Classless Ascension

Many tentacles could be seen impaling a lone man in the chaotic darkness. Nearby, another appendage was holding the medallion it had just stolen from him.

The little girl on the side witnessed the monster focus on the man as she slowly prepared to help. Her mana was low, and she didn't know the victim, but she would do all she could to thwart the plans of the evil monster.

But, just as she was ready to make her move, the darkness suddenly trembled, all of it! She couldn't help but shiver as her eyes darted from side to side, searching for danger. Wait, the disturbance was coming from the sleeping man! What?!

He suddenly opened his eyes wide, ones that were so brilliant that they blinded her...literally! They glowed red as they illuminated the surroundings with a bloody aura. Making a claw with his hand, he struck!

She recoiled in surprise. What was he doing?! His extended arm grabbed straight at the nearby medallion confidently.

"This is mine." He uttered with an oppressive calmness.

"Whaaa?!" She stared, mouth wide open. Had the man just woken up because the creature had stolen his stuff?! Hadn't he been under its spell?

He took a step forward, the tentacles sticking in his body melting like lollipops in a crematory oven. This left his toned chest full of gaping holes, not that he seemed to care. In fact, it was already healing super quickly!

That's when he slowly inspected his surroundings, with the demeanor of a king in his own palace. As his gaze rested on her, she couldn't help but gulp aloud.

Wait, what if this was one of the creature's tricks? After all, it had suspiciously disappeared. What if the evil creature had possessed this body? She could be in huge trouble. It would probably be able to harm her directly then, right?! Oh god, this was bad!

As the man opened his mouth, she became more and more nervous:

"Oh, so that's where you were hiding. Time to go." He simply told her.

He didn't seem to care about the monster, he wouldn't take no for an answer, and he didn't seem worried in the least. She had seen people leisurely walking being more stressed than him!

Could this really be Josh? It would explain the nonchalance, but not how he had been defeated earlier.

That's when he slowly turned his head, seemingly staring at a random patch of darkness, one that looked the exact same as any other. "As for you, that's pretty rude to wake people up when they're sleeping, you know."

That's when it all seemed to click. He had been sleeping?! As expected of him! Was there anyone else that would dare to sleep in such a place?!

The creature's voice resounded, but this time it seemed strange as if it was slowly breaking apart:

"W̴h̷a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̵ ̴h̸e̸l̶l̸ ̷a̶r̴e̷ ̸y̶o̷u̵!̶?̴ ̷."

"Y̵o̷u̵,̶ ̶t̸h̸e̶r̷e̶'̴s̸ ̸n̶o̸ ̸w̵a̴y̶ ̵y̵o̷u̷'̵r̴e̷ ̷h̴u̴m̷a̸n̵!̷ ̸."

"H̷o̷w̵ ̴a̸r̷e̸ ̶y̸o̸u̷ ̶a̴b̷l̸e̸ ̵t̸o̶ ̷r̸e̷s̶i̷s̷t̶ ̸t̵h̸i̸s̸?̸!̵ ̵A̸r̴e̴ ̶y̴o̷u̵ ̴a̵ ̴f̸r̷a̵g̵m̶e̴n̶t̷ ̵h̷o̵l̷d̸e̴r̷ ̶t̴o̷o̸?̴!̸ ̸."

Josh slowly shook his head while giving a derisive laugh:

"Not human, you say? Don't you know? Humans are the true monsters in this world."

"A fragment holder? Nope, the gods can all go screw themselves! Well, I guess old man Iron is fine. But all the others I've met so far are complete egomaniacal dumbasses, haha."

"Y̵-̶y̶o̶u̴,̵ ̵y̴o̴u̷'̶v̸e̴ ̴m̸e̷t̶ ̴g̷o̵d̸s̶?̸!̶ ̵."

"H̶o̴w̸?̸!̶."

"Pfft— I warned you, didn't I" The little girl in the background snickered happily.

Josh gave a wry smile. This little healer reminded him of the little one. Both had boundless unfounded confidence in him and loved to cheer on the sidelines.

But SHE wouldn't have settled for a healer Class. She would have been cheering on the sideline with a powerful class to bash anyone who didn't join the cheering squad, haha.

"Now, let's get rid of this little pest, shall we?" Josh decisively approached the creature's consciousness.

He wasn't sure how, but the magical buff his ally had cast earlier was still active. Was time flowing differently in the darkness? Either way, it didn't matter. He had figured out the thing's power.

He began emitting intense killing, more concentrated than ever. He didn't even have to force himself as this monster had tried to mess with his precious memories. A million deaths wouldn't be enough to atone.

Then, he coated his entire body with mana. Normally, it wouldn't be that effective since it was better to aim for the vitals, but everything in the surroundings was part of the creature's body.

"A̶R̷G̷G̸!̷ ̶I̴t̸ ̸b̴u̸r̶n̵s̷!̶!̷!̷ ̵."

"H̴o̵w̴ ̷a̴r̴e̶ ̷y̴o̷u̶ ̵d̷o̴i̷n̷g̷ ̸t̶h̶i̴s̵?̸!̴."

"W̶h̸a̵t̸ ̴k̵i̷n̵d̴ ̴o̵f̸ ̶v̷i̶c̶i̵o̸u̵s̴ ̴e̷n̸e̸r̶g̸y̶ ̷i̵s̷ ̵t̵h̶i̸s̷?̸!̸ ̷."

Every step Josh took would inflict unimaginable pain on the entity.

The creature was going crazy. It was supposed to be able to absorb mana! It was supposed to resist even the power of other gods. Such was chaos, incredibly resilient and perfidious.

But confronted with this human's killing intent, it was all useless. How?! This didn't make any sense! It could feel its true essence being targeted by a voracious monster!

"H̸o̴w̷ ̶c̷a̵n̶ ̷a̶ ̶h̵u̸m̴a̵n̷ ̶e̴v̸e̴n̴ ̶t̶a̵r̸g̴e̸t̶ ̶m̵e̵?̷!̷."

"What do you mean? Didn't you realize? My memories are protected by killing intent. You're reeking of it and are such a huge target right now." Josh scoffed.

What a naive thing this was. The power of a god? Hell, this was the issue with borrowed power. The creature didn't know how to use it efficiently.

"N̵o̵o̷o̷o̷!̸ ̵G̸e̶t̶ ̵i̸t̶ ̴o̵f̶f̵ ̴m̴e̵!̶!̶ ̸F̸u̴c̶k̴!̸."

The young healer by the side was holding her sides as she laughed. The scary and fear-inducing monster had already begun cursing in despair. This situation was so funny!

"G̶o̷ ̵a̴w̴a̴a̶y̵y̷y̷y̷!̴!̸!̵"

But, would Josh have any mercy for this thing? Nope, he could feel that it would most certainly betray him at the first opportunity since it was far too cowardly. Quite ironic considering its nature.

But suddenly, the darkness started to boil. Whatever the creature was planning, it had to be an ultimate attack!

"T̵c̴h̶-̵-̸ ̶Y̴o̶u̵ ̴l̴e̵a̵v̷e̴ ̴m̴e̸ ̸n̸o̷ ̷c̴h̸o̶i̵c̶e̴.̷.̸.̵."

The creature roared. That's when all the darkness began gushing toward Josh. A being who had been fighting the entire castle all this time turned 100% of its attention to Josh alone.

"D̸i̴e̸e̴e̶!̴!̴!̶."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[A/N] You all ready? It's fucking mass release time! ☠ 1/8 !! ?

Creator's Thought

I'm not even sure myself when I began to protect my memories with killing intent. Many wouldn't understand how such a thing is even possible. After all, how could something so sweet and blissful coexist with such rage? That's where control plays an incredible part...