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Content

New Chapter for The Witch and the Sorcerer!

A shadow dances in a garden of bones while a fool plays all the roles required of him.

And all is as it must be while the pieces fall into place

'You may download the chapter if you wish, but sharing it outside this page is forbidden!'

Comments

Mike

So 2 things; 1, She is possibly setting up Satoru's "miraculous" rise to kingship, or something similar... unless she plans to burn the whole kingdom down in a spectacular way. 2, doesn't Satoru have a passive that let's him sense ANY and ALL undead? I know her mask works similarly to his rings but is it really that OP that even Bone Daddy himself couldn't recognize a fellow citizen of undeath?

ZeroSenpai Writer

Well, i followed canon's lead, and apparently canon Ainz had no idea Evileye was an undead when he met her, so it techincally works. And i don't think it is the mask but rather a ring if i remember correctly.

Mike

Lol. She wears a ring!? It better not be on her left hand. ;)

Kyle Pettit

Honestly wasn't a fan of the whole "let's dance around this conversation by making her leave" thing. We also have gotten like zero charecter development from Lakyus and now she is just off, she never learned her lesson about being so optomistic and it feels like it's completely unbelieveable to just have dwarves go "oh well we can co-exist now". And what about the Frost Giants?? any trade going through the mountains is gonna get seen by them? I've been here for a long time and been reading this story for well over a year but it just feels like it's falling off. Still gonna keep reading and giving you my 3 dollars a month tho.

Max Heslip

I can see where your coming from, but you got to consider a few things. Starting with Satoru messing with Evileye to get her to leave is just him trying to destabilize an unknown without needing direct physical confrontation. Although I get wanting to see them talk more I have a feeling this chapter sets that up quite well for the future. Now onto Lakyus and the dwarf situation which I feel your missing or might have forgotten one important idea. That being that is wasn't Lakyus's speech or her beliefs that got the races to co-exist but fear. Its stated quite clearly and even recognized by Lakyus herself that her ideals failed in this instance and that its the fear of what Satoru would do that is forcing compliance. Her character development in this instance is recognizing that she failed, but what makes her, herself is that she took that failure and moved on to create something new (new adventuring party). We'll have to wait and see how the failure of her ideals in that instance affects her outlook when she runs into another moral dilemma in the future. So I understand why people would believe she hasn't changed, but after having her beliefs tested she really hasn't run into a situation that would demonstrate how's she's grown. All we do know is that she recognizes she failed in a sense and that provoked a very emotional reaction for her. That could either mean she'd double down on her beliefs or that their beginning to evolve, just haven't seen enough of her being tested to conclude anything yet. Also for the Frost Giants situation that's something that will be interesting if it comes up. On one hand the author may just leave us with the assumption that the combined might of the three united races is enough to deal with them or he might get more into it in the future. Although I understand your views I feel that the story is even better than it used to be with it becoming more diverse and focusing on other characters. I do miss the times where Satoru and Renner were always the main focus, but what building these other characters does is add so much more depth to the story and makes the time with the best duo even better. So still glad your sticking with it because I feel like its got tons of good stuff for us to learn about.

Kyle Pettit

firstly, I understand he is trying to "destabalize" an unknown, but it doesn't make it a wise choice or even a entertaining one. Evileye's mission is to figure out if Satoru is a player or not, and given that he all but just confirmed himself as an undead to her, and she herself all but confirmed she was an undead through her own actions (being able to detect the nearby wraiths, and never eating), cannon Suzuki Satoru, would have dominated her mind like he did with Corpus of the Abyss from the side story. This just feels like we're pushing another "Lin" type charecter where we will play another little dance of "who is who" like he did with her. Although he may not be able to figure out she is undead because of that ring, he should well be using his powers to neutralize her in some way. This just feels like a repeat. The issue with Lakyus has multiple problems as far as I'm concerned. First of all, she is his ward. It's unrealistic that Ainz from real world would just let a child into combat, exceptions for Aura and Mare and such because they are level 100s and even then he doesn't just fling them into combat like the others. Secondly, her idealism isn't corrected by Satoru, or Gazef, or even Renner in the end. At all. You can say "oh she recognized it" but I've just re-read the previous chapters and maybe i'm missing something but I don't see any changes going on here. There is no "now I've seen why I was wrong" she just leans further onto Satoru's power instead of recognizing her own fuckups and frankly, it's just kinda wash-making nonsense that reminds me of the isekai animes where everything a kid wants to happen, magically happens. And we don't see any change in that by the end of the arc. All I see is Satoru letting her do whatever she wants to do for no reason at all, fucking with politics and throwing herself into danger because...? From what we KNOW Ainz/Satoru/Suzuki wouldn't let that happen so this is just completely off tune for him. Why would he just allow that? Renner is an exception because he knows her to be immensely intelligent but Lakyus is just a tween that is also his WARD, so he has direct responsibility for her. Regarding the Frost Giants I think the author just forgot if we're keeping it real. there are now like what, 17ish white dragons, vs a frost giant civilization spanning the entire mountain range except that one valley where the undead are? Dwarves are well and good but the average adult frost giant is as powerful as a white dragon between the young-adult range, and the dwarves were not strong enough to face the draconic family themselves so I doubt very very much they are in their now weakened state. My gripe with this isn't that Satoru and Renner aren't the main duo, it's that originally the story showed us a certain amount of ruthlessness, as Satoru effectively became a "dark messiah" archtype. Now Ainz went to the lizard men, dwarves, quagoa, and dragons and effectively solved all their problems... peacefully? Off key. Moreover we're a few years into this story at this point iirc and we have little charecter development from either Renner or Satoru. The thing about Renner wanting Lakyus as a friend is still kinda iffy because you get the sense that she does not and will not see her as an equal, but was upset at being rejected by someone she held an unhealthy (possessive) affection for, more as a dog than as a person, which means she's not really upset at losing a true friendship, devaluing the sensation. I would be happy to see a few different things, involving some actual pushback apart from Blumrush's attempt at manipulating the second princess. Maybe the King trying to curb Satoru a little bit, or maybe getting the paranoid sensation that Satoru may overthrow him and making some moves to prevent it. We haven't seen the Emperor in a bit, last we knew he was sending some legions to the Draconic Kingdom. Definetly glad to see the apprentices and Lakyus dip off screen for a while though. The story would be better with less kids being POV charecters. Hoping to see a return to form.

Max Heslip

Okay got a better idea of your views. Starting with the idea of Satoru dominating evileye that wouldn't be a wise decision or one that fits his current character. All he knows is that she's shown quiet a bit of strength (doesn't know if that's her max or not), probably isn't human, and isn't completely hostile. So for him to try and dominate her when he also doesn't know if she's just a pawn of a much greater power would be unwise and go against his paranoid nature. Which getting into that, this story is about Satoru not Ainz. Ainz is paranoid yes, but he has a guild that provides massive support and advice adding on to the few risks and actions he's willing to take. Satoru on the other hand has no such backing so he is even less willing to take action or take risks against an unknown. So trying to play mind games indirectly with evileye rather than directly confronting her matches his character perfectly and makes quite a bit of sense. Also thinking it as a repeat of Lin just because they both don't know each other identities is a bit of a stretch, although I do get why you'd think that. I believe the fact that there such different characters and the dynamics should be different would be enough to separate the two, but I get it. Now moving onto the idea of children in combat and its kinda sad the reasoning I'm gonna use. Your reasoning is sound when it comes to Mare and Aura, but the sad reality is that Satoru at this point doesn't care as much about his wards as the children of his best friends. His undead nature and seeing children dead even as a human means he's not like a modern man who would view children fighting as abhorrent. He may have some care for them, but he refers to them as test subjects several times and we'll have to wait and see if his views of them evolves from just reminding him of his friends or just being tests to see how strong humans can get. Okay getting more into Lakyus and if she actually learned her lesson. The point of this arc is that she recognizes her ideals are flawed. That the new world runs on might makes right. Your right her ideals are never really completely corrected, but that's the point. Lakyus isn't meant to just give up and except the way of things, that would go against her entire character. The point was that the world and everyone with power believes might makes rights and Lakyus ideals failed so now what? All this arc did was set Lakyus up as a future major character not just some side character and allow future progression of her ideals to make sense. She's at the point where she needs to think a lot about her own views, which is probably why there's going to be an adventuring arc or just a few chapter about her seeing the world and developing her ideals. I understand its frustrating not seeing obvious character development after having reality smack them in the face, but the fact is that people don't change easily. Especially a stubborn person like Lakyus. She needs more time to see the world and actually grow as a person and this experience is probably gonna be something she'll ponder quite a bit. Moving back to Satoru and his actions. I understand questioning why he'd allow all these things to happen, but Satoru is far from a man to put his foot down. Even Ainz deep into the light novel has a hard time controlling those programmed to listen to him. So Satoru definitely would struggle to keep Lakyus from doing her thing and knowing him even his strange care for her would easily trump those he doesn't know. Especially when they appear to be pretty weak. Also the fact she's the spitting image of Touch Me who I think we can infer is the person he respects more than anyone explains why she can get away with a lot of things. He even directly compares her to him and sentimentality is his middle name. Getting to the frost giants I can't prove whether the author forgot or not so you might be right. Honestly though frost dragons can just fly the supplies around if the giants really start blocking supply lines. There strong enough to carry a lot of weight and while they fly the frost giants can't really do anything. The big problem was that frost breath didn't work on them so the dragons had to engage in hand to hand (claw to hand?) combat. Although frost dragons number aren't that high I can definitely see the dwarves building a contraption so they could fly around bulk supplies/gear. Although if the frost giants start encroaching on the new countries territory that could be a major problem, but they seem to be sticking to themselves for now so it shouldn't be an issue in the near future. Moving on to the idea of ruthlessness and that point of yours does make sense. Wanting to see that darker side is a big draw of overlord and the earlier parts of this story did that amazingly well. Now though considering who Satoru is with and what he's facing he really doesn't need to be cruel or domineering. No ones really pissed him off (such as those fools who messed with Hilma) and Renner's trying not to depend on him as much so she can prove herself so no pushing Satoru into dark schemes yet. Satoru right now is far from a pure evil being although he's more than capable of it. He's also not as desensitized as Ainz is who not only had tons of monsters influencing him, but was willing to do anything to protect his best friend's children. So he's more than willing to settle thing peacefully. Even more so now with the only one he really would go to insane lengths to protect is Renner who even as messed up as she is, is far from the levels of monstrous as the floor guardians. Now getting to Renner and her progression, that's where I got to completely disagree. She's developed massively over the story. Getting more active in politics, actually forming psuedo healthy relationships, and actually being able to relax (enjoy life) at several differing points in the story. Not thinking she's progressed much because she still hasn't formed a completely normal/healthy relationship is pushing it too far for someone who started as someone developing into the complete monster she becomes. Sure her relationship with Lakyus has points where its clear its not completely equal or normal, but that's the point. Seeing Renner struggle to form a real bond that's healthy for her is the challenge she's been facing the whole time. She went from seeing Lakyus as a pawn, to a body pillow, to something resembling a real friend, and now its reached a point where she's on the cusp of something she's never had before a true friend or equal (excluding Satoru). Your view on the development of Satoru is much more understandable. In truth he probably hasn't changed in any real major way. Maybe a few things like getting closer to a few people from the new world and maybe growing a touch more confident in his abilities after quite a bit of seeing no one who could challenge him. Overall though that makes sense. He's too strong to experience forced growth from a desperate situation so his growth just like in canon (probably slower) will be a steady slow process. Ainz steadily became more and more involved in his sorcerer king persona and committing evil acts because of the massive stress of acting like an dark overlord for the floor guardians. Satoru's under no real pressure to change so his development is gonna be slow unless something crazy happens that pushes him to change quickly. Wanting to see more politics in the kingdom and what the emperor's doing makes perfect sense. With this arc hopefully covering that since it seems like that's the direction its gonna take, so you might just get what you want. Although the king getting paranoid about Satoru with Renner in his ear and the fact his royal faction is basically held up by Satoru's power is unlikely. Although I agree there are quite a few interesting thing that the author could get into. I can kinda understand not liking the kid's pov's although I personally like them. Like I said I feel they add quite a bit of diversity of viewpoints and can be quite goofy. Also I love seeing them grow and like Satoru wanna see how far a human when trained/properly supplied in their youth can become. Although I get that people would like more mature pov's that could add diversity of views as well. It's just a matter of personal taste I guess. Overall I understand what your getting at and although I disagree with quite a lot I do love talking about overlord. Especially this fanfic. Although maybe I got too into it seeing about how much I wrote. Gotta catch up on a few thing now, but really do enjoy having these discussions. Helps me to get other viewpoints and allows me a few insights I couldn't see before.

Kyle Pettit

1. Regarding "Aiz is not Satoru" you are mistaken. They are literally the same charecter in a different timeline. The point I made was from the side-story, in which Ainz is Suzuki Satoru, and does EXACTLY as I described. Evileye isn't "some apparently non-hostile", she is refusing to leave and is actively intruding on Seven Hands for unknown reasons, and that is an issue. Seven Hands, as an organization, is Satoru's new backing. It isn't the same relationship as Nazarick, but the point remains. Satoru here IS paranoid, hence going to great lengths to hide his identity. 2. Regarding "it's a different charecter and dynamic" is it? we're kinda seeing Evileye sorta admire him in the same way she saw Momon in main timeline, and that's not just an effect of him being a 'hero'. Main timeline evileye was into him because some individuals can get a "sense" under the hood, anti-divination ring or not, and was attracted to his nature as an overlord. 3. Yes, he does to a certain extent see them as 'test-subjects' but let us not forget that non-invasive tests were done on nazarick denizens. Moreover, due to both being japanese and a lawful person, Ainz and Satoru have always felt a need to mostly "color inside the lines" when it comes to social interactions and even whats expected of them, thus conforming. This can be seen objectively as early as the webnovel's point wherein he kneels for the messenger of Re-Estize, and the light novel where he gives Rita the potion. 4. I disagree entirely, and frankly this feels like backpeddeling on your part. First you said that she did grow, then you said she didn't. More over, you said that the point of her charecter was one thing, and then to change that would negate her charecter, and now that she will change? That doesn't make sense. Lakyus's ideals DIDN'T FAIL in this arc. That's the problem. Everything happened pretty much perfectly apart from Riyoru(misspelled i know) going off the rails but that wound up not mattering at all. So she faced no consequences for her flaws, which is my point. If she changes now, it won't make any god damn sense because nothing has spurred that change. And if she fucks off to the side, she is basically gone. And if she returns later having changed, then it's offscreen. And if we got the details and it was onscreen, then what the hell was the point of this nonsensical arc? Frankly, we're how many years into this fic, and we're not really getting anywhere near a meaningful ending which makes be anxious as it may lead to fic death over time. If someone holds a view contrary to reality, and suffers no consequences of that as they go about their affairs, then that charecter is undergoing some wish-makery crap and I frankly, hate to see it as it makes for awful writing. This arc felt like In Another World with My Smartphone rather than a the original chapters of this novel which kept you on edge of "what will be the outcome of this". Maybe something interesting could have come out of Rayne and Arche being far more terrified of Satoru after seeing him raze an army and merc a dragon lord, or maybe Lakyus could have really slain the Quagoa King, and that would have been a great source of internal conflict that really did change the charecter as she is shown the harshness of the world. This way is just... cheap. Overlord is a grim-dark setting. This doesn't fit. 5. With respect I utterly disagree that Satoru is a man who can't put his foot down. We saw it when he outright snaked Eight Fingers. When, directly so when he told the second princesses lady servant that she shouldn't concern herself with matters beyond her duties, or when he sort-of snapped at Hilma to carry out Renner's plans. And cannon Ainz isn't really a pushover at a certain point. He was perfectly capable of ordering Albedo and the others around. He had charecter development, and the reason why he was a massive pushover in the beginning is because he didn't want to be discovered as a fraud, and was unsure of his servant's loyalty. At this last part of your paragraph here you said "he lets her getaway with so much because she is like touch me and he feels sentimental" but earlier you said he doesn't *really* care about them. The reason Ainz doesn't put his foot down in the later novels isn't because he is being a pushover in part, it's because he sees a benefit to doing so. Which is horrifically badly written. The entire arc of the Kingdom falling, and even the Elven arc, is literally Maruyama trying to wrap up his series because he hates doing it. Hence why everything is so fucking lazy now. It's divorced from the *actual* story that was being made. Ergo sum, I denounce it's relevance to the argument in the same way I would denounce JK Rowling's *technically cannon* assertions on twitter about Harry Potter's universe. 6. I very much disagree with your discussion about Frost Giants not being an issue. The truth of the matter is, the dragons here wouldn't just up and become pack mules. the dragons became so in cannon because they weren't "offered a path", they were outright enslaved by Nazarick. Dragons are proud creatures. And while they signed a pact for co-existance, they did not make themselves servants. Moreover, sure, they MAY fly, but pretty much all overlord bestiary lore is based off of some form of DnD lore, minus extra OC beasts. Frost Giants hurl stones. And more over, are raiders by NATURE. They are based on vikings, as all giants are. And they would absolutely come to arms against the caravans, and the white dragons (whom they enslave often in dnd lore.) Maybe those giants straight up don't exist, or only exist on one part of the mountain range, but that was not given as an answer. Additionally, the dragons leave the mountain to hunt for the meat they need on the mountain side. Which means they would continuiously get picked off. 7. You say in this next paragraph, that it doesn't need to be a dark story anymore. We've reached an end of that period. I utterly disagree. First off, because you're right, the story DID do the dark side well. And that's what MADE the story stand out from the crappy wishy-fics where "everything is good and nice and despite being a evil entity he does everything neat except the bad people who he tortures!". Satoru could be dealing with loads of issues right now. The Emperor should know by now that 7 Hands is infiltrating the empire. He does not know Satoru has god-like powers, and as such wouldn't be completely against making opposition to him (which he did anyways in the cannon storyline despite knowing the extent of his power and only gave up after he realizes he had been check-mated politically.) or the other nobles, Blumrush isn't a moron in cannon, and one of the six great nobles shouldn't be seen as such. Boullope and the others got smacked with overwhelming force from an organization that had silently put a plan into action and whose leaders barely even knew the extent of the plan. It worked because of overwhelming firepower and surgical strikes. In real life it could have been seen as similar to the extermination of the templars, who themselves were not incompetent at all. Sure, the nobles fear Satoru without a doubt. Yet to claim there would be no scheming? perhaps even scheming for his favor? It could also be said that the King would probably be at least making some kind of effort here to gently reclaim some strength or deepen ties beyond "here's this daughter you're going to marry" as he would surely see Satoru's power and sees his "darker nature" to an extent as stated in the chapters earlier. Let's see some actual stakes, some actual conflict beyond "he solves x, y, and z" over months of reading. Maybe Ainz IS willing to settle down, but court politics are notoriously pressure cookers of schemes. 8. You say that Renner HAS developed over the story. I don't think so at all. zero had previously stated that Renner ISNT CAPABLE of loving someone in a healthy way. I take this to extent to relationships. And her relationship is not "pseudo-healthy". She loves her like a dragon loves it's treasure. Not as a person, as a thing to be possessed. Saying she "sees her as something resembling a real friend" is utterly incorrect from what I can see here. Lakyus is here by far inferior in her eyes. A cherished toy. When she was talking to Satoru earlier in the lizardmen camp the realization she came to was the she actually *wanted* Lakyus's affection, not that she held such deep affection for her. More over, saying 'oh she got into politics' isn't charecter development. At all. When she decides to become Queen we can literally see her inner thoughts. She isn't wanting it because one of her desires changed really. She wants it because it gives her power over others, and the power to define her own future WITH Satoru. She NEEDS him. If he wasn't part of that deal, she would gladly throw it away. This is a mirror relationship of her obsession with Climb in cannon. She throws away her entire country on the gamble of spending eternity with him. She even says she would love if they were the only two people in the world. 9. You're right, he isn't underpressure. However, there can be room to change. Realizing how Renner feels about him, realizing how the people consider him to be a god-like entity, potentially EMBRACING his pseudo-godhood and asserting a vision upon the world similar to his desire to see the Sorcerer-Kingdom as a utopia. There's SO much that can happen here, and we can see it all from the mind of a apathetic demigod. There's potential in this story. And what happens at the end of this then? In the end of the Westeros bonus chapters, Renner becomes Queen of the 7 Kingdoms with Satoru as her titled consort. What happens when Renner actually wants him to be directly romantic later? does he just be like "mmm sorry, don't see you that way"? That would give her an anyerism. Does he just keep putting her off like he does Albedo? She isn't immortal. And even if she was, what sort of ending is that? "The frost queen forever pines after the Sorcerer"? it's sad. It needs some kind of change. And if that change happens from herself? What if she stopped seeing him as her romantic partner and more as a father figure? While that would be more digestable than the story of 'the person that took care of her from the age of 9 eventually married her', would that person even STILL be Renner? That seems like a profoundly lonely existance, as there is no fucking way she ever finds romance in anyone else. And even if she did, wouldn't her interest in Satoru fade? Probably the best 'moral' ending to write, but this is a dark fantasy series. The situation creates for us, a predicament that must result in either A. He comes to her heart romantically in the end, B. He doesn't in which case something in her will absolutely break, or C. She stops loving him like that. And that's assuming this story ever gets completed. A lot of fics start and end randomly. Will there be an ending here? Does Zero even have one in mind? The dwaven arc wasn't just a quick run in the dark you know? It was over a FUCKING YEAR AGO, that this arc started. that's right. It's been over a year and we're just now getting back to Re-Estize? Theres a snails pace here, and something has to give. And if Zero abandons this fic I swear to GOD I'll pick it up myself. 10. The King knows that Renner adores Satoru. And likely, even loves him, as he is watching a child be obsessed with an adult that she has already recommended she marry. He also saw Satoru do everything he did, whilst maintaining close ties to Renner. would the King really believe, that this person, who is clearly in his mind, a master manipulator who his daughter loves, who is ALSO a bit of a ladder climber having seized seven hands and the guilds, really to have his best interests in mind? From the King's perspective, it's probably likely that Satoru orcastrated Renner being kidnapped during chapter 1, as a way to introduce himself to the court. There's no way he thinks out of the 1 million+ inhabitants that the ONE master manipulator wizard that takes over half his kingdom a less than 2 years later, really HAPPENED upon the scene. Gazef only judges him that way because that's a personality flaw of his. Hence why he thought of the Marquis Raeven as a evil noble, and Ainz as a great man, having little interactions with either. He doesn't seem to be able to differentiate between this things. A real life example was how people saw Nicholas II of Russia as a great person when meeting him, but he was a tyrant. The King knows Renner is still a child, regardless of her competancy. 11. Like I said, this arc took over a FUCKING YEAR. I don't care if they are cute, it's so frustrating to see pages of these side charecter kids going through puberty when I'm trying to get a narrative here. I enjoy these discussions to. Frankly, I have what's called "maladpative day dreaming disorder", wherin much of my freetime is spent literally day dreaming. I've loved overlord and that's been my soul fuel for that, for years, and frankly i perfer this fic due to the way Maruyama ruined cannon. As a result I do infact, day dream often of this fanfic, and in GREAT detail. It's almost like i'm there, and I've rewritten the scenes literally hundreds of times in my mind. Could or should I be doing this? no. But that's my mental illness. Hence why at the time of posting this, it is 3:42 AM, EST. So if I came across as aggressive or way too heated at any point, i'm sorry. There is real passion here. I just hope, this next year, we get a return to form about what the fic was originally. I reiterate, it feels like it has fallen off. P.S: Sorry for formatting errors, i opened a text doc to write all the words there as I went through your reply paragraph by paragraph as I wrote. it took me well over an hour. It is also 2.5k words long.

Max Heslip

Don't worry you didn't come off like that at all. Were just discussing a story we both like and have differing opinions on. That's the great thing about stories like this is when you can share and discuss your views with others. Won't lie I'm impressed by the thought you put into your analysis so I won't respond with something half baked. Effort deserves effort in kind. I understand staying up late, but definitely don't have it that bad so glad you at least doing something you enjoy. Might take me a bit (gonna be quite busy tmr and the weekdays are always pain) till I can get you a better response. Either way I really enjoy discussing topics I actually find fun and hope you like this arc the author's setting up.

Vee

‘It’s not like I ever expected anything from you… father, you were already dead before I was born… you can’t be disappointed by a corpse after all’ That line goes so hard, great chapter.

ZeroSenpai Writer

Oh dear, i leave for a few days and i find this when i come back. Well, i am kind of flatterred by both opinions seeing how much thought you two have put into this. Kyle, i see you commenting often and so i greatly appreciate your opinions. The fact you consider this fic even above the canon in your heart eally flatters me, so i would like to try and address some of your points. Starting from the easy ones. No, i did not forget about the Frost Giants, you will see their impact on the story and the new formed country in the future. In fact, as you will soon see, the road they arranged for the commerce of Runecraft items is very convoluted exactly for the presence of Frost Giants. I thought about inserting it in the three races meeting, but i felt like it was a bit off topic with what they were discussing. Next easy topic is the future plans. Which there are as i have made a skeleton (no pun intended) of the plot i wanted back in 2020, so do not worry as there is an ending planned. Next and last easy topic. The pacing, which i will admit, it is my own fault, i still consider myself an amateur and not a professional when it comes to writing, and i wanted to experiment with pacing in this arc, which resulted in it turning in a long one, much to the dismay of some and appreciation of others. I am still trying to find a balance to it and hope to get better with time. That said, i think it's about time we get to the big points 1- Lakyus: She is what i call a false shonen character. She is idealisitc and wants to prove her way is the best for the world. Unfortunately, as you said, this is Overlord and idealistic characters often end up in a ditch somewhere. And that is what would have happened to her if it wasn't for Renner and Satoru's intervention. And that is where her idealism fails. She achieves the result she wanted, but the means are not at all what she invisioned. Instead of the three races coming to an understanding, they are forced into a peaceful state through the fear Satoru's power elicited. Which goes against all the ideals of what peace should look like. And i think you had a misconception here (which could be partly to my writing or a different interpretation) NOTHING went Lakyus' way. When she did not managed to find common ground between Quagoa and Dwarves, she found herself at a dead end that would have only resulted in her death if she persevered. That is when Renner offers her hand to Lakyus, giving her a plan to follow that would ensure Lakyus' desired result but thorugh Renner's means. So, nothing since Lakyus and Renner joined forces went Lakyus' way. Her ideals had to surrender to Renner. And it was only through their combined effort that they managed to convince Satoru to not leave and instead help them (with the promise of Runecraft stuff and dragon corpses in return). That is not explicitly said till the very last scene where Lakyus' failings overwhelm her and she goes on a rant with Riyuro, once everything was over. Lakyus has basically been forced to follow a plan that goes against all her ideals. So i would much consider that a failing on her part. And now she is distancing herself from Renner and Satoru as she wish to find her path in life and what she could make of her ideals. To summarize: -Lakyus belives in resolving war and conflict with words -She tries with the lizardmen and Satoru does something similar but not what she wanted -She tries with the Quagoa and Dwarves and continue to fail over and over till she is at a dead end with only her death in sight if she perseveres. -She let Renner handle it from there to make sure this mess could be cleaned up and she could get her "happy ending" -The "happy ending" leaves her empty and sad inside as she knows such a thing was only possible through violence and threats -She find this unacceptable and is trying to make something of herself without Renner or Satoru having her back as she fears she will just onec again fall back on them if she fails Simply making Lakyus fail her end goal would have served no purpose for the character rather than breaking her. Instead, by having Satoru and Renner save her ass, she is now capable of consider the outcome of her actions and how her ideals have failed and why, and not simply drowning in self-deprecation. 2- Renner: Where to begin... i must say, i think you are partially right and wrong at the same time when saying "she did not develope". You are right in the sense that she is still the same person at her core. She still views people in a very poor light and is incapable of creating healthy relationships with others. Though, i think she is indeed evolving her character, not changing it, but shaping it. Her attachment to Satoru is obsessive on the least and disturbing on the worst. She has created a mental image of who Satoru is, and is morphing herself and her persona on that. That is why she is becoming more assertive, more open to violence, and outspoken (mostly in a mocking way) toward others. Which is exactly her vision of Satoru's actions till now. I think i explicitly approached this at some point. While Climb in canon became a simple obsession (because he is very much a passive character at her command), Satoru has become her world by being active and showing her how she should change the world to accomodate her and not the other way around. So, instead of trying to create an angle of paradise where she and Climb could be together without others getting in the way, she now is instead trying to shape the world into being her angle and everyone who disagrees must be put in their place. (like Satoru showed her when dealing with 8 Fingers). Her relationship with Lakyus is also something different, another version of her obsession over Climb, though, in this case Renner very much has to chase Lakyus' affection, reinforcing her view of having to shape the world to her image. Their relationship is complicated, with their ups and downs. Not just a dog/owner relationship, but neither a equal relationship like Max was saying. It is very much in the middle, still shifting and developing. So i would say it is impossible to state its current status and anyone should make their own opinion. 3- Satoru: Well, here is my boy. The GOAT himself. A character that very much like Renner, has not changed at his core, but has certainly come a long way since he arrived in the New World. The man lives on nostalgia. That is the base reason behind how he came to attach himself with all the recurrent characters. Hilma - Herohero Lakyus/Gazef - Touch Me Rayne/Arche - Pero/Buku Renner - Himself (even if it took him a while to realize that) The bonds he had created here were sparkled from these connections he conciously or unconciously made in his mind. But, with time, he is also coming to recognize these individuals as their own individuals, and not merely archetypes of his friends. He is still a long way from coming to care for them the same way he cared for his friends and NPCs (even more due to his Emotional Suppression) but it is also true that he is getting there (as he showed he could indeed attach himself to New Worldlers as shown in the Bonus Volume). Him not leaving Renner and Lakyus in the Dwarven Kingdom after he stated many times how he would prefer to leave, is a clear example of how he is ready to compromise on his stands if those asking him to are not some random strangers. The situation with Evileye is more complex than you make it out to be, i am afraid. As Max stated, he is not sure of how powerful she exactly is, and if she is working with somoene even higher in the food chains, and Satoru is certainly not one to act without first knowing all the cards of his adversary. He is still trying to understand who he is dealing with. As for Evileye getting into the nose of 7 Hands, Hilma previously stated that she had seen only what they wanted her to see, implying they have taken care in hiding what must remain hidden. While not a complete explanation, in my defense, the current arc has barely begun. 4- Povs/Mood I am afraid, this is one of the point where i have to disagree most on. I think it is very much importnat to show all the types of povs possible, even more if such povs are from a recurring character who is going through a very delicate and changing stage of life like puberty. I think that these povs will serve a great role in the large scheme of things when this character will become young adults. As for the mood itself, i think the only time it changed from the usual grim stuff is in the last arc, which had its own grim points, though maybe more thematic rather than visual like before. But do not worry, we will retake our usual grim routine soon enough. Also, political intrigues are part of this next arc. So to see best freind Jir and company i just ask for a bit of patience. Apologies for any grammatical errors, i did not have the time to check my entire text. Still feel free to address any other point you would like to bring up.

Blackjack

while some might see this as a little cheap, but I would love for what happened in Cannon with Momon saving Evil Eye resulting in her falling in love with him to happen again. Still, this time it's Saturu saving Evil Eye from something resulting in her falling in love with Saturu. Now Renner has to deal with an adamantine level adventure (ruffly level 60) being in love with her love interest and having to scheme to deal with that since she can't just send an assassin after her.

Blackjack

Also still have my fingers crossed for a vacation in the Dragon Kingdom.

ItsAVolcano

Seeing Ainz apprentices grow with xp boosting items has me hoping for a follow-up with Celicia being revealed she got an similar ice boosting robe. Both because I feel Ainz would be interested if her xp talent stacks with items and as a callback to Arche and Rayne deriding ice magic as weak.😆

Max Heslip

Thanks for the insight. Glad some of my thoughts matched what you were going over, but I also learned quite a bit. Won't lie this week has been destroying me and I finally just got the time to try and respond to Kyle, but it seems you beat me to the punch. I really do love this story and the way that you actually put the time to answer questions like this makes it even better. I really do need to sleep tho, but I'll definitely ponder over more of the stuff you mentioned later.

Bao Phuc Nguyen

Evileye spying Satoru and asking him his intentions is probably Rigrit's favor. Let's see how the Kingdom will change after the King's death.