Rise Of The Hoarder

Tasha nodded, still trembling.

Realizing that I had successfully imprinted fear and respect into her, there was no longer any need to keep her with me. I could also expect that she would stop showing me any hostility or glare at me coldly for the time being, since her fear of me was bound to keep her docile.

“If you understand, then leave this very instant!” I said, retracting my face.

With our eyes now meeting one more time, Tasha caught a glimpse of my murderous glare. Her body trembled even more, but this was as far as I intended to take it.

Releasing her from my hold and taking a few steps back, I placed both hands in my pockets.

Tasha didn’t need another word from me as she hurriedly ran back to base to escape any further liability on her part. Who knew what next I would do.

As I saw her run, I smiled, whispering under my breath.

“Don’t you worry about the Demons. Since you’re all too weak, I simply have to do it for you… and I’ll avenge your fallen comrades while I’m at it.”

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

Even though I played the cold and intimidation card in front of Tasha, the truth was still that I was at fault for the failure on their part._.

“Ah, this is so frustrating!” I growled, banding my fist on a tree.

Tasha was gone already while I remained in the woods, angrily taking a walk.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!”

I really didn’t expect such a thing to have happened. They caught all of us off guard, that was for sure.

‘Is it due to their intelligence, or rather, the intelligence of the boss?’ I reasoned.

That had to be it. The Boss must have mobilized his soldiers for ambush since it expected a group of Gifted to launch another attack on their territory.

I was careless! I should have planned more. I underestimated their tenacity, and the group of Gifteds paid the price for it. As a result, a small number of my plans had been affected.

Still… there was no way I was going to mope around while feeling sorry for myself. Instead of drowning in my failure and feeling like shit, I had to rectify this error.

“I might as well kill them all!”

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

Evening arrived sooner than expected, and Daniel gathered everyone together for an announcement. It appeared he had gotten enough therapy from Melissa and regained his mental strength.

To keep the team’s morale from plummetting any further, the leader had to speak up.

“Good evening, everyone! I apologize for not addressing you sooner…” Daniel began.

I watched from my solitary seat behind everyone else and heard his address. It wasn’t half bad.

Daniel recounted the experience they had, telling everyone in detail about what occurred. Of course, since he was a good guy now, he didn’t mince words and simply told them the truth, including his cowardly escape.

This caused a lot of controversy among everyone, but they were soon silenced by Daniel’s roaring voice.

“I apologize for my cowardly act. If you all intend on removing me as your leader due to this, I shall accept that as well!”

This generated silence, as everyone was once again awed by Daniel’s words.

“I ran from the enemy, others were sacrificed so that I could live. It was wrong of me. However, this mission is not yet over! Even if I am removed from the position of leader, we will continue this fight! Remember, we were never promised that we would all survive this Subjugation. However, by working together, we will prevent the possible annihilation of us all!”

With his words ringing in their ears, the question was posed… should Daniel remain the leader or not?

As everyone deliberated on this, a particular person stood up and made a statement. Yes, they raised their voices, drawing the attention of everyone around.

That person was none other than me.

“Daniel, you did nothing wrong!” I screamed.

Everyone looked behind, staring at me as though I was crazy. Still, I didn’t care. Pretending to speak from the bottom of my heart, my passionate words flowed.

“You were simply leasing everyone from the front. Besides, what’s so wrong with fleeing in face of an overwhelming enemy? You ran, just like everyone else did. It wasn’t like you sacrificed anyone. They just fell behind and were killed by the Demons. Yes, it’s not your fault… It’s the fault of the Demons!” I declared.

This caused a great stir among everyone. Using <Steal> I removed a great deal of their intelligence, also coupled with the fact that there was already tension clouding their heads, the mob slowly inclined themselves to what I was saying.

“Besides, you are our ace, Daniel… our hope! Without you being here, this Subjugation team is good as finished!”

Instantly, people started making positive comments and whispers.

“It’s true… Daniel is the strongest.”

“If he dies, how will we even stand a chance?”

“So he was thinking about everyone as a whole, he considered the big picture!”

Daniel was now flustered, wondering when his shameful testament became a heroic tale of his greatness.

“N-no, that’s not what-” He tried to voice out, but was stopped by Melissa.

“It’s better this way.” She whispered to his ears.

Surprisingly, Melissa made a fair point. Using this to increase the esteem and morale of the group was better than just telling them a depressing truth, ruining the image of the leader.

As more positive statements were made, Daniel looked at me with surprise, deciding to be quiet. He smiled and nodded at me with approval.

I nodded back, giving him a slight thumbs-up.

“I vote that Daniel remains our leader. He has always led the team well, and the strategies he used worked as well. Not to mention… he is the strongest of us here!” I said, provoking cheers from everyone.

They were all lies, though. Daniel was too transparent in his leadership. Unlike Charles who compartmentalized information well, Daniel was too upright. I had initially thought Tasha would have been better for the job of leader, but she didn’t have the kind of charisma he did.

In the end, we settled for Daniel as the leader since he was the most popular among the people.

As for the strategies he used. They were made by me, plus they were flawed. I intentionally made it that way because of my plans, but it appeared everyone thought it was a perfect strategy.

Then my last testament of his strength was false as well. After all… the most powerful among this group was none other than me!

Still, I let everyone believe what they wanted to, and due to the wave of excitement and life returning to the group, everyone decided to once again place their trust in Daniel, allowing him to retain his position as leader.

Amid the now lively group, I smiled to myself. Night was fast approaching, and with everyone trying to get enough rest in preparation for tomorrow, it would be the perfect opportunity for me to go about my business.

‘At night… I strike!’