Macht

"Even thought it might have been but a moment, that I met you and the time we spent together is irreplaceable in my mind. That is why I have decided to destroy all of it. I have a feeling that in doing so, I will know the concept of "malice" and what it feels to have "guilt"."

- Macht to Glück

Macht (マハト), also known as Macht of El Dorado (黄金郷のマハト) is a demon and the last survivor among the Seven Sages of Destruction. He is renowned as the most powerful Sage of Destruction because the magic he wields, Di Agölze (Universal Golden Transmutation), is an imperceptible, unstoppable and irreversible curse. Although he held the title of Sage of Destruction, Macht was largely uninterested in the conflict between demons and mankind and disliked being specifically involved in the war. After the defeat of the Demon King, Macht made an agreement with Lord Glück, the feudal lord of the Fortified City of Weise, and became his servant. About 20 years before the death of the Hero Himmel, Macht transmuted the entire city of Weise into gold and was subsequently sealed inside a barrier, along with the transmuted city.

Personality
Macht is usually languid, cold and uncaring. As is common with demons, he is highly individualistic and asocial; yet he does not appear enthusiastic in seeking to kill humans or engaging in battle. This is due to how powerful his magic is, rendering most of the fights he engaged in mundane as he can end them at any time. In addition, he does not comprehend certain concepts, such as evil, justice, as well as certain emotions, like guilt and malice. He also does not seem to understand the concept of morality, signified by the fact he did not understand why killing other humans would get in the way of coexisting with them. He does not possess any kind of loyalty or solidarity with other demons as well as the Demon King; he even declined to assist Schlacht in the important battle against the Hero of the South, and killed a former demon acquaintance without any sign of reluctance or remorse.

Macht specifically dislikes conflicts. It was partly explained that due to his powerful magic, he does not find battles engaging, but according to Schlacht, he has detested battles and conflicts for a long time. Macht does appear to act consistent with his aversion to conflict, for example, in El Dorado, he impaled the corpses of intruders before transmuting them into gold as a threat to future trespassers, claiming that most humans would flee at the sight. Consequently, Macht is dismayed by "reckless daredevils", which is how he describes those who dare to challenge him, such as Lernen and Wahrheit - people who are not deterred by the threat he poses. However, it is worth noting that while he is a moderate among demons, Macht does not dislike conflicts because of a moral aversion to violence and killing. He only seems to detest battle and fighting as an activity.

While he is mostly apathetic, Macht can be surprisingly whimsical, often describing his actions as being done "on a whim". He did not transmute every human settlement he attacked in to gold, and while some villages were burned, others were left intact. He also attacked the carriage of Lord Glück on a whim, and came to an agreement with Glück simply because he found the man interesting. However, Macht can also be extremely persistent once he is occupied with an idea, most evidently in his desire to learn more about humans. Although it started from something very trivial, he continued to commit to his desire for understanding humanity and coexistence, even when his efforts were deemed pointless and had yielded little fruit. To gain the understanding he desires, he was even willing to risk his life, a highly unusual behavior for a demon.

As a demon, he is naturally adept at mimicking human speech and mannerisms and does this subconsciously the more he interacts with people. During his time in the Fortified City of Weise he has integrated himself into society so much so that reportedly "many people were helped by his words and deeds". However, it is but the consequence of his nature as a demon in order to garner people's trust and deceive them, not out of any true desire to befriend humankind.

Macht has great pride in his magic and magical prowess. In fact, it is the reason why he dislikes conflict to begin with. He felt the need to reaffirm to Glück that Soul Track was a "great demon magic" which he could use better than humans. He was visibly angry when Serie insulted his abilities and taunted him with the fact that he could not undo his magic on human beings.

Appearance
Macht has long red hair without bangs and two long, curved horns coming out of his temples. His eyes are blue. They have heavy eyebags underneath, lending them a tired, sleepless look.

He wears a dark green, high-collared shirt which reaches down to his knees and three golden braces with tassels attached on his right arm. Currently, the Stone Bracelet of Sovereignty is equipped on his right hand underneath his sleeves. His shirt has a golden tassel and stretches from his left shoulder across his chest. In addition, Macht wears red gloves.

His most notable feature is the large blue coat he wears on his left shoulder. This piece of clothing serves as his weapon in combat which he is able to transform to gold and then back. He often shapes it into a large sword to use in battles. It can also be transformed as is to be used as a shield.

Abilities
Macht is an incredibly powerful demon, denoting himself the strongest among the Seven Sages of Destruction. According to Serie, if he felt like it, Macht has enough power to transmute the entirety of the Northern Plateau into gold.

Physical abilities: Macht is an extremely powerful physical fighter. Despite being a mage, he usually prefers to fight with a great sword made using his magic. His battle strength and agility are overwhelming enough to instantly wipe out a party of experienced demon fighters, including a First-class mage. He broke through Lernen's defensive magic with seemingly nothing but his physical strength, and managed to effortlessly defeat a horde of the Demon King Army forces led by the Demon Shogun Shräg, the Lightning Flash, without resorting to using Di Agölze on them.

Mana Detection; Macht possesses incredibly precise mana detection, which Frieren claims even she could not easily bypass. His mana detection reaches throughout the transmuted El Dorado, making it almost impossible for any intruder to escape his notice. He easily detected both Lernen and Edel, who were experts at hiding and mana concealment.

Mana characteristics: while it is never stated that Macht himself does not emit any mana (and it has been stated that no living creature with mana can ever completely extinguish its mana), due to the nature of his magic, Di Agölze, Macht's mana can not be detected even though he is constantly using his magic to expand the reach of El Dorado. The jarring contrast between seeing such a massive area magically transmuted into gold and yet feeling none of the mana resulting from that magic is the reason why most mages find El Dorado and Macht by extension extremely discomforting.

Di Agölze (Universal Golden Transmutation Magic): Macht's signature spell, a curse which transforms anything in the material world into gold. It is regarded as the strongest curse, one that could not be dispelled even with the magic of the Goddess. As a curse, it is imperceptible as magic and thus impossible to defend against or evade. The gold he creates is also indestructible and unmalleable; upon identification by magic it is registered as gold, but of a completely different material from naturally occurring gold.

Di Agölze requires no special activation condition or mechanism. It does not require Macht to make physical contact with the desired target, and it seems capable of being used remotely at incredible range, bypassing even the magic barrier used to seal him in. However, it does seem like direct contact is more natural and comfortable for him to activate the curse. This magic is so overwhelmingly powerful that Macht himself deliberately avoids using it directly on his opponents because it makes most battles too mundane for his liking.

With his magic, Macht creates a large sword out of the coat he carries in order to employ in battles. He can freely turn the sword back into a coat during battle and transform it into gold to make an indestructible shield for defense.

Macht can freely adjust the speed at which he deploys Di Agölze. He can turn things to gold almost immediately, as he demonstrated with his sword and the Fortified City of Weise, but also gradually, for example, when he was saying his last words to Glück in Chapter 92. It is noteworthy that transmuting material into gold and remaking them from gold are distinct. Macht is capable of undoing the golden transmutation on his own body and the coat he uses as his weapon, but he cannot return the people he turned to gold back to normal. According to Serie, it is because he is a "monster who does not understand humans" and thus cannot visualize himself bringing back a human from gold. Therefore, as far as Macht is concerned, using Di Agölze and killing are equivalent.

Human magic: Unlike most demons, Macht is capable of using many kinds of human magic. He learned them during his visit to Solitär, who conducts studies on human magic. His mastery is sufficient to train a highly successful imperial mage.

Soul track (Human-killing magic/Basic Offense Magic): Macht is capable of using Soul track proficiently; claiming it was a great magic created by an old friend of his.

Defensive Magic: Macht is capable of using human-developed defensive magic, as he demonstrated in the brief battle against Serie.

Trivia

 * Macht in German means power, might, strength. As is appropriate to his namesake, Macht is considered the most powerful Sage of Destruction. In addition, his preferred method of battle is physical strength instead of magic.
 * Macht had a characteristic sitting position he seemed to favor, with his back slouched and his hands in between his legs.
 * His original title is "黄金郷", which literally means "Golden Land". This phrase is also used to describe the areas which Macht has transmuted into gold. The name was localized in English as "El Dorado", as "黄金郷" was one of the ways the myth of El Dorado was translated into the Japanese language.