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."

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

more than several seconds was already an excellent result, considering

shook the drops of

bound to turn into sparks of light and disappear, too. But that was already a

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

time ago, since being able to crush his opponents with brute force

the Autumn Leaf — the Memory he used to change the

hair must have

was in a rush to eliminate

the qualifying rounds — as soon as true

a dozen fighters launching a

spent hundreds of days fighting for his life

to be much more intense than

tree next to him suddenly exploded into a cloud of splinters, and something sharp

a giant arrow whistled past him and embedded itself into the trunk of another

and glanced at the arrow,

'Curses! A sniper!'

second later, another giant arrow fell from the

his teeth and continued

***

broad-shouldered young man was shown, drawing the string of an oversized bow. His mightly muscles strained, and when he released the string, a thunderous sound rolled down the slopes of a tall hill the

were not paying him

fact, one of the Forgotten Shore survivors, but actually the son of the secret child of the legendary

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

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