Rise Of The Hoarder

‘Welp, looks like I’ve found the Boss Monster…’

I knew I was right!

When I entered the room and found a lot of lab-related stuff, I instantly knew this would be some sort of experimentation scene. Was he using the undead in the city as some sort of experiment?

To what end?

Usually, I would just dive into battle and slay the Demon before me. Since it was a Grade  4, it was doable. However, I controlled myself because I didn’t completely understand the situation yet.

‘This Floor prioritizes intelligence and not brute strength… I can’t just muscle my way out of this…’

My first object would be to glean information from my target. Fortunately, I had the <Interpretation> Skill, so I could speak with the thing.

‘So, he’s using the Vampiric Language, eh? Lucky me!’

My Skill allowed me to understand and speak with anyone of different languages. That way, I could communicate with Demons. Due to some System Interpretation effect, all humans could speak the same language. Or, rather, we understood each other.

As for Demons, I had to rely on this Skill. But, like any ability, it wasn’t omnipotent.

To be able to utilize it, one must have eaten something from the race of the target. I got this Skill from the Hobgoblin King.

I was surprised when he addressed me in Human Tongue, but it was simply because he had consumed humans prior to my arrival. In essence, to speak with Demons… I needed to eat them.

Also, since there were many kinds of Demons and they spoke different languages, it was required of me to eat of their respective species. How disgusting was that?

Of course, this problem was easily solved by SHOP.

They sold purified Demon meat as a delicacy, so I got my hands on the most dominant races I could. Dragons, Vampires, sadly even Orcs.

Of course, the meat didn’t taste terrible since it had been processed properly, but… it was gross when one imagined the identities of these monsters when eating their meat.

If not for my resistance to nausea and my mental stability, I would have thrown up several times. In any case, I was happy to have learned so many Languages.

<0,>ᴠ,l ‘My current proficiency is even higher than that Hobgoblin King’s…’

Once we began conversing, the Demon mentioned research, and I pieced the pieces together.

‘Oh, so he’s really using this town’s people as his guinea pigs!’

That meant killing the monster would solve the problem, right? No… not necessarily. I still required a way to reverse the effects of the Demon’s activities. I was told to return this place to its previous estate, after all.

Then, whatever this monster was making… could it do that? The Tower wasn’t capable of giving an impossible quest. That meant something here—in this room—would be able to restore the people in this town to their usual selves.

Which was why I asked the question;

“Your research… does it have to do with Life? Like the restoration of the dead and immortality. That sort of thing…?”

The Demon responded by bulging its bloodshot eyes at me. It was creepy; and looking at the identity of the Vampire, it was simply disgusting.

The old fart began trembling and mumbling to itself, not even deeming it fit to answer my question.

“I knew it… you… you’re dangerous…”

I rolled my eyes, wondering what I could do to glean information. <Authority> could make my targets spill the beans, but…

‘This guy is a Grade 4 Vampire. It won’t work on him…’

Of the Demons, Vampires had one of the highest resistances to Mind Control. Plus, it had high Stats in intelligence. Not only that, but it was also a Grade 4. I knew full well how impossible it would be to bring it under my control.

“Should I use that method, then?” I murmured.

Suddenly, I felt a wave of power emanate from the monster up ahead. It was shrouded in a crimson aura and had a fierce look in its eyes.

“You did well to avoid my trap room. However, your luck ends here. Even if you avoided my ‘Goliath’, I can summon it here instead!”

With that loud and confident declaration, a large Magic Circle appeared between us. It flashed crimson light, and after a moment, something appeared.

It was red all over, glimmering like a massive knight in armor.

The armor had spikes on its shoulders, and the brawny figure was well over nine feet, having a large frame that made me seem short in front of it.

‘Now, this brings back memories…’ I mused a little.

“Behold, my Goliath! In pure combat ability, it surpasses even me! You stand no chance. Even if you avoided confronting it then, you can’t escape your fate now!”

I had gotten sick and tired of entertaining the Vampire’s jokes any longer. Since it had come to this, I simply needed to use Ghost Magic to get what I wanted.

“Huu… good grief.”

I walked ahead, leaving the party of deadweights behind me. They were protected by my shield, so it was probably fine.

“DIEEEE!!!” It shouted manically, seeming to order its champion to crush me.

I nearly broke into a laugh, but kept it to myself.

I just simply kept walking. Since it was a Golem, there was no need for me to bother with it in the slightest.

<Auto Retrieve> would simply handle the rest.

The moment the Golem stepped into range… that would be the end.

*********

Niggaruth watched as its ‘Goliath’ charged at his foe, ready to pummel the arrogant human.

He had spent so much time building that Golem, so the Vampire was assured that it could buy time before his Elixir was completed.

‘It might even be able to win! Maybe that human isn’t all that!’

But, the way the masked person in front of him moved made him wonder if that was truly the case. He was too confident.

‘You little shiiit! You’ll die for sure!’ Niggaruth declared in his heart, waiting for the splatter of flesh and the sight of gore to appear.

Unfortunately for the Demon, none of that occurred. Instead…

His Goliath, the Golem Niggaruth had spent a great deal of time and resources to create… vanished in a flash!