The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 120 (Patreon)

Chapter 120 – Invocation

Where the radiant orb had been, there now hovered an angel. Not a true angel, for I did not detect any Holy mana in the area, but there was no other word for the being that hung in the air before us. After all, what else would you call a creature, human in shape, but 2.5 meters tall, with white feathered wings sprouting from their shoulders that spanned a full 3 meters?

And there was, indeed, only one creature there, instead of the two humans who had started off being within the circle. They had long, golden hair that shone like the sun against their pale skin. The face was neither masculine nor feminine, but a combination of both. Yet, the proportions of the two seemed to be constantly shifting. There were moments when the face seemed almost perfectly feminine, and other times where it was as manly a man as you would find on the cover of a romance novel. And yet, it was impossible to see the face changing, it just was, as if it had always been so, even if a moment before it ‘had always been’ something different.

I had seen similar things before. Given that we were not dealing with a Primordial, it was safe to assume that this was an artifact of their magical transformation. They were two become one, in the most literal sense, so it was only natural that they were more than a single form could contain without overlapping. The fact that it was just the face, and not the rest of their body, was already a triumph, of sorts.

Looking down at the rest of their body, it was, again, an interesting combination of traditionally male and female attributes. They had broad shoulders and well-defined muscles, as well as rippling abs, as one might expect of a man, but they also had a narrow waist leading into wider, child-bearing hips. Their breasts were easily an H-cup, while their butt was nice and rounded.

The changes did not stop there, however. The being had both male and female genitalia. Not just a penis drawn as an over-extended clitoris, like you’d see in some hentai works, but the penis, scrotum, and vagina were all there, in a bit of anatomical impossibility that could only be explained by magic. And that penis was, itself, at least thirty centimeters long, and five wide! A formidable weapon, though it did not look overstated, considering the size of the being it belonged to.

The melded being was powerful, too. More powerful than a summoned Hero would normally be, but less powerful than two summoned Heroes added together. It was more like… one and a half? Yes, that was roughly the ratio. One and a half newly-summoned Heroes. Impressive, honestly.

“Well,” I said, after a moment of taking in the scene. “That was an unexpected result, but far from the worst outcome. How do you feel? And are both of you still in there?”

“I-no, I-WE are both here, yes. It is strange. We are both distinct, but the same, like when we were undergoing the ritual. Except now, we are more linked than before. What has happened to us? Are we going to be stuck as this… thing, forever?”

“I don’t know. However, the fact that you are still both in there, instead of being fully melded, or one subsumed into the other, means that there is, at least, a possibility that you can be separated. Until then, however, unless one or the other speaks wholly on their own, I think it would be less confusing to refer to the two of you as Perraine Soreau, rather than Perrine Soyer and Germaine Moreau.”

“I like it,” Commandant Tremblay said. “Not the whole melding together bit, but the name. It will also work for a suitable alias when talking about them in this form. If they are able to separate, then having that alias will allow them to still have somewhat normal lives outside of their greater role.”

“But first, we need to see if we can change. And find out how. Both of us are uncomfortable with this form. Perrine is not used to feeling an extra weight between her thighs, and Germaine is struggling against the urge to fondle our breasts. These new sensations are overwhelming. They make it hard to think about anything else.”

That caused some good-humored laughter in the group. “Well, don’t worry. Germaine would not be the first man to immediately get the urge to fondle their own boobs if they suddenly grew them, and I am sure you will get used to the extra equipment, in time, Perrine. In fact, you might be happy to hear that those are some of the most common reactions to undergoing a transformation like this. There were, after all, spells and enchantments that would allow someone to change their shape, going from man to woman, or human to gnome, or elf to wolf, and more. The first time with a new change always takes some adjustment.”

There’s a moment of stunned silence, before Naya asked, “Mistress, did you…”

“I studied many magics in learning the spell to clad my bones in living flesh once more. When I first regained my flesh, of course I experimented, a bit. But that change did not actually change who I was, at my core. Wearing my human form is the closest I can come to feeling things as a human does, but it is still a pale imitation. Not quite the same thing, of course.”

“So, how do we find out if we can separate?”

I looked at the angelic being, considering the way that the mana flowed through them. The two individuals were a Light Blade and a Lightsoul, before. While those were both part of the Martial Way, in that they both channeled more mana within themselves than without, giving some constant low-level reinforcement to their bodies, that didn’t mean that they went about things the same way. And, indeed, I could see two different patterns within their mana. One ready to leap out and strike a foe, and the other ready to pour everything into their body, bringing it to new heights. If there were still two patterns, and still two minds within the whole, then…

“Interesting. I can see two separate currents within your mana flows. Perraine, I’m going to ask you to do something that may be very difficult. I want the two halves of you to concentrate on different tasks. Perrine will focus on forming Light into a blade in your hand. Germaine will focus on reinforcing your skin with Light Mana. I need you to do both things at the same time.”

“We understand.” The angel went silent, taking a pose of concentration. Their mana jerked and jolted as they tried to pull it in two directions at once. I expected that much. However, only a few minutes into this test, I saw a change. The patterns began to settle, and move in two separate circles, as they began to get the hang of it.

A blade of light formed in their hand, while golden armor moved over their skin. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough for me to see what was going on. I was, without false pride, the foremost expert on Soul Magic on this planet, unless some ancient masters lay hidden within the other seals. And I had faced something similar before.

Not an angel of Light, obviously. No, the creatures I’d faced before were abominations, in the truest sense of the word. Every type of magic has its nastier elements, of course, but some of the worst abominations to roam the world came from Life, Death, Holy, and Unholy magics. Oh, people liked to think that Life and Holy were good things, in part because they were opposed to Death and Unholy. But it was because they were the opposite side of the coin that they could copy and pervert some of the tricks the other side had, like the plant zombies created by the Seal of Life in Australia.

When people thought of Death magic, they thought of killing, and the creation of Undead. The higher forms of undead had souls ripped from their just rewards and bound to their former mortal shells, so obviously the ability to bind and manipulate souls was part of Death. But Unholy had similar capabilities, usually involving curses that bound a creature’s soul to an object, or similar, creating a sentient item, or, if the soul was lucky, a Living Construct, which had many of the abilities of a machine or golem-like race, but were able to think for themselves. Life had Chimeras, which were typically made by fusing monsters together. Holy had Seals and Bindings used to entrap someone’s soul, and force it into different containers, or force it to obey, like the first Slave Collars had done. But one of the highest arts in Holy magic was to achieve either a Melding or Separation.

The two arts were, again, two sides of the same coin. To achieve a Melding, a Holy caster fused together two creatures, body and soul. A Separation, on the other hand, ripped a creature into two bodies and a sundered soul. They would never feel complete without their second half at least nearby, if they lived long enough. Sadly, most Spearations were done on the brink of death to absolve the stronger soul of any guilt they had on overwhelming a weaker soul and denying them their choices, or, in rare cases, to separate the ‘good’ and ‘evil’ halves of a soul. Not exactly what we were looking at, here, but close enough. However, one thing that was relevant was that there was a limited window of time when a Melding of two bodies and souls occurred before it could be undone without harming both souls, potentially killing them.

I was, naturally, unable to use any of the Holy or Unholy arts, as I did not channel faith in a god or goddess to boost my powers. And, while Life and Death did have some ways to ‘cheat off Holy and Unholy’s homework’, my methods would have been vicious, and likely resulted in the two becoming undead. If that happened, much of their newfound power would be lost, since the elements paired badly. However, I was not without options.

Looking the angel in the eye, I told them, “Stop the spells, but continue channeling mana in both methods. Keep your thoughts as separate as possible.” I looked over to Chihomi, and said, “Little warlock, attend me. There is magic to be done here that I have not the skill to call forth, for it lies outside my talents, just as the highest Fire magics lay outside your talents as a Seawalker. However, a Warlock is never alone. Their patron is with them, always, and, in times of need, they can call upon them. But beware, to do so risks much, as, if they are displeased with your work, or the reason they were called, they may choose to take your body as their vessel, for a time.”

Chihomi’s breath sucked in as she moved closer, watching me intently, “I understand, Akagawa-sama.”

Seeing she was taking my warning to heart, I took a deep breath, and began to cast a spell that I had not cast in over twenty years, not since before the beginning of my two decades of war against the Demon King. It was not a spell, so much as an invocation, one that only worked because I was calling someone who already had their eye upon me, and in whose Name I had done great and terrible deeds. “By the blood of the pact sworn, and the bindings that stretch beyond mortal ken, I call upon the Twilight Huntress, She Whose Bow Brings Death, Lady of Blessed Release, Guardian of the Hunters, Wolf-Sister, Ghoul-Keeper, Soul-bringer, Murena, the Ever-Watching! Heed my call, and come to me in this hour of need!”

Black lightning struck me, even though we were inside a mountain. And, for the third time since I had become undead, I felt the presence of a Goddess. She did not manifest before us, for this was not that kind of invocation. Instead, She filled me, like water in a cup, and, as I was filled, I was pushed to the side, as the Goddess spoke through me.

“My dutiful arrow, already loosed from the quiver, calls once more. Reckless magics have been performed here, beyond the caster’s full knowledge. But I have Seen, and I know the dread doom that caused my servant to rush so, not having the years to properly perfect the rite. Now, let a new world witness the might and grace of a Goddess!”

I could tell that my body was glowing, as She spoke through me. Holy and Unholy mana swirled about me like smoke and snow in a blizzard. The Goddess reached out with my hand, and waved at the Angel. A flash of light, and then, two smaller angels, with normal human size and dimensions, stood there.

But a mortal frame, even an undead one like mine, is incapable of housing the full weight of a deity for long, and Murena had put as much of Herself in me as She could without my phylactery shattering. As the pressure threatened to snuff out my consciousness, I knew, through my link with Her, what that meant. Murena was no longer just a goddess of Onerth. She now had enough of a presence here, on Earth, that She could begin to gather a following.

A patron always took their due for a gift given, after all.

As the darkness took me, I heard her voice whisper once, for me alone. “Well done, my faithful servant. I grant you the knowledge of the spell I cast through you, and how to prevent this from happening again. In return, I have a task for you, in payment for this gift, which strains my powers in this new world. Build for me a temple in the land where the Seal of Death lies, before opening that seal.”