Chapter 15: The ceremonial guard was stolen

Xu Yue’s appearance gave Zong Mi much more room to maneuver within his plans.

The timing was simply perfect.

It was the classic case of someone handing you a pillow just as you were getting sleepy.

Not only that, there were also five thousand gold coins involved.

There was no reason not to do it.

Once Zong Mi agreed to cooperate, Xu Yue secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

This quest truly couldn’t be completed alone.

He knew that better than anyone.

He had already spent four or five days in the Holy City disguised as a novice priest, yet he still hadn’t found any viable way to complete the task.

The first problem was security.

The Holy City’s defenses were extremely thorough.

Even places that only had restrictions designed to block NPCs still posed considerable obstacles to players.

Just like Zong Mi’s own quest.

Without his Word of Truth magic, there was no way he could have safely navigated that secret chamber packed with traps and magical barriers.

Xu Yue had deliberately investigated the layout of the entire Holy City beforehand.

His quest item was a Dark Priest scripture stored within the Restricted Archives of the Dawn Holy Library.

And this wasn’t the kind of restricted section from Harry Potter where you could get in with a teacher’s signed permission slip.

These books were displayed as forbidden texts, intended to serve as warnings to Dawn Priests.

In other words—

They absolutely weren’t supposed to leave the library.

After all, what kind of person would openly walk into the Holy City to retrieve a Dark Priest’s book?

The answer was obvious.

One glance at the area was enough.

Not only were the guards numerous, but magical barriers covered the entire vicinity.

Fortunately, his mentor hadn’t been cruel enough to assign an impossible advancement quest.

Privately, the mentor had taught Xu Yue methods to bypass Dawn Priest restrictions and had even gifted him a precious one-time-use teleportation array.

But the guards were simply too numerous.

As the heart of the Dawn Church, the Dawn Library contained nearly every scripture related to divine magic.

Novice priests and nuns from branch cathedrals visited daily to study there.

The constant foot traffic made it nearly impossible for Xu Yue to act.

“Brother Zong, how about we make our move during tomorrow’s papal coronation?”

Now that he’d successfully dragged Zong Mi aboard, Xu Yue felt much more confident.

He didn’t know exactly how strong Zong Mi was.

But anyone over level fifty who had reached the Holy City was undoubtedly among the top players.

Besides, Xu Yue only needed a little help.

“Oh?”

Zong Mi’s interest was piqued, though he maintained a look of vague confusion and waited for further explanation.

“During the coronation, practically every priest and church official will be gathered at the Grand Cathedral.”

Seeing that Zong Mi supposedly didn’t understand, Xu Yue patiently explained.

“That’s when security elsewhere is at its weakest.”

“I’ll need you to create some kind of distraction.”

“Stealing the book will definitely trigger alarms, and I’ll need some time to deal with that.”

Xu Yue’s plan was straightforward.

While the coronation was underway, Zong Mi would create a disturbance.

Xu Yue would use the chaos to steal the scripture.

Afterward, the two would rendezvous and escape the Holy City using the one-time teleportation array before anyone could react.

“This could work.”

Zong Mi also found the plan reasonable.

In fact, it fit perfectly with his own intentions.

However, there was one thing he still needed to know.

“What were you originally assigned to do during the coronation?”

“Originally?”

Xu Yue scratched his head.

“I think I was assigned to the ceremonial guard.”

“My job was supposed to be escorting the Pope’s Coronation Ring.”

“Oh?”

Zong Mi narrowed his eyes slightly.

“In that case, I have a better idea.”

He proposed an alternative plan.

The ceremonial priests responsible for escorting the Coronation Ring would be among the first group to enter the ceremony.

The sequence of events was roughly:

1. Announcement of the new Pope.
2. Entrance of the ceremonial guard carrying the sacred relics.
3. The coronation oath and blessing ceremony.
4. Musical performances, including Zong Mi’s role as a temporary church musician.

Since Zong Mi’s appearance was scheduled near the end anyway—

and since he intended to betray everyone—

he had no reason to follow the original arrangements.

His plan was simple.

He produced two Transformation Potions.

Xu Yue would transform into Zong Mi.

Meanwhile, Zong Mi would disguise himself as Xu Yue and infiltrate the ceremonial preparation room.

“Holy shit, boss!”

Xu Yue stared.

“Transformation Potions are incredibly rare!”

He was fairly certain that each bottle could sell for several thousand gold on the black market.

“Hurry up and drink it.”

Zong Mi felt slightly guilty.

The potions had originally come from the Black Wizard of the Black Forest.

Powerful Black Wizards could perform counter-tracking through objects they had once handled.

That was why Zong Mi had never dared use the potions before.

But circumstances had changed.

Compared to obtaining mission items, this risk was worth taking.

“You’ll take my appearance and head to the library while it’s empty.”

“Once you trigger the alarms, I’ll attract all the attention.”

“Then we’ll meet in the prayer room behind the cathedral.”

“Will that really work?”

Xu Yue hesitated.

The entire reason he wanted help was because of the time required to dismantle the barriers.

“If I trigger the library’s defenses, the church’s law-enforcement knights will immediately respond.”

Over the past few days, Xu Yue had seen those knights firsthand.

Almost all of them were over level seventy.

The thought alone made him nervous.

Once the alarms sounded, every single knight would instantly become hostile.

At that point, not even wings would help him escape.

“No problem.”

Zong Mi smiled mysteriously.

“Trust me.”

“I’ll attract more than enough attention.”

Oddly enough, his confidence was reassuring.

The following day arrived.

Xu Yue handed his novice priest uniform to Zong Mi.

Before leaving, he repeatedly reminded him:

“Keep the private chat channel open no matter what.”

Among all the advantages players possessed, private chat was arguably the greatest.

No magic could intercept it.

Absolute privacy.

“Got it.”

Zong Mi nodded cooperatively.

As for what he was actually thinking…

Nobody knew.

The two drank the transformation potions, exchanged glances, and began their operation.

Disguised as Zong Mi, Xu Yue headed toward the central library.

Unfortunately, he encountered an extremely troublesome individual along the way.

Watching the king of the Scamander Empire suddenly collapse directly into his arms, Xu Yue’s mind filled with question marks.

[Xu Yue]: I ran into that Scamander king halfway there.

[Xu Yue]: Something feels seriously wrong with him. Like he drank counterfeit alcohol.

[Xu Yue]: Seriously? There are people everywhere and I have a quest to do.

[Xu Yue]: I can’t exactly throw an NPC onto the street.

[Xu Yue]: BRO PLEASE REPLY!!!

[Xu Yue]: I’M ABOUT TO LOSE IT HERE!!!

Meanwhile, Zong Mi, disguised as Xu Yue, had quietly followed the ceremonial procession into the room storing the papal regalia.

Standing beside a High Priest outside the chamber, he had completely missed the explosion of messages flooding his private chat.

By the time he finally noticed the rarely used channel, Xu Yue’s messages nearly filled the entire screen.

The mention of Louis immediately caught his attention.

Originally, Zong Mi intended to steal the Coronation Ring first.

But if he could obtain the Scepter of the God of War as well—

killing two birds with one stone was certainly preferable.

[Zong Mi]: Didn’t see the messages earlier. How’s your situation now?

[Xu Yue]: THANK GOD YOU REPLIED.

[Xu Yue]: I think that NPC was pretending to be drunk.

[Zong Mi]: Pretending?

[Xu Yue]: Yeah! Since when can a drunk person cast debuffs?

[Xu Yue]: Brother, did you offend this NPC or something? He’s level seventy-plus. Be careful.

Zong Mi almost laughed.

In the future vision he had witnessed earlier, his status panel had indeed been covered in a long list of negative effects.

But this time, Xu Yue was impersonating him.

If Black Wizards specialized in curses—

then Dark Priests specialized in removing them.

Xu Yue’s level wasn’t especially high, but basic curse-cleansing spells were standard skills for Dark Priests.

One cast, and most debuffs would vanish.

[Zong Mi]: Where’s the king now?

[Xu Yue]: No clue.

[Xu Yue]: After throwing debuffs on me he probably figured he could sit back and wait.

[Xu Yue]: I even carried him to a room and left him there.

[Xu Yue]: Anyway, gotta go.

[Xu Yue]: Time to start dismantling the barriers.

[Xu Yue]: Brother, I’m counting on you!

[Zong Mi]: Good luck.

He closed the chat window and quietly began making preparations.

Outside the ceremonial chamber, separated only by a wall, the entirety of the Holy City’s population had gathered beneath the cathedral’s soaring dome.

Elderly bishops with flowing white beards wore their formal ceremonial robes and stood together in the great hall.

The leading bishop overturned the contents of a sealed box before the crowd.

Votes.

Dawn Tokens.

All were publicly counted before a symbolic prayer began.

The eyes of the entire continent were focused upon the Holy City.

Projection crystals had been activated, broadcasting the ceremony to every follower of the Goddess of Dawn.

Soon enough, the announcement would come.

The Crimson Bishop would become Pope.

Zong Mi couldn’t help admiring Cyril’s methods.

Not long ago, Cyril had been transferred to Star Glory City’s Grand Cathedral specifically to remove him from the center of power.

Yet after only a few days back in the Holy City, he had somehow seized control of the situation.

The bishops had lined up behind him one after another.

Everyone was terrified.

Zong Mi’s contribution had only been one tiny—but indispensable—piece of Cyril’s grand design.

Now that Cyril was about to become Pope…

he probably couldn’t be bothered maintaining his facade anymore.

Ding— Ding— Ding—

Just as Zong Mi’s thoughts drifted, a piercing alarm suddenly echoed throughout the entire church.

The cathedral’s warning system had been activated.

“The Central Library’s barrier has been triggered?!”

The High Priest guarding the ceremonial relics immediately stiffened.

After exchanging a glance with the accompanying knights, he hurried toward the library.

At a critical moment like the papal coronation, anyone targeting the library could only be one thing:

Dark Priests.

The High Priest was responsible for the library’s defensive barriers.

If they had been triggered, he was obligated to reinforce them personally.

Everything was proceeding exactly as Zong Mi and Xu Yue had predicted.

Even the bishops conducting the coronation frowned slightly.

However, none of them moved.

The ceremony continued according to plan.

The entire continent was watching.

Any disruption would damage the Dawn Church’s reputation.

Only Cyril, dressed in crimson among the gathered clergy, narrowed his eyes.

The Holy City was currently sealed tighter than an iron fortress.

Since martial law had been enacted three days before the coronation, nobody had been allowed in or out.

If someone had truly triggered the barriers, then they could only be a hidden pawn planted long ago by the Dark Priests.

But very soon—

they could no longer remain calm.

A priest hurried forward, carefully avoiding the projection crystals before approaching the bishops.

The moment he spoke, every bishop’s expression changed dramatically.

“Your Excellencies—”

“The Papal Coronation Regalia has been stolen!”

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