The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 235 (Patreon)

Chapter 235 – Opposition

“So, who are we taking this time, Filip? Mistress sent a lot more of us than usual for this. She worried you’ll drop the ball?”

Filip Albescu grit his teeth at the other vampire’s tone. As the first vampire Mistress had turned, six years ago, he was the strongest of her brood, second only to her own power. However, before the Mistress had found him, he had been homeless, a drifter. The later spawn in the brood were weaker than he was, but still clung to delusions that they were better than him, because of their old lives. If it weren’t for the Mistress ordering him not to kill them, he would have destroyed them long ago, and be done with it. Unfortunately, that was not his call to make.

Before the Mistress had changed him, he had been a Shadowbringer, a Shadow Witch, according to the tests Phantomline had just put out. He’d scraped together the money for a test kit, and used the basic training information in the kit to start growing his mana. That was the plan he’d formed, to get out of poverty. Become a mage, and find someone who found his talents useful. And then, as he’d been training in Moşului Cave, his Mistress had found him.

The Mistress had not looked at him as someone to be pitied, or scorned. Instead, she had seen the efforts he was making. She saw how his soul was growing more powerful, through training. And she gave him a gift. She gave her body to him, taking pleasure from his pleasure, as she drank his blood. He would have been content, then, to fade out in the embrace of a beautiful woman, still buried inside her as she pressed against his chest, but then she gave him a second gift.

She bit her own wrist, and fed her blood to him. And the blood changed him, made him more than he had ever been before. When he awoke, the next night, he could feel more than his own native Shadow. He felt Death mana, and Light, as well. Three elements. Three sources he could draw from, as a witch, and now a Vampire.

As he learned to control his new nature, and the thirst that came with it, the Mistress taught him about her own power. She was a Sorceress of Light and Shadow, a Celestial and a Demon, in the terms Phantomline used. Becoming a vampire had given Death to her, and she had passed down one of her affinities to him, as she turned him.

The result? Like the Mistress, he could use all three elements fluidly, though not with the same power she managed. And, together, they had learned to combine elements. Light and Shadow produced Glamour, and helped them disappear in a crowd. Light and Death created Cleansing, which wiped all traces of their passing. Shadow and Light made Psychic, to lure in prey, while Shadow and Death made Entropy, which eroded defenses. Death and Shadow made Spectral, which they used to move through walls like ghosts, and Death and Life created Soul, which they used to break the wills of those who hunted them, and discover all their secrets.

Of course, they still needed to feed, and test subjects for their magic. At first, they’d simply taken someone, drank their fill, and made them forget the whole thing. Throw some cheap alcohol on their clothes, and place an empty bottle by their side, and when someone found them the next morning, everyone assumed they’d gone on a bender, and any gaps in their memories or weakness was simply due to the alcohol. It was a perfect system, really.

But the Mistress’s ambitions grew as they began learning more, and growing in power. A descendant of the House of Drăculești, and the famous Vlad Dracula, who had inspired the mythos of the vampire, as everyone knew it, the Mistress dreamt of gathering enough power to create her own kingdom, reviving the Wallachia and Transylvania of old, under her rule. But to do that, she needed followers, loyal followers who would get the reigns of power, and turn them over to her.

Still, the Mistress was no fool. While vampires were harder to kill than mortal humans, that did not mean they could not be brought down. She needed more power, more followers, and she needed to find ways to break into the halls of power. To make victory inevitable before the first shot was fired.

So, they began to recruit. Some other homeless people and drifters, as he had been, were the first recruits, obviously. But then, she began to target escorts and prostitutes, turning them, and using them to get access to politicians and police officials who were not above paying for sex, or were dirty enough to use their position to coerce women into their beds. Using Soul magic on them brainwashed the officials into dutiful servants, who would never betray the Mistress.

Which is how they found out about this new group of investigators. The last one had been clever. Too clever. He’d managed to hide his files in the cloud before the Mistress’s lesser brood captured him. That would have been fine, if not for the timer, which he did not mention. The Mistress was careful, and never had her brood bring captured investigators directly to her, since they may have tracking spells or devices on them. By the time the investigator eventually appeared before the Mistress for breaking, the timer had already run out, and his files were transmitted too widely for her pawns in the police to silence them.

That unfortunate debacle had led to elements of the government the Mistress had yet to subvert catching wind of the disappearances from the Mistress’s recruitment, and the dead bodies left behind when some of her newest servants forgot themselves, and lost control while feeding. Before, she’d made certain to spread the incidents out, in both time and place, so that no one organization would catch wind of it. Some police officers were added to the recruits, and, up until those files got out, everything had been manageable. Now, the government had called for aid, and they turned to the one power that the Mistress truly feared.

The Lich Queen of Risen Athelia was more powerful than anyone could imagine. She’d proven that, time and time again. Not only was she powerful, herself, but she also had powerful undead servants. Some of which were coming to Romania to help ‘solve’ the case. The Mistress knew that a straight fight would be impossible to win, which is why she was planning to cheat.

Bringing his thoughts back to the present, Filip looked at the gathered brood, fifty vampires strong, and said, “The Mistress knows that followers of the Lich Queen are with our targets. The Mistress knows that, even with numbers, we cannot overcome those soldiers of hers from the other world. Which is why the Choir is with us.”

Eight women in nun’s habits stepped out of the shadows behind him. They were not vampires, but humans who had been thoroughly broken by the Mistress, their faith turned towards her. The nuns were part of the Mănăstirea Dealu, and as Holy Priestesses of the Mistress, they could use their powers of purification to weaken undead who were not touched by Mistress. Hopefully enough that numbers could do what power alone could not.

Filip had argued against this plan, in private. He would not shame the Mistress by arguing with her before the rest of the brood, but he had tried to change her mind when they were alone. No good would come from attacking the Lich Queen’s forces. Even if they succeeded in destroying the undead, that would only convince the Lich Queen to retaliate, and her record said that any retaliation would come with overwhelming force.

Instead, he’d suggested moving their operations, taking the brood into another region while they waited for the police to lose interest. A decade meant nothing to them now, and the mortals would not have the patience for waiting. They could move throughout Europe, recruiting new members of the brood and gaining power. By the time they returned, the mortals would be starting from scratch, and they would be stronger. Strong enough to overwhelm the country, and take it before they could call for help.

But the Mistress revealed that she had considered that plan. If they ran now, they would always be running. There was no future where they would be able to match the Lich Queen, power for power, and they both knew it. However, if they could weaken the Lich Queen’s undead long enough to kill the two detectives, and then retreat, she could use her puppets in the government to drive a wedge between Romania and the Lich Queen, since the ‘consultants’ failed to protect those around them. That way, they could still advance their goals without a direct confrontation.

Filip looked at the gathered strike force. Between the vampires and the Choir, this was the majority of the Mistress’s available power. Even so, he did not think it would be enough. Still, he made sure his feelings never showed on his face. That would shame the Mistress, after all.

“The plan is simple. The Choir will form an eight-sided barrier of Holy power around the hotel where they are staying. All undead who are not touched by the Mistress will have their powers suppressed, and ours will be bolstered by their faith in Her. The targets are not the undead sent by the Lich Queen, but the two detectives. You may have to fight the Lich Queen’s people in order to get to them, but remember that they are secondary to the true targets! Slay the two detectives, and then retreat.”

One of the vampires, a former police officer who had been an early member of the brood, spoke up. “Why should we retreat after killing the detectives? It would be better to destroy the Lich Queen’s people while we have the advantage in numbers, and the suppression is up!”

Filip snarled at the man. “Iosif, you fool! Do you really believe that you, with your mere two years of undeath, can match undead who have been fighting for forty years, in a war, with full knowledge of how to grow their power with magic? Not only would trying to seriously kill the undead likely fail, due to how much stronger they are, but even should you succeed? All you would do is draw the Lich Queen into direct opposition with the Mistress! Which is the last thing the Mistress wants! Her orders are to fight the Lich Queen’s forces only so much as is necessary to ensure the deaths of the two detectives. Anything more goes contrary to her commands. Would you go against the Mistress’s will to stroke your own ego?”

Iosif growled at the naked insult, but he did not object further. After all, the will of the Mistress was paramount. They all knew that. To go against her commands was a heresy that none of them could abide, not in themselves, and not in each other. If the Mistress commanded them to leave the undead alive, if possible, then that is what they would do.

There were no more complaints. Not that Filip expected any. Everyone here was a servant of the Mistress, and they knew what they had to do, even if they did not always appreciate their jobs. He nodded, once, satisfied that the disquiet at the orders had been settled, for now.

“Very well, then. Once the Choir sets up the barrier, we will attack from all directions. Do not give the undead a chance to adjust or gather their strength. And remember, the key is to slay the detectives. Once they are dead, retreat immediately. The Mistress does not wish more of you to fall than is necessary. Doing so would only set her plans back, and leave her disappointed in all of us. Do you understand?”

They all nodded. “Good. Then move out.”