Gamer of the Dead

Book 2, Chapter 45:

Sgt. Ismael Guerra crouched down at the darkest part of the garden and watched his surroundings with hawk-like eyes. He used to be part of the army scout ranger, The only elite group in the whole Philippine army and he was good at his job.

But the arrival of the apocalypse made sure that everything he owned and loved is lost to him forever. He wouldn't even have had the will to carry on living if not for the help of the covenant which gave his life a new meaning, a new purpose. Now he is called upon once more to serve in the duty of a sacred cause, and he will succeed in this mission no matter what. It no longer mattered to him whether he lives or die.

He checked his watch and nodded to himself. It's about time. He had judged this to be the best time because of the rain, and the fact that this is the last hour of duty for this watch before they change shift. They have been here for the previous four hours and just cannot be as alert when waiting for the next watch to take over. When the guard in the garden passes him by, he quickly and quietly climbs the ancient oak tree that serves as the central part of the garden. He watched that same man passed by his hiding place for the last 2 hours at least twenty or thirty times now. He smiled grimly as the man moved by the oak tree like clockwork.

Silently, he made a noose with the silk rope he is holding and lowered it slowly down. Both the darkness and the rain covered its silhouette a lot, and he expected the idiot guard to walk right into it.

Everything is going according to plan when suddenly a brilliant light of magic went past the target's room and distracted both him and the guard walking underneath him.

Sgt Guerra was the first to recover. He wasn't one of those filthy tainted players, but he'd been around enough of them now to know what the feeling of mana is. He can tell that whatever happened in that second-floor room is filled with powerful mana.

I need to hurry, He thought, the adrenaline started to pump into his system. Something is happening to the target.

He looked down, and the guard is still gawking at the light show in the target's room, but then it abruptly stopped. The Sergeant dropped the noose over the guard's neck and jerked tight. He fell to the ground, still holding the rope while the guard rose up. The guard's finger tried to claw the garrote away, but he was already dying. A short stab with the sergeant's combat knife between the vertebrae and the guard was motionless.

The intruder ran silently from the open garden into the balcony and began picking the lock. It took him barely ten seconds to unlock it and then eases the door open. The audience room was empty and unguarded, so he walked quickly across the room until he reaches the inner door, but this one has a number key lock.

The sergeant wasn't surprised as he stooped down and typed in the number combination. Now we will know if the spy gardener was telling the truth or not, he thought. There were a green light and a beep, then the door clicked open. The sergeant readied his combat knife.

The door swung open, and the assassin lunged forward. The two warriors guarding the bottom of the stairs looked idly when the door beeped in their corner. The nearest warrior guard died instantly when the combat knife went upward into his throat just below the chin. The sergeant then used the dead warrior's shoulder to steady his other hand holding the silenced Beretta to shoot the other warrior.