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

"Challenger Fry was eliminated."

"Challenger Erax was eliminated."

a flood of white sparks. These three Awakened attacked him as a group,

to remain alive for more than several seconds was already an excellent result,

the odachi in the air, Sunny shook the drops of

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

be 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

any of his shadows to augment himself. He had decided against it a long time ago, since being able to crush his opponents with brute force was detrimental to his main goal — polishing his battle technique and learning

around the Autumn Leaf — the Memory he used to change the

have looked

He was in a rush to eliminate as many other

the group 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

launching a

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

is going to be

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

whistled past him and embedded itself into the

at the arrow,

'Curses! A sniper!'

arrow fell from the sky, almost skewering him

teeth and continued

***

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

the two commentators were

so, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Mongrel is not, in fact, one of the Forgotten Shore survivors, but actually the

a wide smile, and then turned the conversation back to the

savage victory over the three other challengers, now he seems to