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…"

***

Lord Corvus

"Challenger Fry was eliminated."

"Challenger Erax was eliminated."

him as a group, and while their skill was not

to remain alive for more than several

the odachi in the air, Sunny shook the drops of

he didn't have to clean his blade, since the blood was bound to turn into sparks of

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

decided against it a long time ago, since being able to crush his

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

must have looked

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

with the battle royale format of the qualifying

there could be a dozen fighters launching a coordinated

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

royale is going to be much more

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

embedded itself into the trunk of

at the arrow, then lunged

'Curses! A sniper!'

from the sky, almost skewering him

his teeth and continued

***

oversized bow. His mightly muscles strained, and

two commentators were not paying him

but actually the son of the secret child of the legendary Nightwalker,

conversation back to the skirmishes in the ancient forest, which were starting to happen

that so! Well, 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