Shadow Slave

As soon as the commentator mentioned Mongrel, the feed changed to the image of a menacing figure in black armor calmly walking through the forest, the blade of the infamous odachi resting on its shoulder. The lightless pits of the demonic mask's eyes stared directly into the camera, as if there was nothing but darkness beneath it.

As soon as Mongrel appeared on the screens, the chat exploded.

"YES! It's Mongrel!"

"Hail to the Lord!"

"Huh? Who is Mongrel?"

"...You mean hail to the LADY?"

Dimi laughed.

"Ah, yes. This guy. Well, Mongrel is a really impressive fighter, but the results may not be as predictable as everyone thinks. Every year, the same thing happens — at the later stages of the tournament, two distinct groups clash. One is the Dreamscape elites, and the other is newcomers attracted by the rewards. Historically, the newcomers tend to do better."

He sighed and shook his head.

"Plus, we don't really know a lot about Mongrel. Sure, he has a very impressive track record, but most of his wins were achieved against random opponents. Who knows what will happen when he faces the best of the best? If I were to bet, my money is still on Queen Bee. If anyone has a chance against the newcomers, it should be her."

Syclus nodded a few times, expressing his enthusiastic agreement.

"Sure! But, still, returning to Mongrel. Everyone is dying to know who he really is under that scary mask. And if anyone knows anything about you, Dimi, they'll know that you must have your guesses…"

The older man smiled, his eyes suddenly gleaming with excitement.

"Funny you should ask! Actually, I do have a theory…"

***

Corvus

"Challenger Fry was eliminated."

"Challenger Erax was eliminated."

a flood of white sparks. These three Awakened attacked him as a

for more than several seconds was already an excellent

in the air, Sunny shook the drops of blood off its blade and continued

to clean his blade, since the blood was bound to turn into sparks of light

The Awakened were dangerous enemies, since each of them possessed a unique Aspect. They were cunning, resourceful, and unpredictable. That

it a long time ago, since being able

shadow would, while the other two were wrapped around the Autumn Leaf — the Memory he used to change the color of his hair.

have

was in a rush to eliminate as many other players as he could before the first leaderboard

qualifying rounds — as soon as true powerhouses revealed themselves, weaker participants were bound to band together and

a dozen fighters launching a coordinated

degree. Even for a battle-hardened veteran like him, someone who had spent hundreds of days fighting for his life in the darkest depths of the Dream Realm, such a fight

battle royale is going to be much more

tree next to him suddenly exploded into a cloud of splinters, and something sharp

him and embedded itself into the trunk of another

at the arrow, then lunged into a

'Curses! A sniper!'

from the sky, almost

his teeth and

***

man was shown, drawing the string of an oversized bow. His mightly muscles strained, and when he released the string, a thunderous sound rolled down the slopes of a tall hill

were not paying him

in fact, one of the Forgotten Shore survivors, but actually the son of the secret child of the legendary Nightwalker, the founder of the House of Night. Uh… well, this is

glanced at Dimi with a wide smile, and then turned the conversation back to the skirmishes in the ancient forest, which were starting to happen more

victory over the three other challengers, now he seems to be