Baran

**Baran** (바란) was the King of Demons and the Monarch of White Flames.

## Appearance

Baran was a huge, muscular demon with gray skin, glowing white eyes, glowing flame-like white hair, a long tail, and four horns on his head, two of which were very long and curved. He also wore an elaborate gray helmet and pale yellow armor on his shoulders and over his groin area. In contrast, when he was recreated by the Architect, Baran had glowing red eyes and did not wear a helmet.

## Personality

In life, Baran was a cruel and brash individual who was not the type to back down from a fight, as he tried to kill Ashborn despite the massive gap in strength between them. He was also not a coward and wasn't scared to die, as he refused to reveal his intentions to Ashborn even though he knew that there was no chance that the Shadow Monarch would spare his life.

## History

Eons ago, Baran fought alongside the other Monarchs, including the Shadow Monarch Ashborn, in a devastating war with the Rulers at the behest of their creator, the Absolute Being. As the war progressed, Antares, the strongest Monarch, grew fearful of Ashborn's powers and ordered Baran and Rakan to take him out.

Being a Monarch, Baran had no problem turning on his former ally and attempted to kill him shortly after the latter had finished slaughtering a large chunk of the Rulers' armies. However, despite his best efforts, Ashborn brutally defeated both him and Rakan in the fight that followed, prompting the latter to flee the battlefield and leave Baran, who was too injured to move, behind to die.

After Rakan's departure, Ashborn confronted Baran and angrily demanded to know why he had betrayed him. As he was unwilling to reveal that he was just following orders, Baran refused to talk and mocked his former ally by replying back in gibberish, prompting Ashborn to kill him by crushing his skull in one hand.

### Return to Demon Castle Arc

Ten years after the Rulers initiated their plan to prepare the human world for their war, a magical copy of Baran was created by the Architect to serve as the final boss of the Demon Castle. When Sung Jinwoo, Ashborn's human host, finally made it to the Demon Castle's 100th and final floor, he was confronted by Baran, who almost immediately attacked him and easily gained the upper hand due to his superior strength. However, thanks to a distraction by Esil Radiru, Baran was ultimately defeated when Jinwoo ripped off his left arm and threw a powerful punch at his jaw, killing him on the spot.

## Abilities

As a Monarch, Baran was an immensely powerful individual. However, given how strong the other Monarchs were, it is highly likely that the copy of Baran that Jinwoo fought was far weaker than the real Baran was.

* **Immense Strength:** Baran possessed immense physical strength. As a testament to this, he was able to hit Jinwoo hard enough to stagger him and easily force the human onto the defensive with his attacks.
* **Immense Durability:** Baran possessed immense durability.
* **Hell's Army:** Baran was able to summon his demon army via portals.
* **Lightning Breath**: Baran was able to spit potent torrents of lightning from his mouth, applying a stun debuff to his targets as a bonus effect. He was also able to choose between using it as an AoE attack or focusing it on a single opponent.
* **Spiritual Body Manifestation**

## References

1. ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 85
2. ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 177
3. ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 129
4. ↑ Solo Leveling Webtoon: Chapter 87