Overlord IV Episode 6

Death Knights vs. Quagoa

At the start of Overlord IV Episode 6, Ainz appears at the front gates of the new Dwarven city. He comes offering to defeat the Quagoa that are attacking. And, seeing how dire the situation the city is in, the Dwarven general accepts this offer.

At this point, I figured Ainz would want to flex his strength. He could go out and massacre all the Quagoa with a single attack. Or, he could send Shalltear out to do it. But, he flexes in a slightly different way. He sends two of his Death Knights to deal with them.

This is a flex in that it shows the Quagoa attack isn’t even worth the time of Ainz’s underlings. But, there’s a problem with this tactic. Because Ainz sent Death Knights, he missed out on gathering critical information. He doesn’t know who or what the Death Knights encountered.

Leading the Quagoa attack was a red Quagoa, which we know is the strongest variant. Still, even a red Quagoa is no match for any of Ainz’s underlings, especially Shalltear. If Shalltear was the one Ainz sent out, she would have easily killed all the enemies.

The Death Knights are nowhere near as powerful. Though, they are still more powerful than a red Quagoa. And because of that, the fact that they both died makes Ainz believe another player is to blame. In his mind, the most likely scenario is that another player defeated his Death Knights at the same time.

I’m curious to see how that mistake is going to affect things in the future. Aura seems to have figured out that the only enemies were Quagoa. But, since Ainz still doesn’t know that, he’s planning for a much stronger enemy.

Protection for Runecrafting

After defeating the Quagoa attackers, Ainz meets with the Regency Council. This is the council that currently leads the Dwarven Kingdom. We’re told that, normally, this would be the role of a king. But, there’s not a Dwarven king right now, for some reason.

It’s possible that the Quagoa killed the Dwarven king. Or, it could be that their attack coincided with the death of the king. Either way, there’s no king. And as far as we know, there’s nobody who’s next in line to become king. Though, I assume the general will take up this role at some point.

Anyway, Ainz and the Regency Council eventually agree to the terms of their alliance. Ainz will provide their country with fruit, vegetables, alcohol, and other goods. In return, the Dwarves will provide his country with the minerals and weapons he lacks.

But, those aren’t the only terms they agreed to. Ainz also promises to provide protection and reclaim their old capital city. This involves defeating an alliance of Quagoa factions and a Frost Dragon. This would be impossible for the Dwarves to accomplish. But, Ainz, Shalltear, and Aura should have few, if any, issues.

As payment for these services, Ainz only has one, simple request. He wants all the runesmiths in the country to move to the Sorcerer Kingdom. Ainz’s plan is to turn his kingdom into the sole creator and exporter of rune weapons. And since runecrafting is a dying trade in the Dwarven Kingdom, that’s not too much to ask for.

Of course, there is a question about the treatment of these runesmiths. Ainz is forcibly relocating them, after all. It’s understandable that the Regency Council would have concerns. But, Ainz assures them that he doesn’t intend to turn Dwarves into slaves.

The 20-Rune Sword

Ainz has all the runesmiths gathered in one room to lay out his intentions. He explains that he wants to make use of their skills to revive lost runecrafting technology. And to show them this technology isn’t just a fantasy, he pulls out a magic sword.

The sword has 20 runes engraved into it. This is a big deal because, according to one of the Dwarves, that shouldn’t be possible. He claims that at the height of the Dwarves’ runecrafting 200 years ago, 6 runes on one weapon was the most.

But, the sword Ainz has wasn’t crafted by Dwarves. One of his old allies in his guild crafted it. So, Ainz’s plan is to raise the runecrafting of the Dwarves to the level of players in the game. And once he accomplishes this, he’ll have an unlimited supply of powerful weapons.

As you might remember from Episode 5, we learned that there are benefits to enchanting. Enchanting weapons is faster and requires fewer resources. So, that begs the question, why would anyone choose runecrafting? Well, the sword Ainz showed off seems to be the answer to that question.

We were never told that enchanting or runecrafting produces stronger magic weapons. We were only told that runecrafting is the more laborious and expensive option. So, they should result in weapons of the same strength — at least in theory. But, what if that’s only when considering current runecrafting technology?

The true tradeoff between enchanting and runecrafting could be speed vs. power. Runecrafting may be slower and more expensive. But, if you can create far stronger weapons, that tradeoff would be worth it. If the Dwarves can develop the ability to engrave 20 runes in a weapon, Ainz’s investment will pay off.

Conclusion

What do you think of Overlord IV Episode 6? Will the Quagoa army and the Frost Dragon be problems for Ainz? Do you think the Dwarves got a fair deal from Ainz? And how close will the Dwarves come to the 20-rune engraving Ainz showed them? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 7 is available now.