Ludegert

**Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. Read at your own discretion.**
**Ludegert** (ルードゲート) is the main antagonist of *Nights of Azure*. She is the First Saint who fought and sealed the Demon King. In her guise as the Curia's Pope, she orders Arnice to investigate rumors in Ruswal about the Night's return.

## Appearance

Ludegert has two main appearances.

Throughout most of the game, she is seen wearing a clerical robe and hat, concealing her face.

At the end of the game, Ludegert morphs into her Nightlord form. Both her voice and body appear much younger, with pale white skin, long black hair and red eyes. She wears a silver hat with black accents, with a white veil going around her hair, and three blue, red and white roses attached. Her body is covered by a revealing white veil of feathers that become red and blue at the points. She wears silver gauntlets and bulky silver shoulder pads, with armor that goes around her neck. She has two wings behind her waist, just like the original Nightlord, with her right wing being black and red while the left wing being white. She wears silver metal boots. Her whole body is wrapped in rose thorns. She wields an engraved silver greatsword, also wrapped in rose thorns, with white, red and blue roses at the hilt.

## Personality

Ludegert is portrayed as being solemn and resolute. She truly believes in her goals and will not let anyone stand in her way no matter the cost. She is revealed to be incredibly cunning as well, tricking millions into believing a false story and founding the Curia to cover up the truth from the entire world. Ludegert is disgusted by the atrocities that mankind is able to commit and dedicates her life to find a solution, no matter how extreme or harmful the solution itself may be.

Despite her cold and calculating nature, there is kind warmth beneath her extreme ideology. Though delusional, she believes herself to be a savior and sees the Saints used to maintain her body as necessary sacrifices for a greater good. Regardless of how corrupt she may be, her initial will was founded on the love she felt for all humans and the sincere desire for peace between them.

She has also developed a certain softness for the Nightlord she defeated centuries ago, keeping him at her side despite his lack of utility. Though, the exact nature and extent of these feelings is ambiguous on her end.

## History

In ancient times, Ludegert, the First Saint, is a legendary heroine and a symbolic figure of Curia that was said to have vanquished the Demon King and sealed away the Eternal Night at the cost of her own life approximately 800 years prior to the main story. The Curia took up her will after she passed away, and every time the seal gets weaker, they elect a new Saint to sacrifice at the Blue Altar.

However, Ludegert's legacy never truly died, as she has been acting as the Curia's Pope for centuries. She is the true cause for the Eternal Night and the current Nightlord, a title that she gained after she betrayed the previous holder, the Demon King, which subsequently became her subordinate. The Demon King became trapped in the form of a cat after his defeat and the transfer of his power to Ludegert. It was Ludegert who originally summoned the Demon King into the world with the intention of gaining his aid in changing it. When he refused, she turned her sword on him in desperation, bathing in his Blue Blood to acquire power and immortality. Saint Ludegert could not stand the atrocities that mankind would bring upon itself—war, murder, hatred—and was convinced that by stealing the Nightlord's powers she could protect the world herself.

Even as the current Nightlord, however, Ludegert is not immortal, as her body still withers with time due to the Saint's power affecting her body and soul. To prevent this, Ludegert must pass her power of the Saint to her chosen successors among Curia, where she can merge with them and continue living for another 10 years before repeating the ritual.

## Relationships

Nightlord - After striking the Nightlord down, Ludegert inherited his powers as part of her plan to stop mankind from warring amongst themselves. After centuries of being together, the two developed a relationship, one-sided as it was. Though the Nightlord eventually saw Ludegert in a positive light, it is unknown if she reciprocated these feelings in any significant way. All that is known is that she saw some value in keeping him by her side.

Corrine - Ludegert's Holy Knight who served her faithfully for eight hundred years. She suffers unending grief from the fall of her Saint, and eventually goes mad in the futility of trying to save her. Unbeknownst to Corrine, Ludegert survived but could not tell her of this fact, else it would ruin the secrecy of her plan.

Arnice - A Holy Knight of the Curia who is subservient to Ludegert's commands for a time. Although she is Ludegert's most powerful asset, Arnice is seemingly indignant and aloof. Moreover, she cares far more for Lilysse than for the Pope.

Lilysse - The last Saint, whom Ludegert believes can contain the Eternal Night as she has over the centuries. Ludegert plans on having her sacrificed at the Blue Altar to complete her body and ensure that no more sacrifices must be made in the future.