Characters / The Beginning After The End Asuras

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 asuras are the Physical Gods of the setting. They reside in Epheotus, a sister continent to Dicathen and Alacrya that was drawn into the aether realm by their progenitors millennia ago. There are eight different races of asuras - dragons, phoenixes, titans, pantheons, leviathans, hamadryads, sylphs, and basilisks - and each race comprises of multiple clans with one clan being the first among equals to represent said race in their ruling council, the Great Eight. They are responsible for the plot of the novel as not only were they the ones responsible for uplifting the inhabitants of both Dicathen and Alacrya by giving them the ability to harness mana, but they only did so to act as proxies for their own Divine Conflict.

For basilisks and the Vritra Clan, see the Vritra Clan page.

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In General

• Alien Non-Interference Clause: The asuras have a strict policy of non-interference when it comes to the lives of the lessers unless the balance of power in the world was in grave danger. After the formation of the treaty, this policy has been loosened somewhat in that they are only allowed to indirectly assist the lessers, be it through providing Artifacts of Power or acting as strategic advisors. Following the destruction of Elenoir, the treaty is officially lifted and they are allowed to directly intervene in the conflict.
  Windsom: We asuras are and have been governed by a doctrine - a noblesse oblige of sorts, to put it simply - since the beginning of our existence. We are not to lay a hand on the lesser races inhabiting the land below; we must be sure to act only in times when the two continents fall out of balance or if either of them is on the brink of extinction.
• Aloof Ally: The asuras are very aloof when it comes to interacting with their Dicathian allies, whom they are only assisting out of Enlightened Self-Interest to act as proxies for them.
• The Armies of Heaven: Each of the asuran races have their own armies, with those of the dragons and pantheons being the most notable.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: A species-wide example. Once a race of mortal beings whose growing magical aptitude not only allowed them to transcend their bodies and become one with mana, but led to them separating their homeland from the mortal plane and bringing it into the aether realm.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: The asuras of Epheotus claim to have a sense of morality, but it appears that sense only stems to their own kind rather than lessers as well as only when it seems fit to them which only makes them come off as hypocritical. They can go from supporting the lessers in one moment to callously killing them off in the next without any regard for their livelihood.
  • To illustrate that morality, a good example would be Windsom. He starts off as an Aloof Ally who backs the Dicathians per Kezess's orders, then accompanies Taci to declare to the Dicathians that they had outlived their usefulness to them, then escorts Arthur to negotiate with Kezess while showing no remorse over the various atrocities the asuras have committed, and then acts as Kezess's overseer of Dicathen when his master fulfills his end of the bargain that he made with Arthur, rebuilding some of the very cities his kind had destroyed in the midst of the Divine Conflict. All the while, he cares not about how the Dicathians see him, only that they are a means to an end.
• Deity of Human Origin: In this case, a whole race of gods. Their ancestors used to be mortals who had the ability to harness mana, and over time their mastery of mana became so absolute they effectively became Physical Gods.
• Empire with a Dark Secret: The rulers of Epheotus, the Indrath Clan, committed genocide on the ancient djinn and covered it up to prevent the other asuras from questioning their leadership.
• Fantastic Racism: The asuras look down on the mortal inhabitants of Dicathen and Alacrya as "lessers" as they perceive themselves to be the Superior Species to them due to their mastery of mana. It is only thanks to their uplifting of them, which only occurred in the leadup to the Divine Conflict and would not have occurred normally due to the asuras' desire to not involve themselves in their affairs, that the lessers are able to use mana, and even after being uplifted they still pale in comparison to them.
  • While the Vritra Clan treat their mortal Alacryan subjects rather horribly, that is not to say the rest of the asuras in Epheotus view them any better. They have a rather discriminatory attitude towards the Alacryans whom due to being subjects of the Vritra they view as Always Chaotic Evil (which is not the case as the Alacryans prove to be as much victims of the Divine Conflict as the Dicathians are). Those with Vritra blood are especially scorned against as misbegotten mongrels, and part of the reason the Divine Conflict started was the Vritra's interbreeding with and experimentation on the inhabitants of Alacrya.
  • Case in point, in Volume 11 when Kezess sends his forces to occupy Dicathen, they treat the surrendered Alacryans extremely poorly and were looking for any excuse to kill them all where they stood. When Arthur brings back the remnants of Seris's rebellion to the Alacryan enclave in Elenoir, the asuras are even less pleased as far as they are concerned, Arthur just reunited an enemy general with her troops.
  • Disregarding the Alacryans, some asuras have an extremely low opinion of lessers as a whole, bordering on outright Humans Are Insects or Super Supremacist territory. For example, Anakasha, a dragon, says that a couple hundred mortal lives are worth that of three dragons, while Taci, a pantheon, views killing Arthur's mother and sister as not only a way to spite him, but also because he wants to show him just how insignificant he is compared to the pantheon race.
  • On a related note, they are perfectly willing to prioritize their own lives over those of the lessers, whom they view as completely expendable. When Kezess orders Windsom and Aldir to travel to Elenoir and prevent the summoning of the Legacy, he remarks that the Alacryans and now the Dicathians were sacrifices that he was willing to make and has no more intention of sparing them if that is what it takes to defeat Agrona. After their occupation of Dicathen following its reconquest later on, the asuras end up abandoning the Dicathians once again when Agrona attacks the rift between Dicathen and Epheotus.
  • Even the most benign among the asuras still exhibit a somewhat prejudiced slant towards the lessers (to the point that they still use the term "lesser" to address them when other asuras use it as a Fantastic Slur). For example, Veruhn views Arthur as a curiosity, while Wren during his stint training Arthur looks down on him for being a lesser and calls him out repeatedly for his shortcomings (though he is a case of Jerkass Has a Point as Arthur is far from ready to face the Vritra at that point).
• Foreshadowing: In Hindu Mythology, the gods are divided between the benevolent devas and the malevolent asuras. Despite the apparent naming mismatch given how they seem to be closer to the former than the latter, the asuras of the novel, especially the Indrath and the Vritra, are eventually revealed to be Jerkass Gods of the highest degree with no regard for the lives of mortals in the midst of their Divine Conflict.
• Goal-Oriented Evolution: The ancestors of the asuras used to be one race, but as their magical aptitude surpassed their forms, they began seeking out new forms that were the physical manifestations of their growing mastery of magic. Over the course of ages, the asuras evolved and speciated into different races as the traits found in these different forms became intrinsically tied to them.
  Kezess: We became the dragon and the hamadryad and the pantheon. And over many more ages, those traits evolved to be an inherent aspect of our races, which drew apart from one another, each branch of the asuran family tree growing more unique over time.
• God's Hands Are Tied: Due to the treaty between Epheotus and the Vritra Clan, the asuras are barred from direct interference as a direct conflict between them could level the world. Following the destruction of Elenoir, the treaty is officially broken and both sides are allowed to directly participate in the conflict.
• Half-Breed Discrimination: Given the asuras' desire to not involve themselves with the affairs of lessers, if not their outright disdain for them, any mixing of asura and lesser blood is seen as a debased act if not outright bestiality. This was one of the causes of the Divine Conflict, as not only did the Indrath exile Agrona and his clan to Alacrya under the pretext of them interbreeding with and experimenting on the inhabitants of that land, but when Agrona did just that act in his bid to exact revenge Kezess ordered for an ultimately futile Decapitation Strike which led to the treaty that defines the conflict. Windsom even derogatorily refers to Agrona's hybrids as "mutts" to convey how much he and the other asuras look down on them.
• Heel Realization: In the distant past, long before the genocide of the djinn, the asuras grew exponentially in power and expanded across the world, which eventually led to conflicts over resources. One asuran race in particular, the wraiths, became infamous for their warmongering tendencies which soon drew all of the asuras into a destructive war that leveled the world. In the aftermath of this conflict and the extinction of the wraiths, the asuras resolved to never let such a war happen again.
  Kezess: It was only when the very last of the wraiths fell that the rest of the asura saw what they'd become.
• History Repeats: Suffice to say the asuras have a penchant of doing this when it comes to their dealings with the Dicathians.
  • The roots of the Divine Conflict stem from Kezess's genocide of the djinn, which he justified by saying that their uncontrolled aether arts posed a threat to the greater good. Millennia later, and Kezess once again ends up committing genocide by forcing Aldir to destroy Elenoir with the World Eater technique in a failed attempt to deny Agrona the Legacy and her power.
  • In the distant past, Kezess sent Windsom to present the forefathers of the royal families of Dicathen a set of Artifacts of Power to give them a fighting chance against the Vritra, as it was the most he was willing to do without breaking the treaty. In the present, after the destruction of Elenoir and the breaking of the treaty, Kezess once again has Windsom present them with a new set of artifacts that he claims would allow them to retake their homeland...but with the unmentioned and ulterior side effect of enslaving their bearers to his will.
  • A major turning point in the invasion of Dicathen was Agrona revoking the asuras' involvement in the war following yet another failed Decapitation Strike on him, which all but seals Dicathen's fate. Then after the reconquest of Dicathen, the asuras end up occupying the continent to protect it from the inevitable counter-invasion, only for them to once again abandon them to their fate when Agrona attacks the rift between Dicathen and Epheotus as they recall all of their forces to defend it.
• Hypocrite: The asuras of Epheotus claim to have a sense of morality, but it appears that sense only stems to their own kind rather than lessers. When Windsom describes the nature of the war to Arthur, he claims that "it would be wrong to punish an entire race for the actions of a few" when it comes to the treatment of the basilisks on Epheotus after the exile of the Vritra. He also claims that they do not wish to interfere in the setting because of their fears of Mutually Assured Destruction. The genocide of the djinn and the desolation of Elenoir, among many other atrocities and betrayals, show these statements to be false and that the asuras truly have no regard at all for the lessers.
• Immortal Procreation Clause: As they are extraordinarily long-lived but not truly immortal, the asuras have naturally an extremely low fertility rate.
• Jerkass Gods: With a select few exceptions, at the very best the asuras care nothing about lessers and just leave them alone as they are content with dealing with their own internal affairs in Epheotus. At the worst, they have no absolutely no regard for the lives of lessers, be it through Collateral Damage or the slighting of their pride. Just look at what happened to the djinn.
• Mage Species: The asuras are an unorthodox example. Compared to the so-called "lessers", the asuras have harmonized themselves with mana to the point that it is as vital to them as blood is to the lessers. In fact, it is from they that the lessers are even able to harness mana in the first place. The Dicathians received Artifacts of Power from Kezess that led to the proliferation of mages on the continent, while the Alacryans were forcibly uplifted by the Vritra through experimentation and interbreeding.
• Not So Omniscient After All: Despite being the gods of the setting, the asuras do not know everything in part due to the Indrath covering up their atrocities and lying to them about what is really going on. This is not helped by the fact that most asuras tend to not care about what is going on outside of Epheotus, and for those who do the treaty means any movement outside of Epheotus will attract the eye of either Kezess or Agrona as possible intervention or subversion of the treaty. Even the Indrath Clan themselves are not exempted, as they get outplayed by the Vritra on more than one occasion.
• Our Gods Are Different: The asuras have several differences from most fantasy gods, to the point that they are less a traditional Fantasy Pantheon and more a Mage Superior Species whose unmatched power has made them Physical Gods.
  • They are defined less as beings to be worshipped and moreso as beings that are able to transcend their bodies and fully harmonize with mana. This is to the point that their bodies are reliant on mana to survive as if it were blood.
  • As stated above, there are eight different races of asuras - dragons, phoenixes, titans, pantheons, leviathans, hamadryads, sylphs, and basilisks. Unlike most deities, the asuras were not created but evolved and speciated from the same common ancestors through magical Goal-Oriented Evolution.
  • Despite their power, they are not immortal but extremely long-lived as in a Pensieve Flashback to events that occurred in the distant past, Kezess, the current leader of the Indrath Clan, says that the asuran homeland of Epheotus had been created by his ancestor's ancestors.
  • While they can be slain in battle, even the youngest among the asuras can be more than a match for some of the strongest mortal mages unless they are facing entities specifically created to kill asuras.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: A few among the asuras are aware of Arthur being the reincarnated King Grey without him being aware that they know.
• Shapeshifting: All asuran races are shapeshift between their true and human forms, a trait that they acquired from their Goal-Oriented Evolution in which they sought new forms that could better handle their growing magical power.
• Society of Immortals: Downplayed. The asuras are not truly immortal but they live for an unfathomable amount of time, and so their society has been around for untold millennia.
• Strange Salute: The asuras have a unique greeting where one person reaches out with both hands to another individual, the second individual wraps both of their hands around the first individual's right, and the first individual presses their left against the back of the second individuals' right. The two individuals hold this posture for a few seconds before releasing.
• Super-Empowering: In order to give the Dicathians a chance against the Vritra Clan and their Alacryan servants, they gave the forebears of the royal families the artifacts that would empower the Lances, who in turn are the source of mages on Dicathen.
• Superior Species: The asuras are unparalleled in their mastery of mana and have prided themselves over it. Their mastery has given them a sense of superiority over the lessers who used to not be able to harness magic until they were uplifted, and even after doing so still pale in comparison.
• Time Abyss: While not immortal, asuras live for a very, very, very long time. A hundred years is what they consider a long enough absence. Case in point, Kezess is older than civilization as the lessers know it and even he says that he had ancestors of his own who built asuran civilization into what it is now. Considering that he himself says that there have been so many Kezess Indraths who have ruled over Epheotus that he has lost count, and it is safe to say that the asuras have been around for untold millennia.

Dragons

For Sylvie, see the Leywin Family page.

In General

Their representatives on the Great Eight are the Indrath Clan, who themselves are first among equals and the rulers of all asuras.

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• Bird vs. Serpent: Their rivalry with the Vritra 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.
• Dark Secret: In the distant past, the Indrath Clan orchestrated the genocide of the djinn both out of jealousy for their mastery over aether surpassing their own and because their existence as a race of aether-wielding lessers threatened their authority and leadership over the other asuras. Afterwards, they covered up what happened to the djinn to prevent the other asuras from questioning their leadership.
• Dragons Are Divine: In the setting, dragons are one of the eight races of asuras. In a dark twist on this trope, Light Is Not Good is in full effect as the dragons are willing to commit genocide for the sake of what they perceive as "the greater good".
• Element No. 5: The Indrath are the only living beings in the setting able to harness aether. Emphasis on "living", as there is a rather dark reason for it.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: As they perceive the Alacryans as Always Chaotic Evil given their Vritra overlords, the Indrath find it extremely hard to accept any evidence to the contrary. This proves especially apparent following their occupation of Dicathen and their treatment of the remaining Alacryans there who have turned against the Vritra. They keep looking for any excuse to execute all of the surrendered Alacryans where they stand, and when Seris and the remnants of her rebellion arrive Arthur finds it hard to convince the Indrath to allow them sanctuary as they refuse to accept that a Scythe of all individuals would be willing to turn against Agrona.
• Facial Markings: Dragons are known to sport distinct markings around their eyes.
• Feathered Dragons: In their true forms, dragons are covered entirely in white feathers.
• Final Solution: They orchestrated the genocide of the djinn because the latter's mastery of aether supposedly threatened the balance of the world, but in truth were motivated by petty jealousy over the fact that the existence of a race of aether-wielding lessers whose knowledge over it surpassed their own threatened their authority over the rest of the asuras.
• Foreshadowing: When Arthur first meets Myre, she tells him that the dragons "remain selective and greedy - the Indrath Clan particularly so" even among the rather prideful asuras. This hints to the major Reveal at the very start of Volume 8 when Arthur learns that in the distant past, the Indrath Clan committed genocide upon the djinn out of petty jealousy for their mastery of aether exceeding their own.
• Gold and White Are Divine: Dragons tend to have pale white skin or feathers in both their human and true forms. They also tend to have gold Power Tattoos as well.
• Green-Eyed Monster: In the distant past, the Indrath orchestrated the genocide of the djinn out of jealousy for their ability to control aether, which they believed was exclusively theirs to control.
• Killing Intent: King's Force, a powerful aura which allows any dragon to force anyone into submission.
• Knight Templar: The Indrath see themselves as the supreme force of good, even though they are prone to doing some extremely reprehensible actions, namely genocide, to uphold what they see as their order.
• Light Is Not Good: In actuality, despite presenting themselves as a force of order, the Indrath are little more than a faction of callous Knight Templars who are willing to commit genocide to maintain their rule.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Even though God and Satan Are Both Jerks is in full effect and the Indrath are a faction of genocidal Knight Templars who are responsible for the Vritra's fall from grace, they are still the lighter shade as they seek to preserve the world while the latter are willing to burn it down in pursuit of their vendetta. To the point that Arthur, even though he knows of their atrocities, is willing to pull an Enemy Mine with them against the Vritra, though he wants to empower his allies in Dicathen to stand up against the tyranny of the Indrath rather than accept them as the lesser evil.
  • The Indrath end up Exploiting this trope. Following their occupation of the newly liberated Dicathen, they have presented themselves as the lesser evil to the Vritra and have slowly attempted to turn the populace of Dicathen against Arthur. Arthur however is Genre Savvy enough to know they are trying to undercut him and calls them out for it.
• Mystical White Hair: In both human and dragon forms, they have white hair and are extremely proficient at wielding both mana and aether.
• The Needs of the Many: They primarily operate under this doctrine. Unfortunately for the Dicathians, they tend to apply this doctrine to a far larger scale, with their definitions of "the many" or "the few" being often much, much, much larger than what those quantities normally entails. On top of that, they tend to value the lives of lessers to a much lower degree when compared to asuras like them.
  Anakasha: The fate of a hundred worlds outweighs the lives of a couple hundred lessers. Or even three dragons.
• Offended by an Inferior's Success: The Indrath prided themselves on their mastery of aether which they used to justify their rule over the other asuras. So what happens when they discover the existence of a race of lessers who not only wield aether, but to a much greater degree than their own and have refused to teach them their arts? Commit genocide both out of petty jealousy and to prevent the other asuras from doubting their leadership, on top of torturing any survivors to glean as much as they know about aether as possible.
• Our Dragons Are Different: The setting's version of dragons are covered in white feathers, a sign of their divine status. Not only are they the rulers of the Physical Gods of the setting, but they are also proficient in manipulating aether. However, Light Is Not Good is in full effect as the dragons, despite presenting themselves as a force of order, are in all actuality a group of callous Knight Templars willing to commit genocide to preserve their rule.
• Power Tattoos: Dragons have golden markings all over their bodies. It is heavily implied that they acquired these tattoos from torturing the djinn for their knowledge of aether, as the djinn sported similar tattoos.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Despite turning out to be Jerkass Gods of the highest caliber, the Indrath are known sometimes to treat the lessers in a benign fashion if not refrain from screwing them over if it ends up advancing their own goals in the long term.
  • Despite their utter hatred of any and all servants of the Vritra, during The Purge of the Council they are willing to spare the Glayders and overlook their brief collaboration given that they were very reluctant about the whole ordeal and seeing how their attempted handover of Arthur and Sylvie was foiled. This proves somewhat beneficial in the long run as the Greysunders' deaths causes the dwarves to revolt, meaning they narrowly avoided having the humans revolt as well.
  • They engage in this manner in full force when they occupy Dicathen as part of the Bargain with Heaven Arthur had made with Kezess. In order to safeguard the newly liberated continent against a potential if not outright inevitable counter-invasion by the Vritra, they proceed to rebuild and fortify every city on the continent. They also take the opportunity to slowly influence the populace into accepting their rule and turning against Arthur, though he and his allies do their best to counteract their influence. When Agrona launches his attack on the rift, the dragons proceed to abandon their posts and thus the Dicathians, showing how little they care for them.
• Precursor Killers: It is revealed that they are the ones responsible for the disappearance of the ancient mages of Dicathen, who were a race of aether-wielding lessers known as the djinn whom they committed genocide upon for ultimately petty reasons.
• Pure Is Not Good: The Indrath wield mana in its purest form, yet are a faction of genocidal Knight Templars.
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: Their clan name is derived from Indra, the God of Thunder and King of the Gods in Hindu Mythology. For an added bonus, their nemeses are named the Vritra after the mythological Indra's Arch-Enemy.
• Seers: It is noted that dragons can occasionally receive visions of the future.
• Shapeshifting: While all asuran races are able to shapeshift, dragons take it a step further in that they are able to change into any form that they see fit.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Following their occupation of Dicathen, the Indrath find it hard to work with the Dicathians, in particular Arthur who is aware of their efforts to turn him into a Hero with Bad Publicity. In particular, they are especially not tolerant of the Alacryans whom have taken refuge in Elenoir as they only see them as their enemies and have been looking for any excuse to exterminate them all.

Kezess Indrath (Major Unmarked Spoilers)

Kezess Indrath

Lord of the Indrath Clan, Ruler of Epheotus

Debut: Volume 5 (Novel), Chapter 151 (Webcomic)

"Everything I've done has been to keep this world alive, and it would be wise for you to place that firmly at the forefront of any further assumptions you make about me."

The Lord of the Indrath Clan, Kezess is the Top God of the setting as the leader of all asuras and the ruler of Epheotus, the Home of the Gods. He is the father of Arthur's Parental Substitute Sylvia and thus the grandfather of his bond Sylvie. Kezess is driven primarily by his desire to preserve the world for both asuras and lessers alike. In the distant past, he exiled Agrona, the Vritra Clan, and their allies to the distant continent of Alacrya for their experiments upon the lessers of that continent, which led to the Divine Conflict that has been going on in the setting. Upon hearing of Arthur and Sylvie, he orders them to be summoned to Epheotus for training in preparation for the Alacryan invasion of Dicathen.

In all actuality, despite what he claims, Kezess is fact a tyrannical despot who is really driven by his desire to maintain his authority and power. In the distant past, long before the exile of Agrona and the Vritra, Kezess orchestrated the genocide of the djinn, a race of lessers whose mastery over aether surpassed that of Kezess and his clan. Although Kezess covered up the atrocity he had committed, eventually Agrona discovered the truth about what happened and threatened to expose him, which was the real reason for him and his clan's exile. Following this reveal, Kezess shows himself to be no different from his nemesis.

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• All for Nothing: In order to kill the Legacy and deny Agrona her power, Kezess orders Aldir to use the World Eater technique on Elenoir. It results in Elenoir being completely obliterated and the elves nearly being driven to extinction. It ends up being all for naught as not only did the Legacy manage to escape, but in doing so the treaty between the Vritra and the other asuras is finally broken, allowing Agrona to begin the next phase of his plan and prepare for a direct war with Epheotus.
• Aloof Ally: When he is first introduced, Kezess is incredibly dismissive of Arthur. He remains aloof in demeanor throughout his appearances. Even when Arthur recognizes him as his enemy and calls him out for his crimes later on, he maintains that demeanor.
• Ancestral Name: He is not the first Lord Indrath to have the given name of Kezess. When asked which number he is by Arthur, he says that there are have been so many to bear that name that counting them all would be impossible.
• Arch-Enemy:
  • Agrona. He exiled him for uncovering the truth about the djinn and threatening to expose the atrocity to all of Epheotus. In turn, Agrona began preparing for war with him, leading to the Divine Conflict that drives the setting.
  • Arthur. Aside from being the one responsible for Agrona's Start of Darkness and thus being indirectly responsible for all of the harm he has done onto Arthur and his loved ones, Kezess committed genocide on the ancestors of Arthur's family, obliterated all of Elenoir in a futile gambit to kill the Legacy, and attempted to purge Arthur's friends and family for going against his plans.
• Archnemesis Dad: The Archnemesis Grandfather to Sylvie. She promptly disowns him and the name Indrath once she finds out the truth. Also this to Sylvia as she was willing to turn against him and expose the atrocities he committed to Arthur.
• Bad Boss: Kezess is just as bad as his nemesis Agrona when it comes to the treatment of his pawns. The very lessers that he claims to protect are completely expendable in his eyes, and he is even willing to dispose of them should they fail him. Even other asuras, dragons included, are not exempt from these tendencies of his. He showed no grief over Taci's death and attempted to downplay his demise solely to make his position look good. To say nothing of how he sent a group of dragons that Aldir had trained to arrest him for his desertion, knowing fully well they would die at his hand, just to Kick the Dog.
• Bargain with Heaven: Much like his nemesis Agrona, Kezess is known to strike deals with the lessers albeit to a much lesser extent given his pride. However, because Kezess is morally no better than Agrona, making a bargain with him is little more than a Deal with the Devil.
  • In Volume 9 after orchestrating the destruction of Elenoir, Kezess approaches Virion with a set of new Artifacts of Power that he claims will allow the Dicathians to retake their homeland. Virion is extremely apprehensive and reluctant about this offer - as not only was Elenoir his homeland but Kezess strongarms him into covering up the asuras' role in the atrocity by forcing him to lie to his people and keep them Locked Out of the Loop - but ultimately accepts given how the Dicathians will need all the help they can get in their Darkest Hour. The deal turns out to have far more ulterior motives than expected, as Rinia reveals that the artifacts Kezess offers will in fact enslave their wielders to his will.
  • In Volume 10 after Arthur reconquers Dicathen, Kezess summons him to negotiate with him regarding his new role in the Divine Conflict and to extract his knowledge of aether. In return for Arthur sharing with him what he knows about aether at a later point, Kezess promises him his protection of Dicathen from any potential counter-invasion by the Vritra. Come Volume 11, Kezess sends his forces down to Dicathen to occupy the continent as part of the bargain.
• Betrayal Insurance: He intentionally placed Power Limiters in the Artifacts of Power he gave to the royal families of Dicathen to prevent them and the nascent Lances from becoming powerful enough to oppose him. This backfires rather badly on him, as not only do these limiters put the Lances at a severe disadvantage against the Alacryan Scythes and Retainers which leads to the loss of the war, but Arthur manages to break them with his insight into aether to fulfill the exact scenario that Kezess was trying to prevent in the first place. While he did try later on to give the Dicathians a newer set of artifacts that would enslave them to his will, they ended up refusing his offer once his ulterior motives were exposed.
• Betrayal by Offspring: Has no idea his only granddaughter has turned against him and sided with her adoptive father, on top of using her blood ties to him to manipulate the forces he sent down to occupy Dicathen to her adoptive father's favor. To an extent this applies to his daughter as while she did not betray him for his enemies, she was willing to expose his atrocities to the young Arthur and entrust the unborn Sylvie to his care in order to prevent her from being indoctrinated by Kezess and the false narrative he presents. Though it is later revealed that Kezess was aware that Sylvia had betrayed him in a sense.
• Big Bad Ensemble: While Agrona is the Big Bad, Kezess is just as prominent an antagonistic force as him with his past actions leading to Agrona becoming the monster that he is now. That being said, while he is still an irredeemable tyrant, his villainy is somewhat downplayed in that Arthur is begrudgingly willing to collaborate with him. Although both of them know that once Agrona and the Vritra are dealt with that hostilities are bound to resume between both of them.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Like Agrona, Kezess has committed many atrocities upon Arthur and his loved ones, but he has no regrets over his actions. Hell, even though Arthur is a descendant of the very people he committed genocide upon and calls him out for it during their negotiations (although he does not reveal his heritage to him), Kezess is unfazed about the accusation and defends himself by saying he did it for "the greater good", proving just how out of touch he is with the consequences of his own actions.
• The Chessmaster: Kezess is a callous manipulator of events with little regard for the lives of the so called lessers that he claims to protect as in all actuality he views them as completely expendable.
  Mordain: Kezess is ancient, and he has played this game many times before in Epheotus, with much greater stakes than now. Or, at least that is the case so far as he is concerned.
• Control Freak: To Kezess, all that matters is that he and his authority remain unquestioned. He is willing to go to some rather heinous extremes to ensure that.
• Create Your Own Hero:
  • While Agrona (see below) is responsible for Arthur’s reincarnation, the Leywins whom Arthur would be reborn to are descended from djinn who had survived the genocide. Not to mention, Kezess’s own daughter Sylvia would go on to nurture the young Arthur and set him on the path to end the Divine Conflict and was willing to expose her father’s atrocities to him. She also gave him her unborn daughter (and Kezess’s own granddaughter) Sylvie who would go on to become not only his bond, but the very reason why he reincarnated outside of Agrona’s control. In addition, Kezess orchestrating the destruction of Elenoir and the attempted extermination of the Dicathian resistance truly earns him Arthur's enmity.
  • Sylvie herself. As his own granddaughter, he is indirectly responsible for her own conception through his own daughter Sylvia. And she would go on to be the very reason why his greatest mortal nemesis is around to stand against him.
• Create Your Own Villain: Despite Kezess going to great lengths to cover up his genocide of the djinn, Agrona grew fascinated with the ruins the djinn had left behind due to his inquisitive nature and eventually discovered the truth about what Kezess and his clan had done to them. When he came forward to the Indrath and threatened to expose them, Kezess had Agrona and his clan exiled to Alacrya. In turn, Agrona began plotting revenge, leading to the Divine Conflict that drives the plot of the novel.
• Dark Secret: In the distant past, Kezess orchestrated the genocide of the djinn both out of jealousy for their mastery over aether surpassing his own and because their existence as a race of aether wielding lessers threatened his authority and leadership over the other asuras. Afterwards, he covered up what happened to the djinn to prevent the other asuras from questioning his leadership.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: In spite of claiming that he desires to maintain order in the world, part of Kezess's true motivations is that he wants to maintain his and his clan's power and authority over the asuras. He is willing to resort to exile and genocide just to ensure his power remains unquestioned.
• Didn't See That Coming: There are a few instances wherein Kezess is caught off-guard by his enemies. This is attributed to his own pride and short-sightedness making him underestimate them.
  • Agrona was able to hide his plans regarding the reincarnates from Kezess until the last minute, leaving him in the dark about what he was planning and causing him to underestimate and second-guess him at every turn. By the time Kezess caught wind of the true nature of Agrona's plans, Agrona had already conquered Dicathen and summoned the Legacy.
  • After his deception gets exposed to the Dicathians and they refuse the new artifacts he offered them, Kezess sends Taci to kill them all for slighting his pride while having Aldir kill off the remaining Lances in the ruins of the Council Castle. However, not only does he not realize Aldir had turned against him and sent the Lances to the djinn sanctuary to stop Taci, but he never foresaw Arthur returning from Alacrya and actually managing to kill Taci.
• Divine Intervention: Despite his policy of minimalist intervention due to the treaty coupled with his own pride and disdain for relying on the lessers for aid, there are a few times when Kezess sends his servants to directly interfere in the conflict proper.
  • Twice does Kezess order a Decapitation Strike on Alacrya in order to finish off Agrona and the Vritra. Twice does the attempt fail and the Vritra take advantage of the situation. The first time around leads to the treaty that defines the Divine Conflict being established which limits the direct involvement of the asuras themselves. The second time leads to Kezess being forced to withdraw his aid from Dicathen due to having violated the treaty.
  • After the treaty had been signed, Kezess sent Windsom to approach the three royal families of Dicathen - Houses Glayder, Greysunder, and Eralith - and give them two Artifacts of Power each that they would use to empower chosen servants, who would become the first Lances. In turn, the first Lances would teach others their art, which led to the rise of mages on Dicathen and thus prepare the population for the inevitable war with the Vritra-ruled Alacryans.
  • When Agrona tries to manipulate the Council into neutralizing Arthur, Sylvie, and Director Goodsky by convicting them of the attack on Xyrus that his servants orchestrated, Kezess sends Windsom and Aldir down to put a halt to Agrona's scheme. Aldir kills off the Greysunders for being Agrona's puppets and to free their Lances from their control while Windsom breaks out Arthur and Sylvie. From that point onward, the two asuras - Aldir in particular - serve on the Council as advisors for the impending Alacryan invasion.
  • After the end of the war, Kezess finally gets a grasp on Agrona's true plans and so sends Windsom and Aldir into occupied Elenoir to prevent the Legacy from being summoned by any means necessary. This intervention ends being an instance of the trope having Gone Horribly Wrong, as when they arrive the Legacy had already been summoned and Aldir is forced to use the World Eater technique. It results in Elenoir being obliterated, millions on both sides being killed, the Legacy escaping rendering the whole endeavor All for Nothing, and the treaty being broken giving Agrona his casus belli to invade Epheotus.
  • When his attempt to take control of the Dicathian resistance gets exposed along with his role in orchestrating the destruction of Elenoir, Kezess sends Taci to exterminate the resistance to make room for more compliant pawns (on top of wanting to get back at Virion for hurting his pride in turning against him). Arthur puts a stop to that, though not before Taci had caused a considerable amount of casualties.
  • Following his deal with Arthur in the aftermath of the latter's retaking of Dicathen, Kezess sends his forces down from Epheotus to occupy the newly liberated Dicathen against any potential reconquest by the Alacryans, on top of also bringing Epheotus itself out of the aether realm.
• Dragons Are Divine: In the setting, dragons are one of the eight races of asuras. As such, as Lord of the Indrath Clan, Kezess is not only the ruler of the dragon race, but of Epheotus and all asuras proper.
• Enemy Mine: In spite of Arthur foiling his plan to purge the Dicathian resistance and injuring his pride by killing Taci, Kezess nonetheless reapproaches him not only to ally with him to defeat Agrona and the Vritra, but also to extract his knowledge on aether. That being said, he had essentially brought Arthur to the negotiating table at gunpoint by having Windsom escort him.
• Enigmatic Empowering Entity: In the distant past, Kezess sent Windsom down to Dicathen in order to bestow upon the forefathers of the royal families of the continent a set of Artifacts of Power that would empower the first Lances and in turn the first mages on the continent. However to the royal families and their descendants, his motivations in doing so have remained a Riddle for the Ages. It is later revealed that his reason for doing so was to prepare the Dicathians for an inevitable war with the Alacryans.
• Enlightened Self-Interest: He gets forced into doing this trope thanks to Agrona's manipulations. Thanks to the formation of the treaty forbidding any direct participation from the asuras in the Divine Conflict, Kezess gives a set of Artifacts of Power to the royal families of Dicathen in order to give the inhabitants of the continent a fighting chance against the Vritra and their Alacryan underlings. These artifacts gave rise to the first Lances, and from them came the rise of mages among the Dicathians. In short, Kezess uplifted the Dicathians into a magically-capable society solely to give them a fighting chance against Agrona and to win the Divine Conflict for him.
• Entitled Bastard: Kezess thinks that the populace of Dicathen should be grateful to him for everything he has done to protect them. Nevermind the fact that he is perfectly willing to sacrifice them all should he feel the situation demands it from him without any sort of remorse.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His sole redeeming quality is that he really does care about his own immediate family, especially his daughter and granddaughter. He was genuinely distraught over Sylvia's death, and when he meets with Arthur for the first time since the war ended, he calls him out on how his failure led to Sylvie sacrificing herself to save him.
• Evil All Along: Kezess initially seems to be an aloof but well-intentioned individual who in spite of his demeanor actually cares for the safety of the world. He turns out to be a genocidal tyrant who only cares for the world as he sees fit.
• Evil Is Petty: Despite being the Top God and claiming that he puts the safety of the world above everything else, Kezess turns out to be a rather petty individual, and some of his worst atrocities are driven by that pettiness of his. The genocide of the djinn? All because of his petty jealousy that a race of so-called "lessers" managed to surpass him. Exterminating the Dicathian resistance? Virion refusing his offer wounded his pride and so he and all his followers deserved to die. Sending Aldir's own trainees after him knowing they would be killed by him? While it does work to discredit Aldir in the eyes of the other asuras and deter others from following him into desertion, Kezess just wanted to Kick the Dog that was his defecting general.
• Evil Versus Evil: Kezess is not only a major case of God Is Evil, but he was responsible for his Arch-Enemy and the Big Bad Agrona's Start of Darkness. The two are no better than one another with regards to their conflict and their treatment of the lessers.
• Exact Words: During his negotiations with Arthur in Volume 10, Kezess promises him his protection of Dicathen from any potential counter-invasion by the Vritra. Come Volume 11, and Arthur learns that "protection" is a full-scale armed occupation of Dicathen by The Armies of Heaven. Not only do Arthur's allies have no love for Kezess and his servants after what they have done (namely, attempting to exterminate them), but his forces also treat the surrendered Alacryans on Dicathen whom Arthur hopes to turn against Agrona extremely poorly.
• Expy: Given the inspiration from Mushoku Tensei, Kezess is the analogue to Hitogami. Both are enigmatic deities associated with the color white whom the protagonist is brought into exclusive contact with, and despite seeming to be allies at first are revealed to have malevolent intentions that cause the protagonist to turn on them, which includes orchestrating the deaths of some of their loved ones. Visually however, Kezess resembles Hitogami's Arch-Enemy Orsted, being a white-haired draconic deity.
• Fatal Flaw: Pride, and to a lesser extent Jealousy. His pride prevents him from taking his enemies, namely Agrona and Arthur, seriously which not only gives them breathing room to accomplish their own goals against him but allows them to strike him or foil his plans when he least expects it. Not to mention Kezess is incredibly dismissive of anyone who thinks that they are better than him.
  • It creates all of the problems he has to deal with in the present. His genocide of the djinn came out of his own jealousy for their knowledge of aether superseding his own and his pride preventing him from accepting their advice. Aside from it being the reason why Agrona and Arthur turned against him, he ends up frequently underestimating both of them because of his pride, and his responses to them are short-sighted and accomplish nothing for him.
• Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence: He committed genocide upon the djinn not only out of jealousy, but because as a race of aether-wielding lessers, their very existence threatened the Indrath Clan's authority over the other asuras given how they thought only they could wield aether.
• The Fettered: Because he sees himself as the good guy and claims that he does not wish to cause Collateral Damage on the world, Kezess never uses his full power to deal with Agrona despite being the Top God and the most powerful living being in the setting. This unfortunately allows Agrona to get ahead of him. Even when Kezess breaks his self-imposed restraints it is not enough to counter his nemesis, on top of him coming off as even more of a hypocrite.
• Final Solution: He orchestrated the genocide of the djinn as he deemed their uncontrolled aether arts a threat to the balance of the world. In actuality, his real motivations for committing such an atrocity were that he coveted the djinn's knowledge of aether and they refused to share it with him, and that the djinn's very existence as a race of aether-wielding lessers threatened his authority over the rest of the asuras as he and his clan had long styled themselves as the only ones who could wield aether.
• Foil: To his own Arch-Enemy Agrona 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 him being the underdog when going up against Kezess and the rest of the asuras, and so 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.
• Genocide Backfire: Suffice to say, Kezess's penchant for committing genocide often ends up biting him back in the in the long term, as those who are affected by his actions seek to bring him to justice.
  • His very first atrocity, the genocide of the djinn. Despite Kezess going to extreme lengths to cover up his crimes, Agrona ended up finding out the truth and threatened to expose him. After being exiled, Agrona swore vengeance on Kezess which led to the Divine Conflict and in turn him reincarnating Grey into Arthur. In addition, thanks to Mordain's intervention a few of the djinn managed to survive the genocide and have descendants, among which are the Leywins from whom Arthur would descend from. In turn, Arthur has made it his mission to bring Kezess, Agrona, and all of the asuras to justice for the atrocities they have committed upon the lessers of both Dicathen and Alacrya.
  • The destruction of Elenoir in his failed bid to kill the Legacy. In his short-sightedness, Kezess not only killed off millions on both sides for ultimately nothing, but in doing so he broke the very treaty he claimed to uphold and gave Agrona his casus belli to invade Epheotus. Not only that, but his actions alienate the Dicathians as a whole. When he attempts to regain control of the situation on Dicathen in the aftermath, Kezess lies to the Dicathian resistance about what happened and tries to covertly mind control them. His deception is exposed and now the Dicathians view him as their enemy as much as Agrona himself.
• Given Name Reveal: When he was first introduced, the other asuras addressed him as Lord Indrath. It was not until the end of Volume 6 that Agrona revealed Lord Indrath's given name to be Kezess.
• God and Satan Are Both Jerks: At first, he appears to be the Good Counterpart to Agrona, but is eventually revealed to be just as reprehensible as him as he orchestrated a genocide in the distant past, an atrocity that led to Agrona's Start of Darkness when Kezess exiled him for threatening to expose the truth. Throughout the story, both him and Agrona 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 Couple: Kezess is married to Myre, and both are the leaders of the Indrath Clan.
• God Is Evil: He is the supreme deity of the setting and yet is a tyrannical ruler who is willing to commit genocide for the sake of what he perceives as “the greater good” and despite claiming he has the best interests of lessers at heart is willing to kill them off for slighting him or going against his plans.
• God Is Inept: As the Top God, he should have been able to eliminate the threat posed by Agrona in one fell swoop, but he repeatedly keeps underestimating him which has allowed Agrona to get the edge over him. His responses to Agrona's plans have proven to be short-sighted and ineffectual, as not only does he fail to strike any meaningful blow against him, but Agrona keeps accomplishing his plans in spite of everything.
  • His ineptitude is perhaps the main reason why Dicathen falls to Alacrya in the first place. Agrona had millennia to experiment on the Alacryans, creating a magically uplifted society and an army of Semi-Divine soldiers and monsters. What did Kezess do in that timespan? He merely settled for giving the royal families the Artifacts of Power that would empower the Lances, from whom the first mages in Dicathen would arise. This hands-off approach results in a Dicathen that is magically outmatched by its neighbor to a horrific degree and completely unprepared for a foreign invasion, not helped by the fact that Agrona sent spies into Dicathen to destabilize it. Really, at the rate Kezess was going, it was an inevitability that Dicathen would fall, and Agrona merely took his sweet time conquering it with only his weaker servants.
  • Another one of his biggest failings is his attempt to kill the Legacy. Not only does he fail to kill her, but he comes off as a massive hypocrite given how he obliterated a whole kingdom of the very lessers he claimed to protect on top of breaking the very treaty he acquiesced to in his bid to do so. That, as well as the fallout from Taci's death, causes a considerable stir among the Great Eight as more and more asuras begin to doubt his leadership.
• God of Order: Kezess values the preservation of order and most of his actions are driven by his desire to do so. Though he is willing to go to some rather extreme lengths to preserve order as he sees fit.
• Gold and White Are Divine: Kezess has pale white skin and hair and his attire is mostly white with gold highlights, an image fitting of the ruler of the asuras.
• Greater-Scope Villain: His genocide of the djinn is the inciting event for the entire plot, as it led to Agrona's exile and thus him starting the Divine Conflict and reincarnating Grey into Arthur.
• Green-Eyed Monster: The real reason for him orchestrating the genocide of the djinn was that he coveted their knowledge of aether, on top of his own jealousy that a race of lessers managed to surpass him.
• Gruesome Grandparent: Averted. Despite being a genocidal tyrant, he does have a soft spot for Sylvie as she is his only living descendant. That being said, his blood ties to and treatment of her do nothing to stop her from siding with her adoptive father against him.
• Hate Sink: He is a genocidal tyrant whose past atrocities were what triggered the Start of Darkness for the Big Bad - who himself a Hate Sink in his own right - and thus making him indirectly responsible for all of his atrocities. Kezess is a callous and hypocritical individual who uses the excuse of The Needs of the Many to cover up his own pettiness and desire to maintain his rule. He committed genocide upon the ancestors of Arthur's family, ordered the destruction of Arthur and Tessia's childhood home, and attempted to purge much of Arthur's remaining friends and family in Dicathen for slighting his pride. All the while, Kezess is wholly unrepentant of his actions and fails to empathize with those who have been harmed by them.
• He Knows Too Much: Anyone who uncovers what happened to the djinn, especially if they happen to be asuras, ends up either being exiled or outright killed in secret on Kezess’s orders. Mordain and Agrona are the most notable examples, and it is implied the reason why their clans did not get purged was due to their position in the Great Eight. Arthur only avoids getting struck down as Kezess wants to extract what he has learned about aether.
  Aldir: There were few, even among the asuras, who truly understood what had happened to the djinn. Most asuras never looked beyond Epheotus, and cared nothing for the lessers. Those who did were told a very convincing lie. Those who saw through the lie and cared were dealt with.
• A Hero to His Hometown: Kezess is a revered leader among the asuras and many follow him with unquestioning obedience. This is because not only has his clan reigned over Epheotus since time immemorial, but also because he covers up much of the atrocities he commits.
• History Repeats: In the distant past, Kezess committed genocide on the ancient djinn both out of petty jealousy for their mastery of aether surpassing his own and because their very existence threatened his authority over the other asuras. He went to great lengths to cover up the true nature of the atrocity. Millennia later, and Kezess commits genocide again, albeit inadvertently. In this case, him ordering Aldir to use the World Eater technique to kill the Legacy leads to Elenoir being reduced to a wasteland and the elves being nearly driven to extinction. This time around, with barely any way to skew public opinion to his favor, Kezess receives backlash from the populations of both Dicathen and Epheotus for this atrocity, on top of having broken the very treaty he made with Agrona to regulate the Divine Conflict.
• Hypocrite: Kezess claims that he does not wish to interfere in the setting because of his fears of Mutually Assured Destruction and his own desire to preserve the world. The genocide of the djinn, the desolation of Elenoir, and the attempted extermination of the Dicathian resistance show these statements to be false and that Kezess truly has no regard at all for the lessers, even the Dicathians that he claims to protect as he has shown his true colors and become as much of a threat to them as Agrona.
• I Control My Minions Through...: Kezess controls his minions through a mix of fear, respect, and reverence. Thanks to him concealing his genocidal tendencies and presenting himself as a composed and all-knowing ruler, Kezess has secured the respect of the other asuran clans. That being said, Kezess is known to use fear to get his minions to do some rather reprehensible actions, specifically the fear of him punishing them or their clan for defying his orders.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Kezess has been known to commit some rather reprehensible atrocities, most notably genocide, all for what he calls "the greater good".
• I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: How he gets his servants to do his bidding, no matter how reluctant they are or how reprehensible the deed in question. Aldir only relents to using the World Eater technique due to the implicit threat that Kezess will punish all of the Thyestes Clan should he refuse to go through with it. After the failure of the mission, Kezess pins the blame on Aldir despite the fact that Windsom toying with Nico was what screwed the mission over.
  Aldir: Kneeling, I ran my fingers through the dry, gray nothing that I had created when I followed my lord's command - a command I knew was wrong the moment it was uttered, but to refuse would have risked the future of my entire clan. Lord Indrath would not hesitate to lift another one of the other - more servile - pantheon clans into the Great Eight, and label the Thyestes Clan an anathema...
• Identical Grandson: When Arthur gets a look at a portrait of Kezess's ancestor, the first Lord Kezess Indrath, he notes that the only difference between him and his identically named ancestor is that the latter has his hair cut short and wears a goatee; otherwise, their eyes and facial features are nearly identical.
• Immortal Ruler: Played With. Asuras are not truly immortal but extremely long-lived, and while all of the major events in the leadup to the Divine Conflict occur within Kezess's reign (to the point that he was around long before the rise of modern civilization on both Dicathen and Alacrya, itself a consequence of said conflict) he is far from the first ruler of Epheotus.
• Implied Death Threat: After convening with the Great Eight on the matter of Taci's death, a matter which causes considerable dissent among them when Kezess attempts to skew the narrative in his favor, Kezess adjourns them with this rather threatening remark.
  Kezess: We will reconvene when tempers have calmed so that I am not forced to do something...dramatic.
• Inevitable Mutual Betrayal: After Arthur retakes Dicathen, he is summoned back to Epheotus by Kezess. Even though Arthur knows by now that Kezess is a genocidal tyrant responsible for his fair share of atrocities, he begrudgingly agrees to negotiate with him. In return for Arthur telling him all that he has learned about aether, Kezess would guarantee Epheotus’s protection should the Vritra invade. Both parties know that once Agrona and the Vritra are dealt with that hostilities are bound to resume between them. After all, Kezess is not going to let Arthur’s slights against him off that easily, while Arthur intends to bring Kezess and all of Epheotus to justice for their crimes.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: His introduction paints him as a massive jerkass, especially to lessers like Arthur even though he ostensibly seeks to protect them. However, the care he shows to his granddaughter Sylvie seems to hint at a softer side to him, in particular towards his own family, and that he does have the capacity to care. Those perceptions get thrown out of the window following the reveal that he is a genocidal tyrant who holds as much regard for the lives of lessers as his own nemesis Agrona, on top of being revealed to have a petty and vindictive side to his personality.
• Just Toying with Them: Deconstructed. As the Top God and the ruler of the asuras, Kezess could easily end the Divine Conflict if he wanted to. However, he holds back his power and displays of force. This is because of his Knight Templar tendencies which make him see himself as the good guy and cause him to hold back as he rather hypocritically wants to preserve the world. On top of that, his massive pride causes him underestimate his enemies. This allows Agrona to get ahead of him by miles and even the playing field between the two of them.
  • There is also the fact that Kezess has never faced any sort of major opposition prior to Agrona's exile. The djinn were a Perfect Pacifist People, while Mordain and his followers secluded themselves in the Hearth. In contrast to both, Agrona is The Unfettered and as such has been willing to go to any extreme to get an edge over him. As such, Kezess's inefficient response in dealing with Agrona has basically allowed his nemesis to get a massive head start towards achieving his goals.
• Kick the Dog: When he hears from Windsom of Aldir’s defection, Kezess sends after his rogue general a group of asuran soldiers whom Aldir had trained in the past. Basically, Kezess is sending a message to Aldir that if he wants to leave his service, he will have the mana of the very soldiers he trained on his hands.
• Killing Intent: Being a dragon, Kezess has access to King's Force, a powerful compelling aura which allows him to force anyone into submission. As the supreme ruler of the asuras, Kezess's version of King's Force far surpasses that of his minions.
• King Bob the Nth: He is not the first Kezess Indrath to sit on the throne of Epheotus, but his regnal number is not known as there have been so many Kezess Indraths before him to count.
• Knight Templar: Kezess thinks he is the supreme force of good in the setting, and attempts to justify his atrocities by saying that they are for the greater good.
• Knight Templar Parent: To say he is overprotective of his progeny is an understatement. If he had his way from the start, he would have wiped Agrona and the Vritra Clan off the face of the world the moment the latter came to him with news of his daughter Sylvia's death without paying any heed to the consequences.
• Lack of Empathy: Kezess cares for nobody but himself. He harbors no personal attachment to any of his pawns and does not care if anything happens to them. In particular, when Kezess summons Arthur to negotiate following the latter's reconquest of Dicathen, not once does Kezess express any genuine empathy for the Dicathians (on top of having ordered for the Dicathian resistance to be purged earlier on and not considering how that would affect Arthur's perception of him). When Arthur brings up the subjects of the djinn and Elenoir, Kezess has no remorse over the lives lost because of his actions, and in the case of the former actually threatens Arthur for mentioning them.
• Light Is Not Good: He has pale white hair and skin, wears mostly bright clothing, and rules over the setting’s Home of the Gods. However Kezess is anything but good, as he is in fact a tyrannical and vindictive despot with a penchant for genocide.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Despite Kezess and Agrona being tyrannical deities no better than the other on top of the former being responsible for the latter's Start of Darkness, he is ultimately the lesser of the two evils in that he seeks to preserve the world where Agrona is willing to burn it down in pursuit of his vengeance. As such, Arthur begrudgingly pulls an Enemy Mine with him against Agrona as both had been Out-Gambitted by the latter over the course of the war. Not only did Kezess forcibly summon Arthur to the negotiation table by having Windsom escort him, but Arthur knows that just because Kezess is the lesser of two evils does not mean he is any better than Agrona and should not be let off the hook for his actions.
  • Complicating matters is that when Kezess sends his forces to occupy Dicathen against a potential reprisal from Agrona's forces, they present themselves as exactly that and have slowly tried to turn public opinion against Arthur, an outcome that Arthur cannot stand.
• Magically-Binding Contract: Attempts to impose one upon Arthur during their negotiations, which would devour his core if he breaks their agreement. Arthur is able to undo it in mere moments by pulling Kezess's aether spell into his core to purify it, taking possession of the aether and rendering it harmless to him, and replaces it with a useless imitation of the chain around his core to disguise the change. This allows him to not have to tell Kezess what he knows immediately and forces him to hold up his end of the deal fairly.
• Manipulative Bastard: Kezess is just as manipulative of others as his nemesis Agrona. It does not matter if they are asuras or lessers, everyone is a pawn to be manipulated as far as he is concerned. Not to mention he is prone to lying, obfuscating, and twisting the narrative to suit his ends.
• Mystical White Hair: As a dragon, Kezess has pale white hair. In turn, as dragons are a type of asura, Kezess is not only much more magically adept than the strongest mortal mages, but his very body is infused with mana itself. On top of that, he is also capable of harnessing aether.
• The Needs of the Many: Kezess adheres to this doctrine when it comes to his actions as he is not afraid to sacrifice a few lives to save many more. Unfortunately for the Dicathians, Kezess's definition of "a few" is often much, much, much larger than what that quantity normally entails. On top of that, he tends to value the lives of lessers to a much lower degree when compared to asuras.
  • To illustrate, he was willing to order Aldir to use the World Eater technique on Elenoir in a bid to kill the Legacy. This led to the deaths of millions of Dicathians and Alacryans alike, on top of nearly driving the elves to extinction and reducing their homeland to a desolated wasteland. To add insult to injury, the gambit proved to be All for Nothing as the Legacy managed to escape in the aftermath.
  • When he orders the extermination of the Dicathian resistance, he justifies the act as being over their lack of judgement and faith making them a danger to their homeland. In all actuality, his true reason is a much more petty one in that Virion refusing his offer wounded his pride.
• Never My Fault: While Kezess is for the most part The Unapologetic when confronted about his actions as he justifies them by saying that they are for the greater good, there are a few instances wherein he shifts the blame for his failings onto someone else, oftentimes one of his pawns.
  • When he addresses the Great Eight in the aftermath of Taci's death, he deflects all of the accusations regarding his string of failings in the Divine Conflict before closing the discussion by lying to them by saying that Taci was tricked into destroying himself, rather than admit that he screwed up and sent Taci to get killed by the lessers. Then again, Kezess genuinely believed Taci would succeed in his task, and while he was aware of Arthur's survival and Re-Power, he did not expect him to suddenly intervene and kill Taci.
  • When he and Arthur first meet following the latter's retaking of Dicathen, Kezess says that Dicathen lost the war in the first place because Arthur failed to heed his advice regarding Tessia, which led to both Sylvie's death and Agrona summoning the Legacy using Tessia as her vessel. Arthur calls Kezess out on this accusation by saying that he did not know the true nature of Agrona's plans for the Legacy and got Out-Gambitted by him as well. While not mentioned, Kezess also does not admit that another reason why Dicathen lost the war was his failed Decapitation Strike on Alacrya that led to Agrona revoking Epheotus's involvement as a violation of the treaty.
  • During the later part of their negotiations, Arthur brings up what happened to Elenoir and has Kezess promise him that what happened there will never happen again. While Kezess agrees to that promise, he does not accept the full responsibility for what happened. Instead, Kezess offers Arthur the life of Aldir - who carried out his order to destroy Elenoir - to accomplish what he considers justice for the act. Arthur is not at all amused that Kezess is attempting to shift the blame for his atrocities away from himself.
    Arthur: So your idea of giving us "justice" is to have us clean up the mess you yourself made? I know you don't think much about us "lessers", but come on.
• Not Good with Rejection: While not in a romantic sense, to say Kezess does not take very well to anyone refusing him is a massive understatement.
  • When he first learned of the djinn and their mastery over aether, he at first tried to acquire their knowledge diplomatically albeit by warning them that their aether abilities would pose a threat to the world if they did not teach his clan. The djinn stated that they could not do so as aether requires one's own personal insight to master and so could not be taught in a traditional pedagogic manner. Kezess took their apparent refusal rather badly, and seeing that their continued existence posed a threat to his and his clan's authority over the asuras he called for their complete extermination and all traces of their existence wiped from the face of the world.
  • When Virion is confronted by the Dicathians about the true nature of Kezess's crimes - namely his orchestration of Elenoir's destruction and the new artifacts he is offering being meant to brainwash their wielders into serving him - he confesses the truth about his collaboration and allows the populace to vote over whether or not they should take up Kezess's offer. Naturally, when the majority vote against the offer, Virion proclaims that they will refuse Kezess's hand in friendship and fight to retake their homeland by themselves. With his pride being hurt by Virion's defiance of him, Kezess orders for Virion and all of the people with him to be exterminated.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • Not from Kezess himself, but to anyone who knows the true nature of the Divine Conflict, it is very easy to compare him to his Arch-Enemy Agrona 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.
  • He does deliver one to Arthur when the latter returns to Epheotus in the wake of Oludari's capture to call him out for not fulfilling his end of their bargain when it comes to averting Collateral Damage. Kezess restates to Arthur that he won't hesitate to sacrifice one life for the greater good before reminding Arthur that he himself said that he was willing to kill millions of Alacryans to save thousands of Dicathians.
• Not So Omniscient After All: As the Top God, Kezess should know everything that is going on in the setting, especially since he has agents such as Windsom to observe for him. However, he is not all-knowing as Agrona was able to conceal his true plans from and thus level the playing field between them in the Divine Conflict. This is Justified as due to the treaty that defines said conflict any direct participation from the asuras is prohibited, and thanks to Agrona having foiled any assassination attempt that Kezess orders on him it is highly likely that any spies Kezess could have sent to observe Agrona got killed.
  • When he meets with Arthur after the latter retakes Dicathen, he reprimands him about how his failure to heed his advice regarding Tessia to both Sylvie's death and Agrona turning her into the Legacy's vessel. In turn, Arthur calls Kezess out by saying that he did not know the true nature of Agrona's plans for the Legacy and got Out-Gambitted by him as well.
• Not So Stoic: Normally, Kezess presents himself in an aloof and stern manner that barely betrays any emotion from him. However, when Arthur calls him out on how he has not been willing to take the fight to Agrona and the Vritra despite having already committed genocide on the djinn, Kezess finally snaps at Arthur and lets out an uncharacteristic outburst in which he tries to defend his actions by saying he has been trying to keep the world alive.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: In spite of Kezess claiming that he committed the genocide of the djinn to protect the world from their uncontrolled aether arts, other characters such as Sylvia, Agrona, and Arthur recognize that what really drove him to commit such an atrocity was his petty jealousy that a race of "lessers" has managed to surpass him and his kind when it comes to the control of aether. This is reinforced by the Pensieve Flashback Arthur experiences in the third ruin. In said flashback, Kezess is clearly shown to not be buying Sae-Areum's explanation as to why she cannot just teach him how to use aether as aether requires one's own personal insight to master, showing a lack of patience on his part.
  • His briefing to Windsom and Aldir prior to sending them off to prevent the Legacy from being summoned reveals that Kezess is perfectly willing to sacrifice the entire populations of both Dicathen and Alacrya if that is what it takes to put an end to Agrona, showing that he ultimately does not care for the lessers that he claims to look out for.
    Kezess: What we will do is send a message that Agrona cannot ignore. He has so far used the lessers as a shield, holding their lives hostage to protect his own. No longer. If the choice is between giving him the power to move against us or tearing down the world, then I will see it all burn.
  • On paper, he orders the purging of the Dicathian resistance because he deemed their lack of judgment and faith as a threat to their people and homeland. In all actuality, he orchestrated it only out of the fact that Virion refusing his admittedly ulterior offer wounded his pride, causing him to deem that they were no longer useful to him.
• Offended by an Inferior's Success: When he discovered the existence of the djinn, Kezess was extremely jealous that their mastery of aether surpassed that of his own. On top of that, seeing a race of the so-called "lessers" wielding aether was a threat to his and his clan's authority over the asuras. As such, after failing to negotiate with the djinn regarding them teaching him and his clan their aether arts, Kezess resorted to genocide to resolve the matter.
• Orcus on His Throne: Justified. Even moreso than Agrona, Kezess has done very little himself despite being one of the main antagonists. All of his appearances occur in Epheotus, specifically within the domain of his own clan, and in said appearances he is only discussing plans regarding the Divine Conflict with either the other asuras or Arthur. 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.
  • While he is aware of Agrona sending his servants to search the Relictombs, it is something he cannot respond to as not only are the Relictombs designed to repel asuras, but sending someone into the Relictombs risks his genocide of the djinn coming to light. However, given how he has discredited Agrona in the eyes of the other asuras, the risk of him exposing that secret is lessened especially since he has gone to great lengths to obfuscate the Relictombs' existence like everything associated with the djinn to the rest of the asuras.
• Out-Gambitted: Despite Kezess being a Chessmaster himself, Agrona is always one step ahead of him in the game of chess that is the Divine Conflict. And whenever it happens, disastrous consequences follow for the enemies of the Vritra.
  • After exiling the Vritra Clan, Kezess hears word of Agrona's activities in Alacrya. He promptly sends a group of asuras to perform a Decapitation Strike. When the group arrives, Agrona is waiting for them with a group of Vritra-blooded mutants and kills them all. He then brings 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 push 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.
  • His attempt to kill the Legacy and the ensuing destruction of Elenoir. After Kezess finally catches onto the true nature of Agrona's plan, he sends Windsom and Aldir to Elenoir to prevent the Legacy from being summoned. Unfortunately, the Legacy has already been summoned, and with the Godzilla Threshold having been passed Aldir is ordered to use the World Eater technique. The fallout from the situation is disastrous: The Legacy escaped, Elenoir is reduced to a barren wasteland and the elves are nearly driven to extinction, and Agrona now has his casus belli to invade Epheotus as Kezess has broken the treaty. The only silver lining that Kezess gets out of the whole fiasco is that thousands of Agrona's soldiers got killed as well, but that means very little as those soldiers were expendable to Agrona.
    Arthur: 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?
  • For an example not involving Agrona, when Kezess attempts to force the Magically-Binding Contract upon Arthur during their negotiations, the latter is able to briefly reverse the bindings that would immediately force him to tell Kezess his insight so that he is not immediately affected by them. This forces Kezess to uphold his end of their bargain while Arthur can choose when he wants to fulfill his end.
• Papa Wolf: He is very protective of his close family, especially his daughter and granddaughter. Naturally the death of the former and Heroic Sacrifice of the latter affect him greatly. After Sylvie is resurrected, he demands that she be returned to Epheotus immediately. When she refuses his summons and stays by Arthur's side (due to knowing Kezess's true nature and seeing Arthur as her true father), Kezess instead tries to ensure to the best of his ability that she has an asuran escort other than Arthur at all times, as he is now able to deploy his forces following the treaty being broken and does not want to lose her a second time.
• Pet the Dog: A Downplayed example, given how it is limited to only his immediate family. When he is first introduced, he immediately takes Sylvie from Arthur and into his care. After Arthur and Sylvie return from Epheotus, Sylvie speaks of him and Myre in a respectful manner implying they treated her rather well during their stay. It is also revealed that due to Sylvie's heritage and upbringing making her a potential target for discrimination among the asuras, even from within the Indrath Clan itself, Kezess had her insulated from much of that prejudice.
  • The latter part actually works against him as due to being sheltered from the rest of her clan, Sylvie did not have the chance to interact with them a lot. In turn, this makes it easier for her to side with Arthur against her own clan as she never had a strong connection with them on top of learning of the various atrocities they have committed.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Arguably one of the most defining elements of his character. Despite being a genocidal tyrant, his Knight Templar mindset makes him genuinely see himself as the good guy. As such, his interactions with the Dicathians he claims to protect have been rather sparse and capricious.
  • In spite of his disdain for relying on lessers and wanting to stay above their affairs, Kezess empowers the royal families of Dicathen by bestowing them the Artifacts of Power that would be wielded by the first Lances, who in turn empowered their fellows and thus led to the rise of mages on the continent. Later, as part of his deal with Arthur, Kezess sends down his forces to occupy Dicathen both to rebuild the continent and protect it from a potential reconquest by Agrona and his servants. Nevermind the fact that two weeks earlier he had ordered for the extermination of the Dicathian resistance for going against him.
  • Part of the reason why this trait defines Kezess is that Agrona frequently exploits it to gain an advantage over him. The treaty that defines the Divine Conflict came to be because of it. While Kezess wanted to deal with Agrona himself, the other members of the Great Eight feared that in doing so he would end up destroying the world, an outcome that stood against everything he espoused. It benefits Agrona by forbidding any direct participation by the asuras, which forces both sides to rely on lessers as pawns, a prospect that Kezess is rather indignant about. He knows that Kezess would do very little to empower the Dicathians, and so he empowers the Alacryans to a much superior degree.
• Precursor Killers: He was the one who ordered the genocide of the djinn, the so-called ancient mages of Dicathen, and ordered their existence wiped from history. All out of his own petty jealousy over their knowledge of aether surpassing his own.
• Purple Is Powerful: He is the Top God of the setting and in his appearance features several instances of purple to reflect his power. His eyes are purple, his skin has a slight purplish shade, and parts of his attire are purple including several purple jewels. Not to mention as a dragon he is one of the most powerful aether wielders alive in the setting other than Arthur and Sylvie and aether manifests in the form of purple energy.
• Pure Is Not Good: He is a master of manipulating mana in its purest state, but he himself is a tyrannical ruler who is jealous of those who surpass his mastery.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Averted. When Agrona brought word of Sylvia's death to him, Kezess was about to go to war with him for murdering his daughter without any regard for the consequences, but the rest of the asuras voiced their opposition towards what he was planning as it threatened to level the world and pushed for a treaty.
• Slave to PR: Part of the reason Kezess holds back his power is not only because he is a Knight Templar, but because he does not want to lose his and his clan's standing and authority among the rest of the asuras.
  • He could have easily had both Mordain and Agrona's clans wiped out for opposing his genocide of the djinn, but had to settle for exiling them and covering up the nature of their disappearances because to have clans that were part of the Great Eight be suddenly wiped out for no good reason would not do him any favors in terms of publicity and reputation.
  • He also treats the deaths of any asuras he had sent to die with a manufactured sense of reverence just to placate their grieving clansfolk, as in actuality he is so aloof, self-righteous, and uncaring that he couldn't be bothered to care any less about them.
  • As for lessers who defy him, it is much easier for him to call for their extermination as they are not people he cares about and he can easily twist the narrative surrounding them before the rest of the asuras, especially since most asuras do not care about what happens in the outside world thanks to their doctrine of non-interference.
• Slouch of Villainy: His first scene has him slouching on his throne. While he was not revealed to be evil just yet, he still acted in an incredibly dismissive manner towards Arthur.
• The Sociopath: Like his Arch-Enemy Agrona, Kezess at his core is a near-textbook example. While he does not have a tragic backstory to make him that way, Kezess himself is so aloof and self-centered regarding his own personal desires and sense of justice that he sees everyone under his command as little more pawns in a game of chess. He is a cold-blooded manipulator who when put to the test does not care about how many lives are lost in his hypocritical desire to protect the world, and he has no empathy for anyone who gets caught up in the consequences of his actions.
• Super-Empowering: To prepare the Dicathians for war with the Alacryans, Kezess ordered Windsom to give the three royal families - Houses Glayder, Greysunder, and Eralith - two Artifacts of Power each that they would use to empower chosen servants, who would become the first Lances. In turn, the first Lances would teach others their art, which led to the rise of mages on Dicathen.
• Targeted to Hurt the Hero: Discussed. Before Arthur departs from Epheotus to join the war, Kezess tells him that he needs to dismiss his feelings for Tessia if he wants to win the war as his love for her would make her a target for his enemies to exploit. Naturally, Arthur does not, which leads to him and Sylvie's Heroic Sacrifice to allow Tessia to escape capture by the Alacryans only for that to be All for Nothing as Tessia ended up being captured again and turned into the vessel for the Legacy. As such, when Kezess meets with Arthur for the first time since then, he calls him out on how his failure to heed his advice regarding Tessia led to Agrona getting what he wanted as well as Sylvie's apparent death.
  • Notably, this advice falls flat as even if Arthur had done as Kezess advised, Agrona already intended to have Tessia captured and Reforged into a Minion as the Legacy's vessel. As such, if Arthur had left her to her fate Agrona would have summoned the Legacy much earlier than he did.
• Tautological Templar: Because Kezess sees himself as the supreme force of good, he naturally believes that everything he does is correct no matter how reprehensible it may be.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He really does not like having to rely on the lessers to do the fighting for him, but has no other choice without breaking the treaty. After the treaty is broken and Arthur reconquers Dicathen, he begrudgingly reaches out to Arthur to strike a Bargain with Heaven and pull an Enemy Mine with him against Agrona, even though he despises Arthur for failing to protect Sylvie and humiliating him by slaying Taci and thus foiling his plan to exterminate the Dicathian resistance.
• Time Abyss: In spite of the asuras not being truly immortal, all of the major events in the novel's backstory and the leadup to the Divine Conflict can be traced back to Kezess's reign. He is older than the modern civilizations on both Dicathen and Alacrya. In the Pensieve Flashback Arthur experiences in the third ruin to the events leading up to the genocide of the djinn in the distant past, Kezess looks exactly the same as he does in the present.
• Time Master: His mastery of aether allows him to freeze time.
• Top God: As the current head of the Indrath Clan, themselves the rulers of the asuras, Kezess is effectively the supreme god of the setting.
• The Unapologetic: Kezess harbors zero remorse for the many atrocities he committed.
• Unpleasant Parent Reveal: Imagine finding out that your grandfather dearest, who seems to be a much better person than your Archnemesis Dad, is in fact a genocidal tyrant whose past atrocities were responsible for your father's Start of Darkness in the first place. This is who Sylvie has to contend being related to, as if being Agrona's own daughter was not enough.
• Unreliable Expositor: Considering his true nature, Kezess is prone to skewing the narrative to make him look good and to maintain his power. He often omits facts that would make his cause look bad, in particular hiding his penchant for genocide. That being said, during his negotiations with Arthur in Volume 10 he makes no effort to hide his true nature as the latter already knows of his atrocities.
  Sylvia: (To Arthur) And through your exposure to my people, you've certainly received a very one-sided story.
• Uriah Gambit: Combined with Xanatos Gambit. When he hears of Aldir's defection, Kezess has Windsom take a detachment of asuran soldiers that Aldir trained in the past to apprehend him. Being the One-Man Army that he is, Aldir is able to slaughter them all save for Windsom. However, while the soldiers failed to apprehend Aldir, their deaths ensured that Kezess was able to discredit his former general in the eyes of the rest of the asuras and deny him any support, on top of breaking Aldir's will to fight.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: His end goal is to preserve the world for both the asuras and the lessers. Unfortunately for everyone (especially the latter), it is a selfish goal that stems out of his desire to maintain his rule, and one that he is willing to go so far as to commit genocide just to maintain it.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Kezess is for the most part revered by the other asuras thanks to the lengths he has gone to cover up any sign of weakness or the various atrocities he committed. Though thanks to his string of failings in the Divine Conflict this image of his is slowly starting to crumble as more and more asuras begin to question his leadership.
• Villainous Parental Instinct: Despite being a genocidal tyrant, Kezess does have one redeeming quality, which is that he does care for his daughter and granddaughter. He was about to go to war with Agrona for orchestrating Sylvia's death before being placated by the rest of the Great Eight. After Sylvie is brought to Epheotus, he takes her under his and Myre's care and shields her from any negative attention she might face due to her blood ties to Agrona. Later on during his negotiations with Arthur, what Kezess is most furious with him for is the fact that Sylvie sacrificed herself to save him.
  • He can be seen as a partial Deconstruction of this trope. Just because he is overprotective of his progeny does not endear either of them to him or cause them to overlook his actions. As a manner of fact, his love for both his daughter and granddaughter blinds him to the fact that they have both secretly turned against him as him being a genocidal tyrant overrules any kindness he might show them.
• Walking Spoiler: It is impossible to discuss him without revealing that he is a genocidal tyrant whose atrocities are indirectly responsible for the main conflict of the story. The fact that some characters such as Mordain, Taci, and the djinn themselves, cannot be discussed without revealing his true nature just goes to show how big of a spoiler The Reveal surrounding Kezess is and how pivotal it is to the plot.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Mordain. When Kezess ordered for the genocide of the djinn, Mordain stood against his former friend. This forced Kezess to exile him and cover up not just the genocide, but the fate of Mordain himself.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Claims that everything he does is for safety of the entire world. He justifies the genocide of the djinn by saying that their uncontrolled aether arts were a threat to the world, and if they did not teach him and the asuras how to wield it he would have to resort to what he ended up doing.
  Kezess: If you know what happened to the djinn, then certainly you see that I won't hesitate to sacrifice one lesser life for the greater good.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Kezess has Mystical White Hair, but in all actuality is a callous and petty tyrant responsible for much of the suffering in the setting.
• Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide": He does not like admitting what he did to the djinn was an unjustified genocide and tries to spin it in a way that saves him face while downplaying how reprehensible his action was. For the most part, he presents as a case of I Did What I Had to Do to preserve the world by saying that their aether arts posed a threat to the world.
• Written by the Winners: He went to great lengths to conceal his genocide of the djinn to the point of Un-personing their very existence from the rest of the asuras. To those who are aware of the djinn and their fate, Kezess presents what happened to them as a preemptive strike to prevent them from threatening the world. He does have a way to justify this as in doing so he implicitly compares them to the wraiths, a extinct race of asuras whose warmongering aspirations led to a destructive war that nearly leveled the world and left the asuras with a species-wide Heel Realization in the aftermath.
• Yin-Yang Clash: His rivalry with Agrona is this trope, given their contrasting powers and Light/Darkness Juxtaposition. Though it turns out to be a case of Evil Versus Evil.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Kezess is rather callous when it comes to disposing of pawns that have failed him. Case in point, when his attempt to take control of the Dicathian resistance is exposed and Virion decides to turn against him, Kezess decides to send Taci down to exterminate them all for stinging his pride. Even entire clans on the Great Eight are not exempt from his wrath should he deem them as having failed their purpose, though thanks to him wanting to maintain his authority among the asuras, the most he can do is simply exile them and cover up his reasons for doing so.
  Seris: (To Aldir) I know genocide makes you somewhat irritable, Lord Aldir, but I wasn't the one who ordered the deaths of millions of innocent elves. Do you think he considered what the act would do to you? Perhaps he did, but then, if a sword breaks, you simply forge another, you do not mourn the loss of steel.

Myre Indrath

Myre Indrath

Debut: Volume 5 (Novel), Chapter 157 (Webcomic)

"I don't just treat anyone, you know. But I wanted to meet the human boy who will supposedly become the savior of the world."

The Matriarch of the Indrath Clan, Myre is Kezess’s wife and Sylvia’s mother. She acts as Arthur's second trainer during his time in Epheotus, where she furthers his insight into aether.

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• Actually Pretty Funny: She is amused by Arthur's confusion when she first met him. Then by his reaction when he discovered that she is Kezess's wife.
• Beautiful All Along: When Arthur first meets her, she poses as an Elderly Immortal. Only when Arthur learns of her connection to Kezess does she assume a form that is as youthful as her consort.
• Foreshadowing: Despite knowing very little about her, Arthur deduces that Myre holds some high status in the Indrath Clan, especially since not only did Windsom, himself an elder among the asuras, bow to her, but told him that he was in no position to tell him who Myre is. On top of that, Myre takes a noticeably personal interest in Arthur unlike Kordri or Wren. Sure enough, when he leaves Epheotus to rejoin the war, Arthur learns Myre is Kezess's wife and Sylvia's mother.
• God Couple: Myre is married to Kezess, and both are the leaders of the Indrath Clan.
• The Mentor: She taught Arthur how to read and counter the spells using Realmheart.
• Pet the Dog: She takes an interest in Arthur due to his connection to her daughter Sylvia, in particular the presence of her beast will in his core.
• Really Royalty Reveal: Arthur only learns after finishing his training in Epheotus that Myre is Kezess's wife and the Matriarch of the Indrath Clan.
• Training from Hell: She does not hold back while training Arthur as she is not afraid to injure him and says he needs to prevent her from doing so. Even Arthur says Kordri's training is like a puppy training session compared to hers.

Sylvia Indrath

Sylvia Indrath

Debut: Volume 1 (Novel), Chapter 13 (Webcomic)

"You will come across misfortunes again, but don't let grief and rage corrode your mind. Learn from them and face the future with a smile. Only then will you truly be victorious."

The princess of the Indrath Clan, Sylvia is the daughter of Kezess and Myre. She saves the young Arthur after he gets separated from his family following a tragic accident and proceeds to nurse him back to health. Her time with him gets cut short when she is discovered by the Scythe Cadell Vritra and fatally wounded. She is forced to send Arthur away to safety, but not before bequeathing him the egg containing her unborn daughter Sylvie and setting him off on the path to end the Divine Conflict.

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• Aerith and Bob: Her name is noticeably more mundane than the other asuras.
• Dark Is Not Evil: During her time raising Arthur, Sylvia is in the form of a basilisk and thus resembles a monstrous black humanoid with Horns of Villainy and Red Eyes, Take Warning. However, Sylvia is one of the most selfless individuals in the setting, especially considering the true nature of her own kind and their complete disdain of lessers.
  Arthur: Sylvia was the living embodiment of the phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover". Contrary to her trauma-inducing appearance, she was kind, gentle, patient, and warm.
• Dating Catwoman: She is later revealed to have once loved Agrona before his fall from grace. When she came to visit him in Alacrya, she realized the Agrona she once loved no longer exists as he has been consumed by his desire for vengeance.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Suffice to say Kezess was not very approving of his daughter's relationship with Agrona, especially since it led to her own death.
  Kezess: Do not forget that it was her own uninformed love for a creature as cruel and vicious as Agrona that resulted in her death.
• Death by Origin Story: Her death is pivotal to Arthur’s character development, as she sets Arthur on the path to end the Divine Conflict that has been going on in the setting. Not only that, but before she sends him off she bequeaths him the egg containing her daughter Sylvie, who would not only go on to become Arthur's bond but also the reason why his reincarnation did not go according to Agrona's plan.
• Delightful Dragon: A gentle dragon who took care of the young Arthur when he was injured, nursed him back to health, and trained him, Sylvia is perhaps the most selfless individuals in the entire setting aside from her daughter. Which is all the more surprising considering her clan is a faction of genocidal Knight Templars.
• Good Wears White: Sylvia is a white dragon and is benevolent in nature.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Sylvia has white-blonde hair and is benevolent in nature.
• Heroic Sacrifice: She sacrifices herself to protect Arthur from Cadell.
• I Can Change My Beloved: It is revealed the reason she was outside of Epheotus to begin with was that she had secretly went down in the hope of finding the Agrona she once loved and to save him from the assassins her father had sent to kill him. Unfortunately, by the time she got to him, Agrona had long since passed the point of redemption.
• I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: Before she is finished off by Cadell, she bequeaths Arthur the egg that contains her unborn daughter Sylvie for safekeeping.
• The Mentor: She trains Arthur during his brief time with her and teaches him mana rotation.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Her time with Arthur is brief as Cadell discovers her hiding place and fatally wounds her.
• Morphic Resonance: Arthur only recognizes a portrait of her in her human form because she has the same eyes that she had in her draconic form.
• Morality Chain Beyond the Grave: To Arthur. The memory of his time with her is what keeps him from going back down the path his past life went and wanting to exterminate all of the asuras for the atrocities they have done onto him and his people. It serves as a reminder to him that the asuras are not entirely evil and it would be wrong for him to assume that they are. After all, exterminating the asuras would make him no better than either Agrona or Kezess themselves. It also makes his arrival into the Hearth a less hostile experience for him, even though the asura who summoned him there was the one who destroyed Elenoir. He even pays his respects to her by leaving her empty mana core behind when he briefly returns to Epheotus.
• Mr. Exposition: Posthumous example. Her second message to Arthur has her reveal to him the truth of why the Divine Conflict started, the Indrath Clan's genocide of the djinn, her relationship to Agrona, and Agrona's plans for the djinn ruins. This serves to set up Arthur's next course of action from that point onward, other than to find a way back to Dicathen and liberate the continent.
• My Secret Pregnancy: Considering who she had been romantically involved with, the moment Sylvia discovered she was pregnant a few months after his exile, she knew her clan and the rest of the Great Eight would never approve of her offspring. This is one of the major factors for her not only stowing away with the strike force Kezess sent to assassinate Agrona, but for her remaining in hiding in Dicathen afterward to protect her child.
• Parental Substitute: Briefly acts as one to Arthur after he got separated from his family following a bandit ambush. Before she sends him off to protect him from Cadell, she asks Arthur if he would call her "Grandma" which he tearfully acquiesces to. Even long after her death, he still refers to her as such.
• Plot-Triggering Death: Played With. While she was not killed until early on in the novel, her presumed death millennia ago played a major role in the formation of the Divine Conflict. In addition, her actual death at the hands of Cadell would set Arthur on the path to end said conflict.
• Really Royalty Reveal: Arthur learns from Windsom that Sylvia is in fact the daughter of Kezess, the ruler of the asuras. He thus realizes that his late Parental Substitute had been the princess of the gods.
• Rebellious Princess: Sylvia had no respect for her father and her clan for their genocide of the djinn. Not only that, she had stowed away with the group of asuras her father sent to kill Agrona because she thought she could reason with her former paramour, only for that to fail when she learned Agrona was Beyond Redemption. Afterwards, Sylvia went into hiding for millennia from both Kezess and Agrona until Arthur came across her abode. She would instill in the young boy a drive to end the Divine Conflict and stop both Kezess and Agrona, on top of bequeathing him the unborn Sylvie so that she would be raised away from either side of her family.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Arthur finds out from the first posthumous message she left for him after she sacrificed herself to save him that she was aware of his past life as King Grey the entire time.
• Time Abyss: As her presumed death was responsible for the treaty that defines the Divine Conflict, she has been in hiding in Dicathen for longer than the existence of mages on that continent, for a result of that treaty was the Super-Empowering of the Dicathians on her father's orders.
• Token Heroic Orc: Given that not only did she genuinely care for Arthur like a doting grandmother, but she was willing to come clean to him (albeit posthumously) about the atrocities her father committed in order to put Arthur on the path to ending the Divine Conflict and bringing him to justice.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Is perhaps the most benevolent and goodhearted individual in the entire novel, especially considering her clan's true nature as a faction of genocidal Knight Templars. It was her personality that eventually led to her death early on in the novel.
• Unseen No More: Variant. Her human form was not revealed until Volume 11 when Arthur revisits Epheotus and recognizes her portrait through her eyes.
• White Sheep: Sylvia was the sole good member of the Indrath Clan due to her benevolent personality and opposition towards her father's genocide of the djinn. After her death, her daughter ended up following in her footsteps in being a much better person and standing up against her own clan.
• Worf Had the Flu: Cadell is able to finish her off as Sylvia was severely injured at the time and not at her full strength, being a shadow of her former self.

Windsom Indrath

Windsom Indrath

Debut: Volume 4 (Novel), Chapter 121 (Webcomic)

"I am Lord Indrath’s envoy to this world. And as such, I am here to fetch you. Come, Arthur. Lord Indrath would speak with you."

Kezess’s envoy to the mortal world, Windsom is the first asura introduced in the story since Sylvia and Sylvie to establish contact with Arthur and inform him of the impending war with the Vritra. He is later revealed to have been the so-called deity who gave the forefathers of the royal families of Dicathen the Artifacts of Power that gave rise to the Lances and thus the presence of mages on Dicathen. He and Aldir are sent down to Dicathen in the leadup to the Alacryan invasion to act as advisors to the Council.

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• Aloof Ally: Windsom acts in a dismissive manner towards the lessers he claims to look out for.
• Angels in Overcoats: An unorthodox example. While Windsom is a dragon rather than an angel, Dragons Are Divine in the setting and Windsom acts as Kezess’s emissary to the mortal world much like the Archangel Gabriel. Windsom’s default attire is an overcoat that he wears on top of a black military uniform.
• Big Damn Heroes: He and Aldir are sent to the Council Castle by Kezess both to purge the Council of corruption and free Arthur and Sylvie. Windsom takes up the responsibility of doing the latter.
• Black Eyes of Evil: Windsom's eyes are mostly black due to resembling miniature galaxies, and he later turns out to be both loyal to a genocidal tyrant and uncaring of the very mortals he claims to protect.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Windsom is often complicit in some of his master's worst atrocities, but he treats it as just himself doing his job without any regard for the lives caught up in the upheaval. Not helping matters is that oftentimes Windsom is just the Mouth of Sauron and it is other asura, such as Aldir or Taci, who carry out said atrocities. To illustrate, when Arthur calls him out for allowing Elenoir's destruction, Windsom does not even seem to register the gravity of what Arthur is asking him, and he delivers his eventual reply in a cold and uncaring manner.
  Arthur: Did you try to talk him out of it?
  Windsom: I'm not sure what you mean.
  Arthur: Elenoir. As envoy to this world, did you try to talk Lord Indrath out of the attack on Elenoir?
  Windsom: No. I volunteered to go along and ensure General Aldir was able to complete the mission.
• Co-Dragons: He and Aldir are Kezess’s main subordinates. Until Aldir becomes a Defector from Decadence, leaving Windsom as Kezess’s sole dragon.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Subverted: Windsom is garbed in a black and gold military uniform, but he is an ally. At least, until the Indrath Clan's true nature is revealed, with Windsom himself being completely loyal to a genocidal tyrant and utterly dismissive of the lessers he claims to protect.
• The Dragon: A literal example working as Kezess’s right hand (though Kezess himself is also a dragon). This is especially true following Aldir’s departure. Later on, when Kezess sends his forces to occupy Dicathen, Windsom takes command of all asuran forces across the continent.
• Emissary from the Divine: Windsom acts as Kezess's personal envoy and so delivers his messages to their intended audiences, as well as escorting people (usually Arthur) to and from Epheotus.
• Enigmatic Empowering Entity: In the distant past, Windsom was sent by Kezess to present the forefathers of the royal families of Dicathen with the artifacts that would empower the first Lances and in turn the first mages on the continent. As this event occurred millennia ago, the exact details of what happened have become Shrouded in Myth among the royal families.
• Exotic Eye Designs: Windsom’s eyes resemble that of miniature galaxies.
• God Was My Copilot: He disguises himself as a cat when looking for Arthur and Sylvie.
• Hidden Disdain Reveal: Despite being Kezess's envoy to the lessers, with The Reveal of the Indrath Clan's true nature, it comes to light that Windsom has a complete lack of empathy towards his charges bordering on outright contempt, a disdain that is made painfully clear in his own internal narration.
• Humans Are Insects: Despite what he claims, Windsom has a extremely low opinion of the lessers, and could not care even the slightest if his master wiped them all out. He even has the gall to think that escalating the war at the expense of the remaining Dicathians might lead to him receiving a higher rank in Kezess's court.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Like his master, Windsom acts in aloof manner towards the lessers, but he does seem to show some care for Sylvie given how she is his master's granddaughter. Then comes The Reveal that the Indrath are genocidal Knight Templars, and Windsom turns out to have absolutely zero regard for the lessers he claims to protect. This is best shown when he cold-heartedly condemns the very same Dicathians he came to protect years ago to death for not conforming to his master's plans.
• Jerkass Gods: A special instance. Out of all the asuras, Windsom's complete and utter disdain for lessers is made painfully clear in his thoughts and dialogue, especially after the true nature of the Indrath is revealed.
• Just Toying with Them: When he frees Arthur from his wrongful imprisonment by the Council, Bairon attempts to put Windsom in his place. Windsom, being an asura, is able to No-Sell Bairon’s attacks and bring him to heel without using his full power.
• Lack of Empathy: Like his master Kezess, in truth Windsom harbors no regard for the lives of the lessers and is more than willing to sacrifice their lives without a shred of remorse.
• The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday: In order to establish contact with Arthur and Sylvie, Windsom creates a illusory shop in Xyrus, the aptly named "Windsom's Potions and Elixirs", that Arthur and Sylvie wander into while shopping. He takes the opportunity to give Arthur a mystical orb that the latter ends up using to placate Tessia's beast will. When Arthur goes back to where the shop was, it has vanished.
• Morphic Resonance: In his first appearance, he appears in the guise of a cat. Said cat form sports the same unique eye pattern than he normally possesses.
• Mouth of Sauron: He acts as Kezess’s envoy to the mortal world and delivers his messages to their intended audiences. Following the reveal of the Indrath Clan’s true nature, Windsom becomes a more traditional example. Case in point, when Taci is sent down to exterminate the Dicathian resistance, Windsom accompanies him to declare to the Dicathians why they are about to die.
  Windsom: Our alliance has failed. You have shown yourselves to be lacking in judgement and weak in faith. You are a danger to your own nation, to the future of your own races. For this, Lord Indrath has deemed it necessary to eliminate this sanctuary and all that reside within.
• Mr. Exposition: Windsom serves to provide exposition to both Arthur and the audience about the overarching Divine Conflict that drives the plot of the novel, and of its key players, the asuras of Epheotus. Unfortunately, he turns out to be an Unreliable Expositor who skews the narrative to hide any and all faults that his side has in their ledger. And the Indrath have entire civilizations' worth of red in theirs.
• Spotting the Thread: Shortly after Kezess addresses the other asuras in the aftermath of Taci’s death. Windsom privately approaches Aldir and tells him that when he returned to the djinn sanctuary, he found a tomb for the Lance Aya Grephin, who should not have been there as Aldir was supposed to have killed her and the other Lances himself at the Council Castle. Aldir confesses that he let the Lances go, before letting Windsom know he sees Kezess for who he really is and no longer wishes to serve him.
• Super-Empowering: He is the asura who gave the royal families the artifacts that would give rise to the six Lances. In turn, the original Lances taught others the knowledge they learned from their artifacts, in the process giving rise to mages in Dicathen.
• Sympathetic Villain, Despicable Villain: As Kezess's Co-Dragons, Windsom is the Despicable Villain to Aldir's Sympathetic Villain. While Aldir does have a sense of morality that eventually drives him to turn against Kezess, Windsom is little more than Kezess's Mouth of Sauron and a loyal and sycophantic savant who echoes his genocidal tyrant of a master in personality and attitude.
• Time Abyss: Aside from being the very asura who bestowed the royal families of Dicathen with their artifacts many generations ago, Windsom notes in his narration that he is older than the forefathers of the elven race.
• Undying Loyalty: Is completely loyal to Kezess.
• Unreliable Expositor: Considering his master is a Manipulative Bastard, Windsom is prone to delivering statements that are skewed to fit his master's narrative while oftentimes omitting truths that would make his cause seem untrustworthy.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Aldir after the latter's defection from Epheotus.
• Yes-Man: Windsom is so loyal to Kezess that much of his personality and statements echo that of his master. The only reason he is not a Sycophantic Servant is that as Kezess' right-hand, Windsom is more than capable of handling himself though he has been put in his place by other asuras like Charon
• You Are Too Late: By the time he and Aldir arrive in Elenoir to stop the Legacy from being summoned, it has already happened.

Vajrakor Indrath

Vajrakor Indrath

Debut: Volume 11 (Novel)

A general of the Indrath who is sent down by Kezess as part of his deal with Arthur to safeguard Dicathen, Vajrakor acts as the Guardian of Vildorial.

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• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: His name is derived from the Vajra, the Bolt of Divine Retribution wielded by his clan's namesake, Indra.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: None of the Dicathians are fond of him, especially given what happened the last time an asura came down from Epheotus. Him being an absolute Jerkass does nothing to help his image.

Charon Indrath

Charon Indrath

Debut: Volume 11 (Novel)

A general of the Indrath who is sent down by Kezess as part of his deal with Arthur to safeguard Dicathen, Charon acts as the Guardian of Etisin.

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• Collateral Damage: In a brief vision of the future that Arthur and Sylvie experience, when the Wraiths attack Etisin, Charon's transformation into his dragon form causes a lot more Dicathian casualties than the Wraiths.
• Covered in Scars: His body is covered with the injuries he has sustained from his millennia of combat experience.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Despite being of the Indrath Clan, Charon seems to be rather decent and respectful when compared to his fellow dragons. That being said, he does briefly act in a manner that makes him no better than his clan when the subject of what to do with the Alacryan refugees in Elenoir is brought up in the wake of Oludari's flight, as he proposes simply exterminating them all where they stand to prevent them from turning back to Agrona.
• Jerkass Has a Point: As much as his proposal to wipe out the Alacryan enclave in Elenoir is an immoral act of genocide in line with the rest of the Indrath Clan, Charon points out that Agrona might still be able to turn them back to his side one way or another. He is proven horrifically right when Agrona, by way of his blood allowing him to enact Demonic Possession, compels all Alacryans including those who defected from him back into his service by remotely killing anyone who openly defies him.
• Old Soldier: Charon is described as a grizzled veteran whose appearance bears the hardened scars of a thousand untold battles.
• Pet the Dog: When Lyra interrupts the meeting the dragons are having with Arthur to inform the latter of Oludari's flight to Elenoir and his capture by the Wraiths, Charon pours her wine despite the Indrath's scathing contempt for Vritra-blooded Alacryans like her. Lyra, who is in no state to accept such a pleasantry given what just happened, refuses him.
• Pragmatic Villainy: He is willing to collaborate with Wren despite the fact that the latter is a fugitive due to his association with Aldir.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Compared to the likes of Windsom or Vajrakor, Charon is a more reasonable and cooperative individual. He is willing to allow the Dicathians, including Arthur, to speak up at meetings. He offers Lyra wine despite her being a Vritra-blooded Alacryan and he also shuts up Windsom when he lashes out at Arthur for bringing up how Kezess ordered Aldir to destroy Elenoir.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: None of the Dicathians are fond of him, especially given what happened the last time an asura came down from Epheotus. Though unlike Vajrakor he is slightly more reasonable and less of a Jerkass, if only marginally.

Ankor Matali

Ankor Matali

Lord of the Matali Clan

Debut: Volume 11 (Novel)

The Lord of the Matali Clan.

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Sarvash Matali

Sarvash Matali

Debut: Volume 11 (Novel)

"You may pretend to be an asura all you wish, Arthur Leywin, but it is clear that you still have the short-sighted view of a lesser."

One of the three dragons who accompany Arthur in capturing Oludari from the Wraiths.

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• Badass Beard: Has a thick black beard and as an asura is a powerful warrior.
• Given Name Reveal: His name was not revealed until his sister's funeral.

Anakasha Matali

Anakasha Matali

Debut: Volume 11 (Novel)

One of the three dragons who accompany Arthur in capturing Oludari from the Wraiths.

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• Angsty Surviving Twin: She and Avhilasha were sisters, and her sister's death naturally leaves her distraught. Her first priority in the aftermath of Oludari's capture is retrieving her sister's body rather than acknowledging the Collateral Damage caused in the operation.
• Given Name Reveal: Her name was not revealed until her sister's funeral.
• What the Hell, Hero?: In the aftermath of the operation to capture Oludari, Anakasha calls out Arthur for the fact that her twin Avilhasha got killed during the battle on top of him backhanding her brother Sarvash. Arthur responds by calling them out for their own disregard for the Dicathian refugees who lost their lives in the crossfire when part of his deal with Kezess involved mitigating Collateral Damage.
• Wowing Cthulhu: She is impressed by Lilia's desire to survive the battle between the dragons and the Wraiths just to rescue any survivors caught up in the crossfire, especially after having dismissed her desire beforehand. Lilia isn't keen on reciprocating seeing as the dragons paid no heed to the Collateral Damage they caused and their lack of respect to the mortal lives lost in their Divine Conflict.
  Anakasha: So, you have not chosen your death yet. I am...almost impressed.
  Lilia: No one here chose death. To say otherwise is an insult to all those who survived the hellish war only to become Collateral Damage here today.

Avhilasha Matali

Avhilasha Matali

Debut: Volume 11 (Novel)

One of the three dragons who accompany Arthur in capturing Oludari from the Wraiths.

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• Due to the Dead: Her funeral is attended by many asuras, and even Arthur himself attends when Kezess requests that he do. In the ensuing ceremony, most of the asuras present anoint themselves with her heart's blood before doing the same to her armor. It is notably Deconstructed in her case as it is noted that her death gets treated with more reverence than all of the civilian lives lost in the operation to capture Oludari combined, showing just how little the asuras care for the lives of the lessers they claim to look out for.
• Given Name Reveal: Her name was not revealed until her own funeral.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Is not given much attention at all until Arthur attends her funeral, to the point that her name isn't even given until then.

Pantheons

In General

Their representatives on the Great Eight are the Thyestes Clan.

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• Bald Head of Toughness: The tradition among pantheon warriors is to go clean shaven.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Pantheons are masters of unarmed combat and of a wide range of martial arts.
• Extra Eyes: Pantheons have multiple sets of eyes, though the exact layout varies depending on the individual.
• Monstrous Humanoid: Their true form, as evinced by Taci's One-Winged Angel moment during his fight with Arthur in the aether realm, is rather monstrous in appearance. Their bodies grow horns, scales, and additional arms and eyes.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Their true forms sport an extra pair of arms.
• Proud Warrior Race: Pantheons are known for being warriors and are proud of their status. From the moment they are born they can look forward to a life of martial training and combat. They will never back down from any challenge.
  Aldir: We were a warrior race, and we responded to threats with strength.
• The Spartan Way: Given their status as a warrior race, the upbringing for young pantheons revolves entirely around molding them into unparalleled warriors.
• Warrior Monk: The pantheons' appearance brings to mind that of traditional Asian warrior monks, given their bald appearances and penchant for martial arts.

Ademir Thyestes

Ademir Thyestes

Lord of the Thyestes Clan

Debut: Volume 11 (Novel)

The Lord of the Thyestes Clan.

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• Curse Cut Short: When Kezess declares that Taci was tricked into destroying himself and that no lessers have the power to kill an asura, Ademir curses him for his statement's lack of validity only to be quelled by Kezess's intent.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Compared to Kezess, Ademir is far more caring of his clan. He calls out Kezess for the narrative he presents regarding Taci’s death. He is also understanding of Aldir’s reasons for departing and acquiesces to exiling him to spare the Thyestes Clan from Kezess’s wrath, and as one of the clan's leaders undoubtedly voiced his objections to Kezess for forcing Aldir to even use the World Eater technique in the first place.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He delivers one to Kezess about his string of failings in the Divine Conflict, in particular the fate of Taci.
  Ademir: First you fail to destroy the outcast, Agrona Vritra, then you break our treaty with him by using the Thyestes Clan's forbidden mana art, and now you lose a pantheon warrior to the lessers. You must forgive us if some of your subjects have begun to question your judgement.

Aldir Thyestes

Aldir Thyestes

Debut: Volume 5 (Novel), Chapter 146 (Webcomic)

"And so the game of chess has begun."

The lead general of the armies of Epheotus, Aldir is one of Kezess's most trusted servants. He and Windsom are sent down to Dicathen in the leadup to the Alacryan invasion both to purge the Council of Vritra corruption and to act as advisors for the coming war.

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• 24-Hour Armor: He is always seen wearing his black and purple armor. The only exceptions are when he meets with Windsom after he returns from using the World Eater technique to destroy Elenoir, where he is wearing a simple training robe, and after he finds refuge in the Hearth following his Self-Imposed Exile from Epheotus, where he is wearing a simple tunic.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Despite his usage of the World Eater technique obliterating all of Elenoir and nearly driving the elves into extinction, Aldir's death does elicit some sympathy from those around him as he was extremely reluctant about using it in the first place and had been put through the wringer in the leadup to using it and afterward by Kezess.
• All for Nothing: His usage of the World Eater technique in order to kill the Legacy. It results in Elenoir being completely obliterated and the elves nearly being driven to extinction. Not only did the Legacy manage to escape him at the last minute rendering Aldir's actions completely for naught, but in doing so the treaty between the Vritra and the other asuras is finally broken, allowing Agrona to begin the next phase of his plan and prepare for a direct war with Epheotus.
• The Atoner: After the events of Volume 8, Aldir seeks to atone for the atrocities he committed in Kezess’s service, especially what he did to Elenoir. Aside from sacrificing himself to allow Arthur to resurrect Sylvie, he gives Arthur a box containing regenerative soil from Mount Geolus in order to restore life to the desolated landscape of Elenoir.
• Badass Beard: Has a short beard on his face and is one of the most powerful warriors in Epheotus and by extension the entire setting.
• Bald Head of Toughness: Averted. As seen in the above image, Aldir's head is not clean shaven like the other pantheons for he grows his hair into a ponytail. And as the lead general of The Armies of Heaven he naturally is one of the most powerful warriors in the setting.
• Battle Aura: In combat, he is often seen with a purple aura around his figure which conveys his power and might as one of the Thyestes Clan's finest.
• Big Damn Heroes: He and Windsom are sent to the Council Castle by Kezess both to purge the Council of corruption and free Arthur and Sylvie. Aldir takes up the responsibility of doing the former.
• Bullying a Dragon: When Aldir arrives to kill the Greysunders, they summon their Lances to defend them. Both the Greysunders and their Lances are overconfident about fending off this mysterious intruder and throw insults and threats at him the whole time. Unfortunately for them, as an asura Aldir effortlessly knocks out both of the Greysunders' Lances before ordering them to release their Lances from their service. Afterwards, Aldir kills the Greysunders and takes control of their Lances.
• Co-Dragons: He and Windsom are this to Kezess. This does not last as Aldir grows disillusioned with Kezess and his atrocities, causing him to defect.
• Cool Old Guy: As a high-ranking asura in Kezess's inner circle, Aldir has undoubtedly lived for millennia although his exact age, especially in relation to other asuras, is not known (though given how his brother Kordri, who looks younger than him, is addressed as an Elder by Taci, it is easy to assume that Aldir is an Elder himself). However, his age, coupled with him being a pantheon, means Aldir is one of the most powerful warriors on Epheotus.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Zig-Zagged. While he wears a black panoply with purple highlights, he is on the side of the Dicathians as he was sent by Kezess to act as a strategic advisor for the impending Alacryan invasion. However, Kezess turns out to be a genocidal tyrant who is no better than Agrona, which is shown when he forces Aldir to use the World Eater technique in a futile bid to prevent Agrona and the Vritra from summoning the Legacy, which ends up destroying Elenoir in the process. Aldir was extremely reluctant to use the technique in the first place, and he ends up leaving Kezess's service altogether out of guilt.
• Defector from Decadence: After finally recognizing Kezess for the tyrant that he is, Aldir ends up renouncing his service to him entirely and departs from Epheotus altogether.
• Depopulation Bomb: His usage of the World Eater technique on the elven homeland of Elenoir in a futile bid to kill the Legacy nearly drives the elven race to extinction.
• The Exile: After Windsom catches onto Aldir's insubordination wherein he spared the Lances and sent them after Taci, Aldir renounces his service to Kezess entirely. He and Wren eventually find their way to the Hearth, the Outcast Refuge established by the Lost Prince Mordain.
• Eye Beams: His third eye is able to fire purple beams of energy, which he uses to finish off the Greysunders. It is also from which he fires off the World Eater technique, which manifests as a massive golden beam.
• Eyes Always Shut. His normal eyes are perpetually closed, with only his third eye open. The only times they are opened are at the end of Volume 10, first when Arthur calls him out for the lives he took during his destruction of Elenoir, and then right before he sacrifices himself to resurrect Sylvie.
• Fantastic Nuke: Aldir is the keeper of the World Eater technique, a secret mana art of the Thyestes Clan that manifests as a massive beam of energy. He is ultimately forced to use it against the Legacy, in the process annihilating all of Elenoir and leaving it a barren wasteland incapable of supporting life.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: His armor sports an asymmetrical half mantle over his left pauldron.
• Finger Poke of Doom: As a sign of how powerful he is compared to even the Lances, he effortlessly defeats both Olfred and Mica this way in spite of both of them using their most powerful spells against him.
• Flash Step: Being of the Thyestes Clan, Aldir is able to use their Signature Spell, Mirage Walk. This technique allows him to instantly dash to any given area as if he teleported there.
• A God I Am Not: As he is about to finish off the Greysunders, they tell him that in killing them he will incur the wrath of their master, Agrona, whom they refer to as an almighty deity. Aldir, an asura just like Agrona, dismisses the notion that their entire species are gods.
  Aldir: There are no deities in this world, only asuras.
• Godzilla Threshold: Kezess ordered the Thyestes Clan to pass down the World Eater technique to one talented member of their clan for generations ostensibly to act as a reminder of "the horrors of limitless power", but also to be used in case of a situation dire enough. In the story, Aldir is ordered to use it to prevent the Vritra from summoning the Legacy. It ends up being for naught as the Legacy manages to escape and all Aldir has to show for it is a desolate wasteland that used to be Elenoir, on top of the innumerable casualties, Dicathian and Alacryan alike, that were caused by Kezess’s short-sightedness.
• Hand Blast: He is able to project energy blasts from his hands.
• Hated by All: The Dicathians hate him for being the one who destroyed Elenoir, in particular the elves as Elenoir was their homeland and they were driven to near-extinction when he destroyed it. The Alacryans already hate him for having been a servant of Kezess, coupled with the fact that his destruction of Elenoir killed a vast amount of Alacryan soldiers as well. And now Epheotus, his own homeland, hates him as a traitor who slaughtered the very soldiers he had trained. As such, before his Heroic Sacrifice Aldir tells Arthur to take his weapon Silverlight as proof of his demise in order to curry favor with both his people and Kezess.
• Heel Realization: Being forced to destroy Elenoir, coupled with some prodding from Seris, is what finally makes Aldir realize Kezess is a tyrant not worth serving and causes him to defect.
  Aldir: In that moment, I had felt something inside me crack, something I thought had been unshakeable: The foundation on which my entire identity as a servant of the Indrath Clan was built.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Sacrifices his own life to allow Arthur to resurrect Sylvie.
• Hide Your Otherness: During his time aiding the Dicathians, Aldir wears a hooded cloak on his person at all times when in public to hide his third eye. As such, he is an enigmatic figure among the Dicathian military, a perception aided by the fact that Aldir tends to remain in the shadows and avoid the spotlight to avoid attracting much attention.
• I Will Fight No More Forever: Before Aldir sacrifices himself to resurrect Sylvie, he declares his days of being a warrior are over and wishes Arthur luck in ending the Divine Conflict. In spite of Arthur feeling Aldir is taking the easy way out for his actions and wanting him to stay around to help him fight both Kezess and Agrona, a sentiment that Aldir himself agrees with to an extent, he relents when it is clear Aldir is not going to change his mind and so lets him carry out his sacrifice.
  Aldir: I believe my days of fighting are done. I won’t kill any more of my own kind, even to get to Kezess. Both your world and mine deserve more than endless war. I hope you find a way to end the threat posed by the Indrath and Vritra Clans without mass casualties.
• Just Toying with Them: When he comes to kill off the Greysunders, they summon their Lances to defend them. He is able to knock out Olfred in his Hell Armor, followed by him No-Selling and destroying Mica’s mace. Throughout the engagement, Aldir fights with his hands behind his back and the most he does with them is merely giving the Lances the Finger Poke of Doom as the only Coup de Grâce he needs to finish them off. Aldir was holding back the entire time as he needed the dwarf Lances alive for the coming war.
• Karmic Shunning: As part of receiving the Brand of the Banished from Ademir, Aldir is shunned by everyone around him as he has now become an exile. He intentionally accepts this burden as he does not want his clan to be targeted by the Indrath Clan for his desertion. Whatever was left of his reputation in Epheotus goes up in smoke when he is forced to slaughter a group of dragons Kezess had sent to apprehend him, in the process marking him as a traitorous kin-slayer.
• Kill the Ones You Love: He is forced to slaughter some of his former trainees when Kezess sends them after him to arrest him for treason.
• Killing in Self-Defense: After Ademir exiles him, Aldir is confronted by Windsom who has brought some of his former trainees to arrest him. As much as Aldir would have liked to not have to spill any more blood or mana in the wake of his destruction of Elenoir, he realizes that his former trainees' Undying Loyalty to Kezess means that reasoning with them would be futile, and so he resigns himself to kill them all in the process.
  Aldir: If they did not value their lives, then neither would I.
• Kinslaying Is a Special Kind of Evil: Thanks to Kezess sending his former disciples after him and forcing him to kill them in self-defense, Aldir is marked as a kinslayer by all of Epheotus.
• Mark of Shame: After asking Ademir to exile him to spare the rest of their clan from Kezess's wrath, Aldir receives the Brand of the Banished on his neck, which entails that no pantheon in Epheotus will aid him.
• The Mentor: In the leadup to the war, he takes Tessia under his wing as his disciple.
• Morph Weapon: His weapon, Silverlight normally manifests as a Royal Rapier, but can take the form of other weapons such as a spear or bow.
• Must Make Amends: After destroying Elenoir, Aldir attempts to atone for his action by not only deserting Kezess's service, but by giving Arthur a box of soil from Mount Geolus to restore life to the region.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Suffice to say, his destruction of Elenoir using the World Eater technique is a major turning point for his character. The guilt over having effectively committed genocide for nothing, coupled with Seris calling him and his master out for it, is what drives him to finally turn against Kezess.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: His loyalty to Kezess was initially this trope. It is not until his destruction of Elenoir and Seris calling him out for it in the aftermath that Aldir finally breaks from this mentality and turns against his master.
• Obi-Wan Moment: In his last moments, Aldir calmly accepts his fate as he has grown tired of all the fighting he has been through over his millennia-long existence. He even notes that it is a much more peaceful end than a warrior like him deserves.
• One-Man Army: In his Establishing Character Moment, he was able to fight off both Olfred and Mica while not using his full power. Later on, he slaughters a force of dragons sent to apprehend him all on his own.
• Old Master: Probably the most definitive example of this trope in the setting. Despite his age, Aldir is one of the strongest characters in the setting given his Proud Warrior Race background and the millennia of experience he has spent leading the armies of Epheotus into combat. Compared to the likes of Virion or Goodsky whose mortal natures hold them back, Aldir gets the chance to demonstrate his power a few times throughout the novel.
• Old Soldier: As the lead general of The Armies of Heaven, Aldir has millennia's worth of military service under his belt.
• Person of Mass Destruction: On top of being one of the most powerful warriors on Epheotus, Aldir is the wielder of the World Eater technique, which has been passed down his clan for generations to be used in the event of the Godzilla Threshold being passed. He is forced to use the technique by his master Kezess in order to prevent Agrona's servants from summoning the Legacy, resulting in Elenoir being completely obliterated and rendered a lifeless wasteland.
• Poke in the Third Eye: A somewhat literal example. He is able to sense Arthur observing him using the Scrying artifact when he is about to use the World Eater technique and destroy Elenoir. While he does not recognize him as Arthur had been presumed dead since the end of the war, he does feel as if someone Above the Gods was judging him for his actions. In the aftermath, when Seris tells him of Arthur’s survival, Aldir puts two and two together and gets her point that Arthur has the potential to put an end to the Divine Conflict. This ends up being a major factor in Aldir’s defection.
• Purple Is Powerful: Aldir is one of the most powerful warriors on Epheotus and is skilled at manipulating the Thyestes Clan's distinct mana arts which manifest in the form of purple energy. Both his Battle Aura and Third Eye are purple, with the latter being the source of several of his attacks, including the World Eater technique. Not to mention his armor has purple accents and highlights to reflect his power and status as the lead general for The Armies of Heaven.
• The Purge: As one of Kezess's most trusted servants, Aldir is sometimes sent to eliminate those that his master deems as potential obstacles.
  • His introductory scene has Aldir being sent to assassinate the Greysunders, Agrona's puppets on the Council. In the process, Aldir manages to effortlessly knock out both of their Lances before forcing the Greysunders to release them from their control and then killing the Greysunders where they stood.
  • Defied later on. When Kezess sets in motion his plan to purge the Dicathian resistance for turning against him, Aldir is ordered to lure the remaining Lances save Bairon to the Council Castle in order to kill them off while Taci finishes off the rest of the resistance hiding in the djinn sanctuary. However, Aldir had grown disillusioned with Kezess for forcing him to destroy Elenoir, and so disobeys his master by informing the Lances of the truth and redirecting them to the sanctuary to stop Taci.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Variant. While not a political leader, Aldir is still a military leader for the Dicathians as Kezess had sent him down to oversee the continent's defense against the Alacryan invasion. He exhibits a degree of empathy towards the lessers that his cohorts are found quite lacking in. He goes to great lengths to ensure Arthur's loved ones, in particular Tessia, are kept safe in order to avoid affecting his mental state and performance during the war. Not to mention he also takes Tessia under his wing as his disciple so that she can get stronger. He also helps out the protagonists to the best of his ability in spite of the treaty that forbids any participation from the asuras until he gets recalled back to Epheotus in light of Kezess's failed Decapitation Strike on Alacrya.
• Redemption Equals Death: To atone for his actions under Kezess's service, Aldir gives up his own life to allow Arthur to resurrect Sylvie.
• Resign in Protest: He leaves Kezess’s service after being forced to destroy Elenoir.
• Reverse Arm-Fold: His usual pose has him putting his arms behind his back. This is especially apparent when he comes to kill off the Greysunders, as he maintains that same pose even in the face of all that gets thrown at him.
• Royal Rapier: His weapon, Silverlight, normally manifests as an elegant rapier when he wields it. Aldir himself not only works for asuran royalty as a general, but is himself a sophisticated individual.
• Sacrificial Revival Spell: Gives up his own mana, the act of which is fatal to an asura like him, to allow Arthur to resurrect Sylvie.
• Secret-Keeper: As part of Kezess’s inner circle, Aldir was one of the few individuals, especially from outside the Indrath Clan, to know the whole truth behind what happened to the djinn.
• Self-Imposed Exile: Before he proceeds to defect from Epheotus, he asks Ademir to exile him in order to spare his clan from Kezess’s wrath.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: After his defection from Epheotus and taking refuge in the Hearth, Aldir abandons his old armor for a more modest tunic, signifying how not only has he abandoned Kezess entirely, but has given up on fighting.
• Sizeshifter: When using the World Eater technique, he grows to a massive size.
• Spanner in the Works: Is this to Kezess’s plan in the climax of Volume 9. While Taci exterminates the Dicathians hiding in the djinn sanctuary, Aldir is supposed to summon the remaining Lances to the ruins of the Council Castle in order to kill them off. However, by then Aldir has had a change of heart and no longer wishes to serve Kezess due to finally seeing him for the tyrant that he is. As such, when the Lances do arrive, he informs them of his master’s plan and directs them to the djinn sanctuary. While the Lances are still overpowered by Taci and suffer crippling injuries, they manage to delay him long enough to allow Arthur to return from Alacrya and kill Taci.
• Supernatural Golden Eyes: Variant. When he uses the World Eater technique, his third eye becomes gold.
• Symbolic Weapon Discarding: Before sacrificing himself to revive Sylvie, Aldir bequeaths Arthur his weapon Silverlight. He does so not only so that Arthur can present it as a sign of his death and gain favor with both Dicathen and Epheotus, but to reflect how he has truly given up on fighting after all the blood and mana he has spilt in Kezess's name.
• Sympathetic Villain, Despicable Villain: As Kezess's Co-Dragons, Aldir is the Sympathetic Villain to Windsom's Despicable Villain. While Windsom is a loyal and sycophantic servant whose personality echoes that of his master, Aldir has a sense of morality that drives him to empathize with the lessers and after his Heel Realization in the wake of destroying Elenoir finally sees Kezess for the genocidal tyrant that he really is and turns against him.
• Take a Third Option: His death is ultimately a case of this. By the time Arthur meets with him in the Hearth, Aldir was already hated by the Dicathians for his role in destroying Elenoir. However, even if Arthur and the Dicathians were willing to pull an Enemy Mine with him against both Kezess and Agrona, that option was impossible for not only did Kezess forbade Arthur from allying with Aldir in the Bargain with Heaven he made with him, but Aldir no longer has the will to fight after all the blood and mana he had spilt. As such, Aldir opts to change the circumstances of his death to do one last act of goodwill in atonement for his actions, namely sacrificing his life to allow Arthur to revive Sylvie.
• Taking You with Me: Variant. When he sacrifices himself to revive Sylvie, he takes the knowledge of the World Eater technique with him to the grave so that it will never be used again.
• Thanatos Gambit: Knowing that his days were numbered regardless of what course of action he took as he had become Hated by All, Aldir decides to make the most of his inevitable death by sacrificing his mana reserves to allow Arthur to resurrect Sylvie.
• Third Eye: His most defining facial feature is the single vertical third eye on his forehead. This eye is always open even though his regular eyes are closed. The reverse situation - wherein his third eye is closed as his regular eyes are open - only occurs twice at the end of Volume 10, first when Arthur calls him out for his destruction of Elenoir and then when he sacrifices himself to revive Sylvie.
• Time Abyss: The World Eater technique is supposed to be passed down to a promising young pantheon in the Thyestes Clan each generation. Aldir was over 200 years old when he was chosen to inherit it.
• Token Heroic Orc: Even before his defection, Aldir was established to have a sense of morality and valued the lives of mortals to a far greater degree than most asuras. He had multiple objections to using the World Eater technique due to the massive Collateral Damage it could cause and only reluctantly acquiesced due to the threat of Kezess punishing his own clan for his refusal. After being forced to use it and it turning out to have been completely futile, Aldir’s loyalty to Kezess reaches its breaking point as he finally turns against him with some prodding from Seris. After sabotaging Kezess’s plan to kill off the Dicathian resistance, Aldir goes into exile and finds refuge in the Hearth.
  Aldir: Anyone capable of labeling one group of lives as unimportant can just as easily make the same determination of another.
• Trauma Conga Line: After being forced to destroy Elenoir using the World Eater technique, Aldir's loyalty to Kezess is shaken as he had killed millions for ultimately nothing. Then he is confronted by Seris, who tells him that Kezess and Agrona are two sides of the same coin and that Arthur survived the war. This leads him to sabotage his liege's plan to purge the Dicathian resistance, but the aftermath Windsom catches on to his disloyalty. Before Aldir departs Epheotus, Windsom arrives to apprehend him along with a group of soldiers that Aldir himself had trained and is duly forced to kill in self-defense. When Arthur meets with him in the Hearth, Aldir is broken from the turn of events and no longer has the will to fight.
• Wave-Motion Gun: The World Eater technique manifests as a massive golden laser that he fires from his third eye, one which he fires off after growing to giant size and is proportionately large to match.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Windsom after his defection from Epheotus.
• You Are Too Late: By the time he and Windsom arrive in Elenoir to stop the Legacy from being summoned, it has already happened.
• Zero-Approval Gambit:
  • He goes into voluntary exile in order to spare the Thyestes Clan from Kezess's wrath following his disobedience and departure from his service. In the process, Aldir completely destroys his reputation in Epheotus as not only does he have the Brand of the Banished seared onto his person to mark his exile, but he is confronted by a group of dragons sent to apprehend him and is forced to kill them all.
  • Pulls off another one later on that has shades of Thanatos Gambit. Knowing that he had become Hated by All for his actions, Aldir tells Arthur to conceal the nature of his death by claiming that he had brought him to justice for his crimes, which would grant him favor among both his people and Epheotus.

Kordri Thyestes

Kordri Thyestes

Debut: Volume 5 (Novel), Chapter 151 (Webcomic)

"I will mold you into an unparalleled fighter, not just among lessers, but among asuras."

Aldir’s brother, Kordri acts as the first of Arthur’s trainers during his time in Epheotus. He trains Arthur to become a supreme combatant by subjecting an austere training routine.

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• Badass Teacher: As an elder of the Thyestes Clan, Kordri is not only an experienced warrior, but he is entrusted with training young pantheons. His training of Arthur shows how powerful he is.
• The Bus Came Back: After not appearing since Volume 5, he appears briefly in Volume 10 in Kezess's great hall to hear the truth about Taci's death.
• The Mentor: He is this to Arthur during his stay in Epheotus where he teaches Arthur the combat arts of the Thyestes Clan.
• One-Hit KO: The first time Arthur spars with him, Kordri kills him in one blow. In subsequent spars, Arthur gets a little better at holding his own against Kordri, but not by much.
• Only Sane Man: He is prideful but not to the point of arrogance unlike many asuras.
• Resurrection/Death Loop: His training regimen has him beat up his trainees to the point of near-death before resurrecting them with the aether orb,
• Token Heroic Orc: Downplayed. He is much nicer to Arthur than the other members of his clan and is proud of his performance, though it is yet to be seen if he will rebel against Kezess.
• Training from Hell: His method of training with Arthur has him beat up to the latter to the point of death before reviving him using the aether orb.

Taci Thyestes (Unmarked Spoilers)

Taci Thyestes

Debut: Volume 5 (Novel), Chapter 153 (Webcomic)

"See what a pantheon - what I - am truly capable of."

A young pantheon whom Arthur spars with during his training in Epheotus. He is later revealed to have been groomed to being the inheritor of the World Eater technique from Aldir and as a test to prove himself worthy of such a burden is sent by Kezess to exterminate the Dicathian resistance for slighting him.

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• Alas, Poor Villain: Even though Taci caused a considerable amount of casualties during his rampage in the djinn sanctuary - including the deaths of Rinia, Aya, Lenna, Feyrith, and Albold and very nearly killing his mother and sister - Arthur briefly feels remorse over killing him as Taci was little more than a boy (by asuran standards) whom Kezess had brainwashed into being little more than a disposable tool.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: After recognizing Alice and Eleanor as the family of Arthur, whom he has exhibited a grudge towards ever since their time training together in Epheotus, Taci only regrets that Arthur isn't around to stop him from trying to murder his family as he wishes he could show Arthur just how insignificant he is compared to a pantheon like him. Right before he lands the killing blow, he gets what he wants as Arthur returns to stop him. Unfortunately for him, Arthur has Came Back Strong as an aether-wielding demigod and he takes Taci into the Relictombs to effortlessly finish him off.
• Bus Crash: After his brief appearance in Volume 5, Taci reappears during Volume 9 where he goes on to play a major role in the climax as the asura whom Kezess sends to purge the Dicathian resistance. He is almost successful in his task were it not for Arthur's sudden return, who proceeds to take him into the aether realm to put him down.
• The Bus Came Back: He first appeared in Volume 5, but did not return until Volume 9.
• Child Soldiers: The Precociously Talented Type. Taci is only a boy by asuran standards, yet as a pantheon he has trained all his life to be a warrior. His talent was recognized by Kezess, who gave him exclusive training in Castle Indrath and set him up to inherit the World Eater technique from Aldir.
• Defiant to the End: Even when Arthur has him outmatched in the aether realm and offers him a chance to yield, Taci refuses to back down as Kezess’s indoctrination has overtaken him.
  Taci: For Lord Indrath, may he reign forever under the golden sun.
• Empathic Weapon: Downplayed. It is revealed after his death that Taci did not have a strong bond with his weapon. This is why Bairon is able to wield his weapon without the weapon refusing him.
• Finishing Stomp: He kills Lenna by stomping her with his foot.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: He was originally just one of Arthur's sparring partners during his time to Epheotus, but grew to resent having to train alongside him. He carried that resentment for the rest of his life, as when he was about to kill Alice and Eleanor he viewed it as a way to spite Arthur and only regretted that Arthur was not around to stop him. This is on top of him gladly following his liege's orders to kill off the Dicathian resistance - which led to the deaths of several named characters - and remaining loyal to him even in his last moments.
• Hero Killer: He kills Rinia, Aya, Lenna, Feyrith, and Albold during his rampage in the djinn sanctuary, and he came extremely close to killing Alice and Eleanor were it not for Arthur's timely return.
• Humans Are Insects: Has an extremely low opinion of lessers, and viewed having to train alongside Arthur as a stain on his and his people's honor, especially after the war's end and Arthur's apparent disappearance marking him as a failure in the eyes of the asuras.
• Nothing Personal: He has absolutely nothing towards the Dicathian resistance other than he has to kill them all to become recognized as an adult. That being said, he carries out his duty without remorse and enjoys the feeling of crushing them as he buys into Kezess's propaganda and views them as inferior. Subverted when he comes across Alice and Eleanor as he recognizes them as Arthur's family and exhibits a sense of vindictive satisfaction that he can get back at his nemesis with impunity.
• One-Winged Angel: During his fight with Arthur in the aether realm, Taci ends up morphing into his true form as a pantheon to gain an edge over Arthur. In this state, he grows horns that cover his face, an additional pair of arms and eyes, and golden scales all over his body.
• The Purge: Is sent by Kezess to exterminate Virion and his followers after they reject his offer to them.
• Red Is Violent: When he is sent to exterminate the Dicathian resistance, Taci wears a set of scarlet training robes. He revels in the ensuing indiscriminate carnage that he inflicts all out of his own pride as a pantheon and loyalty to Kezess.
• Rite of Passage: Views the task of killing Virion and the rest of the Dicathian resistance as this, for if he succeeds not only would he be seen as an adult, but he would be granted the right to inherit the World Eater technique from Aldir.
• Super Supremacist: He is extremely proud of being a pantheon to the point that he exhibits outright xenophobia towards the so-called lessers. He chafed having to train alongside Arthur, viewing it as a dishonor. Years later, right before he attempts to kill Alice and Eleanor after recognizing them as Arthur's family, the only regret Taci has on his mind is that Arthur isn't around to fight him as he wishes to show him just how insignificant he was compared to a pantheon like him.
• Targeted to Hurt the Hero: He exhibits a twisted sense of satisfaction when he has both Alice and Eleanor at his mercy, as he recognizes them as the family of that one lesser whom he hated having to train with.
• Teens Are Monsters: He is only a boy by asuran standards, and yet accepts a mission to exterminate a group of refugees as a Rite of Passage to become a proper adult. He accepts with pride for himself and his race and without remorse for the lessers he is about to slaughter.
• Thwarted Coup de Grâce: He was about to murder Alice and Eleanor without any remorse - even having already impaled the latter with his spear - when Arthur arrived to stop him.
• Those Were Only Their Scouts: He is just a boy by asuran standards, albeit one who had received exclusive training to become the inheritor of the World Eater technique. And yet he is able overpower the remaining Lances, the strongest mages in Dicathen, all at once (to say nothing of all the other casualties he caused during his rampage). He is only ultimately stopped by the Came Back Strong Arthur, who ends up having to take Taci back into the Relictombs just so that their fight won't bring the sanctuary crashing down on everyone. As Arthur somberly notes in the aftermath, if an asura as lowly as Taci could cause that much devastation, then the war against the asuras is going to be an extremely difficult one for him and his allies.
  Arthur: Taci was just the beginning, Bairon. The gods themselves are our enemies now. And...whatever you all think, I can't fight them all alone.
• Tyke Bomb: Was raised to be the inheritor of the World Eater technique from Aldir since his youth and is blindly loyal to Kezess as a result, to the point that even though he is not of the Indrath Clan, Taci has accumulated some of the worst traits of the asuras as a whole.
• Underestimating Badassery: Given his Super Supremacist personality and how he had been effortlessly cutting through the Dicathian resistance beforehand, Taci - while surprised by Arthur's sudden intervention - believes he can easily defeat his unexpected opponent. He is proven wrong by both Arthur's newfound aether powers and desire to protect and avenge his loved ones. Even turning into his true form is not enough as Arthur overpowers him regardless.
• Undying Loyalty: Even in his dying moments, his loyalty to Kezess remains unshaken.
• Villain Reveals the Secret: When he has Rinia cornered, he reveals that she is in fact a student of the Lost Prince Mordain before he finishes her off.
• Villainous Valor: Despite being trapped by Arthur in the aether realm and being completely outmatched by his opponent, Taci accepts his imminent demise with the bravery and pride that one would come to expect from a pantheon as he attempts to land one final blow against his nemesis.
• Walking Spoiler: Other than his brief role as one of Arthur’s sparring partners during his time in Epheotus, it is impossible to talk about Taci without revealing his role in the climax of Volume 9 as the asura whom Kezess sends to purge the Dicathian resistance. One would be hard pressed to believe that the young asura who briefly appears in Volume 5 would go on to become a threat to Dicathen and a major Hero Killer.
• Would Hurt a Child: He was willing to murder Eleanor just out of spite towards Arthur, and had he not been stopped he would have not spared any of the children who had been taking refuge in the djinn sanctuary as part of his mission.

Titans

In General

Their representatives on the Great Eight are the Grandus Clan.

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• Dishing Out Dirt: Titans are masters of earth magic.
• Made of Iron: They are renowned for their physical strength and endurance.
• Our Titans Are Different: Although their true form has not yet been revealed, Titans are noted to be rather bulky in appearance compared to other asuras.

Wren Kain IV

Wren Kain IV

Debut: Volume 5 (Novel), Chapter 160 (Webcomic)

"I don't forge swords, brat. I create them!"

A titan asura and renowned weaponsmith and artificer, Wren acts as Arthur’s final trainer during his time in Epheotus. He trains Arthur not only to further his skills in practical combat, but to analyze his capabilities to create a weapon perfectly suited for him.

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• Awesomeness by Analysis: His whole doctrine revolves around this trope. Wren is renowned for his ability to create weapons that are perfectly suited for their wielders, and to accomplish that he spends extensive amounts of time observing and analyzing how their wielders fight before creating the weapons. He applies the same approach to Arthur when the latter comes to train under him. Thanks to the war progressing much faster than anyone anticipated, Wren instead opts for a gamble in that the weapon he gives Arthur is an acclorite that would do all the analyzing for him before eventually manifesting into a suitable weapon for him.
• Battle Strip: Not Wren himself, but during his time training Arthur, he has him strip in order to assess his physical capabilities and because it would be easier for him to analyze every movement Arthur makes.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Wren is extremely eccentric and unorthodox in his methods such as having Arthur strip during his training, but as Windsom mentions to Arthur when he tells him why Wren has been brought on to train him, he has an unusually keen eye for practical combat on top of his whole obsession with creating weapons tailor-made for their wielders.
• The Bus Came Back: After not having been seen since Volume 5 during Arthur’s training on Epheotus, Wren makes a surprise reappearance in Volume 10 when he joins Aldir in defecting from Epheotus.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Despite being an associate of the Defector from Decadence Aldir and thus by extension a fugitive from Epheotus, Wren is tolerated by the occupying dragons as his expertise is needed for the overall war effort.
• Defector from Decadence: He was never in favor of Kezess and his rule as he sees it as leading the asuras astray. As such, he joins Aldir in defecting from Epheotus.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Wren is able to manipulate earth into various constructs, mostly golems though he can conjure other entities such as an entire skiff. His mastery over earth magic allows him to create near-perfect facsimiles of living beings, such as when he creates a scenario wherein Tessia had been kidnapped by a basilisk as part of his way of testing Arthur.
• Exhausted Eye Bags: Wren's eyes sport eye bags, a sign of how fervent he is when it comes to his work.
• Excalibur in the Rust: Arthur is surprised to learn that Wren not only made Dawn's Ballad, the sword that he had been using since boyhood, but had deemed it a failure and promptly discarded it in the Beast Glades. Wren in turn is surprised to see that Arthur not only has it in his possession but holds it in high regard, as he remarks he could give him a better product if given the time.
• The Exile: When Aldir goes into exile, Wren accompanies him as he was never a supporter of Kezess. Not only that, he wanted to meet up with Arthur again to see how Regis has turned out for himself. The two of them eventually find their way to the Hearth, the Outcast Refuge established by the Lost Prince Mordain.
• Foil: To Gideon. Both are eccentric yet renowned artificers who serve as The Smart Guy and have near-identical appearances (with the main difference being that Gideon has Einstein Hair while Wren has long hair), but while Gideon is an egotistical Insufferable Genius whose creations and experiments are volatile thanks to him expediting his process, Wren is a serious and harsh individual who tends to stay away from the spotlight and his creations tend to be much more reliable and effective thanks to him spending much time analyzing the scenarios and specifications for their creation. Fittingly, Arthur has them both work together, where Gideon's eccentricity clashes with Wren's seriousness.
• Forged by the Gods: He is the one responsible for making Arthur’s sword, Dawn’s Ballad, as well as being the creator of Regis.
• For Science!: Part of his reason for joining Aldir is to see how his creation Regis has turned out for himself.
• Golem: Wren is fond of making these. During his stint training Arthur, he conjures hordes of golems to test his skill. He is talented enough that he can make these into facsimiles of living beings.
• Hiding Your Heritage: After leaving the Hearth, he is forced to hide his identity as an asura seeing as he is a fugitive from Epheotus and Kezess had sent his forces to occupy Dicathen. Though it is eventually revealed that Charon knows who he is and is willing to tolerate him for the time being.
• Jerkass Has a Point: During his time training Arthur, he makes it clear that even though Arthur is a complete outlier and extremely talented for a lesser mage, at the rate he is performing and the war is progressing he is still far from prepared to face even the likes of Retainers, and that if he wants to give his homeland a fighting chance he would have to train with him for much longer that they have time for. When Arthur returns to Dicathen in time for the start of the war proper, Wren's observations are proven right. Arthur nearly cripples himself fighting Jagrette and was almost killed by Uto, both of whom are merely Retainers, and barely survives fighting Cadell who as a Scythe is far above him in terms of power level.
  • On a slightly more positive note, Wren tells Arthur that he will "need more than just a sharp stick to get by the Vritra Clan and their spawn" as he embeds the acclorite into his hand. The acclorite would eventually manifest into Regis, a Guardian Entity whose introduction coincides with Arthur Coming Back Strong and finally turning the tables on the Vritra.
• Klingon Scientists Get No Respect: Titans are normally renowned for their imposing figures and unyielding endurance, yet Wren resembles a frail and emaciated individual. Not only that, his specialty is that of an artificer rather than a warrior which makes some asuras look down on him for not fitting the titan ideals. However, Wren's skill in his field of expertise is near-unmatched, and even Aldir notes that his fragility hides the fact that he has the same endurance as most members of his race.
• Marionette Master: He is known for his ability to conjure armies of golems to fight in his stead.
• The Mentor: One of Arthur's three teachers during his stay in Epheotus.
• The Professor: While Wren is more of a blacksmith than a scientist, he is still nonetheless a talented artificer who goes above and beyond when creating what is requested of him given his obsession with making weapons tailor-made for their wielders. Not only is Wren the creator of some of Arthur's signature weapons - namely Dawn's Ballad and Regis - but upon bringing him from the Hearth, Arthur assigns him to work with Gideon and Emily in order to develop new innovations, in particular a top-secret project meant to level the playing field with the Vritra Clan.
• Secret-Keeper:
  • When he chastises Arthur for his apparent murder of Aldir, Arthur tells him the true circumstances of Aldir's death and stresses to him to keep it a secret from the occupying dragons as Arthur had been forbidden by Kezess from allying with Aldir as part of the Bargain with Heaven he had made with him.
  • When Arthur enacts his plan to acquire the final keystone, Wren is one of two individuals (the other being Eleanor) other than his own bonds to know of his true location, as he has keeping everyone else Locked Out of the Loop on the true nature of his plan to prevent Agrona from compromising it.
• Shipper on Deck: He can easily see that Arthur has much deeper feelings for Tessia than he would admit and even asks him if he has engaged in sexual intercourse with her, which Arthur tries to deny with much embarrassment. Later on, when Arthur’s training is finished he ends up in the same dungeon where Tessia is stationed, which causes Aldir to guess that Wren intentionally sent him there to reunite with her.
• Spontaneous Weapon Creation: His mastery of earth magic allows him to conjure various weapons, such as the training sword he gives to Arthur during his stint training him while he holds onto Dawn's Ballad.
• The Team Benefactor: Aside from providing Arthur with a few unique weapons designed exclusively for him, Wren ends up working with Gideon on a top-secret project meant to even the odds against Agrona's forces.
• Token Heroic Orc: He is one of the few asuras who are willing to stand with Arthur and his allies against both Kezess and Agrona.
• Took a Level in Kindness: He started off like most asuras given how he looked down on the lessers, even an outlier like Arthur. However, after going into exile in the Hearth and becoming an associate of Arthur, Wren has started to warm up in terms of his personality. This is best shown when he gives Arthur the shattered fragments of his sword Dawn's Ballad, a weapon that he once deemed a failure but knew of the sentimental value it had for him.
• Training from Hell: Like Kordri and Myre before him, Wren puts Arthur through an extremely harsh training regimen. Compared to the other two, his training is far more scientific and analytical as he seeks to nail Arthur's fighting style so that he can create a weapon that is perfect for him.
• Ultimate Blacksmith: Is basically the asuran equivalent to Gideon, given his reputation for creating weapons that are perfectly suited for their wielders. This is especially apparent given how he is the maker of both Dawn's Ballad and Regis.
• What the Hell, Hero?: He calls out Arthur for apparently killing Aldir, before the latter explains the truth of Aldir's demise and why it is important for him to keep it secret.

Phoenixes

All spoilers will be unmarked.

In General

Their representatives on the Great Eight are the Avignis Clan, replacing the Asclepius Clan.

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• The Exile: The Asclepius Clan are a whole faction of these, having left Epheotus millennia ago for opposing the genocide of the djinn.
• The Missing Faction: The Asclepius Clan used to be the representatives of the phoenixes among the Great Eight. Following Mordain’s disappearance, they were removed from it and their seat given to the Avignis Clan. The fallout from this left the phoenixes with considerable mistrust of the other asuran races.
• The Phoenix: Goes without saying.
• Playing with Fire: Given their nature, the phoenixes have a considerable affinity towards fire magic.
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: The Asclepius Clan are named after the god of healing and medicine in Classical Mythology.
• Walking Spoiler: The Asclepius Clan cannot be discussed without revealing Kezess's genocide of the djinn, seeing as their opposition towards it led to their exile from Epheotus and their eventual establishment of the Hearth within the Beast Glades.

Mordain Asclepius

Mordain Asclepius

Lord of the Ascelpius Clan, The Lost Prince

Debut: Volume 10 (Novel)

"True self-sacrifice being rewarded to the brave and genuine. That, though the body may perish, our mind and soul will mold themselves into a physical form and be reborn."

The Lord of the Asclepius Clan, Mordain was once a close friend of Kezess until he was exiled from Epheotus for opposing the genocide of the djinn. In his exile, he established the Hearth, a safe haven in the Beast Glades for both asuras who stood against both Kezess and Agrona and djinn who survived the genocide.

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• At Least I Admit It: A sign of how humble Mordain is when compared to other asuras is that he is perfectly willing to admit his own mistakes. When Arthur arrives in the Hearth after Chul's fatal encounter with the Legacy and her Wraiths, he asks Mordain why he had sent out Chul alone, to which Mordain admits that it was his own impatience that caused him to recall Chul which in turn led to him being fatally injured.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He may be an advocate for peace who has been trying his best to maintain neutrality for the sake of protecting his people, but should anyone cross him, Mordain is more than capable of making them regret their decision as a former asuran prince. After the Legacy and the Wraiths escorting her have Chul dead to rights, Mordain intervenes by effortlessly incinerating one of the Wraiths and then getting the Legacy and her charges to back off.
  Mordain: (To Cecilia) Even you cannot hide from me within my own domain spell. Do not test your limits against my patience here.
• Big Damn Heroes: He arrives to save Chul right after he had been fatally wounded by the Wraiths accompanying the Legacy. He manages to get all of them to back off and retreat completely on his own by easily killing one of the Wraiths.
• Fiery Stoic: As a phoenix, Mordain is associated with fire magic. Yet he is calm and sagacious in his personality. Regis even likens him to a New-Age Retro Hippie.
• Foil: To Agrona, Both of them were exiled from Epheotus by Kezess for opposing his genocide of the djinn and have established rule over enclaves in the mortal plane where they have since surrounded themselves with non-asuras or their Semi-Divine descendants. While Agrona fell into madness and began plotting revenge against Kezess, Mordain did not succumb to his anger and instead focused on building a safe heaven for his people, other asuras who opposed both Kezess and later Agrona, and victims of the djinn genocide in the Beast Glades in Dicathen called the Hearth.
• Genre Savvy: Having known Kezess for a long time, Mordain knows how he works as a Chessmaster. As such, he reminds Arthur of the risks he faces when Kezess sends his forces down to occupy Dicathen.
• Gold and White Are Divine: Mordain wears a golden robe over a cream silk tunic.
• He Knows Too Much: Before he could expose the truth of the djinn genocide, he was banished from Epheotus and the nature of his disappearance covered up.
• The Mentor: To Rinia, as he taught her how to use her divination powers. This ends up putting a target on her back, as when Taci comes to exterminate the Dicathians at the climax of Volume 9, he calls her out for her connection to Mordain.
• Neutrality Backlash: His decision to remain in seclusion does cause Arthur to call him out for it when he returns to the Hearth and asks for the third djinn keystone, as it has allowed both Kezess and Agrona to lay waste to the world in the midst of their conflict. Given his humility, Mordain not only takes the criticism in stride, but allows Arthur to take the keystone as Arthur has proven worthy of his trust.
  Arthur: You ask too much, and in doing so you condemn the world to fall to either the vision of Kezess Indrath or Agrona Vritra. Your fear has paralyzed you, and so instead of taking a risk and failing, you would choose to fail without trying. That's the cost of choosing to be passive in a war where loss means the end of everything.
• Papa Wolf: He is very protective of not just his own clan but those under his care. Case in point, when Chul is about to be finished off by the Legacy and the Wraiths, Mordain intervenes to save his life.
• Persona Non Grata: He was exiled from Epheotus for going against Kezess and his genocide of the djinn. Given his status as part of the Great Eight, Kezess was forced to cover up why he was exiled and where he ended up. He would henceforth be referred to as “The Lost Prince” and the mystery surrounding his fate became a cautionary tale among the asuras.
• Supernatural Golden Eyes: His eyes are described as blazing like captured suns.
• Token Heroic Orc: A benevolent asura who not only stood up against his own kind for committing genocide, but created an enclave for the victims of said genocide.
• Un-person: After Mordain spoke out against Kezess for committing genocide upon the djinn and threatened to reveal the truth, he mysteriously disappeared from Epheotus, an action that Kezess covered up more than the genocide he committed, and Mordain was henceforth referred to as the Lost Prince with no one knowing where he went.
• Unseen No More: Is briefly mentioned during Volume 9 by Windsom and Aldir, before finally appearing at the conclusion of Volume 10 when Arthur visits the Hearth.
• Walking Spoiler: His whole existence cannot be discussed without revealing Kezess’s true nature as a tyrannical ruler and his genocide of the djinn.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Kezess. In their youth, they brought an end to the enmity between their clans. Their friendship ended when Mordain stood against Kezess for committing genocide, forcing the latter to exile his former friend.
• Wowing Cthulhu: While Arthur has always been a subject of interest for Mordain given his unique origins and potential to end the Divine Conflict, what really impresses him is that Arthur is willing to do anything to save the life of Chul, who is not only one of his clansfolk but is all but a complete stranger to Arthur whom he had barely gotten to know until fairly recently, and succeeds in doing so. This compassionate desire is what convinces Mordain that Arthur is the right person to receive the third djinn keystone that been in his possession since the founding of the Hearth.

Lady Dawn

Lady Dawn

Debut: Volume 10 (Novel)

An emissary sent from the Hearth to the Vritra Clan.

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• Birds of a Feather: No pun intended. What drew Dawn to her djinn husband in the first place was their shared fiery ardor and defiant nature as warriors, a stark contrast to their respective peoples.
• Defiant to the End: Dawn was renowned for being a great warrior, and Mordain infers that she would have preferred their whole clan go out in a blaze of glory against the Indrath though she relented and went into exile with their clan. Even though she had been caged up beneath Taegrin Caelum for a long time, her spirit remained unbroken as she remained defiant in her last moments as the Legacy drained the mana from her.
• Fiery Redhead: In life, she was known for her fiery temperament.
• Life Drain: She has the mana drained from her by the Legacy.
• Mayfly–December Romance: Her husband was a djinn, whose species naturally lived much, much shorter lives than asuras like her.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: She does not get much character development before the Legacy drains the mana from her, with more details about her past only being revealed posthumously by Mordain.

Chul Asclepius

Chul Asclepius

Debut: Volume 10 (Novel)

"I do not plan to fight Agrona's forces, my brother in vengeance. I will break them."

A djinn/phoenix hybrid, Chul is the son of Lady Dawn. Seeking to avenge the death of his mother, he accompanies Arthur outside of the Hearth to join his battle against both Kezess and Agrona.

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• An Arm and a Leg: When he is cornered by the Legacy and her entourage of Wraiths, Chul ends up losing both his left arm and leg after one of the Wraiths throws his scythe at him. He regenerates them after Arthur uses one of the Tears of the Mother pearls to save his life.
• Badass Boast: As some of his quotes listed here suggest, Chul is fond of delivering badass statements about himself, his feats, and what he plans on doing to his enemies.
• Baritone of Strength: His voice is described as being deep and bassy, causing vibrations in Arthur's chest. Fitting, considering he is a warrior by heart.
• Blood Knight: Chul lives for a good fight.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Is a physically imposing figure with a larger-than-life personality to match.
• But Now I Must Go: After receiving an urgent summon from Mordain, Chul ends up departing in order to return to the Hearth. It nearly costs him his life as he gets intercepted by the Legacy and her Wraiths.
• Came Back Strong: Thanks to Arthur using one of the Tears of the Mother pearls to save his life, Chul is not only expected to recover from his injuries, but his relatively underpowered mana core is likely to become much stronger than before.
• Carry a Big Stick: His weapon, Suncrusher, is a massive mace.
• Child of Two Worlds: Is the scion of a exiled phoenix of the Asclepius Clan and one of the djinn whom said clan had protected from the genocidal Indrath. Unlike most examples of this trope, both sides of Chul's heritage were united in their shared seclusion from Epheotus and he has other more pressing issues to deal with than just his heritage.
• Defeat Means Friendship: After Arthur defeats Chul in a spar, he earns the respect of the latter. From that point onward, he refers to Arthur as his "brother in vengeance" in their shared desire to exact revenge on the Indrath and the Vritra.
• Defiant to the End: Much like his mother, Chul remains defiant even when facing his imminent demise. Even though he gets himself surrounded by the Wraiths, fatally wounded, and brought face to face with his mother's killer, he still acts in the same proud fashion as he always does. Though thanks to Arthur's intervention, he gets to live to see another day.
  Chul: Do not think you can cow me with these small words. Even your cruel kind has not invented a pain that can break me. Either I will leave here victorious and your ashes will fertilize the forest below, or I will die a warrior's death and my companions will bring down a mighty vengeance in recompense.
• Fiery Redhead: As a phoenix, Chul has bright orange hair in his human form and he is burning with a desire to exact revenge on both the Indrath and the Vritra, in particular the latter for their role in his mother's death.
• Generation Xerox: His parents may have hailed from two different cultures, but what brought them together was their uniquely fiery temperaments. They passed it down to Chul, as he exhibits the same ardor and determination that stands in stark contrast to either side of his heritage. Not to mention that just like his mother, Chul ends up in a fatal encounter with the Legacy while being Defiant to the End, though unlike his mother he is saved from near-death thanks to Arthur's aid.
• Genocide Survivor: Like Arthur, Chul is a descendant of djinn who survived their genocide by the Indrath Clan thanks to Mordain's intervention.
• Hiding Your Heritage: He descends from two groups that the Indrath would kill on sight, being of the djinn on his father's side and of the Asclepius Clan on his mother's side. When he finally gets to leave the Hearth, it is when Kezess has sent his forces down from Epheotus to occupy Dicathen. As such, Chul is forced to conceal his heritage from the dragons, and has to stay away whenever Arthur is negotiating with them to avoid risking their wrath.
• Klingon Scientists Get No Respect: As an Outcast Refuge, the denizens of the Hearth are content to live their lives in seclusion away from the eyes of both Kezess and Agrona. In contrast to both his clan and the Hearth, Chul wants to get involved in the Divine Conflict, especially since it claimed the life of his mother, and he acts like a Proud Warrior Race Guy despite that not being the phoenixes' hat.
• Leeroy Jenkins: His main flaw. He is so much of a Blood Knight and consumed by his desire to exact revenge on the Vritra that Arthur has to restrain him at times to prevent him from becoming a Spanner in the Works. He has to be talked down when it comes to the matter of the Legacy as the only solution he sees is to just kill her, which both Arthur and Eleanor oppose because they want to free Tessia from the Legacy's control. This does entail some Flaw Exploitation on Agrona's part.
• Mark of the Supernatural: As a sign of his dual heritage, Chul has heterochromatic eyes. One is bright orange like his mother's side of the family, the other is glacial blue like his father's side.
• Near-Death Experience: After Mordain recalls him to the Hearth, the Legacy and the Wraiths intercept him and in the process of attempting to fend them off, Chul is fatally wounded. He would have expired were it not for Arthur making a timely return from Epheotus and using one of the Tears of the Mother pearls he received from Veruhn to save his life.
• Nom de Mom: His surname is that of his mother's, the Asclepius Clan.
• Non-Human Humanoid Hybrid: Is a djinn on his father's side and a phoenix on his mother's side.
• Parental Abandonment: His father is all but stated to have passed away a long time ago, and his mother was sent to Alacrya as an emissary when he was merely a boy which led to her imprisonment and eventual death. His lack of parents growing up has left Chul with quite a few issues.
• The Phoenix: Chul is part-phoenix.
• Semi-Divine: He is a djinn/asura hybrid, with his father being a djinn and his mother being a phoenix.
• Shapeshifting: Despite being part djinn, Chul is still able to shapeshift into a phoenix just like his mother.
• Warhawk: No pun intended. He has been advocating for the Hearth to become Neutral No Longer in order to avenge his mother's death. As such, he accompanies Arthur knowing that even if his clan is unwilling to risk themselves, at least he is involving himself in the war.
• Walking Spoiler: As a resident of the Hearth, Chul cannot be discussed without revealing the Indrath Clan's genocide of the djinn whom he is descended from.
• You Killed My Mother: His motivation in accompanying Arthur is to avenge the death of his mother Lady Dawn, who was killed by the Legacy.

Leviathans

In General

Their representatives on the Great Eight are the Eccleiah Clan.

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• Amazing Technicolor Population: Their skin is teal-blue in color reflecting their ties to water magic.
• Apparently Human Merfolk: Downplayed. Their human forms have pale aquamarine skin and ridges along their temples like gills.
• Making a Splash: Given their aquatic nature, the leviathans are masters of water magic.
• Sea Monster: Their true forms are heavily implied to be this trope.
• Token Aquatic Race: Are the only sapient species in the setting with an association with the ocean, given that their true forms are that of Sea Monsters.

Veruhn Eccleiah

Veruhn Eccleiah

Lord of the Eccleiah Clan

Debut: Volume 10 (Novel)

The Lord of the Eccleiah Clan.

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• Chekhov's Gun: The Tears of the Mother pearls he gives Arthur are revealed to have the power to save lives close to dying by providing a sudden infusion of mana to the mana core. Of the three he gave Arthur, only one has been used so far which is when he uses it to save the life of Chul.
• Cool Old Guy: Veruhn is ancient for an asura, and even Arthur notes how old he is. He takes an interest in Arthur and even bequeaths him a set of Tears of the Mother pearls for him and his family out of respect.
• Elderly Immortal: Veruhn is described as having so many wrinkles that he looks to be a centennial. And being an asura, naturally he is many times older than that.
• Given Name Reveal: His given name was not revealed until Volume 11 when he introduces himself to Arthur.
• Time Abyss: Is among the oldest asuras in existence.
• Wowing Cthulhu: It says a lot about how much respect and sympathy Veruhn seems to have for Arthur when he gives him the Tears of the Mother pearls. As Mordain later tells Arthur, these are "the greatest gift the lord of the leviathan race can offer" for he "bestows them only rarely, and only to ease the great suffering of a life that must be lived". As it turns out, while these pearls can save the lives of those at the brink of death, they are created from the cores of asuras who died in infancy, an exceedingly rare but tragic occurrence.

Zelyna Eccleiah

Zelyna Eccleiah

Debut: Volume 11 (Novel)

Veruhn's daughter and Aldir's former lover.

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• Berserk Button: She has an open hatred for Windsom for an unknown reason, even calling him "Loathsome" under her breath. She also loathes Arthur for his apparent execution of Aldir, her former lover.
• It's Personal: To Arthur for his apparent murder of Aldir.
• Old Flame: She and Aldir used to be in a relationship. She still harbors feelings for him, as when she meets Arthur for the first time, she addresses him as "the lesser who killed Aldir" with a barely concealed contempt, showing how she cannot forgive him for the apparent murder of her former lover.
• Power Stereotype Flip: Zelyna is the opposite of a Fiery Stoic, as she is of an aquatic asura race but exhibits a fiery temper.
• Rebellious Princess: She used to be rather headstrong in her youth, but as she matured her personality tempered. However, she still exhibits that same drive, albeit she has become much better at holding it in.
• Unseen No More: She was first mentioned by Veruhn in Volume 10, but did not appear until the next volume where she meets Arthur during a visit to Epheotus.

Sylphs

In General

Their representatives on the Great Eight are the Aerind Clan.

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• Blow You Away: Given that sylphs are the Alchemic Elementals of air, it is highly likely they are masters of wind magic.
• Our Fairies Are Different: As sylphs are a type of fairy, this goes without saying.

Hamadryads

In General

Their representatives on the Great Eight are the Mapellia Clan.

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• Green Thumb: Given they are dryads, it is highly likely they are masters of plant magic.
• Our Nymphs Are Different: As hamadryads are a type of nymph, this goes without saying.
• Undying Loyalty: They have been loyal to the Indrath since Mount Geolus was first formed.

Wraiths

In General

A long-extinct race of asuras responsible for a destructive war that occurred millennia ago, a war that nearly destroyed the asuras and left the survivors forever changed.

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• Always Chaotic Evil: Based on the way Kezess describes them, the wraiths lived for nothing more than endless war and subjugating others beneath them.
• Great Offscreen War: The wraiths were responsible for instigating a war so massive it drew the entire asuran species into it. This war saw continents sinking, seas being set aflame, and entire races of asuras being driven into extinction including themselves by the very end of it. Little wonder that in the aftermath of the war, the surviving asuras were left with one massive species-wide Heel Realization.
• Guilt-Free Extermination War: Suffice to say, the rest of the asuras did not show a single ounce of remorse over the wraiths' extinction considering the massive amount of suffering they caused.
• The Missing Faction: A race of asuras outside of the ones represented in the Great Eight. This is because they went extinct millennia ago due to a war they were responsible for starting.
• Predecessor Villain: Were the greatest threat the asuras and the world below them faced before Agrona.
• Proud Warrior Race: A dark example of this trope. The wraiths lived for war and built themselves upon the bones of those they vanquished.
• Villainous Legacy: While the wraiths themselves are long gone as they were rendered extinct by the very war they caused, their name lives on as the namesake of Agrona's dedicated asura-killers, his Semi-Divine Super-Soldiers that he has amassed in preparation for taking his war to Epheotus. Not to mention the impact of their war has heavily impacted the way the asuras conduct themselves, being a driving factor behind their Alien Non-Interference Clause regarding the lives of the lessers and Kezess's own actions and conduct throughout the novel.

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