When The Cute Godkiller Opens A Tavern [OP Mentor, SoL, LitRPG]

"A quick jog of the memory doesn't always equate to a pleasant one." ~Apple, back when she could still speak

"Have you dried your hair?" Shallies asked. She had just changed into a simple set of pajamas after taking a shower. A light tank top and a pair of small shorts. She had some fluffy slippers to match. After making sure Apple was well tucked in, she beckoned over the half-orc who was still busy combing her hair.

"Come 'ere, lemme do it," Shallies said, sitting cross-legged at the edge of her bed while pulling a comb out of her Class Inventory. "Let me play with your hair a bit."

"My mom used to do it for me," the half-orc said as she followed obediently, sitting on the carpeted floor with her back in front of Shallies. "After a while, somehow, I just ended up doing it myself."

"Did you say something rebellious like, 'I can do it myself!' or something like that?"

"I don't think I said something embarrassing like that."

"Well, you should definitely ask her to do it again for you. Having to play with beautiful hair like this is a treat for any parent. Either she's just too busy, or she's letting you spread your wings now that you're an adventurer."

"I guess…" Grace twirled a few strands of her hair around her finger. "I didn't know you liked making hair-dos, Shallies."

"If I wasn't a Godkiller, I'd probably be a hairdresser, you know? That was, of course, until I met Catelyn. She enjoyed my cooking a lot. Wanted me to be a tavernkeeper instead. So here I am." Shallies maneuvered her comb in a straightforward manner, carefully running it through the half-orc's smooth hair. "I'll give you a proper makeover some other time. We're just drying your hair tonight."

"You really don't do everything with Skills or Spells, huh?"

"We're not pressed for time," Shallies explained. "The option's there, but I like taking my time when I can."

"I see…" Grace was still twiddling with her hair.

"That's not what you really want to ask, is it?"

The half-orc took a deep breath. "Why do you hide the fact that you're the Godkiller? I mean you don't exactly keep it a super strict secret, but you get what I mean."

Shallies took a moment, spending time with Grace's hair while she thought of how to respond.

"Over my long life, I think I've given every possible answer to that question. Protecting friends, confusing enemies, choosing the right people, avoiding the wrong ones. Easier to move around, makes it difficult for others. All sorts of things, really. As for why I reveal it sometimes, it's because I think it's necessary."

"It's not tiring?" Grace shifted, but Shallies immediately corrected her posture. "Ow!"

"Depends on how I fashion my disguise. This one's not particularly difficult, since I don't have to make up stories. It's barely a disguise, if I'm being honest. Everything you know about me, everything I've told you, they're all true, just taken from some parts of my past and toned down as much as possible."

Shallies went out of bed and walked around to work in front of Grace. She had to pull up a chair from somewhere so she didn't have to crouch awkwardly. She started combing again, starting from the side.

She looked at the half-orc and couldn't help but remember the young adventurer's half-species genetics. She was unlike most of the half-orcs she had seen before, who displayed their orcish beauty more than their human side. Grace had been given her genetic makeup in a distinctive way. Even underneath those loose pajamas, her gifts were undeniably apparent. And her emerald, slightly glow-in-the-dark eyes were the only evidence she had orcish heritage.

"Stare much?" she asked.

"You need to get used to it," Shallies said. "I doubt you've met anyone who looks anything like you before."

"Isn't that a given?" Grace couldn't help but laugh a little. "Unless we're talking doppelgangers or twins?"

"I'm talking about your bloodline."

"Half-orcs? There are many of us out there, right? Granted, I've never seen many. Most of my classmates in the Academy were pure humans or half-dwarves or half-elves. I didn't get to talk to other people either."

"Shy type?"

"It felt like I was being isolated, because I came from the province, or something."

"I doubt that's the reason."

"Well, it's in the past." Grace sighed. "What is it about half-orcs?"

"Most half-orcs have more prominent orcish features. Normally, you would physically resemble your father more than your mother." Shallies brought up a few images from her System Console, showing them to Grace. "Here's some half-orcs I personally know."

First was a male half-orc. His skin was slightly ashen like Schooner's. His ears were a bit pointier, but not so much like the elves'. The edges of his jaw were more defined, hard edges, and his confident grin showed a pair of sharp canines. The length of his hair was cut short, combed in such a way that it looked like he was wearing a spiked helm.

"He looks amazing!" Grace commented. "Looks strong, too."

Without saying anything, Shallies showed the next image.

This time, it was of a female half-orc. Her skin, just like the previous guy, was ashen but with a touch of royal blue. The pigment was almost indistinguishable that Shallies had to point it out for her to see.

"High-orc blood," she clarified. "Her mother was a blood magic practitioner, who gave her enhanced magical abilities since birth."

This half-orc, too, had an extremely defined jawline. Though smiling, she wasn't fully grinning, unlike the previous person. One of her fangs still showed, however. As for her hair, she had long, luscious, brilliant, black strands that were arranged in a ceremonial ponytail, complete with flower and gem adornments.

"She looks stunning," Grace said, her eyes plastered on the screen.

"Yes, but you noticed the difference, right?"

The half-orc nodded. "My skin looks like my mom's. My face is a little softer and round. I don't have fangs either. I almost look like a human."

"Disappointed?"

"I'm not sure." Grace sounded more confused than anything. "How can I make sure I'm a half-orc?"

"Aside from your energetic nature or your System Profile, you also have your father's eyes." To prove her point, Shallies showed the next image.

Grace did a double take. "She looks just like…"

"You."

Shallies waited for the realization to sink in, before clarifying her statement. Despite what she had said, the only thing similar between Grace and the half-orc in the image were their eyes.

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"You have the same rare genetic heritage, it seems. Almost looking like humans despite being half-blooded."

"Who is she?" Grace finally gave into her curiosity. "Who are they?"

Before she replied, Shallies gave Grace's hair a few finishing touches, making sure it was properly dried. She also produced a mattress for the half-orc and placed it on the carpet beside her bed.

"Her name's Felicia," Shallies replied finally, pointing specifically to the one on the image. "Felicia Mythernal."

"Mythernal! That's…"

"Same as mine, yeah." As if she had said this many times before, Shallies gave the information freely while pulling some pillows out of her Class Inventory for Grace, who was busy trying to process what she had just heard. "She's my niece on my sister's side. She was also my first student. The others were also my students, but they came long after Felicia had passed."

"You didn't take me as your student because we were the same, did you?" Grace blinked. "Wait… You have a sister?"

"Had. And you're not my student yet." Shallies took away her System Console and went to bed, using an arm to prop her head up so she could still see Grace. The half-orc, though looking a little shell-shocked, read the signal. She sighed and went to bed herself.

"Haven't thought anything about the egg yet?" Shallies asked, trying to change the subject.

"I don't suppose you'll give me a clue?"

"Gave you lots today."

"I suppose…" The half-orc made herself comfortable, stretching her arms and back with a huge yawn. She collapsed right after, all her energy suddenly replaced with exhaustion. "I'll think about it tomorrow."

Shallies giggled and used mana-control to fix the blanket over her hopeful student. Then she went to sleep.

The lands were shattered. An entire continent obliterated by a sudden singularity. It was then that the world knew what it meant to anger a god.

Shallies stood upon the precipice of a suspended cliff. Gravity had stopped functioning properly, its rules bent, too incomprehensible for reality to follow. A few of her companions had perished, incapable of withstanding the crushing force, or of holding on when they were left with their own sudden inertia.

A maelstrom gathered in front of her. A vacuum of death, absorbing all mana and lifeforce from across the globe, then throwing them around in chaotic ways that altered or disintegrated existence.

From atop this storm of life and death, three pairs of gigantic eyes were glowing aflame. Limbs grew in the form of magnetized rocks, harvested from the destroyed mountains of what was once the height of civilization. Fangs of lightning shaped the jaws of this maddened god, before it erupted with a great bellow.

Those within a radius of a thousand kilometers around Shallies managed to survive the explosion of mana from the god's manifestation. Her protection condensed just enough to shield them before utterly collapsing. Those beyond it however, were simply gone.

Quick and complete annihilation. That was the little mercy this mad god was able to afford his victims.

Shallies stood her ground. Neither flinching, nor turning away from the god. Despite millions of souls suddenly screaming into oblivion, rendering her senses dull, she maintained eye contact with Fello'resh.

Indifferent, inconsiderate, and unaffected Shallies might seem to others, but this was the only way to ensure the God of Famine and Destruction remained where he was. A sign of weakness, a sign of hesitation or distraction, and the god would unleash his wrath onto more victims.

[You should really get an assistant,] Stachie said, trying to sound mechanically cool. But her master knew she was just as nervous as anyone else. [Someone who can move around like you, I mean.]

Shallies ignored her System Assistant's attempt at a joke, but she did appreciate her trying to keep her grounded. If she lost concentration because of all the death outside her protection, everyone within would instantly perish. Such was Fello'resh's threat.

Meteors started falling from the skies, conjured and unleashed by the mad god. Adventurers, knights, mercenaries, and all manner of powerful people quickly gathered, unleashing Skills and Spells and Miracles one after the other.

Explosions and all sorts of magical reactions erupted in the skies as the approaching calamity was intercepted by these future heroes. Shallies knew what they were capable of, and had recruited each of them personally.

At the same time, those that had less investments in Magic-Affinity defended everyone else from the onslaught of monsters Fello'resh had summoned. Demons, Nightmares, abominated Gone Old, even corrupted Celestials fought for the mad god. From small to colossal, they brought their assault from all directions.

"We won't hold them for long!" Felicia shouted, gasping for air as she approached Shallies. "We need to move, now!"

"Not yet," Shallies said, her voice calm. "Fello'resh still has a lot of Stellar Mana. If I open Fate Weave Archive now, there'll be too many possibilities on Destiny. I can't afford to give him a million ways to find a path to escape, or more people will die."

"We already lost too many!" Felicia complained. But when Shallies didn't budge, the half-orc growled her frustrations and went back into the fray. A beauty within the battlefield, that one, but her fiery nature made her too hasty too often.

Fello'resh and Shallies were at a standstill while the armies on both sides continued to accumulate casualties. In the eyes of an observer, one would assume that their side was losing. But only the god and the Godkiller knew that the losses on either side had been even so far.

And that was the worst part of it all.

Fello'resh had no need for his minions, nor any sort of attachment to them. They were simply that, minions. To be thrown at the enemy without thought or strategy.

Shallies, on the other hand, had spent time with her people. She knew their stories, the reason why they joined her despite the almost assured death. She was connected to them in some way, their bonds, their lives, creating a sacred contract with her authority.

Though she had to keep persevering, Shallies felt she had died a million times today.

The hardest part was not showing despair. Not wallowing in sorrow for all the sacrifices she had to make. These people, millions of them, look up to her as their anchor. Their light in the darkness, their order in the chaos, their peace in the madness.

She was their hope.

Shallies nurtured that pride, using it to fight against the sorrow. Pride not in herself, but in her people. These brave men and women, rushing to their doom in order to save Ysvil from certain annihilation. Without them, she would not have the strength to carry on. She would not have a reason to fight.

The God of Famine and Destruction made his move, simultaneously reciting layers upon layers of incantations, as if armies of Spellcasters had suddenly appeared on his side to cast their most devastating Spells. Numerous ritual symbols the size of cities formed in the skies, covering the entire horizon. The mana in the stratosphere began to glow red, lightning struck violently and indiscriminately, and tears in space cracked open.

[Analysis complete,] Stachie reported. [Fello'resh is casting Core Death.]

While the others desperately fought, or stood hopelessly in awe, as the god performed his incantations, Shallies was investing her Stellar Mana into Stachie to help analyze the Spell. Both of them were hard at work, verifying with each other that they had come to the same conclusion. With a divine entity involved, a small miscalculation could quickly result in the end of the world.

Which was what Core Death was meant to do. It wasn't aimed at the battlefield, but deep beneath the earth. Straight at the heart of Ysvil.

"Time Lords and Ladies, stop his time now," Shallies commanded, her voice carrying throughout the battlefield. She kept her desperation completely hidden. If any of her panic seeped through, the rest of her people wouldn't be able to focus. They were losing hope as it was already.

A god of Fello'resh's caliber wouldn't be affected normally by any time-altering Spells or other similar magical alterations, but he wouldn't be completely immune to them either. Numbers were the key, and any second they bought was precious. In the meantime, Shallies prepared her own Spells to disrupt Core Death.

Counter-Spells were a hopeless endeavor against a god's spellcasting. No matter what type of Spell Shallies might use to counter Fello'resh, the redundancies and loops of his incantations would provide too many protections for a successful disruption. She had to respond in a different way.

The Godkiller way.

"Fate Weave Archive: Open."

The entire battlefield came to a halt. Mirrors upon mirrors reflected realities that could become their present in the next coming seconds. Fello'resh wasn't one to be caught by this complex kaleidoscope. He created multiple copies of himself, further disrupting the available possibilities.

To the untrained eye, this confusing array of 'what could be' was more complex than trying to decipher Core Death for a Counter-Spell. In reality, however, that option would instantly result in the death of the world.

Within the Fate Weave Archive, so long as Shallies had the Stellar Mana to spare, she would eventually find the suitable reality. That was, of course, as long as Fello'resh was the one to run out first.

[Fate Weave Archive Opened. Number of Possibilities within Destiny: 13,033. Good hunting, Shallies.]

That was when Apple woke her up.

Shallies felt the familiar nudge of her teacup fairy. Her eyes opened, and Apple quickly gave her a hug. Both of them breathed a sigh of relief.

"Did I mess up?" she asked in a whisper, not exactly willing to turn sideways.

Apple vigorously shook her head. And again, both of them sighed. This time, Shallies turned and saw Grace still sleeping peacefully.

[You have complete control over your veils now, Shallies. You even made a thousand redundancies,] Stachie reassured. [There's no need for you to worry.]

"I haven't had that dream in a while," Shallies said. She moved quietly out of her bedroom, covering herself with her Manaweave Coat.

[You think it's a premonition? I highly doubt it. I think your subconscious just resurfaced the memory because you haven't seen Felicia for centuries.]

Shallies hoped her System Assistant was correct. "We'll send for someone to check on Fello'resh's remains. Just in case. Thanks, you two. I don't think I can sleep without the both of you by my side."

Apple's sigh was long, but she still afforded her a smile.

The semi-retired Godkiller went straight to her freezer room. In there, she had been cooling some of Valor'el's bottled wines. She popped one open, and downed half of it, before deciding to look for a glass.

[You're overreacting.]

Shallies ignored her System Assistant and finished the bottle anyways.