Arius Branch School

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Arius Branch School (アリウス分校, Arius Branch School), or Arius Satellite School on Global, is one of the many schools in Kivotos.

Background[]

A faction that broke off from the Trinity Alliance and has been forgotten by time. It's said that no one—not even the General Student Council—knows where their autonomous district is, save for a few students attending Arius.

General Information[]

Arius is a school that had broken off from Trinity General School. No one knows where their autonomous district is, except a few individuals such as Joumae Saori. The students of Arius primarily learn to fight and kill, rather than regular subjects that normal students would learn, making them a terrorist organization.

Their motto is "Vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas." (Vanity of vanities and all is vanity.), which is based on Ecclesiastes 12:8: "Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes; vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas." (Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.)^[1]. Their logo is a skull with a crown and a rose, which are common elements of a vanitas artwork.

It is later revealed that modern Arius' vendetta against Trinity was disciplined into the students by Beatrice, who was referred to as "Madame", via inhumane means such as torture and brainwashing as a method of controlling them. Beatrice resides over the school as its student council president, using Arius' Autonomous District as her base of operations. It is also through her powers that Arius' AD remains hidden to this day, as her powers allow for the path of entry into Arius, through Trinity's ancient catacombs, to change constantly. Prior to Beatrice's rule, the position of the student council president was hereditary, and the latest in line would have been Hakari Atsuko. It was also stated that Beatrice was also responsible for providing some of the deadly weapons Arius owned, such as the cruise missile, which was used during the Eden Treaty signing, and the halo-destroying bomb used by Azusa against the Arius Squad.

History[]

Before the First Ecumenical Council, modern day Trinity was nothing more than a collection of hostile schools and factions. Eventually, through the efforts of the three major academies, the First Ecumenical Council was held, and a "promise" was made to stop the fighting between each school, forming the alliance that persists today. However, according to Misono Mika, Arius was fiercely against the formation of the alliance, and were later purged as a result. The Justina Council of Saints, despite being the most vocal faction to denounce Arius, led the school's exodus and took the lead with Arius' reconstruction.

Approximately ten years prior to the start of the game, a civil war broke out in Arius that divided the school into two. It's unclear why the civil war broke out, but it was ended by Beatrice, who used the opportunity to take control of Arius as its student council president. She would use her power to manipulate the students by "teaching" them the "truth of the world." The students, who were oblivious to her intentions, believed her words as the truth. As such, allowing her to manifest their contempt towards Gehenna and Trinity to become the hatred they're known for nowadays. As the new president, Beatrice decided to turn Atsuko, who would have been the next president, into a sacrifice for what's known as the Iridescence with the intent to "ascend into a higher being."

Mika's Coup Attempt[]

At some point prior to the start of Volume 3, Mika approached the Arius Squad with an offer to make peace between them and Trinity, asking for an Arius student to be secretly transferred to Trinity to show that students from the two schools can get along. Saori reported this to Beatrice, who asked her to stall Mika and gain as much intelligence about Trinity from her as possible. Saori complied, but also asked Azusa to begin studying knowledge about Trinity in preparation for the mission, genuinely believing in the possibility for peace. However, the situation changed when Mika, annoyed at fellow Tea Party member Yurizono Seia, asked Arius to "teach her a lesson". Seeing this as an opportunity to remove a Tea Party member, the Arius Squad, at the order of Beatrice, dispatched Azusa to assassinate Seia using a halo-destroying bomb. However, Seia convinced Azusa to fake her death instead. With the help of Aomori Mine, Seia went into hiding. The Tea Party, unaware of Seia's survival, covered up her "death", with Kirifuji Nagisa succeeding her as the host.

Following Seia's apparent death, Mika began panicking and hatched a plan to remove Nagisa in a coup d'état, place herself as the leader of Trinity and incorporate Arius as Trinity's new military arm, replacing the Justice Realization Committee. For her plan, she snuck a large Arius attack force into Trinity campus. Unbeknownst to her, Arius planned to turn on her following the success of the coup.

Ultimately, Mika and the Arius attack force were defeated by the combined efforts of Sensei, the Supplementary Lesson Department, and the Sisterhood. Mika lost the will to fight upon hearing that Seia was still alive and was subsequently imprisoned.

Eden Treaty[]

Following the failed coup, Arius sought to sabotage the signing of the Eden Treaty. They approached Pandemonium Society President Hanuma Makoto, offering to help her wipe out the Tea Party at the signing ceremony. Because of this, Makoto, who was vehemently against Trinity, pretended to agree to the treaty. As a "token of friendship", they also gifted her an airship. Prior to the signing ceremony, Arius planted a large number of explosives underneath the site of the ceremony, the Old Cathedral of Communion.

On the day of the signing, Arius launched a cruise missile at the Old Cathedral, detonating the explosives underneath and causing a massive explosion. Meanwhile, they also detonated the Pandemonium Society's airship, which was filled with crates of explosives. Taking advantage of the chaos, Arius Squad signed an altered version of the treaty, which stated that they, instead of Trinity and Gehenna, would serve as the Eden Treaty Organization (ETO). Meanwhile, using Atsuko's royal blood, Gematria member Maestro created a mimesis of the Justina Council of Saints, an immortal army dedicated to enforcing the treaty. The Arius Squad then designated both Trinity and Gehenna as violators of the treaty, causing the Council of Saints to attack both parties relentlessly.

School Club[]

Arius Squad

Students[]

Arius Squad[]

Variant(s):

Former[]

Others[]

Gematria Beatrice (President)

Justina Council of Saints Barbara (Mimesis)

Gallery[]

V • T • E

Trivia[]

The school is named after a Christian presbyter named Arius, the leader of a Christian sect named Arianism, a heretical doctrine that he pushed where he believed that God is superior to Jesus, which went against the doctrine of Trinitarianism. The sect has been extinct for more than 1400 years.
During the Eden Treaty Arc, Arius took control of Mimesis under Beatrice's orders, allowing the creation of Arius' secret weapon, Barbara. Although Beatrice was the one controlling it, Maestro was the one responsible for creating it, who mentioned that he didn't like his creations being used as weapons. Maestro was also responsible for the creation of another secret weapon, an unfinished version of Hieronymus, which was used as the Arius Squad's last line of defense and means to escape. During its summoning, Sensei mentioned that this was "breaking the rules", causing them to do the same by pulling out their grown-up card for their first time.
Originally, Atsuko's sacrifice was supposed to happen years earlier, but it was postponed by a deal Saori made with Beatrice, who believed Her offer that stated she can save not only Atsuko, but also the entirety of Arius.
Nearing the end of Chapter 4 of the Eden Treaty Arc, Beatrice was infuriated when Her ascension wasn't working, who then shouted that Saori will become the next sacrifice. Originally, the reason Atsuko was the sacrifice was believed to be because she possessed the royal blood but judging by Beatrice's statement and the 4th PV^[2], it doesn't necessarily seem to be the case.

Reference[]