Duke Solam

## [source]

Duke Solam was someone with great influence. He was known as the Dragonslayer, Demonslayer, and Hellslayer, having acquired such titles despite being one step away from becoming a legendary being.

became a legendary being, a shadow antimage

## Appearance

### **Antimage Gear**

A middle-aged man in black leather armour seemed to meld out of the darkness, a smug expression on his face. Any experienced fighter would be on guard at the mere sight of the natural patterns all over the leather, knowing that it was made from the hide of an adult black dragon. This set of armour was just as tough as darksteel, with outstanding magic resistance that other materials couldn’t compare to. User of twin blades.

## Plot

Duke Solam asked his generals in his war room, looking on as they tried to come up with an answer. This place was almost hallowed; generations of Solams had planned their rise here for the past millennium as they rose from minor nobles with nothing to their names to their current rank.

If not for the two setbacks of Steven being expelled from the Deepblue and the numerous losses to who was then Viscount Alice, the Solams would have been one of the most prestigious families on the borders of the Sacred Tree Empire. Both stains to the family’s pristine reputation had come from the Archerons, and now Richard was leading an army of little more than 2,000 men but he had to take it seriously. The Duke was not in the best of moods. 6;71

Richard destroyed most of his military power by [6;77]

### **Fight**

An earth-shattering battle took place in the mountains that night. Duke Solam managed to escape the trap, but he sustained grievous injuries that left him on the brink of death. The Sacred Tree Empire’s hopes of trapping Richard were thus completely destroyed. Tried to assasinate Richard after sustaining huge losses. had to run away from Richard and the Dark Priest Asiris

* Duke Solam fought with Richard when he was at the border of the Sacred Tree Empire. He had to run away from the fight after losing in the face of Asiris, the javelins of the rune knights, and Richard. He claimed that was an unfair battle with 1 to an army.
* During the war of the three empires against Richard, he fought against Richard's group. He thought his loss had to do with battles of attrition and being outnumbered.
* Finally, he realized his inferiority when he lost against Richard on a 1v1, close quarters confrontation. Thoroughly traumatized. Not good at range and mediocre at close combat, Solam had a number of glaring weaknesses in combat against Richard. His one strength was in assassination, but at the same time he was someone who cared a lot about honour and reputation; he wasn’t the type to try and stab someone in the back. That was perhaps the reason Richard didn’t feel like pursuing either.

Antimages were known for many things, but energy and defences were not amongst them. Direct clashes against warriors would always end in a loss, and Solam had severely underestimated Richard’s strength. His eyes seemed to glow, but in Solam’s eyes they very much looked like those of a demon. This was a scene that defied all logic, bringing a certain concept to mind. When warriors grew strong enough, their physical might was so great that they could use the space around them as though it was solid. When a warrior reached that level, making them move was as difficult as tearing space itself.

However, such strength required at least level 25 power, and that was for warriors! It was an extraordinary level of power that crossed into the domain of epic beings, and Richard was just a newly advanced mage!

## Abilities

Even though he was originally a paladin, he made for a great assassin. He had mind-numbing speed, high magical resistance, spell-piercing attacks and powerful stealth abilities combined to make Solam the perfect mage assassin.

The man had supposedly chosen this class just to fight better against Sharon, but she had also mentioned that he was better suited to becoming a judgement warrior. It took great talent to excel so much outside of one’s biggest strengths, but one could also tell just how much of an impact she’d had on his life.

### **Magic Break**

Only a few feet away from Richard, the dagger suddenly sparked as it hit a barrier. However, Solam just sneered as he covered the weapon in black energy, immediately ripping through multiple layers with increased speed. The barriers exploded with none of their usual power, and in a moment the weapon had made contact with the clothing on Richard’s back! This was Magic Break, the most important legendary ability for any antimage. It could destroy barriers almost instantly, which was what made antimages a nightmare for all spellcasters.

Striking his weapons against each other to create a shrill keen. Richard suddenly felt a bout of dizziness as his vision seemed to distort, making spellcasting extremely difficult to focus on.

## Family

eleven wives

Fornon Solam - Brother

Steven Solam - Son

Randolph Solam - Son

## References

1. ↑ v1ch22b
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Book 8, Chapter 64
3. ↑ 6;77