Ithere

"Ithere"

- observing the willpower of another.

About
Ithere is a Dark Lord affiliated with the Hornet Faction and a major antagonist in Rance 03.

Prior to becoming a Dark Lord, Ithere was a Human man skilled in both the Magic Arts and swordsmanship. Born during the GL Era, a time remembered as one of the most horrific in the history of The Continent, he was among the few humans in possession of the raw power necessary to survive during the period without fear. Deeply disturbed by the unthinkable suffering humanity was subjected to throughout the era, he attempted to stand against the Monster hordes that ruled the world, and maintained a firm will by clinging to the hope that his kind would someday succeed in liberating themselves from their oppressors.

Over time, Ithere's exploits attracted the attention of the Demon King Gele, who, intrigued by his behavior, decided to approach him herself. Confronted directly by the unthinkable power of the Demon King, Ithere was overwhelmed by feelings of weakness and despair, and lost all drive to continue resisting. Rather than kill him immediately, Gele offered to spare Ithere's life in exchange for his eternal servitude as a Dark Lord. Ithere accepted the proposal, now believing with certainty that defeating the Demon King was a futile endeavor.

After becoming a Dark Lord, Ithere was haunted by guilt and self-loathing, resenting the weakness he showed by allowing Gele to shatter his resolve and push him into betraying humanity. To bury his anguish, he began to rationalize that it was simply human nature to break down and submit in the face of certain defeat, and that all people would do as he had when placed in a similar position. Upon reaching this conclusion, Ithere became fixated on testing the willpower of humans, closely evaluating their responses when subjected to great hardship.

While the majority of people Ithere observed seemingly confirmed his beliefs, either surrendering helplessly or relying on others to solve the problem for them, in rare instances an individual would appear who defied his expectations and continued to show unceasing resistance no matter how hopeless their circumstances became. Subconsciously seeing the strength he wished he himself possessed in them, Ithere became captivated by these people and approached them to further test the limits of their inner strength. Using a unique power he acquired after becoming a Dark Lord, he would stare passionately into their eyes and attempt to gain dominance over their spirit, transforming them into his mindless slave if they allowed him to overpower their mental fortitude. Though all who were subjected to this final test eventually failed, steadily losing their determination when pitted against a near-invincible Dark Lord, three women remained steadfast and refused to give in to Ithere much longer than anyone else, moving him even further. As a display of kindness, he offered to make each of these women into his Apostle, claiming that doing so was the only way for them to gain freedom from the monsters. The women, having been subjected to endless suffering at the hands of monsters throughout their lives, were finally cut through by these words, and graciously consented to the offer; forming close and mutually loving bonds with Ithere as his servants.

In an unprecedented turn of events, Gele's seemingly eternal reign as Demon King was finally put to a stop in the year GL1004, when she was betrayed and sealed away in the depths of her castle by the Supreme Dark Lord Gi, her lover and most trusted subordinate, who seized the position of Demon King for himself. Unlike Gele, Gi was largely indifferent toward humans, and put forth no effort to actively bring harm to them as she had. Ithere was not entirely aware of the specifics of Gi's victory, but was nonetheless incredibly impressed by the tenacity and guile he showed by finding a way to defeat Gele even after seemingly falling under her thrall by becoming a Dark Lord, and loyally served under him without complaint.

In the year GI0420, Gi, at the pressuring of his subordinates, declared war on the Holy Magic Sect, the most powerful and prominent human civilization in existence at the time. Harnessing powerful magic, the Holy Magic Sect constructed Toushin, mechanical warriors of unbelievable power, to fight against the forces of the Monster Realm. During the conflict, known as the Dark Lord War, Ithere encountered one such warrior, Toushin Delta, and engaged it in combat. Ithere attempted to defeat Delta by infiltrating its Toushin Toshi, the floating fortress that housed the components that controlled much of a Toushin's operations, and destroying the mana battery that served as its power source. His attack was intercepted by Delta, who successfully managed to repel him from the fortress before he was able to deliver any significant damage to it. The war was eventually brought to an abrupt end in the year GI0452, when the Holy Magic Sect's leader M.M Rune was betrayed by his closest allies and killed, causing the once mighty nation to crumble in an instant.

In the year GI1015, Gi unexpectedly named Kurusu Miki, a human girl from an Alternate Dimension, as his successor as Demon King, kidnapping her from her home in order to pass on his blood to her. Before Miki was able to fully awaken to the power of the Demon King, however, she was rescued by her boyfriend Ogawa Kentarou, who was able to temporarily stop her transformation through the use of Hirami Lemons. With Gi having allowed himself to be killed by Kentarou and Miki refusing to accept the position of Demon King, the Monster Realm was left without a leader and thrown into a state of civil war. The war was fought between the Supreme Dark Lord Hornet, Gi's daughter who desired to follow through with his wishes and embrace Miki as the new leader of monsterkind, and the Elite Dark Lord Kayblis, who desired to become the Demon King himself and wage war against humanity. Ithere sided with Hornet without hesitation, finding her resolution to fulfill her father's desires even as much of the Monster Realm turned against her to be profoundly admirable, and regarding Kayblis, whose deep-seated cowardice prevented him from so much as appearing near the frontlines of the war, with utter disgust.

In the year LP0002, the Dark Lord Noce, who had chosen to ally himself with Hornet, requested her permission to temporarily exit from the war in order to search the Human Realm for Miki; arguing that securing her location was more vital to achieving their goal than defeating the forces of the Kayblis Faction. Hornet agreed with this reasoning, and assigned Ithere, the Dark Lord Satella, and their respective Apostles to accompany him. Ithere was dubious of the arrangement, finding Noce's intentions suspicious due to him having largely been absent throughout the second half of Gi's reign and up to that point putting forth only the bare minimum amount of effort to contribute to the Hornet Faction's war effort, but agreed to take part in it at Hornet's behest.

Soon after entering the Human Realm, Ithere and Satella were informed by Noce that he had located an ancient weapon of tremendous power known as Chaos within the depths of the castle of the Kingdom of Leazas; one of the most powerful human nations that emerged following the collapse of the Holy Magic Sect. Claiming that this weapon would greatly assist them in winning the War of the Factions, Noce revealed that he had already made an arrangement with Patton Helman, the prince of the Helman Republic, a rival nation, to assist in invading Leazas with the intention of taking advantage of the ensuing confusion to search the depths of Leazas Castle to acquire it. Both Ithere and Satella disliked the idea of acting outside of Hornet's knowledge, with Ithere in particular believing that Hornet would not agree with needlessly harming humans for the sake of their mission, but were eventually forced to relent due to the authority Noce, a former Elite Dark Lord, held over them.

During the events of Rance 03, the three Dark Lords put Noce's plan into action by covertly placing a transportation circle within the basement of Leazas Castle and sending themselves, along with the soldiers of the Helman 3rd Army, through it during the night; beginning a conflict that would come to be known as the 7th Leazas-Helman War. The Leazas Army was ill-prepared from an attack launched so suddenly from within the walls of its own castle, with only the forces of the Royal Guard being present to immediately mobilize against it. Ithere played an active role in assisting the Helman Army capture the castle, wandering its halls and using his mind control power to brainwash the members of the Royal Guard he came across into fighting alongside him.

While capturing the castle, Ithere encountered Kentou Kanami, the personal Ninja of princess Lia Parapara Leazas, and Leila Grecni, the captain of the Royal Guard, attempting to evacuate. The two made an effort to face him, only to find themselves completely incapable of penetrating the Invincibility Field that protects all Dark Lords from conventional damage. Desperate to ensure that Kanami would successfully escape, Leila nonetheless held her ground against Ithere, a display of courage and resilience that he found exceptionally impressive. While Leila narrowly managed to stubbornly resist Ithere's influence as they clashed swords, he eventually succeeded in disarming her and took advantage of her ensuing drop in focus to take control of her mind. With the Royal Guard captain now on their side, the Helman Army was quickly able to lay claim to Leazas Castle and imprison Lia and her advisor Maris Amaryllis.

Soon after Leazas Castle had fallen, Noce informed his associates that the room that Chaos was located in was magically sealed, and required someone of the Leazas royal bloodline and the three pieces of the Leazas Holy Armor to gain access to. Satella and Ithere tried to read Lia’s mind to uncover the location of the equipment, but found that a magical charm had been placed on her memories that prevented them from accessing them. They then attempted to interrogate her for the whereabouts of the armor, only for her to refuse to divulge anything other than that she had entrusted it to Rance; a warrior from the Free Cities Alliance who she described with the vague adjectives of “strong and cool”. With their options exhausted, Noce ordered Satella to search the Free Cities for Rance while he remained near Patton’s side to keep themselves beneath suspicion. To prolong the confusion of war, he had Ithere continue to work alongside the Helman Army, which was preparing to exit the castle and begin a campaign to take the rest of Leazas’ territory.

With the Leazas Army surrounding the castle from all directions, Ithere divided himself and his three Apostles into two teams; sending his Apostles Garnet and Topaz to combat Leazas' Blue and White armies to the north while he and his Apostle Sapphire took on the Black and Red armies to the south. To his disgust, Fletcher Modell and Henderson Dauntless, the commanding officers of the division of the Helman Army he was made to accompany, showed little interest in fighting against Leazas themselves, and instead simply asked him to brainwash the enemy armies as he had the Royal Guard. Ithere reluctantly gave in to their demand and had Sapphire use her unique ability to control the minds of large masses of people at once to gain control of both the Black and Red armies, allowing Helman to capture all of the Leazas' southern cities while doing nearly nothing.

Shortly after it had taken Leazas' southern territories, Fletcher and Henderson's units received a command from Patton, who had expanded the scope of his plans to conquering the entire Human Realm, to begin moving into the Free Cities. Reinforced by the corrupted Leazas Army, the two units subjugated the Free Cities of The O, Red, and L’Zile with little difficulty, only to meet surprising opposition upon reaching the city of Kathtom. Led by the Four Witches of Kathtom, four exceptional young women with outstanding talent in various fields, and supported by various adventurers from throughout the Free Cities, the Kathtom Defense Force put forth a strong resistance that allowed it to momentarily halt the Helman Army’s advance. Ithere’s distaste for Fletcher and Henderson was further aggravated by their inability to defeat the newfound enemy despite having vastly superior numbers, causing him to refuse to continue taking part in the proceedings. Entrusting Sapphire to oversee the remainder of the campaign in his place, he returned to Leazas Castle to report his progress to Noce, leaving the mind-controlled Leila by her side to act as a bodyguard.

A few days later, Ithere was greeted at Leazas Castle by a dejected Sapphire, who informed him that a man had infiltrated the Helman Army’s base in L’Zile and broken her concentration for long enough to free the Leazas Black and Red armies from her control, allowing them to merge with the Kathom Defense Force and retake the city with their combined forces. Rather than be upset by this news, Ithere was enormously pleased by the actions of the newly-emerged enemy, now titled the Leazas Liberation Army; showing fascination at its ability to hold firm and take a stand against seemingly impossible odds, and chose to return to the Helman Army’s base in Red to observe it for himself.

Soon after Ithere’s arrival, the Liberation Army started to march toward Red, where the Helman Army’s forces confronted it in a defensive battle. Despite its bolstered numbers, the Liberation Army was still outnumbered three-to-one by the enemy and quickly forced to retreat. Rather than attempt to pursue the Liberation Army into L’Zile, Fletcher, the commander presiding over the occupation of Red, chose to remain stationed in the city, believing that the combination of its fortified walls and his superior numbers put him at little risk of being defeated. Ithere found Fletcher’s cautious and conservative decision-making to be unsightly, but abstained from raising any criticisms due to his curiosity over how the Liberation Army would prepare a counterattack.

Some time after the failed first attack, Fletcher received a report confirming that the Liberation Army had once again mobilized in the direction of Red, boasting the same numbers as it had when it had previously retreated. Taking this as a sign that it hadn’t learned from its previous loss, Fletcher called for his troops to position themselves outside of the city, intending to minimize the risk of damage caused by the Tulip; a high-powered handheld cannon the Liberation had used in the encounter that he believed to be the most powerful weapon at its disposal. In a shocking turn of events, the Liberation Army appeared on the battlefield with an entirely new weapon; a tread-mounted armored tank known as the Tulip #3. The soldiers of the Helman Army were completely unprepared to fight against the unstoppable machine, and began to fall in droves as it steadily approached the city’s walls.

Thrown into a panic by the sudden reversal, Fletcher called for a retreat, only to learn that the heavy equipment worn by his soldiers made them incapable of fleeing quickly enough to escape the tank’s warpath. With the Tulip fast approaching and no immediate means of stopping it available to them, Fletcher and his surrounding subordinates hurriedly fled into the city and took refuge inside of Orly Cathedral, the local branch of the Continent’s largest religion the AL Church. Fletcher demanded Sel Catchgolf, the nun that presided over the church, to conceal their location from the Liberation Army, threatening to have his men kill the civilians that had also taken shelter within it if she did not. Ithere was sickened by Fletcher’s craven desperation, but avoided raising a hand against him for the sake of seeing the full extent of the Liberation Army’s miraculous turnaround without interfering himself.

While Sel followed through with Fletcher’s orders, her efforts were foiled by Rance, the Liberation Army’s leader, who refused to listen to her claims that no one was inside of her church and barged in without permission. Just as Rance and his allies entered, Fletcher’s soldiers attempted to assault some of the young women they held captive; an act of such vileness that it pushed Ithere beyond his breaking point and inspired him to step in directly. Ithere commanded Leila to kill each of Fletcher’s subordinates, leaving the out-of-shape commander to fight Rance’s party alone. Fletcher tried to combat his foes using the Modell Leg, the special technique that had once made him a legend across the Continent, but found himself to be too out of shape to perform it correctly and was quickly killed with little difficulty.

Immediately following Fletcher’s demise, Ithere approached Rance applauding his victory and, eager to see the full extent of his strength, ordered Leila to attack him. After an intense clash, Rance managed to knock Leila unconscious and emerge victorious yet again, impressing Ithere enough to make him ask for his name. Rance answered by boastfully declaring himself to be the strongest man in the world, to which Ithere responded that he would make sure to remember him before beginning to make his exit from the church. When questioned about why he did not try to fight the party himself, Ithere stated that doing so would be too much of an honor to the legacy of the disgusting Fletcher, and claimed that he would see them again elsewhere. As he started to leave, he was shot from behind by a fire laser cast by Shizuka Masou, a young mage from Kathtom who had been acting as a leading member of the Liberation Army. While he was unharmed by the attack, Ithere was left somewhat surprised by it, and turned around to inform Shizuka that such things had no effect on him. She replied by asserting that it would have been pointless to have assumed that without trying for herself, which charmed the Dark Lord. Content to have gotten to see so many moving displays of willpower, Ithere left Red with a smile.

Following the Helman Army’s defeat at Red, Ithere returned to Leazas Castle to reconvene with Noce and Satella, where he revealed that he had encountered the Rance that Lia had spoken of. Agreeing with Lia’s evaluation that he was “strong and cool”, Ithere informed Satella that Rance was in Red, prompting her to move in the direction of the city in search of him. Satella’s effort to capture the Leazas Holy Armor from Rance ended in crushing failure, with her guardian Isis being destroyed and both herself and her guardian Caesar taking heavy damage. Prioritizing his master’s safety over the mission, Caesar fled to the Monster Realm with Satella in tow, prematurely ending her involvement with Noce’s plan.

Some days later, Thoma Lipton, the general of the Helman 3rd Army, began preparations to move the bulk of his forces through Hoch Gorge, a mountainous region located along the borders of Red and The O, to launch a decisive attack on the Liberation Army. With Noce’s permission, Ithere had his Apostles withdraw from their previous positions to travel with him to The O and assist in preparing for the coming battle. At The O, Ithere met with Thoma to discuss his involvement in the operation. Thoma showed great hesitance to cooperate with a Dark Lord, but agreed to accept Ithere's help for the sake of reducing the strain on his soldiers. Ithere noted that Thoma seemed generally unenthusiastic about the campaign, to which the general answered that he was merely doing what he could for the sake of his country; a display of resolute devotion that the Dark Lord found praiseworthy. With no objections to Thoma's command, Ithere and his Apostles obediently readied themselves for combat.

As the Helman Army moved through Hoch Gorge, it was intercepted by the Liberation Army, who had acquired information about its movements by capturing and interrogating Sepia Landstar, a vice-captain in Thoma’s unit that had been made privy to the operation. While caught off guard by the ambush, Thoma held firm and attempted to coordinate a counterattack of his own; transforming the gorge into the site of the decisive battle for control of The O. Watching the conflict from atop a nearby cliff, Ithere commended the Liberation Army’s ingenuity in taking advantage of the situation to gain the upper hand against a stronger enemy. Eager to earn his praise, his Apostles Sapphire and Garnet asked to take the field and confront the Liberation Army themselves, with Topaz choosing to remain at his side to admire his face as he stared transfixed at the fighting.

The battle raged on for several hours, with the Liberation Army steadily pushing the Helman Army backward over time. Both Garnet and Sapphire were forced to exit the frontlines after being overwhelmed in battle by the Tulip #3 and the Leazas Red Corps, respectively. Observing the struggle, Ithere became concerned that the Tulip’s power was too great of a crutch for the Liberation Army to rely on, and resolved to take action to dispose of the tank for the sake of seeing how Rance would react to losing it. To carry out this plan, he instructed Topaz to pool her magical energy together with that of Garnet and Sapphire when they returned to her location and cast the K-Type Black Destruction Beam; a top-level attack spell. The three were then to fire the beam continuously in the direction of the Tulip while he obstructed the path of anyone that tried to disturb them. The strategy had immediate results, with the black destruction beam dealing heavy damage to the Tulip and preventing it from advancing.

In an effort to save the Tulip from being destroyed, Shizuka, who had been riding atop it along with its creator Maria Custard, sprinted in the direction of the black destruction beam to stop it from being fired. As she drew closer toward the source of the beam, she began to recognize the bright colors of its casters, and fired her own most powerful spell, the White Destruction Beam, in their direction to interrupt them. The three Apostles redirected their destruction beam to intercept the attack midair before it could land, negating any potential damage to themselves. Despite already being exhausted from firing it once, Shizuka motioned to cast the white destruction beam a second time, but was stopped by Ithere, who recognized her from their encounter in Red. Not wanting to harm a woman, Ithere advised Shizuka to cease what she was doing and flee, but was stubbornly ignored. Enthused by Shizuka’s pluck, Ithere drew his sword and slowly started walking toward her, forcing her to engage him in combat.

Facing off against Ithere, Shizuka first fired several weak attack spells at him to confirm that his invincibility field would negate them. When Ithere walked through the attacks with no visible signs of damage, she instead experimented with using the environment to damage him indirectly by casting the spell sticky ground near his feet to stop his movement. The spell proved effective by momentarily halting Ithere in his tracks, which prompted her to generate a controlled earthquake to break the ground beneath him and trap him within it. While this strategy initially appeared to succeed, with Ithere falling through the collapsing rubble, he was able to swiftly free his feet from the viscous material they had been covered in and climb back to the surface before becoming stuck underground. Without any hesitation, Shizuka used the few seconds Ithere spent recovering from the fall to prepare a white destruction beam and fire it directly at him, which ultimately had no effect on the Dark Lord. Refusing to give up, Shizuka began trying in vain to throw whatever attack spell she could muster at Ithere as he approached until finally being knocked to the ground by a violent flurry of slashes from his sword.

Standing over her wounded body, Ithere asked Shizuka why she bothered continuing trying to damage him when he had already told her that it was impossible to harm a Dark Lord. Shizuka answered by slowly rising to her feet and declaring that people who claimed things to be impossible without trying for themselves had already given up, and that only she could define what she was and wasn’t capable of doing. These words deeply shook Ithere, who was reminded for the first time in over a millennium of the regret he felt after surrendering himself to Gele. Now frantic to prove her wrong, Ithere stared directly into Shizuka’s eyes and attempted to seize control over her mind, repeating once again that a human could not win against a Dark Lord. Shizuka refused to break eye contact and continued to endure, gaining strength to resist by thinking of how Rance would mock her were she to fail.

In a final effort to defeat Ithere, Shizuka mustered together the last of her energy to cast the spell fire blast on the surrounding area, intending to suffocate him amid the flames. Having pushed her body far beyond its limits, she fell unconscious mere seconds later, with the fire she had created extinguishing soon afterward. Ithere, though physically unharmed by the fight, was immensely impacted by the unshakable will Shizuka had displayed throughout it, marveling to himself about how she had not once broken her fierce gaze. After spending several minutes quietly admiring her face, he collected her body and fled from the battlefield, not even bothering to so much as contact his Apostles about his whereabouts. The Liberation Army eventually emerged victorious from the battle shortly after Ithere’s retreat, with Rance successfully defeating the Dark Lord’s Apostles before they were able destroy the Tulip #3 and Thoma ordering his remaining soldiers to retreat into Leazas; pushing the Helman Army one step closer to being driven out of the country.

Some time after the battle, Ithere carried Shizuka to a cabin hut located along the outskirts of Hoch Gorge and began tending to her injuries. Upon regaining consciousness, Shizuka was shocked to see the person she had been fighting now caring for her at her bedside. She tried multiple times to question him about his intentions, but was persistently refused an answer.

After recovering enough of her strength to move around again, Shizuka wasted no time in exiting the cabin and returning to her friends, with Ithere making no effort to try and stop her. Before leaving, she asked him one final time why he had saved her, claiming that she didn’t think Dark Lords were capable of compassion without an ulterior motive. Ithere spent several moments trying to find the right words to explain his behavior, being forced to articulate emotions that he had long hidden from himself to another person. Finally, he plainly admitted that he could not bear to accept the shame he felt by allowing his will to be broken by the Demon King, and had dedicated his life as a Dark Lord toward doing the same to others to deny his feelings. When Shizuka defied his expectations and bitterly continued to resist him until the very end, he was reminded for the first time of the kind of person he had aspired to be, and was overcome by a sensation of hope. Ithere then confessed that he desired to gain the same determination in his eyes as Shizuka had, and asked her to come with him to the Monster Realm to serve under Hornet. Shizuka studied his gaze for any hint of his brainwashing ability, but was surprised to see only pure, passionate honesty staring back at her. After a tense period of silence, she at last replied that she wished the two of them had never met, and continued on her way out of the cabin.

Ithere returned to Leazas Castle some time after parting ways with Shizuka. While he was immediately swarmed by his concerned Apostles asking about his long absence, he could not rid his mind of thoughts of Shizuka, and ignored their questions. Meeting with Noce, Ithere suggested reorienting their strategy around the changing tide of the war by allowing the Liberation Army to reach Leazas Castle and having Rance bring the Leazas Holy Armor to them. Noce agreed, but remained distant throughout the conversation; muttering to himself that Chaos, the power needed to help their lord, was within their grasp. For the first time since the mission to retrieve Chaos had started, Ithere faintly recalled having heard the name of the sword before, and, with thoughts of Gele fresh in his mind, felt a growing sense of dread envelop his heart.

After several harrowing battles, the Liberation Army finally reached Leazas Castle; covertly infiltrating it by hiding inside of a Golden Hanny and presenting it as an offering of surrender to the Helman Army. With the Holy Armor now present in the castle, Noce turned against Helman’s forces and instructed Ithere to follow Rance’s party from the shadows to ensure that it would free Lia and open the sealed chamber where Chaos was being kept. During the Liberation Army’s invasion, Ithere noticed that Noce had begun carrying himself with a vigor that he had not shown for hundreds of years, and came to the terrifying realization that his worst suspicions were true. Remembering the slavish devotion Noce had shown for Gele throughout her reign, Ithere concluded that Chaos was the weapon Gi had used to seal her power and free humanity from her carnage, and that Noce planned to break this seal and bring that same carnage to the world once again. Believing himself to lack the power needed to oppose the former Elite Dark Lord, Ithere instead simply asked Noce if he sought to turn back time, and resigned himself to the coming storm when the other man refused to give a direct answer.

Noce’s scheme finally came to fruition when Rance entered Chaos’ hidden chamber and drew the sword from its resting place, freeing Gele from her prison. Ithere felt Gele’s presence as soon as she reemerged, and was instantly filled with an intense sense of fear and nausea. When Noce escorted Gele to his location, Ithere wasted no time in kneeling at her feet, and obediently accompanied her when she left to seek a means of replenishing her depleted strength. Experiencing the same despair he had a thousand years previously, Ithere became certain that the current age of humanity would soon be brought to an end.

As she fed on the lifeforce of various young women within Leazas Castle, Gele remained almost completely silent, and barely acknowledged her surroundings. She was momentarily lifted from her stupor after detecting that Chaos, which Noce had broken in half immediately after she was released, had been restored, and tersely commanded Ithere to seek it out and destroy it once more. Diligently following her orders, Ithere divided himself and his Apostles into two groups to search for the sword; sending Topaz and Sapphire in the direction of the castle’s western tower while he and Garnet scanned the main courtyard.

In the courtyard, Ithere quietly followed behind Garnet as she fought off several soldiers from both the Helman and Leazas armies before reuniting with Shizuka, who had rushed ahead of her allies to face his Apostle. Ithere interrupted the fight and asked Garnet to search for Chaos elsewhere, assuring her that he would handle the battle in her place, and quietly approached Shizuka. Alone amidst the battlefield, neither person said anything for several moments until the silence was finally broken by Ithere, who candidly asked Shizuka if she would become his Apostle. Shizuka responded with confused irritation, questioning if he merely sought to make her his compliant toy in spite of everything he had said to her previously. When Ithere attempted to explain his change in behavior by revealing that the Demon King had been revived, she brusquely remarked that it merely meant that there was one more enemy that needed to be dealt with, and showed no sign of giving in. Ithere feebly shook his head at this affirmation, telling Shizuka that humankind had already been reduced to powerless livestock under Gele’s reign once before, and that his fatalism was born from experience rather than postulation. Outraged by these claims, Shizuka continued to protest, and accused Ithere of having given up without even trying.

Before he could offer a rebuttal, Ithere was struck from behind by Rance, who, wielding the repaired Chaos, was able to penetrate the invincibility field and damage him. Ithere quickly regained his composure, and drew his sword to counter Rance’s attacks in time to sustain only shallow wounds. In an effort to obtain Chaos without prolonging the encounter any further, Ithere tried to gain control over Rance’s mind, only for the warrior to confidently announce that he would never think of staring into another man’s eyes and continue viciously slashing at him. As the struggle continued, Ithere’s eyes fell onto Shizuka once more, which compelled him to end the battle without taking Rance’s life. Emitting a bright magical flash from his free hand, he temporarily blinded his opponent and used the brief window to flee deeper into the courtyard.

Wasting no time to regroup, Rance and his allies hurriedly pursued the missing Ithere; defeating Garnet when she attempted to impede them. The party eventually found the Dark Lord lost in thought in a side garden, and hid in the shadows out of his sight to discuss a way to subdue him. During the meeting, Rance accused Shizuka of having betrayed the group for Ithere; noting the discussion he had witnessed them having and the casual way with which she said his name. While Shizuka immediately denied this claim, she was resistant to speak any further about their relationship, only admitting to their interactions at Hoch Gorge after ceaseless taunting from Rance. Combining this information with what he had seen of the two, Rance deduced that Ithere had fallen in love with Shizuka, and started mocking her for allowing herself to be seduced by a Dark Lord solely due to his good looks. Shizuka protested in anger, pushing Rance to ask if she would be willing to kill Ithere without hesitation if they were to fight. When she replied that she would do whatever it took to win, Rance ordered her to strip naked and embrace Ithere; arguing that being held by the woman he loved would cause him to drop his guard and be made into an easy target. Though Shizuka was completely opposed to the audacious plan, insisting that Rance merely wanted to humiliate her, she was soon pressured into compliance by his childish chiding, and grudgingly started to take off her clothes.

Completely naked, Shizuka quietly approached Ithere, who had been contemplating to himself why he had become so reluctant to harm her, and called out to him from behind. Already startled by suddenly hearing her voice, Ithere was frozen in shock upon turning around to see Shizuka without clothing. At a loss for what to say, Shizuka stammered that she had changed her mind about becoming his Apostles after their relationship had made Rance turn against her in suspicion. Ithere was flooded by feelings of confusion, delight, hesitation, and relief all at once after hearing this confession, but regained his composure after assuring himself that making Shizuka his Apostle was the only way to save her from Gele’s wrath. To commence the ceremony needed to convert her into an Apostle, he lightly dug his nails through the skin on her neck to draw blood, and nervously motioned to bury his face into it.

As Ithere’s mouth moved near Shizuka’s neck, Rance appeared behind him and viciously stabbed Chaos through his back; violently twisting the sword through the wound to maximize the pain he inflicted. The Dark Lord narrowly fought through the excruciating agony he was in enough to strike Rance in the temple with an elbow, pushing the warrior backwards and removing Chaos from his body. Severely injured and vomiting blood, Ithere staggered to his feet and turned his eyes toward Shizuka, who had used the confusion to clothe herself and was now preparing to fire a spell in his direction. Despite the great danger her betrayal had placed him in, Ithere could not find it in himself to be upset with Shizuka, and expressed satisfaction at her decision to remain true to herself and do whatever it took to win. While Rance took this surprising show of tenderness as a sign that his opponent had given up, Ithere instead defiantly drew his sword and prepared to fight with every ounce of his remaining strength.

Ithere fought tooth and nail against Rance’s party, but proved unable to defeat them after being so grievously injured. Using his entire body to launch a final Brutal Attack, Rance finally knocked Ithere onto the ground and sapped him of the last of his energy. Inflicted with mortal wounds, Ithere berated himself for the weakness he showed by allowing a human woman to control his spirit as he fell unconscious. Rance prepared to decisively end his opponent’s life by driving Chaos through his skull, but was stopped by Shizuka, who insisted that harming him further would be pointless. Before the group left the courtyard to confront Noce and Gele, Shizuka took one final look at the dying Ithere; experiencing complex feelings about him until the very end.

While Rance and his allies prepared to fight against the Demon King to decide the fate of the world, Ithere was awoken in the courtyard by his Apostles, who had each been beaten and assaulted by the Leazas Liberation Army while unsuccessfully trying to capture Chaos. Ithere tried to bid farewell to the three, but found himself too hurt to do so. To his astonishment, his Apostles started to pry into their own injuries to collect the blood he had given them and return it to him. Ithere attempted to dissuade them from doing so, insisting that his wounds were too great to recover from and that they would likely die after losing their Apostle abilities in their current states, but the trio assured him that it was their duty as his Apostles to protect him at all costs, and that the only way for them to do so in their present condition was by using the last of their energy to grant him the strength needed to move his body to a place where his Demonic Blood Soul could not be tampered with. Too weak to protest, Ithere watched in shock as the three proclaimed their love for him one final time before returning his blood and ending their own lives.

To his astonishment, Ithere found himself able to move once more after his Apostle's sacrifice, and was filled with a newfound surge of determination in response to their final display of devotion. Returning to his feet, his thoughts immediately went to Rance. Unable to bring himself to hate the other man in spite of all he had done to him, he quietly resolved to place his trust in the boundless resolve Rance had shown throughout their interactions to save humanity from Gele. Taking a final look at the bodies of his Apostles, he quietly dragged himself out of the courtyard in search of a safer place to end his life.

Ithere eventually succumbed to his injuries some time later, with his body transforming into a demonic blood soul in an unknown corner of Leazas Castle. The trust he had chosen to give to Rance was ultimately well-founded, as he managed to defeat Gele and return her to her interdimensional prison. Forgotten in the confusion of war, Ithere's blood soul was never found, and remained safely hidden away even after the end of the Rance Series. Despite this, rumors would periodically circulate throughout the Leazas Castle staff after the end of the 7th-Leazas Helman War alleging that the Ghost of a handsome blonde man could be seen wandering the halls during the night; suggesting that Ithere's strong presence could still be felt even following the loss of his body.

Ithere's likeness made a brief appearance during the events of Rance IX as a part of the witch Miracle Tou's magical projection of the Twelve Knights; her fantasy all-male elite guard. As a member of the Twelve Knights, Miracle gave Ithere the nickname of "Prism Darkness" and stated her belief that his ability to control the minds of others would make him a very interesting ally. After some contemplation, Rance was able to recall Ithere and revealed that he had already killed him several years in the past, claiming to have "magnificently defeated him in a fair and square one-on-one fight". Miracle was surprised to hear that Rance had already fought Ithere, and made a note to reorganize the group at a later time.

Ithere was briefly mentioned during the events of Rance X, where Satella listed him along with Noce as former members of the Hornet Faction while summarizing the War of the Factions to Rance. Recognized their names, Rance remembered the two as the Darks Lords he killed during the 7th Helman-Leazas War, prompting Satella to angrily blame him for weakening the Hornet Faction's forces even more than they already had been. Unperturbed, Rance argued that killing the pair was the natural response to them attempting to invade the Human Realm, which Satella was unable to dispute. Ithere was later mentioned a second time by the Dark Lord Lei, who named him alongside Noce and Gi while reminiscing about the excitement of the GL era after reuniting with Chaos during the Dark Lord Extermination Squad's operation to defeat him.

While Ithere's role is largely identical in the original version of Rance III to what it is in its remake, no references are made to either his past prior to becoming a Dark Lord or his fixation with human willpower, causing both his interest in Shizuka and disgust of Fletcher to seemingly be based entirely on their physical attractiveness. During his final battle with Rance's party, he is encountered in the western tower of Leazas Castle rather than the courtyard, and transforms into a gigantic monstrous version of himself not seen at all in the remake. His death is also implied to occur immediately following his defeat, as his body disappears after he utters his last words.

Ithere is briefly mentioned in the non-canonical Kichikuou Rance during the Hornet Faction's introduction, where both he and Noce are listed as former members of the group that were defeated by Rance after manipulating Patton for their own gain.

Appearance and Personality
He is a tall man of 202 cm, very handsome and formal in dressing. With long golden hair and bloody red eyes, he greatly resembles a vampire. He cannot stand the sight of ugly beings. Like Kesselring, he loves beauty and loathes ugliness. He prefers to use others to fight his battles, often using his apostles or brainwashing the enemies to make them fight each other. He's a very skilled and thoughtful Dark Lord and he likes people with strong mental fortitude and force of will that can resist his mind control. He's very respectful and merciful towards his enemies.

Despite what humans would think of a Dark Lord, he's a very noble-minded and kind man. He doesn't enjoy war or bloodshed and is protective towards the people he loves.

He's very loyal to Hornet and wishes to help her as much as he can - this is the reason he was tricked by Noce into retrieving Chaos. During the invasion of Leazas he encountered Shizuka Masou and ended falling in love with her. Although he was rejected by Shizuka, Ithere still loved her dearly and chose to respect her decision and feelings.



Ithere was very honest and opened himself a lot towards Shizuka. He confessed her his fears about Gele, and revealed her that he was once powerless and impotent against her. He admitted that he never had the guts to go against Gele in any way. He showed great concern for Shizuka after Gele was revived and was desperate to convince her into becoming his apostle to be able to protect her, since he didn't want Shizuka to suffer in the same world humanity was forced to live in during Gele's era. Shizuka still rejected him though.

He has three loyal apostles called Garnet, Sapphire and Topaz, who are known as the Jewel Three. Each wear similar clothes and carry the jewels that are their namesake. Since they are Ithere's servants, they are also members of the Hornet Faction.

They serve under him and follow all his orders and instructions. They were all humans during Gele's era that at some point received Ithere's blood and were turned into his apostles.

All three of them have a deep respect and love for him, to the point they are willing to throw away their lives with no second thought in order to save Ithere, claiming that they wouldn't like to live in a world where Ithere is dead anyway.

Abilities
Although Ithere wasn't a top tier Dark Lord, he was still incredibly strong. Rance was unsure if he would be able to beat him in a 1v1 scenario, so he had to resort to dirty tricks in order to win. He's mostly proficient in magic related to the element of Darkness and he's very powerful with it. Even while injured he's still a dangerous opponent.

He has the ability to mind control humans and seems to be more effective with females. He could even used this ability to brainwash Leila, captain of Leazas. He is also adept with sword. He has three apostles, known as the Jewel Three, called  Garnet, Topaz and Sapphire. Each control the elements of Ice, Lightning and Fire respectively. They can also combine their powers to make one powerful Black Destruction Beam. His apostles also have the mind control ability although to a lesser extent. They are pretty powerful by themselves and average humans would stand no chance at defeating them.

In the original timeline, Ithere was transformed after being wounded by Rance. This gave him a larger, metallic body, but it is unclear what impact this had on his abilities.

Personal History
He was turned into a Dark Lord by Gele and, at some point in Gele's era, he encountered his current apostles while still humans and invited them to serve under him. Ithere is known to have fought in the Dark Lord War and at some point met and fought Toushin Delta while trying to attack his toushin toshi. They fought to a draw but he was forced to retreat from the Toushin Toshi. How active he was in the war it is unknown. In the year LP0001 when the Dark Lords were split between two factions, he joined the Hornet Faction making his goal to protect Kurusu Miki and turn her into the next Demon King while fighting the Kayblis Faction. He loyally served Hornet but in LP0002, during the events of Rance 03, he was convinced by Noce to retrieve a powerful weapon that could be found in Leazas that would give them an advantage over the Kayblis Faction. Along with Dark Lords Satella and Noce, they left Hornet's side making sure she wouldn't notice and aided Helman in their invasion to Leazas. They tried to find the holy weapons to break the seal of the Demon Sword Chaos. In the battlefield he fell in love with Shizuka Masou after a brief fight with her. He would later confess but was turned down. Rance used his crush on Shizuka to his advantage by making her appear in front of him naked, and tell him she loves him. The plan worked, and Rance stabbed him with Chaos while Ithere was distracted. He fought Rance afterwards, but the damage caused by the thrust was too grave. However, when Rance and Chaos attempted to finish him off, Shizuka intervened and the party left him there. His apostles however, unable to see him die, all agree to sacrifice themselves to save him. They stab themselves in their chests and remove the blood Ithere originally gave them and give it to him. They all die but Ithere's wounds are partially healed, but he's still wounded. In the epilogue there's a rumor about a ghost haunting Leazas Castle. Said ghost is blonde and late at night it moves around as if it were looking for something, which turns out to be Ithere who's still injured. His current whereabouts are unknown but he survived.

Trivia

 * In the original Rance III he died at the end and was reduced to a blood soul whereas in the Rance 03 remake he survived making him the only character whose fate changed in the canonical storyline with the remakes.
 * However, in the trivia section of Rance X, the picture listing all dark lords of various factions states he is dead (though his blood soul is not yet destroyed).
 * In the Rance 03 popularity poll he was ranked as high as 4th place within male characters, making him the highest ranked villain in the series. Although he barely qualifies as a villain.
 * Interestingly his comrade Satella shares this spot in the female characters category.
 * He's one of the few Dark Lords whose previous skill levels and level cap remain unknown.
 * While it's safe to assume that he was a human before turning into a Dark Lord, this was never officially confirmed.
 * He is the first Dark Lord of the Hornet Faction to lose all his apostles.
 * He's one of the few Dark Lords known to have fallen in love with a human, the others being, Lei and Satella.
 * A picture of what Shizuka would have looked like had she accepted to become Ithere's apostle was released in a blogpost, where she was named "Apostle Emerald".
 * Ithere is the only Dark Lord that was part of Miracle's dream group, albeit this was due to lack of information on her part.