Online Game: My Hidden Class Is Dragon Sovereign!

--Chapter 36--

Title>> PvP: Vagabond’s Hunt [IV] - No Safe Ground

The last two shots from both iterations of "X" brought a chilling silence over the forest. Even the land itself seemed to realize this was no ordinary skirmish.

This was a hunt. And a potential execution.

There were no new messages in the Hunt Chat. No more rifle shots echoed through the trees. Hell, even the tiny creatures that rustled through the undergrowth had gone quiet.

Xavier also noticed the monsters that usually wandered these paths had all retreated deeper into the forest, as though even they understood they had no place in this battlefield.

The only sounds left were his deep, measured breaths and the dull thud of his boots against the damp forest floor.

He kept moving, weaving between thicker trunks as the woodland gradually gave way to denser canopies where the light struggled to reach the ground and visibility shrank with every step.

Amidst all the unanswered questions crowding his mind, one certainty remained.

Staying still was as good as dying slowly.

He needed to move... Motion gave him options.

And with the help of his equipment, Xavier slipped through the uneven terrain with ease, crossing muddy trails, exposed roots and clusters of dense undergrowth that threatened to trip him.

All the while steadily putting distance between himself and Vagabond’s last known position.

Even as he ran, however, his thoughts circled back to the same question.

That first shot.

Everything about it felt wrong.

For a brief moment, Xavier entertained the possibility that it had been deliberate.

Or maybe it wasn’t.

Everything about Vagabond till now screamed efficiency. There was also the fact that testing shots belonged to amateurs.

This man had a reign over headshots.

So why had the very first bullet buried itself in his chest instead?

Then there was the message from the Empress of Errors.

His platinum fan. V.

The message that had arrived before he’d fully grasped the extent of the situation.

"You are being watched over, darling..."

Its simplicity lingered in his mind as Xavier slowed beside the broad trunk of an old oak, absentmindedly checking the dressing over his wound.

She hadn’t said, "I’m watching you."

Nor had she said, "I’m here."

Instead...

Her words sounded less like a warning. And more like a promise.

Xavier honestly didn’t know how to respond to the situation.

There was still far too much about V that he didn’t understand, and sooner or later, he hoped to uncover the truth behind the woman who always seemed to know more than she should.

If she really had saved his life once again...

Then gratitude was slowly becoming an understatement.

For now, however, his fate remained firmly in his own hands.

He was fairly certain that after his last two Mana Bullets, Vagabond was doing exactly what Xavier himself would’ve done in the man’s shoes.

He would be relocating and adjusting while finding higher ground.

And patiently setting up another nest while waiting for him to walk into the perfect headshot.

***

Thinking of more ways to use the terrain to his advantage, Xavier lifted his gaze toward a narrow ridge cutting through the forest ahead.

It offered thicker cover, uneven elevation and fewer clear sightlines.

Before he could take another step...

A system notification materialized before his eyes.

<< HUNT ZONE CONTRACTING >>

[The active Hunt Zone has begun shrinking.]

[Waypoint Navigation – Unavailable]

[Regional Fast Travel – Unavailable]

[Time until next contraction: 4 Minutes.]

Xavier studied the notification in silence.

The same message had undoubtedly appeared before Vagabond as well.

He was getting pushed to the wall even more.

What a joke...

This was an entirely different monster to deal with.

Quickly, Xavier pulled up the map, something the adrenaline from the Hunt had made him neglect until now.

The forest, ridges and northern trail remained exactly where he remembered them.

Everything useful, however, had disappeared.

The waypoints, the route overlays. And even the regional guidance were all gone.

Only the Wanderer’s Compass remained, its crimson arrow still tugging stubbornly in its own direction.

Alongside it was the shrinking boundary of the Hunt Zone, steadily closing in from every edge like a tightening fist.

Xavier watched it for another moment with gritted teeth, before understanding exactly what the system intended.

The Hunt Zone wasn’t trying to kill either of them.

It was trying to force an ending.

Sooner or later, the shrinking boundary would leave them with only one place left to stand.

Right in front of each other.

That outcome in itself came with advantages... And very obvious disadvantages.

But one thing was certain, the longer this dragged on, the less room Vagabond would have to exploit his superior range.

But Xavier still had to survive long enough for that advantage to disappear.

It was a gamble. A dangerous one at that but it was one he intended to take only as a last resort.

For now, his eyes settled on the northern trail and the small settlement beyond it.

It was risky and barely viable a plan. But it was still the best option available.

Xavier closed the map.

"North it is."

***

Elsewhere, Vagabond studied the minimap as well.

The Hunt Zone had begun shrinking, which meant his greatest advantage was shrinking with it.

With the prey’s attack range now confirmed at roughly forty metres, Vagabond knew exactly where to keep the fight.

He had to stay outside that distance. And remain on higher ground. And this would all be over soon enough.

Still...

He had to admit the prey wasn’t nearly as easy as he’d first imagined.

If anything, the fraud was probably the most interesting target he’d hunted in quite a while.

For a moment, the wanker had even made him question himself. Even made him wonder...

’What if he really was Hunter X?’

The thought disappeared almost as quickly as it came.

It couldn’t be.

Vagabond had watched the beginning of Hunter X’s stream with his own eyes.

He’d watched Grace log into Arillion. And Hunter X never did.

Then the servers shut the doors on them.

After that, the system itself had acknowledged him as the ten-millionth and final player to enter Arillion.

There was no room for doubt. This fraud had appeared from nowhere.

And now the system and maybe other players were rewarding him for taking his idol’s name

That...! That...!

That was a reality Vagabond refused to accept.

If anyone deserved to inherit the X Factor...it wasn’t some fraud hiding behind his idol’s name and receiving praise for wearing it.

It was someone willing to protect that legacy.

Someone willing to carry it like a badge.

His grip around the rifle tightened.

"Come on, mate..."

A faint smile spread beneath the hood.

"Come to daddy."

With that, Vagabond settled into another firing position overlooking the northern approach.

He waited in patient silence. Waiting for the prey to walk exactly where he expected.

***

Far beyond the forests and skies of Arillion...

One presence watched with quiet amusement.

A half-filled glass of amber liquid floated effortlessly beside her, beads of moisture slowly sliding down its surface as though it rested on an invisible table.

Her smile never quite faded.

Those silver eyes followed the two markers drifting steadily north, waiting with the calm confidence of someone who believed events were unfolding exactly as they should.

Not far away...But distant enough they didn’t share the same space.

Another presence watched the same Hunt in complete silence.

There was no warmth. Nor any amusement.

There was only a cold, unwavering patience that regarded the two moving figures with detached indifference, as though they were little more than insignificant pieces crossing a board.

Only one acknowledged the other’s existence and insight.

But neither spoke.

Far below them, the two markers continued moving north.

Toward the next battlefield.

–End of Chapter–