King of Swords 1-10
Chapter: 1
“During the last years of the Gods, when Un-Medam died, his mighty staff weighing four hundred million tons lay inert in the great House of Law. Demons and beggar gods crawled out from the stones of the red city and ran amok. Aesma was called upon to drag the staff up from its resting place and bring things back to order, but she had already torn herself apart in a rage. There was nothing to be done. Nobody could lift the staff.”
– The Song of Maybe
Al-Yis-Un isn’t a devil, simply speaking her name aloud will not cause her to appear.
Instead, you should speak to your benefactor of one Ciocie Cioelle Estrella Von Maximus the third. For then, surely, she will come pouring through the nearest available window with her human ward in tow.
Beware, though, for moments later you may have to suffer a parade of fools.
It’s the wrong name, say the right one and the king will come to prevent undue wear and tear to its blessed syllables
New Developments
Outskirts of the city, Zaid. Seems like you’re not keeping up with the story very well, you small-beard child.
Give him a break, he has no Internet connection.
So dearly does the Father love his Children.
So dearly do the Children love their Father.
Bitterly the father resents his children’s weakness.
Bitterly the children resent their father’s mockery.
This ends well.
In the void I sense…. sarcasm.
And I am pleased.
An Object Lesson: I too am a Citizen. Do not aggrandize me, for I too shall pass in time, and my successor may not be worthy.
If this be the case, Solomon is wiser than my brother Medam, and yet he too will not see his law outlive him.
One who believes thus should not claim that they are the state and the whole of the law.
The water is gorgeous in this one. Kudos.
UN-Medam enforced the law with fear of the staff, and the presence of the staff was itself enough deterrent to prevent any transgression.
And yet without UN-Medam, there is no Law at all. Can it even be said that the law exists at all if it is only as ephemeral as its enforcer?
Law and punishment. One appears to cause the other and they are separated by time. This is illusion. They cannot exist apart and are actually one thing.
As for it’s ephemeral nature, I pose a question:
Do only eternal things exist?
Err, how does he know Allison is looking for him?
He probably doesn’t. He wants to be with her, out of this insane situation.
Maybe the rumours flying as fast as the fugitive shekels from the fall of the Tower might give him a hint?
He’s probably just assuming that since he ended up there, and Allison isn’t there, then she might have ended up somewhere else. He’s just wondering where that is. Or uh, maybe Solomon has told him some news about her, I’m really just guessing here.
He doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t looking for her.
A Demiurge that cuts away his own subservients. A King of Swords, indeed.
It’s true, it is! He can levitate. He’s not sinking in the mud. Maybe he’s faking it by levitating the chunk of stone too?
At the point which one’s might allows for such feats, can they truly be said to be faking?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo0KhRCsLYA
I should probably save this for the next update, in which we will most likely discover the whereabouts of Allison, but to be honest patience has never been one of my virtues.
Huh.
HUH.
So he knows Allison is out there, and has reason to believe she’d be involved in this. I really want to know what he knows, and what she’s been up to!
Aww… he remembers her.
Probably won’t recognize her when she shows up, what with the hair color change, the probable crown of flames, and the facial scarring, but still.
I’m curious about what does Zaid know about Allison.
–Or what he has known from the beginning…
How would he have a clue that Allison is relevant? As far as he knows she is a powerless girl stuck on earth. Expecting her to somehow show up in another universe to save him is downright absurd, even in a world full of absurdities.
He might have been informed of what she’s been up to through the “news” – she’s not been entirely inconspicuous in her actions, and her wielding the key is probably an open secret among those circles in which he is kept prisoner.
This sounds more like somebody resigned longing for someone familiar than anyone specifically hoping for rescue. In any case, one or two schemers surely said Things(tm) to him.
In cases where something seems absurd, one ought to think of what might be true but isn’t yet revealed. For example, Solomon David might have mentioned Allison earlier: he would have found out because Mottom went to war while looking for Allison.
He knows she has a sick key, doesn’t he? Since the bedroom scene. He probably knows what’s a key by now.
Indeed. Are there rumours of her? Certainly.
Do those rumours carry her name? Less likely.
He could have heard a little bird sing, someone with interests in events that can visit unseen. Incubus?
“Most impressive, O Paternum,” said Zaid, choosing his words carefully. “But could not the same effect been achieved, if less spectacularly, if you had allowed the men the use of rollers, levers, and pulleys?” What he left unsaid was: But allowing even that simple technology would undermine your pretense at diving right, wouldn’t it, you fascist bastard?
I’m also curious as to how Zaid knows Allison is looking for him, as opposed to just left behind in her bedroom.
Allison knows Zaid is out there as she’s been told multiple times that she’s supposed to give him the key. I’m sure someone’s told Zaid that he was supposed to get the key and that Allison should be the one delivering it.
Huh. Maybe he’s had his own advisors during his stay, and they told him that she’s on their plane of existence? Heck, he may think she’s lost and that his mission is to rescue her. It would be interesting if Alison and Zaid both start out as dweebs in this story, and turn into bonafide Heroes by the end!
Oh come on Zaid just figure this shit out yourself. Jump out a window or something. Be more like Royalty.
Welp, when your gods can’t restore themselves, call one in to do it for them. Thankfully, we don’t have to rely on everyone else to be gods for us, right?
Too bad this comic’s multiverse zone appears to have a bit of a no-restorer problem, but I’m guessing these gods’ deaths are something more esoteric, to be honest.
Not that it’s provable by anyone except the original YIS-UN… until someone takes up the proper mantle.
In the meantime, the realms are fallen and the fate of the gods is the fate of everyone. Breakdown and decay, entropy and recycling.
Fortunate that new kings have risen, eh? Eh??
Oh, Zaid, you poor kid.
Smashcut to Alison training montage?
Al-YIS-UN fares better than thee, excepting perhaps the quality of available scenery.
And also whatever perdition Chain assembled as a training program.
GODDAMNIT, JIM. HE HAS A FAMILY.
On a more serious note, does Solomon David have like a family complex or something. lots of daddy and father and son’s and families. And Solomon only became a powerful Demiurge king because of like his family being threatened right?
So Solomon probs has a wife and some daughters, a Demiurge tries to fuck em up. Solomon has to Ki Raya the dude and BAM HE’S IN THE THICK OF THE WAR NOW. CAN’T TURN BACK CAUSE NOW HE’S A THREAT TO ALL HES GOTTA TAKE THE POWER OR ELSE.
now his family means little to him ;( or maybe something less than that
I don’t know it that is a design style, but the top half top of the guards faces are odd looking.
Me thinks it be a fine chain draped cross one’s nose and tucked yonder the ears.
Looks like ritual scarring over the cheek bones and across the bridge of the nose.
Allison is currently busy maybe lesing it up with a demon and possibly angel too… at the same time.
As for that Song of Maybe excerpt, you know you are screwed if you consider calling on Aesma to bring order.
Would he know that Allison was coming to save him? Would he know that she had the key? Maybe he’s just falling in love with big daddy diamond and is trying to comfort himself with thoughts of his last girlfriend.
What’s on those guys faces? Almost imperceptable goggles? ritual scarring? the latest fad in facial hair?
Looks like ritual scarring.
After spending so much time with our gaggle of misbegotten female-presenting heroes for the first three books, it’s so weird to see this much beefiness.
! See how Atlas lifts the sky on His shoulders !
! See how Atlas holds the weight of the heavens in his belly !
A fool once asked what would happen, were Atlas to shrug. There is no risk of that. Without the duty that gives him purpose, the pillar-titan would have nothing to do but mourn his fallen brothers.
The wise man asks: what would happen, were some jackass to break his ankles.
Selling swords and parachutes, my lovelies, swords and parachutes! Break your own fall, and fell those you would see broken! None more than slightly used!
So… This man between two officers is Allison’s boyfriend.. Right?
I can’t remember when and how he had find out that Allison is in this world
Maybe all he knows is that Alison was with him when he was abducted, and he’s naturally worried that she was taken as well and maybe ended up in a situation that’s not as relatively benign as being a ‘guest’ in the palace of some kind of Cosmic Superman?
Oh hey! He knows that Allison is in this adventure too! Who told him and how? Really curious!
But now we will jump to Allison I guess. Old storytelling tradition, and as always, we must resort to tradition.
Maybe David let slip to Zaid that Allison has the Key.
He personally witnessed the key being inserted into Allison’s forehead, and has probably deduced from what he has been told that she’s what they’re really after.
Ahhh shoot, Solomon David is pretty neat, y’all
Zaid is gonna be real surprised when Allison shows up and kicks Solomon David’s butt (or at least the butts of all of his subordinates)
If you want a job well done you have to do it yourself, right SD?
Gotta love how every single thing Solomon does reinforces the underlying narrative that the whole weight of his empire rests upon him, and it would all fall apart the moment he was removed. And, of course, in one thousand years he hasn’t been able to figure out an alternative.
I mean, I don’t blame him. I want to see you try to figure out a way to mantain an empire that holds over a hundred thousand worlds in its grasp and that probably has a population of trillions, if not quadrillions of people, all of whom come from different lands, cultures, nations and have different values and ideas about their ideal government. Really, I would be suprised if anyone ever managed to do it.
One almost comes to the conclusion that Empire is a snare of the Great Enemy, Uncle Fiend.
That dominion over others, whether the rapacious talons of Mother Om or the paternal hand of Solomon David, is a fool’s conception of the meaning of Royalty.
That no liege-lord, no matter how deep her benevolence, can be good.
But that would belie what our lords and masters tell us, and so clearly must be treasonous lies, no?
Ulurhad, you have convinced me to buy something! Perhaps a subscription to these insights of yours?
I know a little of Royalty. A proper fealty is the link that makes the balance.. if Royalty owes nothing to others, the weight of their existence is nothing more than ego to the Royal; likewise if others owe nothing to their King, they would easily rebel.
Thus force, the Error and False, has sway in an unbalanced realm. The King is no more than a Thief given force, while the People are no more than Rebels set in place.
Alas that revolution is impossible beneath a bearer of a True Word, if they will it not. Or course, Diamond is oft translucent; his breakable flaws will eventually show themselves.
At least he knows who the true boss is.
All these gods are going to feel really, really dumb one day when the AL-YISUN / Allison connection gets pointed out to them.
Thank you for pointing that out, I feel kinda dumb now for not noticing that
Also none of you get paid for today because I’m doing your work.
In fact, just empty your pockets and give me whatever you have as payment.
time to clean the local streets
two thousand masters’ beat
out the vigilant mouth-piece
Dun-dun-DUUUUUN
Where indeed.
So, two major character interpretations:
1A) Solomon David is just doing this as showmanship- his empire hinges on his personal invincibility and authority. He doesn’t really care about any of this.
1B) Pursuant to that, he artificially limits what his subjects can achieve. Note the freaking *Stone Age* construction technique of hauling blocks directly up a ramp without using blocks and tackle or cranes or any such thing. While we’re at it, note that his councilors don’t have the glowy forehead insignia of being magically empowered, and that the councilors he surrounds himself with are all doddering oldsters who obviously never even seriously considered training up to fight him.
1C) Then he occasionally comes in and demonstrates his own astounding power by doing things that his subjects cannot accomplish. Not just foundational things like “put two suns in the sky,” but also more mundane things like “being a badass and winning a huge colosseum fight” or “actually building a giant colosseum at all.”
1D) Thus, his pride is fed.
OR
2A) Solomon David feels some measure of genuine… clearly not humility, but rather empathy, or a kind of shame that his pride compels him to address by finishing the construction himself. He sees those workers as his sons, realizes that they cannot do what his commands and their love has driven them to attempt.
2B) He does this *all the time.* He governs his empire because his people cannot govern themselves. He stays in office generation after generation because no worthy successor exists. he builds giant monuments personally because if he doesn’t, no one else will.
2C) And of course, he accomplishes these things easily, as befits a being with one seventh of all power in the multiverse. There is no challenge or threat that his people face, that he cannot or will not step in and solve for them.
2D) And thus, his pride is fed.
It’s interesting to reflect that the difference between the two A-B-C-D narratives is almost entirely in emphasis and how charitable we feel…
Maybe some combination of both? He feels sincere empathy for his people and truly views himself as a father to his empire, but on some level perhaps even a level he isn’t conscious of he can’t allow his children to grow enough to become independent of him, because his pride demands he place himself on the top, he has councilors but he gets the final word, he has a vast empire but refuses them even the most basic machines to ease their burdens, instead granting him the opportunity to show off his compassion and power.
yeah, you’d think that at least one universe, out of his million+ universes, would have invented some machinery to aid in construction. The ancient Egyptians managed to move blocks weighing up to 80 tons with just manpower, but they probably would have at least lubricated their sledges with water and had many more times the people pulling. Probably a less severe incline would help, too.
So I think you’re on to something there, that they’re artificially limited. He’s making his legions do this as some kind of trial, or just to rub it in how much stronger he is.
Assuming he isn’t just putting this on as a show for Zaid.
; _ ; 7 Aesma…..
And as surely as the sun remains fixed in the sky, bearing down upon all
one day the staff of Un-Medam, weighing four hundrend million tons
Heaven shook and it rolled onto it’s side, rolled and rolled
And before it fell into the void, 30 hells crushed flat
Cut off the head and the snake will die. Shall we see the demise of an empire ere the chapter is through?
I just noticed: as massive as these stones are; they are just piled up in a way that any fool can bring the collosseum down (unless there is a part of the architecture which has not been shown).
Reason #1 Why I am not Zaid: “Hey dipshit, you know my planet has this shit called a ‘crane’ that can do this shit about 1000 times faster than you’re doing it now! Being able to put extra suns in sky don’t mean dick if you can’t master simple machines!”
Calling it now.
He’ll enact a cunning escape to get away from this guy and go save his girlfriend, performing it immaculately and trough a daring adventure managing to slip beneath the self proclaimed god-kings notice, escaping off world five minutes before she shows up.
I will miss Aesma. She was the worst of us, so was the best of us.
I just feel happy knowing that I guessed the arena was under construction, the first time it appeared.
Well as awesome as this is you guys really need to work on block and fall system since it involves less blood.
Yes I know blood is power and significance but still.
AL-YIS-UN coils with devils hued blue to reach peaks you never gifted her, laddie. Yours is a game of patience and waiting.
This lesson is screwed up. Could it be that he is in fact a great hero, but neither an inspired scholar nor an effective teacher?
Next time on Undercover Boss- you won’t believe what this CEO does when he finds his managers overworking the employees!
Kindly consider:
Zaid’s pondering of Al-YIS-UN’s location could come from a couple potential places:
1) He learned about some of Allison’s shenanigans from Solomon.
2) Allison was the last normal thing he saw before being taken, and she was left sitting in a void next to some armored monster that did not seem much inconvenienced by decapitation. Who knows WHAT could’ve happened to her?
Dont you worry, she will appear. And once she appears and both collide, well, let’s just say that only one will remain on top
I find it somewhat strange how many people think that SD forced them to use a ramp. We see more pulleys than ramps in the previous pages, and all the ramps are in one structure. Looks more like foreman dude decided it’d be faster and more manly and his group agreed. Like “look SuperDaddy, we, right at the end of the bridge where you would arrive, are so manly we can just pull these mofos up without any tech”.
“My beliefs are sacred to me.
I will not thin the line I march to make way for yours.”
First Student of Bagoret – FBC, 91
If this doesn’t hard cut to Allison training with white chain, I’ll eat my hat
See next page, Thordan, but I believe your hat is quite safe.
I need to know now. Where is UN-Medam’s staff now?
garsh Zaid, your concern for your fellow human and (former 😉 ~lover~ is honest-to-g-d touching (for once in your characters creep lifespan) but.
Al has been through far more that you could even imagine of this multiverse, and in good company, so if theres anyone who you should be worried about as the proxy heir of reality, its yourself, not Her.