Sword Art Online: X

Sniper's Oath - Sinon

It's time for the finals. I was up against X.

I've already qualified for the final round, so why do I still want to beat him so badly?

I don't know. Did it have something to do with how easily he was able to see through my act? Or was it something else?

I emptied my mind. I needed to stay focused.

The problem with sniper duels is that it's practically a game of hide and seek. The two of us were hiding in our own sniping spots and scanning the surroundings for even a glimpse of the other. I was in an abandoned ruin, in the highest foliage-covered tower I could find.

I couldn't find him. I guess he isn't the Shadow Emperor for nothing.

As I skimmed past the foliage, I suddenly felt a knife pressing to my neck.

"Right behind you."

I quickly turned around, and sure enough, there he was.

I fired off a shot, but since he was point-blank range, he easily dodged the muzzle of my Hecate II.

"Hey, now, if I was serious, I would've shot you out of your perch before you even spotted me, but I wanted to take this time to... have a little talk." He chuckled, flicking his braid with his hand.

I stared at him. This guy right in front of me not only spotted me before I spotted him, but also resisted the urge to shoot me and was able to sneak behind me through the foliage.

This guy is no joke. No wonder so many players were assassinated by him.

I sighed, since this situation probably would've happened either way.

"What do you want now?"

He simply leaned back into the wall of the tower.

"Quite frankly, I need your help."

I raised an eyebrow, the guy who can hide himself in the shadows is asking me for help?

"What could you possibly need my help for?" I asked, "You have pretty much everything covered, don't you? The stealth, the speed, the lookout, what do you need my help for?"

He laughed, "Yeah, I do have that going for me, don't I? Well, y'see, the original plan was for me and Kirito to both make it to the second half, but I kinda had to fight him in the semifinals, so now we're down a man. I know you're not an accomplice to Death Gun, so can I rely on you to keep an eye out for a dude wearing a gas mask with glowing red eyes? Take him out early if you can, but if you can find his identity, that'd be even better."

I looked down as I pondered his request. Should be easy enough. I already make it a policy to shoot down everyone I see, so it shouldn't be that hard.

He suddenly started laughing, "No, it's really difficult. The fucker's really elusive, if he's in the Bullet of Bullets and targeting players, there's no way that he can't dodge a sniper bullet or stay hidden to avoid being taken out."

What the fuck? Did this guy just read my mind?

"You had a face of self-confidence before, and now you have an expression of confusion and disbelief. It's not hard to guess what people are thinking if you can read their expressions and you know the context." He explained with a snicker.

This guy... is seriously arrogant.

"You have problems, you know that?" I deadpanned, "No sane person would purposefully look for a serial killer."

"No sane person would aid someone in looking for said serial killer, so you're just as unhinged as I am." Was the response.

He was right, of course, but it was really aggravating, just hearing him speak to me in such a condescending tone.

My eye twitched, and I once again aimed my rifle at him.

"Well, now, getting aggressive because you can't outwit me? That's the definition of a sore loser right there." X laughed, "But seriously, we should end this match. How about we settle this in a duel?"

I raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue.

"We'll take our positions in the town, and face away from each other. I'll throw my knife in the air, and once it lands, we turn around and shoot. Sound fair?"

I didn't know what he was playing at. Out of the two of us, I'm the better shot, though he's faster than I am.

We jumped down to ground level, keeping a distance of twenty paces from each other.

I heard X draw his knife, and a whipping sound told me he had tossed the knife in the air.

I waited until the metallic clang of the knife meeting pavement.

I quickly dove to the side and shot at X, but he was already gone.

He had shot at me first, but since I decided to dodge first, he missed, but now that I took aim at where he was, he's gone.

I was about to put my gun down and look for him when I felt an arm pull me back and a knife to my throat yet again.

"How do you keep sneaking up on me?" I muttered, "We were literally face-to-face, and you disappeared from my sight. How do you do that?"

He chuckled from behind me, "Well, you'd be surprised what maximum AGI can do for you."

He set his knife down, "Now can you forfeit? I'd rather not slit your throat open if I can help it."

"You had no problem assassinating other players." I snarked, "What's so special about me?"

"You're right, I have no problem with killing players, but in my defense, none of the players I killed had such a pretty face."

As soon as I realized what he said, my heart started pounding in my throat, but when I turned to look at him, he seemed unfazed by what he just said.

"Aww, are you blushing? Alright, mental note: call Sinon pretty if you want her flustered."

He cackled as I raised a pistol to his chin and pulled the trigger.

But I missed again, and X just sighed, "Just forfeit already, it'll be easier for both of us."

I couldn't hit him, so I complied.

A/N: So I finally managed to get this done. Sorry I didn't update in a while, exams were killing me. Well, X is killing the competition much like the exams are to me.

Anyways, if you enjoyed, consider voting and following for more. Peace out, everybody. Goodbye.

Timeless_95, signing out.