Rise Of The Hoarder

I looked at the one in front of me as he shuddered and trembled, leading the path I already knew.

My towering gait viewed him to be no more than a rat who was desperate for survival, yet still plagued by guilt.

‘He abandons his friends, but now wants to rescue them? Pfft… what a joke.’ I mused as we moved quickly.

Well, of course, the man kept teleporting with his Gift, but I had no problem keeping up, with my speed.

“T-thank you once a-again for helping! I truly appreciate this!” The man—Terry—said with a grateful and desperate tone.

I chose to remain silent and simply nodded. It was a bother to waste time and energy speaking to such a fellow. There was really no merit whatsoever.

Besides, was I really doing anything deserving of thanks?

‘Your team got put in this condition because of your carelessness…’ Was all I could reason.

I suppose it went without saying that, so far, I had been orchestrating things from the shadows… they were just unfortunate enough to be the ones caught in my web.

”Now, then, let’s go reap some benefits!’

*****_.

“Haaa…. Haa…”

“Huff… Huff…”

“G-guh…”

At this point, all three Party Members that were left barely had any strength left.

They were struggling with the last of their energy and watched the Grade 2 Demon slaughter the last of Sara’s summons.

“GRIIIKKKKK…”

The Demon’s growl roused the group from whatever semblance of rest they were about to undertake.

Tia, Darwin, and Sara were at their wits’ end.

“Looks like… this is it…” Darwin muttered bitterly.

He had done all he could to buy them enough time, relied on the best of his strategies, but in the end… they couldn’t win against overwhelming strength.

His Gift, [Great Mind], allowed him to excel at calculations and strategies. He could see the outcome of any situation he envisioned, allowing him to plan accordingly.

His brain also absorbed things at a fast rate, and his thoughts processes were so fast that even the smartest of people he knew seemed slow in comparison.

However, in the presence of an insurmountable power, it was all pointless. They couldn’t run and couldn’t fight. All there was left to do was die!

“Damnit!” He gritted his teeth.

Tia watched him from the corner of her eye, but the bulk of her attention was on the Grade 2 monster who wasn’t far from them. It was approaching, albeit slowly; like a predator confident in the powerlessness of its prey.

Tia was protecting Sara, who had passed out due to the overuse of her abilities and the shock of losing all her Familiars. She wasn’t dead, though… just extremely weak.

Still, even with Tia protecting the fragile girl, it wasn’t like there was anything she could do to stop the monster. To be frank, she was even surprised they lasted this long.

‘It’s a miracle we lasted this long…’

A Grade 2 Demon would have wiped them out within minutes, and that was being optimistic. Yet, quite some time had elapsed and they were still standing.

“Its HP, MP and other Stats are still high, so there’s no way it is weakened…” Tia’s whispers came forth.

It almost felt like the monster was going easy on them.

According to the information she got on a few Demons from the Broker, the Gluttonous Giant shouldn’t have the personality it was displaying. A Demon like it would simply gobble down all it saw as food.

Something wasn’t right, but she was grateful for that ‘something’. If that didn’t exist, they wouldn’t be alive currently.

‘Does that mean we still have a chance? No, not possible…’ She bit her lip.

They had no way to recover their strength, and even at full power it was doubtful that they could win against this monstrosity.

“Tia, Sara… looks like this is the end.” Darwin said with a sad smile.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep you guys safe…”

When it came to ability, they were both stronger than Darwin. Sara’s summons were the strongest of the team; their ace! Tia’s Level was the second highest in the whole party, so she was basically considered the second most powerful.

Compared to them, Darwin wasn’t as strong. Still, he felt some form of responsibility for them… most likely because he was elderly, unlike them.

“N-no, it’s fine. This world is messed up. It’s not your fault we’re meeting our end like this.” Tia, the only one who could reply, spoke.

Sara was still unconscious, after all.

“GRIKKKKKKKK!!!”

At this point, the Demon was just above them, displaying the vast difference between the string and the weak. As they both raised their heads to watch such a towering figure, the two accepted that it was impossible to do anything but get crushed and eaten.

Such was their fate!

“S-stop, you monster!!!” A familiar voice rang out, jolting the defeated party out of their final moments.

Tia and Darwin sharply turned, daring to show the enemy their back. The reason for such a careless move was because they had already accepted their situation… and because they recognized the voice that just appeared.

>VWUUUSHHH<

A blue spark appeared a few meters from them, and Terry came into sight.

“Y-you!” The two rang out in shock.

Terry, who had just appeared, had a pale, sick face. The sweat dripping from his face showed how tired he was. He was breathing heavily, and his bloodshot eyes screamed of tears and desperation.

Why was he here?!

“T-that’s the Demon!” Terry turned behind him, addressing someone the two couldn’t quite see.

Tia and Darwin were too stunned for words—a mix of emotions swirled within them. Anger and relief mixed in, but before any of those feelings could register, a blur appeared that nearly defied their logic.

It was flying, speeding across the area like a flash of lightning.

Before they could gasp in response to the fast entity that neared them, the blur ascended in the direction of the Gluttonous Demon and they saw something like a brandished fist come into view.

The image of the person, now in midair—directly in front of the Giant’s face—displayed a fine, masked man. He had a slick outfit, and one of his hands stretched backward, his fists tightened.

In a straight thrust, before the Demon itself could even react, the blow flew in its direction… and then the impossible occurred.

>BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!<

Flesh tore. Blood splattered. The entire area shook.

… And the Demon that brought so much fear and pain to them… was already defeated!