the dragon slayers the dragon slayers The Zaibach Empire has a vast and powerful army divided into various units. One of these units is a group of 15 young men, called the Dragon Slayers, under the leadership of Dilandau Albatou. The Dragon Slayers fight in the Zaibach army to bring glory and triumph to their country. Their mission is to capture and retain the dragon, Escaflowne, that plagues Emperor Dornkirk's plans for conquest. We first meet the Dragon Slayers as Dilandau is reprimanding them because they failed their first mission to capture Escaflowne. Dilandau gives two of his underlings some tough love and makes examples of them by slapping them across the face really hard. What is odd about this is the fact that the Dragon Slayers do not hate him for his treatment of them but they strive harder to please him. As we see throughout the series, the Dragon Slayers have an undying loyalty to Dilandau. Could it be because of Dilandau's reputation for being fierce and winning many a battle? Dilandau is known throughout the Zaibach Empire and perhaps the Dragon Slayers considered it an honor to fight right beside him. They will themselves to become better so that they will feel worthy. I think they take Dilandau's beatings as a way to become stronger and do not want to show weakness in front of him. Perhaps it could be that they are so deep in their hero-worship of him that if they fail, not only will they look bad but so will Dilandau as well. He knows this and reminds them that he doesn't want a ruined reputation and also will not tolerate incompetence. The Dragon Slayers do care for Dilandau and he does for them in his own twisted way. They put in their own say, although they know they will be punished for it, but it is for Dilandau's sake, who makes somewhat rash decisions in battle. They even worry over him when he first got the scar telling him he shouldn't aggravate the wound. While it might seem that their concern goes unheard or perhaps taken the wrong way, Dilandau does care. He only shows it in small ways. For instance when one of the Dragon Slayers by the name of Miguel was captured and taken to Freud, because of his devotion to his leader Miguel stayed silent when questioned. However he was manipulated by the doppelganger Zongi. Miguel managed to escape but was murdered by Zongi so that Miguel wouldn't expose him. Dilandau didn't seem concerned about Miguel when he first got captured because Miguel was one of his men, he would rather die than talk. This shows Dilandau is confident about his Slayers but he finds out what happened to Miguel when Zongi went back to give his report. So Dilandau killed Zongi to avenge his fallen Slayer. Even in death, the loyalty to Dilandau that the Dragon Slayers have is unbreakable. In a merciless slaughter Van killed each and every one of the Dragon Slayers, some whose last words were crying out for their "Dilandau-sama." Van intent on avenging Fanelia goes for Dilandau next but is stopped by the spirits of the dead Dragon Slayers. They order Van to stop; they will not allow him to kill Dilandau who they idolize for giving them their guymelefs and making them Dragon Slayers. Dilandau escapes while this happens and he seems terrified to have seen his Dragon Slayers die. After he is back on the Vione, he mourns their deaths by tossing a rose to the ground below. Even though he says their death was pointless, you can see his shoulders give a visible shake. When the sorcerers go to reprogram him, it is his Slayers that he calls for, for he doesn't want to be alone. He found safety in their presence but now that they are gone he feels he has nothing.