Chapter 6: The Executive Suite Lich

The thing that stepped through the destroyed doorway had once been human—Arthur could sense the echo of mortality beneath the corporate suit and carefully styled hair. But whatever Dr. Marcus Thorne had been before his transformation into something far worse, he now radiated the cold certainty of death given form and executive authority.

"Gentlemen. Lady." The Lich's voice carried the polished tones of a man accustomed to boardroom presentations, but underneath lurked the whisper of grave dirt and bone. "I'm afraid you're trespassing on proprietary research."

Arthur's divine senses recoiled from the creature's presence. This wasn't like the shadow wraith from the convenience store—that had been a tool, a weapon sent by others. This thing was ancient power wearing a three-piece suit, undeath masquerading as corporate leadership.

HOSTILE ENTITY IDENTIFIED: LICH (EXECUTIVE CLASS) THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME DIVINE ENERGY RESERVES: 40% AND FALLING RECOMMENDATION: TACTICAL WITHDRAWAL

"Dr. Thorne, I presume," Kael said, his revolver already in his hands but not yet aimed. The dwarf's experienced eyes were taking in details—escape routes, cover positions, the way the Lich's presence made the air itself feel colder.

"Doctor, yes. Chief Technology Officer, to be precise." The Lich straightened his tie with fingers that were too pale, too perfect, as if death had frozen them at their most photogenic. "Though I prefer to think of myself as a solutions architect. The human condition presents so many... inefficiencies."

Zara was still working frantically at the servers, her equipment sparking as competing magical and technological fields interfered with each other. "Almost got it," she muttered. "Just need another minute to crack their financial records."

"I'm afraid your consultation is terminated," Dr. Thorne said pleasantly. He raised one hand, and Arthur felt power building—not the warm authority of his own divine energy, but something cold and hungry that made his skin crawl. "Nothing personal, you understand. Simply market forces."

The attack came without warning.

Necrotic energy lashed out like black lightning, striking the wall where Arthur had been standing a split second before. The reinforced concrete didn't just crack—it aged decades in an instant, crumbling to dust that reeked of centuries.

"Move!" Kael shouted, diving behind a bank of servers as more dark energy carved through the air. His enchanted revolver boomed, the rune-etched bullets trailing silver fire as they struck the Lich center mass.

The bullets passed right through Dr. Thorne as if he were made of mist. He tutted disapprovingly. "Dwarven runecraft. How wonderfully traditional. But I'm afraid your ammunition is calibrated for merely supernatural threats."

Arthur rolled behind a data terminal, his mind racing. The Lich wasn't just powerful—it was operating on rules that conventional weapons couldn't touch. But divine energy...

"Zara, how much longer?" he called.

"Working on it!" she replied, her voice tight with concentration. "Their encryption is military-grade, but I'm almost through the executive communications. Just need—"

"Need what, Ms. Nimblefingers?" Dr. Thorne had moved without seeming to walk, now standing directly behind her position. "Need more time to steal proprietary information? I'm afraid our shareholders wouldn't approve."

He reached out with one perfectly manicured hand, death energy crackling around his fingers like black electricity.

Arthur didn't think. He threw himself forward, divine light exploding from his hands as he intercepted the Lich's attack. Holy energy met necrotic power in a shower of sparks that left afterimages burned into his retinas.

"Interesting," Dr. Thorne mused, apparently untroubled by having his killing blow blocked. "A Cleric. I haven't encountered one of those in... oh, must be centuries now. Tell me, young man, which of the forgotten gods has been foolish enough to grant you power?"

Arthur felt the Keeper's presence stir at the edge of his consciousness—not offering guidance, but simply bearing witness. This was his fight, his choice to make.

"The Keeper of Lost Things," he said, golden light still dancing around his fists. "God of everything you corporate bastards throw away."

The Lich actually laughed—a sound like wind through an empty office building. "How appropriate. Do you know what I find most amusing about divine champions? They always believe their cause is righteous, right up until the moment they realize how small their god really is."

Dark energy gathered around Dr. Thorne like a storm cloud, and Arthur realized with growing horror that the creature was barely trying. This was a test, a casual exploration of his capabilities before the real violence began.

"I've been perfecting my condition for three centuries," the Lich continued conversationally. "Do you know what that means? Three hundred years of refining the balance between death and ambition, of learning to make mortality itself a competitive advantage."

The next attack came from three directions at once—tendrils of pure entropy that sought to age Arthur into dust, to drain his life force and leave nothing but bones and regret.

Arthur's divine barriers held, but barely. The strain of blocking so much concentrated death magic was like trying to stop a freight train with his bare hands. His knees buckled, and he could taste blood.

DIVINE ENERGY: 25% AND FALLING WARNING: POWER RESERVES CRITICALLY LOW LICH CAPABILITIES: VASTLY SUPERIOR TO CURRENT THREAT ASSESSMENT

"You see?" Dr. Thorne said, advancing with the unhurried pace of inevitability. "Your god chose poorly. A convenience store clerk, elevated to champion of the forgotten. How tragically... appropriate."

Kael's revolver roared again, this time loaded with ammunition that glowed with runic fire. The bullets struck home, leaving smoking holes in the Lich's expensive suit—but the creature barely noticed.

"Persistent," Dr. Thorne observed. "I respect that in an employee. But I'm afraid your severance package will be rather... final."

Death magic lashed out toward Kael, moving too fast for the dwarf to dodge. Arthur tried to intercept it, but his divine energy was too depleted, his reactions too slow—

The attack struck empty air. Kael had vanished, replaced by the acrid smell of gunpowder and ozone.

"Dwarven emergency teleportation," Dr. Thorne said with mild interest. "Clever. Though it won't help him in the long term."

Arthur realized with growing despair that they were outmatched. The Lich wasn't just powerful—it was playing with them, studying their capabilities like a scientist examining interesting specimens. And when it grew bored...

"Got it!" Zara shouted suddenly. "Financial records, communication logs, deployment schedules—everything! The whole conspiracy is right here!"

Dr. Thorne's composed expression flickered for just a moment—the first sign of genuine concern Arthur had seen from the creature.

"I'm afraid that information is classified," the Lich said, and for the first time, there was real menace in his voice. "Corporate secrets, you understand."

Dark energy erupted from him like a tsunami, not targeted attacks but raw necrotic power that sought to destroy everything in the room. Server banks crumbled to rust, steel support beams aged to brittle iron, and the very air became thick with the stench of decay.

Arthur felt his divine defenses crumble under the assault. This was too much, too powerful—he was going to die here, and with him any hope of stopping Alchemax's plan to murder forty thousand innocent people.

But as the death magic washed over him, Arthur felt something else—not the warm presence of the Keeper, but something deeper. The accumulated weight of every forgotten soul in Calathon, every discarded life that the corporate machine had deemed expendable. They were with him, lending him their strength, their desperate hope for someone to finally remember that they mattered.

DIVINE RESONANCE DETECTED FAITH OF THE FORGOTTEN: ANSWERING POWER SURGE INITIATED ABILITY UNLOCKED: TURN UNDEAD (MAXIMUM POWER)

Arthur rose to his feet, no longer glowing with gentle golden light but blazing like a star. The divine energy pouring through him wasn't just his own—it was the combined prayers of every homeless person, every addict, every mentally ill individual that Alchemax planned to transform and destroy. All of them, crying out through him for justice.

"No," he said, and his voice carried the authority of the divine. "Not today."

The Turn Undead ability erupted from him like a nuclear explosion of holy light. Pure divine energy, channeled not through his own small reserves but through the faith of thousands of forgotten souls, struck Dr. Thorne with the force of a righteous hurricane.

The Lich's scream was the sound of three centuries of carefully maintained undeath being subjected to the full weight of divine judgment. His perfectly preserved form began to smoke and char, expensive clothing burning away to reveal the desiccated horror beneath.

"Impossible," he gasped, his polished voice cracking for the first time. "My phylactery... my safeguards... I am eternal!"

"You're a middle manager with delusions of grandeur," Arthur replied, pouring more divine energy into the assault. "And middle managers can be replaced."

Dr. Thorne's physical form collapsed, reduced to ash and bone fragments that scattered across the ruined server room. But even as Arthur watched, the remains began to stir, seeking to reform.

"The phylactery," Zara said urgently, pointing to a small crystalline device that had fallen from the Lich's jacket. "It's still intact! He'll regenerate from that!"

Arthur reached for the phylactery, intending to destroy it with divine fire—but his power finally gave out. The massive expenditure of energy had drained him completely, leaving him barely able to stand.

The crystal pulsed with malevolent light, and Arthur could hear Dr. Thorne's voice emerging from it like a radio transmission from hell.

"Clever children," the Lich whispered. "But this changes nothing. The deployment proceeds as scheduled. And now... now you've made it personal."

COMBAT RESULT: TACTICAL VICTORY ENEMY STATUS: TEMPORARILY DEFEATED WARNING: PRIMARY THREAT REMAINS ACTIVE DIVINE ENERGY: CRITICALLY DEPLETED

Kael materialized behind them in another flash of runic light, looking singed but determined. "Time to go, lads and lasses. I can hear security teams mobilizing throughout the building."

Zara was already packing her equipment, data drives clutched protectively to her chest. "I got everything—financial records, deployment schedules, executive communications. Enough to expose the whole conspiracy."

Arthur staggered toward them, exhaustion making his vision blur. They'd won this battle, but at enormous cost. And Dr. Thorne was still out there, probably already planning his revenge.

As they made their way toward the emergency stairs, the Lich's phylactery pulsing with malevolent promise behind them, Arthur couldn't shake the feeling that they'd just made a very powerful enemy.

But for the first time since this all began, they had proof. Evidence that could stop the mass murder of forty thousand innocent people.

It would have to be enough.