Classless Ascension

As the giant Blattagriff took the air, its passengers knew they were fucked. 

Josh and orc were struggling to keep their footing. The thing rose so quickly into the air that the momentum had flattened them on its back like pancakes.

As they finally managed to raise their head, they became livid.  The pillar was now becoming smaller and smaller in the distance. 

"Tch— retreating is fucking impossible now," Josh complained. 

At this point, he wouldn't have minded breaking both his legs in the fall if it meant returning to land. 

"Oh crap! Is this how it feels to be on a rocking ship in the middle of a tempest?!" The orc cried out, trying his best to hold on.

Josh turned to inspect his surroundings. A few protrusions were remaining and holes at the few spots they had already destroyed. They needed footholds, or they'd get thrown overboard any second. 

"Let's try this." 

Josh waved his hands akin to an orchestra maestro. He sent a few threads with every wave, quickly creating a wannabe spider web. 

The orc gave him a grateful look as he used his large hands to grab onto the tiny thread, regaining his balance. 

But that's when the buzzing sound intensified. Hundreds upon hundreds of deadly insects were heading their way. They wanted nothing more than to devour them. 

Thus began one hell of a fight. They had to avoid destroying their foothold yet annihilate the enemies. It was one goddamn shitshow. 

Their only saving grace was that they had plenty of healing pills. #Moneybags #Pay to win #Kill with money! 

At this rate, Josh would easily get addicted to this. He could understand how there were so many pills junkies in this world. A good thing he was making bank with D.L., or this would have dug a hole in his pockets. 

"We got this. There are plenty, but not as many as earlier. I guess there's a limit to how many it can create in a given time!" Josh uttered happily. 

"Hehe, you're right, master!" He gently nodded before bellowing: "Bring it on, you disgusting creatures! Nothing stops a proud orc warrior!" 

Everything went well. It really did. But then heard a powerful shriek coming from the Blatagriff. 

— SHRIEK! — 

This seemingly simple thing changed everything. The insects suddenly began to act differently. Before, they had been mindlessly attacking them, but now they began to…attack the threads?! 

Oh god, no! It could order them?! The insects were very efficient. They completely ignored the juicy-looking mammals as they ripped the threads apart. 

"Master, what now?!" the orc's panicked voice echoed. 

"We try and get some of these next time we do a spring cleaning," Josh uttered, seeing how quickly they were getting rid of the fake webs. 

"What?!" 

"Don't worry. I have a plan." Josh chuckled. 

He had just noticed that the insects didn't seem to be that smart. They could follow easy orders, but complex ones were a no-go. How did he know? Well, there were a few of them chasing after threads that had gone flying away.  <br/><script>ChapterMid();</script>

"Here, it's feeding time." He enthusiastically called out. 

Josh made tons of small thread balls before throwing them as far as possible. Instantly about half their attackers went after it. Just like that, they had gotten rid of many of them. 

— SHRIEK! — 

The creature's shrieked once more, seemingly updating the orders it had given the insects. By now, they weren't leaving the creature's wide back anymore. 

"Master, I'm afraid it won't work anymore, but it's fine. I will show them how powerful an orc—"

"Says the bloody orc that seems about to kick the bucket any second. Just sit still. I'm not done." 

"T-that, I—" The orc endured the urge to shout a war cry. 

Josh took his morphing weapon. The range on it was limited, but hopefully, it would work for his purposes. He focused on making it as large and as thin as possible. 

A few seconds later, he finally created an abomination that looked like a children's metallic play module. It was only thin metallic bars that couldn't be used as a weapon at all.

The whole thing looked like a metallic web, just barely, but it was enough to get the insects to charge at it to devour it. But as they collided with it, the critters had the surprise of their lives— ones that were ending. 

On all its surface, there were tiny sharp barbs. The insects were now literally trying to devour a weird-looking sword and actively killing themselves on it. 

At this point, most of the group was dead or lost. What had been an impossible number of enemies was now relatively manageable. 

"Hahaha, this is my master's power! None of you little things stand a chance!" The orc thundered as if a personal achievement. 

— SHRIEK! — 

What now?! 

Suddenly they felt the world flip completely. The two felt their bodies float. Josh barely managed to hold onto his morphing weapon stuck in the thing's carapace, and the orc grabbed unto his master. 

— SHRIEK! — 

The monstrosity was now trying to shake them off forcefully. As long as it made them fall, they would 100% perish! Thus began an extremely weird contest of strength. 

Josh VS Blattagriff 

Blattagriff used, "Do a barrel roll!" 

It's not very effective. 

Blattagriff used "Shriek!" 

It's very annoying! 

Blattagriff used, "Spawn more insects!"

It's super effective! 

The insects were the absolute worst. It felt like they were riding a mechanical bull from hell, trying to hang on for dear life, but with people shooting at them at the same time. 

Josh hurriedly took out his branch, summoning the grass elemental once again.

"Help us with the footing," Josh ordered. 

It extended its grass tentacles, giving them a respite— but it was short-lived. 

— SHRIEK! — 

Following the creature's orders, the insect all flew toward the grass elemental, intent on getting rid of it. How long could it even survive? 

"This won't do," Josh grumbled. 

"Master, I think it is time for an ancestral orc strategy." 

"Let me guess? Go berserk and smash?" He sighed. 

"Exactly! It's worked for orcs for centuries!" He nodded, wise-looking. "Let's destroy as many protrusions as we can and—"

"No, we won't be in time." Josh objected. "We're destroying the wings instead." 

The orc simply nodded before he went crazy with his hammer, winging it toward every wing in sight— there were so many after all. 

— Shriek! — 

Combat kept going, with wave after wave of enemies attacking them and the Blattagriff doing tons of aerial maneuvers. All until they managed to cause enough destruction to force it to land. 

— Shriek! — 

At this point, the creature had no choice but to return toward the pillar begrudgingly. It already knew what it would do. It would smash itself back first against it, squashing the pests. 

Throwing them off should have been easier, but it didn't seem to be working. It even had a few reserve troops to finish them off the moment they would be stunned from the shock. 

It had it all figured out— or that's how it should have been. 

"Alright, we're almost done!" 

"Here's another Orc Smash!" 

— Shriek?! — 

In the creature's scream, there was incredible puzzlement. The two were still attacking its wings?! Even now?! Were they crazy?! If they destroyed them, they would all fall to their death! Why would they do that?! 

It needed to give them an illusion of hope! It made sure to accelerate until they could see a pillar in the distance. Now they would stop and— or not?! The two crazies were still smashing! 

It couldn't understand what was happening. Since it didn't know about the Tower, it couldn't know that they would have the option to teleport out after killing it. So what if they fell to their death? 

— Shriek!? — 

The creature suddenly felt fear. 

That's when it resolved to use a forbidden technique to increase the power of its troops. It hadn't wanted to use it before because of the backlash, but now it felt obligated to.

The two pesky guys would die for sure! 

The insects all over the creature's back began to glow in a blackish light, akin to its blood. It was as if they were on steroids as they charged at the human and orc with rekindled fervor. They drew blood, removed flesh, and even chipped the bones with every bite.

Josh felt like he was in a meat grinder, no perhaps that option would have been better. At this rate, they would die before they finished destroying the wings.

But he could somehow feel how panicked the Blattagriff was getting by its shrieks. 

— Shriek!?! —

It didn't know that they were gonna die. It didn't know that they didn't have an ace up their sleeves. It just saw them destroy its wings without a care in the world.

It feared for its life so badly even if it wasn't logical.  It accelerated once again toward the pillar. It didn't want to die!

Little did it know that they were counting on this to survive. 

Why did it misunderstand so damn much? This was because of how they were acting. 

Josh was relaxedly commenting amidst the deadly swarm: 

"Wow, this is a dream come true. This is even better than first class! There are only the two of us and so many attendants! Well, they could be prettier, but I won't quibble on the details." 

Of course, the proud orc warrior was following suit: 

"Ah, this feels nice! How long has it been since I've received a deep flesh massage like this!" He was about to perish, and yet his voice was as powerful as ever.

— Shriek!?! —

The Blattagriff didn't understand what the heck was happening! How were they still alive?! But it only focused on reaching land. After a few minutes of intense efforts, it finally managed to, as it shrieked in relief. 

It rammed itself in the rock, trying to crush them, but failed lamentably.

Josh had turned his morphing weapon transformed into a kite, and the party was now gliding to safety. It could only work for a short distance, but that was all they needed. 

The creature was suffering from activating a forbidden technique, had sustained some damage while landing, and they now had a reliable foothold. The rest was easy. 

A few instants later, the colossal creature was shrieking its last, a cry of regret and incomprehension...

[Completed the Objective!] 

[Congratulation cleared Floor 25!] 

[Pick one: Blattagriff Blood Essence | Blattagriff Summon Manual | Blattagriff Wings | Blattagriff Carapace ] 

[Special reward for completing Floor 25: Would you like to summon reinforcements?! Y/N]