Chapter 14: Hidden Quest

Getting Cyril to help was naturally no simple matter. Zong Mi had no choice but to agree to become the exclusive musician for Cyril’s papal coronation the day after tomorrow.

As mentioned before, during the coronation of the Pope of Dawn, a special church orchestra would perform the complete Hymn of the Goddess of Dawn.

Zong Mi did not refuse.

In fact, he intended to use the coronation as an opportunity to carry out plans of his own.

Quietly, he began gathering information about his two targets.

The first was the Scepter of the God of War, currently in Louis’s possession. It was already known that Louis would likely come up with some scheme against him within the next few days.

The second was the Ring of Authority of the Goddess of Dawn.

As the symbol of the Pope of Dawn, the ring would only appear during the coronation ceremony itself. Zong Mi had searched the secret chamber beneath the Pope’s study before and had not found it there. For now, he had no idea where it was being kept.

But one thing was certain:

The ring would definitely appear on the day of the coronation.

Zong Mi had never told Cyril what he truly wanted as payment after their cooperation succeeded.

There was no point.

Just thinking about it was enough to know that these mission items were like the Scepter of the God of War—things that nobody would willingly hand over as a reward.

He would have to find another way.

Fortunately, the quest completion conditions were flexible. There was no rule stating the item had to be given to him directly.

Stealing it counted too.

If he could serve as one of the church musicians during the coronation, he might be able to arrange something.

As long as he obtained these two mission items, he couldn’t care less what chaos followed afterward.

At this point, most of his quests were already nearing completion.

Once he gathered all the required items, he could ascend to the Sky City and claim the throne.

Knock knock knock.

“Just a moment.”

Zong Mi had just finished tying back his hair when someone knocked on the door.

“Hello, are you the temporary court musician from the Scamander Empire?”

The visitor was a nun dressed in standard church attire.

She looked somewhat anxious. Only after seeing Zong Mi nod did she let out a relieved smile and repeatedly make the sign of the cross over her chest.

“Praise the Goddess of Dawn! This is truly a huge help.”

Her request was not difficult.

Following her through a series of twists and turns within the church, Zong Mi eventually arrived at a quiet bedroom.

The room was saturated with the aura of divine magic.

A faint golden glow filled the air, surrounding the bed.

Yet even through the holy light, Zong Mi could clearly see the person lying there.

Or rather—

Perhaps they could no longer be called a complete person.

Their face was covered in black spots.

Starting from the scalp, the black growths spread across the face and neck, resembling strange, living fungi crawling over the trunk of a tree.

The sight was horrifying.

“This is one of the plague victims from the Scamander Empire?”

With a single glance, Zong Mi had already confirmed it.

Frowning, he quietly asked the nun beside him.

Such severe symptoms…

Combined with the patient’s weak breathing, it seemed likely that death was imminent.

“Yes.”

“Not long ago, Bishop Cyril personally cast a high-level divine spell on him. But even such powerful holy magic could not completely remove the black markings.”

The nun’s face was filled with genuine compassion.

At a glance, Zong Mi could tell she was truly kind-hearted.

Very different from Cyril’s carefully crafted facade.

Only a few people remained in the room now.

Several priests and nuns quietly stood nearby, softly reciting prayers for the dying.

“Has the plague already become this severe?”

Zong Mi narrowed his eyes.

A bad feeling suddenly rose within him.

Logically speaking, after the Twilight of the Gods, an epidemic on this scale should not have been possible.

Unless—

“So, could we trouble you to play a requiem for him?”

“With pleasure.”

Zong Mi took out his lyre.

Moments later, a solemn requiem flowed from beneath his fingertips.

He didn’t actually know how to play the local version of the song, so he had simply searched his smart terminal for a requiem from Earth.

Aside from a few altered melodies, the overall meaning remained the same.

A requiem was a requiem.

As he played, he continued thinking about the epidemic spreading through the Scamander Empire.

As a result, he failed to notice a novice priest repeatedly glancing in his direction.

“Hey, want to add each other as friends?”

After Zong Mi finished playing and packed away his instrument, the novice priest hurried over and blocked his path.

Zong Mi: “…?”

For a rare moment, he was stunned.

Then he remembered—

Right.

This was a game.

People on Earth treated Descend as a second world so often that he frequently forgot that fact himself.

“I’d rather not.”

He had no interest in interacting with players.

Just as he was about to leave, a sudden warmth spread around his eyes.

This glimpse into the future was extremely brief.

He did not personally enter the future this time.

Instead, he saw several blurry fragments surrounding the novice priest.

The images were fragmented and unclear.

But Zong Mi still managed to spot one crucial object:

The half-sun authority ring representing the Pope of Dawn.

This novice priest would definitely come into contact with the ring in the future.

Most likely within the next few days.

Zong Mi instantly changed his attitude.

Turning around, he said:

“Give me your ID.”

“Huh? Oh. Sure.”

The novice priest was startled.

“My name’s Xu Yue.”

Zong Mi casually opened his friend list and added him.

“Done. Check your notifications.”

[Player: Zong Mi has added you as a friend.]

“Strange…”

Xu Yue stared at the ID.

“Why does that name seem familiar?”

Before he could think further, Zong Mi spoke again.

“You’re only level forty-five. How did you get a quest in the Holy City?”

He glanced at the level indicator above Xu Yue’s head and raised an eyebrow.

The Holy City of Dawn was a high-level zone.

Entry required level fifty.

At present, only a handful of players had even reached that threshold.

And priests were notoriously difficult to level.

There should have been no player capable of legitimately serving within the Holy City yet.

After all, every priest or church official stationed here was at least level sixty.

“Uh…”

The novice priest scratched his head awkwardly.

“Hidden quest.”

“My second-class advancement mentor told me to come to the Holy City and experience a major event, so… here I am.”

While Zong Mi was studying Xu Yue, Xu Yue was also secretly studying him.

Though not among the absolute top-ranked players, Xu Yue was considered one of the strongest priests around.

A player in his fifties named Zong Mi.

And ridiculously good-looking.

The name felt familiar.

He just couldn’t remember where he’d heard it before.

And someone over level fifty should have been well-known among top players.

Xu Yue frequently ran dungeons with elite mercenary groups.

He knew most high-level players by reputation.

Yet he couldn’t remember ever hearing of someone like this.

“Why did you stop me?”

Although Xu Yue hid his curiosity well, Zong Mi saw through it immediately.

“Oh, right.”

The novice priest scratched his nose.

“I almost forgot why I came over.”

“My second advancement quest requires an assistant.”

“An assistant?”

Zong Mi repeated.

Normally, class advancement quests had to be completed solo.

Since he had never gone through a second advancement himself, he wasn’t familiar with the specifics.

“Yeah.”

Xu Yue looked even more embarrassed.

“Actually…”

“I’m a Dark Priest.”

Zong Mi: Well, that’s impressive.

Nowadays, all divine spellcasters were broadly called priests.

But this was no longer the Age of Gods.

Faith was scarce.

Only followers of the Goddess of Dawn could use orthodox holy magic, and they were generally called Dawn Priests.

Their opposite counterparts were Dark Priests.

Dark Priests were not followers of the Goddess of Night.

The Goddess of Night protected assassins and had little direct connection to them.

Instead, Dark Priests were former believers who had abandoned the Goddess of Dawn.

Their advancement rituals were interesting.

They followed almost identical advancement paths to Dawn Priests.

However, after every class advancement, they had to return to a Dark Priest enclave and swear an oath renouncing the Goddess of Dawn.

Only then would the advancement be completed.

Naturally, this meant Dawn Priests and Dark Priests were mortal enemies.

Behind the Dawn Priests stood the Dawn Church, currently one of the most powerful organizations on the continent.

Compared to that giant, the status of Dark Priests was pitiful.

That said—

Dark Priests were objectively stronger.

Unlike Dawn Priests, who invested nearly all their skill points into healing, Dark Priests also studied curses and dark magic.

Their healing ability decreased slightly.

Their offensive power increased dramatically.

At the same level and skill level, one Dark Priest could easily beat three Dawn Priests.

That was the difference.

“Ohhh—a Dark Priest.”

Zong Mi deliberately dragged out the words.

This player’s courage was remarkable.

If the Dawn Church discovered a Dark Priest had infiltrated the Holy City, Xu Yue would probably be making a one-way trip to the resurrection fountain immediately.

Judging by Xu Yue’s miserable expression, though, the advancement quest was clearly difficult.

“Yeah.”

“The holy aura inside the Holy City is too strong. My level is being heavily suppressed here.”

“But my advancement quest requires me to obtain a lost Dark Priest scripture hidden somewhere inside the Holy City.”

Xu Yue genuinely felt unlucky.

Most Dark Priests completed their second advancement by visiting cathedrals in ordinary regional capitals.

Only he had been assigned to the Holy City itself.

There were benefits, of course.

If he completed the quest perfectly, his advancement mentor might reward him with better skills.

In Descend, skills were either self-taught or obtained through monster drops with atrocious rates.

Learning directly from a mentor was far more efficient.

Who knew?

Maybe he’d even learn one of his mentor’s unique personal skills.

That would be hitting the jackpot.

“So…”

Xu Yue grinned.

“Want to work together? The pay is negotiable.”

He confidently held up five fingers.

Clearly, he wasn’t planning to be stingy.

“How much?”

“Five thousand.”

Zong Mi: !!!

“Deal.”

“Pleasure doing business.”

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