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
Oh, sister-brother. Perhaps your Number is so high because, in the end, you cannot change after all.
I’m not really sure what White Chain’s point is here. Regardless of if Allison won or not they’d have to deal with that problem after this, assuming the other plan works. If they win, though, they can ensure Zaid would at least be safe from king purple, and/or remove a demiurge from play entirely.
“Your only talent is violence!” said the person who taught Alison how to beat people up.
And whose only talent is violence… and maybe making tea?
White Chain is understandably frustrated. Allison refuses to earn power. White Chain was training her to use what she has. But from the beginning, power was just handed to Allison with the key. And then when she makes deals with the worst of devils to pull a heist by using Cio. And then she makes a deal with Incubus. And now she just wears a devil (using Cio again) to cakewalk through the tournament.
Power is an object that Allison just takes. Why would anyone believe that she’d ever give it back?
Allison did not cakewalk through the tournament – she went through hell before combining with Cio, making huge strides in her technique. And what about all that training during the two year interlude? Surely she deserves some credit for that!
White Chain told her she wasn’t ready for the tournament. That she didn’t have the power required. In her arrogance, Allison went anyway and got her ass handed to her. Because the training that White Chain gave her, while good, required more time.
“Instead of seeking hasty solutions, we must prepare for the coming battles”.
And then Allison combined with Cio and it became a cakewalk. Throne is full of temptations, and she has rejected exactly one source of great and dangerous power since she started this journey. And not since. I love the character, but her personal arc will require her to give up power if only in the end.
Those who spend all their time preparing for the battle inevitably loose because by the time they emerge fully prepared the battle has long been over.
There is no right thing, there is only change and I am short a shilling.
Have you got ten pee?
Ah yes, cannot actually have a debate, so resorting to a low-blow and then a move that will, what, probably hurt Cio more than Allison and break up the fusion? Just in time for them to all be captured, I am sure. Weaksauce White Chain, weaksauce.
REACH HEAVEN THROUGH VIOLENCE.
Remember it! It’s your only warning about Throne.
Change is a difficult thing, especially for those who do not need to change to endure. White Chain was pushing her their boundaries participating here, which made their tolerance for any other events thinner – like Alison wearing Cio. White Chain’s natural reaction is to snap back to their default beliefs.
So it goes.
It’s interesting how much stock people put in Zaid’s right – yes, yes, we know it might not be him – after being chosen by someone literally everyone hates and would try to kill if they saw him again. Like, Zoss is not a popular man! A respected one, certainly, but it’s interesting that Thorn cares that it’s Zaid who gets it, not Allison, without us ever knowing how she feels about Zoss.
They’ve interpreted Jadis, who is presumably never wrong, to have said that Zaid is the Successor. So in their opinion it’s a foregone conclusion that Zaid WILL acquire the key. Anything Allison does with it in the meantime is a distraction at best, unnecessary and bloody chaos at worst, and from the angels’ viewpoint the sooner it’s over with the better.
At the end of the day, Zaid being the True Heir is just a point of politics rather than prophecy. Whether he’s the “True” heir or not doesn’t matter. He’s the one they have and control. Him being the Heir is entirely contingent on how tightly either the angels or the demiurges can keep him under their thumb. The sticking point as of now is how to get the Key off the one that won’t do as they say onto the one that will.
All this hate on White Chain for raising a perfectly legitimate point, when Allison herself agrees with her to some extent, doesn’t surprise me.
After all, this is the forum where 50% of readers totally buy into the same royalty shit that Meti repeatedly warned Maya against and didn’t stop Zoss’ kingdom from burning to the ground. That’s the exact same mentality that won the war for the demiurges, and turned Throne into a brutal wasteland ruled by tyrants who don’t know when to quit. And that’s exactly what White Chain is worried about. Being the ultimate asskicker can win you a war, but it won’t save the kingdom, and we have seven examples of that already.
Of course, we still don’t know everything about Allison’s motivations, and I doubt she’s going to end up as the tyrant WC fears. But judging by her expression in her last panel, she genuinely has no long-term plan other than growing stronger to survive, and putting herself and others at risk for that. The entire tournament plan went from getting Zaid out to laying out Solomon in the center of his own empire, and it’s insane how no one else seems to see the risks.
I see Allison’s eyes in panel 4, and I see that she realizes she’s still being impulsive and reckless, and is weighing White Chain’s words. But on the flip side, White Chain is *still* blind to this. And their words are full of destructive self-abnegation, doubt, and anger. Not a lot of wisdom or restraint from teach, here.
Just like with Cio and Allison… I think they have a lot they could stand to learn from each other. Here’s hoping they get a chance.
Alison’s goal has always been to free Zaid. Purely cause it was the right thing to do. She’s on the cusp of accomplishing that. What White Chain is asking about is something that others have demanded of her and Zaid… rulership of themselves and salvation from their failures. They are all trying to imprison Zaid and Alison in different ways. For a while it looked like maybe White Chain was different… like she might have Alison and Zaid’s best interests at heart.
However, White Chain has now made it clear here that she doesn’t give a shit about what Alison or Zaid want. Or what they need. In the end, White Chain is in it for a chance to force her ideals down Zaid and Alison’s throat. Whether she gets a few good point in while perusing that goal… doesn’t change what goal she’s perusing… doesn’t change the prison she’d be imposing on one or both of them by doing it.
The hypocrisy of White Chain demanding others take on a form that is not their own.
Musko Reeve and his Manual are back!
Another one great page.
White Chain is hearing but not listening. She’s looking with many many eyes, but not seeing. Let her destroy herself by Krayu Mat. In this world that violence makes right, maybe reincarnation will make her understand.
Imma be honest. I’m really actually getting annoyed that everyone is all “She cant possibly be the inheritor” and her not defending herself on that.
Zoss did not make a mistake. He was not rushed, or forced to choose hastily. Time and again, he has revealed himself to Alison and spoken to her, commented upon her, and even critisized her, and not once has he mentioned being forced to make do, or how he did not intend for her to be his heir. If anything, his comments suggest he specifically chose her.
Basically, at this point, I want Allison to call everyone out and tell them they’re wrong.
Exactly.
Zoss did express some doubt, once, and once only, when Alison had left Cio for dead under the rock fall in Mammon’s vault. At that point Zoss mused to himself “Maybe I have chosen wrongly”.
That makes it clear that he did deliberately choose Alison as his heir, even if he was having temporary doubts at that particular instant. But for some weird reason everyone else in this universe has got it into their heads that Zaid is the heir.
Does anyone remember how that happened?
It’s their interpretation of the prophecy of Jadis.
Zoss is older Zaid.
He already went through the cycle and instead of repeating it and bestowing the Key of Keys on himself, he instead gave it to Allison.
Several times, it seems as tho there are some temporal effects at play within the multiverse.
Of course, I could be lying as well.
A rather magnificent lie.
An appealing construct indeed.
Ah, my fellows, you must remember Hansa. Of all Yis-Un’s many followers, he did not desire sovereignty and thus easily achieved royalty.
You say Alison is the true heir of Zoss and ask why she does not decry those who would call her an accident? Is it not obvious? Alison does not desire royalty. She too agrees she does not deserve the key, that she should not rule. Were it not so she would not be the heir.
Only talent is violence?
Bitch, you’ll never outdrink a sorority sister.
Finally, a correct answer.
white chain you silly ding dong
White Chain’s hypocrisy is getting a wee bit old, not going to lie. This better have a decent payoff cause I’m seeing absolutely zero growth coming from this character.
Well when you are a creature of LAW absolute there is no room for anything and growth is not an option, just obedience from ones lessers and to ones superiors. Even if it is an actual possibility, it will be fought against with every fibre of their being.
Who are you? Obey me!
What do you want? Obey me!
Simply enough.
They’ve bought into 2 Michael’s propaganda, because they keep hearing it from White Chain and from the Thorn Knights, while no one else is even discussing the alternative (because they silently accept what IS).
As many politicians have found, the only requirement to make a lie into the truth is to repeat it loudly enough and often enough and to give no currency to the alternatives. (I am NOT pointing at any current ones, it’s a VERY OLD tactic.)
(Possibly as old as Throne.)
One can identify a poorly crafted lie by the fact that it needs to be repeated so much. The “Shout Down the Universe” technique is a common mistake made by those first learning The Art.
White Chain is right that Allison probably isn’t qualified to rule all known existence.
Neither is Zaid.
Allison has also never expressed literally any interest in being a cosmic God Empress, and the last throne she was offered–which came with an evil demon tree, admittedly–she rather notably rejected.
It’s White Chain that’s missing things.
Difference is, she realised, and Zoss affirmed, that she wasn’t being offered a throne– just the glided manacles of fear. Allison rightly rejected that, but she’s also not sure what she wants as of yet. That’s not a bad thing, she’s already proving she can act by what she believes. That on its own makes her more worthy than any of the seven right now.
I hate seeing throuples fight.
white chain made a booboo. allison’s only obvious talent being violence isn’t because it’s her only talent, but because it’s the only one she could cultivate since everyone and their grandmother wants to kill her or control her (white chain included) on account of the power in her head. ironically, this is kinda white chain’s fault in the first place… i’d also like to note that white chain might be projecting a bit considering the nature of angels as peacekeepers.
Poor, poor confused White Chain
I doubt anyone or anything is worth this.
Change comes easy to humans and devils because they were born from the chaotic black flame. Angels were born from the static white flame. Change is literally unnatural to them. Why is everybody so surprised White Chain has a problem with this?
Also, 2 Michael was his/her revered mentor, and 1 Metatron is literally the word of god for to White Chain. Remember how obsessed WC was when (s)he found out Metatron was still alive? It was almost the only thing (s)he could think about for a while. Michael and Metatron have told WC that Zaid’s the true heir and WC isn’t used to doubting them in any way. I think WC’s problem is that (s)he IS beginning to doubt everything (s)he has ever believed in because of Allison, and as an Angel, (s)he can’t handle it.
Behold, the supreme inflexibility of both mind and spirit that is the hallmark of angels! Is it any wonder that their physical forms are made of stone?
Fortunately, a tyrantbreaker’s fists are as hard as freedom itself.
Forget not the parable of the rock. It does move, but imperceptibly slowly.
True, but any stone can roll down a hill and crush an innocent who has done no wrong. Some argue that it’s better to divert the stone’s roll so that we can t crushes a villain, but I say it’s better by far to shatter the stone in view of the villain. That way, the villain knows what fate awaits them should they act on their foul urges.
Plus, shattering prideful stones with one’s bare fist is the most satisfying act one can perform.
For better symmetry and narrative cohesiveness, replace bare fist with empty palm. Especially if preceded by the Trigam Mantra, and especially if Al-YS-UN can show that they’re not just empty words.
obligation is a joke
hold your bladder and stay woke
Restart the Filaments with smoke
Something I’ve been wondering about: Is there any way to solve the problem that the Key(s) form to the multiverse? Zoss tried to create his philosopher-kingdom and it ended in theGreat War. All the Seven have managed is an uneasy peace that’s about to be broken. And suppose Allison manages to defeat the Demiurges, then what? Take their place? How long before she would end up as mad as them?
We don’t know how long Zoss’ kingdom lasted, but the rule of the Demiurges doesn’t seem to have started more than ten htousand years ago, which on the scale of the multiverse doesn’t even qualify as an eyeblink. Compare that to the many kalpas before Zoss broke into heaven. The multiverse did just fine without Keys and in fact their existence seems to be harmful rather than beneficient. May Allison will gather the keys of the Demiurges and then surprise everybody by giving them and her own Key back to 1 Metatron? A Conquering Queen GIVING UP her power would definitely be new.
She’s one of the few people with the kind of integrity it takes to do that too.
That would piss me off just as much as if she gives it to Zaid. It means her journey and story were all for nothing. “I gained ultimate power just to give it to someone else.” – the words of a fool and a loser. NOT a King.
Also a sign of great wisdom and selflessness. Given how much damage the keys have done so far, it might be the only solution. Kings are usually not known for being all that concerned about the consequences of their actions for other people. Most Kings are selfish dicks.