Verard

"I am death. I house darkness and span infirmity... I am, your death!"

- Verard on the battlefield

Verard (ヴェラード Veraado) is a mysterious medieval man who frequently appears in Kakeru Satsuki's dreams. He is also the main protagonist from If Story arc.

Appearance
Verard is a middle-aged man with messy shoulder-lengthed black hair and a thin beard. His left eye is blue, but the other one, which is the Eye of Aeon, is yellow in color. As a knight king, he is clad in a black full-body armor and almost always appears with his trademark sword. He also wears a tattered brown cloak over his armor.

Personality
On the outside, Verard is a determined and brutal king who does everything to protect his country, as shown in a battle where he ordered his soldiers to kill everyone standing and skewer all who begs for mercy. This fact and his Eye of Aeon, were the reason why his enemies called him the Golden Eyed Demon King (金眼の魔王 Kingan no Maou). There was even a rumor that before his coronation as king of Drasuvania, Verard formed a coup to force his father, the former king who was wounded after going to war, to pass down the throne and the Eye. On the inside, however, he has a pessimistic look on life. Witnessing how easily humans die for their own causes, he feels that humans should not be born anymore to prevent the perpetual bloodshed.

After meeting Kakeru and impressed by his determination, Verard had a change of heart and agreed to lend him the power of every single souls in the Eye of Aeon to stop Lieselotte. In If Story, he showed a softer and caring side toward Lisette, and returned in the past to change her fate, even if he knew that he would have nothing in return, but a meaning for his death.

Biography
Verard started appearing in Kakeru's dream after the first Red Night. He is later revealed to be the King of Drasuvania and the previous bearer of the Eye of Aeon. During the Drasuvanian's civil war in 1459, Verard was betrayed by one of his most trusted retainers and the blame was forced upon Lieselotte Werckmeister, who was his lover. He was taken to the enemy's camp and promptly decapitated. His head was kept as a trophy and still remained in the present world in a Drasuvania's national museum. No sign of the right eye could be found, as the Eye of Aeon was transferred to another host at the moment of his death.

Buried Dream
In an alternate reality where Verard did not die in 1459, Lieselotte had already left Drasuvania; Verard wondered if she had foreseen his death and no longer found a use for him. Five years later however, Verard's life was in jeopardy. An army from Index, led by Hunyadi János came to Drasuvania to take Verard's head. While the situation was dire, Verard did not care the slightest; even when a soldier urged him to escape with dying death, he did not listen to the plea, and even went so far as to call his subordinate a fool staying loyal when the situation was already a lost cause. As he killed an enemy soldier who broke through his defenders, he felt the enjoyment of combat, and was surprised that he still had such a human emotion. Following his emotion, he decided to carve a path to see the enemy's commander eye to eye. Discovering that his beloved battle steed survived, still willing to carry the king on his back, he made his way to the enemy's front line on his horse, killing many enemy soldiers on his way. The horse was taken out when Verard encountered the enemy gunmen, but he still managed to meet the general from Index. János told Verard that he, the Golden-Eyed Demon King was too dangerous an existence to be alive and expressed that he only wanted to kill him (Verard). Verard laughed and threw the sword at Index's flag, cutting it down to ridicule it. Angered, János ordered his men to kill the target, but Verard did not pay attention to the coming threat. Instead, he focused all his power on the Eye of Aeon to materialize the only wish he had: to see Lieselotte again.

Million Year Summer
When Verard opened his eyes, he noticed the scenery changed. The Eye of Aeon had taken him back to the year 1209, right when the crusade that would eventually give birth to Lieselotte in the future happen. Verard laughed at how ridiculous the way the Eye responded to his wish was. He then decided to look around to find Lieselotte. On his way he accidentally eavesdropped two men talking about peeking at a young girl bathing in the fountain nearby. Disgusted with them, Verard slain one man and broke the other's nose. He asked the man where the fountain was, then broke his neck. When Verard got to the fountain, he found a girl, who he knew was Lieselotte before she became a witch, about to be raped by a man. Before the man got to do what he wanted, Verard slain him. Verard used his cloak to wipe the blood off the younger Lieselotte's face and kissed her. He then apologized for his rash action and asked for her name, to which she replied was Lisette Vertorre. Lisette asked Verard what his name was, but he told her that she should not know since his existence at the time was a sin.

Wish You Were Here
Verard was taken back to Béziers. When the chime rang, he noticed that Lisette was bothered about something. He asked her what it was; Lisette said she wanted to give him somewhere to stay, but it was also time to return to the Sister House. Verard declined her offer, taking his place on a corner of the road, and told her to go. The next morning, Lisette came to give him some food. He took on the offer, but paid attention to nothing else.

In the afternoon, Verard was visited by Peire Rogièr de Cabal, who was interested in his extraordinary armor and sword (since Verard was from the future, his equipment was obviously too well-made). Viewing him as an equal warrior, Peire told Verard about the plan to oppose the crusade that was coming. The plan was to evacuate the town's people, then lure the first wave of crusaders into the empty town and cut them off from the main force. Verard commented that it was a good plan to fight against an enemy with more soldiers, but also pointed out that most of Béziers' defenders were not trained soldiers, which was a critical weakness for the plan. Peire however, decided to go with the plan, since it was all he had.

Midnight, Lisette sneaked out to visit Verard the last time since she would be with the convoy leaving town in the next morning, she asked if he would come. Verard asked her opinion on the war situation, to which she was not able to reply. He laughed as his own ridiculousness, having realized that Lisette was not the Lieselotte that he knew. Lisette was puzzled, but Verard simply said that she did not have to become a warrior. Then she gave him some rosemary, saying it was a good luck charm. Verard refused the flowers and asked why she wanted to give them to him. Lisette was not albe to answer, but Verard had already knew why. He said that he would protect her dream. Verard stood up and embraced her, saying that he liked the night, but the past two nights were too lonely. Then he bid Lisette goodbye and walked away to find somewhere that he could observe the war. That night, he used the Eye of Aeon to summon his old horse.

Another Holy War
Dawn came, the crusaders finally surrounded Béziers. From afar, Verard watched as Peire mobilizing his men to fend off the crusaders. As he had expected, Peire's soldiers were too incapable to put up a good fight, less executing Peire's strategy. On his horse, Verard broke through the chaos at the town's front gate, then single-handedly killed all the crusaders surrounding Béziers with a sword. The last crusader fell before Verard's blade when the sun rose. Peire, who had been watching the massacre, asked if he needed backup, to which Verard declined; then he asked who he (Verard) was. Verard replied that he was a demon king and rode off to the enemy's main force.

Verard encountered the crusade's main force when they were closing in on the convoy, which was carrying the town's people. He continued slashing his enemies with his own sword, not allowing them to even scratch him. However, he realized that one man was not enough to go against 10,000 crusaders, and chances of him being killed were not impossible. Verard decided to borrow the power of his right eye again, to summon heroes from the past. First, he summoned Teukros, who used his unrivaled spear-throwing skill to skewer the enemy from afar. Next, he summoned the legendary Persian conqueror, Cyrus, who massacred the crusaders in close quarter combat. Followed was the gigantic Viking Rollo, who crushed the enemy with brute strength. Finally, he summoned Solomon the master of summoning magic, who in turn summoned three mythical beasts to rip the crusaders apart, literally. With three historical figures at his disposal, Verard massacred the entire 90,000 crusaders, leaving no survivor.

Spread Your Fire
Verard emerged victorious without a scratch, but he was fully aware that he had used up all his soul to feed the Eye of Aeon. He focused on one final wish: to see Lisette again. As if drawn by fate, Lisette came out of the forest and found Verard leaning unconscious on a rock, with his right eye bleeding. As she called, Verard opened his eyes. Lisette then gave him the rosemary, finally able to confess her true feelings for him, which she wanted him to reply by telling her his name. Verard told Lisette his name, and before she was able to say anything else, he was transferred back to his own time. As soon as Verard returned to the year 1464, he was cut down by the enemy. Lying on the ground, he wondered if all that happened was a dream. But then, he realized the rosemary was still in his hand. Verard smiled, and tears rolled on his cheeks as he accepted his death.

Red Night
Unlike If Story, Verard has a minor yet primal role in the original Story. He appeared many times in Kakeru's dreams, due to their connection as Eye of Aeon's bearers, and he is the one who revealed the truth about Lisette's true nature. When Kakeru has been taken in Yuka's world, he also warned him that this world was just an illusion, leading Kakeru to use the eye. At the ending, he helped him to engage Lieselotte definitively.

Anime
Verard appears very little in the anime. He only appeared four times: the first was when Kakeru used the Eye of Aeon for the first time, the second time was in Lieselotte's flashback, the third was when he was assassinated and finally, when he spoke through Kakeru to stop Lieselotte, although without success.

Equipment

 * Heavy Western sword: Verard possesses a royal heavy sword, which is apparently, made from best materials in his time. He used this with deadly effect.
 * Swordsmanship expert: Verard is first and foremost a knight king with unrivaled combat skills. He is an experienced swordsman, knowledgeable in the arts of fighting many at a time and is almost unstoppable on a horse. In terms of swordsmanship, his attacks are slower and less as flexible as Misao Kusakabe's dual sword technique, but his strikes have force and accuracy, enough to kill more than one man upon contact.
 * Eye of Aeon (劫の眼 Aion no Me): before Kakeru, Verard was the bearer of the Eye of Aeon, accordingly to Drasuvania's tradition of moving the Eye from kings to kings. With this artifact, he can utilize the Emerald Tablet's power, although limited to only how Zoroaster, the one who forged the Eye, remade it.
 * Precognition: the basic power of the Eye of Aeon is precognition, allowing Verard to foresee the enemy's attacks and reduce damage to himself to the minimum. Combined with his swordsmanship, Verard is almost guaranteed to escape a battle unscathed.
 * Power accumulation: a fearsome aspect of the Eye of Aeon is its nature of housing the souls and memories of its previous bearers. In other words, Verard has all the powers and experiences of those who came before him at his disposal.
 * Materialization: the most powerful ability of the Eye of Aeon seems to be the power to materialize. The target of materializing can be anything related to time, such as people, or even reality itself. In Verard's case, he materialized past bearers to fight for him, which is actually a more effective way of using past powers and experiences.

Other abilities

 * Tactical expert: Verard is also a wise tactician, who can grasp war situations very quickly. He can precisely predict the outcome of a battle, or even a war, with just one glance of the battlefield. Combined with his ruthless personality, his strategies are almost flawless.

Relationships
Lieselotte Werckmeister/Lisette Vertorre: Originally, Lieselotte came to Drasuvania just for taking the Eye of Aeon from the current bearer, who was Verard, but later, as she saw that he and Lieselotte had the same ideals, she fell in love with him. Their love was apparently mutual, but Verard's love was the most showed in Lisette's If Story, where he came back in time and changed Lisette's destiny, before her transformation in Lieselotte. He fought against 90,000 crusaders just for her, showing his true feelings.

Kakeru Satsuki: Verard appeared in Kakeru's dreams, due to their connection to the Eye of Aeon. In the beginning, Verard was mocking Kakeru, but seeing his determination, he changed his point of view on him, and accepted to help him against Lieselotte in the final battle. He also showed a lot of similitaries with him, especially in If Story, by his determination to protect Lisette from her fate.

Peire Rogièr de Cabal: Verard met him during his return in the past, because Peire was interested by his armor (as Verard came from the future) and they discussed about a plan against the crusaders. They seem in good terms and Verard found him smart in his tactics, even if his plan was useless, as his soldiers weren't trained soldiers.

Trivia

 * The character of Verard is most likely based on the famous Vlad III Dracula, better known as Count Dracula. Even his design is also strikingly identical to Hellsing's Alucard's final released state. Additionally, "Verard" and "Vlad" are both pronounced "Veraado" in Japanese.
 * Verard's Eye of Aeon is a further homage to Alucard's powers. In Hellsing, Alucard is able to use the skills of those he drank the blood from and can release the souls of his victims to fight for him in his final released stage. Similarly, the Eye of Aeon can accumulate powers and experiences of previous bearers, as well as materializing their avatars.
 * Verard's last appearance is actually in the Special SS Story, where he acted like a total pervert he congratulated Kakeru on passing the test to experience the Eye of Aeon's special harem mode.
 * In this scenario, Verard also displays a unique ability similar to photographic memory. He pinpointed the number of times Kakeru had a perverted gaze upon the heroines, although correct or not is highly debatable as there is no one to confirm.
 * In the anime, his particular thoughts about Index was never showed, but he still thinks that the world deserves to be destroyed, though this view changes in the end.