Rise Of The Hoarder

The transformation was drastic—no, monstrous.

From the pale, nearly human form that Death had, he changed to the most grotesque physique.

Now standing, about sixty meters in height, his body was covered in black scales and six horns emerged from his head. Purple glows warbled all around it, and it had three tails.

Why three tails? I had no idea.

In short, it looked like a bizarre dragon and was coated with dense evil energy.

Compared to it, I might as well have been an ant.

I saw that most of his Stats had doubled, his Strength had tripled, and his Vitality had quadrupled.

Such monstrous build, even without any equipment—it was a miracle that humanity beat this terrifying thing. And there were four of them.

‘If all four came at once, everyone would have perished. It’s a good thing they would attack turn by turn. Isn’t Death the second or third? I can’t remember…’

Rather than having distracting thoughts, it was best I focused on the challenge at hand.

My life wasn’t in any immediate danger, but I simply racked my brain on what would be effective against my adversary. It didn’t take very long before I figured it out, though.

“[Subspace].”

Death gave a mighty roar, but I shielded myself with the same dense barrier he used to protect himself the first time.

Now having some time bought for myself, I looked into the latest gear in my collection—Death’s plundered items.

Quickly skimming through their contents, I decided they would do, and used <System Correction> to make them equipable.

>SHUUUU<

My body had a vibrating hum as soon as I began putting on the armor.

I felt energized with immense power, and the feeling of being invincible enveloped me. It was like nothing could stop me—or kill me.

My form became just like Death’s when I first laid eyes on him. I was taller, buffier, and the immense energy of the armor shrouded me.

The black and purple glow of death warbled around me, and his blade… the Death Blade, was equipped in its sheath by my waist.

‘I call this… DEATH MODE! Hehe

Jokes aside, the Stats of these items was out of this world. I couldn’t even begin to define how many functions it had. But one of them was… Damage nullification and redirection.

>VWWWWWOOOOOOOMMMM!!!<

Death launched his first attack at me—a purple fireball that had condensed dark energy mixed in.

Usually, I would just let [Subspace] handle it, but…

‘Let’s see what this baby can do!’

Deactivating my <Auto Retrieve> Skill, I dashed to the attack and took it head-on.

>BOOOMMM!!!<

Once it connected, I felt absolutely nothing, and the suit absorbed the impact.

Of course, this wasn’t without repercussions. Anytime the armor took damage, its durability fell. The good news about that was… I could simply fix it with <System Correction> and return it to its original state.

That way, I would never run out of durability!

“Redirect!”

The fireball that was lunged at me fired back at the enemy who gave a shocked cry as he received damage.

‘Oh? So it can be hurt now? Maybe that was only temporary…’

Glad within my heart that the enemy could now be killed, I unsheathed the Death Blade from my waist and wielded it with absolute precision.

I had many Skills that supported me as a warrior and even got a [Dark Knight] Title, so handling the sword wasn’t difficult.

“YOU… HOW DARE YOU WAR MY ARMOR? YOU VERMIN!” The massive monster bellowed.

“Finders keepers!”

Brandishing my blade, I lunged at my foe.

Even though his Stats had gone up, my Agility far surpassed anything it was capable of producing. Adding the items I had on, as well as my Skills, I was basically moving faster than his thoughts could even process.

>WHUUUSSSHHHH!!!<

One of the Death Blade’s abilities was ‘Killing Anything’

It applied to both living and non-living things. By killing the air, it could no longer serve its purpose. If I killed oxygen, it no longer existed. So, what would happen if I killed Death himself? A being rumored to be unable to taste such a fate?

I was excited to find out!

‘I know this is gonna be cringe, but… I’mma say it…’

My grin became wide as the monster desperately tried to launch an attack at its slow pace.

“… DEATH SLASH!”

With a vertical slash imbued with massive power, I sliced the monstrous figure of death into half—cutting through anything in the way and killing it in an instant.

>SWIIIIIISSSHHHHH!!!<

“GUAARRRGHHHHHHH!!!”

I saw Death’s HP plummet rapidly until… it completely went out.

“NOOOOOOOOO!!!!” He cried, but nothing could save the Demon now.

“Rot in hell for your trespasses, vile beast!” I said, brushing away the imaginary blood on my blade and sheathing it.

‘So cool! I’ve always wanted to say that!’

It was a shame I didn’t have an audience to witness my greatness except for my elite subordinates. Moments like this made me wish I had Tia with me.

‘Welp, that’s fine… I guess…’

The Demon’s cry of agony seemed to reach the heavens as it gave its final bellow before vanishing into oblivion.

Tower Demons had no Core since the System gave out rewards, but I was surprised that Death dropped an item before fading away entirely.

<Mine Alone> took effect and automatically transported my spoils into [Subspace]. A wave of exuberance washed over me as I mulled over my accomplishment.

It may have looked somewhat easy for me, but this was no mean feat.

I defeated one of the Four Horsemen myself… a Grade 6 Demon!

Of course, this would not have been possible without [Subspace], so I had to give it to the geezer who granted me this Gift. He did incredibly well.

I unequipped the Armor, and as such, came out of DEATH MODE.

Alighting from the lofty heights where I was in the sky, I looked down and saw the chaos our battle had wrought.

If this was a state, it would have been completely obliterated by now.

A wry smile formed on my face and looked in the direction of my subordinates beneath me. They had looks of wonder, dear, and respect as they saw me.

The twenty all bowed before me and declared their allegiance once more.

“WE HAIL THE BEING WHO HAS SURPASSED EVEN DEATH! THE UNDYING MASTER AND HOARDER OF THE DEAD—LORD JEREMY LEWIS!”

It was a bit cringe, but…

‘I like it!’