Rise Of The Hoarder

If anyone witnessed the sight going on beneath me, especially seeing that I was the one who caused it, they would be confused.

A few dozen demons against 28 Gifteds. They were originally 29, but one was bleeding out after I cut off his arm and would be entirely useless in this battle.

What sort of goal did I have in mind for this? Well, it would soon be revealed.

“I-I’m dead…?!” Larry mumbled to himself as his tired eyes watched the Hobgoblin Tanker’s arm fall on him.

>FWOOOSH<

Suddenly, I witnessed the most unbelievable thing. The Hobgoblin Tanker stopped moving midway and turned to dust, dropping its core to the ground.

“W-wha-?!” I let out.

Larry was astonished as well, but what would occur next was something that would be even more unexpected.

Appearing from the dust of the fallen Demon was none other than Lara.

“What’s… going on…?” I whispered.

What had just happened was something too sudden that even my eyes couldn’t catch up to what happened._.

“Are you alright, Larry?” Lara asked the stunned young man.

Sweat filled Larry’s face. He swallowed the saliva that had formed a lump in his throat while nodding at the same time.

“Y-yes. Thank you…” His voice trailed.

Lara smiled.

“You s-saved me. Thanks…”

Her smile became even wider as she drew closer to the flustered man.

“It wasn’t for free, you know?”

“W-what do you mea-“

Before Larry could complete his statement, she placed a finger of hers on his lips.

“Shh. Later. For now, we have to deal with these annoying bastards.” She said, looking around.

The Hobgoblins encircling the two of them had gained considerable ground. Since they were the center of attention that not only took down a Hobgoblin Archer, but also a Tanker, most of the Hob forces became concentrated there.

Of course, not all of them were gathered there. Some moved in the direction of the powerless Gifteds who were either too stupid or I experienced to use their Gifts.

“S-stay away!” They yelled, retreating even further away from the gate that offered them escape.

“Where are you guys running off to? There’s no escape there, you know. If you want to leave this place, you have to march forward.” I said, moving my attention from Lara and Larry to the cowards.

“Uarghhh!!!” They ignored my words and kept running back.

If not for the injuries I inflicted on the Demons, they would have already caught up to the fleeing Gifteds.

“Tch, useless lot,” I mumbled, turning back to observe Larry and Lara’s spot.

To my amazement, I saw only Larry there.

“What the-?!” I burst out.

Larry was already aiming his now and a freshly made arrow at the Demons surrounding him, drawings attention to himself.

“That won’t work, Larry… you should know that.” I sighed, a little embarrassed that he hadn’t figured that out yet.

However, amazingly, the Hobgoblin Tanker that he shot his arrow to immediately disintegrated moments after his arrow bounced off.

‘What’s this? What’s going on?’ My puzzlement increased.

I was supposed to be the all-knowing one in this situation, but this truly boggled my mind. Where was Lara? How were the Hobgoblin Tankers dying?

‘Does it have something to do with her Gift?!’

No, I made sure to memorize all of the contents within Charles’ books listing all the Camp members!

“She has a shapeshifting Gift, doesn’t she?” I asked myself.

Yes, I was certain. During Lara’s early days at the Camp, it was said that she caused quite the commotion by turning into several Camp members and getting away with their rations.

Eventually, she was caught and disciplined.

Further investigations into her ability presented the fact that while she could change her appearance, her Status Information remained the same.

This made everyone in the Camp safe from Lara’s tricks since they could view one another Status Window Introduction anytime and identify everyone respectively.

That was why I was so certain that she didn’t possess any ability to kill a Hobgoblin Tanker, especially in a way that was so swift and precise.

“She doesn’t have any Skills too. So, how…?”

That was when I decided to focus more on Larry and the Hobs around him. Determined to uncover the truth behind the mysterious deaths of the Hobgoblins and Lara’s involvement.

Larry kept shooting his arrows at the Hobgoblin Tankers who took the lead, ignoring the small fry Archers.

As soon as he hit them, the arrows would bounce off and the Tankers would die.

This happened for some time, reducing their numbers.

The survivors grew wary of Larry and began backing off. Even for Demons, they were well aware of the value of their lives.

While taking steps backward, their eyes caught the remaining Gifteds who were running and decided to chase after them instead.

“Guruikkkkk!”

With a consensus reached among their forces, the Hobgoblins gave up on Larry and went after the other Gifteds.

Normally, I would have shifted my attention to the others, but I had still not figured out the mystery behind Lara and Larry, so I kept my focus fixated on them.

“Huff… somehow we managed to do it…” I heard Larry say with strained breaths.

Using his Gift consecutively drained him too much.

Suddenly, once again, Lara appeared. She tapped Larry on his shoulder and smiled cheerfully.

“Good work. I couldn’t have pulled it off without you.”

My eyes bulged as I slowly began to realize what had happened. By focusing my vision on Larry’s area, I was able to see it clearly, what Lara was doing.

“She’s shapeshifting… into an insect!”

I couldn’t believe it initially, but it all added up. Using her shapeshifting ability, she turned herself into a small insect. This allowed her to remain unnoticed by everyone. Larry drew the attention of the Hobs, causing them not to even take notice of her even with their sharp senses for Gifteds.

‘She must have killed them… from the inside!’

Since the Tankers were nearly invincible from the outside, due to the <Iron Skin> Skill they possessed, she must have found a way to enter their bodies and kill them from within.

‘Perhaps by destroying their internal organs. Impressive!’

Since when did she come up with such a strategy? My eyes instantly widened as the realization dawned on me.