Archmage Velan Deirus

**Velan Deirus** was an Archmage, a former member of the Queen's Corps, a Grand Duke of the Griffon Kingdom, and Yurial Deirus' father. He was head of the Deirus household, a 3 generation new magical bloodline. He was close friends and allies with the Ernas, but after Yurial's death at Quylla's hands (under the effects of Nalear's slave ring), he became a bitter enemy and sought to undermine Lith and Phloria politically.

## Appearance

The Archmage was a man in his late fifties, about 1.7 meters (5'7") tall, with red hair and a beard. Brown streaks showed his talent for earth magic that had made him an Archmage whereas grey streaks due to grief and age made him look older than he was.

## Personality

Velan was strict and pragmatic, valuing hard work over status and prioritizing family duties. However, he deeply loved his son Yurial and felt regret over having failed his son his times of need on multiple occasions.

## Background

Velan Deirus was a brilliant man, who had worked hard all his life and became an Archmage before he was even forty. He had achieved such a feat thanks to his talent for magic and his political ingenuity that allowed him to be at least five steps ahead of his competition.

He married his wife for political reasons and there was no love between them, thus she took no role in raising Yurial. Velan loved his son but put duty above family, urging Yurial to go through with his arranged marriage and prioritizing extending the family bloodline over Yurial's feelings.

### Grand Duke

When many nobles leave the Kingdom after hearing about the situation in Kandria, the Royals exploit the opportunity to declare them deserters, confiscating their titles and lands. Velan seizes the chance to expand his territory, bringing into his grand duchy the Black Griffon. He begins suppressing Lukart's assets and spending a fortune gathering evidence to prove he was behind Kandria's problems, the civil war "bullsh\*t", and was Hatorne's accomplice.

When Yurial becomes traumatized from the events of the second exam, Velan expresses regret over having established more of a master-apprentice than a father-son relationship with him due to the fear that Yurial would turn out the same as his siblings. As a result, Yurial sees Velan as a disappointed teacher rather than a worried father, preventing Velan's words from getting through to Yurial. When Lith visits the Ernas' and confides his past to his group, Velan, Jirni and Orion eavesdrop on the conversation, with Velan intending on making Lith an asset in the future.

After Balkor's attack, Yurial expresses his desire to cancel his marriage with Libea Fintyr and live a freer life, but Velan insists on upholding his duty to ensure the future of their household, citing his own marriage as an example. When Lith reveals the conspiracy with the anti-mana toxin poisoning, Velan refuses to let Yurial leave the academy, believing that backing down would cause him to lose face.

After Yurial's death, Velan gives Lith his son's research journals on Impossible Arrays. He also finds Yurial's diaries in which Yurial also expressed how painful his existence had been but his strong conviction to fulfill his duty, and Velan shows great remorse at having neglected his son's emotional state.

### Path of Vengeance

Velan holds Quylla responsible for killing Yurial and Phloria for making the decision to save Jirni instead of his son. The two families eventually make peace, but Deirus never recovers from the loss of his only beloved son and suitable heir. After a while, he resigns to his bloodline ending with him. He starts spending all of his time either in his lab or putting things in order for the families that would take his place once his Grand Duchy is split into smaller lands. Jirni and Orion call to offer him their help multiple times and visit him whenever they can, just to find Velan's amulet offline and his doors closed.

Velan later descends into madness and becomes consumed by vengeance. He sabotages Phloria's career in the army and downplays Lith's achievements by leaving disciplinary notes in his file. When confronted by Jirni, he demands she either hand Quylla over to be killed by him, or to give him Phloria to extend the Deirus bloodline, which Jirni refuses. Velan takes Phloria's vengeful ex-boyfriend Kallion Nuragor as his protege and gets him promoted to Great Mage, though he still holds the latter in contempt for his fickle morals and childish behavior.

Deirus and Headmistress Onia try to push for Phloria to be dishonorably discharged and sentenced for taking a sabbatical amidst the undead invasion and disobeying orders. When the Ernas sisters take part in the Feymar crystal mine expedition, Deirus attempts to assassinate them with a battalion of army traitors and elder undead led by Kallion, though is unsuccessful. During the Royal hearing regarding the events, Deirus is able to deflect the accusations due to insufficient evidence, but is given a Royal Restrict Order along with Archmage Kwart and Onia. Jirni investigates Deirus with Kamila, but does not find any leads as Deirus had never made a misstep, violated the law, or associated with shady characters.

Prior to the Royal Gala celebrating Lith's achievements, Deirus' faction plans to accuse Lith of being a spy for the beasts. Deirus predicts the King will opt for a demonstration of first magic and forces all the Archmages in his group to practice it relentlessly. He also hires a Vampire from his contacts in the Undead Courts to give them just enough of his blood for the task at hand, and hires one of the Lost Magi Tiennon Zavra from the Night Court as a failsafe plan to assassinate Quylla. At the Royal Gala Deirus provokes Brinja by insulting her late mother, but Brinja deftly manipulates the situation to her favor by involving Queen Sylpha who unbeknownst to everyone was Mirim's closest friend. Sylpha physically incapacitates Deirus before renewing his social ban. Deirus' allies, eager to avoid Sylpha's fury, turn their back on him to save their skins.

After Kwart's defeat in the duel with Lith, the Royals replace Onia as Headmaster with Ainz, though Kwart appoints her as his assistant to keep her close. With Deirus' ties to the Royal Court severed, the Deirus Household becomes all but diminished, its lands ready to be redistributed the moment he dies. At the end of the gala Quylla is assassinated by Zavra, though Lith kills Zavra before he can escape. Deirus stages a show at the funeral, mocking the grievers until Morok in his beast form attacks him out of rage before escaping.

Jirni infiltrates Deirus' mansion at night and attempts to assassinate him but he subdues her easily, revealing he has become a thrall and one of Night's Chosen. He gloats before killing her, revealing his role in helping the Balkor copycat and his plan to incriminate the Ernas with Jirni's failed assassination. However, Jirni reveals her corpse as well as that of "Quylla" who died are meat puppets created by Manohar, Vastor, and Balkor. She explains how she orchestrated Deirus winning to kill him or obtain a confession and summons Manohar, Balkor, Vastor, and Orion. The 4 gods subdue and torture Deirus, leading Night to shatter her prism from a distance before he can reveal her location, killing the traitorous Archmage.

## Relationships

* Lith Verhen: Deirus hated Lith for having "betrayed" the cause of the young magical bloodlines, having refused to become his heir no matter how many times Deirus had asked him after Yurial's death, and for being a constant pain in the ass.
* Jirni Ernas Myrok: formerly an ally, Deirus hated her for protecting Quylla from the consequences of murdering Yurial - the heir of the Deirus Household - despite having done so under the effects of Nalear's slave ring, for refusing to give him one of her daughters as compensation, and also because he couldn't stand the thought of seeing the Ernas thrive while the Deirus declined with each passing day.
* Brinja Distar: Deirus hated her because she reminded him too much of her mother Mirim, who had always managed to foil his political ploys despite the fact that he was both an Archmage and a Grand Duke.

## Quotes

* *"Remember, attacking someone's life was a crime, but bringing down a rival's business empire was perfectly legal. It also hits that pompous b\*stard where it hurts the most: his wallet."* (Velan to Yurial, Chapter 163)
* *"F\*ck Linjos and his idiotic ideas."* (Chapter 179)
* *"Son, I received death threats on a daily basis. If I had to hide and cower every time I get one, I should never get out of bed."* (Velan to Yurial, Chapter 242)
* *"I admit that I would've never pulled it off if your daughter didn't manage to get so many valuable Professors from the young magical bloodlines slaughtered. You old coots can afford to lose one heir or two because the foundation of your power was solid. Remaining mageless was nothing but a temporary setback for you, whereas it can spell the end for us commoners."* (Velan to Jirni, Chapter 958)
* *"Disgruntled daughters need to vent with someone about their meddling parents. Boyfriends make an excellent shoulder to lean on. You wouldn't believe how many things a young woman was willing to share, especially during pillow talk."* (Velan to Jirni, Chapter 959)
* *"I know you care about Lith enough to groom that little wench of his and believe me, once I'm done with you, he'll be the next on my list."* (Velan to Jirni, Chapter 959)
* *"I've got nothing left in this fucking Kingdom so I'm going to join her immortal army. Worst case scenario, I'll die bringing a lot of people with me. Best case scenario, we win and I'll piss on your grave every day from now until the sun stops rising."* (Deirus to Jirni, Chapter 1485)

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 261: Second Meeting (Part 1)
2. ↑ Chapter 959: Different Games (Part 1)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Chapter 958: Sometimes They Come Back (Part 2)
4. ↑ Note: Chapter 1462: Old and New Friends (Part 2) states Deirus has red hair streaked yellow and blue, but this is incorrect and should be orange streaks.
5. ↑ Chapter 181: Crucible (3)
6. ↑ Chapter 960: Different Games (Part 2)
7. ↑ Chapter 163: Domestic Affairs
8. ↑ Chapter 179: Cornered
9. ↑ Chapter 221: Truth Hurts
10. ↑ Chapter 242: Report
11. ↑ Chapter 318: Moving Forward (Part 2)
12. ↑ Chapter 981: Cold War (Part 1)
13. ↑ Chapter 1023: Dangerous Wishes (Part 1)
14. ↑ Chapter 1087: Darkness versus Chaos (Part 1)
15. ↑ Chapter 1094: Trust Issues (Part 2)
16. ↑ Chapter 1467: Violet Cores (Part 1)
17. ↑ Chapter 1477: Lost Magus (Part 3)
18. ↑ Chapter 1463: Feints and Traps (Part 1)
19. ↑ Chapter 1471: Dance Partners (Part 1)
20. ↑ Chapter 1484: Home Invasion (Part 2)
21. ↑ Chapter 1479: Fathers and Son (Part 1)
22. ↑ Chapter 1486: A Monster’s Plan (Part 2)
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Chapter 1462: Old and New Friends (Part 2)