Rise Of The Hoarder

“Nope. I better not!”

Quickly deciding against the idea, I stepped away from the gate. This time, not out of fear— but logic.

“I could probably take them, I think…”

The problem was that if I kept taking in Demons, there would be nearly nothing left for the Subjugation team to fight. Judging by their respawn rate and how long the horde must have begun their conquest, I estimated that they had at most five compounds. No, most likely four.

I had taken care of two, leaving about two left. I wasn’t a fan of unfinished work, so if I was to dive into the third compound, the feeling of immersion would consume me and I wouldn’t stop until every single Demon in sight had been vanquished.

That wasn’t a good thing.

Plus, I needed more Demons for target practice when considering <Parlor Tricks> and <Dirty Play>.

There were many variations and it would be useful to try them all out so I knew what to work.

According to a particularly great man— if you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles, or was it a thousand?_.

In order words, to be able to best your enemies, you must first know yourself perfectly.

The best form of strategy would be the absolute knowledge of one’s capabilities. Once that had been established, creating a plan for defeating enemies would become nothing but a cinch.

“I need more information, so I’ll leave you guys alone until my Skills get restored.”

Having said that, I ventured away from the gate and went my way. Looking around, other than the charred ground that created a dark spot across the flat field, one would not suspect that a bunch of monsters had been here.

With that fleeting thought, I vanished into thin air— well, not really. I just ran so fast that it appeared so.

************************************

“Level 230, uh?” I mumbled, feeling a little disappointed.

After facing so many strong enemies, I was barely able to gain 18 Levels. It felt very unfair, but I rationally thought things through. My level was an anomaly, so the monsters I fought were not usually what a Level 200+ like me should be hunting.

I needed more powerful creatures, but at the moment, I had to be content that the system even allowed me to Level Up after reaching such a height.

“What now?” I muttered, lying down on the flatlands.

It was quiet, and the little grasses tickled my face as I slowly inhaled the sweet air. Winter had passed and it was already around March. Many people had lost the concept of time, myself included, but there was no way I wouldn’t know what month it was.

The weather was still a little chilly, but my Vitality didn’t allow me to feel any adverse effects.

“Haa…”

There were a couple of options available to me at the moment. One would be to release the thirty-five Gifteds within Subspace who were members of the Subjugation Team and address them.

Of course, I would feed them a bunch of lies and make them trust me. Once I became their leader, we would raid the third compound together, though I would be doing most of the work.

‘I don’t mind… the EXP will still be useful, either way…’

Even if they Leveled Up by killing monsters, I didn’t consider it a loss. After all, fattening lambs before killing them for meat was the basics of animal husbandry.

I wasn’t sure about others, but I personally preferred my meat to have a bit more flesh in them. With that idea in mind, the higher the Level of Gifteds, the more (G) Karma Points I would obtain.

Their Leveling Up so far was an investment I allowed only because I was well aware of their end.

The second option I considered was to summon both Larry and Lara and interact with the two of them.

They were both peculiar cases— especially the latter.

“I have been curious about something, plus, it’s best to kill two birds with one stone.” With a wide grin forming on my face, a bright idea formed in my twisted mind.

“<Summon>”

In an instant, both Larry and Lara appeared a couple of meters from me. They appeared scared and confused— no surprise there since their last memory was in the compound.

“Relax, you two,” I muttered, giving them a sharp gaze.

The moment they both saw me, their bodies froze instantly.

While no Skill was currently active, the sheer presence of a person with insurmountable power was enough to put them in their place.

They were silent and trying to avoid my gaze, but I did the opposite. Looking the both of them, I found out that Lara was now a Level 17 and Larry was in Level 34.

“Oh? Not bad…” I made a barely audible whisper.

Killing those Demons had made them quite strong. It made me want to perform a certain experiment, but I restrained myself.

“You’re quite strong, Larry. Already past the Level of Ana.” I grinned, moving closer to him.

The frightened young man took steps backward, not knowing if I meant what I said as a joke or otherwise.

The cheerful expression I had on my face didn’t match my dark, threatening tone.

“W-what do you want now? You said you’d let us go if we fought and defeated all the Demons and we-“

“You failed.” I interrupted swiftly.

Surely, they didn’t think they had succeeded when there were more Demons who chased the other deserters.

“Besides, I never promised to let you go. I only gave my word that I would explain the situation to you if you managed to survive until the end and defeated your foes— a task you all failed at.”

Upon hearing my response, Larry zipped it.

“So, what will you do with us now?” Lara asked, neither smiling nor frowning.

Her expression was blank. I expected her to show at least some form of emotion like Larry— who was simply oozing with fear.

‘Well, well, well….’ A grin formed on my face.