KOS 9-116
Chapter: 9
The Gods showed the first human to YISUN, bringing her in a walnut shell because she was so delicate. They could not believe how small and frail she was. Though she slept quite peacefully, at every breath they quailed and wrung their hands, fearing that she would fall apart at any moment. They crept carefully and cautiously into YISUN’s speaking hall, cradling her and whispering in hushed tones as they gently presented her upon a cushion before the Lord of Songs.
YISUN took one look at her and said, “This is the most dangerous being in existence.”
-Spasms
Am I the only one who finds this whole fight to be very…meh?
Aside from the constant DBZ-style back-and-forths and (imo) slowing pacing, the way the arc is unfolding seems convoluted.
This whole tournament started as a plan to get Zaid out, then it became a massive bluff to out gambit Solomon while outpacing the battle royale clock, then it became White Chain trying to drag Allison home before she faces Solomon and gets a royal ass-kicking. And it’s devolved into basically a superpowered screaming match. They say no plan survives contact with the enemy, except in this case the plan actually worked, but it’s been waved aside for this fight.
And while they bring up valid criticisms of each other during their argument, I find it immensely frustrating that nearly everything is glossed over for another comeback, without actually addressing those points.
> You’re acting too wantonly destructive and dangerously risky in the middle of two demiurges and need to GTFO before Solomon puts a foot up your ass.
> Well, you’re too afraid to come out to your hyper traditionalist, murderous family and Allison’s been through a lot, so you suck and everything you said is invalid, and we can clearly win this.
> You don’t have any kind of long term plan. Are you really going to return the key to the rightful heir when you’re on a never ending power trip?
> .You’re an asshole, so there.
I also find the point of the current page questionable; White Chain gets destroyed in Poker but can kick Allison’s ass six ways to Sunday, and the only reason she’s even remotely keeping up is because of her god-key and sudden fusion with Cio. Yet because WC can’t cheat at cards (which is odd, because her main issue in their earlier card game was her inability to **bluff**) she’s suddenly hopeless, unable to change, and doomed to fail. (It also seems to ignore how WC made a perfect bluff against Praman Nand in the very first chapter, saving Allison’s life in the process, as well as her ongoing character development throughout the story.)
These points wouldn’t be an issue for me if the narrative actually *challenged* them in any way, but it feels like everything is stacking up WC to be wrong and Allicio to be right in every way that matters. Every valid criticism WC brings up is quickly glossed over while their past achievements are ignored, and now their millennia of experience against thousands of various foes in Throne is apparently so predictable they can’t be bothered to *use a god damn mixup* once in a while.
It’s not that White Chain can’t do those things, she’s just currently having a bit of an identity crisis and is all out of sorts with doubt and uncertainty. She’s currently torn between doing what she feels is right and what Micheal tells her is right. She’s currently swaying to the side of Micheal and is suppressing her own feelings and instincts trying to play the good little angel and it’s thrown her off her game.
This doesn’t at all address the issue pointed out by Subzero, I don’t think. It’s not a bad thing to bring up, but I don’t believe it goes far enough to explain the inconsistencies that pop up.
No, I’m afraid you are alone in your meh-ness, or nearly so; the rest of us are freaking out with joyous abandon. It bothers me not at all that these good friends – who have been brought to mortal conflict in exquisite balance – are not flinging “My Dinner With Andre” level bon mots at each other.
1) No, I’m definitely not the only person who has issues with this arc, if you look at the previous comments for the last few chapters.
2) This comic has more forums than just this one comments section, like the subreddit and Discord, and thankfully they aren’t nearly as pretentious and egotistical as some of the commenters here.
Soooo… technically White Chain has lost.
She is not standing on the pillar any longer and is making no attempt to land.
The only question that remains is has 10 Vigilant Gaze Purges the Horizon entered the contest?
Will he try to fight Alicio or save White Chain?
I think he will help White Chain against the Thorns.
Well now that’s just mean.
Why are there a bunch of psychopaths in the comment section who want to see a previously liked character actually killed simply for standing against the main character?
A lot of people in the main forums have drank the Zoss Kool-Aid hard and have a pretty awful case of protagonist-centered morality.
Sub forums? How could I not have heard of them! I imagine there must be at least 777,777 of them! Time to go exploring.
Perhaps because they know that said character cannot permanently die, having been through this more than 80 times already! It’s obvious that White Chain being the most repeatedly incarnated angel makes her also the most stubborn and arguably the most pig-headed. Her character has been designed for precisely this moment, as a metaphor representing the entire aeonic squad. By nominating herself as the Great Teacher she is begging to be taught a lesson.
“pain is the breaking of the shell of understanding.”
in identifying with White Chain, i wish to see all of my former dogmatic selves crushed, releasing catharsis and evolution.
in prying open a chrysalis, i have heard the scream of the butterfly.
AL-YIS-UN is the blade White Chain has forged for use in most honorable Sudoku.
the most honorable of all Sudoku is indeed performed with a blade. The Pen More Powerful is used by the weak who seek a pleasing puzzle to wile away time. True understanding comes from plying the matrices of self with the blade of will.
I believe you mean seppuku, not sudoku. Though maybe angels are fond of math puzzles?
a common misconception. seppuku involves the folding in half of a chakram, annointing it with the churned milkfat of a sacred cow, and then inhaling the whole thing. no knives required.
White Chain is an angel. Even if Alicio manages to shatter their body that just banishes her to the void. Doesn’t even start the reincarnation process in the void, just puts her in time out till she gets a new shell.
Until someone makes her one, with all the implications therein.
It has been stated that the force of getting shunted back into the void via body destruction actually *kills*/forces reincarnation of the angel
When Zoss performed this on all the prime angels, humans later had to deliberately forge them new shells, so acquisition of a material shell requires that. Of course, there is reincarnation in the way prime angels have it – fiery cocoons in aeon-space as they reassemble their spirits. But given that White Chain is numbered seventy-two, i would hazard that less grown angels take shorter centuries to reform their spirits.
Though perhaps similar to Princess’ ascension to red tier, it is time for White Chain to leave her current phase state and nudge one notch closer to plasma?
hmmm… a one-trick stony!
is that a Baki face sheshe’s making O_O ?
TEN CUBIT SPEAR, incoming.
The downside of discipline: Predictability. There are times when one must learn to improvise
*parry sound*
I mentioned this elsewhere, but “What chance do you have?” is often uttered right before someone gets their ass kicked. This whole arc feels less like a power up for Alison and more like a step forward for WC. We’ll see where it goes, I guess!
But WC has been knocked almost completely out of her armor – hardly a step forward?
Throuple! Throuple! Throuple!
Prim Aesma got nothing on Allicio
You should be careful, Alison. If you managed to create the multiverse’s first chaotically-aligned angel I think that will earn you even MORE enemies.
kah…meh…ah…me….
yeah girl crack that egg!
“I believe the subtext here is rapidly becoming, uh, text”
The 3rd panel, I’d love to have that minus the punch. I quite like it 🙂
Yes please! They are so beautifully rendered, and the LOOK. Desperately want that as a background image.
Loving this! But too impatient to see MORE! ….need to learn how to enjoy the ride me thinks
Hmmm… So far, krayu mat is very disappointing. In fact, the whole ‘Angels are basically unbeatable’ reputationg is looking more and more like it’s completely undeserved. Allison has had only one year of training, but once she joins with Cio, they’re handing White Chain her stony arse .
Of course, it’s still possible that White Chain answers Allicio’s taunt by pulling out all the stops. If Angels were that predictable, they would have become the laughin stock of Throne a long time ago.
Krayu Mat is designed for killing unbound devils with a single strike. You have to kill them quickly because they heal so fast, being essentially fluid. And if you kill your foe with the first attack it doesn’t matter if the form is repetitive and predictable.
There’s also the possibility that White Chain isn’t very good at Krayu Mat, or is too angry to apply it properly.
Or possibly despite herself White Chain is holding back due to un-angel-like E Mo Tions
That is something I hadn’t considered before. Demons can change many times, become weaker or stronger. But they can change. Angels are made of ash and stone and won’t or can’t change and adapt. Hmmm…
I wish someone with animation skills would take the Giant Woman scene from Steven Universe and replace Pearl and Amethyst with Allison and Cio.
please?
its not fair for poor whitey chain
i mean she is made to behave like that, she is programmed! what can you blame her for
And Metia opened her eyes and said, “YISUN is observant.”
I really impressed after read this because of some quality work and informative thoughts . I just wanna say thanks for the writer and wish you all the best for coming!.
This is very interesting content! I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your points and have come to the conclusion that you are right about many of them. You are great.