Chapter 9: Night Visit to the Study

【Ding — You have received new mail. It has been stored in your mailbox.】

“Open.”

【Sender: Cyril, Cardinal Archbishop of the Grand Cathedral of the Dawn Church in Starlight City】
【Attachment: Cloak of Concealment (Consumable)】

This was the first time Zong Mi had stepped into the Dawn Holy City of Central Continent. Almost as soon as he arrived, Cyril had sent him a cloak. The intention behind it was obvious.

Originally, Zong Mi had wanted to establish contact with the Dawn Holy City much earlier, because one of the divine relic equipments was stored inside the holy city itself.

But things rarely went according to plan.
He had made contact with someone from the Dawn Holy City—just after the expansion update.

The Cyril from ten years ago would definitely have been easier to control than the current one.

Zong Mi clicked his tongue softly, but outwardly he simply followed the task panel’s instructions and hurried toward the Skarman Empire’s embassy within the Holy City.

Only after arriving at the palace did he realize something was off.

NPC-issued quests of this kind were extremely flexible and ever-changing. Since Descending was a “real” game world, aside from repeatable dungeon instances, NPCs and bosses were unique existences. Every era had its own quests. Once a quest window passed, the same quest might never appear again.

Some quests weren’t truly in need of player assistance at all—they simply existed to involve players more deeply in the world.

The Continent of Descending was a world of polytheistic faiths, and its structure was fascinating.

Back in the Age of Gods, divine kingdoms floated high above the skies. The land was filled with temples and believers devoted to countless deities. It had been an era where divine authority ruled supreme.

Now, after the Twilight of the Gods, the gods had vanished, and the various races had established their own governments.

The Skarman Empire was a human-based regime. Its imperial succession history was notoriously bloody and brutal, but no one could deny the empire’s strength. Few races on the continent dared provoke it.

The Goddess of Dawn, meanwhile, possessed an enormous number of followers. Hers was also the only church still capable of borrowing divine authority to cast holy arts even after the disappearance of the gods.

That was why the Dawn Holy City—centered around the Dawn Church—had been rebuilt after the Twilight of the Gods, while the holy cities of other gods had long fallen into neglect.

Like mages and witches, users of divine arts were known as priests. This alone ensured the Dawn Church held immense influence across the continent.

As for why Zong Mi felt something was wrong—

The reception was far too grand.

Even if the Skarman Empire was one of the continent’s strongest powers, an ordinary diplomatic visit would never warrant accommodations near the central cathedral of the Holy City.

Zong Mi guessed there had to be someone of much higher status within the delegation heading to the Skarman Empire.

And he was right.

“This diplomatic visit is quite troublesome.”

While assigning the quest, the Skarman Empire’s stationed minister casually revealed some extra details.

“Certain incidents have occurred recently within the empire. His Majesty has decided to personally visit the Holy City, and so we remain here awaiting his arrival. Unfortunately, the court musician accompanying us has fallen ill. With the situation urgent and no alternatives available, we had no choice but to post a commission.”

“That said, His Majesty is notoriously strict regarding court musicians. Hmm, not bad—you clearly prepared before accepting the task. You even dyed your hair blonde in advance.”

Clearly, Zong Mi’s appearance had saved the minister from disaster, so the man was happy to say a few more words.

“If the welcoming procession lacks musicians when His Majesty arrives… if blame falls upon us…”

At this point, the minister visibly trembled.

Zong Mi could clearly see it—that was genuine fear, directed toward the current ruler of the Skarman Empire.

Oh?

Looks like another coup had occurred during the expansion update period, and there was a very high possibility that the new king was a tyrant.

Zong Mi raised an eyebrow. Before the update, the old king of Skarman had merely been somewhat lustful—not particularly cruel. But the old king’s sons…

That was another story.

At that thought, realization suddenly dawned on him.

There was still an unfinished legendary quest in his quest list. The corresponding divine relic was locked inside the royal treasury of the Skarman Empire, accessible only by the king himself.

For some reason, Zong Mi had a feeling this new king would turn out to be another old acquaintance.

Perhaps because too much time had passed, the minister didn’t notice Zong Mi’s odd expression. He kindly arranged an excellent room for him within the Holy City palace and merely reminded him to report punctually at the palace gates the next morning before taking his leave.

Zong Mi was more than happy for the peace and quiet.

The moment the room door closed, he piled blankets onto the bed to create the illusion someone was sleeping there. Then he vaulted out through the window.

Casting Windstride on himself and donning the shimmering illusion cloak, he began parkouring across the Holy City beneath the evening breeze.

Security within the Dawn Holy City was naturally airtight. Yet somehow, once he wore the cloak, his figure became completely concealed within the night sky.

Unfortunately, it was a consumable item.

Zong Mi regretfully rubbed the exquisitely textured cloak. The instant the patrolling knights disappeared from view, he leapt from the edge of the palace and landed silently in a deserted corridor before dashing forward.

Since he had already allied himself with Cardinal Archbishop Cyril, he naturally had to help him accomplish a few things. Otherwise, if he failed to secure that legendary equipment during the struggle for control of the Dawn Church, it would ruin his plans.

Besides, overthrowing governments wasn’t exactly new to him.

Back then, he had even joined a vampire count in an internal vampire rebellion to seize political power among the vampires.

Granted, they’d failed in the end.
Still—experience counted for something.

As dusk deepened, the Holy City’s patrol knights were changing shifts. Zong Mi kicked off the ground and barely caught the railing along the palace edge, using sheer upper-body strength to swing himself upward.

The task Cyril had given him wasn’t exactly difficult.

The Dawn Holy City was about to begin its new papal selection ceremony, and security across the city had been raised to maximum alert.

All followers of the Goddess of Dawn could receive Dawn ballots within the main city and participate in the election of the next pope.

Of course, public participation was merely symbolic. The real power of selection still rested within the bishops’ council.

And unfortunately for Cyril, the council was filled with old men practically one foot in the grave. Among them, Cyril—a young and exceptionally talented anomaly—naturally attracted countless enemies.

There were still three days left before the election, yet the council’s final decision had already been made and locked away within the secret chamber of the papal study.

The Holy City itself possessed incredibly strict restrictions. Before a new pope was officially chosen, no cardinal archbishop, clergy member, or even unrelated NPC could enter the central cathedral.

But adventurers could.

Players were incredibly peculiar existences within Descending. Although their combat strength generally lagged behind high-level NPCs, many restrictions of the continent simply didn’t apply to them.

That was precisely why Cyril—a level 80+ cardinal archbishop—was willing to cooperate with a mere level-50-something adventurer like Zong Mi.

Still, the mission wasn’t easy even for him.

While the Dawn Church’s restrictions had no effect on players, the pope’s secret chamber was still packed with deadly traps. One wrong move, and he’d be taking a one-way trip back to the Resurrection Spring.

Naturally, Zong Mi had no desire to lose levels.

Fortunately, he had his own methods.

“I declare: I shall become a soul.”

【Level 4 True Word Art / Judgement Failed】

No good.

After thinking briefly, he tried again.

“I declare: Nothing may approach me.”

【Level 4 True Word Art / Judgement Failed】

The effect he desired didn’t truly belong to magic or witchcraft. More accurately, it resembled the realm of spirit speech.

Unfortunately, Zong Mi’s current level in True Word Art wasn’t nearly sufficient. He could barely manage limited reality manipulation, and even that failed occasionally.

Still, he didn’t get discouraged.

Standing motionless in place, he continued trying over and over. By the time his mana bar was nearly depleted, a chill suddenly spread across his body, and his form turned translucent like a wandering spirit.

Success!

Unsure how long the effect would last, Zong Mi immediately followed the route Cyril had given him and slipped into the pope’s secret chamber, thoroughly destroying and scrambling all records of the bishops’ selection results.

He didn’t know what Cyril’s ultimate plan was. Destroying the results would only buy some time.

But then again, perhaps time was exactly what the ambitious cardinal archbishop needed most right now.

Cyril was not someone easy to deal with.
Zong Mi absolutely had to prepare for the possibility of betrayal later.

So he left himself an insurance policy.

Inside the chamber happened to be a complete map of the Dawn Holy City, detailing not only the city layout but also secret underground tunnels.

Zong Mi immediately used the system to photograph the map for future use.

Once everything was done, he quickly exited the chamber.

Warmth had already begun returning to his limbs—a sign that the spirit speech effect was about to end.

If he failed to leave before it expired, the surrounding magical lasers would probably slice him into minced meat.

Only after reentering the papal study did the danger finally hit him.

Just one wall away from him, level-70 church knights stood guard outside the door, vigilantly monitoring every movement nearby.

Quietly calming his breathing, Zong Mi casually browsed the bookshelves to see if there were any forbidden-level spellbooks worth stealing.

Naturally, the pope’s study contained a vast collection. After only a short search, he had already pocketed several Dawn holy art skill books.

He couldn’t use them himself, but selling them would bring in a hefty amount of gold. Beautiful.

“If I were you, I’d put those skill books back.”

Just as Zong Mi was happily looting, an icy hand suddenly covered the back of his hand, while a man’s hoarse voice brushed against the edge of his ear.

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