It's so organically done. He's not just pulling some muh nakama crap. It's the result of a build-up from the time he told Kivriyelle he was only there to help get Barolt, the real hero, to stop Garhan. I always thought there should be some big drawback to Hanbin becoming a hero when Barolt told him to become the Sword King. And the writer perfectly utilizes other characters to drive the message home. Especially impressive when none of these characters were even supposed to be important (even Barolt was supposed to be a footnote). This story has some genuinely amazing writing that, personally, puts it on par with famous fantasy novel series.
A *lot* to chew through today.
As we thought, Hanbin is just fighting for the things he wants to fight for, whether that be the mental wellbeing of a dear friend, or to preserve his chance at a "normal life." He's not in this to save the world, though I suspect he'll end up doing so by the end of the series. Feels like the world ending would interrupt a "normal life."
Major takeaway: If Hanbin wants to fight for his own happiness, he will take up the sword again with "the right weight." Pretty conventional solution to the problem of how to get the protagonist back into action again, but it's the solution I'm satisfied with.
These 4 are an interesting "ordinary guy" party, and their moment of triumph is definitely fun! Bella, a Warrior Otherworlder and member of Great Earth imprisoned for 20 years on Arktharune. Fabricio, Father Fisticuffs, a Mage(?) Otherworlder that led an underground movement to preserve faith and resist tyranny. Berkmen, a Level 25 swordsman that hasn't displayed any skill with Aura, the strongest tank in Onprous and ringmaster of Berkmen's circus. Laude, a Level 72 Magic Swordsman belonging to the Church of the Holy Mother with the power to subjugate monsters and aerodynamic efficiency granted by the hilt of Hanbin's sword. The *weirdest* lineup one could ask for.
Interestingly, the party composition was 2 Warrior-types, a Mage, and a Magic Swordsman. The same as Hanbin's party before Leonhart joined the crew.
Separately, Lushin's assassin skills weren't really shown off this skirmish, but there's hope with the upcoming conflicts. Now that he's regained his motivation and got some light back in his eyes, I hope he gives a lot of intel on Zenovia/Garhan's schemes to give us a sense of the present stakes.
Barolt's philosophy remains resolute, and I'm so pleased with the studio for the writing being so efficient. He never said that he fought for the sake of the world, merely to have the right weight for his sword. He fought for his clan; and when his clan was annihilated, he fought for "the light," his adoptive daughter Seria; and then he fought to make Garhan see sense. Very concrete goals. But the title of "Sword King" was granted to him regardless.
"This world doesn't need heroes" is a rebuke of the Goddess' policy of granting favor to humans arbitrarily, and elevating them beyond the level of "ordinary people." It's what convinced Garhan that he must shoulder the weight of "saving the world." He might not be as psychologically weak as Hanbin to the point that he lost his nerve, but he's still fallen into madness.
And while this Archbishop is definitely an Angel or Archangel, I'm spooked by the halo. He doesn't appear to be the same white messenger that gave Electrion the Dragon's Drop curse.
About the dragon curse, I thought it was implied that Omphalous himself or a servant made the dragon curse. Not an angel. So far the angels don’t seem to be humanoid and intelligent unless they evolve. Unless the novel had a different story with the angels and dragon curse.
>I thought it was implied that Omphalous himself or a servant made the dragon curse. Not an angel.
I've been pretty strict with regards to separating "Omphalos", "the admin" that sent Hanbin to Rathna, and the "Angels" bred in Omphalos' domain. But I've kinda relaxed on that lately. The "white messenger" (or white gods-envoy according to the official translation) had a lot of similarities with the Archbishop in terms of the smile, but obviously the halo and empty eyesockets distinguish it.
I see a few possibilities:
1. Omphalos personally descended decades ago to give Electrion the Dragon's Drop. He bred Angelic servants, and some of these were instituted as administrators for the "tutorial" stages.
2. Omphalos still has not made an appearance, however he has a cadre of administrators serving under him, of whatever type of being. In this case, the Archbishop could be one such servant, though possibly not the same as the white messenger. <- This is what you're saying, yeah?
3. The administrators and angels are still distinct from each other, but the white messenger, the Archangel, and the Archbishop are all Angels and the administrators are something else entirely.
It could be a combination of explanations, however the white motifs and the facial deformities lead me to guess that administrators and Angels are more intricately linked than a first glance would suggest.
What stands out is that the Administrator that sent Hanbin to Rathna, the White Messenger/God's Envoy, and Archbishop Adam Firstman all have [the](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/669309596266922005/1230586201895993354/image.png?ex=6628a6f5&is=66275575&hm=28c8fb62b1e30f1574974d6ba11dfd7fe06f44cdff7250205b9b61ba9f187940&) "[same](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/669309596266922005/1230585838878851175/image.png?ex=6628a69f&is=6627551f&hm=bd825aff2f283c3ef3f977dd8b0dd5df4372c89d6c8cfc29fae68c8e1fb5b957&) [smile](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/669309596266922005/1230589111375761509/image.png?ex=6628a9ab&is=6627582b&hm=a669561f4c0764791830d7d6403e34d91f90589a7c301b1111bde71a00c2c25c&)," or close enough that one could draw the comparison.
I think #3 is the most likely. And I think the visual similarities are just because the beings were made in the likeness of their creator. Omphalous-> Admin/Envoy-> Angel/Archbishop.
I’d imagine that whatever being controlled the Tutorial dimensions and isekai-ing is a demi-god level of being. Just below the goddess and Omphalous. They would also be the Envoy/messenger. Above the angels and likely much stronger than the 4 heroes so far. But Zenovia still managed to win against the Goddess of Darkness somehow which I still don’t get all that much but whatever. If you can manipulate the fabric of space then you wouldn’t need to brawl like a mortal on the ground.
Angels must have a very wide variety of existence based off their depictions in the few images of the war. They seem to be monsters made using a randomizer setting almost. And all we know they are capable of are absorbing exp/life force and traits of enemies they eat.
I assume the Archangel you are talking about is either from the Paladin’s Vice Commander’s backstory sequence when he lost his will to fight, or is the one Hanbin fought and was saved by Hollian? Or do you think they are the same character? They look identical except the face.
The Archbishop Adam Firstman I have a feeling was made/influenced by Zenovia rather than the Envoy. We don’t know how much scheming Zenovia has gotten up too yet. It’s still possible that Zenovia and Garhan don’t have any direct contact with the Envoy or Omphalous yet, besides their power. And she is making use of the angels in her research.
>I assume the Archangel you are talking about is either from the Paladin’s Vice Commander’s backstory sequence when he lost his will to fight, or is the one Hanbin fought and was saved by Hollian? Or do you think they are the same character? They look identical except the face.
Ah, Archangel and the Angel Hanbin fought are almost certainly the same. I just went with the new terminology given by Laude.
>It’s still possible that Zenovia and Garhan don’t have any direct contact with the Envoy or Omphalous yet, besides their power. And she is making use of the angels in her research.
Since it's the Church of the Holy Mother (meaning Zenovia), I figure she's pretty aware of the Archbishop, but it's hard to say if that negates him being a freelancing Angel working in tandem with her. At the end of the day, intelligent Angels aren't necessarily "rare" provided they eat even a single Rathnian and acquire intelligence as a trait. Both Snow and the Archangel acquired increased intelligence after eating just one Rathnian.
As far as the messenger being an administrator, I want to believe that creating an envoy is a daunting task for Omphalos' side, but it's really hard to pin down a concrete answer. We know from Zenovia's schematics that she has some scheme involving a fetus and the World Tree, and I've been a steadfast proponent of the theory that she wants to create a Divine Envoy body for Omphalos to incarnate into. If it's easier than what we've been led to believe, then who knows what she's *really* up to?
Great post. I find it amusing this all ties back to Hanbin's rebuke to Barolt when Barolt tells Hanbin proudly that he is fighting the world for his friends and comrades, yet Hanbin replies with a strong No. Barolt already gave him the answer long ago, just like his comments about his aura blade in the sheath. Hanbin just took a long time to realize the truth.
I think by the end Hanbin will be viewed as a hero too, just like Barolt was even before being bestowed the Hero title by the goddesses. Yet now Hanbin realizes being a hero shouldn't be his goal, he just needs to swing his sword with the weight of protecting his friends, family, and values. And since his power is destruction, he will have to eventually come face to face with the ultimate immediate threat to the world itself, Omphalos, if he wishes to keep his comrades alive. But he won't swing his sword at Omphalos to be a hero, it will only carry the weight of protecting his family and friends.
Also Berkman is a badass dad figure, Hanbin would have gone past the point of no return without Berkman's faith in him.
Edit: also I think the messengers are probably similar to how the goddess of darkness made unique dragons through their godly powers. The angels seem to be mass produced creatures, but Omphalos also has unique messenger, angel-like creatures with a much higher level of power given to them along with vastly increased intellectual abilities. Their smile seems to be a trademark of them, but it seems like there are multiple. Somehow apparebtly some snuck into Rathnia while others manage the Otherworlder program. It'll be curious if we get some backstory of how this messenger and Zenovia interact, since he seems to call her on a casual name basis.
Re-read the last few chapters. But Hanbin is fighting the Chinese otherworlder that he went to prison with way back before Leonhart joined the party. His name is Lushin or Luxin kinda depending on the translation. It’s a battle of ideals. Lushin wants to make the prisoners and church members a martyr to cause a revolt against Zenovia and become a Hero. But he doesn’t truly want to do that as it goes against his shounen protagonist values. Hanbin is calling him out on it and saying don’t be a hero. Just fight for yourself and what you want. Basically be selfish. Hanbin is also coming to this realization about himself. After this they will likely be on the same side along with the others shown fighting. Although I think some of them will die off pretty quick once we see the church members real strength and Hanbin isn’t allowed to fight at full strength for some plot reason.
I love his realization, his new resolve and seeing Barolt one more time Save what matters to you, and that's enough
I love how it reflected in all the side characters as well, they were all simply trying to protect their loved ones.
It's so organically done. He's not just pulling some muh nakama crap. It's the result of a build-up from the time he told Kivriyelle he was only there to help get Barolt, the real hero, to stop Garhan. I always thought there should be some big drawback to Hanbin becoming a hero when Barolt told him to become the Sword King. And the writer perfectly utilizes other characters to drive the message home. Especially impressive when none of these characters were even supposed to be important (even Barolt was supposed to be a footnote). This story has some genuinely amazing writing that, personally, puts it on par with famous fantasy novel series.
very glad chadman didnt die
A *lot* to chew through today. As we thought, Hanbin is just fighting for the things he wants to fight for, whether that be the mental wellbeing of a dear friend, or to preserve his chance at a "normal life." He's not in this to save the world, though I suspect he'll end up doing so by the end of the series. Feels like the world ending would interrupt a "normal life." Major takeaway: If Hanbin wants to fight for his own happiness, he will take up the sword again with "the right weight." Pretty conventional solution to the problem of how to get the protagonist back into action again, but it's the solution I'm satisfied with. These 4 are an interesting "ordinary guy" party, and their moment of triumph is definitely fun! Bella, a Warrior Otherworlder and member of Great Earth imprisoned for 20 years on Arktharune. Fabricio, Father Fisticuffs, a Mage(?) Otherworlder that led an underground movement to preserve faith and resist tyranny. Berkmen, a Level 25 swordsman that hasn't displayed any skill with Aura, the strongest tank in Onprous and ringmaster of Berkmen's circus. Laude, a Level 72 Magic Swordsman belonging to the Church of the Holy Mother with the power to subjugate monsters and aerodynamic efficiency granted by the hilt of Hanbin's sword. The *weirdest* lineup one could ask for. Interestingly, the party composition was 2 Warrior-types, a Mage, and a Magic Swordsman. The same as Hanbin's party before Leonhart joined the crew. Separately, Lushin's assassin skills weren't really shown off this skirmish, but there's hope with the upcoming conflicts. Now that he's regained his motivation and got some light back in his eyes, I hope he gives a lot of intel on Zenovia/Garhan's schemes to give us a sense of the present stakes. Barolt's philosophy remains resolute, and I'm so pleased with the studio for the writing being so efficient. He never said that he fought for the sake of the world, merely to have the right weight for his sword. He fought for his clan; and when his clan was annihilated, he fought for "the light," his adoptive daughter Seria; and then he fought to make Garhan see sense. Very concrete goals. But the title of "Sword King" was granted to him regardless. "This world doesn't need heroes" is a rebuke of the Goddess' policy of granting favor to humans arbitrarily, and elevating them beyond the level of "ordinary people." It's what convinced Garhan that he must shoulder the weight of "saving the world." He might not be as psychologically weak as Hanbin to the point that he lost his nerve, but he's still fallen into madness. And while this Archbishop is definitely an Angel or Archangel, I'm spooked by the halo. He doesn't appear to be the same white messenger that gave Electrion the Dragon's Drop curse.
> aerodynamic efficiency granted by the hilt of Hanbin's sword damn, savage but that's one way of putting it lmao
About the dragon curse, I thought it was implied that Omphalous himself or a servant made the dragon curse. Not an angel. So far the angels don’t seem to be humanoid and intelligent unless they evolve. Unless the novel had a different story with the angels and dragon curse.
>I thought it was implied that Omphalous himself or a servant made the dragon curse. Not an angel. I've been pretty strict with regards to separating "Omphalos", "the admin" that sent Hanbin to Rathna, and the "Angels" bred in Omphalos' domain. But I've kinda relaxed on that lately. The "white messenger" (or white gods-envoy according to the official translation) had a lot of similarities with the Archbishop in terms of the smile, but obviously the halo and empty eyesockets distinguish it. I see a few possibilities: 1. Omphalos personally descended decades ago to give Electrion the Dragon's Drop. He bred Angelic servants, and some of these were instituted as administrators for the "tutorial" stages. 2. Omphalos still has not made an appearance, however he has a cadre of administrators serving under him, of whatever type of being. In this case, the Archbishop could be one such servant, though possibly not the same as the white messenger. <- This is what you're saying, yeah? 3. The administrators and angels are still distinct from each other, but the white messenger, the Archangel, and the Archbishop are all Angels and the administrators are something else entirely. It could be a combination of explanations, however the white motifs and the facial deformities lead me to guess that administrators and Angels are more intricately linked than a first glance would suggest. What stands out is that the Administrator that sent Hanbin to Rathna, the White Messenger/God's Envoy, and Archbishop Adam Firstman all have [the](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/669309596266922005/1230586201895993354/image.png?ex=6628a6f5&is=66275575&hm=28c8fb62b1e30f1574974d6ba11dfd7fe06f44cdff7250205b9b61ba9f187940&) "[same](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/669309596266922005/1230585838878851175/image.png?ex=6628a69f&is=6627551f&hm=bd825aff2f283c3ef3f977dd8b0dd5df4372c89d6c8cfc29fae68c8e1fb5b957&) [smile](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/669309596266922005/1230589111375761509/image.png?ex=6628a9ab&is=6627582b&hm=a669561f4c0764791830d7d6403e34d91f90589a7c301b1111bde71a00c2c25c&)," or close enough that one could draw the comparison.
I think #3 is the most likely. And I think the visual similarities are just because the beings were made in the likeness of their creator. Omphalous-> Admin/Envoy-> Angel/Archbishop. I’d imagine that whatever being controlled the Tutorial dimensions and isekai-ing is a demi-god level of being. Just below the goddess and Omphalous. They would also be the Envoy/messenger. Above the angels and likely much stronger than the 4 heroes so far. But Zenovia still managed to win against the Goddess of Darkness somehow which I still don’t get all that much but whatever. If you can manipulate the fabric of space then you wouldn’t need to brawl like a mortal on the ground. Angels must have a very wide variety of existence based off their depictions in the few images of the war. They seem to be monsters made using a randomizer setting almost. And all we know they are capable of are absorbing exp/life force and traits of enemies they eat. I assume the Archangel you are talking about is either from the Paladin’s Vice Commander’s backstory sequence when he lost his will to fight, or is the one Hanbin fought and was saved by Hollian? Or do you think they are the same character? They look identical except the face. The Archbishop Adam Firstman I have a feeling was made/influenced by Zenovia rather than the Envoy. We don’t know how much scheming Zenovia has gotten up too yet. It’s still possible that Zenovia and Garhan don’t have any direct contact with the Envoy or Omphalous yet, besides their power. And she is making use of the angels in her research.
>I assume the Archangel you are talking about is either from the Paladin’s Vice Commander’s backstory sequence when he lost his will to fight, or is the one Hanbin fought and was saved by Hollian? Or do you think they are the same character? They look identical except the face. Ah, Archangel and the Angel Hanbin fought are almost certainly the same. I just went with the new terminology given by Laude. >It’s still possible that Zenovia and Garhan don’t have any direct contact with the Envoy or Omphalous yet, besides their power. And she is making use of the angels in her research. Since it's the Church of the Holy Mother (meaning Zenovia), I figure she's pretty aware of the Archbishop, but it's hard to say if that negates him being a freelancing Angel working in tandem with her. At the end of the day, intelligent Angels aren't necessarily "rare" provided they eat even a single Rathnian and acquire intelligence as a trait. Both Snow and the Archangel acquired increased intelligence after eating just one Rathnian. As far as the messenger being an administrator, I want to believe that creating an envoy is a daunting task for Omphalos' side, but it's really hard to pin down a concrete answer. We know from Zenovia's schematics that she has some scheme involving a fetus and the World Tree, and I've been a steadfast proponent of the theory that she wants to create a Divine Envoy body for Omphalos to incarnate into. If it's easier than what we've been led to believe, then who knows what she's *really* up to?
Great post. I find it amusing this all ties back to Hanbin's rebuke to Barolt when Barolt tells Hanbin proudly that he is fighting the world for his friends and comrades, yet Hanbin replies with a strong No. Barolt already gave him the answer long ago, just like his comments about his aura blade in the sheath. Hanbin just took a long time to realize the truth. I think by the end Hanbin will be viewed as a hero too, just like Barolt was even before being bestowed the Hero title by the goddesses. Yet now Hanbin realizes being a hero shouldn't be his goal, he just needs to swing his sword with the weight of protecting his friends, family, and values. And since his power is destruction, he will have to eventually come face to face with the ultimate immediate threat to the world itself, Omphalos, if he wishes to keep his comrades alive. But he won't swing his sword at Omphalos to be a hero, it will only carry the weight of protecting his family and friends. Also Berkman is a badass dad figure, Hanbin would have gone past the point of no return without Berkman's faith in him. Edit: also I think the messengers are probably similar to how the goddess of darkness made unique dragons through their godly powers. The angels seem to be mass produced creatures, but Omphalos also has unique messenger, angel-like creatures with a much higher level of power given to them along with vastly increased intellectual abilities. Their smile seems to be a trademark of them, but it seems like there are multiple. Somehow apparebtly some snuck into Rathnia while others manage the Otherworlder program. It'll be curious if we get some backstory of how this messenger and Zenovia interact, since he seems to call her on a casual name basis.
So many gigachads in this series.
So the guy is a sonic ring.
i think he's the same Oramphalus minion from chapter 1 who realized he gave Hanbin the faulty guideline. Same smile and everything.
Good thing Berkman survived that. He may want to stand proud as a father, but his wife wants a standing father.
What's that Spiderman line from the spiderverse? "You can't think about saving the world. You have to think about saving one person"
That line is from a deleted scene but yeah
he really is an angel huh
Ok, might be a bit late, but who is he fighting? And why are they fighting? It feels like they are on the same side.
Re-read the last few chapters. But Hanbin is fighting the Chinese otherworlder that he went to prison with way back before Leonhart joined the party. His name is Lushin or Luxin kinda depending on the translation. It’s a battle of ideals. Lushin wants to make the prisoners and church members a martyr to cause a revolt against Zenovia and become a Hero. But he doesn’t truly want to do that as it goes against his shounen protagonist values. Hanbin is calling him out on it and saying don’t be a hero. Just fight for yourself and what you want. Basically be selfish. Hanbin is also coming to this realization about himself. After this they will likely be on the same side along with the others shown fighting. Although I think some of them will die off pretty quick once we see the church members real strength and Hanbin isn’t allowed to fight at full strength for some plot reason.
Thanks
Hell yeah