He frowned and started to speak, his tone full of confusion:
"How..."
But before he could finish...
And to the absolute shock of everyone watching...
The next moment, Sunny's fist slammed into his face with an audible bang, sending young Tristan of Aegis Rose staggering back.
The Legacy scion collided with his friend, Master Mercy, while covering his face with a hand. His stunned eyes were opened wide.
There was blood dripping between his fingers beneath them.
Suddenly, the courtyard was silent.
In that silence, Ascended Tristan slowly lowered his hand, revealing two red streams flowing out of his nostrils and marring his handsome face.
His voice was listless:
"You... you..."
Sunny dropped the heavy greatsword on the ground with visible relief, rubbed his wrists, and let out a sigh.
Then, he smiled.
"Well, it seems like I have won. Good fight, good fight. Now, shall we proceed with begging for forgiveness? You don't need to kneel... I'm not a pervert, so I'm not into such stuff..."
At that moment, young Master Tristan looked like he would spit blood. That, too, would have constituted Sunny's victory... if the Legacy wasn't already bleeding...
Then, Tristan's features contorted, and he seemed to completely lose his mind.
With a face flush with murderous wrath, the Legacy lunged forward and roared:
"You wretched mongrel!"
Sunny pretended to be frightened and flinched away with an ungentlemanly shriek.
Coincidentally - or rather, quite purposefully - the sun was directly behind him.
Which meant that his shadow was sprawled on the cobblestones directly in front of him.
Right where Ascended Tristan's foot had just landed.
Using a tiny bit of essence, Sunny stealthily manifested a small part of the wild shadow and made it trip the poor fool without anything noticing.
That was more than enough to send the enraged young Master, who had committed to the attack a little bit too hard, completely off balance.
It all worked splendidly.
...In fact, it worked a little bit too well.
'Oh. Crap.'
Sunny had forgotten to take one small, but vitally important detail into account.
In the next moment, everyone in the courtyard witnessed a startling scene.
Ascended Tristan of the Aegis Rose clan lunged at the dainty Master, who let out an embarrassing shriek and flinched away in fear. By doing so, he not only completely avoided the sudden attack, but also caused the Legacy to lose balance and be pulled forward by the weight of his sword.
And there, right behind his cowardly opponent...
Was the parapet of the courtyard ramparts.
The young Legacy had no time to slow down and collided with it at full speed, buckling at the waist and flying over the stone parapet in the blink of an eye.
A split second later, his figure disappeared from view.
A dumbfounded silence settled over the courtyard.
...In a few moments, everyone shuddered as they heard a loud crash from somewhere far below.
Master Sunless looked back with a strange expression on his face, then cleared his throat and gracefully straightened his mantle with an elegant motion.
Then, he turned to Mercy of Clan Dagonet and said, his voice full of sincere concern:
"Sir Mercy... why are dawdling? Shouldn't you hurry up and tend to your friend? Such a fall won't kill him... I think... but he'll certainly need a good healer."
The petrified young man slowly nodded.
"Ah... y-yes... I'll go..."
With that, he turned around and hurried away. But at that moment, Master Sunless called out to him:
"Wait a moment!"
Ascended Mercy froze and slowly turned around.
"...Yes?"
Sunny smiled and pointed to the heavy greatsword laying on the ground.
"The sword... what was it, the Hard Breaker? Take the sword with you!"
The young Master stared at the greatsword for a moment, then bent down to pick it up.
"Yes..."
He mumbled an apology and dashed away.
Sunny grinned.
"Make sure that Ascended Tristan takes his time to rest and recuperate! There's no need to rush!"
He sighed and then added, his voice full of magnanimity:
"He can beg me for forgiveness at a later date!”