Lord Of The Lost

Calcifer had once mentioned that a formula for spiritual oil existed within the Lost Labyrinth.

Now, William had confirmed it.

> Hidden beneath the dust and decay of an ancient inner hall, the long-lost formula had finally resurfaced.

Spiritual oil was an invaluable substance, its uses spanning across three major sequence stages—

Sequence 9

Sequence 8

Sequence 7

In these three stages, spiritual oil was considered an all-purpose material.

Even an ordinary person, if they applied a single drop to their forehead, could experience significant benefits:

Cleansing negative conditions

Nourishing the soul

Enhancing mental resilience

In the Sequence Game, death came with severe penalties.

Players who died would be afflicted with debuffs.

To recover, they had two options:

1. Use a [Mysterious Awakening Potion] to remove the negative status.

2. Seek out a priest for a divine blessing.

However, spiritual oil offered a third alternative, one that was far more accessible and widely applicable.

> And yet, despite its value, no player had ever encountered a single drop of spiritual oil before.

Even Metatron, with all his knowledge, had only heard of it in passing.

William had once traded with the old priest of Iron Mine Village to obtain three precious jars of spiritual oil—

> The entirety of Border Town's reserves.

Looking back now, the true worth of those three jars wasn't just gold—

They were as valuable as three high-grade weapons.

The formula for spiritual oil had been a closely guarded secret of the church for centuries.

Even local bishops weren't allowed access to it.

Spiritual oil was distributed directly from the church headquarters, trickling down to regional deacons and bishops.

But now—they had the recipe in their hands.

As long as they didn't attempt mass production, the church wouldn't actively try to reclaim it.

> But that wasn't the disturbing part…

> The main ingredient… was the soul itself.

It wasn't just evil spirits or vengeful ghosts that could be used as raw materials.

Even the souls of ordinary mortals could be processed into spiritual oil.

The realization sent chills down everyone's spine.

> If extraordinary beings could refine spiritual oil using mortal souls…

> What could mortals do to stop them?

For a moment, silence fell over the group.

A horrifying thought began to take root—

> The church produced massive amounts of spiritual oil…

Where was all the raw material coming from?

Everyone exchanged uneasy glances, an unspoken dread settling in.

Just then, Sofia snorted dismissively.

"Why are you all thinking so much? The church has ways to generate spiritual power through other means."

Metatron, intrigued, turned to her.

"But isn't spirituality exclusive to intelligent life?"

He knew that all living things possessed a soul.

Only lifeless objects were truly soulless.

Sofia tilted her head, listening to something only she could hear, then responded:

"The church has control over a certain relic that provides endless spiritual power."

The word 'relic' caught everyone's attention.

The Forum Master, unable to contain his curiosity, immediately asked:

"What kind of relic?"

Sofia glanced at him, her crimson eyes sharp.

Then, with an arrogant smirk, she scoffed—

"Hmph. That's knowledge beyond your level. You're not qualified to know yet."

> Tch. Typical Sofia.

Everyone still had questions, but they kept them to themselves.

If the church truly committed mass slaughter for the sake of producing spiritual oil, then—

Would the King really stand by and allow it to happen?

Within the ruins, William also discovered something far older than the spiritual oil formula—

> [The Lost Divine Scripture].

These were doctrinal texts from the ancient church, infused with divine power.

Despite being buried underground for centuries, they had remained untouched by the chaotic forces of the labyrinth.

Unlike ordinary texts, these scriptures weren't mere books—

They contained actual divine energy.

However, only clergy members could activate their power, drawing upon faith to invoke the might of the gods.

---

The ancient church had suffered countless disasters.

Many of its holy texts had been lost or destroyed over time.

At one point, it had even faced the threat of extinction.

Now, these scriptures, long thought to be gone forever, had resurfaced.

> If they returned these texts to the modern church…

> It would be an offering of immeasurable value.

Winning the favor of the clergy could prove to be a strategic advantage in the days to come.

Magic was a universal skill, accessible to anyone willing to study it, including clergymen.

The magic book they found was incomplete, its pages worn and scattered.

Originally, it had contained hundreds of spells, but now, only a little over ten remained intact.

Yet, despite its damaged state, the remaining pages held immense value.

Most of the surviving spells weren't basic magic, but intermediate-level spells—some even bordering on advanced magic:

[Flight] – Soaring through the air with ease.

[Transfiguration] – Altering one's form into another.

[Invisibility] – Vanishing from sight entirely.

[Recovery] – Rapidly restoring the body's vitality.

[Scene Re-creation] – Reconstructing past events in vivid detail.

[Soul-Loss Curse] – A dreaded spell that severs the soul from the body.

Each of these spells could shift the tides of battle, making this discovery priceless.

Among the relics, William also found an aged tome, its title faded but still legible—

> [A Brief History of the Church]

It appeared to be a historical record, chronicling the world's divine origins.

The gods were born before human civilization itself.

No mortal knew when the first gods ascended, not even the eldest scholars of humankind.

> The only ones who might have known…

Were dragons, giants, elves, and dwarves—the ancient races who had walked the earth before humanity.

As humans struggled to carve their place among these mighty beings, they began their own journey into the extraordinary.

The first major breakthrough in humanity's evolution was the birth of the Ancestor of Werewolves, a pivotal moment that took place nearly four thousand years ago.

Unlike Earth, this world's developmental path was shaped by constant war with supernatural creatures.

Survival was never guaranteed.

Throughout history, humans were not the rulers, they were the prey.

It wasn't until a thousand years ago that the balance of power finally shifted:

✔ The Dragons and Giants retreated.

✔ The Dwarves were annihilated.

✔ The Lost Labyrinth was born.

✔ The Elves suffered the Elven Plague, nearly driving them to extinction.

> The once-mighty supernatural races… faded from history.

At long last, humanity rose as the dominant force, claiming the throne of the world's ruling species.

Flipping through the pages, William discovered another revelation:

> The gods of this world were not always silent.

Two thousand years ago, they did not merely observe from afar—

They fought.

They bled.

They died.

Unlike the distant, omnipotent deities that now seemed untouchable, the ancient gods had once walked among mortals, wielding their divine power like weapons of war.

Miracles weren't rare blessings, they were daily occurrences.

It was a time of gods warring against gods, where celestial battles shook the heavens, and the earth itself became their battlefield.

It was an era of chaos and conflict, one that few still remembered.

---

> "The first Demon Wolf was most active during this period."

A voice soft and clear spoke from beside him.

William turned to see Sophia standing at his side, her small frame radiating a sense of calm authority.

Her usual impulsiveness was gone, her presence now carried an elegance and wisdom far beyond her years.

William studied her for a moment.

Then, he smiled.

> "Oh? Is that so?"

Sophia's ruby-red eyes gleamed, her voice steady and deliberate.

> "He moved unseen, slipping past the gaze of the gods."

"He stalked the divine… and devoured them whole."

Her words sent a chill down William's spine.

She continued, her tone slow, deliberate, and strangely mesmerizing.

---

> "The Demon Wolf never fought the gods head-on."

"Instead, he waited... patient, watchful."

> "When the gods turned their backs, he would strike—sinking his fangs into their throats, tearing them apart before they could even realize they had been hunted."

> "Even the God of Death… even the God of Slaughter… never sensed the Demon Wolf behind them."

> "They only felt a chill creeping up their spine… as if something was breathing down their necks."

---

The Mysterious Death of the Mist God

Sophia's voice was almost hypnotic.

> "The God of Mist… ah, the hidden deity, veiled in eternal fog."

"No one knew his true form, nor where he dwelled."

"Yet one day, he was simply... gone."

> "His divine body was found lifeless."

"But no one knew how long ago he had actually died."

> "Perhaps the Demon Wolf had killed him decades earlier… or centuries before his body was even discovered."

> "Perhaps the 'God of Mist' that walked among the divine afterward…"

"Was no god at all."

> "Perhaps it was the Demon Wolf himself—

"Wearing the god's skin."

Sophia's voice softened, taking on a reverent tone.

> "When a god dies… they do not simply vanish."

> "Their body becomes something new… a continuation of their divine essence."

> "When the God of Mist perished, his corpse fell to the earth."

"From his remains, a vast forest emerged."

> "A forest cloaked in eternal fog—where the mist never fades."

> "That, William, is the true origin of the Misty Forest."

William watched Sophia as she spoke, but his gaze wasn't on her—

It was on the gently fluttering hat atop her head.

For the first time, he was certain.

> It wasn't just Sophia speaking.

> It was her.

> The Black Swan.

> The Witch Who Had Died.

> Speaking once more… through her sister.

Sophia's wine-red eyes darkened, as if a second pair of pupils overlapped with hers, staring into William's soul.

In that moment, he felt as though he was being watched by something far older, far greater, something that had long been forgotten by time.

William's heart skipped a beat.

> The God of Mist… The Misty Forest… Could it be?

Could that mysterious, ever-shrouded woodland be the result of the Mist God's death?

It made sense.

The Misty Forest was immune to all divination, impenetrable to even the most powerful precognition spells.

Not even the Witches of the Wild could gaze into its depths.

But why?

Because the fog itself was the final remnants of a god, the last trace of a divine being, torn apart and scattered into mist.

> If this is true… then the Misty Forest is not just a sanctuary for witches.

It is a graveyard of divinity.