Kill Six Billion Demons: Recent Episodes
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“The master of masters – the king’s essence is in inaction. He must be perfectly still. Otherwise he ceases to become a man and becomes a force above human will, and none shall see a better day for it.”
-Annals of the Yellow City
Hey ya’ll, short on work time this week due to the magazine release taking longer than expected and the ins and outs of being a dad – fully my fault, so no comic update today. I’ll get back to a regular cadence starting next week (11/8). Updates on patreon as normal.
Command
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THANKS FOR READING
I want to do this next bit properly and I have a bit of an odd schedule next week. Kill Six Billion Demons will return with the next update 10/25/24. When we return, it will mark the start of the end of this comic. Updates during this part may be sporadic or intermittent depending on the art load. I’ll keep you updated as we go and I’ll post work in progress on patreon.
Also don’t worry, as I think we still have a few years of comic left. Enjoy Arihorr.
Cheers,
-Abbadon
“The Ya-at can hear the grinding. That’s what they say, anyway. The turning of the wheel. Their hyms are tuned to its terrifying, monstrous gyrations. That is what makes them feared.”
– Ynnigrad, Lunar Mercenary
“It is said Ki Rata has a forty sixth strike. This is reserved only for the apprentice who is able to perform only three or less, and causes instant death.”
-Musko Reeve
“The Blue Faced Sage has one thesis that consistently earns him ire in the Lunar Courts. His argument is the following: that immortals, while said to possess the qualities and parts of mortal beings, such as thought, speech, and personality, must by necessity discard these parts or perish in mind and spirit both. These parts, he argues, are useful only to a being of a more limited existence, who must by nature participate in the world, while an immortal has no motivating impetus to do so, and no motivating impetus to interact with beings that have no more significant to a true immortal than a mote of sand. Therefore, the exercise of these parts is merely a curiosity, or worse, a manifestation of insanity.”
-Annals of the Yellow City
Hey all! My new narrative rpg CAIN is now available. I’ve put a ton of work into this in my free time over the last few months (its been my baby project while my daughter was born) and I’m super happy to announce its release. As always, it’s free for all patrons or you can grab it for 10 bucks over at my itch page.
I hope you enjoy checking it out as much as I enjoyed making it. Here’s the store blurb:
Humanity is cursed, host to a roiling psychic sea barely understood or controlled, a phenomenon arising purely from the darkest portions of the human soul. While most humans are blissfully unaware of its presence, others are more sensitive. When it grows wild in these hosts, SINS appear, terrifying supernatural monsters that are anathema to reality itself.
CAIN is the solution, the global supranational shadow organization dedicated solely to the hunting and execution of sins. It’s mission is clear, its purpose steadfast. Is there anything better than a good hunt? Just think, you’re all set to slaughter to your heart’s content.
YOU are an exorcist, a powerful psychic soldier and tool of CAIN, honed and wielded for one purpose:
WIPE OUT THE STAIN
From Tom Bloom (Magnagothica Maleghast/Lancer RPG): a new narrative role playing game about playing psychic death soldiers hunting monstrosities made of human trauma. So it goes.
Includes:
- Rules for making exorcists, powerful psychic soldiers on a campaign of extermination. Nascent monstrosities themselves, they must struggle against the limits of their own expanding powers and bodies.
- Rules for creating sins, psychic abominations created when their hosts’ latent psychic powers burst free of their body, spurred on by trauma and suffering. Unraveling the mysteries behind their birth and the tragic circumstances of their hosts can weaken them and be used as a weapon in the final confrontation, lending equal weight to investigation and combat.
- Rules for running hunts: tense investigations that culminate in a climactic execution scene inside of the lair of the beast
- Character sheets and hunt sheets for easy organization
- Over 150 pages of insanity, art, and stickers with an aesthetic inspired by lo-fi manga, visual collage, and barber beats album covers.
Slash, and slash, and SLASH AWAY. UNTIL IT IS DONE.
Hi all,
There’ll be no ksbd update tomorrow, August 2nd, as I am wrapping up some major projects (more on that shortly) and taking care of my kids. However, we will return to a 2 page a week update schedule next week for the forseeable future.
Cheers,
Tom
Thanks very much for reading! I’m taking about a month and a bit leave from work for the imminent arrival of my second child. The comic will return in early July. In the meantime this is probably a great time to catch up if you are returning after not reading for a while.
See you then,
– Abbadon
“The sixth Agony: the Agony of Loss. The slow agony – the in-bending of will, dragged by the hooks of time. All things will suffer and change – this is the order of things. In their impermanence – beauty, but also pain.”
– Uo, Archivist Precept of the Blue City
Hey all!
Next week’s KSBD update on 5/10/24 will be the final update for a while, probably until June or July as I am very shortly expecting the birth of my second child.
I also came down with a fever today. Depending on how I’m feeling, I may also do part or whole of the update tomorrow (5/3/24). Either way, after the update is complete (either tomorrow or next fri), I’ll be taking a break to support my wife and son in welcoming the new baby. I will work intermittently and post on patreon when I can in the meantime, including my RPG Work. I’ll announce here when I have more info about the comic’s return.
Cheers,
Abbadon
“Cut down all pre-present illusions. Cut away everything that is behind you and continue only to step in the right direction. This is the essence of the sublime art of Division.”
– Dhukkan ten Dhul, Blade Illusionist
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“Sirs, and if you will hear me, I have a certain ken,
a way of moving, and if a man intend do violence to me, I shall simply lay my hand upon his shoulder
gentle as all, sir, and though the touch is light he will feel
that terrible weight
and in that moment I have killed him without killing him, and all the knowing of that will drag him down, meek as a lamb,
attest I, sirs, and witness you I have never had to kill a man yet this way, nor do I fetter them,
aye, tis’ merely in my interest to go on my way, as all men should – a merry way of living,
wouldn’t you say?”
– Intra, God of Swords
“In his fundamental nature, man fears what he cannot destroy. He allows this fear to burrow into his heart and in defense he obsesses over control. Abandoning this notion is the most important principal of kingship. A man can set a sail but can never get the breeze to blow on its own. If he tries, it shall surely drive him mad.”
-Au Vam
~~Hey ya’ll, on a trip to visit family so the next update will be March 15th. I may drop some RPG content on the patreon in the meantime. See you then!~~
Update will be next week on Friday the 22nd.
-Abbadon
“Cut once, think not at all. Every situation must be handled this way. Any more than that is excessive and will only burden your sword arm with the weight of regret.”
– Ryo ten Ryam, sword saint
“YISUN once said this:
Never step in your own footprint. This is the most grievous sin I can imagine.”
-Spasms
Hello, my computer woke up today and chose death. Fortunately I was already in the process of frankensteining the old boy and I’m fairly certain it’s drive failure, so I should be able to do a clean install on another drive for recovery while I go order parts to rebuild this guy. It’s about 8 years old at this point minus the power supply and graphics card so it was about time to do a full rebuild anyway. This does mean almost certainly there is no page this week unless by some miracle I am able to boot off a busted drive, so I’ll see you guys next friday.
“[…]descended there an angel with a silver sword. An the angel said ‘Come and see,’ and I saw. There upon the great hill of rot, the great and terrible beasts of the earth had gathered, and a hundred thousand times a thousand strong men, girded for war, with chariot and horse and war shade. The ground had cracked and the bowels of the land had split and all manner of ancient things from the cold and old world had crawled from the ash and were making havoc upon the land. There was a sound so terrible it could not be withstood except by those who had, through manner of hardship or war, been exposed to the noise of innumerable dying animals.”
– Vision of Extemporary Monk Lumuu (circa SC 245)
I. ENTRANCE PAY IS FORBIDDEN II. PAY FOR LINENS LIMITED TO HUNDREDTHWEIGHT CURRENCIES ONLY III. NO BLOOD IV. NO SPITTING, SECRETION, OR URINATION VI. NO WASHING LAUNDRY VII. NO BLOOD ALCHEMY VIII. LIMIT TIME TO TWO BELLS ONLY IX. NO […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...
“The only measure of a true bond – the test of the blade. You dance nave to nave, with your hearts exposed, a dagger pressed and pointed at each one. Every movement must be gentle and precise, in time with […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...
“It is said that the Diktate Au Vam had a pillar four hundred handspans high set in the main marketplace of the Yellow City, and guarded by a man day and night. Upon the top of the pillar was a […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...
The embassy entrance of the Celestial Empire in Throne is built after the Dragon’s Gate of throne, in imitation of the most popular point of entry for commoners, according to legend, into the mighty halls of the gods.
THE DEATH CUT YISUN held audience one in their fifth anti-spiral clockwise palace. White faced Pravi, who was a wise disciple, said: “Lord, bestow upon us the armor that will resist ending. The days grow short and the nights cold. […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...
Thanks for reading folks. I’m going to visit family with my little guy and will be back (with the comic) June 9th. I hope you’ve been enjoying the read, I’ve certainly enjoyed finally getting to tell this arc of the story. We have a little bit more with Allison and Maya before we get the meat of this final book. See you then, let me know what you think so far!
-Abbadon
Hey ya’ll I’ll be doing a signing for free comic book day this coming Saturday, May 6th at Infinite Realities out here in Atlanta from 12-4pm EDT, come by and say hi! You can check the shop out and find its address and hours at their site: https://www.infiniterealitiescomics.com/
“Lord Mana, a man that treats people as he hammers iron, and treats tools as his most tender lovers. No greater craftsman will ever exist, I am sure. Shame.”
-Payapop Pritram
“Secret techniques? Here, girl, I’ll show you a secret way to pick your teeth. Ha ha!”
-Meti ten Ryo to her student Mathangi
“Listen well, peasant girl. The time is long past I teach you the ultimate technique, as I have promised.
The only thing you must understand about this technique is it is purely for killing. This is the cut of no cuts, the form of no form. It doesn’t have a name. There is no school it belongs to. There is no master it belongs to, not even you. There is no purpose it belongs to. It is a poisonous technique, the product of a thousand venoms distilled from one master to the next, back to the line of the Gods. All my master used it for is stacking corpses, and his master before him, and his master before that, and that is all you shall use it for as well.”
-Ryo, to his student Meti.
“Here is a cut I call the Life Cut. It is adapted from my ancient master, who roamed the world when it is young, and taught it to me in a different and weaker form. Listen, whelp. I have improved upon her fragile schemes. Where once my sword hand was held by my master, this cut has a secret art that can roam and strike him. It is the most important thing I will teach you – the blade that cuts its own wielder.”
-Great Blade Hermit Ryam to his student Ryo
“Listen, closely, pale worm. Our only goal here, and indeed, for the rest of your miserable life, is to learn the cut called Quelling the Breath of Man. It is the most superior sword technique in the Seven Cities and will win you every battle if done properly. You must resolutely study this cut. Your life, as mine, is no longer your own. You have now become a blade, and the hearts-hilt of this blade is held by his Grace, and when he swings it you will kill any number of men that he wills dead.”
– Gälde ten Bilong, sword god of the Lunar Kingdoms, to their student Ryam
“Here is a proper way. Now discard it. Bare your teeth and strike from the heartblood.”
-The Way of Aesma
“[…]And the Lion said: come and see, I have brought Hell here. Every day I will bring Hell to the strong-girded men who you send me, and when I stack their corpses high enough, I will climb your walls and bring Hell inside.”
-Record of the War of the Stones
Thanks for reading.
Book 5 of KSBD started on October 7th, 2020. Almost two hundred pages, a short break, and the birth of my son later, here we are. On to the final book (I mean it this time)!
“When it comes to so-called ‘immortals’, do not fear them. Those that call themselves by such a title have purged themselves of the most useful and primal their brain, the parts that remember the cold fear, the old night, the teeth in the dark. The swordsman should be a great friend to fear and pain, so when they inevitably find him, he will not collapse at their remembrance, like a pathetic mewling thing, as I have seen these majestic godlings do.”
-Ryo-ten-Ryam
Hey all, thanks very much for reading Kill Six Billion Demons. This upcoming year in 2023 will mark 10 years doing the comic, which is a huge deal! I’m catching up on RPG work and taking my son to visit his grandparents for the holidays, so the next update will likely be January 13th.
Thanks for sticking with me through this year, and the long hiatus at the start and the slow update pace for a while. Your support means so much to me.
Having a child is a pretty huge and life changing event, but it was extra complicated for my family, as my wife suffered major post-partum health issues that put her in hospital, during a high period of covid. I drove my wife to the emergency room at 2:00pm on a Wednesday and then did not see my wife at all for almost five weeks. I could not talk to her normally. While sleeping in two or three hour increments and taking care of my newborn son, I was coping with basic issues such as finding out where my wife actually was, or with the insurance company trying to deny her care after one week of hospitalization. While coping with all this I also went to the emergency room myself as my appendix almost burst and was unable to even pick up my son for a while. I fortunately had family come in to help me or taking care of basic things would have rapidly become impossible. It was an extremely difficult period of my life and it helped underline my very strong belief that nobody can truly do anything alone.
I truly thank you for your support, readership, and understanding, it has supported me through this rough period.
I’m turning 33 very shortly. As my life has continued on I have been very grateful for my habit of actively recognizing when I am truly happy, which is quite often, as I’m a lucky and very creatively and emotionally fulfilled person. It helped me a lot when I needed it.
So here’s a thought for you: some day, you will die in a hospital.
It’s a blunt but fairly inevitable fact of life, something I don’t think Americans talk about enough, to be frank. It will happen to you or someone you know, inevitably. Often there is actually very little you can do about it. One day I was dropping my wife off, the next I didn’t see her face for a month. The older you get, the more likely this is to happen, by the way. Youth will not insulate you forever.
Rather than become flippant or deny basic reality, a habit you can imagine my stance on if you read my comic, I think it’s better just to recognize and accept facts like this. It literally happens to everyone, like the weather, or stubbing your toe. Part of growing older for me has been internalizing hospitals, and death, and their inevitability. I have gotten very good at hospitals. I can sit in waiting rooms for multiple hours now, no problem, on a Friday evening no less.
In the end, my experience passed, as I expected it would, and things have returned to normalcy. My wife is doing better than ever. My son just turned one year old. I made him carrot cake for his birthday. He has a truck that he pushes around and yells at the top of his lungs, happy as all hell. I hope if you find yourself in a similar situation, in a hospital somewhere, you can think of times like this and imagine that things will be better, as they often will, and that that thought can carry you through and on to the carrot cake, truck-pushing side of things. Nothing is permanent.
Have a great new year, see you in the next one.
– Tom Bloom (Abbadon)
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“After running for three years and three days, Prim finally came to a tumbling halt. No matter how far she ran, no matter how fast her legs carried her, she could not find the end of the road. No matter how she scanned the horizon, or reached out with trembling fingers, she could not grasp her resting place. The road continued forever.
There was a way-angel there, standing on a pillar of basalt, who understood many things, and he said to Prim: ‘O piteous thing.” Struck by her dreadful appearance, he recognized her as the orphan of Hansa, for he was very wise in the world. ‘What seek you on the road, small one?’ said the angel, “Perhaps I can offer succor.”
“The end of the road,” croaked Prim.
“There is no end,” said the angel, and it was so indeed. For the road was the rim of the Wheel, which encircled infinity. There was, truly no resting place. For some, this would have been dread news, enough to strike the life out of them. Many had given up when they learned of this, and laid down to die, as was sometimes the way of men in those days.
But for Prim, it washed over her, and soothed her, and for her weary and torn heart was the sweetest balm in the world.”
-Prim Masters the Road
“The temple of the Eye Revealed, in its vastness, is an extremely dogmatic. Through countless interpretations of the etchings and mutterings of their corpse-goddess, they rule, as they say, from divine decree. I, for one, wouldn’t take my orders from a glorified slate, no matter how holy.”
-Payapop Pritram
A stagnant flow of endings. Un-time unbound. Merging to form the multi-none A sickly dance of matter, malignantly benign. Greeting the chasm – unbearable, sublime. -Meshuggah, “Dehumanization”, Catch 33 (2005)
“Prim strode on, and the road stretched before her, taunting. The horizon unfurled itself again and again at each dawn, the sickening play of sunrise and sunset a never-ending, nauseating whirl, meaningless and endless. After a thousand more days of […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...
“Keep all friends close, but especially keep the closest very tight inside you, next to your heart, where they can easily wound you. In time you will find the vulnerability to become a source of strength.” -Dediam, Ascetic
“In some cultures of the Wheel a coin is placed on the eyes of the dead as a fee to the guide of the afterlife. To me the implications of such a custom are wretched beyond belief – that even […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...
Prim went by a brightly lit merchant city, where the free living inhabitants held nightly sojourns, seances, and threw wild celebrations. They sampled poetry, sipped on liquor, and inhaled smoke. There were among their number many great, wise, and virile […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...
Resignation Thanks for everyone that came to see me at Dragoncon, it was an amazing show! EDIT: Next KSBD update will be 7 pages at once in the next couple weeks, for pacing.
Hi ya’ll, Hey all, I’m really happy to announce the official collectible statue created through my partnership with Animegami studios is now available for pre-order here: https://agmi.link/cio This is an awesome, super high quality collectible and this studio has a […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...
Prim strode on, weary for a resting place. Surely the road had to go somewhere, she thought, otherwise there was no point to the road at all. Yet for every step she took, the ground beneath her feet seemed to […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...
After wandering further, Prim came across a crater many miles across. The edges were smooth, like glass, and curved inwards, down into a steadily increasing darkness, where at the bottom Prim could barely see a hole. The hole was extremely […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...
Prim came to a part of the road that was well worn. The path split and furrowed into pleasant little runoff trails, that twisted and snaked their way through groves of gently rustling trees. The undergrowth was thick and green […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...
Prim, after some time, began to grow tired of the road. She had become accustomed to it, in the way that the shapes of her body fit its grooves and whorls in a kind of tired obedience. Her feet were […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry...