Rise Of The Hoarder

“Fuahhhh!!!” Tia made an unintelligible sound and seemed to short-circuit the moment I said that.

‘Bingo!’ I smirked underneath my mask.

Unfortunately, even though I managed to strike Tia where it meant the most, I received more weird gazes—from the other Party Members… and also my subordinates.

It seemed I was getting too carried away, so I decided to leave things at that and quickly change topics.

“That’s enough messing around…”

My eyes returned to the Grand General of Death, Helios. She had already changed to an outfit of pure darkness, so I could no longer see any of her lustrous body.

No, it was probably for the best this way…

Black miasma shrouded the undead general, serving as some sort of gown to add an extra layer of defense, and also to shield the attractive body she hid underneath from prying eyes.

“You… you have angered me beyond measure!” Helios growled as she took to the air.

Her black wings stretched wide and the dark energy surrounding her was even more than I had sensed from Niggaruth.

Judging by her fanged teeth, long ears, and pale skin, I assumed she was a vampire. She had no horns like Nigggaruth, but it wasn’t like conventional Vampires required those.

Her deep glare kind of stung me, as she must have viewed me as scum—the lowest of the low. Even though she wasn’t completely wrong, I was still human.

‘Let’s teach her a lesson…’

Hopefully, after this whole thing was over, her opinion of me would change a little.

“It’ll be a shame to damage that pretty body of yours, but…” I murmured, making sure no one heard me speak.

A new body could always be made later on. This wasn’t a time for hesitating. Even without her gear, Helios was still a Grade 5 Monster. I couldn’t be careless.

That said, I wondered how she would fare against nineteen fully armed Grade 4s. A wide grin formed on my face as I imagined them violating the stern-faced beauty. How long would it take for her to break?

“Seems like you’re ready. Well, then… let us begin.”

***********

>BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!<

As expected, Helios was strong.

Even without her equipment, she was able to somewhat hold her own. Her adept use of Magic allowed her to deal damage at a far distance, and she could render herself incorporeal, making her nigh immune to physical attacks.

Her agility was crazy as well, and the way she spammed her Spells and Skills made it seem like she was a bottomless pit of power.

However… it was still overkill for her to battle nineteen of my strongest minions.

The Generals had told me that Helios was possibly stronger than they were combined—but that was with her equipment. Without them—while she was stronger than two or three of them—six of the Generals evenly matched her. Seven of them were enough to defeat her.

Add that to the 12 Elites I had in store, and it was basically a gang-up.

If she tried to create some distance, some would approach from her rear, and then they surrounded the demonic beauty from both flanks.

She was outnumbered, but I had to admit… Helios put up a good fight.

‘This is quality entertainment!’

Watching a girl try her best despite the odds… only to be smashed down by an overwhelming strength of someone superior… how amusing was that?

While I didn’t have any qualms with most people, this was a Demon who had been flaunting her power and superiority just earlier. She lorded over us and considered us worms.

‘Who’s the maggot now?’

Her face was disheveled, and I could see numerous wounds on her body. She healed, thanks to her racial ability, but… they inflicted even more injuries on her. Her screams could cause someone to have pity on her, but I felt no such thing.

This was too much fun!

‘If I had accepted her deal, would I have been able to witness this?’

To be honest, I hadn’t had the chance to have this much fun in so long since I was diligently grinding and planning for so long. The monsters on the Lower Floors were also too weak to provide proper stress relief.

It was ironic that I would be able to relax on the 99th Floor, facing ‘The Boss’ herself.

‘Welp, let me use this chance to check out my spoils…’ I grinned and looked into [Subspace].

I collected four major items from Helios.

The Mantle Of Death

The Staff Of Horror

The Necklace Of Undeath

The Bracelet Of Supplication.

These four were all Grade 5 Treasures, and while they were currently unfit for me since I simply yanked it out of a Boss before defeating it, I could use <System Correction> to rectify that.

Once I did so, the items were retrofitted to an ideal state.

As I explained earlier, the Mantle Of Death nullified all damage in exchange for MP. It also heightened Stats, so that was a good bonus.

The Staff Of Horror boosted any Undead-Related Magic or Skill by 500 Percent. It also had an innate Skill that inflicted Nightmares and Mind breaking abilities on targets.

The Necklace of Undeath allowed resurrection as long as one’s MP was above 30 Percent. That was its only function, but it was freaking OP! There was also no limit to its usage, but it took 25 percent of the user’s MP as a cost for resurrection.

Therefore, using such an item in succession was highly unlikely.

Finally, the Bracelet Of Supplication was a buff item that granted temporary Stat increase—including HP and MP. It basically borrowed the power of Death, allowing one to increase their abilities nigh unlimitedly as long as death essence was present.

In short, it converted Maisma/Negative Energy into additional Stats—though temporarily.

As someone who had lots of Miasma in stock, as well as a Skill that generated the stuff, the bracelet was a gold mine.

‘That sly bitch, Helios! She was going to let us pass up all these amazing items!’ I looked in her direction.

She was already so beat up that she could no longer even fly.

The girl’s body throbbed, and I saw her injuries were barely closing. Her wings had been forcefully ripped out, and it looked like she was in a lot of pain.

‘Looks like I missed out on a lot, but…’ I began walking forward, keeping my eyes on the powerless Grand General.

“… Well done, everyone!”