Daniel Stone

**Daniel Stone** (ダニエル ストン, *Danieru Suton*?), most recognized by his alias of **Styx** (恩恵川(おんけいかわ), *Onekikawa*?, lit. "Blessed River"), is an infamous Contract Killer, with over 2200 confirmed kills during his time as a Contract Killer alone. Daniel is a highly formidable force, his cybernetic body able to take care of most situations by using its natural defence mechanisms alone.

## Appearance

Daniel is an absolute behemoth of a man, towering before men of all countries. Standing at a colossal 198 cm, most people cower at the very sight of him. This also stems from his bestial appearance, with messy white hair and only one visible eye that glows an ominous crimson.

The rest of Daniel’s body is cyborg-esque in appearance, composed of various machine parts organized in a way to give a humanoid appearance. Despite the advanced computer system within, which results in various stratagems and devices within him, it does not alter the humanoid appearance of Daniel. It simply looks like a muscular man covered in metallic plating, with jagged spikes on the shoulders and claw like fingers. All in all, Daniel is a force to be reckoned with, something easily determined from his appearance alone.

## Personality

A broken man. The transfer of ones own consciousness into a new and bio-mechanical body is unheard of. After all, ones consciousness cannot be simply be inputted as a bunch of 1’s and 0’s, yet it proved possible with this experiment. With this transfer, it broke the man Daniel had once been, truly transforming him into a completely different entity. Once upon a time, Daniel was a kind and caring man, however that isn’t who he is anymore. Now, he is Styx, a killer with little to no remorse, willing to kill whatever and whoever comes between him and his goals.

Now, Daniel exudes an aura of pure hostility. His presence alone causes waves of murderous intent to exude outwards, causing those with weaker willpower to fall and collapse to their knees. A truly formidable power, his mere aura is enough to ensure victory. This shows the anger and violence dwelling within Styx, something so toxic it actually harms the people around him.

## Battle Prowess

### Swordsmanship

Daniel follows a multitude of forms when it comes to swordsmanship, and like his first incarnation, uses a variety of combination styles, as well as his own style of swordsmanship. The style of which Daniel has made his own is called the **Sword of Precision** (精密剣(せいみつけん), *Seimitsuken*?, lit. "Most Precise Blade"), a name which Daniel has recognized as his own. Daniel has been able to learn these multiple form through the training given to him by his previous incarnation, and utilizes the combinations for certain events.

As the name of Daniel’s swordplay implies, the slashes usually spawned by Daniel’s blades are performed in a ‘precise’ fashion, and Daniel follows a certain ideology when it comes to his swordsmanship. Daniel states he follows the ‘Flowing Belief’, an ancient ideology of the bladed art, similar to his previous incarnation. The belief dictates that the blade is an extension of one’s self, and evolves over time, and should not be restricted to any given rhythm. This ideology is one not often followed by others, as Daniel and a few others are the only practitioners of this belief. The belief also states that a user should flow chakra into the blade, to produce a ‘reversed’ aura, and allows for smoother and hastier attacks. This unique and powerful belief often draws inspiration from utilizing the opponents swordsmanship as well, and Daniel is able to perfectly execute this due to his eidetic memory.

Many styles of swordplay follow a sort of rhythm, and unlike others, Daniel’s Flowing Belief does not believe in being restricted to one form of swordsmanship alone, and should instead utilize a variety of swordsmanship as one continues to mature in the art of swordsmanship. Now, as any true follower of swordsmanship knows that many forms of swordsmanship should follow a rhythm, which the form of combat follows depending on the speed, strength, timing, and type of swordsmanship utilized. Due to Daniel’s lack of a rhythm, almost all that have fought him have found trouble in finding a weak point in Daniel’s defense, as his varying usage of swordsmanship is almost impossible to pinpoint, and very few weaknesses have been found. It is due to the fact that Daniel does not follow a certain form of swordsmanship, which allows him to fight against masters and be regarded as one. Practically every practitioner of swordsmanship follows a certain form of swordsmanship, and it is due to this lack of a certain form which has allowed Daniel to defeat all of his challengers, as it has been proven next-to-impossible for one to adapt to Daniel’s ever-changing flow.

Daniel has also adopted another belief, the belief known as the ‘Rigid Belief’. The rigid belief states that any swordsmanship practitioner should solely follow a single form of swordsmanship, and must master such to be regarded as a master of the blade. Daniel has taken upon certain aspects of the belief, and he himself has mastered his own unique form of swordsmanship, the Gyakufunsha Kata. By mastering this swordsmanship art, Daniel is able to decrypt the major strength of an opponent, and is able to his swordsmanship mastery to break down the opponent. Due to Daniel believing in two different beliefs, two beliefs which contrast at the level of the Yin and Yang, he had been regarded as an open-minded man, as he is shown to believe in a multitude of beliefs.

Daniel’s swordsmanship relies heavily on three aspects; speed, strength, and accuracy. Daniel’s speed in swordsmanship relies heavily on his mechanical parts within himself, which allows for him to move at speeds close to that of sound due to their unique integration of jet engines.. When used in collaboration with the art of Iaidō, Daniel has been noted to be able to decapitate an attacker before they can blink. Since the average individual blinks in within 300-400 milliseconds, Daniel is known to be able to attack in less than one-third of a second; a feat many envy. This speed is also revered more so in Daniel’s combat when one considers he evasion speed. Daniel is able to move brief milliseconds before an opponent’s blade strikes, Daniel moving only by the bare minimum distance required. With this ideology, Daniel often saves himself minor amounts of stamina, which are known to prove to be highly useful in the final stretch of combat. When it comes to strength, Daniel is no pushover. Daniel often says that speed is much stronger with the aspect of strength, and Daniel’s application of such proves his statement true. His strength is comparable to that of the Crimson Crusher. The sheer amount of force Daniel is able to apply is enough to shatter through blades made of weak quality, an occurrence which occurs more often than one would think. Daniel’s strength comes with a price, which is the amount of stress it puts on Daniel. Using all of his strength right off of the bat would drain him quickly, and thus Daniel only uses his full strength when absolutely needed, and has only used his full capabilities in a death match with an old comrade. Practically every swordsman requires the skill to have close to perfect abilities in accuracy, as if one is not accurate, there would have been no point in the training. Daniel’s accuracy is close to perfect, largely due to the fact that Daniel’s intelligence allows him to constantly be ten steps ahead of his opponent, and is often able to force an opponent to perform certain moves, based on what Daniel believes would put him at an advantage. Daniel is rarely known to miss an opponent and has only done so against users of Quirks that bend Space-Time.

Despite Daniel’s ever-changing style of swordplay, most of Daniel’s attacks and defenses are usually an amalgamation of two or more styles, and eventually each aspect of Daniel’s Wave Motion Slashes’ roots can be traced down into many forms of swordsmanship. These forms all have their weaknesses, but due to Daniel’s usage of them by combining two or more forms of swordsmanship, Daniel more or less covers any weaknesses that could potentially lead to his own downfall. Two of the most commonly seen of Daniel’s combinations is a combination of the Niten Ichi-ryū and the Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū, two forms of swordsmanship. The Niten Ichi-ryū is also known as the Niten Ichi (二天一, "Two heavens as one"). As the name implies, this form of swordsmanship requires the usage of two blades, one Katana and one Wakizashi. The blades are used in a ‘cover-up’ fashion, in the sense that in the rare occasion that one does falter, the other blade can be used as a sidearm to continue. The blades are used in rapid succession, in order to heavily damage the opponent. There are three main branches within the Niten Ichi-ryū; Taichi Seiho, Kodachi Seiho, and Nito Seiho. Master of these three branches is a preliminary requirement if one wishes to master this art. The second art utilized in this combination is the Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū, also simply referred to as “Eishin-ryū”, is a branch of swordsmanship techniques focusing on the unsheathing of a blade at high speeds, and utilizes bladeplay at a relatively low positioning. By unsheathing one’s blade at a relatively high speed allows for the upper advantage in combat, as by unsheathing the blade at this quickened rate allows for Daniel to quickly decapitate one before the battle has begun. The second factor of this swordsmanship format is the usage of a low blade position. By keeping the blade at a low position, it makes it harder for the opponent to determine where the blade shall move next, allowing for surprise attacks at unprecedented angles. This form of swordsmanship has five different sub-branches; Seiza no Bu, Tatehiza no Bu, Okuiai Iwaza no Bu, Okuiai Tachiwaza no Bu, and Bangai no Bu. Mastery of these are a prerequisite to master this form of swordsmanship.

The next unique combination within Daniel’s arsenal is a combination of the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū and the Shindō Munen-ryū forms of swordsmanship. Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, also referred to as “Ienao Kata”, is a form of swordsmanship focusing on over-hand slashes and retaining a lowered positioning of the blade. The usage of over-hand slashes allows for Daniel to have more power in his downward slashes, a factor which he relies on within his overall swordsmanship prowess. The usage of keeping the blade at a lowered position makes it many times harder for the opponent to determine where the blade shall move next, allowing for surprise attacks at unprecedented angles. This form of swordsmanship has three different sub-branches; Kashima Kata, Ryū Kata, and Munen Kata. Mastery of these three sub-branches is a prerequisite for mastery of this form of swordsmanship. The second form of swordsmanship used in this combination is the swordsmanship form of Shindō Munen-ryū. Shindō Munen-ryū, also known as “Shintō Munen-ryū”, is a form of swordsmanship which focuses on ‘continuation’. One practically never stops movement when using this form of swordsmanship. This allows for Daniel to collect more speed, and eventually outlast the opponent when it comes to the stamina portion of this swordsmanship. This form of swordsmanship has twelve main curricular points; Iwanami, Ukifune Gaeshi, Noarashi Gaeshi, Utsusemi, Matsukaze, Zangetsu Hidari, Zangetsu Migi, Doto Gaeshi, Raito Gaeshi, Yoto, Into, and Inazuma Gaeshi. Mastery of these twelve curricular aspects is the only way to truly master this format of swordsmanship.