Volcanica (ボルカニカ), also known as the Divine Dragon (神龍), is a key figure in the sealing of the Witch of Envy 400 years ago. Mentioned throughout the series, it is the guardian of the Kingdom of Lugunica and is worshiped by its inhabitants as it is the very symbol of hope and trust for the entire nation. It plays both a minor antagonistic and supporting role in Arc 6 and an antagonistic role in Arc 9.
During Arc 6's climax, it acted as the overseer of the third trial of the Pleiades Watchtower and the final obstacle preventing Emilia from conquering it. For unknown reasons, Volcanica has become a dragonhusk, although it is suspected that it is due to decades of neglect that caused its mind to break.
Appearance
Volcanica is an enormous Dragon who is covered in shiny pale blue scales which are said to gleam like jewels and seem sharper than a forged treasured sword. Its thick paws are equipped with black, rock-like claws. Volcanica's face greatly resembles that of an earth dragon with two large milky-white horns sticking out of each side of its head. Finally, Volcanica has a pair of intelligent looking gold eyes which emit a wise and awe-inspiring aura. Its presence is so great that one feels like he isn't even allowed to breathe without the Divine Dragon's permission. Another notable feature is the presence of a mysterious white scar located directly underneath Volcanica's jaw. When touched by someone other than Volcanica, the Divine Dragon will fall in a state of shock and will desperately try to kill whoever touched it.
In its crouched position, it is said to be about 16 meters in height, but its actual size is unknown, though it is much larger than Valgren who was about 10 meters tall.
Personality
Volcanica was described as a benevolent and wise entity, one which defended Lugunica from many threats in the past and brought peace to the Kingdom.
In complete contrast to its reputation, by the events of Arc 6, Volcanica has fallen into a dragonhusk state, operating purely on instinct. Beatrice and Eridna speculated that Volcanica in its current state exerted about 10% of its former strength even though its condition is nothing physical, but rather a "spiritual death". The Divine Dragon has lived for so long that most things have lost its meaning, though it still feels obliged to uphold the covenants it forged with Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica and Flugel respectively. Before falling into a dragonhusk state, Volcanica was mentioned to be a cynic by Shaula. During its fight with Valgren, about four decades before the main story, it was mentioned to feel pity for the state in which the Dragon had ended up in, implying it had a strong sense of pride.
After temporarily awakening in Arc 6, Volcanica has shown to be rather fond of those it has formed a good relationship with, such as Satella, Flugel, or Farsale. Likewise, it even hesitated to harm Satella as she started to become the well-known Witch of Envy. It also feels tremendous regret for allowing itself to falter in the past and allowing such a tremendous disaster to occur on its watch, and upon remembering the disaster, Volcanica was likely to become violent and agitated.
During Arc 9, Aldebaran used his Book of the Dead on Volcanica, filling its empty husk with his own consciousness and effectively turning it into a second version of itself. Due to its vessel differing from that of Aldebaran's, the "Dragon Aldebaran" has a more optimistic outlook and other personality differences compared to his counterpart and still has residual memories of its time as "Volcanica".
Volcanica speaks in a deific manner favoring the archaic pronouns thou (汝 nanji) and mineself (我 ware) and its voice conveys its omnipotence. Its gender is also unknown, as it uses a neutral pronoun (我 waga). When Al's consciousness overwrites it, Volcanica speaks exactly like he does.
History
Great Calamity Era
Volcanica is a Divine Dragon who several centuries ago made a covenant with Farsale Lugunica to help safeguard and guide the country in times of turmoil. For this reason, it is worshiped as a national deity and became the symbol of Lugunica's Royal Family.
Over 400 years ago, Sekhmet drove Volcanica past the Great Waterfall just so she could rest. The two eventually had a major fight, and at its conclusion, Sekhmet fell to her death from the Great Waterfall. Later, Volcanica sealed Echidna off in her tomb within the Sanctuary as a deterrent to Satella.
Volcanica was said to have met with the first Sword Saint and the Sage in Flanders.[1] Around the same time, the Divine Dragon supposedly used an unknown type of blessing ability to create earth dragons.[2] When the Great Calamity began, the three heroes set their goals on defeating the rampaging Witch of Envy, who mercilessly killed thousands and thousands of innocents and toppled one country after another. After realizing they were unable to kill her, Volcanica and the others managed to defeat her and seal her away in the Augria Sand Dunes at the very east of Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica.
Volcanica has also seems to have history with Patrasche as well, even knowing her name despite her being named in the present day.
Sword Demon Battle Ballad
Roughly 40 years before the events of Arc 1, about a year after the end of the Demi-Human War, Volcanica appeared after Stride Vollachia summoned the Black Dragon who proceeded to ravage through one of the five regional cities of the Kingdom, Picoutatte, which stands at the Kingdom's border with the Vollachia Empire. The Divine Dragon scorched the Black Dragon with its purifying breath, healed the wounded and put out the fires that were spreading through the city, confirming the validity of the four centuries long covenant.
Abilities
Flight: As a Dragon, Volcanica is capable of flight. According to Emilia's observations, however, it actually uses the ability through magical energy rather than its wings which help it to fly. By channeling magical power throughout its body, Volcanica can make itself float in a similar way as Puck and Roswaal L. Mathers do. It uses its pairs of wings to help it glide and control the direction of its flight in a manner similar to a rudder.
Dragon's Breath: The Divine Dragon's breath, which when let loose, rushes straight towards its target and envelops it in a white and bluish light. When the light envelops its opponents, they are instantly turned into dust, as if they had been purified. It is so powerful and hot that it instantly destroyed Emilia's Ice Soldiers who were said to be tougher than steel and, according to Emilia, it even killed sound itself. Using this, even the Blight Dragon Valgren was completely erased from existence.
Spatial Rupturing: Volcanica is able to twist space and cause it to rupture, destroying anything or anyone caught in it, completely ignoring defenses.[3] Volcanica can seemingly do this at will, with immense accuracy, and without warning.
Life Creation: Through unknown methods, Volcanica was apparently responsible for the creation of earth dragons. However, at one point, it was mentioned that they were made via a blessing.
Divine Mana: Volcanica has an enormous amount of mana in its body, and it is even able to "cleanse" the world with it. By exerting his mana, he is able to extinguish great flames or heal the injured all at once over an area at least as wide as the city of Picoutatte. Likewise, though it is not seen doing so of its own will, it is capable of casting incredibly powerful magic that would otherwise be inaccessible to most, and the sheer power of the magic that it can cast is much greater when compared to a human's.
Great Power: As the Divine Dragon and the safeguard of the Kingdom of Lugunica, Volcanica has considerable power. It was able to defeat Sekhmet, the second strongest Witch after Satella, and is stated to even be able to put up a competitive fight against Reinhard while the latter uses the Dragon Sword Reid. While being 90% in a hibernating state and operating purely on instincts, Volcanica was easily able to overwhelm Emilia and her Ice Soldiers and scorch away the incoming Shadows within seconds. Even against other Dragons, such as Valgren, Volcanica’s strength is on another level. According to Garfiel Tinzel, its strength and presence are significantly greater than that of the Cloud Dragon Mezoreia. There also seems to be power embedded in its fangs, even when removed from its body. When Aldebaran used one of them, he was able to easily destroy certain devices in Lugunica's Prison Tower with seemingly minimal effort. However, what exactly this power is or what it does precisely is unknown.
Trivia
- Despite common knowledge, Farsale was not the one who directly made a covenant with Volcanica. He used a young maiden as a mediator between the Divine Dragon and the Lion King. The maiden was known as the Dragon Maiden.
- Volcanica's power has been compared with King Ghidorah from the Godzilla franchise.
- Volcanica is depicted on the holy gold coins exchanged within the Kingdom of Lugunica.
- According to Reinhard van Astrea, Volcanica's strength was significantly weaker after Aldebaran took control of it compared to when he fended off its attacks previously.
References
- ↑ “According to legend, Flanders is also where the Divine Dragon Volcanica was bound in friendship to the first Sword Saint, Reid, and the Sage, Shaula.” Re:Zero Ex Light Novel Volume 3, Sword Demon Love Story: The Silver Flower Dance of Picoutatte, Section 5.
- ↑ “Yeah, I think I’ve heard that the first earth dragons were born as some kind of blessing from the Divine Dragon about the same time.” Re:Zero Ex Light Novel Volume 3, Sword Demon Love Story: The Silver Flower Dance of Picoutatte, Section 5.
- ↑ "That instant, the air before Emilia’s eyes burst open. Not an exaggeration, quite literally, the space constricted, then subsequently swole and burst open. The phenomenon of unknown principle was queer as though space itself had rolled over, and had she been in its location she would’ve gotten twisted regardless of the strength of her defense."Arc 6 Chapter 87