Lina Inverse activating the Demon's Blood Talismans before casting Ragna Blade
The Demon's Blood Talismans 魔血玉のタリスマン, Kanji translation: Demon Blood Ball Romaji: demon buraddo no tarisuman)[1], also Boost Talismans (Japanese: 増幅呪符, Kanji translation: Amplification Amulet, Romaji: būsuto tarisuman)[2] are magical artifacts composed of an unknown material — despite what their name might imply. Even Xelloss said that he wasn't entirely sure of their origins when he reluctantly sold them to Lina Inverse in the novels. In the anime, however, he appears significantly more informed about their nature. In both versions, even if the books state it somewhat more tentatively, it is said that it contains the power of the ma-ō of the four planes: Ruby Eye Shabranigdu, Dark Star Dugradigdu, Chaotic Blue and Death Fog.
A human who possesses the talismans gains access to spells that would otherwise be impossible to cast due to the immense bucket capacity they require — such as Blast Bomb, Ragna Blade and Giga Slave. The talismans also amplify whatever spell the caster uses while they are active. For example, Lina was able to boost the power of the Dragon Slave in Slayers NEXT to destroy an entire floating island in a single shot. Crushing a talisman temporarily releases its stored energy, allowing the sorcerer to perform devastating magical feats.
There is some inconsistency regarding their color. In the final novel, Hajime Kanzaka specifies that each talisman corresponds to one of the Demon Lords and is colored white, blue, red, or black respectively — one for each lord and plane. However, illustrator Rui Araizumi had consistently drawn all talismans as red throughout the novels, and no correction was ever made. The anime also shows them as red. In the novels, Lina faces off against a piece of Ruby Eye Shabranigdu. During her battle with him, a large part of her strategy was to shatter the talisman piece that bears his power. Crushing a talisman enabled her to cast a spell roughly equivalent to a Dragon Slave using the appropriate ma-ō's power. This would be very difficult if they were all red.
According to Hajime Kanzaka, the talismans were originally created by the legendary sorcerer Lei Magnus. He first succeeded in sealing a fragment of Ruby Eye’s power into a stone, and then — through means unknown, yet clearly powerful — extended his reach into the other three worlds to harness the powers of the remaining Demon Lords. Eventually, Lei Magnus gave the completed set of talismans to Xelloss as a gift.
The talismans serve not only as amplifiers for spells that require great pool capacity, but also function as magical beacons. Xelloss, for example, can track them due to his familiarity with their magical signature.
The Philosopher's Stone may be a piece broken off from one of the talismans.
See also Boost, the talismans' activation spell.
References[]
- ↑ Encyclopedia Slayers, page 217
- ↑ Slayers Reading, page 232