Rise Of The Hoarder

>FWOOOSH<

I jumped toward the fence, making it to the tip in one try as expected.

Looking at the compound, a wave of nostalgia washed through me, reminding me of the first time I saw the interior.

The Demons weren’t as plentiful as the last time I came, since they numbered only a few thousand. Most likely five thousand or less.

However, just as expected, they consisted of troublesome Hobgoblin Archers for long-range and Hobgoblin Tankers for melee.

Fortunately, the Archers had expended their arrows on their first strike toward the gate and we’re now in the process of reloading their bows.

Calculating the time it took for them to be finished based on the earlier fight I had, I reasoned it was a bit less than a second.

That was enough time.

Nearly all my combat skills became activated as I dashed from the fence and lunged myself at the expectant crowd.

However, before impact, I summoned nearly all my Demon Cores to serve as the fireworks which marked the beginning of our fight._.

My red jewels shone among the flustered group, sending brilliant lights and cackles of conflicting energy as my Mana mixed in with them.

>BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!<

In an instant, explosions occurred all across the battlefield, killing off so many Demons that I couldn’t even count.

Quite a deal of [You Have Leveled Up] icons appeared before me, but I ignored them.

Falling to the ground, I activated the Demon Cores that were left behind by the fallen ones, causing a chain reaction of more blasts.

>BOOOMMM<

>BOOOOOMMM<

>BOOOOOOOOOMMMM<

As more brilliant flashes of light filled the ground, I was met with arrows. In their multitudes they rained on me, targeting my single location and surroundings to endure I couldn’t escape.

A brilliant grin formed on my face as I activated my newly obtained Skill, <Iron Skin>, gotten from the dead Goblin Tanker.

Using the residual energy within its core, I was able to increase the Skill Level to three. Plus, with the many explosions raining on the enemies, I had obtained more Tanker Demon Cores and raised the Skill to its maximum level.

That meant one thing. As long as <Iron Skin> was active… no arrow was going to pose a problem to me!

“<Aura>. <Nimble>. <Coordination>. <Venomous Spikes>. <Iron Skin>.”

With these five Skills, alongside my other Job-Related Skills, the constant chain explosions raging on, and my battle prowess, there was no way in hell I would lose this bout.

The arrows bounced off my body as though a few pebbles landed with no lasting effect.

Countless venomous Spikes flew out of my skin, hitting every target efficiently thanks to <Coordination>. <Aura> boosted my entire capabilities, giving me enough speed to traverse the area effectively, while also adding <Nimble> to the mix.

It felt like I was invincible!

My weapons killed any Hobgoblin that tried attacking me, thigh most had already been poisoned by my spikes.

I also killed the few that my weapons didn’t reach, one-shotting them easily.

>BOOOOMMMM< More explosions erupted from the residual Demon Cores dropped by the Demons.

The fight went easier than expected. However, this was only because I had taken my time to analyze everything beforehand.

‘I’m never diving headfirst into danger again!’ I resolved.

And so, in very little time, less than thirty minutes, I was already done with the Demons in the compound.

Except for a few dozen leftovers that I left alive intentionally, the rest had met their end.

“G-Gur-Guruuhikkkk….” The survivors made cries of fear.

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t kill you.” I smiled at the helpless creatures at my mercy.

Thanks to these guys’ interference, I had lost a lot of Gifteds. They ruined my plans, and I felt like cutting them up so bad. However, being rational, I figured out another use for them.

“I finished earlier than expected. I can begin the experiment now…” I muttered.

“G-Guriiiiiikkkk!!!” The Hobgoblins made desperate cries, now deciding to launch a futile attempt to kill me.

The Archers were out of arrows, so they came for me with their bare hands, while the few Tankers I spared also rushed to get a piece of the action.

“Useless…” I mumbled, sending my weapons to immobilize, but not kill them.

Stabbing them to impede their movements, the Hobgoblins all fell to the ground, pinned by the weapons I launched at them.

“This almost looks like I nailed then with my daggers…” I muttered.

They helplessly squirmed on the ground, pegged by the weapons that refused to budge.

“Don’t worry… I’ll free you guys soon. Just be patient. I whispered.

The next thing I did was to open [Subspace], looking at the particular icons I wanted to see. A wide grin formed on my face as I released everything within them, or rather, everyone.

In a flash, they all materialized from within the space they were trapped in. Everyone still had the same peculiar expressions of fear on their face before I had taken them into [Subspace].

As for the identity of these people I brought out… they were none other than the deserters of the Camp.

“Ahhhh!!!”

“Please don’t kill me!!!”

“U-uarghhhh!!!”

“Please waittt!!!”

Countless cries filled the air at once. I found it irritating so I instantly used <Rule> to silence them.

The moment I activated the skill, they all kept silent and their bodies shivered in fear of my presence. Stiffly moving their necks, they looked around them, noticing the unfamiliar terrain they found themselves in.

Even Larry was no exception. The look of terror, confusion, and desperation was evident in his eyes.

“Now that we’ve all calmed down, I suppose I should explain some things to you.” I smiled.

They looked in my direction, and then beyond me. Noticing the few dozen demons pegged behind me, many gave stifled shrieks of fear.

“You must be confused. Questions must be boggling your mind. But don’t worry. You’ll understand soon enough… It’s simple, really” I said, addressing everyone whose knees were already too weak to support them.

“Those things behind me are Demons. Those in front of me are Gifteds. There is only one thing that connects both in this world… battle!”