Eclipse of Hermes

"They were a motley collection; a mixture of the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking some shared glory, and the thuggish gravitating toward a leader who could show them more refined forms of cruelty."

- Katya about the Eclipse of Hermes

The Eclipse of Hermes (also known as Eclipse of Qliphoth), Hermes' Enforcers, Fallen Wings, Dark Devourers or simply as Vanguard of Hermes was the name given to followers of Vira Hermes whom were mostly dark wizards and witches who abandoned their humanity to become Jikininki, allowing them to use four types of dark energy (black magic, black arts, curses and Blackness) consequently making them one of the most powerful foes in Magic Side. They are the main antagonistic faction in on the first half of LOTM: Sword of Kings - Eckidina Arc: Mafusa Gang's Revenge Sub Arc alongside Millennium Syndicate that appears as the main villainous force on Part 2. In LOTM: Witnesses of Sleepy Hollow, they serve as a major hidden antagonistic force, being the only the hand of Qliphoth active in the story. Like their superiors, the Revelation of Qliphoth, they also appear as recurring antagonists for the rest of the story, mostly appearing as major antagonists.

The group is primarily consisted of hybrid-Black Demons and dark mages who were radical pure blood supremacists who practised Curse and Black Arts with reckless abandon and without regard to or fear of wizarding law on Prime Earth. All of them were once Dark Magicians who used their own powers to cause mayhem, achieve immortality and rule the magician world for more than 1000 years. In a sense, their members are the arch-enemies of the Witch Cult and all magical organizations of the world. Following the domination of West Russia by Revelation of Qliphoth, some Dark Magicians were recruited by Vira to be her independent vanguard squad that consisted of Dark Magicians who were merged with the Blackness, allowing them to become the most powerful beings on the 0th Multi-Universe.

Vira used this select group of wizards and witches during both World War III and the Purge, employing them as her elite force who carried most of her plans during the awakening of Red Moon Tyrant through her machinations in STAR LABS of United States of America and Global Pact Defense. The group was one of the deadliest factions faced by the Witch Cult, the Rogues and Team Witness on the past (2013 year), for being a direct threat originated from Qliphoth and for being the only demonic group of Qliphoth to be composed of former members of Witch Cult and their sub-organizations. They are one of the few sub-factions to almost have success in their agenda in almost ending an entire multiverse and timelines through the Artifacts of the Past. Despite being a sub-faction in terms, they are actually an independent group and serve Vira only, considering her superior Ara Astaroth to be only "the-boss-they-should-not-even-mention" out of respect for her powerful and her genius character. The lesser members like the minions often wore black hoods and masks with snake-like eye slits to cover their faces. Only the members of the inner circle of the Hermes had Plague Marks burned into their left forearms. When Vira touched one of them, each of the Hermes' Servant felt it, signalling for them to apparate to their leader's side.

The group in some sorts are the evil counterpart of the Cultus Phytonissam (Witch Cult) and Order of Flourish as they are acting in Sleepy Hollow, during the year of 2000-2013, almost 2 decades prior the beginning of LOTM: Sword of Kings.

Ideology
There are hints that a long-standing dispute had existed in the wizarding world regarding the relationship between Magicians and non-magicians, and the status of magically talented people born to non-mages parents. These disputes clearly date back to at least the time of the founding of Cultus Phytonissam 300,000 B.C.

There are also hints in some legends that once upon a time witches, wizards and non-mages were known to each other and interacted. The International Treaty Secrecy made by Yuri Barnes was the solution settled upon in the 1600s to end these relationships, preventing misunderstanding, miscommunication, and cruelty by enforcing the hiding of magic and bringing about the obliviation of any human aware of magic.

But this remained a controversial choice. There were many in the magical world to whom it occurred that, united, the wizarding community had enough power to openly take control of governments worldwide. For some this was just a means of power, wealth, or fame; but to others, such as Gaius Phoenix, who flirted with the idea of a wizard-led society with Katya in his youth, this was an opportunity to improve the world, to use power responsibly and prevent tragedies based on xenophobia and secrecy like the one that had torn apart his own family.

As for human-born witches and wizards, it seems that their status had been the subject of sometimes violent dispute for centuries. In many ways, this form of racism was delusional just like Nazi white supremacism, relying on a romanticised, imaginary history of wizarding genealogy, and conveniently ignoring realities such as the partial or total human origins of most witches and wizards, the existence of Squibs, and the lack of real differences in talent between pure-bloods and others. And like Germany in the time of the Nazis, while most people were not openly prejudiced, only a few were really courageous enough to stand up to it as well. Most government officials were content to ignore the problems of classism in magical society, and many participated without complaint when the new dark mages-backed regime began to persecute non-mages.

Using this conflict, Vira regrouped all dark mages of the world to form her own army made of magicians whom were fused with the Blackness, granting them powers of demons and increasing their dark magic.

Organisation
The Eclipse of Hermes were an organisation of pure-blood supremacists that coalesced around Vira Hermes. She found them very useful, as their ranks included wizarding aristocrats that could accomplish his goals through government and money, and deadly, remorseless thugs of all stripes. But she did not really share their passion for pure-blood supremacy. It is hinted at in 2012 that she openly shared her origins with them, and did not try to hide that she saw no shame in his half-blood status, though she held her mortal father in contempt. Though she allowed them to establish purification policies when they took over part of the Witch Cult's territories, she busied herself with increasing her own dominion and stamping out opposition while never bothering to help them with these goals.

The Eclipses followed their leader's commands first and foremost, and she treated them ruthlessly, often sending them on impossible missions and punishing them horribly if they failed her, even due to bad luck rather than incompetence. At her command, they worked against Vira and Astaroth's opponents through espionage, murder, and battle, and also infiltrated and undermined the Magical Organizations. The Eclipses' other, more spontaneous activities included mortal torture and murder for fun, property crime, and plotting the eventual overthrow of the non-mages government and replacing it with a wizard-dominated system.

Although some Eclipses appeared to have been fanatically loyal to Vira, several only aligned with her for the ideals of purification and shared glory, while many others seemed to serve her largely out of fear but admiration of her powers. As soon as Vira was defeated, many immediately renounced their loyalty and did not attempt to find Vira in the intervening years to revive her. Also, due to maltreatment from Vira, some who joined her would come to regret it later on, when they either suffered her abuse or witnessed the lengths she was willing to sink. Many speculated then that those Eclipses were "even more frightened than the rest of MUDF if she was revived".

In turn, even though Vira valued the services they provided, and spoke as though they were a family, she saw them as no more than dispensable servants. Vira was willing to sacrifice even the most loyal of them if it would serve her well. Some Eclipses deluded themselves to thinking that they alone knew and understood Vira, or were even close to her, but Vira never once desired a friend. Coupled with either disloyalty or constant failures, Vira lost faith in some of the once-highly revered servants. As a sign of distrust-based precaution, the Eclipse of Hermes did not have knowledge of all their colleagues' identities: vIRA alone knew who they all were. This was done in order to prevent any traitors from turning all the others in.

Hierarchy
Vira's most senior Eclipses, most of whom were old chums from Cultus Pythonissam and Holy Eye of Order, mostly pure-bloods mages, and people highly useful to Vira for their wealth, skill, or ruthlessness, were bestowed with the Plague Mark on the inside of their lower left arm. These were her inner circle, those she summoned to her side during a mission, and who sat around her high table at Phenex Airship. Being branded with the Plague Mark was a symbol of the highest status and honour in Vira's social order, but was also something of a dangerous burden, as it allowed the Vira to track, communicate with, and summon her chosen few. Some associates, such as relatives of Eclipse of Hermes, are also on par with the actual members.

The next level down were allowed to wear Eclipse of Hermes garments in order to command the respect they engendered, but were not Marked. These seem to included those that Vira found useful but did not prefer to associate with, such as the 'half-breed' Lilithmon.

On the lowest rung was a mass of supportive rabble, loyal to Vira but not useful enough to her to deal with her directly. They were given orders and opportunities to commit crimes or advance themselves through the senior Eclipses of Hermes' mages. On the same tier were witches and wizards under the Blackness' Brainwash, and non-humans of different degrees of sentience such as werewolves, vampires, giants, spirits, zombies, ghouls, low-level demons and among other fantasy creatues. These were pressed into service by the Eclipses, and sentient groups that would have ordinarily remained neutral like wraiths, giants, and werewolves were brought into the fold with false promises that their grievances would be avenged upon victory in battle. This entire mass was mobilised for Vira to attack on other worlds, though before then, they were only used to maintain the Qliphoth's new regime in other worlds, or else roam uncontrolled, sowing chaos and demoralisation as they sought individual gain.

Leadership

 * Vira Hermes 
 * Red Moon Tyrant

Executives

 * Kalawarner
 * Shalba Beelzebub
 * Seilah
 * Jerome
 * Wizzro
 * Lilithmon
 * Heldalf
 * Symonne
 * Emeraude
 * Aversa

Position

 * Arch-Mage
 * Vice-Leader
 * Adeptus
 * Minister of Magic
 * Master Mage
 * Professor
 * Chief of Elemental 4
 * Magic study
 * Recruitment
 * Military commander

Status

 * Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Deceased

Military Power
Because it's affiliated with the Revelation of Qliphoth, the Eclipse of Hermes is not only composed by mages but also demons. The Eclipse of Hermes is a massive militaristic cult that don't rely only in power but in numbers, they possess humongous armies that their numbers extends above 40,300,000 strong. It is noted that the soldiers are well trained and have magic power that is nothing to take lightly, even a small fraction of the total force is a menace on its own. Vira is not the only commanding officer of these armed forces, as she possesses her own elite group of powerful Mages: the Inner Circle. Composed of elite Mages with strength comparable to of the level with Cultus Phytonissam's strongest Mage, Katya, they are willingly able to lead her armies to war as well. In the cult, the inner circle are reputed—this according to Vira—to be the strongest in not just Alvarez, but in the entire world; both noted in the country as a "disaster" and "scourge" respectively.

Their forces are not limited to just humans trained to fight against mages, but the Black Demons. They have hundreds of advanced warships that go by sea or by air. They are also equipped with many high powered guns and artillery that can serve for both bombardments and anti-air defenses, with some ships specifically designed as command ships for the Inner Circle. They also serve as carriers that holds numerous troops ranging from hundreds to thousands, even for the purpose of ground assaults.

Unlike STAR LABS of United States of America's military forces, Eclipse's human soldiers are better trained and possess Magic Power that is not to be take lightly. Soldiers that are under the command of one of the Inner Circle possess their own unique features, characteristics, and uniforms.

A practical demonstration of the Eclipse's might is available in the form of their war against Witch Cult. With the power of the Inner Circle and the Alvarez military might, they overwhelmed the strongest of Cultus and Mana World's guilds on the first day of the invasion. In a sense, that makes them one of the front-line organizations serving the Revelation of Qliphoth. They even conquered Cultus' neighboring world and destroyed every single one of their guilds. They also have a twisted way of using psychological warfare, they take their defeated enemies and string them up on poles and crosses to inflict humiliation and despair upon their opponents.

Revelation of Qliphoth

 * Ara Astaroth
 * Kruel  Rose

Triggers Hell

 * Khaos
 * Kil'jaeden 

Witch Cult (traitors)

 * Gaius Phoenix
 * Yaguro Kitsuragi

Orácium Imperium

 * Heis
 * Towa 
 * Galand 
 * Melascula

New Sovietic Union

 * King Hamdo 
 * Abelia 

Mottos

 * "Without strife, the victory has no meaning. Without strife, one does not advance. Without strife, there is only stagnation."
 * "For the greater good. For a world without conflict. All shall knee before the darkness."
 * "Long live the magic. Death to all heretics who dare defy our leader."
 * "Following in the footsteps of our ancestors."
 * "Lead by our history, leading our future."
 * "Peace through war. Love through hate. Power through sacrifice. Unity through conflict."