Kanon

"It’s true. Humans do have their faults, but I want to believe in mankind. I want to believe in the kindness of humanity."

- Kanon to Anos Voldigoad in "Rebirth"

Kanon (カノン), commonly known as Hero Kanon (勇者カノン), was the legendary human Hero who fought against the Demon King Anos during the Great War that occurred 2,000 years ago. Kanon was famous for having seven sources that made him nigh-immortal and the wielder of the legendary holy sword Evansmana, the Sword of Three Races.

Appearance
Kanon was a well-built young man with dark blonde hair and green eyes. He wore a blue-colored nobleman attire with silver armor and a cape.

Personality
Kanon was a kind and courageous person who had all the qualities of a true hero, such as his willingness to fight and die for those who could not fight for themselves, and great charisma that rallied people to him and gave them hope. Kanon was sensitive to the hearts of others and very perceptive about their feelings, as he could see what they were trying to hide behind their outward appearances. He also had incredible willpower, as he battled against Anos continuously despite having his sources destroyed, which caused him unbearable pain.

Kanon strived for peace and was compassionate to even his enemies, often letting demons go if he didn't have a reason to kill them. Even after all the hardships that he went through because of Anos during the Great War, Kanon trusted in him and his proposal for a peaceful world. After being killed by Jerga's allies, Kanon decided to work alongside demons instead, who were more willing to forgive and forget.

As revealed by Lay's deeper and hidden feelings, Kanon was, in truth, suffocated by the duties of being a hero. As a country boy, all he wanted to do was swing the sword. He was never strong nor righteous; he feared death and never even wanted to kill. But more people had died at his hands than the people he managed to save. But even so, someone had to bring back hope to the people, even at the expense of themselves. As he kept dying and reviving, over and over again, he one day realized that the people had the Hero Kanon, so who did he have? Then one day, someone reached out their hands to him, the very person he was supposed to kill, the Demon King of Tyranny Anos Voldigoad, his "only hero".

History
Kanon was trained by the Commander Jerga and was the great Hero of the human race during the war against the demon race 2,000 years ago. Kanon possessed seven sources: one main one and six extras. As long as one source remained, Kanon would always be able to resurrect himself and his other sources. During the Great War, he met Anos and battled him several times, leading them to gain mutual respect for each other.

During one of his battles against Anos, he was cornered after Anos used a special spell Jilma, which he developed to seal and depower Kanon's holy sword Evansmana, as Anos pierced his source with Vebzud. However, Kanon was able to turn the tide after he used the fact that his source glowed brighter due to approaching destruction, as with his mastery of source magic, he charged up a powerful version of Gavuel, which would have injured Anos and killed off his subordinates. Anos was forced to immobilize him, stop the spell's activation, and retreat. This marked a strategic defeat for Anos, as their subsequent encounter rendered  Jilma  useless due to Evansmana evolving and neutralizing its effects. Anos was deeply impressed by Kanon's determination and tactics, as the battle significantly increased Anos' respect towards him.

Near the end of the war, Anos came to Gairadite to invite Kanon to Demon Castle Delsgade, where they would discuss how to end the war peacefully. Jerga tried to attack him but was quickly defeated, causing Kanon to come and heal him. He offered to return a source to Jerga, but the latter declined as he decided to give Kanon a piece of his source. He bet everything on Kanon and told him that one day, Kanon would beat the Demon King. When Kanon asked about Anos' offer, Jerga doubted it and told him that his kindness was wasted on demons, as he shouldn't feel guilty about killing them. Jerga then told Kanon to leave him and reassure the people that the Demon King had left, so he did.

Later, Kanon, along with the Great Spirit Reno and the Goddess of Creation Militia, met up at Delsgade. Rather than fight them, Anos offered a plan to stop the war and bring peace once and for all. After some hesitation, Kanon accepted the deal and killed Anos, allowing the Demon King to cast Beno Ievun using his life force, thus creating four walls to separate the races for the next 1,000 years. Before dying, Anos told Kanon that he would reincarnate in 2,000 years, promising him to be his friend if they ever met again.

At the war's end, Jerga, who still deeply hated the demons, wanted to set up the Hero Academy to pass his resentment to future generations. However, Kanon opposed the idea and was against the foundation of the Hero Academy until the very end. He insisted that the Demon King gave away his life to bring peace, but not many people believed him, even though Kanon was the Hero. Jerga abandoned his life and passed his resentment, hatred, and revenge against the demons through the magic Aske. Kanon strongly opposed the magicalization of Jerga.

While alone initially, Kanon would eventually gain many supporters who wanted to put grudges aside and work toward peace. However, Jerga's allies waited until Kanon's guard was down before killing him. Because of his seven sources, Kanon revived almost immediately. Seeing that humanity wouldn't forgive Anos, Kanon created the fictional Demon King Avos Dilhevia as an outlet for their resentment. He then talked and sometimes fought with the demons to persuade them to help him. Since the demon race adored Anos, they understood him better than the humans. Thus, they believed the Hero's words and decided to forget Anos so that the fake Demon King could take his place.

As expected, Anos' confidants could not forget his name, so they moved away from Dilhade. Even the mighty demons in conflict with him promised they would remain quiet until he came back and everything was over. With their consent, Kanon fused six of his sources with the Seven Demon Elders. The only exception was Melheis Boran, as Kanon's last source belonged to himself. Nevertheless, all seven emperors opted to have their memories erased since they could not lie to Anos. He would learn of Kanon's plan if he ever came into contact with them after reincarnating.

With his remaining source, Kanon reincarnated repeatedly and eventually became a pure-blooded demon: Lay Grandsley.

Abilities

 * Immense Magic Power: According to Anos, Kanon was so powerful that he didn't seem human, as he possessed a vast amount of magical power for a human. During the Great War, Kanon was the only being who could fight against Anos on equal grounds, although Kanon never managed to defeat him.
 * Limit-Break: While many prominent heroes and powerful demons could improve their abilities in a short period, as was demonstrated when a group of 500 demons defending a demon castle were trained by the Conflagration King Eldmed Ditigeon in a day to be able to fight against 2000 elite human soldiers and their spirit allies, Kanon demonstrated the ability to increase his power and skill mid-fight rapidly, as he was able to defeat all of them and conquer the castle by himself alone.




 * Master Source Magic User: According to Anos, Kanon's mastery of source magic surpasses even his own. Kanon was able to develop six additional sources due to using greater source magic of the gods by collecting pieces of other human soldiers' sources and sublimating them into six additional sources for himself.
 * Resurrection: Due to having seven sources, Kanon can resurrect himself whenever he dies and restore the other six sources as long as one remains.
 * Perceptive Magic Eyes: Kanon had very perceptive magic eyes due to his mastery of source magic, allowing him to see a person's source and their magic power, which average magic eyes couldn't see. This also allowed him to see through concealment magic.
 * Master Swordsman: Kanon possesses immense skill and talent in swordsmanship, as he was the only swordsman to have ever defeated Shin Reglia, the demons' strongest swordsman, in a one-on-one duel. Kanon can also wield any holy sword, as he was the only human capable of wielding Evansmana, the Sword of Three Races. He was also capable of using spirit swords, which he gained an affinity for after the humans and spirits joined forces in the Great War.

Magic
See: Magic
 * Asura
 * Aske
 * Teo Triath
 * Gavuel
 * Enchel
 * Syrica

Equipment
See: Items


 * Evansmana, the Sword of Three Races: Among the eighty-eight holy swords, Evansmana reigns as the strongest of them all. It is a legendary sword forged with the intention of slaying the Demon King, Anos Voldigoad. Evansmana is a sword that can alter even destiny.

Jerga
Upon joining the battle against demons during the Great War, he trained under Jerga, as the older Hero became his teacher, teaching him all he could about swordsmanship and hero magic. Kanon held Jerga in high respect, respectfully calling him "master" due to their teacher/student relationship. Jerga also was one of the people who Kanon a piece of their source so he could use them to create more sources for himself in order to stand up against the demons. He showcased great concern after Jerga was wounded by the Demon King Anos when the latter visited Gairadite to invite Kanon to talk about peace in Delsgade, to the point of offering to return his source portion to him, although Jerga declined.

However, despite his great respect towards Jerga, he always felt uneasy about his desire to exterminate demons, as he wondered if there was another way to end the war. After Kanon helped Anos separate the world into four realms, he returned to Gairadite, only to find out that Jerga was dissatisfied with the peace achieved. He wanted to continue the war until the demons were destroyed. After learning of Jerga's plans to pass on his hatred to others via Aske and restart the Great War 2.000 years later after the Demon King's reincarnation, Kanon appealed and pleaded with him to stop for the sake of those who would suffer because of the war. Jerga had led Kanon into a trap and had his subordinates kill him after Kanon refused to follow Jerga's plans.

After resurrecting, Kanon determined that he couldn't stop Jerga's plans without killing humans, as he was disappointed that his mentor chose revenge over peace, as he initiated his own plans to preserve the peace that was created and foil Jerga's plans to kill Anos.

Anos Voldigoad
Even though they started as enemies, the two developed a mutual respect for each other and agreed to become friends after they reincarnated. Their relationship is similar to brothers-in-arms despite being on opposing sides.

Kasim
Kasim was Kanon's senior comrade he trained alongside when he joined the Demon King Subjugation Battalion, with Kasim being more talented than Kanon at both swordsmanship and hero magic. While the two were close friends during their training, Kasim began to resent Kanon for his ability to wield Evansmana, which made him chosen as the leader of the Demon King Subjugation Battalion, much to Kasim's envy. Kasim would begin to try to undermine Kanon and the heroes, such as spreading stories about how a weakling cannot be a hero. Kanon, alongside Jerga, attempted to plead with Kasim to stop his actions, but a battle broke out in which Jerga supposedly destroyed Kasim. The ordeal with Kasim took a slight toll on him, as he regretted not being able to reconcile with him.

Trivia

 * Kanon was originally a village peasant before joining the Demon King Subjugation Battalion.
 * According to Kanon, his parents were killed in battle, most likely during the Great War.
 * Despite his great mastery of holy magic, he was incapable of using Teo Aske, as he had a lonely heart that carried the hopes of others.
 * According to Anos, Kanon's mastery of Aske was far greater than any other hero, as he stated that Ledriano's Aske; which was backed by 10 million people was beyond inferior to Kanon's, despite Ledriano's Aske having 100 times more people, because he couldn't unify people as well as Kanon could.
 * Due to his mastery of source magic, Kanon could cast Syrica and maintain his memories and powers in a new body, as his mastery was so great that he could retain all of his abilities in a body that didn't share a drop of his original blood.
 * It is implied that Anos refined and developed certain unique magic spells such as Vebzud and Jilma to counter Kanon's abilities as Vebdoz was refined to allow Anos to directly destroy Kanon's multiple sources, while Jilma was developed to neutralize the power of Evansmana.
 * Despite never truly defeating him in battle, Anos claims Kanon as the only person to have defeated him.
 * According to Anos, Kanon is indirectly responsible for the peace that Anos created as Kanon taught him the beauty of humanity, thus convincing Anos that there was a possibility to end the Great War on peaceful terms.
 * Unlike other humans, Kanon was respected among demons for both his power and his willingness to spare demons during the Great War.
 * Kanon was one of the few people during the Mythical Age that was capable of crossing Beno Ievun, which Anos created by sacrificing his life.