The Coffin of Eternal Darkness「常闇の棺, Tokoyami no Hitsugi」 is a powerful ritual relic that was used to seal away the Demon Clan for the past three thousand years after their defeat at the hands of the allied clans.[1] It later made a reappearance sixteen years later in the hand of Ironside.
Appearance[]
The relic takes the appearance of a circular relief that contains four fragments, each representing one of the four clans that united against the Demon Clan, with the Dragon Handle placed in the center.
Background[]
The Coffin nearly broken
Three thousand years ago, when the Four Clans emerged victorious over the Demon Clan, the giant craftsman Dubs [2] created the Coffin of Eternal Darkness to seal them away and cut off their realm from the physical world with the sacrifice of the Goddess Clan that gave up their physical bodies to activate the seal, bringing the land of Britannia to an era of peace ruled by humans whilst the Giants and Fairies withdrew back to their respective realms. The Coffin then broke off into fragments in hopes that the Demon Clan remained sealed. However, a few Demons, like the Red Demons, managed to escape the seal and went off separate ways either wreaking havoc in Britannia or plotting the revival of their Clan.
It is later revealed by the Lady of the Lake that Merlin was the one who gave Dubs the idea for creating the relic in order to ultimately seal away the Demon King and the Supreme Deity in her plan to resucitate Chaos, but she later realized that in order to break the seal on Chaos, one or both of the gods had to be destroyed to destroy the balance of light and darkness that they represented.
After being freed from his own separate seal at Danafor, the demon Fraudrin assembled the pieces of the Coffin with the help of wizards who worshiped the demons. However, the seal of the Coffin would only be undone with the blood of a Goddess. Since the Goddess Clan had disappeared, Fraudrin tried to use the blood of the citizens of Danafor to perform the ritual to open the Coffin, but failed. However, finding Liz, Fraudrin recognizes her as the reincarnation of the Goddess Elizabeth and that with her blood he could complete the ritual. However, Meliodas appears and prevented this by destroying Danafor completely in rage for Liz's murder. After Danafor's destruction, Meliodas found the Dragon Handle, the key to the Coffin, and was tasked to guard it at all costs with his life.
Years later, Fraudrin manipulated the Great Holy Knight Hendrickson to pursue the revival of the Demon Clan. Upon the gathering of the fragments of the Coffin of Eternal Darkness, with the addition of the Dragon Handle claimed by Helbram in the chaotic battle in Vaizel, the Coffin was complete although it only managed to barely open the rift of the Demon Realm for the demonic entities to get through, to which Hendrickson concludes that Elizabeth Liones was needed for the completion of the ritual. Despite his defeat at the hands of Meliodas, Hendrickson fled to Zhuhur Valley with the Coffin of Eternal Darkness. Nearly dying, Fraudrin appears possessing Dreyfus and heals him, which allows the former Great Holy Knight to finally complete the ritual with the bandage cloth containing Elizabeth's blood. Although it was incomplete, the ritual succeeded and nine demons were released from the Coffin, but the majority of their powers were severely drained and so they head to Edinburgh Hill to recuperate. The shockwave also eradicated the demon blood within Hendrickson (a booby trap intending to kill whichever demon opened it), returning him to human status.
Sixteen years after the breaking of the seal, The Kingdom of Camelot sets its sights on the Coffin of Eternal Darkness as part of their plan to eradicate the non-human clans. The Holy Knight Ironside managed to gather the pieces of the Coffin except one that is found by Percival in the town of Sistana. After his familiar manages to obtain the final piece, Ironside starts the ritual to activate the Coffin intending to use all people in the town as the sacrifice. However, Percival and his allies confront him to stop him. At the end of the battle, Donny uses his telekinetic powers to levitate the Coffin away from Ironside, allowing Percival to re-divide it. Donny manages to retrieve the Dragon Handle, while the rest of the pieces are collected by Mortlach who convinces Ironside to retreat.
Abilities[]
The Coffin of Eternal Darkness is a very powerful seal formed by the magics of the four clans that has kept the Demon Clan from entering the physical realm for three thousand years. The side effect is that the majority of the demons' powers was severely drained to a Nil that they needed recuperation. Despite its power, the seal isn't perfect as a number of lesser demons managed to escape from the seal.
Also it seems that it suspends those who are trapped in the seal in time or a similar effect, as they don't physically age.
Proportional to its sealing power, the cost to activate the seal is very costly. The sealing of the Demon Clan deprived the Goddesses of their flesh, leaving their spirits to reside in relics across Britannia. These sacrifices are not reversed even if the seal is broken.
It has been rigged with magic that kills anyone attempting to tamper with the coffin. Fraudrin stated that had he opened it he probably would have been purified, which is why he used Hendrickson to open it for him. Hendrickson's demon blood was purified by the trap after he released the Ten Commandments, restoring him to a human.
In order to break the seal, the Coffin requires all its four fragments gathered with the Dragon Handle and the blood of an member of the Goddess Clan as the key to the release of the Demon Clan with a ritual that requires an incantation of an ancient language of Britannia.
The cost for breaking the seal cannot be circumvented, as Fraudrin could not break the seal even with the life of every human in the Kingdom of Danafor, except for Liz.[3] Even so, the blood only broke part of the seal to release the Ten Commandments, requiring a multitude of human sacrifices to break it completely and free the entire Demon Clan.
When Ironside activates the seal to free the "Wights of Chaos" in exchange for the "sacrifice" of the inhabitants of Sistana, he utters a "variation" of the releasing incantation.
Incantation[]
Ten Commandments Release[]
An incantation used by the Demonic Hendrickson to release the Ten Commandments, by sacrificing Elizabeth's blood [4]:
By your sharp embrace…「その楔たる 抱擁と…, Sono kusabi taru hōyō to…」
By your alienating kiss…「その鎖たる接吻よ…, Sono kusari taru kuchizuke yo…」
Deliver them!「彼の者たちを解放したまえ!, Ka no mono-tachi wo kaihō shitamae!」
Break the seal!「彼の者たちの封印を解き放て!, Ka no mono-tachi no fūin wo tokihanate!」
Sparkling drops that contain the Power of the Goddess…「女神の力 宿す 光り輝く雫よ…, Megami no Chikara yadosu hikari kagayaku shizuku yo…」
Free the Demons from the evil spell!「魔の者たちの呪縛を解き放て!, Ma no mono-tachi no jubaku wo tokihanate!」
Emerge from the borders of Eternity…「永劫の狭間より…, Eigō no hazama yori…」
From the confines of Oblivion…「忘却の彼方より…, Bōkyaku no kanata yori…」
Awaken from your infinite sleep…「無限の眠りより…, Mugen no nemuri yori…」
Disappear, immaculate spell!!「消えよ 無垢なる呪い!!, Kie yo muku naru noroi!!」
"Wights of Chaos"' Summoning[]
An incantation used by Ironside to summon Chaos Specters to sacrifice the inhabitants of Sistana [5]:
By your sharp embrace…「その楔たる 抱擁と…, Sono kusabitaru hōyō to…」
By your alienating kiss…「その鎖たる口づけよ…, Sono kusaritaru kuchizuke yo…」
To seal them again…「彼の者たちを再び…, Ka no mono-tachi wo futatabi…」
Away once more…「封印するために…, Fūin suru tame ni…」
I offer their blood…「ここに人の子らの…, Koko ni hito no ko-ra no…」
And soul to the Coffin !「血と魂を捧げん!, Chi to tamashii wo sasagen!」
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Chapter 61 , Page 2-3
- ↑ Chapter 220 , Page 7
- ↑ Wrath of The Gods Episode 14
- ↑ Chapter 108-109 (4KOA)
- ↑ Chapter 17 (4KOA)