Roman

Roman Longblade is a five-star Altered Hunter who leads Blake and Innu during the Ruin City campaign. Already the sole survivor of his original squad, he gives the younger hunters their route to escape and a final warning about the black sword before dying against an Ironfang.

Biography

Leading a depleted squad into an Ironfang trap

Roman joins Blake and Innu after repeated clashes with the Lupus pack kill every other member of his squad. He treats the campaign as a duty that requires focus beyond personal lives and leads them toward an assault on the eastern Botanical Garden. When the rendezvous squads have already been killed and the shopping mall fills with werewolves, Roman uses smoke, anti-Altered equipment, and his trident to keep the team moving. He also directs Blake to a hidden dropbox containing a black sword, warning him to use it only when necessary because previous wielders had gone mad. (Chapters 1157–1161)

Roman stays behind to hold off Ron the Iron Wall so Blake and Innu can retrieve the weapon. His spinning beast trident can pierce ordinary werewolf hide, but only scratches Ron's armor before snapping in their final clash. Ron drives both claws through Roman's chest. Roman uses his last breath to warn Blake about the sword, and the two younger hunters are forced to leave his body when they escape. They later help defeat the Ironfang, making his stand materially responsible for their survival even though it costs him his life. (Chapters 1159, 1161–1165, 1169)

Appearance and personality

Roman is an older man with a dark beard covering most of his face and five stars tattooed on his exposed shoulder. He is experienced, lightly teasing with younger teammates, and protective without disguising the danger of their work. His decision to face Ron alone reflects confidence earned through survival, but also a willingness to spend his life so Blake and Innu have a chance to escape. (Chapters 1157–1158, 1161–1164)

Powers and abilities

Roman is never identified as an Altered. His superhuman rooftop leap, strength sufficient to break a lock, and reference to his “own powers” are shown alongside beast weapons and Hunter training, but the corpus does not specify whether their source is Qi, equipment, or another enhancement. He is an experienced close-quarters fighter who can evade Ron's attacks, kill werewolves with a spinning trident, and deploy smoke and other anti-Altered tools. His mask supplies low-light vision, heat detection, and optical zoom. (Chapters 1158–1160, 1163)

Roman's equipment has clear limits. Smoke cannot conceal hunters from werewolf scent, and even his high-grade trident cannot penetrate Ron's armored hide. His five-star rank records a long history of Altered kills and survival, but does not make him able to overcome an Ironfang alone. (Chapters 1159–1163)

Relationships

• Blake: Roman values Blake's swordsmanship, entrusts him with access to the black sword, and spends his final words warning him about it.
• Innu: Innu joins Roman's depleted squad and grieves him as a leader who protected both younger hunters despite their short time together.
• Edvard: Roman follows Edvard's campaign orders and knows the concealed weapon Edvard has prepared for Blake.

Items

• Blake's Black Sword: Later identified as Roman's original sword. Blake temporarily wields it after Roman's death, then returns it to Edvard for the Longblade family; Roman had warned that it had unspecified “issues.” (Chapter 1328)

Roman also uses a spinning beast trident, standard Hunter armor, a mask, smoke devices, and anti-Altered weapons, but none is configured as a separate finalized inventory article.