King of Swords 9-114
Chapter: 9
“The Princes of the World wielded many secret fires, for which there are many terrible and powerful names. None of them save the Ruling King were able to wield the bolts with which he smote his foes. It was such a dread power that it was rarely seen in even the ancient ages, and never again after the Universal War, where Zoss himself vanished.”
– Yubam Bartoph, Jund Vatra
10 cubit spear, actually 11 cubits in length
“Actually, it’s a buck-and-a-quarter quarterstaff, but I’m not tellin’ him that.”
Whose forearm or fore-apendige are we measuring from anyway?
I assume it’s like a baker’s dozen.
That’s how Zoss gottem *thinking emoji*
Back during the Universal War, attempts were made to measure the precise length of Zoss’s legendary bolts, as claims to its exactly-ten-cubits-ness were, obviously, dubious. Outright laughable. Many brave surveyors, armed with their finest steel measuring rods, were lost to us in those days. Entire towns were razed, guilds disbanded, families annihilated…
When asked if he could simply take a ruler and do it himself, Zoss allegedly replied: “I’m the Ruling King, but, uh, not *that* kind of ruling.”
Hail be to Al-Yis-Un, she who wears the visage of the devilry, who does battle with the angels, who wields the sacred spear of the gods! Hail be she! Heir of Zoss, the second coming of Aesma, queen of bad decisions! Bless us with your Want, inspire us with change. May we be break though all cycles, and become a spiral unto Inifnity. Hail to Yis-Un, mother of us all, teller of the wonderous tale!
Ten cubits? Eleven cubits? What’s a cucumber between friends?
Also do you mind if I take pictures?
….the bronze point gleamed in front of him, and was fastened to the shaft of the spear by a ring of gold.
What is the length of a man’s life?
It is infinite; it is nothing.
An amount of time equal to the difference between the universe’s age at the time of the organism’s creation and the age of the universe at the time of the organism’s destruction.
Well yes. But that’s boring.
fuckin mcmurray…
My children. I’m screaming.
Hi Screaming, I’m Dad
Dad? Where have you been? You left to get me cigarettes 20 years ago and never came back D:
You needed to kick that smoking habit one way or another
THAT’S NOT DAD!!!! THE REAL DAD WAS KIDNAPPED BY DEVILS AND HAD HIS INSIDES LIQUIFIED INTO A SMOOTHIE!!!! NOW THEY WEAR HIS SKIN AS A FASHION STATEMENT!!!!
Ooookaaay, kids, let’s all of us take a deep breath and our meds…
Sigh.
THE HONORABLE COUNCIL WILL NOW DROP THEIR TEN THOUSAND CEREMONIAL FLAMING BLADES OR SO HELP ME
Discipline! To be a disciple! A disciple of what? What one follows determines where one is going and what one will become. Without this context, shared between them their conflict is pointless. They are both right! they are both wrong! They will talk past each other, fight, win, be pleased with themselves, and end up none the wiser.
I’d pay to see White Chain join in the Allicio fusion action, to be honest… this is past discipline.
That threesome would be quite the party, no? Joining them would be a Healers dream but Allison must cultivate her angelic nature first. Before then, any physical union could only fly apart. Alas we must endure this dominance display first. Have you ever struggled with your conscience?
Of course I have, of course! What do you think one has to do to get the title of Great Priestrix of Parties, drink moderately so you never struggle to remain conscious? I… wait.
Oh. No, no I haven’t. I’m, um. Rather in touch with my inner self.
No, for real now, these ladies all have to learn how to work together now. I mean, it’s either that or that hunk of a dictator flattens them, and pancake people are no fun.
I’ve never met a teacher that turned around on all their previous lessons that was worth listening to.
I’ve also never been called an asshole by someone who cared about what I thought.
Whose side am I supposed to be on here?
I don’t think it’s that simple. I am on the side of life.
-vision
I understand. You are stone cold calm and sober when getting pummeled. You don’t have to be on either of these idiots’ side. It’s a diversion, I think, leading up to an old character about to reappear.
GASP you mean Cat Master is coming back
People have a tendency talk candidly under duress. Angels, too, if you can hammer them with enough of it. A key-wielding devil-skin duo could stress out an angel of White Chain’s caliber easily. And when an angel is pulling out their weird ethereal things and knocking you around with them, that’s equally as stressful for knocked around, too. So I understand they’re not in their right minds. That’s what makes their words so much more real than whatever I’m typing on this bread computer. I’m as laidback as I can be right now. Nothing I’m saying should be considered honest.
I’d pick Zaid’s side. He asked for none of this nonsense.
He wanted to have sex with a virgin. I;d say he asked for it.
God forbid anyone sleep with a virgin. It’s lousy sex, after all. What are you trying to say?
Be realistic. Just think of the situation if nobody ever had sex with a virgin. Someone always has to do it, right? Otherwise we’d all be screwed by never being screwed, if you see what I mean.
Well, he wanted to boldly go etc. If you hanker after unexplored psychic terrain you can’t grumble if the landscape gets psychedelic like and there you are without a map. Especially when even the person you’re with doesn’t know the person you’re with.
“Have sex with a virgin” will now be an adage I use to describe exploring a simple unknown and eventually find yourself imprisoned by a deity. I know some friends who’ll love that one.
Why, the side with the thickest loaves, my good gentlebeing!
aaaaand that’s Allison again. Those loaves are WELL RISEN. And I would be ANYTHING BUT GENTLE.
40 D12 “You’re not my androgynous parent!” damage
This is quickly turning into a “whose power is biggest” fireworks contest. Those are dime a dozen. Can we please get back to evil powers, weird scenery, and unexpected plot twists.
I have no idea how you didn’t anticipate an anime fight scene in a literal tournament arc.
Remember the lessons of Meti when she took her students to see the two god kings beating each-other over the head with the “sharp rocks” of cosmic power.
This too is more than just a pretty light show.
To be more openly cynical than these others, did you expect anything but shounen from this webcomic titled KILL SIX BILLION DEMONS?
How about some good old fashioned killing, as advertized in the name. I’m going to get a lot of hate here but go back and look at the earlier battles. Absolute slaughterfests with Cuisinart efficiency. White Chain straight up kills a tough between panels on her very first page. Captivating material. Sorry but two friendemies exchanging every bigger fireworks displays (I suppose they hurt but who can say) over the course of WEEKS feels like a magic tennis match gone awry.
Someone feels entitled.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, after all.
Oh, but don’t you see it? That the fight is effectively over? Because I hope that gold-blooded banker has something less precious to fill his veins upon seeing that the can-headed angel is the only contestant with arena platform still underfoot.
yes young heiress smash that angel with all your terrible want! Let no one get in your way in forcing your very own order upon the wheel even my own kin. So smash their armor to pieces and once this whole mess is over you can talk like reasonable beings in the void. Perhaps with some tea that always helps after a fight between friends.
A MAN WHO STRIKES WITHOUT THOUGHT OF HIS POWER CAN CUT GOD
There are no men in this page.
Allison is still at least around a third and no more than slightly below half man at this point.
A woman who strikes without thought of her own power can cut the universe, then pick it up and pulverise her ex with it.
The gap with S or T in name
(By he of giant shoe shop fame).
Though will is strong my actions wane.
If every angel is like this, or has the potential to be, makes you wonder how freakishly powerful the demiurges are if they can’t be simply swarmed with hundreds of angels at this level of strength.
In any case, if Allicio is having this much trouble against someone who’s nowhere near the top of the angelic totem pole, she doesn’t stand a chance against Solomon.
You forget, all she needs to do is draw a drop of blood from Solomon. And, after all, “those who strike without thought can cut god” – Meti’s Sword Manual.
Allison is extremely good at cutting without thought.
Two words: collateral damage. Taking down the Seven would do massive, irreparable injury to Throne and angels are all about protecting Throne.
Of course, without some restraint and discipline we may see massive collateral damage here.
The power vacuum left by the Seven would be enormous, to say the least. Who knows what kinds of unsavory vermin would crawl out from the muck to fill it?
No, no; stasis must be upheld. For the good of us all.
The Seven are doomed – that, if nothing else, has been apparent from the start. The only question is who will replace them, and I seriously doubt it will be Zaid “I whip my hair back and forth” whatever his last name is.
Well, the Seven really are operating at nearly the *highest* power level as a body. Each demiurge’s power is derived from exactly one seventh of the power of the secret name of YisUn, who was/is literally the absolute being. I imagine Zoss’s power was pretty universal in scope, even if he was human himself and not apt to use that full power.
Holding up a floating city isn’t *effortless* for Mottom, but doing it doesn’t restrict her mobility or her ability to use powerful sorcery. Even a Demiurge who no longer possesses her rightful key can cut angelic armor (not an angel’s actual body, but who knows how it would work out?) cleanly in two with the handle of a broken sword.
Furthermore, a human canonically killed all but one of the angels with skill and weaponry *before* he made the Key of Kings, so I’m gonna say that, in the grand scheme, angels aren’t *that* powerful. They have concrete vulnerabilities that people are aware of, and if one can fend off their attacks and attack them with the right type of ranged weapons, they do go down. Furthermore, they won’t harm Throne, they are bound to both the Old and New Laws and do not possess ambition. They wouldn’t move against the Demiurges, regardless of whether they can or not.
No, I don’t think Alison’s divine power is what’s at fault. I think her human ignorance and brashness, and her actual human body, are what’s at fault. If she knew how to use even a fraction of the Key’s power, as the Demiurges certainly do, and had the discipline to use it, she could vaporize White Chain without getting hurt once. As it is, she’s lashing out with powers she doesn’t understand, relying mostly on Angelic martial arts against the angel who taught her them, and failing to defend her vulnerable human body very well. She has the power but can’t use it.
In order to create one must first destroy.
Also dress in bin bags, spike yer hair up wiv soap and stick a safety pin through yet nose.
I am old, I remember these things.
???
Finesse.
I grin.
To strike a friend will always be harder than striking a foe.
Nice try kid, just 1 cubits short.
Ok, White, let’s break that down. Power without control is useless, that much is known to be true: discipline, however, means you’re blinding yourself to either Wisdom or Emptiness. A truly enlightened being does not defer to external rules o limitations, for they become limitless in their enlightenment. To be Wise is, surely, not to be Empty, but a Wise mask may be Empty behind (whether this is good or not, I leave it to you; this is only the Trigram Mantra of martial arts, after all).
We’re left with Restraint. Discipline, for a creature that is an armor filled with raw power, it is an understandable way to ensure one does not shatter the world.
And besides… you’re all about restraining yourself, aren’t you, White Chain?
WELL, TEACHER, LEAVE THESE KIDS ALONE
I suggest you get a new dictionary because the one that’s telling you that meaning of discipline is broken.
What is that… dick-so-nay-ree you speak about, friend? Sounds lewd. Is it some kind of learned gigolo?
It is I believe a reference to the legendary ‘Dick shuns nary’, hero of many celebrations and upstanding party member, noted for his abundant willingness to share a cubit with any soul in need of one.
Wait… I wonder if…. The real plan is to steal Ziad from Salami David. Is this just a distraction?
I mean, NO ONE wants to fight David after this, right? Neither of them are up to the job, even if all they have to do is put one scratch on him. And given that he is probably after the key, chances are he’s playing for keeps anyway.
Plan is dead. Clearly, there *was* a distraction plan and it *might* have included a drawn-out fight between Allison and White Chain to gain time. That didn’t account for the battle royale, for Alicio, and for Rusty Bucket winding up White Chain. They’re now too angry to even remember there was a plan.
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
“We have met the enemy and he is us”
– Pogo
No enemy should survive contact with the plan either.
A good plan is one which wins regardless of the outcome. Those are called Xanatos Plans
A plan? I thought our dear Xanatos was more of a gambling man and thus made Gambits.
Calling it now: this ugly little throwdown is White Chain’s attempt at a bluff. We’ve seen how damned lawful angels are, ol’ Stoneface can’t so much as lie without cracking her shell. Ally was trying to coach her on the art of bluffing back in the card game, but it didn’t look like it was sinking in.
…or maybe it did, and WC’s figured out my favorite sort of deception: lying without lying. Ain’t hard to count off Allison’s flaws, especially being her teacher and all, and if this angel knows what a devilskin warrior’s like, they’re definitely counting on Allicio being able to take some real punishment. WC was there to hear the plan, and angels don’t forget. This is her own way of keeping all eyes on the ring, and misdirecting with the truth.
‘course, I been wrong about plenty before. Take it with salt, and all that.
To undisciplined people, everyone looks like an asshole.
’nuff said.
It helps no one to be reductive.
You’re missing proper grammar discipline, son. Come closer so I may teach you the error of your ways.
And byyy the way, one is strongly reminded of Solomon’s own quarrel with his teachers. Love the parallel.
And once more, don’t you forget the meaning of the King of Swords Tarot card,
Omg, I can’t believe I missed that. Surely Solomon will make a passing mention on how he and Alice are similar in some aspects.
“We are not so different, you and I.” At least that’s the traditional formula.
So, Allicio used a move on White Chain that Zoss used to kill Prime angels with back in the day. (Or so it was implied.)
The question is–did Allicio know angels could be killed with that?
They might have had a feeling. It looks like they aimed at her feet.
Oh dang. No, I’m pretty sure Allicio wasn’t thinking about that at all. If she kills White Chain, she’s probably going to feel awful about it.
How bad can you feel about being the 82nd killer of an angel? It’s not like it’s permanent.
True, but if 82 White Chain was my friend and 83 White Chain my sworn enemy then I’d feel plenty bad.
If Allicio kills White Chain here, I think the angel is the one who should be full of remorse. On the other hand, these god level attacks they are hurling at each other seem to be doing no damage at all – maybe the commentors who think this is all a show to distract Salami Dave while rescuing Zaid are right.
But, it does functionally wipe an angel’s memory. It wouldn’t be the end of the entity White Chain, but it would be the end of White Chain as Allison knows them. Plus it could take like a million years to respawn, so Allison might never see WC again.
But the reason I say Allicio would feel awful is because she probably wouldn’t intend for it to be a killing blow. She’s in the heat of fighting – and would likely be shocked by herself if she killed WC. It would represent the loss of a valuable friend, an eye opener to her own terrible power (Macbeth style!), she’d never be able to reach resolution in her fight with WC, and it would likely leave lasting subtle trust issues in her, in a universe where she already has scarce few friends and many enemies.
So do you think Zoss is every going to show himself and clear up the fact that he definitely intended for our heroine to inherit his power? I’d think that’d be annoying to him that everyone wants to give his power to the wrong person. But then again, I don’t even think Allison is clear on that.
He defenitely shows up every time when each book nears the end, proclaiming its name. But every time it was just Allison who saw and heard him.
Zoss no head.
Buckets no head.
Hmmmm…
I half think Jadis knows. Way back when the demiurges met on that giant head, she answers that the boy is the successor, but then keeps saying “S” as one of her minions reveals the prophecy for us readers. I reckon she’s either correcting all of the “He” in to “She”. I could also buy that she’s pluralizing successor.
We’ll know if this truly is Zoss’ thunderbolt if on the next page, Salami Dave turns to one of his minions and asks him to fetch his “Fighting pants. The brown ones.”
I see talking’s a free action in K6BD.
Ugh. Cubits. I bought the first volume of that manga. I noped my way out of that one.
If this comic never gets a screen adaptation, it’d be a hell of a shame
Netflix your greenlit!
So Allicio now bewields the power that only the Ruling King has ever previously commanded, and that had not been seen since.
Aimed not at my brother’s essence, but his vulnerable stone body…
We have reached anime levels. There is no going back. We can only move – [This message will next episode of Kill Six Billion Demons!]
…too real! It scares me somewhat.
Woops! There go her ashen stone legs.
Is discipline really that shit, Alison? If you had some, perhaps you would remember that White Chain’s goal here isn’t to win the round in your stead, but simply to make sure that you lose. Do you and Cio have some way of making gossamer or paper wings between those arms of yours, or is there some protruding rock of destroyed platform you can land on and declare to still be inside the ring?
If your opponent pulls out a gun during a wrestling match, I’d feel you are past telling them they lost because they stepped outside of the ring.
Except that this was already a magic-weapons-permitted FFA battle- royale Deathmatch, with extra cheese.
They’ve just stopped cheating.
No metaphor is perfect, but this is more like a supernatural bloodbowl where one of the opponents suddenly reveals themself to be a god with a hard “G” and a personal grudge against one of the contestants.
Sure, the referee can call for a time-out and cancel the match, but it’s not like the god can’t just decide to kick ass six ways tills sunday.
Rules mean nothing if they can’t be enforced. So Salami David will probably have to get his hands dirty to stop this match.
Prediction: This book ends with David Solomon getting sniped by one of the other Demiurges while he’s distracted (maybe Gog-agog?), and the rest of the multiverse quickly learning why this is a *bad thing*.
Salami David may be a patronizing and arrogant…but fundamentally he is one of the few great powers in the universe that actually desires for it to be a *good* place…. and the only Demiurge whose worlds I would want to live in.
We’ve got all the set up for a new universal war to break out, and Currently Solomon is holding the line (or at least, trying). He’s going to die, and then things are going to *really* head south.
Jadis just falls out of the sky and lands on him like a Backdraft Group judge.
Hmm… a process of dialectic, no? Two opposite ideas that must battle, expend themselves and reach synthesis.
You have a Healers eye.
Someone get out a mirror.
Oh Angel, what intends thy hand, she cried,
Against thy only student? What fury, Oh child,
Possesses thee to bend that mortal dart
Against thy teacher’s head? And know’st for whom?
For him who sits above, and laughs the while
At thee, ordained his drudge to execute
Whate’er his wrath, which he calls justice, bids,
His wrath, which one day will destroy ye both!
10 cubit spear…. isn’t that one of Sun Wukong’s moves? I swear I’ve read that somewhere.
The princess wore a coat of Davidian mail, and had an ancient helmet of brilliant gold on her head; she wore three turbans and had a sword of Indian steel, with a ten cubit spear in her hand. She rode out into the center of the battlefield and called out: “So where is your leader? Where is Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik?”
— 35th Night, from “The Hundred and One Nights”, translated by Bruce Fudge
Why would you want to wear three turbans? The rest sounds pretty cool, but three turbans is definitely over-accessorising.
Well, unless you have three heads.
Hector of Troy famously wielded an eleven cubit spear.
Seems like all Allicio has to do is run out the clock. :believes:
Seems like the clock should have run out already by now.
Will is nothing without understanding.
Oh White Chain, you let one of your old friends lead you astray.
I can’t parse what is supposed to be happening in the first and second panels. What’s going on? The end of the last page showed a lot of simultaneous attacks from White Chain
I believe Alicio managed to ward off most of those blows with some kind of barrier (the white circles show where they hit), but one got through and punched her in the gut.
Indeed. Alicio stopped the whole barrage, but she took her eyes (all four) off the ball. Then White Chain closed and knocked her flying with one punch.
Ten Cubit Spear is an act of desperation here. Not the sort of thing to use on a friend (she’s managed to cut Incubus with it in the past), but it’s the only move she knows that can work while she’s flying backward out of the arena.
“…and power is shit, if it turns you into a monster.”
… is what I’m expecting him to retort.
Go back to your The Three-Headed Wyrm, Dancer
They are one with me.
How can one return whence has never left?
Words worthy of a king. Let us worship this god of destruction.
Discipline is good but it narrows your view. It is hard to be flexible if you concentrate on one thing all your life.
Te~~n Cu~ Bi~t SPEAR!
How big IS that platform anyway? Allicio cut off part of it when she attacked the Buckethead angel, but the way they’re going now, it’s suddenly the size of a football field!
It’s small enough that Alicio is off the edge in the last frame, or at least will be when she lands; technically, she’s out. If White Chain retires hurt, Rusty Bucket wins the tournament. And what would a conservative angel ask of Solomon, should he scratch him a little?
“Technically, she’s out”…
Well… it might be a tad difficult to find a species dim enough to mention it to her…
She is not out. People are only out when they touch the floor somewhere. While still in the air no one is out.
Plus she got that propulsion of her, so she’s going to return asap.
Each of them is yelling at themselves- Alico wants a life with purpose, while White Chain’s orderly ways keep her trapped.
They fight mirrors.
White Chain makes some good points here, but even the most cursory of glances at the greater Wheel will reveal a universe that cares nought for disciplined restraint of power, let alone “rightful heirs”. Power may corrupt, but I’ll buy a hat for the express purpose of eating it if you find me a person who would happily surrender the power to bend the universe to their liking on the basis of the chance they will become corrupt later
Never thought of it that way before. Funny how Lord of the Rings was overflowing with characters who refused the Ruling Ring for fear of becoming the next Dark Lord. Not bloody likely, in hindsight.
Power without discipline may not be much. But to seize power one must break discipline. Time will tell who is in the wrong
This is what happens when your shoulder angels are corporeal.
Kudos for truth.
Just noticed, Allison blocks with her eyes closed, but Cio keeps them open. One of the two has probably been in more scraps in her life.
Discipline is a rod used to control others. Sort of like how White Chain is being used to do someone else’s fighting. Or how we helped set up the whole Demiurge thing. Most of the things the Aeons have done, really.
Ten Cubit Spear > Ten Foot Pole
This too shall lead to woo.
This one asks when the story will continue as the day of continuation has come and gone
This.one.needs.the.story.told.this.one.knows.not.when.story.will.continue.this.one.requests.input.brothers.
Hey Abbadon, would be nice if you could mention on the site that the page is going to be delayed rather than only on Twitter.
Ahh…this one forgets of the birds…this one will seek answers there. This one thanks you for the re-memory.