Azbeth

Azbeth is the muscular, dark-skinned leader of Alterian's Orian Guild and a five-star magic swordsman. He presents sword magic as a demanding but versatile profession, then demonstrates that versatility while defending his guild from the Dark Guild. His last stand ends when Raze Cromwell defeats him with superior swordcraft.

Biography

Recruitment and attack on the Orian Guild

Azbeth introduces the Orian Guild to students and parents as a selective organization with defined battlefield roles. He personally demonstrates lightning-enchanted swordplay, wind-driven movement, and a ranged lightning discharge, offering to train promising magic swordsmen. When Dark Guild attackers enter, he immediately organizes surviving sword users, intercepts spells aimed at his people, and uses wind, lightning, and fire to contest an assault that has already overwhelmed most of the guild. (Chapters 1089–1090)

Coerced duel and death

After the attackers seize control and threaten the audience, Azbeth stops escalating in the hope that survivors can leave. He accepts Harvey's coerced duel, believing that defeating the apparent leader could break enemy morale. Azbeth outlasts Harvey's first defenses and dismantles his dark puppet, but Raze then reveals himself. Refusing to believe that the Dark Magus survived, Azbeth attacks; Raze parries him with Pagna-trained sword technique, breaks his blade, and strikes him down, with the blood on Raze's sword confirming the fatal result. (Chapters 1091–1097)

Appearance and personality

Azbeth is a dark-skinned, muscular man whose polished straight sword and controlled public demonstration suit his position as a guild leader. He is commanding and selective, yet his conduct during the attack is not merely self-preserving: he directs support toward endangered members and moderates his resistance when hostages are at risk. Pride and disbelief ultimately override caution when he rejects Raze's identity and tries to restore confidence by defeating him publicly. (Chapters 1089–1096)

Magic, cultivation, and abilities

As a five-star magic swordsman, Azbeth channels magic through his weapon and body rather than relying only on conventional ranged casting. Lightning surrounds his sword, jumps through clustered targets, or fires from its tip; wind propels rapid movement and can form a tornado; and he casts fireballs with his free hand. He combines the tornado with lightning to sustain a vortex around Harvey and describes the style as mana-efficient because stamina carries much of its close-combat burden. (Chapters 1089–1094)

Azbeth is nimble and reads the timing of Harvey's Dark Pulses well enough to evade them repeatedly. His lightning can damage or strip away portions of manifested Dark magic, but Harvey's detached puppet intercepts attacks and reforms its tactics, while Raze's stronger body and deeper sword experience overcome Azbeth even when their displayed mana is comparable. His stamina advantage therefore delays defeat rather than countering superior technique or Dark-magic defenses. (Chapters 1093–1097)

Relationships

• Harvey: Harvey selects Azbeth for a public duel under threat to the captured audience. Azbeth treats him as the attackers' leader and tries to win by exhausting his breakthrough-created puppet.
• Raze Cromwell: Azbeth denies that Raze can be the original Dark Magus and attacks the supposed impostor. Raze answers with swordsmanship learned in Pagna and kills him.
• Orian Guild members: Azbeth recruits, trains, and commands the guild's magic swordsmen. He tries to protect them during the Dark Guild assault, though most are already dead or incapacitated before his final duel.

Items

• Straight sword: Azbeth's personal combat focus is a clean, straight blade through which he channels lightning. It supports close strikes and ranged discharges, but Raze breaks it during their final exchange. (Chapters 1089 and 1096)