Chapter 71: The Throne of the Jaguar
What a harrowing realization. The thought crossed him before yet it was never an extensive idea. He thought it was nigh impossible. He assumed no one would be insane enough to do it in the afterlife, where gods and prophets existed and lived. He should have figured otherwise.
’No one would be able to tell whether a player was killed by a monster or their fellow player. Any players that have died, it’s possible it was not in fact because of the mission objective or the enemies, but an ally.’
William stood by, awkward and expression dropped in sympathy. Itzel barely managed to get back on her feet, her cheeks stained with her tears.
Kazi tilted towards William and whispered in his ear, "The invaders are us. Other players." William went wide-eyed and side-eyed him. "Think about it: players hunt these witches down, defeat or kill them to finish the objective, and then move on. But in this case, it was a batshit crazy guy that killed them."
"Jesus, it’s like a hunting ground," William muttered. "What do we do about it? Should we stop all players from killing these women? I mean, clearly they are people, right? A-and this guy, are we dealing with Jack the Ripper 2.0?"
He shut his mouth, his ears twitched. Step, step, step, emerging from the fleet of stairs behind them. Kazi’s eyes narrowed. "Someone’s coming."
Shoulder-length blond hair, black earrings climbing the upper area of his ears, with a long hanging cross on the left ear. The individual who arrived onto the platform carried themselves with unbridled swagger. Level 19, a swordsman, and with a name that Kazi recognized on the spot.
"Nash," Kazi said.
The blue-eyed squinted and then snickered, putting a hand on his hip. "You’re the bastard from the stall. Colour me surprised, I did not expect to see you again."
Kazi hid his emotions with a small smile. "What happened to your cohorts?"
"We split to look for clues, Scooby-Doo style. On my way here, I encountered a witch." The words that followed caused the Kaloomte’ to clench her fist. "Killed her and found myself here."