A/N: If you're reading this for the first time, you probably don't know why this chapter is just an Author's Note. If you didn't read the original chapter 17 you can skip this and go to chapter 18. This was an actual chapter, but I got a lot of feedback which made me think it was better to rewrite this chapter, and what was in chapter 17 is now in chapter 18, but it's been changed and is longer.

What happened? If you've read the Web Novel, Jircniv welcomes Ainz back to the Empire after the Katze Plains massacre with a large parade. He gifts Ainz a white Sleipnir, who kicks Suzuki in the face, which is negated thanks to Suzuki's physical immunity. I made a chapter similar to that, where Marquis Alexander brings out a Sleipnir which kicks Suzuki in the face, only thanks to Suzuki not having the immunity, Suzuki dies.

Lots of people had a problem with this decision, and I wanted to say a few things to defend that decision (at the time).

1. Some people said that with the vast level difference Suzuki should not have been so easily one-shot. I would counter this by saying while I didn't know levels were also factored into damage calculation and not just stats, Ainz, a level 100 player had come close to losing to the Martial Lord, who was 30ish at the time, right? So even with a 70 level gap, Ainz was at the risk of losing. A magical beast at around level 10-20 could definitely deal a lot of damage.

2. Suzuki should've been able to dodge the hoof thanks to his dexterity being at quite a high level, right? In the Web Novel, Ainz is hit with it even though he's at level 100 there. Magical beasts are often swifter and stronger than comparable humans.

3. It shouldn't have one-shot him: Suzuki is a mage after all, a glass canon. He's also human. A very powerful blow to the neck would decapitate him and kill him regardless of HP damage dealt because this isn't a video game and he is a human. Things like old age and blood loss are also factors in this world, not just video game logic. A blow to the head or heart would definitely be a "critical hit" after all and would be fatal, HP stats be damned.

4. If the Empire could do something like that, wouldn't they have killed off Stronoff easily? No, as I said, Stronoff could've endured the hit a little thanks to his high stats. On the other hand, if Stronoff was stranded on a flat plain with no where to run, a much weaker magic caster could kite him by using Fly and bombing him, much like how Fluder did with the Death Knight. The issue is getting him in a secluded location in the first place. Warriors and mages have different strengths and weaknesses- and Jircniv would be unable to get Stronoff close to a Sleipnir like that. Power levels aren't everything after all. A sixth tier caster like Fluder will lose to a Skeletal Dragon if that person didn't have summoning spells to summon a melee fighter, but could potentially take on a Death Knight which is much stronger. Mages are supposed to be weak in close ranged combat, after all. An assassin of only say level 20 could potentially one-shot Suzuki by decapitating the man if the assassin got close enough. Gazef Stronoff would lose if he was poisoned and had no antidote and couldn't reach a healer in time. Levels aren't everything.

5. Albedo couldn't be stupid enough to not see it was a trap: In the original Web Novel, Demiurge didn't notice the trap. And Albedo might be smart, but she isn't omniscient, not to mention she had a fatal flaw: pride. All she saw at the time was that a lowly human was bestowing great honor upon Suzuki, at least for his standards, something she thinks everyone should do. Just because she's a genius doesn't meant that there aren't flaws in her thinking process. She also wouldn't want to ride the horse with him if it would mean diminishing the amount of glory he would receive- she still considers herself inferior to him, after all.

6. Albedo should've been able to stop the blow with her high stats, right? I must concede there is some weight to this argument, though in the battle with the Sunlight Scripture, Ainz does end up getting hit by the spell of Dominion Authority, right? Did Albedo push him out of the way like she could've then? Then again, reflexes and how fast someone can move is kind of iffy in Overlord, so I can concede this argument does have some merit.

7. Narberal would've been able to avoid/dodge that hit and she's weaker than Suzuki was: Narberal also had levels in warrior type classes along with mage ones. That's why, despite being level 63 she could only use 8th tier magic and not 9th tier.

8. Even a Death Knight couldn't one-shot Suzuki: Yes, it could, provided it got close enough it could easily decapitate him given it has the offensive stats of a level 25 monster. It's the getting close part that's hard.

Lastly, I would like to point out that distraction or "lowering your guard" is a thing. Neither Suzuki nor Albedo were expecting to be attacked right then when it happened, which is what led to the incident.

With all that out of the way, I've decided to rewrite the chapter so Suzuki lives. My reasons are twofold:

One, I realize that the whole thing was rather contrived in a way to force Suzuki to die, rather than being a situation where he could've been killed. It read like I just wanted him to die and forced the story to fit that narrative, which I don't like.

Secondly, while planning future events, having Suzuki die will result in some problems later on in the story which I don't want. Essentially, I don't want the story to go in the direction that his death would lead to.

That's all for the new Author's Note. The original Author's Note of chapter 17 is as follows:

I've had quite a bit of feedback regarding Suzuki's skills, so I'd like to start off with the fact that we haven't been shown any humans with skills per se that I know of in the New World (unless you count Martial Arts as a kind of skill which I guess you could). Most likely I'm guessing that's because many of them are so weak that they haven't gained them yet. From what I understand, human players can actually have more skills than heteromorphs thanks to having more job classes.

Regarding the physical immunity- it's never said whether that's a racial skill or thanks to his spellcaster levels. It could be either/or, or a combination of the two. But, I'm going with the route that Suzuki is picking a build that is more PvP oriented. He has a chance to change his build here which he would want to do given that he doesn't have Nazarick to back him up and this isn't a video game anymore.

As for saying that he shouldn't have skills like Create Undead, while it is possible that was a skill thanks to racial levels, I would think that if you levelled up in Necromancy type job classes you would also gain that kind of skill. I mean, Albedo can summon a Bicorn, and that seems thanks to her job classes and not levels in Imp or the such.

Then again, we never see any high levelled human characters so I can't exactly say that what I'm saying is 100% canon, but I find nothing against it so...

Also, one person asked how Fluder can't see what spells Albedo can use. Thing is, even I don't know which spells Albedo can use (she has a MP bar on her character sheet so I'm guessing she can use some spells) given she never uses one in canon, but I did mention earlier that she has a ring which blocks that kind of divination, and why she hasn't switched it with Suzuki (Suzuki doesn't want to take her equipment, and it would kind of be worse for Fluder to see that she could cast 10th tier magic.) Also, Albedo flies with her wings, not with the third tier Fly spell, something I was wrong about earlier.