The OP Lich is a Returnee: Omnibus 5 - Books 16-20 (Lich Returnee), page 9
I couldn’t say for certain that there were no other ‘human-ish’ monsters out there in the world, of course. The only time you’d hear about a new monster is if someone saw it, and survived long enough to return and tell the tale. Naturally, this was easier said than done, with some creatures. The fey, especially, were good at hiding, and better at either eliminating those who saw them, or trapping them and keeping them as toys to play with.
Goblins and the like, however, were different. They typically weren’t a problem until you got enough of them together. Then, they would start raiding for food, riches, and breeding stock. While not the most intelligent creatures, they had plenty of cunning, meaning that it was unlikely that any hiker unprepared for that kind of fight, would escape them.
In Japan, things were proceeding as one might expect. The biggest monster threat in the cities were some magically enhanced rats, pigeons, cats, and dogs. Phantomline had already developed warding devices to keep the ‘mahō no nezumi’ (magic rats) from getting into buildings, but the ‘saimin hato’ (hypnosis pigeons), kageneko (shadow cats), and heruhaundo (hellhounds) were causing more and more problems as time went on.
As far as plants went, the most notable introduction was the ‘otome no sekimen’, or maiden’s blush. While classified as a pepper, it had a flavor that was more sweet than spicy, which would normally make it an interesting pick to include in different dishes. When cut up and cooked in a meal, it looked no different from any other pepper one might use to cook. However, the pepper’s skin was naturally pink, and its sweet and spicy flavor hid a potent aphrodisiac inside.
Well, I said it was potent, but it wasn’t really to the point of compulsion. It didn’t force anyone to act. Just like getting drunk didn’t force anyone to act. It would take some knowledge of alchemy and potion brewing to get to the level of mind control or ‘love potions’ with the pepper, thankfully. However, the maiden’s blush did reduce inhibitions and enflame desires, which caused more than a few awkward conversations the next morning.
Naturally, the more dangerous monsters were more common in rural areas, where there were fewer people and more animals. On Hokkaido, for instance, a creature people were calling Raida, or ‘lightning snake’ had been spotted in the mountains, using lightning to hunt prey to devour. Onedeirth agreed with me that the scaled creature would eventually evolve into draconic beings within a generation or two, if things continued as they were. They were still a long way from true dragons, of course, but it was still something to keep an eye on.
Osada Chihomi, the Seawalker who had become the contracted warlock of Dagon, bore her child, who she named Asenath, as her lord commanded her. The child looked to be a normal human, on the surface, but I could see the girl’s soul, and knew that she was something else. Something that, perhaps, would not advertise itself until later in life.
However, even if motherhood was not enough to keep Chihomi busy, her duties did not end there. The seas, too, gave rise to monsters, as mana influenced the world. Thankfully, due to Dagon’s influence, the Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea, and East China Sea were all largely devoid of monsters. As a result, shrines to Dagon began arising all along the coasts, with the most notable ones being in Fukuoka, Niigata, Chongjin, Busan, Dalian, Shanghai, and Taipei.
Of course, not everything was bright and shining happiness. Monster attacks in the open oceans were crippling trade routes. While monsters capable of attacking a commercial jet in flight had not been seen, yet, everyone knew that it was simply a matter of time. In other words, the international economy was rapidly shifting, and, with it, the tides of global power.
The East Asian Alliance was the first result of that shift. Japan, Imperial China, the Kingdom of Korea, and the Republic of Singapore were the major players, but the alliance reached from Mongolia in the north to Indonesia in the south, and all the way to Nepal in the west. The EAA was, in truth, both a military and economic alliance, combining facets of how both the European Union and NATO worked. It was for that reason that Risen Athelia was officially invited to join, as well.
Risen Athelia was a government in exile no longer. A referendum had passed the Diet, ceding the area around my home in Kamitakida to my kingdom. Sure the land grant was mostly mountain, and was a mere sixteen square kilometers, but that was enough to ‘legitimize’ my country, in some ways. Enough that I could join the Alliance as a full member state. Sure, Risen Athelia’s economy was the smallest out of the Alliance, but my military was strong, and everyone knew it.
In Europe, NATO fell apart, mostly due to the new president in the US having campaigned on ‘America First’ and other such nonsense. They went isolationist while Europe was moving closer together, with the result being that the EU became a military alliance as well as an economic one. America was shredding its place in the global balance of power in real time, but there wasn’t anything anyone could do about it.
Well, that wasn’t quite true. There were things that people could do to try and change course, but the people who valued the rule of law weren’t the types to proactively go taking ‘second amendment solutions’ to problems, while the ones who were more gun-happy tended to already be in the cult of personality surrounding the idiot. So, no one with the needed skills and equipment was willing to be the one to poke their neck out.
The US position wasn’t helped by the changing economy. As transporting bulk goods across oceans became more and more difficult, manufacturers and resource suppliers in the EAA turned their focus inwards. Without the supply of cheaper foreign goods propping up the decaying mess of their economy, the US began to head for a recession, that many believed would become a depression. They no longer had the manufacturing or infrastructure to handle the demand, leading to supply problems and inflation, while the economic downturn saw companies going broke or issuing massive layoffs.
Of course, it wasn’t like other countries didn’t have troubles, thanks to the new reality. Areas that had imported most of their food were especially hard hit. Countries that had imported over eighty percent of their food were now facing massive famines. And countries that relied on exporting oil for their lavish lifestyle quickly found that oil didn’t do you any good if you couldn’t get it to market.
The oil problem was one of the first things I’d needed to work on, when Risen Athelia joined the EAA. Most civilian vehicles in the region were hybrid gas-magic vehicles, like the seaplane I’d purchased when flying about to deal with the seals, but military craft and many industrial plants still used oil products as fuel. Working with Phantomline and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, the largest car company in China, we developed the pure mana engine. The prototypes were only about as fast as a horse, but had substantial power behind them. Life would be slower using the mana-cars, as some called them, but the transportation industry would be self-sufficient.
Scientists in Imperial China had already been working on a ‘magic power plant’, but, once I sent some experts to liaise with them, they were able to get enchantments put together that let ambient mana power entire buildings. That, combined with ‘mana wells’, which tapped into the local ley lines much like a normal well did for water, meant that, by the end of the decade, the EAA would be able to reduce our dependence on oil and other imports.
And Risen Athelia was at the center of it all. I didn’t have to push too hard to convince people that ‘black boxing’ the different enchantments and goodies on our power supplies and other advancements was necessary. People in East Asia had a long memory, and they knew well how colonialism worked. Keeping anyone outside ‘the club’ from profiting was simply a good way to protect ourselves.
Despite that colonial history, the EU and EAA were fast becoming trade giants as they began working together, at least with developing new ideas and methodologies. Physical trade was difficult, since there were a lot of countries you had to go through by land, the seas were dangerous, and there was only so much you could carry by air. However, the internet and satellites still existed, which allowed people to keep in contact.
But, where there are winners, there are losers. The two biggest losers in the new world were America and Russia. And the former and fading superpowers didn’t like people doing well without them. I expected that, sometime soon, someone was going to do something stupid, which would require me to get involved.
Chapter 172 – Dragon on the Border
“Ah, Queen Akagawa, so good to see you again.”
I smiled as I saw Emperor Zhu Zhexian, the Dragon Emperor and Hero of Shadow, walk up to me. “Ah, Emperor Zhu. The pleasure is mine, I assure you. Came to see how we were setting up?”
We were in the mountains just east of Huocheng County, near the border Kazakhstan. In fact, there was a crossing just down the road, where the Kazakh A353 highway met the Chinese G30 highway. As for why we were here? Well, Risen Athelia was doing its part as a member of the EAA.
For the first time since I had returned home, all fifty of my legions were out in the world. Each legion was ten thousand undead, roughly divided up as five thousand infantry, three thousand cavalry, one thousand mages, five hundred siegeworkers and combat engineers, and five hundred support and logistics personnel. Five percent of a force being logistics was low, compared to modern armies, and lower still compared to medieval ones, but most of those support troops were crafters dedicated to repairing weapons and armor, or crafting ammunition. Most undead did not need to concern themselves with things like food or medical care, after all.
That was an army of five hundred thousand, but it was not the full extent of my forces. I had the five times that number in individuals who were not part of the legions. Some were my special forces, of course, and some were researchers, or dedicated teachers and trainers. I also had garrison units that had guarded different areas of my domain back in the other world, and, thus, were not organized like the legions, but were still military. The majority, however, were mindless undead, useful primarily as laborers.
Well, they were primarily laborers in the other world. They were not strong enough to serve as combat personnel, since they were mostly raised from commoners who had barely cultivated their mana in life. Undead did gain some power based on the ability of the one that raised them, of course, but that only went so far if the base material was low-ranked. There was a reason I focused on raising the professional soldiers who fell to my armies over the untrained levies who were slaughtered in bulk.
In this world, however? The mindless laborers would actually be somewhat effective, if supplied with some basic weapons and armor. They wouldn’t be at the same level as my normal troops, of course, but they could at least match up against soldiers who were still learning to cultivate their mana, as most troops in this world were.
At any rate, the reason we were here, on this mountainside, as my mages and laborers used Earth magic and brute force to carve out a suitable base and build up fortifications, was simple. While Kazakhstan was technically still its own country, it had fallen under the New Soviet Union’s control over a decade ago. Much like the Eastern European countries of the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War, it was only technically independent, and was, in fact, completely beholden to the NSU for everything.
There was a bunch of nuance to things, naturally, but it basically, if Russia wanted to invade the EAA by land, the best routes were through Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and the Heilongjiang province of China. The Chinese already had defenses in place in Heilongjiang, but Mongolia and the Kazakhstan border were more problematic. Much of the border region was mountainous, and there were the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts to consider. The logistics of stationing large numbers of living troops in the area were daunting.
Which is why, as part of helping our allies, my troops were setting up a base, here, and in other parts of the region. A full twenty legions would be based along the EAA’s borders with Kazakhstan and Russia, seven legions were stationed along the borders from Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan, and ten more were setting up in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. The remaining thirteen legions were stationed in the deserts as both a response force and reserves, allowing them to respond to or reinforce any threats that came from the north or west, whether the threat was Russian, Indian, or someone else.
The bases weren’t on the border, of course. That would be a provocation. However, they were all close enough that they would be able to respond to any ‘accidental border crossings’ easily enough. Furthermore, where possible the bases were being built underground or in mountainsides, both as a means of hiding the true strength and disposition of the forces there, and as an extra layer of defense. Once the wards and shields were in place, there was little chance of even a nuclear bombardment succeeding.
The Emperor just smiled at me. “Yes, checking to ensure that your people were settling in well enough was part of it. However, it was also a very convenient excuse to get out of the Palace. Sometimes, the whole ‘ruler’ thing gets to be a bit of a pain, you know?”
“I am painfully aware of the trouble that leading a country can be at times, yes,” I chuckled. “What about you, though? Have you had any trouble adjusting to the changes since your ascension?”
Zhu had, after all, been transformed by the Seal of Shadow. In the process, he had become at least partly a dragon. Naturally, it wouldn’t be odd for him to have some lingering issues from the change.
For his part, Zhu looked down at his black-scaled arms, and flexed his claws briefly. “The changes to my senses took getting used to, but I am no longer being surprised by smelling someone’s mana, or things like that. As for the other changes? Being stronger and healthier is nice. My control over my body has increased, as well, so having claws instead of fingernails isn’t too inconvenient. The only troubling part is, well, another part of my body.”
I couldn’t help but smile, and tease him a bit, since we were basically alone, apart from our respective bodyguards, who were, at least, keeping a bit of a distance. “Ah, yes. That did get shaped to look more like a dragon’s member, as I recall. Fortunately, it is still sized somewhat proportionally to your body. Sure, 31 centimeters long and six wide is larger and girthier than a normal human, but, so long as you wield your sword with skill, I’m sure you’ll find those willing to sheathe it.”
“Ah, I am so glad that my misfortunes are entertaining you, my Queen.” Zhu’s face was grumpy, and I could hear a grumbling tone to his voice, but it was clear his heart wasn’t truly in it. After all, I was one of the few who could speak to him as an equal, and I was teasing him as an equal, which was likely a rare experience for him.
“I am playing, of course. But still, have you managed to unlock your abilities any further? You were a Shadowsoul before becoming the Hero of Shadow, as I recall. And the few minor changes to your body, even if they feel substantial, are not the full extent of your ability.”
Zhu frowned softly, as he considered my words. “You can see souls, according to the reports I’ve read. So, you’re seeing something in my soul? And, given how you worded it, probably some form of physical transformation?”
“Indeed. The other vessels who became Heroes all transformed fully into creatures of the element they took in. The Troll Patriarch, the Nereid Pair, the Seraphim, the Phoenix Matriarchs, the Bronze Paragons, and the Corpse Lords were all truly changed. Do you think that you alone were made into only a slightly draconic being, Zhu?”
The man stiffened. Ah, he had thought that. Or, at the least, he hadn’t considered the implications. “So, you’re saying that I could turn into a dragon?”
“I am saying that you are a dragon, as you were in that moment after breaking free from your egg in the Seal of Shadow. However, Dragons have an instinctive power that they can draw upon, when they reach adulthood, allowing them to appear as humans, elves, or other such creatures. It is the magic the spell I’ve used for so long is based on, though I use it to give flesh to my bones, whether as a lich or a dracolich, rather than taking on human forms.”
Zhu nodded slowly. “So, I could turn into that dragon again? And I could make myself look fully human? Why am I seemingly stuck like this, then?”
“Because you have not mastered it, yet. Normally, a young dragon has plenty of time to learn the ways of their kind, and builds their knowledge until they are able to master the Mortalform ability. You jumped straight from a human adult to a dragon. But you still thought of yourself as a human. And so the ability tried to turn you back to your human form, but you did not yet have enough control. And, since your mind believed this was your new truth, it settled as such.”
“Thangvald’s First Rule of Magic, is it? ‘Magic is Mana shaped by the Mind. The Mind is Knowledge, Perceptions, and Intent. Therefore, each facet of the Mind influences the shape of the Magic.’” Zhu sighed. “I should have thought about it being something as fundamental as that.”
“Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself. Few people would have just up and considered whether their new clawed hands meant that they could shift into different forms. Especially when they had all the other ‘fun’ of gaining a hero’s powers, as well, without considering the business of running an Empire. You responded as well as could be hoped, and a tad bit better than I expected, honestly, or I would have come by to give you a metaphorical kick in the pants long before now.”
“Well, that’s something,” he chuckled. “So, what is the secret? I’m assuming that there is a form of meditation or something similar I need to do to get into the proper state of mind?”
“At this point, I doubt you will be able to go back to ‘fully human’ without a great deal of will behind the change. Your mind has already adjusted to you, as you are. This will likely be your ‘default’ human form, the one that comes most easily to you. However, it is still magic, and still affected by the mind. So it is entirely possible to change your appearance, or even move from male to female, if you wish. After all, your bones and organs are moving all around and reshaping themselves already, so what does a little more hurt?”
