KING OF SWORDS 10-146
Chapter: 10
Your hand, wrought in killing fire, its fell weight
must be felt by the arm, the strong shoulder,
then in turn the heart, turned inwards quickly
in reflection. Think on its awful weight,
oh beautiful soldier, and tremble rightly.
– Psalm 565, often attributed to the goddess Prim
Something you learn when it comes to experienced fighters: One of the first things we get taught is observation. Being able to notice the world around you, first simple things, “how many light switches in the room,” that sort of thing – then down to minutiae. “What lower back injury does this person have because of how they stepped right now.”
A fight between two people who are very, very good fighters is often intense and above all brief. And it usually consists of a fair amount of them observing each other intensely trying to find the tiniest of openings.
My swordmaster for Italian broadsword told me he’d wait for the moment I stopped focusing my stance through my left big toe – because it was my strongest footing, and it made it so I was more liable to bring my sword hand’s elbow out (as I was given to outside-line chopping strikes) and make myself vulnerable when pressed. He noticed and made these calls in tenths of a second.
Solomon and White Chain have *at minimum* this level of complexity in their observations.
Intriguing. Thanks for sharing that.
White Chain’s “OH SHI~” face on the last frame is as expressive as any such faces in Miura’s “Berserk”. Impressive.
Tok Tok
Quartz alternator broken.
Skins atone, Beast destroy
R has found a glowing toy.
Have you heard About A Boy?
I am mad about the boy
Dream about him, badly drawn.
Grant’s redemption, love forsworn.
the writer will be nicked by horn.
WITNESSED.
Moved by the Aeon’s prayer,
This Temple Dancer shapes mudras.
Casting blessings, Invoking the Gods,
Calling upon the Earth to Witness !
Swastikam Mudra : The Auspicious Sign
Karanamudra : Sign for Removal of Obstacles
Vishnu mudra : Invoking the Preserver
Katakavardhana Mudra : Invocation of Certainty
Abhayamudra : Sign of Protection
Vajrapradama Mudra : Thunderbolt
Kirita Mudra : Crown
Bhūmisparśa Mudrā : Calling Upon the Earth to Witness
Is this from a game or novel…?
Hello Burgul, Black Spiral Dancer,
This is an original poem-prayer created for White Chain.
I did some research on mudras – which are found in the sacred traditions and dances of India.
– O.
You can’t win Solomon. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
Life and death are one, just as the river and the sea are one. All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is not full. The place from whence the river came, there it returns again, and resumes its journey towards the sea.
And every so often a river will rise up, break its banks, and sweep away all before it in furious flood, cleansing and destroying, and wash all the scum off the streets of heaven.
…you are witnessed, sister. And remembered, for as long as I exist.
Angel’s subtlety might be enough to knock you off your feet, but what about when an angel embodies who they truly are, perhaps for the first time in their existance?
White Chain expected to be immediately martyred, either by Ki Rata or by Solomon’s key. Solomon, apparently, chooses to do neither of those things. Instead, he would increase his legend at the expense of hers by using White Chain’s own MA form, which is softer than his: an honourable duel.
I think he expects to win by sending her to the void with burning finger. This would be a non-lethal ring-out.
In the last panel, White Chain has realised his plan and that she might now not only survive but win; but she only has milliseconds to turn her sacrifice move into a practical attack.
I’m glad I’m not the only one noticing that he’s doing that.
Sorry-Not sorry.
Wait. Angels are nuclear explosions wearing armor, right? So if you punch one to death…
THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE THE GALAXY
IS TO DESTROY PLANET EARTH AND ALL DUNDEE!
—Apocalypse 1992
I am overjoyed to meet another who knows of the tale of Dundee, and the trials that took place in the far-off, distant era of 1992. I generally listen to the recounting in the morning, rather than drinking coffee. It has roughly the same effect on my energy level.
I Witness
All I know of Solomon David is what I have been shown in these pages and that is not enough for me to gain a measure of his character.
I wonder if events may take an unexpected turn.
I WITNESS THEE, PREE WHITE CHAIN!
Wait, is he… mimicking her stance? That’s the exact same one she took mirrored.
It even has the “tok” sound effect in each wrist.
Plus his leg sweeping back
And Solomon not uses slow-mo ability because.. Trying to appear honorable or something ? Mmm. Not looks wise.
Seems like one of those “things i would not do if i was archvillain” that every evilgenius/dark overlord does cause laws of the genre and that causes their downfall.
WITNESSED!
Shiny and stone, White Chain!
Oh no. Oh no no. I’m scared to watch, I can’t look!
Goodbye for now, 82 White Chain Born In Emptiness Returns To Subdue Evil.
I hope we get to meet 83, I’m sure she’ll be magnificent.
Judging by the surprised expression of White Chain in the last panel and the fact that Solomon copied her pose (even the sound effects are the same) my guess is that he’s going to fight using the 47 Empty Palms technique. This might give him yet another edge in combat since he’s already familiar with her fighting style. However it could also prove to be his undoing if White Chains does something unpredictable and unorthodox for an angel
True, we must not forget that White Chain has learned to bluff. Can she improvise a move that will take advantage of Solomon’s strategy of using her style?
That’s what I’m hoping. Although I fear Solomon is so much stronger than White Chain that even by outmaneuvering and outsmarting him she still won’t defeat him. After all how do you defeat someone who, in the split second he realizes he’s made a mistake, can literally stop time and recover from said mistake? I think the only way White Chain can “win” is by somehow “exposing” Solomon as the tyrant he is in front of everyone, even if doing that might cost her her shell
This witness may need a slight reminder, as the years do take their toll on the ol’ brain-pan. Well…the millennia. Head of John is the practice of driving angel feather nails into the flesh, so as to essentially make oneself invulnerable, yes? Or…a similar concept, to the same effect. I’m sure we both understand my meaning.
I still believe that is what those nails in dear White Chain’s armor-body are. I don’t think that Solomon David intends to kill White Chain – I also don’t think he intends to end this fight quickly. Solomon David is a demiurge, after all. He would not have gotten to where he is without excessive brutality and cruelty. ‘Reach Heaven through violence’.
I believe he has yet to show us the full extent of his malice, and I believe that’s the sight we’re about to receive – him beating and bashing her bent and broken body across the battlefield.
I hope I’m wrong…I also hope I’m right.
Countering with the opponents martial art? That’s just rude.
Take care Solomon, you fight like an angel on the assumption that you might beat your opponent at her own game – and perhaps you are correct. But this one is no ordinary angel; at once she manifests and holds true to the law, while also growing increasingly aware of its limitations. It is said that just as demons are bound by the searing red flame, angels are bound by the cold blue flame – but as with all things, this must be a boldfaced lie (or at least an oversimplification). We have already seen angels forsake the law in the service of personal greed, and demons quell their burning want for the sake of something more meaningful than riches and power.
So I ask: unbound by the strictest tenants of the law and driven by a burning want of their own, how powerful might an angel truly become? How… human, might they become?
Whatever the case there is no doubt, the battle which we now bear witness to shall be legendary, one way or another.