A note from Crawler Rosetta warns that fairies and sprites are deceptively hard to kill because they are fast, magical, alert, and seemingly lucky. The note advises that their wings are their magical weak point.

Carl brings Samantha into the club, but Samantha nearly ruins the plan immediately by insulting Clarabelle and threatening to kill Clarabelle’s mother. Carl restrains Samantha, apologizes, claims Samantha only wants a drink after earning her neck tattoo, and bribes Clarabelle with gold. Clarabelle lets them in but warns Carl to keep Samantha away from the guards or they will all be permanently expelled.

Inside, Katia tells Carl she is in position but warns that several unrelated crawlers are on the top floor and could get caught in the operation. Carl plans to remove them when he goes upstairs. Katia insists she is fine despite her recent drug crisis, while Carl privately notes that Imani’s buffs are keeping Katia functional until her addictions can be cured.

Samantha distracts the bar by loudly ordering a dirty Shirley and crudely flirting with Charles, the Porsuk bartender. Carl leaves Samantha to play her part and heads through a side hallway to a utility closet, then enters a hidden corridor behind the shops. This passage is the intended ambush point because Astrid should pass through it if Samantha creates enough trouble to draw Astrid down from the top floor.

Carl reviews why the attack must be instant: Astrid is a terrifyingly powerful fairy with lethal blood-manipulation spells, psionic control abilities, Cosmic Sense, and an instant Summon Guard skill that could bring up to fifteen guards to her. To prevent that contingency, Carl lays teleport traps meant to send any summoned NPC guards to a locked closet upstairs, while also planning to place matching beacons there later.

Carl then deals with another risk: a sealed room at the end of the corridor contains fifteen unknown, dangerous monsters from an abandoned Demon Tamer’s Guild arena. After disarming most traps, taking several Demon Snares, and setting his own traps, Carl reinforces the monster room door with a blast-resistant wall and sandbags. As he works, Katia confesses guilt and despair over killing Astrid and past violence, but Carl urges Katia not to let the dungeon break her; a growl from behind the sealed door reminds Carl that the ambush site remains dangerously unstable.