Rise Of The Hoarder

“It’s all right now… I defeated the Demon.”

My calm voice soothed the shaken crowd as they all couldn’t pull themselves together even after realizing that the monster was gone.

Using a bit of <Command>, though, I was able to calm them all down.

‘It seems the Grizzly Dragon had some kind of mind-related Skill…’

I couldn’t bother dwelling on that since I would find out sooner or later when I was looking for Skills later on. At the moment, all that was needed was the constant push toward our goal.

“At this rate, we’ll get there before evening,” Daniel told me, probably reading my silence for something else.

“Oh? I see…”

According to their knowledge, I was foreign to the Camp, so he was doing the responsible thing by telling me how much further we had to go. In the first place, the group was leading me since it was assumed that I was a stranger._.

I didn’t mind, though.

Lara and I walked behind them, allowing me to completely have everyone in my line of sight.

Still, I couldn’t banish the bad feeling I was having. It gnawed at me the closer we got to the Camp.

I checked severally, utilizing my heightened senses to the fullest, yet I sensed no one approach. If the dark premonition swirling within me wasn’t due to danger, it made me feel even more uneasy.

‘Why do I feel this way? Could it be… that something happened to the Camp while I was away?!’

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

“Ah, finally! It’s in sight!”

Daniel beamed excitedly, placing his hands on his forehead to prevent the harsh reflection of sunlight while scouring straight head for the Camp.

Apparently, he had found it!

Everyone made excited noises and began moving faster, even though I could deduce that their bodies wanted to rest.

I remained silent, brooding on what I had realized a couple of hours back. I noticed Lara’s gaze shift to me several times, and it was obvious she was concerned about my silence, but I ignored her.

What went on in my mind was not something she could comprehend.

As we moved closer, and Daniel squinted his eyes even more, he began to furrow his brow a bit. I could see the worried look he donned on his face since he kept glancing back.

Tasha moved closer to him and they appeared to be discussing something with each other.

With my heightened hearing, I didn’t even need to put in any effort to hear them well.

A slight smile formed on my face, something none of them would notice thanks to my mask, as I overheard them.

‘Just as I thought, uh? This is…’

Unlike the others who were just noticing it as they got closer to the base, I realized what was going on a while back.

The Camp’s gate had been compromised, and a portion of the building was damaged by what seemed like an explosive. If I had to guess, I would deduce it to be a Gifted’s ability.

The reason my line of reasoning went to Gifteds and not Demons was simply that two Gifteds guarded the entrance to the Camp. My vision picked them up clearly and after carefully observing their faces, none of them were familiar to me.

‘New Gifteds… and they’re guarding the Camp’s already-damaged structure? Suspicious!’

I had two theories concerning the likely events that had transpired.

One would be that Demons had attacked the Camp and Charles allied with the surrounding Camps to subdue them. Afterward, they formed an alliance and some of the Gifteds from the other Camps helped guard ours.

I found that to be less likely since Charles and I had discussed at length concerning other Camps and what he told me already made me realize that he would rather eat shit than collaborate with them.

Plus, there was no way Demons would be able to attack in huge numbers, at least huge enough to subdue the Camp. Calculating the Horse’s movement and the appearance of other Demons around, I found it impossible to believe that a new threat would just ‘pop up!’

The second scenario, which was probably what actually happened, would be that Gifteds had taken over the Camp!

‘Is it Larry’s group? It’s most likely them…’

Of everyone who had their eyes on Charles’ Camp and had enough resources to target them, Larry’s ‘Evil’ Aligned team was the most likely choice.

‘Deducing the fact that strange guards are stationed to protect the Camp, and I see no familiar faces, it’s possible, no, guaranteed, that Charles and the remnant camp members lost.’

Of course, this rationale of mine was based on pure logic. However, deep within me, I hoped that wasn’t true. There were precious things within the Camp that I had invested so much in.

The deal with Charles was one thing and my grand plan was another. However, what popped up in my mind the first time I considered the fall of the Camp… was Ana! Not just Ana, but everyone on her expedition team.

‘I found it strange that none of them showed up even after the third day of Subjugation. But, to think they were held back because of this…’

My heart pulsated as a result of the conflict between logic and emotion and I struggled to pick one.

Anabelle should have returned to the Camp two days ago. Judging from the scorch marks on the wall as well as the shape the whole structure was, I had to assume this all happened yesterday since the damage still looked fresh.

That meant Ana and her team members would have been in the Camp when the enemy attacked. Since the opposing team won, that meant she would have lost.

‘If the malefactors are the members of Larry’s team, Ana is most likely… d-d-d…’

I couldn’t bring myself to complete the thought. It was something I didn’t want to imagine.

If only I could use <Recall> to return her to [Subspace], I would have been able to confirm or reject my suspicions. Unfortunately, I had never made her, or any other members of her team, my property.