Darklight War Banner

The Darklight War Banner is Karl's Artifact-grade wartime spell, manifesting a visible banner that spreads his accumulated combat buffs across an allied force and invokes the Darklight Host's win-or-die guild custom.

History

A new spell turns Karl into a battlefield beacon

Karl learns [War Banner] during a declared conflict with undead. Its initial description limits it to wartime and promises to spread combat buffs over an entire allied force. In practice, it carries not only Karl's own effects but the buffs other allies have placed on him, making one heavily supported champion a distribution point for the whole battlefield. The visible light also marks Karl's location until he dismisses the banner after victory. (Chapters 923–927)

Raising the banner commits the Darklight Host to a blood feud

Karl raises the spell again during the New Home clan war and plants it behind his position, later carrying it on his armor as the battle moves. Its shared buffs let ordinary clan fighters perform close to a rank above their normal ability, although the advantage narrows among the strongest Ascended Immortals. The banner also notifies distant Darklight Host members, who arrive because a guild member has invoked a formal conflict. (Chapters 1686–1692)

Only afterward does Karl receive the full cultural explanation: a Darklight Host War Banner is a blood feud that cannot be abandoned through ordinary defeat. Victory or the banner bearer's permanent death ends the commitment. Rue's disbelief at Karl raising it without considering defeat reinforces that the effect is both magic and guild law, not simply a temporary area buff. (Chapters 1692–1693 and 1810)

Reputation becomes a deterrent after the clan war

Later speakers treat the banner as a threat whose appearance means the Darklight Host's wider network may intervene. Cara proposes saving an intimidating transformation for the next Guild War, and Karl summarizes that events escalate rapidly whenever the Host raises its banner. No third activation is shown by Chapter 1927, so its latest state is available but not continuously active. (Chapters 1887 and 1903)

Abilities and properties

• Spreads all combat buffs currently applied to the user across an allied force over a very large battlefield area. It does not grant unrelated skills or permanent rank advancement. (Chapters 923, 927, and 1686–1688)
• Can produce nearly one-rank effective improvement among lower Immortal combatants, while the relative advantage decreases at the top of the battlefield. (Chapter 1688)
• Functions only during a declared war. Karl can dismiss it after victory, but Darklight Host custom prevents simply taking it down to concede an unresolved feud. (Chapters 923, 927, and 1692–1693)
• Acts as a visible beacon and a guild-wide notification, attracting both allies and political attention to its bearer. (Chapters 927, 1689, and 1692–1693)
• The banner is a spell manifestation rather than an independently owned cloth artifact kept in storage between wars. (Chapters 923 and 1686)

Ownership and custody