Even if Sinon thought of this, she still couldn’t believe that the one who hit her was ‘that person’. The stun bullet came from the south direction of the road, but that guy should be in the north perimeter of the stadium. He shouldn’t have recognized Sinon’s existence and should have been aiming at another target. Based on the Satellite Scanner at 9pm, Sinon could conclude that there were no other players who could have attacked her from the south. Whether it was «No-no», «Huuka» or «Yamikaze», they would need lots of time to break through this heavily collapsed area.
This was really inexplicable. Why—who—how did he do it?…
What answered Sinon’s question weren’t words, but a scene that appeared in front of her eyes after that.
About 20m south, there were a few light sparks in the space where nothing was supposed to be. And then, a person suddenly appeared in front of her like he ripped the world apart.
Sinon’s throat that couldn’t let out a voice continued to pant and scream silently.
—Metamaterial Optical Camouflage!
It could hide itself by refracting the light that shone on the surface, and it was said to be the ultimate camouflage ability. But that should be a skill only a few high level boss monsters have. Did they have such a monster in the middle of this battle of the 3rd BoB tournament? But she never heard this news before.
Swoosh!
The dark-grey cloth that was blowing in the wind interrupted Sinon’s extremely confused thoughts.
That was a mantle that looked rather tattered and worn out, and there was also the same grey color that covered the head. Sinon could only remain like this and watch the attacker who removed his optical camouflage and showed his identity. This person was the «Mantle» guy who shouldn’t have been here.
—«Death Gun»
That ‘Silent Assassin’ who a few minutes ago caused Pale Rider to disappear, and could have also kill the previous tournament winner «Zekushiido» and the leader of a large squadron «Usujiro Tarako».
From underneath the slightly fluttering mantle, she could see the large sniper rifle that reached down to near his shoes and the silencer that was equipped in front of it. If that large mantle had the optical camouflage ability, he could launch an attack even if he got into sniper position. Also, the Satellite Scanner would be unable to detect the optical camouflage, or else there would be a light around this area during the scan.
That means that this mantle guy—«Death Gun» wasn’t «Gunner X»…?
…Kirito
Sinon called this lightsaber warrior who should be in the stadium behind her, ready to attack Gunner X. Of course, she wouldn’t get any response.
Paa..Paa.. The footsteps rang in her ears. The mantle guy seemed to glide over as he approached. Deep inside the darkness of that hood, she could see two dark red lights flickering irregularly.
«Death Gun», stopped about 2m in front of Sinon, and was standing there like a phantom.
The muttering that was like metal rubbing against each other came from the face that couldn’t be seen.
“…Kirito, now, I can tell, if you’re, the real one, or, a fake.”
It seemed that the mantle guy already knew that Kirito was at the stadium. These words were said to him instead of Sinon that was laying in front of him. That monotonous voice continued in an interrupted manner, and though it was flat, one could feel an intense emotion hidden inside it.
“I remember, when you, went berserk. Once I kill this woman… who is your friend, once you go berserk like that again, you’ll be the, real Kirito. Come… let me see it, let me witness that blade of yours, full of anger, killing intent and madness.”
Sinon seemed like she couldn’t understand the meaning behind his words.
But the terrifying declaration of the mantle guy made the girl recover from her shock and bewilderment.
—He wants to kill me? This hermit that uses optical camouflage wants to kill me?
Sinon had a flame of anger burning inside her, and the heat even started to overwhelm the numbness.
The stun bullet still had lots of sparks left, but perhaps that’s because the part that was hit was the left arm. If she try a little harder, maybe her right arm should be able to move slightly. Luckily, the support weapon Sinon had on her waist, the MP7 submachine gun was near her right hand, so maybe she still had a chance to hold it and squeeze the trigger. In such a short distance, she should be able to take him down once she finish firing an entire magazine.
Move, move!!
Perhaps Sinon’s movement frequency moved from her brain to the AmuSphere and surpassed the numbness as her right arm started to move slightly. Her fingers had already touched the rather familiar MP7 grip.
But at this moment, Death Gun slowly raised the left hand that was empty-handed from under the mantle, using two fingers to touch the forehead underneath the hood. Sinon then noticed that there was a light blue 3-layered circle floating device above Death Gun, and the red [REC] line continued to flicker. That was a live camera feed. The numerous audience from within and outside GGO were watching Death Gun draw the winning Cross sign and Sinon who collapsed in an embarrassing manner.
The skinny left hand that had a black leather glove passed through the chest and reached for the left shoulder.
During this time, Sinon finally grabbed the grip of the MP7.
Of course, there were safeties on the guns in GGO, but it was much more common to see a quick attack than a misfire, so almost everyone kept their safety off. Of course, Sinon was the same. Now, she just needed to aim and squeeze the trigger.There’s still time. I can make it.
Death Gun, who finally finished drawing the Cross sign, placed his right hand back into the mantle and got ready to draw it out. Sinon had also used the numb right hand to try and grab the MP7. She nearly dropped the gun a few times while lifting it out, but barely managed to hang on. This time, the mini-SMG which was nearly 1.4kg felt as heavy as a mountain. However, Death Gun probably had to cock the gun. Once she spotted that moment and fired—
However—
At this moment, Death Gun pulled out his right hand from the mantle. The moment Sinon saw that black automatic handgun in his hand, her body and right arm immediately froze like ice.
Why? That was just an ordinary handgun. I faced handguns stronger than this, pointing at me, like the «Desert Eagle» and the «M500». There’s nothing to be scared of. Hold that MP7 again, put that gun at the enemy and squeeze the trigger.
Sinon tried to convince herself like this and again tried to move her right arm—
But just when she was about to take action…
Death Gun placed his left hand on the sleeve, and this movement just revealed the left side of the handgun to Sinon. More accurately, the metal grip that was serrated and the little carving at the center of the grip was revealed.
The carving was a circle, and there was a star in the middle.
A black star.
The Blackstar, type 54—that gun.
‘’Why… wh, why, why, why is, why is that gun here?’’
She lost her strength and let it slip out of her right hand, her final hope, the SMG. However, Sinon could not even hear the sound of the gun dropping.
Gachink. The hammer was cocked. The left hand of the mantle guy was holding the grip like this, and then pointed the gun from the side at Sinon in a Weaver Stance. Suddenly, there was a strange distortion from the darkness inside the mantle and hood. The dark space seemed to sway like glue, dripping and finally showing two eyes.
The whites of the eyes were bloodshot, and the pupils were small. Those enlarged eyes looked just like a bottomless pit.
It was that man. That man who, 5 years ago, took the gun—the Type-54 pistol to barge into a little post office in a city, in the north, to shoot Shino’s mother. At that time, the young Shino lost all self-awareness and leaped at the gun, snatched it and squeezed the trigger to kill that man—those eyes were just like the man.
—He’s here. He
’s right here. He’s hiding in this world, waiting for the chance to take revenge.
It wasn’t just the right hand as she lost even more of all her senses. The red sunset and grey ruins gradually vanished, leaving behind only the eyes and the gun in the darkness.
The girl’s heart seemed to be beating even louder. If she fainted now, the safety function of the AmuSphere would cause Sinon to log out automatically. However, her consciousness was clear as she waited for the Blackstar’s trigger to be squeezed. The gun let out a sound, kiriri. Once that finger moved a few more inches, the hammer would hit the firing pin, firing the .30 caliber metal bullet. That wasn’t damage in terms of value, but a real bullet. It would shoot through Sinon/Shino’s heart inside and outside the game, stopping it, killing her.
Just like what Shino did to that man that day.
That was an unavoidable fact. Even if she did not play GGO, she would be caught up by this man in some place. Her efforts were all in vain. No matter how much she struggled to break free from her past, it was meaningless.
Just when her consciousness was giving up—
A flicker of feelings, as small as fine sand, still remained.
I don’t want to give up. I don’t want everything to end here. I finally managed to understand the meaning of «strength» and battle. If I can remain with that guy and watch him, one day, I’ll…
Sinon’s thoughts were finally interrupted by the gunshot that shook the sky.
She did not know where she was hit, but still closed her eyes, waiting for her consciousness to fade.
However—
The mantle guy in front of her was the one who shook.
«Those eyes» in his hood disappeared, becoming red dots again. The right shoulder of the mantle was flickering with some orange damage special effect. So someone shot «Death Gun», just when Sinon was wondering who it was, the second gunshot followed. The bullet that flew this time grazed past the left shoulder of the mantle guy. From the sound of it, the gun caliber must be pretty big. The mantle guy immediately crouched down and hid into the large hole of the tower.
Sinon could see the actions of Death Gun from her position. He placed the Blackstar back into his gun holster, pulled out the L115 on his back and quickly reloaded the magazine. It seemed that he wanted to switch the stun bullets into the sure-kill .338 Lapua bullets. The enemy’s fluid movements in readying that large sniper rifle made Sinon, a fellow sniper, feel rather impressed. After aiming, he squeezed the trigger without hesitation.
A silenced ‘whoosh’ gunshot and the third attack occurred at the same time. But this time, the enemy did not attack with a gun. Something that looked like a can rolled onto the road between Sinon and Death Gun—a grenade. Death Gun immediately moved inside the building once he saw that.
Sinon could only close her eyes. If the grenade exploded here at such a distance, she would suffer rather serious injuries. However, it would be better than being shot by Death Gun’s Blackstar. That’s right; she might as well die like this. To retreat from this tournament, and then retreat from GGO, no, VRMMO, and live a low-profile life in the real world, always bearing the fear of being caught up by that man one day…
However, the developments this time again betrayed Sinon’s expectations.
The metal can that exploded half a second later wasn’t a powerful plasma grenade an ordinary player liked to use, and neither was it a normal one or an incendiary napalm one—but one that would spout out harmless smoke.
“…!”
The white smoke immediately covered Sinon’s vision, and she couldn’t help but hold her breath.
This would likely be her last chance of escaping. However, the numbing effect hadn’t vanished yet. Even though she should be able to move once she pulled out the bullet that’s lodged in her left shoulder, Sinon couldn’t get her right hand do this. And at this moment, she didn’t even have a will to stand up and fight.
Sinon was unable to keep her cool and could only lie on the floor with her eyes widened until her left arm—was grabbed by someone.
This person just pulled her up roughly like that. That person threw aside the large gun Sinon wouldn’t normally see and put his hand on her back. The girl didn’t even have the chance to stagger before she was lifted into the person’s arms along with the Hecate on her right shoulder.
An acceleration that seemed like it was going to squash her body into his followed. Hiuu! The air sounded beside her, and the surrounding smoke started to grow thinner. The moment Sinon recovered her sight again, she caught sight of the other player who was holding her in front of them and running forward.
That person had near transparent white skin, obsidian-like pupils and flowing black hair.
…Kiri, to.
Sinon wanted to call him, but was unable to make a voice. His beautiful girl-like face was showing an abnormally serious look to the—no, it was more like he was really desperate. She understood that he is straining his nervous system to exert physical movement commands to his avatar.
It’s to be expected that he would be having so much trouble. Even if Kirito was a STR first-type player, and that he had only a light weight lightsaber and handgun, he would be at his limit carrying Sinon and Hecate. It was a miracle for him to be even sprinting at this point. Also, looking closely, one could tell that Kirito himself wasn’t completely unscathed. The new wounds on his right and left shoulders were giving off a red dragging special effect. From the intensity of the light, the bullet caliber that hit him should be rather large. GGO was a VRMMO that originated from America, so the pain absorption rate should be rather low. With this level of damage, even if he didn’t feel hurt, there should be some form of numbness on him.
…That’s enough. Put me down and run away.
Even though she thought this way, the girl still could not say it out in the end. Her entire body, no, even her consciousness was completely numb.
Thus, Sinon could only blink even though she saw a large caliber bullet fly out from behind. Her sleepy mind was thinking. She didn’t hear the gunshot just now, which meant that the bullet was fired from Death Gun’s L115. With the effects of the smoke screen, this snipe was too accurate, which meant that he was right after them. She didn’t know what sort of character the enemy was, but he couldn’t be slower than Kirito who was carrying Sinon, and it would only be a matter of time before they get caught up.
Kirito himself should understand this too. However, the lightsaber warrior never intended to stop or put Sinon down. He merely gritted his teeth, breathed hard and continued to run forward.
Both of them ran to the east side of the round stadium, ready to leave from the north side of the ruins. Like the south side, there was a main road that stretched on forward. There were a few damaged cars and buses scattered all over the road, but it wasn’t enough for them to leave the ruins while being completely hidden. Where is Kirito running to?…
What answered Sinon’s doubt was the half-wrecked neon-light advert signboard.
The words that flickered weakly under the sunset showed the words [Rent-a-Buggy&Horse]. This was the unmanned transport rent area that the capital Gurroken also had. Amongst the 3 buggys in the motorpool, two of them were nearly completely wrecked, and only one looked like it could still be in operation.
However, that wasn’t the only transportation tool for them to rent. Like what the advert said, there were even a few large four-legged animals beside the buggys—horses. But of course, these horses weren’t real animals, but mechanical horses with metal frames and gears showing outside. Also, there seemed to be only one that still worked.
Kirito rushed into the motor pool and immediately hesitated over whether they should choose the 3-wheeled buggy or the mechanical horse. Sinon squeezed out a soft voice from her still-stiff mouth,
“A horse would be… too difficult. Its ability to break through obstacles is great… but it’s really hard to control it.”
Although it seemed that almost no one was able to control t
he hand-controlled 3-wheeled buggy, the mechanical horse’s hard-to grasp personality would make it a lot tougher to control than a buggy. As this had no relevance to the skills of the avatar, but that of the player’s own skills, a lot of time, hard work and practice would be required for them to use these transportation tools at their own will. For GGO that’s only operational for less than a year, there shouldn’t be a lot of people who had so much time to practice.
On hearing Sinon’s words, Kirito seemed to hesitate, but he soon nodded his head and ran towards the only three-wheeler buggy that could still work. He touched the panel screen and started the engine, let Sinon sit on the rear panel, and once he got onto his own seat, he hit the acceleration on the three-wheeler buggy. The large back wheel immediately let out a sharp rubbing sound, gave off white smoke and started spinning.
As the vehicle moved to the north road, Kirito immediately stopped and shouted,
“Sinon, can your sniper rifle destroy that horse?”
“e…”
Sinon pulled out the stun bullet with the right hand that finally managed to shake off the numbness and blinked her eyes. She saw the mechanical horse behind and immediately understood Kirito’s intention. He was worried that the mantle guy—Death Gun would use that horse to catch up. Sinon really felt that it wasn’t really possible, but she still nodded her head.
“Go… got it. I’ll try…”
She used her still-trembling arms to carry the Hecate that was unstrapped, and pointed the gun at that metallic horse that was standing coldly 20m away. This was a distance where she could hit without aiming through the scope and use skill assist. As Sinon placed her hand on the trigger, the light green reticle immediately appeared. She gathered the point at the side of the horse, and her finger got ready to exert force—…
Kachink!
The numb feel made Sinon widen her eyes.
Sword Art Online - Volume 6 - Phantom Bullet Page 12