Gates Armand

Gates Armand is the fifth of the five surviving Armand brothers and an Undying Warrior serving Linley’s emerging Baruch realm. Blunt, proud, and quick to act, he combines the Supreme Warrior lineage’s immense strength and defense with unusual aptitude for heavy-weapon insight, becoming a field commander and long-lived member of Dragonblood Castle. (Chapters 208–211, 229, 276, 290, 317–320, 624)

Biography

The Anarchic Lands And The Baruch Realm

Gates grows up as an orphan in the Eighteen Northern Duchies without knowing that he and his brothers descend from the Armand clan. After Cesar identifies their heritage and retrieves the Secret Undying Manual, Gates is the first brother to snatch the text and begin reading. He trains under intensified gravity, grasps “wielding something heavy as though it were light” before most of his brothers, and responds to being left behind by Linley by training rather than wasting time. By the time the group reunites with Wharton, Gates has reached the ninth rank and can transform to the Saint level. (Chapters 206, 208–211, 226, 229)

Gates accepts Linley as his lord and readily treats Wharton Baruch as part of the same household. In the Anarchic Lands, the brothers seize Blackdirt City from its abusive governor; Gates publicly declares Barker Armand the new governor and challenges any dissenter to face him. This intimidating display secures the garrison’s submission without a wider fight and helps convert the brothers from wandering warriors into the military foundation of a territorial state. (Chapters 229, 275–276)

During the conflict with the Radiant Church and Cult of Shadows, Gates fights as both warrior and commander. He refuses Osenno’s attempt to secure the brothers’ surrender, invokes Cesar’s protection, and survives blows from opponents whose speed and power exceed his own. At the siege of the prefectural city of Cod, he intercepts infiltrating ninth-rank warriors, kills one with an “impose”-level greataxe strike, and helps destroy the attackers’ siege bridges. When the city is later overwhelmed by elite legions, he accepts retreat as a military reality rather than demanding a futile last stand, even while openly resenting the loss. (Chapters 289–290, 317–320)

Gates remains at Dragonblood Castle after the Baruch Empire is founded, participating in its defense, councils, and celebrations while more powerful members pursue Deityhood. He is still alive when Linley returns to the Yulan Plane nearly two thousand years after leaving for the Infernal Realm. Gates has by then married Rebecca; because she also reaches the Saint level, their marriage avoids the mortal aging that bereaves several other members of Linley’s family. (Chapters 381–395, 409, 624)

Appearance and personality

Gates is approximately 2.2 meters tall in human form, with an exceptionally thick waist and a body compared to a giant bear. Like his brothers, he has massive, visibly powerful musculature. His Undying Warrior transformation enlarges him to roughly three meters, gives his face an awe-inspiring green cast, and covers him in white, marble-like armor. (Chapters 205–206, 208, 257, 290)

He is loud, profane, direct, and proud, with little interest in ceremony or subtle social calculation. Those qualities can make him tactless, but they also support an uncomplicated loyalty: he worries immediately when Wharton is hurt, grows angry on Linley’s behalf, refuses recruitment by an enemy, and voices battlefield setbacks without disguising them. His choice to return to training when his brothers advance also shows that the bravado is paired with competitive discipline. (Chapters 211, 226, 229, 251, 255, 290, 319–320)

Abilities and cultivation

Gates possesses the Armand clan’s Undying Warrior bloodline. Before receiving the Secret Undying Manual, his physical body alone reaches the eighth rank even though he cannot cultivate ordinary battle-qi. The manual allows him to progress to the ninth rank; when transformed, he attains early-stage Saint power with exceptional strength, defense, and natural flight. His armor withstands direct attacks from Four-Winged Angels and even prevents an attack comparable to a peak Saint’s blow from killing him, although that strike cracks the armor and leaves him vomiting blood. Speed remains the lineage’s explicit weakness. (Chapters 206, 208–210, 229, 290)

His principal combat style uses a massive long-handled greataxe weighing about 5,300 pounds. Gates is the first of the brothers to understand “wielding something heavy as though it were light,” allowing him to handle the weapon with control rather than raw force alone. He later reaches the “impose” level: against a fleeing ninth-rank warrior, his first strike shatters the opponent’s heavy sword and his second constrains escape before killing him. The demonstration establishes superior insight as well as the inherent power of his bloodline. (Chapters 210–211, 226, 264, 317)

Gates is formidable against mortal armies and ordinary ninth-rank warriors, but the corpus repeatedly marks his limits. Agile Angels can evade him, Osenno can badly injure him without killing him, and he recognizes that battles between stronger Saints or Deities are beyond his ability to influence. His later Saint status grants longevity, but the supplied corpus does not show him progressing to Deityhood. (Chapters 290, 293, 319–320, 382, 624)

Power progression

Relationships

• Barker Armand, Ankh Armand, and Hazer Armand: Gates’ identity and career are inseparable from his brothers. He celebrates their breakthroughs, competes with them in cultivation, supports Barker’s authority as governor, and fights beside Ankh and Hazer against the Radiant Church. The brothers consistently operate as a family unit even when only some can transform. (Chapters 208–211, 221–229, 276, 289–290, 317–320)

• Linley Baruch: Gates addresses Linley as his lord after Linley accepts responsibility for guiding the Armand brothers. He follows Linley from secluded training into the O’Brien Empire and Anarchic Lands, serves the Baruch realm, and remains part of Dragonblood Castle during Linley’s later conflicts. Gates’ loyalty is practical as well as personal: he trains so as not to become a hindrance and repeatedly supports Linley’s family. (Chapters 208–211, 226–229, 251–320, 381–409)

• Cesar: Cesar recognizes Gates and his brothers as descendants of his closest old friend, protects them from the Radiant Church, restores their training manual, and entrusts them to Linley. Gates later invokes Cesar’s warning when Osenno attempts to coerce the brothers, showing that Cesar’s protection remains an important deterrent. (Chapters 205–208, 290)

• Wharton Baruch: Gates quickly accepts Wharton as part of Linley’s household, offers characteristically blunt support during the dispute over Nina, catches him when training knocks him back, and later serves alongside him at Dragonblood Castle. (Chapters 229, 232, 251–255, 381–409)

• Rebecca: Gates eventually marries Rebecca. The corpus gives little direct detail about their courtship, but establishes that Rebecca’s necromantic talent enables her to reach the Saint level, leaving both spouses alive nearly two thousand years after Linley’s departure. (Chapter 624)

Items

The centralized inventory assigns no qualifying named item to Gates.