Shiore

The King of the Dead, Shiore Furawa (lit. "Wilting Flower"), is a legendary Mercenary and assassin renowned for his prior affiliation with the Cathedral Valley and his status within the infamous Rogue Guild, Heartstring. As a member of the Furawa line of assassins, Shiore was raised with extraordinarily high expectations. His father, having specifically bed with a woman who was a descendant of the Rylo Clan, was infuriated upon the realization his eldest child did not possess Mystic Eyes.

Ousted, Shiore flocked to the Godlands for refuge - where, immediately recognizing his talent, he was inducted into the Cathedral Valley's Executioners of Light. Unequaled in skill, he became a member of the Valley's very own Hand of God, a group wherein five extraordinary individuals at the time are given the rank of Paladin and hailed as the strongest associates of the Godlands.

After slaying the Blind Angel, Kuro, and becoming known as the Angel Slayer, Shiore left the Valley to pursue his own interests, believing the Valley had taken him as far as it could have - at least, that is what the public was told. In truth, accused of being a participant in the Fall of Yaketyoniwa, Shiore was ousted. This revealed his true allegiance to the Rogue Mutant-led organization, Heartstring - who he believed had shown him far more truth than the Valley could have.

Overview
Shiore is a fair-skinned and reserved young man who is said to be as pleasant to speak to as "he is to look at." Born into the life of an assassin, Shiore has learned patience and a reserved nature are the most effective tools for killing in their own right. He has accomplished many deeds, taking jobs from both the Axis and Opposition. Above all else, however, Shiore is widely known to be responsible for killing one of the Seven Angels of Aditya, the Blind Angel, Kuro.

Shiore never considered himself particularly talented or intelligent as he was growing up, instead having his growth in competence skyrocketed at the age of 17, when he was forced to leave his home. Despite his past covered in blood, Shiore holds a deep love for his younger siblings, and after the death of his younger sister Shizukana, a protective nature over Kurimuzo.

He holds a deep adoration for Heartstring and it's goals, wishing to enact peace - albeit, a twisted version. Unlike Astrum who genuinely believes his actions are right, Shiore believes the line of morality is blurred. While he does not think his actions are morally acceptable, he does not deem such morals necessary when in the face of larger peace and prosperity.

Abilities
Shiore has gained many an alias, such as "The Demon of the North," "King of the Dead," and his most infamous, "The Angel Slayer." A nigh-legendary figure throughout the Wasteland, Shiore has atoned for his lack of Mystic Eyes with a multitude of skills and abilities that can be argued to be even more powerful.

Holding a powerful Mutation, quick thinking, and his own Runes, Shiore can summon the dead, project powerful illusions, absorb souls, and nullify ki - all of which earned his nickname as the King of the Dead. Rivaled only by Astrum and select others within Heartstring, it is extraordinarily difficult to overstate Shiore's immense power.

Physical Capabilities
While perhaps not at the same level of someone like Astrum, Shiore is a very skilled combatant when it comes to pure physique. With speed said to rival that of Artorias, Shiore has honed his body to the limit - hoping to carve himself into the most effective assassin possible. Tsukaori cited Shiore as his most gifted student, recounting his reaction times as the fastest he'd ever seen. Working with his keen intuition, Shiore can eliminate most ki-users with his bare hands alone. His steps have become impossible to hear, his breathing as natural and composed as one asleep. His strength, while not his most defining attribute, is nothing to scoff at - shattering through the most durable metals and substances on earth without so much as a singular breath.

Mutation
Shiore's Mutation, Shadowkin, is among one of the most powerful Mutations there is. Shadowkin functions as what one would call a pocket dimension - access to a location simply referred to as the Abyss. In the Abyss, there is no life, nor death. An empty void, pitch black, with no discernable landmarks or anything of the sort.

Shadowkin functions in a multitude of ways, but as the Abyss is life-draining, he can passively summon it through the runic symbols on his hands to absorb ki. He can do this endlessly, but he is unable to utilize said absorbed energy. To add to this, there is a five second cooldown for the absorption of average outputs of ki, whereas larger showings will leave him unable to absorb anything for a longer period of time.

At a greater cost of ki, Shiore can summon up to four tangible, circular black portals that link to the Abyss. While unable to fit a person's body within, he is capable of using it to transport objects. He will often use this to summon his blade, Vishnu.

Another of the abilities granted by Shadowkin is becoming physically capable of disappearing into and traveling through shadows. Every distinct shadow can become a "portal" to the Abyss, meaning he can link the two at a whim. Simply by stepping into a particular shadow, Shiore becomes capable of sinking into it, travelling through his dimension and emerging from another shadow anywhere on the planet, if he so wishes. As such, Shiore cannot take himself within his pocket dimension without a tangible source of light nearby, and simple darkness will not due.

An extension of this ability, Shiore can transport anyone he wishes into the dimension. By making physical contact with them whilst he is in a shadow, even if they aren't, Shiore can throw his adversary into the Abyss. As the Abyss is quite literally "anti-life," those not marked by seal by Shiore will instantly die upon exposure. However, those who are outright more powerful than him may be capable of resisting such - and not to mention, Shiore cannot do such without straining himself to a considerable degree. Depending on the power of the opponent, it may take him a rather extensive period of time to transport them within his dimension, during such the adversary may be given time to escape.

Midnight
The rune of the God of Death, Midnight takes the form of a greek cross on Shiore's forehead. Shiore considers Midnight just as valuable as his Mutation, if not potentially moreso. Passively boosting both his ki's power and traits it may take on, Midnight above all else grants Shiore access to techniques that have become almost a trademark of his skillset. The rune itself shares a nature with Shiore's Mutation, enhancing and granting him new abilities he otherwise was unaware of.

Midnight: King of the Dead - The namesake ability of Shiore, King of the Dead allows the young assassin to summon familiars in the form of skeletal soldiers. While the creation and summoning of a familiar is something that would require nearly the entire ki pool of an individual, Midnight works by utilizing a miniscule amount of Shiore's ki as a catalyst, before passively amplifying it to accomplish feats that are thought only to be possible by the God of Death. These familiars take the form of skeletal figures, pitch-black and emanating a jet black flame alongside a dark luminescence. Shiore can summon up to four of these familiars at a time - though, every new one he summons, power is taken away from the other(s). While a single summon would hold power several times greater than an X-Grade Mercenary, up to four would make so each singular adversary is only relative to an X-Grade Merc.

Midnight: Return - Upon his potential death, Midnight will literally force Shiore to revive. Bringing him back to life, Shiore will be in peak condition, immune to dying to the method that originally killed him. Though it only may bring him back to life once, this is one of the most incredible abilities of the seal - effectively making Shiore a pseudo-immortal.

Midnight: Decay - Upon contact with any subtance, Shiore becomes capable of dismantling and destroying it, no matter what it may be. This is, of course, only with mortal substances. Divine, mystical, or demonic substances will not break through usage of this ability, but it nonetheless allows him to "kill" any inorganic material that he sees fit.

Midnight: Death Manifesto - Through Midnight, Shiore is capable of summoning up to two weapons at a time. These weapons, made of a pitch-black substance, are the antithesis of all life. Whatever form he chooses to make them into, these weapons will not only cut through the physical body of the opponent, but their soul as well - resulting in an instant kill, no matter what.

Midnight: Reaper - Emphasizing it's heritage from the God of Death, Midnight: Reaper allows Shiore to not see an individual's soul, but how much karma it has accumulated in term. Acting as a judicator of the Gods themselves, Shiore can summon pitch-black chains capable of binding those with high karmic focuses.

The more one has sinned - killed, grievously lied, been unfaithful to faith or persons - the stronger these chains will bind, sapping them of their energy and leaving them at his mercy. They can, however, simply be dodged. Those without a high level of karma will find these chains ineffective, capable of being broken without much effort. Even those who have killed others relentlessly may find themselves capable of breaking these chains if they have stayed true enough to their own way of being.

Midnight: Cursed Seal of Death - The pinnacle of Midnight, this enhancement is only activated once Shiore removes the seal wrappings on his forehead. Immediately after they're removed, the greek cross on Shiore's forehead will begin to sap and convert his own ki. Black lines spread across his body, focusing on his eyes as they glow a dim violet. With this Seal active, Shiore's Midnight capabilities are boosted to the umpteenth degree. He becomes capable of absorbing an individual's soul through physical contact, summoning up to eight skeletal familiars all with strength superior to an X-Grade Mercenary, boosting his physical capabilities several times over, and even rewriting causality.

This comes at the cost of his Mutation, however, as the Cursed Seal works by linking Shiore with Lunestia - a beast said to be one of the children of the God of Death. With his Mutation sealed, Shiore can utilize the full power of his rune - which includes the conjuration of black energy-like weapons, each of which not only cuts through physical forms, but their souls as well.