Gamer of the Dead

Book 2, Chapter 74:

Marylou Ampil walked out of the Kulasa compound with her arms wrapped around herself. The leadership of the kulasa brother had "Requested" all of them to assemble in the open compound for an announcement.

She can see people in groups whispering nervously with each other, the fear in their eyes can't be concealed by the smile they readily show the world.

Like the others, She can feel that something is wrong. A sizable number of the able-bodied members left the compound several hours ago, and they are now trickling back in groups of 2s and 3s. Most of them have significant injuries, indicating that they were in a fight. And the sullen, bitter look on their faces suggested that the fight did not go as plan.

She found her father sitting in one corner bench, and she approached him. She and her father were taken away from their apartment almost several hours now without any information why. At least she was doing something and fixing the injured while her dad has nothing to do but wait. Malou slumped right next to him and her dad, obviously in a deep thought himself, was startled by her sudden appearance.

Alfredo Ampil merely raises an eyebrow.

"I lost another young man in the infirmary before one of the big goons ordered everyone in the medical staff to stop what we were doing and to get our asses here. That's the 22nd death tonight. And this... social gathering will not improve the health of my remaining patients," She said, grating her voice.

"You lose twenty people? jeezes Lou-lou, maybe I made a mistake paying for your medical degree."

The corner of her lips twitches upward. "Thanks, Dad, your confidence in your wonderful daughter is really inspiring me to new greater heights."

They smirked at each other, but the humor died quickly. "22 huh?" Her dad said seriously."That is barely touching the surface," She said, her face darkening. "One of the patients has half of his face covered in 3rd-degree burns. When I asked how he gets it, he only said 'fireball.' What does that tell you?"

"A battle."

"With players," Malou concluded. "I could understand one or two injured in a bar fight, but the one I'm treating are the 'survivors' of a battle. You've seen how many of them marched out from here hours ago."

Her father nodded with a worried look. "That means trouble."

"Tell me about it. The base commander will never let this slide and th-"

"Brothers and sister, lend me your ears!" A loud microphone washed all over them, and both father and daughter cringed, as well as the majority of the almost 2000 people in the yard.

"It's Ian himself," Her dad said in surprised. He stood up and followed the crowd closer to a nearby platform. 

Ian Cervantes is the enigmatic leader of the Kulasa brotherhood. Some say he is just a puppet from the other elders, some say he singlehandedly led the Brotherhood even before his dad was the leader. He was the man behind the throne. Malou didn't care, she had never met the guy before, but she knew that this is the man who is responsible for all the deaths she'd been failing to save recently.