This was the fifth and final duel that Sunny had to fight today.
His previous three opponents all practiced unique and interesting styles, so he had taken his sweet time trying to learn from them. He succeeded twice and failed once.
The first opponent was called Straw Hat and used a curved sword, his technique relying on extreme speed and flexibility. Even Sunny, who had himself trained to make his body as malleable as possible, struggled to keep up with this unpredictable opponent.
The alias of the second one — The Other Fool — was a bit familiar, but the style he used was not. Sunny spent a lot of time trying to understand the strange pattern of essence expenditure the fighter used, all the while dodging unpredictable attacks of his exquisite halberd. In the end, he learned a lot from this fight.
However, it was the third opponent that had really tested him. This Awakened, whose alias was Blue Vash, wielded a slender rapier and practiced a deceptively simple battle style. What separated him from the rest was that each of his movements was utterly perfect, and every one of Sunny's mistakes had been instantly punished.
It was as though the man had a supernatural ability to see even the tiniest flaw in his enemy's technique, and was able to immediately exploit it. No matter how hard Sunny had tried to comprehend the essence of the style Blue Vash was using, he couldn't grasp it. In the end, he was forced to overwhelm and kill the astute fencer just to survive.
However, despite that failure, he learned from this fight even more.
Regardless, after several duels against such talented fighters, Sunny felt that his mastery of Shadow Dance, which had stayed stagnant for a while, was finally progressing again. He was slowly approaching a precipice.
That was why he was so glad to see Dar of the Maharana clan.
To some, facing a Legacy might have seemed like a tough break. But for Sunny… for Sunny, Legacies were like gift boxes! They hid all kinds of goodies, his for the taking.
The problem was that, just like the Covetous Coffer, this box in particular could potentially bite off his greedy hand.
…The young Legacy fighter wasn't using a bow anymore, of course. Which wasn't a surprise. Legacies were trained to be proficient with a multitude of weapons, and a duel was not a place for arrows. Instead, he was holding a menacing great mace, its round head brimming with sharp spikes.
What made this guy so dangerous was not his bow, in any case. It was his strange ability to zero in on the enemy and somehow perceive their every move… or whatever it was that had allowed him to barrage Sunny with arrows from afar with frighteningly high precision.
While Sunny was staring at the mighty Dar, he was looking back at Mongrel. The scion's gaze traveled across the Mantle of the Underworld, making Sunny shiver for some reason, and then reached Weaver's Mask.
Suddenly, the muscular young man frowned.
"...Strange. An Ascended armor, and an… Echo?... for a weapon. Even if it is just Dormant, you've done well for yourself. But that mask… where did you get it?"
The corner of Sunny's mouth twitched.
Chatty enemies… they were the worst. Especially ones with such a keen vision.
"Took it off a random corpse."
He paused, and then added with calm indifference:
"Shall we start? Or do you need time to run to the other side of the arena, hide, and summon your bow?"
Sunny was trying to antagonize the young Legacy on purpose, hoping that he would forget this line of questioning. Luckily, his strategy worked.
Dar of the Maharana clan grinned.
"No… no need. Who knows... maybe I'll take it off your corpse one day, too…"
With that, he raised his heavy weapon, and suddenly lunged forward with a speed that no one his size was supposed to possess. The spiked mace whistled through the air, and in the next moment, the sound of clashing steel rang across the arena.
***
'Strong…'
Sunny was thrown back by the force of the impact. His block held, and the Soul Serpent held, too. However, he failed to adjust the weight of the Mantle of the Underworld enough, so his body was pushed back.
'How the hell is he so strong? I have three soul cores, dammit!'
Dar didn't care. He was much taller, had much more muscle mass, a much longer reach… not to mention that as a Legacy, he could have had many charms and Memory enchantments feeding him strength, agility, and resilience. This fight wasn't going to be easy.
Before Sunny could even properly land, the mace was flying at his head again. He pivoted on one leg, dodged the spikes, and dashed forward, hoping to close distance and get up close to the opponent, where his small stature and the shorter weapon would give him an advantage.
The Soul Serpent lashed out, aimed at the enemy's heart. Dar was wearing a light leather cuirass that left his shoulders and arms exposed, so Sunny hoped to pierce it with one blow. However, to his surprise, the tip of the odachi slid off the light leather armor as if it was forged from adamantine steel instead.
'Damn Legacies...'
The Legacy in question spun his mace, forcing Sunny to retreat, then glanced down at the spot where a tiny scratch was left on his cuirass. When he looked up again, his eyes were full of dark amusement.
"...Not bad."
Sunny gritted his teeth.
'Still running his mouth! Let's see if you have any breath to waste in a couple of minutes!'
The two of them clashed again, exchanging dozens of blows. Both were strong, fast, and skilled. Neither could easily overwhelm the opponent.
This was the second time Sunny had to fight a Legacy… third, if he counted Nephis. The difference was incredibly obvious.
His previous opponents were talented and experienced, but none of them could compare to Dar. This young man was a deadly battle machine crafted to reign on any battlefield, trained from the moment he had taken his first step to wield weapons of war and destroy his enemies.
He was no match for Caster, however... but Caster had never gotten the chance to become an Awakened. Once a Legacy learned to control the flow of soul essence, their power grew exponentially. Which was what Sunny was currently experiencing — raw power shaped into a deadly weapon by long years of relentless practice, and superb skill.
…And yet, he wasn't worried.
Dar was powerful, skilled, and experienced… but he lacked something that people like Sunny had — the memory of fear and bitter defeats, knowledge of death, and a vicious will to persevere.
Sunny didn't doubt that the Legacy had spent a lot of time in the Dream Realm, battling Nightmare Creatures… but he did doubt that Dar had ever found himself in absolute despair, having to claw his way back to life. His experience was that of fighting down, and not fighting up.
As Master Jet would say... he wasn't a killer.
But Sunny was, and so, the Legacy had already lost this fight, even if he didn't know it yet. He was only alive because his enemy was interested in learning sophisticated battle styles.
And there was a lot of sophistication in Dar's aggressive and domineering battle style. Legacies were truly in a league of their own… this was not something that Sunny could learn in a heartbeat. He needed time.
And so, their violent duel had turned into a slow, but terrifyingly intense battle of attrition. A minute passed, then another, then another... the two fighters were still entangled in a ferocious melee. The spectators were at the edge of their seats, holding their breaths as they watch the incredible spectacle. The direct feed of the duel was gathering more and more viewers.
'Bastard… how are you doing this? How?!'
Sunny was trying to peer into the core of Dar's style, but failed to understand its essence over and over again.
…Until he didn't.
'I see! So this is how! It was so obvious…'
By that point, both of them were exhausted and wounded, their reserves of essence running dry. Sunny had much more left, of course — even though continuously enhancing his physical prowess and using the [Feather of Truth] enchantment of the Mantle was hungrily eating through shadow essence, he had three times the capacity. He also had much better control of it, it seemed.
All the time Sunny had spent meditating in the Sky Below was not for nothing, after all.
Feeling the foundation of Shadow Dance grow stronger, Sunny grinned behind the mask, and suddenly changed his entire attitude. His movements turned sharper and more aggressive, his demeanor bold and overbearing. The Soul Serpent turned into liquid darkness, and then shaped itself into a spiked mace.
Dar was thrown off by the sudden change, but only for a moment.
...However, that moment was all Sunny needed.
Dodging the enemy's attack before it could even fully manifest, as if reading the Legacy's thoughts, he dove under the strike and delivered a crushing blow of his own.
His enemy's leather armor still held, but the bones beneath it did not. Dar's ribcage caved, and he spat a stream of blood. In the next second, another hit connected with his jaw, turning the young man's face into a bloody mess.
He fell to his knees and raised a hand, desperately trying to block the finishing blow.
The demon in black armor knew no mercy, though. Calmly raising the mace, he brutally brought it down.
The crowd let out a collective scream.
In the silence that followed, a pleasant voice announced:
"Dar of the Maharana clan was eliminated."