Carl messages Mordecai before entering Club Vanquisher, asking about Eileithyia’s real identity, Huanxin Jinx. Mordecai pauses, then tells Carl to do whatever Eileithyia says and promises to explain face-to-face once Carl returns to the saferoom.

Inside the club vestibule, Carl meets Potsy, a ram-headed cleric of Hellik who is automatically hostile because Carl worships Emberus. Potsy delays Carl with access rules just as Carl’s slugpox worsens. Slugs burst painfully from Carl’s body, one from near his crotch, horrifying Potsy enough that the guard becomes more afraid than officious.

Pater Coal, a high cleric of Emberus, intervenes and escorts Carl into Club Vanquisher. Pater Coal explains that Carl has only limited access and one permitted destination per day, but secretly detours to Emberus’s shrine before taking Carl to the healer. The club resembles a lodge with guards, stairwells, guild areas, and trophy heads, but Emberus’s hidden temple is a surreal field of fire called the Temple of the Ending Sun.

In the temple, Pater Coal suppresses Carl’s slugpox and performs a foot-washing sacrament that removes Carl from the normal feed. During the rite, Pater Coal says Emberus still suspects Hellik in Geyrun’s murder but is also concerned about Apito, because Apito appears alive despite a memorial crystal existing in her name. Pater Coal reveals that Katia’s crossbow and Princess Donut’s oak bracelet are both connected to the mystery, though neither path can be pursued without the crystal. Carl suspects he may be speaking through Pater Coal to the dungeon AI, but Pater Coal only says everyone has roles and limitations.

The rite grants Carl the floor boon called the Martyr’s Path, marking his outdoor footsteps and allowing flame to erupt from them if Carl nearly dies or dies, along with a strength increase. After an omitted final question, Carl is cured of slugpox for 10,000 gold and is banned from Club Vanquisher for three days after a mantaur accuses him of breaking a rule.

Back in the saferoom, Carl recounts the club visit to Donut, Katia, Mordecai, and Bautista, though Carl hides information about Donut’s oak bracelet because Bautista is present. Donut complains about the cost, the lack of boss boxes, and Sister Ines turning Paz into a card. Carl notices Katia now worships Eileithyia and feels uneasy. The room remains tense until Katia begins preparing Donut for a frightening story whose ending, Katia says, is not yet fixed.