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More than ten minutes later, Annan slowly lowered the sword in his hand.
Lord Ken Carter was quite cooperative.
Annan had asked all the questions he should ask and could ask.
Questions directly related to this nightmare, such as how to sabotage the "Ritual: The Feast of the Great Hunt," who was participating in the ritual, the ti and exact location, the contact signals, and so on.
In addition, he asked so questions that were not very related to the nightmare—for instance, about the secrets of the royal heirs, the kingdom’s upper echelons... Even about the Noahites’ views on the Winterfolk, and what they knew and understood about the Winter family. Annan had thoroughly covered these as well.
Of course, whether this intelligence was accurate... whether Ken was telling the truth, whether there was any part of it that was not entirely factual—that was sothing that could not be guaranteed.
But in fact, Annan didn’t need that much "truth."
What he required was only "understanding," a direction for investigation. Since it was about understanding, there was naturally the possibility of rembering incorrectly or forgetting.
This would make it less likely for him to expose himself while playing the roles of Tan Juan or Annan... As for the deeper aspects, Annan would verify them one by one on his own.
"So smashing the Leystone doesn’t work either..."
Annan frowned slightly.
The ritual itself had already been set up.
Even without the Leystone for positioning, the ritual would still be triggered—the difference being that without it, the ritual would not be limited to the "banquet" but would spread out...
For example, Ferdinand’s position is the southeast corner of the hexagram, the point on the lower right of the right triangle.
And if this Leystone were shattered... when the ritual was activated, the southeast corner would be repositioned to the kitchen cellar.
That is to say, everyone from the banquet hall to the kitchen would be targeted by the ritual...
Undoubtedly, destroying the Leystone would not "save more people." It might even end up costing more lives—the Leystone was not for "triggering the ritual," but for preventing the dangerous ritual from harming oneself.
... Of course, that was just not a fundantal solution.
If the goal was rely to "reduce casualties," it was still feasible. Once those people realized that the Leystone was destroyed and they were targeted by their own ritual, they would only try to hold a few more rounds of the ritual.
If the "speaker" descended upon one of their own... They would have no choice but to call it "curtains" and end the ritual. For the sake of safety, they might even end it imdiately.
Annan was clear on this—it had to be the simplest thod of clearing the challenge.
It was also the approach that ordinary people would prioritize.
Annan reassessed his understanding—if one followed the decryption logic of a normal person, they would easily enter the garden at the start, then et Kafney and realize early on that Kafney was a key NPC.
Up to this point, the process was largely the sa.
But other people entering the nightmare would first need to figure out how to gain Kafney’s trust. Then let her lead the way to the six key points of the ritual—a necessary route for clearing the challenge.
But if there were problems gaining Kafney’s trust, causing delays... then Red Hair and Ferdinand would complete their handoff. Ferdinand would get the Leystone and leave at the first opportunity.
And if they failed to get rid of rlin upon arriving in the kitchen, they would not be able to directly attack Red Hair under rlin’s surveillance and protection.
In these two scenarios, the players could only obtain information that "Ferdinand" was a suspicious character—either by observing his departure from that place or by witnessing their etup.
Ferdinand completed the handoff with over half an hour to go before dinner. During this short ti, one could only analyze his actions in the banquet hall... and find a chance to steal or destroy the Leystone, realizing its key role.
Then find an opportunity to break the northern Leystone—this position belonged to the King, and the original ritual would certainly not include Henry VIII.
Because this conspiracy was clearly orchestrated by Prince Philip. His goal was to reduce the number and power of his siblings... and possibly to please the corrupt with the demise of the Winter siblings. But he could not actually kill King Noah.
The reason was simple.
The current first in the line of succession was not Philip, but Elizabeth. Below her was the second Prince, still alive. Unless those two died first, if King Noah died suddenly without leaving a will, there was no way Philip could inherit the throne.
Thus, at that mont, they would have no choice but to forcibly close the ritual.
This was probably the original historical trajectory.
It led directly to the tragic deaths of several heirs, the gradual infiltration of King Noah’s higher echelons by the corrupt, and many nobles and officials who participated in the banquet also died in accidents...
But for a solver following this process... unless they already recognized the ritual, it would be impossible for them to understand why this thod could clear the challenge. Therefore, the level of decryption would necessarily not be high.
To complete the decryption and obtain the reward, Annan had to master it in the most radical way possible...
Annan had thought of three thods so far.
The first was to move the four people he wanted to protect to a corner of the hexagram. Then quietly destroy the other five corners... Without alerting the ritual conductor and allowing them to realize sothing was wrong, they would have no choice but to imdiately halt the ritual, without even a chance of getting lucky.
Moreover, the ritual would not be able to kill anyone. Although it is said to be random, the person to die is, after all, personally specified by the "Tragedy Writer"... To ensure drama, the Writer might first target the King. But Annan suspected that the level of decryption might not be high in this case... because it was entirely possible to "guess one’s way" through the challenge.
This, perhaps, was why Elizabeth was ant to be spared—a ritual not including Elizabeth and including the King ant they would have to dissolve it imdiately. This was the most delicate way to clear the ritual.
The second was to directly destroy the ritual itself, which would undoubtedly be the most perfect thod. The ritual was completed, "The Tragedy Writer" summoned to observe from the gallery... A single explosion or triggering of the "opening" condition would officially start the ritual.
In this case, forcibly ending the ritual would an facing "The Tragedy Writer" head on. Angered "The Tragedy Writer" might even directly send several envoys to counter-attack those destroying the ritual. This was certainly the most difficult way to clear the challenge—Annan didn’t have the confidence to maintain his cover in this scenario.
Annan had only the third thod to consider.
First, think about it...
Who could be the master of this nightmare?
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