Naseem Al-Salem

"Blow them away, Mictlan · Tormenta."

- Naseem Al-Salem

Naseem Al-Salem is a desperado who is hailed as the strongest mercenary in history, renowned as Haboob who had operated in the Middle-East. He worked alongside Or-Gaule as a member of Team Cradleland, however, after his defeat at the hands of Nene he was sealed in another dimension using Kanamegaeshi.

Appearance
Naseem is a tall well-built quite handsome man who has losse black dry unkmept hair and dark brown eyes with an unshaven face. Most of the time, he wears back sunglasses, dressed in a black clothes that consists of a long coat, lighter undershirt, black pants that has two straps on both legs, and boots.

Personality
"Hou, I see. That’s fine for me. It’s my creed to plunder money, countries and women, you see."

- Naseem talking with Stella Vermillion Naseem is a very confident person to the point of arrogance who doesn't take opponents weaker than him seriously as first shown in his fight against Daniel Dandalion. He is also vulgar, rude and has a great love for women of varying ages as he later offered to "have a good time" with Stella, while later showing no interest in Nene due to her child-like physique, but later offered the same thing to her after seeing her strength firsthand.

He is a battle maniac and enjoys a good fight against powerful enemies as shown in his initial confrontations with Stella after using Dragon Spirit and later Nene who arrived on the battlefield. Naseem is also cruel and heartless, having killed thousands of people in the past without hesitation. He does not evaluate life as such and has no remorse regardless of what he did making him even more dangerous. Naseem also suffers extremely greediness, as he once stated that his greed couldn’t be satisfied no matter how much countries, lives or blood he sucked up. Naseem, from unknown means, also seems to carry a great grudge. He also seems to be well informed or at least has a good overview of world events, as he knows about Stella's dragon power and about Nene.

Despite his mercilessness, Naseem seems to have some sense of honor and respect as he hates when someone interferes his fight and would praise strong opponents like Nene Saikyo. He wished to meet a strong enemy that would satisfy his bloodlust and have a battle of life and death with him. Nene sees Naseem as very similar to her younger self.

History
Though Naseem's past is unknown, he claims to have been born from a woman who had gotten hit by a bomb in a place where dictators and rebels had fought wars for half a century. Being both born and living in these extreme conditions leading to him developing a sixth sense, Super War Sensitivity. He lived as a mercenary, becoming a so strong that no country would hire him, as well as the countries within the Middle East joining together just to kill him. This soon leads to him reaching brute soul becoming a desperado and gaining the power to win that war.

Since then, Naseem has continued to grow as a powerful and dangerous blazer taking down several countries as a mercenary, acquiring a vast fortune. It was said the number of countries he destroyed and the number of people he killed is uncountable. He also faced Edelweiss in the Middle East as a government mercenary, possibly during a certain incident.

Naseem eventually becomes so strong that he starts being tired of living and tried to find worthy opponents who could satisfy him. At some point, Or-Gaule contacted him to recruit him in destroying Vermillion and Cradleland and have his own country. This along with hoping to find what he wants to lead him to join him.

Night of Massacre
It's shown in a flashback that Naseem participated in the destruction of Rebellion's headquarters, along with Or-Gaule, Ein and Big Baby. He saved Or-Gaule from Wallenstein by killing him. He scolded Or-Gaule for not taking the fight seriously. They then meet Ein and Big Baby who had killed 7 of the other 12 Apostles. They all then head for Cradleland, which Or-Gaule takes control over.

Kardia Urban Warfare
Naseem later participates in the Battle of Kardia between Cradleland forces led by Or-Gaule and Vermillion forces. He defeats Daniel Dandalion and numerous other Vermillion soldiers, with only his left hand. He then confronts Stella Vermillion and proclaims he will defeat her too with only his left hand.

Naseem manages to overwhelm Stella, even while the latter is using Dragon Spirit. Stella tries to hit Naseem, but her attack has no effect. Stella then claims she has figured out Naseem's ability, which is the ability to manipulate sand, in order to enhance his attacks and turn his body into sand. Naseem through laughs at this, claiming his ability is not something so cheap. He then takes out his right hand and Stella is taken over by a sinister aura, which makes her unable to move. Naseem then attacks Stella, but just then a meteor falls towards Naseem, which he managed to block. This is revealed to be Nene Saikyo's Hadou Tensei, as she has just arrived in the battlefield.

Naseem and Nene then confront each other, with Nene actually managing to hit Naseem by hardening Naseem's body with her gravity manipulation. Naseem then activates his true ability of moisture absorption, which destroys all things. Before Naseem and Nene can continue their battle though, they are interrupted by Lunaeyes' declaration that the tournament between Vermillion and Cradleland will be held to decide the fates of the two countries.

Responsibilities as a Royalty
After the announcement, Naseem angrily charges at Or-Gaule, who is there along with Lunaeyes. Naseem questions why Or-Gaule agreed to the tournament, blaming him for stopping his fight. Or-Gaule though notes that Naseem will be able to fight Nene in the upcoming tournament without anyone intervening. This calms Naseem down, as he then leaves the battlefield. Naseem, along with Or-Gaule, Ein, Big Baby and Johann, is announced as Cradleland's representatives in the tournament.

Fight Under the Moonlight
On the day of the tournament, 300 thousand soldiers of the League gather on the border between Cradleland and Poland, led by a Polish general named Daluege. It has been planned, that if Vermillion's representatives lose the tournament, Ascarid will use one of the knives of Norman Creed to teleport the forces into the capital, to apprehend Or-Gaule and his allies. The forces are, however, met by Naseem, who has come to tell them to leave. Daluege and his forces refuse, instead of opening fire on Naseem. However, they are unable to even wound Naseem who can turn to sand at any movement. Naseem then goes on annihilating the League forces, even overpowering the special Blazer unit with his Mictlan · Tormenta, which creates a sandstorm that turns the Blazers to sand by absorbing all moisture from them. Just then a flash of blue appears, destroying the sandstorm and wounding Naseem on his cheek. This attack was fired by an Italian Blazer named Carlo Bertoni, who is the "trump card" of the League forces and the 2nd ranked in the KOK A-League.

Naseem then engages Carlo, who uses his banned Noble Art, Shield Arts - Adrian Blue, to create a giant whirlpool to trap Naseem. Due to Carlo being the greatest water user in history, he has a natural advantage against Naseem's moisture absorption ability. However, despite the disadvantage, Naseem manages to push through Carlo's attacks, showing his unstoppable power by overpowering Carlo's ability. Naseem's monstrous power terrifies Carlo, causing him to panic, with Naseem using this opportunity to crush his skull and kill him. Naseem then destroys a quarter of the entire League forces.

Imperial War Outbreak
When the day of the tournament finally arrives, Naseem, along with the rest of Team Cradleland confront Team Vermillion in the capital of Cradleland, Lucier, that is used as the setting of their battle. As the tournament begins, Naseem uses his abilities to create a sandstorm that sends everyone flying all over the city except him and Nene. Naseem then faces Nene, their clash alone creating giant shockwaves.

Showdown between Demonic Beings
Naseem and Nene trade blows, matching each other's techniques. Naseem is able to intercept Nene's combat dance style, while Nene is able to avoid Naseem's powerful strikes through her Noble Art, Yaksha Kagura, while being able to counter his Super War Sensitivity, by controlling her emotions. Their battle causes the land around them to be turned into a wasteland within a 3-kilometer radius. Naseem declares that he and Nene are similar, monsters covered in human skin without moral feelings, with Naseem being thrilled to have found a person capable of killing him. Naseem then activates his Excessive Awakening, a transformation which even Nene thought to be a rumor. In his Excessive Awakening state, Naseem is able to overpower Nene due to his powers increasing greatly. Nene is even forced to cut off her own arm to avoid her body being completely dried. In the end, Naseem's Mictlan · Tormenta is able to overwhelm Nene's Hadou Tensei, with him hitting Nene directly with Dead End Blow and breaking her Device. However, instead of killing her, Naseem's attack breaks her ego as a human, causing Nene's own Excessive Awakening to manifest, something which greatly excites Naseem.

Nene, now without restrains, then clashes with Naseem, managing to match his power. Nene is eventually able to exceed Naseem's power, which shocks Naseem, due to him believing that Nene grew up in a much less dangerous environment.

Memory that Can't be Cast Away
As Nene continues to beat up Naseem, she remembers her early days and her first meeting with Kurono, causing her to deactivate her Excessive Awakening form. Naseem is confused by her actions, but Nene says that the Excessive Awakening form is not how she wants to win her fights. Nene resorts to using a brand new Noble Art, Kanamegaeshi, which causes Naseem to be drawn in a special Calabi-Yau space where he will be trapped forever. Realizing his fate, Naseem pleads for Nene to spare him, but ultimately completely disappears.

Abilities
Desperado: Naseem is a desperado, a being who has broken the chains of fate, which he achieved in his war against the counties of the Middle East. As such, he has greater magic power compared to a normal Blazer as he is able to increase it through training. As a Desperado, he's capable of forcing the fate of what he desires to happen upon other people. Just by releasing a very strong bloodlust he can cause immediate death on other people or at least immobilize them, depending on how strong the others can resist the fate of death he's forcing upon them.
 * Excessive Awakening: Naseem also has access to a rare transformation, which desperados alone can access. The Excessive Awakening grants him enormous power, increasing his mana and control over it surpassing that of Stella at the cost of him abandoning his humanity, turning him into a demon instead of a human. Naseem becomes a lot bigger, the color of his muscles turns black, his face and eyes turn into a burned corpse, water buffalo-like horns, bat-like wings from his back, and a reptile-like tail grows out from his waist. The power Naseem has while in this transformation is stated to be at a comparable level of Arthur Bright, Abraham Carter, and Adam Goetia, the three strongest Blazers in the world.

Dryness: Naseem's main ability as a Blazer. He is able to manipulate the concept of "Drying", letting him destroy all things in his vicinity by absorbing the moisture from them and thereby turning them to sand. He can absorb all moisture from the earth's crust, causing the ground beneath him to collapse, which caused even Nene Saikyo to call him a walking calamity. This lets him also be used on human beings, turning them into the sand.
 * Sand Manipulation: Derived from his Drying abilities, where Naseem manipulates sand for both offense and defense, which Stella initially mistook for his true power. He has proven to have immense mastery in using sand for various situations such as creating sandstorms to distract his opponents or hide, even also floating in the air by standing on them. Naseem can coat his fists in compressed sand, which allow him to increase the power of his strikes.
 * Sand Body: He can also turn himself into sand at will, similar to Aorio Rinne without the drawbacks it has, letting him attacks aimed at him passing through him. This also lets him to reconstruct his body, as well as heal even major injuries and travel around as sand.

Immense Strength: Naseem has monstrous strength, being able to send Stella in Dragon Spirit backward using a single jab and finger flick sending her through concrete walls and buildings, which were enhanced due to using sand compression on his fist. He could also rip through Or-Gaule's string barrier though his strings, which were sharp enough to tear most things apart without effort. Naseem can break a person's skull and pierce chest using his bare hands, his physical prowess being either equal or superior to Nene, enduring her Jibakujin at full power without flinching. Naseem was able to fight with Edelweiss herself just with his strength.

Immense Durability: Naseem is inhumanly durable, being able to endure the gravitational kick from Nene in their initial fight with minor injuries. In his fight with Carlo, he pushed and powered through all his attacks despite being at a disadvantage, and even having his heart being pierced didn't stop him. As a true testament to this, his final battle against Nene, he was able to survive the great loss of blood with his internal organs exposed.

Immense Speed: Naseem is also extremely fast and agile, able to move in front of Stella without her noticing. He is able to send a barrage of blows in a short period of time. Through the use of mana emission, Naseem is able to move swiftly even after being trapped in Shield Arts - Adrian Blue. In his battle with Nene, he was able to keep up with her with ease and could block and counter almost all of her attacks.

Super War Sensitivity: A unique sixth sense, which Naseem developed through living in extreme war-like conditions since birth. It allows him to sense the killing intent of his enemies before it even enters their heads and sends the command to their bodies, which lets him effectively predict the future. It is nearly impossible to avoid it.

Master Hand-to-Hand Combat: Naseem is proficient in hand-to-hand, his preferred style being towards boxing, which relies on his monstrous strength. He tends to play with his opponent when his hands are in his pocket, but a single light jab could send Stella in Dragon Spirit ten-meters. He was capable of repelling Carlo's extremely fast thrusts by using his fists. He was able to hold on his own against Nene, the Third-Ranked Blazer in the KOK A-League famous for her superior close combat skills even in terms of the A-League.

Expert Marksmanship: As a mercenary, Naseem is naturally able to wield firearms, blowing away the heads of his opponents with great proficiency, as well as being able to throw things using his bare hands.

Mana Control: Naseem has shown superior magic control surpassing that of even Shizuku, able to transform to sand and control his form, as well as putting himself back together without any side-effects like Aoiro Rinne. He is able to create complex things such as weapons like full-featured guns without mistakes. After transforming to his Excessive Awakening, his control over his mana increased even more.

Device
Toxcatl: Naseem's Device takes form as a black metal gauntlet with golden decorations, which he can seemingly wear on either hand.
 * Alquimia · Hierro: His first Noble Art, which Naseem uses dust to create any kind of objects, including fully functional handguns or iron walls.
 * Mictlan · Tormenta: His second Noble Art, where Naseem creates a black sandstorm around himself, which blows his opponents high into the air while protecting himself from attacks. It also drains all the moisture around him and it can extend its area of effect turning humans to sand in a few moments. However, a strong enough attack can destroy it.
 * Dead End Blow: His third Noble Art and Finishing Move, where he empowers his right fist with his moisture absorption abilities and then punches the opponent, which will turn them into dust and sand. The technique is claimed to have destroyed countries and is said to be capable of destroying Hadou Tensei in a single hit.

Trivia

 * Naseem's Device is named after a festival held by the Aztecs. The name is often thought to literally mean "Wither from Thirst" meaning "Drought".
 * Naseem namesake Haboob means "Dust Storm" in Arabic
 * The names of Naseem's Noble Arts are in Spanish.
 * Naseem's fortune from his work as a mercenary is so much that he claims there aren't even 10 people in the entire world who can rival him.
 * Naseem is classified among Top 5 most powerful blazers in the entire world.