--

"Uh...okay? What's all this?"

Cedric logged in to the Virtual Universe the next day only to discover that his arena profile had been flooded with challenges, making him incredibly puzzled.

"Did I accidentally offend someone or what?" he wondered out loud.

But that's when he discovered that, besides the thousands of challenges piled in his inbox, there were also a few private messages there clueing him in on what actually happened.

After a quick investigation, he soon discovered the video of his match highlights against Faceless Blade circulating online. Hell, he didn't even need to try to search for it since it was plastered on the very first page of the forum.

Cedric was surprised to see that the short video had accumulated billions of views at this point, making it one of the most trending videos this month.

He watched it, obviously. It wasn't edited maliciously or in a way that condemns one party in favor of the other. The edits were just minor cuts to the real highlights of the match with the addition of some flair for theatrics, making the video more exciting than the actual match.

The fight itself wasn't edited; it played out just how Cedric remembered it. The poster even slowed down some parts of the fight to highlight the action that happened way too fast for the naked eye to see.

It was a good video, all things considered. And because the poster had a large community following their page, plus with Faceless Blade being used as the clickbait, the views skyrocketed, probably even more than the poster expected them to.

Combing through the comment section, he saw that a lot of people remained skeptical about the match. Some of them accused the match of being staged, refusing to acknowledge that Faceless Blade's famous sword art was rendered completely useless against someone who's using nothing but the basics.

Others could see the deeper layer in the match and were impressed. And a very few just appreciated the poster for their good editing as always.

Further down, it wasn't hard to see the impressions of a few Immortal League Challengers there. Some even explained that there's no way the match was staged. Alas, their words wouldn't reach the people who just refused to listen and open their eyes to the truth, so they're just wasting their time and effort.

Faceless Blade himself liked and commented on the video, saying that the match couldn't possibly be staged. Anybody who says otherwise would be challenging the integrity of the Virtual Universe's creators.

That's what shut most of the arguments down.

A short video clip of his fight earning billions of views and impressions overnight is what brought him to this situation, with thousands of challenges lining up in his inbox.

Cedric didn't know what to feel yet. But at the very least, he wouldn't be running out of interesting opponents from now on.

So, what does he plan on doing about these challenges? Why, accept them! What else?

Sure, the matching queue has never been long, but it's completely randomized. He could never expect what kind of person he'd match up with.

At least this way, he could pick and choose his opponents. Sure, it takes more time, but at least he could get an initial impression of what he'd be dealing with.

The real problem lies with the schedule, though. Because, as one should expect, the schedule of both Cedric and his opponent must match for the match to happen. This wouldn't be a problem for the random matchmaking queue, but it wasn't a big deal either.

If the other party wasn't available for a match when he's online, they could always schedule the match at a later date, specifically on one that they're both available.

So, Cedric began accepting these duel invitations. Some of them were free today, and most have already included their available schedule along with their invitations, which is the norm in this kind of match.

So, without any further ado, Cedric hopped into a match against his first duel challenger, whose codename is 'Cranium Carver.'

**

The battlefield generated for them in this match was a large rainforest during nighttime. The air was damp and cold; the night caused the shadows of the towering trees to extend longer than necessary. The visibility was bad, made even worse by the thick fog shrouding the forest.

That, however, didn't obstruct Cedric's eyes. He could see everything as if it were daytime, and the towering trees and foliage couldn't obstruct him from seeing what he wanted to see.

If it weren't for his eyes, he probably wouldn't even see his enemy at all. Because as it stands, their current environment was definitely biased towards the other party.

With his figure hidden under a camo cloak, Cranium Carver blended well intothe rainforest even without trying. And this certainly was favorable for an assassin like him.

By all accounts, the odds are stacked against Cedric even before the match started. He could already see his opponent taking full advantage of this forest during the match.

But despite this, Cedric didn't look bothered. If anything, he's even looking forward to it a bit. Because his opponent this time should be strong, and he's looking forward to seeing if he has anything useful he could learn during this match.

The countdown was over quick, and as soon as the timer ran out, a probing attack was already launched towards him.

A throwing star laced with nerve-paralyzing agents rained down on Cedric, coming from varying angles from the shadows of the rainforest, all launched without the enemy being seen by the naked eye.

The angles were tricky and sinister. Anybody who reacted slowly will definitely be injured right away.

But Cedric wasn't any ordinary person. These little tricks don't even excite him. Cedric even saw the trajectory of these projectiles even before the other party threw them thanks to his divination abilities.

Cranium Carver wasn't at all surprised when he saw the enemy being completely fine. He kind of expected that already. His instincts as an assassin told him that he's up against a real deal, a true expert, not just with a sword but in combat.

Now, this isn't him throwing shade at other challengers in the Immortal League, but this Dawnbringer just gave him a feeling that he went through hell, thrived, and came back. That's something that can't be said to everybody.

Then, in Cedric's watchful eyes, the enemy's figure suddenly sank into the shadows as if he mistakenly stepped into a deep pool and was swallowed whole.

There was no noise or any indication of this fusion. Hell, there are barely any traces of him moving through the shadows, meaning that he's really good at this.

And in a place that's practically shrouded in shadows, Cranium Carver could pop out anywhere he pleased, and most people wouldn't even know where or when.

Clang!

And so, for the first time, Cranium Carver and Dawnbringer's steel clashed up close.

The assassin originally wanted to eviscerate him from behind, but he didn't expect Cedric to swiftly turn around to parry his blow. The impact caused his dagger and Cedric's sword to emit sparks that lit up the environment just enough for their faces to become clear.

Aside from his nose, eyes, and ears, the rest of Cranium Carver's face was wrapped in bandages beneath the hood of his cloak. His body was lean but capable of bursting with surprising levels of strength when he wanted to. Cedric could sense all sorts of nasty surprises tucked all over the enemy's body; each one was capable of killing a person if they're caught off guard.

The impact of the parry rippled through Cranium Carver's body. He wasn't injured, per se, but he still felt it in his joints. And that alone made him realize that fighting Cedric up front was definitely a losing battle, as expected.

So, he borrowed the momentum of the impact to send himself back to the shadows where he could hide and plan his next move.

Cedric could've followed him. In fact, he could've ended this match already at this point.

He could burn this entire rainforest in a snap of a finger. He could sever it, too, with a single swing of his sword. He had so many options to choose from if he truly wanted to end this match right away, but he chose not to.

Instead, he waited. He remained standing on the same spot he's always been since the start of this match and observed the enemy, anticipating what he's going to do next.

'Oh?'

Cedric's eyebrows raised slightly as he felt the changes around him. Because all of a sudden, the shadows began converging.

It started slow and very subtle, so much so that most people wouldn't even sense it happening, and by the time they do so, it'll already be too late.

The shadows caged him in, forming a tight net that distorted the surroundings, making it more confusing and eerie.

Then, from the shadow cage, several figures walked out, most of which were also shrouded with fog, making it difficult to see their actual size and shape.

It didn't take long before the shaped shadows began throwing themselves at him with no regard to their safety.