Darius

Darius (ダリウス, Dariusu) is one of the main characters in Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 6 and its sequel. He becomes the Seiryu of Earth (地の青龍, Chi no Seiryuu) for this era in the majority of its scenarios.

He has an image song called Nise Ri no Kyoukai Sen.

Background Story
Aside from being raised within a demon village, Darius's origins are not clear. He apparently lived a peaceful life and was naturally blessed with the most powerful abilities of his people. Four years before the main setting, the legs of the previous chief were ailing and plans were made for his eldest son to succeed him. However, the heir was inept with their clan's powers and the people worried about their future. Upon witnessing the heir's agonizing training firsthand, Darius offered Rudkhane another solution: relinquish the traditional order of succession in favor of judging a chief by their own merits. Rudkhane convinced his father to accept the idea and Darius was soon named the next chief.

Once Darius proved himself worthy to be chief, he was entrusted with the clan's ancient Chieftain Mask. The mask is seeped decades of each chief's powers and powerful yin energy. It greatly heightens the wearer's spells, letting them tap into the clan's most archaic techniques. Yet the mask is also drenched with the raw hatred and madness of many prosecuted generations. While he is disturbed by the mask's untold potential, Darius will resort to using it if it will achieve his means.

A year later, Darius had an optimistic view of the clan's future. He believed that they could somehow use their powers to benefit both human and demon society, wanting to do something to bridge the gap. Seishiro visited the demon village and proposed Darius with a trade. The demons would become government spies into foreign territory in exchange for the village's peaceful coexistence. Darius hesitated until Seishiro appealed to the demon's nationalism, insisting that the effort would be a great service to the country's future; only then did Darius agree.

The demons kept their end of the bargain; Seishiro did not. Under the guise of friendship, the commander-in-chief had members of the Demon Clan guide him to the seeds for the clan's forbidden flowers. He then had his escorts executed and proceeded to manufacture horrific experiments on soldiers using the demon flower's miasma. These experiments led to vengeful spirits being conjured within the imperial capital. Darius learned of the deception too late and demanded that the experiments be stopped at once. Seishiro responded by publicly placing the blame of the vengeful spirits solely on the Demon Clan, letting time-tested prejudices do the rest of the work. It took everything Darius had to escape with his scattered people, and only Darius survived to keep the truth.

Seeking to correct his grave error, Darius started gathering resources for his revolution. His main goal is to locate and destroy the main laboratory for Seishiro's supernatural militarization through any means possible. His secondary goal is to overthrow Seishiro. Darius is well aware that toppling the capital's most influential official would only worsen the public's opinions about demons so he originally planned to do it by himself. Rudkhane swore to be his ally to the bitter end. He had the rest of his people relocated to a faraway island away from the capital.

Darius set up a barrier around his manor near the capital and posed as a foreign antiques dealer. During his monthly selling periods, he also established a working relationship with Murasame in exchange for learning anything new regarding the Imperial Army's laboratories.

Once he becomes aware that the Black Dragon Priestess was scheduled to be summoned, Darius feared that she would only be used to bolster Seishiro's plans for global militarization. He devises a bold plan to steal her from the Imperial Army's clutches the instant she is summoned. Realizing that he would need more muscle for his revolution, Darius hires Tora about eleven months before the priestess's prophesied arrival.

A week before the main story, the Demon Clan receives word that the Imperial Army intend to preform the priestess summoning ritual. Intrigued, Darius warps alone into the dimensional portal and arrives in the Quiz Battle Toukiden world. He discreetly observes the Slayer's movements from afar. Although he is bemused by his foreign surroundings, Darius is content to have the chance to assess the Imperial Army's capabilities before starting his rebellion. He then heads back to his own world. Lady Akatsuki briefly senses his presence but figures that it was her imagination. After Darius's departure, his sentiments manifest into a Mitama to help the Slayer.

Development
Following the theme of returning to the series's roots, Ruby Party made Darius to fit Akram's position into the story and to instill warm feelings of nostalgia for Haruka 2 players. The reference to both characters is purposefully done through the Chieftain Mask both characters wear and their ties to the Black Dragon Priestess. Although his general role for the main scenario was decided quickly, his personal route was an endless struggle for the writers; they wanted to keep his darker traits without making him appear too nefarious to love. At one point, they considered rewriting the main story to accommodate his route. They instead chose to go with the theme of "loneliness" for Darius and made his separation from Azusa an essential component for their romance.

Following the theme of other demons in the series, Darius is a Persian name. Ruby Party was particularly attached to the Greek Dareîos and the meaning, "he who holds firm to good." Everything about Darius, from his vocal performance and his visual design, was made to reflect his name's varying etymologies. Suzumura was instructed to sound "mysterious and charismatic", but the director feels he didn't quite nail the character until the voice director told Suzumura to "sound like a Frenchman." The golden chains, multiple rings, fur-trimmed trinket, and one-shouldered mantle are meant to give him a worldly and regal image. Designers call him a mysterious, beautiful prince with shades of childish charm.

The demons in this narrative were devised to use inconspicuous weaponry that could be used to fight on a moment's notice as a contrast to their Imperial Army counterparts. Darius was given the sword cane as a symbol of his wealth and to further differentiate himself from his demon comrades.

Character Symbolism
Darius's symbolic item is the Dahlia flower which is a synonymous namesake for the feminine form of his name in Japanese (Daria). The flower was first brought to Japan by the Dutch during the Edo Period. Since the fully bloomed Dahlia resembled the Chinese peony and originated from the West, the Dahlia was mistakingly named "the Tianzhu (Indian) peony" in archaic records.

In France, the Dahlia flower was said to be favored by Joséphine, Napoleon's wife, who raised and boasted about the giant Dahlias she had cultivated. She obstinately refused to give away any of its bulbs and took pride in her creations. One of her maids defied her and stole a Dahlia bulb, keeping it within her room to bloom. Once Joséphine learned about the stolen flower, she dropped all interest in Dahlias. It's due to her cold reaction that the flower can mean volatility or betrayal in the flower language. Dahlias can positively mean splendor and appreciation. The pink Dahlias especially represent a maiden's sincerity.

His symbolic color is sky blue.

Talismans
If Arima and Darius have their Eight Guardian talismans equipped and start a co-op attack together, they will summon Seiryu on their target.

Visit Darius's favorite spots at least once in a single playthrough to unlock Penghou on the map. Defeat it at least once at Hibiya Park to obtain his last talisman. If Darius and Rudkhane have their last talismans equipped and start a co-op attack together, they will perform a powerful non-elemental attack on their target.