A revolution in the making

Thoth walked to the castle, his path unimpeded for now.

The front gate to the castle had a large circle with the emblem of the Theocracy on it, above it, six smaller emblems could be seen, each representing one of their Gods, or rather, six players who came here in the past.

Thoth flew to one of the windows and cast "[Gate]" to teleport inside, but he felt resistance to the spell.

Some powerful anti-teleportation magic was cast to protect the leadership from threats, it must also be quite powerful, powerful enough to resist a [Gate] spell, which is sixth-tier magic.

Thoth decided not to push the barrier further and he flew away just in case they could track the location of the attempted infiltration, after a few minutes, he decided to wait and simply enter through the main entrance.

Thoth waited a few minutes for someone to come along and open the door, after a few minutes, a group of priests came along and walked inside.

The first thing that could be seen was two doors, with symbols indicating the rooms ahead were for priests and priestesses to change into different clothing, most likely some kinds of holy garments.

Two of the group were women while the rest were men, so as they split up, Thoth followed the women.

Now, as great of an opportunity this was for unsavory actions, Thoth simply ignored such reckless ideas.

Instead, before the two women could undress, he decided to strike, at least leaving them with a bare minimum of dignity in his eyes.

The women didn't put up a fight, though no doubt strong compared to the inhabitants of this world, Thoth simply crushed them with raw strength.

After he knocked them unconscious with ease, Thoth quickly looked through their memories, learning about the layout of the castle.

Well, castle wasn't exactly an accurate term, it was more like a sacred holy cathedral, one of such immense size it looked like a castle of its own.

There was a wing for each of the six sects, each one had a different interior style that represented the chosen deity the most, each one also had its quarters divided by gender, its personal church to worship the Gods or a specific God, large baths divided by gender, and a kitchen.

The center of the building was where the scriptures would reside between their missions, where they would hold meetings with the Cardinal of Earth Raymond, and where the Six Cardinals would meet to lead the nation in the desired direction.

The middle, which also connected the wings, was like a large tower, the meeting room was at the very peak while the Cardinals stayed in an unknown location, which these priestesses weren't aware of.

'Well, that's more info than I expected! Thoth was pleasantly surprised, he expected any info related to the Cardinals and the Scriptures to be tightly controlled, but to be fair, he only learned about the Scriptures' place of stay now, so the info wasn't easy to come by for sure.

Thoth then woke them up after implanting different memories in them, as far as they remember, they were going to change when they both suddenly tripped on the ground and fell unconscious from the hit to their head, Thoth even very carefully flicked their foreheads to make it seem like they fell on those.

He had to control his strength a lot, if he accidentally crushed their skulls inwards, it would be a bit inconvenient, though resurrection magic is luckily a part of his arsenal.

Thoth then walked out of the changing room and kept walking for a while, the corridor diverged and connected to many doors, but Thoth kept moving forward until he saw something of interest.

The insides of the Cathedral were very mystical, with candles being one of the only sources of light, along with the occasional continual light cast on the ceiling.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Thoth reached large two-sided wooden doors, and he pushed them open.

In front of him now was a very large chamber filled with candles illuminating the room in dull light, a slight fog added mystery to the air, despite the creepy appearance, the area was spotless like all the others, but this one was clearly often traveled through.

Above each corridor, a symbol of one God could be seen, while the staircase had symbols of the Slane Theocracy on it. Each corridor was no doubt an entrance to the respective God's wings, while the staircase led to the government center.

Thoth immediately shot up the staircase, which seemed to go on until the top of the tower.

Tens of floors connected to the stairs, and Thoth diligently explored each one.

The Temple Guard, the absolute peak of the Theocracy's Guards, could be seen standing with their backs to the walls on each floor, they stood incredibly still, so still no noise could be heard from them, even their breathing was calculated in such a way it didn't make any noise.

The only indication they were alive was when they had to blink, that was the only rapid and visible movement they made, and one would be forgiven for thinking they were statues.

Thoth ignored the fit men and moved on, he couldn't exactly search the rooms with them looking directly at him, so he made an illusion to make the doors appear closed to anyone watching when in reality, they were open.

Thoth explored three floors like this, but to his disappointment, there was nothing more within them.

From what Thoth could gather, it seemed like each floor was reserved for one scripture, with a private training ground, private personalized rooms, and all equipment necessary to fulfill their roles, though only low-grade useless equipment seemed to be left behind, which Thoth was tempted to steal for his future revolution, he decided not to, it would only serve to raise the alarm, he could always come back and take it after all, nothing here so far prevented him from simply moving as he pleased.

Thoth moved floor after floor like this, until he reached the sixth floor, which had a notable lack of the Temple Guard, and he soon realized why.

The Scripture was home, so there was no need for them here.

Thoth carefully entered the floor, and after sneaking into one of the large personalized rooms, he found Thousand Leagues Astrologer on her knees in prayer, to Thoth's surprise however, she wasn't worshiping one of the Six Gods or their symbols.

In front of her on a short wooden table, like the kind Japanese people used to make in the days of the samurai, with incense sticks alight in small porcelain cups could be seen. A small wooden homemade carving of Thoth in his biblical form could be seen, and next to it, his human form could also be seen carved out of the same wood, hence why he even recognized the poorly made carvings to be of him.

'Huh... Well, I guess my biblical form scrambled their minds.' Thoth mused to himself.

This was great news, he no longer needed to have to twist their memories or anything, they already did all the twisting for him.

Thoth, after ensuring Thousand Leagues Astrologer wasn't being watched, walked in front of the pedestal and sat on it, right in front of the two small wooden statues.

He then canceled the illusion which made him invisible, causing Thousand Leagues Astrologer to finally notice his presence.

Thousand Leagues Astrologer hasn't been doing much since "The Encounter" as they all referred to it between themselves, instead, the poor woman with glasses and a schoolgirl outfit was suffering from intense anxiety.

She, like all the others, attempted to make up for her sins with her blood, but she was stopped by the Temple Guard, who were sent to watch over them until their minds stabilized again.

This gave her time to think, and much like all the others, she concluded making up for her mistakes with actions while staying alive was better, though if the angel decided to kill her, she couldn't resist.

She even made these two carvings herself, to pray to and prove she was willing to take action, but her prayers had been receiving radio silence, which she was used to anyway from the Six Gods, but still, she wished to alleviate the guilt in her mind and heart.

While she was in the middle of her tenth session of prayer, she suddenly felt something move in front of her.

Scared that she was discovered, she quickly opened her eyes, only to immediately lower them again once she realized who was in front of her.

The angel raised a curious eyebrow and spoke, his voice small and high-pitched, like a child, but she knew just how powerful and holy the creature in front of her was.

It picked up the two carvings and spoke.

"So, I wonder what you are doing hmm~?" Thoth hopped off of the short table, now walking around Thousand Leagues Astrologer in a circle.

The poor girl was terrified, she tried to answer, but only a stuttered mess came out, causing her to cringe inside even further.

"I won't kill you, it's clear you have sought redemption for your actions, so you may speak freely."

"T-T-Thank you f-for your forgiveness, l-lord." Thousand Leagues Astrologer kept her eyes firmly on the ground, not believing herself worthy of seeing the form of the angel before her.

"It's just fine," Thoth waved his hand dismissively, "But." Thousand Leagues Astrologer froze as Thoth allowed the first distinguishable anger to seep into his voice.

"The Slane Theocracy has failed the Six Gods, and they sent me down to find souls worthy of helping me lead the new nation I will establish after the Theocracy is reduced to ash, so I ask you, Thousand Leagues Astrologer, will you join me as one of the chosen ones?"

Thousand Leagues Astrologer thought for a second, many people would die no doubt, but if this magnificent creature before her considered it a necessary sacrifice, who was she to doubt it?

After a few seconds of silence, she answered with determination in her voice, "I will gladly build a new nation of believers with you."

"Good! You may rise now, you are not below me, as a fellow creation, we must work together to fulfill the will of the Six Gods, now, did any of the others not seek redemption?"

Thousand Leagues Astrologer stood up, though she still kept her head lowered and her body language screamed just how inferior she felt when compared to the angel, she quickly spoke, "No!" Her voice was filled with determination and passion as she continued to speak, "All of us immediately tried to pay for our sins with blood once we returned! We were stopped by the Temple Guard, but that allowed us to seek redemption in other ways, everyone will do their best to build a new nation in honor of the Six Gods!"

The angel seemed a bit stunned by their devotion, a good sign no doubt, she would ensure she impressed the messenger of heaven even further.

"I see, go inform them of the development and ask them the same thing I asked you, I must leave this place on other business, if anyone refuses, make sure you and the ones who agreed silence them in secret."

"Understood." Thousand Leagues Astrologer was about to bow on instinct, but remembering the command, she only awkwardly nodded.

The angel suddenly disappeared, causing Thousand Leagues Astrologer, to doubt if she only hallucinated everything, but her doubts were alleviated by the item that now appeared in her hands.

A strange symbol a denizen of Nazarick would recognize as the symbol of Ainz Ooal Gown could now be seen in her hands, its brilliant purple glowing with power as the white seemed to radiate power.

All of that was in her mind, the symbol was merely on a beautiful rock, there was nothing magical about it, but the meaning behind it stood clear, she was truly deemed worthy.

More such items appeared in her hands, one for each member of the Black Scripture, afterwards, a note appeared, which she immediately opened to read.

"In the future, a nation led by an undead called Ainz Ooal Gown shall appear, he is the only good undead in the world, and as such, his potential is immense. We shall aid him in creating a utopia for all humanity, that is our mission, to create a perfect nation under a perfect, immortal king."

"The world is divided, weak, fractured, it cannot stand against what is to come, only he can save you all."

Thousand Leagues Astrologer, stared at the letter in shock, an undead? Of all things? An undead was meant to save them all? Her mind started to bory the seeds of doubt, but before they could entrench, they were ripped out by Thoth, who stood behind her, carefully monitoring her thoughts.

Thousand Leagues Astrologer felt her doubt disappear, she should just believe in the Gods and their plan, no doubt, this threat coming for them warranted such extreme measures.

She walked outside after stuffing the strange gems into her pockets, she moved in a way that didn't attract suspicion or hint at anything being wrong, she hoped so at least, she gathered the various members one by one, each time whispering something in their ear, which caused their eyes to go wide.

Everyone followed her without complaint, there was no way Thousand Leagues Astrologer would lie about this, which means their prayers had been answered, and they would be given a way to redeem themselves.

Thousand Leagues Astrologer led them all to her room, which she knew was secure, and after everyone entered, the first seat or captain of the scripture looked at her.

The young 20-year-old man seemed like the honest and righteous type, his hair is black like his eyes, and he is dressed in his armor and with his spear in hand, which has a black tip.

He was in the middle of training, but this matter took priority over everything else, so he didn't even bother getting into more casual or formal clothing.

"Astrologer, is what you said true? Did he truly return?" he seemed to still be in disbelief, but when Thousand Leagues Astrologer took out the letter along with the gems, they all believed her.

"Yes, and he decided to do something quite drastic. And I will support him."

She then read out the letter for them, and Thoth immediately felt their minds light up, which he then immediately suppressed.

Time Turbulence, who looks like a teenager with long brown hair with green eyes could be seen dressed in green clothing, he prefers to stay in his equipment, meaning he still has his black and white rapier adorned with a spiral pattern with him, along with his miniature green top hat.

"What the fuck?" He said completely confused by the sudden turn of events, it wasn't that he was unwilling his mind seemed to agree with everything the letter was saying, but the sheer speed at which things seemed to be happening was a lot.

"Yeah. I wanted to meet him." Antilene, the black/white-haired elf spoke while a bit of disappointment flashed through her eyes.

The other members didn't react, though they all knew why she wanted to meet the angel, her passion for finding a strong entity to impregnate her wasn't a secret after all.

"I don't think that's what he meant, but I will no doubt support our Gods and their angel sent down to us." Quaiesse Hazeia Quintia, also known as the one-man army, spoke politely as always, but everyone knew how we tended to act when provoked.

Nonetheless, everyone nodded at his words, no one here intended to betray their Gods by refusing to aid their angel, if this was the best course of action, they would follow it through to the end.

Thousand Leagues Astrologer clapped her hands together, "Great! Everyone take one of these gems and do not lose them, I don't know what they do, but it's likely they are important so keep them hidden and close at all times."

She then gave everyone a gem at random, she already had her own, meaning she was the first to receive it and the only one who had the honor of directly speaking to the angel.

"Right, it seems it has picked you as its favored, so if it appears again, we are counting on you, Astrologer." The captain spoke, his ego seemed a bit hurt by not being chosen but he would have to live with it.

Thoth could only watch in satisfaction as all the members accepted their new orders and reality, all seeds of doubt exterminated in their minds.

Turning them into his army wasn't as difficult as Thoth expected, though a certain Antilene Heran Fouche proved surprisingly easy to manipulate, mainly since her loyalty swiftly shifted once she realized Thoth could help her get revenge much faster than the Theocracy ever could.

Thoth nodded in satisfaction and he quickly continued to investigate the insides of the Cathedral, looking for hidden passages and other secrets, he even managed to find Raymond, the Cardinal of Earth and the leader of the scriptures heading up to most likely check on the Black Scripture.

Needless to say, the man was manipulated, his memories of the people around him contorted and twisted, though his mind was one of the strongest Thoth had ever seen in the new world, which drained him of a lot of mana, at this point, he stopped manipulating the memories of Raymond, leaving him far more open to the idea of betraying the Theocracy and leaving his nation in ruins, though he still felt some duty, and he would still do his best for his nation.

The man was a tough cookie to crack, but he would bend eventually, Thoth didn't doubt that for a second.

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