Ricardus

Ricardus Skyfall is the former King of the Skyfall Kingdom, a talented but negligent ruler who gained the throne through the murder of his siblings. His cultivation and royal machinery preserve his reign for decades, but the rise of a valid successor frees Astaria to expose his crimes, depose him, and oversee his execution.

Biography

A throne won through blood and neglected in comfort

Ricardus first appears dismissing concern about spies inside the Royal Palace, treating the matter as unimportant despite being the kingdom's strongest public authority. His reign is marked by the same indifference: ministers and the Shadow Unit handle operations while he pursues women and reacts seriously only when his possessions or reputation appear threatened. He keeps Amaya and Allura as Royal Consorts without understanding their real activities, allowing both to work around his surveillance. (Chapters 181, 250, and 389–403)

The foundation of his reign is revealed when Astaria confronts him over Raguel's crimes. About a century earlier, Ricardus had wanted the throne for the access and power it would give him, and his grandfather Swordfeck Fulvanius planned the elimination of rival princes. Ricardus followed the plan and killed his own siblings, including Astaria's son Dekdom. Astaria was strong enough to kill him but could not do so without a replacement carrying both royal and Duke blood; after Ricardus consolidated power, the same succession rule continued to shield him. His talent therefore preserved a king whose administration and character did not merit the position. (Chapters 497–498)

Evane removes the succession shield

Ricardus turns to Astaria when Herms's involvement threatens the Treaty of Eternal Peace, yet his handling of the crisis also brings Astaria back into palace affairs. He tests Nux and injures him, underestimates Evane, and watches her gain authority beyond anything he exercised. Once Evane becomes a young King Stage cultivator with the required royal and Duke lineage, Astaria finally has a competent heir and no longer needs to tolerate him. She orders the Shadow Unit to choose between Ricardus and herself; his own protectors capture him after he tries to run. (Chapters 444–450 and 497–499)

Astaria sentences Ricardus for murdering his siblings and binds him in MineralStar Iron, cutting him off from ambient mana. In prison he begs Nux to free him and offers alliance, abandoning objections even after learning that Nux is connected to Evane, Amaya, Allura, and Astaria. After Evane's coronation, Ricardus is publicly placed under a guillotine. Astaria announces his murders, sexual violence, and retaliatory executions; Evane authorizes the sentence, and the blade severs his head. His death gives Astaria revenge for Dekdom and marks the beginning of Evane's rule. (Chapters 499 and 564–565)

Alternate lives do not undo the execution

Ricardus appears again in Allura's reincarnated alternate timeline, where she traps him in an illusion of Raguel taking his throne and nearly kills him before Astaria intervenes. He also appears as a constructed opponent in the Trial Tower's counterfactual history, where Nux enslaves rather than executes him, and Nux later observes other-universe versions bearing his name. These are explicitly alternate histories, illusions, or parallel versions, not survival or resurrection of the executed main-continuity king. (Chapters 787–795, 1335–1413, and 2011)

Appearance and personality

Ricardus is a lean, handsome older man with black hair, purple eyes, and visible facial wrinkles. He wears a white coat beneath a red cloak and is also shown seated on the throne with an elegant but bored expression. His appearance and cultivation create an imposing royal image, but his usual posture is lethargic and detached. (Chapters 181 and 250)

He is negligent, entitled, lustful, vindictive, and deeply afraid of death. Ricardus regards women as trophies, uses family influence or force to obtain them, and has dissenting women and their families punished. Anger can briefly make him decisive, especially when Allura disappears or his authority is challenged, yet that aggression vanishes before a stronger power. He trembles before Astaria, attempts to flee rather than answer for his crimes, and begs strangers and enemies alike to preserve his life. (Chapters 389–398, 497–499, and 564–565)

Abilities and cultivation

Ricardus is a King Stage mana cultivator, aged 231 when Nux appraises him. His cultivation makes him the strongest publicly active person in the Skyfall Kingdom before Astaria leaves seclusion, but the corpus gives him no named affinity, cultivation method, Law, or demonstrated main-continuity combat technique. His position depends as much on inherited talent and royal protection as on battle achievement. (Chapters 181 and 446)

He commands the Shadow Unit, an elite covert force whose members are loyal enough to die protecting royal secrets. This is institutional authority, not an innate ability, and it ends once Astaria orders the unit to choose a new ruler. MineralStar Iron is a direct counter to his cultivation: the chains sever access to mana in the air and reduce even a King Stage prisoner's effective physical strength to a fraction, leaving him unable to escape. (Chapters 390 and 497–499)

An alternate-timeline Ricardus draws a sword and attacks Allura after she induces an illusion, but that scene does not establish a main-continuity sword technique. Later Trial Tower feats likewise belong to a constructed possibility rather than the executed king. At his latest genuine appearance, Ricardus is restrained and killed without demonstrating a counter to mana isolation or the execution. (Chapters 565, 793–795, and 1412–1413)

Relationships

• Astaria: Ricardus murders Astaria's son Dekdom while securing the throne. She tolerates him only because the kingdom lacks a valid replacement, then deposes and executes him once Evane qualifies. (Chapters 444 and 497–565)
• Evane: Evane is Ricardus's daughter and eventual successor. He underestimates her authority, while her lineage and cultivation remove the political protection that kept him alive; she later approves his public execution. (Chapters 416, 450, 497–499, and 565)
• Raguel: Raguel is Ricardus's first son and repeats his father's willingness to kill relatives for the throne. Their parallel crimes prompt Astaria to remark that the son resembles the father. (Chapters 405–434 and 497)
• Amaya: Ricardus holds Amaya as a Royal Consort but never understands her fabricated curse or information network. She operates against his rule and leaves his household to join Nux. (Chapters 250 and 389–485)
• Allura: Main-continuity Allura is another Royal Consort who secretly leaves the palace. In an alternate timeline, she uses her Succubus abilities to force Ricardus through an illusion of total political defeat. (Chapters 389–398 and 787–795)
• Nux: Nux helps Evane become a viable ruler, openly condemns Ricardus's incompetence, and visits him in prison before the execution. Ricardus offers him alliance without realizing how many of his victims are connected to Nux. (Chapters 446–516 and 564–566)

Items

• Royal crown: The crown symbolizes Ricardus's office and is set aside for Evane after his arrest. No magical property is established. (Chapter 499)
• MineralStar Iron restraints: These chains are used on Ricardus rather than owned by him. They sever his connection to ambient mana and reduce his physical strength, keeping him helpless until execution. (Chapters 499 and 564)
• Unnamed sword: Ricardus manifests or draws a sword in alternate-timeline and Trial Tower sequences. The corpus provides no canonical name, unique power, or confirmed main-continuity custody. (Chapters 793–795 and 1412–1413)