"Well, that's the thing, purps. It's not exclusive if everyone and their mum has it, y'know?" -Rosa Dimaggio
This article contains information about a concept in the Sun Trilogy; which is self-contained and based in an alternate universe. Thus, this article may not be used by other users unless the creators' explicit permission is acquired; and even then, the other user would need a valid reason to have access to the information displayed upon this article.
This article Corpse Shell, is the sole property of Per and as such, no user may edit this article without explicit permission from the aforementioned creator. If you wish to use this article in any way, please ask me first.
Corpse Shell (黒騎凱装化, Kōpusu Sheru lit. Black Knight Triumphant Armour Change), also known as the Devil Factor (鬼の因子, Oni no Inshi) is a special form of Black Magic and Ancient Spell comparable to the likes of the Black Arts and a Curse due to the wickedness of its power and its demonic origins. Considered not dissimilar to a Bloodline Magic, the power of Corpse Shell is exclusive to those with the blood of the Sejren Clan flowing through the veins, and such, can only be activated by a member. Effectively, Corpse Shell is an altform that's a result of a member of the Sejren undergoing a Junction with the soul of the Guardian Fiend Abyssion as represented through the Corpse Curse Brand, encasing the user in armour composed of the primordial chaos that was the initial "gap" created by the original separation of heaven and earth, giving them the striking visage of a black knight whilst bolstering their capabilities beyond their wildest dreams by channeling the power of the greatest of the seven demonic kings that have conquered different dimensions at the cost of slowly, but surely degrading the user's sanity.
A relic of the Dragon Civil War, Corpse Shell was created by the founder of the Sejren Family to assist them in slaying the draconic menaces that threatened humanity – rejecting Dragon Slayer Magic out of pride and the founder's ardent belief that she could one-up that power which snuffs out the lives of dragonkind through the blueprints left over from the Original Dimension from which they had arrived, managing to get in contact with the supposed leader of the Different Dimension Demons associated with Lemegeton Spirit Magic to establish a Dark Contract after killing the creature with her own two hands, inscribing their soul upon a special rune that was infused with the demon's negatively-charged Magic Power and Curse Power, which would be applied to the inheritor of the title of clan head for several centuries, always granting them the ability of Corpse Shell.
After continued losses to the likes of dragonkind in the Dragon Civil War and the deaths of many of her comrades, Jeanne Sejren, the very first history-important member of the Sejren Family, in her desperation as her own impressive battle skill wasn't nearly enough to fight on par or even realistically slay a dragon without the use of Dragon Slayer Magic or a draconic energy-imbued weapon formed through Enchantment, decided to take the matter into her own hands. Managing to obtain a way to travel from the dimension of Earth Land to the hellscape known as the Diabolus Dimension through interference of time and space mixed with an ancient form of Teleportation Magic. Ending up within this desolate wasteland, Jeanne approached the supposed grand ruler of the Different Dimension Demons and the leader of the Nine Dark Kings, Grand King Bael. Professing her current situation and the lament of humanity to this otherworldly beast, Jeanne demanded Bael to form a contract with her so that she could gain the power to defeat the dragon menace through summoning him and using his immeasurable power to annihilate everything before him. However, naturally, the Grand King refused, unwilling to contract with a mere human of such insignificance for what he saw of her – though he simply told her to contract with any of the lesser Dark Kings. Insistent in gaining his incredible might on her side, Jeanne challenged him to a battle, eventually coming off as the victor through transforming into Soul Armour Knight Proto-Gaiki, defeating him with the Victorize Kick Limit Break. After this, Jeanne forced a contract upon Bael, resulting in the latter giving her a sample of his blood which was infused within her bloodstream; demon's blood was forged from Magical Barrier Particles. Since her immense willpower allowed her human body to resist demonic corruption to a certain extent, Jeanne was capable of mixing the negatively-charged demonic energy with her own magical energy in order to forge a demonic power that allowed one to channel the powers of the demon lords in a more compact form – Corpse Shell.
The Corpse Curse Brand.
After Jeanne's death, her body was split into six parts and the Sejren Family head of the time managed to obtain a portion of Jeanne's magical energy infused with the demon blood. Gathering the blood, Marisa Sejren quickly crafted a yorishiro, an object capable of attracting spirits, thus giving them a physical space to occupy during religious ceremonies that was made out of her heart. Applying Sealing Magic to transfer the energies associated with that demonic power onto a tangible surface, Marisa crafted a rune that was infused with the demon's negatively-charged Magic Power and Curse Power, sealing said energies within the formation of the rune, calling it the Corpse Curse Brand (骸呪烙印, Gaijū Rakuin). This Corpse Curse Brand was implanted upon the newest head in the Sejren Clan upon birth, granting them a symbiotic link with the Grand King from the moment they are born into this world. However, unbeknownst to many, Grand King Bael had been corrupted by the Amadam Virus unleashed upon the demon king at the hands of Black Magister Amadam, thus twisting Bael into one of Amadam's Guardian Fiends, Great Corrupter Abyssion. Thus, instead of maintaining a symbiotic relationship, Abyssion quickly began to corrupt those whom bared the Corpse Curse Brand, corroding their souls little-by-little whenever they invoked Corpse Shell, eventually transforming them into another Hellion. Once a significant amount of corruption has influenced the seal-bearer, Abyssion has displayed that it can possess the person at any given time during the person's lifespan, even while still in their mother's womb or (apparently) just after death.
Description and Weaknesses
Corpse Shell was an unfathomably evil power, coming from the recesses of a heart stained with darkness; a darkness so thick that none could hope to escape from it's tainting influence. Essentially, in order to harness the power of Corpse Shell, the user would have to allow the lingering fragments of the negatively-charged magical energy located within their magic origin to emerge, taking over any traces of magical energy that the user could exude, with their blood holding back the negatively-charged magical energy's corrupting influence, while also enabling the user to project it outwards, around their body. This took the form of a pitch-black aura of darkness which surrounded and compressed around their body, distorting their figure into a demonic shell of its humanized self. Normally, Corpse Shell took the form of the user gaining black slashes which form under their eyes, which then thicken noticeably and merge with the shadows formed on their face, which became stylized black; their skin tone also became much darker. The user's entire body turned a horrific pitch-black, with crimson markings around their chest, arms, as well as under and above their eyes. Finally, their hair would spike on end and grew out as twin chains manifested upon their arms; always encasing the member of the Sejren Family in an armour of darkness, causing them to resemble a demonic black knight. However, some members of the Sejren Family had vastly differing Corpse Shell forms; most notable was Jeanne's own form, which she used to end the Human-Dragon War. In a sense, due to the general powers of both and their mutual status as an altform, Corpse Shell could be considered the demonic counterpart to the Soul Armours; especially given that the two primary users of each power – Crux Kouga and Tsuruko Sejren respectively – are siblings. Additionally, both Corpse Shell and the Soul Armours are powered by the user's fighting spirit and focus around bringing out certain aspects of the wielder to manifest as supernatural powers with several 'secret arts' at their disposal – however, while the former is powered by negative emotions, with the exception of the Black Soul Armours, the Soul Armours are maintained and empowered by the wearer's positive emotions.
When one manages to obtain full control over the utilization and power of this forbidden heretical art, they achieve a state which is commonly referred to as Corpse Shell Adept (黒騎凱装化・変身制御, Kōpusu Sheru Adeputo lit. Black Knight Triumphant Armour Change – Transformation Mastery); in spite of all the negativity which comes part and parcel with being a wielder of Corpse Shell, there are a scarse few whom are capable of using the magic instead of the magic using them; in order to utilize the power of Corpse Shell properly, the user must have a an important revelation; a realization important enough to have an influence in the way the user sees magic. Since the usage of powers is related to the magician's emotions, the process of gaining "true" Corpse Shell could be described as similar to "maturing" or "growing up" mentally- depending upon the type of revelation, the power gained can be completely different; once this happens, once the magician accepts the Corpse Shell into themselves without allowing the darkness to consume them, they may wield its powers without succumbing to its influences; after this point, the user's long-time exposure to darkness renders them immune to its corrupting influence. Additionally, aside from Soul Armours purifying those have become Hellions with the power of their Limit Breaks, which overload the body and soul of the corrupted demons with fighting spirit, Corpse Shell is the only power that can decisively defeat Hellions because of its nature as an altform and its development by a descendant of the creator of the Soul Armours. However, while Soul Armours purify the body and soul of a Hellion, the demonic powers of Corpse Shell extinguish the soul and obliterate their body, effectively removing them from the reincarnation cycle.
However, for all the physical might and versatility that Corpse Shell provides, it did have one, horribly glaring, weakness—the origins of the magic itself. As Corpse Shell was created through a contract with an Etherious demon who provided negatively-charged magical energy in order to forge the magic, whenever a magician used Corpse Shell, they were tapping into the negatively-charged magical energy, which were toxic to regular magicians. Thanks to their "conditioning", the magicians of the Sejren Family who harnessed the Black Art were slightly resistant to the energies of demons, but since they were harnessing it with the bodies of humans, instead of destroying them from the inside-out horribly, it had a far more sinister effect—slowly, but surely, the negatively-charged magical energy would replace their regular magical energy, corroding their magic origin as their body's physiology slowly changed into that of a demon. This would cause them to forget their own sense of identity, as they became a rampaging monster—just as Abyssion intended.
There were a scarse few ways to avoid this fate; such as using a medium to carry the burden. An example of this would have been the relationship between Excellen Kilekion and Tsuruko Sejren in the original plans for Daybreak. When first activating Corpse Shell, as it took place in the exact same arc where Tsuruko became Gaiki for first time, since Excellen was there, and Tsuruko already had the Hellion known as Star Phoenix sealed within her, Abyssion would have immediately linked to Excellen instead, as her exalted and esper blood could have withstood the degenerative effects of Corpse Shell, causing her to unwittingly become the medium, and thus whenever Tsuruko harnessed Corpse Shell, Excellen would have suffered its effects instead of Tsuruko. The medium method has not shown up in the Sun Trilogy properly, however. To fully remove the corrupting influence of Abyssion, the users of Corpse Shell would have to forge a contract with a true demon; who would bless them with an annulled corruption, allowing them to use the magic to their heart's desire. Aside from those methods, there was no way to reverse or stop Demonization, leaving the users of Corpse Shell with the only option to not use the Black Art in the first place.
As seen so far, every iteration of Corpse Shell has been named after a historical figure in this non-existent world known as Earth; usually, this is a military figure such as conquerors and rulers, as displayed by Sincera Sejren's Corpse Shell Reacted: Prevailing Caesar and Marisa Sejren's Corpse Shell Reacted: Revenger Alexander – it's also an unspoken rule that the kanji that the katakana of the form's name glosses over has the word 'knight' or 'king' somewhere in it. In terms of ability naming, most powers associated with Corpse Shell are named after a mythical final battle, or derive their names from mythological and religious figures such as fallen angels and demons associated with the Ars Goetia; the latter isn't just theme naming, however. Most of them have an attributed office or military role from a pun on their name – for example, Crux's Corpse Shell Reacted: Damned Vortigern has the kanji for "Great Death King" in that the katakana glosses over, which is scripted as "Shiiō", a homophone for "CEO". Taken together with the form of Black Magic that resulted in its creation, powers and abilities associated with Corpse Shell feature a mild business theme, with supportive spells referencing elements of modern big business. For example, the original power that created Corpse Shell, "Dark Contract", references a business contract, and the names of two support spells, Human Resources and Contract Laundering reference like-namedcompany practices; thus creating one big "evil corporation" joke; which is only fitting given what the Sejren Group does.
Powers and Abilities
Berserk (暴走, Beruseruku lit. Out of Control): Berserk was a status ailment that Corpse Shell grants an untrained user, whether or not they want to accept it. Upon activation of Corpse Shell, the corrupting influence of Abyssion would begin to seep into the user's brain, causing them to display a savage, nearly animalistic battle frenzy in which the user's strength and capabilities would dramatically increase. This special effect of Corpse Shell made it seem as if the magic was a vastly more superior version of Mask of Truth—though in reality, the two magics couldn't be further apart. However, it should be taken into consideration that once trained, a user of Corpse Shell was able to activate Berserk on a whim, and unlike the untrained version, an experienced magician did not feel fatigued by its usage; they also showed relative amounts of restraint, as some users were capable of controlling who and what they see as a target. Berserk increased the user's physical parameters to the point that every step that they took would cause a rippling shockwave to be released from their feet, and they were capable of smashing through almost any defenses, either physical or magical, with their bare hands. Indeed, during the Esper Excellen Part II arc, when the Dracolich attacked Luin, Marisa Sejren in Corpse Shell form was shown to be able to effortlessly tear draconic beings in half with her bare hands. In addition, Berserk allowed the user to ignore all senses of pain, even shrugging off the loss of a limb. In that way, it could be considered akin to 'super armour' of fighting games.
Enhanced Physical Prowess: When in Corpse Shell; the users' attributes were drastically enhanced; because, with a simple swing of their weapon, the user was capable of manifesting a violent tremor that obliterated the ground it came into contact with and knocked their foes away; in addition, their blows with their weapon and unarmed were positively overwhelming and could be bone-shattering. The sudden boost in strength upon activating the form allowed the user to break free from any attack which bound them or prevented them from moving. The user could grab a blade with their bare hand without feeling any of the exerted force, though said force could do considerable damage to the surrounding area. In addition, their endurance had been upped significantly; enabling the user to receive damage like it was nothing and ignore all senses of pain—though it should be noted that this varied on the factor of how powerful the blow was. Finally, the Sejren Family member's naturally immense swiftness was augmented to the point that they discarded any need for speed-enhancing techniques, enabling them to outstrip almost anyone in a contest of pure speed. What is interesting to note is that the negatively-charged magical energy enhanced all of the user's moves, greatly increasing their area-of-effect as well as improving their damage.
Enhanced Magical Prowess: Naturally, Corpse Shell also bolstered the user's magical power to the point that it could be considered leaps and bounds above any other magician's. This drastically increased the area-of-effect of any spell that the user casted, and the overall power of the spell; this is best shown with Crux Kouga's Arrow of Light spell, which, normally, would pierce the opponent and then vanish, but in Corpse Shell form, the Arrow of Light is able to drill through nearly any defense and pierce several opponents in a row before it vanishes. Another plus to having their magical energy augmented was that they gained the ability to perform "advanced" versions of their regular spells or new spells entirely; another example regarding Crux is his Ain Soph Aur spell, which is essentially an amalgamation of all of his previous Light Magic spells. However, due to the demonic influence of Abyssion, all of the user's attacks gained a certain black/red tint to it as the spells pulsed ominously, showing the demon's power. When in this form, the user was able to manipulate nonliving matter by changing its atom structure through the sheer force of their aura, i.e. turning air into a wall of water or turning a stone column into a large uprising spike.
Black Arts: Infernity (黒魔術・獄炎煉我虚無, Burakku Ātsu: Inferuniti lit. Black Magic Techniques: The Refined Hellflames of Nothingness; "Infernity" being a portmanteau of "inferno" and "infinity"): The Black Arts magic referred to as "Infinity" is a demonic, evil power associated with Great Corrupter Abyssion (大悪化・アビシオン, Daiakka Abishion), the demon of unknown origin who contracted with Jeanne Sejren during the Human-Dragon War, birthing the Corpse Shell power. Infernity allows the user to manipulate flames whiter than light which can even function when the caster is out of energy, both physical and magical- in fact, they perform at their peak when the caster is exhausted from their energies.
Any user of Corpse Shell is capable of harnessing the fires of Infernity as naturally as Abyssion can.
The Black Art known as "Infernity" is an extremely powerful one; indeed, it is said to be incapable of being learnt by anyone other than Abyssion or a wielder of Corpse Shell; in the case of the latter, Corpse Shell comes automatically equipped with this Black Art, and wielders of the latter can harness the power of this flames of nothingness at any time. When inducing Infernity, it takes the basic principles of the fact that magic is well-known to be influenced by the willpower of those who can manipulate the particles that composes the concept to the extremes; indeed, the caster projects their magical energies stored within their Magic Origin outwards in a singular pulse, lowing the density of their energies as to enable them to be affected by the emotions of those in the immediate surroundings- this allows the user's magical energies to be influenced by the negativity of those around the caster, or the caster themselves or some combination of the two. In any case, once tainted by negative feelings and thoughts, the caster activates the mechanics to form flames ever-so-similar to that of the likes of Fire Magic and Fire Dragon Slayer Magic and quite possibly many more magics, forcing a domination over the supernatural particles which are saturated within the atmosphere, harnessing their strong willpower in order to excite the movements of the eternano, increasing their thermal energy to the point that the particles strewn about throughout the vicinity spontaneously ignite, forming silver-white flames which are said to be the embodiment of nihility.
Infernity is considered to be the most powerful of fire-element magics to ever exist—even more powerful than flame-related Lost Magic or any fire-Slayer. The power of the spells are such that they are unable to be consumed by any Slayer Magic or manipulated by an outside source no matter what; instead overpowering the foolish magician trying to take their power for their own and devouring their magic in retaliation. Just like every other fire-derived magic and Elemental Magic in general, the user of Infernity is capable of generating and manipulating these silvery-white flames in any way that they deem suitable, allowing for almost limitless potential. The Infernity power can be considered and is referred to as the "Hellfire Curse" (獄炎の呪法, Gokuen no Jūhō); as while magic runs off positive emotions, Curses run off the exact opposite, with their power holding an origin in negative emotions displayed by humans, mainly greed, envy and hatred, making it far more powerful as no matter how many people would display positive emotions, negativity would always be there in a greater quantity- Infernity is no different. The fires of Infernity are highly powerful, overwhelming normal flames of the same quantity or even more with general ease; they are even hotter than any temperature that the earth can produce; though curiously enough, these flares do not destroy everything on earth just by a single spark.
Upon contact with normal beings, the flames of Infernity suddenly become alive, so to speak, and latch onto them, sucking up their energy which allows the fire to intensify; and the user can shape the flames into numerous structures in order to attack. The flames disintegrate everything and anything which the user launches them at, changing it into nothing more than ash, and engulfs the surrounding landscape in a blazing firestorm, the heat of which is intense enough to scorch the sky. The flames act completely separately to regular flames, and pursue an enemy relentlessly with great speed, accuracy and strength. Unlike most superficial flames, Infernity acts as a fast-acting poison which is capable of inflicting many painful effects upon the victim, such as intense headaches, nausea, fever, sickness, muscle spasms, and the ultimate deterioration of the foe's bodily functions; meaning that if one of the user's attacks didn't kill the foe, the effects would, as their body was violently dismantled, piece by piece, causing the foe to suffer an agonizing death; and then their corpse would be disintegrated by the white flames.
The flames produced by Infernity are also infamously hard to douse, as they continue burning even when struck with a large amount of water. When faced with opposing fire techniques, the flames consume them in order to boost their strength and quantity; making using any sort of fire ill-advised against the user; meaning that they have absolute dominance over the element of fire. Not only this, the user has such mastery over the element of fire that they are capable of utilizing the power of Infernity in any way they wish, whether for offensive, defensive, evasive, or supplementary techniques- as long as they can imagine it being doable, then the sky is the limit, more or less. However, Infernity's true power lies in its supplementary ability- slowly, but surely, as the caster of the Black Art begins to become drained from their magical energies from making liberal application of Infernity, the flames produced by the evil power begin to intensity and expand magnificently, and as their negative emotions increase, the fires produced by Infernity will increase in intensity and mass, as well as this, its properties will become more and more otherworldly, as the fire begins to display elemental aspects such as burning, freezing, shocking, etc. Because of this, in the hands of a particularly vengeful user, Infernity can be considered almost apocalyptic in nature when compared to other magics of any and every kind. In fact, not even any Slayers of any element or any Dual-Element Slayer Modes are capable of consuming Infernity—if they did so, the pain they received from the magic would multiply twentyfold, more often than not completely blowing the opponent straight out of the water or kill them instantly.
Ragna Blast (黄泉無明長夜流・冥王下月輪, Raguna Burasuto lit. The Underworld's Long Night of Spiritual Darkness Style: Demon King's Descending Moon Ring): Ragna Blast is a high-levelled Infernity spell- it enables the caster to manifest a blast of white flame resembling a comet. When the user is casting Ragna Blast, the user gathers magical energy from the atmosphere and condenses it upon their blade, adding their own magical power into the mixture, as well as the white flames gathered by the magic, merging the triad of energies and compressing them upon the sword, which causes the blade to become set alight with shining white flames, a flame which can be likened to that of the abyss. The user forces the flames to compress into two small wads which are focused on the tip of their blade; from there, the user raises their blade and stabs forward quickly, releasing the flames in the form of twin enormous pulsating and highly powerful spheres of magical energy that also have the likeness of a comet of immense power, blasting their foe with extreme force twice. This spell has the potential to deal overwhelming damage; as it reacts with the magic origin of the foe and counter-spins it, thus causing their defenses to weaken at the moment of impact; essentially reducing their defenses to zero and inflicting piercing, penetrating damage, unleashing a fiery explosion that deals immense damage; both comets erupt in a powerful surge of flames that even after the strike, they continue to rise, dissipating into the sky. What makes Ragna Blast so special is that the spell will lock onto the opponent's magical energy, chasing after them and curving in abnormal directions in order to reach the enemy. It will continue to chase them, even to the ends of the earth. The reason for the twin comets is that if the opponent defends themselves against the first blast, the second comet will instantly teleport into its place, and then strike the opponent with its own strength, guaranteeing a strike no matter what the enemy does.
Ragna Blade (黄泉無明長夜流・冥王神滅斬, Raguna Bureido lit. The Underworld's Long Night of Spiritual Darkness Style: Demon King's God-Destroying Slash): Ragna Blade is a high-levelled Infernity spell- it summons a blade of white flames. When performing Ragna Blade, the user fuels their magic with negative feelings, fusing eternano and magical power, creating pure flames, before using the flames to perfectly replicate the form of an enormous blade composed of negative feelings; the blade is crackling with white energy. Because of this it can only be used in close combat. Ragna Blade is known to be highly sharp and durable, capable of slicing through magical barriers, and its slashes are capable of trailing large amounts of flames in its wake, which can damage the opponent. The moment that the weapon makes contact with the foe via impaling them, the composition of the weapon is altered to cause additional, smaller blades to protrude from the bladed weapon inside of the foe's body, drastically increasing the number of wounds dealt to the foe. When the Ragna Blade comes into contact with an barricade or anything attempting to defend itself against the spell, the flames that composes the Ragna Blade momentarily forges itself into sharp fangs, which tears through the so-called "defense" with ease. Only surpassed in power by Ragna Drive, the Ragna Blade's destructive force is enormous. Its effect extends to magic itself, and no being, not even high-level defensive spells can deflect it, although the stronger demons have bodies too big to be destroyed by a single swipe. It puts a likewise huge strain on the caster as well; it requires great amounts of magical energy to be cast (hence it requires amplification for a human caster), and the mere act of keeping the spell active drains the caster's strength tremendously.
Infernity Extremity: Ragna Exclamation (獄炎煉我虚無・奥義・黄泉無明長夜流・冥王最力皆合, Inferuniti Ekusutorīmiti: Raguna Ekusukuramēhon lit. The Refined Hellflames of Nothingness Secret Art: The Underworld's Long Night of Spiritual Darkness Style: Demon King's Supreme Power, All as One): Infernity Extremity: Ragna Exclamation is the strongest spell of Infernity; to use it, the user must reach into the very core of their being; their Magic Origin. Once they do, the user pumps all of their demonic energy into the core, essentially overloading it, additionally adding red blood cells to their body, which in turn allows for greater delivery of oxygen and nutrients to their body, essentially increasing the blood flow by forcing more blood through their blood vessels thus increase their potential. When performing the Ragna Exclamation, the user raises their arms, gathering demonic energy within them and forging a link between the realm of the dead and the current plane of existence. From there, the user summons the souls of the fallen Corpse Shell, and they lend the user their power, being manifested into the physical plane, allowing the user to summon Corpse Shell users of all shapes, sizes, types, and abilities from all possible points in time and space; as well as a few Corpse Shell users that do not exist because no timeline ever leads to their creation. From beyond the infinite come infinite Corpse Shells; filling the entire world, an endless army of Corpse Shells. Corpse Shells without a scratch on them, brand-new. Corpse Shells riddled with scars of many fierce battles, old veterans. Corpse Shells that were incomplete, just a bare frame. Corpse Shells that were destroyed, burning in their last moments of magic. Corpse Shells used by other Sejrens of other timelines. Corpse Shells used by people never seen before. Corpse Shells that had no user at all. Corpse Shells used by something inhuman. Corpse Shells that were not even magical. Corpse Shells made of flesh and blood. Huge Corpse Shells. Tiny Corpse Shells. Corpse Shells shaped like beasts. Corpse Shells that had no form at all. Corpse Shells made of liquid. Corpse Shells made of gas. Corpse Shells made of plasma. Corpse Shells made of stars. Corpse Shells that dual-wielded. Corpse Shells drenched with blood. Corpse Shells with two hearts. Corpse Shells that were people. Corpse Shells leading countless soldiers. Corpse Shells riding giant dragons. Corpse Shells that were space battleships. Corpse Shells with swords of light that could kill planets. Corpse Shells that had become gods. Corpse Shells that had fallen to evil. Corpse Shells fused to people. Corpse Shells that had been reborn as people. Corpse Shells of the past. Corpse Shells of the present. Corpse Shells of the future. Corpse Shells that were possible. Corpse Shells that were not possible. Corpse Shells that roamed the void beyond. Once every single Corpse Shell possibility has been manifested, the user performs a simultaneous Ragna Blast/Blade combo with all of their possibilities; the sheer power of which annihilates everything that it touches. The reason that Ragna Exclamation is a 'death and glory' spell is because, by using this spell the user becomes unstable due to their organs and blood vessels slowly tearing and their magical energy going haywire, beginning to suffer physical and mental deterioration, eventually disintegrating. However, their power increases exponentially during the breakdown; which lasts for five minutes. In spite of the fact that this spell is more than powerful enough to kill almost anything, a single use is enough to heavily strain the user's body and completely drain them of their magical power; after casting it, Corpse Shell is cancelled and the user will die.
Notable Users
Jeanne Sejren's unique Corpse Shell form.
Jeanne Sejren: As detailed above, Jeanne Sejren was the originator of the Corpse Shell, due to her pact with the demon known as Abyssion. During the final days of the Human-Dragon War, Jeanne used Corpse Shell to cut a wide swathe through the dragon army and end the war on humanity's terms. Her Corpse Shell was one of the two to have a unique appearance—appearing more human-like than the others. However, soon after the end of the war, she was mysterious assassinated –it would later turn out to be by a member of Sin Sector, a subset of the Magic Council- and her blood was used to create further deviations of the Black Art.
Crux Kouga's advanced Corpse Shell form.
Crux Kouga: An experimental homunculus created by the Magic Council under Giselle Mercury's supervision in order to get a pardon for Giselle killing the previous Wizard Saints, using her own DNA and Alphonse's in order to create a "stabilized" Corpse Shell, thus technically making her Tsuruko's sister, as a member of the Sejren Family, she inadvertently inherited the Corpse Curse Brand as well. Hikari would eventually become Crux Kouga due to the seal's tainting influence, among other things. Crux's Corpse Shell looks exactly like the regular version, but it is slightly more powerful, and it seems to reduce his sanity by even more than usual. Crux has an "evolved" Corpse Shell, which takes the form of a black knight with red highlights. Crux's evolved Corpse Shell is known as Corpse Shell Reacted: Damned Vortigern (鬼の力・究極体・武神士の死偉王, Kōpusu Sheru Riakutedo: Damudo Vuōtigān lit. Devil's Power Final Stage: Warrior God Knight of the Death Great King), which grants him a form of pyrokinesis, with its evolved form that awakened as Crux regained his senses, allowing him to become Corpse Shell Burst Reacted: Exculpated Vortigern (鬼の力・究極体・武神士の復死偉王・奮闘力解, Kōpusu Sheru Bāsuto Riakutedo: Ekusukarupeitedo Vuōtigān lit. Devil's Power Final Stage: Warrior God Knight of the Revived Death Great King – All Out-Power Released), which allows him to take the form of a mixture between Origin and Abyssion, two polar opposites
Marisa Sejren's advanced Corpse Shell form.
Marisa Sejren: Marisa Sejren is the current head of the Sejren Family. Having learnt Corpse Shell at an early age, she is said to have mastered the Black Art, so much so that she is one of the few people capable of fighting on-par with a Soul Armour without having one herself with the power of Corpse Shell. Once she discovered Hikari had the Corpse Curse Brand, she taught her a little bit about the magic and how to not be afraid of Abyssion; something that Hikari would completely disregard later on in her life as Crux. Marisa is seemingly immune to Abyssion's corruption, as she has mastered the art of "Clear and Serene", an advanced breathing technique that allows the user to enter a state of tranquility, enabling them to focus their fighting spirit and block out all harmful influences, something she would later teach Tsuruko so that the latter could harness her Deus Machina form without going berserk. Marisa's Corpse Shell is also evolved, possessing a black knight-esque appearance, but it is a lot less demonic than Crux's, being rather streamlined in comparison. Marisa's evolved Corpse Shell is known as Corpse Shell Reacted: Revenger Alexander (鬼の力・究極体・武神士の復疾風大王, Kōpusu Sheru Riakutedo: Ribenjā Arekusandā lit. Devil's Power Final Stage: Warrior God Knight of the Vengeful Gust High King), granting her aerokinesis.
Tsuruko Sejren: Tsuruko Sejren is Giselle and Alphonse's daughter, and the supposed inheritor of the Corpse Curse Brand. However, both mother and father absolutely refused to allow Tsuruko to be branded (in fact Giselle killed numerous members of the clan, which is what lead it to die out in the present time)—instead, Star Phoenix, her symbiote, accidently caused a resonance with Abyssion, causing the brand to appear upon Tsuruko's body. Despite this, after Tsuruko was stricken with the Reverse, an incurable disease, and her soul was subsequently implanted into Deus Machina Number Three, the Corpse Curse Brand was eliminated from her body. Original plans for Daybreak would have Tsuruko activating Corpse Shell instead of obtaining the Gaiki Soul Armour. Interestingly, asking the author herself about Daybreak's Soul Armours would reveal that Tsuruko was going to obtain Corpse Shell instead of the Gaiki Armour, which, of course, would have changed pretty much everything about Daybreak. At first, Tsuruko's Corpse Shell would be similar to Crux's in that it would drive her into a berserk state, but eventually, after talking with her family, she would have confronted Abyssion in her mind, her willpower and kindness (or something like that, it would be more likely that she just smashed it into a fine paste) overpowering the demon and destroying it, "purifying" her Corpse Shell and turning it white and blue, as opposed to the normal black and gold. Tsuruko's Corpse Shell would be the most powerful iteration of the magic, as it ran on her own fighting spirit instead of the corrupting influence of a demon, effectively allowing it to last for an indefinite amount of time. This plan was scrapped due to lack of interest, Corpse Shell's general overpowered nature, and the fact that it would cause a lot of plot holes. Tsuruko's Corpse Shell would have been referred to as Corpse Shell Reacted: Soulsaver Pendragon (鬼の力・究極体・武神士の壊薙王, Kōpusu Sheru Riakutedo: Sōruseibā Pendoragon lit. Devil's Power Final Stage: Warrior God Knight of the Oblivion King), the kanji for "Oblivion King" is scripted as "Kaichiō", a homophone for "Chairman", tying into the name of her sibling's own Corpse Shell, which references a CEO.
Kagemusha's advanced Corpse Shell form.
Kagemusha: Upon defeating Crux Kouga during the Ragnarok Arc, Kagemusha used the Ancient Spell known as Dark Contract of the Everlasting Darkness (常闇の契約書, Tokoyami no Keiyakusho) in order to steal the power of Corpse Shell from his enemy's Magic Origin and assimilate it into his own, thus granting him the ability to use Corpse Shell in time for his final battle with Jason LaHote. Kagemusha's unnamed version of Corpse Shell can be considered to resemble both a cyborg and a samurai, with the transformation encasing him in heavy armour with a stygian texture deeper than the night itself, along with several glowing emerald highlights that only bring attention to the fact that this Corpse Shell is something that isn't meant to exist. Going by the samurai motif, Kagemusha's Corpse Shell has a large collar as well as the traditional ballooning pants which these warriors were known to possess. Kagemusha's black hair has been thrown into disarray, being all over the place to add to his savage and feral nature. All armoured sections of the Corpse Shell feature fully-functional green eyes with slit pupils. These eyes are not as much of an intimidation as much as the mask he wears; a completely black, two horned helmet that has razor-sharp teeth and glowing green eyes. The armour's pauldrons also have teeth and horns like those on the head as well as green glowing crystals on Kagemusha's hips as well as a tail, giving off a demonic appearance. Unlike Crux Kouga and Marisa Sejren's versions of Corpse Shell, Kagemusha does not possess a proper "weapon" in this form, but instead, he uses his claws and feet in powerful melee strikes which rend the heavens and earth in twain; the gauntlets Kagemusha has equipped with Corpse Shell are known as Killer Left (惨殺の左腕暗手, Kirā Refuto lit. Left-Handed Dark Arm of Slaughter) and Brutal Right (残虐の右利暗手, Burūtaru Raito lit. Right-Handed Dark Arm of Cruelty). When Kagemusha is in Corpse Shell form, all bets are off as he lashes out at his opponent with savage, animalistic strikes, completely forgoing using his other forms of magic in favour of claw slashes, brutal stomps and kicks, and deadly tail swipes mixed with traditional martial arts moves, putting as much raw power as possible behind each strike. Both of Kagemusha's gauntlets are interlaced with dense concentrations of both magical power and cursed power on Killer Left and Brutal Right respectively, Kagemusha commonly interweaving his blows in quick succession to produce an overwhelming offense that alternates between Magic and Curse to keep the opponent on their toes, as defending against one form of supernatural power will leave them open to the proceeding blow which contains the properties of the other, giving them no discernible method to properly protect themselves against such a fast-paced fighting style. As with all other forms of Corpse Shell, Kagemusha's version of Corpse Shell tremendously bolsters his speed, defenses, and overall power, causing his strength to surge to unimaginable heights to the point that even the greatest of defensive measures such as Fairy Law and the Akatsuki guild's spell known as Solis Ortum are considered naught but papier-mâché in the face of Kagemusha's overwhelming might, tearing through them and busting them to pieces with his bare hands. Using pure willpower to mold both magical energy and curse power, Kagemusha has displayed that he is capable of invoking a process not dissimilar to the likes of Shape Transformation or Molding Magic upon the energies transfixed upon his fists, manifesting a myriad of blade composed of transient energy to strike his opponent with using a succession of blows that leave them very little time to defend themselves, as well as unleash powerful blasts of energy from his mouth just like the hyperresonance of a dragon.
Trivia
The Corpse Shell was inspired by the Cursed Seal from Naruto and the Devil Gene from the Tekken series.
Originally, it was discovered that members of the Sejren Family could "evolve" their Corpse Shell by killing another family member and absorbing their Corpse Shell; and in the early ages after gaining the power, they developed the practice of killing family members in order to become stronger. However, in the current day and age, the family has discontinued this practice, deeming it to be "childish", especially because the city of Luin requires their support and they had to carry out the wishes of Dzerve; they could not die out early.
As an interesting note, both Crux and Tsuruko's 'ultimate forms', Corpse Shell Reacted Revise – Exculpated Vortigern – and Tsuruko's Soul Armour Knight Gaiki Kai – Gaiki the Great – as shown in the Ragnarok Arc of Fairy Tail: Dawn and Daybreak S3 respectively are a reference to the mythos of King Arthur. However, whereas the former references Vortigern, a 5th-century warlord in Britain whose existence is contested to this day, the latter is a reference to King Arthur in all but name. This itself references the fact that both Soul Armours and Corpse Shell are counterparts to one another.
When written purely in kanji, Corpse Shell is written as (骸殻, Gaikaku); interestingly, the first part of the kanji's pronunciation, Gai, can be read as armour (凱), signifying that the Corpse Shell was the prototype to the Soul Armours, production wise.
