TSA Chapter 76

“Brave adventurers, you may now set off on your journey atop the Golden Eagles,” Rita said with a smile.

At that moment, Night Owl suddenly spoke up, “Excuse me, do you have any more Golden Eagles for sale? We have a few more friends who will be traveling to Otto City later.”

Rita looked at him curiously. “Do your friends also know Priest Patrick?”

“Yes.” The friends Night Owl referred to were, of course, Jiangnan and the others. Since they were all part of the same team, they had shared the information about repeatable quests with them. As a result, Jiangnan’s party had also built up high favorability with the NPCs in Sina City and could likely obtain Priest Patrick’s token as well.

Hearing this, Rita replied, “Golden Eagles are rare and difficult to tame. All the ones I’ve raised are here. However, I do have a few Blue-Winged Birds. While they may not look as impressive as Golden Eagles, their flight speed is almost just as fast. They’re also quite rare flying mounts.”

“That works.” Night Owl was very satisfied with this answer. If everyone in the team could get a flying mount, it would save a lot of travel time, making leveling up and completing quests much more convenient in the future.

After bidding Rita farewell, the group mounted their Golden Eagles. With just a few powerful flaps, the massive birds stretched their wings and soared high into the sky, heading toward Otto City.

The Golden Eagles flew incredibly fast—in less than ten minutes, they had already reached their destination.

Otto City was much larger than Sina City, with towering outer walls and grand Roman-style architecture filling its interior. The most striking landmark was the Temple of Light, a magnificent and awe-inspiring structure.

Flying mounts had designated landing areas within the city. The Golden Eagles, familiar with the place, descended smoothly onto the designated spot.

However, the moment Night Owl dismounted, a sinister black aura suddenly emerged from his body.

“Boss, what’s wrong?!” Soul Chaser was startled at the sight and quickly asked.

“…It’s a curse.” Night Owl frowned as he noticed a new debuff appear on his status screen—Necromancer’s Curse. Immediately, his HP started dropping rapidly—losing 20 HP every two seconds.

At level 50, Night Owl’s HP was about as high as a level 45 tank like Gu Le’s, but even he wouldn’t survive long at this rate. Losing 20 HP every two seconds might not seem like much, but it amounted to 600 HP per minute. Without a healer constantly restoring his health, he’d be dead in under ten minutes.

It was at this moment that Night Owl suddenly remembered—he and Ran Qi had previously accepted a hidden quest in Dragon Soul Secret Realm, which required them to travel to Otto City and seek out Priest Leslie at the Temple of Light to remove his curse.

Since they had been under-leveled at the time, they had left the quest unfinished. The white crystal given by the NPC seemed to suppress the curse, preventing it from affecting Night Owl—so much so that he had nearly forgotten about the quest altogether. But now, after arriving in Otto City, it was as if the curse had reawakened. The white crystal, which he had kept on him all this time, was now covered in cracks, as if it could shatter at any moment. No wonder the curse had resurfaced—it was likely that entering Otto City reactivated the hidden quest, and the crystal could no longer suppress the curse.

Ran Qi realized this as well. He quickly tried casting Purification on Night Owl, but it had no effect. Instead, he cast a continuous healing buff to slow down the HP loss before frowning and saying, “Let’s move! We need to get to the Temple of Light and find Priest Leslie!”

This hidden quest must have been triggered again. A Necromancer’s Curse sounded extremely ominous, and it was clearly not something that just dying and respawning could resolve. They couldn’t just let Night Owl keep bleeding HP like this—they had to remove the curse as soon as possible!

“Yeah, let’s go, quick!” The team hurriedly escorted Night Owl toward the Temple of Light.

The Temple of Light clearly held a high status in Otto City, as the entrance was heavily guarded by knights clad in silver-white armor.

As Night Owl and his group approached, the knights immediately drew their swords, their voices sharp and commanding— “Halt! Who are you?!”

It was no surprise that they reacted so strongly—after all, Night Owl was shrouded in dark energy, something that immediately set off alarms for the knights.

Ran Qi stepped forward and said, “We are adventurers from Sina City. We wish to see Priest Leslie. My friend has been afflicted with the Necromancer’s Curse, and we require the priest’s aid.”

“What?! The Necromancer’s Curse?!” The knights’ expressions shifted to shock. “That’s impossible! Necromancers vanished from this continent thousands of years ago! Where did you encounter one?!”

They didn’t doubt Ran Qi’s words, because the dark aura around Night Owl was unmistakably similar to the cursed energy left by necromancers.

Ran Qi quickly summarized their journey—how they had discovered a treasure map, entered Dragon Soul Secret Realm, and encountered the curse. The knights were stunned by the story. To further prove his words, Ran Qi summoned his little white dragon.

That did it. There was no room for doubt now.

“Hurry! Summon Priest Leslie immediately!”

A Light Knight sprinted into the Temple of Light, and before long, someone came to invite Night Owl and Ran Qi inside.

Soul Chaser and the others wanted to follow, but the Light Knights blocked their way. “Apologies, Lord Leslie has only invited these two.”

With no other choice, Soul Chaser and the rest had to wait outside.

Ran Qi quickly followed Night Owl into the Temple of Light, keeping a continuous healing effect on him the whole way to prevent him from ‘dying halfway before even asking for help.’

The interior of the Temple of Light was just as grand as it appeared from the outside. Upon entering the main gate, a beautiful garden greeted them with fountains and several large dragon-shaped stone reliefs, indicating that dragons held a special significance to the temple.

Passing through the garden and two side halls, they finally arrived at the main hall.

At the entrance, handmaidens in white robes stood with hands folded. When they saw the group approach, one of them stepped forward.

“Follow Natasha inside,” the Light Knight leading them said.

“Thank you.”

“No need for thanks, it’s my duty,” the knight replied before turning to leave.

“Please come with me, brave warriors,” the handmaiden named Natasha said, bowing slightly before leading them further into the temple.

Before long, they met the Light Priest Leslie.

The Light Priest was a dignified-looking middle-aged man in his forties, with golden hair and blue eyes. He wore a red-and-white priest robe adorned with intricate patterns and a gemstone-encrusted crown, resembling a Roman cardinal, exuding an aura of holiness.

After the handmaiden withdrew, leaving only the three of them in the hall, Leslie finally spoke, “I have been expecting you for a long time.”

His deep, steady voice carried a calming presence, easing Ran Qi’s previously anxious mood.

“You knew we were coming?” Ran Qi couldn’t help but ask.

“Indeed. I also know that one of you has been afflicted by the Necromancer’s Curse.”

Ran Qi’s eyes immediately lit up. “Do you have a way to lift the curse?”

“There is a way, but it is extremely difficult and dangerous.”

“We don’t care! We’re not afraid!” Ran Qi declared firmly, with Night Owl sharing the same determination.

Leslie sighed. “You will need to enter the sealed Domain of the Undead, locate the Necromancer’s remains, and bring them back to me. However, the domain is filled with dense death energy. Contact with the death energy instantly transforms ordinary people into undead. His body already carries the power of the Necromancer’s Curse, which is even stronger than the death energy, so he won’t have to worry about being corrupted by it. But the Domain of the Undead is vast, and the curse will continue to drain his lifeblood. It will be extremely difficult for him to complete this task alone. That is why you must go with him. I can petition the Light God to grant you a portion of His power, which will shield you from the death energy, but it will only last for three hours.”

“No problem, I’ll go with him!” Ran Qi quickly understood that this was essentially a timed challenge requiring them to collect materials—it wasn’t overly complicated.

Leslie gazed at them. “Children, are you sure? If you fail to leave the Domain of the Undead in time, you may be trapped there forever.”

“We’re sure!” Ran Qi and Night Owl answered in unison.

“Very well. Follow me.” Leslie led them to the rear hall, where he pulled a book from a bookshelf, triggering a hidden mechanism. A concealed entrance behind the bookshelf was revealed—so the so-called Domain of the Undead had been sealed beneath the Temple of Light all along.

“May the Light God’s power be with you.” Leslie placed his hand on Ran Qi’s head. In the next moment, a buff named Blessing of the Light God appeared on Ran Qi, granting immunity to the death energy for three hours. “Go now, and return safely.”

As soon as Leslie finished speaking, a system notification popped up in front of Ran Qi and Night Owl.

[System] You have accepted a hidden quest. Please collect the Necromancer’s remains within 3 hours. Completion progress: (0/10). Quest reward: Unknown.