Ilyum Balkor

**Ilyum Balkor**, also known as the "God of Death," is a Magus of the Blood Desert, the fake Awakened Feather of the Forgotten Plume tribe, master of Necromancy, and a sworn enemy of the Griffon Kingdom. He was born a commoner in the Griffon Kingdom, but his family's death and destruction of his village by bandits led him to dedicate his life to revenge. His attacks on the Kingdom are responsible for the recent hasty reform of the Kingdom's nobility and academy system.

## Appearance

Balkor is a man in his late thirties, about 1.76 meters (5'9") tall, with a lean body toned by regular training and the Awakening process. He has light blonde hair with streaks of black and white. The former is proof of his affinity for the darkness element whereas the latter is the consequence of him spending most of his life force to create his army of Greater Undead. Despite spending years in the desert, he is still quite pale due to being born in the northern Griffon Kingdom. Unlike the other men of the desert he has no beard and wears a black and silver robe, the same colors of the Black Griffon.

Later, Manohar shapeshifts Balkor into a young maiden resembling Tista, with rosy skin and a double D cup.

## Personality

During the eleven years Balkor had pursued his revenge, he had shared through the hive-mind connecting his minions all their kills. He had slaughtered everyone on his path, no matter if they were elderly, infants, or even servants to the families of his enemies. Fatherhood didn't make Balkor softer, on the contrary, it made him more feral. He has so much blood on his hands, having killed more people than most wars and the only reason he stopped is that his body couldn't handle it anymore. After vowing loyalty to Salaark, the only thing that matters to him is his own family.

## Abilities

Balkor learned on his own how to shape light constructs, though is unable to alter it after they are formed.

## Balkor's Undead

Balkor developed his own Undead after capturing and merging Abominations with his creations. Most of his Undead's defenses can ignore Warden arrays due to the Abomination fragments inside them being resistant to arrays. While Abominations are fueled by life force and Undead the mark of their creator, Balkor used his own life force to bind the blood core and Abomination's abilities together. As a result, with each Undead he makes, the shorter his life span gets.

Balkor's magnum opus was turning mana crystals into memory crystals, which allows them to act as a hive mind, learning from each other's experiences and passing knowledge to others.

### Crawlers

Every year Balkor sends out a probing attack with weak Lesser Undead, testing the defenses. The **Crawlers** have black naked bodies, barely resembling a human figure aside from having arms and legs. They have no facial features, body hair, or reproductive organs, and move on all fours with insect-like movements. They are able to reattach severed limbs with black tendrils similar to Abominations and can spit a toxin that attacks the victims' mana cores. However, they have no magical powers, have limited intelligence, and no strategy.

### Toxic Spitters

**Toxic Spitters** are black creatures sent during the first wave that have lipless mouths filled with rows of fang-like teeth and a single red eye on their foreheads. They also spit a toxic substance that seeps through wounds and slowly drains the victim's vitality, and are able to store and compress their life force in the forehead to shoot it out like a laser, though doing so shortens their lifespan and makes them weaker. They have no survival instinct and only obey the single order to "kill." Most importantly, these undead share a hive mind, learning from each other and also acting as Balkor's eyes and ears.

### Controllers

**Controllers** are Undead embedded with a memory crystal that keep themselves away from the fighting while collecting and sharing combat data.

### Valors

**Valors** have a human appearance resembling Balkor's 16 year old appearance, with red-hair and eyes, standing about 5'6" (1.67 meters) with a skeletal malnutritioned build. They are animated by a large amount of his life force, which on one hand lets him share their senses and directly control them telepathically, but each of their deaths greatly impacts Balkor's life force and body. Due to the memory crystal, they can share their vision, eliminating any blind spots. They are able to replicate Balkor's swordplay and can shoot rays of darkness from their hands, eyes and mouth, as well as turn their limbs into tendrils that eject a purple acid and incredibly fast regeneration. Their Abomination powers greatly reduces damage from all elements except darkness. He also infected them with his rage, a feeling they are incapable of controlling without his supervision. He crafted only 10 per Great Academy.

## Background

### Past

Ilyum Balkor enrolled at Black Griffon Academy 20 years before the present time, quickly revealing to possess an outstanding talent for magic. Per the old system, he and his family were constantly victims of harassment from the noble families, and a few months before his graduation at 16 years old, Balkor's village was set ablaze and his family killed by unknown bandits. After graduating, he disappeared for a few months before returning at the lead of an army of Greater Undead, exterminating in one night all the noble families in his birthplace and gaining the title 'God of Death'.

Balkor escaped to the Blood Desert and the old Queen abdicated in favor of Queen Sylpha. The following year, the Crown received a single world from him: "Past". During the night of the anniversary of Balkor's family's death, an entire old noble household disappeared with the word "Soon" painted everywhere with blood. Each of the next four years, the Crown received the same note and another ancient household would disappear during the night of the anniversary. The following 5 years, the note wrote "Present." During the anniversary, Balkor's new target became the Crown and the Mage Association, though most manage to survive, and the Association was able to collect samples to devise new weapons against Balkor's minions.

### God of Death

On the eleventh year (the year Lith attends his 4th year), the note now reads "Future," and Balkor attacks the six Great Academies. He succeeds in wiping out the Lightning and Earth Griffons and destroying their power cores as well as killing many of their students and professors, though fails against the others. Balkor decides to abandon his revenge and settle down with his family, detonating his lab with all his research and becoming the Feather of the Forgotten Plume Tribe in the Blood Desert.

Balkor shares the basics of his Necromancy with the Blood Desert's academies, earning the **Blood Magus** title in the Desert and **Lost Magus** in the Griffon Kingdom. He occasionally performs research with Leegaain.

Manohar approaches Balkor in the Desert seeking his "second opinion" to fight the Horseman Night against whom Balkor holds a grudge for threatening his family while attempting to get Balkor to bond with her. After a brief confrontation Salaark intervenes and agrees to protect Balkor's tribe while asking him to study how Manohar can cast silent spells without true magic. Manohar shapeshifts the two of them into young maidens to infiltrate Othre. He explains how he silent casts by using Light Mastery first magic to draw runes and infuse them with mana, while Balkor tells him about Awakening and true magic.

Manohar leads them to the Night Court branch, slaughtering the undead until they meet Night and her Chosen. Night attempts to convince Balkor again but he refuses and the two Magi clash with the Chosen. Balkor's Dominance over the darkness element renders her Chosen useless so she faces them herself. Manohar becomes preoccupied with learning how Dominance, Spirit Magic, and Creation Magic work. Night suppresses them easily until Manohar fakes his death to occupy Night until Balkor's Chaos spell destroys her host.

### Allied Gods

After nearly losing to Night, Balkor diligently practices Light Mastery, Creation Magic, and Chaos Magic. Manohar and Jirni Ernas visit him in the Desert where Jirni proposes using him and his venom as a scapegoat to cripple the heirs of the magical bloodlines, notably Archmage Deirus' allies. Balkor agrees on the condition he add several names to the hit list, and Jirni accepts.

Balkor is informed by Jirni of a Balkor copycat sending marked cards to those who had helped Lith in the past. He denies any affiliation and is angered by the desecration of his legacy. Balkor observes the test run of Lith's DoLorean through Salaark and laments not having one for his family. After witnessing all its capabilities, Salaark decides to ask Lith for its blueprints once he visits. When Balkor questions why she doesn't take it, Salaark retorts that she follows her own laws and doesn't steal from her subjects or potential allies.

Salaark brings Balkor to witness human history during Dawn's assault on Belius while offering Tyris her emotional support. Manohar uses the Spell Hoarding Cube to summon a specter of Valeron and his comrades, evoking Tyris' emotions. Salaark talks to Balkor about what made Valeron attractive and the lengths to which Tyris went for him, even inventing power cores to empower him on the battlefield.

Jirni works with Balkor, Vastor, and Manohar to develop meat puppets for each of her children and herself as insurance against anything Archmage Deirus might pull in his quest for revenge against the Ernas. At the Royal Gala "Quylla" is murdered by an assassin sent by Deirus. Balkor and the other gods infiltrate Deirus' mansion with Jirni to obtain a confession for his crimes where they learn he has become a thrall and one of Night's Chosen. The gods subdue and torture Deirus leading Night to shatter her prism from a distance before he can reveal her location, killing the traitorous Archmage.

After allying with Manohar to help Jirni, the two gods meet frequently for research - Manohar to help Balkor understand the light element for Tier 2 Creation Magic, and Balkor to help Manohar with solving Awakening. Balkor had tried to discover the secrets of his own body ever since Salaark turned him into one of her Feathers, but like all those before him, he failed. Manohar shares his notes on light magic and Awakening while Balkor shares his notes on darkness magic and Domination. After he leaves and attempts to slip Balkor's children Erak and Eylen magic tomes, however, Eos demands Balkor keep Manohar away from their home.

## Quotes

* *"In the end, even the god of death dies."* (Chapter 215)
* *"Light and Darkness are two sides of the same coin. You simply chose the wrong side of the spectrum."* (Balkor to Manohar, Chapter 937)
* *"Undeath can be used to buy time and give a life to people affected by diseases we have yet to find a cure for. Not all the undead are born out of their own will and some regret their choice. They deserve a second chance."* (Balkor to Manohar, Chapter 940)
* *"My answer is no. You are no different from the Royals who first ignored my pleas for help and then tried to cajole me once they discovered my talent. Scratch that, you're even worse because you threatened my family. Not even the Kingdom's assassins ever dared to do that."* (Balkor to Night, Chapter 941)
* *"Death is not the end, just the beginning. Light and darkness were never meant to be used separately. They are part of the whole, and the same applies to all elements."* (Balkor to Night parroting Baba Yaga's words, Chapter 942)
* *"[Baba Yaga] didn't give birth to perfect beings, only to perfect failures. You are no different from the Fallen races. A mistake that needs fixing."* (Balkor to Night, Chapter 942)
* *"Your insanity was only matched by your bravery, Manohar. I may be the last man standing, but this victory belongs to you. Thank you."* (Chapter 945)
* *"I don't care for copycats. Yet if they dare to desecrate the death of my family to try and turn my legacy for their gains, I'll make sure that's the last mistake they ever make."* (Balkor to Jirni, Chapter 1267)
* *"I took you with me because you showed me through your family that you are more than your revenge."* (Salaark to Balkor, Chapter 1400)

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 210: Hidden Agenda (2)
2. ↑ Chapter 2762: The Weight of One Life (Part 2)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 204
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chapter 936
5. ↑ Chapter 938
6. ↑ Chapter 941
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Chapter 212
8. ↑ Chapter 207
9. ↑ Chapter 209
10. ↑ Chapter 215
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Chapter 939
12. ↑ Chapter 937
13. ↑ Chapter 945
14. ↑ Chapter 983
15. ↑ Chapter 1267
16. ↑ Chapter 1329
17. ↑ Chapter 1400
18. ↑ Chapter 1486
19. ↑ Chapter 1486