Ilya

Ilya is an elf politician and magician who recruits Crockta to dismantle Thawing Balhae’s bases in Arnin. He presents the campaign as a fight against Mayor Elsanad’s corruption, but he had participated in trafficking Arnin’s poor, turned on his user partners after profiting from them, and fabricated evidence to win the mayoral election. Crockta exposes the conspiracy alongside Elsanad’s separate abuses, ending Ilya’s campaign in arrest. (Chapters 34–40)

Biography

God Slayer and the Road Back to Orcrox

Ilya says that he was once Elsanad’s close friend, shared her desire to improve Arnin, and helped her become mayor; other Arnin residents confirm that he formerly worked with her before being dismissed. After that relationship and his place in government ended, he allied with the criminal interests surrounding Derek and Thawing Balhae. By the time Crockta arrives, Ilya has helped the users sell elves from the neglected slums and appears wealthy enough to finance a mayoral campaign from his luxurious mansion. He now wants to discard the partners he has already exploited and replace Elsanad, so he shows Crockta real kidnappings while falsely assigning responsibility for them to the mayor. (Chapters 34–38)

The deception nevertheless leads to real rescues. Ilya guides Crockta through several hidden bases, accepts Crockta’s demand to capture users when possible, shields him in battle, summons Undine against the strongest group, and retrieves a ledger from the final site. He then brings the rescued elves before the public as witnesses and uses copies of a forged ledger to accuse Elsanad. When Crockta confronts him, Ilya admits both the trafficking and the fabrication. He treats their cooperation as a transaction: Crockta received revenge, while Ilya expects the office, and he assumes the threat of losing Derek’s help will keep the orc quiet. (Chapters 35–38)

Crockta instead records Ilya’s confession and plays it before Arnin during the mayoral debate. The testimony reveals that Ilya sold elves, abandoned his user partners only after extracting enough value, and planned to convert the resulting scandal into political power. The guards arrest him after Crockta also exposes the victims beneath Elsanad’s mansion. A later monument names Ilya among the three “demons of Arnin” who were expelled, so his latest established civic status is disgrace and removal rather than office. Crockta’s cosmic vision later includes Ilya, but does not reveal where he is, whether he remains imprisoned, or what he does afterward. (Chapters 39–40, 199, and 226)

Appearance and personality

Ilya is a beautiful male elf with blue eyes and a smiling public manner. He lives in a luxurious mansion and can afford his own political operation. During the raid, a thrown spear tears his mask and leaves a long cut on his cheek; the corpus does not establish whether that scar remains permanently. (Chapters 34–38)

He is persuasive, patient enough to stage a long campaign, and capable of presenting exploitation as justice. His concern for the abducted elves is instrumental: he rescues some people to remove former partners and strengthen his election bid, while admitting that he previously sold others. He enjoys the language of justice but explicitly rejects having its standards applied to himself. When his friendly performance breaks, Crockta perceives greed, anger, and contempt beneath it. (Chapters 34–39)

Skills, powers, and limitations

Water, barrier, and elemental magic

Ilya draws moisture from the air to form water spheres that cover targets’ heads and prevent breathing. He creates barriers that stop a fireball from hitting Crockta and protect his group from an opening magical attack. For a stronger assault, he completes a chant that summons Undine, a long winged water elemental whose cold presence lowers the surrounding temperature and whose charge kills a user. The corpus does not provide Ilya’s class, formal rank, mana reserve, the duration of Undine’s summoning, or proof that the elemental belongs permanently to him. (Chapter 35)

The magic requires concentration and does not remove ordinary vulnerability. A heavy spell striking his prepared shield turns him pale, and allies must protect him while he chants for Undine. A thrown spear nearly kills him; it cuts his cheek as it passes, but his chant finishes in time. These scenes show a capable combat magician who relies on preparation and companions, not an invulnerable elemental master. (Chapter 35)

Utility magic and political manipulation

Ilya uses small flames for light, magically amplifies his voice across Arnin’s square, opens a door at a distance, and subtly moves leaves or calls wind around a table. These are demonstrated utility effects, but their shared mechanism is not explained. His more consequential noncombat skill is organizing informants, safe contacts, masked raiders, public witnesses, and duplicated evidence. That network helps eliminate Thawing Balhae’s local bases, but it fails once Crockta records Ilya’s own words and presents stronger evidence to the city. (Chapters 34–39)

Relationships

• Crockta: Ilya uses Crockta’s revenge against Thawing Balhae to eliminate former partners and advance his election bid. Crockta accepts the tactical alliance, then rejects Ilya’s claim that justice is irrelevant to their bargain and supplies the confession that destroys him. (Chapters 34–40)
• Elsanad: Ilya says that he helped Elsanad become mayor when they were young, while other residents confirm only that they once worked together. He later opposes her and fabricates proof that she ran his trafficking scheme. Their rivalry ends when Crockta exposes Ilya’s direct crimes and Elsanad’s concealment of a different atrocity. (Chapters 34–40)
• Derek: Derek invests in Ilya’s attempt to take Arnin and sends Crockta under a contract that should either kill Elsanad or help Ilya win. Crockta’s accusation defeats that investment, and Derek moves to another prospective mayor instead of rescuing Ilya. (Chapters 34–40)
• Thawing Balhae Clan: Ilya participates in the clan’s trafficking, learns the locations of its bases, then helps destroy those bases once he decides the partnership has yielded enough profit. His betrayal does not erase his responsibility for the victims sold earlier. (Chapters 34–38)

Items

No qualifying catalog item is confirmed as Ilya’s possession. The duplicated ledgers are fabricated political evidence rather than notable artifacts, and the corpus gives them no supernatural property or continuing custody after his exposure. (Chapters 35–39)