Classless Ascension

That day was one for the history books.

Invincible mutants? Slaughtered!

Intangible phantom crows? Eaten!

Legendary D.L. Leader? Resurrected and coming back in style!

At that moment, many remembered why they had joined that crazy school, all for the opportunity to witness such miracles, all for the opportunity to…

The party was suddenly crashed by a large military fleet, so powerful-looking that it eclipsed the entire sky, their thrusters the size of towers.

They were led by the sternest soldier ever, the leader of Metropolis-C, the man looking like he had eaten shit as he glanced at Josh.

"Tch— You really are back. I guessed as much when I saw that world announcement." He spat out. Still, it didn't take long for students to protest.

"What?! You're blaming us?! It's obviously a coincidence!"

"Yes, yes, you can't possibly have proof!"

The General could only shake his head. Who the heck were they trying to fool? Still, he knew better than to argue with the crazy bastards.

"That doesn't matter. Josh Malum, your nation needs you. Come with me and—"

"Fuck off! How about you let him breathe for a second! Besides, he's in Draconic!…kinda." Kasha interrupted, only to be one-upped by a particular pink-haired lady.

"Breathe? Josh, join me on my ship. I have soooo many things to show you…." Why was the mighty CEO Boss' face so flustered?

In a matter of seconds, the government, guilds, and private sector were all in an intense staring contest to bring Josh back with them.

They all turned toward Josh, ready to state their case, only for their expression to turn weird. The target not only wasn't hesitating, but he wasn't even listening at all!

Josh had long been distracted by his AT medallion, which started vibrating faster than a rabbit on steroids. But what truly attracted his attention was the nearby Tower shaking along!

[B-brother….w-we need to speak…]

The message came as a whisper, and yet it didn't remove the sense of urgency that seemed to be associated with it. Josh ran into the Alter Tower without waiting, ignoring the rest of the world.

As soon as he entered, he had the shock of his life.

"What the fuck happened here?! Everything was fine a few hours ago!" He cried out in disbelief as he saw the Mall that seemed to be glitching out of existence.

[Don't worry too much about it, brother. Just a cold…]

Cold?! As if a Tower could get sick! Even now, he was still cracking jokes?! "What can I do to help?! Hurry and tell me!"

[I'm not sure why, but everything accelerated all of a sudden…]

[I can hear them, the voices, the overlords, they're angry, outraged even…]

"Overlords? Do you mean the gods? Did one of those bastards curse you or something?!"

[Curse? No, yes, perhaps? They say humanity cheated. They say the dimensional veil has been pierced. They don't know what exactly happened, something about Thanatos' blessing, but they hold humans accountable…]

As the words made it to Josh's brain, so did a strange feeling rise from the deepest of his being. It started meager but then grew until it exploded like an inferno, fury!

"Hold us accountable?! They're the ones that put us here! They're the ones that are toying with us! They're the ones that—" He stopped himself, still shaking.

Why was it that he was getting a sense of deja vue? It was as if he had repeated the same thing over and over and over….not that it was possible, right?!

[I can feel it, the world has started crumbling, and they won't lift a single finger to repair it. If you want to survive, you'll have to—]

"Climb."

Josh gave a self-derisive smile as he chuckled. "Climbing is what it always boils down to, isn't it?" by now, his chuckled had turned into mad laughter.

[What?! Shouldn't you be freaking out? I just told you that your world is doomed! Shouldn't this scare you at least a bit?]

At this moment, AT felt flabbergasted. How was his brother taking the news so well? Had the shock affected his mental health?

"Scared? No, I'm relieved instead…."

[?!?]

"It seems I've been going about Climbing all wrong…."

[B-brother…?!]

"I was slowly going at it, floor after floor, slowly rising and consolidating my power…."

[It's working! Don't give up, brother! You're so much stronger than the Climbers on your Floor! Stay strong!]

"It's not working fast enough. If this world is doomed, I may as well put it to good use, don't you think?" His whisper somehow made AT shiver….

[W-what are you talking about?!]

"This world, I'll devour it…."

Josh then promptly excused himself, leaving an utterly baffled Tower behind. What should have been a gentle warning had backfired so much!

After being beaten by a Queen Succubus, Josh had felt the difference between the lowly human race and the superior ones. He had to grow stronger, way stronger.

— Woosh! —

As he reappeared in D-23, the corpses were already getting swept away, students grabbing supplies for the upcoming victory party.

"Josh!"

"You're back!"

"Are you ready to—"

He was instantly the center of the attention, but he ignored them all, simply waving at a few of his trusted allies, gesturing them to follow him.

They followed, their hearts beating faster than a washing machine. There was something about his aura, something deadly. Had the loss of the Orc King affected him that much?

Kasha was the first to try and comfort him. "I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted us to mop around. Instead, we should—"

"Thanks, Kasha, but I'm fine, great even." He stopped her. It was time to devour.  "Now, who's ready for a hunt? I've figured out Gene Corps' mutants' secret. It's time to pay them a friendly visit…."

Friendly visit?! Why did it sound like it would end as a bloodbath?! The D.L. officers were already grinning, their hands itching.

On the edge of D-23, influential delegations were arriving one after the other. Little did they know that the man they wanted to meet was already gone.

In a certain underground tunnel…

"H-how far do those tunnels go?!" Even Josh was baffled at all the work that had been gone while he had been gone.

"Oh, that? Well, we kinda figured you'd want to go for world domination at one point, so we kinda kept expanding. Was that wrong?" a D.L. officer nonchalantly replied.

"Wow…"