Rise Of The Hoarder

“M-monster… you… you… should rot in hell…” Charles cried in anguish.

I shrugged off his insults. People like him never understood things from my perspective. I had no idea why I decided to do such a pointless thing like telling him so much about my philosophy.

“Welp, you have your opinion, and I have mine…” I whispered, touching him by the neck.

The man trembled as soon as our skins touched.

‘I could easily kill you right now, but…’

“Y-you think you can get away with this? No matter how strong you are, you can’t—”

“Can’t what? Handle all the Gifteds you have under your command? I’m sure you’re pretty confident in their abilities seeing as they’ve all grown considerably.” I nearly laughed in amusement.

Charles was most likely hoping that the Camp members heard his cries and came to rescue him. Even if they failed to save their leader, they could at least gang up on me in their numbers.

But, was he stupid enough to think that a bunch of Gifteds like them could stop me? Had he forgotten who raised them to such Levels? It was too much of a joke.

“E-even if they can’t beat you… I trust them, especially Daniel. He’ll make sure the kids are safe! I’m sure…” Charles’ voice trailed as he choked on his blood and saliva.

A surprised expression sharply played across my face. Even now he kept thinking about his girl. I really had to admire this man. Even if he failed as a Leader, he was an admirable epitome of fatherhood.

“Charles, you may have a point there. But, if you think about it clearly… if the Camp members were to arrive here upon hearing your pained noise, they should have come by now.”

The moment I said this, Charles’ eyes lit up in realization. Had he finally thought of it?

“Y-you… what did you… do?!” He growled in suspicion… a deep dark suspicion that seemed to eat him up from within.

“Your Camp members are currently occupied with the Demons I summoned to keep them company. None of them will be coming to your rescue.” I smiled.

Other than Daniel and Tasha, the remaining Gifteds were not too difficult to handle. Plus, without Melissa’s shield ability, they had no defensive measure.

Fortunately, I had both Daniel and Melissa within [Subspace], so the others were only going to get killed one after the other.

It wouldn’t take long for the Demons to reach the location of the children… and finish them off as well.

“You see, Charles, it’s over. I win!”

My sneer unnerved the man and that became the final straw that broke his will completely. The Camp Leader’s eyes fell, completely devoid of hope.

“Now, then…” I rose to my feet, leaving the empty shell of the man lying down.

Before I entered Charles’ office, I had already summoned several Demons throughout the Camp and had them on standby. It wasn’t until I assaulted both Tasha and Charles that I ordered them to begin the incursion.

By now, they would have completely wiped out most of the Camp members. Even the ones stationed outside would be no exception to their wrath.

‘Lily is safe within [Subspace], so no harm will come to her…’

Since she was the last member of the team I had grown so fond of, I had no intention of letting her die such a miserable death.

Plus, well, since her Level was quite small and her Gift wasn’t very useful, I could just leave her out of my whole plan. Maybe I could even feed her some lies concerning the destruction of the Camp and make her one of my allies.

It would be extra baggage, but maybe she could replace Ana’s warmth in my life.

It also wouldn’t hurt to have a cute girl by my side. If she became a burden in battle, I could just recall her into [Subspace] and do all the fighting.

“Hihihihi… that doesn’t sound too bad.” I laughed to myself.

My eyes darted to Charles and his broken figure on the ground.

‘I should out him out of his misery now.’

I summoned one Hobgoblin Champion to finish Charles off and left the room.

“Handle him gently,” I whispered.

It was my last gift to the man—an easy death.

Leaving the office, I made my way to the roof of the Camp where a penthouse had been erected for the sake of surveillance.

After transversing the single flight of stairs that led there, I was able to get a wonderful view of the highest point of the building.

“Ahh… this is nice.” I moaned, welcomed by the chill wind of the high altitude.

I could see quite a lot from my height, and everything looked perfect. Hobgoblins of various ranks—in their hundreds—sieged the Camp and appeared blood-thirsty.

They were already eating the corpses of several Gifteds, while the remaining others who had survived had sustained severe injuries and were on the verge of death.

It was a sight of carnage, so full of despair. One could say that the Horde they had feared came to them in such surprise.

Thinking about the horrors the Camp members all went through in their attempt to prevent this disaster, only for it to show up on their doorstep—that must have sucked a lot.

But, it was necessary.

From the start, their fate had been death. I merely prolonged how long it would take before they met their end. I made them stronger, I gave them the illusion of victory, and I provided good meals for them to eat.

Now, it was their turn to provide me with what I desired… their very lives.

“Arghhhh!!!”

“N-no! Please nooo!!!”

“Someone help! Please help!”

“Masked Hero! Save us! S-save u—”

To think some of them even clung to the hope of salvation even in the face of this horror… how funny was that.

Still, it was human nature to seek the support and directive of a higher existence. It was thanks to such a thing that religion and government were formed. The hilarious aspect of their pleas for help was the object to which they all directed their expectations.

Me!

They pleaded for the appearance of the masked man, screamed with all they could that the Masked Hero would appear and deliver them from this calamity. After witnessing his awe-inspiring abilities first-hand, the Camp members sought the only one whom they could depend on.

“How unfortunate, though… the person who you’re all praying to… is the same one who caused this whole calamity.”

I was both their God and Devil… how ironic was that?

Having gotten enough of the sight of despondency, I sighed and cracked my slightly stiff neck, preparing myself for the next phase of my operation.

It was now time for the main show!