Fate's Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

Sunny had received generous rewards for these three duels... well, for two of them, at least.

One was an Ascended Memory of the second tier, which was an arrow. The second was an Ascended shield of the second tier. Both had pretty great enchantments, but he had no time to study them in detail. All he had determined was that the Memories were good enough to not be fed to Saint.

The third reward, though... was a bitter disappointment. It would have been rather amazing, actually, for anyone else — a hundred Soul Shards, no less! In the waking world, this was a precious resource. Even lesser Legacy clans would not scoff at that amount.

But since Sunny couldn’t claim it, he was left with nothing.

’Curses...’

His disappointment didn’t last long, however. In the end, it didn’t really matter. The real boon was the prizes those in second and first place would receive — and Sunny had already cemented his position in the final duel.

The winner and the runner-up were going to receive Memories from clan Valor’s personal armory. And this was something every Awakened desired, because the Great Clan was renowned not only for it’s knights.

It was also famous for it’s forgers.

Members of the Valor family often received Aspects tied to forging and creation. Some of them could even create Memories, tailor-made for destroying Nightmare Creatures and conquering the dangerous expanses of the Dream Realm. Sunny doubted that they would put something really unique as a prize for a public tournament, but anything from their vault was going to be precious.

What’s more, he had already enriched his mastery of Shadow Dance a lot. The last three duels especially had pushed him even closer to grasping it’s second step. Now, he felt as though it was almost within his reach.

So, participating in the tournament was a pretty good idea, after all.

***

A few hours later, Sunny returned to the arena.

It was time to end this spectacle and reap his rewards.

However... first, he had to defeat the strongest opponent yet.

’It’s gonna be fine... I’ll get a sweet Memory either way...’

But winning would be much better.

...As soon as he appeared, the crowd cheered.

Hearing the thunderous cheer, Sunny almost flinched.

The last duel of the tournament was different from all the rest. The courtyard had changed slightly, somehow becoming even more magnificent. The grandstands were extended, with dozens of thousands of spectators crowding the stone seats. Their cheers blended into a deafening, excited roar that rose and fell rhythmically, like the sound of a turbulent sea.

Rose petals were raining from above, covering the arena in a beautiful carpet.

’Fancy bastards...’

He turned his head slightly, taking in the sight of the chanting crowd. Then, his sight lingered for a few moments on a tall tribune that loomed above the arena, decorated with the vibrant vermilion banners of the Great Clan Valor. Since this was the final duel, very special people were going to spectate it in person.

Sunny easily recognized the two creators of the Dreamscape, the first was a handsome gray-haired man dressed in neat, orderly robes like some pompous priest, while the second was a young woman wearing an ornate dress — her hair was a similar color to his, but with a bluish shade. Sunny’s eyes were drawn to the small bird wings sticking out of their heads, as well as the halos hovering above.

As if sensing his gaze, the woman with emerald eyes sent him a pleasant smile as she gently waved. Meanwhile, the man, supposedly her sibling, seemed to have said something that caused her smile to dim.

Sunny’s gaze lingered on the pair, feeling a sense of unease. From what he knew, the brother was a Saint, while the sister was a Master. He didn’t do much research, but for some reason, he felt an instinctive dislike for the guy.

Ignoring the strange feeling, Sunny figured that the person near them had to be the representative of Valor, then. Sunny couldn’t see much, and just noted that it was a young woman with dark wavy hair and alabaster skin. She wore an intricate suit of lusterless, black armor and a red cape, which was the same color as the banner of her clan.

Another Saint, and considering that he had War God’s lineage, which she also must have had, in some strange sense, they were related.

Speaking of Saints, did he mention that there were plenty of them near the ones holding the event? They must have been the bug dogs of various factions. There was a white-haired man with yellow eyes, wearing an easygoing expression as he spoke to a silver-haired woman with fox ears.

Sunny was immediately reminded of his trauma from when he had to be a foxian in the Simulated Universe.

’Never again...’

There was also a large number of individuals conversing with eachother — around ten. Some stupid-looking blonde was amongst them...

The tribune was too far away to see any details, but Sunny wasn’t inclined to stare at such powerful people — both physical and political — anyway. He was already uncomfortable knowing that they would observe his fight. Really, the only Saints he was comfortable being around were Herta and Clara. The latter was a child who couldn’t hurt a fly, while the former was kind of like a mosquito. If mosquitos gave presents in exchange for slave labor.

On the other hand...

’If I put on a good show, maybe I’ll get some free goodies!’

"Challenger Yanqing has joined the fight!"

Throwing these thoughts out of his mind, Sunny finally lowered his gaze and studied his opponent.

’Huh. I guess March and Dan Heng didn’t make it to the end.’

That lowered the odds of being discovered, he supposed.

He had entertained the idea of possibly facing them in a climactic battle, but no. It was just some kid.

Yanqing seemed to be someone in the middle of his teenage years. He had tied light-blonde hair and golden eyes, wearing a dark blue coat lined with pale turquoise and patterned with cloud motifs near the hem. A white sash crossed his chest, fastened by ornate clasps and decorated with hanging tassels and beads. The coat split at the sides, revealing a layered outfit beneath.

From just one glance, Sunny knew that he was looking at a combat master. Everything about the young warrior spoke of skill, grace, and resolve.

Yanqing was studying him, too. In particular, he looked directly at Serpent, his eyes glazing over. It was like he was looking beyond the blade.

His eyes widened slightly, before returning to a calm indifference.

Sunny slightly tilted his head, barely noticeable. He wondered what could have prompted his reaction, but ignored it.

He could tell that Yanqing must have recieved rigorous training. Both from the way he held himself, as well as the fact that he didn’t have the eyes of a killer. Just a fighter.

’Lack of experience?’

That was the best way he could put it. It was possible that he was a disciple of one of the elites present...

...That was not to say that the duel was going to be easy. Killer or not, Yanqing was still a fearsome opponent.

After all, he had either dealt with March and Dan Heng himself, or dealt with whoever dealt with them... maybe Sunny should expand his vocabulary.

***

The trumpets sang and the voice of the Dreamscape announced the names of the fighters, lunging into a solemn speech afterward. Sunny didn’t listen to it and simply approached the middle of the arena, then hesitated and performed a small, awkward bow toward the young warrior.

He wasn’t a courteous person, but in this situation, bowing seemed somehow appropriate.

Yanqing simply blinked, as if he wasn’t expecting that. Then, he returned the gesture a thousand more times the elegance.

Sunny inwardly snorted.

’Yeah? Well, now that I’ve seen you do it, I could do it better! Shadow Dance is not to be messed with...?’

In the blink of an eye, a dark odachi appeared in Yanqing’s hand. A very familiar sight, if Sunny could be honest.

After all, it was the same weapon he was wielding himself!

It seemed like creating replicas of weapons was what his Aspect allowed him to do. It might have been useful if Sunny was using the Cruel Sight, but...

’Why would he copy a Dormant weapon? Actually, Serpent is a Shadow, so how far does his Aspect reach?’

He sighed, gripped the hilt of the Soul Serpent... and lunged into a lightning-fast attack.

What was the point of wasting time?

Sunny was trying to overwhelm his opponent in one fell swoop, but of course, he failed. As if he was looking into a mirror, Yanqing replicated the exact move, their blades preventing the other from carving into their bodies. For a few seconds, nothing but the ringing of steel could be heard above the arena.

Even the audience grew quiet, looking at the incredible fight with bated breath.

Unlike the other duels, there was no clash between a demonic swordsman and a shapeshifting man-beast, nor was there any confrontation against a blood-burning walking bomb. Instead, it seemed like a normal battle between two warriors, full of skill and determination.

However, people who knew even a little bit about combat couldn’t take their eyes off the intense confrontation. Every strike, every block, every step the fighters took was full of flawless precision, insight, and clear resolve. This was a battle of two masters, and thus it was much more thrilling and breathtaking than anything else they had seen in this tournament.

...Sunny, however, was having much less fun than the audience.

In fact, he wasn’t having any.

’What the hell?! What is going on?!’