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."

Awakened attacked him as a group, and while their skill was not bad and even admirable, he had no problem dispatching the

had managed to remain alive for more than several

the air, Sunny shook the drops of blood off

turn into sparks of

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

had decided against it a long time ago, since being able

while the other two were wrapped around the Autumn Leaf — the Memory

have

the mask, Sunny jogged forward. He was in a rush to eliminate as many other players as he could before the first leaderboard

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 bound to band together and start hunting them

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

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

battle royale is going to be much

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

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

over his shoulder and glanced at the

'Curses! A sniper!'

another giant arrow fell from the

teeth

***

countless screen, an image of a broad-shouldered young man was shown, drawing the string of an oversized bow. His mightly muscles strained, and when he released the string, a

were not

survivors, but actually the son of the secret child of the legendary Nightwalker, the founder of the House of

and then turned the conversation back to the skirmishes in

to be in big trouble! Despite Mongrel's savage victory over the three other challengers, now he seems