Julius

Julius Zagan Analeit was the second prince of the Kingdom of Analeit and the previous Hero, until he was killed by a mysterious white girl during the The Great Human-Demon War, after that his younger brother, Schlain, inherited the title.

Appearance
Julius is characterised by his dark blue hair, and blue eyes. His often seen wearing a light suit of armour and his signature white muffler scarf that was made by his late mother from a high quality spider thread which was shortly knitted just before Schlain was born.

Character Page
The second prince of the Analeit Kingdom, he received the title of Hero at a very young age. Older brother to Shun, a reincarnation. His mother died giving birth to Shun, whom the kindhearted Julius strives to protect as his family and as his mother's parting gift.

Though he is still young, he constantly tries to act based on what he feels he should do as a hero, a prince, and an older brother. Because of his kindness and strong sense of duty, he comes to doubt whether what he did in the battle between Sariella and Ohts was right. As a result, he becomes determined to act based on what he believes is right, not just what others want him to do.

Personality
"Nice to meet you. I’m your big brother Julius. I might not look it, but I’m the hero."

- Julius to Shun

Julius is afraid of spiders due to an event that occurred when he was younger. He is motivated by his younger brother Schlain, who highly respects him.

He is seen as someone who is very level headed, thoughtful and well-liked by his peers. Despite being the hero, Julius often display a very humble demeanour to others and never abuse his title. Even in battle, he treat his enemies with respect, this was seen when he tried to negotiate with the defeated demon general, Bloe, to surrender and retreat his forces.

Background
Julius is the second prince of the Kingdom of Analeit, born to the king's third princess consort. Growing up, he had always admired the legends of previous Heroes and wanted to be one of them, though he never actually suspected it to happen. However, he ended up being granted the Hero title and at a very young age at that. While Julius was nervous at now having to bear such a responsibility, his mother assured him that he "just [needed] to be [himself]". Unfortunately, Julius' mother died shortly afterward after giving birth of his younger brother, Schlain, her only momento being a scarf made of Spiders silk that he would always wear henceforth.

The War in Sariella
After becoming the Hero, Julius became affiliated with pontiff Dustin of the Word of God religion. When he was 8 years old, the pontiff recommended the boy join the alliance of Alleius, Renxandt, and Ohts in their war against Sariella, arguing it would allow him to gain battle experience. Not doubting the words of his elder, Julius followed the order. In reality, though, the pontiff was using the Hero to increase morale among the alliance.

Despite predictions of an easy victory, the tide of battle turned in Sariella's favor when the monster known as the Nightmare of the Labyrinth interfered and wiped out a large portion of the alliance. The situation then descended into chaos as the Demon King appeared and fought the Nightmare, resulting in mass casualties on both sides. This caused Julius to see death for the first time and prompted him to confront the two despite being visibly terrified, causing a momentary break. This gave both the alliance and the Demon King the time they needed to each fire a large spell at the Nightmare, seemingly killing it. Just before the spells hit, though, Julius was dragged out of the effect radius by the alliance's commander, Tiva.

Apprentice
After The War in Sariella, Julius became Ronandt's apprentice. However, his training methods proved too dangerous. During one session, Julius was at death's door after Ronandt attacked him using magic to build up his magical resistance, luckily Aurel managed to heal him. Since Julius is the hero and prince of the Analeit Kingdom, a formal complaint was made to the Renxandt Empire. As a result, Ronandt was demoted after Julius was taken back to the Analeit Kingdom. Still, Julius learned a lot of Ronandt and continued to call upon his teachings afterwards.

Growth and Conviction
Six years after the War in Sariella, Julius was requested by Pope Dustin LXI to lead a group of elite warriors from around the world to investigate and dismantle a human-trafficking organization. Julius was 12 at the time, but was still skeptical of Pope Dustin's motives due to how Dustin manipulated him during the conflict in Sariella, but his friend Hyrince convinced him that there was nothing wrong with this request. Hyrince also joined Julius as his attendant at this time, and Pope Dustin assigned Yaana to be the Saintess for Julius. Tiva was also signed on as the vice-deputy commander of the operation.

Due to Julius's youth, the other members of the operation attempted to shelter, protect, and dismiss him from operations, but Julius's powerful convictions and surprising wisdom won Tiva's loyalty, and in a domino effect, the other commanders eventually fall in line due to Tiva's support of Julius's quality as a Hero. The operation continues for a few years, during which Julius also meets Jeskan and Hawkin, who eventually become permanent members of his party after joining the operation. Although they are largely successful in dismantling the human-traffickers, they are never able to figure out exactly who is behind hiring the brigands to kidnap the children, nor are they able to recover many of the kidnapped children.

The Great Human-Demon War
One day, Schlain is informed by the Divine voice that he had inherited the Hero title. Since there can only be one Hero at a time, Schlain instantly knew that this meant that Julius had died. His death was later confirmed by Hyrince, revealing that he was killed by a mysterious white girl during The Great Human-Demon War.

Julius' death is detailed in Kumoko's point-of-view. When the Human-Demon War broke out, he defended a fort against the Seventh Demon Army. The Demon Commander, Bloe, challenged him to a one-versus-one duel, which the Hero accepted. Julius ended up easily overwhelming Bloe and even gave him multiple chances to surrender, which he stubornly refused. Ultimately, Julius killed Bloe and, believing he was their strongest fighter, demanded the remaining demons surrender. However, the white girl then stepped forward and Julius instantly recognized her as being the same Divine Beast he fought in The War in Sariella years prior. The girl then instantly killed Julius along with his entire party, except Hyrince, using a Rot attack.

Legacy
To prevent civil unrest, the human nations kept Julius' death a secret until Schlein was ready to be publicly unveiled as the new Hero. However, this would never happen, as Hugo used his Lust skill to brainwash the higher-ups of the Word of God Religion and falsely declare himself the Hero instead.

Relationships

 * Meiges Derra Analeit
 * Despite the limited time together due to Julius's busy schedule and Meiges's workload of being the monarch, they are observed to be on close terms. Julius has shared his thoughts and the remarkable potential of both Shun and Sue with his father, believing one day Shun will overtake him in combat ability.


 * Schlain "Shun" Zagan Analeit
 * In spite of his busy schedule as the Hero of the world, Julius would try to make time for Shun, trying to catch up and also conduct friendly sparring session with him. Shun is one of the few family members he is close with due to his schedule and nature of being a royal. He strongly admires Shun and believes one day Shun would suppress him in terms of combat ability.


 * Ronandt Orozoi
 * After the war in Sariella, he was made into Ronandt's apprentice. Despite Ronandt's harsh training methods, Julius was still display a respectable attitude towards him years later.


 * Yaana
 * Saint of Word of God in his party. While he is aware of Yaana's feelings towards him, he avoids reciprocating her feelings knowing the life of a hero is never stable. However, when she sacrificed herself to save him from a Queen Taratect during The Great Human-Demon War, he flew into a rage and later avenged her by slaying the beast, even using up the one-time-use Hero Sword to do so.


 * Hyrince
 * Shield Bearer and Julius' childhood best friend.


 * Jeskan
 * Veteran adventurer and party member. Jeskan is known to have a mastery of many forms of weapons.


 * Hawkin
 * Honorable rogue and party member.


 * Pontiff Dustin LXI
 * A begrudging ally; they are associates as the Word of God has always backed the Hero. However, Julius grew to dislike the pontiff after he tricked him into participating in The War in Sariella, though he also acknowledges that his actions are motivated by what he genuinely believes is the greater good. As seen from Dustin's inner thoughts, despite thinking of Julius having a good heart, he had a very low opinion of his strength due to how vastly inferior his power was in comparison to Ariel and Potimas. With him deeming that Julius himself would only ever be able to take down an average demon with his strength.


 * Potimas Harrifenas
 * An associate of his father and brother; for reasons even he himself does not understand, Julius has always disliked Potimus and been wary of him.


 * Bloe
 * Julius dueled Bloe during The Great Human-Demon War. Surprised at how he did not fit the image of an evil Demon, he questioned why they were attacking and, upon learning that the Demon Lord forced them to, attempted to forge an alliance. However, after the Demon Lord responced by attacking them with a Queen Taratect, Bloe lost his spirit and restarted their duel, forcing Julius to kill him.