Rise Of The Hoarder

My heart thumped, making a noise that was so audible to my ears that it made me uneasy.

I still felt the pain of loss coursing through me, but what was this other feeling of excitement that flowed in my body? Even though I had just mercilessly killed someone so dear to me… why was I overcome with a sudden feeling of anticipation?

Somehow, I knew the reason deep within my heart.

“I win!” My lips curled as I formed those words and stared maniacally at the Angel lady.

The floating enemy gave me a deep glare that told me of her dissatisfaction, no disgust, toward my actions.

Apparently, she did not approve of my execution of Ana.

“You are truly a despicable existence. A being like you should not be allowed to live.” She gave a bold verdict as several feathers appeared around her.

They were in their hundreds, probably toppling a thousand. It seemed the Angel had decided to stop messing around.

“However, your foolish actions have guaranteed your death. Singularity, Jeremy Lewis, this is the end!”

After announcing her judgment, the barrage of feathers that were already aimed at me moved at barely visible speed and charged.

They were too many to completely evade, too fast to avoid, too powerful to defend against. These feathers were the ultimate tool for killing someone like me._.

However…

“Wrong choice.” I smiled evilly.

In an instant, the feathers vanished.

Silence radiated the short distance between me and the floating woman as surprise was etched on her face.

“W-wha—?!”

It was amusing and terribly pleasant how I watched the composure she had maintained for so long be completely rendered redundant.

“It’s over for you, lady!” I smiled.

The Angel was still in shock, recoiling and seeming to calculate how such a feat was possible.

I hadn’t moved an inch from where I stood, and clearly, I had not displayed any ability that indicated my capability for such a feat. How, then, was I able to pull it off now?

“You asked me why I killed my ally, right?” My smile grew wider.

The unease within me completely vanished and a wave of calmness took over. It was now evident to me that the scale of power had completely tilted away from the enemy’s angle and now worked in my favor.

“I killed her for this…”

Stretching my arms wide, I summoned a feather atop my palm and touched it lightly.

Sure enough, it felt very thin and smooth. But, it was extremely fine and I was assured that if I played around with the object too much, it could easily slice off my fingers.

“H-how are you able to…? What is the meaning of this?”

The Angel seemed to lose more of her grace the more time passed, as none of her elegance and poise from earlier could be seen.

“Even if you got EXP, that wouldn’t be able to…” Her voice weakly trailed in a murmur, causing me to snicker.

“EXP? What good would that do?”

Now that I thought of it, this was the perfect chance to learn a little bit about it. So far, the whole thing had been shrouded in mystery—the uniqueness of my Status Window.

Ever since I encountered this utterly overwhelming being, I had this feeling that she was related to the strange power I had. Now that she was now in the mood to talk, perhaps I could extract some information.

“What do you know about the (G) Karma Points?”

The moment I said this, the Angel’s eyes bulged and she brandished her weapon instantly.

A crazed look appeared on her face as she vanished from her position and charged straight at me.

>WHOOOOSHH<

This was the first time she had ever descended to deal a strike, catching me completely off-guard. She advanced, faster than I could completely fathom, and lunged her weapon at me.

In mere moments—no, even less—I would be turned into a corpse!

That is, if I didn’t have a countermeasure.

Fortunately, my Trump Card activated right on time.

>WHUUUSSHH!!!<

The air hissed as the remnant of the approaching pressure swept through me. I felt the empty gust of wind fly across the area, raising dust and debris as I stood on my lonesome.

The charging opponent was nowhere to be seen, nor was any resemblance of her. It was as if she had completely vanished. If it hadn’t been for the destruction that surrounded me, it was as though the Angel had never appeared.

“Whew!” I felt beads of sweat forming on my face as I sighed in relief.

My body unconsciously fell to the ground as my trembling legs gave in. Even though I put on a brave front, I was still frightened throughout our exchange.

That was just how scary my opponent had been!

“It’s finally over… Haa…”

No, was it really?

I had only managed to store her within [Subspace], same as her feathers. If it hadn’t been for that… my life would have been over several times over.

“Haa… still…” My voice trembled as I replayed my experience with the enemy.

‘I could have died… just like that…’

The thought of death brought about the memory of someone dear to me, someone I had just killed.

“<Summon>”

Even though I didn’t need to say the words, they slipped out unconsciously, as the woman’s dead body appeared.

After killing Lara, instantly sent her back to her slot in [Subspace]. Was it due to guilt? I was still figuring it out.

I caught her lifeless corpse in my arms and felt the body grow cold. The gaping hole in Lara’s chest, caused by my javelin, had completely killed her in a single stroke—just as I wanted.

Even as I stared into her lifeless eyes, the vestiges of love and guilt that clutched my heart tightly began to fade away. Thanks to my completely recovered state, the Titles that couldn’t completely suppress my emotions were now active.

“Huu…”

Lara’s eyes were closed, as if she already expected the strike—which she did.

“You could always see through me, uh?” I whispered as I caressed her cheeks slowly.

She must have known from the start… that I would harvest her (G) Karma Points at some point.