Several days earlier, Carl visits the Blessed Sun Enchantments shop inside Club Vanquisher while mantaur guards pound on the locked door outside. Pater Coal and a satyr jeweler tell Carl the enchantment he wants costs one million gold. Carl cannot afford it, so the Temple of Emberus gives Carl an interest-free loan for 990,000 gold after Carl puts down 10,000 and trades in his long-worn strength ring.

The jeweler transforms Carl’s ring into the Enchanted Pauper’s Ring of the Steadfast Emberus. The ring removes many disease and health-draining effects and can numb other debuffs, but it is tied to Carl’s Emberus worship and the church debt. The item is disguised as a strength ring to non-worshippers and becomes dangerous or cursed if worn improperly, lost, or if Carl is expelled from the church.

Back in the present battle, Quan Ch enters from above as the eighth combatant, now level 70 and still missing the arm Carl ripped off on the fifth floor. Kevin and Magnificent Troy mock Quan before combat begins. Carl and Donut’s squad chooses to ally with Team Quiteria, but Team Quiteria and Team Quan choose no allies, causing a ten-second penalty that leaves Carl and Donut briefly unable to act while zombies, seals, crabs, demons, and the giant snake boss erupt into chaos.

Quan begins manipulating the card fight. Quan uses a card that lets him see both Donut’s and Sister Ines’s hands, while Sister Ines summons Paz as a totem and orders him to suffer and prepare a self-destruct attack against the snake. Quan then uses Force Play on Sister Ines’s visible Flee card, forcing Team Quiteria to flee and lose its key. Paz disappears, and the snake turns toward Carl.

Carl uses Protective Shell to blast away nearby mobs, and Donut summons Geraldo and Lazarus-a-Bang-Bang while trying to recover. Carl warns Donut not to keep a Flee card, but Quan switches hands with Donut, giving Donut a hand full of Flee cards, then uses Force Play again. Carl’s squad is forced to flee, loses its key, and Quan receives both Carl’s key and Team Quiteria’s key.

Carl, Donut, Mongo, and Samantha land in a dark swampy forest surrounded by duendes. Donut panics and blames herself, but Carl immediately warns Imani and Tserendolgor that Quan has both keys and is likely heading for an exit. Carl reveals he hit Quan with Super Spreader before being teleported, meaning Quan will be increasingly weakened by slug effects. Carl tells Donut to rebuild her deck quickly and start a new card battle with nearby duendes while he calls Samantha for help.