Rise Of The Hoarder

“<Summon>”

Responding to my call, thick smokes began appearing in all directions, surrounding the advancing demons in what seemed to be seconds. The intense clouds of white, grey, and black were so deep and thick that it seemed one could feel them.

Using the smoke gotten from all the explosions I had used earlier, I spread them all around, blindsiding the monsters from every angle. Needless to say, they were trapped in a vast wave of choking fogs.

‘The smoke won’t extend to the back, though, since they’re so many…’ I reasoned.

It didn’t make any difference, though. If the front vision was blocked, they weren’t going to be able to see me anyway.

Having blinded them, I took advantage of the moment of confusion and activated the two of the Skills I was most excited about.

“<Camouflage>, <Sneak>.”

Using these two at the same time, I became an invisible persona. The thick clouds of smoke hadn’t cleared yet, so I decided to get rid of them.

To fully understand the effects of these two Skills and how they work well hand-in-hand, I had to create a scenario where the targets had a clear vision._.

>WHUUUUSSSHHHH<

In a flash, the permeating smoke vanished, leaving behind the stunned Demons that rubbed their grimy arms on their faces.

I waited for a few seconds and watched them clear the remnant of dust and smoke from their eyes. The moment they were done, they all turned in my direction and gave a deafening roar.

I initially thought they had spotted me, but after glancing at where I was for a few moments, they started turning their heads and looking around in confusion. Their eyes sought an enemy, but none was anywhere in sight.

A smile formed on my face, realizing I had truly become undetectable. The next thing I did was to take steps away from my position.

Once again… they couldn’t see me. They strained their eyes and growled, searching for prey. I could sense impatience in their eyes. None of them could even meet my gaze.

‘This is crazy… seriously!’ I beamed in delight.

Figuring it was probably in my best interest to speed things up at this point since I only had 30 minutes of <Sneak> to spare, I picked up my pace and closed my distance with the Demons instead.

>FWOOOOOOSSHHHH<

Becoming one with the wind, breaking the barrier that shackled my body, I sped at them. To my surprise, even the sounds I made while running was inaudible, so they still couldn’t hear me while in quick motion.

Now amid the Demons, I clenched my fist and struck the first blow.

>BOOOOOOMMMM!<

My fist generated a gaping hole in the body of a Tanker that was using its full defensive skills with little to no resistance. I felt like I could crush the strongest object in existence with my current power.

The sudden boom caused by my punch attracted the Demons. They all turned their necks and looked at their fallen comrade having a drilled hole in his guts.

It died, turning to dust instantly. Even though I was standing next to its fading corpse, none of them noticed me.

‘Now this is what it means to be a thief!’

Deciding to repeat the process, I rushed at more Demons and began killing them with one hit like one of my favorite manga characters.

I had the urge to scream his name, or rather, the move he made, but doing so would call the attention of the Demons to me.

>WHOOOOOSHHH<

I made hastened steps, realizing that time was running out.

Twisting my body and coordinating myself to make unwasted movements, I swiftly killed the Demons. Kicks, punches, elbow jabs, all of them worked— as the Demons all fell after receiving one of any.

At some point, they started flailing their arms haphazardly upon seeing there was an invisible enemy in their midst. Still, they were too slow to catch me.

I punched them more, shattering their skulls and turning their bones into powder with each grinding hit.

Blood splattered on my body as I carved my invisible arms into their slimy-grin flesh. One could think that their blood would render me visible, but I was still undetectable.

‘Is it because their levels are too low to perceive me?’ I reasoned, still refusing to stop my massacre.

‘ONE PUUUUNNN-‘ I controlled myself from shouting out loud. The temptation persisted, though.

Minutes passed and the Skill duration began reaching its end. I had lost count of how many I had killed, most likely a few thousand. However, I was nowhere near finishing all of them off. There was only so much I could do with only my bare fists.

“Let’s make every second count!” I whispered under my breath and proceeded to kill some more.

“GUARRRRUUUUUKKKK!!!” Pained cries of Demons filled the afternoon air.

Carnage was running amok!

[Minutes Later]

“Huu…” I exhaled deeply, pausing in my stance.

After realizing the Skill duration had nearly been elapsed, I retracted myself from the thick horde of Hobgoblins and made my way closer to the gate.

I felt a strange hum on my body as something seemed to flicker, most likely the effect of the <Sneak> Skill.

The hum lasted for a few moments before vanishing. From that moment onward, I knew that if I moved a single muscle from where I stood, the demons would spot me easily since they were now actively searching for a culprit.

My only saving grace was that <Camouflage> was still on.

“Garakukkk! Garakukkk!!!” I heard the Demons yell, turning behind them as though talking to some people at the very rear.

‘What could they be planning now?’

I didn’t have to wait for very long before I realized it. Underneath me, a magic circle appeared, stunning me for a moment.

This could be my first time seeing such a circle, and while I was intrigued by it, I knew such a thing meant only danger since I wasn’t the one that conjured it.

“Shit!”