King of Swords 9-112
KRAYU MAT
“I made several feeble attempts to learn this art, but was rebuffed in my efforts by its very nature. It is, by my best attempts at researching its origins, the oldest martial art in existence. The human Metia was said to have been taught many martial arts by the gods upon her birth from Koss’ hearth, but the angels say Krayu Mat is older. It was (purportedly) taught to them by a god whose name has been forgotten. Today it is exclusively practiced by angels, who regard its practice as highly archaic. All angels know it, having learned it at some point during their repeated reincarnations, but it is extremely rare and unusual to observe it in practice, for the simple and plain reason that its origins are in the primal killing movements of angels in their ancient forms, whose foes at the time were enormous unbound devils, beings of myth, and lesser gods.
Each of my inquiries with the Concordant Knights led to exactly the same conclusion, which they explained to me with great patience and kindness: it was impossible for me, a being with a weak soul flame, to practice Krayu Mat, as it would tear my flesh in ten thousand places and utterly annihilate my physical body. ”
-Manual of Hands and Feet
“your only talent is violence”
Wow white chain, dick move.
No kidding. I happen to know that Allison is also a competent barista.
I just went back and read wielder-of-names-4-77: Allison tells Mottom “I’m a barista with a philosophy degree”. That’s gotta be why Zoss picked her, neh?
This is admittedly better set of qualifications for ultimate Kingship than many that have been proposed. Not all. But many.
If we must have a king, let them be one who knows what it is to serve.
Considering that she’s assembled a group of friends willing to follow her into life or death fights that include a devil, an angel, a former slave, and more… I think she’s shown she’s more than someone whose “only talent is violence”. Maybe if White Chain opened her eyes, she might be able to see that.
Not to mention that its White Chain who’s been teaching Alice to fight AND failing to teach her anything else besides physical discipline. Allison’s learned more about the morality and even just basic wisdom of what she’s gotten herself into from a friggin’ DEVIL. (Two of them, even, one in a literal sense and one in a metatextual sense though his teachings in the subject were a bit… “teaching by negative example”-y.)
Uh…wisdom, restraint, emptiness? Did you just forget all of that? Or that White Chain was the expositor that informed her on the workings of Throne to begin with, WITHOUT artistic embellishment?
Allison acknowledges and recites the Trigram mantra immediately before Cio arrives. The Student has learned, it is the Teacher who has forgotten
I have read that Wisdom is to care for what comes after.
White Chain asks for the power to be given to an unknown. Is this wise?
What is the ‘right thing’?
Allicio is still focused on winning. That proves they still haven’t achieved understanding of the trigram virtues.
White Chain is still focused on supressing. That proves she still has to overcome the trigram flaws.
Allicio is currently focused on winning the tournament and rescuing Zaid. White Chain is accusing them of focusing on attaining the throne, which is another matter entirely.
But they don’t need to win the tournament to rescue Zaid! The idea of winning, itself, is the problem. White Chain is wrong, but Allicio is not right either.
Wisdom, Restraint and Emptiness are White Chain’s natural state. They are as simple to practice for her as breathing is for Allison. White Chain is incapable of teaching a human these disciplines as much as we are incapable of teaching a stone to breathe.
And that’s why White Chain is so upset: change is literally UNNATURAL to angels, and we’ve seen plenty of evidence that she HAS been changing – the very fact that she is obviously a she, when angels are normally genderless shows that. No wonder she is greatly upset and taking it out on Allison. She will come around, just like Cio did.
Violence. Is *literally*. What White Chain has been training her on. And chewing her out for her inefficiency at. Literally ANY OTHER TEAM MEMBER has more right to play that card, not that that’s saying much.
And completely true
White chain is dead to me
no, but seriously: she is officially the worst character in this comic
She’s going against Allison, yes, but her motives are grounded and frankly somewhat justifiable. She’s doing what she, as a complex character, feels is right. So, I wouldn’t go so far as to call her the worst character personally…
If White Chain is wrong about who is the rightful heir, then her motives don’t add up to a pile of bantha pudu.
I don’t think this Krav Maga attack is going to do much good.
I don’t think Allison is the “rightful heir” or the Successor, in the way all the characters save Zoss (and perhaps Jadis minus her interpreters) seem to be treating the concept. I strongly suspect everyone in-universe is getting very hung up on irrelevant details and fallible prophecies, obsessing over a King Arthur type chosen ruler to the point where they don’t see the forest for the trees.
Allison has also gone through a lot of character development. She’s no longer just a barista/college student/alcoholic (or well, she’s not spending as much time purely drinking) – she has learned the weight of her decisions, and that she needs to make the right ones.
The expression she shows in panel 4 clearly shows that she knows she has to put a lot more thought into what the right ones ARE. Essentially, this indecision is probably rooted in the fact that she’s only really doing the competition at this point because that WAS the plan – but unlike some other characters, she might be (so to speak) cresting the top of the trees and beginning to see the forest as she is exposed to more of the larger universe.
It’s enough to make anyone – especially one who has been taught by an angel to BE thoughtful – second-guess themselves. Given what she’s achieved so far though, she might actually change some minds about the nature of this King Arthur practice – and do remember, the person who gave her the key was never one for such things. He himself probably doesn’t WANT her to give it up.
Truly, it’s not that hard to get a philosophy major to second guess their self and go all pensive.
If she’s wrong about Zaid being the heir, then her motives still make sense because she believes it.
This trope of “character is antagonistic toward the protag because they have bad information” is one that’s been a thing for , at the very least, the entirety of modern fiction writing, and likely much longer. It works fine.
White chain is (probably) wrong. But it is worth mentioning that she has been influenced by people and groups who are incredibly powerful and influential (like, personally influential to white chain too).
lmao what the fuck is this dogshit comment. what is the matter with you. don’t fucking do this.
White chain couldn’t find the right thing with both hands and a flashlight. She’s literally been a stooge for any other member of her order to order around with a modicum of shaming no matter what right actually is. Help 2 michael commit genocide on heaven? Sure. Beat the tar out of Allison because a random guy she barely remembers told her so? Can do!
White chain isn’t a tool, she’s the whole freaking tool bag.
A fool you must be to apply human morals to a being so bound to the Law. In the face of a being who aligns with a devil to the point of wearing ones face what is a Peacekeeper to do but fight?
White Chain strikes me as, at present, behaviorally, “The Worst Sort of Mother”.
This requires elaboration. Here is an individual, who is reticent to any deviation in Allison Ruth’s growth. “You will become worthy, at the pace I tell you. You will fight how I tell you to.” Any break in perfect discipline is looked down upon, in spite of Allison’s herculean rate of growth.
The part that hammers it home is this part. “In spite of the fact that I have been guiding your growth with a bamboo rod, I do not trust you to make the right decisions. I do not trust you to make the right choices. So, I will take that power from you. I will not allow you to make decisions, I will make your decisions for you. And, in order to make you agree with me, I will denigrate everything about you, in spite of the fact that I essentially built the parts of you that I criticize.”
The violence you criticize as her only talent, in spite of the fact that you make only the most pitiful efforts to teach her otherwise? The lack of foresight that you, an angel whose flame should have elucidated the path, failed to account for and advise?
You had two years to help make her something better, and yet rather than guide her to become something greater, you criticize her when she fails to meet your seraphic standards that by rights are impossible for humans.
You tear down her accomplishments, and her goals, in spite of the fact you guided her here, then you dared to name her Demiurge for her crimes.
She isn’t the Demiurge here, 82 White Chain Born in Emptiness Returns to Subdue Evil.
To Arkwright:
You aren’t forgettable this day because I’m saving your comment! Very eye-opening. Although I reckon that perspective applies to more than a parent-child relationship…after all pig-headed amateurs tend to belittle the word of experts in the latter’s field *all the time* when some idea about doing a task the *right way* takes root in them.
Plenty will stick to said stance in spite of any demonstrations or amount of proof!
I support that observation for there are plenty of examples in the Real World[tm]
My English/Language major lil sis proselytizing to me on the latest medical news she reads online or worse yet lectures me on any scientific subject especially physics. Yeah, I am a Physics graduate and have worked in the medical industry for … a while … ahem.
So yes you can easily be related to an obstinate dumdum.
Well said.
Well said, indeed.
Sometimes I have to wonder if the author signs onto a guest name and comes into the comments to explain the story, because that really hit the nail on the head.
Friendship ended with White Chain, now Gog is my best friend
I think ratings for the Ring of Power are going be up this year.
Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point
I am not familiar with the name of this Aeon.
The exact details of their name, affiliation, and even existence are highly controversial, but according to my research there are at least 12 bounties, 4 arrest records, 60 outstanding fines for various petty crimes (mostly drunk & disorderly charges), 2 marriage licenses (and corresponding divorce papers), 47 restraining orders, 9 official Jester’s Licenses, and 117 mixed awards & honors, all made out to variations on the angelic name “Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point” (including “69 Drooling Idiot Just Spoke With Bizarre Eloquence”, “42 Total Asshole Suddenly Wields Great Truths”, and “17 My Archenemy Just Made Me Concede My Own Core Ideals”). Every single one of these documents also makes at least one mention of how “really freakin’ obnoxious” this angel is – that exact phrasing, every single time, even on the documents with no option for writing such a phrase. Truly, this Aeon must be a rhetorical foe to be wary of.
Finally someone is calling Allison on her shit
What shit? She changes, grows, admits her faults and gets better. That is he most unique Demiurge thing.
She literally has a philosophy degree and has managed to earn the respect and trust of an entire neighborhood and a devil. How is her only skill violence?
Legitimately what flaw is White Chain accurate about?
Her obsessive will to power. Remember that winning wasn’t even the plan. But now its what matters to her, not the rescue. What is her end game? Kill the seven? Rule the universe?
“Rightful heir”
Oh white chain your internalized misogyny…the answer is staring you in the FACE.
Alice-UN is not the rightful heir of Zoss. This is to be expected, as she who walks in the Conquering King’s footsteps cannot be heir to anything.
When I saw the word “misogyny” I knew I had to stop reading your feminism comment, hahaahah
Xisuthrus has the only valid take
I think you might be missing the point of… well this whole comic, actually.
Well, you are not a smart man.
So. Hows the weather in that bubble of yours? Cozy? I bet it is. Ignorance is bliss… as they say.
Femininity is an aspect of the Black Mother YIS; ’tis expected the sons of the White Flame should look down upon it. Of course, that does not mean they are always justified in their way of thinking, as the story unfolding here has shown us.
Yea, reading comprehension is a gift not bestowed to many.
Yikes. Yeah, ‘haha’, you might want to re-evaluate. In general.
“feminism comment”, my dude, my pal, my friend, if you are so against feminism, I might want to ask, what are you doing here? for real, why are you here? Reading this very especific comic that is uhh.. I might dare to say.. rather (not to say very because most characters are very powerful, varied women) feminist in general.
What proof does White Chain possess of this rightful heir? Only the words of one who knows nothing but violence.
Word of God. Almost literally.
Didn’t White Chain make an oath while discorporate to help Allison according to Metatron’s plan? The whole Thorn Knight business?
I wonder if something is happening to White Chain internally in the same vein as Allison resisting the influence of Incubus… We learned a bit about Cio’s eternal temptations down in hell after all.
However this ends, they’re going to have to confront that this was all over Zaid. A rude awakening in the making.
Eye’s open, but unseeing.
Nothing Allison has done has been about Zaid.
okay what’s vengeful iron even doing at this point
If I’m not wrong, I think Vengeful Iron hasn’t shown up yet in the comic right?
I think most people are on board with the idea that this other angel is Vengeful Iron. Due to his head shape, poncho, and status as a law enforcer. Just hasn’t been confirmed yet, I don’t think.
Was this not 25 Vengeful Iron Suffers No Heretics or Fools to Live ‘s quiescent/inert/uninhabited body in the Judicator Tower?
Until the mention of White Chain’s name awoke him, and his flame returned from its sojourn to the void.
Hyperlink not display. My powers are meagre.
Page king-of-swords-3-33 basically.
Wait, Dies A Lot died more times than Dies A Lot More? So much for nominative determination.
oops.
He sits and muses upon our brother holding his fractured forearm in parody of pain. And that whilst Krayu Mat may have slain devils in days past of old friends, today this devil-human has the key of the greatest of demiurges to draw upon and antagonism will likely result in the further and unrecoverable destruction of his stone receptacle in this plane.
Why our ferric brother has now ceased to wish to intercede and save White Chain from folly is a good question.
Hipocrisy what? AYY Get burned
“You will not do the right thing, so I will make the decision for you”.
Seriously!?
White Chain’s angel buddie does not seem to be very impressed by WC’s course of action. Or for that matter, his martial prowess. Does not bode too well for the righteous prick methinks….
As ever, the petty children of this universe fail to understand what it is to Rule. Even the demiurges fail to grasp the basic concept.
There is no ‘rightful heir’. There is only the one with the will to be.
Without believe in the lie of rightful rule there is only chaos and a mass of murderers trying to climb to the top of the corpse pile.
Not necessarily.
Bad rulers seek power. They seek to control and dominate others, so that they can be free from personal consequences. They are all fools; Being a ruler is nothing BUT personal consequences.
This is the reason behind the saying that good rulers have power thrust onto them. They either break under the strain of those consequences, or they grow to fit the station, and rule.
Allison is this latter. She did not ask for the key in her head. She is not really going out of her way to seek out power. She is not interested in escaping personal responsibility. (She had her chance to return to her old life, and put Throne behind her. She refused it, after realizing that she no longer fit; Her experiences in Throne had changed her very nature. At that moment of realization, whether she understands it or not, she was placed well and truly on the path to royalty.) Any power she seeks, she does not seek for herself. Even here, in the arena, her only reason for being there at all, was the threat to her estranged boyfriend. Every power she has accepted, has been because it was either forced on her (like the key), or because she needed it to help others. The only time this was not true, was when she accepted that faustian deal with the trickster– And she overcame that part of herself metaphysically.
White chain cannot tell the difference between taking a dangerous power in hand, to use it for the protection of others, and taking a dangerous power in hand, to use it for the self.
The god king’s greatest lie, is saying that they are the ruler. No, they are the greatest servant of all that is, for the only way that all other things exist, is through the willful self-sacrifice of that god.
Rhetorically, I would ask White Chain why she learned martial arts in the first place. When she says “To protect creation”, remind her why we were both there in the first place– To protect an innocent that was drawn into this mess by the other demiurges. Of all the demiurges in the mix, Allison is the only one that truly only is seeking power for wholly non-selfish reasons.
If a ruler comes to rule without any legitimacy, it suddenly stands to reason for a whole lot of other people to try and make their own throw at the throne.
A ruler’s measure is not weighed in how well or bad they take care of their people (though it is certainly preferable they do care for their population), but in how well they maintain order and wield their power to their will.
A kind hearted ruler that no one respects for their softness is a less effective ruler than a ruthless brute that only placates the most powerful people under them, at the expense of those they rule.
A ruler that no one respects is a ruler that will likely by pushed from their throne or turned into the puppet of a more effective leader. Both of these scenarios can lead to devastating chaos and misery and at the very least ensure that the ruler will make no significant decisions on their own power.
A ruler who brings stability is a very powerful and alluring one for the people who have lived through a power vacuum.
It is this fear of a power vacuum that creates the “legitimate rule”. Sure, you can win a lot by killing the old ruler and taking their place, but so can the person that is right under you, and the person that is right under them etc.
The other rulers know that, so they make up the lie of the “ruling blood line”, the “chain of command”, the “democratic process”. Everything to keep the order and stave away the chaos. Even if it costs them some of their own power and ambitions, because upstarts ruin everyone’s plans. Upstarts plunge the world into civil war. Upstarts can kill civilisations.
Political power is always taken, never given.
Not really. There are plenty of examples of leaders giving people power to make political decisions.
People who try to rule completely alone often find themselves outplayed by those who share at least some of their power among competent people.
ROUND 2, FIGHT!!
And so one of them shall reach heaven through violence, but which one will it be we wonder? They of the united black flame bearing the Key, inherited from Zoss’s own hand – he whole defeated the Prime Angels, or the deluded and lied to Angel who serves a mad Prime Angel.
My money is on the Rising King, Ia Ia. For as mighty as KRAYU MAT may be, against the full might of the Key White Chain shall find a worthy fight and a honourable defeat.
And perhaps some humility and release from it’s chains of lies we hope. Or at least release the Rising King has many more talents than violence. Like her will, her capacity to endure, her compassion and her ability to make a mean coffee and sling back more alcohol than should be humanly possible.
Also Cio’s so not impressed with White Chain at the moment judging from her eyes.
Of course Cio is unimpressed, White Chain continues to dance on the strings placed upon her by her master. She truly is not much more than the stone marionette she inhabits, and fails to understand her true purpose…
Yelling Trans Rights while punching Juggernaut Star in the Skeleton Dick.
Aw, hard words for White Chain in the comments. She is still going through her own arc, I think. Cio was right about her some chapters back, when she said that WC hasn’t realized who she is, and this feels a lot like her clinging to who she was. (And I feel like Allison has been a dick plenty enough times in this comic that WC is owed a little slack rn. She’s still my fav character.)
Big boom on the next page, I’ll wager. I wonder if WC will destroy her own body and end up in the void, looking at thorn armor. Highly unlikely, but hey, this comic has taken left turns before.
Commentary brought to you by 17 Rusty Buckets. I still want to know what this guy’s deal is. I’m hella curious if it is a disguised Juggernaut Star. Can angels inhabit any body they want? I’m not sure that was touched on.
Aw, craaap. I mean, couldn’t rusty buckets totally be Michael?!
No, 17 Rusty Bucket Hauls Garden Waste is a well know turnip worshipper, dedicated to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Compost.
That’s 10 Vigilant Gaze Purges the Horizon.
I can’t help looking at the second to last panel and thinking “Fart Attack!” like a 10 year old boy.
KRAYU BRAP!
Hm. I think Cio may be in the most danger here, regardless of her and Allison’s uniquely powerful devil-skin pact. Krayu Mat is nothing to shake a stick at.
I was wondering the same to. If human and devil can be merged with a simple masking, how hard is it to unmerge them?
I expect that unmasking is as hard as giving up power.
I’m waiting for Zaid to get away, and Himself to come and collect on that bargain they foolishly made last book.
Cio’s definitely in danger one way or another.
I wonder if the book will go from trying to rescue Zaid (the supposed love interest) to trying to save Cio (the actual love interest)
I suspect the Bargain will be a matter for the next (and final) book, as the release of Himself is one of the matters of the fate of the multiverse, along with its shape (see Jadis) and destruction (see Jagganoth). And the matter of Metatron and Michael’s conspiracy. There is much still to consider.
This book might finish with the nomination of Allison as King. That coronation may well make a good point to stop.
White Chain. You haven’t even met Zaid yet, how do you know he’s any better? I get the distinct feeling that, had he not been kidnapped, he would have gotten honeypot’d by the demiurges and turned into a pawn to steamroll the omniverse in like 5 days tops and not had any sort of agency or will of his own, unlike Alison.
Concur.
If Allison didn’t have the key and was simply an ordinary human in Throne, she’d have just as much agency and power as Zaid currently has.
Literally everything you said about Zaid also applied to Allison in the beginning of the story.
None of us knows much of anything about Zaid, not even Allison. I can’t believe that Abbadon will start developing him as a real character with any depth in the final book. He will remain a McGuffin, no matter who ends up King.
YES WHITE CHAIN YOU TELL HER WHAT FOR.
I WORRY FOR YOUR SAFETY BUT ALLISON NEEDED THAT STERN TALKING-TO.
Foolish Aeon! The yon White Chain has been corrupted by Metatron and 2 Michael’s false enlightenment.
She believes in peace, but violence is inescapable.
She believes in Stasis, but YISUN abhorred their sterile eternity.
She believes in the Old Law, but remains ignorant of the Sword Law.
She believes in many things, but neither her student nor herself are included in that category.
She is one of the six billion demons.
Hm. That’s certainly a take.
Oh my goodness.
Hoo boy. Get a grip, White Chain. You’re going to feel like a minuscule turd later when you remember acting like this.
And before it happens, Salami Dave will call “TIME!”
Never interrupt your enemies when they are fighting each other.
Violence is Inescapable dear White Chain
Curious. Allicio’s double speech bubbles ended a page back.
I wonder if it’s merely aesthetic, or if the Allison and Cio are… desynching, for lack of a better word. They seem to be taking turns with the dialogue, rather than speaking in unison.
The Fourth Syllable of Royalty: Living is an exercise of violence. Exercise of violence is the fate of living
White Chain knew this once, she has since forgotten it