Wu Zetian (Caster)

China's one and only empress, now clad in a swimsuit. It's not clear why she has aged somewhat in this form, nor why she is now able to use such mysterious Taoist arts. It seems she saw them in a movie once, and they've been optimized for handling jiāngshī and jiāngshī-adjacent beings. They are also responsible for transforming her Torturers into jiāngshī (details remain unclear) and are what enable her to control them however she likes.

Of course, having (now literally) undyingly loyal subordinates is nothing new for the empress. The only difference is that when she commands them to jump, they need not ask how high; jiāngshī hop all the time anyway.

Still, it's strange. Wasn't Her Imperial Highness deathly afraid of ghosts and spirits? The answer to that riddle lies deep in the ice of the North Pole.

Height/Weight: 155cm, 41kg

Origin: History, etc.

Region: China

Alignment: Lawful-Evil

Sub-Attribute: Human

Gender: Female

She is physically older in this form than as an Assassin, and much closer to the age she was when she reigned supreme in the Inner Palace.

Summer has arrived.

"Since the others are no doubt waiting for me, perhaps it is time I graced them with my beautiful swimsuited presence!"

And so Wu Zetian gained a swimsuit Spirit Origin (specifically, a Caster) in a physically older body.

"You know, I had forgotten that I once mastered Taoist arts. I wonder how that happened? Oh well. Now that I have remembered them, I have nothing to fear from ghosts OR spirits! I am invincible!"

Just like that, she took advantage of her Servant nature to acquire Imperial Taoist Arts (which is to say, regular Taoist arts that have been customized to dispose of any sort of dead thing or spirit, an idea she lifted almost entirely from a movie which featured creatures like jiāngshī) by way of Imperial Privilege. With them, she now commands her Torturers, essentially her familiars, as if they were jiāngshī.

Having overcome her one weakness has left her in a great mood pretty much all the time. Perhaps because she now has a means of handling the undead, she's developed a tendency to put all who work for her through the ringer. It's almost like she's doing so to relieve the frustration she felt from before...

Still, we have to ask: Did she ACTUALLY overcome her weakness? And why was she able to change into a swimsuit and become a Caster in the first place?

Mysteries abound.

Personality

While she's mostly the same person she is as an Assassin, she does seem more confident in her position as empress now that she looks more grown-up. She was always good at torturing people, but now she's developed a bit of a thing for bossing around ghouls, ghosts, and all manner of undead.

Attitude toward Master

She believes she needs to make a big show to Master to demonstrate just how absolutely unafraid of the undead she is. Also, she wants to use the undead at her command to scare the bejeezus out of Master.

Consort's Charisma (Summer) EX

Wu Zetian's ability to sway hearts and minds, which she put to expert use as the consort for the Tang Dynasty's Emperor Taizong. This charm is based on her beauty, intelligence, and skill in the performing arts It was so strong, it even kept the emperor's son, Gaozong, under her spell. Though ill omens and prophecy warned of threats to her position, she managed to use her connections with China's key figures, which she had made and maintained thanks once again to this skill, to successfully retain her position. While elements of this ability are present in the Charisma she possesses as an Assassin, they are far more effective now that she has gained a summer-ready swimsuit Spirit Origin and a body closer to the age she was back then to go with it.

"It just goes to show that no one can resist these perfect proportions!"

Cursed Princess Wu: A

When Wu Zetian was younger, there was a prophecy that said, "A woman by the name of 'Wu' will destroy the Tang Dynasty and gain control of China." This prophecy is believed to have led to Emperor Taizong growing suspicious of Wu Zetian, known at the time as Wu Zhao, which led him to attempt to distance himself from her.

While this skill may seem similar to Yang Guifei's Ruinous Beauty, it is actually very different. Instead of just ruining a nation, this skill denotes a person destined to remake what once was after the fact.

Perhaps due in part to her third skill, there are some differences in this skill's effects while she is in this Spirit Origin.

『Come Forth, My Torturer Jiāngshī』

Rank: B

NP Type: Anti-Army

Range: 1 - 20

Maximum Targets: 30

Lái Lái, My Jiāngshī Torturers

A Taoist art in which Wu Zetian summons a small army of Torturers who have been transformed into jiāngshī thanks to the talismans placed on their foreheads. Forgetting their original purpose of being the best damn tormenters an empress could ask for, these Torturers hop around in a decidedly jiāngshī-esque fashion while following Wu Zetian's orders, even as they find themselves wondering, "Why am I doing this again...?" Silently, of course. Oh, and for the record, they absolutely can walk around normally if they want.

Incidentally, anyone who wants to serve Wu Zetian can become an easily manipulatable jiāngshī just by having her place a talisman on their forehead and casting a spell, so new recruits are always welcome.

Attention, all you motivated, talented prospective jiāngshī! Come for the beautiful boss, stay for the fulfilling work, and as a bonus, enjoy a few rounds of refreshing torture when you foul up!

Wu Zetian's newly rediscovered capacity for Taoist arts gives rise to an inherent contradiction: Why was she afraid of spirits all this time? The truth is, when she was alive, her Taoist arts didn't work; they had no effect at all. No matter how many times she chanted, the ghosts of those she had poisoned still plagued her, and cats still looked down at her with spite in their eyes. Small wonder, then, that she could not make use of Taoist arts when she had seen for herself how poorly they worked. This trauma tremendously complicated the prospect of her becoming a Caster, which was necessary to stabilize her swimsuit Spirit Origin. Scáthach-Skadi's solution to this problem was to employ her runes to seal away Wu Zetian's memories of her failures with Taoist arts.

Now that she is able to trust her own abilities, the newly swimsuited Wu Zetian appears (emphasis on appears) to have forgotten all about her fear of the undead. This, however, is owed entirely to her being able to deal with spirits meaning there is no reason for her to fear them. Once summer ends and she once more recalls how completely ineffective her arts were, or, alternatively, if she ever begins to worry about the possibility of encountering a righteous ghost she is unable to exorcise even in her new Spirit Origin, her experiences from this summer will vanish as though waking from a dream.

That's right. Deep down, in her heart of hearts, she still feels as though she can never escape the spirits cursing her for all the political assassinations she enacted, whether or not she did so for the greater good of China. However, that is not weakness. This feeling stems from her pride in protecting her country, and in spite of her fears, she would do it all again if she had to.

And so, naturally, hard worker that she is, Wu Zetian continues to try to overcome her fear of spirits (and cats) even after summer draws to a close...