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."

These three Awakened attacked him as a group, and while their skill was not bad and even admirable, he had

they had managed to remain alive for more than

the odachi in the air, Sunny shook the drops of

was bound to turn into sparks 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

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

would, while the other two were wrapped around the Autumn Leaf — the

have looked gorgeous,

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

royale format of the qualifying rounds — as soon as true powerhouses revealed themselves, weaker participants were bound to band together and start hunting

launching a coordinated attack on him, or

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

battle royale is going to be much more intense than

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

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

shoulder and glanced at the arrow, then

'Curses! A sniper!'

fell from the sky, almost skewering

his teeth and

***

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 thunderous sound rolled down the slopes of a

commentators were not paying him

of the Forgotten Shore survivors, but actually

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

so! Well, that secret grandchild seems to be in big trouble! Despite Mongrel's savage victory over the three other challengers, now he seems to be in the crosshairs of one of the newcomers you spoke about