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."

him as a group, and while their skill was not bad and even admirable, he had no problem dispatching the trio

they had managed to remain alive for more than several seconds was already

the air, Sunny shook the drops of blood off its

into sparks of light and disappear, too. But that was already a habit of his...

that short skirmish was not as 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. That was why he had to act swiftly, making the fight appear much more brutal than it should have

ago, since being able to crush his opponents with brute

the Autumn Leaf — the Memory he used to change the color of his hair. Since it had no other purpose, the augmentation did not give him any

hair must have looked

to eliminate as

of three allied Awakened reminded him of the inherent problem with the battle royale format of the qualifying rounds — as soon as

soon, there could be a dozen fighters launching a coordinated

veteran like him, someone who had spent

is going to be much more intense

tree next to him suddenly exploded into a cloud of splinters, and something sharp shot at him with incredible speed. Cursing, he dashed to the side and barely

past him and embedded itself into the trunk of

and glanced at the arrow, then lunged

'Curses! A sniper!'

arrow fell from the sky, almost skewering him to the

his teeth

***

the string of an oversized bow. His mightly muscles strained, and when

the two commentators were

a shadow of a doubt that Mongrel is not, 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,

Dimi with a wide smile, and then turned the conversation back to the skirmishes in the ancient forest,

be in big trouble! Despite Mongrel's savage victory over the three other challengers, now he