Bai Ruolong (白若瓏, Bai Rworon?) is a member of the Wandering Sea, being part of the Guénon workshop.[3] He is a supporting character appearing in The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II.
Profile[]
Background[]
Bai Ruolong is the disciple of Ziz, a Magus from the Wandering Sea who he refers to as "old man". He was Ergo's best friend before Ergo lost his memories. He and Ziz didn't have any plan to claim Ergo because the Wandering Sea was the last in line and they were both fully expecting the case to end on Wuzhiqi's turn.[1] Ruo was created as a spare for Ziz's plans in case something happened to Ergo. He doesn't actually know what Ziz's plan is.[4] Like how Ergo has three Divine Spirits inside of him, Bai Ruolong has the Divine Beast Typhon within him.[5][2]
Bai Ruolong's true identity is ZagreusWP (ザグレウス, Zagureusu?), a Greek god and a son of Zeus. He is identified with DionysusWP in the Orphic cultWP, of which Iskandar's mother Olympias was a member. Zagreus was raised to be Zeus's successor, but he was killed by the Titans with only his heart remaining. Zeus ate Zagreus's heart and had sex with a woman to rebirth Zagreus. Despite how famous this one legend is, there are barely any recorded legends of Zagreus's own accomplishments; he is a central figure in the Orphic cult but has almost no legends actually about him. These two traits — being a reincarnating god which is rare in Greek mythology, and not having very many myths about himself — were what allowed him to be used for Ziz's plans. The criteria to be Typhon's vessel was to be a blank slate meant to be an heir to a Chief God.[6]
At the end of the Age of Gods, the captive Alexander IV was cared for by Zagreus, the god his grandmother worshiped, which is why Ruo considers Ergo his best friend. Being prone to keeping a lonely vessel company is what would later lead him to protect Akira Yakou.[6]
Appearance[]
Ruo is a tall young man with rich-colored dark skin, and a face with chiseled, handsome features. Though he looks Asian, from the color of his skin, he is probably also of Middle Eastern descent. His body is muscular yet lithe, like a wild beast, or a Greek statue. He seems barely twenty years old, with one distinguishing feature apart from his overflowing vitality— his shining eyes, flecked with blue, like fragments of stars.[7]
Personality[]
Bai Ruolong was Ergo's best friend and always went to look for him when he wandered off to places. Like Ergo, Ruo has a desire to consume divine beings. He and Ergo always wanted to eat each other.[8]
Ruo is a good cook.[4]
He is protective of Akira Yakou.[9][2] Ruo was completely supportive of her eating his flesh until she was feeling better.[2]
Role[]
The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II[]
The Devil of the Wandering Sea[]
Ziz ordered Ruo to kidnap Akira Yakou, and Ruo went to it very nonplussed that his mentor never assigns him normal, decent tasks. He beat the guards and sat down to think about how he should greet the victim. But the Black Chest he found was an empty husk of a girl. No fear, no sadness, no anger. She had already lost it all. Akira only returned to her senses the day she met Bai Ruolong, because she felt the burden being halved as if the Divine Body was scared of his wings. Unlike the Yakou, Bai Ruolong asked for Akira's consent to kidnap her, and Akira responded "Save me".[10][2] Akira never complained about them having to live on the streets because Ruo couldn't get a passport to stay at a hotel. The homeless people were all kind and generous. The bartender gig was also surprisingly enjoyable. Ruo came to think that living in Japan with Akira wasn't a bad idea, which is a fatal mistake for someone who knows what theophage hunger really is.[2]
Akira and Ruo live in a homeless camp.[7] Akira does not wish to return to her family and Ruo incapacitates any of the Yakou men who come after them.[1]
Ruo wanted Akira because his mentor Ziz needs her Divine Body (an organ from a god kept inside her) for his plans, though Ruo himself doesn't know why. He also wants Ergo to come with him because they can help with Ergo's current situation. As things are now, Ergo only has about a month left to live.[4]
Once everyone gets together to figure out what to do regarding Akira, Ergo, and Ruo, Mikiya Ryougi gives Ruo a spare key to the Garan no Dou for him to live at temporarily, as Ruo has no form of identification.[4]
Eventually Akira's grandmother Akane Yakou decides that El-Melloi II is untrustworthy and takes the last fragment of the Yakou's Divine Body, the piece that was still inside Yukinobu and yet to be transferred to Akira. As Akane places the Divine Body in a noh mask and then puts the mask on her face, at the same time in a different part of the city Akira begins to scream. A noh mask appears on her own face as a dark ocean begins to form around her that manifests black ropes which bind Bai Ruolong.[5] The darkness condenses into a black box with Ruo and Akira inside it, which is taken by Yukinobu back to the Yakou house.[11]
While Ruo continues trying to keep Akira safe, the Yakou initiate a ritual where Akira and the god inside her, Ōkuninushi, begin to devour Bai Ruolong and Typhon.[12] Akane intends on sacrificing Ruo to heal Yukinobu because his talents are too valuable for the Yakous to lose, but Yukinobu does't want to be healed. Yukinobu disrupts the ritual by sacrificing himself and giving everything to Akira for her to do whatever she wants with it, but Akira is too far gone after learning the truth about her father and finds all she wants was to eat Ruo.[13]
After Akira comes to her senses, Ruo breaks them out of the black box with Typhon's Noble Phantasm Blaze of Etna. He and Ergo have the rematch they had been waiting for, which ends when Gray uses Rhongomyniad Mythos to "anchor" Typhon inside Bai Ruolong, preventing any of Typhon from leaking out and preventing Bai Ruolong from using Typhon's abilities.[2] Afterwards his master Ziz arrives. Ziz cuts the Yakou Divine Body in half, leaving half for the Yakou family and half for him to feed to Ruo. A fair compromise for all, but not ideal for anyone. He then teleports away with both Bai Ruolong and Akira.[2]
Legacy of the Alchemist[]
After three hours of painful spiritual surgery, Ziz manages to remove 70% of Rhongomyniad's shadow from Bai Ruolong. It has been unbearably painful for Ruo. A seal on the level of Rhongomyniad Mythos is rare even for the standards of the Age of Gods, and without the surgery it would have taken over a century to dissipate on its own.[14]
Fem's Casa[]
Ziz tasks Ruo with kidnapping Shirou Emiya, who beat Van-Fem in a gambling game, so that Ziz can learn the secret to doing it himself. However before Ruo can do so, Shirou is instead captured by the Morte mafia. While Rin Tohsaka and Luviagelita Edelfelt are searching for Shirou, they run into Ruo.
He battles Van-Fem.[6]
After Ziz fails in his goals, Bai Ruolong comes to kill him. Part of Ziz's contract with Zagreus was that if he failed Zagreus could take his life. Afterward, Bai Ruolong flies off to the Himalayas where Wuzhiqi is waiting for a confrontation with El-Melloi II.[15]
Abilities[]
Bai Ruolong uses Philosophy Magecraft, and his Philosophy Key is located on his arm under his sleeve.[16] One of Ruo's spells, activated by tracing his Philosophy Key with his finger, clacking his teeth together thrice, and incanting "Tian di xuan zong, wan qi ben gen. Ji ji ru luling", traps the opponent in yellow talismans that flow out of their sleeves, wrapping their hands and face like a mummy.[16] Ruo clarifies that his Philosophy Magecraft is relatively on the modern side, since he's just an apprentice to the Wandering Sea.[1] The Wandering Sea spell Ruo shot Ergo with sealed Sun Wukong completely, so Ergo couldn't load his Divine Core, but he could still use the Phantom Hands just fine.[10]
Similar to how Ergo ate the flesh of three gods, Bai Ruolong ate the flesh of a dragon "similar enough to a god":[5] Typhon, a Divine Beast and the Greek counterpart to Ergo's Egyptian god Set.[2] Ruo as the Wandering Sea masterpiece is superior to the Yakous' Divine Body.[12] He can project wings from his back called Huan Yi (幻翼, Phantom Wings?) that are similar to Ergo's Phantom Hands.[7] The fallen feathers from his wings can be used as projectiles to attack with.[1][8] In the mirrored world created by the Yakou's ritual of transferring the last fragment of their Divine Body into Akira, every Ruo feather that touched the ground changed into a dark snake, with Yukinobou proceeding to cover his body with the said snakes.[17]
He is also proficient at baguazhangWP martial arts, and combines it with his magecraft and Huan Yi. Ruo was able to redirect an attack from Ergo's tied up Divine Arms with a baguazhang move. He is able to use a move that combines his martial arts, the power in his wings, and a spell Ziz taught to him for emergencies; enabling his baguazhang to hit the Divine Arms' core.[8]
Ruo was still floating in the air despite his energy being drained from Rin's spell that released thorny vines so as to physically and magically restrain the opponent, breaking free from the vines when the gems used for it go black and rot away.[1] This likely due to Magic Resistance granted by Ruo's Dragon Core.
His identity as Zagreus means he gets Zeus' Authorities of thunderbolt and animal transformation from being Zeus's heir. In his battle against Van-Fem, he uses it to give himself multiple Mystic Eyes.[6]
Noble Phantasms[]
« Dragon Core Ignition: Progenitor Dragon ──Ignited/Dragon's reactor core.
|
(Bai Ruolong loading Typhon's Dragon Core) |
Bai Ruolong possesses the Noble Phantasms of Typhon, Blaze of Etna and Nega-Keraunos.[2] When using Blaze of Etna, his Huan Yi become stone Dragon Wings and fire stone scales instead of feathers.[2] When using Nega-Keraunos, he can converts 70% of Typhon's Blaze of Etna armor into a cannon. He can use it twice in quick succession, but his Dragon Core can't recharge quickly enough for a third time.[2] When Ruo's Nega-Keraunos clashed with a copy of it that Ergo created with Per Djet, just the shockwave from the two blasts clashing was enough to break through four layers of Rho Aias.[2]
Although Typhon also stole Harpe from Zeus, Bai Ruolong made no use of it in his rematch with Ergo. Lord El-Melloi II isn't sure why, but comes up with three theories: either he can't use all of Typhon's Authorities, using Harpe would cost too much energy, or he didn't want to.[18]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 2: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Upper) - Chapter 2
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 3: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Lower) - Chapter 6
- ↑ The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 3: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Lower) - Chapter 1
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 2: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Upper) - Chapter 4
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 2: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Upper) - Interlude
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 7: Fem's Casa (Middle) - Chapter 4
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 2: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Upper) - Chapter 1 Part 1
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 2: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Upper) - Chapter 3
- ↑ The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 2: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Upper) - Chapter 1
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 3: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Lower) - Chapter 3
- ↑ The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 3: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Lower) - Chapter 1
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 3: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Lower) - Chapter 4
- ↑ The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 3: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Lower) - Chapter 5
- ↑ The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 4: Legacy of the Alchemist (Upper) - Intermission
- ↑ The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 8: Fem's Casa (Lower) - Chapter 8
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 2: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Upper) - Chapter 2 Part 4
- ↑ The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 3: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Lower) - Chapter 4
- ↑ The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 3: The Devil of the Wandering Sea (Lower) - Epilogue