Rise Of The Hoarder

>WHOOOOOSH<

Ana moved in a flash and quickly cut through the crowd, breaking their formation. Her quick reflexes, increased stats, and tough armor allowed her to charge directly at the enemy, crushing them.

While it wasn’t in her policy to take lives, Ana broke a few limbs as she gave direct hits to ensure the mob couldn’t offer much—if any—resistance.

“Guarkkkkk!”

“Arghhh!!!”

“Gahhh!!!”

Pained screams filled the air as she proceeded without any hesitation to complete her task. Even though she wasn’t used to dispatching humans, her instinct was to protect her family— her home.

Since the opponents had already aligned themselves with evil, killing two of their own and even possessing the ‘Evil’ Alignment, it became Ana’s duty to do the needful._.

Purge!

With her uninterrupted flow, she kept charging into the crowd, refusing to give them the time needed to activate their Skills or Gifts. Having superior speed, reflexes and strength, they were no match.

The Sniper of the invaders would have taken action— while hiding at the rear of everyone, concealed, he thought of these very things. But, if he took his eyes off of Charles, there was no telling what the Camp leader would do!

Plus, with the way Ana was moving and subduing their men, she blended with them and moved too quickly.

‘My bullets will be homed at her if I can focus on her!’

The issue was that Ana didn’t stay in a single spot long enough to register in his head. Plus, he had to still concentrate on Charles. If he made a mistake and fired at Ana haphazardly, he could accidentally kill one of his own— a mistake the Boss wouldn’t accept!

“Shit! Shit!” The Sniper cursed, unable to help his comrades who were helplessly flung around and devastated by Ana’s frenzy.

>BOOOMMMM!!!<

A sudden explosion sounded, halting the crimson dance Ana had started. She quickly took a few steps back as a result of the eruption from the ground, standing in front of her team to protect them.

“Oi, oi, not bad!” The lanky tattooed man smiled in excitement.

A bead of sweat dropped from Ana’s face. She had intentionally left him aside, saving him for last due to his strength. However, she was aware that he would make his move sooner or later.

‘Damnit!’ Ana cursed within herself.

“My Gift is [Combustion]. It allows me to explode anything I touch! Welp, the effects depend on how much energy I put into it… oh yeah, I was the one who caused your gate to crumble as well!”

The man became talkative, easily divulging Information that would be better hidden. From the tone of confidence that he used, Ana could only decipher two things. This man was either completely confident in his ability to win… or he was just a simple idiot.

Ana wished it was the latter, but life wasn’t always as simple as that.

As Ana was still ruminating on this, the opponent quickly activated a skill— taking advantage of her indecisiveness.

The moment Ana saw this, she dashed straight for him, hoping to overwhelm the foe with speed and power before it was too late.

>FWOOOOSHHH<

Unfortunately, she was too late.

Her hand, no, her whole body slipped past the tattooed man, causing it to go out of balance when she finally landed behind him. She had gone through him as though the opponent was merely air.

Shocked by this discovery, Ana tried to pull herself together from the recoil of surprise, but the for had already advanced. He was heading straight for her group.

“N-no!” Ana stuttered while yelling.

The tall man grinned, already knowing there was nothing the woman could do to stop him. <Phase> was a useful Skill he had which allowed all attacks to pass through him for some time. He hadn’t raised the proficiency that much, but it was enough to last a few seconds.

But that was more than enough time to escape from Ana and target one of her allies. Even with his high level, he knew the gap in speed and stamina between Ana and himself was in her favor. Her Gift was more combat-based than him and he needed physical contact to deal the brunt of his offensive capabilities.

If he chose to fight head-on with her, he would lose. However… it was a different story entirely if he targeted one of her members. Ana seemed like a good woman, enough to be flustered when her allies are captured. Using this to his advantage, he would corner and dominate her.

“Hehe, let’s see how you stop me now!”

He only had about five seconds more. His body swiftly moved to take the youngest among the bunch hostage. Peter quickly activated his [Crypgenesis] Gift and sent a wave of ice to the fast-approaching man. However, just like Ana’s earlier attack, there was no effect on the man as it simply passed through him.

With a grin, he lunged for Lily to make her his hostage. Only three seconds were left.

If he timed his move properly, he would be able to capture Lily the moment his time was up.

‘They’re all Lower-Leveled compared to me! I can win!’

>FWOOOOSHHH<

In the blink of an eye, he moved so quickly that it was like a mirage and appeared directly behind Lily who was too flustered to do anything. As soon as he got behind her, the man’s eyes scanned the room— seeing Ana desperately trying to reach Lily, Peter glaring at him, and Daniel looking up for some reason. He knew none of them could reach him in time! It was a victory on his end!

The tattooed man’s body materialized as he grabbed ahold of Lily, ready to pull her to his side and use her as a bargaining chip. However, as soon as he did this, something dropped on his head.

>BAM!<

Something heavy hit the lanky man on the head, sending some painful sensations to course his body. He didn’t take much damage, but the surprise of the attack caused his body to freeze up for a moment.

“W-wha-?!”