Sun Staff

The Sun Staff is a level-nine staff crowned by a large Sun Stone and recovered from Thanos's hidden experimental hall beneath the Gorse family's estate. After Lucien Evans takes it and breaks its seal, it becomes a recurring tool for astrology, Maze, and Confinement, giving a senior-rank sorcerer access to battlefield control normally associated with the ninth circle. The Gorse family continues to claim it as a stolen family treasure, so physical possession and the family's asserted ownership are not the same. (Chapters 407 and 410–411)

History

Recovery from Thanos's underground hall

Lucien finds the staff suspended above an inverted, sun-bright altar in a secret hall where Thanos studied the seven primeval devils. Because the device and altar may be trapped, he orders Sophia to retrieve the staff with Mage Hand; she complies and passes it to him without triggering a curse. Identification establishes only that it is at least level nine, so Lucien stores it rather than guessing at its functions. The Gorse family publicly calls the staff its treasure and blames a mysterious sorcerer for taking it, a politically convenient account that conceals the conspiracy and deaths in the underground palace. (Chapters 407 and 410)

Several days later, Lucien breaks the seal while flying over the ocean, leaves his spiritual imprint, and reads the item information attributed to Thanos. He then spends his nights interpreting the staff while traveling to Contaminated Water. That preparation immediately changes the risk of the mission: the Kuo-toan altar remains dangerous, but the staff lets Lucien remove opponents from the battlefield instead of overpowering all of them directly. He demonstrates this by using Maze against Branhit and the altar's defenders. (Chapters 410–411)

Disguised tool and investigative focus

Lucien retains the staff during his work in Allyn, where it can transform into an unobtrusive gentleman's cane. He uses its amplification with the Arcana Scepter to improve detailed astrological investigation and identify a suspect through the Host Star of Destiny. It also serves as a ready defensive tool during Ramiro's assassination attempt: Lucien raises the staff before the disguised attacker closes the distance, then invokes Thanos's Maze when the assault begins. Ramiro's legendary magic resistance gives the spell only a limited chance of success, but the threat forces the assassin to change tactics. (Chapters 435, 442, and 465)

Space turbulence later damages much of Lucien's equipped magic gear and leaves him stranded far from Allyn, but the ninth-level staff survives undamaged. This endurance preserves one of his strongest resources while other items require rare repair materials. (Chapter 466)

False gods, confinement, and the fight with Congus

While infiltrating the Secret Praying Congress, Lucien uses the staff's Confinement as part of his manipulation of Ell. The spell seals the Lord of Underworld's true body in distorted space and weakens the avatars by reducing their connection, but escape remains possible if the captive can communicate a location and an ally applies the ninth-circle Freedom spell. Lucien later raises the staff against Rudolf II; Confinement fails because the projection is immune to this class of effect, making clear that a ninth-circle item cannot automatically bind every legendary target. (Chapters 477 and 488)

The staff remains central during the confrontation with Congus. Lucien uses Maze to remove Natasha from an imminent killing blow, ends a Maze early to release Ell after setting a trap, and keeps the staff ready to isolate Natasha again if Time Stop leaves her exposed. These applications turn spatial removal into both defense and control rather than a purely offensive prison. The latest explicit activation occurs when Lucien waits until his spiritual power has recovered enough to suppress Helpless Kiss; a later conversation still identifies the staff as the object he recovered in Thanos's temple, and the corpus records no transfer or destruction. (Chapters 494, 500–501, 536, and 632)

Abilities and properties

• The staff is a level-nine high-rank magic item with a large Sun Stone. It may transform into a gentleman's cane, allowing Lucien to carry it without its ordinary staff form drawing attention. (Chapters 410 and 435)
• It raises the power of astrology spells below the ninth circle by one circle. Combined with another astrological item and an important object connected to the target, this lets Lucien perform detailed divination comparable to an archmage, though the result still depends on available evidence and the target's protections. (Chapters 410 and 442)
• Its recorded daily spell reserve provides eighth-circle Maze three times, ninth-circle Thanos's Maze twice, and a binding spell named Imprisonment in the inscription once. Later scenes call the binding effect Confinement and demonstrate it as a distorted-space prison. (Chapters 410–411 and 477)
• Maze and Thanos's Maze remove targets into a constructed spatial labyrinth, which Lucien can also end deliberately. Ordinary defenses may not trigger because the spell is not immediately lethal, but powerful targets can resist: Lucien estimates only about a one-in-twenty to one-in-thirty chance against a legendary opponent's magic resistance, and some legendary projections are immune to Maze-like binding entirely. (Chapters 411, 465, 488, and 500)
• Confinement can hold a target unless it is at least three levels stronger than the caster, but this is not an absolute statement of success against every special immunity. A located captive may be released by Freedom, and Rudolf II's projection directly resists the staff's attempt. (Chapters 477 and 488)
• The staff's level protects the object itself from hazards that damage lesser equipment. It remains intact through the disrupted portal and space turbulence that leave several of Lucien's other magic items unusable, although using it still depends on Lucien having enough spiritual power. (Chapters 466 and 536)

Ownership and custody