Rise Of The Hoarder

An estimated amount of 500-700 Hobgoblins.

Ever since I saw that the scout group of the Demons contained 50 of them, I already knew that the numbers of their main forces would be vast.

‘700 is too low a number… they should be even more.’ I reasoned.

Back in my apartment, the amount of Hell Kobolds I faced was easily over a thousand. They would have kept increasing if I didn’t kill the Boss.

Since a Gate spawning demons would keep spitting them out, it was expedient to quickly kill the Boss to stop the outpouring of demons.

The problem was that even I didn’t know how long the Gate had been open. If it was during the same period as the Kobold Gate, then the Hobgoblins were sure to have reached thousands by now.

‘How exciting!’ My mind rang.

“W-what’s the good news, then?!” Someone finally burst out in desperation._.

The crowd was uneasy, and if Daniel didn’t give them some semblance of hope, most would lose their will to fight.

Daniel noticed this and quickly attempted to raise their spirits.

“There’s still a chance of victory! Their numbers are not overwhelmingly much! If we stick to the tactics prepared by the Camp and wear down their numbers little by little, we will emerge victorious!” Daniel declared.

I looked around and saw that the people began to cheer up and cling to his words of hope.

However, being who I am, I already noticed two major flaws.

‘As long as the Boss is still alive, the gate will keep spilling Demons, so a prolonged battle is to our disadvantage. If they attempt to wear down their numbers, the only ones who will be losing is us!’ I thought to myself.

We had limited rations, so we couldn’t for more than a week. The Demons would keep coming, and ultimately, we would easily be overpowered.

“You have all had experiences fighting the Goblins. You know how tough they are! But do not despair! Just as we were able to defeat 50 today, we will kill even more tomorrow. We won’t lose to those monsters!” Daniel kept raising their spirits.

The second flaw with his logic was the ideology that the difficulty of the Hobgoblins would remain the same.

‘Back at the apartment, the closer I got to the Gate, the more powerful the Hell Kobolds I encountered were. Variations such as the ‘Adults’ ‘Guardians’ and ‘King’ emerged, making the fight even more difficult.’

The same applied here. There were bound to be Hobgoblin Chiefs and leaders who surpassed the regular Hobgoblins in power.

‘As the battle drags on, the people will also grow wearier. Adding the increased difficulty and the never-ending spawning of monsters to the mix, the possibility of victory is non-existent.’ I mused.

“Let us all rest up for tonight. I will select guards and members of the scouting party, and we will take turns in twos. The Hobgoblins don’t appear to be making any moves, for now, so we should be safe.” Daniel remarked.

After this, he took a break and was given his share of dinner. I watched how he ate quickly and drank water. As one who was responsible for so many, Daniel couldn’t be caught slacking off for too long.

‘I kind of pity him…’

Finally, it was time for lights out. Since there were enough clothing materials, the tailors among us had already formed many tents with the materials, allowing us to take refuge inside. Unfortunately, that meant sleeping in the same tent as several other people, something I refused to do.

The exhausted troops quickly slept off, snoring loudly. As I sat in the tent with barely any room to move, I gritted my teeth.

‘Let’s be patient…’ I growled, holding my annoyance in.

After waiting a few moments and confirming that everyone was asleep except for those keeping watch, I left the uncomfortable tent.

Keeping my footwork to a minimum, I made sure to spread my senses as far as I could to ensure no one spotted me. So far, the watchmen were looking away from our settlement, since they expected interference from the outside, not within the base itself.

I used this to my advantage and found the perfect way to sneak out unnoticed.

Blending with the darkness and the grass, I swiftly made my way from everyone else and advanced to the Hobgoblin base.

‘Now this is more like it! I’m excited!’ My mind rang.

Suddenly, as I fast approached the Hobgoblin base, not yet sighting where they were all clustered, I sensed some Hobs rushing at me at great speed.

‘They sensed me? No… they are aiming for our base!’ My mind rang.

I could have easily evaded their advance and allowed them to attack the camp we settled in, but based on what I sensed, they were more than the 50 that ambushed us on our way.

‘The Subjugation team won’t be able to fight as efficiently as they did in the afternoon. The darkness is a huge disadvantage, plus everyone is tired and sleepy.’ I reasoned.

Melissa could use her force field to protect everyone, but it wasn’t going to last forever. Plus, the pink glow of her Gift would give our position away, signaling reinforcements from the Hobgoblin base.

“If they were to send more assaulters to us… the whole Subjugation team will be wiped out and the mission will end in failure!” I mumbled.

There’s no way I could have that!

Halting in my approach, I took a combat stance and readied myself for the wave of Demons fast approaching me.

I activated my <Aura> skill to boost my overall combat prowess, also preparing <Claw Attack>, <Venomous Claws> as well as my <Spike Attack> for the battle to occur.

A wide grin formed on my face as I saw the green folk rush at me.

I could see clearly in the dark, so it was of no disadvantage to me. As I suspected, they were at least a hundred Hobgoblins coming. They had also spotted me and soon raced at me with murderous eyes.

My body throbbed excitedly and my eyes bulged in excitement. My first fight in a while… there was no way I wouldn’t savor it.

“Come! Let’s have some fun!” I grinned widely.