Carl gives the signal, and Donut uses one of Lucia’s loop-de-loop traps to swap into Emberus’s chamber while Penelope is teleported outside at Taranis’s feet. Because Khepri is present, Penelope is invulnerable for ninety seconds, which lets Donut fire Katia’s Bolt of Ophiotaurus into one of Emberus’s eye sockets and then pin him with a Danforth bolt in the other. The bolts make Emberus vulnerable and immobile for fifteen seconds, but Emberus still launches a lethal fire spell at Carl; Carl’s Four-Leaf Clover Patch redirects the attack to Penelope instead.

Donut immediately takes Carl back outside with Puddle Jumper. In the arena, Carl finds total chaos: the upgraded vehicles and mounts are mowing through thousands of monsters, the Krakaren boss has been battered into the stands, and Scolopendra is still active and preparing its next major attack. Carl also sees that Penelope has been reduced to a bubbling, dying mass near Taranis, Khepri is confused, and Emberus erupts out of Scolopendra in his enormous monstrous form while still briefly vulnerable.

Because Scolopendra’s next attack is coming and everyone except Carl is exposed, Carl realizes Emberus must be stopped at once. Taranis sees Emberus rise and understands that Emberus was the one who attacked Penelope. With a moment of clarity, Emberus pleads, but Taranis twists his wrist and destroys his brother just before the vulnerability window ends.

Emberus’s death creates a massive shockwave that blasts everyone and everything across the arena. Carl survives because of his temporary invulnerability, but Donut is hurt and the battlefield is devastated: the RV is broken in half, vehicles are wrecked, Jamal loses his legs, Florin is badly injured, and other allies scramble to report in and recover. Despite the destruction, several major assets remain: Scolopendra is still alive with a health bar in the green, Krakaren is still alive in the stands, the food truck is somehow still operating, and Sarah Hayse keeps the Abrams tank firing.

In the aftermath, Taranis heals Penelope back to full form and resumes doting on her, showing that Carl’s bait worked exactly as intended. Carl checks his inventory, confirms he has the last items he needed, and mounts his motorcycle to act while his invulnerability still lasts, though Donut refuses to leave him. Just as Carl prepares his next move, time freezes with a system message announcing that Eris has entered the realm.