do not amuse me. You think yourselves strong, but I am the Lich Queen of Risen Athelia! If you continue your pointless efforts against me, or attempt to strike against my family, my people, or their families and businesses, then I will send my entire army against you. And, when I am done, not one member of your clan shall be left alive, nor shall any of your families, your lovers, or your friends. You will all die, and your bodies and minds enslaved as undead, and your souls ripped away and sealed, never to know any kind of afterlife or rebirth, their energies being consumed and made into enchantments or forged into weapons to use against others who think as you do, just like two of your number have already experienced this night.

“Hear now the words of the Lord of the Dead! Give up your vengeance for those who have fallen and been consumed, or join them, along with all your friends and loved ones! And, to all those who are listening, I will offer one billion yen each for the heads of Sumiyoshi, Niikura, and Sakaguchi, delivered to my mountain stronghold, and an item which will allow them to stand again, even after receiving a killing blow. This, I swear, as the Lich Queen of Risen Athelia!”

And, with that, I cut both connections.