How to read The Rise of the Elder Things Cultists text

Question

The Cultists for The Rise of the Elder Things Ancient One have the following text

If you pass the lore test, you free the victim's mind from the alien magic; defeat this Monster and gain 1 random Ally Asset from the deck.

Elder Things Cultists

Is the Cultists defeated if the lore test is passed?

Or do players still need to defeat the Cultists after passing the lore test to gain 1 random Ally asset? And should really be read as

If you pass the lore test, you free the victim's mind from the alien magic; defeat this Monster to gain 1 random Ally Asset from the deck.

Answer 1

You do not need to defeat the Cultist to gain the rewards if you pass the Horror Check.

Whenever fighting a monster, you have a Horror Check then a Strength Check. The Horror Check is usually a Will Test but whenever fighting The Elder Things Cultists, it specifically asks for a Lore Test (-1). If you roll a success, you free the victim, defeat the Cultist, and gain a random Aly Asset from the assets deck. Thematically, this is the Ally you freed from The Elder Things grasp.

If you fail the Sanity Check, you take the difference in Sanity damage and move on to the Strenth Check to try and defeat the Cultist by brute force. Successes you roll deal damage to cultist, but if you defeat the Cultist this way you don't gain a random Ally Asset.