The forced ten-minute card battle begins, with the crawlers needing two opposite strategies at once: eliminate Amayon’s six totems so he can act freely, while preventing Ysalte from running out of cards and unleashing her own devastating magic. Donut steels herself, Carl sets out potions that immediately risk turning to vinegar, and the rooftop team spreads out while Elle and Imani report more demons forcing their way up from below.

Li Na opens with Xing Tian, Donut steals a card from Amayon, Katia summons her skull-headed raven Annie, and Ysalte summons an empowered Yago. Yago immediately crashes through the damaged floor and is sent after Louis, who is already marked for death. Amayon rapidly plays several totems, including two inferior demons and Naamah, a powerful succubus, while Bautista floods the battlefield with stuffed-animal summons and the building continues to break apart.

Naamah attacks Carl directly, slamming him across the floor and nearly biting him before his shield shatters her teeth. Donut’s stolen Hell Scrub, Banjo, pulls Naamah away and mauls her in a cloud of tentacles. Elsewhere, Li Jun and one of Li Na’s summoned masters defeat a ghommid, while the lower-level fight worsens: Tran falls to another floor, Louis and Britney flee Yago, and Imani and Elle rush upward with demons behind them.

Ysalte’s deck drains too fast, but Amayon is also nearly emptied. When Ysalte tries to stop Amayon from playing his final card, Donut uses Force Discard to remove it, leaving only Amayon’s first rock totem active. Ysalte counters with Raid Stash, stealing cards from multiple crawlers and summoning stolen totems, including Tran’s mother, Zhe, a sasquatch-like creature, and Donut’s inactive Frank Q totem. The fight becomes even more chaotic as Frank faces Banjo and Zhe murders Li Na’s summoned master.

Tran destroys Amayon’s last rock totem with his sparking wheelchair, apparently completing the first objective. Instead of freeing Amayon as expected, the battle freezes and a quest update reveals the deeper problem: Amayon’s true form lacks enough power to cast the needed spell because the dying world no longer contains enough souls. The system orders the crawlers to refill the world with the same type of souls and power Amayon up before the timer expires, while warning that Amayon may try an alternative spell. Carl tells the others to delay Amayon, asks Donut to use Midnight Express when ready, and prepares to run toward Samantha on the edge of the collapsing skyscraper.