Be (not) afraid.

Erya gazed upon the large beast in front of him, while he may be an arrogant insufferable asshole, the man is no idiot, and he is not weak either, not by new world standards at least.

The large hamster in front of him exuded power and master with each movement, each twitch of the tail was in response to his movements, this would be a tough fight, but one he would surely win.

There is no way, he, Erya, the worker who equals Gazef Stronoff in power, would be defeated in this shitty tomb by some magical hamster!

The beast shouted, apparently it was named Hamsuke, not that he cared in the slightest.

He glanced at the blessed child as it is known, why it was here he did not know, but he had to deal with the immediate threat first.

His attention was once again brought back to the beast as it shouted:

"Now come! I challenge you, invader, to an honorable duel to the death!"

Erya clicked his tongue, duels are for intelligent creatures like humans, not for some stupid beast.

"Well, you'll make a fine trophy I suppose!" He brandished his sword and charged forward, feeling the power of various spells fueling his might as his elf slaves aided him.

Good, he would have fun with them later.

His muscles bulged out as he charged at Hamsuke, who let out a surprised yelp in return as she fell on her back, Erya thought to gut her like a fish, but he was surprised as the tail suddenly appeared and nearly crushed his head like a grape.

Luckily, he managed to avoid it with his sword redirecting the nearly fatal blow, but it did force him to retreat.

'This fucking animal...' He had to keep his guard up. And he now knew how much danger he was in.

"Support me more you useless things!" The elves flinched as they raised their hands and cast more strengthening spells, causing Erya to grin like a madman as he was filled with immense power.

Thoth frowned as he felt his eyes squirm beneath his skin, oh how he itched to handle Erya now, but he had to wait. Hamsuke should get her chance to show off her skills which she has cultivated for so long.

"Hmm, too afraid to attack I see?" Hamsuke taunted, getting a visible reaction from the butthurt Erya

Thoth could not help but be impressed.

Before this, the faked surprise was to lure in the opponent and end them with one decisive strike, and now taking advantage of the enemies' crazed state and large ego, Hamsuke is smarter than he had initially thought.

"Oh you're going to be scared real soon you animal!" Erya shouted as the buffing spells now took full effect, he then rushed forward.

Hamsuke tried to slam him with her tail, but Erya managed to jump out of the way just in time, he then jumped in the air, ready to pierce Hamsuke's head.

Hamsuke then rolled out of the way to Erya's shock, how can something so fat roll and stand up so quickly?

He then saw his life flash before his eyes as the large green snake tail of Hamsuke charged toward his head-

...Yet nothing came.

He gingerly opened his eyes to see Thoth holding the tail with one hand, he smiled at Hamsuke and spoke.

"Congrats Hamsuke! You fought super well!" Thoth said in a childish and naive voice.

"Ah! Sir Thoth, t-thank you for the praise!" The hamster stuttered a bit as it realized it never even detected the Archangel in the same room, the poor girl was tunneled in on Erya too much.

"I'll take him if you don't mind." Thoth then turned to Erya, who looked at Thoth with disgust in his eyes as Thoth grabbed Erya by the collar of his clothing.

How dare some filthy elf touch him!? What an outrage!

As if sensing his thoughts, Thoth smiled gently, though Erya never felt more scared in his life. For some reason, that smile deeply unnerved him.

"Dont worry Ery-kun~ That will be the least of your concerns in a few seconds!" Thoth's skin squirmed slightly as the angelic nature confined in this simple form waited to be unleashed, ready to--Itching to punish the sinner in front of it. Though his voice still sounded energetic and naive, like a child.

"Now..." Thoth allowed his wings to explode outward, casting an angelic glow over the room.

Hundreds of eyes opened all over his skin as they all collectively stared at Erya, filled with divine fury and a sense of bliss at punishing those deserving of it.

The voices of thousands rang out as they all collectively spoke in perfect harmony, the wings surrounded Erya. All he could see was Thoth and his pure white brilliant wings, all covered in eyes that stared deep into his soul.

"BE AFRAID."

"A-AAH-!"

His screams were cut short as he felt his soul tremble in fear. His peripheral vision turned to static noise as his mind failed to comprehend what it was looking at, and more so the fact that this creature was angry at him.

Erya wanted to shout, he wanted to beg for forgiveness, but he could not scream, for as he looked down, he realized his body was bleeding from its sweat glands, mouth, eyes, ears, nose, and throat as it gurgled in pain, his lungs suddenly then collapsed in on themselves. Yet he still lived as if he was forced to suffer for his sins until he was redeemed.

His body was collapsing just from the angered gaze of this thing.

'...Just what kind of monster did I anger?!' His mind shouted with whatever it had left.

Ah... So this is how he would die? No! He refused to accept such a fate! He stared in horror and desperation as Thoth smiled down at his melting form. His will to resist was broken immediately.

"Remarkable, to think your will to live is this strong! Well... Demiurge will certainly break that. And he'll have fun with it too no doubt!"

Hamsuke and the lizard brothers stared in pure and uncontained horror as Thoth's eyes, which were on his back and the back of his wings as well scanned the room and them. They wanted to run, yet they could not move.

'By the Gods, weren't angels supposed to be beautiful?' Zaryusu thought, yet he couldn't even hope to speak, not that he would dare voice such a thought.

The three elves were doing as well as one would expect, thankfully, their minds were already numbed thanks to their... "Training," but they were still paralyzed and on their knees.

As Zaryusu looked closer he couldn't help but doubt himself... Is that joy in their eyes?

They look like they are staring at the best thing to have happened to them in their life!

He looked at his brother, who then looked back, the same thoughts flashing through his mind.

Holy shit, everything in this place is far beyond them isn't it?

Answer: Yes.

Thoth flapped his wings as they returned to his back, the man once known as Erya was just a puddle of bleeding flesh on the ground, gurgling in agony.

How he was still alive is not something they know, nor something they dare to ask.

Thoth waved his hand and teleported him to the happy farm, no doubt they would fix him up and break him again over there in far more horrific ways than he could come up with on his own.

Thoth then turned to the others, now with his wings hidden away.

What he saw was two lizards on the ground shaking in fear, and three elf slaves on their knees trembling with a mix of fear and... Joy...?

Oh yeah, and Hamsuke is passed out on the floor. The filthy stench coming from her does indicate she likely pissed herself in fear.

...Ew. But Thoth couldn't really blame her.

It is certainly interesting that the highest-level creature here passed out first, her resistance stats must be really low compared to her other stats.

Well, after Thoth waved his hand at Hamsuke and removed the filth, he turned to the elf slaves, who seemed to stare at him with a fervor that made him... Rather uncomfortable.

'Damn, I'm going to end up like Ainz aren't I?' Thoth lamented before he spoke up.

From the elves' perspective, Thoth, even while in his childish form, appeared as a being of absolute perfection, mostly cause that's what he is.

All beings in Nazarick are perfect when it comes to appearance, with no flaws or ugly parts to them unless they were meant to be so. Not to mention the impressive show of divine might and to top it all off, he freed them from that bastard's grip!

They were ecstatic, enamored, relieved, overwhelmed, and so so many other things on top of those few, it was pretty clear where their minds would go in this state.

Worship and adoration. It's the only way for their minds to remain intact, especially during his show of power.

Before Thoth could speak, they clasped their hands together as their eyes flooded with tears at the beauty of the divine being in front of them.

Oh, how dare that idiot- Nay, that moron insult such an amazing entity! Truly, he was blind, but they would no longer be contained by his previous actions.

No, everything has been a test so far, yes, That must be it! This divine, beautiful, amazing being wished to test their resolve and they passed!

They all thought this, as their minds all seemingly synchronized in their religious fervor.

The blue-haired elf spoke as her fellow elves, who were kneeling by her side, closed their eyes in prayer. She followed in turn, after all, they did not deserve to look upon their savior's majestic form without permission.

"Great One! We humbly offer your most sincere prayers!"

The savior, who was known as the blessed child by the pathetic mortals on the surface, remained silent for what felt like forever, is he judging them?

'Oh Gods, have we offended him somehow!?' the mere thought of it felt like a tsunami crashing into their minds, leaving only death and suffering in its wake.

Luckily, as if noticing their plight, in his mercy, their savior saved them from their doubts.

"I received your prayers my children. Now raise your heads, there is no need to kneel either."

They all raised their heads, their minds quaked at the thought of standing above their savior, but his wise self is no doubt untroubled by such things. And so they stood.

His cute face seemed rather focused, most likely thinking about something beyond their comprehension.

'These chicks are fucking crazy.' Thoth thought to himself as he simply stared at them.

They might be trying to be composed, but with his crazy stats, he could easily notice each twitch, each reaction to the tiniest of his movements, and anything else.

Not to mention that look... Seriously, they think he's God don't they?

That would not be good, Ainz is the only one worthy of that title from the NPC's perspective. If he parades around as a God... Well, things would not go well.

"Well then, you may return to the surface if you wish." Their expression subtly turned complicated, they wanted to be of use to him in any way! Not be sent to go back to their mundane lives!

"Or..." They immediately looked a bit more hopeful and excited again.

"You could help me and my Lord."

The "my Lord" comment flew over their head instantly as their minds celebrated being of use to their new master.

"Of course! We'll do anything we can, just order us!" Once again, the blue-headed girl took the initiative to respond. They all smiled as the other two nodded strongly.

"I see, well, first, what are your names?"

"Ah- we do not have names." The blonde elf spoke up, looking to get her share of attention too.

"You don't?" Thoth's voice got slightly deeper, but that was enough to send the blonde into a panic.

"W-We f-forgot them b-because of o-our t-training."

"I see..." They pensively awaited his next words as the brown-haired elf and the blue-haired elf both chastised the blond in their minds.

"I shall name you then!" Thoth made a very simple decision. But it elated his new followers nonetheless.

What an honor!

"You shall be Luna," Thoth said as he pointed at the blue-haired elf

"You shall be Sol," He said as he pointed at the blond elf.

"And you," the brown-haired elf squirmed shily as he suddenly paid attention to her, "you shall be Gaia."

As the elves were bowing in gratitude, Thoth suddenly received a message from the lich.

'Sir Thoth, Foresight is approaching the arena teleportation circle.'

'Thanks, I'll be right there.'

"I must go sadly." Thoth waved his hand and a teleportation circle appeared in front of him, "Head into this portal, it will take you to Carne village. There are four angels there under my service, they will take care of you while I deal with other things."

Thoth then withdrew some legendary items and clothing from his Star of David earring.

"Put these on when you can, I'll come visit you soon and tell you of your mission, now go."

The elves bowed immediately and walked through the portal, except Gaia, who stopped for a second in front of the portal.

"U-Um!" Thoth turned to her as he was about to leave through a separate portal.

"I-I j-just w-wanted to t-thank you for e-everything!" She then rushed through the portal.

As she appeared in the village square of Carne village, she heard a voice in her head.

"You're very welcome."

Thoth then walked through his portal into the Great Library.

"I have some work don't I?"

-x-x-x-

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