Crawler notes establish that stairwells are indestructible and cannot be removed from the playing field, though access to them can be gated or blocked. As Carl and Donut race toward the church, Donut argues that letting enemies break stairwell doors is unfair. Carl clarifies that Sister Ines is threatening the magical doorway and surrounding structure, not the stairwell chamber itself, and notes that other teams are already trapped by damaged exits.

Carl recognizes that the floor is deliberately turning crawlers against one another and killing off the surplus survivors before the ninth floor. The demon eviction event has spread far beyond Cuba, creating zombies and demons across coastal regions and beyond. As Carl, Donut, and Samantha approach the church, Samantha explains that Amayon, trapped in the body of the snake-like city boss, is fighting Sister Ines's control and casting a massive portal spell to return to Sheol by consuming many souls.

Imani reports that full-strength demons near the church can open ranged portals to Sheol that pull victims and debris into them. Carl and Imani infer that smaller possessed zombie demons leave after taking one soul, while larger demons need two. Carl warns Imani to stay safe and decides to use the mercenaries he previously trapped in the training arcade as disposable targets to lure the demons away from the church exit.

When Imani opens the arcade, she discovers that Carl's infected mercenaries have produced hundreds of aggressive slug creatures, including high-level ones. Carl explains that Doctor Bones spread the slug disease and that the resulting creatures can potentially serve as infantry later, but for now Imani should send low-level slugs out toward the demons. Imani also reveals she cured the mercenaries of the disease, surprising Carl because he had not realized she could remove it.

Meanwhile, Carl monitors crawler chat and learns that a crawler named Masoud died when a demon portal took his equipment through a forbidden fifteenth-floor portal, causing his body to explode. This reminds Carl of earlier dungeon mechanics and suggests a possible way the game is balancing broken exits. After asking about widespread Build Trench scroll drops and confirming that excavating a broken stairwell chamber still leaves an impenetrable wall, Carl contacts Mordecai for Sheol lore and Prepotente for environmental observations, then asks Prepotente for help making the developing portal effect spread globally.