Roswaal J. Mathers (ロズワール・J・メイザース), formerly known as Julia (ジュリア), was the grandmother of Roswaal L. Mathers, the mother of Roswaal K. Mathers, and the head of House Mathers two generations before the current Roswaal, and she was a key figure in making the study of magic prevalent within Lugunica. She played major roles in the Sword Demon Trilogy.
Contents
Appearance
Like previous generations, she had heterocromatic eyes, with the left eye being yellow and the right eye being blue. Her long straight indigo hair was partially tucked behind her left ear and reached down past her shoulders. Roswaal's skin was as fair as porcelain and her bust was considerably large. Despite the fact that this iteration of Roswaal wore little makeup, her astounding beauty was still enough to captivate men.
Although her clothing was fairly different from previous and succeeding generations, she still stayed true to the general taste maintained by every Roswaal. Her ensemble, that was a uniform of sorts in deference to the Demi-Human War that was ongoing at the time, consisted of a pair of long black boots, white tights, a white long-sleeved shirt, and a purple jacket with golden lining and rolled cuffs that was worn over the shirt, essentially obscuring the white garment from view. Her cleavage was not covered by the shirt nor the jacket, essentially meaning that it was exposed. Like her grandson, Roswaal wore a long black cloak that nearly trailed along the ground and had a red interior
History
Julia was born with a Gate that could only hold and produce a small amount of mana, leaving her incapable of casting magic, unlike her previous bodies. However, Roswaal still took this chance to learn martial arts. At some point in time, Julia had a child, Karl, with Garitch Fabless in an attempt to bear a child who was apt in healing magic. Though she had siblings in this incarnation, they and their parents had all perished around the time of the Demi-Human War's end, if not earlier.
Sword Demon Love Song
Following the Battle of Castour Field, Julia was called in to examine the magic circles used. Accompanied by Carol Remendis, the two joined the Zergev Squadron out into Castour Field. Accompanied by Wilhelm Trias, Grimm Fauzen, and a few other members in a small group, they made their way into the field, with Roswaal speaking to Wilhelm while Grimm kept Carol company. After arriving at the site, she muttered that the Kingdom was certainly at threat, and soon after, the undead Tholter Weasily fired an arrow at her, which Wilhelm defended against. Though he managed to take care of most of the undead, he came face to face with Sphinx, who Roswaal decided to help fight against. However, Sphinx decided to retreat, leaving them with the undead to fight. Roswaal mentioned that one of the corpse soldiers should stand out as the main one to defeat, and with a push from Wilhelm, Grimm was able to slay that one soldier, Tholter. Soon after, Roswaal informed the others of Sphinx's identity and the threat she bore. They later reported the same to the Kingdom's government, and later, she claimed that she would likely being seeing the Zergev Squadron often moving forward as the war progressed.
For the next three years, she often found herself fighting alongside the Zergev Squadron on the frontlines, in order to pacify any magic circles. Before long, their sights were set on Aihiya Swamp, which Wilhelm compared to Castour Field. Roswaal appeared and confirmed his suspicions that the Kingdom did take into consideration that this was a trap, but they figured that the other side would surely fatigue. Accompanying her was Carol, who spoke with Grimm and gave him a good luck charm. With the arrival of Leip Barielle as their new commander, he struck Wilhelm for his disrespect, leaving Roswaal to pacify him and take him elsewhere alongside Carol. Later, during the Battle of Aihiya Swamp, she went to investigate a certain magic circle, only for it to activate right before her. Though she could have handled it with ease, Sphinx appeared and got in her way, killing a few of the nearby knights in an effort to get Roswaal to join her. However, this failed, and instead, Roswaal cornered her with her martial arts skill, forcing her to retreat. Afterward, Roswaal destroyed the magic circle, giving her allies a chance to retreat.
About a month later, she had the king hide elsewhere besides the castle while she went to assist the Zergev Squadron to corner the attackers. After allowing them into the castle, she went with Wilhelm's group and confronted Valga Cromwell and Sphinx in the chapel. With Wilhelm taking care of Valga, she, Carol, and Grimm chased after Sphinx, who they managed to successfully corner and sever one of her arms. When the ceiling was destroyed by one of her deflected attacks, Bordeaux and the undead Libre appeared. After Libre cut off her other arm and disintegrated, Roswaal chased after Sphinx and struck her back to the ground. However, using the secret passageways, Sphinx managed to escape her. As Roswaal searched for her, she encountered Leip, who claimed to have completely incinerated her, showing Roswaal a ring on a string as proof of her demise. Asking for the ring, she promised Leip his credit for killing Sphinx, while she smiled that things would be going according to plan to her teacher. When Wilhelm vanished to train himself, Roswaal would be the only one to manage to find him, and because of her, he managed to learn about the ceremony to award the Sword Saint Theresia van Astrea for her contributions to the war. On the day of the ceremony, Roswaal provided her with a ceremonial sword and gave her words of advice as she left.
Sword Demon Love Story
A couple of days after the ceremony, Roswaal appeared in the auxiliary Astrea Manor, where she assuaged the jealous Theresia's fears. Deciding to interfere one last time, Roswaal brought Theresia to the castle, despite Wilhelm requesting her not to come.
Sword Demon Battle Ballad
Julia sacrificed her life to save Carol, even though she hadn't expected to die at that point in time since it was not written in her Gospel.
Abilities
Master Martial Artist: In order to counter the powerful magical abilities of Sphinx, Roswaal cultivated the body of Roswaal J. Mathers to be a master martial artist rather than a master mage. From a young age, Roswaal painstakingly trained her body in the martial arts. Over twenty years, her training coupled with her natural talent forged her into a true fighting genius. Anyone who saw her in combat could tell that she was an accomplished practitioner with a flawless technique. Her style was based around landing lightning quick and precise punches that sowed ruin upon the bodies of her enemies. Although his later bodies like Roswaal L. Mathers probably weren't as physically powerful as Roswaal J. Mathers, they still maintained the fighting techniques Roswaal had coalesced during that particular life, meaning Roswaal remained a true master of the martial arts.
Superhuman Strength: The physical strength of Roswaal J. Mathers vastly surpassed that which was accepted as possible for a human being. Her mighty blows were powerful enough to snap bones, rupture internal organs, shatter boulders, and split large trees in half. She could throw small-yet-heavy steel balls with enough force to shatter bones and organs.
Yellow Eye: Roswaal is able to use a yellow eye to break magic apart. However, this ability does not seem to be instant, as when she used it to destroy a powerful magic circle, she first had to slightly tamper with the circle and then concentrate for a short time to allow her eye to cancel it. When it cancels magic, it seems to flicker slightly.
Soul Transcription (魂の転写): A lost magic technique that allows a person to transcribe their own soul over another's. By doing this over and over to extend their life indefinitely, the user can achieve what Beatrice termed as "subjective immortality". However, it has one major restriction in that for it to work, the person whose soul is overwritten must usually be of blood-relation to the caster. The spell was originally created by Echidna to gain immortality, but she could not complete it before her demise. Instead, it was finished by Roswaal who had been using it to survive until the present era.
Equipment
- Book of Wisdom (叡智の書): Just like Beatrice, Roswaal was given one of the two complete copies of the Book of Wisdom Echidna created before her ultimate demise. It allows Roswaal to use a limited version of the original Book of Wisdom, as it shows her a detailed path to her desired future. For four centuries, Roswaal strictly acted upon the Book's writ, doing exactly as it was written.
- Steel Mittens: Alongside her pugilistic fighting style, Julia wore a pair of black steel mittens to enhance the damage that she could cause to her enemies.
- Enchanted Cloak: Roswaal wore a cloak that ensured that any offensive magical attack that struck the cloak would dissipate and leave its wearer unharmed. However, it is only effective for singular usage, as after negating an attack the cloak would dissipate.
- Metal Throwing Balls: A type of projectile Julia specifically used for fighting Sphinx. Despite their small size they contained a lot of mass that allowed them to penetrate deep into the target's body, dealing significant damage.
Trivia
- Starting with his original body, Roswaal has been changing his middle initial every time he possesses a new descendant. His original initial was A, making his current body his 10th one.
- In the original release of Sword Demon Battle Ballad: Act 6, Roswaal said that her black gloves were a weapon left to her by her ancestors that could withstand the sharpness of a Holy Sword. However, any reference to this line was removed in the Ex 6 release.
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