The grand prize is Solomon David’s throne. Though it’s being offered via bloodsport, anyone incapable or unwilling to deal with such a miniscule amount of paperwork and bureaucracy is clearly not suited for the position and deserves to be disqualified from the start.
Solomon is well aware that should a fighter succeed, they will most likely ask for his empire, or, if they have some sense in their heads, some high position in it, being an honest do gooder that is still brutally pragmatic, Solomon would probably kill anyone asking for the empire if they are unable to completely overpower him, but would most likely grant a title to one mighty enough to wound him.
See, the paperwork is the first step, its essentially a way of saying “I want to see if you are able to sit your butt down and be a bureaucrat for a second, because that’s the only way I’m allowing you to even get close to my empire”.
We bureaucrats give paperwork to our enemies in order to prevent ourselves from trying to slice them into bloody ribbons on the spot.
You may fear us, but odds are that is only because you are acclimated to the benefits of our system.
Every time you have a quiet moment in a sane, organized, world where most people are only passively afraid of dying a horrible, violent, death, THANK THE GODS OF BUREAUCRACY for your continued existence.
And yes, this is true in even in the Circle of Strength, where the most desperate, infamous, and barbaric of fighters are known to gather. Note that as long as they’re busy filling out paperwork in triplicate, they’re not trying to murder each other. BUREAUCRACY RULES ALL.
I noticed this myself in this chapter. I thought it was the clothes she was wearing but cross referencing this with the earlier comic, White Chain was a whole head + neck taller than Allison. In the last few pages at least their height difference has been negligible. Is this some arcane change happening to White Chain’s stone body as she embraces humanity? Or a change in design by the author? Or unintentional?
Check your perspective. They appear to be of equal height, but one stands significantly further from the camera. See where their feet are in relation to each other.
She cares and she has very valid reasons to not get involved in this mess of a mission. And it genuinely worries me that Allison fails to see it. Looks like the corruption is taking hold.
What is mightier? The pen or the sword? The pen builds empires, the sword tears them down. Paper is the bearer of might of the pen, and cuts well, but the sword (and the Sword Indefinite that is the reflection of the might of She who is Kill Six Billion Demons) is the conduit of Want and Will, and the way in which the great lie that is the multiverse is reforged. What is a lie but a sword of the mind?
Let the universe be Cut, a single action that reforges it so that that paper is instantaneously prepared properly for that petty bureaucrat. It simultaneously obeys their rules and rejects their control, an act that indicates that Royalty walks among them, if they can but raise their eyes to see it. But they will not; they are but peasants and cannot imagine anyone being other than they are, except for their pledged liege-lord.
Those who Conquer – be ever on the move,
Seeking new realms, new territories, new worlds
To Invade, Overthrow, Loot, and Pillage.
Those who seeking Empire,
Must build walls, halls, malls.
Guard frontiers, Tax the lands,
Set tax collectors, station sentries,
Along every lonely outpost and
border fortress. Against interlopers, Lurking
Pirates, Bandits, Hordes, Dragons living
at the Edges of the world map.
The Empress seeks to hold what she has,
to create Order. To gain Security.
Bringing all to heel. – Rebellious lords,
Resentful tribes, Wayward sects, Rogue guilds,
Rampaging mages, Rival great houses,
Competing nations.
To manage all, to Learn all, to Govern all,
from the Great Hall of Rule,
the Great Councils of Advisors reach out.
Circle upon circle of overlapping Functionaries grows.
Record keepers, clerks, courtiers, spies, strategists.
Architects, engineers, planners, major domos, generals.
Masters of Exchequer, Masters of War.
Masters of Stone, Masters of Waves.
Order upon Order, the Bureaucratic Legion Swells to meet
the Emperor’s Need for more Revenue, Order, Control.
( At the Great Arena )
“Welcome !” Said the Clerk, suppressing a Smirk.
“We hope to enjoy your stay – in the Fray.
To Advance – ALL Contenders must combat.
Demonstrating martial skill, we hope they Thrill.
In the Contest – Some will Rise And Some will Fall.
There will be Pain !
You MIGHT be Slain:
Pummeled, Contorted, Bruised,
Battered, Sliced, Diced,
Sent to Paradise…
…Whacked, Smacked, Shot full of Holes…
Get EATEN by Mystic Voles,
Be Roasted En Flamme,
and not make it to the next Dawn.
Get right with your gods – Absolve your sin,
PLEASE provide a list of Kin…
Pay the funeral tax,
( – Fully Refundable if you DON’T GET THE AXE ! )
Here’s the billet you’ll be staying in.
Fighters wounds WILL be tended,
( Very low prices to get mended ! )
For you see this event is QUITE THE DRAW
( Yes – even We are in AWE, )
An Immense FORTUNE here is made
On the Great Entertainment that here parades.
Where was I ?
Oh yes –
– Sign the TOTAL RELEASE Of LIABILITY,
Sign to annul all claims for Disability,
Dismemberment, Death…
No – don’t argue, don’t waste your breath.
The Emperor wills – and So it must be,
Neat, efficient, documented you see.
Consent for Likeness, Marketing, FAME,
Untold Riches, Accept Great Gifts to your Name…
Have you a Legal Advisor – one Preferred ?
Your Bones – How’d you like them to be Interred ?
Do you have a Favored Sect ?
To WHICH Deities do you Genuflect ?
Type of Blood ? – ALL AROUND !
You’ll see it Everywhere !
In the AIR ! On the Ground !
( Don’t like my joke ? ) ( Sighs )
PLEASE ASK -if anything is unclear !
Violators have much to Fear.
Though I know NOT of your chances,
You will prove yourself – crossing lances,
Yes, you will Contest within the Emperor’s Sight.
So Get out there and show your MIGHT !
Interesting– Solomon built his Ring in an imitation of Throne, but instead of corpses of the gods he has statues of himself. A nice nod to his pride and how he regards himself there.
No two statues looked the same in the previous page… Maybe they’re favoured sons of his? The archway did have Solomon fighting horsemen at the top scene, but the other statues resembled his councilors
I would not be surprised if the statues are also part of the city’s defenses. Gotta have something ready if another god or wannabe shows up with kaijus or the like.
Aly shun is still upset with Cio. “Anyone who cares , anyway” she says. Cio didnt want to come because she cares, but I suppouse that only time will teach her that
I’d say tinted glass. And I hope it’s magical or something because the Ring looks like a huge greenhouse (purplehouse?) ready to suffocate the crowds in the concentrated heat of Rayuba’s two suns xD
Remember, this tournament is to find a new leader worthy of the celestial empire. The first round of elimination is at hand. Any potential leader must know how to deal with bureaucrats and their tangled mess of paper work. I would not be surprised if Alison handles it Gordian Knot style.
In a state where individual life is valued and deaths resulting from lack of information or personal ignorance is discouraged, blood sports SHOULD involve a lot of paperwork. This isn’t a sign of mismanagement, this is a sign of putting priority on the sanctity of human(/servant/devil) life
And thus the evils of order manifest in the demon named Bureaucracy, for its thousand paper forms can cut as deep as a thousand blades and bore through your mind like a mole burrowing through dirt.
And, my word, congratulations on your wedding abaddon!
And finally the fatal flaw of Solomon’s empire shows its draconic face.
Bureaucracy.
The slowest and most agonizing of deaths are those beneath a mountain of paperwork.
Bureacracy is a brutal cutting tool. Solomon David wouldn’t be the first ruler to turn it to his ends.
Which cuts best, of all things, the spirits of men.
The grand prize is Solomon David’s throne. Though it’s being offered via bloodsport, anyone incapable or unwilling to deal with such a miniscule amount of paperwork and bureaucracy is clearly not suited for the position and deserves to be disqualified from the start.
I’d say the opposite… the first test is creatively destroying the stack of forms, rather than submitting to a mere paper-pusher
There’s always room in any sword-n-sorcery saga for a bureaucracy joke.
Ah but you see, this is but a test.
Solomon is well aware that should a fighter succeed, they will most likely ask for his empire, or, if they have some sense in their heads, some high position in it, being an honest do gooder that is still brutally pragmatic, Solomon would probably kill anyone asking for the empire if they are unable to completely overpower him, but would most likely grant a title to one mighty enough to wound him.
See, the paperwork is the first step, its essentially a way of saying “I want to see if you are able to sit your butt down and be a bureaucrat for a second, because that’s the only way I’m allowing you to even get close to my empire”.
Really, this is probably a good idea.
Sol likes his kingdom run in an orderly manner, and this sifts out illiterates.
You could even say it Cuts away the unqualified candidates.
Death by a thousand or in this case at least 3 thousand paper cuts.
When its stupidity that you wish to cut to size, paper, tempered in ink and forged into a tome is far more desirable than steel forged into a blade
Swords have a way of cleaning up idiots also, if Meti is to be trusted.
I was (relatively) onboard with this empire.
Now? Now it must burn before the rot spreads.
We bureaucrats give paperwork to our enemies in order to prevent ourselves from trying to slice them into bloody ribbons on the spot.
You may fear us, but odds are that is only because you are acclimated to the benefits of our system.
Every time you have a quiet moment in a sane, organized, world where most people are only passively afraid of dying a horrible, violent, death, THANK THE GODS OF BUREAUCRACY for your continued existence.
And yes, this is true in even in the Circle of Strength, where the most desperate, infamous, and barbaric of fighters are known to gather. Note that as long as they’re busy filling out paperwork in triplicate, they’re not trying to murder each other. BUREAUCRACY RULES ALL.
Made me, truly, 😂
Oh yeah! I’ve heard Sun Wukong almost died under a mountain too once.
Lawful Evil.
This is implying Solomon isn’t Righteous Lawfull.
Fornicate yourself, Salami
F.U.C K.K.S.
FORNICATION
UNDER
CONSENT of
KILATE KING SALAMI
teehee
Why is the angel turning chibi?
Gotta draw fast
I noticed this myself in this chapter. I thought it was the clothes she was wearing but cross referencing this with the earlier comic, White Chain was a whole head + neck taller than Allison. In the last few pages at least their height difference has been negligible. Is this some arcane change happening to White Chain’s stone body as she embraces humanity? Or a change in design by the author? Or unintentional?
Check your perspective. They appear to be of equal height, but one stands significantly further from the camera. See where their feet are in relation to each other.
dont be salty because your gf happy
TEST YOUR MIGHT
Allison still miffed at Cio for not wanting to come, huh.
Yep. Of course the real problem is that Cio cares too much, not too little.
She cares and she has very valid reasons to not get involved in this mess of a mission. And it genuinely worries me that Allison fails to see it. Looks like the corruption is taking hold.
She came tho
Also, it looks like Solomon’s been aiming to imitate Throne with this place’s layout.
“Nyaeve, you’re up, I’m going to get second lunch.”
Reach Heaven Through Paperwork
The iron man has anger deep
It bubbles up and swells his cheek
This is the year they said it’d be
Comments require moderation
This is axiomatic
She’ll be able to do so by standing atop the pile.
But she better remember to wear her hip waders.
The iron man has anger deep
It bubbles up and swells his cheek
This is the year they said it’d be
Don’t fret, Allison, Agog’s gonna take care of all that paperwork for you!
Where’s Hermes Conrad when you need him?
In Jamaica, of course!
Won’t be born for another 1000 years or so.
The sanctioned action is to Cut.
Are you sure? Paper cuts can be nasty.
Looks like there could be about a thousand sheets in that stack, incidentally.
Depends… if that were modern printer paper, I think it would be at least twice that.
What is mightier? The pen or the sword? The pen builds empires, the sword tears them down. Paper is the bearer of might of the pen, and cuts well, but the sword (and the Sword Indefinite that is the reflection of the might of She who is Kill Six Billion Demons) is the conduit of Want and Will, and the way in which the great lie that is the multiverse is reforged. What is a lie but a sword of the mind?
Let the universe be Cut, a single action that reforges it so that that paper is instantaneously prepared properly for that petty bureaucrat. It simultaneously obeys their rules and rejects their control, an act that indicates that Royalty walks among them, if they can but raise their eyes to see it. But they will not; they are but peasants and cannot imagine anyone being other than they are, except for their pledged liege-lord.
Oof, someone’s bitter. Both of them mean well, and that makes it all the more tragic.
“Walls of Paper, Walls of Stone”
Those who Conquer – be ever on the move,
Seeking new realms, new territories, new worlds
To Invade, Overthrow, Loot, and Pillage.
Those who seeking Empire,
Must build walls, halls, malls.
Guard frontiers, Tax the lands,
Set tax collectors, station sentries,
Along every lonely outpost and
border fortress. Against interlopers, Lurking
Pirates, Bandits, Hordes, Dragons living
at the Edges of the world map.
The Empress seeks to hold what she has,
to create Order. To gain Security.
Bringing all to heel. – Rebellious lords,
Resentful tribes, Wayward sects, Rogue guilds,
Rampaging mages, Rival great houses,
Competing nations.
To manage all, to Learn all, to Govern all,
from the Great Hall of Rule,
the Great Councils of Advisors reach out.
Circle upon circle of overlapping Functionaries grows.
Record keepers, clerks, courtiers, spies, strategists.
Architects, engineers, planners, major domos, generals.
Masters of Exchequer, Masters of War.
Masters of Stone, Masters of Waves.
Order upon Order, the Bureaucratic Legion Swells to meet
the Emperor’s Need for more Revenue, Order, Control.
( At the Great Arena )
“Welcome !” Said the Clerk, suppressing a Smirk.
“We hope to enjoy your stay – in the Fray.
To Advance – ALL Contenders must combat.
Demonstrating martial skill, we hope they Thrill.
In the Contest – Some will Rise And Some will Fall.
There will be Pain !
You MIGHT be Slain:
Pummeled, Contorted, Bruised,
Battered, Sliced, Diced,
Sent to Paradise…
…Whacked, Smacked, Shot full of Holes…
Get EATEN by Mystic Voles,
Be Roasted En Flamme,
and not make it to the next Dawn.
Get right with your gods – Absolve your sin,
PLEASE provide a list of Kin…
Pay the funeral tax,
( – Fully Refundable if you DON’T GET THE AXE ! )
Here’s the billet you’ll be staying in.
Fighters wounds WILL be tended,
( Very low prices to get mended ! )
For you see this event is QUITE THE DRAW
( Yes – even We are in AWE, )
An Immense FORTUNE here is made
On the Great Entertainment that here parades.
Where was I ?
Oh yes –
– Sign the TOTAL RELEASE Of LIABILITY,
Sign to annul all claims for Disability,
Dismemberment, Death…
No – don’t argue, don’t waste your breath.
The Emperor wills – and So it must be,
Neat, efficient, documented you see.
Consent for Likeness, Marketing, FAME,
Untold Riches, Accept Great Gifts to your Name…
Have you a Legal Advisor – one Preferred ?
Your Bones – How’d you like them to be Interred ?
Do you have a Favored Sect ?
To WHICH Deities do you Genuflect ?
Type of Blood ? – ALL AROUND !
You’ll see it Everywhere !
In the AIR ! On the Ground !
( Don’t like my joke ? ) ( Sighs )
PLEASE ASK -if anything is unclear !
Violators have much to Fear.
Though I know NOT of your chances,
You will prove yourself – crossing lances,
Yes, you will Contest within the Emperor’s Sight.
So Get out there and show your MIGHT !
Walls of Paper, Walls of Stone, Walls of Scissors, Roshambone.
Is that a Permit A 38 I spot there?
Are you sure it’s not Permit A39 as stipulated in the new Circular B65?
It’s obviously form 27B/6. Hopefully we’ll see renegade HVAC repairman and bureaucratic terrorist Harry Tuttle swing into action…
Death by a Thousand Papercuts. Solomon is truly cruel man.
Cio’s “weapon” is paper. Is she cruel? She was…
Only is she has taken up spinning yarns of her own.
Interesting– Solomon built his Ring in an imitation of Throne, but instead of corpses of the gods he has statues of himself. A nice nod to his pride and how he regards himself there.
No two statues looked the same in the previous page… Maybe they’re favoured sons of his? The archway did have Solomon fighting horsemen at the top scene, but the other statues resembled his councilors
I would not be surprised if the statues are also part of the city’s defenses. Gotta have something ready if another god or wannabe shows up with kaijus or the like.
Solomon is a wannabe.
The Demiurges are pretenders to the throne of the Multiplicity.
These are not my heirs, only packrat, picking over my grave.
Ah, so the statues aren’t really higher than actual clouds, eh? A pity.
Nadya, how dared you call Mammon’s nurse a paper-pusher! Here’s the real one! All violet, smug and bearded.
So, the roof on that thing: purple cloth (snazzy!) or actual huge gemstone (excessive!)?
Aly shun is still upset with Cio. “Anyone who cares , anyway” she says. Cio didnt want to come because she cares, but I suppouse that only time will teach her that
I’d say tinted glass. And I hope it’s magical or something because the Ring looks like a huge greenhouse (purplehouse?) ready to suffocate the crowds in the concentrated heat of Rayuba’s two suns xD
Think of the wonderful colored lighting to be had in the upcoming depictions.
On a practical note, Solomon always wins because he is so well camouflaged in all the purple light.
Wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be one chonky diamond XD
My money is with team Gemstone. Anyone care for a wager?
Remember, this tournament is to find a new leader worthy of the celestial empire. The first round of elimination is at hand. Any potential leader must know how to deal with bureaucrats and their tangled mess of paper work. I would not be surprised if Alison handles it Gordian Knot style.
The Healer is observant.
In a state where individual life is valued and deaths resulting from lack of information or personal ignorance is discouraged, blood sports SHOULD involve a lot of paperwork. This isn’t a sign of mismanagement, this is a sign of putting priority on the sanctity of human(/servant/devil) life
Sure would be nice if we had a coat that gives its wearer multiple arms.
Or a book that controls paper.
Cio.
Someone with experience in bookkeeping might come in handy too.
I like the idea that it’s Coo they needed, not Yab.
And thus the evils of order manifest in the demon named Bureaucracy, for its thousand paper forms can cut as deep as a thousand blades and bore through your mind like a mole burrowing through dirt.
And, my word, congratulations on your wedding abaddon!