Lord Of The Lost

William and the team worked swiftly, overturning the ruins in search of treasures. Time was of the essence, they needed to move fast, clear this site, and find the next one. The secret alchemical formulas were tempting, but even if they didn't uncover those, the magic gold coins alone made this venture worth the risk.

These weren't ordinary coins. Forged by the Dwarven Kingdom, each one bore the engraving of the Sun God and his temple. People called them Ancient Gold Coins, infused with arcane power. Their value wasn't just monetary, they were supernatural artifacts in their own right. The longer they existed, the stronger the energy they accumulated.

Dwarven magic coins were especially prized. Carrying one could fill the body with warmth, warding off cold and darkness. Some even believed they could resist the curses of black magicians. For spellcasters, these coins were more than currency, they were potent magical tools. When fused with a weapon, they imbued it with mysterious enhancements, transforming it into an extraordinary artifact.

William pondered the origins of human blacksmithing. Perhaps it was borrowed from the dwarves. After all, dwarves were master craftsmen, excelling not just in forging but also in sculpture and architecture. They had once built grand sun temples in honor of their god, but time had not been kind to their creations. Those magnificent structures had long since crumbled, swallowed by the earth and entombed in the darkness of the underground world.

Legends told of a divine war that reshaped the world, but records of its conclusion were lost. The Labyrinth Guide chronicled the history of the dwarves but left the fate of the gods shrouded in mystery. To this day, the God of War's shrine still stood in the church, and the sun continued to rise each morning. Yet the great labyrinth remained a forbidden place, its secrets buried with the past.

---

Rather than aimlessly wandering the ruins, William and his team gathered around a golden archway, searching for the right path forward. Their strategy was simple: Metatron scouted the correct route, and then they would fight their way through.

The maze was filled with rare materials, but there was no time to collect them. Every moment spent scavenging was a moment lost in battle. Right now, upgrading their strength was the top priority.

A level 10 monster granted 30 to 50 experience points, shared among four people. That meant each member received around 10 points per kill. In theory, taking down 150 level 10 monsters would be enough to level everyone up. But reality was more unpredictable, monsters appeared in different tiers, and Sequence 9 supernatural beings often roamed these depths.

Defeating such creatures was far more rewarding. Each one granted over 100 experience points, allowing them to progress much faster. And unlike ordinary players, William's group had the power to handle these threats head-on.

Their combat lineup was well-balanced:

Alex wielded the [Demon Blade], a weapon obtained from the Shadow Castle. As an extraordinary assassin, he could fully unleash its potential. Any enemy wounded by the blade would experience excruciating pain, rendering them helpless.

The Gambler relied on [Gambler's Dice] and [Werewolf Claws], allowing him to go toe-to-toe with Sequence 9 creatures for short bursts.

Metatron wielded the [Silver Fork], a weapon capable of breaking magic and piercing even the toughest foes, werewolves included.

The Forum Master acted as the team's spellcaster, casting ranged spells and controlling enemies from a distance.

They lacked a priest to heal injuries, but aside from that, their team was near flawless, capable of taking on Sequence 9 supernatural beings without much concern.

However, their greatest advantage was the silent guardian that followed them, an unseen force, their ace in the hole.

---

The underground labyrinth was vast and boundless, yet strangely confined. Vision was limited; no more than a hundred meters at any time. It was as if the very space they traveled through had invisible walls, warping and shifting unpredictably.

Sometimes, they caught glimpses of something beyond, a distant corridor, a flicker of movement, but the true scale of the labyrinth remained unknowable. It was a maze not just of stone, but of reality itself, where the deeper you ventured, the less certain you became of what lay ahead.

A horse that runs too fast will collapse, just like a fighter who pushes beyond his limits.

The maze's limited visibility made it nearly impossible to locate ruins, but William refused to give up. Five grueling hours later, he finally stumbled upon a buried site hidden behind a dense forest.

Meanwhile, the Forum Master and the others were still locked in battle, fending off a swarm of venomous insects. Individually, these creatures were weak; only level 5 or 6, but when they attacked in the hundreds, they became a deadly force. The team managed to cut them down, but at a steep cost.

The experience points they gained were decent, but the relentless fight drained their stamina. Worse still, the venom from the insects was taking a toll.

The Gambler's face was swollen beyond recognition, pus seeping from the wounds. No antidote could neutralize the poison.

Metatron and the Forum Master, after a quick search near the insect nest, found some herbs that barely slowed the toxin's spread. Exhausted, the team rested on the spot.

Just as they were catching their breath, William arrived with urgent news.

"I found traces of the ruins."

No one responded. They were too tired to speak. But they stood up, one by one, and followed him in silence.

The Blood-Tinted Forest

The ruins were beyond the forest, a place where the terrain rose slightly, suggesting the trees had grown there long after the ruins were buried.

Each tree stood 40 to 50 meters tall, their branches thick with life. Yet the ground was an unsettling reddish-brown, as if stained with old blood.

The team hesitated. The air was thick, almost suffocating.

The Gambler groaned, clutching his swollen face. "Metatron, what do you think?"

Metatron frowned, her eyes narrowing. "It's hard to say."

"Black screen?"

Metatron gave a slow nod. "Yeah."

Her [God's Perspective] ability wasn't omnipotent, it could index future information with terrifying accuracy, but even it had its blind spots.

William was one of them.

Ever since William became a superhuman, her ability could no longer predict his future. It was as if he had vanished from the timeline.

Even back at the previous ruins, her visions had turned black. That had meant they weren't strong enough to explore those ruins.

And yet, William had wiped out every single evil spirit within.

This suggested something unnerving, every future she saw was a future in which William did not exist.

And yet, here he was, standing right in front of her.

That was the flaw in [God's Perspective].

No other extraordinary being had ever caused such an anomaly. Only William.

It left Metatron deeply unsettled.

---

The maze was full of dangers, extraordinary creatures lurked in every corner, from venomous insects to savage beasts. Metatron's ability could pinpoint the only path that didn't lead to a black screen, ensuring their safety.

But safety came at a price. It also meant missing countless hidden opportunities.

William, unfazed, turned to the Forum Master. "Master, come with me to take a look."

Without hesitation, the two donned invisibility cloaks and stepped into the blood-colored forest.

The labyrinth had no sunrise, no moonset, no seasons. Yet fallen leaves piled on the ground, slowly rotting, as if bound by some unseen cycle of decay.

Moving like shadows, they left no footprints behind.

William's [Secret] ability activated, enhancing the effect of the invisibility cloak.

It was a strange, delicate state, if they stood in front of a fan, the wind would pass right through them, barely disturbing the space they occupied.

Through this experience, William began to understand his [Secret] ability at a deeper level.

As a Sequence 9 Demon Wolf, he wasn't yet capable of true invisibility. He still left traces behind, just traces so subtle they were easy to overlook.

For ordinary mortals, this ability was practically unsolvable.

Humans couldn't perceive something they weren't aware of, like a person holding their phone while frantically searching for it.

But against extraordinary beings, his concealment was advanced, but not unbreakable.

William vanished into thin air.

For an ordinary person, this would be like a magic trick, one moment he was there, the next he was gone. But for extraordinary beings with heightened perception, this sudden disappearance immediately triggered alarm bells.

Their instincts screamed that something was wrong. The moment they became aware of the "abnormality," William's [Secret] state shattered.

Once broken, [Secret] lost its effectiveness against them.

Of course, only those with mid-to-high-level extraordinary potential could detect such distortions in reality. Lower-tier transcendents simply weren't perceptive enough to notice.

---

A massive ruin loomed in the heart of the forest.

It didn't resemble the intricate craftsmanship of dwarves; instead, it had the raw, towering presence of something built by giants.

"Wallace, look at that…"

Following the Forum Master's gaze, William spotted a stone pillar jutting diagonally from the soil.

"Does that look like half a finger?" the Forum Master whispered.

William's brow furrowed. He saw it now.

A giant had fallen here, its body buried beneath the earth, leaving only a stone-like fragment of a finger exposed.

The entire forest had grown from the remnants of its decaying body.

That explained the elevated terrain and the eerie reddish-brown soil; as if steeped in blood.

William and the Forum Master cautiously approached.

Up close, the "finger" was unmistakably stone; no flesh, no blood.

"This isn't a dwarven temple," William muttered.

Even if the dwarves revered the God of War, they wouldn't build a temple of this scale; 100 meters tall, a size beyond anything meant for normal beings.

This was built for giants. Or perhaps… by them.