Agares Clan

"As High as Honor."

- Agares Clan's house words

The Agares Clan is one of the remaining 32 pureblood houses of the 72 Pillars. They are among the highest-ranked houses of the 72 Pillars, ranked at the second of the hexagram, and hold the title of [Archduke].

Summary
As the second highest-ranking house of the 72 Pillars, the Agares Clan has long been tasked with the duty of acting as the moderator between the various factions within the devil nobility, with the most recent ones being between the Great King Faction, the Four Great Satans supporters, and the neutral devil houses. Because of this, the house received great respect from the Netherworld's nobility as a result.

The house was founded by the original Agares, who was one of the demons who fought alongside the original Lucifer during the Heavenly War. After he was killed, the title of Archduke Agares was passed down to the cardinal devil he created, Artys Agares, and the noble house of Agares started from then.

They, the Bael Clan, and the Marbas Clan were once vassal houses of the Lucifuge Clan until their liege-lords' fall from grace when their founder was killed and the majority of their territory was lost when the Ouroboros Barrier was created, sealing up the Underworld and imprisoned the remaining demons inside for seemingly eternity.

During the Devil Civil War, to form an alliance between the two great houses to support the Anti-Satan Faction, a marriage was arranged between Sharra Agares and Rymond Astaroth, the former being Archduke Agares' half-sister while the latter is Duke Astaroth's youngest son. As a gift for their marriage, the Agares Clan gifted the young couple the floating island of Agreas, a former wedding gift given to them by the Belial Clan which caused them to switch sides to the Old Satan Faction, despite disagreeing with their ideology and beliefs.

In the Siege of Gusion Castle, as revenge for giving away a priceless gift that signified the alliance between the Agares Clan and the Belial Clan, then Prince Baelor Belial decapitated Archduke Ronnel Agares and the ancient devil Artys Agares, leaving the sole survivor of the Agares Clan being Ronnel's six-years-old grandson, Denys, to be the new Archduke.

Several centuries later, in an attempt to repair the damage relationship between the Agares Clan and the Belial Clan, Denys tried to arrange a marriage between his child with Lord Baelor's niece Cleria, which the latter soundly rejected to the fact his niece had already been courting someone, not to mention Lord Denys' child had yet to be born. Several months later, news came about Cleria's death and with it, the birth of her failed engagement, the newest heiress to the Agares Clan, Seekvaira.

Traits
Members of the Agares Clan are known for their blond hair and hawk-like eyes.

Hereditary Ability
Like other pureblood devil houses, members of the Agares Clan possess a unique hereditary power known simply as the Power of Time. Like its name suggests, it allows the user to control the flow of time within a certain area to some extent. However, extensive usage of the ability might potentially lead to the user's own longevity being shortened.

Emblem
The Agares Clan's emblem appears to be a capital A that has a wider "v" in place of the usual horizontal line, devil wings above it, a heart on top of the A, and a tiara on top, all in a silver-blue color.

Residence
The Agares Castle ( アガレス城, Agaresu-jō ) is the seat of the Agares Clan, situated on the Agris Mountains, the highest mountains within the Agares territory, on a shoulder of the peak known as the Archduke's Lance, several hundreds of thousands meters above the valley below. It is made of fine white stone, and has thirteen slim, white towers that are bunched tightly together and can hold up to five thousand men at once. The towers are covered in frost-covered ivy, climbing roses, and silvery-white flowers.

Agreas
Agreas ( アグレアス, Agureasu ) is a giant floating island located on the border of the territories of the Agares Clan and the Belial Clan, which is currently maintained by servants of the current Beelzebub. It is considered a popular tourist resort, as well as a crucial place within the Netherworld's ecological system, as located on the island are the Three Sisters, giant palestone towers that control the flows of the air within the realm. It is a place that contained the enigmatic technology of the original Satans and contains the Gilgul Neshamot, essential crystals used to create both the Evil Pieces and the Brave Saints.

It was originally a wedding gift from the Belial Clan to the Agares Clan when Rowena Belial married into the family, but was given to the Astaroth Clan to form the Agares-Astaroth alliance in the Devil Civil War, which caused the Belial Clan to side with the Old Satan Faction as revenge.

Trivia

 * In demonology, Agares is a duke of Hell "under the powers of the east", often depicted as an "old man, riding upon a crocodile, and carrying a hawk on his fist". He teaches languages, stops and retrieves runaway persons, causes earthquakes and grants noble titles.
 * The plural term for multiple Agares members is "Agaresi".
 * The Agares territory is heavily modelled after England, both geographically and culturally.
 * One of the house's old traditions is falconry.
 * They are known for being able to "recover fugitives" and "make deserters return".
 * Because of the Belial Clan's contempt toward them, many houses are scared of working with them.
 * The Agares Castle is considered to be one of the smaller castles within the 72 Pillar houses.