Irene Belserion

"Upon this land in which the white angel reigned supreme, a Black Dragon now descends... It's as if the malice of the black angel has been made manifest. But the one who will be laughing when all is said and done is I... The Scarlet Angel." — Irene Belserion in "The Fourth Guest"

Irene Belserion
Japanese	アイリーン・ベルせリオン
Rōmaji	Airīn Beruserion
Alias	Scarlet Despair (緋色の絶望 Hīro no Zetsubō)
Characteristics
Race	Human
Gender	Female
Hair Color	Scarlet
Professional Status
Affiliation	Alvarez Empire
Occupation	Shield of Spriggan Leader of the Irene Squad
Team	Spriggan 12 Irene Squad
Personal Status
Status	Active
Magic
Magic	Universe One Eye Magic Animal Transformation
Weapons	Staff
Debuts
Manga Debut	Chapter 443 (silhouette) Chapter 483 (actual)

Irene Belserion (アイリーン・ベルせリオン Airīn Beruserion) is part of the Alvarez Empire as the strongest woman of the Spriggan 12, the protection guard of Emperor Spriggan. She also leads the Irene Squad, her own personal squad, within the Empire. She is regarded as the "Scarlet Despair" (緋色の絶望 Hīro no Zetsubō) in the Empire, due to her peerless magnitude of power.

Appearance

Irene's full appearance

Irene is a seemingly tall, voluptuous woman with large amounts of scarlet hair thickly braided and located in the front and back of her body as pairs, all of which have bows near its ends. The frontal braids also have two ornaments near the upper sections. Also, the woman has two U-shaped earrings on her ears, while donning a light-colored lipstick.

For clothing, Irene dons a scanty version of the typical witch's garb. Her dark-colored top has a diamond-shaped opening, exposing a portion of her breasts, and a heart-shaped pattern around the borders. It extends down to the naval of her stomach where it meets a large angular scar, is draped over by a dark-colored cape with a light-colored inside and two medallion-like ornaments, and is held together by a chain. Not left bare, too, her neck is decorated by other small cloth-based accessories, including a wide bow. Additionally, Irene wears an elongated dark-colored loincloth with the symbol of the Alvarez Empire emblazoned on its front, having light borders on its edges and being connected to another cloth piece with the very same heart-shaped design. She also wears dark thigh-high boots with heels that have a light-colored border near the top and gloves of the same color and design, only having claw-like extensions. Her witch's hat is much larger than her head and possesses dreadlock designs with white bandaging near its ends. It also has a fur lining near its edges.

Personality

	Irene's philosophical side

Irene has shown to be knowledgeable, showcasing herself as a historian when revisiting a folktale of her birthplace, while seemingly enjoying the counterbalance of a "beautiful story" of the two angels, as well as talking of humanity's greatest threat without any timidity in her words. She also has a humorous side to her, as seen when she wanted to see Heine and Juliet battle, only to later say it was a joke.

Irene is extremely self-confident in her power, wanting to personally take care of Acnologia by herself, even as her very own comrades, among them being August, noted that they could not defeat the Black Dragon without Fairy Heart at their disposal. Due to this, her confidence not only spreads within her, but to the might of her Empire, saying that she could put aside the Majesty's "war game" due to the task of handling Acnologia (whom she dubs "Acnologia-sama"), stating Alvarez would be victorious regardless of the outcome.

Irene's cruel nature

She also displays signs of being a cruel individual, such as when she questioned Toma E. Fiore's love for his daughter, Hisui, after personally transforming her into a mouse. When displeased at his caring words for his child, she makes a muted expression on her face before moving to attack them, showcasing her dislike for things not apropos to how she conceives it to be.

When serious, she has shown to criticize even those above her, such as the Emperor, for treating the war as a game, wanting to be the one to correct him as well as assuming the role of the one to end the war between Alvarez and Ishgar quickly, instead of it continuing on. Besides all of this, she is very respectful and complimentary to those higher than her, still delivering high praise to the same Emperor who she claimed if he participated in the war that it would of been over sooner after it began, while taking honor from the Black Dragon's compliments after engaging in battle with him, returning the favor by saying the rumors of his power doesn't do him any justice in person. However, she can be somewhat vain to go along with her sly mouth, remembering that society has dubbed her the "Scarlet Despair", wishing for the title to be something "cuter" than her current alias.

History

At some point in her past, Irene crossed over from Ishgar to Alakitasia to join the Empire and to follow Zeref, for reasons yet unknown. Some time later, Irene was taught the art of Magic and enchanting from the Black Wizard himself, which she later went on to use her new power to enchant a white and a black sword that became Juliet and Heine respectively.

Synopsis

Alvarez Empire arc

In light of the upcoming war between Ishgar and the Alvarez Empire, and their subsequent fight to retrieve Fairy Heart, Irene receives an immediate summons to attend a meeting between Zeref, Emperor Spriggan, and the entirety of the Spriggan 12, but because of her immediate location within the extremely vast expanse of Alakitasia, she finds herself unable to attend.

Irene wants the girls to battle

Irene, along with Larcade, Bradman and her own personal squad, are ordered by Zeref to mobilize to the northern Ishgar border, eliminating any resistance while heading towards Fairy Tail, successfully annihilating the Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus alliance. Irene is then seen walking with her two subordinates, Heine Lunasea and Juliet Sun in Zonia. She recalls an old legend about a white angel and a black angel clashing, in which the white one comes out victorious. Heine and Juliet praise her, and she comments that the angels were the spitting image of the two. She expresses curiosity at who would emerge victorious if Heine and Juliet were to fight, but later states that she was kidding. Irene then drastically changes the snowy climate to a warmer one, then turns to Bradman and Larcade, asking them if they are prepared for battle.

Irene encounters Acnologia

Irene watches the battle proceed from afar with Heine and Juliet. The two express their worries at the Ishgar forces' comeback, but Irene calmly states that they've nothing to fear as Bradman and Larcade are there as well. She orders the two to join the front lines, and after being questioned by Juliet, she explains that they have four guests: the first being the tigers and pegasi, the second being the fairies, and third being Crime Sorcière. However, the fourth guest is the most troublesome, and says she must take care of them herself. The fourth guest is revealed to be Acnologia, and Irene confidently states that Zeref's "war game" will have to be pushed aside, and that she, the "Scarlet Angel" will emerge victorious. Irene is seen hovering over Acnologia while the latter proclaims out loud his plan of killing the six remaining Dragon Slayers. He takes notice of her when she says that she is now aware of his plans. She lands on the ground as Acnologia states that he has no use for her and that she should get out of his way. She ignores his warning, only noting how terrifying and intense his Magic Power is. Acnologia asks her if she has the intention of blocking him despite being aware of who he is, she answers yes, leading Acnologia to wonder if she'll be able to entertain him, causing her to reply she most certainly will.

Irene warped to Mercurius' throne

Irene proceeds to attack Acnologia, enchanting the atmosphere and creating an enormous ball of fire powerful enough to push Acnologia several meters away. The latter gleefully notes that she's a high-level enchantress and then causes a powerful explosion to detonate underneath Irene. She is however, able to swiftly dodge the attack, landing on both feet unharmed. As the two start to praise each other's magic skills, Irene brings up the fact that when Zeref comes into possession of Fairy Heart, the possibility of him defeating Acnologia will be high. Acnologia tells her that if what she came for is to dissuade him of harming humans, it is useless as he won't change his mind, Irene points out the irony of his statement since he was a human in the past. Irene tells Acnologia that the last thing Alvarez need is him getting in their path, which is why she said that she will have to take the matter into her own hands. Irene proceeds to tap the ground with her staff, causing the whole of Fiore's lands to become enchanted. In disbelief, Acnologia asks how comes even he doesn't know this magic, causing Irene to reply that it's a magic of a "new era", which is why he's unable to identify it. As the bright light caused by the spell starts to engulf everything in the immediate vicinity, Acnologia asks Irene who she is, she simply responds that she's called Irene and concludes their meeting by telling him she hopes they'll meet again someday, she is then immersed into the light of her spell and disappears. She later is warped inside of Mercurius's castle due to her Magic, saying that for the first time using the spell the results were favorable, before pondering her location in front of the confused Royal Family.

Irene surprised upon spotting Erza

Irene defeats the Royal Family guards with relative ease, leaving a beaten Arcadios in shock of the might of her power. Irene then turns her attention on Toma E. Fiore and his daughter. The latter asks her to do as she pleases with him, but to spare his daughter. For an answer, Irene turns Hisui into a mouse and then cruelly asks the king if he's still able to love his daughter despite her new appearance. To her disappointment, the king replies that he'll always love his daughter no matter what, Irene calls his affection for his daughter a pity, as she prepares her next move. Suddenly, Irene freezes as she senses a familiar presence, she goes on to investigate and uses her Eye Magic to scan the environments, when she finally spots a red-haired woman, she starts pondering about her identity. Irene then later appears right behind an exhausted Mirajane after she defeats Heine and Juliet and reveals that the two of them are actually swords enchanted with a personality.

Magic and Abilities

Universe One (ユニバースワン Yunibāsu Wan): Also known as World Reconstruction Magic (世界再構築魔法 Sekai Sai Kōchiku Mahō), Irene, by firstly enchanting the land, can manipulate the very geography of the ground itself, with the ability of compressing the land to as much as five percent (or less) of its original size, thereby altering the entire landscape. The true purpose of this Magic is the power of bringing certain things or people to specific areas and locations, for example pushing the Emperor to the Fairy Tail Guild where Fairy Heart is located, while vanquishing Acnologia to deep into the sea. There are major side effects, however, as the new age Magic teleports all the inhabitants of the area (including Irene herself) and even structures and landmarks randomly all over the affected area. An indication to its power lies in the area of effect and Zeref's shock at the fact that Irene would cast it in the first place. Irene calls this Magic one of "a new era", indicating that it was created rather recently and would thus be unknown to someone who has knowledge of all Magics of old, such as Acnologia. She also noted that her first attempt at ever casting this powerful Magic was during the Dragon King Festival.

Eye Magic (眼の魔法 Me no Mahō): Irene has shown the ability to remotely view an area by summoning a giant eye in the sky over the location she wants to see and linking this eye with her true one. Both the giant eye and her real eye show a cross-shape pattern while the spell is active.

Animal Transformation: Irene was shown to be able to transform people into the form of animals. She demonstrated this ability when she turned Princess Hisui E. Fiore into a mouse.

Irene enchanting

Enchantment (付加術 (ふかじゅつ) Enchanto): Irene has shown extremely high proficiency in the art of enchantment; so much that she's classified as a High Enchanter (高位付加術士, ハイエンチャンター, Hai Enchantā). It is implied by Acnologia that she learned this ability from Zeref himself, giving her the ability to change and alter landscapes, climates, and the terra firma of the world, as well as manipulate the atmosphere, people, and objects "enchanting" them into any forms on however way she desires.

Flight: Irene has shown that she can fly to any location.

Enhanced Agility: Irene has proven herself to be quite nimble, swiftly dodging Acnologia's attack by backflipping into the air several meters away from the explosion, while being still able to land on both feet, unharmed by the attack.

Master Sensor: Irene has shown to be able to sense presence of Mages to great extent and determine how strong they are without them being near her, as she could sense Crime Sorcière and Acnologia from a relatively long distance, unlike her subordinates.

Immense Magic Power: Irene holds vast reserves of Magic Power, being the most powerful woman among the Spriggan 12 (which even Brandish μ acknowledged), and, alongside the strongest male member, the "Magic King", August, the strongest member overall. Neinhart, another Shield, even seemed somewhat afraid of Irene, sweating and trembling at the thought of Erza Scarlet being in some way related to her, as Erza's Magic Power is apparently of similar signature or potency to Irene's. She is shown to have tremendous aptitude in her power, easily changing the climate of Mt. Zonia without much effort. She's shown more to her aptitude of having her Magic, Universe One, to affect the entire country of Fiore by reorganizing its landscape with ease. Even Acnologia, the self proclaimed Dragon King, was impressed by her power and even praised her.

Equipment

Staff: Irene wields a massive light-colored staff in her right hand, matching, if not surpassing, its owner's height, and being divided into two large, inwardly curved antlers near the top; considerably below those, the weapon begins to be overlaid with leopard-skin that extends up to the antler's tips. It has yet to be revealed if the staff fulfills a specific purpose. She has shown to use her staff in conjunction with her Magic, simply by tapping the ground or waving the wooden artifact as if it were a wand to induce her abilities.

Quotes

• (To Juliet Sun and Heine Lunasea): "The white and black angels... I'm sure they were the spitting image of you girls. Which begs the question... If the two of you were to battle... Who would be the one to come out victorious? Shall we find out?"
• (To herself on Acnologia): "Upon this land in which the white angel reigned supreme, a Black Dragon now descends... It's as if the malice of the black angel has been made manifest. But the one who will be laughing when all is said and done is I... The Scarlet Angel."
• (To Acnologia): "Still you are correct. I do not want you to interfere. Inside, His Majesty thinks this is a game. I want him to be serious. I desire a swift end to this war."