Rise Of The Hoarder

I was sure that I was invisible. No one else could see me or sense my presence.

Yet, I could clearly see the gaze of the Hobgoblin Boss rest upon me. Its old face morphed into what I could only describe as a wry grin, as though taunting me.

It made no movements, just resting its gaze upon me as though waiting for my first move.

‘This monster… It saw through my camouflage, yet chooses to do nothing. What kind of a joke is this?!’

I felt slightly insulted, but also relieved. If it was looking down on me like the Hobgoblin Chief, that worked well to my advantage.

The only problem was how to handle the monsters before me.

The Gate behind the Hobgoblin Chiefs and the Boss kept spewing Hobgoblin Champions at intervals. I couldn’t wait any longer!

But, I had no way to completely whittle down the enemies, not with the kind of Stats they had. It went without saying that this would be a terribly difficult match!

“Let’s do this!”_.

“<Summon>”

Instantly, a massive cloud of smoke, such as I had never seen before, gathered and spread across the whole field. The smoke was thick, so thick that it would be impossible to see through it.

‘This is a result of me gathering so much of it!’

The grey fog blinded the eyes of everyone around, but I could manage. Since my heightened Stats granted me better vision, I could make do.

I also had no problem breathing, considering the fact that I could simply summon stored air into my nostrils.

Of course, I wasn’t foolish enough to hide any cards at the current moment. Using <Summon>, I called upon seventy percent of the fireballs I had stocked up there, as well as thirty percent of the Mana Cores I had in reserve.

Of course, I enhanced them with my Mana and coated the energy surging through them with mine. The dangerous mix of my MP and the ones that the Hobgoblin Champions used would generate the greatest fireworks, after all.

>BOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!<

The explosion resounded, crackling and bursting forth. It was more than any I had made so far, and the shockwaves nearly blew me from my roots where I stood.

Of course, this may not have killed all of them, maybe not even half, but I was guaranteed that most of the Hobs would have suffered extreme injuries. I could finish them off if that was the case!

>SHUUUUUU….<

The surrounding gas and clouds of extra smoke that ascended to the sky made even my heightened vision blur. I couldn’t see clearly, so I decided to call back the smoke.

There was no harm in it since I was invisible, anyway.

>WHUUUUUUSHH<

In a flash, the smoke vanished, and all that remained was the devastating sight of Hobgoblins dead and injured littering the compound… or so I expected.

“N-no… No way!” My jaw nearly dropped.

It was surprising beyond expectation!

The fight that burned into my retinas defied everything I had faced so far. I had even poured out so much of my resources, yet… yet…

“Impossible! None of them are dead?!”

No, that didn’t quite explain it.

None of them were harmed in the slightest!

My eyes darted around as I searched for an explanation. Sweat began appearing on my face as heartbeats of unease became loud to my ears.

It didn’t take very long for me to notice the cause of the anomaly. The air around the group of Hobgoblins looked distorted, but the distortion faded almost as soon as it appeared.

None of the Hobgoblin Champions seemed like Casters, and even if they were, I doubted any of them could pull off any defensive spell that could protect them against my fiery attack.

They weren’t strong enough! That only left one option…

“Shit!” I stifled my pained and slightly nervous voice as my head tilted to the area where the obvious suspects would be.

The four Hobgoblin Chief who stood all raised their hands, and something on their palm glowed. It was a tattoo imprinted there, having the sign of runes. The fact that all the runes glowed while their subordinates were protected from my attack, meant they were the culprits.

I had just wasted a whole lot of my arsenals on a fruitless venture.

“Damnit!”

My plan was to reduce the numbers of the Hobgoblin Champions as much as possible, then head over to the Boss and Chiefs to have my showdown with them. After killing the obvious leaders, the Gate would close, and I would be able to handle the surviving Hobs.

The reason I didn’t just jump at the Boss and its Chiefs was because the vast numbers of the Hobgoblin Champions would be a problem. Plus, if I focused on fighting the Hobgoblin Champions before the Boss and the Chiefs, more would pour out, and by the time I was done with most of them, exhaustion would have caught up to me.

My plans were thwarted, though.

I deepened my glare as I stared at the bunch of five who remained at the rear and watched them all sneer. The king was especially smug as he keenly watched me.

I was at a loss for words.

‘I know it’s intelligent, but this is just… damnit!’

I had to take action soon, but what was I to do?

My eyes darted back to the Hobgoblin Champions who were now on their guard. My attack didn’t connect, but it certainly awakened their warrior senses, and the Demons were now actively searching for their enemy—me.

“What do I do? What do I—”

>WHOOOOOOOSHHHH!!!<

Before I could finish contemplating my next course of action, I felt an overpowering force near me, lunging in my direction at lightning speed.

My head tilted to the side and I saw a glowing spear zooming in on me. The giant object, bigger than my entire body, charged—it was too fast for me to actively react to.

In front of me approached certain death.

‘Well, shit!’