Xerxes

Xerxes is the false name used by Gus, leader of Dense Fog Forest, while he challenges Leylin Farlier for control of Nature's Alliance's icy caves.

Biography

The false challenger

Gus hides his position as leader of Dense Fog Forest under the name Xerxes and appears as the famed professor backing Skrill's resource challenge against Nature's Alliance. Leylin Farlier avoids the public duel by invoking research-contribution rules, so Gus and the hostile elders instead build a fog barrier and ambush the returning party away from witnesses. Gus first offers Leylin greater compensation to withdraw; when refused, he reveals peak rank 1 strength and attacks. (Chapters 335–337)

His summoned Fog Giant cannot match Leylin's concealed rank 2 power, so Gus uses Mist Transformation to merge his body into the construct and raise its force to the limit of rank 1. Leylin still destroys it and leaves Gus badly injured. The defeat reveals both Gus's identity and the mistake in his plan: secrecy removes legal scrutiny, but it also lets Leylin use overwhelming power without restraint. (Chapters 337–338)

Invasion and death

Gus spends an ancient Light Protector rune to recover quickly and returns under his real name with Dense Fog Forest's official Magi and a hired peak rank 1 ally. Believing Leylin lacks an equivalent recovery resource, he attacks Nature's Alliance openly and declares that profit justifies removing the guild. He expects numbers and two peak experts to finish an incapacitated opponent. (Chapter 340)

Leylin has deliberately allowed enough damage to establish self-defense. He reappears at rank 2, destroys much of Dense Fog Forest's strength, and seals Gus's spiritual force so completely that the guild leader cannot heal or resist. Gus attempts to invoke his organization and hidden backers, but those threats no longer matter once Leylin holds the decisive rank advantage; Leylin kills him by exploding his head. (Chapters 340–341)

Appearance and personality

Gus has an androgynous appearance while using the Xerxes identity. He is cold, arrogant, and calculating, but his confidence depends heavily on underestimating Leylin. Even after defeat he remains vindictive and relies on guild power, hired support, and institutional threats. (Chapters 335–341)

Magic, bloodline, and abilities

Gus is a peak rank 1 Magus specializing in Dense Fog Forest's fog magic. His personal peak technique merges him with a summoned elemental, while guild formations and healing resources provide external support.

Fog Giant

Gus condenses gray elemental particles and incants a command to summon a Fog Giant with a human upper body and a lower body of swirling mist. He directs it verbally, and its hill-sized fists produce attack power strong enough to threaten other rank 1 Magi. The summon remains an elemental construct rather than Gus's true body at first, allowing him to stand apart and control it. (Chapter 337)

The giant is vulnerable to a stronger Magus's elemental control. Leylin's darkness-infused tornado overpowers it and demonstrates that its size does not overcome the solidified spiritual force of rank 2. (Chapter 337)

Mist Transformation

Mist Transformation converts Gus's body into fog and pours it into the summoned giant. The construct grows by roughly half, takes on his face, and increases its measured attack from about sixty to nearly seventy-nine, close to the rank 1 limit. Gus has previously used the technique to kill a peer at peak rank 1, making it a genuine finishing move rather than cosmetic transformation. (Chapter 337)

The fusion is also a commitment: when Leylin destroys the enhanced giant, Gus emerges gravely injured rather than abandoning the construct unharmed. The technique cannot bridge a full rank gap, and he requires an ancient healing rune afterward to recover quickly enough for the invasion. (Chapters 337–340)

Other spells and external resources

Gus can self-detonate the Fog Giant to release its accumulated spiritual and elemental force. During the last battle he also uses distortion energy and Protection of Andes, then reaches for a rank 2 defensive scroll; none can overcome Leylin's rank 2 suppression. The scroll and Light Protector rune are carried resources, while the fog barrier concealing the first ambush is shared Dense Fog Forest magic rather than an exclusive personal ability. (Chapters 337–341)

Relationships

• Leylin Farlier: Rival who defeats him twice and ultimately kills him.
• Celine: Leader of Nature's Alliance, which Gus attempts to seize.
• Skrill: Collaborator who helps undermine Nature's Alliance.
• Iren: Hired Magus who later submits to Leylin after Gus's death.

Items

• Rank 2 spell scroll: Gus's final defensive resort, disabled before activation. (Chapter 341)