Writer's Note: When the world undergoes global chaos, mayhem follows and order is temporarily cast aside and forgotten.

Chapter 3: The Hellion Have Come

"I'll first add two stats into power, magic, and recovery. The last will go into spirit," Magnus planned as he updated his stats via the handheld and stored it away. Then, he entered the staircase, running all the way to the top and busted into the floor. There were very few doors, signifying the rooms were very large. He ran into each room, bashing the door down with ease.

Some rooms had people in it. He hesitated in the first encounter until he realized he was stronger and just knocked every person out with a blow to the head. He lost count how many wallets and clothes he stole before reaching the penthouse. A man stared at him, a novice staff in his hand.

"You the one causing the ruckus downstairs? I heard screaming. Typical criminal," the man said and took out a gun. "Don't move, or I'll shoot."

"Hmph. I suppose you're my first," Magnus said, raising his hand at the man. "Holy Lance."

"Huck," the man gasped and paled as he looked down, seeing a lance made of light in his chest.

"The world we both know is gone, or will be," Magnus said, resisting the urge to throw up. It was as if a switch had opened up in his mind, a screw loosening. "The world is a game now. You have the honor of letting me get past this early. You can resent me. You're soul is the first to be refined."

"You..." the man said before the divine skill finished and four more lances pierced his body. As the man died, a scarlet flame arose from the body and entered his Infinity Storage Belt, the Soul Refining Cauldron absorbing the soul of the man.

"It's okay, Magnus. You just killed a player. Just a player, one of three hundred million regulars who thought they could threaten you. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay," Magnus breathed deeply and moved on, looting the man for cash and anything else of value. He smiled behind his helmet visor as he descended the stairs and broke through the security leading beneath the first floor. After ten minutes of fighting his way through security, he arrived before the vault. He wanted more money. He wanted to be rich. This was his only opportunity.

"It's good to be rich. Just like looting a dragon's hoard. No one will know it was me anyway. I can only hope Jorge was smart enough to go to the security room of the hotel," Magnus said as he took all the money from the vault. As he appeared back on the first floor, he discarded his clothes and helmet back into his storage belt. He took out his bags from his storage belt and took out another helmet. This was his spare helmet, used if he had someone to drive. He had it in his bag, so no one would have seen it before.

"Yo!" Jorge said as he arrived with Melissa and Alex. "How did it go?"

"....I got what we need. There's been a change in plans," he answered, the three looking at him. "The guy at the penthouse, he was a Spirit Lord too. I always went through his stuff. It seems that he was someone important."

"What? Who was he, the richest man in all of Vegas?" Jorge asked.

"No. He was a member of the state government office in Florida. He got a call to go back. There's going to be an announcement soon. Something about creating a Department for Spirit Lords. Every rich bastard is planning on investing in it to get personal protection," Magnus said as the others stood by a large white truck. "You hit the security office, right?"

"You doubt my intuition. Obviously, we don't all got helmets. I had Melissa and her brother secure the food while I took a detour. Took a few security guards, but I got it done. So, what's the plan then? How does that information affect us?" Jorge asked.

"We can't leave Las Vegas," Magnus said as he took out his handheld. "Turns out, not all the information is reported by the system. Only the important information is reported. It explains their plan. Our handhelds are more important than ever."

"That's crazy!" Jorge said, staring at the information on the handheld before a system message arrived.

System AnnouncementThe Hellion Have Come

The three hours are up. Each person on Earth will receive a message based on the current country they are in. In regards to the United States, only twenty cities will be Hellion free of assault after three weeks of captivity in the cities. After those five hundred and four hours, they are free for a year's worth of Hellion assault. Any other city, expect to be slaughtered when the Hellion come.

New York City, Chicago, Charleston, Las Vegas, Seattle,

San Francisco, Washington D.C., New Orleans, Palm Springs, San Diego,

St. Louis, Honolulu, Miami, Bransen, Boston, Orlando,

Portland, Lahaina, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Sacramento.

"Whoa! That's like five cities in California!" Jorge gasped.

"We're trapped in here for three weeks! We can't leave," Melissa paled.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Alex whimpered, holding his sister in fear.

"According to the handheld, we can communicate to others through it. It was how the guy at the penthouse did. The forums are closed, but we can use the handhelds to text people if we try to add them as a  friend, assuming they are Spirit Lords," Magnus said.

"You contacted your brother?" Jorge asked.

"He's not answering the handheld. Probably too scared to look at it. I can only hope he didn't throw it away," Magnus shook his head. "We'll move to a luxury suite in the Mandarin Oriental, the thirty seventh floor. Not the top floors, but close enough to enjoy luxury. It is also connected to the Crystal Mall. With their security, we are least likely to be troubled by other Spirit Lords if they don't have a room. The Hellion attack from the sky and ground. The Hellion should be in the weaker levels, 10 at the highest."

"The Mandarin Oriental? I suppose that's a plan. The security should be tight there and anyone can reach level 9, so the higher security would deter everyone but the Spirit Lords," Jorge nodded.

Soul Refining CompleteRefined Spirit Lord Soul

You have killed your first opponent, the first to kill another Spirit Lord in the state of Nevada. As it is the first soul refined, you only need one soul and it will spawn into three items due to the soul's previous life. Expect nothing or junk in the future. The more powerful the soul, or level; the higher the chance for success. The growth item is restricted to you.

Received: Ancient Ring (growth item currently locked)

Received: Glock CB-79 (white tier)

Received: Hunter's Leather Boots (white tier)

"Whoa!" Jorge cried as the three items appeared. "Is that a Glock? Don't recognize that model. Was it made by the system?"

"Yeah, through the Soul Refining Cauldron," Magnus said as the Demonic Ape King appeared on his shoulder. A white jade ring appeared on his left index finger. He tried to appraise it through the system, but he could not identify it. It was a growth item, so he hoped it would be useful in the future. Still, white jade did look cool.

"You have the gun," Magnus said, picking up the pistol and giving it to Alexander.

"You're giving an eleven year old a gun. Really?" Jorge asked, incredulous.

"The times are different now. He can't reach level 10 and get a class unless he becomes a Vassal. Melissa is the only one who can still choose a class and she wants to be a beast master. Thus, these boots are given to her. The boots have no armor but it silences her movements. It will be easy for her to sneak away. For a rogue class, that is a godsend ability. It is medium armor anyway," he answered, giving the items to the siblings. "The gun is also a white tier weapon. If he gets good, he can become a Vassal for his sister and choose the gunslinger or sniper class. After all, he has no worry of losing his freedom over his two divine abilities if he is a Vassal for his sister."

"What about ammo?" Jorge said after a moment, Melissa wearing her new leather boots and enjoying the comfortable feel of it.

"It's like any other pistol: it reloads using divine energy. However, the pistol can hurt the Hellion, unlike regular guns and bullets. Keep it on safety Alex," Magnus said as he showed the boy where the safety lock was and had the boy stash it in his backpack as Magnus turned to the others after he emptied the backpack in Alex's gym bag.

"We need backpacks. We can't let others assume we have other means to store items. That will make any suspecting Spirit Lord assume we have stuff he can steal. This isn't like the game anymore. PK penalties don't exist if the law does not catch you. You also drop everything and they can use all that isn't bound to you. Only legendary, god, and growth items can be soul bound; prestige items already restricted as they are given," Magnus said as he got into the truck with them.

"Not taking your motorcycle?" Jorge asked as Magnus removed the license plates from another truck.

"In the event the other hotel falls, we have this motorcycle and the other vehicles to count on," Magnus answered as he took all the keys from Jorge. "After three weeks, we're out of here. Best place to go is Washington D.C. as everyone will go there. It is the nation's capital and bound to be protected. My parents are in Seoul. My mother is half Korean and half Irish. We spent Christmas there. I can't contact them as the handheld does not have them registered. However, it is the capital. I can only pray they survive the next three weeks."

"My parents too. They are in Miami," Alex sniffed. "We can do this! We're like super heroes, right? We can fight back against those Hellion and live!"

"They could hear screaming in the distance and Melissa yelled, "Get in the truck! We're ramming our way to the hotel."

"We'll ditch the truck three blocks away. We need to gather experience," Magnus said.

"What level are you?" Jorge asked.

"Two. I leveled up after killing the guy in the penthouse. He pointed a gun at me," Magnus whispered and added two stats to spirit. Skills were the ultimate trump card after all.

"How far is the hotel from here?" Melissa asked as she started the truck.

"Let me check the GPS," Jorge said as Alex sat between them while Magnus sat outside of the truck. They all had backpacks after Magnus did some sorting with the stuff he stole. They had enough supplies in their backpacks to make it look like they had no storage items.

"It says we're 2.9 miles away. It will take about twenty three minutes, but we should ditch the truck a mile before we get there. A mile isn't long and we do need the experience," Jorge answered.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"This truck has a fat ass. Everyone hold on!" Melissa yelled as they started their descent to the outside.

"How you doing back there?" Jorge asked as Magnus held onto the truck through the open window behind the seats, laughing as Magnus flicked him off. "Okay, he's good."

Magnus discarded his Novice Staff, the staff disappearing into thin air. His sword was back on his back and he stared silently at the people fighting. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

"I could get recorded and videos of my combat might be revealed on the internet, so I can't transform. I'm a celestial, so the only difference between me and a human is the fact that I can alter my appearance to hide my true form," Magnus muttered as he adjusted Dranzex the Deicide Blade on his back.

The celestial were a race were a race of humanoids that had the powers of the four divine beasts. It was, no doubt, inspired by the Chinese legend of the Yellow Emperor and the Four Symbols. The Four Symbols were the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Phoenix of the South, the Black Tortoise of the North, the White Tiger of the East, and the Yellow Dragon of the Center. The Yellow Emperor, Huangdi, was rumored to be able to transform into a gold dragon, and later ascended into the heavens. He is also believed to be the ancestor of the Chinese people.

He, after so many times of reaching the next prestige, finally attained the celestial body of the yellow dragon. He had the black tortoise body ever since he broke to the fifth prestige. In other words, he finally attained the yellow dragon celestial body after two hundred levels of the black tortoise and seven hundred levels overall. Seven was the most magical number.

Perhaps that was the Divine System's pun intended for him. If he ever transformed, he would have gold scales on his body, his hands turning into dragon claws. He would also develop a tail and wings. Unlike the azure dragon celestial body, he would develop no horns on his head. It would be his ultimate trump card, pretending to be a high human until then.

Based on his observations, most of the regular Spirit Lords chose to be high humans. Even the people he saw screaming with staffs, some looking experienced, all appeared human. However, a few did not look human at all. He saw two girls with wings while he saw a man with tan skin, snow white hair, a red gem on the center of his forehead, and pointed ears. Those were the racial traits of a dark elf. Those were definitely Beta Survivors as he saw them using skills while the rest of the people avoided them like the plague.

"This world has gone to hell," Jorge muttered as they ditched the truck and started walking. "Angels flying in the sky and even a dark elf with twin rapiers. I think I even saw...well, Magnus will probably kill that guy out of jealousy."

"Hmm?" Magnus said. This was not real life. Thus, anything was possible. He did see an archer wielding a longbow made of two bows crossing to form an X. It was probably a prestige item, but he saw similar weapons crafted by players with carpentry mastered.

"I saw a man transform. He was a celestial with the azure dragon body. I saw him wield a staff and used a dragon breath skill, something only a prestige would award as there are no dragon breath skills," Jorge answered.

"He got an azure dragon celestial body on his first prestige?" Magnus said, feeling weak in the knees. "That's not fucking fair at all! I was a damn phoenix until the fifth prestige and a black tortoise after that! Oh, you two don't tell anyone I am a celestial. Just say I am a high human. The celestial race is a beta only race. Melissa, you should not have gotten the option and chose to be a high human, right?"

"I...actually chose the nephilim," Melissa answered, stunning the two elder boys.

"Half angel and half human," Magnus explained as Alex opened his mouth.

"Why? High human had the most all-around stats and gained the most money the fastest," Jorge asked.

"I would have chosen the angel, but I did not want to have wings all the time. The race description said I can make them appear at will," she answered. "I don't mind gaining the light affinity automatically when I become level 10 and choose my element affinities and class."

"An nephilim beast master. I can certainly say you are the first I heard of, personally," Magnus shrugged. "Best to train without wings first. You can kill as a nephilim when you are proficient enough without wings. There are flying Hellion and they might enter close range combat with you. Your bow, since you chose the archery skill, will be less efficient then."

"Is that a Hellion?" Alex asked as they turned their heads down the road. It looked like a hyena but had a black mist around it.

"Yup. Hellion mostly look like animals. The stronger ones begin to look like combinations of many animals, fantasy creatures, or famous creatures of legend. That black mist is the Hellion miasma. You cannot let it bite you. Scratches or scars are fine though. Only through its bite, or a deep enough wound to be considered fatal, will infect you with its corrupted miasma," Magnus warned. "You are not a player, or Vassal. Thus, you can be corrupted and become a humanoid Hellion. Lots of NPC, non-player characters in games, became Hellion upon exposure to the miasma of the Hellion. Its weak, so the miasma should not do any damage. However, hyenas hunt in packs. Get ready."

"I'll have to remember not to use my skills," Jorge groaned as he noticed Magnus draw his sword from his back. He took a while to realize that using a skill so early might make people suspect he was a Beta Survivor if he ever got recorded on the internet.

"So you can use your head. You'll take point," Magus smirked as ten more hyena Hellion arrived. "Alex, be sure to hold the pistol with your dominant hand holding the grip while the other holds the bottom. Shoot only when you have a clear shot. Jorge uses a great sword and can't reveal his magic until level 10 to avoid suspicion of his Beta Survivor status. There might be cameras around. Jorge will take point to take advantage of the weight and reach of the giant sword. Melissa, stick with Jorge and help him. I'll kill those that try to flank his right while you kill those on his left."

They all stared at Dranzex the Deicide Blade with wonder. It was a one and a half meter sword with a golden square, triangular guard. The peak of the triangular square guard pointed to a double-edged sword with faint glowing inscriptions, the color of snow, on both sides of the blade. The grip itself was made of cyan colored leather and the whole sword appeared to look similar to the Chinese Han Period's jian, or Chinese straight sword. If one looked closely, snowflakes seemed to fall around the glowing inscriptions on the blade.

Melissa, curious, tried out the Divine System's item inspection and could not see it. Only after Magnus gave permission, could she see the details. She supposed it was because he was a Beta Survivor and could not inspect his items because of it.

Dranzex the Deicide BladeAwarded to Magnus Chase upon reaching his Third Prestige

Before he reached level 100 a third time, he had killed a Death God (level 93) in the game and replaced his spirit with Undine the Great Spirit of Water after defeating it. His favorite sword of the legend tier broke during the fighting.

This sword was made with the materials of the broken sword, the Death God's sword, and Undine's sword. Due to the materials, it was made into a prestige growth tier sword as heavy as a great sword. It holds the very power of the arctic oceans and absorbs the life force of those struck to heal the wielder's injuries. Like all prestige items, it cannot be bought sold, broken, dull, or lose its shine.

Effects

Sends chilling divine energy into the wound to slow and freeze the target.

Heals the wielder by draining the life force of others.

Able to block or destroy divine skills.

Able to destroy god tier items and kill gods.

Melissa was incredibly shocked and then turned to her boyfriend. He wielded Spirit Titan, another prestige weapon. With his permission, she quickly inspected the great sword.

Spirit TitanAwarded to Jorge Rivera upon reaching the Second Prestige

Awarded to Jorge Rivera for being the first to kill a titan in the game before reaching level 100 for the second time. Its giant blade is a myriad of the colors of the rainbow. It has the effect of striking the target with a random magic damage of one of the nine elements: fire, water, wind, earth, lightning, wood, darkness, light, and arcane. Awarded in the form of a great sword due to Jorge Rivera's Spell Blade title which allows the title owner to wear light, medium, and heavy armor.

Effects

Does double damage towards Hellion and spirits.

Reduces the divine energy usage of all divine skills by half.

Magic damage with a random element.

Immune to all status ailments.

"Inspecting his great sword? It really is unfair, isn't it? Status ailments, like those of my sword, are what gives people an edge to fight stronger or more numerous foes. His weapon's fourth effect is a cheat effect," Magnus sighed while Jorge brandished his two-handed sword with pride.

"I wonder when I'll get a cool weapon like that," Melissa said as she entered a stance. She usually went with Jorge and Magnus to the mixed martial arts gym after school while they were in high school. She felt pretty confident and the two other boys were superior to her as well.

"Killing Hellion with my girl......if only this was in the game. So many of our friends would be so jealous," Jorge laughed as they moved into position and saw the hyenas charge toward them. "Let's do this shit and kill them all!"

"I just hope I can get to level 5 before we reach the hotel. I can start cultivating my adamantine core and unlock my cultivator skills so I can use them. I never had Inferno Strike before. It was always one of the other elements I used. I did choose the fire element, but I hardly used it in before."

"You stay close to Magnus!" Melissa said as she gulped upon seeing the hyena grow even closer, able to smell their bloodied and dirtied fur.

"Good luck sis!" Alex said as he turned on the safety, hands trembling as he saw all the hyenas. It was definitely different than any Lion King movies he saw. How could people think they were funny?