‘J-just a few more seconds, and… if I can just buy a few more seconds…!’

She had a failsafe, just in case something like this happened—an item that would activate ten seconds after a negative status condition was inflicted on her.

One would that was a short time to wait, but in the presence of a Grade 3 Demon, a ten-second window was plenty. Tia could only imagine how much damage the Demon could wreak—how many lives it could take—in that short interval.

It could wipe them out!

‘The moment it takes its eyes off me, I’ll use my Gift!’

Tia’s Gift [Immobilize] allowed her to halt anyone she looked at, as long as she kept a constant watch on the target. A condition for this to work was that she couldn’t be in the line of sight of the target.

In essence, she could see the Demon, but the Demon couldn’t see her.

If this was all, however, she would have applied her strategy a little differently. By simply staying somewhere far away, she could have ensured even greater success.

Unfortunately, there was another condition.

… Range!

She needed to be close to the target for this Gift to be activated.

Despite these limitations, her Gift had been very helpful in tricky situations. She utilized it to the fullest with her Thief Job and her very convenient Skill-sets.

It was too bad that the current situation couldn’t allow her power to shine.

The Minotaur’s range of vision was broad, and it was glaring at everyone.

It could have been her imagination, but Tia even felt its attention more on her. If that was the case, then she was most likely going to be the first to die.

This shouldn’t have been too surprising, considering Grade 3 Demons were more intelligent than normal ones. The Minotaur most likely sensed Tia to be the strongest and moved to deal with her first—nothing too complicated.

‘N-no… no way!’ She thought to herself.

‘Not yet!’

“ROAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!!” The Minotaur roared in triumph as it closed their distance in a flash.

Grabbing her by the throat, the massive beast choked her with its enormous hands. A depraved expression formed all over its face as its crimson eyes glowed brightly.

Whatever this Demon was thinking, it was definitely enjoying the situation—savoring how the human girl was too powerless to stop it.

‘S-shit! I won’t… make it… in time…’

She could feel her bones crack, and her body was about to be destroyed in a moment. She couldn’t do anything to stop it, and the thought of what would happen to her teammates once she was gone also filled her with dread.

It hurt so much, merely thinking about it.

Plus…

‘I haven’t yet… fulfilled… my revenge…’ Tears would have come out of her eyes if they could, but her physical state couldn’t allow that.

At the moment, she was done for.

“ROOOOOOAAAAAA—!!!”

>WHOOOOOOOSSSSSSHHHHH!!!<

Before the Minotaur concluded its next roar, a swift object—faster than anyone’s eyes could process instantly zoomed in.

Its movement was too quick for anyone to see what exactly the object was. It appeared more like a flash of light than an actual item. However…

“G-guuuuuerrrrrrr….”

The Minotaur’s voice fell into a slow slur, and its head fell from its body in what could only be said to be a shocking turn of events.

Its tight grip loosened, and Tia swiftly detached herself from the standing corpse.

She phased through it, launching herself toward her recovering allies, still stunned by what had just occurred.

Was the swift gust of wind a blade? How fast must it have been moving, and how strong, for it to have cleanly sliced off a Grade 3 Demon’s head without anyone noticing what happened?

These questions were all very important.

However, there seemed to be an even bigger question that was undoubtedly the most pertinent to these people. They were still recoiling from the fading paralysis, and sticky sweat still clung to their skin, yet the question pounded in their heads.

“Who… what could have caused that?” They must have all thought within themselves.

Before any of them could speak the words and utter the most puzzling piece of the shocking incident, however, the answer presented itself.

“Haaa… too noisy. Trying to have a nap here, you know?” Out of the blue, a floating young man appeared from underneath the ground.

Yes, right from under all the rubble and debris!

The young man had clean black hair, and his physical features resembled that of a peak human. His muscles, biceps, abs, and practically everything about him, screamed of manliness and sexy perfection.

Still, he wasn’t too bulky. He had just the right balance.

His blue eyes glowed brightly, and a yawn formed on his handsome face.

“Now, I’m up… damn…” He stretched in front of his dumbstruck audience, hardly paying them any mind.

If he cared the slightest bit about those who were in front of him—a majority of whom were women—he would have been more careful about exposing his nakedness.

That’s right! This shameless person was utterly, buck-ass naked!

“Finally, after stretching for a bit in front of the people, he began to float high into the air—almost as if nothing had just happened.

He didn’t even notice the scowl especially etched on the face of one of the girls who looked upon him.

“Jeremy Lewis… YOU…!!!”

>WHOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHHH!!!<

Blades instantly lunged in the girl’s direction, stopping barely a hair’s breadth short of ending her life.

“I told you already… so noisy.” The young man muttered, shaking his head.

Tia was trembling in fear, now on the floor as she felt how close she was to death. If she had said one more word, the blade would have pierced her before she even realized it.

That was how dangerous it was.

“Well… later. And you’re welcome.” Without even sparing them a glance, the one called Jeremy Lewis flew off—leaving only dust behind him.

Even as he left, the people who watched still kept wondering what just happened.

“T-that’s him? The Hoarder…?”

“He… looks different from what I expected.”

“He acts different too. I mean… what kind of Hoarder saves our lives and leaves the spoils for us?”

“He didn’t even take anything from our Inventory…”

Confusion was amok in Team Gamma, and everyone discussed how the man they saw was the complete opposite of what they were led to believe about the monster known as Jeremy Lewis.

However… that was what their leader just called him, wasn’t it?

Thus, everyone stared at Tia, who was now utterly silent.

Unlike everyone else, she could not utter a word.

‘He didn’t even spare me a glance. Does he not remember me at all? Has he forgotten what he did to me? To my friends?’ She could only grit her teeth in silent frustration.

She cursed her weakness.

She cursed her meeting with him.

She cursed the very day she lived in.

Painful memories flooded her brain, and she was stuck in a whirlpool of thoughts. It was at this point that she heard her teammates discussing the topic of the Hoarder, and how he was generous enough to the spoils behind for them.

How he wasn’t as they had heard.

‘These idiots…’ Tia thought to herself, sighing.

‘Nothing we have is of any value to him. That’s most likely the reason.’

After all, she knew, better than anyone, of his benevolence… and the cruelty that came along with it. These people just weren’t aware of it yet.

They hadn’t experienced the ugly truth about this bastard.

‘The Hoarder cares about no one but himself!’

p

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[A/N]

I felt a bit generous, so here.

I’m not uploading anything until next week. You can check out my other works if you want to read more. I’d recommend my newest book: Chuunibyou Challenge!!

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