Dungeon Crawler Carl, #6
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
by Matt Dinniman
Contents
Chapter 71
Overview
Shi Maria takes control of Carl during the accidental totem combination and uses his body, inventory, and magic to protect her own future. In the process, she injures Carl's allies, maims Li Jun, and tattoos the Eye of the Bedlam Bride into Carl's chest, making herself harder to remove or abandon.
The chapter turns the Golden Combo mishap into a lasting personal violation: Carl survives, but Shi Maria now has a deeper foothold inside him. The team's immediate survival is overshadowed by new injuries, especially to Katia, Mongo, and Li Jun, and by the threat that Carl's body may no longer fully belong to him.
Summary
Carl receives a warning that he has been temporarily combined with a totem and will not regenerate if killed in this state. Almost immediately, Carl loses control of his body to Shi Maria, whose voice speaks inside Carl's mind while Carl's transformed body becomes partly spiderlike. Shi Maria discovers Carl's inventory and begins rummaging through his items, including dangerous bombs, books, potions, and summoning materials.
Donut calls out to Carl, but Shi Maria uses Carl's own voice to claim everything is fine. Carl cannot access chat or warn anyone. Shi Maria realizes Carl had planned to betray or abandon the card, then begins assembling materials from Carl's inventory, including a beaker and a sliver of toraline root, while another male voice inside Carl warns him to hold on and tells Shi Maria that she killed him.
Shi Maria threatens Carl's nearby allies and casts Self-Immolation through Carl. The intense fire burns through the floor, drops Carl into the pocket below, and injures Mongo and Katia. Shi Maria uses the heat to create a small amount of black ink, then strips Carl's chest bare and takes out the stick-and-poke tattoo kit.
Li Jun descends to help Carl, but Shi Maria warns him away and then uses Carl's body to jab the tattoo stick into Li Jun's eye. Shi Maria eats the eye through Carl's mouth, horrifying Carl, and uses the bloodied tool with the ink to tattoo Carl's chest. Li Na arrives to protect Li Jun, but Shi Maria threatens Carl's life and Li Jun's safety if anyone interferes.
While rapidly tattooing an eye over Carl's sternum, Shi Maria explains that she is attaching herself to something Carl cannot discard, forcing Carl to either keep her and gain her power or free her later. Shi Maria also prepares potions from Carl's supplies and orders Li Na to give them to Mongo, Katia, and Li Jun. When the combination times out, Carl returns to his normal form and regains control.
Carl sees the new tattoo, named the Eye of the Bedlam Bride, briefly blink and vanish into his skin. Carl feels a bottomless hole inside himself and hears the male voice warn him not to trust Shi Maria. Li Na distributes the potions, and Carl, on the verge of unconsciousness, asks about Katia and Mongo before passing out.
Who Appears
- CarlLoses control of his transformed body and survives Shi Maria's forced tattooing.
- Shi MariaPossesses Carl's body, accesses his inventory, attacks allies, and binds herself to him.
- Li JunDescends to help Carl but is mutilated when Shi Maria destroys one eye.
- Li NaReaches Li Jun, is threatened by Shi Maria, and distributes healing potions.
- DonutCalls to Carl in alarm and reports that Mongo and Katia were hurt.
- MongoInjured by Shi Maria's use of Carl's Self-Immolation spell.
- KatiaGrievously burned during Shi Maria's uncontrolled attack through Carl.
- ImaniAppears after the fall into the pocket and receives potions for the injured.
- Unidentified male voiceWarns Carl to resist Shi Maria and later urges him not to trust her.