King of Swords 10-154
Chapter: 10
Heed this well: the princes of the world are no strangers to iron. You may wish it bite them but it will merely kiss their skin. It is an old friend of theirs, and they pull it from the blood of their enemies. Your own sword will leap from your hand and spitefully impale you. You shield will break at the slightest brush of their fingers. Your armor will crumple and fall away as they approach. They are the kings of iron, and it swears fealty to none but them.
– Red Swallow, Tithe of the Cliffs
Magnificent indeed.
When your opponent’s neck could double as a tractor-trailer hitch, you may be in trouble.
SUBARASHI
Is that a reference to the third Made in Abyss movie? If so, I commend your good taste in soul-crushing media, sibling.
I get MAD MAD M. BISON (SFA3) vibes from this moment…its not gonna be a good day for the angel.
Goddamn those Teeth
The bottom set does look weird, or Abbadon accidentally colored them wrong.
Nah they’re just shadowed by the upper teeth.
Next-gen graphics by UE5
GOD CHAD
Salami Dave has the smile of someone who’s hard right now.
My thought exactly
This thought is now canon for me and I hate you for it. Imma get sum bleach, I’ll pass it round if ya’ll wants to share.
…imma keep the thought… for reasons….
…
…
… HE IS HANDSOME, OK?
Cal-
May I call you Cal?
Cal.
He’d break you like an eggshell.
Some people like their eggs broken.
Yeah, well, they don’t tend to ask the eggs about the whole breaking deal.
By the time they get around to replying they’re generally not eggs anymore. 🏳️🌈
Two days of reading this comment and I still can’t figure what the pride flag has to do with egg breaking and/or rearing. This metaphor got away from me, big time.
An egg is someone who is trans and is either unaware or incapable of accepting it.
Sorry, I was drunk.
I’d comment on the breaking, but better not.
@Tranquil Ooooooo, did NOT know that. That’s an awesome lexicon expansion right there, thank you! ❤
@Calavera Don’t worry, I get it. The drunkenness, I mean. At least once a week. Parties, man.
I really wanted to reply with just a picture of his face in the last panel, it would
have been the perfect reply. Alas, I cannot post picture comments, so you’ll just have to remember every time you look at his face.
“Rapeface: on”
ew. why would you take it there?
I go where the ominous quotes are.
Well, you’re definitely meeting your ominous quota.
Solomon: Well girls, I can’t say it hasn’t been fun. In fact, if I still had a penis, it would be quite auspicious that I’m wearing baggy pants. But enough about hypothetical erections…
So if Solomon David is Android 20/Doctor Gero, who is Android 19 in this scenario? Gog Agog?
Sandman, you have totally nailed it (heh).
Salami Dave is experiencing a giant full body boner right now.
I am glad i am not the only one that thought he popped a boner from that.
This is the face of a man who finally found a worthy opponent.
He’s enjoying this *far* too much
Indeed. That is not a smile you want to see on your enemy.
That is not a smile you want to see. Period.
It is a rather ‘I like you! You’re FUN’ sort of smile, the kind a mouse might get from a particularly amused cat.
“No animal in all the kingdom will ever strike me down”
-White Chain, a long time ago
The idiot is observant.
This smile reminds me of the smile we’ve seen on Preem Pramam Nand’s face, back when he heard a mouse and a law (wo)man.
I have a strong suspicion that something is going to happen, and not a small something either.
My money is on the worm to win.
The miraculous scene at the summit of the great mountain peak, before you peer over the cliff and realize you need to climb down.
Spoken like someone who hasn’t been challenged this hard in a long/very long time.
*smacks recaptcha for being particularly obtuse*
Aye, he’s relishing being made to do a bit of work for a change. The “tournament” has undoubtedly been boring for him for eons.
*kicks recaptcha, just because it always deserves it anyway*
If you wish to prevent a demiurge going to war, make them pass recaptcha first. The universe will die of heat death before they get to kill anything.
Saying he’s being challenged is a pretty big exaggeration
Maybe not challenged, but… this is a technique White Chain just invented, this is something *new*, that Solomon has never encountered before.
When was the last time Solomon faced an opponent whose possible moves and counters he wasn’t already totally familiar with ?
I just had a thought, a parallel. God-Emperor Leto II of Dune. gets surprised by the latest incarnation of Duncan Idaho, while daydreaminig about conversations with previous incarnations of Duncans. Leto is daydreaming about how the Duncans always do this, do that, and how they inevitably do things the same way, when blammo, the latest one nearly catches him totally unaware.
> *smacks recaptcha for being particularly obtuse*
…Spoken like someone who hasn’t been challenged this hard in a long/very long time.
Lol!
Magnificent
Well, he looks impressed, but largely uninjured. That’s a problem for White Chain, because I’m pretty sure she was actually landing blows that entire time, they just didn’t have enough power to pierce his skin. At this point, I’m not sure if it would even matter if she managed to get another good opening.
At the same time, Solomon seems impressed, or at least as impressed as a Demiurge can get. So, does that mean he’s happy that he gets to showboat *extra* hard this time, because his opponent isn’t a total pushover, or does it mean he’s going to acknowledge White Chain has some potential.
Then again, even if he did acknowlege her, would that result in him actually changing his course, or just killing her harder?
Either way, I think the next few panels will tell us the course of everything to follow.
Also, interesting observation I missed the first time: There is a very clear umbilical connecting White Chain’s two forms. That could prove to be a problem.
To be fair, they were blunt force blows. Though obviously with enough force, a blunt force blow will pierce skin, or maybe it’s traveling so face that it becomes piercing damage rather than blunt force.
Indeed, I’m wondering most of these same things. Although I have been thinking “this next page—!” for quite a few pages, now. (If only it were some point in the future, and I could spend the appropriate five minutes gawking over each page before immediately moving on to the next. if only.)
However, I was thinking about the /previous/ page’s comments, and how it might be.. unsatisfying, after our lead-up, for White Chain to defeat Solomon because of a distraction? Would undercut some of the ideas previous. But, I can see White Chain finally losing this fight, making Solomon spend a huge amount of energy and focus to finish her off- and in so doing /providing/ that distraction, that split second window, and time enough for a Twenty Cubit Spear to meet his face. Perhaps he ends up with enough time to begin to react, and it just scratches him? A single drop of blood, after all. And Allison demands Zaid, passage, and a new body for White Chain.
…or, perhaps, White Chain will spill a drop of blood, and Solomon will change the rules. Which could destroy his kingdom just as if he had lost his head. perhaps.
I seem to recall something a hotel manager said about this..
> and in so doing /providing/ that distraction, that split second window, and time enough for a Twenty Cubit Spear to meet his face. Perhaps he ends up with enough time to begin to react, and it just scratches him? A single drop of blood, after all
There’s precedent with the dream sequence with Incubus; definitely seems plausible.
The spear would definitely scratch Solomon if it landed – Incubus is a master of the Head of John, his face was supposed to be invulnerable. But Allison acting on Zoss’ advice is unlikely to interfere in the fight.
He might have done the Head of John stuff after he got the scars though, but it was definitely before he got his key.
That’s true, which is why I figured they wouldn’t actually assist with the fight. But the moment after the fight, perhaps upon White Chain’s armor exploding (and Solomon focusing on not letting that harm him)? As a sort of retribution? I think it’s possible.
Also, a good insight regarding Incubus’s invulnerability! I hadn’t realized the full significance of that scratch at the time.
Ah! Indeed, that’s what I was picturing, though I didn’t realize it. Well recalled.
Of course, Allison coming to White Chain’s aid would be a violation of the rules, and Slami Dave is all about the rules. Even if Alison got more than a drop of blood, it’s unlikely Dave would accept it, since only White Chain is a legal competitor by now.
~~~~~Goodbye old friend.~~~~~
~~~ye will be missed~~~
Oh fuck he’s HAPPY
I couldn’t help but read this in 24’s voice.
you mean you read it
in the GLORIOUSA voice
of BRIAN BLESSED
that is the smile of a dude who is either about to monologue or kill somebody.
Or possibly both.
Smart tyrants kill first and monologue over the corpse.
Awesome tyrants do both at once. Multi-tasking!
Oh he’ll monologue first. He wants White Chain to hear everything he has to say, be it complimentary or condescending. Or both.
Efficient tyrants will monologue with condescending compliments while killing, while also proving a point and acting as a symbol of the power of their regime.
Optimally they also network and double check tax documents while doing all of the above, but nobody’s perfect.
“I mean, this dude has me in the palm of his hand and he won’t shut up!”
A smiling tyrant is a sign to worry. …Well, if there wasn’t already a reason to worry.
Tell me, is this one of the ways of smiling known to the old gods?
All smiles are known to the old gods, except for the genuine smiles.
This smile strikes me as terrifyingly genuine. This is the smile of the new gods.
Aye, the Ninth. Or, at least, a variation of it.
If I remember correctly, it is an expression hewn entirely from satisfaction. It’s not ~necessarily~ a smile of Royalty, though plenty o’ fools mistake it as such, especially when it’s worn by fuckers like Salami Dave over there.
A fair portion of how my master trained me involved her physically chucking me headlong at a wide variety of brutish, sadistic assholes who smiled in similar fashion.
The Diamond stops and smiles
His might can flatten miles
Be wary when deities grin,
Majestic sight though it may be.
For now true contest doth begin,
Blood is split eventually.
Abandon all hope!
An angel: soul and body
Against mortal god!
This guy is no dope!
Though arrogant and haughty
He’ll leave you slack-jawed!
“Hehe, you’ve made me use exactly 5% of my full power.” – Salami Dave
“And that’s more than I’ve used in 500 years!”
-SD
AND she tore his shirt! She’s gonna pay for that bigtime.
thanos solomon
thanos solomon
Big Purple Overlord Gets Excited When Persistent Enemy Barely Fazes Him
“All of that… for a drop of SHIT A DROP OF BLOOD SHEEIIIT”
Don’t be intimidated White Chain, try to imagine him on his underwear
OH NO HE’S HOT!
(and maybe hard too)
There is no maybe about it. Smile like that, I’m amazed its only the top half of his clothes that have been ripped apart
素晴らしい！
“Yes. YES!”
Bison, not your ‘verse! Go away!
This is delicious!
*shitty synth plays*
But for Solomon, it was Tuesday.
*smiles in the ghost of Raul Julia*
Aye, I miss him too.
Of course now I’ve got a little Gomez Addams mixed in. Which seems appropriate.
…And then Jagganoth swoops in for the kill and reignites universal war, yes? There couldn’t be a better opening.
…That, could happen. Huh.
This has been my expectation for a long time now – that this tournament will end with Jagganoth’s fleet darkening the skies above Rayuba.
Well, the sky has darkened already.
Alternatively, Big Daddy Dave may be having a taste of what war used to feel like and is feeling partial to join the bout despite himself.
Or Gog-Agog decides she’s sick of Solomon’s shit and decides to make her move.
And *then* Jagganoth shows up and the party really gets going.
There’s always a bigger fish.
Quickly Alison, cast Summon Bigger Fish!
Solomon x White Chain???
But what would the ship name be? 82 White Chain Born in Emptiness Returns to Subdue Dat Ass?
Significantly more amazing than something generic like ‘Diamond Angel’.
We may need to address that Solomon seems particularly aroused by his, ahem, partner being able to turn their encounters into a threesome. One pair of fists alone cannot satisfy this meaty boi.
Magnificent! *Honk*
* series of loud approving honks *
Also , anyone remember GogAgog plan of winning tournament by influencing who fights who ? Yeah. Sad that rules changed , otherwise Allison would totally been beating Salami ass now. GogAgog plan was so perfect ! We all believe in GogAgog wisdom , right ?
The game is not over yet. A good plan must adapt to circumstances and who could be more adaptable than the marvelous, multitudinous god of vermin?
*internal screaming that rapidly becomes external screaming*
Oh dear. He’s got a bad case of Kenshiro-shirt.
I fear that White Chain may… already… be…
Right to the meme folder with that last panel
Rules are for little people, the cinders, not brilliant flames. The Book of Law will be melted and smelted over and over and over and over and over again to satisfy their whims.