Declan

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Declan (德克兰)
Species/Race	Spine-backed Iron-armored Dragon
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Ice Blade Squad 123; Ice Prison Royal City faction 15 41
Occupation/Role	Barn's equal-contract magical beast partner; scout, ambusher, and close-range combatant 3 5
Status	Alive; continuing to cultivate toward a profound-mystery fusion 43
First Appearance	Chapter 1 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Saint Domain	2 3	Had already reached the Saint Domain alongside Barn before their equal contract and imprisonment in Gobada.
Night Veil Profound Mystery	5	Demonstrates Darkness-based concealment, accelerated movement, and subterranean ambush tactics.
Shadow Clone Profound Mystery—initial insight	9 12 13	Touched upon the mystery during seclusion after studying Barn's collected dark magic; his earliest clones could not act independently.
Shadow Clone mastered	19	Uses the technique to evade attacks and launch surprise strikes during the Soul-Hunting Squad battle.
Four simultaneous clones	29	Can split into four clones at once, greatly improving his speed, ambush, containment, and assassination capability.
Darkness fusion nearing completion	42 43	Close to fusing the Darkness Element and Shadow Clone mysteries, but remains at the bottleneck.

Background / History

Declan was once a proud genius of the Spine-backed Iron-armored Dragon race. While still at level nine, he repeatedly fought Barn in human form; their rivalry accelerated both of their progress in comprehending Laws. After they each entered the Saint Domain, they formed an equal contract out of mutual admiration. 3

Their exile to the Gobada Plane reduced the dragon to desperate survival. After decades of dwindling provisions and failed hunts, Declan gave Barn their final meal and attempted to eat his own tail rather than let his partner go hungry. Barn instead chose to hunt with him, regarding Declan as a brother. 1 2

The pair survived through coordinated hunts and cultivation. Declan generally tracked prey through dark-aura sensitivity, infiltrated from underground, restrained the target, and allowed Barn to deliver the decisive attack. 5 7

After their prolonged conflict with the Earth Violent Bear, Fukaloss recruited Declan, Barn, and the bear—Gideon—into her Ice Blade Squad. Declan became an official member of Ice Blade Squad 123 and later remained with Barn after the squad's devastating losses. 12 15 38 41

Appearance

Declan is a large, intimidating dragon with a massive head, armored scales, sharp claws, and dark-gold eyes. Despite his fearsome appearance, his expressions are often easy for Barn to read. 1 2 10

• Spine-backed, iron-armored draconic body. 1 3
• Dark-gold dragon eyes. 5 10
• Heavy scales capable of withstanding significant damage, though powerful opponents can break them. 8 10
• Can turn into an inky shadow or conceal himself beneath the ground through Darkness techniques. 5 11

Personality

Declan is proud of his dragon heritage and retains a strong desire to repay enemies who have humiliated him. His anger toward the Earth Violent Bear stemmed from their earlier defeat, and he initially charged it recklessly before Barn convinced him to return to their usual ambush tactics. 6 10

Gobada's hunger and danger tempered this pride into practical caution. He is willing to retreat from unwinnable battles, weighs prey by its value as food, and recognizes when an enemy's strength exceeds his own. 7 11 19 36

He is fiercely loyal to Barn. He guarded Barn during his recovery, sacrificed food for him, repeatedly coordinated with him through their soul bond, and used his own Soul Gold Bead to save Barn from a lethal soul injury. 1 2 5 20

Abilities & Skills

Darkness Laws

Declan cultivates Darkness-based profound mysteries, specializing in stealth, mobility, and sudden attacks. 5 12

• Night Veil conceals his aura and form, enhances movement, and supports his underground ambush style. 5 11
• Can hide deep underground while waiting for a target to become distracted or exposed. 11
• Uses darkness magic to reinforce his dragon claws for close-range attacks. 11
• His Night Veil is less refined than the concealment techniques used by Blackwood's elite Sanctuary subordinates. 36

Shadow Clone

Declan developed Shadow Clone after studying dark magic materials collected by Barn rather than through his race's inherited magic. 13

• Initially created overlapping clones to make his main body appear to shift position. 13
• Later used Shadow Clone to evade attacks and strike enemies by surprise. 19
• Can split into four clones simultaneously. 29
• Has not yet completed his planned fusion involving Shadow Clone. 42 43

Tracking and Subterranean Movement

Declan is highly sensitive to dark auras and acts as his group's primary scout. 5 16

• Tracked the Black-ring Giant Python underground despite its own earth-burrowing talent. 5
• Detected suspicious energy fluctuations during the Ice Blade Squad's search mission. 16
• Warned Fukaloss of a hidden underground God-level attacker during the resource-point assault. 24
• Uses earth-burrowing to infiltrate, escape, and divide an enemy's attention. 5 11

Draconic Combat

As a Spine-backed Iron-armored Dragon, Declan combines formidable physical defenses with claw-based attacks. 5 8

• Can entangle or physically pressure prey long enough for Barn to strike. 5
• His claws pierced the Earth Violent Bear's Pulse Armor and tore open its abdomen. 11
• His durability allowed him to keep fighting after being wounded by the Ferocious Shark. 8
• Is particularly vulnerable to soul attacks. 15

Equal Contract

Declan and Barn share an equal magical-beast contract. 3

• Enables direct soul communication and rapid tactical coordination. 5 7
• Allows them to coordinate hunts, retreats, and battlefield roles without spoken communication. 5 11

Items

• Spatial pendant — Used to store prey, including the Black-ring Giant Python's corpse. 5
• Soul Gold Bead — Received from Fukaloss as a reward; later gave it to Barn to restore his damaged soul. 18 20
• Cultivation resources — Received attribute-matched magic cores, Soul Gold Beads, and Soul Toxin from Barn after the squad's reorganization. 41

Relationships

• Barn — Equal-contract partner and closest companion. Their bond began as a rivalry between level-nine fighters and developed into brotherhood through their struggle in Gobada. 2 3 20
• Fukaloss — Lowgod leader who recruited Declan into Ice Blade Squad 123; she rewards and mentors him in the fusion of profound mysteries. 12 13 18
• Gideon — Former enemy, the Earth Violent Bear, who later became a fellow Ice Blade Squad member. 10 12 15
• Adele and the Moonflower Deer family — Fellow survivors in Barn's reorganized squad; Declan cultivates alongside them under Barn's protection. 39 41 43
• Blair and Julia — Fellow Ice Blade Squad members. Declan was wary of Blair's soul-based abilities due to his own weakness against soul attacks. 15
• Earth Violent Bear — Declan's former mortal enemy before the beast was revealed as Gideon and compelled into Fukaloss's squad. 6 10 12

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Gobada survival — Protects Barn after his awakening, shares scarce food, and joins him in hunting Saint-level prey to survive. 1 2 5
• Darkness cultivation — Enters seclusion, develops the Shadow Clone mystery from Barn's collected materials, and applies it against the Earth Violent Bear. 10 11 13
• Ice Blade Squad 123 — Joins Fukaloss's squad as its stealth specialist, locating enemy activity and participating in missions against the Evil Royal City. 15 16 19
• Soul-Hunting Squad conflict — Masters Shadow Clone, helps repel enemy Sanctuary fighters, and saves Barn with his Soul Gold Bead after Barn suffers a soul attack. 19 20
• Resource transport period — Advances enough to create four simultaneous clones while serving in the squad's resource-relocation missions. 29 30
• Blackwood's battle and aftermath — Is severely injured during the battle that kills Gideon, Wesker, and Blair; Barn saves him, and Declan remains in the reorganized squad afterward. 38 39 41
• Later cultivation — Continues cultivating beside Adele's family and approaches a bottleneck in fusing his Darkness mysteries. 42 43