Lord Of The Lost

During their conversation, William gained a deeper understanding of divine authority from Black Swan.

The stronger the god, the broader their authority.

For example:

The Sun God rules over light, war, and order.

The God of Nature oversees paths like Rangers and Druids.

The Primal Moon once held dominion over the Moon and the Night.

The God of Prophecy and Dreams extended their domain to writing, giving rise to the high-ranking Writer Path.

> In essence, nearly every transcendent path in existence can be traced back to the gods.

Before the last great war of the gods, the world was filled with countless high-level paths, leading to an age of flourishing diversity, innovation, and competition.

But after that catastrophic war, many of these paths were lost, broken, or completely erased.

Only a handful of paths and races survived intact.

Black Swan mentioned that the Assassin Path was once a high-tier sequence.

> But today? It is nothing more than a "mid-tier" path.

At best, an assassin can only reach Sequence 7 before hitting a ceiling.

To continue advancing, they must abandon their current path and jump to another.

> "A transcendent's abilities depend on the path they choose," Black Swan explained.

For some high-purity extraordinary races, race itself defines their profession.

For example:

Anyone who joins the Dragon Path eventually becomes a dragon.

While not identical in appearance, their powers will be remarkably similar.

Then, Black Swan revealed an unsettling truth.

> "The reason the gods do not openly spread the Path of Divinity is simple—

To prevent the birth of new gods who could merge with them."

---

When William first heard about the Divine Thrones, he had his suspicions.

But now, everything was clear.

The gods created the paths to divinity.

> But only a god can "open up" the path to becoming a god.

That doesn't mean simply opening the path allows someone to become divine.

Let's assume that Sofia and the Primal Moon were born in the same era.

Both explored the Path of Night.

Both developed their own understanding of darkness.

Both sought to ascend.

> Would they immediately merge into one divine entity?

No.

They would first compete.

The god who holds the greater authority over the path determines who controls the throne.

The loser's divinity and extraordinary characteristics are absorbed into the victor, strengthening them even further.

> One plus one doesn't just equal two. It equals something even greater.

This is why gods who have battled for their throne are far stronger than those who haven't.

When the Primal Moon ascended, a legendary witch attempted to forcefully become a god to challenge it.

She failed.

And the Primal Moon became the sole ruler of the Path of Night.

A god's authority is absolute.

Imagine the Path of Night as a great river.

The god who ascends becomes the source—the headwaters of that river.

> Everything that flows downstream is influenced by them.

All the extraordinary beings on that path are merely branches of the same river, forever affected by the source.

If the god speaks, they hear it.

If the god changes, they change.

If the god falls... it changes everything.

William found Black Swan's next words amusing yet terrifying.

> "If the Primal Moon pissed into the river, those downstream would have no choice but to drink it."

Because upstream control over the path is absolute.

If someone were to rediscover and inherit the Path of the Primal Moon, what would happen?

They wouldn't just become its successor.

> They would BECOME the Primal Moon itself.

A god's path is unique.

It belongs solely to the one who pioneered it.

But should a successor inherit their divine authority, something terrifying occurs.

The original god's will, even if long dead would begin to revive within the successor's body.

> Over time, their will, their power, and their essence would take over completely.

The successor, no matter how rational, would have no way to resist this process.

It is, in many ways, a form of possession.

And yet, despite this, fallen gods rarely use this method to return.

Because even for them, it is too dangerous.

The Unspoken Truth of Fallen Gods

Once a god truly falls, resurrection becomes meaningless.

Even though gods are nearly unkillable, their downfall is absolute.

> They can survive the moon crashing into the continent, a supernova explosion, even being thrown into a black hole—

Yet one fall is all it takes to end them forever.

Take the God of Dreams, for example.

This deity could foresee the future—but was ultimately destroyed by it.

Imagine this:

1. The God of Dreams is resurrected.

2. He looks into the future.

3. Instant death.

Resurrect. Glimpse the future. Die again.

> A never-ending loop of failure.

The only way to survive?

Never use his own power.

> And what's a god without their power?

Even before his fall, the God of Dreams had numerous ways to cheat death, yet still perished.

Because once a god is defeated by another god, they can never rise above them again.

Why?

> Their divine path is no longer theirs.

A god's path isn't just about power, it's a journey to godhood itself.

> To follow a god's path is to retrace their steps.

And as one walks further along, they slowly become that god.

Even if a divine path is unclaimed, those who take it will ultimately merge with the one who first pioneered it.

> No matter what, they will lose themselves.

This is the greatest danger of the Divine Path.

But in return, it offers greater strength and limitless potential, a temptation no ambitious being can ignore.

Yet, most gods fear this fusion.

The true purpose of the higher paths was never to follow blindly in the footsteps of past gods.

The goal was to surpass them.

> But that's easier said than done.

Even Black Swan admitted that some things cannot be fully explained.

> After the Primal Moon ascended, the witches lost their divine path.

The legendary witch who tried to forcefully ascend left no inheritance behind.

And after the Primal Moon fell, the witches were completely wiped out within five centuries.

Now, the knowledge of godly ranks was incomplete, and many ideas remained theoretical guesses.

Still, the information William obtained from Black Swan was invaluable.

Even fragmented, the witches' knowledge served as a solid foundation for understanding the true nature of divinity.

One shocking revelation stood out—

The Dragon Path wasn't incomplete because no dragon had ever ascended.

> It was the Dragon God itself that broke the path.

As the source of the dragon path, the Dragon God ensured no dragon could ever surpass Him.

> All dragons are bound by His will.

This isn't unique to dragons.

All gods conceal their original paths to prevent new gods from emerging.

> Divinity is a game where the first to ascend controls all who come after.

That's why the gods guard their thrones so fiercely.

William listened carefully for hours.

The forbidden knowledge Black Swan shared couldn't be spoken outside the maze.

> To even mention it elsewhere would attract the attention of the gods.

Yet within the Lost Labyrinth, the truth remained hidden from divine eyes.

The maze was like a shroud, allowing Black Swan to speak freely.

After hours of conversation, William's wounds had mostly healed.

Bathing in dragon's blood, he had truly become a dragon slayer.

His bones and organs grew tougher.

His skin became more resilient.

His entire physique subtly transformed.

Yet, outwardly, he still looked lean and unimposing, is figure smooth and slender, almost delicate.

His pale skin and lack of obvious muscles made him seem like a reclusive scholar rather than a warrior.

> He looked like a stay-at-home guy who avoided sunlight and rarely exercised.

But his eyes burned with a sharp intensity, carrying a presence full of vitality and confidence.

> A contradiction, soft in appearance, yet fierce in spirit.

As William absorbed everything he had learned, he continued to search the ruins.

There was still more to uncover in this place of lost history, where dragons once nested, and elves once ruled.

When the elves left, they took everything valuable with them.

What remained were only the immovable relics, like the statue of the God of Nature and the eternal pool at its feet.

Despite the fierce battle between William and the wyvern, which left the ruins shattered, one thing had not faded:

> The divine ring in the sky, glowing brilliantly, radiating in all directions.

Its light came from the statue of the God of Nature, an unshaken presence in the ruins.

The statue held a massive clay pitcher, tilted downward, pouring a continuous stream of crystal-clear water into the pool below.

Yet, no matter how much water flowed, the pool never overflowed.

> The water returned to the pitcher in another form, cycling endlessly, like a sacred, self-sustaining fountain.

William had seen this miraculous water before, in the Misty Forest.

> The legendary Water of Life.

He recalled Calcifer's request, to find the Spirit of the Spring. But if that wasn't possible, then obtaining a source of the Spring of Life would be the next best thing.

Just one drop of the Spring of Life could dilute an entire vat into a usable supply of Water of Life.

That didn't mean this water was worthless.

On the contrary:

> It could function as a natural healing potion.

It could enhance the quality of potions when used as an alchemy base.

And here, in front of him, was half a pool of this priceless liquid.

> "Perhaps this explains why the wyvern retained its intelligence," Black Swan murmured.

The Lost Maze was a place where even extraordinary creatures eventually lost their sanity.

The wyvern was no exception. Over time, it should have become a mindless beast, just like many others trapped here.

Yet, it remained highly intelligent, able to strategize, recognize threats, and react with precision.

> Why?

The answer lay within this sacred pool and the statue above it.

> - Bathing in the Water of Life.

- Absorbing the divine light of nature.

These two forces had preserved its mind, allowing it to retain its wisdom even after a century in the maze.

> Without this unnatural preservation, William and Sophia would have had a much easier time killing it.

Now, William couldn't help but feel a little disturbed.

The thought of a wyvern bathing in this pool for decades made him instantly lose any desire to drink from it.

So instead—

> He grabbed Sophia and tossed her in.