When The Cute Godkiller Opens A Tavern [Stubbed]

Chapter 100 - A Subtle Greeting and A Promise

”It never means ill will. It’s never bad news. But it’s also never good news.” ~Shallies, on that one Concept

Thrush’ven Alir, much like any Raid or Dungeon out there, had its own Gate. This one, in particular, was a swirling section of clouds underneath the main body. And just like any other Gate, it would transport anyone who passed through it into its own dimension.

Only, Thrush’ven Alir always refused to make one that was any different from its own look.

Shallies stepped onto solid clouds. Bouncy, but solid clouds. Everything was made from clouds. Corridors, hallways, rooms, stairs, every single structure was made from dark clouds. Thrush’ven Alir was making an effort to make them feel as if they had not entered a different dimension.

People within the raid created lights as they stepped out from their mana-engine carriers. Some with Skills, some with items. Before long, the grand entrance was lit, but Shallies hadn’t had any trouble seeing the details in the darkness.

Nor the giant spiders hanging from the ceiling.

“Velruzen’s Spawn,” she said, calling out to everyone with a calm voice. People instantly knew to look up.

Spiders that hung from clouds, almost transparent, and could grow as large as a mountain. They were called Velruzen’s Spawn. They originated from Velruzenshup’nertoroliz, the Horror Spider In The Sky. It had been one of Karuphra’s Avanities. Much like many of the God of Horror’s retinue, they had been tasked with keeping the horrors trying to enter Ysvil in check. But Velruzen had turned traitor, and was eventually killed. Now its spawn populated the Horror Realities, and some would even try to traverse to Ysvil using Raids and Dungeons.

Spells erupted from the raid, aimed at the spiders above. Though these monsters had great Elemental Resistance, the raid group was experienced enough to bypass them with non-elemental Spells, like cosmic or death-types. Some would even use elemental Spells that had resistance-piercing properties.

Shallies observed Velruzen’s Spawns disintegrate one after the other. Spiders fell from the cloud-ceilings, dissolving into motes of mana and Loot Sources.

“Good catch,” Maxims commented. “Now that the entrance is secured, we’ll set up a temporary campsite while my scouts try to map out the area.”

At that, the Guiding Star simply gave a nod. While she could map out the entirety of the raid by simply Scanning it, such a feat would be too much of a giveaway. Not even having the Star Map Skill would be an excuse for it.

Instead, she helped out around the camp while she subtly monitored the scouts with her enhanced awareness.

The scouting group was comprised of fifteen Double Hero Class holders, including Yoshelle, Laika, and Krevan. Within the first ten minutes of securing the entrance, they had already made five times the progress. They had cleared waves of different monsters. Horrors, flame-beings, ice-beings, and storm-beings. Their progress was astounding, but they had purposefully left out major rooms, where more powerful monsters might be lurking.

Their goal was to find the first Boss Lair, and to hopefully identify the Boss Monster without provoking it. And while that was happening, Phey’lan was doing her own search for their own objective through her Scan.

“I’ve heard of gifted adventurers capable of mapping out entire Dungeons and Raids with just their Scan, but to see it happening in person just puts me in awe,” Maxims said while watching the Enlightened Ascendant do her job. “Is she doing exactly that? Mapping the entire raid?”

“Just this floor,” Shallies replied. “It’ll be too draining, even for a Favored Class doubler, to map an entire raid, especially since we don’t know how many floors this place has.”

“That’s still impressive.”

“Don’t stare too much, Guildmaster,” she said. “You’ll make her partner jealous.”

She gave her portable kitchen a flame test, after Arun’dul had finished setting it up for her. Apparently, despite the guild having a number of Chefs, she was the only one to join the actual raid.

“Proud,” Valor’el corrected. “It’s only right that such a feat be admired… From afar.”

“And that is where I’ll stay,” said the Guildmaster. “Wouldn’t want my own significant other having doubts of my loyalty.”

“It’s not here,” Phey’lan said, finally breaking from her concentration. “Must be on one of the higher floors.”

“What exactly are you looking for?” Maxims held out his hands. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

“Are you familiar with the god who owned this place?” Shallies asked, not waiting to confirm with the seraphim. She had been entrusting the Gaiamaxims’ Guildmaster with a secret already, so another wouldn’t hurt.

“Fello’resh,” he replied. “Not everyone is, but I’m familiar, yes.”

“One of his resting places is in this raid,” Valor’el explained, making sure Shallies didn’t catch all the attention, which she appreciated. “We’re here to find it.”

“Why?”

The seraph’s pause was only long enough to act as though he was hesitant about sharing the information, but it would’ve given Shallies enough time to interfere with a subtle ping of sorts, if she had wanted him to keep it a secret. She did no such thing.

“The matter is confidential, Guildmaster,” Valor’el started. “I want to make sure you’ll keep this information from your members.”

“No problem.”

“We’re investigating a potential Divine War. The clues we’ve had so far, which unfortunately I’m unable to share, have led us to this raid. We’re confident that studying Fello’resh’s resting place might give us a better lead if, or when, it’ll be happening.”

The Guildmaster exercised his professionalism. No absurd reactions, no change in expressions, nothing that would give away the sudden skip in his heartbeat. Shallies was utterly impressed.

“From the confidential records we keep, we know that Fello’resh’s resting place appears on either the third, fifth, or seventh floors of the Thrush’ven Alir Raid, though we’re not sure how many floors there are this time around.”

“Well, at least we know there are at least three floors.” Shallies turned to Phey’lan. “Raid floors are at least twice as larger as the previous one. Can you manage?”

“No,” the seraph admitted. “I think it’s better if we finish the floor first, before I Scan the next one.”

“If you Scan each floor and tell us where the Raid Boss is, we can go through them faster,” Maxims suggested.

“Unfortunately, I can’t Scan that precisely either. There are too many rooms on just this floor that looks like a Raid Boss Lair, but I can’t use that Skill to identify each monster. But I do have a high sensitivity to the divine, so I’m confident I can locate the resting place when I do Scan it.”

“Fortunately,” Shallies countered, “I think your scouts are quick just fine, Guildmaster Maxims.”

She pointed towards the exit of the entrance hall, where Yoshelle and the others just arrived. There was urgency on their faces. And as soon as the Guild Princess reached her father, she gave him a copy of the first floor’s map through her System Console.

“We couldn’t Scan it, but we found the first Raid Boss,” she said.

“Did you see it, at least?” Maxims asked.

“It’s a Storm Dragon.”

The Guildmaster acted quickly, disseminating the information throughout the raid group. This included the map and all the points of interest that the scouting group had gathered in their brief expedition.

Shallies was impressed. Maxims had also plotted down their route to efficiently clear the first floor.

In the map, there were rooms labeled as Raid Pillars. These would be areas that would empower the Raid Boss of the floor. One would contain lieutenant monsters, akin to high-level Dungeon Bosses, and a significant quality of loot. While Shallies would generally ignore these points of interest and head straight for the Raid Boss of the floor anyway, the general strategy would be to clear these pillars instead. It would make things so much easier for the raid as a whole.

“Three pillars,” Valor’el noted. “We can probably breeze through this.”

Shallies expected as much. She even included the Storm Dragon in those expectations. A raid group that couldn’t handle the first boss effortlessly would have a hard time going to the last. But she didn’t bother mentioning it.

After Maxims finished pointing out all the details, the guild regrouped and began their assault in the raid in earnest.

As Shallies stepped out of the entrance hall, something tapped into her Divinity. Someone had tried to reach out. Not as a prayer, but a greeting. As if it was trying to formally welcome her.

And just as quickly, it had vanished.

“Val, Phey,” the Godkiller whispered. She was looking up. “Don’t let your guards down.”

---

Chaos, as everyone would expect, was unpredictable yet balanced. No god or goddess would dare touch this Concept. But fortunately enough, there was no need to keep an eye on it. Because as troublesome of a thing as it was, it would maintain itself in equilibrium, even if it took lifetimes to do so.

Chaos had a part in corrupting Divine Entities. That much was also a fact too common to all who dabbled with such rule-bending authority. No, it wasn’t the cause of corruption, merely a medium, for the Concept had no intention of gatekeeping anything from anything. Those unable to comprehend the things it would be used for had no right to maintain their sanity in the first place.

Chaos also broke the rules, since they were meant to break Order. Not destroy, for it would imply malicious intent. Breaking something so it would mend stronger, that wasn’t its intention either. There was no understanding the Concept.

Maybe because Chaos just was…

Maybe because it was Chaos that it was…

Maybe because Chaos…

And so it was Chaos that reshaped Thrush’ven Alir this time around. It was a request after all. A multi-millennium promise from a Divine Entity that had successfully hidden their identity from the Concept. Yet it had accepted their request all the same. It couldn’t pass up an opportunity to grant one from a corrupted being who had regained their sanity, before the great Godkiller had killed them.

Because it wasn't the great Godkiller who had killed them. Killed wasn't the right word for it.

As it was designed, the Eye of the Storm, where Fello’resh’s resting place lay in wait, was built on the fifth floor of the Thrush’ven Alir Raid. It had guided The Great Storm into various Realities as a smokescreen against the Godkiller’s investigations. An effort that Chaos realized was unnecessary. Yet, as if rubbing its nonexistent hands together, it followed its instructions down to the last detail.

That act wasn’t lost on the Concept. Performing each and every step meticulously, and without fail or change, would be the least expected of it. Which was exactly why it did such a thing.

That was Chaos.

Within the Eye of the Storm, symbolizing the God of Famine and Destruction’s resting place, was a throne. There, Chaos brought the answer in the form of a sleeping man.

The moment the Godkiller would set eyes on this man, she would know… And Chaos would’ve fulfilled its promise.

The Concept felt a sense of loss. It was too simple a task. And yet, it also felt its desire to interfere more directly was uncalled for. There were no instructions for it after placing the man. And that sleeping relic had his own purpose anyway.

Chaos allowed to give up its grasp and release the man. Doing more would be leaning towards one end of its extremes. Yet it would also be exactly what it was for as a Concept. It knew this, but it struggled still.

To interfere, or not?

To influence, or not?

To be involved, or not?

Chaos smiled. It knew its answer. And just like that, the man woke up.