Lich for Hire-Chapter 42: The Undead Gathering

The Umbral Depths was a vast world hidden deep beneath the earth, larger than the Nine Kingdoms of the continent combined. Sunlight never reached the Depths; only the pale glow of luminescent moss and crystal veins brought light to the endless night.

And yet the harsh realm teemed with life.

Beings rarely seen on the surface, like the drow, deep gnomes, gray dwarves, and myconids were well adapted to this unique environment.

But none of them thrived in it like the undead.

The undead needed neither air nor food, and were immune to most toxins.They could reign unchallenged in lands where even the hardiest subterranean races could not endure.

In one region of the Umbral Depths was a lake of pure mercury, vast and gleaming.

The surface mirrored the faint light of nearby minerals and glittered like a field of stars.

Yet that beauty hid a deadly truth: its vapors were fatally toxic to almost every living creature. Only the undead could exist there safely, building a castle along the shore and mining the precious ore beneath.

And within the magnificent castle, a pale undead queen sat poring over her ledgers. Her skin was smooth and bloodless, her eyes and lips a deep crimson. She was Black Rose, the wealthy matriarch of the Elegiac Society.

Black Rose was a lich. Long ago, while she was still alive, she had fled from the Lyon Empire. Its relentless pursuit forced her to escape into the Umbral Depths, where she found herself trapped by the mercury lake and was forced to leap in.

Master Morgan had recovered her body and soul, then helped her ascend into undeath. Mercury had seeped into every fiber of her being, preserving her flesh. She still looked nearly human, though her body was now far sturdier than bone.

Under Master Morgan's tutelage, she mastered the necromantic arts and followed him back to the surface, where establishing her own tower in a desert kingdom.

But when Morgan was slain by a paladin of the Lyon Empire, Black Rose returned to the depths—to the lake that had given her new life.

There, over many long years, she founded her own kingdom of the dead.

The beginning of it all had been brutal. She was a lone lich with no allies, fighting for territory among the subterranean races. More than once, she nearly perished, surviving only by the resilience of her undead body and the natural defenses of the mercury lake.

Endless wars followed against the drow, gray dwarves, and myconids, until the dead outnumbered the living.

The drow were the first to surrender, signing a vassal pact little better than bondage. The gray dwarves hesitated too long and were forced to become slaves.

The myconids fled entirely, abandoning their lands.

That was how Black Rose forged an undead dominion nearly a quarter the size of the Lyon Empire.

Her ability to offer Ambrose billions of gold came from the sheer wealth of her domain. Millions of undead mined day and night, piling up mountains of ore and precious gems alike. With such vast resources, she could easily manipulate the mineral markets of the Nine Kingdoms. If she wanted to, she could crash them overnight.

This might have been a devastating move for mortals, but to Black Rose, money was merely a tool. Her true desire was the destruction of the Lyon Empire, no matter the cost.

After reviewing her numbers, she signed the ledger and handed it to a drow attendant.

"Lower next month's export prices," she said calmly. "Increase shipment volume according to these figures."

The dark-skinned elf bowed deeply. "As you command, Your Majesty."

When the servant left, the Black Rose murmured to herself, "That much undercutting will send the Nine Kingdoms' ore prices plummeting. In Alkhemia, the smaller mines will go bankrupt within weeks.

"Once that happens, I'll transfer him another three million gold, enough to buy a minor mine outright. It's a shame he refuses to move here and serve me directly. It would save me so much trouble."

She smiled faintly. She truly admired Ambrose. His designs were brilliant, and his ingenuity outstanding. But when she invited him to the Umbral Depths, he declined outright.

His reason was as blunt as it was honest: "You can't afford me."

Billions of gold could buy his cooperation and his time, but it was far too little for his eternal loyalty.

A peasant who earned a single silver a year cost at least a hundred times that to enslave.

As for a lich who could live forever, who could make billions of gold a year, his freedom was priceless. Perhaps even the entire wealth of the Lyon Empire wouldn't suffice.

Still, Black Rose was patient. The undead had eternity on their side. If a bone dragon could wed a Dullahan, and vampires could breed with mortals, then surely one day she would find a way to bind Ambrose to her—whether through loyalty... or marriage.

Thinking of that odd couple, Black Rose opened the Necromantic Codex and wrote into the group chat.

[Black Rose: Sister Bone, is your husband behaving himself lately?]

She'd only meant to ask the dragon how she managed to tame such a proud and powerful undead, but the reply she got was rather unexpected.

[Pale Little Skeleton: That heartless scumbag! He ran away from home! When I catch him, I'll lash him to the bone with my tail!]

[Black Rose: What? He ran away? But you're so far from the continent. Where could he even go?]

[Pale Little Skeleton: I don't know. All I detected were traces of a teleportation circle. I bet that Megaman Tiga fellow helped him out. I'm going to Alkhemia to find that heartless scoundrel!]

Black Rose paused in thought, then smiled to herself.

[Black Rose: I'll come with you. As it happens, I'd quite like to meet Megaman Tiga myself.]