Malthios (Mal)–Tyraz

Malthios (Mal)–Tyraz is the story’s central demonic succession conflict: a former Demon King returned through Theo, facing the Demon Lord who claimed that Malthios’s death had made the crown his own. Their relationship is not merely personal enmity. It is a contest over who has the right to rule the Demons, whether power can be inherited through opportunism, and whether Malthios’s old identity can survive after his reincarnation, his bond with Theo, and his changed understanding of the world.

Origins of the Rivalry

Tyraz knew Malthios from centuries earlier and remembered him as “a great demon, the greatest of all of us.” That admission establishes the imbalance at the heart of their rivalry: Tyraz’s authority is measured against a predecessor whose strength and reputation already define the highest imaginable standard. When Malthios fell to the Hero Eliza, Tyraz treated the death as both a historical fact and a political opening. He claimed that the power and crown of Demon King had become his, insisting that no other demon possessed the strength to challenge him, even before his own ascension.

Tyraz’s claim depends on vacancy. He does not present himself as someone who has surpassed Malthios through a proven victory; instead, he argues that Malthios’s defeat removed the only obstacle to his rule. His plan to defeat the new Hero would then serve as proof of his right to the title, especially because Malthios had failed against an earlier Hero. The logic reveals Tyraz’s dependence on spectacle and succession: he seeks to convert another person’s death into evidence of his own legitimacy.

Theo’s resistance to Tyraz’s argument exposes the weakness in that claim. While imprisoned and threatened, Theo rejects Tyraz as a “pathetic wannabe who can’t ascend,” insisting that there is only one Demon King and that the title belongs to Malthios. The exchange turns Theo’s hidden identity into a political declaration. By defending Malthios’s name, Theo challenges Tyraz’s assumption that the former king is merely dead history and forces the succession dispute into the open.

The Return of Malthios

Malthios’s reappearance transforms the rivalry from disputed history into immediate confrontation. When Malthios rises in the courtyard and addresses Tyraz directly, the surrounding Demons tremble. The greeting carries both familiarity and accusation: Tyraz has not simply inherited a vacant throne but has taken advantage of Malthios’s absence, and Malthios recognizes the attempt to replace him.

The return is also inseparable from Theo. Malthios acknowledges that Theo’s will proved stronger than expected, that Theo reminded him of the existence of good things in the world, and that Theo became the Hero’s lover. These facts distinguish the returned Malthios from the ruler Tyraz remembers. Malthios is still the former king and the strongest of the Demons, but his strength now operates through a host bond that has become friendship, loyalty, and mutual protection. He names Theo rather than accepting Tyraz’s reducing him to “little mouse” or “the Hero’s lover,” calling him brave, selfless, and kind and expressing gratitude for having him as a host and friend.

That recognition changes the terms of the confrontation. Tyraz sees Theo as a vulnerability through which mortals could hunt and kill both host and Demon King. Malthios instead treats Theo as the reason he can stand against Tyraz. He declares that he has promised to protect Theo and that his word is his bond. The old rivalry therefore becomes a test of two competing definitions of power: Tyraz understands power as domination over a weaker body, while Malthios’s renewed strength is inseparable from a relationship grounded in consent, loyalty, and shared resistance.

The Crown Duel

Malthios answers Tyraz’s ambition with a formal challenge. He identifies himself as the strongest of all Demons and as the leader of the Pentagram before he was crowned King, then adds that Theo has made him stronger than he was before. Tyraz accepts, expecting the battle to end with Malthios joining the rest of his former group in death. The challenge gives the succession dispute a clear structure: one claimant must defeat the other in single combat before the watching Demons.

The duel begins in the air above the courtyard. Tyraz’s wings snap open, and Malthios rises to meet him; their swords clash across the surrounding mountains. Malthios’s blue fire runs over the crossed blades and burns Tyraz when it touches him, while Tyraz’s shadows attempt to entangle them. Malthios repeatedly answers those shadows with more fire, making the contrast between them visible in the movement of the fight: Tyraz tries to bind and obstruct, whereas Malthios breaks through by force and control.

Theo’s magic gives the duel another dimension. Whenever Tyraz’s blade cuts Malthios, Theo’s power rises and bathes the courtyard in green, healing or sustaining the returned king. Tyraz receives no equivalent support, and his wounds accumulate. The battle makes Malthios’s statement about being stronger through his host concrete rather than rhetorical. Their shared body does not erase the distinction between them; it allows Theo’s magic to become part of Malthios’s capacity to survive and prevail.

The outcome is clear almost from the beginning. Malthios has been the better and stronger combatant since the first time the two Demons met centuries earlier. He toys with Tyraz before the gathered Demons, displaying the challenger’s incompetence and stripping away the authority Tyraz has tried to construct through threats and title. Yet Tyraz’s desperation makes the fight dangerous, because the more completely his claim collapses, the more violently he attempts to recover it.

Death and Restoration of Authority

Tyraz’s final argument is that mortals will eventually discover Theo’s status as Malthios’s host. He predicts that Theo will have nowhere to hide and that both host and Demon King will be hunted and killed. Malthios answers not with a denial of the danger but with a renewed promise: Tyraz will not take Theo from him, because Malthios’s bond is founded on an oath he intends to keep.

The decisive blow follows the reminder of an older promise. When Tyraz recognizes what Malthios means, Malthios strikes, driving his sword into the Demon Lord’s torso as fire bends around them. He then states the condition that has governed their rivalry: if Tyraz attempted to take his crown, Malthios would end him. Tyraz’s body falls onto the stone, his gray wings spread before dissolving into shadows. The death is both execution and judgment, confirming that Tyraz’s attempted succession has failed in the only language his authority recognizes.

Before the body disappears, Malthios removes the crown from Tyraz’s head. The watching Demons cheer the return of their true King, but Malthios does not receive the crown as an uncomplicated triumph. He studies its black points, which reflect broken pieces of his face, including black eyes split with red. His remark that the crown always felt heavier on his head turns victory into burden. Tyraz’s death restores Malthios’s formal authority, yet the scene also suggests that the returned king no longer fits comfortably inside the role he has reclaimed.

Meaning of the Relationship

The Malthios–Tyraz rivalry contrasts inherited reputation with earned legitimacy. Tyraz believes that Malthios’s defeat entitles him to rule; Malthios proves that a crown cannot be secured by waiting for a stronger ruler to fall. Tyraz invokes victory over a Hero as future evidence, while Malthios defeats Tyraz directly, before the Demons whose judgment matters. The difference is not simply that one fighter is stronger. Tyraz’s claim is derivative, whereas Malthios’s authority is established through history, combat, and the recognition of those who witness his return.

The relationship also marks Malthios’s transformation. In the past, he was remembered as the greatest Demon and as a king whose crown carried immense power. In the present, his decisive strength comes through Theo’s magic and through the promise to protect the host whom Tyraz seeks to dehumanize. Malthios remains capable of violence severe enough to kill a Demon Lord, but the purpose of that violence has changed: it is used to stop Tyraz from continuing to hurt Theo and the people Theo holds dear.

Finally, Tyraz’s defeat cannot be separated from the danger surrounding Theo’s disclosure. Theo knows that no amount of friendship could save him if others discovered what he was, and the revelation of his identity leads to his arrest and trial as Malthios’s host. Yet Leafel’s people later demand his release, demonstrating that Tyraz’s prediction of universal rejection is not fulfilled. The political conflict survives the duel, but Tyraz’s belief that Theo’s status necessarily makes him isolated is disproved by the relationships Malthios chose to defend. Their final battle therefore closes one succession crisis while affirming the new, shared basis of Malthios’s power: not the crown alone, but the host, friend, and community that give his return a reason.