KING OF SWORDS 10-142
Chapter: 10
“Total victory is not found in the final sword blow. To perfect victory you cannot continue to spill the blood of a fallen foe, which only shows your insecurities to your many enemies. Instead, you must nurse your foe back to health, dress, and feed him, but not so much that he regains his strength. You must take away every aspect of him which originally seemed fierce and indestructible. In every aspect you must diminish and crush his spirit with affection, all the while maintaining your grip on his sword arm. In this way, kindness is the greatest cruelty.”
-Au Vam
To assure yourself and those you have conquered that the newest threat is nothing to worry about, you must strip it of its trappings. Dresses do not seem to suit our warriors anymore. At least, not when they are chosen by a tyrant.
But like ….. Cio was wearing a dress lol just a dress of her own choosing.
In the times to come, when the historians study the chronicles of the rising king, the revelation that Solomon David did not approve of Cio’s schoolgirl chic will no doubt be viewed as the greatest evidence that he had truly gone completely and irrevocably mad.
He has absolutely no fashion sense.
He has a taste for milkmaids.
A milkmaid is a good and righteous thing to be.
Milk, you are one which has brought joy, and so I say you are the best and most righteous thing to be.
The only primary source known to survive is quite strident on this matter.
Aye. ‘Tis so, ’tis so.
Solomon David detests the idea of “choice”, unless it is his.
Solomon David is blind to the fact he has removed all his own choices. In so doing the road he has chosen now leads only to inevitable ruin.
But then again, what roads end elsewhere?
They all end here.
Find yourself a victory that can survive you, as you will not survive my threshing floor.
The road which leads nowhere.
This, indeed, was the problem. Femininity itself is not evil, but rather its use as a tool of bondage. A dress worn as a means of liberation – to look good according to one’s own desires and taste – is abhorrent in the eyes of the Patriarchy.
Let them break beneath my majesty. Patriarchy will have to contend with someone who knows how to fight even in a dress made for bondage.
But first to break free of the body’s limits, if necessary. Sometimes the best chains are forged by one’s own agreement, sometimes they are the worst.
They’re both like “This is so totally *not* us.”
The match is about to start! And there’s a second day’s worth of ice for drinks, too. Good thing I had extra for everyone!
Do you have blood ice?
“Blood” was not one of the flavors that the Empire’s drink contract covered, and I do not believe it wise to bring up such a flavor within its bounds.
surely, one might collect and repurpose the great gallons of it spilled in the arena.
Solomon cares not for the vanquished fools, after all.
reselling it at the same event might be considered gauche, however, and is not the best way towards Profit.
better to collect, freeze, and sell later and elsewhere.
The collection and reselling of loose blood from the grounds of a public arena constitutes a violation under the Blood, Bone and Viscera Retrieval Act as enforced by the Celestial Empire’s Ministry of General Health and Happiness. Unlike most governments, that particular department that has grown rather robust under the wise and watchful eye of Lord Solomon.
That is poor person speak. Those with the ambition and drive to gain riches will know that such regulations are only for the fools that know not what hands to wash in gold. As told by our god Mammon.
Your greed knows no bounds, villain.
Dressed for inconvenience.
WHO? DID? ALLISON’S? HAIR?
The demiurges seem to really like to play dressup with Alison.
That’s exactly what I was going to comment. Not in this words, exactly, but the gist was pretty much the same.
Allison’s face: “What? Again?”
@Termite, I believe you have exposed the deepest lore mystery of the series. Why do the seven like making Allison play dressup? What will Jagganoth make her wear? What will Gog-Agog?
Is making her play dress-up just a power trip? Or do they believe fashion will somehow contain and mold her power to throw the world’s largest monkey wrench into their affairs?
Us wants t’see Alice as un green jester now. An especiallike Cio – meresome so’s t’enjoy the face she be pullin!
I can hazard a guess how Gog will dressup Allcion or at least the scene plays out clearly in mm head, how is Jagganoth going to dress her up is the interesting question.
In power armor, of course.
…or in bondage gear.
……or in bondage power armour.
To be fair, they’re looking to remake her into whatever they need. The exception being Mammon who no longer cares.
I bet if Mottom didn’t crash the party, his priests would’ve given her something, going along with their “this land is kind” spiel.
Spoiler Alert: The final battle for control of the multiverse is actually a fashion show. All the combat and drama was just a diversion from the *real* focus of the narrative.
Also, I’m seriously rooting for “demiiurges playing dressup” becoming a running gag.
I was hoping the final battle would be a dance fight, but, alas, we may never see this.
So…Solomon put Cio in a nun’s habit?
Worse: a servant’s costume. This will not be forgiven.
It is an affront to Cio’s superior fashion sense.
Cio, please tell me the only reason they gave you THAT was because you ripped up whatever they originally provided…
I wanna know what she did to the servants that brought it to her
Befitting? No, not really. But it is still a pretty pimp dress.
I think cleo clothing was purely to humiliate since they were conservative and actually pretty amazing. Though I do at least like Alice’s hair its so well done
I can’t decide if it’s cuter if the guy who brought the clothes (who I assume is one of Solomon’s 26-27th generation of sons) did it for her, or if Cio insisted on doing it for her so she’d actually look somewhat stylish… right before they put Cio in that fashion disaster purely to humiliate her…
Between the alt text and Solomon’s already-established ability to move planets, is it possible Rayuba has a moon that might end up falling?
Not so much moving planets as putting up two replacement suns and having a night/day cycle that seems to defy astrodynamics.
Remind one of the night/day cycle, one has the feeling it’s as regular as Solomon’s OCD.? Zaid said he found it hard to sleep with there being 2 suns, one remembers that, but there was definite ‘red sky in morning..’, ie a morning, 3-4 pages ago.
If ’twere a classic binary, with Rayuba orbiting their centre of gravity, then there should not be too much difference to having one sun, and Zaid’s comment would be strange. Depending on axial tilt it could be similar to what this Earth experiences as its summer.
If Rayuba were much closer in though, the suns would have to be less powerful than the Sun for starters, cooler red dwarfs say, or Rayuba would be crispier than sunside Mercury. The classic 3-body problem would be taken to apply if Rayuba is closer than to have its own ‘normal’ orbit, and it would effectively be chaotic, unpredictable, and having any distinct morning at all would seem strange.
Of course Solomon manipulating any astral bodies in the first place would already defy our understanding.
I’ve always imagined that Rayuba’s new suns are not stars but godly light-fittings, in low orbit or simply held up by Solomon’s will. The day-night cycle is controlled by the Mother of all Dimmer Switches. Operation of the Switch is a fiercely-contested privilege of the elite Solomonites.
🙂
For completeness: the night was stated to be exactly 8 hours and twilight exactly 1 hour, all year round. Geometrically infeasible (impossible?) with suns of constant brightness.
Aha, thank you yes, one does just about remember this from somewhen. Wouldn’t know why Zaid would have trouble with that.
All year round would indicate zero tilt.
One feels we would need to know how fast Rayuba spins, ie also the number of daylight hours, to work out the geometry, fewer hours being more viable, but an Earth std daylength would probably require Rayuba and the 2 suns to play ring-a-ring-of-roses in a trinary configuration, so not a great likelyhood.
Thank you I was searching and praying to Aesma for this reference. You brought peace to my inquiring heart.
So we have an angel name generator, what about a Cio face generator?
Guh, perhaps the worst thing to happen to Cio yet…
O’ Faithful, join me in prayer towards the Fading Flame.
May the cast off embers of Creation and Destruction devour the Emptiness, the Chain shall be broken into a whip that shall split the Sword!
O Flame! O Ash! O Sacred Darkness and Holy Light!
None shall be spared!
Ah, it WAS just a dream. Obvious, but it is gratifying to see it coming. That is a lot of being an Oracle, I find; stating the obvious. Of course, what is obvious to me is different than what is obvious to most, but still.
And let’s be real, here. Allison and Cio’s expressions are absolutely justified.
That look on her face. “Though the gates of Hell be opened and the armies of the dead march forth from the sea, I will have vengeance!” comes to mind.
Modest dress can bestow sophistication onto the classless and need not be sexless; sometimes showing a bit of ankle can be more beautiful than showcasing nearly everything. Dress designed to be frumpy as though frumpiness was a virtue, however, is very difficult to overcome. In any case one should never buy off-the-rack if possible.
Cio’s face in that sixth panel says it all.
Solomon sure does know how to endear himself to women, I know most of the women I’ve met love being told what to wear. That dress washes poor Alison out like an overcast day. Cio looks like a Nun with a pack a day habit.
As for Au Vam, his weaponizing of kindness can result in terrible calamity if that grip on the sword arm is lost. Such kindnesses can be returned tenfold in cruelties from those who seemed broken, but were really just biding their time. Better to annihilate a foe quickly.
I see that they are brought into the stands *opposite* to the royal box, so that they have to walk past half the crowd to reach Solomon. This is not accidental.
For no reason that I can identify, I suspect this is going to end poorly for the Emperor. Perhaps he will be prosecuted for his fashion crimes.
The crowd of KSBD comment section demands blood!
Indeed, Preem Potwór, for he has imprisoned AL-Ysun, he has damaged her spirit, he has taken her from her friends. All that we could forgive. But Solomon-David…
Beige? Really?
Tremendous, earth shattering physical and mystical power buys you a lot. It buys you the adoration of your followers, the fear of your enemies, the respect of the masses and all the wealth that you could ever desire.
It does not buy you a taste in fashion. yeesh.
“You philosophers are lucky men.
You write on paper and paper is patient.
Unfortunate Empress that I am,
I write on the susceptible skins of living beings.”
~ Catherine The Great, Empress of Russia.
No, no! Don’t make me fall in love with long-dead historical figures!
We already knew that Solomon David was no good, but if he inspired a culture where what Cio had been wearing was less presentable than that potato sack they stuffed her in, he’s complete trash tier.
I’m glad he’s going to lose tis fight.
At a guess, I’m going to say that he’s not going to lose, as such. Perhaps achieve a standstill? But also perhaps simply destroy White Chain’s shell and then announce something.
But then again, diamond is a material. Angels are immaterial… and hot enough to melt diamond if they don’t stay in those bodies. I’m guessing that we won’t know until the actual moment when one is defeated.
Pride goeth before the fall.
And Solomon is literally fighting an Angel, who he thinks is beneath him.
(Also we have Voss waltzing in with “She has no chance of winning… but here’s how she can totally win.” And Alison is all, “I see…”)
Meanwhile, Incubus is just “YOU SUCK YOU GIANT TURD! IT ABSOLUTELY SUCKS THAT I’M SUPER-HOT FOR YOU RIGHT NOW!”
Interestingly, Oscar also thought he could take White Chain (when they first met, back in Book 3); boy was he out of his league! This suggests that very few actually understand how powerful are the angels. Cio knows, but she’s been around a while and seen a lot (she’s probably older than Solomon).
Cio’s shoes … are sized for a human. Cio’s feet are much longer, because claws. Not only is she humiliated, she’s in agony and losing her balance.
Alison’s dress seems weird. From the front it seems to be open over the shoulder muscles. Yet from the back it looks like the dress covers the same area. Really looks like a different dress from behind.
One thing I’ve noted reading this story is that Abbadon plays fast and loose with characters’ clothing; * very * fast and loose. It’s better to take it as one of the comic’s charms than to think too much about it.