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 was

"Challenger Fry was eliminated."

"Challenger Erax was eliminated."

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 span of

for more than several seconds was already an excellent result, considering who their

the drops of blood off its blade

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

told, 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

being able to crush

while 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, the augmentation did not give

hair must have looked gorgeous,

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

of three allied Awakened reminded him of the inherent problem with the battle royale format of the qualifying rounds — as soon as true powerhouses revealed themselves, weaker participants were

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

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

battle royale is going to be much

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

itself into the trunk of another tree,

rolled over his shoulder and glanced at the

'Curses! A sniper!'

fell from the sky, almost

his teeth

***

oversized bow. His mightly muscles

two commentators were not

but actually the son of the secret child of the legendary Nightwalker, the founder of the House of Night. Uh… well, this is

conversation back to the skirmishes in the ancient

Mongrel's savage victory over the three other challengers, now he seems to be