Rise Of The Hoarder

Chapter 387  Stench Of Defeat

Paul strode towards the team leaders showing no sign of exertion or hurt which was surprising given the carnage he had caused.

His eyes were blazing as bright as the fire behind him though and they all avoided his gaze as it swept over them.

There was silence among them amidst the flickering flames and the only noise came from the burning building behind the Pariah.

Only Lilith looked on impassively and even she was forced to look away after a few seconds.

His eyes were absolutely murderous.

She has never seen him this worked up before. Sure enough, his primary goal since they met had been to exterminate Jeremy but and she hoped for his sake that he was still able to exert control in front of the team leaders.

Around the same time she thought of it, Paul seemed to remember that he wasn't alone He forced himself to regain composure the only way he knew how. His mind ran over all the skills he had in his possession.

Gradually he calmed down as he reflected on them and how far he had grown.

That was his trIed and trusted method before he could trust himself to speak.

"We are going back to the headquarters. We will exterminate the Hoarder on our way back if we come across him."

They all agreed on it but he could see that they were scared of him and he knew that he had to address the elephant in the room.

Getting into character seemed bothersome to him given that he was the most powerful and they owed him a lot. He was their savior after all and the one who could lead them safely through the horrors of the Apocalypse.

He knew that for their absolute loyalty, he had to be the perfect Pariah with a heart of gold.

What they had witnessed was far removed from the calm Guildmaster they had always known, he knew that Lilith would address the issue when they got back to his office.

"I'm sorry that I lost my cool and did this. It was especially frustrating to They all exchanged nervous looks among themselves as they had something bothering them. The Pariah had to control himself from shouting. He didn't know why they were still dawdling around when they could move past it. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

His beautiful words scored points with the team leaders. Here was the most powerful man in the world apologizing to them even when he didn't need to do so.

They all exchanged nervous looks among themselves as they had something bothering them. The Pariah had to control himself from shouting. He didn't know why they were still dawdling around when they could move past it.

"You all clearly have something to say about it so, speak. Are you still mad at this?" He said, pointing to the smoldering building behind him.

Nye, the leader of the Alpha team cleared his throat and stepped forward to speak.

"No, not that Guildmaster. No one is mad at that. You were just letting out your anger. It's about the Hoarder. Uhmm...there is no way he could have gotten here before us though and defeated the boss on his own. There is no sign of him too."

Nye's head was bowed in reverence as he spoke so they couldn't see his face.

"Also, it would be impossible for him to be at different locations at once. If we suspected that he took out the General team, he couldn't have also been fighting the boss at the same time," Tia said, speaking out in support of Nye.

The Guildmaster looked around to see that the rest of the team leaders shared the same sentiment.

He couldn't blame them as it seemed hard to believe that the boy had easily bested a high ranking demon and disappeared without a trace but he knew Jeremy more than the others.

He had seen that the boy was extremely resourceful and had many tricks. He couldn't explain it to them but he was sure that it was the Hoarder behind it.

He cringed inwardly as he realized that he was now forced to explain himself to his team when they easily took him at his word without any questions in the past.

"I know it seems hard to believe but I am as sure as anything that it was the Hoarder behind this. We can't be sure of how he went about it but all you should know is that he is extremely tricky and we have to be cautious on our way back. Of course, I'll do my best to see that no one comes to harm under my watch. Lilith, lead the way back to the base."

They all got into formation at his words and turned back the way they came.

The feeling of defeat left a sour taste in Paul's mouth and he took one last look at the empty throne room behind him before he joined the rest of the team leaders.

He knew that it would be some time before they openly doubted him again. He had instilled the fear of the Hoarder on them and they realized that they all depended on him.

Based on their theory, if the Hoarder could single handedly destroy the General team and the Boss of the round in a short interval, then his strength was monstrous.

Their only hope was the leader of the Alliance who had guided them this far without letting them down.

An idea occurred to him and he wondered why he hadn't thought of it at first. He had been too blinded by sentiments instead of following the next logical step.

Hunt the Hoarder while the trail was still fresh.

"Tia, you're coming with me to track down the Hoarder. The rest of you would be on your way. We would meet up at the base later" Tia was the best person among the team leaders for the job. Her stealth skills as an Assassin made her extremely useful in tracking down people.

The idea of the Hoarder somehow eluding them to eliminate the team leaders flashed across his mind which was why he didn't want to bring Lilith along with him.

He was confident that nothing would happen to them as long as they had her. She was extremely strong after all and would buy them more time before he could rejoin them if it ever came to that.

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After a long and fruitless search, Paul and Tia were forced to give up. There was no trace of Jeremy anywhere in sight.

Minutes back, they had stumbled on the bodies of the General team and from their carcasses, their deaths were caused by demons.

It had been a gruesome sight to see and Tia had to look away quickly to stop herself from crying.

Their only choice was to go back empty-handed. There was no trace of demons around for them to avenge their fallen comrades.

The stench of death and defeat hung heavy in the air and for the second time that day, Paul lost his temper.