20 Slane Theocracy

Thoth opened his eyes, and the sight that greeted him was frightening, to say the least.

Shalltear could be seen looking at him with her eyes glowing an ominous red, her tongue licking her lips.

Thoth, scared of becoming a lunch box, shot up, only now noticing the white pillow he was lying on.

"Oh! You are awake!" Shalltear exclaimed, clapping her hands in satisfaction.

"Yeah... Who gave me a pillow?" Thoth asked as he pointed at it.

"Me of course!" Shalltear said as she stood up, her expression filled with pride.

"Oh, thank you Shalltear."

Shalltear broke eye contact, "I-Its alright... I came here to ask something."

Thoth raised his eyebrow, now curious, "You see, I can't help but still feel bad, about you know what..."

"Right..."

"...So I wanted to ask if I can do something for you?"

'Well, I have no idea.' Thoth mused, what was he supposed to say? He has nothing for the vampire to do right now...

Shalltear nervously awaited a response, she would do her best to fulfill any task given to her, she just hoped it was something she could do.

"...I plan on leaving the Tomb for a while, how about you occasionally check on my library to see if everything looks okay?"

"Oh sure! No problem." Shalltear was delighted to be given something to redeem herself, and her smile showed it.

"Great, now if you excuse me, I need to go talk to Lord Ainz." And so, Thoth teleported away, after which Shalltear would go down to Aura to brag about her success.

Thoth appeared in front of Ainz's office and knocked, after receiving permission to enter, he did.

"Lord Ainz," Thoth didn't forget to kneel dutifully.

"Ah Thoth, please stand, what do you need?" Ainz asked, the succubus behind him smiling like always.

In her hands, a staff with a black orb floating at the tip of it could be seen, a world item granted to her for her protection, Ginnungagap.

"Lord Ainz, I would like to receive your permission to travel to the Slane Theocracy, I believe they are the ones who took me over with the World Item and I wish to investigate."

"...That is very dangerous." Ainz objected.

"Indeed, however, I will take all the necessary precautions, and if you would be so kind as to grant me a World Item for this mission, I would appreciate it."

Thoth hasn't been granted a world item yet, so he might as well come to get one too.

"Of course, I will act according to your plan Lord Ainz." And his trump card, just say Sasuga Ainz-sama, and things will go well!

"I-I see! So that's how it is Thoth, very well, you may head to the treasury and take a world item after informing Pandora's actor."

"Thank you, Lord Ainz." Thoth looked at Albedo, who seemed a bit confused.

No doubt, her whole idea of Lord Ainz's plan was thrown up into the air now, all because of a single misunderstanding.

'Welp, not my problem anymore, I'm getting outa here!'

And so Thoth teleported over to the treasury and walked through the large black doors after saying the password.

Pandora's Actor could be seen cleaning some items with fervent enthusiasm, the man clearly in love with his job.

He turned to Thoth.

"Ooh! Thoth-sama! To what do I own this pleasure?!" Though not as extravagant as he was when Ainz was around, the doppelganger was still very eccentric.

"Hey Pandora, I need to take a world item, I got permission from Lord Ainz."

"A world item?! Their fury shall be unleashed! Which one will you pick, however...?" Pandora's Actor intentionally tried to build up suspense.

"I think I'll take the mask of Dolus," Thoth answered immediately.

The mask of Dolus™, named after the Greek spirit of trickery, can create incredibly realistic illusions, if someone got harmed by an illusion, their brains would act like they were genuinely harmed, one could even pass out from bleeding too much and die, the item can also change the appearance of the user to suit their needs without consequences.

This alone wouldn't make it powerful enough to be called a world item, aside from protecting the user from other world items like all other world items, it would also allow the user to see through all illusions and would grant them complete immunity to all mental damage while also making their minds and souls immune to magical tempering.

It wasn't much compared to some others, but it would do for Thoth's needs.

Pandora's Actor saluted and he went to retrieve the item, a minute later, he returned with a Greek white porcelain mask of a man with long curly hair.

Thoth took it and put it on his face.

It stuck to his face like glue, not falling off even after he let his hand go.

Using its powers, he made it look like it wasn't there at all, next, he made his wings appear white again, but alas, it was still only an illusion.

Still, it would be enough for what he wanted to do.

It was time for him to cause some chaos, and he would begin by dismantling the nation that wronged him and his allies.

"Thanks, Pandora, enjoy your magical items." Thoth waved and disappeared, reappearing outside Nazarick, Thoth then messaged Demiurge.

"Demiurge, I am heading out according to Lord Ainz's plan, from now on, the four angels under my command will be 'saving' the children until I return."

"Very well," came a composed and calm reply.

'I wonder what kind of plan they think Ainz has, from my perspective, Ainz looks like he is trying to make a religious state that worships him. Though I know that isn't the case, I wonder what conclusion those two will come to?'

Either way, with this, everything should be taken care of and Thoth could go and wreak havoc in peace.

Meanwhile, within the borders of the Slane Theocracy, inside the capital city in an undisclosed location, six men could be seen.

They were sitting in a large circular room around a circular table, behind them on large banners the symbols of their respective sect could be seen.

Candles were the only source of light along with the sun shining down through a window in the ceiling.

The six men gathered in the room are the most important people in the entire nation without a shadow of a doubt.

Pontifex Maximus, an elder man and leader of the council, his divine magic surpassed all others, granting him the title of Cardinal, his strength has been proven by his service with the scriptures.

Berenice Nagua Santini, the Cardinal of Fire. She is the leader of her sect and is the only woman on the council, she looks a bit chubby with her large cheeks and is known among the other members as a fairly kind woman.

Zinedine Delan Guelfi, the Cardinal of Water. If Pontifex was an old man, Zinedine was an ancient corpse, his skin is a dusty brown hue and is very wrinkled. No one in the room could hope to guess his age from his appearance, but despite his ancient age, his intellect is rivaled by none.

Dominic Ihre Partouche, the Cardinal of Wind. He looks like a kindly old man, but his fury has been known to be like a tornado while his mind is as steady as the onset of winter, Dominic is a former member of the Sunlight Scripture, which has been annihilated by the powerful undead known as Ainz Ooal Gown and his Guardian entity, Thoth.

Raymond Zarg Lauransan, the Cardinal of Earth and commander of the Six Scriptures. He is known as a keen-eyed man and is the youngest of his present company. He is still in his mid-40s, though his energy made that difficult to believe for anyone who knew the man. His mind is calm and steady, unshaken by the new threat on the horizon.

Yvon Jasna Delacroix, the Cardinal of Light.Yvon has narrow eyes and a skinny frame, which make ironically him look like a sinister person. He has short light blonde hair and wears a monocle on his left eye.

Maximilian Oreio Lagier, the Cardinal of Darkness. A man with black hair that goes down to his neck and round reading glasses, Maximilian is obsessed with law and order, he always has books about the law around him, even having some floating around him during the meeting.

"I officially initiate the Council session." Pontifex, his voice calm and steady, rang out first, the others in the room already had everything they needed prepared in their minds.

"First on the agenda, the Sunlight Scripture." Pontifex, with his position, was responsible for managing the meeting, hence he moved the subject onto the first agenda.

"Have there been any news regarding the undead or his guardian?" Raymond asked, as the commander of the six scriptures, the loss of the Sunlight was a catastrophe, finding skilled and loyal individuals was no easy matter.

Luckily, the soldiers they didn't kill managed to get back, or at least some of them did, which has allowed them to learn something, though the things they heard were hard to believe.

"None so far, our efforts to spy in the area have also proven futile."

"I see..." Raymond then descended into silence, no longer interested in the topic, he now had to find replacements, a task which he found difficult.

"I believe we should strengthen our spy network in the kingdom, not only because of this unknown threat but also...The elf girl." Berenice, the Cardinal of Fire, voiced her opinion, naturally steering the meeting in a different direction.

"I agree, the team Darkness also appeared shortly after the undead and his guardian, we should keep an eye on them, when will the Black Scripture be available again?" Dominic, the Cardinal of Wind, immediately tried to find ways to destroy the threat, but he was disappointed.

"The black scripture is out of commission, for now, they say that they no longer deserve to live. We've had to actively prevent them from committing suicide, they keep saying they dared to harm true divinity and whatnot." Reymund spoke up again since this was his area of expertise.

Zinedine, the Cardinal of Water, immediately began to work with the available information given to him, making theories in his mind. "The vampire also appeared shortly after those two, could they all be connected?"

"It's possible, but then how do we explain the two elves? there is no way they could have slipped past the Clearwater and Holocaust scripture right?"

"For now, let us simply observe and recuperate our losses, Kaire of the Black Scripture was killed while the other members have been deemed incapable of doing their duty, we've already suffered severe losses from only the area around E-Rantel alone."

"Could it be possible more players have descended?" Zinedine spoke.

As a nation with 600 years of history, they could be called the most experienced and knowledgable of the human nations, and they certainly knew far more than the Empire or Kingdom about the world at large, including the entities known as players and NPC's, the God-kin are the children of those players after all though few are aware of that other than them.

"It is certainly possible, but we should remain cautious." Yvon, the Cardinal of Light, warned the others.

Beatrice had a tired smile as she spoke up, "We don't get paid enough for this..."

Everyone else chuckled, none of them received any payment for their duties, this was to prevent corruption from assailing the higher tiers of government, hence why it was now used as a bit of a joke among them that a farmer was wealthier than them.

"Very well, we will observe for now and recuperate our losses, we will also send more agents to the city of E-Rantel to observe the adventuring team Darkness closer, any objections?"

"..." No one spoke, and after a few seconds, the meeting was declared adjourned.

Within the barracks of the Black Scripture, its members could be seen, their minds were wracked with guilt and they were closely monitored to prevent any attempts at harming themselves or each other, though the experience has made them stronger, or rather, it has opened their mind.

Now that they have seen a true angel, one of the highest order, the angels they have been familiar with seem so fake, so pathetic, it's an insult to call them angels in their opinion.

And though none of them could voice it as they were being monitored due to their former bout of suicide attempts, they now firmly believed in that being, and they would find a way to free it and to serve it and their Gods.

A certain girl could be seen playing with a Rubix cube, an invention passed onto them by their six Gods, her hair is black on one side and white on the other, her eyes are heterochromatic, with one eye being black and the other white.

Her skin is pale white, and her long hair hid her elven ears, a part of her she considered shameful, her mind is filled with thoughts, much like all of her comrade's minds.

She never truly cared about any of them, the death of Kaire didn't even move her an inch. Her only desire was to kill the elven king, the person who violated her mother and did terrible things to many in his lust for power, specifically, a powerful heir.

She felt her stomach tingle with butterflies at the realization there was someone stronger than her, the angel, the messenger of the Gods, she felt it, no, she knew it, she stood no chance against him, and neither did she stand a chance against the vampire girl, though she is a mere afterthought compared to the magnificent angel.

Oh how her heart tingled at the thought of bearing its child, but she knew that desire would never be fulfilled, and she knew it too well, why would such a grand creature want the daughter of that man?

Also, it didn't look like he had the necessary equipment, it's too bad really.

As she thought this, she finally managed to get one side of the Rubix cube, the others would prove exponentially difficult, but she wasn't one to give up when challenged.

After all, she, all of them felt it, the Slane Theocracy was doomed the second they attacked that angel, now, they better quietly turn sides while they still can, and redeem themselves in the eyes of that beautiful being.

-x-x-x-

Dont expect another chapter today, my brain is fried.

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