Kureha Clyret

* Anime
* Manga
* Light Novel

**Kureha Clyret** is a former knight of Jioral Kingdom. She is highly renowned as the Blade Goddess and Sword Saint, later on Kureha became the new Sword Hero. She initially opposes Keyaru's party, but eventually allies with them and betrayed the Jioral Kingdom after learning of her kingdom's atrocities and misguided preconceptions as well as realising that she was only a pawn to them.

## Profile

### Appearance

Kureha was described by Keyaru to be a natural beauty and despite having fought countless battles, she received no scars on her body. Her well proportioned body paired with her gorgeous silver hair and blue eyes could bewitched and charm even the most stoic of men and women.

### Personality

Unlike the majority of people affiliated with Jioral Kingdom, Kureha is an honorable woman with a strong sense of justice. She condemns all matter of wrongdoing and evildoers and willingly compromise her own safety to ensure others. When Keyaru restored her lost arm, she reacts with genuine gratitude and promised to return the favour to him someday. She abhors the concept of using the Clyret swordsmanship to commit evil, and thus confronted Keyaru after hearing how he killed the Kingdom's troops with that specific art and being told that they were innocently killed for protecting the Ice Wolf tribe. Kureha is opposed to the idea of treating demi-humans as slaves or lesser beings, as shown when she thought Setsuna was forcibly made one and attempted to save her. She carries herself with dignity everywhere she goes and can be considered spoiled since she was raised in a rich environment from young. However, she cares deeply for the commoners and gives due respect to everyone she meets. She takes great care and pride in maintaining a beautiful outward appearance and demeanour.

## Plot

Kureha first appearance shows that she was missing an arm that was lost after a hard-fought battle, and asks the newly recruited Keyaru to restore it. The restoration is a success, but Keyaru collapses during the process. She then promised the unconscious boy that she will return the favour back to him someday.

### Current Timeline

Kureha later goes to Lanaritta and confronts Keyaru (unbeknownst to her due to his transformation) after hearing he used the Clyret swordsmanship to murder Jioral Kingdom soldiers. She is further convinced that he must be slain after assuming his demi-human companion was someone he forced into becoming a slave. The two then engage in a fierce duel, and though her sword is broken by Keyaru's corrosion, she is still able to corner him with another blade. It was at that moment that Kureha is briefly pushed back after slashing through a thrown flask containing aphrodisiac fumes, and tries to stave off the effects by stabbing her own leg. Although she manages to lop off Keyaru's right arm despite the effects, the latter is able to restore his lost limb immediately and use his Upgrade ability to make her experience traumatic memories of demi-human abuse, causing her to collapse.

Kureha wakes up at an inn, hesitant to believe what she saw. Her suspicion only increases after Keyaru reveals himself as the Healing Hero she met years ago who was rumoured to have killed Princess Flare, but is eventually convinced after the actual Flare (Freia in Flare's clothing) tells her the true nature of Jioral Kingdom and was seen cooperating with the hero. After pledging her services as thanks for restoring her arm and trying to find a recompense for her impulsive actions, the aphrodisiac Keyaru set around the room eventually took effect and she experience pleasure for the first time via sex. He took her first kiss and virginity that night. Her level cap was then increased many time during the night and after waking up.

The next morning, the group had breakfast with Kureha closely attaching herself to Keyaru. Kureha soon after informs them that the kingdom was looking for Keyaru with appraisal papers; since they knew that he was able to change his appearance. These would allow them to find a person with his name regardless of what they look like. When soldiers outside announce they will execute the people in Keyaru's village of Alban, Kureha is assigned by him to investigate what became of it. She wonders what allowed the Jioral Kingdom to get away with their atrocities under the banner of protecting humanity, so she was assigned to look into who was behind it. After receiving a kiss from Keyaru, Kureha sets out with new profound enthusiasm after dreading momentarily that she has to separate from him.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Holy Blade**: Despite not being a hero, Keyaru measured Kureha as level 45 when they first met. A level among the apex of humanity which only a handful of mortals ever hope to achieve. Gifted with the rare skill Holy Blade from birth, Kureha possesses preternatural ability in swordsmanship which has earned her the title Blade Goddess. Even when hindered by the effects of Keyaru's aphrodisiac, she was still able to lop off his arm at a moment's notice.

* **Detection**: An advanced ability that allows Kureha to detect all movements and presence in her vicinity. It also enables her to react to enemy attacks instinctively and autonomously if they stepped into her domain. Her range gradually increases as she levels up.

* **Expert Swordsman:** Kureha's dexterity is the epitome of all humans, and she is perfectly capable of defeating multiple opponents at once before they even realise she moved. It was said that her abilities are leagues above that of even the former Hero of the Sword (**Blade)** and that no one else is more suitable to that prestigious title than her. Despite combining many techniques together, Keyaru admits that he doesn’t even come close to her skill and that no one in the world is as exceptional as her when a sword is present. It was considered nigh-impossible for a person including her instructors to stop and survive 3 of her serious strikes.
* **Indomitable Will:** To be given the title of the Hero of the Sword, Kureha went through the gruelling Sword trial and passed with flying colours after the trial tested her conviction and dedication to the way of the Sword. Since it was decided by fate, the trial was created in a way that those who were not the chosen one would had been immediately killed as there could only be one Hero of the Sword at any given time. Her dedication and willpower is therefore one of the highest of any character in the series.
* **Immense Stamina:** Kureha was able to continuously attack and precisely cut down immortal knights into small pieces for 3 days and nights straight while travelling on horseback when they were following her.
* **Incredible Strength & Accuracy:** One punch from Kureha could send a high level Keyaru through walls and rupture many of his bones and organs, even though he specialised his stats for defence. With one hit, she could easily incapacitate or give a fatal blow to any normal human. As she levels, her strength also increases. One slash from her could cleanly cut through even a high level dragon.
* **High speed and agility:** Kureha's combat speed and running speed were faster than that of Keyaru during their battle and allowed her to gain the upper hand many times. Her balance, unpredictable and eccentric attacks during combat also helped her gain vast reputation and be considered unrivalled in the way of the Blade by the entire Kingdom. It is considered praiseworthy for anyone to be able to see her move let alone keep up with her during combat.
* **Professional Spy:** Kureha's reconnaissance, surveillance and infiltration techniques are paragon. Keyaru himself has the most faith in her abilities to collect important intel and report back to him at a moment's notice without being caught. She is perspicacious when planning out her tactics while also being aplomb and sangfroid in demanding situations.

* **Increased EXP Gain**: Being one of the chosen heroes allows her and her party members to gain double the EXP, stacking multiplicatively with the other heroes if they are also in the same party.

## Relationships

* Keyaru: After her arm was restored, Kureha reacts with genuine gratitude and promises to return the favor someday. After his escape, they met again as enemies, but became allies after she was bested in combat and learns the true nature of Jioral Kingdom. Due to the influence of an aphrodisiac used in battle and in the bedroom, Kureha becomes intimately infatuated with Keyaru. Keyaru respects her and wants to take her as his lover which is on a higher level than those he considers slaves and tools like Setsuna. When they were travelling together, he taught her how to cook and live off the land after finding out she wasn’t aware of the importance of such skills. Moreover, he taught her the importance of not just being physically healthy but mentally as well. Before the final battle they agreed to have children together but decided against it as the pregnancy would limit Kureha use in combat. He is willing to compromise his own safety to ensure hers and despises whenever he has to put her in difficult situations. After knowing how much he cares about her, she becomes genuinely in love with him and gets jealous when she spends more time with the other girls, neglecting her in the process. That said, she still respects him immensely and knows that deep down, he still treasures her and thus, fully supports him and his intimacy with other girls.
* Flare Arlgrande Jioral: Initially, Flare is jealous of Kureha's combat abilities, close connection and ability to stand as an equal next to Keyaru. However, as they went on adventurers together, they began to foster a kind of mutual respect and constantly look out and cover for one another. They even shared Keyaru in bed countless times. As they are both Heroes, whenever they are in a group, their accumulated experience exponentially increases. Kureha is tasked to look out for her safety and they have saved each other from numerous circumstances. They have put their lives at risk for one another and displayed impeccable teamwork when taking down high level dragons. When together, Flare's magic and Kureha's techniques are described to be unmatched. So much so that when they are serious, it was said that they can even take down Keyaru when he is at full power. The primary reason being that he could never duplicate their Godlike skills but could only copy them to what was humanly possible. With Kureha's unparalleled close range abilities and Flare's superlative long ranged magic, Keyaru admits that he himself wouldn’t want to go against and incur the wrath of such a formidable duo.

## Etymology

* The name **Kureha** is written in katakana (クレハ), which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji (紅茶, 紅華, 呉葉, 空鈴葉, 空玲羽, 久玲葉, 紅麗羽, 暮葉 or 来蓮葉), it could possibly mean:
	+ 紅茶 - "tea, black tea".
	+ 紅華 - "crimson, deep red" (紅) (**kure**) and "flower, petal" (華) (**ha**).
	+ 呉葉 - "give, do something for" (呉) (**kure**) and "leaf, plane, lobe, needle, blade, spear, counter for flat things, fragment, piece" (葉) (**ha**).
	+ 空鈴葉 - "sky" (空) (**ku**), "bell" (鈴) (**re**) and "leaf, plane, lobe, needle, blade, spear, counter for flat things, fragment, piece" (葉) (**ha**).
	+ 空玲羽 - "sky" (空) (**ku**), "the tinkling of jade" (玲) (**re**) and "feather" (羽) (**ha**).
	+ 久玲葉 - "long time" (久) (**ku**), "the tinkling of jade" (玲) (**re**) and "leaf, plane, lobe, needle, blade, spear, counter for flat things, fragment, piece" (葉) (**ha**).
	+ 紅麗羽 - "crimson, deep red" (紅) (**ku**), "beautiful, lovely" (麗) (**re**) and "feather" (羽) (**ha**).
	+ 暮葉 - "livelihood/living/make a living, spend time" (暮) (**kure**) and "leaf, plane, lobe, needle, blade, spear, counter for flat things, fragment, piece" (葉) (**ha**).
	+ 来蓮葉 - "coming/come, due, next, since, cause, become" (来) (**ku**), "lotus, water lily" (蓮) (**re**) and "leaf, plane, lobe, needle, blade, spear, counter for flat things, fragment, piece" (葉) (**ha**).