Ruins?
Angel immediately thought of the ruins outside Backlund that Sevillea had taken her into before the Great Smog. There, she had met the direct perpetrator of the Great Smog, Lady Despair Panacea, but had discovered nothing more.
Later, Mr. Azik's Spirit World Shuttle had been disrupted by Ince Zangwill, causing him and Klein to appear beneath the ruins. Azik had ultimately fought a military demigod, while Klein had made his way upward and encountered Mr. A, who was attempting to summon the True Creator, and disrupted their ritual.
Could the king's secret be hidden in the depths of those ancient ruins? But Klein and I reported their location to the Church immediately after the incident ended. The Nighthawks should have conducted a thorough search...
Angel and Klein exchanged a glance, each seeing intense curiosity in the other's eyes.
Fortunately, Arianna apparently had the same questions. She raised the hand holding Hvin's spirit body slightly, making the dead Manipulator's translucent form clearer, then continued:
"Where are those ruins? How does one enter them? What important things are hidden inside?"
Her string of questions sent Hvin into a brief spell of thought. Only after a moment did the translucent spirit body answer:
"They are ruins left behind by the Blood Emperor, Alistar Tudor, rediscovered and put to use by the royal family. They lie along the Striver Section of the Tussock River and are protected by anti-divination and anti-prophecy measures. They can only be entered through point-to-point Teleportation. Each time I enter, a military demigod responsible for this matter has to accompany me. He activates Teleportation from a location on the surface and takes me inside the ruins.
"There is an item there of vital importance to George III. He is preparing an enormous sacrificial ritual in an attempt to gain