Overview[]
Sion Astal ( シオン・アスタール , Shion Asutāru ) , the "Hero King of Roland" and friend of Ryner Lute and a conflicted and troubled liege.
Characterized by his excessive work ethic, humble attitude and noble goals, he is the most serious of the trio of protagonists often grouped together.
Appearance[]
Sion's character sheet
Sion has butt-length white hair that is styled in a low braid with chest-length hair strands hanging on either side that exposes his forehead and gold eyes.
Personality[]
Sion is well loved by his people and his servants, and considers Ryner to be his best friend. Sion is a tactical genius and perfectly willing to make sacrifices so the greater good can be accomplished, even if the method is often extreme, though he is frequently troubled when forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. He once remarked that while he wished for the same end as Ryner, the means by which he intends to use to secure the end greatly differs from that of Ryner's ideals.
Background[]
Son of the previous king and a lowly commoner, Sion Astal is the current king of Roland, located at the southern part of the continent of Menoris, just north of Estabul. He has silver hair and golden eyes. Because of his lowly birth, he was shunned and hated by his half brothers.
While enrolled at the Roland Royal Special Military Academy, he got acquainted with Ryner Lute and Kiefer Knolles. He vowed at a young age to become king so he can fix this corrupted world.
During a war in the years he was enrolled in the military academy, after Ryner wiped out fifty Mage Knights from Estabul, which was mainly a result of Ryner's Alpha Stigma going out of control, Sion was given the credit and named Hero of Roland.
Ochita Kuroi Yūsha no Densetsu's Vol. 3 “Prologue-Roland’s Darkness”[]
Rahel Miller was the one who gave the people of Roland the story that Sion was the hero who survived a battle against 50 Estabul Mage Knights. Sion did not mind being used by Rahel as long as it would change Roland.
Unfortunately, he realized that Miller’s strategy was useless against someone with even greater power like Lucile Eris. To defeat power like this, Sion was willing to do whatever was necessary. When he’s invited to the Eris Mansion, he agrees to play Lucile’s game. Ferris tries to stop him, but Lucile tells her Sion’s willing to do anything because he can no longer bear his weakness.
The two of them continue together. Lucile explains to Sion that all the princes of Roland are put through a test when they are 15 years old (Sion is now 17). If one is able to retain one’s sanity while passing through multiple doors, they will be worthy of becoming king. As they start passing though the doors, suffering, anguish, and despair start to overwhelm Sion. No matter how much pain he is in, he still retains control of his senses. Lucile is impressed, stating he’s glad that Asruld Roland’s blood [Roland’s founder] is strong in him. His brothers lost their humanity early on and at one door, Sion’s father also lost his sanity. He had also claimed that he wanted to change this corrupt world; however, he didn’t have the power to keep his sanity.
Sion in military academy uniform
At the final door, Lucile asks Sion even if suffering and despair continue for eternity, does he still desire power. When Sion answers in the affirmative, Lucile is happy, stating there is a chance that his wish will also be granted and the curse will be broken.
At the 7th door, Lucile instructs Sion to undo a seal, and the “mad tale of the two of them shall begin”. Sion finds himself in a desolate wasteland where a masked man is chained to a wall with a crimson sword pierced through his chest. Lucile tells him pull out the sword (which he explains he had devoured and is slowly taking over its consciousness). At this point, Sion is about to lose himself and can barely move on his own. He cannot even properly comprehend what Lucile is talking about.
When he removes the sword, the masked man, [Asruld Roland] full of despair, enters his body. Although Sion is overwhelmed by the pain, he somehow manages to endure it. Lucile explains that now he will always be with him as his sword. He tells Sion to devour everything in this world so he can attain even greater power. However, Sion says that he wants to change peoples’ hearts by becoming a light of hope. He states that Lucile is so strong that he doesn’t see the weakness in others or in Sion himself. Lucile agrees to this plan and disappears. Sion is suddenly returned to the main dojo, surprising Ferris. He tells Lucile telepathically that he’s taking Ferris for a job [recruiting Claugh Klom] because Lucile only wants to handle monster extermination.
Thereafter, together with Claugh Klom and Calne Kaiwal, and with the secret backing of Lucile Eris, he led a revolution and ascended to the throne, and is often known as the "Hero King of Roland."
Plot[]
Within his own court, Sion has to deal with numerous antagonistic plots from the dissented nobles who preferred the old form of tyrannical rule, and when one of these plots killed Fiole, a commoner he befriended who became his personal assistant, he is filled with pain at his lack of power to prevent that.
Sion Astal as King
During his reign as king, he is often torn by the knowledge that sacrifices had to be made as a result of his decisions to achieve his goals, which includes the conducting of inhumane experiments on other bearers of the "Cursed Eyes" to harness their powers as weapons, the killing of less to save more, and that sooner or later he must kill Ryner to secure his kingdom from within.
When Ryner received a note citing if he loses control of his power he will be put to death from one of Sion's soldiers, Ryner decides to join up with Tiir which cause the two to part ways. Sion become greatly distressed despite putting up a strong front toward his people until Lucille triggered the awakening of "The Mad Hero" in Sion's body.
Following the awakening of "The Mad Hero" inside Sion, he tries to kill Ryner to prevent "The Mad Hero" from devouring Ryner and sending him to hell but fails to do so . Sion then gives his body to "The Mad Hero" who immediately starts conquering other countries.
Because of a contract made with "The Mad Hero" , "The Mad Hero" now resides in Sion and slowly consumes him from within, gradually leading him to suddenly exhibit moments of a split personality from time to time.
In order to reach the territory of "The Goddesses", Sion initiated the invasion of Roland's former allies, which includes Imperial Nelpha and Runa Empire, and conquered the southern part of Menoris. Thereafter, he was betrayed by one of his ally , Remurus Empire and lost a part of his land as well as Calne , who appeared to be captured in the battle.
Abilities[]
Sion leading a battle, fully equipped for war
Expert Leader: As a king, Sion has to keep in mind the nobles of his country and present his actions in a way that will please them while being aware that if he makes one bad decision, Lucile will kill him. So far his dreams and leading ability have earned him the respect of most of his country and even that of Estabul who he conquered. Lucile has judged him the best king for now, and opened him the way to the throne after evaluating his leadership and survival abilities.
Master Strategist: As part of his duties, Sion has to come up with war and invasion strategies. These strategies are even more difficult then usual to make as Sion wants to hurt as few people as possible in which he succeeds at most of the time. Another example of his intelligence in this area is how he was able to understand the way Tiir's eyes work and find out his weakness in a short period of time after only hearing reports of his activities.
Competent Magician: Held the position of the head of his team at the military training academy, a position that he earned not just through good leadership but also through his magical skill. He is rarely seen in combat, but he can perform a fair amount of Roland magic with a high level of mastery.
Hero Who Sundered the World: The seconds after the Mad Hero entered Sion’s body, Sion gained the ability to recognize “monsters” - people who were above ordinary humans such as his brothers who had transformed into demons. Lucile told him to get rid of them immediately, but Sion chose to recruit allies, such as Claugh Klom, first (OKYD Vol. 3 Prologue) .
By the end of the first half of the series , Sion has become attuned to the Mad Hero within him to the point of gaining access to a portion of his powers . Sion displays this for the first time when he stops Ryner from casting Izuchi by erasing its existence , along with the entire world's memory of it , such that that there appears to have never been a spell known to create lightning .
All those who consider themselves his subject become "Human-α." Though there is no visible difference between Human-α and humans, Sion's abilities increase the more Human-α exist in the world.
Trivia[]
- It is metion that the seconds after the Mad Hero entered Sion’s body, Sion gained the ability to recognize “monsters” - people who were above ordinary humans such as his brothers who had transformed into demons. Lucile told him to get rid of them immediately, but Sion chose to recruit allies, such as Claugh Klom, first (OKYD Vol. 3 Prologue) .
- Lucile and Sion communicate telepathically most of the time.
- Sion is directly descended from the Mad Hero-Aslude Roland , the founder of Roland
- In the novel Ferris writes, she is the hero Ferris Eris and the heroine is Ryner. They “play out” several scenes in reality as well along with their usual banter. They send a copy to Sion with a request for instant publication; this just makes Sion laugh. Instead he turns their “stories” into two picture books “The Failure of the Gluttonous Princess” and “The Story of the Sleepyhead”. The books sold really well, and all the money went to Iris for drawing the illustrations. Ferris and Ryner, however, were really upset about the plots developments. (TDYD Vol. 6 “The Forbidden Book”)
Quotes[]
| SPOILER WARNING : | |
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Thoughts are italicized; passages from the novels stand in normal font; quotes are numbered so conversations can be grouped together From DYD: Volume 1 - The Napping Kingdom's Ambition
From OKYD Vol. 1 Prologue
From OKYD Vol. 3 Prologue
Ferris: "Sion isn't like you. He's not looking for your level of abnormal power."
From OKYD Vol. 3 Chapter “Right Road”
{Based on Baka-Tsuki Translations} |
Gallery[]
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