Ascent to power bug

The quest item dropped by traiter Balbala doesnt drop and I cant travel to the Trial of Sekhemas via the desert map. (I am on cruel difficulty if that matters)

Just ignore this quest in Cruel, it's still on the Known Issues list:

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- Ascent to Power quest text in Cruel Act 2 is misleading.

If you've finished the quest in Normal mode you should have already access to the Trial of Sekhemas via World Map Waypoint (it is one of the Underground areas).

For the 3rd ascension you need a high-level (60+) Djinn Barya: Ascendancy class