Carl and Donut reach the starting line of Satan’s Water Park with only a minute left, committed to a desperate plan. They leave Hedy and Jamal behind, keep Mongo in Donut’s inventory, and rely on Donut’s Second Chance spell to animate Olga’s mangled corpse and use her as the driver. Carl knows the idea is terrible, but because the reanimated body counts as a summon, it may let them exploit the race rules and catch up.

As they wait, Carl reviews their tactical situation. Florin has already gone ahead and is feeding Carl updates; instead of chasing the boss for them, Florin will try to interfere with Dwight and Lucienne. Osvaldo has also moved ahead on Florin’s route. Carl studies Satan’s Water Park and learns that the danger is not getting lost but choosing the wrong route, because a bad path sends racers directly inside Satan, an invulnerable giant hedgehog who owns the park and comments on the race.

Donut fixates on the absurdity of Satan being a hedgehog and rants about the species, which leads Carl to remember a pet-show contest from her kittenhood that she lost to a baby hedgehog named Jezebel. The exchange shows that Donut is anxious beneath the jokes. Carl calms her, while Dr. Metcalf expresses disgust and doubt about using a headless corpse as their driver. Donut insists the spell will work and plans to extend Olga’s operating time with Clockwork Triplicate; Carl explains that their other corpse options are even worse.

Carl also confirms that their chosen route, the River of Sloth, is effectively mandatory because a ginger base camp lies halfway along it. The dungeon’s ginger enemies are now labeled “season pass holders,” and the Maurice quest continues on this track while Elle and Imani pursue another version of Maurice elsewhere. Just before their turn, a troll-driven tow truck from another heat launches into the course, and Carl and Donut hear Satan’s booming, falsely cheery British greeting. The chapter ends with their grotesque strategy untested but moments away from action.