Darius (Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time)

How Darius joined the Tourney
Darius is one of the main characters in Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 6 and its sequel. He becomes the Seiryu of Earth for this era in the majority of its scenarios.

Aside from being raised within a demon village, Darius's origins are not clear. He apparently lived a peaceful life and was naturally blessed with the most powerful abilities of his people. Four years before the main setting, the legs of the previous chief were ailing and plans were made for his eldest son to succeed him. However, the heir was inept with their clan's powers and the people worried about their future. Upon witnessing the heir's agonizing training firsthand, Darius offered Rudkhane another solution: relinquish the traditional order of succession in favor of judging a chief by their own merits. Rudkhane convinced his father to accept the idea and Darius was soon named the next chief.

Once Darius proved himself worthy to be chief, he was entrusted with the clan's ancient Chieftain Mask. The mask is seeped with centuries of each chief's powers and powerful yin energy. It greatly heightens the wearer's spells, letting them tap into the clan's most archaic techniques. Yet the mask is also drenched with the raw hatred and madness of many prosecuted generations. While he is disturbed by the mask's effects on him and its untold potential, Darius will resort to using it if it will achieve his means.

A year later, Darius had an optimistic view of the clan's future. He believed that they could somehow use their powers to benefit both human and demon society, wanting to do something to bridge the gap. Seishiro visited the demon village and proposed Darius with a trade. The demons would become government spies into foreign territory in exchange for the village's peaceful coexistence. Darius hesitated until Seishiro appealed to the demon's nationalism, insisting that the effort would be a great service to the country's future; only then did Darius agree.

The demons kept their end of the bargain; Seishiro did not. Under the guise of friendship, the commander-in-chief had members of the Demon Clan guide him to the seeds for the clan's forbidden flowers. He then had his escorts executed and proceeded to manufacture horrific experiments on soldiers using the demon flower's miasma. These experiments led to vengeful spirits being conjured within the imperial capital. Darius learned of the deception too late and demanded that the experiments be stopped at once. Seishiro responded by publicly placing the blame of the vengeful spirits solely on the Demon Clan, letting time-tested prejudices do the rest of the work. It took everything Darius had to escape with his scattered people, and only Darius survived to keep the truth.

Seeking to correct his grave error, Darius started gathering resources for his revolution. His main goal is to locate and destroy the main laboratory for Seishiro's supernatural militarization through any means possible. His secondary goal is to overthrow Seishiro. Darius is well aware that toppling the capital's most influential official would only worsen the public's opinions about demons so he originally planned to do it by himself. Rudkhane swore to be his ally to the bitter end. He had the rest of his people relocated to a faraway island away from the capital.

Darius set up a barrier around his manor near the capital and posed as a foreign antiques dealer. During his monthly selling periods, he also established a working relationship with Murasame in exchange for learning anything new regarding the Imperial Army's laboratories.

Once he becomes aware that the Black Dragon Priestess was scheduled to be summoned, Darius feared that the Dragon Priestesses would only be used to bolster Seishiro's plans for global militarization. He devises a bold plan to steal her from the Imperial Army's clutches the instant she is summoned. Realizing that he would need more muscle for his revolution, Darius hires Tora about eleven months before the priestess's prophesied arrival.

A week before the main story, the Demon Clan receives word that the Imperial Army intend to preform the priestess summoning ritual. Intrigued, Darius warps alone into the dimensional portal and arrives in the Quiz Battle Toukiden world. He discreetly observes the Slayer's movements from afar. Although he is bemused by his foreign surroundings, Darius is content to have the chance to assess the Imperial Army's capabilities before starting his rebellion. He then heads back to his own world. Lady Akatsuki briefly senses his presence but figures that it was her imagination. After Darius's departure, his sentiments manifest into a Mitama to help the Slayer.

When highlighted
Holds his cane beside him.

After the announcer calls his name
Darius puts on his mask as the camera zooms, then sparks his cane saying "The door of fate has opened. Shall we?"

Heaven Dragon Shot (Neutral)
Darius blows enemies away with magical energy by waving his cane.

Dragon Teeth (Side)
Darius unsheathes his sword, which creates a large flurry of phantom slashes on enemies in front of him. He then sheathes his sword, stunning the enemies.

Dragon Vorpal (Up)
Darius knocks enemies into the air with his cane, and then disappears and teleports about while slashing the enemies 3 times.

Lightning Dragon (Down)
Darius turns around and snaps his fingers to launch enemies into the air, and then waves his cane to summon 3 large lightning strikes to rain down from the sky.

Dragon Explosion (Hyper Smash)
Darius puts on his mask and charges a ball of energy at the end of his cane. With a wave of his cane, the ball of energy explodes and creates a large explosion around Darius, blowing enemies away.

Water Dragon Dance (Final Smash)
Darius puts on his mask and unsheathes his sword from his cane swiftly. If he hits, he follows with 10 more slashes, then shoots a magic orb and finishes by making it explode.

Victory Animations

 * 1) Darius spins his cane and thrusts it saying "Checkmate. A stunning performance."
 * 2) Darius sparks magic from his cane and says "Well, that didn't take long. I was hoping for a little more fun."
 * 3) Darius applies his mask and smiles saying "Sorry, I should have held back a little more."

On-Screen Appearance
Particles form into Darius who says "I shall put you to ease now."

Trivia

 * Darius's rival is the painting Mid-Boss and possible friend of Kirby, Vividria.
 * Darius shares his English voice actor with Olimar, Tyrantrum, Rikuo, Rando, Sanji, Solf J. Kimblee, Shoma Sawamura, Naomasa Ii and Future Trunks.
 * Darius shares his Japanese voice actor with Simon Belmont, Demyx, Kamui Shiro, Toki Fujiwara, Big Blin, Utakata and Rogue Cheney.
 * Darius shares his German voice actor with Botta.
 * Darius shares his Arabic voice actor with Kamen Rider Hibiki, Ahkmenrah, Yooka of the Yooka and Laylee pair, Shinzaemon Shimada, Neinhalt Sieger, Red Bird, Izuku Midoriya, Teddy Bomber, Hakoda, Jan Templar, Phoenix Wright, Yue Jin, Tieria Erde (in all his Mobile Suits), Slader, Fuen and Shiho Kimizuki.