Shadow Slave

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.

enemies… they were the worst. Especially ones with

off

then added with

do you need time to run to the other side of the arena, hide, and summon

antagonize the young on purpose, hoping that he would forget this line of

of the Maharana clan

no need. Who knows... maybe I'll take

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

***

'Strong…'

held, and the Soul Serpent held, too. However,

so strong? I have three soul cores,

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

on one leg, dodged the spikes, and dashed forward, hoping to close distance and get

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

'Damn Legacies...'

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,

"...Not bad."

Sunny gritted his teeth.

have

of blows. Both were

time Sunny had to fight a Legacy… third, if he counted Nephis.

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

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

he wasn't

skilled, and experienced… but he lacked something that people like Sunny had — the memory

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.

Master Jet would say... he wasn't a

this fight, even if he didn't know it yet. He was only alive because his enemy was interested

Dar's aggressive and domineering battle style. Legacies were truly in a league of their own… this was not