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 was

"Challenger Fry was eliminated."

"Challenger Erax was eliminated."

which were already turning into a flood of white sparks. These three Awakened attacked him as a group, and while their skill was not bad and even admirable, he had no problem dispatching the trio in the

more than several seconds was already

Sunny shook the drops of blood off its blade and continued

his blade, since the blood was bound to turn into sparks of light and disappear, too. But that was already

easy as he had made it look. The Awakened were dangerous enemies, since each of them possessed a unique Aspect. They were cunning, resourceful, and unpredictable.

had decided against it a long time ago, since being able

the other two were wrapped around the Autumn Leaf — the Memory he used to change the color of his hair. Since it had no other purpose,

must have looked

under the mask, Sunny jogged forward. He was in a rush to eliminate as many other players as he

with the battle royale format of the qualifying rounds — as soon as true

be a dozen fighters launching a coordinated attack on him, or

spent hundreds of days fighting for

is going to be

a cloud of splinters, and something sharp shot at him with incredible speed. Cursing, he dashed to the

whistled past him and embedded itself into the trunk of another tree, its trembling

over his shoulder and glanced at the arrow, then lunged into

'Curses! A sniper!'

later, another giant arrow fell from the

teeth

***

muscles strained, and when he released the string, a thunderous sound rolled down the slopes

were

survivors, but actually

a wide smile, and then turned the conversation back to the skirmishes in the ancient forest, which were

that secret grandchild seems to be in big trouble! Despite Mongrel's savage victory over the three other challengers, now he seems to be in the crosshairs of