Lord Of The Lost

The murals told a tale of destruction and resilience.

After Lonely Mountain was razed by the legendary dragon, the dwarves had attempted to rebuild it.

But dwarven society was a feudal one—power was concentrated in the hands of their royal families.

William and his team had encountered halls belonging to certain dwarven princes before, but they never dared venture too deep.

Here's what they learned:

After the royal family of Lonely Mountain was wiped out, there was no one left to inherit the title of King of Lonely Mountain.

Without a ruler, the dwarves could not reclaim the mountain.

Instead, they built a grand palace—not as a home, but as a memorial to the legendary dragon slayer.

The Truth Behind the Dragon Slayer's Legend

Yet, despite its grandeur, the palace was abandoned.

Why?

Because at some point, the truth about the Scarlet Troupe had come to light.

> The dwarves' greatest hero, their symbol of resilience—the dragon slayer himself—had been nothing more than an actor in a script.

The legendary battle, the impossible victory, the fateful arrow that pierced the dragon's heart—

> All orchestrated.

For the dwarves, who valued honor and perseverance, this revelation was a devastating betrayal.

They had idolized a manufactured lie.

Their reaction?

> Not destruction.

Not outrage.

Just quiet rejection.

The palace was simply forgotten.

Ignored.

Left to fade from memory.

A Silent Graveyard

William exhaled.

The palace stood untouched, not because it was protected, but because no one cared anymore.

A monument to a legend that was never real.

And yet—

Even lies could shape history.

And perhaps, within these forgotten ruins, a new truth was waiting to be discovered.

The Forgotten Relic: The Dragon-Slaying Spear

There was no treasure in this palace.

Even with all their wealth and craftsmanship, the dwarves didn't hide legendary artifacts in every palace and temple.

This was a place of worship, not a vault.

The dwarves revered the Sun God, who not only embodied the power of the sun but also held dominion over war.

At the center of the hall stood a golden statue of the god, clad in imposing armor, sharp-edged and faceless, yet eerily lifelike.

And before it—

A bronze statue of the Crown Prince of Lonely Mountain, kneeling on one knee, hands raised toward the god.

Resting across his back—

A long, black spear.

Or rather, what appeared to be a spear.

In reality, it was a massive crossbow bolt, forged from black iron, its design sleek and unassuming.

A weapon made for one purpose only—

> To pierce high-sequence beings.

It was a dragon-slaying weapon, yet it looked so simple, so unremarkable, that it could be mistaken for an ordinary spear.

But William felt it immediately—

> This was different.

William's eyes locked onto the black spear.

Of everything in the palace, only two things caught his interest—

The weapon in the Crown Prince's hands.

But the statue?

> Touching that would be a death wish.

First, the Sun God was among the strongest of all deities.

Second, unlike the Primordial Moon, He had not fallen.

For all William knew, He could be watching everything happening in the maze right now.

> He wasn't about to become the next King Zhou of Shang.

That left him with one option—

The black spear.

He stepped forward, reaching out to grab it.

The dwarves had worshipped this weapon, leaving it on display for generations.

But it no longer belonged to them.

Whether the Crown Prince of Lonely Mountain's battle had been real or scripted, it didn't matter.

The weapon was real, and now—

> It belonged to William.

[Name: Dragon-Slaying Black Arrow]

[Quality: Special]

[Additional Note: When the evil dragon descended, Lonely Mountain was reduced to scorched earth. In his final act of defiance, the last warrior drove this arrow into the dragon's fatal weakness, before time itself eroded its power.]

A Weapon with Lost Power

The game prompt only revealed surface-level information.

But William had an extra set of eyes.

Black Swan, borrowing Sophia's body, examined the weapon.

> "This thing is still stained with dragon's blood."

> "That means it retains special effects against dragons—it'll deal additional damage."

That made sense.

More importantly, William recognized its quality—

> "Special."

He had seen this before.

His Whirlwind Axe was also a special-quality weapon.

> Special-quality items were unique.

They weren't measured in levels or rarity.

Instead, they were often remnants of once-extraordinary artifacts, their original power lost, leaving behind only their base physical attributes.

But that didn't make them weak.

The Whirlwind Axe had proven its worth against the Distorted Giant—cutting through its flesh and bone like butter.

And this?

A crossbow bolt soaked in dragon's blood?

> It was, at the very least, on par with the axe. If not stronger.

More than anything, William liked its form.

The axe had served him well, but it never felt quite right in his hands.

> This, however? This was perfect.

And despite its original design, William made a decision.

> "If I say it's a spear, then it's a spear."

> "And its name shall be… the Dragon-Slaying Spear."

The weapon's past purpose no longer mattered.

It had a new wielder.

And as far as William was concerned—

The dwarves weren't going to crawl out of their graves to argue with him.

After all, their once-great kingdom had fallen.

Their race had dwindled to near extinction.

This monument, a palace built to honor a lie, had been forgotten for centuries.

And now, at last—

> It had finally been claimed.

Whether or not his battle was scripted, to the dwarves, the Crown Prince of Lonely Mountain was still a hero.

This wasn't unique to dwarves.

> Every race had its own definition of a hero.

A hero wasn't just someone who achieved greatness—

> They were someone who shattered their own limitations and defied the constraints of their race.

Werewolf Heroes & The Challenge of Ascension

Take werewolves, for example.

By the time a werewolf reaches Sequence 7, they hit a wall.

> They cannot advance further unless they abandon their path.

But the moment they step away from the werewolf path, they are no longer werewolves.

They become something else—something lesser in the eyes of their kind.

So instead, werewolves devised a different method of breaking through:

> Hunt a legendary creature.

Overcome an impossible challenge.

And, in doing so, surpass Sequence 7 and become one of the Nine Werewolf Heroes.

But here's the thing—

> In thousands of years, only nine werewolves have succeeded.

The title of hero isn't something just anyone can claim.

You can't just challenge a weak Sequence 8 opponent and expect to be called a hero.

> A Sequence 8 thief or some low-level path? Even if they ranked up, they wouldn't be able to touch William at Sequence 9.

They'd just die.

> A hero is not made from an easy fight.

But those who earned the title all shared one thing in common—

> They broke through their own level cap and unlocked greater potential.

Wu Song & The Power of Transformation

This concept was even reflected in old human legends.

Take Wu Song, the man who killed a tiger with his bare hands.

For ordinary humans, this was an act of heroism.

But in the Extraordinary world, it would have meant something even greater—

> By killing the tiger, Wu Song's spirit and body would have been strengthened.

His level would have risen faster.

He would have undergone a transformation.

It wasn't just a feat—it was a turning point in power.

And now, William stood at his own turning point.

With the Dragon-Slaying Spear in hand, he was more confident than ever.

"Don't Get Overconfident."

> "Even with a weapon made to slay dragons, you can't afford to be careless," Black Swan warned.

William knew she was right.

In the scripted version of the legend, the Crown Prince of Lonely Mountain had been Sequence 7 and even then, he needed to use a dwarf wind crossbow to fire the black arrow at the dragon's fatal weakness.

> That crossbow no longer existed.

Over time, the extraordinary mechanism had decayed, leaving behind only the arrow itself.

Even if they searched for another dwarven wind crossbow, who knew how long it would take?

> They had to make do with what they had.

Understanding the Dragon Path

Before the battle, Black Swan gave William a rundown on what they were truly up against.

The Dragon Path was leagues above that of witches, warriors, and knights.

Abilities of the Dragon Path:

[Dragon Breath] – Endless energy reserves and absolute control over internal power.

[Pressure] – A force field of sheer dominance, capable of crushing lesser beings.

[Immunity] – An unnaturally strong body, resistant to damage, immune to certain effects.

[Dragon] – The ultimate growth potential, unrestricted by normal level caps, with endless development paths.

The only races that could compare to dragons were giants—and even then, it was a stretch.

> Dragons were among the few who could challenge enemies far above their own level.

Their initial power template was simply too superior.

Werewolves might have better close-combat skills, but a dragon?

> A single flap of its wings could throw them off balance.

A single breath of fire could reduce them to ashes.

Most of the time, it took multiple strong fighters of the same sequence to take down a single dragon.