Colin Iliad

Colin Iliad is the long-serving Chief of the City of Silver, an explorer who carries responsibility for a civilization trapped in the Forsaken Land of the Gods. He begins as a Sequence 4 Demon Hunter and advances to Sequence 3 Silver Knight after Derrick Berg obtains the missing formula. Colin's defining strength is not simply combat: he delays expeditions until the city can survive his loss, distrusts convenient revelations without rejecting hope, and ultimately trades his life for the sight of sunlight and a future he will not enter.

Biography

Role in the Central Conflict

Colin first appears after an Amon-related mutation in the City of Silver's dungeon. He destroys the threat, questions Derrick, and uses Demon Hunter vision to search for corruption without rushing to condemn a young resident whose answers remain suspicious. When Derrick later exposes signs that an expedition has been compromised by the True Creator, Colin tests the report through controlled interrogation and secret surveillance. He releases Derrick because the evidence does not show degeneration, then continues watching rather than demanding certainty the city cannot obtain. This balance—severe caution without paralysis—allows information from the Tarot Club to reach the council while preventing a single unexplained miracle from deciding policy. (Chapters 361–400)

The discovery of the outsider Jack gives Colin a possible route through Afternoon Town and the Giant King's Court. Colin chooses repeated, structured expeditions instead of a desperate march. He studies murals, recognizes traps and temporal cycles, recalls scattered teams when shadows begin replacing explorers, and personally fights monsters designed to imitate his companions. Every loss matters because the City of Silver has a tiny population and no safe reinforcement; every advance therefore includes signals, fallback positions, prepared ointments, and people assigned to preserve knowledge. His willingness to explore comes from the need to end two thousand years of darkness, not from indifference to casualties. (Chapters 455–466, 637–670, and 897–938)

Derrick's information eventually supplies the Silver Knight formula the city has lacked for generations. The ritual requires a deity's or angel's blessing, and Colin waits when The Fool does not immediately respond rather than turning to the True Creator for a faster answer. With Klein's blessing and six powerful creatures he has hunted as anchors, he survives the potion and becomes Sequence 3. Even then he postpones the final expedition. He first confirms that another Elder, Waite Chirmont, has also advanced, ensuring that the City of Silver will retain leadership and a demigod if Colin, Derrick, and Lovia never return. His delay turns personal advancement into institutional continuity. (Chapters 1112–1176 and 1216)

In the Giant King's Court, Colin accepts help from Klein's Gehrman Sparrow projection, commands coordinated battles against Silver Knight guardians and Enuni, and trusts plans not generated by Klein when the Dark Angel's shadow already knows Klein's habits. Against Sasrir, Colin repeatedly turns his own body into mercury to bind the enemy and orders Derrick to attack both of them. The strategy kills him, but it helps break the shadow palace and expose the exit. With his remnant will fading, Colin gives Derrick the city's deepest secret: the Gift of the Land sustains Black-Faced Grass but also causes the dead to become evil spirits, and the corpse within it proves that Omebella died long ago. He authorizes every resident to change faith to The Fool, asks Derrick to open the door, and dies after seeing the sunlight beyond it. His choices leave Derrick with both succession and the truth needed to lead the city out. (Chapters 1248–1266)

Appearance and personality

Colin is an exceptionally tall, powerfully built man with weathered features, profound light-blue eyes, grizzled and eventually white hair, deep wrinkles, and an old scar on his face. He carries two swords across his back and wears the simple, durable clothing of the City of Silver rather than ceremonial finery. As a Silver Knight he can become a five-to-six-meter grayish-blue giant in weightless silver armor; the incomplete Mythical Creature form exposes bluish-black muscles and radiates a mental pressure that drives weaker observers toward destruction. (Chapters 361, 670, 1176, 1216, and 1255–1266)

He is patient, guarded, pragmatic, and burdened by grief. Colin has personally killed relatives and predecessors who lost control, including parents, siblings, children, and grandchildren, yet continues leading because endurance in darkness is harder and more necessary than a glorious sacrifice. He rarely shows emotion, but relief at the Silver Knight blessing, pride in Derrick's growth, and his final smile reveal deep attachment beneath command discipline. His skepticism is constructive: he tests Lovia and Derrick, keeps secrets when disclosure would destabilize the city, and changes course when evidence makes an old belief untenable. (Chapters 361–400, 900, 1175, 1216, and 1266)

Pathways and abilities

Colin follows the Warrior pathway through its lower physical and weapon-focused Sequences, Sequence 6 Dawn Paladin, Sequence 5 Guardian, Sequence 4 Demon Hunter, and Sequence 3 Silver Knight. He retains the accumulated strength, durability, weapon mastery, defensive power, and dawn-based abilities of earlier ranks. His century of expeditions makes application and preparation as important as raw Sequence. (Chapters 361, 400, 455–466, 670, 900, and 1176)

As a Demon Hunter, Colin can read traces of degeneration, evil, curses, and corruption through complex dark-green symbols in his eyes. He identifies supernatural weaknesses, uses powders and specialized ointments to make his blades effective against different monsters, and can conceal his movement and hostile intent even from danger premonition. That anti-prediction quality makes Demon Hunters natural enemies of Devils. His light of dawn can form a domain that exposes shadow creatures, while his partial Mythical Creature form greatly increases size, strength, and resilience. The form is dangerous: its madness and destructive impulse demand continuous self-control, especially in corrupted environments. (Chapters 361, 400, 455–466, 670, and 1113)

Silver Knight completes a qualitative change toward a Mythical Creature. Colin can form nearly weightless, extremely durable silver armor; create and wield gigantic swords of dawn; hide or move within light; release silver attacks that appear at their target; and generate a teleporting Silver Rapier whose unpredictable placement tends to favor him. His attacks can split a distant hill, while the Silver Knight body can withstand punishment that would kill ordinary demigods. He can also respond to prayers within a limited range, though at Sequence 3 his anchor can be supplied by the spiritually meaningful memories of his hunts rather than a permanent church of believers. (Chapters 1175–1176 and 1252–1257)

Mercury Liquefaction turns Colin's body and armor into heavy, sticky silver fluid. It lets him flow around an enemy, close gaps, restrain movement, and reform after being scattered. Against Dark Angel Sasrir he uses it to cover and suffocate the target, but spiritual attacks tear holes through the liquid and corrupt the reformed body. The power is therefore not invulnerability: sufficient force, degeneration, or damage to spirit and characteristic persists after he resumes human form. Colin deliberately combines that limitation with Derrick's purification, accepting lethal friendly fire to hold a superior enemy in place. (Chapters 1176 and 1262–1265)

Relationships

• Derrick Berg: Young subordinate, source of new hope, and eventual successor. Colin investigates Derrick rigorously, then recognizes his growth, uses the information he brings, and entrusts him with the city's future and deepest secret.
• Lovia: Fellow Elder whose True Creator faith makes her dangerous but whose loyalty to the City of Silver remains real. Colin neither trusts her blindly nor excludes her strength; they die in the same final expedition after coordinating against Sasrir.
• Klein Moretti: The hidden power behind Derrick's information and Colin's Silver Knight blessing. Colin accepts Klein's aid on evidence, later permits free conversion to The Fool, and acknowledges him before his death.
• Waite Chirmont: Fellow council Elder and continuity plan. Colin waits for Waite to become a Silver Knight so the city will not lose all experienced leadership if the final team is destroyed.
• Omebella: The true Giant Queen whose corpse is sealed within the Gift of the Land. Colin preserves the secret until his death because it explains both the city's food and its curse.

Items

• Paired silver swords: Colin's standard weapons are two large blades carried across his back. He coats them with monster-specific gray-silver ointments and later supplements them with swords formed from dawn; the physical blades crumble during the final battle. (Chapters 361, 455, 670, and 1264–1265)
• Demon-hunting powders and ointments: Pouches on Colin's belt contain signals, luminescent powders, and preparations selected for known monster weaknesses. Their effectiveness depends on correct identification and prior expedition knowledge. (Chapters 455–466 and 670)
• Gift of the Land: Colin is custodian of the secret surrounding this god-level Sealed Artifact, not its personal owner. It enables Black-Faced Grass to grow around the city but also causes the dead to become evil spirits; its core contains Omebella's corpse. (Chapter 1266)