14 Shalltear Bloodfallen

The next few days were rather uneventful, Thoth did change a few things around, however.

Clementine was revived and he dragged her to Demiurge and his happy farm to make a deal with the devil.

The happy farm wasn't far from Nazarick, and from the outside, it looked fairly normal, no doubt to help it stay hidden.

However, as he entered inside, things were radically different.

Cages lined the walls, with hundreds of various species all moaning in pain or pleasure as Demiurge kept his sadistic breeding experiments in motion, people could be seen with their skins being peeled off and then healed, whatever they once were they were no more, they were completely broke here in the happy farm.

Thoth felt pity for them, but he felt no anger toward Demirge surprisingly enough, though he still wanted to save the children, they deserved a shot at life at least.

Demiurge could be seen walking over, his orange suit with white stripes made him easily noticeable, and the grin on his face would unnerve any being who saw it, his glasses seemed to shine as he pushed them up.

Thank goodness Clementine was unconscious, if she had seen this, she would have rather killed herself rather than experience this fate.

"Welcome Thoth! How may I help you?" The demon spoke as Thoth lowered his head slightly.

There was a clear difference in rank here, as an area guardian, he must show his respect to a floor guardian.

"Thank you for your welcome Demiurge, I believe this woman may prove useful to your experiments, she is what the humans call a Hero, someone with strength that defies what most would consider possible." Thoth threw Clementine to the floor right in front of Demiurge.

"I see, thank you for your addition to my collection." Demiurge snapped his fingers and some demons collected the woman, the rest of her life would no doubt be horrific, but Thoth only felt fulfilled knowing that.

"I would also like to make a deal," Demiurge didn't raise an eyebrow, but his curiosity was peaked, "I believe it would make sense for you to stop kidnapping children, their skin is softer, but the scrolls they generate are either lower or the same quality yes? Also, adults are more cost-effective than children since they generate more skin too."

"Indeed, but there is also no reason not to, since the children will grow up eventually the investment will pay off, their skin will be higher quality since it will grow used to being peeled off, and they are more adaptable than their adult counterparts."

'And you like to hear their screams, you forgot to mention that.' Thoth didn't say it out loud, that would accomplish nothing good, so instead he decided to make another proposal.

"How about this-" Demiurge held his hand up and stopped Thoth from speaking

Demiurge didn't like the direction Thoth was going, he felt the most joy from tormenting the little creatures, however- a flash of realization sparked in his genius mind, he couldn't now tell where Thoth was going with this.

"Kuku..." He pushed his glasses up as Thoth mentally braced for what he knew was coming, "Truly a fantastic Thoth, you wish to have me kidnap the children and then you will come to 'save' them, creating a large following of devout worshipers for the religion Lord Ainz is trying to create!"

"Y-Yeah exactly! I knew you would understand Demiurge." Thoth now knew how Ainz felt, and damn, he felt a bit of sympathy for the guy now.

"I see, very well, we will have that happen. I will kidnap children, and then after a day of being here, in their darkest hour, you will secretly help them escape, kuku... Sasuga Thoth-sama!" Demiure opened his arms in a grandiose gesture, "To think you and Lord Ainz came up with such a plan! Brilliant is the only way to describe it."

"I-I see, I will pass on your praise to Lord Ainz, as a lowly servant, I too only see a fraction of his grand plan."

Demiurge nodded in understanding, he too could only hope to see a fraction of his masters intellect.

"I shall take my leave then, hope your experiments are successful Lord Demiurge."

"Indeed, I wish you good luck."

Thoth then departed after failing a mission successfully.

'Well, he will still kidnap children, but now I have a guarantee they wont be stuck there forever, instead only for a day, and afterwards, they will be turned into loyal agents of Nazarick while still living their lives, so this was a failed success...?'

'I mean, it couldn't have really gone better...'

The sadistic demon would have never surrendered his toys without a good reason, but it seems Demiurge being so smart bit him in the ass yet again since Thoth would have offered a deal the demon would have most likely refused.

Still, this shall be a great boon to Nazarick, those children will work as a spy network as they spread out across the Kingdom and the Empire. Nazarick will be getting a passive growth of knowledge now.

Thoth teleported to Ainz's office as he heard the growling of the two women inside.

'Oh shit, is Shalltear about to depart? Thank god I caught her in time.'

As Thoth entered, Ainz slammed his fist into the table below him, yelling in frustration "You two act like children! Could you stop being so immature in front of me?!"

The two women bowed and apologized, but it did little to soothe the overlord's anger, instead, his passive ability calmed him down, the sudden change recognizable to Thoth.

Ainz looked up at Thoth, happy to see someone remotely reasonable.

"Ah, Thoth, what do you need?" The two women straightened again, they were not discouraged by their master's anger, the fact they were given so much attention made them feel good.

"Lord Ainz, I simply came to pass on Demiurge's praise to you-"

Ainz immediately felt his passive activate again as he reached out his hand, "No need, I understand what Demiurge means."

"Very well, also, is Miss Shalttear heading out?"

"Indeed I am~ I was gonna just say farewell to my beloved... Until this GORILLA got in the way." Shalltear spoke up, angering Albedo.

"You-" Albedo was about to escalate things further, but she was interrupted by Thoth.

"With all due respect, both of you are too stupid to be by lord Ainz's side." The two of them turned to him, not with anger, they both know just how unfathomable Lord Ainz, is, but instead with confusion.

"Look at yourselves, you are acting so disgracefully in front of Lord Ainz, let alone how you act when he is not around, do you know how frustrating it is watching you act this way? Yes, Albedo, you are not good enough, and the same goes for you Shalltear, hell! Aura, who is a child mind both of you, is more mature than the two of you combined!"

The two were gonna defend themselves, maybe even rebuke Thoth for speaking to them this way, but Ainz's next words crushed such feelings.

"Thank you, Thoth, at least there is one person here who understands how I feel. Listen to him and learn both of you, since you act like immature children, I will treat you as such. Now, get out, and don't show yourselves to me before you get your acts together!"

"B-Bu-" The two tried to, once again, defend themselves, how could they be kept from their beloved for so long? But Ainz was having none of it, these two needed to learn the hard way, and they gave him the perfect opportunity to correct them.

The two were forced to leave, their hearts broken, but the wound would heal over stronger, and the two women would no doubt use this as a learning opportunity to correct their behavior for the future.

Ainz sighed in frustration and then looked at Thoth, "I apologize for my unsightly appearance earlier."

"I understand Lord Ainz, dealing with those two is tiring no doubt."

"Indeed, now then. Did you need anything else?"

"No, Sir Demiurge simply wanted me to pass on some praise to you, hope you have a good day Lord Ainz."

"I see, very well, have a good day, and thank you for your aid with those two."

"It's only natural, saving someone who is in trouble is common sense after all."

"..." Ainz was frozen for a second by the familiar quote, and so Thoth left before he could say anything else.

"...It seems Touch Me reflected a lot on him." Ainz mused to himself as he grabbed some documents and this time, with no one watching him, decided to try reading them and understanding them.

He failed, but hey, he tried.

So, as Ainz continued approving documents, Shalltear prepared for her departure.

Normally, she would be happy that Albedo won't be seeing Lord Ainz while she is gone, but it seems this time they crossed the line.

Now, her beloved showing his power before made her wetter than Niagara Falls, but she never meant to cross the line and become hated by him.

Her dead stomach churned at the thought of Ainz despising her and seeing her as some kind of inconvenience, she's been reading Thoth's books about it too, and they warned her about these things, yet she, in her stupidity, ignored them in favor of being noticed by him.

She looked like depression incarnate at the moment, her eyes down and her movements sluggish without any of her charm in them.

"Miss Shalltear, I'm sure you will have another chance to prove yourself worthy," Thoth said as he appeared behind her, drawing the girl's attention.

"But- I- Did you see his face? He looked so disappointed in us..."

'Gurl~ the man doesn't have a face.' Thoth thought to himself but that wasn't the point, he nodded and continued speaking.

"He was, and for a good reason, however, Lord Ainz is merciful, and if you learn from your mistakes, he will no doubt welcome you with open arms."

"I see, I will do my best on this mission then!" Shalltear was now rejuvenated and filled with energy, she would prove herself worthy of Lord Ainz's affection.

"Great, good luck on your mission to you, and you too, Sebas."

The butter was standing next to the already prepared carriage, he bowed politely and professionally.

"Thank you, Lord Thoth."

And so the group set off, Thoth teleported to his library and grabbed some books to read.

'I would go to see Albedo and cheer her up too, but unlike Shalltear who is more open to criticism from me, Albedo probably wants to rip me in half, blaming me for her mistakes.'

'How foolish the Guardian Overseer is,' *sigh*

Thoth didn't even bother keeping track of time or keeping an eye on Shalltear, instead, he devoured a book about angel lore, which described how the angels came down to YGGDRASIL to protect it.

It was some event in which the angel races were introduced as playable options, the angels helped players fight against some World Enemy corrupted Seraphs.

That sounds very cool, Thoth enjoyed reading the lore of the vast game, especially since this lore could be considered connected to him, a fun fact he learned while reading is that once an angel rebels against their master, their feathers turn black but their abilities remain the same.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Thoth Decided to check on Shalltear.

Shalltear had been rather bored sitting in her carriage, she fantasized about how she would prove herself to Lord Ainz, which kept her entertained enough until some bandits decided to offer themselves to her.

Her sadistic mind screamed at the opportunity to relieve herself, and so she slaughtered every single bandit in the area.

Her mind was desperate to show she was worthy, and what other way to prove it to herself than with her strength? That was what made her special after all.

She didn't bother being cautious, instead, she simply toyed with her victims, some guy called Brain Unglaus tried to resist her. She had some extra fun with him by using her pinky to defeat him, oh~ His despairing face made her so excited.

The coward ran, in a fury, she was about to run after him until a vampire bride appeared behind her, informing her more people were approaching from the cave entrance.

Shalltear turned around and rushed out of the cave, eager to spill more blood and fuel her ego and thirst, the group in front of her seemed skilled by this world's standards.

They were wearing high-quality gear, with a balance between front liners and magic casters, however, an older individual stood out amongst them.

The older woman could be seen wearing a white robe with a golden dragon on it, a well-learned person would recognize it as a world item known as Downfall of Castle And Country.

The group, known as the black scripture in their home nation, formed around the older woman named Kaire, they must protect the divine artifact they had been granted.

Shalltear was about to rush forward in fury, not recognizing the item, she was unaware of the danger she was now in.

Suddenly, however, the clothing glowed, and just as the world item activated, Thoth appeared, he showed Shalltear to the side, and just as he was in the middle of casting teleport, he realized it was too late.

In one last desperate move, he entered his biblical form, hoping his increased stats would help him, worst-case scenario, when Ainz had to kill him, Ainz would have a bigger chance.

"[Downfall of Castle And Country]!" The older woman yelled, the world item triggering on Thoth with Shalltear now further away.

Thoth activated his true form, causing the air in the area to freeze.

The black scripture members froze in horror, now realizing what kind of being they had attacked.

In front of them, a being they could only describe as perfected floated slightly off of the ground, its wings large and majestic, they stretched for 5 meters in each direction, its beautiful feathers turning into a sickening black as the creature fought with all its might against the world item which now turned its mind inside out.

Its main body shifted into one giant eye, with hundreds more opening all over its wings, its wings sprouted more wings, increasing its size. Reality itself seemed to shift according to its will.

Now, at the end of it all, stood an angel with feathers as black as night, its thousands of all-seeing beautiful eyes all dull, lifeless, no longer seeing anything or even moving, its giant eye closed, as if finally embracing a well-deserved rest.

Before it was completely dominated, it let out a single scream of... they couldn't tell what emotion, regret? Anger? Pain? Anguish? Perhaps all of them? Their mortal minds couldn't tell, its voice was like that of a world, millions of voices all screamed in unison as the angel fell, forced to rebel against its God.

It was ten meters tall and with its wings taken into account approximately 20 meters wide, trees were ripped apart while it grew, mighty enough to destroy anything in its path, even this powerful being fell in front of the artifact they carried, but there was no joy.

They all immediately realized the sin they committed, they attacked one of God's messengers, no other angel could be this powerful.

They all stood there, frozen in guilt and horror at their actions.

Shalltear now snapped out of her blood fury, realizing what she had done.

Thoth sacrificed himself for her, and it was all her fault.

The black scripture looked as Shalltear rushed at them, before Kaira could even order Thoth, she was dead on the floor.

The rest of the Scripture teleported away, taking the corpse of Kaira and the artifact with them

Shalltear didn't chase them, she only looked at Thoth and apologized.

"I-I-I'm sorry-" Sher just wanted to prove herself, that she was worthy of being appreciated, of being loved and cared for, she didn't want Lord Ainz to leave her just as her own creator did, she wanted to be loved for who she is, yet she puts on the act of a mature woman.

She is just a teenager in mind and body, she did her best, but how did that help her? The only person who tried to help her was now in this state.

Shalltear choked back tears and cast a message spell to inform Lord Ainz of what happened, she knew at that moment, that she was not worthy, and she would never be.

-x-x-x-

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