Kill Six Billion Demons IV: King of Swords (part thirteen)

Lucky thirteen! Juggernaut Star has just had her dumb ass dragged into the void by White Chain, giving the latter her first look at Juggernaut Star's "true" form before she can muster the effort to hide it. Back in the physical world of Rayuba, erm...everyone else is just hanging out and waiting for the two avatars to start moving again I guess, idk. Anyway, let's see what kind of insightful, intellectually stimulating conversation Juggernaut Star is about to provide to White Chain now that her secret is out.

Well, to begin with, Juggernaut Star seems to go from manic to depressive in the blink of an eye. Even more of a dramatic quick-change than when Mathangi saw a glimpse of her spirit shape. Probably due to her not having been completely sure how much Mathangi saw that one time, whereas here there's no question that White Chain has seen and understood the full truth of Juggernaut's manifest identity.

It stopped being an urgent mission that required immediate violent action and started being futile and not worth caring about as soon as someone saw her in girlmode. Of course.

White Chain tries to change the subject to the obvious, but Juggernaut Star predictably refuses to acknowledge anything she says about her appearance and the implications thereof. She can't even bring herself to get mad when White Chain tries to address her as "sister." However, to my surprise, she actually DOES say something interesting and informative amidst the emo posturing. The REASON why nothing matters, she tells White Chain, is because the Conquering King sees to it that past and future are all the same, and that none of their actions will have any real consequences. He's putting them through this torture over and over again, watching the multiverse die time after time, until he'll eventually be satisfied. Hopefully.

Okay, so Zoss *is* doing a timeline thing with different candidates for his successor. I thought that that's what his scene in the previous book was hinting at, but now it's much more explicit. By speaking with people in the future via the Masterkey, he can change his mind about who to ultimately give it to a virtually infinite number of times. The only cap on that depends on a) how long it takes him to review a future timeline from the candidate's POV through the Key, and b) how long before the time of his inevitable death by Thorn Knight he started doing this. Divide the latter by the former, and deduct a little bit of time for naps and exercise, and, well. It could be as few as just a couple dozen, or as many as multiple billion reset timelines.

Heh, the shape of the multiverse is a wheel, but only from a certain perspective. That certain perspective being "from any point in time between Zoss' future planning sessions starting, and the events of the comic." Not a natural state of affairs, not a fundamental one, but then again if we're positive a created universe with divine purpose behind it then there's no such thing as "natural" or "fundamental" to begin with, heh.

Now, as for how Juggernaut Star knows about this. I doubt she actually has the accumulated memories of all these timelines. More likely, someone told her (or more accurately, someone *tells* her each time). That someone is almost certainly 1 Metatron. If any entity in the story (not counting the gods, since they're only in the backstory at least so far) might have the ability to tell if the timeline is being fucked with from within said timeline, Metatron is the most likely candidate. And, that's also who Juggernaut Star is taking orders from, even if not all that faithfully or competently.

So, that's my suspicion. Metatron knows about the timeline fuckery because he's Metatron, and he brought at least some of the Thorn Knights into the know. Along with probably 2 Michael and maybe Jagganoth, though I'm much less sure about the latter.

Wonder what Metatron's angle in all this is? Trying to manipulate Zoss into choosing the right person in the right way for things to work out the way Metatron thinks they should? Trying to frustrate Zoss into giving up and not placing a successor at all? Cooperating, but toward a really complicated end that makes them seem at least somewhat opposed? More information needed.

...

On a more immediate, character-focused level, what this revelation says about Juggernaut Star is...well...pathetic.

She knows that this is how it is. She knows she can do pretty much anything without it leading to consequences that won't just be reset with the next candidate. And yet, despite all that, she chooses to spend these timelines being stubbornly angry and miserable.

This doesn't make Juggernaut Star more sympathetic. It makes her LESS so. She could help herself so easily. She knows she has the freedom to do things however she wants, or to not do them at all and just let Metatron get some other angel to do the dirty work if she really hates it so much. And...this is what we get?

I guess there might be timelines where Metatron approached the proto-Thorn Knights differently, and Juggernaut Star made different decisions and ended up as less of a malding, self-torturing, spike-covered punchline to a bad joke than the version of her we know. Maybe in some she refused to become a Thorn Knight unless Metatron agreed to make the organization rainbow-accessible. Maybe in some she blew him off altogether and became one of those fallen be-gay-do-crime angels that have served as occasional side antagonists. I imagine that these versions of Juggernaut Star would still be pretty nasty customers, but...they at least wouldn't be so mindbogglingly pathetic in their nastiness.

How many times HAS Juggernaut Star chosen to be like this? How many millennia-long lifespans of whatever the fuck you'd even call this? How many cumulative eons of spikes, self-loathing, and crying herself to sleep while jacking off to Marilyn Manson posters? I could feel sorry for her if it wasn't completely her own stupid fucking fault.

...

Juggernaut Star removes herself from the situation before White Chain can ask too many more questions, dashing back to the Rayuban arena and into her onsite synth. She tries to resume the battle with Lamassu Whose Head Is An Ophan, but in the time she's been afk he's taken up position and gotten himself all prepped and ready for the next round. Pretty much as soon as Juggernaut Star makes it clear she's going to keep attacking, he uses the Final Smash he spent that time charging up.

It's not quite the insane energy output that we saw from Killy's spear factor 30, but it's not too far short of that either. You really, really don't want to give Lamassu Whose Head Is An Ophan time to charge that up and position himself right in front of you.

Juggernaut Star is left in about as bad a state as White Chain after being hit by Killy's thing. Synth broken and half-melted. Soulfire just barely still clinging onto it. Seeing that there's no way she can win, or even inflict meaningful annoyance on anyone, in her present state, Juggernaut Star leaves. Lamassu confirming her spirit's departure with more than a hint of smugness.

Eh, we saw her wheel-synth waiting for her in the void desert, she's probably just going to hop into that and run over some toddlers to make herself feel slightly less trash than she is.

And then, from the VIP box high above, Solomon David claps his hands. Good show. Long, but good. Anyway, it's time to announce the outcome of the tournament.

Hehe, oh boy.

Amusingly, his pronouncements are basically a checklist of the points and questions I've been raising since the Battle Royale started. Cio and Juggernaut Star never signed up for the tournament, so obviously they don't count. Killy would have been disqualified anyway for bringing in Cio, but she admitted defeat to White Chain even after that so it's a moot point. Lamassu didn't break any rules, and indeed Solomon says that he's consistently found him one of the most entertaining combatants to watch throughout the entire tournament, buuuuut he got knocked out of the arena briefly during the initial clash with Juggernaut Star, so that's an elimination. White Chain is the victor...but in her current state, it's pretty clear she's not up to dueling Solomon David anytime soon, and nice guy that he is he's not going to pressure her into trying it. So, it looks like Solomon is the victor by default once again. Surprise, surprise.

He also mentions that these near-finalists all seem like fascinating characters, and that he would just love it if they could perhaps join him for dinner in the palace. They must have fascinating stories about how they got here and what brought them to the tournament, and surely they would enjoy telling him. Meanwhile, the elite soldiers jump out of hiding and surround Princess, Nyave, and Zaid just a few meters away from the facility's exit.

Heh, I guess I should have had more faith in the author. Solomon did in fact realize what Killy was trying to bait him into doing, and he just played along. I was hoping that that's what was going on, because the alternative would have been way too easy and made Solomon look like a joke antagonist.

It would have been even better if the "Zaid" they rescued was a decoy, with the real Zaid having been elsewhere the entire time. But still, I'll take it.

As Solomon David starts cleaning up the arena and ordering the matching band and mascots come out to close the ceremony, Cio marches toward a miserable-looking Killy and starts babbling a litany of devilbonics insults. Killy starts to apologize, telling her that she was right all along and that it was foolish to listen to the worm lady and come here in the first place, but then Cio marches passed her while shrieking and insulting ever more viciously. She hadn't been talking to Killy; White Chain was just on the other side of her.

Like I said. Killy really needs someone to call her out on her bullshit, but White Chain is probably the single most unqualified being in the multiverse for that role at present. And, at this point, White Chain's own bullshit needs more calling out than Killy's ever did even aside from their specific interpersonal mistrusts. It would be nice if Cio could take them both to task, but she a) hasn't seen everything that's happened throughout the tournament arc, b) has her own cultural biases about angels, however deserved or undeserved those might ultimately be, and c) has her own personal biases on account of only fucking one of them. So far. We'll get there, I have faith, we'll get there, but so far only one of them.

White Chain doesn't have much to say for herself. Having just been called out by a (seeming) superior in her own order, and then learned some baffling things about Juggernaut Star and been told seem even more baffling things about the nature of the conflict they've all been drawn into, she isn't in any state to defend her recent behaviour. If she even wants to.

After she's done bitching out White Chain, Cio tells Killy that they should get the hell out of here while they still can. But, Killy's not willing to leave Nyave, Princess, and Zaid behind in Solomon David's custody. I guess she can teleport the people around herself to safety, but not three additional people across the arena? IDK. Killy's plane shift powers are sort of becoming an inconvenience to the story, and the author seems to be trying to make us forget she has them in order to maintain tension half the time. Which is unfortunate, because back in book one it was presented like this story would be ABOUT the interdimensional travel power of the Key moreso than anything else it can do. So, I'm having trouble just letting it be swept under the rug now. Meh.

While Killy and Cio argue about what they should do, White Chain picks her broken avatar up and manages to stand. Okay, seriously, how much punishment CAN that synth take before being actually in any meaningfully way disabled, this is kinda getting stupid and also raising questions about how helpless against the Black Kings etc angels really are. Whatever. White Chain gets up, puts her helmet back on, and tells Killy that if she still wants to rescue Zaid at this point, on top of the other two who just got captured as well now, there's just one obvious way foreward.

Hmm. On one hand, I like that White Chain is synthesizing the story she heard from Nyave, her own observations of Killy, and the legends of Ys-Aesma together into something inspirational.

On the other hand...trying to win a rigged game isn't heroic. It's just handing your opponent the W. Unless you have a way of rigging it back even harder, but I don't think that White Chain has one.

...or maybe she does? She did just learn how to bluff, after all. Is she coming up with another scheme now, to turn Solomon's rules against him in a way that he can't wriggle out of without losing that all-important self-image of his?

I guess we'll see.

Solomon David is already turning his back to go inside and let the tournament truly be over, but White Chain calls out loudly enough to make him turn back around.

The Emperor, White Chain declares in a loud echoey angel voice that everyone in the audience can hear, does not get to decide when a challenger is or isn't prepared to continue fighting. If that's how it works, then this entire ritual that supposedly puts a check on his power is meaningless. Elimination from the tournament happens only if a contestant dies, leaves the ring, or surrenders. White Chain has done none of these things.

...lol, if Solomon really wanted to be a dick he could say that White Chain did, in fact, leave the arena when she dragged Juggernaut Star back to the void. Sure, her synth stayed inside the ring, but White Chain's consciousness didn't, so she broke the rules, gg, no re, l2p. Maybe there are some technicalities about angel nature that would prevent that from holding up in court, but it's an amusing thought.

Solomon looks thoughtful for a moment, staring down from the high platform as the Gog-Agog instances babble and dance all around him. Then, he levitates down to the arena floor and politely accepts White Chain's challenge. However, seeing as White Chain has sustained such major injuries in the free-for-all, Solomon will first see to it that he subjects himself to the same rigours before their confrontation, so as to prevent the appearance of unfairness - let alone cowardice - on the part of the Emperor. So, he says as he turns to the sidelines where the couple hundred-odd contestants who were eliminated from the free-for-all without being killed of grievously injured are milling about, he's going to throw *everyone* a bone.

Anyone who wishes to remain in the ring for this new super special surprise penultimate round may do so. Anyone who does will be given a hefty financial prize just for having survived so much intense combat, as well as permission to trade some of that cash back in for land rights and noble titles within the Celestial Empire. All they have to do is stay in the ring and not attack one another, and they've effectively won silver medals just like that. HOWEVER, during that time, anyone and everyone who wishes to attack Solomon David is invited to do so. He will be standing in the middle of the ring. After they've all tired him out, and if White Chain hasn't gotten herself killed taking part in this 1ve special round, then Solomon and White Chain will have their final duel.

Erm. What happens if one of the others manages to draw his blood during THIS round, then? Does that mean White Chain gets nothing for having won the battle royale? I guess he could be willing to potentially grant two wishes, but if both of them ask for his Keys or his throne then it'll be an impasse.

Either I'm missing something, or Solomon is hoping that nobody will notice until after the fact when he's already killed all these fools and the tournament is behind them.

Anyway, the idiots in the sidelines all light up their eyes and come running into the ring. Solomon, who had been hovering a few feet off the ground, lowers himself to the cratered floor and shucks his robes and jewelry to do a JoJo pose in his underclothes. He preps a technique with the most tryhard edgy name ever given to any martial art ever.

Did a ten year old name this? Lol.

The next few pages consist of White Chain staying back out of the way as people throw themselves at Solomon David and get literally liquified by his blows and shockwaves. It's been a long time since anyone has seen Ki-Rata actually being used to its full killing potential, at least in public in front of a camera, so this is quite an event. Gog-Agog happily narrates as Solomon flickers around the arena and other people turn into soup.

Seeing what Solomon is doing to the people who White Chain and herself - even while fused with Cio - had to put effort into dealing with makes Killy realize. Makes her finally realize that she's never ACTUALLY FOUGHT a Black King before. Mottom was being all indecisive and tiptoeing around for fear of actually killing her. Mammon and Incubus, she never actually came to blows with except in dreamscape holodeck training rooms. This, though? This is what happens when people who aren't one of them try to fight people who are one of them when the Black Kings are really playing to win.

This was stupid. Solomon David would never hold a contest with those kinds of stakes if he didn't know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that there was no possible way he could lose. Whatever Gog-Agog may have had planned, and however it would have humiliated Solomon and damaged his regime, it wouldn't have ever gotten Zaid free. At least, not by wringing a wish out of Solomon David.

Killy calls out to White Chain to just give it up. There's no point in indulging this little pageant of Solomon's, and there never was. But White Chain refuses. After watching Solomon watch them throughout the tournament, seeing the rules, the spectacle, the hypocrisy that everyone sees through but no one admits to seeing through even though they all know that each other knows, she can't. She sees what Solomon David really is, and she recognizes it very, very intimately.

It's an unsubtle speech, even by K6BD's usual anvilicious standards, but it's decent for what it is.

Splitting it here. We're coming up on the end of book four in just one or two more posts, I think. I'm pretty sure my wrap up post for "King of Swords" is going to be a bit less glowing than the previous K6BD volume analyses. It's not bad, but it's definitely not as good as volumes 2-3.