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Page Descriptions - Chapter 50

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This article contains all the Moonless Age page announcements made by the comic's author for Chapter 50 - Unravel. These often elaborate on or clarify details not explicitly stated in the comic itself, but regardless provide a sort of commentary for each page. These announcements are made in the Moonless Age channel of the Official Discord and can also be read on the comic's Official Facebook Page.

Chapter Announcement

[Chapter Cover]

Kern: The big chapter. or at least one as big as 46 and 47. With many events that's been pending for years and hopefully will resolve as many loose threads . I think the chapter cover speak for itself. You're guaranteed a sillice point of view, chrys, Kiel, Ariel, Faen. There's Shasana coming back(top left) and Snadhya on the top right because she's always there wrecking shit up lately. I leave the rest to your analysis.

Edit: Link to full cover if your computer/tablet/phone doesn't display all of it. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v256/suntiger745/CH50FullCover.png

Page Announcements

Pages 1-10


[Page 1]

Kern: Naal is back, or at least her rebirth. Demons are hard to kill, and so Naal's fall at the end of chapter 47 ended with her deformed body crushed by many ton of rocks that once was the home of a great clan. Under, her demonic essence escaped, and come to the greatest of realization ; Self awareness. Thais page was a fun experiment to make a sequential set of events, without frames and animation. Said animation done by Mau who came forward to help , thank you Mau! Now the dialogues of the demons, or thought/internal monologue will all be hand drawns to stand out and by having them look like sound effects, it is my hope they'll feel more raw. We'll see what you guys think of the effect during the pages to come. So, how many people had guessed Naal would be back as a main point of view for this chapter? It was hard to resist not making it part of the cover.

[Page 2]

Kern: Self awareness for the freed demon, but not memories. As it searches for an identity, the most primals desires emerge ; the need to feed. On anything. But among that jumble of thoughts is one familliar name it clings to. And with just that name as lead, it goes on to search for her in this strange world. The last panel is upside down, if gravity does not apply, then direction does not apply. The demon's perspective on the world is skewed. Animation on panel 3 by Mau.

[Page 3]

Kern: When the united clans fought to scare off the great demon, Naal was there in the cliff, watching the whole thing unfold and being terrified. This is meant to show how scary the world is to the tiny vulnerable demon, and serve as refresher for what had happened during chapter 47. Naal, that big monster that somehow ended Kharla, is but a tiny ball compared to that giant creature. And still experimenting with page layouts thanks to Mau's help. Always important to try to figure out how to produce better pages.

[Page 4]

Kern: The threat passed and the demon made it's way to the city. There it realize that the world isn't strange and upside down, IT , is upside down. With a juicy pile of dying meat under. Someone got stabbed during the puppeteer event or right after. Either way he lay on the stairs, bleeding out energy that tempt Naal. Not only is it food but a chance for a new life.

Might delete the animation in a moment as it is curently breaking the page for an unknown reason.

[Page 5]

Kern: Naal always had a strong will to resist her inner demon and this passed on to the demon itself in time. A demon with self control , a rare being in this world. Instead it chose to focus on what mattered most to the girl when alive and this, somehow, made it able to hear the call of a person that used to be it's friend ; Chrys. Who is busy hunting down her sister. So, the demon technically doesn't have ears. Thus it did not hear this "Shinae" , somehow it could understand Chrys. Call it a bound or perhaps it's that little swirling creature inside of Chrys that allowed this communication to happen. it's up to you. As to "seeing" chrys, for the visual sake of the medium, we have to draw Chrys herself under the aura. Though the demon would only see a shape of Chrys, with the energy. The green part, again for the sake of the visual medium, we will have to fade out that effect , otherwise we'd be stuck with that for many pages. And hey, mau animated a panel beyond expectation!

[Page 6]

Kern: The hunt is on for Shinae who hides from her sister's sight and ignore her calls. Thanks to their empath, they know she is there but not where and unfortunately for them the demon cannot tell them. To the demon's eye, Shinae is a blazing red light that is easy to spot among everyone else, even visible through walls. Over there Shinae seem to doubt the good intention of her sister, instead thinking they are hunting her down to kill her. Such misunderstanding can only end in unicorn rainbow fun time :D And it's confirmed, Shinae was concious when stabbing Zala in the stomach in a rudemental abortion technique...

[Page 7]

Kern: The pleas to bring Shinae back to reason all fails, and the conflict between sisters grows inevitable. Shinae's power is a high one, an hybrid. She was chosen among commoners for that reason. It's raw, doesn't require foci and depend on her emotions. To me, it's a mix of air and earth that cause a pressure sphere to grow outward from her body. This shatters rocks and cause intense air pressure.

[Page 8]

Kern: The first blow come from Shinae but the demon attempt to interfere. Without luck, as it's lack the mass to affect people and passing through the body of Shinae allowed it to see what's inside ; another demon, looking back. This demon is from the ceremony in chapter 46. Shinae is fused with it so what the demon sees is what Shinae sees. In theory, this mean Shinae could affect Naal. Not that she'd know how to injure the little blob. But she could try. This also mean it's - near - impossible for Naal to take Shinae's body, unlike that dying person from before. It's fully occupied. And attempts to plunge in will only pull the aura out a little. During chapter 46, the demons were unnaffected by Kharla's power, so now hopefully the curious readers can have an explanation as to why this was the case. It's only when Kiel was focused upon that Kharla could do something about her either. Meaning, if Naal were to try to enter Kiel, maybe she'd see what's inside.

[Page 9]

Kern: Chrys expect her sister to keep running but instead she leap to attack those that attempt to flank her, with a mad look on her face. That's very Kalki of her. :p Chrys'tel abillity hasn't been used in so long i think it's time for a refresher. She pull her own blood into vials that she can remotely manipulate. The closest equivalent would be to treat the blood as an explosive ball of liquid that burns. It's very specific and if she were born a commoner, she'd likely have spent her whole life thinking she had no ability at all.

[Page 10]

Kern: She unleashed herself upon the hunters. Years of repressed emotions that can finally let go. And at first, she does have success against her opponents, taking them by surprise and Chrys unwillingness to hurt her sister work in her favor as she mockingly point out at the end. The dragon is pressed down against the ground under the pressure. Said pressure is enough to throw off a fully armored person, crack the rock around and shatter the ground - under - the dragon. It's probably feeling a lot of pain under Shinae's boots.

Pages 11-20


[Page 11]

Kern: She lose her cool and end up taken by surprise herself as the second hunter uses the burning cloud from the explosion to his advantage. Knocking Shinae off the dragon, breaking her armor and likely a few bones! Shinae's armor is made of ceramic, like most sharen armors. It would shatter instead of bending. And Sorn, the guy in light armor, has blood affinity as well, making him a good partner to Chrys and has quite a bit of experience in battle, He wouldn't fall to Shinae that easily.

[Page 12]

Kern: Fighting two hunters with dragons comes back to bite Shinae, literally. Broken, bleeding and while she may be able to endure a lot of pain, her body is likely to be in shock, making that hold on her hostage's neck all the more precarious. So Baef and Sorn are not weak and Chrys did not miss. They're not that bad. Even when Shinae was on her ass , they wanted to keep her alive. But Shinae did not see it that way. She thought she was the best and mocked, and this costed her victory. Now falling to a dirty trick. These two cameos were chosen for that scene for these purpose not only did Nona knew Shinae, and Sorn would be likely to help Chrys after having seen the events at Felde, there was also this love in between the two to use.

[Page 13]

Kern: Threats and reasoning fails to free the hostage and Shinae prove herself more than ready to skewer her victim. So willing that she stabbed her victim through the neck when she saw an axe being raised against her. By now her proud defiance is gone and she's down to plain survival. Hostage situation is a trope that personaly bother me. "drop your weapons" and the heroes just let them go, finding themselves in worse troubles. They too often try nothing. This is why i believe Sornmal would not hesitate and try to do something, fast, hoping to take Shinae by surprise. And if Nona wasn't his lover, i think he would just have landed the blow on Shinae's head, regardless of Nona's survival. While Chrystel must be still hoping to catch Shinae's alive. With the sarghress and sharen alliance together, there would truly be nowhere Shinae can run to escape Chel.

[Page 14]

Kern: They let her go for now, knowing she'll weaken by bleeding out, leaving a clear path to follow. And ultimately she does, throwing aside her hostage to the ground, she continues on her own with the demon following her. As there is a strange light ahead that seem to guide Shinae onward. It's possible Shinae let her go out of frustration but it's also possible she cover her weakness with anger, being unable to support Nona's weight any longer.

[Page 15]

Kern: The hostage is found relatively safe, however at some point Shinae collapsed and a group of people carried her away, hiding the blood trail in the process. Her sister may have lost the trail, for now, but the demon kept following. Until it reached the tower from which the strange light come. A tower that was once seen a long time ago in the story. Alright this is Kalki's tower. And if it belong to Kalki, it also belong to a certain someone else. Shinae's body was carried with a cloth underneath her, this is what kept the blood from dripping. I'm sure a drop must have fallen at some point but not enough to give Chrys an easy lead. Shinae can be seen at the very bottom right being brought up the tower. The bloody marks on the streets are hand patterns. Shinae fell and caught herself by the hands. Sorn and Nona are an exemple of what could happen to your cameos if you chose to do a couple.

[Page 16]

Kern: The strange light attract the demon and it's fight to resist the temptation , just as the light finally disappears. Taking the chance, it fly away to escape only to hit someone. That someone is going to deliver some secrets about that tower to a sarghress agent waiting in the street. This is a cameo that was present during the felde gathering under Snadhya. She was meant as a spy, albeit a poor one. Trying to fish out informations from Snadhya's minions.

[Page 17]

Kern: The spy report to her liaison but the later seem to have an agenda of her own. To use someone who shares kinship with the enemy has it's advantages, and it's risks. So the spy, Illafay who look very much like Faen , seem to be scared of her encountered with Snadhya. Given everything that Snadhya has been doing lately, it's only natural that some things leaks out, a lot of things. The question is whether the informations will get to the right ears in time.

[Page 18]

Kern: The spy is the first one to bite it. As the light shutting down in the tower meant something was amiss and one person left out to follow their departing "guest". Her power that allows her to search the feelings of those around her fails her and in the end, she is stabbed through. In the last chapter we've set the precedent that empathy has it limits. Snadhya has her people well trained... The guy who just arrived is Emperial's cameo, he showed up in chapter 44 as custodian of her tower in Felde. You can assume he left with the wave of chelian guests.

[Page 19]

Kern: No quick death for the spy. She is gutted and left to die in the street with no one to answer her plea for help. There's only one that watches and seem to care about her fate; A demon , with no body of it's own. Sorry Gem! Might be prior to the war someone would come to help, hoping for a reward. She's obviously rich. Now, especially after the whole puppeteer event, it's far more likely she'd be set on fire than be helped by strangers.

[Page 20]

Kern: The demon means to leave the dying spy to her fate, however the strange light come up again, frightening it just enough to lose control for a moment. This moment is enough for its base nature to take the upper hand as it plunge to devour the dying person. Naal shifted from the usual friendly blob that hangs around Kiel, to the usual all consuming demon we've always shown int he past. Which is basicly a worm with a mouth. So when you a mass of demon like this in the past, it's possible they were not all mindless creatures at a certain time.

Pages 21-30


[Page 21]

Kern: The demon is inside and begin to spread as her heart beat get weaker. There, what's left of Naal contemplate true oblivion. In a moment the spy and herself will cease to exist as the spy, and her host, will inevitably die. Amidst that moment of weakness, the demon remember Naal's old strength as the girl faced her own death many times without flinching. About the demon, it's not just Naal, it's a mix of different memories. That's why more eyes came up and why other beings seem to hunger while she can contemplate deeper things. Time to text the page... oh there's no text, it's all hand drawn. That's still a strange thing to deal with. Hopefully you guys don't cringe at my hand writting.

[Page 22]

Kern: The demon take control over the body, determined to save it. She gasp back to life, just as her body was being mugged for all she was carrying. Those muggers hoping for an easy corpse to loot did not expect to become the first meal for a freshly awakened demon. I believe this is our first time portraying a viewpoint from a demon. I wish i could add more to the awakening process but this initial arc is already very long as it is. Hopefully readers will be able to fill in the missing details,if not, Naal also had an awakening as a demon in daydream with a slightly different perspective.

[Page 23]

Kern: Naal is back. Naal always was very self restrained, something that was part of her character design with the many belts binding her. It wasn't just fashion, it was to give an impression. There, the same symbolism continue with her binding her demon with the rolled up bloody cloak. If she gives in, it'll emerge and once again feed until she is but a little bit of humanoid flesh that's part of a greater demon. Unable to think clearly or do much. This time , maybe, she'll be able to keep control. That makes her one of the rare sentient demon able to interact without going straight to the most basic instincts. Is it truly her? The demon ate her, but it assimilated her in the process. So whether this is her or not depends on what is your belief on what's constitute a person. if it is the memories and personality. Then this is Naal. If it's the body, or a "soul" or even a whole , then no this isn't her, it's the demon believing it is her.

[Page 24]

Kern: Two days passed since the puppeteer events and Kiel is still there, on the turtle and in pain over her losses. Sister, home , friend, enemies, frenemeies, they're all gone. Even the turtle is just a pile of rock. And with it's people gone, the Vloz clan is truly no more. As little bound them together, all of which now lay down the ravine. After all this, Kiel worries that even her princeling will leave her. Naal did not find Kiel right away. You,ll know soon enough about how difficult it is. So for now i must sadly transition the scene away from her to the other events taking places. Why the chapter is so long should be clear by now. This chapter take place across two weeks and we're only at day 2 after so many pages.

[Page 25]

Kern: Kiel is feeling down and no amount of hair combing nor food served by a princeling will cheer her up. Unless of course said food is shoved in her mouth. Nau as the right husband material will not accept all that down talk without a fight. so the food. That's from the alliance supplies, which is imported from the west. That bread got to be stale by now but at least they do have food. If Nau wasn't there Kiel and the remaining vloz would starve by now. The ration contain half a bred loaf, couple mushroom, sticks of dried proteins(Best not think where that came from), container of hummus-like stuff and dried algae sticks.

[Page 26]

Kern: Nau foresee his future at that moment, one where he is pledge to keep her fed for the sake of the world. There's worse duties than that. Plus it involve occasional kisses, albeit from a girl who never heard of oral hygiene. Knowing her faults, he decide to throw away the force union that awaits him to stay with Kiel at the risk of enraging his mother. Technically Kiel is a summoner. These demons around should, again technically, be linked to her. They were weak flabby pile of snot when she felt down. now they come back to strenght. The outline of the 3 demon cameos visible in that swarm. Give her time and some material and maybe she'll be able to pull them back into shape. Kuso and one of the demon have their sight on something else.

[Page 27]

Kern: Kissu. Because these two needed a page dedicated to a real kiss. No little cheek peck this time. Fame is a very happy shipper, Kuso isn't so much into that whole shipping stuff or emotions for that matter. If he could click unlike he would then browse foodporn for a couple hours. Speaking of food, his hand is reaching for Nau's ration.

[Page 28]

Kern: You lose either way when a naked man steal your food. You lose your food if you give up but you also lose much more if you catch him. So Kuso's manhood confirmed to be an eldritch monstruosity If you catch yourself thinking too hard on what shape and form it may be then start looking at this cat picture. And try to forget.

[Page 29]

Kern: Baliir is back and his romance with Sara is no april fool. Kuso's use of the food ration as censorship bar might be, though no one would want to see it uncensored.

[Page 30]

Kern: Turn up this chance meeting was for a job offer. Another crazy task for Kiel's crew to return into one of Snadhya's bastion and find a legendary tower that everyone heard about but very few ever seen. This, can only turn out well.

Refresher : The last time someone visited that tower was chapter 25. Zhor and Lulianne. Lulianne didn't came out the same person. Zhor only saw the aftermath. It was enough for him to tell Sara during her visit of Snadhya's tower. Zhor wouldn't know what's inside. But he has a good idea that it's something important. Which make in turn Sara think such an information might be important. Again this is not passing through the official channels, it's unlikely the alliance leaders informed the sarghress side of the current entente. And they'd likely to want what's inside first. And Chrys, who's very close to Sara would know Kiel already went in and out just 2 days ago. Lots of people are involved in this chain and as these things goes, the person at the end of the chain usualy goes blind. Which is just what Kiel normally do.

Pages 31-40


[Page 31]

Kern: Minimal information, high odd of failure, uncertain reward. The perfect mixes of condition for Kiel to accept the task! Except she notices Nau's expression and for once in Nau's life, the decision is his. Too often he is passive and allows himself to be dragged around, for other people to decide, just sliding in what fate brings him. Yet when pushed to make the decision on his own, he choose to accept the task.

Zala beleive the tower exist because as Snadhya's sister, she may have had the chance to hear more about it's existence from her elder sister. Even if it is just a overhead comment.

[Page 32]

Kern: Kiel believe Naal to be dead, regardless of the possibility that the demon may have escaped. The mind was gone but the body had remained to her perspective, at least until the fall. Yet now a new body is looking for her, with a mind more muddled than ever, through the heavily enforced streets of Chel. The chaos of the district war and the puppeteer events are both over, freeing thousands of troops to a new purpose. The demon is probably starving by now and keeping control become all the harder. She'd be unlikely to reminder where and how to get to Kiel. Thus wandering abandoned street, hoping somehow that a memory would trigger.

[Page 33]

Kern: The troops were on their way back home where Ariel and Faen watches from the rooftop. Amazed by the numbers that can be marshaled during peacetime and by a few familiar faces. Sillice has returned, and so has Ariel's favorite aunt. Drawing Quill'yate armor feel so odd after thriving to do more realistic armor for so long. Still it make sense setting wise, Quill is wearing a relic. I'd be like someone in full armor right before world war 1. Bonus concept art

[Page 34]

Kern: day 4 begins with the interrogation of the former captain of the imperial guard. Captured and stripped of everything in the aftermath of the puppeteer event. She couldn't fall any lower, though she could lose more body parts. For this page we kept the act of cutting the ear off outside of view, to avoid grossing out people necessarily. In case people forgot who this character is without her armor, she's the one in full black ebony armor like Sara'hilana. She appeard first in the prologue then across several chapter being involved in the plots of the sharen sisters.

[Page 35]

Kern: As the interrogation continues, Zala's memories fade, to her daughter's concerns. For a moment she couldn't remember her sister that has now returned to meet with Quain. The first chance for the two of them to meet since peace began, that is if the infamous leader doesn't chew her up first. All this of course is perfectly orchestrated by the true mastermind, Suna, currently resting-- i mean plotting. Empress suna shall rise.

[Page 36]

Kern: The tale of what happened to Sillice during the battle in Felde is revealed. Left behind by a clan eager for glory who underestimate their enemies. In the end Sillice's few people were left with no way to push the assault, their allies fleeing and their leader gone, possibly dead. The sarghress doesn't seem worried at this defeat and with good reason. To them they've now ten of thousands available to wage war, restless soldiers who need a new target before they turn against the nation they've "liberated". As for what Sillice can bring to the table, literally, is the head of one of Snadhya's agent. The same one who led the Beldrobbaen exiles away from their home two chapters ago. Big page, lots of old faces. To the left is Sang and Suube. The first is linked to Kormaril, the second to Koil'dorath. On the right is Quill, aunt of Ariel, and Rosof, linked to Sarnel. So originaly chapter 46 had sillice's failed assault but the chapter's lenght is extreme as it is. cutting her out however meant to make the failure even greater : Sillice never got there. Should that chapter be made longer? Maybe. I don't know, doesn't matter now. Sillice still has chapter 50 kick butts and wreck things.

[Page 37]

Kern: A lot changed since Sillice departed. Peace with all their old enemies and allied with one of the two people she hates the most in the worlds. It's enough to for her to want some cold blooded murder going on! That head on the table doesn't seem so important anymore, especially as they already knew what was happening from other sources. Even the location of Snadhya'rune herself. That information is enough to stop Sillice on her track from leaving (and maybe from doing some of said cold blooded murders). Little background tidbit there is that Quain basicly protect a sharen there. Which rub suube the wrong way. And quillyate hint that they may all have been enemies once upon a time as proven by chapter 1's millitary campaign where Rosof was "recruited". It's quite likely at least another person from the table came in the same way. Quillyate herself might have been a rival for a while when Quain was young.

[Page 38]

Kern: Sillice is kept under a tight leash by her allies, making her very much a tool in their hands at this point. The intensity of the anger she has bottled up from this meeting can be seen through the frozen ground she leaves in her wake. And on her way out she is about to meet her baby sister, one of said two people she hates the most . This can only end in puppies and sunshine. Most importantly Zala carries Suna to this meeting. The ultimate tool of destruction.

[Page 39]

Kern: The truth come from the mouth of children some says. Well Suna is striking death blows with her words. Next she'll walk to Quain and call it like it is, you are mean. Then leave Quain crying in the wake of that hard truth. By the end of the day she'll rule supreme over all. Maybe. Enlist at your local Suna recruitement center to join her faction.

[Page 40]

Kern: Suna use the mightiest ability a baby possess: loudly crying. It's very effective to break the enemy morale. Sil is a cold harsh person but she's no baby killer, she'll bid her time and wait for a better opportunity. Her parting words are meant to shame the tainted sharens but they're likely to come back to bite soon. Chrys believe in her mother relative innocence, that she was forced to betray. It's always a question of point of view. Someone tell you of something unfair someone else did and once you speak to that person you get a slightly different story that alleviate what they did, or worse throw the blame back. It's human nature, or in this case drow nature. You just a whole lot of familial stabbing to the usual conflicts.

Pages 41-50


[Page 41]

Kern: The inevitable discovery that her son is tainted and that her daughter is missing. Right after her claim that no one bearing the red eyes will ever be recognize as family. These are not the first losses she suffers, she lost many childs and grand childs, but lately disasters have just been piling up. Sometimes, it's just feel like life is impossible, regardless how strong the person is. That door is frozen because she blew through it, Kau didn't want to open the door. I felt making a page about it is useless, the readers can infer by looking.

[Page 42]

Kern: Kau doesn't have the heart to say anything but Sarnel right outside does. His voice turns very clipped as he report the events of Felde in a few sentences, ending with Shala's death. That she died right in view of her mother, who stood there doing nothing, thinking it was already too late to make a difference ... this destroys her on the inside. She leave, forgetting her anger, but also forgetting her son. She is not one to forgive Kau says. She would not forgive him his taint, but also neither would she ever forgive herself. So pretty down turn of events. Sorry for making so many bad events happens in a row and trust me i'd much prefer to do something happier. it's just the last chapter for everything to wrap up.

[Page 43]

Kern: Kau might as well be dead to his mother, just like a certain someone else. Call her zombie, brain dead, vegetable , golem, regardless of what she is, Laele, once heir to the clan and proud daughter of Quaintana. Now, more than ever, she is the wrecked remain of her former self. There perched on the table, she shakes as if freezing, her sealing stones losing essence and breaking. It can't be good, especially when the music box stop working. The ensuing chaos is enough to alert the person on duty. Does Laele still get a musician? Sometime. Are all her guardians that laxed? Probably a lot of them. You have to consider that by now it's been at the very least 31 years since Laele is like this. Nothing truly dangerous ever happen. If something only happen rarely, it's bound to make whoever is on watch to relax. And during the rare occasions when something does happen, it's only to have a musician or a healer called to help with whatever Laele is having. Laele was one of the secondary character that was left behind but brought back through cameo sponsorship. Now that she is here, time to tug her back into the madness of this chapter.

[Page 44]

Kern: The "zombie" somehow disappear from the room, leaving hand prints on the ceiling, a broken music box smashed against the wall, dented table and pieces of the stones that keep the things sealed within her body. Meanwhile Quain scratch at her own infection and Zala forgets why she even came to meet her old enemies. Long time readers know what happen to sealing stones that are too full. Just think of Laele as one. Luckily there's no laele giblets on the walls, for now.

[Page 45]

Kern: The fifth day come. Zala fumble and forgets , yet, she has not fallen into madness like some Beldrobbaen did after a few days. Her close family hope it is mere exhaustion while finally passing on the cure to the hands of those that can help replicating it, at the cost of giving up the only thing that could save Zala. It's a difficult choice but she choose to take the risk, believing in her own will to resist. Or she is not sick. As shown two chapters ago, part of why Snadhya had the fact known that a poison is circulating around is to spread fear. It affect people decisions.

[Page 46]

Kern: She is infected and the culprit is obvious to Chrys. It's only a question of time before some form of madness descend on the alliance's leader and affect everyone who rely on it's existance. To avoid the fall, they will hold this secret until the cure is replicated and carry on the mantle of leadership.

[Page 47]

Kern: Ariel meeting some of her old squadmates. With every legions being recall, this means a lot of familiar faces are up and about. Including one mentioning a rumor that the troops are being marshaled for an attack on Felde. The making peace with Turgeis refer to two times where they had a strong disagreement in the past. Looting and slave taking during the district war then wheter to follow the airship or return to Chel during the colony assignment. And clearly Ariel is tiny and a stick. To Dietra at least.

[Page 48]

Kern: More familiar faces from past raiding duties and Ariel reveal the reason behind her sudden shift in appearance: She's off to spar with Quain. Meeting her "mother" always made her feel small and drive her desire to make a good impression. It's enough for her to want to be clad in all the most patriotic gear. Now if she were more reasoned about all this, she'd likely give herself a few more centimeter as well, except being in front of Quain always made her feel smaller. Sometime her changes are unconsciously done. And yes there's a lot more cameos in the next few pages . There's a point to this.

[Page 49]

Kern: More old friends from the raiding days, ones who witnessed the events of the previous chapters and how it affected their view of their own people. They were once defectors and now consider returning home, even if one of them is tainted. Ariel's silly side showing a bit there, with the whole woof part. She would never do that in front of any family members but she'd do it in front of an acquaintance and a soldier she doesn't know. That should tell you something.

[Page 50]

Kern: So many old faces, yet she remembers all their names. in one way or another, the little wolf fought alongside a lot of people during the last few months. Part of the point of these scene is that; a lot happened, a lot of people were met, they now know each other. She mess up the chain of command and she recklessly volunteers for all sort of shit but she's involved and grew enough of reputation among her peers that she is far gone from the locked up little girl she started as. She's invested in her clan, she's "patriotic" and she isn't shy about being in display anymore. Though as will be shown in the next pages, there,s still some issues she has to face within her own clan. Some embarassing, some deadly.

Pages 51-60


[Page 51]

Kern: While Faen is busy wrangling the three childs of the apocalypse, Ariel came to find what everyone is here to watch ; an ongoing fight. considering people asked "Where is Faen, why does Ariel look that way" maybe showing Ariel departing the babysitting scene would have been better. Ah well, too late now.

[Page 52]

Kern: Her aunt Quill sparing against her grand mother Quain. Two of her idols fighting, the first whom she last saw fight when she was very young. Watching alongside Ariel is a familiar figure. Last Quill fought before Ariel was chapter 2 when she left the central tower for the first time.

[Page 53]

Kern: Just as the fight is about to resume, someone come to stand in front of Ariel. Someone seeking to fight her and ready to taunt her into doing so. Ariel would have declined but she is touchy about her idol's name being slandered. Something very risky for her challenger to do as the whole place is filled with sarghress that shares her view, and Quain herself is right behind. So, yes, there's people who are not happy with Quain and can be more outspoken about it. Now people being outspoken against Ariel that's nothing new. If there was a intercom to announce things to the whole fortress, Suube would be on it to say how much ariel sucks. After all, quain took away the heirship from Koil(Suube's daughter) to give it to Ariel. Which, if you pay attention, this new rival look very much like Koil. A little sister? Or cousin maybe. Also, Jak should just have punched instead of grabbing. THEN make the threat, Jak jak, your lover's presence is having a cooling effect.

[Page 54]

Kern: Her challenger had a motive in mind as she bring the little wolf to fight before the one person who could have a genuine hatred for her. Koil, the one meant to lead the clan someday, that is until Ariel was born. Between this an the taunt, Ariel hesitated too long, giving her rival the chance to try to attack her. One thing that's important to note , this is supposed to be a training exercise. One, you don't try to stab your challenger in the face. Especially when there's no helmets involved, two, dick move to start without warning. Now wheter she want to injure , kill, or plain shame Ariel before Koil is up to your interpretation.

[Page 55]

Kern: The moment she realize she was goaded into the fight with cheap insults. Koil has all the reason to hates Ariel but so far has never acted on anything. She does not approve of Riviel first attempt to strike at the head but neither does she approve of Ariel's familial pride getting the better of her.

[Page 56]

Kern: A battle of ideology and arms. The rival's grudge, which she no doubt share with many other of her line. That Quain lead a cause against the vals, yet made herself one, then made her childs nobles as well. There was those young childs lately who just joined this new exclusive group and there's the whole peace with Zala that would add to the irritation, perhaps unconciously to some.

[Page 57]

Kern: One down but one which she won't get the name for. Too much innocence from Ariel, this girl couldn't handle it.

[Page 58]

Kern: Warm up is over, now the real challenge start. Ariel may have had a friendly practice bout with Quain before. But these are rare, once a year or two year kind of rare. And never in public. Though she still show some shyness, she's certainly has made headways on the matter since her childhood when it come to quain. That is, until Quain get angry, then she'll shrink back to a kid in an instant. Also, Taldrin at last. Tsukiko waited for her character role for the longest time as this was originaly a chapter 47 cameo...

[Page 59]

Kern: Try to keep Quaintana happy for everyone sake says her aunt, that's just upped the challenge to a greater level! Taldrin is acting as Quain's attendant, or "butler" as is Tsukiko's cameo destiny. That is one more way where the person's cameo alleigance is taken in consideration. Because of this tiny Taldrin is one of the many with a low rank dwelling behind the scene whom Ariel never met yet harbor some positive feelings about her. He seeked what meagers ways he could help with that day's challenge. If Ariel hadn't lost all her helmets (and possibly subconciously doesn,t like them , with the whole hair being alive thing) he'd probably have brought her one from her room. the lance is the same as Vaelia. Is it the same one? Probably not. But it's an older model and shorter, implying it's one Ariel used when she was younger. And the answer regarding quain's affliction is given. She doesn't trust the healers offered her and she had worse before. She'll just punch her cheek to submittion. so far it's working, kinda.

[Page 60]

Kern: Trying to touch her infamous grandmother is easier said than done. First two swings end badly, but opens a new challenge , one she doesn't dare to decline. Quain is just feeding Ariel's addiction to getting herself in troubles. You can trace Ariel's problems all the way back to Quain's expectation. And that one with getting involved with politics is bound to come with some problems.

Pages 61-70


[Page 61]

Kern: She's getting an education from her badass grandma. It was one thing to fight someone her own age and level of experience, it's another to fight Quain. Part of the reason why there was that rival fight is to show a contrast in skill level, it's not just ariel being terrible, most people fighting Quain would get their ass kicked. Most would give up against being thrown though, ariel just keep trying because of Quain's expectation. She's going to get wounded even if that punch is probably just a slap to quain's perspective. She's not punching to kill after all.

[Page 62]

Kern: Yet she ask for more. Throwing aside her weapon to invite a fist fight! Considering Quain legends says she can punch a hole through worlds, that's some remodeling to Ariel's face incoming. Part of the why(again) for the previous spar, is to show a contrast between her rival giving up at the first strike, and herself just keep getting back up regardless of the injury. Yes the page is smaller than usual. That one was finished during a break day so an easier page was quite welcome and editors cut out two panels for cameos reactions to the battle.

[Page 63]

Kern: At that moment when they face each other, daughter and grandmother are very alike. Right before the daughter has a lesson beaten into her. So Ariel is doing better there, but still doesn't manage to land a blow. Quain sees the blow coming and grapples , turning them against Ariel. Though landing a blow isn't as important as it may seem, as Quain says, sometime just lasting long enough to turn a situation around is enough to win.

[Page 64]

Kern: Bruised, bleeding and with a loose tooth, Ariel have had all the lessons she can receive. But she promise to be back someday, stronger, which pleases her grandmother and bring back memories of another daughter who fell a long time ago. "Sure" , well, there was many other dialogues possible for this . In the end, Quain is a woman of few words. That wraps up that story arc, we'll finally be moving away from the sarghress training ground. And yes this is the first late page of the chapter. :[

[Page 65]

Kern: You know the clan is sliding to be the next bad guys when they can be compared to corrupt TSA agents. Next they'll ask people to remove their shoes and no one in chel will be able to carry liquid! 8( Day 6 begins with Naal still wandering the streets, her memory hazy and her belly filled with the few edible trashes she can find. With all the checkpoints in the city she is forced to find alternative routes to make her way about, and one such path leads to find sarghress recruits robbing someone that was attempting to pass the checkpoint. It's difficult for Naal as a demon, but her point of view at the moment also serve to show the commoner perspective on the ongoing situation. Said person being robbed is a Jaal'darya. You can assume such events are happening elsewhere too. Looting after victory is one thing that was touched in chapter 40 , but after victory, there's other ways a victorious army can become occupiers.

[Page 66]

Kern: She's being hunted down and in the end , they were too many for her to avoid. Hack her down one said, promising that her body will be torn to pieces, yet kept alive until someone come to seal her away forever. these 3 sarghress are recent recruits. Think of them as opportunist thug who just joined the sarghress, they don't live by any clan ideals. One of them would have given up the chase if there wasn't peer pressure to keep going from the simple fear of demon and what they can do. Speaking of which, Naal is unlikely to be the first sentient demon to be hunted and sealed of. With the fear of demons as it is, its kill first , never ask questions.

[Page 67]

Kern: In pain and unbound, the demon lose control for a moment. Granting her the second she needed to start running once more. Naal does her best cosplay of a japanese horror movie. The lower body part taking control is meant to represent the big demon that used to be her lower body. If she were to give in and keep feeding it, she'd likely lose the upper hand over her most base nature.

[Page 68]

Kern: Naal run for her life, bleeding and shot in the back only to stumble against the warriors of her former family. This would be a life saving reunion... had she not been an unrecognizable demon. There's a secret in this page. Good luck finding it, Kite hadn't seen it while coloring it!

[Page 69]

Kern: She sneak into the procession, leaving her former kin to scare off her pursuers. But one person sees her face and sees her eyes, her mother, within the carriage at the center of the procession. Beldrobbaen/sarghress relation is very low. Plus that cameo is protective of young people. So she'd take the side of a random commoner over group of sarghress "thugs" regardless of circounstance. Though if she had seen naal's face or belly it might have been a different reaction. the cameo spreadsheet was updated.

[Page 70]

Kern: By the time she look out of the carriage, Naal is gone. She turns her back to what she saw, believing it is only her memory fooling her into thinking the thing outside was her dead daughter. Life is tough for the demon, left in the gutter to hide from her hunters. Naal hadn't hit bottom yet. As for "Yes let's have them meet". But then waes would've seen the red eyes and naal's body would be killed. Then the kyorls come and seal her away. That would be worse... There's a certain satisfaction in dealing with Waes as a character. First, her character design is really easy. She's faster, easier to draw. Plus because of her rank and power , there's a lot of things that can be done, such as throwing the sarghress in the air without even looking at them, just because she is annoyed. last, she doesn't speak much.

Pages 71-80


[Page 71]

Kern: From the daughter to the mother, as she is on her way to the gathering of the clans. While discussing with her handmaiden the rumors circulating about what will happen next. It is B's cameo, and B push strongly for years the Kel x Waes ship. This last panel refer to that.

[Page 72]

Kern: The clans converge for a gathering as Waes makes her prediction on the outcome. For the Nalsarkoth duo, one wanted to be really tall, the other wanted to be really small. next to each other they make quite the contrast. As for the kyorl, Anahid sent one of her seer instead of herself. Chiri or Kousei probably advised her that it's not safe to go outside... for everyone sake. Anahid might just turn the gathering into a PJ party. Then no one will be able to take anything seriously anymore.

[Page 73]

Kern: The council of the clans is on, albeit a diminished one compared to fifteen years ago. One clan sent two representive, another sent a puppet, another a seer to represent them and two(jieyen, and Balvhakara) are stand in to listen and support Zala. In short, out of the legendary figures that once ruled chel, only Waes came to break the decision between who shall rule. Plus its all happening in a small sarghress room. And of course, regardless of that, the topic went to Snadhya'rune right away. You can assume it had been going on for 5 minutes before Quain slammed her fist. THe jaal'darya puppet is a younger version of Asira, one she probably made herself. The design is based on the origin of Jaal,darya story from daydream. Asira herself feard a red wedding scenario where quain would murder everyone in the room. A logical move, and one Quain might end up wishing she had done before this council is over.

[Page 74]

Kern: Everyone in the council have their say and stand on their position or the position they were given by their clan. If there is a censensus, it's that they're not going to agree on anything, as usual. Meanwhile one among the group just listen. The two Nalsarkoth chose different allegiance, which also represent the clan's stance or lack thereof. As for the young asira golem, she really doesn't fear being strangled to death by Quain and if this was not a public council, Quain hand would've went for some of that sweet throath crushing that soothe the nerves.

[Page 75]

Kern: Zala's vision blurs and it become harder for her to focus , let alone contain her shaking limbs. Before her illness grows any worse, she launch into her prepared proposal, one to radically change how their society is governed. When it comes down to it, Zala had no choice but to offer something like this. She doesn't have the upper hand, and Quain does not want to rule. So a joint effort, where she can still carve for herself and her clan some means to continue on while maintaining the alliance. Something Baliir would proud of, as Sara is saying. Quain on her side get to keep being the millitary leader she is comfortable being. however there's bound to be a lot of pissed off sarghress who did not sign up to be working for other clans. You can offer change, though that doesn't change the nature of all those people raised in a clans driven society.

[Page 76]

Kern: An offer for each of the clan to appease them. Reasonable, targetted offers, that could have worked. Could, except at the end the words fails her; unable to find what she was about to say next. Worse, something seem to terrify her. Again, Zala realized there was no way for her to be empress and chose to be the mediator role, hoping to somehow find a way to rule as council leader eventually. But hey, the chapter is far from over, i'm sure most people guessed it could not be so easy.

[Page 77]

Kern: She cracks, as familiar faces lose meaning and what little she remembers frightens her. In the end, her daughter has to pull her out of the conference room. Or Zala is having a really bad migraine?

[Page 78]

Kern: The would be empress did not only forget the faces of her ally but also family members, including Chrys,her own daughter and safeguard in case something went wrong with her. Now, will Quain be able to hold the alliance together? Silly question, she'll punch the each alliance members personaly, put a teeny green one to recycling and salt the earth. But hey, that's Quain.

[Page 79]

Kern: The envoys do best to keep in touch with the departing councils and ease the situation while Chrys is left to plan a mission to save her mother from the settling insanity. There's 3 "paths" in this chapter with all of them needing to complete at the end around the same time. Getting all the characters with their own challenges pointed the right direction takes time.

[Page 80]

Kern: Diva, meet Diva's own corpse. The mummified body was left in storage along with the loots from the empress' tower. When Diva is told not to touch something, she touch the thing.

Pages 81-90


[Page 81]

Kern: As the storage's guard is alerted by Diva messing with her own corpse, she decide to try something new for once ; to try to convince someone of her true identity. It doesn't end so well. So that's two people she tried with so far. One was Ariel, second is Tebryn. Neither believed her, with Ariel making fun of Diva for years. If she were to try with Sillice , she risk the chance of being impaled for the bad joke.

[Page 82]

Kern: The hunt for Snadhya begins as the army encircle her tower. Reminder that this is the same tower Mel fled to many chapters ago. Kalki's house. And where Shinae was taken with the spy being murdered for having tried to warn the sarghress about it. Though it's been a couple days since that report was given. With this page, we're finally mid-chapter.

[Page 83]

Kern: The legion break into the tower in hope to secure the enemy leader and end her conspiring behind the scene. however no one seem to be home, except for a whole lot of demonic entities that were lured to the tower by that strange light. Preemptively clearing possible confusion: no it's not a 6 soldiers team being sent to capture snadhya. i just made 6 of the cameos be the front line. there's a lot more coming right behind them.

[Page 84]

Kern: Creepy tower, check, abandonned , check, has dark evil spirits beneath the floor, check, footprints on the second floor, check. Either they left with a surprise for the next occupant or it's a trap. Either way it'll bite, and they know it by now. It's all about finding what's await them and disarming it.

[Page 85]

Kern: Something was or is chained up there in the tower, something big, something that made left a lot of residue on the ground all around. The "odd feeling" is related to the light suddenly disapearing in panel 2, in case some missed it.

[Page 86]

Kern: Should've stayed quiet. Now the beast is awakened and someone broke its chains before locking themselves upstair.. The pattern of the beast face should be recognizable.

[Page 87]

Kern: The demon's chains broken, it is unleashed upon them. In a mere moment it broke through to the staircase, down to the main hall and out of the tower. Pushing , raming, crushing, swallowing, everything in it's path. And those who fled found themselves on a narrow path with a long drop awaiting them. The commanders below can only watch as a rain of fallen soldiers begins. Except for a very rare characters, i go by the rule that if someone has done something, someone else can. Kiel grew Naal's demon into the monster she became over the year, by accident. This mean someone who knows what's she doing can grow the same monster at a much faster pace. This glutton demon look like naal and could've been her, if the little speck that she reduced to had followed the light to it's horrific end. All the demons under the floor were not traps, they were food, for this big thing.

[Page 88]

Kern: Canon fires, survivors on the path up ready to counter attack and a familiar face return. Shinae came to talk about her issues in a reasonable manner, no doubt.

[Page 89]

Kern: Shinae's attack gave just enough of a distraction for a new threat to fall on the besieging army. Empaths lines, easy guess where those are coming from. And it's unlikely to be the last threat this army face. The fate of the cameos in the tower is up to their owners for now. I personaly assume everyone in the stairs up were safe. The two that stood right in front of the demon have questionable fates..

[Page 90]

Kern: Under the trio's power, she cannot remain on her feet. The world shift around, until floor become wall, and wall an abyss in which to fall. Empaths mess with with several senses there. One is messing with the person balance, making them feel like what they stand on is the wrong direction. It's be very hard for any of the sarghress to stand on their own feet afterward. The sensation of freefall is just the icing on top. Disabling an entire army, or almost everyone as there's bound to be a few who resist. Chapter 46 Snadhya was attacked when she did not expect it, this is when she expect it.

Pages 91-100


[Page 91]

Kern: Now that most of the army is on the floor, paralyzed in some hallucination , the trap is set and the purge begins. This page feel like there's a panel missing. Should've set a overview panel where the golem and the demons are seen entering the street. It's just the page was so complicated as it is that i didn't think i could handle it within a day. Though, that doesn't mean it wasn't a necessary thing to add... Sarghress army had empaths on their side which mean there's a few who can resist, they're just too few to turn the situation around. It's sang's hope that their energy is better put following the "strings" back to their source and disrupt them, freeing the whole army instead of focusing on getting each individual on their feet one by one. The enemy empaths can't be far, they could be watching from a window at crossbow distance. ... the trio empath of snadhya should serve their service to give people tripping hallucination. They'd have success replacing traditional drugs.

[Page 92]

Kern: Shinae hunt the few who resist as the battle begins. Sillice is not forgotten, you'll see soon enough what she's been doing. And Sang legs and arms are not original, here's the old concept art.

[Page 93]

Kern: Kadara leaping into a swarm of demons to the left, Sang holding on for her life on top of a giant golem to the right. Both unable to trust their senses any longer and hoping to hold on just long enough. These pages are quite a challenge for us to produce. Can we switch to drawing potatoes for a week, please?

[Page 94]

Kern: Her innards torn by a demon she has just enough force to headbutt the summoner in the face and take out the portal before exhaustion takes her down. Sillice isn't going to be happy. Not that she would have done any differently.

[Page 95]

Kern: Kadara losses consciousness, but not before one last kick to the face of the one responsible for her predicament. The group at the bottom are the empaths and the few who stood up with them, searching for the source of those empathic lines.

[Page 96]

Kern: The hunters become preys as they fall to attack from the front and behind. The empaths of Snadhya weren't left undefended just in case of something like this. By now there's very few people left to fight the purge threatening to kill hundreds of sarghress soldiers. Except that Nishi and Sillice are not yet in the scene...

[Page 97]

Kern: As the mayhem continues outside, Nishi sneaked within the building, making her way to the empaths that are the source of all the problems. Finally switching to Nishi and her silent killing of Snad's minions. There will be more page this week as we're late. Expect it saturday morning.

[Page 98]

Kern: Nishi get trapped into a world without that defy reason. Blind, deaf and even her sense of touch is gone in this dark void where her tormentor can play any trick to her. those empaths allow us to be creative with the battle scenes. And thankfully we caught up on the fifth update this week. Next to come on monday's midnight as usual.

[Page 99]

Kern: As she fall to her lowest, unable to fight back, a prisoner of her body, her sister come into the scene. The stabbing that ensue gives her the chance to turn the table around on her tormentor. I'll just let everyone enjoy the beating of the trio. After all the bad stuff that happened so far...

[Page 100]

Kern: They're not so strong when taken unaware by someone who handle pain. All of the three empaths sisters fall, but one is held by an unexpected guest to this battle. Mel wasn't hiding anywhere, she just came into scene and this is the first thing she did. Thrair is doing the cast notes at the bottom of the pages so as long as you appease him with cake, it will be there.

Pages 101-110


[Page 101]

Kern: Sillice against Mel. Both powerful, both with a whole lots of anger issues, but only one is trained to kill. Sillice find a weakness in Mel's abillity, however yet another is about to join the battle. "Why do people keep showing up" : Nishi was sneaking in , relatively silentely. Things stopped being silent, and the empaths lines going out have been disrupted. Give this enough time and all of snadhya's minions will show up in that room to figure out what happened. "Who is the last panel": that's Shodun, she showed up many time in the past but her one big glorious time was toppling the illhardro leadership in chapter 33. She screams a lot. And when she do things break. Mel could have been a slime monster girl for daydream, the potential is infinite daydreamers! :P

[Page 102]

Kern: Shodun scream, someone is thrown out from a high building along with the entire wall that stood in the way. A scene of deja vu, but with a new victim. here's the last time this happened http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=7995

[Page 103]

Kern: The vortex does not just throw her out, it throws her to collapse in the next building! We thought of many ways that Sillice could get out of this situation. Use ice spikes to climb down. Slide, land on the opposite building and hang there, etc... In the end bringing it to a new level of extreme felt more right.An unintended consequence of Shodun power when used in a dense city. That Sillice fall on a bed after all, with rocks almost crushing her head felt right after all this. Go back to sleep sillice, its not your day.

[Page 104]

Kern: Outside the freed troops cheers their victory but for Sillice, bruised and battered, her reward is to find the body of her daughter laying in the street. Shala's death and rejecting Kau only make Kadara all the more precious to her. 30 years ago, she wouldn,t have wept if she died. Sillice is made of a very hard steel that's growing brittle...

[Page 105]

Kern: An unusual sight: Sillice scared of something. But with Nishikanta returning unharmed she's bound to grow angry once more. The inaction sillice refer to is that her sister surrendered at the beginning of the story. Then did nothing for years. Somehow that she can walk away from several enemies while Sillice take a pounding brings up the topic in a painful way.

[Page 106]

Kern: Sisters confront each other about past action, or lack thereof. While Chrys arrives to witness the result of the expedition to capture Snadhya. Corpses of demons and people litter the street and the tower. Of Snadhya herself , not a trace.

[Page 107]

Kern: The aftermath of the battle, with all of the enemies having disapeard, except one. The one who locked himself up in the tower after unleashing the demon.

[Page 108]

Kern: Tortured and questioned, he laught and laught. They ask such silly question. "Where's the cure?" "Where's Snadhya?" They'll be so disapointed. That or that strawberry jam that Sillice is spreading on his cheek is his kink.

[Page 109]

Kern: Shadows of the past speaks to her and the things she ought knows fade from her memory. Important things, such as the existence of her own infant child. Meanwhile, something watches her past the window slit.

[Page 110]

Kern: The thing outside slip through a narrow space that no person could cross. The face that loom over her is the one of her lost love. Or his shadow. From baby sister, to would be empress that could unite all, back down to a scared girl hiding under blankets.

Pages 111-120


[Page 111]

Kern: A moment he is there, the next, he is breathing on the back of her neck. Real or not, either way she is in for a bad time. I mean, do you see his bad smoker breath? Really Sabbror must've smoked a whole pack. Smells terrible!

[Page 112]

Kern: While Zala's madness concerns her guardians, Quain also worries her own, but for an entirely different reason. The name of her daughter had been mentioned, alongside keywords such as "working for the enemy" and "trying to wreck your shits". Its bound to give everyone around a bad day. All the cameos have now appeard. That of course doesn't mean the cameo uses stop there. We're not at the last "day" yet, and there's still battles to come.

[Page 113]

Kern: The commander of the raider is leaving the city, one less voice of reason in the growing turmoil. Quill has the habit of leaving for a very long time, as implied by the possibility that Ariel could have had a baby in between her last visit and now. soon we'll get to the big day, i can finally see it coming in the script @_@ there's is an end to this chapter i swear.

[Page 114]

Kern: The baby tactic worked before, might as well use it again. Mighty warriors are so easily vanquished by mundane baby necessities. Again in this scene, the cameo's alleigances is used to determine the person reaction.

[Page 115]

Kern: The other guardian bow out of the way for Ariel to enter and find the officer's mess turned into a literal mess under Quain's wrath. Knowing her grandmother will be in a foul mood, she still come to check on her. Kite says that the existance of guns are confirmed. Quains has them.

[Page 116]

Kern: A bit in the mouth, the rest in the face. It's never a good sign when most of the alcohol is meant to be splashed in one's face. Chapter 12 remake cover is also up in the archive

[Page 117]

Kern: Finally she turn around revealing her sickening face. The infection has spread, threatening to take the left side of her face along with an eye. Cue the jokes. That's quain without makeup. That's a prettier version of Quain. Quain hasn't changed a bit. and so on...

[Page 118]

Kern: If Quain is having a rotten day , Naal is swimming in it, or drowning more likely. it's tough to be a demon. Fitting the last update of the week is where we transition back to Naal. This sewer canal is the one from chapter 41 that leave the beldrobbaen's district. And yes Quain would cut her own face off if she get mad enough. If she does get that mad though, Zala may end up with a knife up her own face, peace or not. Which may throw a giant wrench into the whole peace and happy ending for all. If Zala doesn't go insane first.

[Page 119]

Kern: Down in the sewer, she follow the same path Kiel and her crew took to get away not so long ago. She finally found her way , or a way. Though with that wall in the way it won't be quick. With this, day 8 ends, and day 9 begins tomorrow. Originaly we were switching view point again but lets stick with naal and wrap up her path first. And if the Kyorl can track her, she can track down a familiar aura as well.

[Page 120]

Kern: She survived for 9 days but right as the goal is in sight, she collapse in exhaustion. Too hungry, too exhausted, too many wounds. As she lay on the ground, she get a visitor.

Pages 121-130


[Page 121]

Kern: Kiel's demon were enough to get her back on her feet and leading her to the gate. There she see her destination right before her, just a couple step away. Yet, standing there she is stabbed through the back. Naal and her demon have got to have the most pitiful existance so far, she saw the downside of everything so far. Life as a tainted val, imprisoned in the basement for years, getting killed, homeless in the street, hunted as a demon by everything.

[Page 122]

Kern: She dies, again. Yet, this time her consciousness remain as everything else fade to nothing. She feel herself descend into the infinite dark where something big awaits her. Always more fun to do pages like this, breaking out of the usual page layout and characters.

[Page 123]

Kern: About to be sealed away forever, at the lowest point of her existence, she is saved and brought to Kiel's side by a horde of fellow demons. Kiel is having her first couple's "fight".

[Page 124]

Kern: For the first time since the death's of her body, someone can hear Naal. After all she went through, it's like a light shining through the deep darkness she is in. Kite says it's explain why Kiel has so many demons around nowadays.

[Page 125]

Kern: Naal need a new body and it just so happen she has an idea on how to meet that goal while fulfilling her next mission. Imagine Naal in Kuso's body. It's very wrong.

[Page 126]

Kern: Kiel plan to raid the school just when Sillice plan to attack it, with mass slaughter in her vengeful mind. What could go wrong? The page is also about division of views between those two. They've always been divided, but this time they've splitted again. No worries, Nishi is still going to do something by the end of the chapter.

[Page 127]

Kern: Nishi is unusually angry and understandably so. But under that anger there is a deep guilt, a guilt that lead to volunteer to help infiltrating Snadhya's hideout. Originaly Nishi had lot of zigzaggy lines going off her heads but we thought people could mistake them for empath lines. Instead Kite went with some kind of speedline blur of the panels.

[Page 128]

Kern: While Chrys make her final preparation before departing, someone else arrive in the same courtyard. The lone healer from the Sullissin clan who somehow got misled away from her escort to a secluded room by someone who ought be dead. Chapter 46, erelice was last seen with Khaless looming over her broken body. In the current chapter, she was seen talking with Ariel and watching the training fight. The whole dome thing won't get a story arc of it's own after all but at least we can make mention of it. Chapter 36 there was slumtown being built around the dome, it was just a question of time before they broke in.

[Page 129]

Kern: The healer gets a full body hug -- also known as being eaten whole. Khaless drop her face to consume her, adding yet another face and set of memories to her collection. The healer doesn't struggle much as she isn't a fighter.

[Page 130]

Kern: Never a good sign when the person that was devoured by a demonic abomination then walk out just fine and unscathed. Plus hey, her hair does itself, how practical. Everyone with bad hair should get nommed on by demons. Laele on the rooftop really want that feature , no one combs her hair. Totaly not hunting down Khaless for some snuggling.

Pages 131-140


[Page 131]

Kern: Zala's condition worsen, the former leader whose hope was to unite the clans is now but a weak demented woman huddling under a blanket. Seeing her state, Chrys is now determined to go on with her suicidal mission. As for the last two panels, Nishi is the golem engineer and yet we've never had use any of her machines in the main comci. For that battle to come, i think it's time to have her pulled out one of her old project. With the "peace" between the clans she can have access to it and the chance to bring it out.

[Page 132]

Kern: The Sharen alliance leader aside, the sarghress leadership is not doing much better. Quain is still in terrible pain and where she'd normally tolerate her commander being openly criticizing her, today, she won't take that crap anymore. If readers can speculate on Quain's death, people around Quain can speculate on what happen she dies. She's not about to kick the bucket , still, it's bound to make some people on edge. Especially Quain herself. That's the last arc before day 10, and good thing because i was tired of drawing these kind of scenes. Time for some action , for things to happen o_o. Like a certain demon ball going on adventures.

[Page 133]

Kern: She snapped, beating up her own officer in public. Likely she wanted to do this for a long time, the pain pushing her over the edge. Make your bet, does Suube survive this.

[Page 134]

Kern: Quain was convinced to stop but by then they need someone to check if her victim is still breathing. Now, Suube is a butt , but it's Koil's mom. You don't watch while Quain give love taps to your mom.

[Page 135]

Kern: The pet demon now has two of the clan's leadership under her care. Khaless will begin with gentle face petting, then she'll give hugs all around. They'll both feel so much better, so much so that Quain might just SMILE. 8[

[Page 136]

Kern: Day 10 begins with Kiel's group on their recon mission. By now the school out to be a familiar place but it's days of glory are long gone with an ongoing massacre of the few who still took shelter there. That person was being eaten alive by Naal a couple chapters ago, now she's getting back apucumpture with a sword. Next chapter the school will likely fall on her head if that pattern continues. What i'm trying to say is that she's perfect to ship with Kuso. Day 10 is the last day.

[Page 137]

Kern: Naal come to a realization about Kiel's friends and together they block the pursuit. naal is poking the fourth wall and the fourth wall carries her away. So in a way, Kadara was fourth walled.

[Page 138]

Kern: Naal and the demons are chased through the school until they arrive in a room full of corpses. A pile of bodies, the very thing a demon like Naal would need to become a giant monster once more, perhaps bigger, given the massacre curently going on.

[Page 139]

Kern: Underneath the pile of bodies, Naal is flooded with memories from her childhood, where she was stuck underneath the bodies of her siblings being eaten away. Once she emerge from the dark, it is to find a survivor in the pile of bodies. So, Naal remember being almost eaten when she was young. But then, Naal isn't there anymore, it's technically the demon remember itself being almost eaten. A demon who think it was its own victim. Or because the demon now believe it is Naal, does that mean Naal consumed it, bringing the whole process the other way around. Depends on what you think make someone, someone. The definition of identity based on memories, or the body. Kiel had to think about that one and is likely still brooding about the topic.

[Page 140]

Kern: Naal watches the dying girl and her hunger grows. The body pile turning into the glutton demon is purely for the visual.

Pages 141-150


[Page 141]

Kern: Naal break free from her base instincts, refusing to devour the person for her body. She may fade away to nothing, but it's better than a miserable existence. She was a big demon once, all instinct and not much else. Then she had that body where she managed to keep some sentience but got hunted down everywhere for what she was. Neither was a good fate.

[Page 142]

Kern: They break into the headmistress office to find; nothing. While the crew set itself to search for clues, Kiel is led by the demons to the ninth tower's elevator. Those demons are a cheat mode. If you want a flashback on that place, check chapter 25, that's the last time someone went up there.

[Page 143]

Kern: Naal sees the elevator switch and couldn't resist touching it. Getting them , and a last minute princeling, on a one way up trip. Kiel probably pick up Nau a lot of times.

[Page 144]

Kern: The group is spitted in half as they've no control over the elevator. Meanwhile in a nearby bridge, Sillice is facing her sole surviving brother who had stayed out of the conflict so far. She's not the forgiving type. Her brother probably doesn't have the blade through his neck(yet) because he hasn't made any sudden movement(Yet).

[Page 145]

Kern: Kiel and Nau find themselves in the infamous ninth tower, with hosts already waiting for them and a very murderous person now knowing where they went. We hinted it on the cover, with Kiel on Shasana's side with the glowing red ball in her hands. And on the right side Chrys'tel faces another well known antagonist.

[Page 146]

Kern: A voice tell them to leave, yet they send the elevator back down with no passengers, taking down the guardians in their way. Kiel got curious and there's no going back without answers. That the elevator was sent back down will never come to bite them later on, nope. Also, cuddly Nau.

[Page 147]

Kern: Kiel enjoys her princeling before summoning helpers to aid in searching of the tower.

[Page 148]

Kern: The outer ring of the tower worries Nau, first a giant gate then a room with caged demons. The last time they had to deal with this something similar it led to an end of the world scenario. Nau is also uncomfortable that all this is linked to his family. Snadhya is his aunt, and by now everything is blamed on her. He start to be suspicious that's imposible for her to everywhere. And i think nearly everyone remembers the one waiting above is not Snadhya.

[Page 149]

Kern: Kiel's demons are pulled away one by one , all the way to the one inhabitant of the tower, right by the side of the one she needs to protect. Shasana, green haired lady from the prologue then chapter 25. One of the major character that been dormant for too long. Well not this time, there's no walking out until this plot thread advance.

[Page 150]

Kern: All the demons sealed into a balls, she turned to greet her visitors. Only 3 panels, if only every pages were like this :) but then, the story would never get completed at a rate of 3 panels 8( We make her extra ruffly for her close up though.

Pages 151-160


[Page 151]

Kern: The situation deteriorate very fast as Shasana, former headmistress of the school, chastise Kiel for associating herself with demons, something that once upon a time, destroyed the world she knew. Caught in the middle is Naal, who question her own existence. The whole debate of wheter Naal is truly herself is slipping in there. Shasana would say its just a demon that ate a beldrobbaen girl. Kiel would say its her dead friend.

[Page 152]

Kern: Believe in yourself, little eyeball tomato. Kiel gives her perspective, and her perspective tends to come with a fist to the face... Part of the livestream discussion was about Shasana. its best to thin of her as the grand-grandma. So old, out of touch, yet knows shit. Knows better than the little kid before her. She is stuck up, she is harsh but then,kIel is all emotion with very little reasoning involved...

[Page 153]

Kern: The creator of the taint may look weak but she is in her element , and has fought to survive for a very long time. Kiel cannot touch her and Nau hesitate to act while she begin to seal all the demons that watch the scene unfold. So, if the demons are the fourth wall, and shasana can deal with them, that mean sealing away the viewpoint. Our way to show this is to have the shasana remove the archive all around. if i had the ressources, i'd have her suck away most of the front page too XD. Considering this page is on a late tuesday, its probably a good idea to restrict the effect to the archive alone.

[Page 154]

Kern: Nau punch her in the guts, breaking the seal, and freeing the demons. But he hesitate to take the last step ; to kill her. Shasana on the other hand might not hesitate much. And yes Nau did try to kill someone when he was very young and a bully. He changed with the years. That shouldn't need be said after all that happened, though i did get a comment about that. Just consider that Nau had a lot of time at the bottom of the ladder where he reflected about his own mortality with the whole doom to die because of his taint thing.

[Page 155]

Kern: Damn these pages take a while to produce but Kite is proud of the result. Shasana get angry, unleashing her power on the duo, hunting them down the tower. With the demons saving their asses by taking the blows. Kiel demons are friendly, it'd be terrible to have a character whose demons would seek to kill everyone around, if it were the case, Kiel would be known as a powerful character. Instead, her new adventure once again lead her to run away from the hornet nest she just kicked.

[Page 156]

Kern: She give chase, yet everything she tries on Kiel fails to get a hold because of the demons disruptions. Just when Kiel thinks herself invincible and step forward to attack, their opponent turn her attention to Nau; who has his back to a great fall.

[Page 157]

Kern: Kiel grab her princeling as he is thrown over the edge. There he dangle, once again, above a drop that would kill him. Unfortunately for him he isn't getting used to the experience. The distraction does allow Kiel to pull out a promise from him. Nau fell to the true trap there. And Shasana is more curious about whats going on than threatened. Else she'd just kick that butt and see the both of them fall.

[Page 158]

Kern: Shasana seeks the secret hidden within Kiel, and she find one, of a sort. As Naal emerge out to grab her.

There were multiple possibilities for what naal would become. First of all, she was meant to be unlocked from her basement prison only in this chapter, originaly that is. But when it became clear chapter 50 would take a long time to get to, she was pulled out for a little chapter 47 adventure. After that, she was supposed to give in to the pile of bodies, reforming her giant ball of flesh, but this would mean she gives in, even if she were to be given a noble cause for giving in. Third it was proposed that the dying girl be her body. Fourth it was to be one of the summon teacher. Fifth was even Sharess body up there in the tower. In the end though, all these possibilities were discarded for the one where she bond with Kiel and truly be one of those demons that lives with her. As to her appearance, those demons take the one they think they have. Its not a true body, they can't truly pick thing up or talk .

[Page 159]

Kern: Together, two people of one body, they pull up the princeling to safety. All that happened puzzle their opponent enough for her to stop trying to expulse them forcefully. Instead, she'd much rather keep them in the tower for study! So Naal's "body". Kiel can touch her, but that doesn't mean she has a physical presence. It's all energy, so Nau trying to poke her is just making a hole through. Anything mana based, Naal can affect it, like turning the elevator on earlier.

[Page 160]

Kern: Someone who just slain a bunch of children because of their taint, meet, the mother of all tainted. The stabbing could not be quicker. If Diva had met shasana before, things could have been very different but hey, things happen. Also Kiel and Naal have very different view on things . To Kiel , sharess is a pickle in a jar.

Pages 161-170


[Page 161]

Kern: The princeling of all people try to stop the stabbing, giving Shasana the chance to get her revenge. Lesson is : When stabbing is ongoing, step back and don't get involved. Getting involved just mean the stabbing will be shared to more people. More and more. Till everyone is stabbed and wondering why did any of this had to happen.

[Page 162]

Kern: Sillice lose consciousness as Shasana is losing her life, passing on her burden to a new person while she still can. Nau probably was also hoping he could get help. that all elusive cure to tainting. Its not because something is deemed imposible to cure that people stop believing there's a way.

[Page 163]

Kern: One of the last remnant of the previous age dies , with Diva listening to her last words. That page wasn't in at first, as i am working on pages meant to go online two weeks from now. Looking back,i felt Shasana death needed a stronger impact, a last chance between two people who could relate about the homeland they lost. The intention is to make the light through the branches be day light, the base of the tree evening, then fade to night, and ultimately even the sky fade to a single star that falls.

[Page 164]

Kern: Voices awaken Sillice with a pounding headache, and a very bad surprise. Diva doesn't give a fuck, and that says a lot considering Sillice was the one still loyal to her. Give her a day or two to get over the whole shasana murder and maybe then she'll start caring. So Sillice is tainted. There's very few things that would stop this character going on that path of self destruction (and other people's destruction). Tainting will however, more than any wounds ever would.

[Page 165]

Kern: As expected, her first reaction is to attempt to kill herself. Something her daughter won't let her do and the voices in her mind returns. If she truly wanted to die, she'd just walk off the tower. I think she'd have a little bit of self preservation left by asking for the blade, hoping for a no. We all do have those opposing voice in our mind when we're about to do something we'd regret. Now she has extra voices!

[Page 166]

Kern: Kiel has great plans for the tower and Diva has a new purpose. With that page up, we'll be moving to complete the sarghress arc after 2 chibi pages. There's still one more page with Sillice before this chapter is over, but at the very end.

[Page 167]

Kern: There's tension in the air as Quain is being operated on. Ariel is probably the one who brought Faen there to help ease the pain but, its Faen, and the pain feedback loop make her more of a distraction than help. Just as a reminder, this is a demon working on quain's face right now, it'd be very easy for a slip up to happen.

[Page 168]

Kern: The aids are dismissed and Faen leave crying at her own failure. With Quain about to lose one of her eye to the face stealing demon. Khaless should just eat the whole face instead of piece by piece, much faster that way.

[Page 169]

Kern: Quain refuse the sedative, and now that the empaths are gone she is left with nothing to reduce the pain. Still, she stubbornly insist and when the healer refuse to obey she dismiss her. Except this time her own guardians are worried enough to not let this happen once again. Instead they keep Quain restrained... Its bound to go well. Flowers and sunshine for the next page.

[Page 170]

Kern: There you go, Quain is pissed, now they must all die. With the healer getting her skull crushed on the table's edge.

Pages 171-180


[Page 171]

Kern: Her anger was barely contained before all this and even then she nearly killed one of her own commander. Now, there's no containing anything. Wheter Quain was injected with something is up to you at this point. And having Quain just die on the operating table under khaless would've been too obvious, too well planned. especially when something so chancy as Khaless' plan is put into motion.

[Page 172]

Kern: Quain's rage goes on, as several floor below Ariel is being summoned to help find her zombie sibling. Back to normal updates, i hope. At this point the story branch out with 3 characters, all seeing a different side of the same event. Unfortunately for Quain's own guard, yesterday filler is not canon.

[Page 173]

Kern: The request for help in finding the lost sibling turned fast into a forced escort, as more sign of tension in the clan come into the light. Clearly Sang just want to have tea and biscuit...

[Page 174]

Kern: Ariel is brought into Sang's house where troops are readying themselves for a fight. The situation grows stranger with every moment , surrounded by the commander's troops as she tell the grim origin of her metal limbs. She shouldn't say anything positive about the Sharen, but then, she can't know. Ariel always have that positive view about her clan. They're the good guys, right? Sharen changed and want peace, that make them part of the good guys as well. Well, Sang and many others are there in the clan for personal reasons. There's a whole lots of people who joined for their hatred of the nobility and the sharens.

[Page 175]

Kern: When she notices that Ariel doesn't stand up to the convictions she was hoping to stir up, she turns to the next step ; instill fear in the young heir. Its pretty obvious what Sang is doing and Ariel has seen this before, just not from a superior. It leave her very confused at the moment so its not just that she can't make her up her mind, the situation itself is not helping. She can't call out her superior, yet she wouldn't lie to make her superior happy either , especially as she feel she must represent her grandmother's stance.

[Page 176]

Kern: As the commander explains to Ariel that Quain is going to die, the demon emerge from it's dead host to escape only to find it is being hunted. So, part of why Quain dismiss healers is not just because they can't help, its because she refuse to believe their prognostic. The sickness can just be punched off, like every other challenges. And while Ariel is oblivious to that situation, the rumors are spreading to everyone else. Sang was one of the first to be aware of this and she got herself ready. You could say she is securing an asset at the moment...

[Page 177]

Kern: Things get worse as Ariel realize her baby brothers and sister are in danger of being purged as well. A fear that come to realization when Faen find their bedroom guarded by a stranger refusing to let her in. If someone were to want the clan to be truly val free, the kids would have to go... We lost electricity today and part of our work. Thus the very late update. We'll still put up another update saturday evening.

[Page 178]

Kern: Inside the child's bedroom she find one of them already dead. A "mess" the other soldier called it, before knocking Faen down. So now you know why there is only two kids on the cover.

[Page 179]

Kern: Faen falls, the corpse of the child before her. She reach for his hand as the others are about to die. Then, mamma bear awakens. Faen's power is very unreliable. One moment she cause more harm than good with soothing Quain's pain, the next she can fry someone's inside... but not his companion. It took a great deal of stress to get this far. Is there anything that could push her beyond?

[Page 180]

Kern: Faen's panic has the side effect of alerting the childs' guardian outside. He come to the rescue but in the end, it is mama bear who bash in the skull of the assassin... With the blunt edge of a shield. Again Faen is not one of the most stable person. Is this the first step to the rise of the dark empress Faen!? probably not.

Pages 181-190


[Page 181]

Kern: Faen is snapped out of her bloody bashing to realize what she has just done. one more trauma for Faen to carry.

[Page 182]

Kern: Little pup watched his brother die, Faen hugs what's left of her adoptive family and their guardian realize why he was pulled away from his post. Its not over yet. Jivkyn had no reason to think his own comrades at arms would try to kill the childs. Maybe he is among those who didn't hear about Quain yet either.

[Page 183]

Kern: Jiv try to act his way out but the ploy is too obvious. Is he taken down and told he will be used as scapegoat for the death of the childs. However this give Faen the chance to run out of the room with the childs while they're busy. They've not seen Faen get in, just him running back. And yes very late page...

[Page 184]

Kern: They notice Faen running away with Quain's grandson and granddaughter in her arms and give chase. They quickly catch up with her, but before they could drag her out of sight, she stumble upon Quain herself about to face another group of her own soldiers. Is it good luck, or bad luck? hard to say. Mix of both maybe. Certainly lucky for Faen, at least for now.

[Page 185]

Kern: in a moment of clarity, Quain stopped her attack long enough for an exchange of word, albeit shorts ones from Quain's side. The hostility quickly resume as Faen tell everyone what happened to the childs. Was it a good thing she said this? Maybe not saying anything would've been better, at least for now. Often in books i feel frustrated that the characters don't exchange informations, well, what if exchanging actually led to the situation worsening... Often the protagonists in stories doesn't realize who the vilain is while the reader is exposed to the truth. This is a concept i'm playing with for Suube. She is not a nice person, she's borderline rebellious and no one likes her; she wasn't meant to be liked. There, Quain has absolutely no proof of anything yet she is very certain Suube is the source of all her problems. Quite likely she had a hand in the mess, as shown by her reaction. But did she order the murders?

[Page 186]

Kern: In their desperation they entombed Quain in rocks. Mere rock can't stop Quain though, you'd need a moon, and this age is all out of moons. Also suube runs because suube already got her face beaten in near death today, it was enough.

[Page 187]

Kern: Rock cannot contain Quain and as the battle continues, Ariel hear a glimpse of what happened. "Quain can kick through a giant wall of stone" had to have a seed of truth somewhere that begun the whole exaggeration of her deeds.

[Page 188]

Kern: As soon as the commander leave, Ariel concerned for her family means to do the same. But her babysitter isn't amused by her excuses. Jakkiah has to babysit young recruits all the time and so for the last 10 chapters. Made sense she got stuck with the duty. I don't think anyone is surprised that Ariel would disobey and just leave. Even if there wasn't something suspicious about the whole keeping her locked up until everyone else but her is dead.

[Page 189]

Kern: She's really not subtle about it. But she think she is. If Jak knew her a little better, she'd have tied Ariel up and sat on her.But the pretense of being nice still have to be kept, and maybe they both honestly think they're just bodyguards. And no worry its the lack slow page for a while.

[Page 190]

Kern: She jumps out the window, unsurprisingly. What surprising, at least to her, is the gang waiting for her right outside. Including a certain someone who'd very want to bash her face in. Now that Ariel chose to leave the relative safety, she can get entangled in the ongoing mess out there. Riviel got to be the one cameo that'll see the most use in this chapter.

Pages 191-200


[Page 191]

Kern: Rumors of Quain being dead are already circulating and any passerby , any former comrades now become a potential threat.As she make her way around to avoid the bullies who figured out what she was doing and ambushed her at the next entrance. That or she just wanted to hug Ariel.

[Page 192]

Kern: Quain was dead the moment she made peace with the enemies, they claim, as they beat her up. They could kill her there but as you can see they're avoiding using deadly force. A group went to kill the childs, another is on a search to secure noble assets, and now another group is about breaking down those nobles or at least Ariel. The answer as to whats going on will be given soon enough. For now though, its meant to look a giant mess with a scoop of lies thrown in.

[Page 193]

Kern: Ariel fight back, but its not enough against so many and the plea for reason fall to deaf ears. You could say that they are beating the naivety out. Might take a lot more for the idealistic to lose that side of herself. Also confirming the big giveaway stream will take place on the 24th december. Want a free art request from us? that's the time.

[Page 194]

Kern: She's going all out to keep the bullies at bay and for a moment it goes well! She does manage to land a blow to her rival's face, but her injuries quickly turn the situation back around. Other soldiers that were nearby get involved and at least one superior officer calls for the fight to stop. This is a public place and there was a lot of people around. Given unlimited pages there could've been more panels to show people reactions to the fight but... have fun counting the numbers of panels/characters in the pages as they are. There's just so much so an intervention offscreen happened. Had Ariel given up the fight she could've been dragged off and perhaps no one would've reacted. Once the floor itself start to get torn up then its kind of hard not to notice. This chapter, so long o_o;

[Page 195]

Kern: All of them get locked up for brawling, and somehow her most bitter rival is locked up with her. Koil might not have received the memo on what's going on yet or she did and will lock up thousand of soldiers in tiny cells until there's no more room to breath.

[Page 196]

Kern: In the prison she find out that Kau was also imprisoned because of his noble birth. And the only person who could explain all whats going on is refusing to talk. "Did sillice piss off Quain again" . Says a lot about Quain temper in the past that Kau would think pissing off Quain can result into him being imprisoned.

[Page 197]

Kern: They've been discarded Kau claims. For him all the more, as his sister recently died and his mother disowned him. While on Ariel side she's getting a earful on how some people perceives her. "bottom of the barrel" was brought up often with Naal. There was a lot of bottom for her during this chapter. It's time for these two to reach the bottom in the sarghress arc. Kau reached it while Ariel is just about to.

[Page 198]

Kern: Being locked up together give them a chance for dialogue. Before more could be said behind the motivation for the attack, someone come to the cell and shoot Ariel in face. Just a dart. But with all these poison going around lately...

[Page 199]

Kern: Her body shaking all over from a spreading poison , unharmed and facing an assassin in the small cell. With all the prison guards suspiciously gone from the scene. The cameo chose Quain for alleigance, yet with how things are in the background i thought it'd be fitting if even someone who beleive in Quain and her legacy would be dragged into this. Ariel dies at page 200, Faen take over and become dark empress by chapter 52. :P

[Page 200]

Kern: The rival who sought to beat and break her down is the one to come to her rescue against the assassin in her moment of weakness. The poison isn't the same that's been going around for a while, this one makes all the muscles crimp on themselves. A short lived thing but fast to take effect, meant to prevent a target from escaping.

Pages 201-210


[Page 201]

Kern: Death did not come and Kau is freed from his cell to help drag Ariel out of the prison. She won't have the strenght to do any heroics for a while. Won't stop her though... And Riviel by now is by far the most used cameo of this chapter.

[Page 202]

Kern: Whats going on is finally explained by one of the person involved in the coup; Large group of soldiers feeling betrayed by the forced peace agreements are seeking to end Quain and restart the war. Old hatreds are hard to let go. From riviel point of view it'd be "everyone wants it" and from ariel point of view its "no one wants it" , the wonders of politics and its circle of opinion... If Quain had been well and her core of lieutenants firmly on duty, that kind of thing would not have happened, but then, you've seen the ongoing mess.

[Page 203]

Kern: A moment of hesitation, whether they face more members of the coup, or at last genuine help. Thankfully for the battered down heir to the clan, its the later. As Quain is still outside, continuing her hunt for who she believe is her enemy. Rosof is too old for this shit.

[Page 204]

Kern: She is overtaken by the need to kill her former friend but at least she has enough sense left to want Faen and the grand childrens to be safe. Yeah the angle for the wolves doesn't work right in the last panel.

[Page 205]

Kern: Nothing can stop Quain. There's hundred lined up against her, with hunting animals, war machine and magic. Yet she get through with the drive to kill the one hiding behind them all. Suube ran away before and she probably returned thinking its safe over there. Nope. This is one of the page meant to show Quain is pretty strong regardless how sick she is.

[Page 206]

Kern: The moment when the unstoppable force stumbles.

[Page 207]

Kern: Her rage fuel her for one last attack against her would be killers but her steel falter, then her flesh does. In the shadow of her own statue, her own officer rise the sword for the finishing blow. "What were the chances?" for the sword to break. considering how quain used the damn blade so far i don't think its too far fetched, it just waited for one last dramatic moment to break at the same time her body finally does. So drama sword. Gives +5 to drama.

[Page 208]

Kern: For a moment she hesitate to kill her former friend, remembering what they've built together. This moment gives Ariel and Rosof's crew a chance to get in the way of the execution. Ariel rushing into danger, check. She being idealistic, check. Suube being irrationaly angry, check. This time there's no one to break the conflict. Idealy this scene was meant to have all the sarghress cameos around but these pages take a lot of time as it is. Still, the cameos will appears, but whenever i get the chance the crowd around is left as silouettes.

[Page 209]

Kern: Some speak up in her defense, some help behind the scene and one is about to cause the storm to begin anew. 10 Cameo in one page. :O Also by saturday night i'll be done with the whole sarghress arc, so there's an end to this thing i promise.

[Page 210]

Kern: Last page of the year. And it's one where Quain rise once again to strangle Suube till her neck snap. Not before the later add yet another grevious injury to her killer. If Quain doesn't rise from the dead at least 3 times, it's not Quain. And that said, happy new year to everyone. See you on a brand new(and hopefully better) year!

Pages 211-220


[Page 211]

Kern: Quain and suube falls. Where Quain is caught by many who carry her away, Suube has only one to mourn her. There were many random dialogues to go in the crowd for that page, in the end i included none. All the characters seem too quietly holding her , too solemn, to say anything. Is Quain dead? If you think she's dead she'll rise again so make sure to think she's very alive and kicking butts as soon as someone remove those arrows.

[Page 212]

Kern: The clan's leader fell, and now the two potential heir to the clan faces each other. Although in silence, neither truly want to rule. Meanwhile Faen and the children were smuggled out, with Kau giving her farewell. there was quite a bit of dilema on what to do once these two faces each other. Thing is, Koil would say nothing. And Ariel would say nothing. Its be a painful dragged on scene where things truly happen in the background, unfolding with time. Just like the coup happened in the background. This is why we're transitioning away from that scene. Everyone there is tense, mourning or hoping Quain will put through somehow.

[Page 213]

Kern: Pup hasn't recovered from watching his older brother die, Faen try to comfort him but perhaps it is her who need it the most. And Ariel on her way out of the clan's fortress reveal that she was on the verge of fainting for a while. Considering she was beaten and poisoned, the only thing that kept her up is adrenaline. Once that's gone comes the extreme weakness. If Koil had fought , or someone around her tried to make sure there would no dispute over clan leadership by attacking her, she would have been able to do little. Same reason Suube was able to just push her away. As for the true tragedy of the page, well, there's no saving that dog's ear. It'll be eaten savagely by the baby. There's no fighting back. Seriously though, that baby will not remember what happened that day, though pup will remember.

[Page 214]

Kern: Of all things, waving is what finally make her collapse. And as she is being carried away to the rest of her living family, we move on to the demon being hunted. Since its Khaless point of view for the next few pages, i thought itd be fitting if she had the inner voices like Naal. Where Naal had basic needs, Khaless hear conflicting voices.

[Page 215]

Kern: The demon make an easy meal of it's would be sealers, but something else was hunting it. Laele, a demon herself since her seal broke and now draining away the essence of it's prey. The hunter eat the hunter that eat the hunters.

[Page 216]

Kern: The end of Snadhya's pet demon whom had caused so many troubles behind the scene. With no witness to report what happened to it. Khaless conflicting selves is just flavoring, they don't have controls . They do show how many within her would wish to see her getting her just due.

[Page 217]

Kern: The squad that's hunting Quain's family find the aftermath of the scene and a Laele that would not run away any longer. And a tidbit to confirm that Suube did not give orders to kill the childs. Several of these cameos were noted as anti-vals and extreme in their methods and so were perfect for the dirty work.

[Page 218]

Kern: They kill her or at least think they did but the corruption they sensed went far beyond what was expected. The result is the release of a greater demon. Killing people in this chapter just tend to result into shit hitting the fan, should've went the Anahid way and hug everyone. Quain couldn't have gone enraged with hugs, right? right.. maybe she would've still went mad with people trying to hug her.

[Page 219]

Kern: The amalgam of Laele's bound demons come to awareness. Boop. There was quite the dilemma regarding including this scene or not. As we won't be exploring this path further for now , instead we'll switching to Snadhya next.

[Page 220]

Kern: Meanwhile Snadhya is giving the news about what happened to Mel. Including the deaths of her 3 childs and her mother. Lies or perhaps Snadhya is not as well informed as she think... most likely lies. its Snadhya after all. Keep Mel all scared and angry at the same time, got to be easier to use her later. Also,that the edge of the Nalsarkoth's home above , the gate to their fortress is to the right.

Pages 221-230


[Page 221]

Kern: Promises, all of them near impossible in the current circounstances. But at least one of the great clan wishes to believe she could bring a resolution. Snad makes a lot of claims, though with Quain out of the picture it could be true. Or it could be more lies.

[Page 222]

Kern: Shinae is back , healthy and smiling so wide. As something fast is coming toward their hideout, breaking through every checkpoints. Shi-shi would really like to punch these 3 in the faces and they know it. Whenever there is a day delay in those page, you can be sure there is one of those complicated background for Kite to do.

[Page 223]

Kern: The war golem she had been keeping under lock for years make short work of the Nalsarkoth's defenses around the inn where Snadhya found refuge. But the later is getting ready for their new guest. The golem core melts metal in it's range, while leaving it's own metal untouched. Its not the only thing it can do, nor will this design be made a common machine. If Nishi was the engineer type back in the days, it made sense that one of her best creation end up used when she finally decide to do something.

[Page 224]

Kern: Nishi's war golem come crashing into the peaceful garden where her sister awaits her with a smile. You see that garden? We designed it to be destroyed. Kite spent many hours making a 3d model of the "arena" thus the delay of the page.

[Page 225]

Kern: The trap is becoming clear as the two sisters talk. Or at least snadhya talk. She need her vilain monologue along with her morning coffee.

[Page 226]

Kern: But Nishi did not come alone, her own companions snuck in to ambush the enemy in wait.

[Page 227]

Kern: The pretense to diplomacy is dropped as Snadhya realize her people were ambushed themselves. The battle begins in full- Snad is the pink unarmed thing whose strength is invisible . There she again raise that dragon to protect herself, along with a secondary summon she had left on a nearby stone. Kite asked "Why didn't Nishi attack right away instead of letting Snad talk" which mean i assume others will ask the same. Nishi waited for her own ambush to be set, turn up her helpers(Chrys, Anjin, Sara) found the other ambush(Empath trio, Neh, Shinae and Jiaan) which sprung the battle. Nishi fully expected her sister to have something ready and as long as Snad beleived she could charm her way in, the trap wouldn,t be set. Could've been a sniper, or the empath . Regardless it would have ruined Nishi's attack.

[Page 228]

Kern: She escape within her dragon's shell, but her opponent came ready to break that defense. Nishi was outside Felde the last time they tried to kill Snad. Likely a little owl told her and the others what defenses Snad would pull.

[Page 229]

Kern: For a moment it seem Snadhya has her back to the wall, but the greatest of offense can be defeated by a mere boop of a finger. If there is a chart of what defeat what. Demon defeat golem . And very easily at that. So unless Nishi has a plan to counter this the battle will be a short one. kite says Snadhya is approaching a new sun after having destroyed the planet. Very sephiroth of her.

[Page 230]

Kern: Things are turning around fast as Chrys doesn't have the will to slice the throat of her former comrade and Sara is pinned by a new comer. Reinhardt charge , then Sara will fly up and rain justice from above-- okay too much overwatch. Seriously though, two of the enemies are Chrys' former family members, she won't have an easy time.

Pages 231-240


[Page 231]

Kern: The battle heats up all around the arena as Nishi is about to pull out a last trick to turn the situation around. Clearly the garden could use more fire and explosion.

[Page 232]

Kern: One last attack shattering the core of the golem resulting in an explosion spreading through the arena. Both sisters are now without weapons to fight with. The core color matter for what it could do. Brown for earth, blue for metal. Something again that's likely unique to Nishi's creation now rendered useless. But really , is it truly working? Because Snad color steel heart hasn't melted. XD

[Page 233]

Kern: Chrys goes on to seek the cure while everyone else fights on.

[Page 234]

Kern: With the servants pointing the way, Chrys find the enemy's quarters where she search in vain for a vial containing the cure to the poison. There she is caught by Mel in the act. Chrys isn't there to fight Snad, she's hoping to save her mother and the alliance she worked on. Considering the mess they've started, she doesn,t have much time to find it.

[Page 235]

Kern: A fight was about to break out between Mel and Chrys when Zhor speaks out his mind. Outright giving out secret information to a potential enemy in hope to undermine his captor. Chrys quickly come to the dreadful realization that she's been chasing after the very thing she gave away. The Jaals were working for Snad.

[Page 236]

Kern: Zhor calm his partner's fury, giving the chance for Chrys to escape long enough to be hunted down by new pursuers. But there again he does what little he can do to stop them. Zhor will fix all of the world problems once he can walk, just you wait and see.

[Page 237]

Kern: Zhor cling to one of the pursuer as he lay on the floor unable to get up. Before he get killed Mel step in the way to punch his would be killer. Their relationship haven't been great lately but Mel still care about him.

[Page 238]

Kern: Where Shinae is a stable individual. Just give her an axe already. (Or a hug) Shinae pursue her sister alone down the tower's corridors all the way to a balcony where there is no escape.

[Page 239]

Kern: Chrys use the last of her blood in an attempt to stop her sister but in the end, what stops her is the realization that Chrys will die , and soon, regardless of what she does. Shinae has a lot of issues, yet there's still a tiny part of her that cares. Thats the reason why she hasn't used her power on Chrys.

[Page 240]

Kern: The moment of hesitation from Shinae give her sister a chance to strike back but that moment did not last. Two of the empaths arrived to ruin any hopes she could have. Meanwhile goodbye garden, goodbye green.

Pages 241-250


[Page 241]

Kern: The two sisters keep on fighting, but one slowly exhaust herself while the other unnaturally deflect all attacks. Until that is, she get the thrown something to the back of the head. Its always the simplest things that gets Snad. First a knife to the back, now a flying golem turned boomerang to the head.

[Page 242]

Kern: Fire everywhere, so much fire! Taking advantage of the moment, Nishi strike her sister upclose only to realize that all along her attacks had no effect for she was cheating during their duel. As to what Snad refer to by cheating, she think the thing that just hit the back of her head is Nishi's doing.

[Page 243]

Kern: Snadhya never truly lost the ability to summon her "floor dragon" to protect herself, it was within her all along. Now Nishi has to face her sister with no weapon and a terrible exhaustion. Anything thrown at Snadhya only help feed her side, while Nishi was depleting herself.

[Page 244]

Kern: Meanwhile Shinae refuse to kill her sister, But regardless of her desire, the twins push forward, seeking to make Chrys end her own life. We'll get back to Snad and Nishi soon enough, those two events just happen at the same time.

[Page 245]

Kern: Chrys was about to jump off when Shinae decide to help in her own way. By throwing one of Chrys' tormentor off the balcony then proceeding to beat the shit out of the other one. There you go all of you who keep telling me how much you hate the empaths sisters. one thrown off the balcony, the other one is getting Shinae's love. The third one is the one who got the blunt of the canon blast earlier. She already got burned earlier in the chapter so she's already on the lowest of luck, or is she lucky, to not be there when Shinae is snapping?

[Page 246]

Kern: One more falls to the fury of Shinae. "Back to normal" Chrys ask. Really, what's normal for Shinae.

[Page 247]

Kern: The two sisters may have a chance to mend the past, but for now the wound of what happened is still too fresh in Shinae's mind. Meanwhile another set of sharen sisters are destroying the building below. Shinae found her marble, turn up she doesn't want it.

[Page 248]

Kern: Surrounded , exhausted and with her allies fleeing; Nishi ends up eaten by the dragon. No doubt her mighty rock(+1) will protect her.

[Page 249]

Kern: In one last gambit , Nishi's break through the inside of the dragon to reach her sister with a rock as her sole weapon. She's shipping hard that rock and Snadhya.

[Page 250]

Kern: Nishi slam her rock on Snadhya's head again and again, breaking her against the inside of her own dragon which crumble into pieces. Enjoy the rock +1 might and finally seeing Snadhya getting beaten up. Snad is very powerful, litteraly nothing 'magical" could get her and as the best summoner there is , she can summon allies to counter her enemies number. But, she's not a fighter. She doesn't wield blades, doesn't fist fight, or any other type of martial arts. Get her up close while she's focused on something else and it's a simple matter. Fist beat summoner. It's the Quain way.

Pages 251-260


[Page 251]

Kern: Under the debris the two sisters lay after their battle. Bloodied , broken and surrounded. That's the point where Nishi stand up and take her own final form. :P

[Page 252]

Kern: For a moment Nishi refuse to bend the knee once more to yet another group that would see her prisoner. But her sister is defeated at last and pragmatism win once more ; she surrender. It would have shown a greater character growth if she had stood, fought and inevitably, died. But, after all the bad stuff that happened in this chapter, i think everyone can understand why for this time, she is allowed to just let one more conflict pass without a fight. Yes, her dying right there was a possibility in the early script. An alternate reality that'll never come to be now.

[Page 253]

Kern: Snadhya lay crippled on the ground, unable to move and fearing her former ally would end her if they knew her weakness. But the person to choose wheter she live or not is a former enemy himself. Jiaan just need to slit her throat and no one will know she had survived. And if he doesn,t Snadhya will find life extremely difficult as a cripple.

[Page 254]

Kern: Chrys tries to raise arms to take back the cure for her mother, yet somehow one is given to her soon after. On the eve of the 13th day , she awaken. Also, day 13 won't have any actions. The climax happened, this is more of an epilogue to that seal the path of the story to come.

[Page 255]

Kern: Zala is brought to meet the leader of her saviors, except that leader is not the one she expect. There she find her elder sister awaiting her with a deal. Snad got waist and neck brace . Plus the wheelchair(She and zhor can now race, woo). Right now someone with a pebble could beat her up, they won't even need The Rock +1.

[Page 256]

Kern: For a moment the younger sister believe she has won but things happened during her long recovery. With Quain gone the balance of power shifted , leaving a massive army without leader, one with many rogue element that would see the val cast purged. Just in case the dynamic doesn't seem clear as this chapter lasted a long time : Zala was sick, going crazy from the poison. meanwhile Quain was taken out by her own underlings. Although the whole thing was nudged twice by Snadhya's own underling. Things also backfired for Snadhya herself who is now a cripple thanks to Nishi's care. She also lost some of her most powerful tools. Things are looking shaky, Snadhya will have a much greater difficulty pushing to reclaim her title of heir to Chel. While Zala's own self proclaimed rule over everything is going to get poked, hard, by many blades. The Jie'yen above meant to warn her about this and Chrys tried as well in the background but regardless if the word had reached Zala just about now, i don't think it would have changed anything. If the sarghress attack, the alliance collapse, her allies don't truly want an open war. So the two have to work together if they want to preserve what they've built for themselves. Though accepting the deal mean that somehow these two have to share power. It's bound to be some difficult few years to come!

[Page 257]

Kern: Kau find his mother laying on the ground. There the guilt of having rejected her son for his taint hits her hard enough to break even her ego. Hey, its not always depressing scenes! No stabbing, no one is "sleepy" and not one is kicked down staircase. There's hope!

[Page 258]

Kern: A message travel through the whisper towers to bypass Ariel&Faen as they arrive at the edge of the underworld. Whisper towers may be a term most people have forgotten, check back chapter 38, the sarghress were implementing them. They were also present in 33-34. Basicly a tower passing a morse-like code through flashing of lights.

[Page 259]

Kern: They make their way up under rain turning to snow where Kelnoz welcome them. Ariel is overtaken by emotions at seeing her old tutor after so many years. For this, he get an embarrassing (and very wet) hug. So now you get to see a what if i was the one coloring the comic. Now extra flat, extra slow and with shameless re-use of concept art at the top right corner! And the person who guessed Ariel would end up with kelnoz in machike before this chapter even begun one year ago, way to go whoever you are!

[Page 260]

Kern: Final page of the chapter. With this, Quain'tana is confirmed dead and a completely unprepared Ariel made the new leader of the clan. Next are chibi pages. Darkvolt will be joining me to do some extra pages of those. And starlitdragon is working on the background of chapter 51.

Special Pages

[Drow Men Woes]

Kern: First of 5 special update for the duration of our travel. I will not be able to start a thread for the following 4 pages, please be my guest if you think it is worth a discussion. The guys in the story never get the chance to meet up and talk about man troubles. “I don’t want to be loved only for my body.” might not be something Baliir would say in public, but he probably thought about it since he met Sara! Nau being the tiniest have a size challenge. Shan’s may not be entirely up to date but it was one chapter ago on how to deal with Chiri secret love, he was endoctrinated early on to see Chiri as his superior and now that they grew up it's a lot more complex. Kau will forever be the lesser half, at least from his perspective. And Sarnel, Sarnel’s life just suck right now. He'll need his bros to have a good cry and find his footing again. Please don't take those as reasons why all these couples are failed, to me there is no perfect couples. A couple is something where desire or love is enough to overcome difficulties. We all have challenges, and these meetups are the places where such people would talk about their troubles. that doesn't mean Nau wouldn't go back to Kiel, or that Shan wouldn't want to kiss Chiri or that Baliir doesn't enjoy all the Sara tugging. No time to colors these but hopefully they'll look good enough with the B&W shading.

[Shasana Collection Chibi]

Kern: First of two chibi before the story resume. Diva find the truth behind her old friend's "legacy". She had to pass on her important research material.

[Naal's Food Chibi]

Kern: She wanted food so badly...

[Sick Filler]

Kern: Please forgive the delay with updates, Kite fell badly sick. At the moment she is getting better, though that means she's still working on the next page and may need up to friday to complete it. Because of this, here's a filler, an alternative where Taldrin come and save the day. With bonus cats. everything is better with cats. Naal would not be able to pick up the food preserves but its a chibi page.

[Plan Gone Wrong Chibi]

Kern: I mean its way too perfect that they managed to get the cure ready just for the day when she needed Zala the most. Something had to go wrong. And the thought that Snad would be waiting in her glorified closet for hours, hoping for her dramatic speech was entertaining me. Also, kite is back on the coloring for this page.

[Naal's Hunger Chibi]

Kern: Cute little moment between the two, entirely drawn by Kite. That's the last chibi page from us, coming next is darkvolt 2 pages then we start ch51.

[Wheelchair Chibi]

Kern: The origin of Snadhya's wheelchair. Poor Zhor. This is the last chibi page i had prepared. Though Darkvolt and Kite will have their own to add to this, everything else that was worked on is chapter 51.

[Sara Epilogue]

Kern: A set of guest pages by Darkvolt where the epilogue of Sara is shown. Clearly she has her priorities straight : big man and explosives. Chapter 51 starts wednesday.