The Defiled Expanse

In a mysterious realm, 35 chairs were evenly spaced around a massive flawless marble table.

Each of them had different style chairs but one thing they had in common was that they were all immaculately designed.

35 of the chairs were currently filled with a wide variety of different godly beings.

Some were female, some were male, some androgynous, and some were.. well it was hard to tell what they were exactly.

Azrael, the god who had just finished giving his little 'speech' to the humans was the 36th and final one to take his seat at the table.

At first none of the godly beings said a word but after a few moments the silence was broken by what some would define as a female voice, "You really are a sadistic asshole Azrael... you didn't even tell your humans a single thing about The Defiled Expanse... You just gained your seat at the table, do you really want to lose it so quickly?"

"Hahaha! Where is the fun in that?! Besides, the race I created has been nothing short of a failure. It's been many millennia of trial and error and they just now gained access? They're nothing but a joke if you ask me.

I'm just grateful that they were finally able to join so that they can be wiped out and I can start fresh with a new creation.

Even if that means losing my seat again for a few millennia again."

A deep booming voice was the next to speak, "If their god wasn't such a pathetic weakling himself, maybe they would have been able to enter the game sooner!"

In response to that provocation, Azrael shot up from his seat and pointed toward the massive figure who had spoken, "Fuck you Lucifer! You want to fight?! Your all muscle and no brain! I'll wipe the floor with your ass!"

Lucifer rose from his seat and suddenly materialized a massive flaming whip, preparing to strike while simultaneously taunting Azrael, "Whenever you're ready you little shit. Your just mad I invaded your pathetic Earth all those years ago! Your creations still fear me as much as they revere you! If not more so!

They also barely defeated some of my weakest demons in their trial! Fucking pathetic!"

Azrael quickly materialized his wings and a large two handed sword which glowed with the most brilliant color blue, preparing for a fight.

Before the two could truly go at it though, a monotonal voice that sounded like it was devoid of all life and emotion, cut in, "Enough you two. We created The Defiled Expanse to give all of our creations a proper battleground for supremacy. You know the rules: conflict outside of The Defiled Expanse is no longer permitted.

It is precisely because of all of your petty squabbles that the universe was nearly destroyed.

Even fights between gods in this space is not allowed.

Or do I need to remind you what happened to the last god who disobeyed the rules?"

Azrael and Lucifer glared at each other for a few more seconds before they sat down again.

Once they had finally taken there seats, the monotonal voice continued, "Now to business. Each of you is aware that the humans of Earth have gained their right to challenge The Defiled Expanse.

You all are aware of the rules, so I will not go into too much detail but be warned.

The human race will be given a brief window to allow for assimilation and growth before they are free game.

If anyone breaks the rules, they will be punished according to the laws of this realm.

If the humans fail to survive after their growth period ends, Azrael will be dismissed from the table and allowed to start from scratch.

Does anyone have any issues?"

After a few moments of silence, the voice continued.

"Good. Then this meeting is dismissed. May your races thrive and glory to their creators."

Without delay, many of the figures promptly disappeared from their seats.

Most of them were only their as a formality and didn't have any interest in congratulating Azrael or anything of the sort so they didn't stick around after the meeting was over.

Before disappearing, Lucifer gave Azrael one last glare before he too disappeared.

Azrael who was preparing to leave, was stopped by the female voice which had spoken earlier.

"Azrael, you really should give your humans some help. You just ripped them from their homes and threw them into a veritable hell.

I know you thought your creations would join The Defiled Expanse far sooner, but you shouldn't take your anger about their failures out on them."

Azrael, nonplussed by the subtle insult, simply smiled.

Which confused the female goddess, albeit only momentarily, "You did something didn't you?"

"Relax Austeria, I may or may not have introduced something a few years ago using humanities technology that will make their assimilation far easier than some of the other gods' creations. Hahaha! They are not as unprepared as you lot think they are."

Austeria tilted her head to the side, confused, "And pray-tell might that be?"

Azrael didn't immediately answer and instead started to disappear, preparing to leave.

Before he completely disappeared he left Austeria with a single acronym, "VRMMORPG"

As Azrael disappeared in a fit of laughter, Austeria stood there confused, "What the hell is VRMMORPG?"

------------------

While the Council of Gods and Goddesses were meeting, the transfer of humanity from Earth to The Defiled Expanse had commenced.

After Azrael had finished speaking, Grant had immediately rushed back into the kitchen and grabbed hold of his parents.

Although he was boiling inside at the idea that he was about to be subjected to another tumultuous experience, he knew he had no choice in the matter.

He could tell his parents were terrified but before he could calm them down, magic circles appeared beneath each of them and quickly began to shine bright and brighter.

Moments later, the three of them disappeared from where they stood.

------------------

Grant found himself suddenly floating in a dark void.

[Welcome to The Defiled Expanse.

A game created by the gods and goddesses of the Universe.]

Although the words were different, Grant recognized the voice of the system immediately.

It was the same one he had heard countless times on Revonance.

[Would you like a brief introduction to The Defiled Expanse?

Yes or No]

Although Grant knew the system of Revonance like the back of his hand, he wasn't sure if anything would change now that they were being transported to The Defiled Expanse so he chose Yes.

[Each and every life form in The Defiled Expanse is given access to the system to make it easier to quantify their strength.

To view your status, simply think the word 'Status' and the screen will appear.

Try it now to view your stats.]

Grant did as he was instructed and his own status appeared.

*Status*

Name: Grant Hutchens

Title: None

Race: Human

Class: Beginner

Level: 0

Experience: 0%

Health: 140

Mana: 0

Strength: 18

Agility: 16

Vitality: 14

Stamina: 15

Active Skills: None

Passive Skills: None

Grant wasn't particularly caught off guard by any aspect of his stats but he was pleasantly surprised by them.

He thought they they seemed relatively high though because when he had been transported to Revonance he had been at or around 5 for each stat and his health had only reached 50 at that time.

His suspicions were confirmed by what the system said next.

[The average for humanity has been set at 5 and you are currently the strongest individual from your race.]

Of course, his current stats were no where near what his stats were when he had killed the 'Demon Lord' but based on how much the gods and goddesses seemed hell bent of fucking him over, it made sense that he didn't retain his old stats.

[The system will not provide you with anything more than a platform to view your current situation so do not expect anything from it.

Azrael, your god, will be responsible for guiding your race throughout your existence within The Defiled Expanse but it will be the other gods to assign you tasks or 'Quests' as you humans know them.]

Grant raised his eyebrows at the final statement, 'Why the hell would the other gods assign tasks to the races other than their own?'

As if seemingly reading his mind, the system answered the question.

[The sole purpose of The Defiled Expanse is for the god's and goddesses creations to challenge each other and fight for supremacy: and to that end, each god uses other gods creations to test their own.

Of course the earlier tasks are generated by the system that governs this world because the gods and goddesses cannot interfere during the initial protection period.]

Knowing the system would read his mind, Grant thought, 'What is the initial protection period and how long does it last?'

[The protection period will last for a duration of 30 days and it allows for the new races to familiarize themselves with their new environment.

Each race is assigned a starting location which has been populated by artificial lifeforms created by the governing system in order to accelerate that familiarization.]

'Interesting. We had nothing of the sort on Revonance... why?'

[Revonance was a trial ground for a small fraction of your race, who were chosen by your god Azrael, wherein they would fight to prove their races worthiness to join The Defiled Expanse.

You can think of Revonance as a miniature version of The Defiled Expanse.

Though other than the 'Demon Lord' and his army, which was provided by Lucifer, the God of Pandemonium, everything else on Revonance was generated by the governing system.

None of it was real.]