Shadow Slave

"Today, a terrible tragedy almost happened in a peaceful and prosperous part of the city. It was a day like any other, until a sudden notification alerted the citizens that a Gate was about to open nearby.

With no time to evacuate, numerous people were going to die… but then, a courageous Awakened placed himself in the way of Nightmare Creatures, holding off the entire advancing hoard by himself and refusing to give ground until the government forces arrived!

This hero then disappeared without demanding any reward, not leaving even his name behind — only scores of slaughtered monsters and numerous saved lives. Who is this brave and modest savior? Where did he come from, and what is his true identity? Well, some readers might recognize him as the viral Dreamscape sensation, Mongrel…"

Sunny stared at the communicator, which had water dripping from it, with a dark expression on his face.

'An official newspaper… this is a damn published article, not a random network thread!'

Previously, Sunny had only gone really viral among the people who were interested in the Dreamscape and dueling. Even though the recording of his performance in the Colosseum reached a wider audience, most of the people who had seen it did not pay Mongrel a lot of attention, since they didn't understand the details of his achievements.

This one, however… this one was different. Everyone could relate to a Gate opening and knew how terrifying and calamitous such an event could be. So, the new video showed Mongrel in a context that revealed just how bizarre and exceptional his deeds were to everyone.

Add to that the fact that the combination of the Mantle of the Underworld, the Soul Serpent, and Weaver's Mask looked really striking and menacing, and that — miraculously — no civilian had died despite the late warning by the government, and Sunny found himself in a sea of trouble.

Suddenly, he was happy with the fact that he had not been able to augment himself with both of his shadows. At least his physical prowess did not seem too out of the realm of humanly possible… or rather, possible for an Awakened.

The other good news was that there, thankfully, was no recording of Saint. The cameras in the school had been properly damaged, and for that reason, people only knew of her by verbal description.

the Underworld was to her armor. Due to that and the nature of how rumors distorted the truth the more they were

led some to become convinced that Mongrel… was a

tiredly covered his

not come true, though. Despite the fact that the recording showed him using Shadow Step, no one learned the true nature of his Ability from the grainy image, and no

of the ridiculous way A Song of Light and Darkness portrayed Sunny, but no one even tried to assume that Changing Star's bumbling sidekick was actually the dark,

countless discussions like

all thought that his Ability had to do with physical enhancement or perception, right? But we were all wrong! The new video clearly shows that his Aspect

that means? It means that he didn't even use his Aspect in the Dreamscape duels!

User: "...You mean

Lord Mongrel is

"...You mean LADY

of the Colosseum: "I better ping @Mongrel's Son. He should know who his

"... You mean his

out an

people think that Mongrel is a lady, the better. Yes, this is good!

a lot of nonsensical threads assigning some deep and profound meaning

just a human: Mongrel reminds us of the only truth. There are no mundanes or Awakened, only humans and the Nightmare Creatures. He knows

no words. So cool… how can anyone be so cool? At the end of the day, that is all that any of us can

"Stand and fight… am I the

were repeating, praising, and