KING OF SWORDS 10-168
Chapter: 10
“Now I will make of this stone Earth and Water both,” said Intra, standing in front of the blaze.
“And air too, I suppose,” jested Yem Yeddo, the richest man in the vale, and all his men laughed.
But Intra did not. He took his proclamation very seriously. At this point, he had been sober for months and had a headache.
– The Song of Maybe
Character growth! We love to see it. Also now the “Punched God in the face” club has two members now.
Cio didn’t really get much opportunity to punch one in the face, but she did steal from one. Could she join the club on a technicality?
I’d argue that she definitely hit Mammon where it hurt most.
Sibling, your name is rad as hell.
Her face is rad as hell
Reach true friendship through violence.
Worms first.
(this comment not bought or endorsed by worms.)
Worms before diamonds
Oh, worm?
Reminds me of Lyrical Nanoha. Finding true friendship through excessive firepower.
This is the Digimon way.
But just you watch, in Gog-Agogs mind, she deserves all the credit for said god-face-punching.
I am incredibly happy and satisfied about the development of this arc. Not satisfied because it stays in my comfort zone or anything, but because the way it is expanding is making me feel strong, positive emotions and I can’t thank you enough for that Abaddon.
Very very well said, and I agree.
I agree alsoi. Thank you for expressing the sentiment so well.
a “the true treasure was friends we made along the way” moment…
The sequel to Friendship is Magic that none of us knew we wanted
Speak for yourself; I knew I wanted this
It is worth remembering that steel is stronger than iron, not because it is tougher, but because it is more flexible.
Stand not an empire upon a single pillar, for it takes but a single crack to bring the whole foundation down.
(breaks character)
Okay, but did you SEE what happens when Solomon David flexes? Abs of steel!
Err… not to be that guy, but that isn’t why steel is stronger than iron.
In fact I’m pretty sure iron is more ductile than steel, that’s why it was more commonly used for maille armour. Links could stretch more before popping.
For both Iron and Steel it’s *all* about the carbon content. Pure Iron is incredibly soft and damn near useless, but throw in some carbon and now we can talk. Pig Iron (what Iron Ore is usually – at least since the 17th century – smelted into) has a carbon content of about 3-4%.
Carbon steel – the most common and simple steel alloy(s) used – has 2% or less carbon. The more carbon the harder and more brittle the metal.
For weapon-smithing and tools; too little carbon will create a soft blade that has difficulty holding an edge and won’t be useful very long. Too much carbon and your blade will be sharp AF, and it will hold that edge, but it will break if you look at it wrong.
(ok, not *all* about the carbon content. The quality and purity of the ore matters as well, obviously. It’s the main reason Japanese swordsmiths are/were so revered: they created beautiful and useful weapons from completely shit ores. And they had to work way harder than most western weaponsmiths to create steel of the same quality.)
The tempering rate is really important too, especially if you have shitty Japanese Ores, and need to make a composite blade with a hard edge and a flexable spine. The type and size of carbon crystals that form inside the metal can vary from one part to another.
Masamune claimed he had to search for decades to find a river bank that had the right kind of mud, to build his smithy at, because he would press handfuls of mud onto the metal to quench it.
This left a visible difference in the color of the two parts of the blade, after quenching, and the artistic designs he made using that single line dividing gray and darker gray became a calling card that sword connoisseurs can recognize today. Like, how do you create a body of artistic work that distinctive in a medium that limited, while still making swords that are not only functional, but hundreds of years ahead of the rest of Japanese swordcraft.
(To the point that 300 years later, a guy would see a Masamune in action and say, “Wow. That’s a really sharp katana. Too bad about the wear.” Not realizing that the sword in question was not only stupid old, but had survived abuse that would simply shatter a normal katana. Later it was lost when the Americans looted Tokyo in WWII.)
This is what I love about the internet. It can take a small comment and turn it into an impromptu lecture on metallurgy.
Oh, what a great boon for a seeker such as I!
This is actually pretty true.
All steels (including iron) have similar elastic moduli. The key difference is differing yield strain, which is increased by interstitial carbon resisting dislocations.
Iron and ductile steels are tougher than hardened steels because they deform a ton in the plastic region. Some ductile alloys even achieve their ultimate strength in the plastic region during strain hardening. But in the end the brittle, hardened steels have by far the greatest strength.
Lessons also learned this book:
1. Be Yourself
2. Stand up for your beliefs
3. Don’t be afraid to mimic a better fighter’s form
Lesson #4: God’s don’t get punched in the face.
and THE MASS REMEMBERS
No love for
#5: The true strength is the friends you made along the way
, I see.
1. I am the Narcissist, the Bigot, the Demagogue, the Plunderer.
2. I believe in the weak fending for themselves, I believe the world is mine for the taking, I believe in victory against friend and foe alike.
3. My foes proclaimed my words to be false; So I convinced the people that my enemies’ words were false instead. Upon the platforms which my foes rallied people against injustice and ignorance; So I have found I can rally the people against equality and rational thought instead.
I learnt well the lessons you have learnt, and from them I shall reap great profits. The best profits.
Grophit!
To quote the followers of the Grand Dragon:
“Pity Him.”
One thing I always love about this comic is how every single villain is someone you can sympathize with. The problems of the universe aren’t caused by any sort of pure malevolence, but by beings who have believed themselves right, acted to assert their view on the world, and proven to be strongly, *strongly* mistaken in their beliefs.
And then there’s Mottom…
And Incubus…
Even Incubus personnal worldview was shapped by him growing in the streets with the trash until he was like 12 and then by Motti who did nothing to correct or discourage the sociopathic and nihilist tendencies he had developped, if anything she encouraged them to prove a point to Maya (and probably because she is kinda nihilist herself from what we know).
And Gog-agog, there’s nothing you can sympathise with that… Its not even human
inb4 gog used to be the lowliest servant, a literal worm who was meant to be insensate but gained sentience, power, and a claim to royalty because it was created to cleanse Throne of the brains of the 777,777 divine corpses and is a psychopathic man child with fear and envy of every person who ever had emotional connections, loved ones or genuine feelings, which she knows she will never have
Even Mottom isn’t a total monster.
She perpetuated the cycle of conquest, abuse and exploitation because she believed that it was the only way to hold onto her power, and if she relinquished it, someone even worse would steal it away. She wasn’t that different from Solomon David in that regard.
Now that she’s gone on this mad quest to get revenge on Alice for “helping” her, I don’t know so much.
If someone pushes you over the brink of madness, are they responsible for all the way you had to walk to get there?
(Yes, sure, they could, like, NOT PUSH YOU, but)
the contrast between this and the first time we saw michael making white chain cry is really, really a lot
Truly the Demiurges are excellent teachers. Between the seven of them they demonstrate every mistake one should not make.
The populace looks to the Demiurges as the pinnacles of sin and virtue. I have a proverb for any flame that sees fit to depart from the causeway of their own mistakes:
“Meditation is a gamble. You wager your time and your focus, both of great value. The risks involved can result in greater self-hatred, increased recklessness, and a thoroughly agitating chain reaction to everyone in your reach who must suffer your subsequent mood. And the reward when you overcome those risks?”
“Your soul and the flame it radiates will begin shaping timeless greatness, compared to your old productions of smoke and ash. The gods call these words and acts ‘wisdom.’ You will begin growing in such a way that no other flame in the multiverse can burn you away.
In RL, the “seven deadly sins” started off in a treatise (paraphrased) “seven distractions that stuff up your study and mediation” — i.e. a revision guide for monks. Only later were they warped into a meme for scaring the laity.
In KSDB, the Seven demonstrate the top things holding one back from royalty. If you just want to be petty and powerful you can weaponize any of their traits (Incubus knows this), but by doing so you prevent your own growth.
B-b-b-but what about the prize?
“Teach Allison to use her Key,” perhaps?
Of the various Demiurges, Solomon David seems the best (highest integrity, least psychotic, most likely to want to) potential teacher.
Yeah I like Solomon David. I don’t actually understand what his fatal flaw is supposed to be…
White Chain received her prize in the instant she punched Salami Dave in the face. AND WHAT A PRIZE.
Sure, but there are other, highly important and time-sensitive things that a wish would greatly help with.
The prize is said to be Zaid.
I would argue that Nyave called dibs on that.
Allison is going to be pissed when she finds out that Nyave has been doing the horizontal hula with Zaid. But it will quickly occur to her that she got the better part of the bargain.
Meanwhile I’m just fiending for the next entry in the tale of how Intra fed a village
I’m still anticipating Intra’s just gonna deck Yem with the rock and dash his brains out.
And then they eat him.
I feel like it’s going to be a melting of the rock to liquid (water) metal (earth), which he is going to use to reforge his sword, or make a new one perhaps, and then go ape on Yem, those freeing the village of his tyranny and allowing them to eat.
Surely it’s going to end with the Stone soup joke (ie boil the chicken/turkey/mutton until the stone is soft, then throw out the chicken)
I hope not…. It would be to obvious for abbadon
Plus Intra is too hung over to think it’s funny.
“Your struggle must be a terrible fire, which only grows as you pass it to others”
Heat impact resonance cascade,
that’s how a firestorm is made.
Reah heaven through violence? Nah, more like reach heaven through friendship.
My experience is that friendship is perceived by others as a form of violence, and that violence inevitably becomes necessary to build and maintain a friendship.
The lonely and jealous are a multitude.
… what kinds of friends do you have. 😐
I would say that violence is not at all necessary for friendship, but I also have a tendency to convert friends into lovers quite accidentally, so make of that what you will.
Oh jeez… being a breaker of the Wheel is nice and all, but personally I want that guy with the towel’s job.
looking back on that one panel of a shirtless Salami Dave before the fight, can’t say I blame you.
The musk of a divine being must itself be divine aka reach heaven through bara
I simply have to imagine that Solomon’s attendants are feeling a little brittle and unsure of themselves. They simply have never have to consider their master anything less than unilaterally victorious. Would anyone one of them dare to try to offer a word of comfort to Solomon?
Abbadon, your art is beautiful, your characters are alive, your story is enthralling, your themes are engrossing, and the sum is even greater than the parts. Thank you for sharing it.
You know, you gotta give it to White Chain. She’s really come out of her shell over the course of the story.
She’s definitely not as stone-cold as she used to be.
Awww, what a heartfelt and thoughtful moment… poor Cio must have bitten her tongue off trying to avoid asking White Chain if she knows how all her bits work/might need a hand or tail figuring stuff out.
Wait, has Allison always been taller than White Chain, or did this flesh upgrade take off a few inches?
No, Allison just happens to be wearing heels at the moment.
Abaddon was previously asked about their heights and said (IIRC): Allison 5′ 7″, White Chain 6′ 1″, Cio 4′ 11″. Don’t think Allison’s heels are that high.
Just a visual metaphor folks, move on.
It actually looks like White Chain might be crouching a bit while she’s apologizing; not a kneel but a similar form of “I am going to put my eye level below yours” gesture. That and heels together seems pretty plausible, anyways.
That seems reasonable. White Chain honestly seems to be a bit taller in the other panels on this page and the last.
willing friends make difficult tasks easier.
=//=
IT’S LONELY AT THE TOP!
No one is mentioning White chain’s number. I bet few have even thought of it. It hardly seems to be important now. The transformation is this significant.
White Chain: “I am not a number. I am a human being! (maybe)”
Man, on this page especially it’s very clear just how much everybody here has grown- in a lot of ways! I think White Chain has smiled more in the last three pages than in the rest of the comic twice-over and my heart can barely take all the happiness that brings me. The power of friendship speech is honestly really fitting here too. Allison is shaping up to be a good future ruler!
SHORT! SHORT! SHORT! SHORT! LOOK AT HER! SHORT! WHITE CHAIN HAS BECOME SO SO SHORT!
(I know it is because Allison is wearing heels but that won’t ruin a perfectly fine day of MOCKING.)
Hey, no size shaming!
Pree Pillar, neither Allison has become taller nor White Chain shorter. Both have become greater. Hence the reason why they’re smiling in the Sixth and Ninth ways.
Allison is just real life subtweeting Solomon isn’t she.
And she knows he can hear everything.
She’s actually saying it rather loudly and being a real asshole about it.
To everyone and to no-one in particular, the true way of the chaotic neutral.
Except the part about Zoss being right, which was said quietly.
Amelie, Reach Heaven Thorugh Really Hurtful Yet Pointed Assessments At Our Resident Avatar Of Patriarchy.
And, you know, through violence.
I have a feeling Lord Intra’s creation of Earth and Water via a stone may be a veiled way of saying that he will spill blood with it. After all, what is the blood of a man, but Water that has been tainted with the living iron of the Earth?
(Also, loving the hell out of these last few panels. It’s beautiful, and brings a tear to my eyes.)
Intra’s story here reminded me of that Grimm’s fairytale in which a small human tailor and a giant enter a battle of strengths. The giant proudly demonstrates his power by squeezing a large rock hard enough to cause water to leak out of it like a soaked sponge.
I’m sure whatever Intra’s gonna do next will be pretty cool ‘n all. But that giant is metal as hell.
I was surprised the story continued after the first one! I took the ending words of “I’ll feed the people with this stone” followed by a cut to black to imply “… and then he killed all the bandits with the stone. The end.”
Solomon being put on blast
It takes a lot of hard work to make the senseless whining of other people into sense and even more to realize you’re doing it as well.