Darson

"The battle is not over! As long as Lord Kayblis is alive! As long as humanity is alive! Our fight will never end! Reassemble all the soldiers you can! Rebuild the army!"

About
Darson was a mad Monster General who pledged allegiance to the most powerful Dark Lord Kayblis and became one of his many generals in the large Monster Army that was formed after the creation of the Kayblis Faction following the division of the Monster Realm.

During the Second Dark Lord War, his army was part of the force in charge of invading the Kingdom of Leazas, commander of the 6th unit of the 2nd division in the army under the command of the Great Monster General Joseph. After word of the death of their leader Kayblis spread throughout the entire monster army in the human realm, the monsters quickly began to desert as a consequence of having lost their head and as the forces of humanity pushed them back, causing the ultimate defeat of the Monster Army. However Darson behemently refused to believe his lord's death, accussing anyone that made such a claim of being a spy sent by the humans to throw their army into disarray. Out of sheer spirit and force of will, he managed to reassemble many monsters and restructured them under his battalion while still opposing the human armies. During this time he was victim of a grievous wound at the hands of the enemy soldiers, but at the brink of death Darson managed to continue commanding the monsters until he succeeded at occuppyiing the city of Scale, where they established a stronghold with a total of 8000 monsters.

During the 15 years of the RA period, Darson and his army managed to retain their grasp on the Leazan city. The restoration of the kingdom, as well as other conflicts they were busy with such as the War of the Brutal King in the year RA09, ensured that Leazas never sent a large army to retake the city, but Darson's army found themselves defending their position countless times on lesser skirmishes. Over the years, their army was eventually wore down to only around 1000 soldiers, but Darson remained strong thinking that reinforcements will eventually come. While his subordinates were aware that the war was long since over, they decided to stay with him out of loyalty for their beloved general.

He makes first appearance during the Leazas chapter in the events of Rance X: Part 2. The El Party, in their search of the Fire Orb required to complete their quest, were led to the city of Scale that Darson was occuppying, where the orb was supposedly hidden. After they defeated the frontal guards, a soldier appeared on his room to inform him that a group led by a man on a shining red armor had penetrated onto their defenses. Darson figured that it must be the work of the Leazas Red Corps, who had approached to liberate the city, and ordered his right hand Alcozuin to prepare his forces for a defensive battle. On a narrow path, they prepared a large army employing human crossbows to prevent the enemy from charging through, as well as settling traps and ambushes along the way.

When the El Party arrives to their barricade, Reset initially attempted to negotiate with the monsters to have a meeting with Darson, stating that humanity and the monster army were on peaceful terms now. Unable to permit them to meet with their General, the monsters refused to let them pass, resulting in Zance deciding to use brute force to violently break through the formation. Eventually, the party managed to reach Darson, who was commanding the army from afar. Darson was briefly thrown into a great frustration at their defeat at the hands of children, before breaking down into a maniacal laughter stating that humans must be desperately struggling in the war with Kayblis for them to be sending children to the battlefield. Zance is confused by Darson's words but Reset attempts to reason with the General, explaining that the Second Dark Lord War ended 15 years ago and requesting them to quit fighting. Darson asked Alcozuin what his thought were about this revelation, but while the general's trusted right-hand briefly considered confirming the girl's proclamation, he couldn't bring himself to do so and refuted her claim. Darson laughed, saying that such a thing was obvious and that humans must be really desperate to resort to such a plan. Seeing that persuation failed, Zance happily prepares to fight while Darson battles commanding the remaining of his forces to charge to the El Party.

After a battle, the group succeeded at defeating Darson and his forces, but the Monster General refused to go down as he faintly falls to his knees. Thinking that he's at death's doorstep, he calls Alcozuin to give him his final command, asking him to continue holding the city to the end and to never be fooled by the enemy's sweet words. Reset approaches Darson and apologises before slaping him with her right hand. Hit by Reset's Clausen Hand, Darson's sanity returns, leading him to a state of grief and confusion over his own actions up until now. A torrent of emotions hit the general as he realises the denial he had been in, breaking down in tears and apologizing to his subordinates. Alcozuin tells him to raise his head, as everyone in the army followed him because they so desired. The general gives his right-hand his true final command, ordering him to withdraw from the city as their long battle has long since ended. Following his order, a large cutting wound opens on his body, spurting a large amount of blood. Darson gives his farewell to his wailing soldiers and his body fades within the air. El's party is shocked by his unusual death and Alcozuin reveals that, while they didn't notice at first, Darson likely perished 15 years prior to the fatal wound he experienced shortly after Kayblis' defeat, but his conviction allowed him to become a Ghost, endlessly fighting for as long as he believed the war was still on-going. Having passed on, Alcozuin and his troops made one final salute to their commander. Out of respect, El, Reset and Zance copied the monsters' gesture.

Personality and Appearance
As a Monster General, Darson utilised the portrait of the standard commander of monsters, clad in a golden armor with huge sphere on his belly. Much like the rest of his species, the glowing red hole that appears to be an eye and, thus, his face, is a decoy. The real face is the tiny black one with a moustache at the tip of his helmet.

An unbeliavably stubborn and strong-willed monster, Darson was a general whose obstinance was both his greatest strength and flaw. He was notorious for his passion and his spirit, traits that burned so intensely within him that he was able to greatly inspire hundreds of monsters to follow his convictions. His subordinates remark his endless loyalty and his magnific military dedication, refusing to ever giving up and continue fighting a finished battle for over a decade. His stubborness was so great that it allowed him to surpass even death, turning into a ghost that continued to believe in his lord no matter how low the possibility of his survival was. However, it was also the source of his descent into madness, unable to accept his death until Reset's clausen hand restored his sanity. Some of his train of thoughts were largely influenced by his superior Joseph, who was known for doubting everyone and constantly be on the lookout for lies and spies. Beyond his dementia, Darson was a seemingly serene monster, as he spent every morning dedicating some time to peacefully gaze to the sky and reflect.

He was a figure that inspired an incredible respect to his subordinates, who couldn't help but be charmed by his passion. Despite the insanity that infected him, he was much beloved by them to the point that they were all willing to die by his side despite knowing the worthlessness of their battle. Darson similarly had great apprecation for his subordinates, as even in his insanity he would be greatly angered at the sight of them getting killed and was overcome by an incredible grief upon knowing all the troubles he had caused for years. He had a particularly close relationship with his right-hand man Alcozuin, who he trusted more than anyone else.

Abilities
As a monster general, Darson possesses an incredible commanding ability that allows him to effectively lead up to 20,000 monsters into battle. This ability, combined with his charisma and tactical prowess, made him a formidable commander. He was able to expertly reassemble scattered forces of monsters in Leazas and efficiently lead them to take over a city, all in spite of the crushing morale punch the monsters were experiencing at the time due to the loss of their leader. He was also capable enough to repel Leazan forces attempting to retake the city for 15 years despite receiving no outside support or reinforcements even once, using the resourcers he managed to produce in order to substain his troops.

Much like any other monster general, he also possessed fairly remakable combat ability that allowed him to engage in battle with powerful warriors. Due to being a ghost, he was also in possession of a pseudo-immortality that enabled him to continue fighting even after death, as he would not perish until he would accept the truth.

Trivia

 * He's likely inspired from the Japanese WW2 soldier Shoichi Yokoi, who hid himself in the jungles of Guam for 27 years thinking that the war was still on-going.
 * While his portrait shows a woman trapped in his spherical belly, because of his status as a Ghost, it is likely that Darson did not carry a human inside his belly like other Monster Generals, a condition within his race that it is only shared by the Monster Generalissimo Stroganoff.