Rise Of The Hoarder

>WHOOOOSSSHHHH!!!<r

In one clean hit, I sliced through the Demon construct and defeated the opponent.r

It was easy.r

I wasn’t even using any Skill.r

My base abilities had long surpassed this state. The items I currently had equipped were about Grade 4 Level, so they weren’t too powerful.r

‘Now, then…’r

My eyes moved quickly as I stole a glance at the machine behind me. As expected, it was fixated on me.r

‘Didn’t he say he wanted to learn more about the doors? Pfft.’r

The other drones in the other areas were most likely monitoring my summoned monsters to gauge their capabilities too.r

‘It’s all in vain, though. I only summoned Grade 4 Demons…’r

None were even of the High-Tier, so it was fine.r

“I’ll save the likes of Helios and Niggaruth for later…” A whisper escaped my breath.r

Continuing my climb, I encountered several monsters.r

It was fun in a way—pummeling weak ass beings. For real, it helped me think more clearly.r

As I diced them with my Katana, my mind became clearer. But, as expected, this feeling didn’t last very long. I advanced very quickly, reaching the Levels in the 30s in only a few minutes.r

Once I arrived there, it got boring. r

To alleviate the monotonous activity, and also for another purpose, I summoned a ‘Trump Card.’r

‘Niggaruth said it was now under my control, but I’ve never used it before…’r

—The Goliath.r

Once I brought it out of [Subspace], it looked quite intimidating. Perhaps it was due to the kind of enemies I was currently facing.r

‘Welp… I should give it a command.’r

Goliath was Niggaruth’s Trump Card—a construct that exceeded his offensive abilities back when I met the Ancient Vampire.r

Of course, the current Niggaruth would wipe the floor with this thing, but… this was something that a Grade 4 Demon praised. It had to be at the peak of its Grade.r

‘Let’s take it out for a spin.’r

And that was how I began my new journey. By allowing Goliath—a Boss-Level being that belonged in the Floors of the 90s—to defeat all the weaklings in my path.r

We finally passed the 39th Floor, when I noticed something peculiar about the 40th Floor.r

“Oh? These guys are…?”r

Before me were a group of 41 individuals.r

They all seemed to have decent gear, and their Inventories seemed nicely stacked too—though it seemed to be running empty.r

‘Level 150+, uh? There’s no doubt about it. These guys…’r

They were Rankers!r

The fact they were on the 40th Floor, and were gathered while fighting a monster meant that they were the strongest humans currently.r

Their Inventory were full of items and rewards from the lower Floors, and they seemed a bit disheveled—no, that was probably being generous.r

‘Are they struggling to beat… that…?’r

I looked at the opponent they all ganged up on and saw why.r

It was a Grade 3 Demon.r

The fact that such a beast appeared in the 40th Floor spoke volumes of the difficulty.r

Unlike the Tower Of Death that employed the use of multiple Mobs, the Tower Of Conquerors had fewer enemies around.r

The Boss being pushed back seemed to be in the middle to upper tier of Grade 3.r

‘Sigh, I’ve gotten rusty in estimating the abilities of weaklings…’r

I pondered on what to do.r

‘Should I rescue them?’r

If I did that, then I would get a plus in terms of my Alignment. Plus, the subjugation rewards would go to me—not them.r

Unfortunately, the latter meant they could end up resenting me for butting in. Once that happened, it could negatively affect my Alignment.r

‘The System may consider it as interference or something… or maybe I’m just being paranoid?’r

Well, I wasn’t desperate enough to risk anything, especially when the rewards weren’t exactly worth it.r

‘I’ll just see how it goes…’r

If these guys died, I could simply loot them without having to worry about my Alignment.r

‘Oh, wait… what if—?!’r

My lips curled up to form a malevolent grin. I had just the perfect plan.r

‘Hehehehehe!!!!’r

******************r

“Huu… this isn’t too difficult.” Pariah murmured to himself.r

“Yeah!” Someone else rang out.r

That was the voice of Lilith. She wasn’t with him currently, but her every sound was being transmitted by the drone Pariah left with her.r

“As expected, you cleared the 25th Floor with no difficulty.” He smiled at a Panel beside him.r

Lily’s face was displayed on the screen—also thanks to his Automaton’s high-spec function.r

“Yeah… it’s a bit lonely without you, though.”r

Pariah laughed a little.r

He knew Lilith only tried her hardest when he was with her. Though he had made sure they both preserved a great deal of their abilities for the task ahead, it seemed Lily was holding back too much.r

“You better hurry… or you’ll be left behind.”r

“Ahhh? Jeez, no fair! You’re on the 35th Floor already! That’s cheating!”r

Pariah chuckled as Lilith attempted being cute.r

If she was beside him, he could try patting her, but… r

‘Well, it’s necessary for the plan…’r

“Just focus on climbing the Floors and catch up to me quickly. It seems out target has caught up to the other Rankers.”r

“Oh? Already? He’s fast!”r

“Yeah. It’s what I would expect of him. He still has that impatient attitude of his. He even summoned a Golem with higher physical specs than him to fight. He must really want to get to the higher Floors as soon as possible.”r

“Really? How strong is the Golem?”r

A moment of silence filled the room where Pariah stood. A shimmering portal waited for him to proceed to a higher Floor, but he paused to answer Lilith’s question.r

“To be frank, it’s stronger than I am. But, with my equipment, I should have no issues winning. Still, to think he had something like that up his sleeve.”r

Pariah had thought that these Enslaved Souls were the strongest Demons he had in his arsenal, but who would have thought that he had an even bigger gun.r

The possibility that the Hoarder—Jeremy—was hiding something even more powerful existed, but Pariah doubted it.r

The Jeremy he knew would stop at nothing to achieve what he wanted. He would use all he had in an attempt to claw to victory.r

That Golem was a tool he was using to reach the top as fast as possible.r

Still, Pariah wasn’t very worried. So far, all was falling within expectations. Besides… it wasn’t like he planned on having a direct confrontation with the enemy—at least not at this point.r

‘Unlike Jeremy, I know how to prioritize the goal above all else… and that’s what I will do!’r

Ultimately, the one who would be losing it all… was the Hoarder himself!r