7th Time Loop – 10 – The Harbinger of Death

Rishe is practicing her sword alone in the training yard when Lawvine approaches her, and notices there’s hesitation in his strikes. Rishe admits that she’s terrified of a future where everyone will have to go to war, fight, and die. Lawvine thinks she’s right to fear that future.

The future of his own son was taken in such a manner, and while he’ll always be proud of him for fighting, he wishes he had lived. He tells her not to neglect her own hopes and feelings, for when the time comes they’ll help her move forward in dark times.

Rishe wants to move forward, which means surviving longer than her past time loops. That’s why she’s a knight candidate; because it’s the only way she’ll get the unvarnished version of the training regimen her fiance has designed for the other would-be knights.

But one day Arnold visits a training session, and immediately recognizes Rishe. Fortunately, he doens’t have a problem with her training as long as no one else finds out and she makes sure to get proper rest. As for her overhearing him rejecting Prince Kyle’s offer, she thinks he’s putting up a tough, cruel facade to hide his fundamentally kind nature. Arnold disagrees.

Rishe manages to prepare another medicine she believes will help restore Kyle’s strength, and also tells him she overheard him asking Arnold for an alliance. She offers a modest alliance between them in his place, as she believes she’ll need Kyle’s help to convince her fiancé that war isn’t necessarily the answer.

As for Professor Michel, after hearing how Kyle’s request was shot down, he’s now convinced he’s found the royal he’s been looking for who will accept the gift of black powder, i.e. explosives, which will certainly be a game changer in any future war, not to mention a decisive advantage over any of the empire’s enemies.

Michel had a fucked-up childhood, with his father blaming him for his mother’s death, and telling him he had to atone by finding and realizing his calling. That Michel’s calling ended up being designing weapons of mass destruction doesn’t matter. Fulfilling his calling, even one that throws the world into chaos, is all that matters.

This makes him as dangerous a threat to Rishe as Arnold, as it increases the chances a horrific war will claim her life once again. The episode ends with her having arranged to use some of Theodores retainers for some purpose, but otherwise she has no idea if it’s possible to convince Michel not to present Arnold with black powder.

In that regard, the more lightweight half of Arnold discovering her disguised as a knight candidate clashed with the sudden existential crisis of her former mentor whom she had a falling out with over this very same matter.

Even if she told Michel the truth about her loops and he believed her, it wouldn’t change the fact that he believes with absolute certainty that he must bring about the destruction of the world so a new one can rise in its place. And that’s a bummer, because it’s pretty standard villain thinking.

7th Time Loop – 09 – Branching Point

Prince Kyle didn’t arrive from Coyolles alone: he brought his kingdom’s foremost scholar, Michelle Evan. Evan was Rishe’s sensei in the life she lived as a scholar, and here he approaches her of his own accord, fascinated by her herbs and her painted nails. After just a few minutes of chatting with her, Michelle wants to recruit Rishe as his apprentice.

Rishe is happy to receive instruction from him for the duration of his stay. Michelle also deduces that she is preparing to present the prince with a medicine made from herbs from her garden. She later meets with Kyle and Michelle, who vouches for Rishe on the potential efficacy of her medicine. Kyle admits he’s always been ready to do whatever is necessary to improve his condition, which includes enduring the medicine’s thoroughly disgusting taste.

Prince Arnold surprises Rishe by arriving as her escort home, perhaps due to his discomfort with her hanging out with Kyle and Michelle, two not unattractive men. Then the soiree celebrating Kyle’s visit arrives, and Rishe puts her focusing ability to detect Count Lawvine. Fearing he’ll blow her cover, her goal is to avoid him without looking like she’s avoiding him.

When she sees Arnold and Kyle heading to the balcony, Rishe follows them and listens in. Kyle gets down to brass tacks: he seeks a military alliance with Galkhein, in exchange for all the gems and metals Coyolles can provide, with no regard for profit.

Arnold sniffs out Kyle’s weakness and desperation, and rejects his proposal out of hand. He also correctly presumes that Coyolles’ once vaunted mineral reserves have already dried up. Kyle knows his request is foolish, but not knowing how much longer he’ll live, he’d do or say anything to secure the future of his kingdom.

Kyle thought Arnold would at least listen to an appeal based upon the welfare of the people, since his research into Arnold revealed a prince who through his deeds truly cares about his people. But Arnold, perhaps set off by the praise, reverts to his Bad Boy persona, telling him it would suit him better to simply invade Coyolles than extend a helping hand.

Kyle’s proposal of an alliance never happened in previous loops; once he rose to Emperor, Arnold invaded the rest of the world, including Coyolles. Rishe identifies this as a “branching point” in the history of this loop that will change the course of the future.

It’s the first sign that a war gripped by war that claims her life within ten years may still be on the horizon. But while still likely, that future isn’t set in stone, and there’s still time for Rishe to work to avoid it.

Overlord IV – 04 – Away Game

As soon as Albedo departs from E-Rantel for her special envoy mission, Ainz takes a trip of his own, using Gate to slip into the Imperial capital of Arwintar with his new pal Ainzach. He’s there to begin enacting his plan to recruit adventurers who actually go on adventures, and also checks in on his old pal Flugel, giving him The Book of the Dead from Earth and just a tiny taste of the secrets it holds.

Ainzach is actually the one to suggest Ainz himself fight in the coliseum in order to advertise his recruiting plan, but you also get the feeling Ainz has been itching for a good old-fashioned fight. He meets with the Warrior King’s tiny-eyed promoter Osk, who has not only thoroughly researched Ainz, but uses a Bunny Person Maid’s heightened senses to gauge his power.

As you’d expect, fighting one-on-one with any other individual would be too short a fight, so Ainz not only agrees not to use magic, but also commits to not using magical items (other than his own body and its built-in attributes). Also, if Albedo knew her beloved Ainz-sama would be fighting in an arena while dressed so cool, she’d probably teleport right over there.

Overlord is great at quickly building up grizzled, noble characters, and the Warrior King, a War Troll named Go Gin, is as grizzled and noble as they get. He and Ainz actually exchange some banter and laughter before getting down to it, when we see that the very best warrior an empire can offer is absolutely no match for even an Ainz Superleggera.

When Ainz indicates he’s about to go in for the kill, the Warrior King removes all of his armor. He knows Ainz has been holding back, and asks him if he’s really so weak. Ainz assures him that it’s more a matter of him being so strong. But he acquiesces to the King’s demand that he show him at least a “fraction” of his full strength.

Once he does, Ainz’s defense is so strong, a flurry of blows from the great Warrior King’s massive club bounces harmlessly off him, allowing him to get within point blank range and casually plunge his blade into the Warrior King’s chest, killing him. Ainz then flips on his magic mic and announces his adventurer recruitment plan.

To do so before a stone-silent crowd who just saw their beloved champion so comically bested shows Ainz’s lack of showmanship. It turns out he also didn’t come just to mess with El-Nix, though he is irked that the emperor rooted loudly for the Warrior King throughout the match.

Ainz’s intent hardly matters, however. By so easily killing the empire’s greatest warrior—then bringing him back to life during his speech—El-Nix is convinced right then and there that surrender is the only way to save his empire and its people. When Ainz visits his box after the bout, El-Nix offers his empire to Ainz as a vassal state.

Hilariously, Inner Ainz has no idea what that means, so makes up an excuse to skedaddle with haste. But El-Nix even interprets that as some kind of shrewed 5D-Chess move. At least one of his generals suggests that maybe Ainz wasn’t really thinking of anything…which was the truth!