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."

a flood of white sparks. These three Awakened attacked him as a group, and while their skill was not bad and even

than several seconds was

air, Sunny shook the

blade, since the blood was bound to turn into sparks of light and disappear, too. But that was already a habit of his... not

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

shadows to augment himself. He had decided against it a long time ago, since being able to

the Autumn Leaf — the Memory he used to change the color of his hair.

must have looked

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

reminded him of the inherent problem with the battle royale format of the qualifying rounds — as soon as true powerhouses

soon, there could be a dozen fighters launching a coordinated attack

like him, someone who had spent hundreds of days fighting for his life in the darkest depths of the Dream Realm, such a fight

going to be much more intense than

Sunny could finish this thought, an ancient tree next to him suddenly exploded into a cloud of splinters, and something

itself into the trunk of another tree, its trembling shaft as long as he was

glanced at the arrow,

'Curses! A sniper!'

another giant arrow fell from the sky, almost skewering

his teeth and continued

***

an oversized bow. His mightly muscles strained, and when he released the string, a thunderous sound rolled down the slopes of a

two commentators were not

that Mongrel is not, in fact, one of the Forgotten Shore survivors, but actually the son

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

challengers, now he seems to be