Karnak, Monarch of Death

A lich was a powerful mage who had evaded death through the power of darkness, becoming undead in the process. Originally, the technique had been devised by an archmage determined to walk the path of magic even in undeath.

However, when he finally completed the spell, he found that it did not grant him what he had hoped for. A lich could not wield magic in the conventional sense. They could convert spells they had once mastered into necromantic arts, but they could no longer manipulate mana itself.

Cursing his own foolishness, the archmage ultimately passed on to the afterlife, leaving behind only a forbidden technique that was secretly passed down among necromancers.

Over time, the method of turning oneself into a lich evolved into a process where the mage's soul was forcibly bound and reanimated. Because of this, ancient mages occasionally reappeared in the world as liches.

"The strongest of them are called archliches." The eighth circle mage Theoderic, spoke in a calm tone before Karnak’s group. "In truth, there is no difference in the spell itself between a lich and an archlich."

The lichification spell could be used as long as a mage’s soul could be bound. In other words, even a first circle mage could theoretically become a lich. Of course, no necromancer was foolish enough to attempt such a thing.

Why would anyone invest immense resources to create an undead that was utterly useless? Thus, the average lich was usually a mage of at least the seventh circle. Only at that level could one expect to gain more from the investment than was lost.

"If a mage who becomes a lich was originally at the ninth circle or beyond, then we call them an archlich."

Karnak responded with admiration. "I see. I didn't realize that was the distinction between a lich and an archlich."

Of course, that was a lie. There was no way a former Monarch of Death wouldn't know such basic necromantic theory. Yet, his expression remained completely natural. He had spent years brazenly feigning ignorance in front of others, after all.

Thanks to that, Theoderic continued his explanation without any suspicion. "To raise a ninth circle mage as a lich would require an immensely powerful necromancer. Throughout the long history of the continent, such beings have been exceedingly rare."

For that reason, even the very existence of archliches had been doubted until now. And yet, the lich currently occupying Zestrad Barony wielded ninth circle magic freely.