Dark Messiah Fists

Nature: Technical Origin: Kun'lao Flourish: Brutal

A spinoff of Divine Void and one of the most dangerous martial arts in the world. A fighting style made only for killing, used by the assassins of the Writhing Temple. At its core, it utilizes a lot of the same basics of Divine Void, making use of rotational parries and wide-ranging kicks. What separates Dark Messiah Fists from Divine Void is that it has added the "8 Fists of Violence" to its roster of attacks. These 8 fists are specialized fist strikes that can be used to permanently harm one's opponent.

Dark Messiah Fists is not a style made for competition, but for killing. As such, a great amount of its offense exists to kill or permanently maim an opponent. Because of this, Dark Messiah Fists' Flourish is Brutal.

Core Principles

There are a few key elements to those who practice Dark Messiah Fists. These elements are central to the martial art's key concept: Inflicting great pain and suffering upon one's foe with the usage of esoteric strikes meant to permanently harm the target.

• Pain is Pleasure: The Writhing Temple trains its adherents to not just go numb from pain, but to feel pleasure instead of pain when harm is inflicted upon them. This makes practicioners particularly tough, as they no longer have a feeling of pain holding them back. This also numbs them psychologically to the concept of inflicting pain on others.

• 8 Fists of Violence - Offense: 4 of the strikes incorporated into Dark Messiah Fists for offensive purposes. The first is Needle Finger, in which the user jabs their middle and index finger into their opponent for piercing damage. The second is the Beak Strike, in which adherents strike an opponent in the vitals using all their fingers in a beak-like fashion. The third is Pinky Jab, which is similar to Needle Finger, but using the pinky and often targeted at the neck. Last, there is Twisting Knuckle, in which the user jabs two of their middle knuckles into their foe before twisting their knuckles into their flesh.

• 8 Fists of Violence - Defensive: Likewise, there are also 4 strikes user for counterattacks. The first is Thunderclap, in which the user palm strikes their opponent's ears to shock them. The second is palm thrust, in which the practicioner thrusts their lower palm to parry an attack or strike their opponent's chin. Third is 3 Finger Thrust, which involves thrusting the thumb, index, and middle fingers into the mouth and pulling the target's tongue out. Lastly, there's twisting palm, in which the user catches a punch with their palm then twists it with enough might to send their foe off their feet.

Weapons

As assassins, Dark Messiah Fists users are often well equipped to utilize weapons as well.

• Jian: A double bladed, one-handed short sword that can be used with great efficiency to thrust and slash apart an opponent.

• Assassin's Mace: A curved mace that is sometimes duel-wielded. Can be smashed into an opponent to deal massive crushing damage.

• Bladed Fan: A deadly bladed weapon disguised as a fan, can also be thrown like a boomerang to be used as a long ranged-weapon. Often appears as an ordinary fan, but with spiked blades at the edge of the weapon.