How long had it been since I turned my back from the light?
…Dozens, hundreds of years?
…I can’t remember that well, it had been so long, after all. My memory had become hazy over the years… even an undying body like mine could not truly escape the grip of time, it seemed.
Not that it matters... Slowly losing one’s memory is still better than remembering the pain and surrendering to the hatred.
Hatred… right, I remembered. I abandoned the light because it could not satisfy my burning desire for revenge. I wanted revenge. I wanted to destroy those that had wronged me – those that had taken everything from me. And the light could never satisfy that.
That’s why I succumbed to the darkness… That’s why I became a lich.
Yes, only by having the power to control death and an undying body could I have my revenge. After all, I was weak. I could only hide and helplessly watch in a corner as those traitorous nobles, and ignorant commoners execute every member of my family!
Why?! Why did they have to kill them? Was it because we’re different? Was it because we could use the forbidden art of necromancy? We’ve never wronged anyone so why do we have to be persecuted?!
I will have my revenge! The city, no, the whole kingdom would pay! There will be no mercy! Why should I show them mercy when they’ve shown my family none?!
The hatred in my heart burns and nothing but the blood of my enemies could quell it. I used the forbidden art to transform into the lich. I sacrificed my humanity for power. The process of transformation was extremely painful but I ignored it.
I heard from my father that transforming into a true lich has a high chance of failure and that failure would transform me into a mindless lesser lich. As such I could not afford to fail. Only by becoming a true lich could I have my revenge.
I succeeded! I became a lich!
My human body is no more; it’s replaced by that of a black skeleton. My beautiful fair skin and silky black hair that I used to be so proud of was gone. Even my blue eyes are gone, in its place are green flames burning with hatred and madness. But that’s fine. I don’t need those. Those things couldn’t save my family, after all.
Now that I have become a lich, I would need my own armies of undead and that mean corpses. It’s not a problem though. Those things were everywhere in this god-forsaken land embroiled in endless wars. All I needed to do was to go to some of the battlefields and use my magic to raise the dead.
Yes, rise up! Accept my gift of undeath. After that follow me. Let us cover this land with the putrid stench of death.
Destroy, destroy everything my legion! Show them no mercy!
I did it. I finally got my revenge. All of my enemies are dead. But I’m not done yet. This kingdom that discriminates against my kind should not be allowed to exist anymore. Only when every living being in this kingdom is dead will my vengeance end…
Who is he?! Who is this person! Why is he getting in my way?!
A hero, you say?! Damn you, hero! Where were you when my family was being executed! You wanted to save these sinners? I won’t allow it! I will destroy you too!
…Ugh, enough!
“…That was close. I could almost feel the darkness eating on my sanity again.” I sighed as I put my bony hand on my fleshless face. “I should stop thinking of the past. It’s been so long, and I had long exact my revenge on the people that had wronged me… It’s enough. I should be satisfied now.”
Leaning my back on the stone throne, my fiery green eyes scanned my surroundings. There’s not a single light in my throne room. I could light up the torches on the walls with magic but what’s the point of doing that?
It’s not like I couldn’t see in the darkness. No, I could see just fine. Seeing in the darkness is one of the few positive traits of being a lich, after all.
On the sides are my undead soldiers standing motionlessly. Death knights, lesser liches, undead mages, zombies, skeletons… There are only hundreds of them in my throne room. But even this number is enough to bring a small kingdom to its knees in a single night. Not to mention the army of undead “sleeping” just below my feet. All I needed to do is give them the command and they would once again submerge the world of the living into darkness.
I will not do it though. After all, I made a promise with a friend…
My friend… He’s the only person that had reached out to me – the old me that was drowning in hatred. If he didn’t stop me that day, I would still be under the control of my destructive impulses. Who knows what would have happened if I didn’t meet him. I might have turned the entire continent into the world of the undead by now.
If only the two of us met sooner… maybe I wouldn’t have become a lich. No, I probably wouldn’t have met him if I didn’t become a lich. After all, he was the hero while I was one of the evils that he needed to vanquish. And only when I became one of the evils did I qualify to get the hero’s attention. Quite ironic if you think about it.
“The evils, huh… I wonder if he succeeded in vanquishing the remaining ones. Or maybe he was killed by one of them? He did say that there’s someone among them that was particularly powerful, so much so that he might be killed in the encounter.”
Well, considering that the world still existed; he might have been victorious. But it’s been hundreds of years and no human; even a hero could live that long. There’s a good possibility that my friend had died and reincarnated several times already over the century.
“Reincarnation… My friend said that he will always reincarnate with his memories fully intact. I hope it’s the same this time. At the very least I hope he reincarnated into a being that could communicate with other intelligent beings. After all, I don't know how to communicate with animals, insects, or plants.”
While I was reminiscing about the past, one of the undead mages approached me while carrying an orb.
“What is it?” I asked.
The undead mage didn’t answer, or rather; it couldn’t answer as it lacked a tongue, nor could it use telepathy. Instead it raises the arm holding the orb so I could see the content clearly.
The orb was showing a human male trying to escape from the undead loitering the cavern where my catacomb is located. He looks really desperate and pathetic while avoiding the undead. But despite his desperate situation, I could see no sign that he would be giving up.
“Those eyes… I’ve seen those eyes before.”
Indeed, those are the eyes of a man who would do anything just so he could return to his loved ones. And I’m very familiar with it. After all, I personally crushed people with those eyes when I was still out rampaging.
“He’s not the person I was waiting for but he’s not bad.” My friend has this strange aura with him that made him stand out from ordinary people. Even if his appearance had changed after his reincarnation, I would still be able to recognize him. “Maybe he could be used…”
As I made a promise with my friend to never leave my catacomb until our next meeting, I could only try another method to announce my presence to the world. For example; this human male could become my messenger.
Since it’s possible for the human to get lost and die inside the cavern if left alone, I instructed my undead to slowly lead the human to the throne room through the guise of chasing him.
The human took the bait hook, line, and sinker. He probably couldn’t imagine that someone was actually guiding him through the winding path of the cavern. It won’t be long now. Soon he will reach the throne room.
Before arriving at the throne room, I saw the human attack a few of my undead skeletons guarding the premises. He uses his superior agility and a stone to smash the skeletons’ skulls one by one. It seems that he’s not totally useless. But isn’t he acting too cocky when all he did was destroy a few skeletons?
Well, whatever… he’s amusing at least.
Not long after, the human was in front of the door to the throne room but for some reason he seemed to be hesitating. What is he hesitating about?
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the human finally decided to push open the door. It’s finally time to welcome him. Don’t die in fright after seeing my face, you hear?
