Ignis wanted to throw up his hands in annoyance. Altan, Shade, and Graves kept arguing about everything, and he just wanted to do something that wasn't about the gods' damned system.

Ignis pulled out his phone to check his subscriptions. A few of the YouTubers he subscribed to had put out videos on how to use the system now.

The key thing to remember when creating your build is synergy …

"I'm not a noob, I don’t need this." Ignis muttered as he scrolled down.

Hello everyone, this is Debby Roger from Ontario coming to you live.

Despite the government's request, everyone to stay calm and remain in their homes. Multiple individuals have been forced to defend themselves from the monsters, and some are even venturing out to actively hunt these creatures for xp, levels and skills.

Unfortunately, this has also led to an increase in violence, not just from people hunting these monsters but also against their neighbours. Police have already arrested forty-six individuals for fighting and one for murder. Just in my part of town today. Not to mention all of the people who have been hospitalized due to their injuries.

"Well, you don't have a swarm of goblins outside your house, so you're doing alright lady." Ignis quipped before moving on.

You heard it here first, folks. This is all a conspiracy by aliens. First, they create a video game called the Legend of Noralon for their chosen to practice with, and then they unleash monsters on us so they can steal our resources and turn us into a slave population.

"Is there anything normal on the internet?"

A Spineasouraus was spotted off the Florida coast.

"That was a dumb question," he muttered to himself.

Apparently, the internet is all about the system right now. The only stuff that wasn't on the system were the other guilds. All over the world, beta-testers were crowing to the sky, giving out advice, taking territory, and doing whatever they wanted. He only recognized a few of them from the Noralon leaderboards. The Lionheart guild in Germany, Holy Basil in India, and some bug guild in England, and most of the other guilds he didn't recognize.

He tossed his phone into his inventory in disgust. He needed some air. Snapping open his wings of fire, he shot up into the air over their base. He smiled at their still small fiefdom. The apocalypse force had occupied everything from 64 Ave to 61 A Ave.

He gained altitude as quickly as possible, going up and up as he flew away from their settlement. Ignis loved flying—really loved flying. His father had placed Eric in air cadets for two years, and he loved every chance to go flying. Then his dad had died, and his mother had stopped taking him.

Ignis shook his head as he tried to ignore the memories. He was Ignis, not Eric. He focused on the wind on his face, the ground racing below him as he rode the wind and caught an updraft. He had wanted to be a pilot before the system, but he doubted he would have gotten the chance to be one with his grades. In fact, if he hadn't been a beta-tester, he probably would have gone all in and focused his classes on flying.

The wind roared in Ignis’s ears as he soared higher, the ground a blur of green and brown far below. Here, among the clouds, nothing could touch him—no arguments, no guild politics, no endless debates about what to do next. He was free. With a tilt of his wings, he banked sharply, relishing the surge of speed as he cut through the air like a blade.

He started to descend towards the goblin horde. He could see goblin campfires between the houses still burning in the early morning light. There had to be thousands of goblins outside. Even now, they were attacking the undead. Fortunately, the goblins were having little success and were only adding to the growing undead horde protecting them. Even still, it would take a small army just to break out of the encirclement. Ignis sighed. He needed to do his part to hold the horde back.

Ignis pulled in his wings as he dove towards the front lines. Snapping his wings out, he unleashed a fountain of flames directly on the house, which some of the goblins were using as an archer's nest.

The goblins screamed as their flesh boiled and their eyeballs popped. The house beneath them fared a little better, going up like old timber. Ignis mostly ignored the horde. He didn't want to interfere with Shade's plagues or, worse, allow his flames to spread to Graves' undead. Instead, he firebombed any of the nearby structures, whether they were created by humans or goblins.

This had been Altans' idea. Ignis would slowly create more open space between their battlelines and the goblins. The increased line of sight and visibility would allow the apocalypse force to attack the goblins as they closed the distance. It would also leave the goblins more exposed while denying the goblins' own rogues and rangers any chance to act from the safety of cover.

The goblins tried to counterattack, but Ignis simply gained altitude and flew out of range. He flew in circles, setting random buildings on fire as he surveyed their defences.

They had managed to raise three obstacles around their perimeter. The outermost was a simple massive ditch swimming with both zombie goblins and regular goblins. It was less of a battle and more of a meat grinder. The zombies ripped apart the goblins and ate some of their fresh meat. Then, the corpses rose up to join the fight. The Blight the zombies, were generating was already starting to fill the ditch, turning the simple moat into an impassable death trap.

Despite that, the goblins were steadily getting past it. They created wooden ramps and fired off spells into the ditch in a vain attempt to clear it.

The second was a barricade made out of car wreck, chunks of rock, and splintered wood. Basically, it's anything they could throw at it. It was already looking worse for wear. Arrows and spells kept hammering into the barricade every few seconds, turning the impromptu wall into a pile of rubble that just happened to block the goblins' attacks.

After that were Grave's elite troops—skeleton warriors and archers. Unlike the zombies, the skeletons didn't produce blight and were much, much more coordinated. The third and final wall was a massive earthen hill they had raised with magic.

The undead battled the goblins around the first two, an endless battle. An army of goblins slammed into the undead horde as both sides fought without regard for their own survival. The actual human forces stood atop the dirt wall and took potshots into the sea of green.

He flew back over their settlement. Within their borders were mostly fields and a bit of forest—if you could call the collections of trees in a park a forest. As for housing, they only had a handful of houses in the area, and Goldstone Park Elementary School was within the borders.

Ignis knew that Graves had plans. The Media Centre quickly became their castle, while this area, along with the school and houses, became something like a medieval town. The parks and forests were planned to be converted into farmland.

He flew over the shanty town. The place was dirtier than he had been expecting. People, or as Graves called them, NPCs, lazed around, scuttling away as Ignis flew overhead. He was sure some of the people were doing drugs. They looked just like his mother: unclean, dirty, skinny. Ash fell from the sky as the sounds of fighting echoed on the wind, but no one seemed to be worrying. They just kept their heads down and seemed to be trying to avoid his eye. The players walked around like they owned the place. At the same time, the NPCs avoided them.

At this point, each house contained at least a dozen people each. They were like small little gangs. Strong enough to keep the homes, too weak to truly join the guild. The Apocalypse Force itself was growing. They had already absorbed a few of the weaker guilds and they had found a pair of siblings with the same bloodline. They had all been more than happy to join up once they realized the benefits. Shade had dealt with the ones unwilling to join.

The Media center contrasted with their shanty town in almost every way. It was clean, and instead of NPCs, it was almost entirely populated by players. It even had special rooms. It was an interdimensional hotel with all the amenities. It had a burial chamber for Graves to do his undead stuff. And a few others they had kept around for the crafters.

In Ignis's opinion, the best one was the Ikea Restaurant. Apparently, the system gave brand recognition to Ikea. They had turned the old snack bar into a little shop that gave out food in exchange for mana. He had no idea why, but it provided all the Swedish meatballs they could eat—even the NPCs had meatballs. It provided other things from the Ikea menu, but meatballs were the cheapest and most selected option.

He didn't grab meatballs; he had been eating them for days. Instead, he grabbed a dozen chilli dogs and a bucket of poutine. He wished the shop could produce soda or coffee, but all it had was flavoured brand water.

He considered going back to his room in the interdimensional hotel. So he could have sex with his lunch. But then he decided against it.

The hotel was limited to only players while the NPCs lived in town. Of course, since all the important people lived in the media center, those places weren't nearly as safe from the goblins.

Ignis might have felt bad, but these were the same people who had left him with a heroin addict. The one lesson he had learned was that no one would help you unless you made them help you.

When he got to the balcony, he noticed that some people were already using the theatre to watch porn. Well, technically, it was a movie called Barely Legal. But it might as well be porn. Out of reflex, Ignis used [Identify].

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Name: Donald Walker

Titles: Beta-tester, First, Murderer, Apocalypse Force

Race: Half-Giant

Type: Humanoid / Giant

Total Level: 22

Age: 21

Classes: Bone Juggernaut 22

Personal Skills: Storyteller, Storage, Mapping, System Wiki

Bone Knight Skills: Fang of Man, Empowered Blows, Chivory, Virtue in Extremis, Armoured Charge, Legendary Strength, Sweeping Slash, Multi-Strike, Skeletal Juggernauts Weapon, Skeletal Juggernauts Armour, Duty Before Death, Art of Bones, Spartoi, Scrimshaw, Two Are One

Name: Randy Tombs

Titles: Beta-tester, First, Murderer, Rapist, Apocalypse Force

Race: Deep Dwarf

Type: Humanoid

Total Level: 21

Age: 23

Classes: Earth Cultivator MAX, Geomancer 1

Personal Skills: Iron Stomach, Pursuit Hunter, Storage, Mapping, System Wiki

Earth Cultivator Skills: Fist of Gaia, Earthen Armour, Ground Contraction, Earthen Armoury, Earth Sense, Earth Affinity, Planetary Soul, Earth Elemental Core, Aura of Autumn, Avatar of Earth, Aspects of Earth

Geomancer Skills: Terra Arts, Geo-Force, Compacted Earth, Dig, Shape Earth,

So it was Donald and one of their new guildmates, a guy named Randy. They had picked up shooting the shit with each other as they enjoyed their concubines. Altan offered special bonuses to any girl or boy who became a concubine for one of the Apocalypse Force players. Ignis himself had two already. A [Beggar] girl named Cora and a [Witch] named Tina.

That was the part he liked. He liked being cool, being desirable. He liked how his concubines worshiped him, and he really liked the sex. The best part was since it was a choice, they didn't get saddled with the Rapist title.

Ignis sat down on the upper levels and figured he would eat his food, enjoy the sex movie for a bit and then go back to his room for the night and enjoy himself. Or at least he tried to. A part of him couldn't help but wonder if they were being a bit premature with this whole apocalypse thing. Altan said they would be fine, but would the National Guard really leave them alone? Would the other guilds? He didn't want to indulge himself and then go to jail. Then, he would just end up as his mother.

Ignis was so busy brooding he didn't notice Brandon … Altan sat down next to him. The seat groaned as the golden-skinned giant dropped into it, one of his concubines sitting in his lap.

"You have to love this movie," Altan chuckled as he stared at one of the actors as she took her top off.

"What do you want, Brandon?" Ignis asked.

"It's Altan now, remember Eric," Altan growled.

Ignis rolled his eyes.

"What do you want, Altan? If it's another argument, I'm not interested, " Ignis said.

"Actually, after you left, I had an idea," Altan admitted as he fondled his concubine. "If the Awoken Myths guild dies. Then we can grind away at the horde for free levels, maybe even indefinitely. But if they win …"

Altan shrugged.

"If they win and we fail to show up, they're going to be pissed." Ignis finished Altans' thought.

Altan grinned. "See, you get it. You're not like Graves and Shade; you can see the big picture."

"So what do you want to do about it?" Ignis asked.

"I want you to take the weakest members of the guild, the NPCs, and anyone and everyone who isn't pulling their weight. I want you to take them down 56 Ave down to Surrey, join up with the Awoken Myths guys in their attack against the horde."

Ignis frowned in confusion.

"Why? You're just going to give the Awoken myths what they want?"

Altan's golden fists clenched. "We’re the Apocalypse Force, Ignis. We don’t give anything. We take."

"That didn't answer my question?" Ignis pointed out.

Altan rolled his eyes.

"Because if we send people, even worthless people, we can say we tried. We sent one of our best members and all of the people we could spare even while we were under siege. We'll be seen as heroes. Assuming anyone survives, of course."

Altan giggled as he pulled his sex slave in close, placing sloppy kisses along her neck.

"Alright, now what's the real plan?" Ignis asked. The remnants of his meal sat forgotten.

"The real plan is simple: no matter what outcome we win. If the Awoken Myths fail, then everyone dies, and I can resurrect them all later with [Odin's Halls] and [War Never Ends]. All of them will be grateful for my mercy, and we can grind away at the horde. On the other hand, the horde falls, and we gain a bigger share of the rewards and some good PR for your participation. The best part. No matter what happens, the weaklings will either get stronger or desert my party and when they die, I will not be able to bring them back." Altan smiled as he pulled off his concubine's clothing. "The strong will thrive, and the weak will be culled."

"So that's it?" Ignis asked. "No backstabbing, nothing?"

"It's unneeded," Altan said, smiling. "As soon as the snow melts, Shades plagues won't be nearly as limited by the cold. We'll drown our enemies under waves of plague and zombies before we even engage."

Ignis consider the offer. It was a good plan. It was a chance to really do something.

"Alright, Count me in." Ignis agreed.

"Great," Altan smiled as he slapped him on the back. "I'll get the rest of my riders ready. We'll break through their lines for you, and you can lead your new army out of here just before dark."

Ignis nodded. They both got up to leave when Altan stopped him. "Just remember, Ignis. Empires aren’t built on charity. They’re built on power."

Ignis nodded, pretending not to have noticed the green flames dancing in his friend's eyes.

You may skip to the next chapter.

Name: Altan Khan (Brandon)

Race: Half-Giant

Type: Humanoid / Giant

LVL: 23

SubRace: Mongolian

Age: 16

Health: 3300

Stamina: 5760

Mana: 2440

Health Regen: 33.0 per min

Stamina Regen: 50.6 per min

Mana Regen: 19.8 per min

Titles: Beta-Tester, First, Apocalypse Force

Immune

N/A

Resistances

Physical 27%, Elemental 27%, Magic 15%, Vitality 15%, Soul 15%

Weakness

Mind 35%

Bane

Manslayer, Giantslayer

Classes: Horseman of War 23

Total

STR: 316

AGIL: 48

DEX: 88

CON: 242

END: 176

PER: 169

INT: 122

WILL: 110

SPIRIT: 88

EGO: 121

CHA: 96

LCK: 48

Base

STR: 264 +20%

AGIL: 44 +10%

DEX: 88

CON: 220 +10%

END: 176

PER: 154 +10%

INT: 110 +10%

WILL: 110

SPIRIT: 88

EGO: 110 +10%

CHA: 88 +10%

LCK: 44 +10%

Personal: +4 STR +3 CON +3 WILL +2 DEX +2 CHA

Racial: +3 STR +2 CON +2 SPIRIT +1 END

Bloodline: +5 END +5 PER

Horseman of War Skills: +3 STR +3 CON +3 INT +3 EGO

Bloodline:

[Bloodline of the Sin of Envy Leviathan] - Legendary: The Bloodline of the Sin of Envy, Beast of the Apocalypse, Primordial Sea Beast, Demon Prince of Envy, Living Hellgate, Leviathan.

* [Scales of Leviathan] - Level 31

* [Sea of Damnation] - Level 24

* [Thalassophobia] - Level 12

* [Gross Envy] - Level 24

* [Eyes of Envy] - Level 30

* [Flames of Jealousy] - Level 14

* [Living Hellgate] - Level 1

* [Raid Boss Physiology] - Level 30

* +5 END per Level

* +5 PER per Level

Skill Slots: 15/60: Skill Points: 0

Personal Skills

* [Titans Strength] - Level N/A

* [Domination] - Level 19

* [Sex Maniac] - Level 24

Horseman of War 15/16

* [Flaming Sword of War] - Level 33

* [Broken Second Seal] - Level 29

* [Red Rider] - Level 18

* [Eternal Warrior] - Level 17

* [Spoils of War] - Level 26

* Capstone: [Belliscience] - Level 25

* [Art of War] - Level 21

* [Avatar of War] - Level 14

* [Friendly Fire] - Level 7

* [War Never Ends] - Level 16

* Capstone: [Cry Havoc] - Level 5

* [Presence of Ares] - Level 14

* [Kali’s Destruction] - Level 15

* [Blood of Huitzilopochtli] - Level 17

* [Halls of Odin] - Level 9