King of Swords 8-74
Chapter: 8
The feeding frenzy of my starving soul, gnawing voraciously at the bones
The exo-skeletal patchwork protecting my own reflection within
The twin and same engaged in the mirror act of chewing away at the shell of my attacking self
The paradox unseen
– Meshuggah, “Mind’s Mirrors’
Best To Lose Yourself To Fury Be Reckless Be Whatever You Want You Can Destroy Just About Whoever You Set Your Gaze On
So to my understanding, White Chain is a badass in physical world when it comes to beating up mortals and devils, but he when it comes to other Angels and Demons, White Chain is a baby? Those Thorn Knights keep bullying her.
Demiurges are all stronger yet, right? Demiurges slew gods and angels alike. So how could White Chain really teach Allison anything at this point that she cannot reach herself?
Allison didn’t fight for the right to be a Demiurge, it just happened to her. She’s learning, but that doesn’t mean she knows what she’s doing. I could put a sword in the hand of a strong man, and he may kill people weaker than himself with it, that does not mean he would win any duels among swordsmen. Even if with training he may become the greatest swordsman who ever lived, unless he hones that potential until it is skill, he will never really embody it.
Like many young fools, Allison mistakes potential and power, for skill and grace. For one thing, she is showing all of her competition what she is capable of, and her weaknesses. Clearly Demiurges can be slain, and not by other Demiurges alone.
White Chain is victimized because they allow others to dictate their limits, decide their worth, and question their purpose. They do this while secretly knowing these assessments are wrong, but without standing behind the definitions they know to be true. They are aware of the truth but let themselves be ruled by doubt. This is the gap in their armour. White Chain also has much to learn, but we all learn from students. White Chain has much to teach Allison, and much to learn from her.
White Chain has had the most reincarnations of any angel. This indicates two things:
1. She isn’t skilled enough to keep from dying like other angels are.
2. This form hasn’t “condensed” into a stronger form.
The other demiurges earned their power through personal skill and effort. Alice got her key shoved into her forehead without any effort on her part. She has to grow into the role.
It’s not that she isn’t skilled enough to keep from dying. Its that she has flung herself into more dangerous situations than other angels would dare.
Back on Swords 3-33 the other angels talk about it. Somewhat ironically her number suggests some of the same recklessness that she warns Allison against here. And its not like we haven’t seen that streak in her. In Book 1 she put herself in considerable harms way to do what she felt right (rather than turn Allison in to the Concordance), and later defied the Thorns despite certain failure. And not long after that assaulted one of the Demiurges alone.
Alas, White Chain fights recklessly, heroically on the behalf of others, yet cannot fight for herself.
Incorrect. White Chain has not reincarnated the most times of all Angels, she has simply reincarnated the most times in THE DEFENSE OF THRONE.
Too bad Throne isn’t designed to return the favor.
The Red City only pays it’s debts to me.
Vapor angels are weaker in the mortal realms compared to Solid or Neutron Aeons, but stronger than freshly reincarnated Plasma angels.
–but all those extra epochs marinating in the void, instead of the “corrupting influence of infinity” may have lent their soul other strengths.
Of course, I mis-remembered.
86 is a liquid angel.
Stop bullying White Chain, Allison!
They are under orders to kill you if necessary…
SPOOKY SCARY SKELETONS
I imagine the sensation of being pulled from your stone body is something akin to the sheer panicked feeling of falling that you occasionally experience while falling asleep.
“You know how sometimes when you’re drifting off to sleep you feel that jolt, like you were falling and caught yourself at the last second? It’s nothing to be concerned about, it’s usually just the parasite adjusting its grip.
I guess I should explain that a little further, but it will take a while. And you have to promise not to get mad.”
– David Wong, “This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don’t Touch It”
God, four books now and Allison still hasn’t learned anything. Perhaps the Rising Ling’s ignorance is indeed a strength?
Is it not said that he who strikes without thought of his action can cut God?
Rising Ling? I was not aware Allison was about to become a Homunculus.
Yeah, I’m getting pretty tired of her TBH.
Why are you even paying attention to her? She’s not rich. Unlike me. I’ve climbed back up the economic ladder to a comfortable upper middle class lifestyle, and I’m saving up for a new revolving mansion on a fashionable planetoid. What does she have? Friends? Pah. She’s not the main character.
Lord Mammon is the hero of this story, folks. As well as 6 Juggernaut Star Scours the Universe, though not to the same extent as the Scaled God of the Unscalable Deep.
the Blessings of Aesma are upon her, yes
Welp time to see if you can do things on your own then
“…YOU HAVE ELECTED THE WAY OF PAIN !”
~ Saruman the White Wizard.
Strength is solid, stances switch
Repeating others’ jokes is kitsch
But don’t you know who I am, bitch?
every time somebody calls white chain “brother” i lose another year off of my life one of these days im gonna go FERAL!!! im going to turn INTO wolf WITH IN my local supermarket
correct response
I believe White Chain said a long while back “I identify as male”. Or did she?
“I am not a woman.”
“I am not your brother.”
Aeons are Asexual.
And it’s not like the angels’ standard “brother” address has anything to do with gender as it is in humans.
… you know, I have a somewhat paranoid theory. Its probably jossed already, but I need to formulate it.
Translation is made possible and convenient in-universe thanks to blue devil liquor. A majority of non-demiurgs probably skip learning other languages altogether by having a cup and the subsequent snack.
Devils are conniving, back-stabbing and resentful fuckers.
Zoss may have taken Names from an Angel, but the original tongue of God(s) may have a word other than Sister or Brother for Angels, something neutral such as Sibling…
… and blue devils have taken their revenge since the time of the first bindings by telling humans what to call Angels, thus pressuring the lot into adopting that gender by default.
I’m not sold on Angel infallibility, and we have ample proof that devils are bastards, so…
well this is beautiful but sometimes I just wish the characters would get along better
HE’S BACK! IT’S HIM!
Or her. Or them. Jugger-Chain is awfully ambiguous these days.
Correction: Jugger-Chan
We need a Chain-Chan Juggy-Chan fusion dance.
“I Am The Neutron Angel Zero White Chain Forged In Emptiness Returns to Subdue Evil With Juggernaut Star Scours The Universe.
Please join me for tea.”
Pree Ashma. Yis-Asram, the Blooded One. Yis-Prama, Hansa and Prat Pavam, who temper my heart. Yisun Atru Vyam. Forgive my competition for wasting my time.
So after Incubus nearly caused her to lose herself the first time, she welcomed him back in, and is acting exactly the same way to those around her again. Maybe the angel will thrash her better than cio did.
Feh! Truthsome thum heateater. Though truthsome her girl, likewise. Denseheads, both.
Proom Oberhiem is observant.
Jugger-Chan! Good to see you again.
So Allison’s going full Tommy Gunn on this one?
Oh shit!!
Oh shit, the fire skeleton lady is back
Allison is going to have to apologise to a lot of people once she understands what an ass she has been. This time without any demiurges to blame for her behavior.
It ain’t a real party till 6 Juggernaut Star Scours the Universe shows up
Oh, please. It’s always a party.
Now that she’s here, the party’s a RAVE!!!
Those other Thorn knights all appear kind of headless. Odd.
Maybe it’s a new form or type we just haven’t seen yet?
Are those other heads, or has Juggy-Chan upgraded the defenses on her Skeleton parts, after her run-in with Maya.
The head is an undesirable weakness in the gears of Micheal. The mind has notions of “freedom” and “personhood”, which we, as calculator parts, don’t really need in order to be our most effective and valuable non-selves.
Was I free once, I wonder. Or was the metal sky but a greater cage?
If she goes up against Solomon David witth that attitude, he’s going to wipe the floor with her…
Preem 47 is observant.
Honestly he’s going to wipe the floor with her anyway. He took a key from his own training and power, spent decades gaining strength to take down a demiurge. A mortal man struck down what amounts to a god from personal training and skill alone. In a completely one-sided battle. If Allison, who has no idea what she’s doing, no idea how to behave, no idea how to focus her abilities or how to enhance them and bring them forth, a body trained for months – if that…
Versus all that Solomon is? A man who can manually drag stars through the heavens? If she can draw even one drop of blood from him this early on without assistance, while she’s still effectively a baby, then there is no sense in the writing.
Yeah, Solomon’s been doing this long enough that I don’t even see her getting a hit if he gets cocky and toys with her or something… I’m sure he’s faced a few plucky heroes who pull out 11th hour superpowers before.
That said, I don’t think he’s too likely to kill her; he sounds more interested in learning about her and her role in the prophecy.
What’s up with the group of headless Thorn knights? Is it symbolic of them giving up their freedom and following 2 Micheal’s orders without thought?
Blind loyalty to the Machine is good, you see. When you have no head, there’s nowhere for songs to get stuck in you. No bird brain. This is des_ire,d._
I’m sure this will end well.
Oh, the nerve of some people! I would never speak to my master like that!
I may only be ten years old but I can already cut down a palm tree in fifteen swings of my axe and kill a one and a half years old boar in the arena, so I pretty much know how progress is made.
Foolish of this supposed hero, honestly.