Characters / The Beginning After The End Vritra Clan

aka: The Beginning After The End Agrona Vritra

The Beginning After the End Main Character Index
Dicathians: Leywin Family (Arthur Leywin) | Royal Families | Xyrus Academy | Adventurers
Alacryans: Vritra Clan
Asuras

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The main antagonistic force of the novel, the Vritra are a clan of asuras who rule over the distant continent of Alacrya, and are the ones responsible for uplifting the populace of that continent and bestowing upon them the gift of magic. In the distant past, the Vritra were once the representatives of the basilisk race among the Great Eight of Epheotus. However, they were stripped of their position and exiled to Alacrya for their experiments upon the inhabitants of that continent, which violated the asuras' policy of non-intervention in the lives of lessers. Swearing vengeance upon the rest of the kind, the Vritra set in motion a war that would consume the entire world, one which the newly reincarnated Arthur would find himself caught up in.

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In General

• Achilles' Heel: Their Horns of Villainy are the source of their power, and so damaging if not outright severing them naturally cripples them severely.
• All Your Powers Combined: Their signature decay mana arts are derived from their own personal understanding of the four primary elements.
• Basilisk and Cockatrice: The Vritra are basilisks, which in the novel are asuras whose true form are that of giant serpents with wings and horns.
• Bird vs. Serpent: Their rivalry with the Indrath can be viewed as this. The Vritra being basilisks are naturally the serpent, while the Indrath despite being dragons are the bird due to them being Feathered Dragons and being tied to the heavens.
• Black Magic: The Vritra have their own distinct decay mana arts with the potential for unprecedented destruction.
• The Corruptor: The Vritra are experts at corruption in both the biological and moral sense. Not only have they experimented upon living beings and imbued them with their blood, they are also expert manipulators who can coerce weak-minded or corrupt individuals into being their servants.
• Dark Is Evil: The Vritra are associated with the color black. Their members and followers wear dark clothing or armor and Vritra blood often makes individuals exhibit their signature black horns and in some cases dark skin. In addition, their signature mana arts manifest in the form of black-colored spellforms, be it flames or spikes.
• Deck of Wild Cards: Loyalty has never been a strong suit for the basilisks of the Vritra Clan, and so they have been constantly vying for power against one another over the millennia. This behavior has been tolerated by Agrona for the most part as long as their infighting does not threaten his overall plans and if the survivors end up becoming stronger in the long term. Unfortunately for those among the Vritra who think they have a shot of overthrowing him, Agrona is always a step ahead of all of them so as to keep them all in check...until he deems that they have outlived their usefulness to him.
• Dying Race: An unorthodox example. When the Vritra and their allies were exiled from Epheotus, they numbered in the hundreds. However, the number of pure Vritra dwindled over time due to Kezess repeatedly sending assassins after Agrona who while failing to eliminate their target were nonetheless able to slay much of them in the process. In the present, while the number of pure Vritra remaining is not made clear it is undoubtedly a fraction of their former numbers from when they were first exiled. As such, the majority of their members in the present are not true asuras but instead their Semi-Divine descendants.
• Emperor Scientist: The Vritra are essentially a clan of divine scientists turned the Supernatural Elite of Alacrya. Even before their exile, the Vritra were constantly researching the inner workings of mana, and after being exiled they maintained that scientific mindset of theirs but for more nefarious ends. As Seris puts it:
  Seris: Everything was a game to the Sovereigns. That's what came of a life lived completely completely disconnected from real consequences. Especially to the basilisks of the Vritra Clan, who looked at the world like one big laboratory, everything inside of it an experiment. War, disease, natural disasters...little more than opportunities for the Vritra to dissect the aftereffects.
• Evil Makes You Monstrous: The presence of Vritra blood has a wide range of effects upon an individual's appearance. The near-constant is the presence of Horns of Villainy, but that might not be the only visual change. As seen with the likes of Cadell, Uto, Jagrette, and Bivrae, some servants of the Vritra look outright monstrous in appearance.
• Evil Sorcerer: As the main antagonists, the Vritra and their servants are highly adept at magic, to the point that their mastery over it surpasses that of the Dicathians by a very wide margin.
• Evil Wears Black: The Vritra and their servants tend to wear black attire and armor.
• Evilutionary Biologist: They have experimented upon the inhabitants of Alacrya for generations to find different ways to enhance their own capabilities.
• Fallen Angel: Once part of the Great Eight, the Vritra were exiled from Epheotus and have sworn vengeance against the Indrath and the other asuras.
• Fantastic Racism: Their members look down on lessers as inferior, regardless of if they are proper asuras or Vritra-blooded Alacryans.
• The Great Serpent: The true form of a basilisk is that of a monstrous serpent.
• He Knows Too Much: They were exiled from Epheotus for discovering the fate of the djinn and threatening to expose the truth.
• Horns of Villainy: The mark of the Vritra are their signature black horns which contain the source of their magical power.
• Human-Demon Hybrid: The Vritra might be basilisks, but they fulfill the role that demons play in most fantasy settings due to being malevolent and corruptive supernatural entities with horns who had been cast out of the Home of the Gods. Given their extensive interbreeding with and experimentation upon the inhabitants of Alacrya, it should come as no surprise that most of their members are not proper asuras but rather their half-blooded descendants who sport the same horns that their masters have.
• Jerkass Gods: Out of all the asuras, the Vritra are the worst when it comes to their treatment of the lessers.
• Mark of the Beast: The sign of the Vritra's corruption is the presence of their signature Horns of Villainy.
• The Missing Faction: They used to be the representatives of the basilisk race on the Great Eight. Then they discovered the Indrath Clan's Dark Secret and got banished from Epheotus altogether.
• Our Demons Are Different: Despite being basilisks, the Vritra nonetheless resemble the stock fantasy depiction of demons given their evil nature, corruptive powers, and Horns of Villainy. Some characters even refer to them as demons.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: While black is the signature color of the Vritra, red also features prominently in their appearances.
• Red and Black Totalitarianism: Their main colors are black and red and they rule over Alacrya with an iron fist. Not to mention that they have more than just a Cult of Personality in that they are revered as actual gods.
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: Their clan name derives from Vritra, a malevolent asura in Hindu Mythology who is often depicted as a giant serpent. Fittingly enough, their nemeses are named the Indrath after the mythological Vritra's own Arch-Enemy, Indra.
• Semi-Divine: A good majority of Vritra Clan members in the novel are not full-blooded asuras but rather their half-blooded descendants, sired from the interbreeding between asura and lesser that has taken place in Alacrya since the Vritra were exiled there millennia ago. This was done to offset the numerical disparity between them and the rest of Epheotus, especially when the repeated Assassination Attempts orchestrated by Kezess gradually whittled down the amount of proper Vritra. Despite not being truly asuras, the Vritra-blooded are more than a match for the strongest lesser mages.
• Shapeshifting: Like the other asuran races, the Vritra can change forms between their human form and their true form, which in their case resembles a giant serpent.
• Snakes Are Sinister: As basilisks, the Vritra are serpentine in their true form. True to their nature, they are sinister and evil.
• Supernatural Elite: They are a clan of asuras who, after being exiled from Epheotus, ended up ruling over the continent of Alacrya and have experimented on and interbred with its inhabitants for generations that their own blood has become crucial for social mobility.

Sovereigns

All spoilers (save for Agrona) will be unmarked.

In General

The rulers of the Dominions of Alacrya. Unlike their servants listed below, they are fully-fledged asuras rather than merely being Vritra-blooded lessers.

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• Immortal Ruler: Given that asuras live for much, much longer when compared to the lessers, the Sovereigns have reigned over their respective Dominions since the Vritra arrived on Alacrya.
• Orcus on His Throne: The Sovereigns hardly do anything themselves, instead tending to delegate to their respective Scythes and other minions. This is Justified for two reasons, the first being that the treaty that defines the Divine Conflict prohibiting any direct involvement by asuras and the second being their own paranoia over being attacked, especially given how Kezess's multiple Assassination Attempts on Agrona's life had led to the deaths of much of their fully-blooded kin.
  • They also end up being a Deconstruction of this very trope. When the Wraiths catch up with Oludari after he flees to Dicathen, he ends up panicking as he is unable to defend himself from their relentless attacks. This is not helped by the fact that given his reclusive nature he is ill-suited for actual combat, let alone against the Wraiths who are The Dreaded for their reputation as asura-killers. Predictably, Oludari ends up being given a Curb-Stomp Battle, and the only reason he does not die is because the Wraiths were ordered to bring him back alive.
• The Paranoiac: The Sovereigns are paranoid by their vary nature, and hardly leave their respective Dominions where they are guarded by their most trusted minions. As stated above, this paranoia stems from Kezess's failed Assassination Attempts on Agrona's life leading to the deaths of much of their kin.
  Lyra: The Sovereigns hardly ever left their own Dominions. They were paranoid and possessive, ever watchful and guarded.
• Walking Spoiler: Downplayed. They are introduced from Volume 9 onward and cannot be discussed without revealing some major spoiler-heavy developments in Alacyra. Not to mention that fact that they tend to meet swift ends, often at the hands of characters who are even bigger spoilers in their own right. Kiros gets drained by the Legacy which gives her basilisk magic, Orlaeth cannot be discussed without revealing that Seris is Good All Along, Exeges is introduced having been assassinated by an unknown party, and Oludari not only claims he is the last survivor, but flees to the Alacryan enclave in Elenoir.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Excluding Agrona, the Sovereigns do not get much focus and get killed off shortly after being introduced. Exeges has the dubious distinction of being dead upon introduction.

Agrona Vritra

Agrona Vritra

Lord of the Vritra Clan, High Sovereign of Alacrya, The Eternal Ruler

Debut: Volume 6 (Novel), Chapter 148 (Webcomic)

"What I achieved through those experiments has benefited not only myself, but the lessers in Alacrya - to such a degree that they worship me. Not out of fear, but out of reverence. To them, I am their savior."

The main antagonist of the novel, Agrona is the Lord of the Vritra Clan, a faction of asuras that was exiled from Epheotus to the distant continent of Alacrya in the distant past for their experimentation upon the inhabitants of that land, an act that violated the asuras' policy of non-intervention in the lives of the lessers. In retribution, he began preparing for a Divine Conflict that would span countless millennia and consume the entire world, a war that Arthur finds himself not only caught up in, but one that he has a much deeper role to play in than he realizes.

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• Affably Evil: Agrona is polite, soft-spoken, and occasionally generous to his allies. Even Arthur calls him eccentric and sociable.
• All According to Plan: By the end of Volume 10, Arthur humiliated the Vritra at the Victoriad, escaped back to Dicathen and reconquered it, and inspired Seris to launch a revolt that he joins up with. How does Agrona react to this string of unforeseen setbacks? He is completely unfazed at the least and mildly surprised at the most. He had already crushed Seris's rebellion by the time Arthur arrived and knowing Arthur would go after Cecilia to free Tessia he intends for exactly that to happen to fulfill his own ambitions. Not only that, but with Kezess having sent his forces to occupy Dicathen and bringing Epheotus out of the aether realm, the door has been opened for him to launch his invasion of Epheotus. Seris embitteredly remarks about how everything still ended up playing into his hands right before she withdraws from the Relictombs.
  Seris: (To Arthur) I'm afraid that the division of Alacrya has played into his hands. I suspect that he wished for this portal between our world and Epheotus to be opened. We have helped to make him look vulnerable, ensuring that the dragons finally came to play.
• Ambition Is Evil: Not only does he desire to exact revenge on Kezess and the Indrath, but he wants to rule over the asuras if not destroy them all outright.
• Ancient Evil: Agrona's villainy has been around for millennia. His Start of Darkness occurred many generations ago in the distant past, long before the rise of mages in Dicathen which itself was a consequence of the Divine Conflict he started.
• The Anti-God: He is the main force of opposition against Kezess, the supreme deity of the setting. While Agrona is implied to be less powerful than Kezess on paper, he is still arguably the biggest threat Kezess has faced in the millennia he has reigned, and thanks to his own incompetence Agrona has been able to execute most of his plans unimpeded in order to level the playing field between them.
• Arch-Enemy:
  • Kezess, as the ruler of Epheotus and the one who exiled Agrona and his clan to Alacrya in the first place.
  • Arthur, given how Agrona invaded his homeland of Dicathen, caused the deaths of many of his friends and family, and was the one responsible for reincarnating him in the first place along with his friends Nico and Cecilia whom he has brainwashed into serving him.
• Archaeological Arms Race: Agrona seeks to unearth the secrets of the Relictombs in order to master fate itself and win the Divine Conflict. While he is able to hide his plans from Kezess, Arthur ends up competing with him upon hearing about it from Sylvia’s second message.
• Archnemesis Dad: To Sylvie.
• Assassination Attempt: Agrona has been subjected to multiple attempted assassinations by Kezess. Not only has he survived every single one, but at times he has used Kezess's failings to gain favorable terms and capital in their conflict.
  • After Agrona and his clan were exiled from Epheotus, Kezess heard word of their activities in Alacrya. He promptly sent a group of asuras to perform a Decapitation Strike. When the group arrived, Agrona was waiting for them with a group of Vritra-blooded mutants and killed them all. He then brought word of what happened, including the death of Sylvia who had stowed away with the group, to Kezess. In spite of Kezess's anger, the rest of the Great Eight pushed for what would become the treaty that defines the Divine Conflict.
  • Later on during the Alacryan invasion of Dicathen, Kezess orders another Decapitation Strike on Alacrya without consulting his Dicathian allies. Not only does it fail yet again, but Agrona uses his failure to revoke Epheotus's involvement in the defense of Dicathen as a violation of the treaty. Without the aid of the asuras, Dicathen falls under Agrona's rule.
  • Notably, while Agrona has survived every single attempt on his life that Kezess has orchestrated, the same cannot be said for most of his clan. In trying to get to Agrona, Kezess's assassins wound up killing much of the basilisks who had accompanied Agrona in his exile. This has resulted in the number of true Vritra having dwindled to a fraction of their former numbers by the present, and those survivors have become The Paranoiac over any attempt on their own lives as a result. Though given what kind of person he is, Agrona undoubtedly couldn't care less about these casualties.
• Bad Boss: Despite his claims of being beloved in his domain, Agrona has no regard at all for his minions, especially the lessers. As far as he is concerned, they are all expendable in his desire to wage war on Epheotus. When he launches his final assault, he forces every single Alacryan to participate, even the children and elderly. Even his own clan is not exempt from this callous disregard of his. He is also willing to tolerate and foster internecine conflict among his minions just to have the survivors grow stronger in the long-term.
  Seris: [Agrona] will burn us all for fuel in the furnace of his ambition, because he doesn’t want to be Lord of the Lessers, he intends to become King of the Asuras.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Considering his status as an Invincible Villain and the top Chessmaster in the setting, Agrona tends to win quite a lot.
  • At the end of Volume 7, Agrona conquers Dicathen and has the Council executed. His reign over the continent only lasts for a year as when Arthur returns from Alacrya at the end of Volume 9, he undoes Agrona’s conquest in a matter of days as Agrona's attention is distracted with both his plans for the Legacy and Seris's rebellion.
  • At the end of Volume 8, Agrona is finally able to summon the Legacy when Tessia gets captured during her return to Elenoir and forcibly turned into the vessel for Cecilia. If that was not enough, but when Windsom and Aldir attempt to intervene the latter ended up using the World Eater technique to completely obliterate all of Elenoir in a futile attempt to kill Cecilia. In doing so, Agrona managed to trick Kezess into breaking their treaty and thus open the way for him to prepare for his invasion of Epheotus.
  • At the start of Volume 11, Agrona had managed to quell Seris's rebellion before Arthur could arrive to relieve it, as the latter had been stuck in the aether realm for two months while trying to resurrect Sylvie. Not only had she and her closest followers been forced into the Relictombs, but after the botched mission to kill Exeges they are forced to abandon the Relictombs altogether and seek asylum in Dicathen.
• Basilisk and Cockatrice: Agrona is a basilisk, which in the novel are asuras whose true form is that of a giant serpent. Fittingly, he is the leader of a clan of basilisks in the way the basilisk is sometimes called the king of serpents, albeit instead of a crown he has Horns of Villainy.
• Batman Gambit:
  • After being banished from Epheotus, Agrona tried to goad Kezess into going to war against him by informing him of Sylvia's death as he had already positioned his allies in a way that would lead to Mutually Assured Destruction. However, this ended up being Averted as the rest of the Great Eight settled for a treaty instead.
    Kezess: Agrona was practically daring us to go to war. His clan and their allies had been placed very strategically to ensure that any battle would almost certainly result in the destruction of your world.
  • Summoning the Legacy. Knowing that Kezess would catch wind of his plan at this point, he has Tessia captured in Elenoir and the ritual to summon Cecilia to possess her performed on the spot. Kezess sends Windsom and Aldir to kill her and the latter ends up using the World Eater technique. The result? All of Elenoir is obliterated and Agrona not only has his ace in the hole for the war with Epheotus, but also his casus belli to launch his invasion as Kezess was tricked into breaking the treaty. While it came at the cost of thousands of Agrona's mortal soldiers who were in Elenoir, to Agrona they were completely expendable.
  • He knows that Arthur would come after Cecilia so that he can free Tessia from her control, but that is entirely his intention as not only does he want Cecilia to get stronger from fighting Arthur, but he wants to see if their confrontations would reveal the true nature of power in the world for him to control given how Arthur and Cecilia have mastery over aether and mana respectively.
  • As part of his endgame, he first attacks the rift between Dicathen and Epheotus as he knows that the dragons would prioritize defending it over their Dicathian allies given their Fantastic Racism and Lack of Empathy towards them. With the dragons abandoning their posts, his forces are free to launch their assault all over Dicathen via the teleportation devices he had Nico replicate for him.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: He initially wanted to expose Kezess for the genocidal tyrant that he was, but in his vendetta Agrona has been twisted into being no better than his nemesis, if not having become an even greater evil.
• Betrayal Insurance: Should any of Agrona's servants betray him, he has a built-in countermeasure to deal with them. The same blood that flows in the veins of all Alacryans and the runes that are engraved into those who receive marks allow him to control their bearers, and if he so chooses he can Make an Example of Them in extremely graphic fashions. When the time comes for him to march on Epheotus, he proceeds to force Seris and her rebellion back into his service by taking control of them and remotely killing the few who immediately resisted.
• Better the Devil You Know: Invoked. Even though he could not care any less about the lessers of Alacrya whom he has ruled over for generations, throughout his rule he has demonized the asuras of Epheotus (and rightfully so) and indoctrinated the populace into believing his rhetoric. This becomes especially apparent in Volume 11, as after Exeges's mysterious demise, Agrona frames Arthur and Sylvie (and by extension the Indrath Clan and the rest of Epheotus) for the act. In doing so, Agrona rallies the populace to his side as he paints Epheotus as the greater evil, in spite of his own rule having been terrible for them.
• Beyond Redemption: In the pursuit of his vendetta, Agrona has fallen so far from who he used to be and caused so much suffering that his former lover Sylvia, herself one of the kindest and purest individuals in the novel, thought that redeeming him was a lost cause.
• Big Bad: The main antagonist of the novel, given how he was the one who started the Divine Conflict that ravages the setting.
• Big Bad Ensemble: As Kezess is no different from him with both being divine tyrants responsible for their fair share of atrocities and with no regard for the lives of the lessers caught up in their Divine Conflict, they both act as the main antagonistic forces that Arthur and his allies are up against, although both remain opposed to one another. Though Arthur is willing to pull an Enemy Mine with Kezess against Agrona.
• Black Comedy: A subtle example. At one point, he serves Cecilia a dish of star fruit and moon oxen from Elenoir, which he calls a rare delicacy. This is right after Aldir had destroyed all life in Elenoir in a failed bid to prevent Cecilia from being summoned in the first place.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Sure, Agrona's planned invasion of Dicathen has led to the deaths of many of Arthur's loved ones, in particular Sylvia, his father Reynolds, Sylvie (though she gets better), and the Council, but as far as Agrona is concerned, those deaths are meaningless to him and just a natural consequence of his plans. Hell, even though he does employ Targeted to Hurt the Hero to get an edge over Arthur and his allies, it is not out of any personal grudge but rather as a means to his end goal. He had no personal attachment, interest, or vendetta towards Arthur's past self King Grey either; Grey's world just so happened to be the place where he found the Legacy and so he reincarnated him, Nico, and Cecilia to fulfill his ends.
• The Charmer: Part of Agrona's skill as a manipulator comes from his very charismatic personality which has drawn some of his pawns into working for him. Before his fall from grace, even Sylvia fell for his charms and they had a genuine and loving relationship. Afterward, he turned those skills of his to fulfill more nefarious purposes.
• The Chessmaster: Agrona is a master manipulator of both events and people to achieve his plans. In preparation for his war with Epheotus, he turns an entire continent into his own domain and amass an army of asura/lesser hybrids. All the while, he is able to hide his plans from Kezess, who does not discover them until he has already accomplished them.
  Arthur: (To Kezess) I don't think you know half as much as you pretend to. If you'd understood any of this before Cecilia's reincarnation, you would have had Windsom kill Tessia, or Nico, or even me. How has Agrona gotten so far ahead of you?
• Cleavage Window: A Rare Male Example. As seen in the above image, Agrona’s outfit exposes the top part of his chest.
• The Conqueror: Having established rule over Alacrya, Agrona seeks to conquer Dicathen and bring it under his fold in order to conscript its inhabitants for when he invades Epheotus. He ends up accomplishing just that, only to lose control over Dicathen a year later thanks to Arthur returning to liberate the continent. That being said, by then Agrona's focus has shifted to preparing his forces to invade and conquer if not outright destroy Epheotus itself now that he has the Legacy.
• The Corrupter:
  • Given his clan’s nature as Evilutionary Biologists, Agrona experimented on various mana beasts by splicing his essence into them, causing them to mutate into more monstrous creatures which sported his signature horns. These beasts can then be put into the control of his minions and directed onto anything that opposes his will. Anything that has his blood in it can be controlled by him. Just ask Sylvie, Tessia, or the entirety of Seris's rebellion.
  • Agrona also excels at corrupting sapient beings and coercing them into doing his bidding through either fear or greed. He managed to corrupt the dwarven kingdom of Darv so thoroughly it effectively became a puppet state to him before the war even ended.
• Create Your Own Hero: Agrona is just as bad as his nemesis Kezess when it comes to creating individuals who would go on to stand against him.
  • In his quest to attain the power of the Legacy, Agrona reincarnated her childhood friends Grey and Nico to act as anchor points for her soul. However, thanks to the intervention of Sylvie (herself being his biological daughter and thus another example), the soul of the former wound up being reincarnated outside of his domain and in the wrong body. When Agrona launched his invasion of Dicathen, the reincarnated Grey, now calling himself Arthur Leywin, stood against him.
  • Sylvie. Given that he is her biological father, he ended up conceiving someone who would not only go on to stand against him, but sabotage his plans for the reincarnates in the first place and seal his downfall.
• Cult of Personality: As the tyrannical God-Emperor of a totalitarian state, Agrona takes this trope a step further than most dictators and tyrants in that he is an actual Physical God ruling over the lessers rather styling himself as one. Naturally, his subjects adore, worship, and glorify him for the deity that he is in spite of how repressive his regime has been for them.
• Dark Is Evil: Agrona has black hair and horns, wears black and gold clothing, and is the main antagonist.
• Dark Messiah: Agrona is a ruthless yet charismatic demagogue who claims that his rule has done wonders for the people of Alacrya who have come to view him as their savior. In the New Era Speech that he has read out following his conquest of Dicathen and the execution of the Council, he claims that the same will happen to his newly conquered subjects as well. Agrona presents himself in this fashion to his mortal subjects in order to make them subservient to him in preparation for his war with Epheotus.
• Deal with the Devil: As part as his nature as The Corrupter, Agrona excels at striking bargains with lesser in order to turn them into his puppets. In such deals, he either promises them power or wealth or holds their loved ones’ lives at stake. Just ask the many noble houses of Dicathen that he corrupted into accepting his rule even before his invasion. Even the royal families on the Council end up being no exception.
• Demonic Possession: He is able to control and possess anything and everything that has his blood in it, which is usually indicated by Red Eyes, Take Warning. He ends up using this ability numerous times throughout the story to show how his reach is nearly limitless.
  • At the end of Volume 6, he takes control of the now-human Sylvie so he can talk to Arthur for the first time. Later on at the end of Volume 7, he uses his control over Tessia by way of her beast will - which was derived from a failed experiment of his - to coerce Alduin and Merial into collaborating with him and letting his troops into the Council Castle.
  • His control over his spawn extends to more than just possession. At one point, he causes a Wraith that Arthur had cornered to explode before he could spill any of his secrets. This forces Arthur to keep all of his Alacryan allies Locked Out of the Loop when the time comes for him to acquire the fourth keystone as he is wary Agrona could use them against him in the time he would be out of commission. He is proven horribly right as Agrona does this trope on a massive scale by taking control of Seris and her followers (if not the Alacryan people as a whole) to force them to capture Arthur for him and join his final assault. To show he means business, he proceeds to Make an Example of of the few who defy him by subjecting them to agonizing deaths.
• Didn't See That Coming: While he is almost unmatched as a planner and manipulator, there are a few moments where Agrona does get caught off-guard by a sudden setback. That being said, the surprise is only temporary for him as he is often able to modify his plans to accommodate for the sudden turn of events.
  • When he claimed Grey's soul to reincarnate him into his vessel of choice as an anchor point for the Legacy, he did not expect the intervention of the temporally-displaced Sylvie who snatched Grey's soul from his grasp and took it away so that Grey would instead reincarnate as her bond and Agrona's greatest mortal nemesis, Arthur Leywin. This forced him to alter his plans for the Legacy, as he sent agents to Dicathen to look for the reincarnated Grey and thus find a different vessel for the Legacy.
  • He was surprised to learn of Arthur's survival following the end of the war and his Re-Power as an aether-wielding demigod. What caught him more by surprise was Arthur's participation in the Victoriad. Not only did Arthur effortlessly defeat two of the Scythes, but when Agrona and the Legacy had him cornered at the end Arthur escaped them using God Step. All of this happened right in front of all of Alacrya, embarrassing Agrona in front of all of his subjects. To add insult to injury, afterwards Arthur returned to Dicathen and managed to reconquer the continent in a matter of days.
    Seris: (To Arthur) I don't imagine your appearance and actions at the Victoriad were part of his grand design. I've never seen him so angry as when you vanished out from under his nose.
• Divided We Fall: He intentionally Invokes this trope to weaken his enemies.
  • In the leadup to the invasion of Dicathen, Agrona sent spies into Dicathen to corrupt the noble houses of the continent into serving him. After the deaths of the Greysunders, who he had coerced into being his puppets, Agrona's followers in Darv stage a revolt. When his forces do arrive, they immediately begin collaborating with them as the Greysunders' replacement is even more loyal to him than they were. After a failed Assassination Attempt by Kezess, he uses it as an excuse to revoke Epheotus's involvement in the war. At the end of the war, he forces the Eraliths to work for him by threatening their daughter, which causes further strife among the Dicathians. And if that were not enough, in tricking the asuras into destroying Elenoir he creates a massive rift in their relations with the Dicathians.
  • When the time comes for him to launch his invasion of Epheotus, Agrona begins to tear apart the fragile alliance Arthur had made. He first attacks the rift between Dicathen and Epheotus, which forces all of the occupying dragons to abandon their posts to defend it. Then, he takes control of Seris and her rebellion by way of his blood in their veins and - after making examples of the few who resisted him - forces them to rejoin his ranks. This leaves the Dicathians alone once again to fend off a second invasion, one that has him striking at all fronts by way of a rebuilt djinn teleportation device, and this time around Arthur is out of commission as he is busy unlocking the final keystone.
• Early-Bird Cameo: In the Webcomic, he first appears in silhouette in a Flashback to when he informed Kezess of Sylvia's death.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Agrona has pale white skin and raven black hair, which gives him an unearthly and villainous appearance.
• Emperor Scientist: Even before his fall from grace, Agrona was known for his intellectual endeavors as befitting the leader of a clan of scientists turned Evilutionary Biologists. He is constantly looking to uncover new methods to gain an edge over his nemeses through furthering his own insight into mana and aether. His research is what led him to discover the Legacy and her power, which led him to research the art of reincarnation and thus summon her and her childhood friends into his service.
  Seris: Agrona is a scientist at his core, and he operates on a timetable of centuries, not days. What is a few months of civil war or tens of thousands of lives lost to such a being?
• Enlightened Self-Interest: He claims that his uplifting of the Alacryans and subsequent millennia-long rule over them is a case of this. In the New Era Speech he has read out in the wake of his conquest of Dicathen, he claims that his rule will be beneficial to the Dicathians in the same it has been for the Alacryans. Of course, he has only been doing this to even the odds he faces by creating a Semi-Divine army for use as Cannon Fodder for his invasion of Epheotus, and he more than willing to throw them all away in the pursuit of his vendetta.
• Evil Overlord: Agrona is a near-textbook example. In appearance, he resembles a demonic deity with black and gold clothing complete with an Ominous Opera Cape, Red Eyes, Take Warning, and Horns of Villainy to make him all the more Obviously Evil. He has ruled over the continent of Alacrya for millennia from his impregnable fortress of Taegrin Caelum, in the process twisting and mutating its inhabitants into his subservient minions, and he seeks to conquer the known world and assemble its inhabitants for his army to invade the Home of the Gods.
  • However, Agrona turns out to be a tragic example of this trope. While he is a Satanic Archetype who seeks revenge on the very gods who exiled him, he used to be a genuinely good person who was exiled for uncovering the fact that said gods had committed genocide in the distant past, and in his exile became the very monster that he sought to defeat.
• Evil Plan: Agrona has played the long game when it comes to preparing for his inevitable war with Epheotus. Ever since he and his clan established rule over Alacrya, they had been experimenting on the lessers of that continent to create soldiers and mana beasts enhanced by their own blood for millennia, creating a society that was blindly indoctrinated and obedient to him. In turn, he intends to conquer Dicathen and do the same with its populace in order to have an army powerful enough to invade Epheotus. In the midst of it all, he ensures that Kezess is kept unaware of his true plans to deter him from interfering.
  • The crux of Agrona's plan is his attempts to summon the Legacy, whose power he came across as he was searching across time and space for a power strong enough to overcome Kezess. To summon her, Agrona reincarnated the souls of her childhood friends Grey and Nico to act as anchor points for her, which he followed on by reincarnating the Legacy herself into a suitable vessel. At the end of it all, Agrona had acquired an asura-killing Person of Mass Destruction that he had manipulated into obedience as his ace in the hole for the inevitable invasion of Epheotus.
  • The ultimate end goal of Agrona's plan to win the Divine Conflict is to master fate itself. To accomplish this goal, he has been sending his mortal servants into the Relictombs for millennia to uncover the djinn's secrets. With the Legacy at his disposal, he hopes that her inevitable clashes with Arthur pitting mana against aether will reveal the true nature of power in the world and open the way for him to control fate.
• Evil Versus Evil: Agrona might be the Big Bad, but his nemesis Kezess is a major case of God Is Evil and the two are no better than one another with regards to their conflict and their treatment of the lessers.
• Evil Wears Black: Agrona's attire is mostly black, a color scheme reflective of his role as the main antagonist.
• Face–Heel Turn: Once a respected figure among the asuras who got exiled for threatening to expose the true nature of their rulers, but his vengeance has twisted him into outright evil.
• Fallen Angel: He and his clan were exiled from Epheotus for discovering the fate of the djinn and threatening to expose the truth to the rest of the asuras. In his exile, Agrona has been preparing to exact revenge on the rest of the asuras.
• Fallen Hero: He used to be a renowned figure among the asuras capable of charming the likes of even Sylvia. Then came his exile, and in his fall from grace he has become far worse than he ever was.
• Flaw Exploitation:
  • While Agrona has been known to target people's loved ones to get them to comply with him, he takes it to a much further degree with Arthur as he knows Arthur is primarily driven by his desire to protect his loved ones. In his conversation with him at the end of Volume 6, Agrona reveals to Arthur that his parents had been caught up in a recent ambush and had only survived because he willed it so, showing that he is willing to do so to get an edge over his mortal nemesis.
  • Regarding Kezess, Agrona took advantage of his desire to uphold the treaty and his limited intervention on Dicathen that was driven by his own pride to empower his mortal savants in Alacrya to a degree that would surpass that of the Dicathians. As such, when the time came for him to invade Dicathen, he had armies of Vritra-blooded mages and mana beasts at his beck and call, while the Dicathians only had the Lances. In doing so, Agrona takes advantage of Kezess severely underestimating him to advance his own goals as much as possible.
• Foil: To his own Arch-Enemy Kezess in several respects.
  • In terms of their demeanor, Agrona presents himself as Affably Evil and eccentric while Kezess has an incredibly dismissive attitude.
  • While neither of them have any regard of the lives of the lessers and view them as completely expendable, Agrona realizes that lessers can serve a role in his plans and so has experimented on many of them to enhance their capabilities. Kezess on the other hand is such a prideful supremacist that he only reluctantly deigns himself to rely on lessers, and to a much more restrained degree than Agrona due to his own desire to preserve the world. Though in his case it is because he was hoping for the Dicathians to become strong on their own accord, which resulted in them being outpaced by the Alacryans in terms of magical development.
    • This contrast is reinforced by their respective Co-Dragons. While Agrona brought his own clan and a few others into his rebellion, his main servants are not fullblooded asuras like them but instead the Semi-Divine Scythes, Wraiths, and the Legacy. On the other hand, Kezess obviously relies only on proper asuras as his main servants.
  • Agrona is The Unfettered because his exile has twisted him into a monster and he is willing to go to any lengths to win. Kezess on the other hand is The Fettered because he sees himself as the good guy and claims he has the best interests of the lessers at heart, and so he holds back in his response to Agrona.
  • As both are near-immortal deities in positions of power, they should be extremely intelligent Chessmasters considering they have lived for thousands of years. However, only Agrona truly demonstrates this requisite intelligence, as he uses the millennia he has lived to plan ahead and see the big picture which always puts him one step ahead of his enemies, especially considering that he and his forces are the underdog when facing the rest of the asuras. On the other hand, Kezess, despite being even older than Agrona, continuously demonstrates himself to be rather short-sighted when it comes to dealing with any perceived threats as his position of Top God causes him believe himself infallible.
  • Perhaps due to his mindset as a scientist, Agrona is surprisingly impartial to his enemies. While he may employ liberal use of Targeted to Hurt the Hero, he does so not out of pettiness but because it can get him closer to achieving his goals. Kezess on the other hand has been known to commit some rather reprehensible acts all out of his own pettiness.
  • Although they both recognize Arthur as a growing threat and could easily eliminate him on their own, they have different reasons for not doing so at the moment. Kezess wants to extract what Arthur knows about aether, while Agrona being the Evilutionary Biologist that he is wants to dissect him to find out how he works on top as a means to strengthen the Legacy's power.
  • Their attitude towards Sylvie, their sole living descendant. Agrona coldly disavows her as his daughter, while Kezess has a Villainous Parental Instinct to the point of being a Knight Templar Parent.
• Forced into Evil: Agrona has been prone to forcing normally good individuals who would resist his influence into serving him by way of threatening their loved ones. He does so in order to cause divisions among his enemies and take advantage of their infighting, especially regarding Arthur and his desire to protect his loved ones. He forces Alduin and Merial into collaborating with him by threatening the life of their daughter Tessia, and later on forces Seris to order her followers to rejoin him by way of Demonic Possession and making examples of the few who resisted.
• Founder of the Kingdom: He and his clan were the ones responsible for uplifting the populace of Alacrya, and so he is revered as the founder of their nation.
• Genghis Gambit: To put an end to Seris's rebellion, he holds a public broadcast to all of Alacrya wherein he frames the recent assassination of the Sovereign Exeges on Arthur and the Indrath Clan, in the process condemning the Indrath as the greater evil to his rule. It works, reuniting all of Alacrya under his control and galvanizing them into war with the asuras, on top of forcing Arthur to return back to Dicathen with the remnants of Seris's rebellion in tow. Though as it always has been his end goal to invade Epheotus to either conquer or destroy it, it is merely him rallying his forces for the next stage of his plan.
• Genocide from the Inside: Agrona is so far gone from who he used to be that he is willing to kill off all the other asuras just to achieve his revenge. Even his own clan is not exempt.
• God-Emperor: An actual deity who rules over a kingdom of lessers since being banished from Epheotus. He even calls himself "The Eternal Ruler" to reinforce how far above his subjects he is.
• God and Satan Are Both Jerks: He may be the resident Maou the Demon King and Satanic Archetype, but it turns out that he only became the monster that he is now because he discovered that Kezess committed genocide and after being exiled by him for threatening to expose the truth became just as reprehensible as his nemesis. Throughout the story, both him and Kezess demonstrate that there is no difference between them as both continue to commit various atrocities and cause Collateral Damage upon the lessers in a bid to overcome the other.
• God Was My Co-Pilot: Before his exile, Agrona was fond of sneaking off to Dicathen and Alacrya in disguise for his research. This ended up being used against him by the Indrath Clan when the time came to exile him as they used his visits as evidence for his experimentation on the lessers of those continents. The actual reason was that he uncovered that the Indrath Clan committed genocide upon the ancient djinn and threatened to expose them for it.
• The Great Serpent: As a basilisk, Agrona's true form is that of a monstrous horned serpent.
• Greater-Scope Villain: He is responsible for the main conflict of the story as he sees Alacrya and Dicathen as stepping stones that will allow him to conquer Epheotus by making Vritra-blooded lessers to act as Cannon Fodder against the rest of the asuran clans as well as the reincarnations of Grey, Nico, and Cecilia in order to acquire the latter's power as the Legacy and for them to serve as servants in his invasion.
• Hate Sink: He invades Arthur's homeland of Dicathen and conquers it, in the process causing the deaths of many of Arthur's loved ones. Not only that, but it turns out he was responsible for the reincarnation of not only Arthur, but also his childhood friends Nico and Cecilia whom he had Reforged into a Minion through Mind Rape. In the case of the latter, he even had Arthur's Love Interest Tessia captured to act as Cecilia's vessel. Not to mention, but Arthur has been almost powerless to stop him as Agrona is an Invincible Villain whose plans have almost always gone the way he wanted, on top of being an asura which puts him above Arthur in terms of raw power.
• He Knows Too Much: The reason for his exile from Epheotus was his discovery of the Indrath Clan's genocide of the djinn, which he threatened to expose to the rest of the asuras.
• He Who Fights Monsters: In wanting to exact revenge on Kezess and to expose his crimes, Agrona has become much, much worse than his nemesis. Case in point, he turned against Kezess for discovering that he committed genocide, but after being exiled Agrona is willing to commit genocide against his own kind if that is what it takes.
• Hell Invades Heaven: His end goal is to either conquer or destroy Epheotus using both his army of asura/lesser hybrids and the Legacy. Following Kezess causing the destruction of Elenoir by forcing Aldir to use World Eater technique in a futile bid to kill the Legacy, Agrona finally has his casus belli to break the treaty and launch his invasion.
• A Hero to His Hometown: Claims that all of his Alacryan subjects revere him as a god. Of course, considering what Seris ends up doing, this is ultimately not the case.
• Hope Crusher: Agrona has a twisted sense of satisfaction in that he likes to make his opponents think that they have a chance to defeat him before showing them how wrong they were in that he had the game stacked entirely in his favor from the very start. In the case of the lessers, that game had been stacked millennia ago, long before their ancestors were born.
  • A good example of this characteristic of his is the way he deals with Seris's rebellion. After Seris's humiliation of the Legacy and the fall of Sehz-Clar, he allowed her rebellion to score a few victories in the weeks afterward. Then in the span of days, he immediately proceeded to undo all of her rebellion's gains, right as Arthur returned to assist her. If that was not enough, despite giving them a brief reprieve by letting them settle in Dicathen for a while and making them think they can have a fresh start away from the war and his control, he eventually takes control of all of them by way of Demonic Possession and forces them back to his side as part of his endgame.
• Horned Humanoid: He retains his horns in his human form.
• Horns of Villainy: The mark of the Vritra are their signature black horns which contain the source of their magical power. Agrona is of course the most obvious example.
• I Control My Minions Through...: Agrona controls his minions through a wide variety of means. For the most part, his minions are Motivated by Fear due to his godlike power as an asura. As such, many of them view him as a god, though said perception varies between being outright fearful or indoctrinated reverence. In some cases, this fear is due to him threatening their loved ones so that they will comply with him. However, for some of his other minions, in particular his Les Collaborateurs in Dicathen, are motivated by the promise of greed or power that he offers them.
  • It is eventually revealed that the fear Agrona instills in his subjects is completely justified, as he can control every action, word, and thought of everything that has his blood, which naturally includes the entire nation of Alacrya. He demonstrates this on Seris's rebellion when the time comes for him to launch his invasion of Epheotus, as he forces Seris and every single one of her followers to kneel before making examples of the few who resisted him. Faced with the extermination of everyone under her authority, Seris reluctantly returns to his service and brings all of her followers along with her.
  • As for the reincarnates under his command - Nico and Cecilia - he claims that he has their best interests at heart and promises to fulfill their deepest desire should they help him exact his revenge on the asuras. Specifically, not only did he promise them that they would be reunited, but he also promises that once the Divine Conflict is over that he will return them home to Earth. He also promises them that he will let them have their revenge on Grey, but in this case it is revealed he has been twisting their memories of Grey by emphasizing the harm he has done to them. Though like the rest of his minions they also serve in part out of their own fear of him.
• I Have No Son!: Despite Sylvie being his own offspring, he refuses to acknowledge her as his daughter. In a conversation with Cecilia, he coldly refers to Sylvie as merely being "[Arthur's] dragon bond" without any regard to her blood ties to him. This is a mutual sentiment, as Sylvie does not acknowledge Agrona as her father after all the atrocities he has done.
• I Have Your Wife: Part of his way of manipulating others into doing his bidding involves holding their loved ones’ lives at stake. The most notable instance of this is when he reveals to Alduin and Merial that he has control over their daughter Tessia’s life thanks to her beast will, which he uses to get them to let his forces into the Council Castle at the end of the war. He also forces Seris and her followers back into his service by making examples of the few who resisted and threatening their loved ones with the same fate.
  Agrona: (To Caera) These first brave few, for acting as my example to you, have spared their bloods from the same fate, but any others who disobey condemn their mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters to share their painful and gruesome end.
• I Know Your True Name: He closes off his first conversation with Arthur with this ominous Wham Line.
  Agrona: I suppose it does no harm in telling you. Let's say I've enjoyed talking with an old friend of yours, King Grey.
• I Need You Stronger: His reason for not killing Arthur after he becomes an aether-wielding demigod is because he wants to see how powerful Arthur can become in his current state, on top of him wanting to dissect Arthur and see how he works. The other major reason for doing so is that he wants Cecilia to get stronger as well from fighting Arthur. Not only does he want her to be as strong as possible for when he invades Epheotus, but he wants to see if the clash between the two would reveal the true nature of power in the world as Arthur and Cecilia wield the opposing powers that define magic, aether and mana respectively.
  Agrona: (To Cecilia) You and Grey need each other now, Cecilia. You are the hammer, he is the anvil. It is where you meet that the truth of power in this world will be revealed.
• Immortal Ruler: While asuras are not truly immortal but extremely long lived, Agrona nonetheless fits the trope as he has reigned over Alacrya since its inception millennia ago, being the one responsible for uplifting their civilization. He goes so far as to refer to himself as "The Eternal Ruler".
• Invincible Villain: Considering Arthur is an Invincible Hero, it is only fitting that Agrona is the opposite trope in order to maintain the sense of narrative tension. Not only is Agrona an asura which puts him at the top of the power scale (as even the weakest among the asuras can outmatch the strongest mortal mages), he has also survived several attempts on his life. However, what truly makes him this trope is that he is arguably the top Chessmaster and Manipulative Bastard in the setting. Agrona is always one step ahead of his enemies, and almost all of his schemes have come to fruition with his enemies being able to do little to stop them.
  Arthur: What was a mere two mortal lifetimes of experience when compared to an ancient asura's lifetime of intellect and wisdom?
• Just Toying with Them: Agrona adopts this approach when dealing with any lessers who stand against him, as he has had millennia to devise his plans and empower his forces to a degree that said lessers can stand no chance against. He could have easily conquered Dicathen within a week by just sending the Wraiths, but he let the war last as long as it did with only having the Scythes involved leading his mortal armies and still managing to conquer the continent. He does the same with Seris's rebellion, letting it last for a few months before crushing it just as Arthur arrived.
  Arthur: We hadn't been lambs to the slaughter. We had been fish in a net.
• Keystone Superpower: Manages to make The Power of Blood this trope. Agrona's blood allows him to exert control over those who have it in several different ways. He is able to see through their eyes, temporarily possess them, and even dispose of them should he see fit in a rather graphic fashion by making their latent spellforms consume them. Outside of letting him control them, his blood imbues those individuals who have it with supernatural physical and magical strength.
• Kill It with Fire: When he makes examples of those among Seris's rebellion who are resisting his order - including Sulla and Lauden - he ignites the runes that are engraved on them which consumes them all with their own inner spellfire.
• Kneel Before Zod: When he displays his control over Seris and her followers, he forces them all down to their knees as if to force them to kneel to him, even though he is not physically present and is only speaking to them mentally through Demonic Possession.
• Lack of Empathy: Agrona has been so consumed by his desire for vengeance against Kezess and the Indrath that he has no regard for the lives of his pawns. They are all completely expendable to him, though some are more valuable than others (namely the Scythes, Wraiths, and the Legacy). He does not care about how much suffering he causes in the pursuit of his revenge.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Arthur learns from Sylvia’s second message that Agrona was her former paramour and the father of his bond Sylvie.
• Make an Example of Them: He is prone to making examples of those who defy his authority. After taking over the Council Castle, he has the entire Council impaled on spikes and paraded around to break the morale of the Dicathians. Later on when he takes control of Seris's rebellion by way of Demonic Possession to force them to rejoin his forces, he proceeds to remotely kill off the few individuals who immediately resist him - including Lauden and Sulla - in extremely graphic fashions, thus forcing Seris and her followers to comply to his demands.
• Maker of Monsters: Agrona has experimented upon the inhabitants of Alacrya for years, and so his armies include hordes of Vritra-blooded mana beasts who are much stronger than normal. This is an act that most asuras find incredibly repulsive, and was the excuse that the Indrath Clan used to exile him from Epheotus (the true reason being that he uncovered that clan's Dark Secret and threatened to expose them for it).
• Manipulative Bastard: Agrona is a master manipulator of both events and people to achieve his plans. He manages to manipulate all three royal families on the Council into collaborating with him at some point (the Greysunders through their greed and the Glayders and Eraliths through the love of their children). He also manipulates both Nico and Cecilia into compliance by promising them that they will eventually be returned to Earth, all while stringing them along into committing various atrocities for him.
• Maou the Demon King: Agrona is the leader of the Vritra Clan, the main antagonistic force in the novel. While he and his clan are basilisks rather than demons, they nonetheless resemble demons given how they have pitch-black skin and horns (which contain their magical power). He and his clan rule over the continent of Alacrya, and have interbred with and experimented on its inhabitants for so long that having Vritra blood is deeply integrated into the Alacryan social hierarchy, and a telltale sign of his corruptive influence is the presence of the same horns of power that all Vritra have. He is responsible for the Divine Conflict that drives the story, and is later revealed to be responsible for Arthur's reincarnation in the first place.
• Mark of the Beast: A telltale indication that one possesses the blood of Agrona and his clan is the presence of their signature Horns of Villainy.
• Mind Rape: As part of reincarnating Nico and Cecilia, he subjects them to this to make them more compliant to him and his goals. In particular, he twists their worst memories of Grey, specifically his apparent murder of Cecilia during the King's Tourney, to make them flat-out despise him as Grey had reincarnated outside of Agrona's control.
• Monster Progenitor: While not the founder of the Vritra Clan, his status as their leader and thus the Immortal Ruler of Alacrya means that Agrona's blood has been found in the Semi-Divine soldiers and monsters of the Alacryan army that Arthur comes to face. It allows him to control them as he sees fit.
• Motive Decay: His original motivation was to expose Kezess's genocide of the djinn, but given his exile from Epheotus and the amount of suffering he subsequently went through his motives gradually shifted to conquering if not destroying all of Epheotus and making the rest of his kind pay as he came to place Revenge Before Reason.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Not from Agrona himself, but to anyone who knows the true nature of the Divine Conflict, it is very easy to compare him to his Arch-Enemy Kezess as both deities are tyrannical despots who are willing to tear apart the world in their conflict and have no regard for the lives of others, especially lessers. Arthur and Seris are prone to making such remarks.
• Obviously Evil: Black and gold clothing, soulless red eyes, pale white skin and raven black hair, Horns of Villainy - does he seem like a nice person at all?
• Ominous Opera Cape: In his sole visual depiction so far, Agrona sports a long, flowing black mantle that is split at the ends.
• Orcus on His Throne: Justified. In spite of being the Big Bad and the prevalence of his minions, Agrona so far has not left the confines of Alacrya, though he has communicated to others through either his minions or through possession. He spends most of his time conducting his experiments into fate itself while sending his minions to invade Dicathen or investigate the Relictombs. To be fair, this is because of God's Hands Are Tied, as due to the treaty any direct involvement on his part would lead to Mutually Assured Destruction, and in the case of the last part the Relictombs are designed to repel asuras. Even after the treaty is broken, Agrona still remains in Alacrya for the time being as he is only getting ready to launch his invasion.
• The Power of Blood: Agrona is able to control anyone and everyone who shares his blood, which can range from simple possession to outright killing them if he so chooses. Even without his direct involvement, his blood empowers anyone it runs in with near-superhuman capabilities.
• Pragmatic Villainy: In the aftermath of Exeges's death, Agrona rallies the populace of Alacrya by not only framing the Indrath Clan of the act, but by surprisingly offering clemency to anyone who had been part of Seris's rebellion in spite of him normally punishing treachery with death. He does so not only to undermine whatever remaining support Seris has left in Alacrya, but to unite all of its populace against the asuras in preparation for his invasion of Epheotus.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Agrona’s eyes are a piercing red, a clear sign of his villainy. Fittingly, anyone he possesses has their eyes turn red to signify his control over them.
• Reforged into a Minion: He reincarnates Nico and Cecilia, subjects them to Mind Rape, and gives them Fake Memories to make them compliant to him. Grey only narrowly avoided the same fate thanks to Sylvie’s intervention. Tessia also qualifies considering he set her up to become Cecilia's eventual vessel.
• Repressive, but Efficient: He might be an outright tyrant who holds no regard for the lives of his subjects, but he styles himself as their savior as he uplifted their civilization above that of the Dicathians, and for good reason. When he talks to Arthur at the end of Volume 6, he reveals that the ratio of mage to nonmage in Alacrya is one in five compared to one in a hundred in Dicathen, all thanks to his direct intervention. Then again, part of the reason Alacrya is so far ahead of Dicathen is due to Kezess's rather hands-off approach to uplifting them, namely giving the Royal Families the Artifacts of Power that empowered the Lances who in turn taught the first mages on Dicathen.
• Revenge Before Reason: Agrona has been so consumed by his desire to exact revenge against Kezess that he is willing to cause the deaths of untold thousands who had nothing to do with his vendetta. He is willing to sacrifice everything, be it the lessers, his entire clan, or even the whole world, just to achieve his revenge. A desire that transcends across time and space as he is willing to pull Grey and his childhood friends from their world to his just to attain the power he needs to exact his vengeance.
• Sadistic Choice: He approaches Alduin and Merial with the knowledge that he has their daughter’s life in the palm of his hand thanks to her beast will and as such can determine whether she lives or dies. In return for sparing her life, he tells them to let his forces into the Council Castle to kill Virion, the supreme commander of the Dicathians and Alduin’s own father. Between the daughter and the grandfather, they choose the former. To add insult to injury, he has both of them executed in the aftermath regardless to send a message.
• Safety in Muggles: Exploited. He takes full advantage of the asuras' Alien Non-Interference Clause regarding the lessers to heavily limit Kezess's options for dealing with him. While Kezess ended up begrudgingly conceding Alacrya to him, he still wanted to avoid escalating the conflict out of his desire to protect the Dicathians. However, after the conquest of Dicathen and Agrona on the cusp of summoning the Legacy, Kezess is willing to throw all of that out of the window as part of crossing the Godzilla Threshold in his bid to prevent Agrona's plans from coming into fruition.
• Sarcasm Mode: In Volume 11, when Cecilia asks him about the next stage of his plans following her confrontation with Arthur in Nirmala, Agrona asks her if she thinks that the reason Arthur has survived for as long as he has is because he is more powerful, intelligent, and prepared compared to Agrona. Of course, as the events of the past volumes have indicated, the opposite is true as Agrona is an Invincible Villain who has had Arthur Out-Gambitted at every turn. It leads into Agrona revealing why he has allowed Arthur to last this long and how it ties in with his current plans.
  Agrona: (To Cecilia) Do you think Arthur has survived this long because he is...what...more powerful than me? More intelligent than me? Better prepared than me?
• Satanic Archetype: Agrona bears many parallels to Satan himself.
  • His backstory mirrors that of Satan's rebellion and the War in Heaven as depicted in Paradise Lost. Agrona was cast out from Epheotus by Kezess when he discovered that he committed genocide upon the djinn. This led to his Start of Darkness as in his exile he instigated the Divine Conflict that drives the plot. Not only that, but his end goal of uniting and empowering the mortal populations of both Dicathen and Alacrya to act as his army for when he invades Epheotus brings to mind The Book of Revelation wherein Satan unites the nations of the world for a final war with God with the Legacy serving as The Antichrist.
  • While Agrona and the clan he rules over are basilisks rather than demons, their human forms nonetheless resembles traditional demons and are seen by such as by the inhabitants of Alacrya whom they rule over. In particular, Agrona is depicted as youthful as that of his archnemesis Kezess with the only inhuman attributes he has being his Raven Hair, Ivory Skin, Red Eyes, Take Warning, and Horns of Villainy, invoking the portrayal of Lucifer as a Divinely Appearing Demon. Not to mention, but as a basilisk Agrona's true form is that of The Great Serpent, which brings to mind the first appearance of Satan as the Serpent in the Garden of Eden.
  • Agrona also has a penchant for making deals with lessers wherein either he holds their loved ones' lives at stake or promises them power and wealth. Through such deals, he is responsible for the corruption of the nobility of Dicathen and throughout the story approaches some of the protagonists and their loved ones at crucial points to strike deals that would favor him.
  • He is responsible for much of the misfortune Arthur has faced in his reincarnated life, as he has caused the deaths of many of Arthur's loved ones and conquered his homeland. In particular, he reincarnated not only him but his childhood friends Nico and Cecilia and subjected them both to Mind Rape so they would both be Reforged into a Minion to turn them against Arthur, even stealing his Love Interest Tessia as a vessel for the latter.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: In his conversation with Arthur at the end of Volume 6, he reveals that he has been aware of Arthur's past life as King Grey the entire time. After all, he was the one responsible for Grey's death and reincarnation in the first place.
• Seeing Through Another's Eyes: As part of his control over those who have his blood, Agrona is able to see through their eyes. This power is what allows him to have a direct conversation with Arthur through possessing the latter's bond Sylvie. Later on when Arthur has one of the Wraiths cornered and is attempting to interrogate him, the Wraith in question tells him that Agrona can see through his eyes, moments before exploding in front of him.
  Cethin: He is watching. My eye to his. He knows. So it is already too late.
• Shadow Archetype:
  • To Arthur, or rather his past self King Grey. Both are the instigators of a war and had good intentions behind doing so - Grey wanted to avenge his Parental Substitute, Agrona because he had been exiled for attempting to expose Kezess's genocide of the djinn - but while Grey grew to regret the war he started due to the Collateral Damage, Agrona instead became a case of He Who Fights Monsters, becoming no better if not worse than Kezess. To further hammer in the similarities, in her second message, Sylvia remarks how Agrona truly had once been a decent person but after being exiled had gone insane out of grief and vengeance to an degree not even Grey went down.
    • On top of that, once Arthur learns of the truth behind Agrona's Start of Darkness, he resolves to bring Kezess to justice for his crimes just like Agrona had done. The only reason why Arthur does not fall into He Who Fights Monsters just like Agrona in spite of continuing to endure the Trauma Conga Line is because of his Morality Chains keeping his mind in the right place. Agrona on the other hand had none of that sort, which explains why he so easily Became Their Own Antithesis.
  • To Mordain. Both threatened to expose the truth about the genocide of the djinn and were exiled from Epheotus by Kezess as a result. While Agrona was consumed by his desire to exact vengeance on Kezess and became a case of He Who Fights Monsters, Mordain was content with creating a safe haven for the victims’ of Kezess’s crimes.
• Snakes Are Sinister: As a basilisk, Agrona is serpentine in his true form. True to his nature, he is the main antagonist, and befitting a snake is rather manipulative and conniving.
• The Social Darwinist: Has shades of this trope. Agrona is perfectly willing to allow conflict between his minions at all levels, from the lowliest of lessers to the Sovereigns themselves, just so that they can get stronger. As long as the infighting does not impede his master plan, he is willing to tolerate it.
  Agrona: Conflict is necessary to grow in power.
• The Sociopath: In his current state, Agrona is a textbook sociopath. His desire to exact revenge on Kezess and the Indrath Clan has consumed him so thoroughly that he sees everyone under his command as little more than the means to that end. He does not care about how many lives he has to sacrifice to exact his revenge - no amount of casualties are unacceptable to him. He is a charismatic manipulator and charmer who can convince any weak-minded person to serve him as his pawn, and he is also not afraid to target people's loved ones to get the more resilient or resistant ones to comply with him. No act is reprehensible enough for him. For Agrona, all that matters is his revenge.
• Sorcerous Overlord: As an asura, Agrona is not only much more magically adept than the strongest mortal mages, but his very body is infused with mana itself. With his unparalleled power, he and the clan he leads were able to establish themselves as the rulers of Alacrya and empower their mortal subjects to fulfill their ambitions to conquer the world and exact their revenge on the gods who had exiled them.
• Start of Darkness: Agrona had a vested interest in the ruins left behind by the djinn, which led to him uncovering that Kezess and the Indrath Clan committed genocide upon them. When he threatened to expose the truth, he and his clan were exiled to Alacrya. In his exile, Agrona swore vengeance upon the Indrath and the rest of Epheotus, leading him to become just as much a monster as Kezess himself.
  Agrona: That's all [Kezess and Windsom] told you? Arthur, do you think I one day just woke up wanting to commit genocide against my brethren?
• Strong Family Resemblance: When Arthur finally meets Agrona in person, he notes that the strong, sharp features on his face bear an uncomfortable resemblance to Sylvie, his biological daughter whom Arthur had adopted and raised.
• Superhuman Transfusion: Anyone who has Agrona's blood becomes unnaturally strong and powerful both physically and magically, on top of developing an affinity towards his and his clan's own corrupted mana arts. In terms of appearances, at best one will end up sprouting Horns of Villainy on their head and at worst one will end up suffering a Power-Upgrading Deformation. Of course, gaining that power comes at a great price regardless of the outcome, as having his blood means signing over control of one's life to him.
• The Svengali: Acts as this towards the reincarnates under his control, namely Nico and Cecilia. He strung Nico along into working with him by promising to resurrect Cecilia and to help him exact his revenge on Grey. Following Cecilia's resurrection, he promises them that after they help him exact his revenge on the other asuras that he will return them both to Earth. Of course, it is highly likely Agrona has no intention of fulfilling that final promise to them as to him everyone under his command is merely just a tool to be discarded. After all, he has already subjected them both to Mind Rape and twisted their memories of Grey into utter hatred, all to make them more compliant to him without them knowing.
• Take Over the World: Not his final objective, but a major stepping stone towards it. He seeks to conquer all of the known world - namely Dicathen and Alacrya - in order to conscript its inhabitants into his invasion of Epheotus. He ends up accomplishing just that, albeit only temporarily as Arthur is able to retake the former continent while Agrona's attention is distracted.
• Targeted to Hurt the Hero: Invoked. During his conversation with Arthur at the end of Volume 6, he reveals that Arthur's parents only survived a recent attack because he willed it to, and that he could just as easily rescind that mercy. He offers Arthur a deal to sit out the war if he wants his loved ones to be safe. Arthur ultimately refuses.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: He was once a good person who sought to expose Kezess for his crimes, but when he was cast out of Epheotus and exiled to Alacrya, he devoted his entire being to exacting revenge on not just Kezess but all of the asuras. In the process, Agrona's villainy wound up eclipsing that of his nemesis. To illustrate, part of Kezess's false pretext for exiling Agrona and his clan was that he accused them of interbreeding with and experimenting upon with the lessers of Alacrya. In their bid to exact their vengeance, Agrona and his clan have done exactly that. Similarly, even though Agrona sought to expose Kezess for the genocide of the djinn, he is now perfectly willing to commit genocide upon his own kind.
• "They Still Belong to Us" Lecture: Despite Seris launching a rebellion against him, he makes it clear that she and her followers will eventually have no choice but to return to this side. When the time comes for the final stages of his plan, he takes control of her entire rebellion by way of Demonic Possession and gives them a speech where he tells them that they will either rejoin him or die where they stand.
• Thoughtcrime: As part of his ability to control those who share his blood, Agrona is able to read their every thought. When he takes control of Seris's rebellion, he makes examples of those who immediately defied him by killing them where they stood in horrific fashions, even those who were keeping their defiance to their thoughts without speaking outwardly against him.
• Tragic Villain: Sylvia claims that he used to be a decent person who she had a romantic interest in, and that he was once a revered figure among the asuras for his personality and research. Then he uncovered Kezess and the Indrath Clan's Dark Secret, and when he confronted them and threatened to expose the truth, he was banished from Epheotus and exiled to the distant continent of Alacrya. In his exile, Agrona's desire for revenge has consumed him, making him as much a monster as Kezess himself.
• The Unfettered: Agrona will do anything to achieve he wants, in particular his desire for revenge on Kezess and the Indrath Clan. Even if takes throwing away the lives of all his subjects and razing the world to the ground, if that is what it takes then he will do it.
• Unseen No More:
  • He was first mentioned in Volume 4 by Windsom. He makes his first "appearance" at the end of Volume 6, albeit it is just him possessing the now-human Sylvie so he talk to Arthur. However, he does not appear in person until Volume 9.
  • In a meta example, despite his appearance being described in the novel, Agrona's actual physical appearance was not depicted for a very long time until 2022. He initially appeared in silhouette in Chapter 148 of the Webcomic in a Flashback to when he informed Kezess of Sylvia's death. He was finally shown in an official illustration released at the end of Volume 9, which ended later that same year, depicting both him and the Legacy.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Agrona claims his rule has done wonders for his subjects and that the people of Alacrya revere him as a benevolent and just god.
• Villainous Underdog: He is this trope against Kezess on paper. In the Divine Conflict, Kezess has the support of all of the asuran races while Agrona only has a few basilisk clans at his side. Given how outgunned the Vritra and their allies are in the grand scale of the conflict, Agrona has resorted to subterfuge and underhanded tactics to gain an advantage over his nemesis. He conceals the true scope of his plans from Kezess, and takes full advantage of him holding back to go to lengths that Kezess would not cross.
• Wicked Cultured: Despite being the main antagonist, Agrona is an intellectual figure who is passionate about his scientific and cultural interests, a trait that he carried over from before his Start of Darkness. To reinforce that image, he presents himself in a debonair and elegant fashion. This front is what draws some his pawns into working for him as not only does he act in a refined fashion that endears him to them but he comes off as suave, affable, and intellectual.
• Xanatos Gambit: Agrona attempted to goad Kezess into going to war against him by bringing to him the news of his daughter's death. He already had his allies in the right places so that Mutually Assured Destruction would occur in the ensuing war, but as Agrona was consumed by Revenge Before Reason all that would matter for him was that he got his revenge. However, the rest of the Great Eight held Kezess back and settled for a treaty instead. This outcome was just as favorable to Agrona as it gave him the breathing room to build up his mortal servants in Alacrya, and as a near-immortal asura he could wait on his vendetta.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Part of the reason Agrona is an Invincible Villain is that even when his plans face an unforeseen setback, he is able to manipulate events and circumstances back into his favor.
  • Even though Sylvie managed to retrieve Grey's soul from Agrona before he could reincarnate him into his vessel of choice, Agrona was easily able to adjust his plans for summoning the Legacy. He had Nico/Elijah sent to his servants in Darv so that he would one day cross paths with the reincarnated Grey/Arthur. In turn, this would allow him to choose a different vessel for the Legacy, which ended up being Tessia.
  • Despite not foreseeing Seris's rebellion, which in turn allows Arthur to retake his homeland followed by him joining up with said rebellion, Agrona is once again able to manipulate events in his favor. Not only had he already hunted down most of Seris's supporters and forced the survivors into hiding within the Relictombs by the time Arthur arrived, but he took advantage of Exeges's demise to frame Arthur and Sylvie for it (tellingly, even if they had been the ones to kill Exeges, Agrona would have done the same) and thus rally public opinion in Alacrya against not only Arthur but also the Indrath and the rest of the asuras, as by this point he is readying his forces to invade Epheotus. As such, Seris and her supporters are forced to abandon the Relictombs and seek asylum in Dicathen.
  • He takes full advantage of Kezess's occupation of Dicathen following his deal with Arthur to prepare his forces to invade Epheotus. Given that Kezess not only sent down a good portion of his forces to Dicathen but also brought Epheotus out of the aether realm, it opens the door for him to invade now that Epheotus has let its guard down.
  • It took Agrona and his clan millennia to mold the Alacryans into their ideal Servant Race, and he was willing to take the same amount of time to do the same for the Dicathians after conquering them before he launched his invasion of Epheotus. However, thanks to Arthur reincarnating outside of his control and disrupting his plans, Agrona ends up accelerating his plans without compromising his end goals. Since Kezess opened a portal to Epheotus as part of his deal with Arthur, Agrona takes advantage of it to launch his invasion early especially since he now has the Legacy under his command.
• Yin-Yang Clash:
  • His rivalry with Kezess is this trope, given their contrasting powers and Light/Darkness Juxtaposition. Though it turns out to be a case of Evil Versus Evil.
  • Agrona attempts to Invoke this trope later on in a different fashion. Given how Arthur and Cecilia have complete control over the opposing forces of aether and mana respectively, Agrona wants pit the two of them against one another as he hopes that the ensuing clash will reveal the true nature of power in the world for him to master.
• You Have Failed Me: Agrona is not known for his forgiveness of those who failed him, and in the society he created the punishment for such is usually death. That being said, he is pragmatic enough to know when to be more forgiving of his subjects.

Kiros Vritra

Kiros Vritra

Debut: Volume 9 (Novel)

The Sovereign of Vechor. He is the Sovereign who oversees the Victoriad given that his Dominion will be hosting it. Following his mishandling of it, Agrona has him imprisoned beneath Taegrin Caelum as punishment.

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• Bullying a Dragon: Despite being a Sovereign, it was perhaps not the best idea for him to not only boast about his superiority to a known asura-killer and Agrona's pet Person of Mass Destruction, but to do so while imprisoned beneath Taegrin Caelum.
• Dirty Coward: In his last moments, he openly states that killing Cecilia might lead to him being pardoned by Kezess. When that fails, he then shifts gears and tries to tell Cecilia We Can Rule Together, only to have his mana drained from him.
• Grapes of Luxury: To illustrate his excess and decadence, he spends the Victoriad lounging around and eating grapes.
• Kill the God: Gets killed by Cecilia.
• Life Drain: Cecilia drains the mana from him to grant herself basilisk magic, killing him in the process.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: As the Sovereign of Vechor, Kiros was put in charge of overseeing the Victoriad as his Dominion would be hosting it this year. After Nico's unsanctioned challenge and Curb-Stomp Battle at the hands of Arthur, the latter challenges Cadell to fight him. Though Cadell initially refuses the challenge, Kiros is intrigued by Arthur and thus goads Cadell to accept. It results in Cadell's death and Arthur escaping Agrona and Cecilia in front of all of Alacrya to return back to Dicathen and reconquer it. In short, Kiros had the opportunity to do a major case of damage control over Nico's actions, but did not and so became complicit in a major string of setbacks for Agrona. No wonder Agrona had him locked up in the aftermath.
• Unseen No More: He is first named in Volume 6 when Arthur looks into Uto's memories through his horns, but does not actually appear until Volume 9 when he hosts the Victoriad.
• Villains Love Entertainment: He is a lover of spectacle and so hosting the Victoriad gives him the opportunity to indulge in his obsession. As such, when Arthur suddenly appears at the Victoriad and humiliates Nico, Kiros is enraptured by the newcomer and his unusual powers and so he goads Cadell into accepting Arthur's challenge just so he can see more. As mentioned above, it backfires on him badly.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Kiros has golden hair, but is a craven and decadent individual.
• You Have Failed Me: For his mismanagement of the Victoriad and allowing Arthur to humiliate the Vritra Clan in front of all of Alacrya, Agrona has Kiros locked away under Taegrin Caelum, where he eventually meets his end at the hands of Cecilia.

Orlaeth Vritra

Orlaeth Vritra

Debut: Volume 10 (Novel)

The Sovereign of Sehz-Clar. He is notable among the Sovereigns for having two heads. Seris captures him in preparation for her own revolt.

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• Kill the God: Seris broadcasts herself executing him to all of Alacrya to spread her message of rebellion.
• Living Battery: Seris captures him to use his mana to power a barrier around Sehz-Clar. When she goes into hiding in the Relictombs after killing Orlaeth, she brings one of his heads to help her power the barrier. When Caera brings back Arthur and his entourage, the latter has Regis take up residence inside Orlaeth's head to power it with aether instead.
• Multiple Head Case: Orlaeth has two heads.
• Off with His Head!: Loses both of his heads courtesy of Seris.

Exeges Vritra

Exeges Vritra

Debut: Volume 11 (Novel)

The Sovereign of Etril.

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• Kill the God: He is found dead in his palace in Nirmala before Arthur can get to him.
• Life Drain: His corpse is noted to have all the mana drained from him. Yet Cecilia was not responsible as she arrives shortly after Arthur found the Sovereign's body and so accuses him of the act (which Arthur was planning to do before some unknown party beat him to it).
• Posthumous Character: He is introduced only after he got assassinated by some unknown party.

Oludari Vritra

Oludari Vritra

Debut: Volume 11 (Novel)

The Sovereign of Truacia. He ends up fleeing to Dicathen to elude Agrona's wrath, only to be captured by the Wraiths and then by Arthur and his allies.

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• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Given the manner of his introduction, he ends up doing this a lot despite having once been a Sovereign. Upon arriving in Elenoir, he begs Seris and Lyra, beings whom he would have looked down upon in the past as lessurans, to protect him. After he is felled by the Wraiths, he pleads with them to not kill him, only for Perhata to knock him unconscious. Later on while in captivity, he is willing to beg to even Lilia, who not only is a Dicathian but far below the power of any of the aforementioned people he has begged at, to free him.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Arthur takes Oludari captive in order to extract as much information on Agrona's true plans as possible.
• Collateral Damage: In his panicked attempts to defend himself from the Wraiths, he accidentally kills several Alacryans caught in the crossfire.
• I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: Subverted. When he arrives at the Alacryan enclave, he gives Seris a mysterious artifact that she later entrusts to Lyra to deliver to Arthur, for he knows that it will not be long before the Wraiths arrive to take his life. However, the Wraiths do not kill him as they were ordered to bring him back alive.
• Non-Answer: When Arthur gets the chance to interrogate him, Oludari repeatedly attempts to avoid giving up anything important by giving him answers that are either cryptically vague or merely segways into different topics. This is especially apparent during his second interrogation after Arthur gives custody of him to Charon. Using King's Gambit, Arthur figures that Oludari somehow cut a deal with Charon to withhold information from him, but is unsure as to what the specifics are before the interrogation comes to an end.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: He fled Alacrya to the Elenoir Wastes to avoid Agrona's wrath.
• Sole Survivor: He claims that he is the last of the Sovereigns left.
• Tracking Device: The artifact he gives Seris is in fact a piece of bone from him that allows anyone to track his mana signature. This allows Arthur and the dragons to locate him after the Wraiths captured him.

Khaernos Vritra

Khaernos Vritra

Debut: Volume 11 (Novel)

The Sovereign of Central Dominion. He has not been seen in public in many decades.

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• The Ghost: Khaernos has not been seen in decades, to the point that he has been impolitely called "the Invisible Sovereign" among the populace of Alacrya. The Indrath presume that he is dead, having been killed on Agrona's orders.

Scythes

In General

A group of elite Vritra-blooded Alacryan mages under Agrona's direct command.

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• The Ace: As the Evil Counterparts to the Lances, the Scythes are among the strongest mages in Alacrya and serve as both public figureheads for their populace to rally around and as generals in Agrona's army.
• Co-Dragons: They all serve as Agrona's lieutenants and his generals for his invasion of Dicathen.
• Dwindling Party: As of Volume 11, two of the Scythes have been killed by Arthur and two are Bastard Understudies - one in open rebellion against Agrona, the other working on his own agenda to break free of Agrona's control while feigning loyalty. Only two still remain loyal to him.
• Evil Counterpart: To the Lances. They are the strongest mages in Alacrya who are allowed to participate in the war without violating the treaty between the Vritra and the rest of the asuras.
• Flight Is the Final Power: As the pinnacle of Alacryan mages, all of the Scythes are capable of flight.
• Gender-Equal Ensemble: Like the Lances, the Scythes have a gender-balanced roster with three male (Cadell, Dragoth, and Nico) and three female (Seris, Melzri, and Viessa) members. As of the latest volume, they are still this trope as Cadell and Viessa have died, though Seris has openly revolted against Agrona and Nico is covertly working against him.
• Horned Humanoid: As Vritra-blooded Alacryans, they all exhibit the same horns of power as their overlords with the exceptions of Viessa and Nico.
• Knight of Cerebus: As their power far outstrips those of Arthur and the Lances, the presence of the Scythes is often a sign that events are about to go very, very, very bad for the protagonists.
• Lady of Black Magic: The female Scythes - Seris, Melzri, and Viessa - all qualify given their unique Vritra mana arts. Although the first one turns out to be Good All Along.
• Magic Knight: Like the Lances, the Scythes are very talented mages capable of both conventional and magical combat. In particular, Cadell and Dragoth fit this trope the most, the former being a demonic-looking Black Knight and the latter being a magically empowered barbarian.
• The Psycho Rangers: Six superpowerful mages who are among the strongest their respective faction has at their disposal - the Scythes are effectively the evil mirror to the Lances. Both are even named after types of weapons to further their contrast.
  • Cadell -> Bairon.
  • Seris -> Olfred.
  • Melzri -> Varay.
  • Viessa -> Aya.
  • Dragoth -> Mica.
  • Nico -> Arthur.
• Unseen No More: With the exception of Cadell, the Scythes were not depicted for a long time. An official illustration released after Volume 9 showed Seris along with her protégé Caera, with the rest following suit as they along with most of the Retainers were finally revealed in an official illustration released after the end of Volume 10.
• Villain Forgot to Level Grind: When first introduced, the Scythes were nigh-impossible to defeat, even for Arthur and the other Lances. However, once Arthur Came Back Strong as an aether-wielding demigod, the tables turned as while he got stronger, the Scythes did not. In the Victoriad, Arthur knocks out Nico in a Single-Stroke Battle followed by him killing Cadell. Even as Agrona begins preparing to invade Epheotus, he mostly neglects to empower the Scythes as they were solely meant to be his generals for his conquest of Dicathen, as Agrona has much stronger minions who are more suited for the task of killing asuras.
• The Worf Effect: Just like the Lances, the Scythes eventually fall victim to this trope. Once Arthur Came Back Strong following his Re-Power, he ends up killing Cadell and Viessa, along with nearly killing Nico and Melzri. Knowing how the balance of power has shifted at this point, Agrona holds the remaining Scythes back as at this point it is the Legacy and the Wraiths whom he has come to rely on when it comes to dealing with Arthur.
  • It also does not help that once Arthur returns to Dicathen, he works to strengthen the remaining Lances by breaking the Power Limiters on their Artifacts of Power so that they can better stand up against the Scythes come their inevitable rematch. This pays off as when Agrona launches his second invasion of Dicathen the Lances are able to match them in combat, as shown when Dragoth loses to Mica.

Cadell Vritra

Cadell Vritra

Debut: Volume 1 (Novel), Chapter 15 (Webcomic)

"Submit now...and perhaps he may even heal your wound."

Agrona's right-hand and the Scythe of Central Dominion, Cadell is the strongest among the Scythes and the very first member of the Vritra Clan to appear in the novel. He is the one responsible for the death of Sylvia, an event that would not only traumatize the young Arthur but set him on an inevitable collision course with the impending Divine Conflict so that he would bring an end to it.

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• The Ace: He is the strongest Scythe and Agrona's top general. He outclasses all of the Lances in terms of raw power, and can outmatch even the likes of the Wraiths.
• Badass Cape: Cadell wears a crimson cloak, a sign of his status as the strongest of the Scythes.
• Black Knight: Cadell wears a suit of black plate armor and acts as the Dragon-in-Chief among the Scythes as Agrona's right-hand.
• Body Horror: Arthur burns him down to ashes by using Regis's Destruction godrune.
• Broken Ace: Despite being the strongest among the Scythes, Cadell ends up being outclassed by the Came Back Strong Arthur at the Victoriad who ends up killing him. To add insult to injury, in his final moments his personality breaks as he experiences fear for the first and last time in his life, a stark contrast to the nigh-untouchable sadist that he has been throughout the novel.
• The Bus Came Back: After killing Sylvia in Volume 1, Cadell does not resurface until the climax of Volume 7 when he spearheads the takeover of the Council Castle.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Cadell revels in torturing his unfortunate victims.
• Dark Is Evil: He has pitch-black skin and armor and is a very evil person who enjoys torturing his enemies.
• The Dragon: He is Agrona's right-hand man and private enforcer.
  • Dragon-in-Chief: Cadell is the strongest among the Scythes and thus their de facto leader.
• The Dragon Slayer: He gets the title after killing Sylvia, though she was mortally injured at the time.
• The Dreaded: Cadell is a fearsome individual whose reputation precedes him.
• Dual Wielding: In his duel with Arthur at the Victoriad, Cadell dual wields swords, one black iron like those wielded by Uto and Nico, the other void black like the night sky.
• Expy: Cadell is the Darth Vader to Agrona's God-Emperor Palpatine. Like Vader, Cadell has an inhuman appearance (though unlike Vader who hides his scars behind his armor Cadell is not afraid to show his true appearance), wears an imposing suit of dark armor and sports a Badass Cape, is a powerful Magic Knight whose unrivaled power makes him The Dreaded, and has a personal connection with the protagonist which involves killing their mentor (Vader is Luke's father and kills Obi-Wan, Cadell kills several of Arthur's loved ones, in particular Sylvia). Unlike Vader, who is a Tragic Villain whose love for his son drives him to perform a Heel–Face Turn, Cadell is an unrepentant monster.
• Evil Counterpart:
  • To Bairon. Both are physically imposing individuals renowned for being The Ace. Fittingly, at the climax of Volume 7, Bairon (with help from Arthur) goes up against Cadell when he attempts to assassinate Virion, only for Cadell to effortlessly defeat both of them.
    • Both also have an enmity with Arthur. Bairon loathes Arthur for killing his younger brother Lucas even though the latter participated in the attack on Xyrus Academy, whereas Cadell killed Arthur's Parental Substitute Sylvia. Arthur ends up resolving these enmities in contrasting fashions. He slays Cadell at the Victoriad, followed by him reconciling with Bairon upon returning to Dicathen.
    • Both also are known for taking on an asura in spite of the power disparity. As already stated, Cadell is the one who killed Sylvia, albeit she was an old asura who was severely weakened at the time. Bairon on the other hand attempts to hold off Taci, who in spite of being a young asura manages to defeat not just him but the rest of the remaining Lances, with only the arrival of Arthur being what puts an end to his rampage.
  • To Varay. Both are The Ace and The Leader for their respective groups of elite mages.
  • To Windsom. Both are the right-hand man of their respective leaders in the Divine Conflict. Ultimately Played With when it is revealed Windsom and his clan are Evil All Along, though they are still A Lighter Shade of Black when compared to the Vritra.
  • To Aldir. Both are the lead generals of their respective leaders in the Divine Conflict, wear black armor, and are frequeny seen pulling a Reverse Arm-Fold. Unlike Windsom this is Played Straight for the most part as Aldir grows disillusioned with Kezess's atrocities and becomes a Defector from Decadence.
• Final Boss Preview: Played With. Cadell is merely the Dragon-in-Chief and is only the last opponent that Arthur fights in the Victoriad (and even then he is only the penultimate enemy in Volume 9 with the very last opponent Arthur fights in that volume being Taci), but his presence and actions in finishing off Sylvia serve to give Arthur his first encounter with the Vritra Clan and a taste of just how powerful their members are.
• Given Name Reveal: His name was not revealed until his reappearance in Volume 7.
• Hate Sink: As Agrona's Dragon-in-Chief, Cadell is the one to carry out much of his master's will and thus much of his atrocities. He is a prolific Hero Killer responsible for the deaths of many of Arthur's loved ones, in particular Sylvia and Sylvie. Not only that, but he is a sadistic individual who enjoys torturing his victims.
• Hero Killer: He is responsible for the deaths of Sylvia, Buhnd, Alduin, and Merial, as well as Sylvie's near-death.
• Hot Wings: He is able to summon wings made of soulfire.
• It's Personal with the Dragon: His murder of Sylvia traumatized the young Arthur. Suffice to say, Arthur seeing him again during the close of the War Arc drives him into a vengeful rage.
• Karmic Death: He is burned alive by Arthur much like he did to Buhnd and countless others.
• Kill It with Fire: Given his soulfire powers, Cadell prefers to burn his victims alive. As stated above, he gets a taste of his own medicine when he gets burned to nothing by Destruction.
• Knight of Cerebus: He is the very first servant of the Vritra to appear in the story, which is when he is about to finish off the dying Sylvia. When he reappears at the close of the War Arc, it is when the Alacryans have invaded the Council Castle and the Dicathians realize the war has truly been lost. Later on, when Arthur ends up fighting Nico, it is Cadell's arrival that tips the scales against him which eventually leads to Sylvie's Heroic Sacrifice and Arthur being stranded in the Relictombs.
• Lightning/Fire Juxtaposition: Exhibits this contrast towards Bairon, whom he is the Evil Counterpart of and ends up fighting at the end of the War Arc. Bairon manipulates lightning magic, whereas Cadell prefers to incinerate his enemies with soulfire.
• Monstrous Humanoid: Compared to the other Scythes, Cadell has a far more monstrous appearance rather than merely sporting Horns of Villainy. He has pitch-black skin and a serpentine face making him barely recognizable as a human.
• Obviously Evil: He is a Monstrous Humanoid who is Red and Black and Evil All Over and sports Horns of Villainy. Any guesses as to what his alignment is?
• Playing with Fire: His powers involve soulfire.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: His skin and armor are ebon black and his eyes and cape are crimson red, all indicative of his villainy.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Cadell has soulless red eyes and is the most powerful of the Scythes.
• Reverse Arm-Fold: His first appearance has him pulling off this pose as he descends from above to finish off the dying Sylvia.
• Spontaneous Weapon Creation: His mastery of the Vritra mana arts allows Cadell to create himself weapons made out of soulfire.
• Underestimating Badassery: In his rematch with Arthur, he underestimates him because of having defeated Arthur two times before. However this time it ends differently as Arthur has Came Back Strong. His mistake costs Cadell greatly as Arthur kills him as payback for all the misery he caused.
• Undignified Death: He was afraid of dying even in his last moments as Arthur finished him off.
• The Worf Barrage: As his duel with Arthur in the Victoriad starts turning in the latter's favor, Cadell begins frantically unleashing his full repertoire of spells against his opponent. Unfortunately for him, Arthur No-Sells everything he throws at him before ending his life the same way he did unto many other by burning him alive.
• The Worf Effect: After the Scythes being portrayed as extremely dangerous opponents for so long with Cadell being the strongest among them, he gets slain by Arthur at the Victoriad to illustrate just how much Arthur has Came Back Strong after his Re-Power.

Seris Vritra (Unmarked Spoilers)

Seris Vritra

Seris the Unblooded

Debut: Volume 6 (Novel)

"I offer my thanks as well to all those who follow me forward, stepping out from the High Sovereign's yoke and daring to imagine what a world beyond the conflicts of the asura might look for us."

The Scythe of Sehz-Clar, Seris is the first Scythe to appear in the War Arc. She is an enigmatic individual who harbors her own agenda, as shown when she intervenes in Arthur and Sylvie's clash with Uto by saving them from the Retainer. It is eventually revealed that Seris has no loyalty to the Vritra Clan, and she eventually declares an open revolt against them.

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• All for Nothing: Her rebellion against Agrona ends up being completely for naught. Despite scoring a few key victories early on, including humilating the Legacy, Agrona stops toying with her rebellion and forces her into the Relictombs. Then her plan to assassinate the Sovereigns gets dashed as not only are the they dealt with by other powers (Kiros by the Legacy, Exeges by an unknown party, and Oludari ends up fleeing to Dicathen), but Agrona's grip over Alacrya is only strengthened as he uses Exeges's death to galvanize the populace back to his side in the leadup to his invasion of Epheotus and forcing her rebellion to flee to Dicathen. If that were not enough, despite thinking they could make a fresh start away from Agrona's control, he reveals that he still has control over them by way of his blood and so forces her and her supporters back into his side for the final stages of his plan.
• Anonymous Benefactor: Upon hearing of Arthur's arrival in Alacrya from Caera and realizing he survived the war, Seris begins pulling strings to make sure Arthur can survive incognito in Alacrya away from Agrona's notice and be of use in her own plans in overthrowing the Vritra.
• Bad Powers, Good People: Despite her Vritra mana arts, Seris herself is far from evil.
• Barrier Maiden: While in the Relictombs, Seris is forced to power the barrier that prevents Agrona's forces from moving in on her location, the act of which is extremely taxing to herself. Fortunately for her, Regis takes her place in powering the barrier by using aether instead.
• Bastard Understudy: As one of the Scythes, Seris appears to play the part of a loyal servant. In actuality, she harbors no loyalty towards him as she realizes he is willing to throw away everything at his disposal in his war against Epheotus. When she first encounters Arthur, she recognizes his potential as a Wild Card that could end the Divine Conflict. Upon learning he survived the war, she begins pulling strings so that he would be able to survive in Alacrya incognito. After Arthur humiliates Agrona at the Victoriad before returning to liberate his homeland of Dicathen, Seris eventually launches her own rebellion against the Vritra.
• Batman Gambit:
  • In informing Aldir of Arthur's survival, Seris knows that he will at some point bring word of it to Kezess himself. This is entirely her intention as she needs to set in motion a push that will see Arthur finally reenter the Divine Conflict before it escalates to the point of The End of the World as We Know It. Her gambit does pay off in the end in that while Arthur does reenter on his own volition by participating in the Victoriad followed by him returning to Dicathen and reconquering it, Kezess summons him to renegotiate with him, and as part of their deal Kezess sends down his own forces to occupy the newly liberated Dicathen to protect it from the Vritra, on top of bringing Epheotus out of the aether realm and into the mortal world.
  • In turn, the outcome of the previous gambit ties into that her next gambit. Knowing how both Kezess and Agrona are all but unbeatable by the lessers, now that Kezess's actions have escalated the Divine Conflict, Seris intends to set the playing field between the two so that when they do inevitably clash, not only will it result in Mutually Assured Destruction, but so that the lessers on both Dicathen and Alacrya will be left to inherit and rebuild the world following the absence of the asuras. So far, this gambit has yet to play out as she intended, especially given how she and her supporters were forced to flee to Dicathen.
• Big Damn Heroes: She saves Arthur from Uto and gives him Uto's horns while advising him to get stronger. Though at the time he perceives it as a Villainous Rescue.
• Big Good: Seris steps into this role from Volume 9 onward as she becomes an Anonymous Benefactor to Arthur. Not only does she get him cleared of the Kangaroo Court he was stuck in, but she also gives him asylum in her domain of Sehz-Clar where his enemies could not discover him. She also uses the knowledge of his survival to sway Aldir into turning against Kezess, which pays off as he defies Kezess and leaves his service altogether. After Arthur humiliates Agrona and the Vritra at the Victoriad, Seris eventually launches a rebellion against the Vritra that Arthur later joins up with after he liberates Dicathen. As with Virion before her, Seris eventually hands the mantle over to Arthur once she and her supporters are forced to abandon Alacrya, though she does remain the main authority figure among the Alacryans who have defected against the Vritra.
• Cavalry Betrayal: A rare heroic example. When Arthur and Aya fight Uto and Olfred in Ashber, both parties are aware that a Scythe will be arriving soon which would tip the scales in favor of the Alacryans. However, when Seris does arrive, she proceeds to finish off Uto much to his surprise as she is more interested in Arthur.
• The Chessmaster: Seris is a master manipulator of events in her own right. Upon learning of Arthur's survival, she begins pulling strings so that he could survive in Alacrya incognito. After Arthur humiliates the Vritra at the Victoriad and returns to his homeland of Dicathen to liberate it, Seris takes advantage of the chaos he is causing to eventually launch her own revolt. In preparation for it, she managed to take a Sovereign hostage to power a shield around her domain and sent her protégé Caera back to Dicathen to enlist Arthur's aid in the revolt. After broadcasting her executing said Sovereign and tricking the Legacy to all of Alacrya, Seris activates her contingency plan and takes refuge in the Relictombs where Arthur eventually finds her.
• Crazy-Prepared: Seris knew her rebellion against Agrona would not last long, so she began preparing an exit plan involving taking refuge in the Relictombs and cutting off Alacrya's access to it. However, thanks to Arthur being stuck in the aether realm for two months, Agrona cutting down her supporters, and her own dwindling supplies, Seris and her followers are eventually forced to abandon the Relictombs and seek asylum in Dicathen, leaving behind anyone who wishes to take up Agrona on his offer of clemency.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Seris wears black robes and has a pair of dark horns due to being a Vritra-blooded Alacryan, but she is far from evil as she is genuinely compassionate, empathetic, and kindhearted.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Considering her lack of respect for the asuras due to seeing them for the Jerkass Gods that they are, Seris is prone to doing this.
  • When she confronts Aldir in the ruins of Elenoir after he destroyed it with the World Eater technique, she not only calls him out for committing genocide, but also insults his master Kezess by saying that he and Agrona are two sides of the same coin. Not only does Aldir not kill her on the spot for the offense, but her words get into his head and lead him to become a Defector from Decadence.
  • Her speech when she broadcasts her execution of Orlaeth and humiliation of the Legacy has her declare that the people of Alacrya can "make the Sovereigns bleed" right as she carries out the act in question.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Her true motivations do not align with Agrona's as she recognizes him for the callous tyrant that he is and seeks to liberate the Alacryans from his tyranny. When Arthur presents her the opportunity to rebel against her master, she takes full advantage of the situation to strengthen his position in Alacrya first, followed by her eventually launching a rebellion of her own upon his return to Dicathen to keep Agrona further distracted.
• Enigmatic Minion: Her motivations are a mystery to Arthur. While she is outwardly one of his enemies as one of the Scythes, their first meeting has her saving him from Uto and wanting him to get stronger. She is eventually revealed to have no loyalty to Agrona at all and has been strengthening Arthur the entire time, whom she views as the potential Wild Card to end the Divine Conflict to put both of them in a better position to stand against him.
• Everyone Has Standards: While she is quite ruthless against her enemies, She does not do anything unnecessarily cruel to her enemies as seen in her battle with Mica. She incapacitated her, but assured her she will recover after a week. She thinks killing civilians crossing the line as she sympathizes with the Dicathians for the suffering they went through because of her people and that she sees through Agrona's propaganda about Dicathen being a barbaric failed state.
• Faustian Rebellion: Despite being a Scythe and a member of the Vritra Clan, Seris harbors no loyalty to Agrona and his basilisks, and eventually declares an open revolt against them.
• Foil:
  • To both Varay and Viessa while the three of them are usually cold, Seris has a playful side to those she cares about or at least comfortable with.
  • To Aldir. Both hail from factions whom Arthur is opposed to, but ultimately turn out to be a case of Dark Is Not Evil and the Token Heroic Orc. Seris was never loyal to Agrona, while Aldir was loyal to Kezess until he was forced to destroy Elenoir which Seris called him out for. In addition, Seris leads her own rebellion against the Vritra, while Aldir ends up leaving Epheotus in disgrace after being forced to kill his own soldiers in self-defense.
• Forced into Evil: She is forced to once again rejoin Agrona's service when he takes control of the entire Alacryan rebellion by way of his blood and remotely kills the few who defy him to Make an Example of Them.
• Foreshadowing: Arthur asks Agrona if he is not afraid of Vritra-blooded lessers or lessers with advanced or Vritra mana arts that they might rebel against him. It was a hint that Seris will eventually rebel against him before he and Kezess will burn down the world down to the ground in their fight.
• Genre Savvy: Given her time as a Bastard Understudy of Agrona's, Seris knows how he thinks and so recognizes when everything is playing into his plans. In particular, shortly before she withdraws from the Relictombs, she confides to Arthur that Agrona was able to manipulate the fallout from Arthur's return to and liberation of Dicathen back into his favor.
  Seris: (To Arthur) I'm afraid that the division of Alacrya has played into his hands. I suspect that he wished for his portal between our world and Epheotus to be opened. We have helped to make him look vulnerable, ensuring that the dragons finally came to play.
• Good All Along: While she comes off as affable towards Arthur and wants him to get stronger, Seris is still one of Agrona's Scythes and thus one of the generals directing the Alacryan invasion of Dicathen. However, Seris is eventually revealed to have absolutely no loyalty to Agrona and the Vritra at all as she recognizes that they are willing to burn the world down to win the Divine Conflict they started with the Alacryans themselves being little more than expendable fodder, on top of her affable personality being revealed to be genuine.
• Good Counterpart: To Olfred. Both end up betraying their respective groups, but while Olfred does so out of his loyalty to the traitorous Rahdeas, Seris turns out to be Good All Along as she was never loyal to Agrona and the Vritra in the first place for she recognized for them for the tyrants that they are and throws in her lot with Arthur due to his potential to end the Divine Conflict.
• Good Versus Good: After being forced to rejoin Agrona's side, she and Cylrit end up fighting Bairon during the second Siege of Vildorial.
• Hidden Agenda Hero: She saves Arthur from Uto and gives him the Retainer's horns while advising him to get stronger for both their sakes before disappearing without revealing her true intentions. Later on, she spares Mica and lets her go to help the Dicathen army. Eventually, it is revealed she is been plotting against Agrona and the Vritra for quite sometime.
• I Need You Stronger: When she and Arthur first meet, she takes an interest in him. She saves him and Sylvie from being killed by Uto and later on sends Cylrit to fight him in order to test his capabilities. As it turns out, this is all because Seris views Arthur as a potential Wild Card who could end the Divine Conflict, making her intentions with him a benign example of this trope.
  Seris: For both our sakes, get stronger - fast.
• Kill the God: She captures Orlaeth to use his mana as a shield in her rebellion against Agrona, then broadcasts his execution in front of all Alacrya.
• Killing Intent: Seris noted to have an overpowering aura that is controlled yet palpable to those around her. When she confronts Arthur after his fight with Uto, he notes that the only person from whom he had felt the sensation was Kezess.
• Lady and Knight: A Dark Is Not Evil example, as she is the lady whom Cylrit serves.
• Like a Son to Me: In this case a daughter, as she mentored Caera and protected her from Agrona's experiments. This has a significant impact as it led to Caera disapproving of the war with Dicathen.
• The Mentor: She is Caera's mentor. Later on, its revealed that Lyra also saw her as her mentor in spite of her being assigned to Cadell.
• Mystical White Hair: Seris has long white hair and as a Scythe, she is one of the strongest non-asura mages in the setting.
• Nonviolent Initial Confrontation: Her first meeting with Arthur is this. Despite Arthur viewing her as his enemy at that point due to her being one of the Scythes. Seris not only ends up saving him from Uto, but rather than finish him off right there she instead proceeds to give him a few cryptic words of advice, severs Uto's horns for him to keep (in the process giving him a trophy and letting him on the weakness of the Vritra-blooded), and then leaves.
• "Not So Different" Remark: "The Reason You Suck" Speech that she delivers to Aldir has her tell him that his master Kezess and her master Agrona are two sides of the same coin. This particular remark gets into his head, as he has a Call-Back to it when he spares the Lances and directs them against his master's plan to exterminate the Dicathian resistance.
  Seris: Indrath, Agrona. Agrona, Indrath. You speak as if they are the only two beings in the world, as if there is no choice but to serve one or the other.
  Aldir: This is a war of two sides. Everyone must choose a side, even you, Seris.
  Seris: If the world is a coin, Agrona on one side, Kezess on the other, then someone else has flipped that coin, and no matter how it lands - whichever face looks up from the ground - it will be that someone who is looking back down.
• Only Sane Man: She is this among the Scythes as she lacks the rest of the Scythes' apathy, arrogance, and unnecessary cruelty, on top of having no loyalty to Agrona due to seeing him for the tyrant the is.
• The Power of the Void: Her signature spell, Void Wind.
• Pragmatic Hero: Seris might be an affable and well-intentioned person, but she knows when to make hard choices and sacrifices. This is a trait that is especially vital given that she is going up against the top Chessmaster of the setting and a being with a complete Lack of Empathy. She sends Cylrit against Arthur at one point to let him know that defending Elenoir is a lost cause and that he needs to save his strength for the more pivotal battles of the war.
  • That being said, even though the Legacy is the biggest threat to her rebellion, she knows that she is possessing Tessia's body and does not want to consign the elven princess to death.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After confronting Aldir in the ruins of Elenoir following his destruction of it with the World Eater technique, she delivers a scathing one to both him and his master Kezess that not just calls them out for what they have done but also makes it clear they are no better than their nemeses in Agrona and the Vritra Clan.
• Rebel Leader: She starts a rebellion against the Vritra on Alacryan soil following the Siege of Vildorial that lasts around two months before Agrona is able to crush it. Afterward, she and her remaining supporters escape to Dicathen, linking up with the Alacryan enclave in Elenoir in the process. In doing so, Seris supersedes Lyra as the overarching leader of the Alacryans rebelling against the Vritra.
• The Redeemer:
  • Combined with Because You Were Nice to Me. In a sense, Seris ends up setting up the chain of events that help cement Arthur's change of perspective on the Alacryan people. While he had already been traveling with Caera since arriving in the Relictombs and had come to view her as a friend, after Seris gets him acquitted of the Kangaroo Court he had been put through by the Granbehls she gets him to interact with the people of her Dominion as well as the students of Central Academy. In the process, Arthur gets to truly see that the Alacryans are as much victims of the Divine Conflict as his own people. After learning of her involvement in his time in Alacrya and subsequently returning home to Dicathen and liberating it, Arthur ends up openly allying with Seris and her supporters and brings them back to Dicathen.
  • Combined with Warrior Therapist. She confronts Aldir at Elenoir where she calls him out for the destruction he caused under Kezess's orders and the asuras' Lack of Empathy. Not only does she rub it in his face that Kezess and Agrona are no different from one another, but she informs him of Arthur's survival in Alacrya and his potential to end the Divine Conflict. This conversation alongside many other factors leads to Aldir rebelling against Kezess.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: She dismisses Caera's opinion of Arthur being an Indrath-blooded human due to Kezess's pride and prejudice against lessers. However, Caera was right because Sylvie sacrificed her physical body to save Arthur from dying, though neither would have been aware of at the time due to Arthur concealing his identity.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Arthur has no idea she is aware of his true identity when he arrives in Alacrya and has been the one pulling strings for him to survive there. On top of that, she keeps that knowledge hidden from everyone else in her circle, even Caera.
• Shipper on Deck: She teases Caera for her feelings or at least attachment to Arthur to Caera's annoyance and embarrassment.
• Spanner in the Works: Agrona did not expect Seris to rebel against him, as not only does she distract him from his current plans, but her rebellion draws his attention away from Dicathen which allows Arthur to retake it. On top of that, her gambit involving the Legacy ends up partially freeing Tessia by allowing her to periodically retake control of her body. If that was not enough, Arthur ends up joining her rebellion, though it ends up ultimately being for naught as by the time he arrives it is beyond saving as Agrona has cornered her and her supporters.
• Stealth Mentor: Despite initially seeming to be antagonistic towards Arthur as one of the Scythes, once she recognizes his potential to end the Divine Conflict Seris only wants to see his power grow and so tests him repeatedly. She even sends Cylrit to fight him at one point in order to gauge his strength.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She is usually cold, elegant, formal, and stoic but to those she cares about and is comfortable with, Seris has a casual, playful, and warm side.
• Tactical Withdrawal: In Volume 11, after being holed up in the Relictombs for two months and with Agrona having rallied the populace of Alacrya to his side, Seris and her followers are forced to abandon the Relictombs and seek asylum in Dicathen while leaving behind anyone who wishes to take Agrona up on his offer of mercy.
• Token Good Teammate: Is the sole member the Scythes who can be considered a heroic individual due to her genial personality and willingness to eventually stand up against her master, especially since Nico (the only other member who has turned against Agrona) remains Trapped in Villainy and continues to follow his master's orders albeit reluctantly.
• Token Heroic Orc: Despite being one of the Alacryan Scythes, Seris turns out to be a rather decent individual and has been plotting against Agrona for quite some time as she realizes the Divine Conflict would lead to Mutually Assured Destruction. As such, she becomes an Anonymous Benefactor to Arthur in his time in Alacrya and later launches a revolt of her own.
• Walking Spoiler: One would be hard-pressed to think that a Scythe would not only turn out to be a good person, but end up becoming Arthur's greatest ally in Alacrya and one of the Big Goods of the novel.

Melzri Vritra

Melzri Vritra

Debut: Volume 9 (Novel)

"It would be oh so disappointing to finally get a chance to fight in the war only for the mighty Lances to give up so soon."

The Scythe of Etril.

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• Bash Brothers: With Viessa.
• Blood Knight: Melzri revels in the carnage she causes and making her opponents suffer.
• Curse Cut Short: During her duel with Bairon, she makes a rather cursory remark about what she plans to do with his weapon before Viessa interrupts her.
  Melzri: Yes, that's the spirit. Scheme away. I can't wait to shove that cursed spear up your-
• Dual Wielding: She dual wields twin curved swords.
• Evil Counterpart: To Varay. Both are very talented mages who have white hair. Melzri is a sadist who dual wields curved swords and specializes in fire magic, while Varay is an Ice Queen who wields a Royal Rapier and specializes in ice magic.
• Impossibly-Low Neckline: Her dress has a low neckline that exposes much of her skin.
• It's Personal: To Arthur, after he kills Cadell. And especially after he kills Viessa.
• Mystical White Hair: Melzri has white hair and as a Scythe is one of the strongest non-asura mages in the setting.
• Pet the Dog: Despite her sadistic personality, Melzri is the only Scythe who shows a degree of care towards Nico. Arthur even lets her carry Nico away following the Curb-Stomp Battle he gave him at the Victoriad.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red Oni to Viessa's Blue Oni. Melzri is a sadist, Viessa is calm and composed.
• Sadist: She loves to make her enemies suffer quite a lot.
• Skeletons in the Coat Closet: Her armor is described as being pale white and having an organic look to it, making it look as if were carved out of bones.
• Underestimating Badassery: During the Siege of Vildorial, Melzri toys with the surviving Lances as she thinks she can easily defeat them given their performance in the war. She underestimates their newfound resolve, in particular Bairon's.
• Unseen No More: First mentioned in Volume 6 by Seris as staying behind to take care of the newest Scythe, before eventually appearing in Volume 9.
• Villain Respect: To Arthur as she bows to him as a respect for sparing her in the Siege of Vildorial.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Melzri has white hair, but is ruthless and sadistic in terms of her personality.

Viessa Vritra

Viessa Vritra

Debut: Volume 9 (Novel)

"Given Cadell's stories about how pathetic you Lances were in the war, I'm surprised you were able to break through even part of my illusions."

The Scythe of Truacia.

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• Bad Boss: She does not treat her Retainers very well. No wonder Jagrette, her first Retainer, seeks to overthrow her.
• Bad Powers, Bad People: A Lady of Black Magic who specializes in illusion magic and necromancy, powers which are usually associated with villainous characters.
• Bash Brothers: With Melzri.
• Confusion Fu: She uses her illusory magic in this manner, not only to create duplicates of herself but also to make her enemies mistake their friends for their opponents.
• Creepy Souvenir: Befitting her necromantic powers, Viessa's robes sport bones taken from her many victims.
  Viessa: Macabre, I know. But each represents a life, a story. Some even carry the faint aura of the previous owner's mana.
• Doppleganger Attack: A natural extension of her illusory abilities, Viessa is able to create illusory copies of herself to confuse her enemies.
• Evil Counterpart:
  • To Aya. Both are masters of illusory magic.
  • To Varay. Both have a calm and reserved personality.
• Guilt-Induced Nightmare: Attempts to induce this upon the remaining Lances during the Siege of Vildorial. She makes Varay perceive the specters of King Glayder, Alea, Aya, and the dwarven soldiers who had been sent down to the tunnels that she and Melzri had slaughtered. She also makes Mica perceive the ghost of Olfred.
• Horned Humanoid: Averted. Other than Nico (who does not have Vritra blood and thus lacks horns), Viessa is the only Scythe to not have the Vritra's signature horns.
• Ice Queen: She remains calm and impassive in her duty.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Arthur kills her by striking his aether sword into her chest.
• Master of Illusion: She is capable of create illusions so convincing they can fool anyone.
• Necromancer: Viessa is able to animate corpses to serve at her whims.
• Purple Is Powerful: Her hair is purple and as a Scythe her power outstrips that of the Lances.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue Oni to Melzri's Red Oni. Viessa is calm and composed, Melzri is a sadist.
• Targeted to Hurt the Hero: During Arthur's mission to Nirmala, Viessa attacks Chul and Sylvie. Arthur ends up killing her for that on top of needing to break her illusions.
• Training from Hell: Viessa prefers to train her Retainers personally, and her training regimen is austere and brutal.
• Underestimating Badassery: During the Siege of Vildorial, Viessa toys with the surviving Lances as she thinks she can easily defeat them given their performance in the war. She underestimates their newfound resolve, in particular Bairon's.
• Unseen No More: First mentioned in Volume 6 by Seris as staying behind to take care of the newest Scythe, before eventually appearing in Volume 9.
• Villain Respect: To Arthur, as she bows to him as a respect for sparing her in the Siege of Vildorial.

Dragoth Vritra

Dragoth Vritra

The Titan of Vechor

Debut: Volume 9 (Novel)

"Vechor's ships and soldiers are still patrolling the sea, but if the rats are fleeing their sinking vessel, we haven't seen them."

The Scythe of Vechor, Dragoth is the last of the Scythes to be introduced.

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• Air Jousting: His duel with Mica over the Wall has them take to the air.
• Animal Motifs: His appearance, in particular his horns, bring to mind the image of a bull.
• Barbaric Bully: A somewhat literal example. Not only does Dragoth resemble a fantasy barbarian, but he takes great satisfaction in bullying Nico, the newest and weakest among the Scythes. He also loves picking on those who deems are much weaker than him
  Dragoth: You are right, little Nico. You are a Scythe. And the name Scythe meant a little less the day we counted you among our number. Perhaps Bivrae should be a Scythe, or even Draneeve!
• Bald of Evil: Dragoth's head is clean shaven and he is one of the bad guys.
• Bald Head of Toughness: His head being clean shaven is also a sign of how he is the most physically imposing of the Scythes.
• Beard of Barbarism: Given how he resembles a fantasy barbarian, Dragoth sports the requisite beard.
• Beard of Evil: Dragoth has a rather prominent beard, but is a brutish and callous individual.
• Blood Knight: He hungers for battle and revels in the carnage he inflicts.
  Jasmine: He wore a look of ecstasy, reveling in the combat.
• Boisterous Bruiser: A villainous example. Dragoth has a personality that is as large as his own physical appearance. No wonder his popularity is rather extensive back in Alacrya.
• Brawler Lock: As his duel with Mica over the Wall reaches its climax, the two of them end up grappling each other midair. It ends with Mica wrenching one of his horns clean from his head.
• The Brute: Dragoth is the largest and most physically imposing of the Scythes.
• Brutish Bulls: What he resembles in appearance, especially considering his horns.
• Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: A brutish barbarian who wields an equally brutal warhammer.
• Carry a Big Stick: Dragoth wields a jagged black warhammer.
• David Versus Goliath: When Agrona orders his second invasion of Dicathen, Dragoth ends up fighting Mica at the Wall. Mica, who had her Power Limiter removed recently, barely manages to defeat him by ripping off one of his horns.
• Dumb Muscle: Dragoth is noted to not be very intelligent. As Agrona himself puts it:
  Agrona: And so I kept [Dragoth] where he is, banging his thick, horned skull against Seris's shields.
• Evil Counterpart: To Mica. Both are The Big Guys for their respective teams, Carry a Big Stick for their weapon of choice, and exhibit a Blood Knight personality. While Mica is a Cute Bruiser and Pint-Sized Powerhouse, Dragoth is a brutish individual who resembles a fantasy barbarian, leading to a David Versus Goliath comparison despite the two not fighting each other until Volume 11.
• Evil Laugh: A sadistic brute prone to laughing at the suffering he causes.
• Flying Brick: Like the rest of the Scythes, Dragoth is able to fly, and as The Brute he is perhaps one of the most physically imposing characters in the novel.
• A Hero to His Hometown: Dragoth is not only popular in his home Dominion of Vechor, but he is described as "the most popular Scythe in all of Alacrya".
• History Repeats: His Retainer Uto had one of his horns chipped when he fought the Lance Alea, and eventually had his horns removed by Seris in the aftermath of his encounter with Arthur in Ashber. Then Dragoth himself loses one of his horns when the Lance Mica tears it off his head.
• Horns of Barbarism: Unlike most fantasy barbarians, Dragoth's horns are part of his skull as a sign of his Vritra blood. Furthermore, when compared to the other Scythes, his horns are bull-like instead of being elegantly curved and slender which makes him look more uncivilized and primal in appearance.
• The Juggernaut: In combat, Dragoth is a nigh-unstoppable killing machine who effortlessly crushes his enemies and revels in the bloodshed he causes.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: He uses a massive shield during his fight with Mica at the Wall.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Compared to the other Scythes, whose names sound rather refined if not elegant, Dragoth's name sounds much more primal and intimidating.
• Pelts of the Barbarian: Dragoth wears furs all over his body, making him resemble a barbarian.
• Red Baron: The "Titan of Vechor".
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: His eyes are piercing red, fitting his role as The Brute.
• Slasher Smile: Dragoth is prone to striking a jagged smirk on his face, which coupled with his piercing red eyes conveys how brutal he is.
• Spontaneous Weapon Creation: He fights with a black warhammer and shield that he conjures for himself.
• This Cannot Be!: Has a complete and utter look of disbelief on his face after Mica defeats him. Not only did he walk away with severe injuries, but she had managed to tear off one of his horns, which as the source of his power as a Scythe means Dragoth has come out of the ordeal much weaker than he was before.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Befitting his barbarian-esque appearance, Dragoth bares his upper body.

The Newest Scythe (Major Unmarked Spoilers)

Nico Sever

Debut: Volume 6 (Novel)

"I was your best...friend, and the one whose fiancée you killed in front of me."

The true identity of Elijah Knight, Nico Sever was once the childhood friend of Arthur's past life King Grey, However, following the death of their shared Childhood Friend Love Interest and Nico's fiancée Cecilia at the hands of Grey during the King's Tourney, Nico swore vengeance against his former childhood friend. As part of Agrona's plan to reincarnate the Legacy, he reincarnated the souls of both Grey and Nico as anchor points for her reincarnation. After Elijah was recovered by Draneeve during the attack on Xyrus Academy and taken back to Alacrya, he had his true identity and memories restored to him. He would go on to become the newest of the Scythes, and would eventually make his debut at the end of the war when he tries to capture Tessia to become the vessel for Cecilia.

For tropes related to his original identity, see Elijah Knight's folder in the Leywin Family page.

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• Aerith and Bob: Given that Nico keeps his name from his past life (which itself would not have stood out in Dicathen where he had spent much of his upbringing), his name stands out when compared to the much more fantastical nomenclatures of the other members of the Vritra Clan.
• All for Nothing:
  • He went through all the effort to steal Sylvia's core and have Caera give it to Arthur in order to reach out to him to free him and Cecilia from Agrona's control, but it ends up going nowhere. Not only does their meeting with Arthur in Nirmala go horribly wrong as Poor Communication Kills thanks to Cecilia refusing to listen, but Arthur ends up being able to do nothing with Sylvia's core as it is empty, and so the most he can do is leave it on a shrine while in Epheotus as a form of Due to the Dead. Arthur even Lampshades how the outcome reflects Nico's current circumstances.
    Arthur: I still couldn't wrap my head around what Nico meant by sending it to me, but I was pretty sure that he himself didn't know. He was fumbling, scrambling to do whatever he could just to help Cecilia.
  • After his encounter with Arthur in Nirmala where the latter tells him that he never meant to kill Cecilia, Nico takes a while to take in the fact that all the hatred he had for his former friend was completely misplaced, and all the harm he had wrought upon him and others in both his past and present lives were completely for nothing.
• Always Someone Better: Even after the reveal of his true identity and him becoming one of the Scythes, he still keeps losing to Arthur whenever he goes up against him, with the first time around requiring the intervention of Cadell for him to stand even a chance.
• Amnesiac Dissonance:
  • Despite Elijah having no recollection of his past, there seemed to be nothing suspect about him at first given how he quickly warmed up to Arthur when they were in the Dire Tombs. Little did anyone, even Elijah himself, know that he was in fact the reincarnation of the boyhood friend of Arthur's past self King Grey, and that he had sworn loyalty to Agrona in order to exact his revenge on his former friend. The Webcomic even has a major Call-Forward when Elijah is briefly overtaken by his true identity upon recognizing Arthur as Grey, leaving Elijah to ponder just what had happened.
  • Later on while recovering from his humiliating defeat at the Victoriad, Nico realizes that Agrona had altered his own memories to make him more compliant to him.
• Amnesiac Resonance: It is noted that whenever Elijah felt extremely angry that his true personality as Nico would resurface. When he looks back over the way he reacted to Tessia's capture by Lucas and Draneeve during the attack on Xyrus Academy, Nico recalls that the rage he felt at that moment and his own desire to kill was a sign of his suppressed original identity resurfacing as his own emotions overcame the lock Agrona placed on his mind.
• Arch-Enemy: To Arthur, as he wants to kill him for killing his fiancée Cecilia in their past lives.
• Bad Boss: Nico does not have a Retainer, but instead had Draneeve assigned to him as part of the latter's punishment for nearly derailing Agrona's plans for the reincarnates. He relished in putting Draneeve through hell and back both to get back for what he did to him and for his own amusement as someone weaker than him to pick on. Following the Victoriad, Nico decides to Pet the Dog towards Draneeve in that he enlists him as his accomplice in his plans to break both him and Cecilia free from Agrona's control.
• Bastard Understudy: After having his mana core destroyed by Arthur during the Victoriad, Nico's mana core was restored by the power of the Legacy herself. However, this had the unintended side effect of breaking Nico free of Agrona's control. Upon realizing what Agrona had done to both him and Cecilia, Nico begins covertly working to undermine his plans and free them both from his control. He even goes so far as to support Seris's rebellion by handing over an important artifact so it can get delivered to Arthur. All the while, Agrona is none the wiser to the fact that one of his prized servants has turned against him.
• Best Served Cold: After Cecilia's death. Nico bided his time for years afterward in order to exact his revenge on Grey. Then Agrona reincarnated him and promised him that he would eventually get his revenge on Grey if he served him willingly.
• The Bus Came Back: After his kidnapping during the attack on Xyrus in Volume 4, he returns at the end of Volume 7 as one of the Scythes and with his true identity restored to him.
• Bullying a Dragon: He had absolutely no reason to challenge Arthur at the Victoriad considering in their last confrontation Arthur was overpowering him until Cadell intervened. Making matters worse for him is that Arthur had managed to Re-Power himself and had Came Back Strong since the war as a borderline demigod. The outcome ends as badly as one would expect for Nico.
• Came Back Strong: At the time of his capture, Elijah was a capable but not prodigious earth mage. Come his return as Nico at the end of the war, and he has now become one of the Scythes, making him a match for the Lances. That being said, this ends up being somewhat Downplayed in his case as he ends up going up against Arthur, at the time the strongest of the Lances, whom he has difficulty overcoming in spite of his newfound powers until Cadell intervened.
• The Chain of Harm: Nico is the weakest among the Scythes, which leads to him being picked on by the rest, particularly Cadell and Dragoth. In turn, he vents out his frustrations by picking on Draneeve, his own personal attendant.
• Co-Dragons: Following Cecilia's resurrection, the two of them become the main Dragons for Agrona, eclipsing the rest of the Scythes. This is especially apparent following Cadell's death and Seris's rebellion, pushing the rest of the Scythes even more out of the limelight.
• Crusading Widower: He was betrothed to Cecilia before Grey killed her in the King's Tourney. He swore vengeance against Grey ever since, and his vendetta has continued even into their reincarnated lives.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: His rematch against Arthur sees him send Nico flying across the arena in a single blow, on top of destroying his mana core in the process.
• De-power: Temporary example. His mana core is shattered in his duel with Arthur during the Victoriad, only for it to be restored by Cecilia in the aftermath. However, it is restored in a much weaker form in the process.
• Deep Cover Agent: Is an unorthodox example. While his origins as Elijah were unknown even among the Dicathians, he was raised in Darv since his infancy and so no one ever questioned where he came from. Not only that, since his true personality was buried beneath the false persona of Elijah, Nico did not even recall his true origins as a reincarnate.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: When he confronts Arthur at the Victoriad, Nico responds to Arthur telling him that "[he] looks like garbage" and taking apparent pity over what he has become with this retort.
  Nico: Don't. Don't look at me like that. I don't want your pity.
• Dragon with an Agenda: While Agrona is aware that Nico's ultimate goal is to reunite with Cecilia and live in peace, he is not aware of Nico breaking free from his control following the Victoriad and seeking to find a way to free them both from his control.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Is derogatorily referred to as "The Least of the Scythes" by his fellow Co-Dragons due to how weak he is in comparison to them.
• Enemy Mine: Despite not forgiving him for the apparent murder of Cecilia, after recognizing that Agrona had been manipulating him Nico reaches out to Arthur as the only person who can free the two of them from Agrona's control.
• Evil Counterpart: To Arthur. Both are reincarnates who become the Sixth Ranger to their respective factions' strongest mages (the Scythes and Lances respectively). In both their past lives and their current ones, they used to be best friends before turning into bitter enemies. Despite of both them being physically young, they are among the most talented mages in the setting without resorting to the specific divine power source that empowers their respective teammates (Nico lacks Vritra blood while Arthur did not use Alea's Artifact of Power upon becoming a Lance). However, Nico is the weakest among the Scythes due to his lack of Vritra blood, whereas Arthur ends up being the strongest among the Lances both before and after his Re-Power.
• Evil Costume Switch: After having his true identity restored, Nico wears a black regalia. Though it is not that far of a departure from Elijah, as under that identity he tended to wear black outfits.
• Evil Former Friend: A two-time example, and to the same person nonetheless. He and Grey used to be friends before Cecilia's murder drove them apart. Then when they were both reincarnated, Elijah ended up befriending Arthur without recognizing his true identity for a long while (until one fateful duel led him to finally recognize Arthur as Grey). Then Elijah got kidnapped by the Radicals and brought back to Alacrya to have his true identity fully restored complete with his hatred of Grey.
• Evil Genius: Where Agrona is an Evilutionary Biologist, Nico leans more towards this trope due to being a highly skilled artificer. This allows him to create a wide range of Magitek artifacts to offset the power disparity between him and the other Scythes. He is also able to figure out how to replicate one of the djinn teleportation devices when Agrona's Instillers had failed to do so.
• Evil Is Petty: He will do anything to get back at Grey, including targeting his Love Interest.
• Faustian Rebellion. A somewhat Downplayed example compared to Seris. Despite Agrona reincarnating him, granting him the power he always wanted, and reuniting him with his fiancée, Nico ends up covertly rebelling against his master in order to break him and Cecilia free of his control.
• Foreshadowing: There are quite a few hints leading up to The Reveal of his true identity.
  • When Elijah was first introduced, he was exempted from the Adventurer's Guild exam. After the exams, it is noted that what little is known about Elijah's Mysterious Past is that he was raised among the dwarves, and that the person backing him was responsible for him bypassing the exam. Later on in the leadup to the War Arc, it is revealed that the dwarves have been heavily compromised by the Alacryan spy network and many of their nobles are willing Les Collaborateurs, including Elijah's guardian Rahdeas. Considering where Elijah grew up in and how little is known of his past, it served to hint a major connection between him and the Vritra.
    • Elijah was able to manifest black metal spikes, a form of magic only demonstrated by servants of the Vritra such as Kai Crestless and Uto. He also tended to wear mostly black outfits, and the Vritra are known for being a straight example of Dark Is Evil and Evil Wears Black wherein their servants tend to wear black clothing or armor.
    • The Webcomic is less subtle about his true identity through a few specific Call-Forwards: At one point, he is able to perceive Arthur as King Grey, causing him to be briefly overwhelmed by his true identity's hatred of Grey. On a more subtle note, there is a moment where Elijah tells Arthur he joined a club to pick up girls, to which Arthur remarks "Were you deprived of love in your past life or something?", alluding to the incident that led to Nico turning against Grey: The latter's apparent murder of the former's fiancée (and their shared Childhood Friend Love Interest) Cecilia in a duel.
  • During Rinia's conversation with Arthur before the attack on Xyrus, she warns him to beware "the abandoned soldier who has nothing to lose", which foreshadows Nico's motivation behind his vendetta towards Grey/Arthur. A motivation that would not be revealed until the War Arc proper and the subsequent look into Arthur's past life as King Grey.
  • Throughout the War Arc, mention is made of a new Scythe who isn't ready yet. Given how Elijah had been kidnapped and taken back to Alacrya, it is rather easy to put two and two together and figure out he is this new Scythe. Which turns out to be the case at the end of the arc.
  • When Agrona possesses Sylvie to have a talk with Arthur, he not only reveals that he is aware of Arthur's past life as King Grey, but says that he has been in contact with "an old friend" of his. This not only hints at Nico/Elijah and how they are one and the same, but it also hints that Agrona was responsible for both his and Arthur's reincarnations in the first place.
• Freudian Excuse: Cites Grey's murder of his fiancée Cecilia as the reason for him willingly serving Agrona and committing various atrocities in his master's name.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: He is referred to as "The Least of the Scythes", for the rest of them look down on him for not having Vritra blood, which in turn coupled with his lack of experience despite his reincarnation puts him at the bottom of their power hierarchy.
• Genre Savvy: Nico realizes that if Agrona had enough difficulty reincarnating both him and Cecilia, then Agrona would probably not fulfill his end of their bargain and not return them to Earth upon helping him accomplish his goals. As such, he begins covertly looking for a way to break both of them free of his control.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: He starts off as Grey's best friend before becoming his most hated enemy after Grey accidentally kills Cecilia in the King's Tourney. Then after his reincarnation as Elijah, he becomes Arthur's best friend only to be later brought back to Alacrya where his true identity was restored, leading him to once again become Arthur's enemy. After Arthur cripples him at the Victoriad and Cecilia heals him, he breaks free from Agrona's control to free Cecilia and his hatred for Grey/Arthur has lessened as he realizes what Agrona did to him and Cecilia and recognizes him as the bigger threat. However, they have not yet reconciled as Nico still blames Grey for Cecilia's death. On top of that, he remains Trapped in Villainy as he continues to follow Agrona's orders out of both fear and confusion.
• Hidden Agenda Villain: Throughout most of Volume 11, Nico is working on an objective that is unknown to everyone, including the audience. What exactly this objective is and how it plays into his goal of freeing himself and Cecilia from Agrona's control is a mystery, if it even is related to his main goal in the first place It is eventually revealed that Agrona had tasked him to locate a complete djinn teleportation relic for use in sending his forces back into Dicathen.
• Hidden Disdain Reveal: A variant. The Webcomic hints at his true identity much earlier when, during a spar with Arthur, Elijah recognizes a gesture his friend makes as one Grey made in his past life, complete with him seeing Grey's apparition behind Arthur. This fills him with a murderous rage as his true identity makes its presence known for the first time.
• His Story Repeats Itself: In his past life, he was Grey's best friend until he turned against him for his apparent murder of Cecilia. In his reincarnation, he unknowingly befriended Grey's reincarnation Arthur and did not realize it until a fateful duel made him recognize him, and following him being taken back to Alacrya to restore his memories once again turned against his boyhood friend.
• The Homeward Journey: His and Cecilia's ultimate goal is to return home to Earth. They follow Agrona as he promised the two of them that once the Divine Conflict is over that he will return them there.
• It's Personal with the Dragon: Very, very, very personal out of all of Agrona's servants. Not only was he Arthur's best friend in both his past life and his current one turned into one of his worst enemies, but he captures Arthur's Love Interest to serve as the vessel for his late fiancée and their shared Childhood Friend Love Interest to spite him.
• Knight of Cerebus: The Reveal surrounding him marks a major shift in the novel as it represents how the events of Arthur's past life as King Grey have been brought back to haunt him.
• Laser-Guided Karma: His first confrontation with Arthur at the close of the War Arc led to Arthur's mana core being damaged beyond recovery, though he was not entirely responsible as Cadell and the rest of the Alacryan army were also involved in wearing Arthur down and forcing him into the Heroic RRoD that De-powered him. His second confrontation with Arthur during the Victoriad sees Nico's mana core being shattered, though thanks to Cecilia's intervention it gets restored in a weaker form.
• Love Makes You Evil: His love for his fiancée Cecilia and desire to avenge what he perceived as Grey's murder of her is what allows Agrona to manipulate him into villainy.
• Mind Rape: Was subjected to this by Agrona to make him more compliant to him. He is only freed from it thanks to Cecilia restoring his mana core following his humiliating defeat in the Victoriad.
• Misplaced Retribution: All of that hatred he had for Grey and all the harm he committed against him and his loved ones in their reincarnations was ultimately All for Nothing, for Cecilia's death was entirely accidental and Grey never meant to kill her in the first place. It does not help that Agrona had been manipulating him the entire time and skewing the narrative to make him compliant to him.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After he and Cecilia return to Taegrin Caelum from the latter's encounter with Mordain, Nico finally has an epiphany over the fact that all the harm he had wrought upon Grey and his loved ones and all the atrocities he had committed in Agrona's name was completely misplaced and All for Nothing, as he finally comes to grips over the fact that Grey did not mean to kill Cecilia.
  Nico: It still didn't seem real, the knowledge that Grey hadn't intentionally murdered her. I inwardly cringed as I thought of all the things I had done, claiming that moment as justification for the most horrible actions. For years, back on Earth, I had fomented this hatred, biding my time as I planned how to take King Grey's life in revenge...and then here, reincarnated, hadn't I made destroying Grey and reincarnated Cecilia my life's entire purpose?
• Next Tier Powerup: As Nico is recovering from the Victoriad, Agrona gives him a new regalia to empower his capabilities and make up for his mana core being restored in a weaker state. Despite this newfound power boost, it does nothing to alleviate the power disparity between him and Arthur.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Him calling out Arthur to face him during the Victoriad is what gives Arthur the opportunity to humiliate him and the Vritra in front of all of Alacrya. Nico gets knocked out and De-powered, Cadell is slain, and Arthur is able to escape back to Dicathen to retake his homeland. To add insult to injury, even though Cecilia undid his De-powering, it accidentally broke Nico of Agrona's control and led him to covertly turn against him.
• Not Brainwashed: Subverted. Despite Arthur and Tessia assuming he was brainwashed by the Vritra, Nico claims that it was not the case when he reveals his true identity to the former. However, it is later revealed that Agrona did indeed brainwash him to make him more compliant.
• Not in This for Your Revolution: His end goal is for him and Cecilia to be reunited. He works with Agrona because the latter had promised him revenge on Grey and Cecilia's resurrection. Then after being freed from Agrona's manipulation, he covertly reaches out to Arthur by way of Seris's rebellion for aid but the initial negotiations during the confrontation in Nirmala break down due to their conflicting end goals.
• Odd Name Out: While the rest of the Scythes have fantastical names, Nico's name is relatively mundane in comparison. Not only that, since he does not have Vritra blood, he does not have the Vritra surname. It makes sense considering he is a reincarnate from another world while the other Scythes have been raised in Alacrya proper.
• Past-Life Memories: As Elijah, he had no memory of his past life as Nico. There were a few times wherein his original personality took over which caused him to recollect his past, before his return to Alacrya saw his original personality being restored in full.
• Pet the Dog: After having his identity restored, Nico would put Draneeve through hell at his whims. Following him breaking free of Agrona's control after the Victoriad, Nico decides to give Draneeve a reprieve from his torment so that he could play a role in his machinations to break Cecilia free from Agrona.
• Poor Communication Kills: His whole vendetta with Arthur stems from him misinterpreting the circumstances of Cecilia's death and not knowing that she killed herself to end her suffering and save him from being targeted, instead seeing it as his former boyhood friend murdering his fiancée.
• Punched Across the Room: The outcome of his duel with Arthur in the Victoriad has the latter send him flying across the arena with just a single blow.
• Reforged into a Minion: Double Subversion. When he confronts Arthur and Tessia at the end of the War Arc, they assume that Elijah had been brainwashed by the Vritra during his time in Alacrya. Nico reveals to Arthur that that is not the case when he reveals his true identity to him, and that he has been willingly working with Agrona this entire time to exact his revenge on Grey. However, Volume 10 reveals that Nico and Cecilia had both been subjected to Mind Rape and given Fake Memories to make them more compliant to Agrona. Nico only realizes this as he is recovering from the Victoriad and his memories are all over the place.
• Reincarnate in Another World: Like Grey, Nico was reincarnated by Agrona to act as an an anchor point for the Legacy. Unlike Grey, Nico did not remember his past life as he was given the false identity of Elijah Knight to live under.
• Reincarnation Romance: In working with Agrona, Nico hopes to be reunited with his late fiancée Cecilia. He gets what he wants at the end of Volume 8 when Cecilia is finally reincarnated. And in the body of Arthur's Love Interest Tessia nonetheless just to spite him.
• Resurrected Romance: He works for Agrona as the latter had promised him that he would resurrect his late fiancée Cecilia. He makes good on that promise and they end up resuming their relationship.
• Revenge Before Reason: Agrona manipulated his desire to exact revenge on Grey so much that Nico does not care about what he has to do to achieve it. In the process, Nico ends up following in Agrona's own footsteps as one whose desire for vengeance has twisted him.
• Revenge by Proxy: He sees capturing Arthur's Love Interest Tessia and turning her into Cecilia's vessel as the perfect revenge against his former friend.
• Rival Turned Evil: He was Grey's boyhood friend and Friendly Rival in both their past and present lives, but thanks to Agrona's manipulations has been twisted into utterly despising his former friend.
• The Runt at the End: Is referred to as "The Least of the Scythes" for good reason. He is the least powerful of them all in terms of controlling magic due to his lack of Vritra blood, and not to mention is overshadowed physically by both Cadell and Dragoth who love to pick on him.
• Shadow Archetype: To Arthur. Both him and Arthur were reincarnated by Agrona to serve as anchor points for the Legacy, their shared Childhood Friend Love Interest Cecilia. However, while both Nico and Cecilia were brainwashed by Agrona, Arthur was spared their fate as his temporally-displaced bond Sylvie managed to wrest his soul away from Agrona. While Nico is a slave to his past life, Arthur seeks to move on from his past life and treats his new one as a second chance. In a sense, Nico is Arthur if he had remained chained by his past life and refused to move on from it, the manipulations of an evil deity notwithstanding.
  • The reason for Nico's Misplaced Retribution against Grey was the latter's apparent murder of Cecilia, who was the former's fiancée. In their reincarnations, Nico captures Tessia - the Love Interest of Grey's reincarnation Arthur - to become the vessel for Cecilia's reincarnation. As a result, Arthur reciprocates Nico's enmity against him as he had been put through the same loss that Nico felt. This is not helped by the fact that at the time, Arthur has been slowly reverting back into his old self of Grey due to living incognito with the Alacryans.
  • To further hammer in the contrast, Nico goes back to using his original name upon regaining his memories. In contrast, Grey has long since adopted his new name as Arthur.
• Sixth Ranger: He is the newest among the Scythes, joining their ranks proper at the end of the War Arc. They do not have much respect for him due to him not being Vritra-blooded.
• Spanner in the Works: Ends up sabotaging his master's plans a few times.
  • All he had to do was not call out Arthur during the Victoriad and let Agrona have some of his stronger minions do him in. Instead, whatever plans Agrona had for Nico get dashed as Arthur knocks him out and De-powers him, forcing Cecilia to restore his mana core, which in turns leads to Nico being freed from Agrona's control and turning against him.
  • In turn, whatever plans Agrona had for Sylvia's mana core are dashed when Nico steals the core and gives it to Caera so she can give it to Arthur. Though it ends up being All for Nothing as Sylvia's core is completely empty.
• Spotting the Thread: After interrogating the high justice who oversaw Arthur's trial, Nico recognizes his Arch-Enemy the moment the high justice mentions the name Grey, a name Nico already knows very well for being the name of Arthur's past self. Though Agrona was already aware of Arthur's survival and let Nico figure it out for himself.
• Sympathetic Villain, Despicable Villain: Post Volume-9, he and Cecilia exhibit this dynamic with Nico being the Sympathetic Villain and Cecilia being the Despicable Villain. Nico realizes that Agrona had been manipulating them all along and, after Arthur tells him the truth about Cecilia's death, he begins to show remorse over his actions. Cecilia on the other hand, while heavily brainwashed by both Agrona and Nico, follows their master without question and shuts off any outside voice of reason that calls her out for her continued service to Agrona. This example is Downplayed as Nico remains Trapped in Villainy and continues to follow the orders Agrona gives him.
• Targeted to Hurt the Hero:
  • Part of the reason Cecilia killed herself was that she wanted to free Nico from being targeted by those who sought out her power. Nico got the wrong impression and so blamed Grey for killing her.
  • On the other way around, while Agrona had premediated that Tessia was to become Cecilia's vessel, Nico was the one to capture her and no doubt enjoyed it as he saw it as the ultimate way to spite Grey by kidnapping his Love Interest and making her the vessel for his own Love Interest that Grey killed. He rubs it in Arthur's face at the Victoriad, and the only reason Arthur settles for a Restrained Revenge and does not kill Nico outright is because he feels that he failed him in both their past lives and their current ones.
• The Team Normal: Downplayed. He is the only one among the Scythes without Vritra blood, but despite this he is still rather powerful for a mortal mage.
• Token Evil Teammate: Out of all of the forces working against both Agrona and Kezess as of the latest volume, Nico is this. While he has covertly turned against Agrona, he is only doing so out of his desire to free his fiancée Cecilia from Agrona's control and remains Trapped in Villainy. Not only that, but he and Arthur have yet to reconcile in spite of him reaching out to him for aid, on top of their conflicting desires over the fate of Tessia/Cecilia which have yet to be resolved.
• Tragic Villain: He was once Grey's best friend and all he wants to do is reunite with his fiancée, but he mistakenly blames Grey for murdering her. His grudge allowed Agrona to manipulate him as one of his chosen servants. However, his tragic backstory does not justify much of the harm he has done unto his former friend.
• Trapped in Villainy: Post-Volume 9, Nico realizes that Agrona has been manipulating him and Cecilia all along, but he refuses to leave his fiancée's side. As such, he hopes for an outside force, namely Arthur, can rescue them from their plight. In addition, he continues to follow the orders Agrona gives him without showing any outward doubt. This is because he still fears Agrona and has some lingering trust that he would still fulfill his end of their bargain, on top of being aware of the amount of Betrayal Insurance Agrona has in store for him should he openly rebel.
• Two Aliases, One Character: At the end of Volume 7, Elijah reveals himself to the reincarnation of Nico.
• Tyke Bomb: Nico spent his reincarnated upbringing being raised by Agrona's servants in Darv, albeit while under the identity of Elijah and not knowing that he was a reincarnate.
• Unholy Matrimony: After his late fiancée Cecilia is resurrected, the two of them form this dynamic as Agrona's Co-Dragons, especially from the events of Volume 10 onward due to the other Scythes being pushed out of the limelight.
• Villain Forgot to Level Grind:
  • Due to not being Vritra-blooded, Nico is the weakest among the Scythes. When he confronts Arthur at the end of the war, he struggles to beat him until Cadell intervened. When he confronts Arthur again at the Victoriad, Arthur has Came Back Strong as an aether-wielding demigod while Nico has not gotten any stronger. It ends as badly as one would expect for Nico.
  • Amusingly, Nico later on becomes the only one among the Scythes to Avert this trope. After Nico recovers from his injuries at the Victoriad, Agrona grants him a much stronger regalia. While Agrona intends to give the other Scythes the same, it ends up going nowhere for him. Not only has Nico at this point covertly turned against Agrona to break free of his control, but when Arthur returns he kills Viessa and subdues the remaining Scythes, rendering any power boost from the regalia null. In the long run, the new regalia acts as a Next Tier Powerup for Nico alone, as the remaining Scythes loyal to Agrona (Melzri and Dragoth) get pushed to the side in favor of the Legacy and the Wraiths.
• Villainous Underdog: Despite being a Scythe, Nico is outclassed by Arthur whenever they go up against each other. The first time around, Nico needed the intervention of Cadell to stand a chance against Arthur. The second time around, Arthur has become even more powerful as an aether-wielding demigod, putting him way out of Nico's league. Even after Nico gets a Next Tier Powerup, he is still thoroughly outclassed by Arthur, and it does not help that it occurs right around the time more powerful combatants enter the story, namely the Wraiths, more asuras, and the survivng Lances breaking their Power Limiters.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He and Grey used to have this dynamic. It carried over into their reincarnations as Elijah and Arthur respectively.
• Walking Spoiler: His existence reveals Arthur is not the only reincarnate, on top of being the true identity of Elijah Knight and that he has been working with Agrona to exact his revenge on Arthur for killing his fiancée Cecilia in their past lives, which itself reveals part of Agrona's true plan.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Grey/Arthur. They used to be childhood friends in their past lives until Grey was manipulated into dueling Cecilia during the King’s Tourney. Cecilia, who had been a pawn her whole life, took the opportunity to commit Suicide by Cop. This caused Nico, who did not know any better, to swear vengeance against Grey. If that was not bad enough, Agrona, who had been pursuing Cecilia’s power as the Legacy, reincarnated the three of them to serve him in his war against Epheotus. While Grey managed to avoid the Mind Rape and Fake Memories his friends were subjected to thanks to the temporally-displaced Sylvie’s intervention, he still has to contend with the fact that Agrona had them both Reforged into a Minion and twisted their hatred of him against him.
  Nico: I was your best...friend, and the one whose fiancée you killed in front of me.
  Arthur: Nico...You look like garbage, old friend.
• Weak, but Skilled: Ironically went from being Unskilled, but Strong as Elijah to the opposite trope as Nico. While Nico Came Back Strong in becoming a Scythe, he is still the weakest among the Scythes, Nico makes up for his lack of magical power and Vritra blood when compared to his Co-Dragons with his intellect and aptitude as an artificer.
• Wild Card: Post-Volume 9, Nico becomes an example of this trope. While he has covertly turned against Agrona, he is only doing so in order to break him and Cecilia free of his control. He is also not actively tied with any of the other forces opposing Agrona at the moment as he remains Trapped in Villainy given how he continues to follow Agrona's orders, albeit very reluctantly. While he did give Sylvia's core to Caera in order to propose an Enemy Mine with Arthur against Agrona, their negotiations fell through when they met again in Nirmala due to their mutual animosity.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: He was once Grey's best friend, but Agrona twisted the misplaced grudge that he had against him for killing Cecilia to make him his servant. Hence, Nico has become complicit in some of Agrona's worst atrocities, not only to exact revenge on Grey, but so that he and Cecilia can be reunited and return to Earth.

Retainers

Uto

Uto

Debut: Volume 3 (Novel), Chapter 119 (Webcomic)

"Two options. You can try to fight and die. Or...you kill every one of your teammates so that you can live."

Dragoth's first Retainer. Arthur witnesses him in the vision he received from the dying Alea Triscan and later encounters him at the start of the War Arc.

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• "Ass" in Ambassador: Is one of two Retainers - the other being Cylrit - sent to present the Dicathians with Agrona's ultimatum prior to the arrival of the invasion force. Whoever among the Vritra Clan thought it was a good idea to send a psychopathic sadist like Uto as one of their delegates was evidently not being considerate or completely out of their mind. During the whole exchange, Uto spends the entire time being more than just The Gadfly as he makes incredibly graphic and unhinged remarks at the Dicathian delegates that were completely uncalled for and only serve to make the Dicathians refuse Agrona's terms.
• Bandage Mummy: Uto's body is covered in bandages.
• Blood Knight: Given his sadistic nature, Uto revels in the carnage of battle and inflicting suffering upon others.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday. Subverted. Uto enjoys fighting enemies that are seeking revenge against him. The moment he learns of Arthur's connection to Alea, he revels in the knowledge knowing that It's Personal for the young man and that he has one such enemy gunning for him in the impending conflict.
• Combat Sadomasochist: Revels in both inflicting and receiving pain in combat.
• Defeating the Undefeatable: Played With. The Lances had been introduced as the strongest mages in Dicathen, so Arthur learning that a being like Uto was able to kill a Lance comes as an awful surprise. The same awful surprise undoubtedly befell Alea's soldiers, as they bear witness to him crippling and mutilating their seemingly undefeatable leader before he turns his attention upon them and slaughters them where they stood. Even though Director Goodsky was aware of how powerful the Vritra and their servants were as a former Alacryan spy and knew the Lances would be outclassed by them, she herself is taken by surprise by the news of Alea's death as she realizes her former masters are moving much faster than she anticipated.
• Disappointed by the Motive: A rare villainous example. When he confronts Arthur in Ashber, he ends up being disappointed by the fact that while Arthur has it out for him for his murder of Alea, he did not have much of a personal connection to the fallen Lance beforehand. This causes Uto to remark that he should have gone after someone closer to Arthur such as his family or Tessia to make him hate him even more.
• Establishing Character Moment: In the vision Alea imparts onto Arthur, Uto spends the fight Just Toying with her and her soldiers. Then, when she chips his horn, he decides to stop toying around and proceeds to inflict upon her a series of horrific injuries. Then he leaves her blinded and crippled body behind so that she can listen in on him slaughtering her soldiers.
• For the Evulz: Has no better motivation other than causing suffering for his own amusement.
• The Gadfly: He enjoys angering people around him with his graphically-charged remarks. If it means making more enemies for him to fight in the future, then so be it.
• Given Name Reveal: His name was not revealed until the start of Volume 6 when he introduced himself to the Dicathian delegation at the start of the invasion.
• Hate Sink: And how. Uto is arguably the most despicable character in the entire novel which is saying a lot considering the presence of quite a few other examples of this trope in the novel responsible for much greater atrocities than him. This is a being that lives only to cause as much suffering and bloodshed that he can and in extremely graphic fashions to boot. He targets people's loved ones to cause them misery and shows outright glee in the prospect of murdering children. Even other examples of this trope in the novel ranging from minor antagonists like Lucas and Trodius to Greater-Scope Villains like Kezess and Agrona have at least some understandable reason behind their actions, while Uto has absolutely nothing sympathetic about him.
• Hero Killer: He is responsible for killing Alea.
• He Knows Too Much: To prevent Arthur from interrogating him and finding out more of Agrona's plans, Uto is found dead in his cell having been impaled by black metal spikes right before he gets the chance to interrogate him again.
• In the Hood: He wears a tattered hooded cloak which only serves to enhance his mysterious nature when he is introduced.
• Just Toying with Them: As a Retainer he effortlessly dealt with Alea and her soldiers, but when she chipped his horn he decided to subject her to a graphic and drawn-out demise.
• Lean and Mean: Uto has wiry limbs and a malevolent personality.
• Misery Builds Character: When he is torturing Alea, he blinds her as he tells her that the pain will make her stronger (not that it will amount to anything as he does not intend to leave her alive for long).
• Minor Injury Overreaction: Subverted. During his fight with Alea, he is Just Toying with Them until she chips off his horn. As horns are the source of any Vritra-blooded's power, this causes Uto to fly into a murderous rage as he gives Alea a Cruel and Unusual Death.
• Monstrous Humanoid: Uto has dark skin, glowing red eyes, jagged teeth, and gaunt skeletal limbs which serve to make him look outright inhuman.
• More Hateable Minor Villain: While the members of the Vritra Clan are cruel and ruthless, they usually have some personality traits that show either a nuanced, cultured, or even sympathetic side to them. This cannot be said at all for Uto, as his personality entirely revolves around his desire to cause as much graphic pain and suffering as possible. His Establishing Character Moment has him subjecting Alea and her soldiers to a horrific and drawn out demise and reveling in it every step of the way, which cements Arthur and the audience's hatred of him. Even when other examples of this trope in the novel such as Lucas and Trodius have at least some degree of sympathy behind their actions, Uto has absolutely nothing of that sort.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: He has piercing red eyes, indicative of his malevolent nature.
• Revealing Injury: When he meets Uto for the first time, Arthur only recognizes that he is the Retainer who killed Alea by the same chip in his horns that Alea had left in her final battle.
• Sadist: He revels in the Cruel and Unusual Death he delivered unto Alea.
• Slasher Smile: Uto has jagged teeth and perpetually sports a sinister grin on his face.
• Slouch of Villainy: He is introduced slouching on a rock while taunting Alea and her soldiers.
• Targeted to Hurt the Hero: He enjoys fighting enemies out for revenge against him and so loves to target their loved ones to get them to hate him. In his confrontation with Arthur in Ashber, he brings up how he should have targeted either Tessia or one of his family to draw out Arthur when he learns that Alea did not have a strong connection to him other than how he found her dying.
• Those Were Only Their Scouts: Despite only being a Retainer, Uto is able to slaughter Lance Alea and her entire battalion of soldiers on his own. Later on during the War Arc, he is able to stymie her successor Arthur and his bond Sylvie, with only the intervention of Scythe Seris preventing him from finishing them both off.
• Would Hurt a Child: As he himself puts it:
  Uto: Why wait? I love slicing through children's flesh the most.

Cylrit

Cylrit

Debut: Volume 6 (Novel)

"If you want even a chance of saving Dicathen, you should worry about bigger things."

Seris’s Retainer.

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• Badass Cape: He wears a purple cape as part of his armor and as a Retainer can match the likes of the Lances in strength.
• BFS: In combat, he wiels a pitch-black greatsword that is almost as long as he is tall.
• Black Knight: Cylrit wears a dark suit of armor and - as Seris's subordinate - his intentions and motivations are as enigmatic to Arthur as those of his mistress.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: He is the bodyguard to one of the Scythes, themselves among the strongest non-asuran mages in the setting.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Despite being a Retainer and being right next to the For the Evulz Uto when Arthur first meets him, Cylrit turns out to be loyal to Seris and assists in her rebellion.
• Enigmatic Minion: Being the subordinate to an example of this trope makes him this trope as well.
• Establishing Character Moment: When he is introduced, he acts rather reserved when compared to his sadistic compatriot Uto, and when Uto starts speaking out of line and trying to provoke Aldir and Virion with his graphically charged remarks he immediately restrains him. This shows that Cylrit is rather decent for a servant of the Vritra, and alludes to him turning against them later on along with his mistress Seris.
• Forced into Evil: He is forced to once again rejoin Agrona's service when he takes control of the entire Alacryan rebellion by way of his blood and remotely kills the few who defy him to Make an Example of Them.
• Good Versus Good: After being forced to rejoin Agrona's side, he and Seris end up fighting Bairon during the second Siege of Vildorial.
• Lady and Knight: Has this dynamic with Seris. She is a Lady of Black Magic, he is a Black Knight. They ultimately turn out to be a Dark Is Not Evil example.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: His loyalty is to Seris, not the Vritra Clan, and so when his mistress declares an open revolt he is right by her side.
• Pointy Ears: Despite not being an elf, Cylrit has pointed ears.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: He has pitch-black hair and pale white skin and is noted to be rather good looking. Even Arthur describes him as attractive.
• Stealth Mentor: In Volume 7, he is sent by Seris to test Arthur's strength.
  Cylrit: It is for your benefit, Lance Leywin. My master wishes to keep you in optimal health for the final battle, but partaking in the defense of the elven kingdom could make that difficult.
• The Stoic: Cylrit is not a very emotive individual, even in the midst of combat.
• Tranquil Fury: Prone to doing this. Arthur can sense a sharp bloodlust surge from Cylrit upon the mention of Seris's name despite his outward behavior not changing that much.
• Wrecked Weapon: His sword gets broken by Perhata when he attempts to defend Seris from her.

Jagrette

Jagrette

Debut: Volume 6 (Novel)

"Unfortunately, we don't have much time - I have tasks to finish. Any chance that you'd willingly be this beautiful lady's slave?"

Viessa's first Retainer.

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• Dead Guy on Display: After her defeat, her body is put on display for the populace of Dicathen to see.
• Death Flight: Sylvie drops her from high up in the sky to aid Arthur in finishing her off.
• Facial Horror: Her face is a nightmarish sight to look at. She has leathery black lips, jagged yellow teeth, and most horrifically of all dark hollow eyes that look as if they had been gouged out and shoved back inside her.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Arthur kills her by impaling her with an ice spear after Sylvie takes her up into the sky and drops her.
• Made a Slave: She wants to make Arthur her slave. Naturally he refuses.
• Malevolent Masked Men: She wears a mask and is a servant of the Vritra.
• Masking the Deformity: Beneath her mask, her face is horrifically disfigured. When Arthur breaks her mask during their duel, she goes crazy.
• Nightmare Hands: In her fight with Arthur, she summons arrays of dark hands to impede him.
• The Starscream: She openly disdains her mistress and seeks to overthrow her.
  Jagrette: I'll wipe that condescending woman off the place of Alacrya and take her place!
• Those Were Only Their Scouts: Like Uto, she is only a Retainer yet Arthur nearly risks his own life trying to finish her off as she is able to match him in combat despite his unique powers.
• Wicked Witch: Her appearance, powers, and personality bring to mind the classic depiction of a witch.

Lyra (Unmarked Spoilers)

Lyra Dreide

Debut: Volume 7 (Novel)

Cadell's Retainer. She acts as the regent of Dicathen when the Alacryans take over the continent.

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• Because You Were Nice to Me: Part of the reason she turns against Agrona is because of Arthur's rather benign treatment of her as his prisoner.
• The Bus Came Back: After appearing at the end of Volume 7 to read out Agrona's proclamation to Dicathen following his conquest, Lyra reappears in Volume 10 when she surrenders to Arthur upon his arrival in Etisin.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Despite how many among the Dicathians revile her for what she did, Lyra is kept alive as Arthur needs to gain further insight into Alacryan spellcasting and because some of her post-war suggestions regarding the fate of the Alacryan soldiers on Dicathen do have merit. Later on, he gives her the role of overseeing all the surrendered Alacryans being kept in the ruins of Elenoir as an authority figure they could look up to for the time being.
• Forced into Evil: She is forced to once again rejoin Agrona's service when he takes control of the entire Alacryan rebellion by way of his blood and remotely kills the few who defy him to Make an Example of Them.
• Heel–Face Turn: After Arthur shows her mercy and her time with Arthur in the Relictombs, Lyra has at this point genuinely turned against Agrona.
• Just Following Orders: Claims that all she did was under Cadell or Agrona's orders when the Glayder siblings confront her following her surrender. Naturally, Curtis and Kathyln do not buy it. Later on after being Forced into Evil along with the rest of Seris's rebellion, she is once again forced to follow Agrona's orders on the pain of an excruciating death by her runes being ignited.
• Know When to Fold Them: Unconditionally surrenders to Arthur when he arrives in Etisin on behalf of all the remaining Alacryan forces on the continent.
• The Mentor: She acts as one to Eleanor when it comes to mastering her new regalia.
• Mouth of Sauron: As the regent over all of Dicathen in the wake of Agrona's conquest, Lyra's introduction has her read her master's proclamation to his newly conquered subjects with the bodies of Dicathen's kings and queens impaled on spikes behind her.
• New Era Speech: She reads out Agrona's proclamation, which calls his conquest of Dicathen the "Day of Rebirth" and how the continent will in fact benefit under his rule.
• Odd Name Out: She is the only Retainer whose surname is known so far, being of Highblood Dreide.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: None of the Dicathians are fond of working with her, especially the Glayders, though she doesn't have to deal with them for long as Arthur takes her with him as his prisoner.
• Token Evil Teammate: Is this to Arthur's party (which also includes Eleanor and Mica) when he ventures into the third ruin near the end of Volume 10. This is an individual whom a lot of Dicathians would have liked to have seen impaled on a pike, as she is not only the former regent whom Agrona appointed to rule over their continent, but she paraded the impaled bodies of Dicathen's former kings and queens as part of Agrona's triumph. In addition, her true loyalties at that point are rather suspect as she surrendered to Arthur to save her own skin. Fortunately for everyone involved Lyra doesn't cause much trouble from this point onward and becomes much more cooperative.
• Walking Spoiler: Minor example. Lyra cannot be discussed without revealing that The Bad Guy Wins the War Arc and that the Council gets executed in the aftermath, as she is only introduced in the moment of Agrona’s triumph. On top of that, she eventually pulls a Heel–Face Turn following Arthur's reconquest of Dicathen and him taking her prisoner.

Mawar

Mawar

Debut: Volume 9 (Novel)

"That one is for the High Sovereign. Bind him with mana suppression cuffs and hang him somewhere uncomfortable. I'm not done here."

Melzri's Retainer.

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• Adaptational Dye-Job: Her eyes are described as being yellow in the novel, but are bright red in her official artwork.
• Casting a Shadow: Her powers revolve around shadow magic.
• Pointy Ears: Like Cylrit, Mawar has pointed ears not unlike an elf.
• Red Baron: The "Black Rose of Etril".
• Tendrils of Darkness: She is often seen manipulating shadowy tendrils in combat.

Echeron

Echeron

Debut: Volume 9 (Novel)

Dragoth's second Retainer, replacing Uto.

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• The Brute: Much like his master, Echeron is the largest among the Retainers.
• Gladiator Games: He competes in the Victoriad to become a Retainer.
• The Stoic: Echeron is known for his statuesque appearance and demeanor.

The Dead Three (Bilal, Bivran, and Bivrae)

A trio of siblings who survived the destruction of their home. Viessa took them under her wing as potential Retainers for her.

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• Alliterative Family: All three of their names start with "Bi".
• Siblings in Crime: Three siblings who act as the lackeys for one of the Scythes.
• Sole Survivor: The trio were the only survivors of a mysterious explosion that destroyed their home.
• Tyke Bomb: Viessa took them in as her wards and subjected them to her hellish training regimen to make them into her ideal Retainers.

Bilal

Debut: Volume 8 (Novel)

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• Lean and Mean: Bilal has a wiry build and is a servant of the Vritra.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He gets killed by Tessia, but manages to stall her long enough for Nico to arrive and capture the former to become Cecilia's vessel.

Bivran

Debut: Volume 8 (Novel)

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• We Hardly Knew Ye: He gets killed by Eleanor.

Bivrae

Debut: Volume 9 (Novel)

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• Gladiator Games: She replaces her siblings as Viessa's Retainer following her triumph in the Victoriad.
• Lean and Mean: Bivrae has a gaunt physique which reflects her own wickedness.
• Obviously Evil: Has a gaunt and horrific appearance and uses poisonous magic. If that was not enough to show what alignment she is, here is how Nico describes her:
  Nico: She was a horrifying creature to look at, like someone had stuck together a handful of broken sticks with swamp sludge and then hung some ratty old rags over for clothes.
• Poisonous Person: Her magic revolves around poison.
• Wicked Witch: Compared to Jagrette, she resembles the stereotypical wicked witch and has a horrific appearance to match.

Draneeve

Draneeve

Debut: Volume 4 (Novel), Chapter 122 (Webcomic)

"I would like to think that we are doing more than just - how did you put it? - "drugging" students. I have big plans. Plans bigger than this academy."

The leader of the Radicals and the mastermind behind the attack on Xyrus Academy. While not a Retainer, he ends up becoming Nico's attendant.

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• The Bus Came Back: After escaping capture in the aftermath of the attack on Xyrus Academy in Volume 4, Draneeve resurfaces in Volume 9 when it is revealed Agrona had punished him for almost ruining his plans and assigned him to watch over Nico, who happened to enjoy torturing him.
• The Chain of Harm: Gets picked on by Nico as someone he can take out his frustrations on, especially after being the target of bullying and harassment from the other Scythes, namely Cadell and Dragoth.
• The Chew Toy: Becomes this trope after the attack on Xyrus Academy, ironically enough. For his failure and him nearly endangering Agrona's plan for the Legacy, Agrona had Draneeve assigned to Nico as his personal attendant. Nico, who was looked down on by the rest of the Scythes and heavily bullied by them for his lack of power, took the opportunity to take out his frustrations on Draneeve as someone weaker than him that he could get away with picking on.
• Hero Killer: Aside from being the mastermind of the attack on Xyrus Academy, he personally kills Theodore.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Despite escaping the attack on Xyrus that he masterminded, Agrona was not pleased that Draneeve had inadvertently endangered his plans for the reincarnates, and so made him the personal whipping boy of the very reincarnate he brought back with him. Given how said reincarnate was picked on by the rest of the Scythes, it meant Draneeve was tormented by his master on a daily basis.
• Malevolent Masked Men: He wears a mask on his face and is the leader of the Radicals.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Due to him almost endangering Agrona's intended vessel for the Legacy, Agrona punished him by having him watch over Nico as his attendant. Suffice to say, Nico relished putting Draneeve through hell and back at his whims.
• Spanner in the Works: His attack on Xyrus endangered the two reincarnates Agrona had summoned as well as the intended vessel for the Legacy. Suffice to say, Agrona was not pleased.
• The Spymaster: He was in charge of the Alacryan spy network in Dicathen.
• The Team Normal: Despite being Nico's attendant and not officially a Retainer, Draneeve is still effectively his Retainer, albeit one much weaker than the actual Retainers.
• Those Were Only Their Scouts: He is not even a Retainer and yet was able to overwhelm the Disciplinary Committee during the attack on Xyrus Academy. He was able to face down Theodore and kill him. It is safe to say if someone like Draneeve, who is on the bottom end of the Sorting Algorithm of Evil, is that dangerous, then there are much more powerful servants of the Vritra on the way for when the war starts.

Wraiths

All spoilers will be unmarked.

In General

The hidden half-blooded soldiers under Agrona's command, meant to act as asura-killers. They operate in squads of five.

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• Collateral Damage: Given that asuras are far larger in their true form on top of being more powerful than the strongest mortal mages, the Wraiths' operations tend to cause a lot of damage in pursuit of their prey. The vision Arthur experiences of them going after Charon and later on their capture of Oludari lead to the deaths of several bystanders caught in the crossfire.
• David Versus Goliath: Their prey are asuras, who are much larger in their true form.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts: They operate in squads of five for this reason. As asuras have far more monstrous true forms, by dividing the target asura's attention the Wraiths can strike their victim from multiple fronts and weaken them for the killing blow.
• Doom Troops: The very elite of Agrona's forces, who are not only feared by his Alacryan subjects as near-mythical bogeymen, but whose very name is taken from a long-extinct race of asuras whose warmongering actions nearly destroyed the world.
• The Dreaded: The Wraiths are feared among the mortal populace of Alacrya, to the point that they are viewed as semi-mythical bogeymen. Even the Sovereigns are afraid of them given their nature as asura-killers.
• Fangs Are Evil: The Wraiths have elongated canines, a sign of their villainy.
• Foil: To the Scythes in several respects.
  • The Wraiths operate in the shadows with their existence almost a myth to the mortal populace of Alacrya, to the point that their names and faces are often obscured. In contrast, the Scythes are meant to be the public right-hands of their respective Sovereigns and so their names are renowned among the Alacryans.
  • The Wraiths, being dedicated asura-killers, are meant to act as Agrona's strike force for when he invades Epheotus. The Scythes on the other hand are solely meant to be his generals for his invasion of Dicathen. The introduction of the Wraiths coincides with the Scythes being pushed out of the limelight.
  • The Wraiths answer to Agrona alone, the Scythes answer to the Sovereigns.
  • The Wraiths are Flat Characters, with little more to their character other than that they are all fanatically devoted to Agrona. The Scythes are more Rounded Characters with more variety in their personalities.
  • The Wraiths always operate in squads of five, the Scythes tend to either work alone or are accompanied by their Retainers.
• Horned Humanoid: As Vritra-blooded Alacryans, they all exhibit the same horns of power as their overlords.
• Internal Death Squad: While the Wraiths are a general purpose death squad albeit with a particular emphasis on killing asuras, they do sometimes fulfill this trope in that Agrona tasks them to hunt down traitors and dissidents to his rule. This is shown when Agrona sends a squad of them after the rogue Sovereign Oludari, who has fled to Dicathen.
• Irony: Despite the fact they have a reputation as The Nameless, a lot of Wraiths get named throughout the story....even though they tend to get killed not long after being named.
• Kill the God: Their primary function is to kill asuras.
• Knight of Cerebus: They are right next to the Scythes in the Sorting Algorithm of Evil (being roughly as powerful as a white core mage) and are far more numerous than them, they function as dedicated asura-killers (and even the weakest among the asuras are more than a match for the strongest mortal mages), and they first make their presence known after Arthur upends the power scale at the Victoriad. They take the place of the Scythes in this regard, reflecting how Agrona has begun upping the stakes that Arthur faces as his millennia-long plan nears its endgame.
• The Nameless: Subverted. Given their reputation as semi-mythical bogeymen, the Wraiths have a reputation as not having any names. However, from their first introduction, a lot of Wraiths do get named.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: In-Universe example. The Wraiths are named after a long-extinct race of asuras reviled as Always Chaotic Evil warmongers, whose actions caused a destructive conflict among the asuras that devastated the world and led to a species-wide Heel Realization in the aftermath.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Unlike the Scythes who have more varied eye colors, the Wraiths all have sinister red eyes.
• Semi-Divine: Unlike the other Vritra-blooded Alacryans, whose divine blood has been diluted over time, the Wraiths are the sons and daughters of the basilisks who followed Agrona into his exile.
• Super Breeding Program: The Wraiths are described as being "the interplay of asuran and human magic fine-tuned over a hundred generations", which makes them the pinnacle of Agrona's efforts to create an army of soldiers suited for his war against Epheotus.
• Unseen No More: Their existence was alluded to by Windsom during his exposition to Arthur back in Volume 4, but they did not make their first physical appearance until Volume 10.
• Viler New Villain: Compared to the Scythes who have complex personalities despite being the main antagonist's Co-Dragons, the Wraiths have little in the way of personality other than being Agrona's loyal asura-killers, and many of them revel in the suffering they inflict upon others.
• Warp Whistle: Every squad of Wraiths carries with them a tempus warp, which allows them to teleport to wherever they need to go.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Despite their reputation and a majority of them having distinct names and designs, most individual Wraiths do not last long after being introduced, as they tend to get killed by Arthur and his allies.
• Zerg Rush: How Agrona intends to deploy them. Given the Vritra's millennia of interbreeding with and experimentation upon the inhabitants of Alacrya, it is safe to assume that by the time he invades Epheotus, Agrona will have amassed an army of Wraiths large enough that they would offset the diminished number of pure Vritra left and completely outnumber the asuras in their entirety. This is reflected in how they operate in the field in that there are five Wraiths for every asura.

Perhata

Perhata

Debut: Volume 11 (Novel)

"Personally, I hope you defy him. I'll beg to be the one who gets to return here and rip the core from your chest, Unblooded, for you are a shadow of what you once were. But the reality is, we all know you won't. When Agrona gives the order, you will answer. It is the only way."

A feared name among the Wraiths, Perhata and her squad were sent to Dicathen in order to assassinate Guardian Charon. However, due to sudden Arthur's intervention in their attempted assassination and their discovery of the rogue Sovereign Oludari, her squad changed course to go after the the fleeing Sovereign.

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• Assassination Attempt: She and her squad were initially sent to Dicathen in order to assassinate Charon, but Arthur foils their attempt.
• Co-Dragons: While not a Scythe, Perhata is the most prominent individual among the Wraiths and so acts as another one of Agrona's most trusted servants, especially due to the the Scythes becoming a Dwindling Party prior to her introduction.
• Decapitation Strike: In a brief vision of the future that Arthur and Sylvie experience, Perhata and her squad infiltrate Etisin in order to assassinate Charon and the other dragons stationed there. They manage to kill one of the dragons, on top of killing the Glayder siblings and countless other Dicathians in the crossfire.
• Decoy Getaway: In order to escape from Arthur, she splits herself into multiple decoy suits of armor that proceed to fly away from the battle. While Arthur is able to strike down most of them, none of the armors that fall contain her body.
• Dragon-in-Chief: Is effectively the de facto leader among the Wraiths.
• The Dreaded: Even Cadell, himself the strongest among the Scythes and this very trope in his own right, was afraid of speaking her name. That is a testament to how feared Perhata's name was among the Wraiths.
• Hero Killer: In the vision Arthur and Sylvie experience upon returning from Alacrya with Seris's rebellion in tow, Perhata's attempted Decapitation Strike ends up causing the deaths of the Glayder siblings. Outside of that vision, Perhata and her team end up causing the deaths of a few minor Dicathian and Alacryan characters caught up in their pursuit of Oludari.
• Magic Missile Storm: Prefers to assail her enemies with volleys of black spikes.
• Never Found the Body: Her body is not found in aftermath of her duel with Arthur. Sure enough, she turns up alive when Agrona gives out the order and forces Seris and her supporters back to his side.
• Sole Survivor: Is the only survivor of her squad after Arthur and his asuran allies kill the rest of them.
• "They Still Belong to Us" Lecture: After her team captures Oludari, Perhata makes it clear to Seris and her followers that even though their lives may be spared at the moment, they will all eventually have to return to Agrona when he gives the order to march on Epheotus. Later on, when he has taken control of them by way of Demonic Possession in order to force them back into his service, Perhata reappears to rub it into Seris's face that she had warned her that there was no escaping Agrona's will.

Other Characters

The Legacy (Major Unmarked Spoilers)

Cecilia

The Legacy

Debut: Volume 6 (Novel), Chapter 186 (Webcomic)

In Tessia's body

Once the childhood friend to both Grey and Nico, Cecilia was sought out by the nations of Earth for her power as the Legacy. Eventually, she was manipulated into dueling Grey during the King's Tourney. Tired of being fought over for her entire life and wanting to protect Nico, who had become her fiancé, Cecilia took the opportunity to end her suffering by throwing herself onto Grey's blade. Her suffering did not end in death, as Agrona, who was seeking a power that could allow him to conquer Epheotus, discovered her existence and power. After reincarnating both Grey and Nico to act as anchor points for her summoning, Agrona was eventually able to summon her using the body of Tessia Eralith as her vessel.

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• Achilles' Heel: Her complete mastery over mana means Cecilia is highly susceptible to any changes in it. In addition, her lack of mental maturity (not helped by Agrona's control and manipulation over her) means Cecilia is not very skilled or creative regarding applications of her power.
• Affectionate Nickname: Is affectionately referred to as "Cecil".
• The Antichrist: If Agrona is Satan, then Cecilia is the Antichrist. She is his ace in the hole for his plan to win the Divine Conflict due to her unparalleled dominion over mana allowing her to Life Drain the asuras, whose bodies have are reliant on it to survive. As Agrona's most powerful servant, she is so far up the Sorting Algorithm of Evil that the only beings who could stand against her are either the asuras themselves (who as already stated she is able to easily kill) or Arthur (who has good reason to hold back against her given how not only was she his friend from his past life but is also possessing the body of his own Love Interest).
• Came Back Wrong: In her final moments, Cecilia only wanted to end her suffering and was willing to let her own friend kill her. In her reincarnation, Cecilia completely despises Grey just like Nico, and is completely oblivious if not intentionally ignorant of the fact that the body she inhabits is the current Love Interest of Grey's reincarnation Arthur. Arthur infers that Agrona did something to her, but is not sure of exactly what.
• Childhood Friend Love Interest: Was one to both Grey and Nico, though the former was willing to step aside and let the latter have his chance with her.
• Co-Dragons: Following her introduction, she and Nico become the main Dragons for Agrona, eclipsing the rest of the Scythes. This is especially apparent following Cadell's death and Seris's rebellion, pushing the rest of the Scythes even more out of the limelight. Though Cecilia herself is more important to Agrona than Nico is and harbors more loyalty to him, to the point of being his Dragon-in-Chief.
• Death by Origin Story: Her death is the reason for Grey and Nico's falling out and enmity which has carried over into their reincarnations.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: In her past life, she threw herself onto Grey's blade and died in his grasp.
• Dragon-in-Chief: She becomes Agrona's main Dragon after Cadell's death. Even though at that point she is Co-Dragons to Agrona with Nico, as the Legacy Cecilia is far more important to Agrona's plans, completely exceeds Nico in terms of magical power, and harbors more loyalty to Agrona while Nico begins having second thoughts.
• Evil Costume Switch: After taking over Tessia's body, Cecilia wears a black and white raiment that her host would not be caught dead wearing.
• Evil Former Friend: She was once one of Grey's best friends and his First Love who threw herself onto his blade to end her suffering. Thanks to Agrona's manipulations, Cecilia has been twisted into despising Grey's reincarnation, Arthur.
• Exact Eavesdropping: Cecilia has sometimes been there at the right time to listen in crucial information being dropped. She breaks through the sound barrier around the cell in which Nico is interrogating the high justice, listening in on him learning of Arthur's survival. Later on, after being fended off by Mordain, she listens in on his conversation with Arthur and the latter acquiring the third keystone from him.
• Fake Memories: Agrona corrupted Cecilia's memories and replaced them with false ones in order to make her subservient to him. Nico was also involved in that he helped wipe out all trace of Grey from her memories and inserted himself into every positive moment she had.
• Fantastically Indifferent: When she was first reincarnated in Tessia's body, Cecilia was confused by her surroundings. Even when Aldir used the World Eater technique and nearly killed her, it failed to convey how different her new world was to her.
• Freudian Excuse: Cecilia justifies the actions she performs in service to Agrona not only because of his promise that he would send Nico and her back to Earth once his war is done, but also because of all the harm and suffering she endured in her past life. Ever since her youth, she was sought after by the higher powers of Earth for her power as the Legacy and suffered greatly because of it, culminating in her committing Suicide by Cop in her duel with Grey. As Agrona is the first higher power who she believes has her best interests in mind, she follows him without question.
  Cecilia: Just because you know my memories does not mean you know what I went through. You have no idea what I've had to endure, or what I'm willing to do to make sure Nico and I get the life that we deserve.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: And yet, Tessia makes it repeatedly clear that whatever hardship Cecilia may have suffered in her past life, it absolutely does not justify her actions in her current life. She makes it clear that Cecilia is attempting to run away from her problems and avoid all accountability and responsibility on her own part, in the process making countless others go through the same suffering she faced, rather than Growing A Spine and standing up for herself and those she cares about.
  Tessia: If that's the case, I look forward to seeing what fate awaits you, a coward to afraid to even see the truth: That you're nothing more than a weapon, a tool for destruction. If what you hope for ever does come true, I assure you it won't be earned through victory. It will be out of mercy.
• Grand Theft Me: She is summoned using the unwilling body of Tessia as her vessel.
• His Story Repeats Itself: In her past life, Cecilia was fought over for her power as the Legacy. In her reincarnation, even though Agrona promises her that he will bring her back to her world once he wins the Divine Conflict, she has once again become a tool to someone who has no qualms about disposing her once she has fulfilled her purpose.
• The Homeward Journey: Her and Nico's ultimate goal is to return home to Earth. They follow Agrona as he promised the two of them that once the Divine Conflict is over that he will return them there.
• Human Weapon: The Legacy was sought out for her absolute power and dominion over mana itself, and Agrona clearly treats her as little more than a weapon with which to kill off the rest of the asuras.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: She ended her past life by throwing herself onto Grey's sword.
• It's Personal with the Dragon:
  • Like Nico, Arthur's enmity with Cecilia is very, very, very personal. She was his and Nico's shared Childhood Friend Love Interest, her Suicide by Cop at his hands during the King's Tourney was a major turning point and the cause of the rift between them, and she is eventually summoned using the body of his current Love Interest Tessia as her vessel.
  • Chul also has an enmity with her, as she killed his mother Lady Dawn who had been imprisoned under Taegrin Caelum.
• Keystone Superpower: Her absolute mastery over mana allows her to do almost anything with it. In particular, it allows her to drain mana from asuras which is not only fatal to them but allows her to gain their powers as a form of Power Copying.
• Kill the God: The Legacy's mastery over mana allows her to drain it from asuras, which is fatal to them as it is to them as blood is to lessers. This is one of the reasons Agrona has sought out her power. So far, she has killed Lady Dawn and Sovereign Kiros.
• Knight of Cerebus: Being the crux of Agrona's plan to win the Divine Conflict, Cecilia's presence indicates that the situation is getting much worse as his plans are coming to fruition, on top of being yet another painful reminder of Arthur's past life brought to haunt him in his second life. This is on top of her being far, far more powerful than the Scythes, themselves this trope in their own right, as by the time she is introduced and gets to display her powers the Scythes end up being given subjected to The Worf Effect at the hands of Arthur.
• Living MacGuffin: As the Legacy, Cecilia carries over all of her potential from her past incarnations, and in her current incarnation displays unparalleled control over mana itself. This is why Agrona has sought out her power in order to win his war.
• Life Drain: She is able to drain all the mana from asuras, which is fatal to them as their bodies are reliant on mana to survive.
• The Lost Lenore: She was Nico's deceased fiancée whose death at the hands of Grey was the main factor for his grudge against him. Nico only works with Agrona as he promises that he will resurrect her, which he eventually does.
• Love Makes You Evil: Like Nico, Cecilia's love for her fiancé and the desire for them to get the life she feels they both deserved is what allows Agrona to manipulate her.
• MacGuffin Super-Person: The Legacy's spirit carries over her potential from one life to the next, which Agrona sought to control and utilize as his ace in the hole in his war against Epheotus. This is what led him to reincarnate both Grey and Nico so that they would serve as anchor points for her summoning. In her current life, Cecilia's mastery over mana is so absolute she can effectively Life Drain asuras and absorb their powers.
• Man of Kryptonite: Given her absolute control over mana, she is this trope towards asuras as their bodies rely on mana to survive and she is capable of draining it from them.
• Mind Rape: Was subjected to this by Agrona to make her more compliant to him.
• New Life in Another World Bonus: The Legacy is unique in that her spirit carries her potential from one life to the next. Given the amount of times she would have reincarnated, Agrona theorizes that at the pinnacle of her power, the Legacy would be able to control mana to an unparalleled degree. This is one of the reasons why he searched across time and space to find her and bring her power into his fold.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • After Nico's mana core is destroyed following his duel with Arthur in the Victoriad, Cecilia restores his mana core. What she does not know is that she accidentally freed Nico from Agrona's brainwashing, causing him to covertly work against him in order to free the two of them from Agrona's grasp.
  • She falls for Seris's gambit and accidentally overloads her own mana core. While it does push her past the integrate stage, it partially frees Tessia who had been Fighting from the Inside the entire time.
• Not Herself: When Arthur is confronted by her at the end of the Victoriad, he notes that Cecilia is not acting like the same tortured woman looking to end her own life like did in her final moments, and instead is showing him the same vitriol Nico had. He is proven right as it is later revealed Agrona indeed brainwashed her.
• Not in This for Your Revolution: Like Nico, Cecilia has no prior investment in the Divine Conflict. All she wants is to be returned to Earth with her lover, and as far as she is concerned helping Agrona win the war is what will get her there.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Agrona had good reason to seek out her power, as Cecilia exhibits complete dominion over mana itself and can easily kill asuras on her own. She is perhaps the only non-asura individual in the setting who can go head-to-head against Arthur after his Re-Power.
• Phantom Limb Pain: She sometimes feels pain from the fatal wound she received from Grey even though that was in a wholly different body.
• Plot-Triggering Death: Her Suicide by Cop in her duel against Grey was the cause of the rift between him and Nico, a rift that would persist into their reincarnations as Arthur and Elijah. Not only that, but after her death Agrona would summon her into his world to serve him in his war against the asuras.
• Power Copying: In absorbing the mana from the different races of asuras, Cecilia not only kills them but gains their respective powers. Agrona intends for her to absorb enough mana from asuras to make her the ultimate weapon in his war against Epheotus.
• Power Nullifier: Cecilia has such perfect control over ambient mana she becomes capable of drawing it out of the atmosphere and out of her target's core and giving it a physical solid form, effectively rendering them helpless. Seris worriedly notes that this move could prove instantly fatal to asuras, who are essentially mana beings, as well as potentially dispel the barrier she has in place to prevent Agrona from sending his forces to capture her. Fortunately for Seris, Arthur comes up with the idea of powering the barrier with aether instead and having Regis take her place.
• Psychometry: Draining the mana from asuras also allows Cecilia to perceive their memories. After killing Lady Dawn, viewing her memories allows Cecilia to locate the Hearth and recognize the asura's son Chul when she confronts him later on.
• Reforged into a Minion: Not only is she using the body of one of the main protagonists and is a servant of the Big Bad, but she herself underwent this as Agrona subjected Cecilia to Mind Rape and gave her Fake Memories to make her more compliant to him.
• Reincarnate in Another World: Like her childhood friends, Cecilia was reincarnated by Agrona. Unlike them, she was reincarnated into an adult host rather than into an infant.
• Reincarnation Romance: She and Nico were engaged in their past lives, and their relationship carried over into their reincarnations.
• Resurrected Romance: After being resurrected, she and Nico resume their relationship.
• Suicide by Cop: Tired of being used as a puppet and wanting to protect her fiancé Nico, Cecilia used her duel with Grey as an opportunity to end her suffering as she threw herself on his blade.
• Suicide for Others' Happiness: Part of the reason for her killing herself in her duel against Grey, other than to end her own suffering, is to free Nico from being targeted due to his connection with her.
• Superpower Lottery: She becomes the second quadra-elemental mage in the setting and has unrivaled control over mana, eventually ending up in the integrate stage past white core. She is even able to absorb the mana from asuras and wield their power. Agrona intends for her to absorb mana from all asura races to create an unstoppable asura-killing machine.
• Sympathetic Villain, Despicable Villain: Post Volume-9, she and Nico exhibit this dynamic with Nico being the Sympathetic Villain and Cecilia being the Despicable Villain. Nico realizes that Agrona had been manipulating them all along and, after Arthur tells him the truth about Cecilia's death, he begins to show remorse over his actions. Cecilia on the other hand, while heavily brainwashed by both Agrona and Nico, follows their master without question and shuts off any outside voice of reason that calls her out for her continued service to Agrona. This example is Downplayed as Nico remains Trapped in Villainy and continues to follow the orders Agrona gives him.
• Tragic Villain: In her past life, she was the target of every nation in the world as they all sought her power, which led her to end her suffering by committing Suicide by Cop in her duel against Grey. Then Agrona reaches out to her and makes her one of his pawns, in the process stringing her along into his war.
• Unholy Matrimony: She was Nico's fiancée in their past lives, and upon being resurrected both serve as Agrona's Co-Dragons.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Despite her unparalleled mastery over mana itself, Cecilia's lack of mental maturity means that she oftentimes does not utilize her power to its fullest.
• Unstable Powered Woman: Cecilia was barely stable in her past life due to every nation fighting over her power and seeking to use her as a tool. Her circumstances have not changed since her reincarnation, only this time around her master is leading her on and making her think he has the best interests for her.
• Walking Spoiler: She is the ultimate goal for Agrona's plans with the reincarnates, her death plays a major role in how Arthur's past life as King Grey turned out on top of being the reason for Nico's vendetta against him, and she takes over Tessia's body upon being summoned.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: In her past life, she was fought over by the nations of the world for her power and to end her suffering committed Suicide by Cop in her duel with Grey. Death proved to not be the end of her suffering, as Agrona reincarnated her to serve as a Person of Mass Destruction in the Divine Conflict without any regard for the suffering that follows, be it on Cecilia's end or her victims. Even Tessia calls her out on it when she is partially freed thanks to Seris's gambit.
• Yin-Yang Clash: Invoked by Agrona. Cecilia has dominion over mana, Arthur has dominion over aether, and Agrona intentionally pits them both against each other so that the clash between the opposing forces will unveil the true nature of power of the world for him to control.

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