KING OF SWORDS 10-158
“A swordsman is at his most natural state when he thinks of nothing at all. Thoughtlessness is the natural state of things, and thinking is probably the biggest mistake of amateurs. By completely disavowing use of that pesky organ in your skull all that is left is the hard and old nerves in the body that think about deep and consequential things such as survival. They know exactly what to do, and they are smarter than you. You become a completely naturalistic and comfortable animal, who’s only motivation is the killing impulse.
To give you an example, I once spent the better part of a summer afternoon killing thirty five men from the Kagen Amat school who had been sent to execute me, returned home, and I had made most of supper before I came back to myself. I remember the incident poorly but several of the men were almost certainly master swordsmen who had studied the blade for most of their lives, and I unfortunately was still an idiot at that time and had taken no weapon with me. I ended up using a piece of driftwood I picked out of the surf. It was quite pleasant and not difficult at all.
Some people think my story an exaggeration and that I had a hidden blade on me or had used perfidious tricks such as poison or several of my friends hidden in ambush. I tell you no such thing is true. I started my afternoon out taking a shit on the beach and I ended up decapitating fifteen men. I had clams for dinner.”
– Meti ten Ryo
83 White Chain Fuck You I Won’t Do What You Tell Me Fuck You I Won’t Do What You Tell Me
Just had a thought, doing the super speed in the rain would actually be far riskier than doing it in clear air since he has to carve a path through the rain and any sharp eyed (or equivalent sensory organs) observers would notice the ‘blink-and-you-miss-it’ void in the rain. At such short distances it’s not so noticeable, but over prolonged distances and increasing microseconds, it would start becoming more noticeable.
Also, is WC going to trail Angel goo/blood/whatever they call the fluid while going at that speed? Would be an awesome sight for the spectators and artistically.
Submit this.
“This I say unto you: verily if thou walketh far enough to one side, thou shalt surely return to thy starting place. Yea, even the unbending line of time is but a circle of infinite radius.”
-Machinations 2:11
Memo to Self:
Do not disturb Meti when she is hungry.
A thought:
The oldest and truest way to learn a master’s martial art is to experience it with the pummeling of your own flesh.
As an ancient angel with eras of experience learning martial arts, how many beatings would White Chain need to take from Solomon in order to claim his art of Ki Rata for her own?
Ki Rata has to do with breathing control. Angels do not breathe. So, probably quite a lot!
They appear to breathe in order to speak though? Though obviously they don’t need to breathe in the void.
Looking back, we just watched Solomon make a big show (as usual) of demonstrating that he’s a master of White Chain’s fighting style. Now, he’s about to find out that White Chain knows a little something about Ki Rata. Let’s hope.
MISTAKE
All she has to do is interrupt him at the right moment, and the diamond will break itself. And he does not seem to forsee that she even could.
Yo, Meti girl. I’ve had workdays like that.
I do seem to remember a particularly peculiar swordsman that when questioned as to the nature of his considerable skill at separating men from the bodily fluids simply stated that he was an idiot and therefore was above such things as skill and being outmatched. It seems as if the power of a fool who also happens to be a compressed nuclear explosion could be considerable indeed.
( Special thanks to Vashi Ket who designed the lovely weighted rings featured here upon the deliciously well muscled arms of one Solomon David. Wonder where else he’s got rings…)
“One who strikes without thought of their action can cut God.”
“Your hand must become a hand that is cutting, your body a body that is cutting, your mind, a mind that is cutting.”
“You must be so hot that even if your enemy should strike your head off, you shall continue to decapitate ten more men.”
Now, I suspect, we shall see White Chain embrace the words of Meti-ten-Ryo.
Resist. Fight till the last.
Stone does not bleed. Flesh does. The beautiful flesh that engulfs us and adds to the parts that makes us whole. Even the king that fashions himself to be diamond, is only flesh in the end, and thus bleeds.
It is the king’s decree that in his world, none may move when he declares it so, and that all shall die, when he declares it so.
But the angel is no servant of him, and so she defies the king’s decree.
The diamond, perfection, is cracked.
The angel has but a single strike.
Let us see if she makes it count.
How’s that self control holding up Solomon? Cause you’re about to get one heck of a surprise.
(And as much as I promised myself not to get my hopes up here they are…)
This reminds me of the old pre-firearm technique for hunting bears. You get a bear to chase you to a prepared spot where you or a buddy have a spear planted in the ground. The bear is unable to stop and impales itself on the spear while you hold it. You just have to avoid being crushed by the falling bear…
I suspect the whole point of this fight is to force herself to enter the next angel stage/form.
Did…Did White Chain just learn Ki-Rata?
Got some Roy Batty vibes goin on with the rain and impending death.
Ki Rata requires total control- total thought- to maintain itself. But as Meti says, thoughtlessness reigns supreme. The greatest swordsmen fear the abject thoughtless novice. The warrior with a dozen arrows in him is unstoppable until he thinks of the arrows. A broken arm may yet break the world.
Yes, that is White Chain moving during Ki-Rata zero-time. You can tell by the rain which is no longer dropping, floating like little balls around her hand. She is about to shock Solomon in a way he hasn’t been shocked in ages, and I for one couldn’t be more pleased. Team Chain, fuck yeah!
I laud this fighter’s aspirations, but now there is time to try, only to do. May all that witness be enlightened.
Remember that White Chain was watching every single one of those kills during Total Life Obliteration. She’s probably fast enough to perceive each kill individually and has an angel’s attention focus.
So she’s just watched a master demonstrate 300+ moves and is prepared to try one on her own.
Besides, if her hand/arm explodes from getting it not-quite-right, it could still be enough.
The raindrops are turning to steam as Solomon walks through them.
I didn’t see anyone else comment on this, and thought I should share my appreciation for the detail.
That, or transitioning directly into plasma. Solomon is moving at an incredible speed and with incredible energy. Every collision, even the slightest touch carries with it an immense momentum.
At the speed he’s moving, I’m surprised the grounds of the arena aren’t shattered and tossed aside with every single step he’s taking, or that the air itself isn’t superheating by the friction of his movement alone, atoms and molecules bursting into miniature nuclear explosions.
No doubt Solomon David employed this technique in some way or manner when he moved or created the second sun into the heavenly void above Rayuba.
Time is an illusion.
White Chain has been figuring out how to see through those since first we met her. It seems she’s gotten the knack.
…we’d avoid her. We think she’d figure us out.
DRAW THE STRENGTH OF THE IMMORTAL FLAME