KING OF SWORDS 10-140
Chapter: 10
“Remember, oh student, this above all other laws: the grip of a sword is suffused with a deep and powerful poison that rots to the bone. It can never be rid of once touched, no matter how much you wish otherwise.
The sword does not kill. The hand kills. The hand is the most beautiful part of a human being, and is capable of nearly infinitely other things than parting men from their ghosts. Once you touch the sword, a terrible tragedy will occur, and your hand will slowly lose this ability. Over time, it will cease to be a hand, and become a sword.”
Ryo-ten-Ryam
“The power to cut infinity with the blade of Want is what makes true Royalty. The demiurges understand this in part, and are powerful for it, but cling too strongly to their notions of victory, and thus fall short of ultimate sovereignty.” – or something of the sort, I believe, has been said by Abbadon, and recorded on the wiki.
Litle known fact: Zoss’ halo is present in this scene, but not shown because it is larger than a solar system.
Zoss’ halo is the wheel that is the universe.
Many see the obvious about Zoss’s last words – White Chain is the only one who can save White Chain. But the title has not yet been dropped. Perhaps Zoss will say that the King of Swords – which appears to be Incubus – is the one who can save her. THAT would be interesting.
I also wonder about Zoss’s power. He can show up in dreams, apparently, even those that are already claimed by another. What is stopping him from returning completely, and showing these pretenders at divinity true royalty? Perhaps we’ll find out.
Finally, I wonder about the wisdom of showing himself to Incubus like this. It is clear that the demiurges are his – and Allison’s – enemies, and the advantage of surprise is powerful indeed. Such a legendary warrior like Zoss must know this.
If he did intervene, kicking ass and taking names, I don’t think he would have true royalty. You cannot grasp the secret name of god from the hub of the wheel. And to start laying a beatdown on the Seven would be to return to his abandoned throne at the heart of the cosmos. At least in spirit. And it would also simply continue the cycle of violence that he himself created as the Conquering King.
I suspect he is hoping that Allison will somehow break this cycle. Hence his disappointment when Allison abandoned her friends in the Treasure Vault, and his admonishment to Incubus now. He does not want his successor to simply be better then the Seven at the age old Art of Murder and then be less of a arseface about ruling the multiverse.
Zoss has made it his will not to directly intervene in his heir’s trials. Only to guide them towards understanding royalty when the struggle is particularly harsh.
I doubt he’s willing to change his mind. Nor can anyone else.
That sounds likely. Makes you wonder if Zoss secretly wishes he’d never found Throne at all.
It’s pretty obvious that if Zoss doesn’t do something, it’s because he chooses not to. He seems to have a master plan that requires him to be inactive on some matters.
I have no doubt that if he so chose, he could get back on his throne, deal with the demiurges in any way that pleases him, and survivors(?) would bow their heads and say ‘thank you sir’.
He obviously chooses not to. I look forward to know why.
One of Incubus’ epithets is “Sword King of the Middle Army”.
Indeed it is! That is what I was referring to. I am not sure of the difference between “Sword King of the Middle Army” and “King of Swords” is something worth dwelling over, so I hedged my bets with “appears to be”. A small difference, to be sure, but pedantry is a failing of mine.
Yes, Incubus a sword king, but is he the King of Swords? Or just a very naughty little man, playing at sticks.
The King of Swords can only use the sword. Like Ryo-ten-ryam says in the dialogue, the sword is poisonous.
Solomon is the King of Swords. All he does he does through killing, he is a sword, and can only do what swords can do.
THE best of guardians hath that man within whose dwelling place ye drink,
O Maruts, giants of the sky.
Honoured with sacrifice or with the worship of the sages’ hymns,
O Maruts, listen to the call.
Yea, the strong man to whom ye have vouchsafed to give a sage, shall move
Into a stable rich in kine.
Upon this hero’s sacred grass Soma is poured in daily rites:
Praise and delight are sung aloud.
Let the strong Maruts hear him, him surpassing all men: strength be his
That reaches even to the Sun.
For, through the swift Gods’ loving help, in many an autumn, Maruts, we
Have offered up our sacrifice.
Fortunate shall that mortal be, O Maruts most adorable,
Whose offerings ye bear away.
O Heroes truly strong, ye know the toil of him who sings your praise,
The heart’s desire of him who loves.
O ye of true strength, make this thing manifest by your greatness: strike
The demon with your thunderbolt.
Conceal the horrid darkness, drive far from us each devouring fiend.
Create the light for which we long.
~ The Rig Veda/Mandala 1/Hymn 86
She should learn from Aesma, the question is not if you can, but how you will.
I am reasonably confident Aesma never asked that question either.
Sword logic!!!
Wait, I thought Incubus only appeared to Allison in dreams ?
So… Zoss turning up in Incubus’s dream is… well, awkward, isn’t it ?
Does Zoss wear an angel? Look at the holes on his gauntlets, it looks like the same hole placement on an angel’s body.
Zoss putting the fear of unspeakable Gods into twink stick twirlers
Consider: Zoss is certainly dead- his head cleaved from his shoulders.
Consider: a dead body is comparable to a broken sword.
Consider: there is no such thing as a sword.
“Wait a mo, he can see you too? I thought you were one of those inspirational ghosts only I could see, like the fat chef in ‘Ratatouille.” Great, now I have to seriously reexamine my assumptions.”
BAH GAWD, THAT’S ZOSS’S MUSIC!
Hm. Wait.
Could this be a con?
Consider: We know that Incubus, a villain, is not to be trusted. We know that Incubus has power over dreams and over minds, and that others know this. We know that Zoss is dead. We know that Incubus wants to use Allison as a weapon against his enemies, which means be needs her to master types of strength he cannot.
Consider the sword of Occam: Which is more likely-two dream masters, including one who can survive death? Or one, playing both roles and acting surprised?
I’d argue that we have no need of Occam’s sword: not only Zoss came to Allison before Incubus, but what he is saying now is consistent with what he said the other times he’s appeared, and directly contradicts the ideas that Incubus is continuously trying to hammer into Allison’s mind.
But even if we were to apply Occam’s sword here, we’ve seen Incubus in action a few times and he isn’t *that* subtle. Which is more likely: that it’s all been a hyper-complex ruse from a guy who does not seem capable of such complexities, or that this Zoss really is who he and Incubus claim him to be?
Anything Incubus can do, Zoss can do better. This is axiomatic. Is it not more likely that Zoss is real and Incubus the figment? Personally, I think this is exactly what it appears: a brief gathering of old acquaintances. All they need is a six pack and a bowl of pretzels.
Don’t you hate it when you think you’ve snagged the role of Wise Old Mentor and then suddenly the literal conquering king of the multiverse shows up behind you and he’s already got the job
Prediction: Allison will use the Red Arts of Change in order to “fix” White Chain
Hrmm… Guess Incubus should have worn his brown trousers for today’s visit! Is that him breaking out in a sweat? Hrmm…
That panel with Incubus reacting to “hasn’t stopped me so far” doesn’t say nervousness to me.
It’s “god damn I’ve got such a crush on this man” I think, and so do I, Incubus.
THE TERROR IS BACK.
Man, the comments on this story are getting longer and longer. Why is that?
Longer in post length or the number of comments? I looked back a bunch and the post count is still within the typical range as it has been for months.
KoS 10-134 got particularly long mainly due to the delay between comics.
Nae sure, seemslike peoples be mekkin observins then discussin an askin.
Methinks everyone here is in idiot. Well, almost everyone…
Only the worst kind of idiot strives to be king.
Everyun agrees us sure.
ah’right homies…
everyboby all yall hold up…..
the BIG MAN wants to take a,,
TIME OUT!
*turn*
ahah.. fuck yes: it looks linke the big man wants
wants to level with us about something?
he wants that us all to
keep it real about………………………..
*zoss sits backways on chair*
AIDES
I wish this comment system had a like function.
“Neither you Simon, nor the fifty thousand
Nor the Romans, nor the Jews
Nor Judas, nor the twelve
Nor the priests, nor the scribes
Nor doomed Jerusalem itself
Understand what power is
Understand what glory is
Understand at all, understand at all…
To conquer death
You only have to die”
Physical power is useful, to a point, but has no true value. Perception is the true key to the spirit and it is through that that absolute strength is found. The body weakens, the form crumbles, but the mind endures all. She sees the world but does not perceive it in its truth, only by allowing the Wheel to spin can she find the path towards an inner power for beyond what can be conceived by lesser minded.
Hah! The Grand Dragon is proof enough that even the most cunning mind cannot withstand the ravages of time. Nothing lasts forever.
The difference though is that Mammon has natural immortality due to being a servant and can’t die directly from age related causes (doesn’t stop the effects from ravaging him though apparently, and there’s probably a boost from his key as well), thus unlike the others, he isn’t using some mechanism to stay young.
Though I guess give the others simply time, whether a few hundred, thousands, or tens of thousands more years and you’d start seeing some kind of effect. Mottom already hinted at feeling some of the psychological effects of it.
Zoss on the other hand, seems to be beyond time somehow, as he is implied to be putting the wheel through repeated cycles, which have been happening for who knows how long. Possibly millions of years given how there’s already tens, probably hundreds, of thousands of years of history and backstory.
Yo Abbadon, can you mention delays on the site instead of only on Twitter?
+1 to this please.