KING OF SWORDS 10-167
The lord of the vale and his thugs laughed at Intra and his preposterous proclamation. But their mirth was cruel, so they stayed to watch his futile labor.
“I will turn this rock into fire,” said Intra. The men roared with laughter.
“Fool!” they cackled. “The rock shall not become fire, no matter your wish.”
Intra ignored them, turned the rock in his well worn hand, and dug a shallow pit with it, piling the earth carefully at the sides. Then he gathered dry brush and reeds and piled them high in the pit. The sun was hot and bright overhead as he worked, and his traveling clothes were soiled with sweat as he worked. The men bade the villagers of that place gather water for them to drink as they watched Intra’s labors.
From his traveling cloth, Intra produced a sword. The thugs watching him leaned forward at this, but then quickly relaxed. It was a decrepit and battered thing, well used and pitted and chipped.
“I no longer use this to kill men,” said Intra. “But it’s very good for cooking dinner.”
Intra struck the rock against his sword, and a spark flew into the dry brush. Intra fanned it with great care, and soon a roaring fire blazed in the village square.
– The Song of Maybe
Can we keep Vigilant Gaze though?
I like him.
White Chain has discovered the power of fighting like an idiot. She’d best be careful not to become too much like Alison.
she is truly transcendent, did Koss plan this possibility or is this beyond even him? I have meant some very human angels in my travels, but none like this
Good to see 10 Vigilant react the exact same way we hoped he’d react
Thanks troll, I mean Bob (takes a drink).
This guy NEVER shuts up. My liver hurts.
This new body is no shell. She has truly Incarnated.
Good for them! Good for them!!
If i were to use a term to describe White Chain now, I feel like Nephilim might be a term that could be used. Although I could be wrong.
Hahaha! I told you her hair would be spectacular! In her angel form it’s like some kind of rainbow Medusa! Thanks, Abbadon!
I was thrilled to see White Chain so happy when she said “It’s Me!”
But Allison in panel two, she’s just having a joygasm. Go Team AlliCioChain!
Just write a draw a better comic, Bob.
She can’t. She’s trolling with one hand and frantically masturbating with the other.
(and)
Soooo… Angel-soul in a meat-suit rather then?
I mean it’s a lovely meat-suit, But yea. That’s what it feels like to me.
Also Vigilant Gaze seems chill with it, if a bit confused.
Also Also, C’mon guys, this is unprecedented and weird, but I feel at least a bit on point for the story. And there’s been AT LEAST other angel that’s taken an outwardly feminine shell. Delicious I think it was…
I’m interested in seeing where this meatsuit thing goes.
Also also also, her fucking soul was Feminine in appearance from the start, let her have this victory.
Oh And another thing…
Something I figure a lot of people aren’t gonna like. I bet that new body is mortal. Just saying.
It does look mortal, which has its qualities and characteristics. None of them are bad, or too bad, anyhow.
I love the glory of White Chain’s new form and all the cheering and happiness, but there’s one thing in particular I just cannot get over and that’s White Chain’s confused little expression after her angel form poofs away. XD
What about Allison’s “WTF CIO EXPLAIN” face and gesture? xD
Wouldn’t you be confused if all of the sudden you changed species? In the middle of a fight with possibly the deadliest warrior in the world?
She seems to have quickly come to terms with that (“It’s me! :D”). It’s the spontaneous manifestation of her angelic form in the mortal plane that she doesn’t get yet
Its been all of 30 seconds and you can see Cio has one thing on her mind: They gonna fuck.
One question that murmurs in my mind when we see both White Chain’s apotheosis and the effect achieving it has had on her as a person, is what her transformation will mean to the Petal Knights.
Thus far, it seems every Petal Knight we’ve met in any degree of detail has had genderqueer themes going on. Delicious and her mirroring of White Chain is the most obvious, of course, but even 33 Judicious Rain Sears the Unrepentant, who White Chain nearly killed with a table back in Seeker of Thrones, seemed coded as trans or enby with “her/them/it” pronouns in the alt text. Combine with Delicious’s talk of “what change is” and final cry of “Glory to the New Flesh!” and I wonder if what White Chain has achieved here isn’t also the culmination of everything they desire.
Even more more than that, there was talk very early in the comic about how breaking of the world in the Universal War and subsequent rule of the Seven broke the confidence of many young angels in protecting reality, and so I likewise wonder if White Chain does not now also build on that which they believe in, though from a far more constructive and less cynical perspective.
So to sum all that up, I find myself wondering if White Chain is about to make herself a bridge and mentor to the Petal Knights. Both as someone who can teach them how to embody their true selves and also as someone who can be the King of Swords to them as Allison was in turn to her, and take the fire Allison help her cultivate in herself — that desire to and vision to set the world right — and pass it on to them in turn.
“I have long suspected the Petal Knights’ single minded devotion to White Chain Returns In Emptiness To Subdue Evil as a natural outgrowth of the core tenets of their order. When a core tenet of your knightly creed includes ‘If they made a choice – protect their will!’, what can you do about a glowing invincible avatar of Change directly blessed by Al-YISUN and with complete mastery over her own self?
Worship the stoneyarse, of course!”
–Preem Ciocie Cioelle Estrella Von Maximus the Third, On The Third Conquest: A Hindsight
Is it acceptable to call this being Pree? Do we look at Pree White Chain, as we did on Pree Aesma?
Surebaet Noodles- it’s a “sure bet” you’ll love your bowl!
Yes.
I hate this dam fan base. I wish comments were disabled
QQ.
Lazy troll is lazy.
You should work harder at annoying people.
Look to Bob. He is a hero among assholes.
No, no, Unfie. Read it right. Pree Glub was talking of the DAM fan base, not a thing to do with us.
… not that THEY won’t be offended. *nearby dam implodes* See?
So many more facial expressions!
A Prayer of Thanks
YISUN ATUN ! ( Praise YISUN ! )
UN ATUN ! ( Praise UN ! )
YIS ATUN ! ( Praise YIS ! )
To Boratus of the Silver Scales, I give Thanks for Inspiration
To UN-Medam, I give Thanks for Wisdom
To YS-Perator, I give Thanks for Truth
To Prim, I give Thanks for Compassion
To YS-Het, I give Thanks for Strength
To Prat Payam, I give Thanks for the Tempering of my Heart
To YS-Voya, I give Thanks for Epic Sagas
YISUN ATUN ! ( Praise YISUN ! )
VM ITTR A VSK YTTR ( Seek Heaven Through Paradox ! )
A little known story of this Prayer is that UN-Aesma found it infuriating, since it never mentions her by name. That is why devils and a few knowledgeable and fearful humans spit at the end.
The truth is, of course, far simpler. In those days no one ever thanked Aesma for anything, with the exception of YISUN, who once thanked this most beloved of pupils with a prayer most infuriating – but that is a story for another time.
I’d court her and fight the whole creation to deserve the right of courtship
Ah. We recognize the face and tail wagging in panel six (an auspicious number for romance!). There is a devil who is considering naughty possibilities.
Naughty possibilities, world-shattering implications, who can say? Or perhaps ideas that are world-shatteringly naughty!
Well, guess I will have to ship this now.
This is wild mass guessing and will probably be buried in the comments, but is White Chain’s physical form composed of Solomon’s adamant flesh? If so, does this singular toughness prevent her fiery angelic nature from consuming her body? Does sustaining this state require either Solomon or White Chain to bear the word DIAMOND? That would be an interesting wrinkle, as it would constrain Allison’s ability to dethrone Solomon David, bringing her into conflict with Gog-Agog’s plan (in as far as the worm-clown has a plan) to use Allison to undermine the other demiurges.
Interesting idea, but frankly I hope not. As much as I have enjoyed these episodes focusing on Solomon a lot, I hope his exit is more or less permanent. A cameo here and there would be fine, but I feel like it’s time to get back to Renegade Barrista/Demiurge Thrashes the Mighty plotline. And her cutie pie demon gfriend.
This one is highly suspicious of any guess originating from the wild mass.
[distant honk]
im crying white chain is so beautiful and happy….
she can really rock the blue hair! i wonder how busting out her angelic form like that will change things?
i’m excited to see white chain get used to having a human body! (also i’m voting for allison/white chain/cio triad)
I really like this comic. The art is beautiful, I really like and care about the characters, the worldbuilding is wonderfully bizarre, and the story makes delightful twists and turns that never fail to surprise.
But what I really love is the overall theme of self-discovery. Watching the characters grow into themselves, or beyond themselves is awesome. It’s the kind of story that I love, and I’m glad someone’s telling it.
See, I’m a straight, cisgender white dude. There are whole reams of what’s being put down that either fly right over my head or that I don’t think can possibly resonate as deeply with me as it resonates with other members of this audience. And that’s okay! It’s awesome, actually! It’s great to have your story told by a skilled artist.
But this story does resonate with me, too. Tthere have been a couple times in my life where I’ve made myself deeply unhappy by trying to live up to standards and values that weren’t mine. The struggles to first realize that I’d dug myself into a hole, then to decide to claw my way ou,t were the events that made me who I am. I love to see that story being told.
It’s why I celebrated White Chain’s first breath – there is something amazing about the first free air you breathe when you realize you don’t need permission to be you. It’s why I feel even feel bad when Solomon David leaves the ring – he can’t climb out of the hole he’s dug for himself.
So, thanks, Abbadon. This is really good.
Yes. Let us meet in the land of Samura, my friend.
Praise be that the transphobic evil of Bob has been defeated