Zelanus

"Nonsense. Only one person in the world can give orders to me. Now that he is gone, I will act as I please."

Zelanus (ゼラヌス) was the king of the Insectoids as well as the parent of Zegion. He had an antagonistic role in the story, being allied with Feldway and wishing to claim half of the world as his own. He met his end at the hands of Zegion.

Appearance
Zelanus, just like the rest of the Insectars, had a thick exoskeleton that surrounded his entire body like a suit of armor. His silver colored exoskeleton was made entirely out of Hihiirokane, down to the tiniest hair. His forehead had two antennae and long blade-covered hairs that went down to the two sets of red wings that adorn his back. On his torso were three sets of arms; with the top pair deforming into bladed weapons, the centre pair acting as fists for melee combat, and the bottom pair being specialized for casting magic. He was capable of sprouting mouths on any part of his body to consume his prey, even the soles of his feet.

In the light novel's illustrations, Zelanus is depicted with an appearaence wildly different from his description in the text. His appearance is closer to that of Zegion and lacks most of his features. His exoskeleton is black instead of white, has only 2 arms instead of 6, lacks antennae and instead has horns, has 2 black wings instead of 4 red ones, and he is lacking the long silver hair that runs down to his waist. He also has the additions of gold-colored ornaments covering various parts of his exoskeleton and a long centipede-like tail.

Personality
Zelanus, despite having absolute confidence in his strength, could be called a coward who took the utmost precautions against even the slightest possibility of a threat to his safety. He wouldn't show his face on a battlefield until he analyzed all of the enemies capabilities and ensured his safety. Once he determined that there were no threats to himself, he crushed his enemies with his full force, not holding back even against someone insignificant.

Despite holding the needs and stability of his people in high regard, he was willing to sacrifice as many of them as it took to win, even his own children. He also wasn't the type to work with others, only allowing himself to be ordered by Veldanava and shirking even the possibility of cooperating with others without an extremely good reason.

Background
Zelanus was the first intelligent cryptid born from the ruler of the cryptid race Ivarage's magicules. His presence was noticed by Veldanava, who proceeded to take Zelanus under his wing and give him a name, much to the annoyance of Feldway. From there, he began to subjugate his cryptid siblings who ran wild unchecked within the underworld. At some point after this, he gave birth to Peliod, whose powers as a "Queen-Type" allowed her to create an untold amount of Insects that extended his range of influence in the underworld tremendously. From the Insects, powerful Insectars were eventually born and given jobs as the ruling class that managed the numerous insects under them, acting as Zelanus' hands and feet.

The Insectars were named the Twelve Insect Generals and Zess, the son of Zelanus, was appointed as their commander. From here he maintained a rocky relationship with the Phantoms and their ruler Feldway, with the two only setting aside their differences when the Cryptid population grew out of control and stampeded. When Veldanava perished, Zelanus was quick to dismiss the offer of an alliance from Feldway, later reconsidering when he met with Michael who bore a similar presence to Veldanava. To attest to their alliance, Zelanus sent Razul and Minaza to the Eastern Empire to serve Michael and act as an avant-garde. To act as replacements, and to bolster as much power as possible for the oncoming war, Zelanus had Peliod give birth to a new Queen-Type and he also gave birth to a second son. However, Zess, taking too much after his father, grew wary of their potential and eventually attacked them, forcing the pair to flee to the Central World.