After a moment of hesitation, Shade had thought that the cultists who only knew this much information actually gave him a very deliberate wink, then shook his head:
"We only know this much."
Shade understood immediately. "We" only knew this much, but "I" might not know only this much.
He said to Audrey:
"Make them all pass out. As for what to do with them, we'll decide after I dig through the Ice Lake and see whether there's a passage underneath."
He naturally knew there would be no passage below. The location Luvia had marked was not here.
Audrey cast a spell and put the three of them into a coma. Immediately afterward, Shade asked her to wake the high-ring Cultist.
He shook his head, confirmed that his companions had all lost consciousness, and only then spoke:
"When I accepted the mission, I truly didn't know the details. But outside of the mission, when I drank with friends in the Cult, I heard some things.
If someone with the 'War' Spirit Rune or corresponding Destiny used their soul to call to the thing inside the War Beast, they could strip it out when the War Beast was weak.
The Archbishop planned to do it himself. I really don't know the specifics. They say it has something to do with the Ring Arcanists' initiation process. You know—bell ringing, ignition, pushing, and finally the hymn."
Shade nodded to Audrey, and she put him unconscious once more.
Claire asked curiously:
"You intend to strip away the Ring of War?"
"Of course not. I have no interest in becoming the king of war. Our Prophet said that as long as we completely kill the Falling Star Beast, the ring would naturally shatter. I merely thought that since the Falling Star Beast could be stripped